• The Two Thanksgivings Between Halloween And Christmas
  The Two Thanksgivings Between Halloween And Christmas

  Authored by Timothy C. Hemmis via RealClearHistory,

  In the United States, November 11th has been known as Veterans Day since 1954 (before that, it was known as Armistice Day). Originally, Veterans Day commemorated the Allies’ victory in World War I. However, after the Second World War, veterans of that conflict including Dwight Eisenhower pushed to expand the holiday to honor all veterans. In many ways, this holiday is about giving thanks to those who have served in wars to protect the United States of America. In that sense it is as much a day of thanksgiving, if not more so, than the one at the end of the November.

  

  The Thanksgiving we all know and love, which we celebrate with turkey, mashed potatoes, cornbread dressing/stuffing, cranberry sauce, and a multitude of pies, began as a solemn day of prayer and remembrance. Churches and political bodies often declared a day of thanksgiving after major events. These “holidays” could take place any time of the year. So why November?

  President George Washington issued the first national day of thanksgiving on November 26th, 1789 as a day for prayer and giving thanks to God “for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation.” But Washington’s declaration was not the start of an annual holiday.

  President Abraham Lincoln, from the prompting of writer Sarah Josepha Hale, officially set a national holiday on the final Thursday of November in 1863. Established during the Civil War, the new holiday encouraged Americans to remember and give thanks for blessings and military successes of the United States of America. Lincoln and Hale both thought a holiday could help heal the divided nation.

  By the 20th century, Thanksgiving morphed into the feast we know today. The modern holiday is loosely based on the “First Thanksgiving” that the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony had in 1621, which was a harvest feast and a solemn day.

  The rise of American consumerism during the late 19th century led to the growth of holiday meals and celebrations. During Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency, the holiday was moved to the third Thursday of November, which allowed for a few extra days of Christmas shopping to help boost an economy that had been limping along during the Great Depression. One could say that the holiday creep started with FDR.

  As both Veterans Day and Thanksgiving are sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas, these November holidays have unfortunately been relegated to a secondary status.

  Despite the origins of both these days of thanksgiving, we often forget the history and get swept up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. There is nothing wrong with putting up your Christmas tree early, but hopefully you and your family can pause and celebrate the two days of thanksgiving this November.

  Timothy C. Hemmis is Associate Professor of History with a specialization in Early American History at Texas A&M University – Central Texas in Killeen, Texas. His research focuses on empire, national identity, war and society in Revolutionary America (1750-1815). He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2015. He is a fellow with the Jack Miller Center.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 23:25

• Chinese National Arrested Again After Multiple Efforts To Enter Mar-a-Lago
  Chinese National Arrested Again After Multiple Efforts To Enter Mar-a-Lago

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

  Florida’s Palm Beach County police on Nov. 8 arrested a Chinese national after he tried, again, to enter President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, according to court records.

  

  Li Zijie, a 39-year-old living in suburban Los Angeles on a student visa, allegedly arrived at the Trump property in an Uber on the afternoon of Nov. 7—the latest in a number of attempts he has made to get into the resort in the past few weeks.

  He made the trip hours after getting out of a mental hospital, where he had spent the previous week after a similar effort made in late October, according to a police affidavit.

  Li now faces two counts of trespassing, according to the county’s jail records. He’s being held in the Palm Beach County Main Detention Center, with bail set at $100,000.

  The arrest has heightened security concerns around Trump, who narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July during a Pennsylvania rally. In September, the Secret Service identified a man pointing a rifle through a fence at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach while Trump was playing golf. The Justice Department said on Nov. 8 that it had stopped an Iranian plot to kill Trump and charged three men allegedly involved in a murder-for-hire network.

  Li first tried to gain entry into Mar-a-Lago on July 19, six days after the Pennsylvania rally shooting, according to court documents viewed by The Epoch Times.

  Li pulled up in a gray Toyota and told Secret Service agents he had information implicating China in the assassination attempt and wished to give them the documents. The Palm Beach police issued a trespass warning and told him not to return.

  In the following days, Li drove into the town of Palm Beach at least four times but didn’t try to enter Mar-a-Lago, according to court records.

  On July 30, officers observed Li driving toward the Mar-a-Lago checkpoint and placing paperwork about Trump on vehicles. He was arrested the next day for allegedly trespassing on the premises. A local court ordered him to stay 500 feet away from the resort and from Trump.

  Li’s next attempt was on Oct. 30, when he tried to enlist help from a resident who lives nearby, according to court documents.

  The woman had a Trump 2024 political sign in her yard. Li asked if she was a Mar-a-Lago club member and whether she could drive him inside. The woman refused, and after seeing him enter a white Toyota, she called the police, who placed Li in a mental hospital.

  He returned to Mar-a-Lago on the day of his release.

  

  In the affidavit regarding the latest intrusion effort, Palm Beach Police said that because of the “increased attempts by Li to gain entrance into Mar-a-Lago” to make contact with the president-elect, a future attempt could lead to an escalation of enforcement.

  The Trump resort has faced repeated intrusion efforts, including two from Chinese nationals.

  During Trump’s first term as president, a Chinese businesswoman carried four cellphones, a computer, and an external hard drive past the security checkpoint, telling a Secret Service agent that she was there to use the pool, then later presenting herself to reception as an attendee of an already-canceled event.

  The woman, Zhang Yujing, was sentenced to eight months in prison for illegally entering the site. She was deported to China two years later, in November 2021.

  After that incident, another Chinese national, Lu Jing, was arrested in December 2019 after she entered the property and began taking pictures. A judge later acquitted her of trespassing charges but issued a six-month sentence on a separate charge of resisting arrest.

  During Trump’s 2018 Thanksgiving visit to the resort, a University of Wisconsin student sneaked into the Palm Beach club by standing with a group entering Mar-a-Lago. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and apologized for the act.

  The Epoch Times has contacted Li’s lawyer for comment.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 23:00

• CNN Cheers As Top Kamala Staffer Calls For Jan. 6 "Disruption", Unelected Presidency
  CNN Cheers As Top Kamala Staffer Calls For Jan. 6 “Disruption”, Unelected Presidency

  Authored by Julianna Frieman via Headline USA,

  Jamal Simmons, the former communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris, elicited audible reactions from CNN panelists Sunday when he called for Democrats to disrupt President-elect Donald Trump’s transition.

  

  Simmons suggested President Joe Biden resign before Trump’s inauguration and make Harris the first woman president on CNN State of the Union.

  “There’s one promise left that he could fulfill: being a transitional figure. He could resign the presidency in the next 30 days, make Kamala Harris President of the United States,” he said, prompting CNN’s Scott Jennings to laugh, “woah,” and host Dana Bash to say “wow.”

  Former VP Harris Comms Director says on CNN that Biden should resign and make Kamala the first woman president to “disrupt” the Trump transition.

  “It would dominate the news.”

  “Democrats have the learn drama and transparency and doing things that the public wants to see…” pic.twitter.com/fb60u8xZuD

  — Julianna Frieman (@JuliannaFrieman) November 10, 2024

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

  Harris becoming president would absolve her from having to oversee the transfer of power from Biden to Trump, Simmons said.

  If Biden resigns, Harris’s ascension to the Oval Office would leave the role of vice president vacant.

  Harris would then have to appoint a vice president that must be confirmed by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress, according to the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

  “Democrats have to learn drama and transparency and doing things that the public will want to see,” Simmons said. “This is the moment to change the entire perspective of how Democrats operate.”

  “Okay, this has now jumped from an Internet meme to a Sunday morning show,” Bash quipped.

  Jennings joked that Simmons was writing the next season of hit political drama series House of Cards.

  Bash brought up a potential vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, referencing reports that some Democrats want to pressure Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, 70, to retire.

  Simmons cast doubt on the idea of a Harris nomination to the Supreme Court but reiterated that the possibility is at the behest of Biden.

  What ever could VP Kamala Harris do after losing the presidency to Trump?

  CNN commentator suggests Harris should be appointed to the Supreme Court.

  “Not only am I floating it, but I want to stir up everything. I want people’s heads to explode…”pic.twitter.com/F47XAD2A5X

  — Julianna Frieman (@JuliannaFrieman) November 8, 2024

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

  “If he did it, again, it would fulfill his promise, his last promise, it would give Kamala Harris the chance to be the 47th President of the United States of America. It would disrupt all of Donald Trump’s paraphernalia,” he laughed. “Right? He’d have to rebrand everything.”

  “It would be easier for the next woman to run for president to not have to worry about historical weight,” Simmons said.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 22:35

• Top 3 Reasons Voters Gave For Not Supporting Harris: Poll
  Top 3 Reasons Voters Gave For Not Supporting Harris: Poll

  Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  An exit poll released by Democratic polling firm Blueprint outlined the top three reasons voters nationwide gave for not supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, in her 2024 bid for U.S. president.

  

  The leading issue for voters was that inflation is too high. This was followed by the Biden–Harris administration allowing in too many illegal immigrants, and that Harris focused too much on cultural topics like transgender issues rather than the middle class.

  The poll asked 3,262 national and swing state voters in the two days following the 2024 election to rate the importance of potential reasons for their decision to vote for President-elect Donald Trump instead of Harris.

  In addition to inflation, illegal immigration, and Harris’s focus on transgender issues, the next three factors named by all voters were that debt rose too high under the Biden–Harris administration, that Harris is too similar to President Joe Biden, and that Harris would let in even more illegal immigrants. One choice that scored high among swing state voters in particular was that “Democrats did a bad job running the country.”

  “In the end, Harris couldn’t outrun her past or her party—perhaps it was a lack of time, but it was certainly a vice grip that proved impossible to escape,” the polling report’s authors wrote.

  The factors of least concern to voters were that Harris was too pro-Israel, too conservative, or not similar enough to Biden.

  The poll’s findings were published as top Democrats reel from Tuesday’s election results, point fingers, and assign blame for who’s responsible for Trump’s sweep of the seven battleground states.

  “In this election, Americans have made their voice clear: Democrats need to focus more on issues Americans care about, like wages and benefits, and less on being politically correct … Democrats have been too intimidated to speak up for the same values that many of us hold dear—the American Dream, public safety, and a common sense of right and wrong among them,” Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) wrote in a Nov. 7 post on X.

  “We cannot get wrapped around the axle by our base and resistance politics.”

  Democrats farther to the left than Suozzi disagree. During a community organizing video call on Nov. 8, progressive leaders defended their coalition and its focus on “marginalized communities” amid attacks from their party’s center.

  “Maybe you’re a leftist who feels deep frustration at the many calls to move the Democrats to the center at the expense of targeted and marginalized communities, the expense of suffering people and normal times,” Ash-Lee Woodard-Henderson, co-executive director of the Highlander Research & Education Center, told the virtual attendees.

  Progressive congresswoman Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wa.), also dismissed calls to blame the party’s left-wing coalitions, and their messaging on cultural issues, for Harris’s loss.

  “The blame game, you’ve seen it, it’s already started with a lot of cheap shots at our progressive movement, and it’s easy to finger-point even for us, but we need to resist it,” Jayapal said.

  “I imagine we share a lot of theories about this election and what led us here, but I think we actually need to look at the [exit polling] data.”

  Blueprint’s exit polling data seems to validate the concerns of the party’s more moderate members such as Suozzi.

  Another Democratic polling firm, GQR, logged similar sentiment among voters in a Nov. 6 poll. Taken with a smaller sample size of 800 national voters between Oct. 31 and Nov. 5, the poll found that voters ranked opposition to transgender surgeries and transgender kids in sports as the least important issue affecting their vote this year, at 4 percent.

  Roughly 64 percent of respondents said they had seen Trump campaign ads highlighting Harris’s previous support for taxpayer-funded gender transition surgeries for prisoners and illegal immigrants.

  In an exit poll by Fox News, 54 percent of voters—among a sample size of more than 30,000—said they believed “support for transgender rights in government and society” had gone too far. Twenty-two percent said it had “been about right,” and another 22 percent said it had “not gone far enough.”

  Voters were roughly split on the topic of gender-related procedures, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, for minors under the age of 18 who identify as transgender. Forty-seven percent said they “strongly/somewhat favor” medical and surgical treatment for minors, while 52 percent said they “strongly/somewhat oppose” the procedures.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 21:45

• When Will The US Lose Its Last WWII Veterans?
  When Will The US Lose Its Last WWII Veterans?

  16 million Americans fought in the World War II, but today their ranks are rapidly dwindling. U.S. men and women who served in the conflict are now in their 90s (some are much older) with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimating that less than 70,000 remain alive today, a significant decline from the 930,000 alive in 2015 and more than two million five years earlier.

  As Statista’s Felix Richter reports, based on the best available Veteran data at the end of FY2023, the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics uses a deterministic projection model to estimate and project the veteran population for the next 30 years.

  Its findings show how the number of living WWII vets will rapidly decline over the coming years with the last ones expected to pass away in the early 2040s.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  The last American veteran of the First World War, Frank Buckles, passed away in February 2011, aged 110.

  World War II was the largest and deadliest conflict in human history claiming the lives of over 50 million combatants and civilians by the time it ended in 1945.

  More than 400,000 American service members died in the conflict, making it the deadliest war in America’s history as well.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 21:20

• Trump Allies Push Richard Grenell For Secretary Of State
  Trump Allies Push Richard Grenell For Secretary Of State

  Authored by Philip Wegmann via RealClearPolitics,

  Allies of Donald Trump are encouraging the president-elect to make the most of what he described as “an unprecedented and powerful mandate” by nominating a dyed-in-the-wool MAGA diplomat to serve as his secretary of state, rather than an America First convert as he did during his first term.

  Enter Richard Grenell.

  

  He is the former U.S. ambassador to Germany, who served previously as the acting director of national intelligence, and whose chief characteristic is an undying devotion to Trump. During the frenetic early days of the presidential transition, a number of names have already been floated, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty. Grenell, a firebrand whose name gives establishment foreign policy circles heartburn, is already lining up support from divergent corners of the GOP.

  “He would be a break from precedent in the same way that President Trump’s foreign policy worldviews are a break with precedent,” said Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who has discussed a Grenell nomination with the Trump transition team.

  The incoming president and his foreign policy players will soon confront a world on fire. There is a land war in Ukraine, which Trump has promised to end even before taking the oath of office. The president-elect has also vowed to bring peace to the Middle East by bringing the Israel-Gaza conflict to a close. Across the globe, meanwhile, an increasingly aggressive China threatens Western interests.

  Dealing with those challenges will begin by naming a top diplomat to take over the State Department, which Lee described in an interview with RealClearPolitics as a bureaucratic “can of worms.” Grenell is particularly suited to that kind of work, added South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, because he “knows where the bodies are buried.”

  While Grenell has his detractors, particularly those within the foreign policy establishment, Lee and Graham both point to not just his work in the Trump administration but also his time as a State Department spokesman assigned to the United Nations during the George W. Bush administration. Perhaps more important than any diplomatic credential is the fact that he maintains perfect Trump fluency.

  “You have got to have a secretary of state who understands the world from Trump’s viewpoint in terms of trying to expand alliances and end wars. The closer the person is to President Trump,” Graham told RCP, “probably the better view they have.”

  Graham, a longtime confidant of the former and future president, said that while every name he has heard floated would be “a good outstanding choice,” when it comes to Grenell, “there’s nobody, I think, who has been closer to President Trump since 2016.”

  Not everyone has been so sympatico with Trump. During his first term, the former president tapped Rex Tillerson, the CEO of ExxonMobil, to be his top diplomat only for the relationship to quickly sour. At times, Tillerson found himself out of step with and blindsided by his boss, like when Trump undercut the diplomat’s efforts to negotiate with North Korea by tweeting that his secretary of state was “wasting his time.” Tillerson was later fired.

  Testifying before the House Foreign Affairs in 2018 after losing his job, Tillerson was asked to describe Trump’s value. Replied the Texas oilman-turned-diplomat, “I cannot.”

  For his part, Grenell has never strayed from Trump’s orbit. “I could be wrong,” said a former senior Trump official granted anonymity because they are also being considered for a role in the next administration, “but I think the job is probably his.”

  The former ambassador remains a favorite of the Trump family, and for the last four years, he could often be seen in Mar-a-Lago at the former president’s side. Of particular importance, sources note, is the fact that Grenell “never wavered” after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Other than longtime aide and confidant Jason Miller, the former official said, Grenell has “probably been the most loyal for the longest time.” That devotion has paid dividends. Grenell was with Trump in September during a meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky.

  Senate Republicans are eager to replace Secretary of State Antony Blinken and put someone in his place who will shake up the department.

  “He does represent something new,” Lee said of Grenell and the MAGA doctrine he represents. “I think he sees that we have spent an unbelievable amount of money and expended a significant amount of American sweat, blood, and treasure on projects that are sometimes hard to tie back to an American success, or to outcomes that make that sacrifice fully worth it.”

  Grenell is similar in this thinking to Trump but also style, a fact that has raised plenty of ire, not just in Washington, D.C., but around the world. He often feuds with reporters on social media when he takes issue with their reporting. He even earned a rebuke from German officials for blurring the lines of diplomacy and politics when he told Breitbart News in 2018 that he wanted to “empower” the European right. But brashness is an asset in Trump World.

  “If you want to avoid war, you better have a son of a bitch as the secretary of state,” Grenell told the “Self Centered” podcast earlier this year. America needs a “tough” chief diplomat, he added, “who goes in to these tables and says: ‘Guys, if we don’t solve this here, if we don’t represent peace and figure out a tough way, I’ve got to take this file, go back to the United States and transfer it to the secretary of defense, who doesn’t negotiate. He’s going to bomb you.’”

  Those kinds of comments may have made a candidate like Grenell untenable in other administrations or even during the early Trump era. But the president-elect will soon have a Republican majority in the Senate to help grease the appointment process. And anti-Trump Republicans who might hamper the nomination, like Sen. Mitt Romney, are increasingly rare. Lee said that there is growing concern with nominating from within the GOP Senate chamber for fear of raiding the Republican bench at the time the White House would need them most. “We’ve got to be careful not to take senators out of commission,” he explained, “because we’re going to need all hands on deck.”

  Although Trump named Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff, he has not yet moved to fill his cabinet. Whoever he wants, predicted Graham, he will get.

  “We’re going to have at least 53 senators. And I’ve got no doubt that if he was nominated by President Trump, he would get confirmed,” Graham said of Grenell.

  Added Lee, “Grenell is in lockstep with President Trump. I can’t point to anything in his persona and his background that would make him wildly unacceptable to other people.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 20:55

• California's Shift To The Right Lost On Newsom
  California’s Shift To The Right Lost On Newsom

  Authored by Susan Crabtree via RealClearPolitics,

  California has entered a period of cognitive dissonance. Proposition 36, the state’s tough-on-crime proposal repudiating a decade of leniency, won in a landslide with 70% of the vote Tuesday. Voters are also now rejecting lenient progressive prosecutors – in the most direct way possible.

  

  Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, author of the 2014 ballot initiative most Republicans and many Democrats blame for the retail theft crime wave, previously survived two recalls over the past two years even when voters in San Francisco, one of the most liberal cities in the country, ousted his ally Chesa Boudin in 2022.

  But on Tuesday, former federal prosecutor and Republican-turned-independent Nathan Hochman soundly defeated Gascon 61.4% to 38%. Voters also appear poised to reject a ballot measure Newsom backed, increasing the minimum wage to $18 an hour. Another Democrat-backed measure aimed at bolstering apartment rent control failed Tuesday.

  Despite California’s tectonic shift to the right and the nation’s defeat of fellow San Francisco liberal Kamala Harris on Tuesday, it’s business as usual for Gov. Newsom and his hand-picked state Attorney General Rob Bonta. On Thursday, the pair anointed themselves the leaders of the Donald Trump resistance and protectors of California’s progressive values that the rest of the nation had just roundly rejected.

  Newsom appointed Bonta in 2021 when President Biden tapped Xavier Becerra, California’s former attorney general, as his Health and Human Services secretary. Newsom and Bonta have since forged a legal-legislative tag-team fighting for liberal causes and silencing their political opponents. The governor has used his bully pulpit to call special legislative sessions and push liberal measures in the Democratic super-majority controlled Assembly and state Senate while Bonta files lawsuits and civil rights investigations against their political adversaries.  

  In recent months, as Newsom has assailed oil and gas companies for “price-gouging,” Bonta has sued the industry for so-called “deceptive” practices on climate change. The attorney general has also used his office to try to stop pro-life groups and intimidate school boards who want teachers and administrators to notify parents when their children are gender transitioning in public schools.

  Newsom and Bonta held separate but obviously coordinated press conferences Thursday, positioning themselves as the protectors of “California values,” which they say Trump threatens. The two events seemed timed to bolster each man’s presumed ambitions for higher office. The term-limited Newsom deflected talk of a White House run while serving as Biden’s top surrogate before it all fell apart this summer and party elders chose Harris as the nominee.

  With that decision now fueling Democratic Party recriminations, Newsom is seizing on what he sees as an opening to elevate himself again to a national role – leader of the Trump resistance. The Bonta event the same day also sent a message to Harris that Bonta is Newsom’s hand-picked successor in next year’s already crowded governor’s race, so any effort by Harris to find a soft political landing spot as California governor would likely produce a bruising battle.

  It’s familiar ground for Newsom, who played the role of Trump’s foil during his last two years as president. During Trump’s first term, California sued the federal government over his past rules and regulatory actions more than 100 times, costing taxpayers more than $41 million in billable legal hours, according to Cal Matters. Newsom is using the same playbook, hoping it will boost his presidential chances, even though this time the national and even California’s political landscape has shifted significantly to the right.

  No matter to Newsom and Bonta, who on Thursday forged ahead with their plan, vowing to protect what they declared as the state’s top priorities of climate change, abortion rights, and shielding illegal immigrants from deportation.

  “The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack – and we won’t sit idle,” Newsom said. “California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond. We are prepared to fight in the courts, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the support and resources they need to thrive.”

  Meanwhile California Republicans, who number more than 6 million, and independents have set Trump on a glidepath to boost his popular vote margins once all votes are counted here, a process that could take days if not weeks to finalize. California’s vote-counting process extends so long because although county election officials can open and start processing vote-by-mail envelopes up to 29 days before Election Day, the results cannot be tallied until all polls close. In addition, vote-by-mail ballots postmarked on or before 8 p.m. on Election Day can arrive up to seven days afterward and be counted.

  California voters may play an even greater consequential role this election: Their vote in eight remaining too-close-to-call races could shift the balance of power in the House of Representatives. In 2020, California Republicans gained a total of four House seats, handing their party the House majority. They gained another seat in 2022.

  Of the nine California House races expected to be competitive this year, two have been called for Republicans. Another, expected to be a slam dunk for Democrats, emerged as a hotly contested race Tuesday night.

  On Thursday, Rep. David Valadao was declared the winner in a rematch of the 2022 race for California’s 22nd District in the agricultural Central Valley (against former Assemblyman Rudy Salas), even though Kamala Harris is expected to carry the district. Valadao is one of two remaining House Republicans who voted for Trump’s impeachment following the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol.

  Republican Rep. Young Kim also won solidly in Southern California’s 40th District against Democrat challenger Joe Kerr, a retired fire captain. Kim topped Kerr 56.4% to 43.6%. 

  In the Central Valley’s 21st District, Democratic Rep. Jim Costa, who managed to win 10 congressional races in a row, now finds himself in a highly competitive race against challenger Michael Maher, a military veteran, former FBI agent, and business owner. With 62% of the votes in, Costa leads Maher by just 1.2%.

  There are seven other highly competitive congressional races across the state. Currently Republicans lead in six, though two are ahead by less than 2% with a significant portion of the vote still uncounted. One of those is an open Orange County seat previously held by Rep. Katie Porter, who lost her Senate primary race to fellow Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff. On Tuesday, Schiff handily won his Senate race against Republican Steve Garvey, 57.6% to 42.4%. 

  While California Democrats still have a big advantage in state-wide elected offices, Republicans have been making down-ticket gains since 2020. Aside from the public backlash on crime, there are also tactical reasons for renewed GOP success across the state.

  During California GOP Chair Jessica Millan Patterson’s time in office, Republicans have seen an increase of 800,000 in voter registration. Those gains flipped the majority of registrations from Democrats to the GOP in two of the most competitive House races – the 27th District previously represented by Porter, and the 41st District, where Rep. Ken Calvert, the longest serving California Republican in the House, is locked in a tight battle against former federal prosecutor Will Rollins.

  Ric Grenell, Trump’s former Director of National Intelligence and a name frequently mentioned for a position in the new administration, has been diligently working since 2021 with his group Fix California to register voters across the state.

  Patterson also credited Orange County Party Chairman Fred Whitaker, who launched a “Reclamation Project” to increase GOP voter registration in a now purple county that was once a Republican stronghold.

  “There’s been a lot of wonderful partners in this,” Patterson told RealClearPolitics Tuesday night, noting that Whitaker has done “an amazing job bringing former Republicans back to the party.”

  Unlike in 2016 and 2020 when Trump was considered a drag on Republicans in California, Patterson said Trump this year helped boost GOP support in key races.

  “I was talking to one member just the other day and President Trump had lost his district by about 13 points [in 2020],” she said. “Trump is now running even in their polling. So, we have a very, very great opportunity with Trump at the top of the ticket to turn out voters who wouldn’t otherwise turn out.”

  In the 2021 recall election against Newsom, there were 2.1 million people who voted for Trump in 2020 but didn’t turn out to vote for the failed referendum against the governor.

  “We are reaching these people, plus the new ones who are sick and tired of what Democrats have been serving up here in California,” Patterson said.

  Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics’ national political correspondent.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 20:30

• The Cost Of Owning A Home Is Soaring
  The Cost Of Owning A Home Is Soaring

  Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

  The soaring costs of home ownership are changing the metrics of unaffordability in important ways.

  We all know that buying a house is now unaffordable, but owning a house is increasingly unaffordable, too. Gordon Long and I have laid out the sobering explosion of the costs of homeownership, a rise that shows no signs of slowing, much less reversing.

  It would be nice to attribute it all to one source or one villain, but alas, it isn’t that easy. Costs are rising across the board for many reasons, none of which are reversible by enacting a policy tweak or two.

  For context, let’s start with inflation since 2020 and the cost of buying a house. Truflation pegs the aggregate inflation (a.k.a. loss of the purchasing power of the US dollar in our domestic economy) at 26% since January 2020. All else being equal, we would expect the cost of housing to have risen by about 25%.

  But according to the Case-Shiller national housing index, which tracks the purchase prices paid for each house over time, housing costs rose an eye-watering 45% since January 2020, as the index soared from 220 to 320.

  Traditionally, the primary cost of home ownership everyone tracks is the mortgage payment, the famous monthly nut of principal and interest, which of course goes up with the purchase price and the interest rate of the mortgage.

  As we all know, both the purchase price and the interest rate have gone up significantly, pushing the mortgage payment as a percentage of median household income up to levels that exceed the previous peak in Housing Bubble #1 circa 2006-08.

  

  If inflationary pressures remain elevated and the bond market isn’t buying the “inflation is fading” story, then mortgage rates might not drop even if the Federal Reserve cuts the Fed Funds Rate.

  

  But the mortgage payment isn’t the only cost of owning a home. All the other costs that were relatively affordable in decades past are now skyrocketing. Gordon listed the six basic categories of home ownership expenses: mortgage, property taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance and repair and home-related services.

  

  Anecdotally, we’re hearing accounts of basic home insurance jumping from $3,000 to $13,000 annually in high-risk regions. We’re also hearing of insurers abandoning high-risk areas and entire states, leaving homeowners with few options for insurance. In response, some homeowners are “self-insuring,” i.e. they have dropped insurance coverage.

  The problem with this option is that should the worst-case scenario come to pass, as a general rule the federal disaster relief agencies will pony up a maximum of $40,000 to the uninsured–far from enough to rebuild or repair a severely damaged house.

  

  Insurers are not in the charity business. Once their losses run into the billions of dollars, they jack up rates to restore profitability. Recall that insurance is a global enterprise, and so the cost of our insurance is partly based on the cost of the reinsurance the big carriers purchase globally. If reinsurance rates rise, everyone’s rates rise accordingly.

  

  Unsurprisingly, homeowners are responding by raising the deductibles in their policy to lower the annual cost. This is a hybrid of “self-insurance,” as homeowners with high deductibles have to have the cash in hand to fund the cost of repairs up to the deductible ceiling.

  

  If you think the rise in the price of groceries is eye-popping, check out property tax increases, which are pushing 30% nationally. Since local governments depend on property taxes for a significant percentage of their revenues, we can expect these taxes to remain “sticky” even if housing valuations decline.

  

  The costs of maintenance and repair are soaring as well as the costs of construction materials and labor have increased, along with the other costs of doing business. Just as the cost of a sandwich or burger seems to be about $15 everywhere, the cost of any home project other than fixing a leaky faucet seems to be $10,000 or more now: tree pruning: $10K, roof repair, $10K, and so on.

  The soaring costs of home ownership are changing the metrics of unaffordability in important ways. It’s not just the initial purchase price that defines what’s affordable and what isn’t; so too do the costs of owning the house after our name is on the property tax rolls.

  *  *  *

  Become a $3/month patron of my work via patreon.com.

  Subscribe to my Substack for free

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 20:05

• These Are The Ten Most Traded Currencies With The US Dollar
  These Are The Ten Most Traded Currencies With The US Dollar

  Each day, billions of dollars are traded on the global foreign exchange (FX) market. The U.S. dollar (USD) is involved in 88% of all trades and makes up 58% of global currency reserves. But which currencies are most frequently paired with the dollar in these transactions?

  In collaboration with OANDA, this graphic, Visual Capitalist’s Julia Wendling offers a clear visual breakdown of the top currencies traded alongside the USD.

  

  The data is based on daily transaction volumes from the New York Fed’s April 2024 FX Volume Survey.

  FX Trading: The Most Traded Currencies Against the USD

  At an average volume of $93.3 billion per day, the euro was the most-traded currency against the USD in April 2024.

  

  The Japanese yen took the second place spot, followed by the Canadian dollar. Both currencies saw a large increase in daily transactions from last year. The daily trading volume for the Japanese yen-USD pair rose by $12.0 billion over this period. Similarly, the volume of the Canadian dollar-USD pair increased by $13.8 billion.

  Other Takeaways

  Despite being the world’s second largest economy, trading of Chinese yuan remains relatively low. With a daily transaction volume of $10.6 billion, the renminbi ranked #10 on the list. Three of its peers in Asia outranked the Chinese yuan—the Japanese yen (#2), the Hong Kong dollar (#8), and the Singapore dollar (#9).

  Free trade agreements boosted the foreign exchange flows between the USD and the Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, Mexican peso, and Singapore dollar.

  FX Trading Doesn’t Have to Be Complex

  Trading on the FX market can be intimidating. Understanding who the key players are can help bring clarity to investors. Learning how to manage risk, having a trading plan, and understanding price movements are also important.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 19:40

• Trump Taps Rep. Mike Waltz For NatSec, Lee Zeldin As Head Of EPA
  Trump Taps Rep. Mike Waltz For NatSec, Lee Zeldin As Head Of EPA

  President-elect Donald Trump has picked Florida Rep. Mike Waltz to be his White House national security adviser, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the discussion.

  

  Waltz, a Green Beret veteran who served in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa, won’t require Senate confirmation, and will step right in the middle of Trump’s vow to end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

  In September of 2023, Waltz said in a Fox News op-ed, “The era of Ukraine’s blank check from Congress is over,” suggesting that future aid packages should have accountability and ensure strategic use of resources.

  Waltz also pushed for US allies to pay their fair share.

  We need this administration to bring our allies to meet their pledge to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense now, today. Unfortunately, Biden’s diplomacy seems to be lagging. The largest European states consistently fail to meet that benchmark, pledged at the 2014 NATO summit in Wales shortly after Russia’s last Ukraine invasion.  

  Germany, the largest economy in Europe and the most pivotal balancer to Russia, pulled back at the last minute from enshrining the two percent annual commitment into law. That needs to change – the administration cannot expect American taxpayers to pay for European security indefinitely.

  He also recommended that the US match “the dollar value of any aid it gives to Ukraine with securing the southern border.”

  Earlier this month, Waltz suggested that the Biden administration’s anti-carbon stance is “fueling the Russian war machine.”

  “And the reality is, they are constraining our oil and gas and forcing the world to buy from the likes of Venezuela, from Iran, and from Russia.”

  That said…

  Please say this is not so @realDonaldTrump? It seems Waltz’s policy is almost exactly opposite of what you spoke of on the campaign trail? Have you checked with your advisors like @DonaldJTrumpJr @TuckerCarlson @JDVance? https://t.co/oRA9cRRMHS

  — Scottie Nell Hughes (@scottienhughes) November 12, 2024

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

  Meanwhile, former Rep. Lee Zeldin has been picked to head up the EPA. As Zachary Stieber of the Epoch Times notes; Zeldin (R-N.Y.) will join the second administration of President-elect Donald Trump as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Trump announced on Nov. 11.

  “Lee, with a very strong legal background, has been a true fighter for America First policies,” Trump told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet. He will set new standards on environmental review and maintenance that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.”

  

  “It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator,” Zeldin wrote on the social media platform X.

  “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.”

  Multiple individuals served as the EPA’s administrator during Trump’s first term, including Scott Pruitt and Andrew Wheeler. The current administrator is Michael Regan, who was appointed by President Joe Biden and has been in office since March 21, 2021.

  Zeldin’s appointment will need to be approved by the U.S. Senate, which will be controlled by Republicans starting in January 2025, before he becomes administrator.

  Zeldin, 44, represented New York’s 1st Congressional District, which includes most of Long Island, in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2015 to 2023. Zeldin opted against running for another term and instead ran for governor of New York. He won the GOP primary but lost to Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, by about 378,000 votes out of 5.9 million cast, including a majority of the vote outside New York City.

  Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), who now represents the district, said on X: “Lee Zeldin’s vision for the EPA focuses on economic growth while protecting our environment. His plan to restore energy dominance, create jobs, and protect clean air & water makes him an ideal choice to lead the EPA.”

  More recently, Zeldin has chaired the China Policy Initiative and Pathway to 2025 at the America First Policy Institute.

  Prior to his time in Congress, Zeldin was in the U.S. Army and deployed to Iraq. He then served in the state Senate before becoming a congressman.

  Zeldin’s votes on climate proposals include, in addition to all other House Republicans, voting against the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which included funding for improving the supply of water in western states.

  Zeldin has a 14 percent score from the League of Conservation Voters, an advocacy group, due to his voting record. The group in the past criticized Trump’s first administration over its positions on the environment and climate, and poured $115 million into the effort to elect Vice President Kamala Harris.

  Continue reading at the Epoch Times

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 19:15

• Which Is The Fastest US Fast-Food-Chain (By Drive-Thru Time)
  Which Is The Fastest US Fast-Food-Chain (By Drive-Thru Time)

  In 2023, America’s fast-food industry reached $388 billion, expanding by 66% over the past decade.

  In an industry defined by speed and accuracy, customers order in high volumes while restaurants average 5-8% profit margins. Earning customer loyalty often hinges on quality and consistency, especially as people are cutting down on eating out amid inflationary pressures.

  This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld, shows the fastest drive-thru chains, based on data from the annual InTouch Insight Drive-Thru Study 2024.

  

  Taco Bell is the Fastest Drive-Thru in 2024

  Below, we rank 10 fast food chains by their total drive-thru time in 2024. To analyze drive-thru times, the study captured data through 165 unannounced visits for each restaurant by mystery shoppers, in locations across America.

  

  For the second year in a row, Taco Bell tops the list, with wait times half that of Chick-fil-A, at just over four minutes.

  Following closely behind is KFC, but with higher order accuracy at 89%, compared to 85% for Taco Bell. Both companies are owned by Yum! Brands, which has a $32 billion market capitalization as of October 2024.

  However, it’s worth noting that part of the reason these companies were top-ranking was due to a lower volume of cars in drive-thru lines.

  While average wait times were the longest for Chick-fil-A and McDonald’s, they both tied for the highest order accuracy, at 93%. Moreover, Chick-fil-A ranked first overall by fastest total time by car, reflecting the highest efficiency across chains.

  Overall, average drive-thru times across chains fell to five minutes and 29 seconds compared with six minutes and 13 seconds in 2022 as companies seek to win over increasingly cost-conscious customers.

  Fast Food Chain Prices are Outpacing Inflation

  How do fast food chains compare when it comes to price increases?

  Since 2019, prices at McDonald’s have risen by 40%, more than double U.S. inflation. This has boosted the company’s operating profits until March 2024, when they missed expectations.

  Furthermore, McDonald’s price increases exceed other chains over the past decade. The average price across 10 items has ballooned 100% since 2014, outpacing Taco Bell (81%), Arby’s (55%), and Chick-fil-A (55%).

  To learn more about this topic from a global perspective, check out this graphic on the price of a Big Mac around the world.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 18:50

• In Honor Of Veteran's Day: The Butterfly Effect
  In Honor Of Veteran’s Day: The Butterfly Effect

  To honor Veterans’s Day,  we are reposting Globla Macro Monitor’s June 2017 butterfly piece, which illustrates how sleepwalking can lead the world into a war that nobody wants.

  

  History’s Biggest “Butterfly Effect” Occurred On This Day

  The butterfly effect is the concept that small causes can have large effects. Initially, it was used with weather prediction but later the term became a metaphor used in and out of science.

  In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state. The name, coined by Edward Lorenz for the effect which had been known long before, is derived from the metaphorical example of the details of a tornado (exact time of formation, exact path taken) being influenced by minor perturbations such as the flapping of the wings of a distant butterfly several weeks earlier. Lorenz discovered the effect when he observed that runs of his weather model with initial condition data that was rounded in a seemingly inconsequential manner would fail to reproduce the results of runs with the unrounded initial condition data. A very small change in initial conditions had created a significantly different outcome.  — Wikipedia

  On this day in history, June 28, 1914, the driver for Archduke Franz Ferdinand,  nephew of Emperor Franz Josef and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire,  made a wrong turn onto Franzjosefstrasse in Sarajevo.

  Just hours earlier, Franz Ferdinand narrowly escaped assassination as a bomb bounced off  his car as he and his wife,  Sophie,  traveled from the local train station to the city’s civic city.   Rather than making the wrong turn onto Franz Josef  Street, the car was supposed to travel on the river expressway allowing for a higher speed ensuring the Archduke’s safety.

  Yet, somehow, the driver made a fatal mistake and tuned onto Franz Josef Street.

  The 19-year-old anarchist and Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, who was part of a small group who had traveled to Sarajevo to kill the Archduke,  and a cohort of the earlier bomb thrower, was on his way home thinking the plot had failed.   He stopped for a sandwich on Franz Josef Street.

  Seeing the driver of the Archduke’s car trying to back up onto the river expressway, Princi seized the opportunity and fired into the car, shooting Franz Ferdinand and Sophie at point-blank range,  killing both.

  That small wrong turn,  a minor perturbation to the initial conditions, or deviation from the original plan,  set off the chain events that led to World War I.

  

  Stumbling Into The Great War

  Fearing Russian support of Serbia, Franz Josef would not retaliate by invading Serbia unless he was assured he had the backing of Germany.   It is uncertain as to whether the Kaiser gave Franz Josef Germany’s unequivocal support.   Russia, fearing Germany would intervene, mobilized its troops forcing Germany’s hand.

  The great European powers thus stumbled into a war they didn’t want through complicated entanglements and alliances, and miscalculation.  Russia backing Serbia;  France aligned with Russia,  Germany backing the Austro-Hungarian Empire;  and Britian, who really didn’t have a dog in the fight except her economic interests, aligned with France and Russia.

  Later the U.S. would enter the war due to Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare threatening American merchant ships and the Kaiser floating the idea of an alliance with Mexico in the famous Zimmerman Telegram, which was intercepted by the British.

  Of course, some will argue that Great War in Europe was inevitable

  The great Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck, the man most responsible for the unification of Germany in 1871, was quoted as saying at the end of his life that “One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.” It went as he predicted.

  – History.com

  Nevertheless,  maybe the course of history would have been different if not for that wrong turn on June 28, 1914, which created the humongous butterfly effect, which we still experience the consequences this very day.

  The botched Treaty of Versailles  sowed the seeds the for World II.  The War contributed to the Russian revolution and Cold War.  The redrawing of borders in the Middle East after the War created the conditions for the instability and breakdown to tribalism the region experiences today.

  A map marked with crude chinagraph-pencil in the second decade of the 20th Century shows the ambition – and folly – of the 100-year old British-French plan that helped create the modern-day Middle East.

  Straight lines make uncomplicated borders. Most probably that was the reason why most of the lines that Mark Sykes, representing the British government, and Francois Georges-Picot, from the French government, agreed upon in 1916 were straight ones.

  – BBC News

  If Franz Ferdinand had not been murdered on this day in history,  that conflict between the Serbs and the Austro-Hungarian Empire may have been contained to just the Balkans.   Maybe.

  The butterfly effect.  Think how many small events, decisions, mistakes, one small turn, or “minor perturbations” in plans have had enormous consequences in your own personal life.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 18:25

• DC Swamp Draining May Spark Recessionary Pain For Region
  DC Swamp Draining May Spark Recessionary Pain For Region

  President-elect Donald Trump plans to make Elon Musk “secretary of cost-cutting” to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in slashing $2 trillion from the federal budget—about a third of what the bloated federal government spent in the latest fiscal year. This once-in-a-generation initiative will cut thousands of federal workers and reduce or even eliminate the vast cancerous bureaucracy with a new small government led by capable leaders.

  Musk wrote in an X post on Sunday night that this shock-and-awe approach will have “obstacles overcoming the Kafkaesque nature of the rules governing this vast bureaucracy and ensuring that maniacally dedicated small-government revolutionaries join this administration. ” 

  Musk was responding to Vivek Ramaswamy’s X post, “We won & now have a once-in-a-century opportunity to radically downsize the size, scope, and mission of the federal government. And the top obstacle to our success won’t even be the Democrats.” 

  Indeed, the obstacles are overcoming the Kafkaesque nature of the rules governing this vast bureaucracy and ensuring that maniacally dedicated small-government revolutionaries join this administration! https://t.co/ObfnIeuTXa

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 11, 2024

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

  Trump is less than three months away from implementing his plan to ‘Make America Great Again’… and thousands of federal workers across DC, Northern Virginia, and Baltimore region have been put on notice for potential job loss.

  

  A recent report by the Washington Post showed that approximately 15% of the 2.19 million civilian full-time federal employees in the US (data from 2023), or about 328,500, live in Northern Virginia, suburban Maryland, and even a touch of West Virginia. 

  

  The other 85% work elsewhere around the country. 

  

  More recent figures show that figure is as high as 373,000 in the Virginia, DC, and Maryland region. These job cuts could spark economic turmoil and reshape the DC landscape—or the beginnings of draining the swamp. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 18:00

• In Short, These Are Dangerous Times…
  In Short, These Are Dangerous Times…

  Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

  Mysteries Revealed

  “People in the media are aware of how illegitimately they’ve done their jobs that they think they’re on the verge of being locked up”

  – Scott Adams

  You must admit, it’s a little spooky how quickly and rigorously Mr. Trump intends to deconstruct those parts of the government at war with the people:

  • clean out “rogue bureaucrats,”

  • firehose the malignant agencies,

  • release and expose their document trails on spying, censorship, lawfare, and abuse-of-power.

  The consequence would be the return of consequence in our national life.

  It’s been absent for so long you can hardly imagine its power to get people’s minds right.

  

  There are already reports of frenzy among the culpable DOJ lawyers, and FBI Director Wray is set to resign before Mr. Trump can fire him. Attorney General Merrick Garland has gone radio-silent for his own good since Election Day. Expect many abiding mysteries to get unraveled, such as exactly how many federal agents did work the crowd around the Capitol on J-6, 2021 — which Mr. Wray has pretended to not be able to discuss “due to ongoing investigations.” Expect to learn more about the pipe-bomb caper at the DNC HQ a few blocks away that same day. Prepare to be amazed at how deeply criminal these schemes were. You must wonder if the document-shredding party is already underway, despite calls to preserve all the emails, memos, and texts.

  Then there are the poisoned realms of the intel blob located at CIA, DHS, State, DOD, and elsewhere being subject to inquiry and overhaul.

  Think: John Brennan, James Clapper, Bill Barr, Michael Atkinson, Mayorkas, Judge Boasberg, Mary McCord, Col. Vindman, Senator Warner, Avril Haines, Victoria Nuland, Samantha Power, Gina Haspel, Marie Yovanovitch, Jen Easterly, all their deputies, and many more unknown to the public. Some of these names may yet seem obscure to you. They were all neck-deep in what looks a lot like sedition, treason, real conspiracies, not theories. Even state officials such as New York AG Letitia James, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, and Fulton County, GA, DA Fani Willis, would be subject to federal charges under 18USC Section 242: willful deprivation of constitutional rights acting under color of law. That is exactly what the Trump lawfare cases amounted to.

  And then, of course, there are the long-running rumors of pedophilia and human trafficking networks among the elite, the Jeffrey Epstein list and the P. Diddy list. If these things exist, and they are released, history would shudder.

  Think: the Clinton Foundation.

  These people are looking ahead 70 days with visions of shoes dropping and hammers falling. If the mysteries are revealed, it’s hard to imagine that criminal proceedings would not be far behind. You can also imagine that the motivation across a broad and powerful elite class runs white-hot to stop Mr. Trump from entering the Oval Office. So, these days ahead will be fraught with threats, schemes, plots, ploys, and deceptions. The paranoia must be out of this world among people who still have the resources and hold the levers-of-power needed to undertake nefarious deeds.

  There is chatter about “a coup” being considered among as-yet-unnamed parties in the Pentagon to prevent Mr. Trump from rising back into power. It’s unclear how that would work among our high command of transsexual generals and admirals and their hapless DEI adjutants. The strata of colonels benath them might have different ideas. But it could be the starting gun for actual civil war. We would find out what the Second Amendment is all about. “Joe Biden” likes to say that the citizenry can’t go up against his F-16 war-planes, but he evidently does not understand how much mischief can be made with small arms — rifles, grenades, rockets, drones — despite examples of it all over the world lately. That is hypothetical for now, of course.

  In short, these are dangerous times.

  Mr. Trump would be advised to stay out of airplanes until inauguration day and to be extra-careful who he puts himself around, especially in public. You also must expect more lawfare of the most extreme sort going forward to January, every possible stone unturned to find procedural tricks to prevent certification of the election. Do you think Norm Eisen, Marc Elias, and Andrew Weissmann just laid back and watched football this weekend? They are probably quarterbacking efforts to finagle ballots for the remaining contested seats in Congress, in order to game-out Rep. Jamie Raskin’s well-publicized block-Trump play this coming Jan. 6.

  These are the darkest and most explosive parts of Mr. Trump’s admirably deep to-do list for fixing the many things that have stopped working in American life. The simplest picture of our current predicament, and why people voted as they did, is of “things going in the wrong direction,” Well, what direction is that, exactly? The tyranny of giant forces over our little lives and communities. It’s a leviathan government seeking to invade and dominate everything — and to do it with maximum malice when resisted. It has left American men and women mentally disordered, demoralized, stolen their sense of purpose, deprived them of roles in society that provide meaning, alienated them from each other, and from their history. And it has left them, as Robert Kennedy points out, catastrophically unhealthy.

  All of which is to say, we have more to clean up and reorganize than just our government. We’re going to get it done, you may be sure, even if the zeitgeist has to drag us kicking and screaming out of the malaise we’re stuck in. All of this points to some very different new arrangements to be made in our everyday life, beginning with the realization that the era of getting something-for-nothing is over.

  *  *  *

  Note to Readers: We are finally rebuilding the Kunstler.com website on Substack — which was taken-down a month ago on another host platform by nefarious parties

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 17:40

• California Tightens Climate Fuel Rules That Could Add $0.50/Gallon To Gas Prices
  California Tightens Climate Fuel Rules That Could Add $0.50/Gallon To Gas Prices

  Despite the incoming Trump administration’s likely move to deregulate all things EV, that isn’t necessarily going to stop California from continuing down its ‘green’ agenda path.

  And people wonder why there’s exodus from the state to places like Texas and Florida?

  Last week, the California Air Resources Board voted to amend the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which requires fuel producers exceeding carbon targets to buy credits from low- or zero-carbon suppliers, according to Bloomberg. 

  The updated rules accelerate target reductions, despite concerns over affordability as the state faces rising housing and energy costs. Governor Gavin Newsom is grappling with the economic strain on the nation’s largest state economy amidst this push for stricter climate measures.

  Its a move that is projected to raise gas prices by nearly 50 cents per gallon.

  

  Chair Liane Randolph commented: “We cannot afford to continue with the status quo. The health and economic impacts of these events are vastly underestimated.”

  The Bloomberg report says that consumer advocates are concerned after a report last year suggested California’s gas prices could rise by 47 cents per gallon in 2025, driven partly by the state’s unique, eco-friendly fuel requirements and high taxes.

  Currently, Californians pay an average of $4.29 per gallon—$1.22 above the national average, the report says. 

  Though the air board’s staff later revised this estimate without providing a new figure, the urgency of climate action pushed board Chair Liane Randolph to proceed, despite political calls for a delay.

  Meanwhile, Governor Newsom, clashing with the oil industry over soaring gas prices, recently signed a law mandating minimum fuel inventories to stabilize prices and established a watchdog to scrutinize potential price-gouging.

  Next time a Democrat argues they are fighting inflation, remind them of this genius move. This is the opposite of fighting inflation.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 17:20

• Resistance 2.0: Why The Campaign Against Trump Is Different This Time
  Resistance 2.0: Why The Campaign Against Trump Is Different This Time

  Authored by Jonathan Turley,

  The single most common principle of recovery programs is that the first step is to admit that you have a problem.

  

  That first step continues to elude the politicians and pundits who unsuccessfully pushed lawfare and panic politics for years.

  That includes prosecutors like New York Attorney General Letitia James and politicians like Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who affirmed this week that they will be redoubling, not reconsidering, their past positions.

  For its part, The Washington Post quickly posted an editorial titled “The second resistance to Trump must start now.” They may, however, find the resistance more challenging both politically and legally this time around.

  It is important to note at the outset that there is no reason Democratic activists should abandon their values just because they lost this election. Our system is strengthened by passionate and active advocacy.

  Rather, it is the collective fury and delirium of the post-election protests that was so disconcerting. Pundits lashed out at the majority of voters, insisting that the election established that half of the nation is composed of racists, misogynists or domination addicts who long to submit to tyranny.

  Others blamed free speech and the fact that social media allows “disinformation” to be read by ignorant voters. In other words, the problem could not possibly be themselves. It was, rather, the public, which refused to listen.

  That does not bode well for the Democratic Party. As someone raised in a liberal politically active family in Chicago, I had hoped for greater introspection after this election blowout.

  Ordinarily, recovery can begin with “a terrible experience” when someone hits rock bottom.

  After a crushing electoral defeat and the loss of the White House and likely both houses of Congress, one would think that Democrats would be ready for that first step to recovery. However, those hoping for a new leaf on the left do not understand the true addictive hold of rage.

  In my recent book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I explore rage and our long history of rage politics. There is a certain release that comes with rage in allowing people to do and say things that you would never do or say. People rarely admit it, but they like it. It is the ultimate high produced by the lowest form of political discourse.

  Over the course of the last eight years, the U.S. has become a nation of rage addicts.

  For months, Democratic leaders denounced Donald Trump and his supporters as fascists and neo-Nazis. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and others suggested that democracy itself was about to die unless Democrats were kept in power.

  Just before the election, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called those voting for Trump “anti-American.” By Hochul’s measure, over half of the American electorate is now “anti-American.”

  James is the face of lawfare. She may have done more to reelect Trump than anyone other than the president himself. She ran on nailing Trump on something, anything. In New York, she was joined by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in this ill-conceived effort. They fulfilled the narrative of a weaponized legal system. Every new legal action seemed to produce another surge in polling for Trump.

  Yet there James was, soon after the election, with another press conference promising again to unleash the powers of her office to stop Trump’s policies.

  Then there was Pritzker, doing the community theater version of “The Avengers” and declaring, “You come for my people, you come through me.”

  New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) added that he too will “fight to the death” against Trump’s agenda.

  Rather than lower the rhetoric, these rage-addicts ran out for another hit.

  Our prior periods of rage politics were largely ended by the public in major election shifts like the one this month. Things, however, are different this time around both politically and legally. The problem for the resistance is the very democracy that they claimed to be saving.

  Democrats lost after opposing policies supported by an astonishing share of the public at a time of deep political division. That effort included opposing voter ID laws favored by 84 percent of the public, among other things.

  They are now committed to opposing policies central to this election blowout, including deportations of illegal immigrants, which is favored in some polls by two-thirds of Americans.

  Likewise, Democrats have already doubled down on attacks on free speech, including blaming their loss on the absence of sufficient censorship. On MSNBC, host Mika Brzezinski blamed the loss in part on “massive disinformation.” Yet, according to some polls, free speech ranked as high as second among issues on Election Day.

  According to CNN, Trump’s performance was the best among young people (18-29 years old) in 20 years, the best among Black voters in 48 years, and the best among Hispanic voters in more than 50 years.

  Harris actually lost a bit of support with women, and Trump won handily among some groups of women.

  None of that seems to matter this time. We have an alliance of political media and academic interests wholly untethered to the views of most of the public. Yet, with both houses of Congress under Republican control, the investigations and impeachment efforts that hounded Trump throughout his first term will be less of a threat in his second term.

  For that reason, the center of gravity of the “second resistance” will shift to Democratic prosecutors like James, Bragg and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was just reelected.

  Various Democratic governors are also pledging to thwart Trump’s policies despite the results of the election.

  The “second resistance” will try to use state power to oppose the very issues and policies that led to this historic political shift. That means that there will be a legal shift in the focus of litigation to inherent federal powers versus state powers. That battle will favor the Trump administration.

  In fairness to these Democratic politicians, they are certainly free to go to the courts, as Republicans did under Biden to argue for limitations on federal powers. But the promise of California Gov. Gavin Newsom to “Trump-proof” the state is easier to make rhetorically than it will be to keep legally.

  Indeed, Trump will be able to cite a curious ally in this fight: Barack Obama. It was Obama who successfully swatted down state efforts to pursue their own policies and programs on immigration enforcement. Obama insisted that state laws were preempted in the area and the Supreme Court largely agreed in its 2012 decision in Arizona v. U.S.

  Congress may even seek to tie the receipt of federal funds to states cooperating with federal mandates. For this reason, Democrats, who campaigned on the promise to end the filibuster for the good of democracy, suddenly became firm believers in that Senate rule right around 2:30 a.m. last Wednesday.

  As the majority of the country walks away from the party shaking their heads, many activists are left only with their rage. Instead of reappraising the years of far-left orthodoxy and intolerance, some are calling to tear down the system or take drastic individual actions, including for women to break up with their boyfriends and husbands or to cut off their hair.

  They will actually keep their rage and dump their relationships. Now that really is an addiction.

  Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.” 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 17:00

• Subprime Consumers Feel All The Pain Ahead Of Spending Holidays
  Subprime Consumers Feel All The Pain Ahead Of Spending Holidays

  Working-poor households are still under pressure in a weak demand environment because of persistent inflation and high interest rates. Goldman’s latest note on the consumer shows a continued mixed picture, with the holiday shopping season of Black Friday just weeks away. 

  Goldman’s Michelle Cheng and Xinyu Ruan pointed out the continued weak consumer demand environment:

  US: recent data points to a weak demand backdrop. US October TRE (The Weekly Chain Store Sales Index) was -0.9% vs -0.6% in Sep; same-store ShopperTrak traffic was -5.0% in the last week of Oct.

  Our US colleagues find a mixed picture of consumer credit health, with household balance sheets remaining largely unlevered but personal savings rates declining well below long-term averages, credit delinquency rates rising yoy across cards, personal loans and auto loans, credit origination volumes at historically depressed levels and average FICO scores ticking lower for the first time in years – with pressure concentrated among subprime consumers. Softer consumer credit trends among subprime consumers are also translating into reduced spending activity among lower-income cohorts.

  Similar to past quarters, consumers have remained careful in their spending decisions, as discretionary spend has continued to be soft. Below data points show recent sentiment for the lowest income consumer continues to be under pressure, with both purchase intent and consumer confidence below historical levels. That said, consumer confidence trends have recently improved across income demographics, which could potentially be reflective of a change in consumer sentiment and expectations.

  The trend shows that working-poor households have been dialing back spending—or have hit a proverbial brick wall since the spring, as many financially drown in Biden-Harris’ inflation storm. 

  

   Not a great combo here…

  

  In recent weeks, we have noted:

  • US Working Poor Hit By “Weaker Credit Metrics & Mixed Confidence” As Black Friday Nears

  • Goldman Finds “Trade-Down Phenomenon” Strikes Rich & Poor Consumers

  One of the biggest drivers for voters backing Trump was inflation. AP found that high prices were the number one concern for about half of all Trump voters.

  

  Meanwhile, Democrats were trying to make the election theme all about women’s rights. Now comes the hard part for Trump in solving the nightmare inflation storm sparked by far-left liberals.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 16:40

• Let's Give Veterans The Post-Election Attention They Deserve
  Let’s Give Veterans The Post-Election Attention They Deserve

  Authored by Jim Gash via RealClearPolitics,

  After what has felt like years of non-stop campaigning, news coverage, polling, analysis, and predictions, our nation finally elected its 47th president. Sadly, the sharp, sometimes heated disagreement and discord of the campaign season didn’t end on Election Day. 

  We had hoped matters would be settled and the pace and temperature of the conversation might abate, but alas, here we are. Yet, even in the wake of a raucous election, we cannot overlook our nation’s annual celebration of the brave men and women who fought for our freedom – including the right to vote.

  This year, we cannot forget Veterans Day.

  

  A Day to Remember 

  On November 11, 1918, the Allied forces agreed to an armistice with Germany. This was seven months before the signing of the Treaty of Versailles that formally ended World War I, but in some ways November 11 was the more significant day.

  On that day, 106 years ago, the fighting finally came to an end. Peace had triumphed and good had conquered evil. But at a dear and devastating cost. During the course of the war, an estimated 8.5 million combatants and 13 million civilians were killed, making it by far the bloodiest war in history at the time. 

  And after over four years of fighting, it came to an end on that Monday in November, which is why we still celebrate Veterans Day on November 11.

  A Legacy of Bravery

  On Veterans Day, we not only honor those who bravely served this country in WWI. We also remember all the veterans who have sacrificed for our freedom and those who continue to ensure we can enjoy that freedom today. 

  The U.S. Census Bureau reported in 2023 that there were 16.2 million veterans living in the United States. That’s over 6% of the nation’s population. Since 1775, however, when the Continental Army was created, over 41 million men and women have served in some capacity.

  Whenever needs on foreign or domestic soil have developed, Americans have risen to the occasion and served with courage. It is their legacy that we remember and honor on Veterans Day. It is their lives and sacrifice that deserve our reverence.

  But this year, their legacy is in danger of being forgotten and overlooked.

  Lest We Forget

  This year, Veterans Day is just six days after the presidential election. And if the months leading up to Nov. 5 are anything to go by, the election and its aftermath will continue to dominate headlines and capture the attention of the nation. 

  While understandable, the dominance of such political commentary has tremendous potential to overshadow the heroes we celebrate on Veterans Day. 

  Simply put, that cannot be allowed to happen. We owe our veterans a day of honor and remembrance. They have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice so much so that we can enjoy the freedoms that characterize America. They are the reason we have a democracy. They are the reason we can vote.

  Pepperdine’s university theme this year is freedom – and the freedom we experience at the societal level could not exist without the sacrifices of veterans. G.K. Chesterton said that “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” 

  We would do well to remember – and honor – all that our veterans have given up so we can live in freedom. 

  Breaking the Cycle

  Mere remembrance, in and of itself, will never be enough. Action is needed, and this Veterans Day, it is our turn to give back to those who have sacrificed so much for us. The truth is, veterans need our support. We as citizens must take steps to assist and uplift veterans who are all too often overlooked by society. 

  This is a heartbreaking reality, and the president-elect would do well to lead the way in breaking the destructive cycle in which veterans often find themselves. Initiatives in the areas of stable housing, career development, mental health, and transitioning to civilian life can and will make a difference. And each is another way we can show that we see and honor their sacrifice. 

  The Way Forward

  The United States was founded on the principles of freedom, and no one knows that better than the courageous men and women we honor on Veterans Day. But the adage is true: Freedom is not free. Freedom requires sacrifice. 

  On this Veterans Day, we say thank you to all veterans and their families who have given up more than we can understand so the citizens of this nation can continue to enjoy the freedoms we hold so dear. 

  Jim Gash is president of Pepperdine University.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 16:20

• Incoming Border Czar Plans Worksite Raids To Bust Migrant Sex, Labor Trafficking Networks
  Incoming Border Czar Plans Worksite Raids To Bust Migrant Sex, Labor Trafficking Networks

  Update (1618ET):

  Incoming “border czar,” Tom Homan, told “Fox & Friends” hosts earlier today that President-elect Trump’s administration will increase worksite raids to address out-of-control labor and sex trafficking nationwide. 

  “Where do we find most victims of sex trafficking and forced labor trafficking? At worksites,” Homan told Fox’s Steve Doocy.

  NEW: Trump’s ‘border czar’ Tom Homan says the administration will conduct workplace immigration raids; ‘The Biden-Harris Adm. has lost over 300,000 children’

  “Worksite operations have to happen. Here’s why…

  Where do we find most victims of s-x trafficking and forced labor… pic.twitter.com/2D6YGdE1F7

  — Unlimited L’s (@unlimited_ls) November 11, 2024

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

  Homan is correct about the sex trafficking and forced labor trafficking crisis spreading like wildfire nationwide because of Biden-Harris’ disastrous open southern borders.

  Here’s some of our reporting in recent months:

  • Migrant Population In Charleroi, Pennsylvania Explodes 2,000% As Crisis Unfolds

  • Watch: Resident Of PA Manufacturing Town Exposes Reality Of Haitian ‘Great Job Replacement’

  • “Blow Your Mind”: Ex-WSJ Journo Uncovers Hub Of An Alleged Migrant Trafficking Network In Springfield, Ohio

  • “He’s Taking My People”: Alleged Murder-For-Hire Plot In Charleroi Reveals Migrant Labor Mules

  • “No Americans”: Insider Of Alleged Trafficking Network Reveals How Migrants Ended Up At Charleroi, PA Factory

  • Union Makes Shock Claim: Colorado Meat Factory Involved In “Mgmt-Led Human Trafficking” Of Haitians

  • Sound Of Freedom: FBI Finds 200 Sex Trafficking Victims, Including Children

  • Shocking Investigation Finds CIA Contractor Moved Migrant Children Across America

  • Industrial-Size Staffing Firms Reportedly Support Biden-Harris’ Mysterious Nationwide Migrant Network

  Homan noted that Trump’s top priority will be national security. America can no longer afford to have ten-plus million unvetted illegal aliens running around the nation. 

  *   *   * 

  President-elect Donald Trump revealed on Sunday night that he plans to appoint Tom Homan, who served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement between 2017 and 2018, as the next “border czar.” 

  “I am pleased to announce that the Former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration, in charge of our Nation’s Borders (“The Border Czar”), including, but not limited to, the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

  Trump continued, “I’ve known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders. Likewise, Tom Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin.” 

  “Congratulations to Tom. I have no doubt he will do a fantastic, and long awaited for, job,” Trump said. 

  

  In recent weeks, Homan gave one of the most based interviews on immigration to the far-left media outlet CBS News’ 60 Minutes. When asked about the taxpayer cost of deporting millions of illegal aliens, he responded, “What price do you put on national security?”

  Cecilia Vega asks: “Is there a way to carry out mass deportation without separating families?”

  “Of course there is. Families can be deported together,” says Tom Homan, head of ICE during Trump’s family separation policy. https://t.co/If9G1sNEzj pic.twitter.com/TIWhi25Vdu

  — 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 28, 2024

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

  At the Republican National Convention in July, Homan told Trump supporters: “I’ve got a message … to all the illegal aliens in violation of federal law … you better start packing now.” 

  This is Tom Homan, President Trump’s Border Czar. His message to all the illegals who crossed the border will give you goosebumps, “You better start packing now… cause you’re going home.”

  And to the cartels, he said, “Trump will wipe you off the face of the Earth! YOU’RE… pic.twitter.com/ygZICaVVJb

  — George (@BehizyTweets) November 11, 2024

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

  Homan recently torched far-left activist lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez while on The Hill.

  President Trump just put this man, Tom Homan, in charge of deportations. 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/S5xYeV1Nmm

  — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 11, 2024

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

  While Homan secures the southern and northern borders and oversees the deportation of illegal aliens, there will be significant moves by the Trump administration to disrupt and destroy dark money financial and trade networks that have sparked the horrific 100,000 US drug death overdose crisis per year caused by fentanyl and other drugs – much of which starts as precursor chemicals shipped from China, cooked into fentanyl by Mexican cartels, then flooded in the Lower 48. 

  

  More on Trump’s plan to eradicate Mexican cartels: “Show No Mercy”: Trump’s Campaign Pledge To Annihilate Mexican Cartels Goes Viral.

  Make Law And Order Great Again.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 11/11/2024 – 16:18

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• Trump's Victory Saved America
  Trump’s Victory Saved America

  Authored by James E. Fanell and Bradley A. Thayer via American Greatness,

  President Donald Trump’s election victory on November 5 was an epochal event in American history. The American people gave Trump a mandate with almost 51% of the vote. He received over 73 million votes, more than four million more than his opponent. A new American coalition—traditional Republican voters united with lower middle class, working class, African Americans, Hispanics, and white women—provided the monumental victory. At such a significant time, it is important to consider how America arrived at such a historical moment and what must be accomplished in the years ahead.

  

  Retrospectively, Americans must understand how they came to this place in their history. According to the exit polls, a whopping 72% of Americans understood that their country was on the wrong path. America’s political ideology, culture, and traditions were under assault by the so-called “progressive” wing of the Democrat Party. The Biden-Harris administration weakened the economy, caused inflation rates not seen since the 1970s, opened U.S. borders to some 15 million people and facilitated their relocation throughout the U.S. and so weaponized the legal system to wage lawfare against Trump, his major political and legal advisors, and against many of his supporters.

  In the realm of foreign and defense policy, the debacle of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the failure to deter the war in Ukraine, the horrific attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent wars it unleashed. Significantly, the Biden-Harris regime failed to deter Communist China’s hyper-aggression directed against U.S. allies like the Philippines and partners like Taiwan, and most importantly against the American people through the deaths of a quarter of a million of our fellow citizens from Chinese-provided fentanyl and the intellectual capture of so many of the American elite who parrot the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) policy positions to advance the CCP’s interests.

  The deeper cause of how America arrived at this point is the embrace of Marxism by the Democratic Party and thus its increasing totalitarianism and alienation from the American people. In its embrace of this ideology, the Democrat Party demonstrated that it had completely become detached from the American experience, ideology, history, and culture in its effort to transform America into a one-party state on the road to totalitarianism. The American people saw this effort to continue the “fundamental transformation” of America—as Obama identified it on the eve of the 2008 election—and rejected it.

  Prospectively, there is so much that must be accomplished to repair the great costs that the Biden-Harris administration has inflicted upon the American people. As Trump has already stated in the immediate aftermath of his historic election victory, his first actions will be to “dismantle the Deep State and return power to the American People.” His stated goal is to return the government to the people, not the unelected bureaucrats that have installed themselves as a fourth branch of government. As such, the reform of government employment policies will be a major objective for his administration.

  Likewise, a second Trump administration will address inflation, uncontrolled illegal immigration, economic stagnation, and the enormous national debt that risks destroying the Republic. The U.S. is in dire fiscal and economic circumstances and Trump will have to confront these issues immediately as they will be thrust upon him on January 20.

  In foreign and defense policy, the situation is just as dire. U.S. conventional and nuclear forces must be strengthened. The defense industrial base must be restored to meet the threat from Communist China. The principal danger, the CCP, must be defeated by cutting it off from U.S. trade and investment—decoupling must be pursued with vigor. Furthermore, all Chinese entities should be prohibited from raising capital in U.S. markets. Its hyper-aggression must be checked by credible U.S. military power in conjunction with its allies and partners, like Japan, Korea, Australia, Thailand, India, and Taiwan.

  Increasingly, Americans recognize that the CCP is illegitimate. It is the product of Soviet imperialism, and so is a colonial government ruling the Chinese people. Xi Jinping has no more legitimacy to rule the great Chinese people than we do. The second Trump administration will need to use the bully pulpit of our nation to inform the world of the CCP’s illegitimate control over the people of China.

  Trump’s victory also provides the opportunity to save more than America. It provides the chance to defend Western civilization, upon which America’s foundation, history, politics, culture, and intellectual life are anchored. The Progressive Left’s (that is, Communists’) attack against America’s political ideology, history, and culture is part of a broader effort to destroy Western civilization. Initially, the left undermined it through the “ideas industry,” universities, K-12 education, think tanks, media, social media, television, and film. Then they labored hammer and tongs to overthrow it. Trump has the opportunity to repair the tremendous damage that the left has done carefully and deliberately to Western civilization. Working with European, British, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian allies and other peoples around the world who value the contributions of Western civilization, Trump can begin to fix the damage.

  Under Trump, the direction of the nation is clear—as it is for any ship embarking on a new journey. The ship of America must be sounded, the damage repaired, and a renewed course, like the ones originally charted by the celestial constellations that guided Washington, Jackson, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Reagan, must be set. If we stay true to our constitutional principles, America will once again have a fair wind and a following sea as it returns to its political ideology, principles, and traditions. That course opens the door to the best years in America’s history.

  The American people understood their plight and were searching for decades for an effective leader, only to be disappointed and frustrated with Republican Party candidates, which led to a profound alienation of the base from the Party establishment. Trump had brilliant careers in real estate and television before he entered politics. But he chose to throw his hat into the ring because he identified with what was happening to the American people.

  In turn, the American people saw clearly that Trump was the vessel that would enact their course change. His tremendous courage, acumen, charisma, indefatigable physical stamina, thick skin, and political instincts are without parallel in modern American history. As such, the American people have unquestionably placed their trust in him to empower the saving of America. Trump has accepted that sacred challenge. He has excelled and will do so again in this colossal task because it is evident to Americans that he loves America, the American people, and is a fighter. The American people gave Trump his victory because they saw that Trump’s triumph is America’s.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 23:20

• Trump Could Impact The Supreme Court For Decades To Come
  Trump Could Impact The Supreme Court For Decades To Come

  Authored by Sam Dorman via The Epoch Times,

  President-elect Donald Trump’s second term could help make him one of the most consequential presidents for the U.S. Supreme Court by solidifying a long-lasting originalist majority.

  

  Although Democrats have criticized the justices in recent months, the 2024 elections may have stripped them of the power they would need to block Trump’s nominees and implement reforms to stunt conservatives’ influence on the court.

  Republicans are projected to take the U.S. Senate, offering a two-year window for Trump to appoint new conservative jurists to the highest court should any of the sitting justices announce retirement. Neither of the two most senior justices, Clarence Thomas, who is 76 and joined the court in 1991, and Samuel Alito, who is 74 and joined in 2006, have announced a retirement plan.

  “No one other than Justices Thomas and Alito knows when or if they will retire, and talking about them like meat that has reached its expiration date is unwise, uninformed, and, frankly, just crass,” Federalist Society chairman Leonard Leo said.

  If Trump is later tasked with appointing two justices, he could be the first president since President Dwight D. Eisenhower to have five of his nominees sit on the nation’s highest court.

  In terms of pace, Trump has already appointed more justices in one term than his predecessors did during their tenures. Continuing at that pace would likely lead to long-term shifts for the institution and its jurisprudence, especially if his successors follow other presidents in nominating fewer justices.

  Changes to Precedent

  The court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, has been described as incrementalist, but some of its recent decisions have raised questions about the stability of longstanding precedents. Trump’s nominees—Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett—have already contributed to major shifts in American law, starting with their vote to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022.

  Just before Trump’s reelection, they also redefined the scope of presidential immunity and overruled a decades-old administrative law doctrine—known as Chevron deference—that was supported by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

  Conservatives have touted this decision and Dobbs as following an originalist approach, or one that seeks to follow the Constitution’s original meaning. Such an approach might continue if Trump selects justices from the long list of judges appointed to federal courts during his first term in office.

  

  (Front Row R–L) Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, his wife Jane Sullivan, Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, his wife, Virginia Thomas, and Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito attend the memorial service for former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor at the National Cathedral in Washington on Dec. 19, 2023. Jim Watson/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

  Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino told The Epoch Times that if Trump wanted to appoint more originalists to the Supreme Court, he wouldn’t have to “look any farther than the appellate judges” he appointed during his first term.

  “If he picks from that short list he himself has created, then I think we’re going to have an awesome continuation of the originalist approach to the Constitution,” said Severino, a former Thomas clerk.

  In October, a three-judge appellate panel, which included a former Thomas clerk and former Alito clerk, backed Republicans’ position that election officials couldn’t count ballots that arrived after voting day. They said doing so violated the Constitution and a law passed in 1844 on the timing of elections.

  Thomas has said on more than one occasion that he has no intention of retiring. Meanwhile, conservative attorney and commentator Ed Whelan has speculated in National Review that Alito will retire next spring with Thomas following him in 2026.

  Civil Liberties

  The Supreme Court’s recent decisions have been viewed by both sides of the ideological spectrum as utilizing originalism and textualism, or trying to adhere to the plain language of American laws, after decades of different approaches.

  “After most of the 20th Century spent with a very liberal court, we actually have a majority of originalists in the court,” Severino said during a press call this summer.

  Overturning Roe raised questions about a whole body of law, known as “substantive due process,” which stems from the 14th Amendment’s due process clause.

  That body of law informed the court’s decision in a series of other cases like Griswold v. Connecticut, Lawrence v. Texas, and Obergefell v. Hodges, which struck down state laws on birth control, sodomy, and marriage respectively. Following Dobbs, left-leaning voices worried that the more conservative Supreme Court would eventually overturn those cases.

  

  People protest in response to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on June 24, 2022. The Court’s decision overturns the landmark 50-year-old Roe v Wade case. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

  Alito’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which overturned Roe, indicated that the idea of a constitutional right to abortion exceeded the bounds of substantive due process. However, he attempted to distinguish it from the issues in Lawrence and other cases while maintaining that his opinion wouldn’t threaten those other precedents.

  Thomas’s concurring opinion went further in describing substantive due process as “an oxymoron” and said the court should “reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.”

  Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told The Epoch Times, “We may see the justices continue to chip away at civil rights and substantive due process.”

  Rahmani pointed to Dobbs and the court’s ruling in 2023 that Harvard University’s and the University of North Carolina’s affirmative action programs violated the equal protection clause. The court’s Obergefell decision and its 1966 decision in Miranda v. Arizona—which established the Miranda warning that police read to suspects to remind them of their rights during criminal proceedings—may be up for grabs too, Rahmani said.

  A ‘MAGA Supreme Court’?

  Based on decisions by Trump’s already-appointed justices, it’s questionable whether a court transformed by the president-elect would deliver consistent wins for conservatives’ political causes.

  Some of the court’s recent decisions have prompted Democrats to describe the justices as part of a “MAGA Supreme Court”—a reference to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.

  Like others, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) criticized the court’s immunity decision, which granted presidents various levels of immunity from criminal prosecution. “On purely partisan lines, the Supreme Court today for the first time in history places presidents substantially above the law,” ACLU National Legal Director David Cole said in July.

  Besides its rulings on immunity and abortion, the court ruled in favor of gun rights advocates this year by effectively allowing bump stocks, and in 2022, by clarifying that firearm restrictions must follow the nation’s history and tradition.

  Trump himself has praised the justices but expressed disagreement as well, such as when he said the court “really let us down” after it declined to take up a 2020 election-related case from Texas. He also publicly clashed with Roberts, who said in 2018: “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.”

  Illustrating the tenuous ideological formations, Roberts wrote a concurrence that sought to maintain but weaken Roe. Neither Barrett nor Kavanaugh joined that opinion and have each voted differently than both Alito and Thomas on important cases. According to Empirical SCOTUS, Barrett’s, Kavanaugh’s, and Roberts’ votes aligned most with each other’s when compared with the other justices.

  Barrett joined the immunity decision in Trump v. United States but partly differed in a way that Roberts said “threatens to eviscerate the immunity we have recognized.” She also joined liberals on the court in ruling against Jan. 6 defendants, as well as in resisting the avenue other justices took in ruling that Colorado couldn’t disqualify Trump from appearing on its ballot this year.

  

  Former President Donald Trump, the Republican 2024 presidential candidate, arrives back at Trump Tower after being convicted in a criminal trial in New York City on May 30, 2024. Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

  In another ruling on agency power this year, Barrett joined Thomas, Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan, Kavanaugh and Jackson to uphold the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s controversial funding mechanism, which right-leaning advocates saw as unconstitutional. Only Alito and Gorsuch dissented from that decision.

  Overruling Chevron could interfere with Trump’s deregulatory agenda as well, even though it’s been backed by critics of administrative overreach. The doctrine was initially decided in 1984 by the majority led by Justice John Paul Stevens and it upheld a deregulatory action by President Ronald Reagan’s administration. Overruling it gave judges more power in reviewing agencies’ interpretations of existing law.

  Evolving Originalism

  Besides demonstrating an interest in economic deregulation, Trump also said that his second term would see regulations related to gender—specifically opposing so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors. Those regulations will likely encounter lawsuits with left-leaning groups citing Gorsuch’s controversial majority opinion in Bostock v. Clayton County.

  Gorsuch, whose voting aligned most with Thomas’s last term, joined Roberts in ruling that firing someone on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity was a form of sex-based discrimination because the actions wouldn’t have been made “but for” the individuals’ sex.

  That reasoning has been used by lower courts to support so-called left-leaning interest on the issue of gender, including the idea that states can’t exclude adults from receiving transgender procedures under government insurance programs.

  President Joe Biden’s administration is currently using Gorsuch’s reasoning in asking the Supreme Court to strike down Tennessee’s law banning so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued that Bostock’s “core insight is that ‘it is impossible to discriminate against a person for being … transgender without discriminating against that individual based on sex.’”

  What originalism and textualism mean in practice may be evolving due at least in part to the influence of Trump-appointed justices. In his dissent, Alito said “no one should be fooled” by Gorsuch’s “attempts to pass off its decision as the inevitable product of the textualist school of statutory interpretation.”

  

  Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch speaks at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif., on Aug. 8, 2024. Apu Gomes/Getty Images

  Thomas’s approach to originalism has encountered resistance among many on the court. He was the only justice to say in June that his originalist opinion in Bruen protected domestic abusers’ ability to own firearms.

  That case—U.S. v. Rahimi—spurred a relatively high number of concurrences from Barrett, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, and Sotomayor each disputing how to apply the nation’s history when considering firearm regulations.

  Another decision rejecting a crude, Trump-related trademark saw the justices similarly differing over how to apply legal history despite each agreeing with the ultimate outcome of the case.

  In a concurrence joined by liberal-leaning justices, Barrett said Thomas’s approach was “wrong twice over” and suggested that it overemphasized the role of historical comparison. Thomas had argued that a “firm grounding in traditional trademark law is sufficient to justify the content-based trademark restriction here.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 22:10

• 'Unhinged' NBC Reporter Rips Off Daily Wire Story, Nerfs It, Then Self-Immolates On X When Called Out
  ‘Unhinged’ NBC Reporter Rips Off Daily Wire Story, Nerfs It, Then Self-Immolates On X When Called Out

  This story is so stupid you should only read it if you’re on the toilet. And even then.

  Nevertheless… on Friday, the Daily Wire broke the news that a now-fired FEMA employee ordered workers to bypass the homes of Trump supporters as they surveyed the damage caused by Hurricane Milton in Florida.

  

  The story went viral – and was eventually picked up by NBC News reporter Mirna Alsharif (formerly CNN), who proceeded to not only rip off the report without citing the Daily Wire, she completely nerf’d it – failing to adhere to basic journalistic standards despite all of that information having been reported by DW.

  

  When she was called out for her shitty reporting, Alsharif had a complete meltdown on X – claiming that the Daily Wire wasn’t her source, and hurtling High School insults at reporters.

  And while she just deleted her account, we’ve got receipts…

  

  She called several people a “troll final boss” in a thread in which journalist Jason Rantz called her an “unhinged left-winger.”

  

  Busted out your mama jokes (probably because of her 90’s hair)…

  

  Called John Podhoretz “sweetheart.”

  

  Called someone a dumb bitch…

  

  When DW’s Mary Margaret Olohan called on Alsharif to Log off, she replied “You first babes.”

  

  Except then she did just that.

  

  NBC seems like an upstanding place to work these days. pic.twitter.com/YIJfV5bSmK

  — Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) November 11, 2024

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

  So that went well for her and @NBCNewsPR pic.twitter.com/xlqu6FuASQ

  — Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) November 11, 2024

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

  Who’s the dumb bitch?

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 21:35

• Federal Judge Gives States In Censorship Lawsuit Against US Govt Chance To Make Case
  Federal Judge Gives States In Censorship Lawsuit Against US Govt Chance To Make Case

  Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

  A federal judge kept alive a lawsuit accusing the federal government of encouraging social media platforms to censor users’ views.

  

  The judge ruled that the two states that filed the lawsuit can continue their discovery, a pretrial phase that allows litigants to gather evidence for trial and can consist of examinations under oath and requests for documents.

  U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty in Monroe, Louisiana, issued the new order on Nov. 8 after the U.S. Supreme Court on June 26 threw out the request by Missouri and Louisiana to prevent the Biden administration from communicating with social media companies about public health issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  The states sued the federal government for censorship because it allegedly pressured social media companies to suppress certain content.

  During the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a public statement encouraging the social media platforms to prevent information about COVID-19 that had been deemed misinformation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “from taking hold.” The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency also communicated with the platforms about election-related misinformation in advance of the 2020 presidential election and the 2022 congressional elections.

  Supreme Court justices ruled 6–3 in June that the states and five social media users challenging the federal government lacked legal standing to seek an injunction because they couldn’t show that they were directly harmed by the government’s efforts to communicate with the platforms.

  Standing refers to the right of someone to sue in court. The parties must show a strong enough connection to the law or action complained of to justify their participation in the lawsuit.

  The states argue that the Biden administration strong-armed social media companies into censoring disfavored views on important public issues, such as potential side effects related to COVID-19 vaccines and pandemic lockdowns. They say that applying this kind of pressure violates Americans’ First Amendment rights.

  Conservatives and others have complained that social media platforms suppress information about their views on transgender issues, COVID-19, and the 2020 election.

  Some on the left say removing posts on social media is necessary to prevent the spread of misinformation, and some have complained that social media platforms don’t do enough to combat falsehoods.

  Doughty, whose 2023 ruling blocking the federal government from communicating with the social media companies was overturned by the Supreme Court in June, said in his new order that he considered it appropriate to ask the litigants whether there should be further discovery. The discovery would be related to the issue of standing to help the court evaluate if it has authority to continue with this case, or if the lawsuit should be dismissed.

  The states argued for discovery, while the federal government argued for dismissal, he said.

  “We currently find ourselves in jurisdictional purgatory—caught between differing standards,” Doughty said in his new order.

  A “greater showing of standing” is required for an injunction than is required for the “minimal showing” needed to keep litigation alive.

  The Supreme Court was “plainly applying this heightened standard when it reversed,” so this means the high court’s ruling “is not necessarily fatal to [the states’] suit generally.”

  The states have demonstrated the need for more discovery on the standing issue, the judge said.

  At the same time, Doughty denied for the time being the states’ request to amend their complaint in an effort to strengthen their legal standing in the case.

  The fact that President Joe Biden, whose administration is being sued, will be replaced by President-elect Donald Trump in a little more than two months doesn’t justify throwing out the lawsuit, he said.

  Even though “regime change is imminent,” it would be “quintessentially speculative” to dismiss the case based on that fact alone, the judge said.

  The Epoch Times reached out to the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana and the U.S. Department of Justice for comment but did not receive a reply by publication time.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 21:00

• First Trump-Putin Call Since Election Focuses On The Quick 'Resolution Of Ukraine War'
  First Trump-Putin Call Since Election Focuses On The Quick ‘Resolution Of Ukraine War’

  President-elect Donald Trump is already moving quite fast on his goal to quickly bring to an end the Ukraine war. It has been revealed Sunday he held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin previously on Thursday, the first such communication between the two since Trump won the election.

  Trump urged immediate de-escalation in the call with Putin. The Washington Post describes that “During the call, which Trump took from his resort in Florida, he advised the Russian president not to escalate the war in Ukraine and reminded him of Washington’s sizable military presence in Europe, said a person familiar with the call, who, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.”

  Multiple sources said the call focused on the “goal of peace on the European continent” and ended on a positive note with plans to hold future conversations on “the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon”.

  

  WaPo has further said that Ukraine was informed that the call was going to take place and did not object. However, the Zelensky government has subsequent this the report rejected this claim.

  “Reports that the Ukrainian side was informed in advance of the alleged call are false. Subsequently, Ukraine could not have endorsed or opposed the call,” Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told Reuters.

  WaPo has also underscored that the Trump transition team is fearful of leaks at this point:

  Trump’s initial calls with world leaders are not being conducted with the support of the State Department and U.S. government interpreters. The Trump transition team has yet to sign an agreement with the General Services Administration, a standard procedure for presidential transitions.

  Trump and his aides are distrustful of career government officials following the leaked transcripts of presidential calls during his first term. “They are just calling [Trump] directly,” one of the people familiar with the calls said.

  Currently, the Zelensky government and some of the more hawkish leaders within NATO are deeply worried that the future Trump White House will force a ‘bad deal’ – or one that pressures Kiev to give up some 20% of his territory. They are against anything which the Kremlin could view as ‘victory’ for Russia.

  One proposed plan, said to be getting the most attention from Trump’s team, would see an indefinite ‘freeze’ on the front lines in the east, paving the way for immediate ceasefire, and enforced by European peacekeepers along an 800-mile demilitarized zone.

  Peace would also be ensured by Ukraine agreeing to suspend its aspirations to join NATO for twenty years. This buffer zone would not involve any US troops, according to initial reports based on the description of Trump officials.

  Included a brief discussion on territory…

  SCOOP: Trump had a phone call with Vladimir Putin and talked about the war in Ukraine, including a brief discussion on territory, marking the first conversation between the two men since Trump won the election. Our report w/ @nakashimae @jdawsey1 @siobhan_ogrady @ikhurshudyan pic.twitter.com/h1aOZKIY4C

  — John Hudson (@John_Hudson) November 10, 2024

  Regardless of if the hoped-for ceasefire takes shape, which would spare countless lives, the fact that Trump and Putin are already talking will only be seen as a bad thing by hawks who have recklessly pushed for escalation from the beginning. These same warmongers even condemned France’s Macron when he early in the war sought an off-ramp through an initial series of phone calls with Putin. 

  Meanwhile, on the battlefield in the east:

  Military bloggers on Friday reported that Russian forces were moving closer to capturing a major town on the eastern front in the war in Ukraine as part of their drive westward to capture all of the Donbas region.

  Bloggers on both sides reported that Russian forces had entered the village of Sontsivka and were advancing from the northwest on the city of Kurakhove.

  “The Kurakhove direction and the Pokrovsk direction are the most challenging right now,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced in a nightly video address this weekend.

  The world knows that Ukrainian forces are losing anyway, and Russia is poised to take all of Donetsk, so it is indeed long past time for Washington to do everything possible to both de-escalate and wind down and ultimately find permanent peaceful settlement.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 20:25

• US Childcare Cost Higher Than In Other Developed Countries
  US Childcare Cost Higher Than In Other Developed Countries

  U.S. childcare costs surpass those in all other OECD countries when taking into account single parents and couples earning average wage.

  The price tag for having two children minded while working full-time is also significantly higher in the U.S. than in most other developed countries that are part of the organization.

  Only Switzerland, the United Kingdom and New Zealand come even close to the high price parents have to shoulder for childcare in the United States.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  As Statista’s Katharina Buchholz details below, according to 2022 data from the OECD, U.S. couples who both earn average wage in full-time jobs and have two young children need to spend 20 percent of their disposable household income on childcare.

  For singles on average wage, this rises to 37 percent.

  In most countries, single parents pay less as they receive a more favorable rate.

  In Switzerland, the most expensive OECD country after the United States, couples with two children spent a whopping 32 percent of their disposable income on childcare if working full-time and earning average wage. For singles, this was lowered to 18 percent, however. In the U.S. and Switzerland alike, childcare is dominated by the private sector and does not receive substantial amounts of regulation or subsidies, leading to high market rates. 

  Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called this state of childcare in the U.S. a “broken market”.

  Many Anglophone nations, also including Ireland, New Zealand and Australia struggle with high private market rates for childcare, low subsidies or a combination of the two.

  In 2022, Canadian couples working full-time for average wage still needed to shell out 19 percent of disposable income, but the government has since made changes. Like in Canada, many English-speaking nations began to regulate and subsidize their childcare markets much later than elsewhere, leading to them lagging behind in affordability despite the topic of childcare becoming ever more important in the face of demographic change. Outside of Anglophone OECD countries, couples paid the most for childcare in relative terms in the Netherlands – another place dominated by private childcare – at 19 percent of disposable income. Singles paid the most in the Czech Republic at 18 percent.

  In many European countries, parents paid substantially less, often just a couple of percent of their disposable incomes, as childcare centers are either run as a public service or private providers are heavily subsidized and regulated. In France, parents who work full-time and earn average wage spent between 6 percent and 10 pecent, while this number was even lower in South Korea, other German-speaking, Scandinavian and Baltic countries. In Germany, rates were as low as 1 percent of disposable income as all parents receive childcare vouchers depending on work time to be redeemed at private or public institutions.

  Working parents pay a small fee on top if they receive more than the standard five care hours. Free childcare was provided in OECD countries Italy and Latvia as well as in associated nations Bulgaria and Malta. Single parents also paid no fees in Greece and were substantially unburdened in Canada, under rent subsidies in the United Kingdom and under social assistance benefits in Japan, if they qualified for those.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 19:15

• The Complex Legacy Of George Orwell
  The Complex Legacy Of George Orwell

  Authored by Allen Gindler via The Mises Institute,

  George Orwell, one of the most influential political writers of the 20th century, is widely recognized for his searing critiques of totalitarian regimes in his novels Animal Farm and 1984. Orwell’s portrayal of state control, propaganda, and the manipulation of truth has resonated with readers across the political spectrum. However, Orwell’s personal political ideology and his critiques of totalitarianism are far more complex than is often acknowledged. Rather than being a passive observer or simply an opponent of dictatorship, Orwell was deeply involved in the socialist movements of his time, aligning himself—whether accidentally or intentionally—with Trotskyist circles. Orwell was a powerful voice of the left, despite being a target in the war among socialist factions.

  

  Orwell’s Political Ideology and Alignment with Trotskyism

  While Orwell is best remembered for his criticism of authoritarianism and totalitarianism, it is essential to understand that he was, first and foremost, a committed socialist. Despite never formally joining a political party, Orwell was an active and vocal participant in the socialist movement. This may surprise those who associate Orwell solely with his critiques of state tyranny. Indeed, Orwell’s disdain for the left dictatorship did not extend to all forms of socialism, and his political writings often reflect an internal critique of socialist regimes rather than a wholesale rejection of socialist principles.

  Orwell’s critique of Stalinist totalitarianism is best understood as part of a broader ideological struggle within the socialist movement itself. Specifically, Orwell’s critiques echo the views of Leon Trotsky, a key figure in early Soviet history and one of Stalin’s most prominent critics. Trotsky was a revolutionary Marxist who played a crucial role in the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent civil war. He was instrumental in founding the Red Army, which secured the Bolshevik victory over the anti-communist White Army during the Russian Civil War. However, Trotsky’s theory of “permanent revolution” set him at odds with Stalin, who favored the consolidation of socialism in one country—namely, the Soviet Union—before pursuing global revolution. Trotsky’s insistence that socialism must be spread worldwide made him a figure of suspicion within the Soviet hierarchy. In the early 1920s, Stalin consolidated power, leading to Trotsky’s exile in 1929. Despite this, Trotsky continued to oppose Stalin’s policies from abroad, particularly through his writings.

  Trotsky’s critique of Stalinism included accusations that Stalin had betrayed the original goals of the Russian Revolution. According to Trotsky, Stalin had established a bureaucratic dictatorship rather than a dictatorship of the proletariat, as envisioned by Marxist theory. He argued that Stalin’s regime represented, not the rule of the working class, but the rise of a privileged bureaucratic elite, a “nomenklatura,” that dominated Soviet society. In addition, Trotsky accused Stalin of fostering a cult of personality, suppressing political opposition, and betraying the internationalist principles of socialism.

  Orwell and the Spanish Civil War

  In 1936, when the Spanish Civil War broke out, Orwell made the fateful decision to join the Republican side, fighting against Francisco Franco’s Nationalista forces. What makes Orwell’s involvement particularly significant is his choice of faction. Rather than aligning himself with the International Brigades, Orwell joined the Workers’ Party of Marxist Unification (POUM), a Marxist faction heavily influenced by Trotskyist ideas. Orwell’s decision to fight with the POUM speaks volumes about his political leanings during this period.

  The Spanish Civil War was not simply a battle between Republicans and Nationalistas; it was also an ideological battleground for various factions of the international left. The Republican side was a coalition of various socialist, communist, and anarchist groups. The POUM, with which Orwell fought, was aligned with Trotskyist and anti-Stalinist factions, while the Communist Party of Spain, supported by Stalin, took a hard line against any left-wing groups that did not adhere to Moscow’s policies. As Orwell would later write in Homage to Catalonia, his firsthand experience in Spain profoundly influenced his understanding of the brutal dynamics of power within the left. This dynamic reflects what biologists refer to as “intraspecific struggle,” where members of the same species (or political movement, in this case) compete most aggressively with each other for dominance.

  While Orwell fought against Franco’s Nationalistas at the front, Stalin’s agents were conducting a purge of Trotskyist and anarchist factions behind the lines. The NKVD, Stalin’s secret police, were sent to Spain to suppress all non-Bolshevik leftist elements within the Republican forces. This included the POUM, which was eventually outlawed by the Stalinist-backed Republican leadership. NKVD agents kidnapped and killed the head of POUM, Andreu Nin. Orwell himself narrowly escaped assassination by the NKVD and covertly fled to England. These experiences deepened his disillusionment with Stalinism and reinforced his belief that the Soviet regime had betrayed the original ideals of socialism.

  Orwell’s Literary Response: Animal Farm and 1984

  Orwell’s experiences in Spain and his understanding of the internal conflicts within socialism found their most potent expression in his literary works. Animal Farm, published in 1945, is widely understood as an allegory of the Russian Revolution and the rise of Stalinism. Because of this, he struggled to find a publisher willing to take on the book, as many feared the political consequences of criticizing Stalin at the time of WWII. In the novella, Orwell portrays the betrayal of revolutionary ideals through the story of a group of farm animals who overthrow their human owner, only to see their new leaders—the pigs—become as oppressive as the humans they replaced. The pig Napoleon, who represents Stalin, manipulates the other animals, gradually consolidating power and rewriting the revolution’s history to justify his dictatorship.

  What is often overlooked in discussions of Animal Farm is the role of Trotsky’s ideas in shaping Orwell’s narrative. The character of Snowball—who is expelled from the farm by Napoleon—represents Trotsky. Snowball, like Trotsky, is portrayed as an idealistic, but ultimately powerless figure, who is demonized by the regime in power. Orwell’s depiction of Snowball’s exile and the subsequent demonization of his legacy mirrors Trotsky’s real-life expulsion and assassination by Stalin’s agents in 1940.

  In this sense, Animal Farm can be read as an artistic rendering of Trotsky’s The Revolution Betrayed (a critique of Stalinism from the left), with Orwell using the fable to illustrate the broader betrayal of socialist ideals by Stalin’s regime. Yet, Orwell could not grasp that if Trotsky had been the head of the Soviet Union, his regime might have been even more ruthless than the one Stalin built. Proletarian dictatorship is no better than party dictatorship.

  Orwell’s final novel, 1984, extends his critique of totalitarianism beyond Stalinism to address the broader implications of state control, surveillance, and the manipulation of truth. Although 1984 is not explicitly focused on socialist ideology, its portrayal of a dystopian world ruled by a single party—where dissent is brutally suppressed and history is constantly rewritten—draws heavily on Orwell’s understanding of the Stalinist regime. The famous phrase “Big Brother is watching you” has since become synonymous with state surveillance and authoritarianism, but in the context of Orwell’s political trajectory, it also serves as a broader warning about the dangers of unchecked power, regardless of ideological orientation.

  Orwell’s Dilemma: The Limits of Socialist Critique

  Despite his damning critique of Stalinism, Orwell remained a socialist until the end of his life. His disillusionment with the Soviet Union did not extend to socialism as a whole. In fact, Orwell believed that socialism could still provide the solution to the social and economic problems facing the world, provided it did not fall into the traps of authoritarianism and bureaucracy. This presents a fundamental paradox in Orwell’s thought: while he was acutely aware of the dangers of totalitarianism produced by different currents of socialism, he continued to advocate for a general utopia that, in practice, often led to the very abuses of power he critiqued.

  Orwell could not comprehend that, regardless of the specific flavor of socialism —whether Trotskyist, Stalinist, or otherwise—given enough time, it would inevitably lead to the same outcome: economic stagnation, moral decadence, and repression. His deep belief in the potential of socialism, particularly in its democratic form, blinded him to the inherent authoritarian tendencies within socialist movements.

  Orwell’s Legacy

  George Orwell’s legacy as a writer and political thinker is marked by his commitment to socialist ideals and his fierce opposition to totalitarianism. His engagement with Trotskyist ideas, his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, and his literary responses to Stalinism reveal a nuanced understanding of the complexities within the socialist movement. While Orwell’s critiques of political tyranny remain profoundly relevant today, his continued belief in socialism—even after witnessing its failures—underscores the intricacies of his thought. Therefore, it feels somewhat awkward to rely on a socialist’s critique of the very regimes that socialism consistently produces.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 18:40

• Rogan Reveals Kamala Campaign Wanted Editorial Control Over His Podcast
  Rogan Reveals Kamala Campaign Wanted Editorial Control Over His Podcast

  Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

  Podcast king Joe Rogan has revealed that Kamala Harris’ people demanded editorial control over an appearance on his show, and a final say on what was released to the public.

  

  As we have already highlighted, Kamala had demanded to only appear for an hour with Rogan, and wanted to do it outside of his studio, meaning he would have had to travel to a location of her choosing.

  Needless to say, Rogan refused to meet the demands, reasoning that it simply wouldn’t be an episode of his podcast if that was to happen.

  Rogan unveiled more of what went on with discussions between his team and Kamala’s campaign, noting “There were a few restrictions of things they wanted to talk about…They wanted to know if I’d edit it. I’m like, there’s no editing.”

  Joe Rogan & Theo Von Say Kamala Harris’ Team Asked If They Would Edit Her Interview

  “There were a few restrictions of things they wanted to talk about…They wanted to know if I’d edit it. I’m like, there’s no editing.” pic.twitter.com/XjKOGSRNGW

  — Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) November 8, 2024

  They were treating it as if it was the corporate soundbite mouthpiece media.

  

  Do they even know what Rogan’s podcast is?

  

  It’s not surprising given that her campaign was just one big insubstantial fake, edited presentation.

  

  Remember the edited 60 Minutes debacle?

  This is how it should be now.

  From now on, all elected officials should be forced to do 2+ hour unedited interviews.

  — Bobby Bradshaw (@BobbyFuria) November 8, 2024

  As Axios co founder Jim VandeHei noted yesterday, “I think all of us have to come to grips legacy media is just not as important as it thinks it is…Joe Rogan is more important than any of us.”

  “The gravity of right-wing discourse is now taking place on 𝕏.. not Fox. 𝕏 is what matters. Elon Musk is arguably the most powerful civilian in the history of the country,” he added.

  🚨AXIOS CO-FOUNDER: “I think all of us have to come to grips legacy media is just not as important as it thinks it is.. Joe Rogan is more important than any of us..”

  “The gravity of right-wing discourse is now taking place on 𝕏.. not Fox. 𝕏 is what matters. Elon Musk is… pic.twitter.com/tqdM7pD5z1

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 8, 2024

  *  *  *

  Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 18:05

• Was The 2024 Election Too Big To Rig?
  Was The 2024 Election Too Big To Rig?

  Authored by Edward Ring via American Greatness,

  It’s Wednesday, the 6th of November, and America has chosen a new president. But we may not know the results for days or even weeks.

  While there is a chance we will see a quick and decisive Trump victory, the media has prepared us for a protracted aftermath to election day. This raises an obvious question: Was there election rigging in 2024? Did the uniparty establishment and the institutions they control, desperate to prevent a Trump victory, break the rules? Did they cheat?

  

  Answering this question in the affirmative doesn’t have to rely on the countless alarming allegations that are dismissed as unfounded conspiracy theories, even though there are so many of them:

  The potential for mail-in ballot fraud, hundreds of ballots received at a single address, dozens of ballots received at a single address, questionable last-minute changes in verification procedures by the US Post Office, inaccurate voter rolls and fraudulent voter registrations, voter data leaks to partisan NGOs, vote harvesting, counterfeit ballots, destruction of legitimate ballots, ballot dumps, selectively applied “malfunctions” of voting machines in multiple states, last minute “patches” to fix voting machine software, illegal immigrants voting, and selectively applied closures of polling stations or inadequately staffed polling stations causing voter suppression.

  You can claim there is no basis for concern over any one of those alleged cases of calculated, potentially widespread fraud. You can even dismiss the impact of fining and disbarring attorneys who challenged the integrity of the 2020 election and thus have deterred many attorneys from challenging this one.

  The election was still rigged.

  Anyone who watches David Muir at ABC, Lester Holt at CBS, Norah O’Donnell at NBC, or Amna Nawaz and Geoff Bennett at PBS will know this election was rigged, thanks to a multi-year propaganda campaign of shameless lying by the news anchors and reporters at the most prestigious networks in America. If you make it your business to keep track of what these “trusted news sources” are telling voters, it is obvious how hard they’ve tried to influence the election.

  ABC News, for example, pretty much every single night for the last few months, has opened their newscast with 5-10 minutes where they heap slime all over Trump and praise Harris. If you watch the source material, for example, Harris’s CNN Town Hall, then watch the excerpts highlighted on ABC, you get two completely different impressions of her competence and integrity. Precisely the same tactic is used with Trump, but to the opposite effect. Watch one of his news conferences in its entirety, then watch what is grabbed, out of context, and presented on ABC.

  Critics of Trump’s often brusque persona and often unvarnished condemnation of the media must ask, if they’re going to be fair, how would anyone react? For nearly ten years, David Muir has told us, with a straight face, that “the walls are closing in on Trump.” Along with fake scandals like the Russian collusion hoax, over and over we hear gross misrepresentations of things Trump has said. He mocked a disabled reporter; no, he didn’t. He told people to inject bleach to treat COVID; no, he didn’t. He called neo-Nazis “fine people;” no, he did not. And on and on it goes.

  David Muir earned particular enmity among people who just wanted fair news coverage during the debate between Trump and Harris, when, for example, Muir insisted on “fact-checking” Trump but left Harris alone. For example, Muir contradicted Trump’s assertion that crime rates had risen, and Muir was wrong. The data, as Trump attempted to explain, was missing statistics from California’s major cities. Once that data was added, Trump’s claim was proven accurate.

  Just in the last few days we’ve had the big four broadcast news anchors telling us that Trump wanted to put Liz Cheney in front of a firing squad, wants reporters covering his rallies to get shot, “groped” a woman back in the 1990s, expressed “deeply troubling” admiration for Adolf Hitler, held a “Nazi rally,” and intended to use the military against “the enemy within,” along with endless distorted repetition of everything bad they’ve ever said about him. All of this “news” was either truth twisted beyond recognition or outright lies. Meanwhile, their coverage of Harris has been indistinguishable from a paid Harris campaign ad.

  There’s no end to the legacy television news media’s war on Trump. It’s not subtle, and despite their dinosaur status, they still exercise decisive influence over millions of voters. For the 2024 season-to-date, ABC Nightly News has averaged 7.7 million viewers, NBC averaged 6.4 million, and CBS averaged 4.7 million. PBS is now a big player as well, with a regular viewership of more than 5 million. That’s nearly 25 million regular viewers, with an average age of 65, nearly all of them high-propensity voters, and very few of them likely to be perusing alternative media. Cable news, for all the visibility and big audiences for the hosted talk shows on their networks, doesn’t compare. Recent estimates for primetime viewers of Fox News have averaged 359,000, versus 175,000 for CNN and 160,000 for MSNBC. Cable news audiences are dwarfed by the audiences for broadcast news content, which is overwhelmingly anti-Trump and pro-Harris. Tens of millions of Americans have been thoroughly brainwashed by these networks. But what about social media and online searches?

  Back in 2015, Robert Epstein, a research psychologist with the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, published “The search engine manipulation effect (SEME) and its possible impact on the outcomes of elections.” Continuing his research, in testimony before the U.S. Congress in 2019, Epstein claimed that biased search results on Google “impacted undecided voters in a way that gave at least 2.6 million votes to Hillary Clinton.” Epstein’s studies are compelling reading, and very little has changed. Google still controls 90 percent of the search engine market in the United States. In 2024, Google employee political donations favored Democrats by a ratio of more than 6 to 1. Draw your own conclusions.

  As for social media, much is made of Twitter’s transformation into X, with no more censorship. Twitter, or X, has 95 million users in America. That’s a lot. But in the United States, Facebook has 194 million users, Instagram has 166 million users, TikTok reaches 170 million people, LinkedIn connects 200 million, and YouTube’s regular US viewers number 246 million. As a neutral platform, X’s audience reach is exceeded by more than 10 to 1 by the other major online platforms. With the lone exception of X, every one of these platforms employs biased algorithms designed to suppress conservative content. As for print media, intervention by the owners of the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post to abstain from a presidential endorsement is too little, too late. Every newspaper and magazine with national reach, with the half-hearted exception perhaps of the Wall Street Journal, have been so anti-Trump and pro-Harris it is almost comical.

  Social media, search engines, and legacy news media. In every facet of information gathering, the vast majority of Americans have been continuously exposed to anti-Trump, pro-Harris messages. None of this has been happening by accident. Michael Shellenberger, formerly a progressive liberal who was once honored as a Time Magazine “Environmental Hero,” has evolved into an investigative journalist of extraordinary integrity and courage. In recent years, his work has focused on what he has dubbed “the censorship industrial complex.” In a recent substack post, commenting on America’s news media from newspapers to television to online platforms, he had this to say, “It’s not a mirror of reality. It’s not just biased. And it’s not just deferential to the state or the party. It’s a propaganda arm dishonestly representing powerful political, ideological, and financial interests.”

  Shellenberger, who alleges government manipulation of information sources available to Americans, is not alone. Mike Benz, a former US State Department official, claims that the U.S. government has become increasingly concerned about the rise of populist movements in the U.S. and around the world and is actively interfering in media freedom. Another window into how this is working is documented by Ben Shapiro in a must-watch video, where he describes the network of state-supported NGOs and quasi-private sector agencies that influence who gets advertising dollars and who gets boycotted, in an ostensibly benign effort to “create a universal framework full of guidelines and ratings designed to enforce approved narratives.”

  It ought to be obvious to anyone who finds both sides of the story by using alternative media that in a fair election, America’s print, video, and online media, and search engine results, could have easily delivered just as much negative coverage about Harris as they have inflicted on Trump, and they could have delivered just as much positive coverage about Trump as they’ve lavished on Harris. Maybe the only rules that were broken were supposed norms of journalistic integrity. But by an order of magnitude, America’s sources of “news” and information were massively tilted in favor of Harris and against Trump.

  If for no other reason but media bias, this election was rigged. As a result, regardless of the outcome, half of all Americans have lost faith in fair elections. Even if every allegation of actual, fraudulent, widespread rigging is false, nobody who thinks so will change their minds. For them, the media sources that might help debunk any of it have no credibility. That is a crime perpetrated by the elite who control these institutions that transcends even this moment.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 17:30

• "Shocking Video": Masked Man Attempts To Snatch Jewish Child From Father In Brooklyn
  “Shocking Video”: Masked Man Attempts To Snatch Jewish Child From Father In Brooklyn

  A neighborhood patrol organization in Crown Heights, a central neighborhood in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, posted shocking footage on X showing a masked man attempting to snatch a child from his father while they were walking down the street. 

  “At approximately 3:30 p.m., this deeply concerning incident took place in the heart of Crown Heights. We are working hand in hand with the @NYPD71pct in identifying the perpetrator. Kudos to the father for his quick action,” Crown Heights Shomrim wrote on X. 

  Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, member of Community Board 9 in Crown Heights, NY, wrote on X, “This video is shocking. A perpetrator grabbed a Chasidic child who was walking with his father  today at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Kingston near Lefferts Ave.”

  Behrman warned, “Something is clearly going on in Crown Heights—there have been incident after incident over the past two weeks.” 

  This video is shocking. A perpetrator grabbed a Chasidic child who was walking with his father today at approximately 3:30pm on Kingston near Lefferts Ave.

  Something is clearly going on in Crown Heights—there have been incident after incident over the past two weeks.… pic.twitter.com/7nIkZWhssk

  — Yaacov Behrman (@ChabadLubavitch) November 10, 2024

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

  Sequoia’s Shaun Maguire chimed in on X, “This happened today in Brooklyn, a masked man tries to grab this boy away from his Jewish father Jews are under attack globally, from Amsterdam to New York to Israel.” 

  Jason Calacanis of the All-In podcast said this disturbing incident in Brooklyn is a sign that Americans should obtain a “carry permit.” 

  Behrman updated X users on Sunday morning: 

  The perpetrator has been arrested, with major charges including attempted kidnapping in the 2nd degree and endangering the welfare of a child.

  Known to police, the perpetrator has allegedly been arrested over 30 times. He is under 30 years old and has also been arrested in past for criminal possession of a weapon.

  What is wrong with our legal system? What is wrong with society? How is this possible?

  Recall that President-elect Trump made a campaign promise to sign “full concealed carry reciprocity” and enforce law and order in crime-infested cities controlled by far-left politicians. 

  BREAKING

  Trump announces full conceal carry reciprocity

  WHAT THIS MEANS:
  No matter which state you’re in, if you’ve got your concealed carry license, each state will still have to honor it – for example, you have a Florida concealed carry permit – California would have to… pic.twitter.com/GwFYgwOmfx

  — Frank Fighting For Freedom 🇺🇸 (@thinktankfranks) November 10, 2024

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

  Make ‘Law And Order Great Again‘ … How about constitutional carry for all law-abiding Americans?

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 16:55

• These Are The Most Valuable Lego Sets In The World
  These Are The Most Valuable Lego Sets In The World

  LEGO has become more than just a children’s brand – many of its sets are now seen as valuable collectibles. In 2023 alone, the company generated $10 billion in revenue, surpassing competitors like Mattel and Hasbro.

  This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti, highlights the most valuable LEGO sets today, including both retail and special collector sets.

  

  The list, compiled by BrickEconomy as of October 2024, shows approximate values, which may vary based on demand.

  $17K Spider-Man

  Topping the list is the Spider-Man minifigure, released at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con and given to raffle winners. With only 350 units made, it’s now valued at over $17,000.

  Another rare set is a custom model of LEGO founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen’s house, with only 32 hand-numbered copies produced in 2009. Each is now worth nearly $10,000.

  

  Third on the list, the UNICEF van was made in 1985 in a partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund. It features a blue UNICEF truck and a UNICEF worker minifigure. It is now worth $10,500.

  For a somewhat more affordable option, the LEGO 375-2 Castle, released in 1978, is available for around $8,700. This 767-piece Castle set, known as the “Yellow Castle,” came with 14 minifigures and was sold only in Europe, the UK, Australia, and Canada.

  If you enjoyed this graphic, check out this comparison of LEGO’s revenue with other major toymakers.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 15:45

• Learning To Speak Trump, Again
  Learning To Speak Trump, Again

  By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities

  Do we have to? Yes, I think we do.

  Market Results

  U.S. stock markets had an incredible week, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both up around 5%, and the Russell 2000 ripping up almost 9%!

  Interestingly, at least from my perspective as an election night bond bull, the 10-year Treasury yield finished 8 bps lower on the week and about 27 bps tighter than its widest levels on Wednesday morning.

  Credit did well too, with CDX IG at 47 bps (the lowest in at least 3 years). But the Bloomberg Corporate Bond OAS stole the show, reaching 74 bps, the lowest level this century!

  Crypto, as a source of funding for candidates and often an early indicator of market views on the election, saw Bitcoin finish the week at all-time highs.

  Election Results

  The Fed likely helped, but the market reaction was primarily due to the election results. As of Saturday morning, according to the Bloomberg Map, President-elect Trump (“Trump” going forward for simplicity), had 301 Electoral College votes compared to 226 for Vice President Harris (“Harris”). Arizona still hasn’t been decided and still only had 81% of votes counted. The popular vote stands at 75 million versus 71 million (though that margin will narrow, assuming California manages to count the 37% of votes not yet counted). I did triple check those “percentage counted” statistics, as it seems (at least for me) difficult to believe that it takes so long.

  

  The Senate shows up as 53 to 46 for Republicans with Arizona not yet decided (a lot of votes yet to be counted). I see two listed as independents, so I assume they have been slotted into whatever side they will caucus with, but the Senate has gone Republican, though not filibuster proof.

  The House, as of Saturday morning, shows up as 211 versus 200, with a bunch more seats to be decided (with Arizona and California leading the way in undecided races). I’m seeing one site say that the betting odds are at 97% for Republican control, but I cannot tell if that is truly up to date or not, and the link seems sketchy enough that I didn’t include it (but it sounds about right).

  We are starting to see proposed cabinet positions and will get a better sense of what the Trump administration is likely to look like.

  At the risk of annoying people, on both sides, I think there are two things that I can safely say:

  • There is a hope that whatever team is assembled sticks together and authority is delegated to those in charge, so progress can be made.
  • There is a hope that the “best” in terms of policy and negotiation comes out, coupled with a fear that the worst elements could also come out.

  Trying to figure this out is why we need to understand TrumpSpeak.

  Babbel For Trump

  I checked the Babbel website and there are 13 languages that I can learn, but TrumpSpeak isn’t one of them.

  If I was able to train an AI Large Language Model, I’d be trying to train it on TrumpSpeak. The database of things that he has said (and tweeted) has to be pretty large. Then I would try to train that AI to predict what is likely to come out of all of that TrumpSpeak.

  One thing I can say with certainty is that taking TrumpSpeak at face value has rarely been effective. Worse yet is taking the worst parts of TrumpSpeak (and there are some worse parts) and extrapolating them, which might generate a lot of clicks, but it is unlikely to help anyone make good decisions. For those of you in markets and running businesses, making the best decisions possible is what it is all about.

  We will do our best to try to figure out what is likely to occur, but I do think some more background is helpful.

  Two Sides of Trump

  I will never forget Donald Trump speaking at a Bankers Trust High Yield Conference (I think it was before Deutsche Bank, and given the topic, I could probably figure it out, but that’s not overly important to the story).

  He was speaking to a large audience of bond investors, many of whom had recently lost money on one of his Atlantic City casinos (I think it was the Taj, but I could be wrong). The audience, while not hostile, was far from receptive to his discussion – which, of course, focused on raising debt for his new project in Atlantic City (the Taj II if memory serves correctly). Yet, by the end, there was a buzz in the audience, all wanting to get a good allocation when the new bonds came out. Even after his lawyer/accountant, came out and “corrected” some things and said some other things that might not have been 100% correct, there was still a buzz. So, from my perspective, don’t underestimate his ability to charm a room, and even if not everything said is accurate, that room can remain charmed. You can argue that this shouldn’t be the case, but I think if we are going to figure out TrumpSpeak together, this should always be at the back of our minds, if not the forefront.

  On the other side (assuming that the above reminiscence is a positive about Trump), his business organization looks very different (in my opinion) compared to other large organizations. The various businesses are compartmentalized. Unless things have changed, there isn’t a Golf Course Corp that manages all the golf courses. Properties and businesses stand as individual entities or maybe in small groups. There is also no one who stands out as his “trusted lieutenant.” So many business leaders rely on often a handful of people for advice and help. We all know when “so and so” gets promoted or goes to another firm, who they are going to bring with them. Yet Trump never seemed to have that cadre of trusted people who have important and visible roles in his dealings (he likely has some people that are in his inner circle, but they don’t seem to be well known, which after 8 years in politics seems surprising). So, a concern I had was his ability to delegate, which I think hampered his first term, as turnover was high, and a lot of roles were left vacant. Quite frankly, during this campaign, many people plugged into the campaign told me that several people recommended that he tone down some of his rhetoric and choice of words. He didn’t listen. He still won.

  So, as I try to think about TrumpSpeak, I think of someone who can surprise people by getting them to agree with him, but who might not like delegation and having others share in the success.

  You are free to disagree with that, but in my building blocks of thinking about TrumpSpeak, I go back to these “first principles” consistently, and it served me quite well the first time he was president.

  Tariffs Are Complex

  Let’s start with the topic of tariffs as it has garnered so much attention and seems less sensitive than immigration. I also think that if we start with tariffs, it might help us with TrumpSpeak.

  I remember writing a lot about Trade Wars and Tariffs back in the day. I think it may have been before we regularly used our website as all I could find from 2018 was The Battle for IP & Unfair Trade and Time to Price In a Trade War Victory.

  I do remember that I was one of only a few economists/strategists who supported tariffs. I argued that we had been in a trade war for decades, but only one side was firing the shots.

  2018 was a long time ago, but I remember the back and forth with some economists/strategists who were adamantly against tariffs. In fact, some of the most outspoken people right now were part of that same group. Few, if any, bothered to complain that President Biden left them all in place, and then added some more. I’d be far more worried that the angst is valid, if it didn’t feel like history was repeating itself.

  On Friday, I did get to bring up some thoughts on tariffs and protectionist countries in a segment that Bloomberg titled Tchir Says The Gloves Are Coming Off With China. I suspect this is a topic I will cover on Monday (Veteran’s Day) with Charles Payne on Fox Business.

  Tariffs are complex!

  Before worrying about 100% or 200% or whatever number is being bandied about, let’s just stop for one second on the complexity of tariffs and international trade.

  

  Assembled in America (or USA Assembled). I assume that means something more than just being able to use it as a marketing slogan. That somehow “assembling” here has some impact on tariffs or tax or something. On the glasses, which I like a lot, the assembly is probably a little bit more difficult to do than assembling a Lego kit geared for 6-year-olds, but not by much (I have put the glasses back together after breaking them). I’d guess that the value of the components is about 90% of the value of the product and assembly is 10%. On the golf club, I can only imagine a carton of golf club heads and a carton of shafts being assembled in about 1.5 seconds! Total, not each . But seriously, it is probably more efficient to ship them that way, but why use the sticker “assembled in America?” On this particular product, I vaguely remember reading that it isn’t just for marketing, and it impacted the duty owed.

  The above all seems a bit bizarre to me but should be a reminder that international trade is complex and lawyers (as they are apt to do) have built in so many loopholes that you can take very little at face value (who knew the 2018 tariffs would create a surge in Chinese facilities in Mexico?).

  We still need to think about tariffs, but as we wade deeper into the discussion, let’s at least be cautious in thinking it is easy to implement tariffs holistically in a way that loopholes aren’t readily available.

  Tariffs Are Likely A Negotiating Stance

  I’m old enough to remember, back in 2018, when markets would move on trade negotiation headlines. It isn’t like we woke up one day and suddenly tariffs appeared.

  While I completely believe Trump is willing to impose significantly large and new tariffs, I don’t think that will be the starting point. Having said that, if I didn’t think he would impose those tariffs, then it wouldn’t be much of a bargaining chip, so he has to convince me, you, and everyone else that the threat is real. Since he has done it before, the threat carries real weight.

  So, I fully expect negotiations to begin in earnest once he takes office (and maybe even before). Trump “likes wins” (another thing I take into account in TrumpSpeak) and it is unclear that levying tariffs, especially if they don’t elicit some form of capitulation from China, constitutes a win.

  On the other hand, threatening tariffs and getting China to give us some sort of a “deal” to avoid them can easily be spun as a win, and leaves the tariff threat good for another day. The “Art of the Deal” was a popular book (I think) back in the 1980’s. Trump likes to “win” and he likes “deals,” both of which point me to using the threat of tariffs to get some concessions from China.

  I am scared of the tariffs – but not for the reason everyone else is.

  I mostly fear that “we” will agree to a deal that seems like a “win” but really just gives Xi more time to get the Made By China strategy working well enough that China’s economy can get back to a path that is good for China and the CCP. 2025 was likely a bit ambitious for some of China’s targets, but they have been making a lot of progress towards their stated goals on many fronts, like manufacturing and technology. A deal that gives them more time to build out, with less pressure than they currently face, could prove very detrimental to our interests longer-term, while sounding good in the short-term.

  So, I do not lie awake at night worrying about tariffs stoking inflation to unreasonable levels. I do worry that we won’t press our current advantages enough, giving China time to perfect its strategy.

  I do agree with those who argue that tariffs alone won’t do much to boost domestic production. Yes, in theory, it will make foreign (Chinese goods) more expensive here, but will the cost be high enough to ramp up domestic production, or will the costs just shift along the existing supply and consumer chain, rather than create a revised, domestic-focused supply chain?
  Carefully executed tariffs, that can shift the cost structure enough that domestic production wins out, would be really interesting to see, but might be very difficult to achieve, at least without some sort of additional support.

  Which Brings Us to Chips

  Let’s start with this article from Politico (which leans left according to an AllSides Media Bias Chart). It states that for the CHIPS Act, only one deal, totaling $123 million, out of a total of $33 billion announced, has been finalized!

  I am fully in favor of developing a domestic foundry business (along with more extraction and processing of rare earths and critical minerals). It seems critical to national and corporate security to have a reliable supply chain of domestically manufactured chips, right up to the most state-of-the-art chips being made.

  Not only do I fully support the idea of building out foundries, but I also think that with or without tariffs, we will need to create incentives and subsidies to speed up the re-shoring of crucial industries.

  So why isn’t the CHIPS Act working well? On the bright side, availability of credit from traditional sources is high and inexpensive, so companies don’t need as much. But we’ve discussed that the Act itself tried to incorporate too many “features.” It didn’t just “help establish foundries,” it “helped establish foundries that meet a lot of additional, often complex, and sometimes very difficult to achieve metrics.” They don’t even sound like the same thing because they aren’t.

  From the Politico article:

  “The Biden administration is trying to balance business-world speed with a web of political and policy priorities, seemingly leaving none of the participants happy.”

  There is a push now to close as many deals as possible while the current administration remains in power. I think that makes sense, as not only do I view chip production as a key element of national security, but I also think the jobs that come with it will allow us to truly re-establish a middle to upper income class of workers. I do hope they finalize some deals as I think this is an area that deserves investment, and so far, TrumpSpeak hasn’t focused on this area, at least not as positively as I’d like it to.

  The chip industry, the logistics of supporting it (including water, rare earths/critical minerals, and energy) are all at the top of my investment list for stocks and bonds (while valuations in some sectors seem very stretched, there are immense opportunities here).

  Which Brings Us to Not In My Backyard

  If we are going to do a CHIPS Act, it would be more effective if we simply focused on the stated goal of developing foundries in the U.S. rather than trying to wedge a lot of other policies into the CHIPS Act. Making a competitive domestic chip manufacturing industry is difficult enough without attaching a lot of bells and whistles. Bells and whistles we may want (and even need), but should be handled in their own right, not haphazardly attached to other projects (if they weren’t haphazardly attached, I suspect we’d have more than one deal finalized).

  As a whole, the nation, over time, has established a lot of “dos and don’ts.” We have made commitments to not do things, for a variety of reasons. Often environmental.

  Those decisions were made when we had no real competition globally.

  • From an economic standpoint, we were far ahead of everyone. The European Union, which in theory should have thrived, hasn’t emerged as a powerful economic block (in fact, the EU seems, at least to me, to have hampered much of the entrepreneurial and business side of things through a “robust” list of regulations and rules). China was making some goods, largely for us, but didn’t really have their own brands and hadn’t fully embraced the Belt and Road Initiative giving them global economic influence.
  • From a military standpoint, the Soviet Union collapsed, China could not project power via a strong navy, and the rest of the world seemed very weak against a military that had a global presence and had consistently defeated its enemies, often with what seemed like ease.

  I am not arguing that we should abandon all the protections we put in place, but I do think we need to re-evaluate many of them as the world has changed and we may no longer have the luxury to do everything we said we would or wouldn’t do.
  The Keystone pipeline comes to mind (only because it seemed so close to getting done).

  But more importantly, chips, rare earths, critical minerals, refineries, etc., are all likely to be crucial to our success and we may need to figure out why they aren’t getting done or built, and if there is something we can do about that. In case I’m sounding like I’m preaching from a soapbox and have some moral high ground, I’m perfectly capable of being hypocritical and fighting a cell phone tower my town plans to build – hypothetically that is .

  Seriously, there are no easy answers, but we made a lot of decisions over the past few decades, where the competitive landscape has changed, and we should at least think about re-evaluating some things in the new world we face.

  The War in Russia and Ukraine

  Wow, I’ve gone on so long already, and despite having more to say, we will end this by examining the TrumpSpeak of ending the war in Ukraine.

  I think there is a very good opportunity to end the war.

  • I have the privilege of participating in many discussions with members of Academy’s Geopolitical Intelligence Group (“GIG”). The war in Ukraine comes up over and over again (as you would expect). The problem, as I see it, is that most of our experts seem to be forming a consensus around the status quo.
    • We can get more weapons into the hands of the Ukrainians, and give them more flexibility to use those weapons to their fullest capabilities, but how many more fighters can Ukraine come up with? How long can this go on and still allow displaced Ukrainians to return home?
    • The Russians, while often ineffective, and getting out-strategized by Ukraine, have more able bodies to put into the conflict. While their weaponry might not be very sophisticated, working at a wartime production level has given them a lot of mediocre weapons. As many of our GIG members state – quantity has a quality of its own. With Iran’s help – both directly and by diverting attention to the Middle East, and with North Korea’s help – first with equipment and now with some troops, the Russians are likely able to keep up this pace longer than Ukraine can, without really “winning.”
  • If that is the “status quo,” where neither side can really “win,” why not come to some form of peace?

  My take on TrumpSpeak related to this subject, once again, varies from much of what I see or hear in the media. There is a lot of concern that since the Republicans and Trump have not been supportive of weapons, they will somehow cut off the supply and demand peace. That is possible, but I don’t think it fits with TrumpSpeak very well. I see it playing out more like this:

  • Trump tells Putin – here is what you get – Crimea (which they’ve had now for a long time), some of the Donbas region (which they’ve also had for quite some time), and a bunch (but not all) of your frozen dollar reserves. You, Putin, will accept a path towards Ukraine achieving NATO status (though he might tell him that he doubts Ukraine will achieve the level of governance needed to achieve that). It does fit TrumpSpeak for him to do that. But he will warn Putin that not accepting this deal will force his hand to give Ukraine better equipment, training, and free them up to unleash it, since he will be very disappointed that Putin couldn’t see the value in the deal. And he finishes by reminding him of how much difficulty they are already having in the war, so just imagine how bad it will be for you if I have to really support the Ukrainians.
  • Trump tells Zelensky – you aren’t going to win this, and we are tired of supporting you. Let’s be honest, the part of the country I’m telling you to give up was always more Russian than Ukrainian (my presumption of TrumpSpeak). Listen, you have a lot to be proud of. People who had never heard of Ukraine now have, and respect you and your valor! You fought hard, now is the time to keep what is really Ukrainian and we will give you a bunch of $$$ to rebuild. We aren’t going to let Putin get back all of his money. There is a price he has to pay. So, you have world recognition, all the land that is obviously Ukrainian, and a bag of cash to rebuild! Just imagine the buildings you can have with all that money! (TrumpSpeak again). And, to make it sweeter, so it doesn’t happen again, we will create a path for you to join NATO. You will have some work to do to get there, but you can bring your great nation there. Sadly, if you can’t see the sensibility of all of this, and end the suffering of your people, I cannot commit to more weapons going forward. We’ve done a lot, and it is time for the U.S. to step back.

  So, I see it more as stopping a playground fight (though I don’t mean to diminish the deaths and brutality) by telling both sides what they already know to be true and using a mix of rewards and threats.

  I don’t see why that cannot be done and I don’t think it is at all contradictory to the TrumpSpeak we’ve heard.

  If Not Economic Growth, Much Less Risk of a Recession

  I am not sure I’m fully on board with the idea that the markets are moving a lot higher because of significantly improved growth prospects. It is possible, and I think there are a lot of potential positives, but that might be the market getting ahead of itself.
  What I can argue vehemently for is that the risk of a meaningful economic slowdown in the next year or two has been dramatically reduced:

  • The Fed wants to get to the “neutral rate” and whatever it is, they think it is lower than where monetary policy is set today.
  • The Republicans might not give Trump everything he wants (and we don’t even know what he really wants) but they certainly will be quick to react to slowdowns with fiscal stimulus since they look likely to control what they need to accomplish that.

  I think bigger projects might come to fruition, but the first 100 days is likely to be less overwhelming than the market seems to expect (the bond market has regained some of its sense in that respect). The new administration will want to get some big things done while they control everything, but that will likely take time.

  I’m also in the camp, that while a mandate was given to the Republicans, many will be cautious on how to use it, as Trump will not be standing for re-election (unless you believe some of the more aggressive conspiracy theories).

  In the meantime, we will all figure this out, and please take time to remember and thank veterans on Veterans Day. I’m very proud to work with the team at Academy and have learned a lot about what it takes to be a veteran and to have served! I have not served but I can thank my teammates and hope that we can continue to flourish and do our part to hire and train more veterans.

  I can also point you to In Flanders Fields, which I think is a poignant and inspirational poem and appropriate for the day!

  My apologies if I offended anyone, but I’m trying to explain how I think about this, and in any case, figuring out how to think about a lot of issues, and getting that analysis correct, will be a key component of success for you, your companies, and your investments.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 15:10

• Trump 'Sweep' Boosts Crypto: Bitcoin Tops $80K, Ethereum Bigger Than BofA
  Trump ‘Sweep’ Boosts Crypto: Bitcoin Tops $80K, Ethereum Bigger Than BofA

  The Republican sweep is the best outcome for digital assets, bringing regulatory and other changes, with Standard Chartered projecting this to drive total crypto market cap to USD 10tn by end-2026 from USD 2.5tn now.

  

  Specifically, StanChart expects the new administration to follow through on the Trump campaign’s proactively positive stance towards digital assets. Furthermore, any changes are likely to come relatively early in the administration to take advantage of Republican control of Congress before the midterm elections in November 2026. We expect the following specific developments:

  1. Repeal of SAB 121. SAB 121, an SEC guidance document on digital assets, requires entities that act as custodians for crypto assets to list the assets on their balance sheets and create a corresponding liability of equal value. In effect, this blocks US banks from crypto custody and spot offerings. The removal of SAB 121 is expected to pave the way for further adoption of digital assets by institutional investors.

  2. Passage of stablecoin bills. Stablecoins are becoming an important real-world use case for digital assets. Three significant bills aiming to create guardrails for banks to issue stablecoins were brought to the House over the past 12 months, but little progress was made. More progress on this is likely under the Trump administration in early 2025. This should pave the way for the expansion of this use case, further validating the asset class as a whole.

  3. Changes at the SEC. The SEC has taken a firm stance against digital assets under current Chairman Gary Gensler. It has brought court cases against Ripple (wherein it suggested that the majority of digital assets are securities) and Grayscale; it was also initially slow to approve spot ETFs. Trump explicitly stated during his campaign that he would replace Gensler.

  4. Potential for a Bitcoin reserve fund. Although this is currently a low-probability event, Trump mentioned in July that he would keep any Bitcoin held by the government (210,000 BTCs at the time), so it needs to be kept in mind. Such a move would have a large price-positive impact on such a small asset class.

  The U.S. president-elect made cryptocurrency a key part of his campaign this year, promising to protect and boost the industry in America and end the SEC’s crypto crackdown.

  Trump had also proposed to develop a strategic Bitcoin reserve and appointing pro-crypto regulators. 

  Bitcoin topped $80,000 for the first time in history overnight, now up over $10,000 since the election night blowout by Trump.

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Bitcoin ETFs have seen massive inflows in the days since the election…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  As Standard Chartered’s Geoffrey Kendrick points out, the 80k level is the first large open interest level for BTC calls for the 27 Dec expiry: open interest of 8110 BTC, as per this chart from Deribit:

  

  There is also open interest of 5851 BTC at the 29 Nov expiry, as per this chart (again the 80k level):

  

  Beyond 80k these charts show large open interest at 90k, of 4584 BTC for 29 Nov and 6833 BTC for 27 Dec. For the psychological 100k level, the 27 Dec expiry has a large 9461 BTC in open interest.

  Kendrick’s forecast also fits with the lagged response to the recent surge in global money supply…

  

  Given current momentum post-election, Kendrick thinks this means 90k becomes the next target, easily achievable ahead of 29 Nov. And then 100k, easily achievable ahead of 27 December. 125k which I forecast for the end of the year is the next level, although I note following the 2016 election a lot of Trump trades peaked around the time of the 20 Jan inauguration (see USD-MXN chart for example).

  So if BTC can’t reach 125k by 31 Dec I think it will by 20 Jan. The only other relevant date is 10 December, which is when the Microsoft board is due to vote on whether they will invest in BTC (let’s call that a low probability yes, high impact yes, if they voted to go ahead).

  Crypto Rover, for instance, cited Bitcoin’s tendency to establish record highs “50-60 days after the US elections,” noting that the price could reach $100,000 by January 20245 if the fractal plays out as intended.

  

  Source: Crypto Rover

  “In the last few days 60,000 BTC were bought by retail investors, 1800 BTC was bought by BlackRock, at the same time only 450 Bitcoin are mined each day and only two million BTC are available to buy on exchanges,” argued analyst Doctor Profit, adding:

  “If we continue in this speed we will reach $100,000 by end of year.”

  Medium term, Kendrick thinks what we have seen over the past few days continues with BTC to 200k and ETH to 10k by year-end 2025.

  

  Further out, Bitcoin analyst PlanB’s stock-to-flow model now projects a $500,000 price target for the asset within the next four-year cycle based on the model’s historical data and pattern.

  PlanB pointed to Trump’s proposal to create a national BTC reserve as a potential driver for demand, suggesting it could add “200,000 BTCs per year” in buying pressure.

  “If history is any guide, if the stock-to-flow model is any guide, then we’ll see sharp price increases from here,” the analyst said.

  The stock-to-flow model, which assesses Bitcoin’s value based on its limited supply and scheduled halvings, suggests substantial price growth after each halving event.

  While the analyst anticipates BTC price reaching $500,000 in this cycle, he notes a wide variance between $250,000 and $1,000,000 per BTC.

  

  It’s not just bitcoin, Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, topped $3200 – its highest since August –  pushing its market cap to around $383 billion (roughly $40 billion above Bank of America’s market cap).

  

  ETH has witnessed its greatest weekly price action since May even as, over the last seven days, ETH supply has been quickly increasing, at an inflationary rate of 0.424% a year – previously deflationary in early-to-mid October.

  

  According to Ultrasound.money data, the current yearly ETH burn rate sits at 452,000 ETH, while the issuance rate is more than double that at 957,000 ETH, resulting in an annual supply increase of 0.42%.

  

  Meanwhile, Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, introduced the concept of “info finance” on Nov. 9.

  Buterin explained that info finance is “a discipline” that begins with “a fact that you want to know” and ends with a market that “optimally” elicits that information from market participants.

  The ETH co-founder advocated for prediction markets to collect insights from the community about future events in a way that offers public expectation without media sensationalism or influence.

  Finally, as BitcoinMagazine.com reports, historical price analysis suggests that Bitcoin’s current trajectory is strikingly similar to previous cycles. From its lows, Bitcoin usually takes around 24-26 months to break past previous highs. In the last cycle, it took 26 months; in this cycle, Bitcoin’s price is on a similar upward trajectory after 24 months. Bitcoin has historically peaked about 35 months after its lows. If this pattern holds, we may see significant price increases through October 2025, after which another bear market could set in.

  Following the anticipated peak, history suggests Bitcoin would enter a bear phase in 2026, lasting roughly one year until the next cycle begins anew. These patterns aren’t a guarantee but provide a roadmap that Bitcoin has adhered to in previous cycles. They offer a potential framework for investors to anticipate and adapt to the market.

  

  Similar timeframes for new highs, cycle peaks, and lows over the previous cycles.

  Despite challenges, Bitcoin’s four-year cycle has endured, largely due to its supply schedule, global liquidity, and investor psychology. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 14:35

• The Great Freight Recession Is Officially Over
  The Great Freight Recession Is Officially Over

  By Craig Fuller of FreightWaves

  I’ve been closely following the freight market, and it’s clear that the Great Freight Recession has ended. After the most prolonged freight recession in history, the market has been showing signs of recovery over the past few months. This shift is backed by SONAR data, confirming a market turnaround.

  Tender rejections rising: The increase in tender rejections to over 6% signals that the market is tightening. After seeing rejections dip to 3.4% post-Labor Day last year, this change indicates that carriers now have more control in choosing which loads they accept, thus shifting market dynamics in their favor.

  

  Spot rates increasing: Spot rates are also climbing, surpassing those of 2022 and 2023, which tells me there’s either a surge in demand or a decrease in available capacity, possibly both. This could catch many expecting the low rates to persist off guard. Truckload rates are up to $1.78 from $1.54 a year ago.  

  

  Carrier revenge could be coming next year: “Carrier revenge” implies that carriers, after a period of low rates and high competition, might leverage their position to negotiate better rates or reject tenders more selectively in the coming months, affecting shippers’ logistics strategies, especially routing guides.

  Decreasing capacity: Speaking of capacity, the upcoming implementation of the FMCSA’s Clearinghouse-II regulations on Nov. 18, 2024, will have a significant impact. Trucking expert Adam Wingfield stated that 177,000 truck drivers could potentially lose their CDLs, further tightening the market as state agencies need to query the Clearinghouse for any licensing actions. 

  In less than two weeks, approximately 177,000 drivers will have their CDLs revoked due to being in the “prohibited” status in the clearinghouse.

  Drivers, make sure to check your clearinghouse status and if you are in a SAP, be sure you are properly set for RTD before the…

  — Adam L. Wingfield 🚛👨🏾‍💻 (@adamlwingfield) November 7, 2024

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

  This regulation requires:

  • State Driver Licensing Agencies (SDLAs) to remove the commercial driving privileges of drivers in a “prohibited” status in the Clearinghouse. This action will result in a downgrade of the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) until the driver completes the return-to-duty (RTD) process.
  • SDLAs must query the Clearinghouse before issuing, renewing, upgrading, or transferring CDLs and Commercial Learner’s Permits (CLPs). This step ensures that drivers with unresolved drug or alcohol violations are not allowed to operate commercial motor vehicles.

  Political influence: Trump’s election could accelerate freight demand as policy changes could stimulate economic activity, increasing the need for freight services. This includes income and corporate tax cuts, bonus depreciation, pre-stocking for tariffs, investment in domestic manufacturing and the change in freight dynamics from containers to surface (trucking, rail and domestic warehousing).   

  Immigration deportation: According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 20% of truck driver employees are immigrants. While many of these are legal immigrants into the U.S., there are numerous reports of drivers using international driver’s licenses and fake documents to drive in the U.S. 

  It is hard to know the percentage here, as the data is sparse (after all, the undocumented workers would not admit it). Having been around the industry, any opportunity to game the system will undoubtedly be used. Are undocumented workers 1% of the population of immigrants or 10%? 

  I don’t know, but if Trump follows through with his threats of deportations, this could remove some percentage of the trucking industry’s excess capacity and make it harder for carriers that skirt the law to stay in business. 

  Current sentiment: Following a decisive election, I believe the freight market is recovering and might exceed expectations over the next year. 

  Don’t rely on lagging data: The current conditions in the freight market have been debated extensively, but with the volatility of freight, it is imperative to make decisions based on the freshest and most accurate data. This can only be accomplished with high-frequency data that offers real-time insights into market direction. SONAR’s high-frequency data is refreshed data and offers real-time supply and demand metrics with the most accurate spot and contract data in freight. 

  This scenario points towards a robust recovery in the freight market, potentially leading to higher freight rates, a shift in power dynamics between shippers and carriers, and an overall more vibrant market environment. 

  Shippers are advised to prepare for these changes by locking in rates or diversifying their carrier base to mitigate risks associated with routing guide breakdowns. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 14:00

• Liberal Cat Ladies Reveal "Battle Plan" To Poison Trump Men With Aqua Tofana
  Liberal Cat Ladies Reveal “Battle Plan” To Poison Trump Men With Aqua Tofana

  Educated white liberal women appear to have lost their goddamn minds after the presidential election. Many have posted videos of uncontrollable emotional outbursts over a Trump victory…

  I fixed it for you pic.twitter.com/Dmoxdj02DI

  — stephen hilton (@stephenhilton23) November 7, 2024

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

  … with some even threatening to adopt pro-life stances as a form of retaliation against men.

  Woman says she has an IQ of 130 and will now “stay dry” and not sleep with men because Trump was elected.

  She said it’s punishment for taking away her right to an abortion.

  Sounds good. She won’t need any abortions then.

  Way to go IQ 130. pic.twitter.com/P6wgGrvYpt

  — Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) November 7, 2024

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

  Others have made what appears to be terroristic threats, suggesting at the use of strong poison against men because they voted for the evil ‘Orange Man.’ 

  

  

  Internet searches for Aqua Tofana—a potent poison created in Sicily around 1630 by a woman named Giulia Tofana, or Tofania, and historically used by women to free themselves from relationships by killing men—spiked shortly after the election results.

  

  Searches for “Aqua Tofana recipe” surged. 

  

  And how to make the poison. 

  

  The first search result on Google for “Aqua Tofana recipe” came up with a video on the Chinese social media platform TikTok. 

  

  Clicking on the link unveiled many creepy women pushing Aqua Tofana propaganda. 

  “Melania Trump making some Aqua Tofana from scratch before she reunites with her husband,” one video stated.

  What in the actual… 

  

  X user I Meme Therefore I Am noted, “HOLY SH*T, Karens lost their fvcking minds over Trump’s win and launched MATGA—short for Make Aqua Tofana Great Again.” 

  HOLY SH*T, Karens lost their fvcking minds over Trump’s win and launched MATGA—short for Make Aqua Tofana Great Again.

  Aqua Tofana was a powerful poison in 17th-century Sicily, sold by women to other women seeking to escape abusive relationships by discreetly poisoning their… pic.twitter.com/KvHK8ZXWz4

  — I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) November 10, 2024

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

  More unhinged liberal women are pushing Aqua Tofana propaganda after the elections.

  ‘Your body, my choice’

  This new movement is called MATGA – make aqua tofana great again, it’s teaching women how to POIS☠️N Trump supporters with plants and flowers! pic.twitter.com/zg9aWvaVvS

  — Sabrina Smolders 🦋🌹 (@SabrinaSmolders) November 10, 2024

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

  #AquaTofana #LiberalismIsAMentalDisease #LiberalInsanity
  Liberal women calling for “aqua tofana” against conservatives. Aqua Tofana was a poison used in the 1600’s against abusive husbands. pic.twitter.com/0rGC3A9P5X

  — Jenn Is Awesome (@rebelpatriot23) November 10, 2024

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

  Look at this #FBA woman tell other BW to divorce their husbands and for those who can’t. Use “aqua tofana”

  I can’t say what that means on this platform but, take a wild guess. #Election2024 #KamalaHarris #Trump #USElection2024 pic.twitter.com/GkaE07kJL9

  — Bon Jour (@BlackinMexico) November 8, 2024

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

  Here’s what X users are saying:

  Jesus. If I recognized any of them, I’d be calling their husbands/significant others and show them these clips.

  — Not THAT Karen (@KarenM4253) November 10, 2024

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

  They want to kill their husbands if they voted for Trump?

  Or are they saying they want to kill ANYONE who voted for Trump?

  Creating a movement in which women are encouraging other women to kill those who vote for a different candidate than you l, further illustrates…

  — Dabney (@DabneyPorte) November 10, 2024

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

  Trump was right. These people are SICK!!

  — suzy (@Suzy_1776) November 10, 2024

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

  And they wonder why we won, they need help, they are seriously fucked in the head.

  They shouldn’t have any say in our society with this type of thinking…

  Make insane asylum great again. MIAGA

  — Konstelation (@Konstelation) November 10, 2024

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

  I don’t recall Conservatives posting vids screaming into their pillows, threatening to poison people, threatening to kill people, voicing hatred for people they don’t even know. Not any of those things when we lost last time. The hatred is palpable and completely unnecessary.

  — TwistedCherryX (@TwistedCherryX5) November 10, 2024

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

  Can we trust these women if they are working in the food service business to serve conservatives?

  — Darla Shine 👑 (@DarlaShine) November 10, 2024

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

  Hi @FBI. What’s your position on women encouraging other women to poison their husbands or others who voted for Trump?

  — spartanqueen100 (@spartanqueen100) November 10, 2024

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

  Has anyone reported this? Free speech is one thing. This is a freaking battle plan.

  — White Trash Hillbilly Kathy Frisby (@kathy_frisby) November 10, 2024

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

  This is premeditated murder if they succeed. The women posting these should be held as an accessor of murder too!

  — pam (@pamntx1) November 10, 2024

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

  Great job, Obama, Alex Soros, and MSM… 

  

  What in the actual f…

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 13:25

• Now Germany Has A Green Electricity Outage With Huge Consequences
  Now Germany Has A Green Electricity Outage With Huge Consequences

  Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

  No sun. No wind. Hello Germany, care to rethink your Green New Deal?

  

  A Huge Green Outage

  Welt Business (translated from German, paywalled) reports Now Germany is experiencing a green electricity outage – with huge consequences

  “The foggy weather of the last few days has brought green electricity production to a virtual standstill. Not only have particularly climate-damaging power plants been brought into operation as a replacement for wind and solar power, but prices have also exploded. And all of this seems to be just a foretaste of winter.”

  Dark Doldrums

  

  H/T @hendrikotten3 @JulienReszka @cristoforestman @MichaelAArouet @hagentc

  The Green Old Scare

  The common sense approach is to replace coal with nuclear and natural gas.

  Since we are decades behind on nuclear because of the “Green Old Scare”, the sensible option is to phase out coal for natural gas and then nuclear because of the lead times in building a nuclear plant.

  Instead, Germany, with thanks to an idiotic decision dating to Chancellor Angela Merkel, chose to get rid of nuclear with no viable alternative.

  When that failed, Germany had needed to import energy from France but also neighboring countries that produced energy with coal, and the dirtiest coal at that.

  How stupid can you get?

  Greens Trounced in Elections

  Greens were hammered in the European Parliament elections, in French elections, and in three German state elections.

  But did that change the policies of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyden?

  Of course not!

  Von Der Leyen Affirms Europe’s Leadership in Green Hydrogen Amid US Delays

  Please note Von Der Leyen Affirms Europe’s Leadership in Green Hydrogen Amid US Delays

  European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in her speech at the Fourth Edition of the Renewable Hydrogen Summit, outlined Europe’s significant strides and continued leadership in the renewable hydrogen sector, contrasting sharply with the slower pace of progress in the United States.

  Addressing a virtual audience, von der Leyen highlighted that over the past year, Europe has finalized investment decisions on more than 2 gigawatts of renewable hydrogen projects—a substantial increase that quadruples the current installed capacity.

  The REPowerEU plan aims to produce 10 million tons of renewable hydrogen by 2030, supported by legislative mandates that require significant portions of hydrogen used in industry and transport to be renewable by the end of the decade. These targets are not merely aspirational but are binding, with Member States required to incorporate them into national law by May 2025.

  More Green New Idiocy

  That’s more Green New Idiocy from Von der Leydon who arrogantly assumes votes don’t matter.

  July 7: France is Now Ungovernable Following a Pyrrhic Victory for the Left-Green Alliance

  France is Now Ungovernable

  By refusing to cooperate with the Right, Macron instead has to cooperate with a Far Left plurality described above including Green policy that spawned the Yellow-Vest Protests that rocked Macron for months.

  September 1: Far Right to Win First German State Election Since WWII

  I am pleased to report the Greens crashed out in Thuringia, losing every seat.

  In Saxony, the Greens managed 5.1 percent of the vote, barely meeting the 5.0 percent threshold, but lost 5 seats in parliament, dropping from 12 to 7.

  September 22: SPD Barely Hangs On, Greens Crash in Brandenburg Germany State Election

  In Brandenburg, the outgoing government narrowly lost its majority as the Greens collapsed and fell short of the 5% electoral threshold, losing all their seats.

  It was nearly a total boot of the Greens in three state elections, but as they say, “two out of three ain’t bad.”

  German Polls

  

  Hoot of the Day

  The ruling 3-way Traffic Light coalition is down to a combined 35 percent and FDP at 4.5 percent would be booted. So, call it 30 percent. Some coalition!

  However, the only thing an election will do is shift the power from one very unstable coalition to another very unstable coalition.

  The German Government Collapses, Chancellor Scholz Fired his Finance Minister

  Please note my November 7 post, The German Government Collapses, Chancellor Scholz Fired his Finance Minister

  The Traffic Light Coalition finally blew up. What’s ahead?

  Unlike most in the US, I follow what’s going on in Europe, and it isn’t pretty to say the least.

  All of the parties rule out an alliance with AfD and BSW. Combined, that is about 26 percent of the total.

  The last Grand Coalition (SPD and Union) nearly collapsed and this go around a “grand” coalition might not even have a majority. Note: Union is CDU/CSU.

  The German and French governments are both nonfunctional. Neither county has experienced this before.

  Meanwhile, back in the US …

  Please consider Why Trump Won the Election in One Clear Picture

  Voters are angry everywhere, for obvious reasons, but few can figure out why.

  The Brookings Institute Wonders Why Consumer Sentiment is So Bad, I Can Help

  On November 5, I wrote The Brookings Institute Wonders Why Consumer Sentiment is So Bad, I Can Help

  Dear Ursula

  I can hardly wait until Greens and SPD are decimated in the next German Federal election. And we won’t have to wait long.

  Best of all, Green New Stupidly will fly out the window when a mass of European countries tell the commission president to go to hell.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 12:50

• "100% I'm On It": Don Jr. Tells Dave Smith He'll Block "Neocons And War Hawks" From Administration
  “100% I’m On It”: Don Jr. Tells Dave Smith He’ll Block “Neocons And War Hawks” From Administration

  Update (1128ET): With all eyes now on Mike Rogers, who’s been floated to lead Trump’s DoD…

  Absolutely not. Mike Rogers is a CIA-owned, Deep State clown who could not care less about putting America First. He will stab Trump and all of his supporters in the back at the very first opportunity in order to push America Last neocon foreign policy. https://t.co/jDuJE5cU0g

  — Sean Davis (@seanmdav) November 8, 2024

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

  Donald Trump Jr. told comedian Dave Smith on Sunday “I’m on it” in response to keeping “all neocons and war hawks out of the Trump administration.”

  Agreed💯💯💯!!! I’m on it. https://t.co/wJga8VyIG2

  — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 10, 2024

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

  So about Mike Rogers, Don…

  *  *  *

  The new conservative era is off to a good start and so far it appears that Trump Admin 2.0 is not messing around.  Perhaps the biggest complaint about the 2016 Trump Administration was how quickly a nest of Neo-Con swamp creatures slithered their way into his cabinet.  In interviews with podcasters like Joe Rogan, Trump would later regret his reliance on establishment GOP advisers who helped him to fill the thousands of cabinet positions required for a presidential transition. 

  It was this same cabal of advisers that would help to sabotage his efforts to institute federal reforms, secure the border, clear out corruption and ultimately some of them tried to help the Democrats destroy him.  As the saying goes, in a revolution always be sure to save a magazine for your so-called “allies”.  

  

  By some miracle Donald Trump has received a second chance to make things right and it looks as though he learned some valuable lessons from the internal sabotage that took place during his first term.  There’s little chance we will be seeing ghouls like John Bolton, Anthony Fauci or Mike Pence haunting the halls of the White House in 2025.  In fact, Trump recently put swirling rumors to rest that he might be including Neo-Cons like Mike Pompeo and NIkki Haley in his newest administration. 

  He made the announcement on November 9th on his Truth Social account, rejecting any notions that they would be working with him for his second term.

  BREAKING: President Trump clarifies that he will not be inviting Amb Nikki Haley and Sec Mike Pompeo into his next administration. pic.twitter.com/ZypWqhGr5v

  — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 9, 2024

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

  “I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation,” Trump posted on social media. “I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our country.”

  It’s a surprisingly cordial message that sets a much needed standard. 

  This is welcome news for a lot of conservatives and independents looking for a true break from the Deep State and a fresh start for America.  The announcement helps to put to rest public concerns that the policies Trump campaigned on would be diluted by establishment cronies the moment he entered the Oval Office.  For those unaware, Pompeo has a nasty reputation as an anti-liberty bureaucrat and a warhawk.  To illustrate the Pompeo problem, Tucker Carlson relates his own encounter with the office of the former CIA Director and Secretary of State:

  Remember what Tucker Carlson told Joe Rogan about Mike Pompeo? pic.twitter.com/oQD0zbO32t

  — An0maly (@LegendaryEnergy) November 7, 2024

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

  To be sure, Pompeo plays the game and says what conservatives want to hear when it’s necessary, and his policies tend to run concurrent to his predecessors, but that’s the issue; the old Neo-Con guard is a dinosaur that needs to go.  Republican strategist Roger Stone issued a stark warning to President-elect Donald Trump on Friday: Trump should not trust the former cabinet member. 

  “Now that Trump is back on top, it becomes far more difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff,” Stone wrote on his website.  Stone went on to single out Pompeo and Trump’s former UN ambassador—and onetime 2024 Republican rival—Nikki Haley. 

  These “neocons have positioned themselves to get highly influential roles within the second Trump administration,” Stone wrote, “and this sinister fifth column has the potential to be more harmful to Trump’s America First agenda than his leftist opinion within the Democrat Party.”

  Some may recall that Nikki Haley was thoroughly raked over the coals by Vivek Ramaswamy for her neo-con tendencies during the Republican Primaries.

  Vivek destroys what’s left of Nikki Haley’s failed campaign by pointing out that she is corrupt and owned by the uniparty RINOs. 👇🏽
  pic.twitter.com/8fcW223juB

  — Glockford Files (@GlockfordFiles) December 7, 2023

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

  These are not the kinds of people that should be allowed anywhere near the next Trump presidency.  Luckily, the voices of reason have the floor this time and Trump seems to be listening. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 12:28

• FEC Filings Show Kamala Harris Team Blew Funds On Hollywood Stars, Private Jets
  FEC Filings Show Kamala Harris Team Blew Funds On Hollywood Stars, Private Jets

  Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, advised by leftist political strategists, spent a billion dollars centered around labeling former President Trump and a majority of Americans as ‘Hitler’ and ‘Nazis.’ They poured millions into far-left Hollywood stars, elaborate concerts, and private jet travel, yet still ended up $20 million in debt—and got defeated in one of the most historic general election wins in a generation. 

  

  X user Autism Capital cited a new report of Federal Election Commission filings that shows the Harris team’s spending trends between August 2023 and October 2024. The data is broken down into monthly spending totals, the top 20 recipients, a distribution of disbursement sizes, spending by type of media, temporal patterns, and trends. 

  Autism Capital said, “List of the top 500 disbursement recipients from the Kamala campaign. Enjoy, Internet.”

  List of the top 500 disbursement
  recipients from the Kamala campaign. Enjoy, Internet. 🫡

  Source: FEChttps://t.co/EAjLdiiG93 pic.twitter.com/uTrzGAz81K

  — Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) November 9, 2024

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

  2024, TOP 500 Disbursement Recipients

  

  Monthly Spending Totals for ‘MEDIA’ Related Disbursements (Chronological Order)

  

  Top 20 ‘MEDIA’ Related Spend Recipients by Total Amount

  

  X users are already having fun with this FEC data… 

  Oprah Winfrey = Harpo Production.

  Why did Oprah’s production studio receive $1,000,000 disbursement from the Harris campaign?

  That’s in the FEC records – clear as day.

  Was Oprah paid for the assistance she gave Harris and if so, was that disclosed during that little town hall?

  — Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) November 9, 2024

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

  Trump needs to investigate all these celebrity endorsements. If they were paid and didn’t disclose this, there should be repercussions.

  — David Karim (@davidkarim) November 9, 2024

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

  She was paid to appear. Duh.

  Stupid woman wrecked her legacy for a million bucks.

  — Mila Joy (@MilaLovesJoe) November 9, 2024

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

  The massive payouts to celebrities from the Harris campaign show what a sham all of the left’s “Hitler” rhetoric is. Oprah says she’s fighting against a Nazi takeover but won’t waive her 7-figure fee to show up?

  What a joke.

  — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 10, 2024

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

  Nothing reflects Kamala Harris’ self-proclaimed middle class values than Harris spending $100,000 of her campaign money to build a set for a podcast rather than flying to LA, or paying Oprah $1,000,000 (like Oprah needs that money) to appear her on her show. pic.twitter.com/4OeKAsMTM9

  — Rupa Subramanya (@rupasubramanya) November 9, 2024

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

  Distribution of Disbursement Sizes

  

  Spending by Type of Media Service

  

  More spending trends from the now defunct campaign…

  

  Harris for President Media-Related Disbursements (partial list)

  

   … full report found here: Harris for President Media-Related Disbursements

  Can you spot the difference in campaign spending between the Trump and Harris teams? 

  TRUMP CAMPAIGN:

  • $381.54 million in donations
  • $354.42 million spent
  • $10.4 million for staff 

  HARRIS CAMPAIGN:

  • $1.033 billion in donations
  • $1.37 billion spent
  • $582.53 million on staff

  Despite Harris’ out-of-control spending, Trump won 312 electoral votes.

  

  And the entire country shifted towards Trump. 

  

  Just wow. 

  PRE-TRUMP vs. NOW:

  — Voters under 30: 12-point shift

  — Voters w/ incomes <$50K: 25-point shift

  — Voters w/o college degrees: 18-point shift

  — Black voters: 15-point shift

  — Hispanic voters: 38-point shift

  — Asian voters: 32-point shift pic.twitter.com/crlECm5nsb

  — Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) November 10, 2024

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

  In a recent interview on Fox News, DNC Finance Committee member Lindy Li called the Harris campaign:

  “The truth is this is just an epic disaster, this is a $1 billion disaster. They’re $20 million or $18 million in debt. It’s incredible, and I raised millions of that. I have friends I have to be accountable to and to explain what happened because I told them it was a margin of error race.“

  DNC finance committee member @lindyli blasted the Democratic Party in an appearance on Fox this morning, saying Harris’ campaign was a “$1 billion dollar disaster” and Biden’s endorsement of her was a ‘f*** you’ to the party. pic.twitter.com/kOGyvHM9cB

  — Ross O’Keefe (@RossOKeefe2) November 9, 2024

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

  Meanwhile, Trump pledged support to help pay off Harris’ campaign debts…

  Let’s take a moment to recognize that as Donald Trump states his willingness to pay off Harris’s campaign debts. The man has the best instincts as a politician since Ronald Reagan. pic.twitter.com/cUyXyLIaIA

  — Jim Pfaff (@jimpfaff) November 9, 2024

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

  Perhaps the Democratic Party’s move to alienate historic numbers of Latinos, Blacks, Asians, and Jews from the party was a terrible strategy. 

  Great job, Barack Hussein Obama. You made a fool of yourself. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 12:15

• Indoctri-Nation
  Indoctri-Nation

  Authored by Larry Sand via American Greatness,

  An essential mission for many educators throughout the country is the indoctrination of their students. The newest arrival on the propaganda front is Israel. In August, one of the topics of a United Teachers of Los Angeles meeting was “How to be a teacher & an organizer. . . and NOT get fired.”

  

  History teacher Ron Gochez elaborated on stealth methods for indoctrinating his students. He talked about transporting busloads of kids to an anti-Israel rally—during the school day—without arousing suspicion.

  “A lot of us that have been to those [protest] actions have brought our students. Now, I don’t take the students in my personal car,” Gochez told the crowd. Then, referring to the Los Angeles Unified School District, he explained: “I have members of our organization who are not LAUSD employees. They take those students and I just happen to be at the same place and the same time with them.”

  Gochez further explained, “It’s like tomorrow I go to church, and some of my students are at the church. ‘Oh, wow! Hey, how you doing?’ We just happen to be at the same place at the same time, and look! We just happen to be at a pro-Palestine action, same place, same time.”

  The unionistas then burst into approving laughter.

  John Adams Middle School teacher and UTLA panelist William Shattuc agreed. Wearing a keffiyeh around his neck, he said, “We know that good history education is political education. And when we are coming up against political movements, like the movement for Zionism, that we disagree with, that we’re in conflict with—they [Zionists] have their own form of political education and they employ their own tools of censorship.”

  Guadalupe Carrasco Cardona, ethnic studies teacher at Edward R. Roybal Learning Center in Los Angeles, who received a National Education Association Foundation Award for excellence in teaching, insists that the course she teaches, and whose curriculum she helped develop—ethnic studies—is fundamentally incompatible with supporting Israel. “Are you pro-Israel—are you for genocide?”

  In Portland, OR, the Intifada begins in kindergarten. For example, the teachers union suggests that kindergarteners be gathered into a circle and taught the history of Palestine: “Seventy-five years ago, a lot of decision-makers around the world decided to take away Palestinian land to make a country called Israel. Israel would be a country where rules were mostly fair for Jewish people with white skin. There’s a BIG word for when indigenous land gets taken away to make a country; that’s called settler colonialism.”

  The brainwashing is hardly limited to Israel.

  In the San Diego Unified School District, students must confront and examine their “white privilege” and acknowledge when they “feel white fragility.” Additionally, children are told to “understand the impact of white supremacy” in their work.

  Courtesy of the 520-page Black Studies Curriculum, public school students in New York City now receive lessons on the tenets of the Black Lives Matter movement and that Black Americans should receive reparations. Students also learn about the evils of capitalism, that student loans are equivalent to “debt peonage,” and the difference between defunding, reforming, and abolishing the police.

  At an unspecified school in California, a parent confronted a teacher who told students that “only those who voted for Kamala Harris in their mock election will get a pizza party.”

  The educator explained that there were five periods and only one would not get the party. “The Democrats are more for feeding the hungry, free medical care, more services—just pay higher taxes, so I would be willing to buy pizza for the class,” the teacher told the parent.

  The teacher confirmed that the class that voted for Trump would not get free pizza, explaining “They just do what the conservatives do—which is pay for yourself.”

  And then there is the transgender obsession, which shows no sign of abating. The invaluable Parents Defending Education lists the school districts that have policies that openly state district personnel can or should keep a student’s transgender status hidden from parents. As of Oct. 30, there were 12,222,924 students in 20,951 schools across the country affected by this protocol.

  Not only is indoctrination a moral disgrace, it is also very expensive. A recent report surveying 467 superintendents in 46 states reveals that culturally divisive conflict in schools costs public K-12 schools, i.e., taxpayers, about $3.2 billion during the 2023-24 school year.

  The cost of school-based culture wars includes “additional security, communications, and legal expenses. Schools incurred indirect costs from using staff time to address misinformation, social media threats, media inquiries about book bans, and growing demands for public information requests.”

  John Rogers, a UCLA education professor, and lead researcher for the poll, claimed in a media release, “This research makes clear that culturally divisive conflicts in the nation’s schools are generating fear, stress, and anxiety that is disrupting school districts and taking a personal toll on the educators and staff members who work in them. Sadly, as superintendents have told us, the cost of these conflicts not only has a financial impact but is also eroding teaching and learning and undermining the trust between schools and the communities so essential to our democracy and civic life.”

  Notably, according to many of the superintendents interviewed for the report, members of Moms for Liberty and those speaking out about such controversial topics shouldn’t get a platform.

  Tiffany Justice, cofounder of Moms for Liberty, responded that the report’s findings are “ridiculous” and a “gaslighting tactic” to make it look like the parents are the problem for opposing sensitive topics being taught to their children without their consent.

  Justice adds, “This is more obfuscation, this is more deflection by school districts for not liking the fact that parents are calling out a failing system, and we will not be silenced to protect a failing system.”

  “What would be the better thing?” Justice asked. “We just shut up and go along with the indoctrination and the demoralization of our children so we don’t cause a problem and cost the school district money? If they weren’t doing so much nonsense, they wouldn’t have to deal with the ire of parents.”

  Fortunately, many adults are indeed catching on to the problems with our wayward schools. According to the results of a Gallup poll released in August, only 43% of American adults indicated they are somewhat or completely satisfied with the quality of education students receive in kindergarten through grade 12 in the United States today.

  Additionally, the EdChoice Schooling in America Survey asked respondents about the trajectory of K–12 education in the United States. The responses to this question were red flags for both parents and the broader public. Fully 70% of the public and 64% of parents of school-age children think K–12 education is on the wrong track.

  A Pew Research Center poll found that only 16% of Americans were willing to say things are going in the right direction in education.

  The 2022 NAEP, or “Nation’s Report Card” shows that Americans’ concerns are valid. The test revealed that nationwide, 29% of the nation’s 8th-graders are proficient in reading, while just 26% are proficient in math.

  Clearly, all parents need to be aware of the massive indoctrination going on in the nation’s government-run schools and act accordingly. They have options, which I will delve into in a future post.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/10/2024 – 11:40

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• Escobar: Putin Outlines The 'Moment Of Truth'
  Escobar: Putin Outlines The ‘Moment Of Truth’

  Authored by Pepe Escobar,

  President Putin’s plenary session performance (address + Q&A) at the annual Valdai Club meeting in Sochi felt like a high-speed train on cruise control.

  

  Totally cool, calm, comfortable, in full command of a Himalaya of facts, no political leader anywhere – recent past and present – would even come close to delivering what amounts to an extensive, detailed world view deeply matured over a quarter of a century at the highest geopolitical level.

  Putin began his address referring to the October 1917 revolution, drawing a direct parallel with our turbulent times: “The moment of truth is coming”. In a clear tribute to Gramsci, he stated how a “completely new world order” is “being formed before our eyes.”

  The subtle reference to the recent BRICS summit in Kazan could not possibly escape critical minds across the Global Majority. Kazan was a living, breathing testimony that “the old order is irrevocably disappearing, one might say, has already disappeared, and a serious, irreconcilable struggle is unfolding for the formation of a new one. Irreconcilable, first of all, because this is not even a fight for power or geopolitical influence, this is a clash of the very principles on which relations between countries and peoples will be built at the next historical stage.”

  As concisely as possible, that should be taken as the current Big Picture framework: we are not mired inside a reductionist clash of civilizations or the “end of History” – which Putin defined as “myopic” – but facing a make-or-break systemic clash of fundamental principles. The result will define this century – arguably the Eurasia Century, as “the dialectics of History continues.”

  Putin himself quipped that he would drive into “philosophical asides” during his address. In fact that went much further than a mere refutation of unilateral conceptual fallacies, as “the Western elites thought that their monopoly is the final stop for humanity” and “modern neoliberalism degenerated into a totalitarian ideology.”

  Referring to AI, he asked rhetorically, “will human remain human?” He praised the building of a new global architecture, moving towards a “polyphonic” and “polycentric” world where “maximum representation” is paramount and the BRICS are “coming up with a coordinated approach” based on “sovereign equality.”

  Six Principles For Global Sustainable Development

  Sovereignty had to be one of the predominant themes during the Valdai Q&A. Putin was adamant that Russia must “develop our own sovereign AI. As algorithms are biased and give massive power to a few big companies that control the internet, the need is imperative for “sovereign algorithms.”

  Answering a question on Eurasian security and the US as the dominant maritime power v. a multipolar Eurasia, he stressed the “consensus and desire in Eurasia for an anti-hegemonic movement”, and not for Eurasia constituted “as a bloc”. That’s the appeal of Eurasia’s “multi-vector foreign policy”, implying “more political independence”. The key example of “harmonizing interests”, Putin stressed, is the Russia-China partnership, and that was also what “made BRICS successful.”

  Compare it in contrast to “the inability in Europe to establish a system of “indivisibility of security” and to “overcome bloc politics”; Europe instead went for NATO expansion: “After the end of the Cold War there was an opportunity to overcome bloc politics. But the US had fear of losing Europe. The US installed almost a colonial dependence. Honestly I did not expect that.”

  Putin introduced a fascinating personal experience tidbit referring to a conversation – in German – with former German chancellor Helmut Kohl in 1993, when Kohl said flat out that “the future of Europe” is linked to Russia.

  Yet that ended up leading to “the most important problem on our Eurasian continent, the main problem between Russia and European countries: the trust deficit (…) When they tell us that ‘we signed the Minsk agreements on Ukraine only to give Ukraine an opportunity to rearm, and we had no intention of resolving this conflict peacefully,’ what kind of trust can we talk about? (…) You have directly publicly stated that you have cheated us! Lied to us and deceived us! What kind of trust is that? But we need to get back to that system of mutual trust.”

  Putin then added that Europe should consider becoming part and parcel of a Chinese concept straight from Chinese philosophy (“they do not strive for domination”). With panache, he stressed that the Chinese uber-geoeconomic trade/connectivity project should be interpreted as One Belt, One Common Road.

  And that extrapolates to Central Asia, with all those nations “very young in their statehood” interested in “stable development”. For Russia-China, there’s “no competition” in the Heartland: “we only have cooperation.”

  Putin once again enumerated what he considers the 6 key principles for global sustainable development: openness of interaction (implying no “artificial barriers”); diversity (“a model of one country or a relatively small part of humanity should not be imposed as something universal”); maximum representativeness; security for all without exception; justice for all (erasing “the gap between the ‘golden billion’ and the rest of humanity); and equality.

  “Make Civilizations, Not War”

  On Ukraine, this was the money quote: “If there is no neutrality, then it’s difficult to imagine any kind of good neighborly relations between Russia and Ukraine.” In a nutshell: Moscow is ready for negotiations, but based on facts on the battlefield and what was agreed upon in Istanbul in April 2022.

  That may be interpreted as a direct message to President Trump. To whom the door is open: “Russia has not damaged its relations with the US and is open to their restoration, but the ball is in the Americans’ court.”

  Putin on US Presidents (he met quite a few): “All of them are interesting people.” On Trump: “His behavior when there was an attempt on his life, I was impressed. He is a courageous person. He acquitted himself valiantly.” On the open door: “Whatever he does it’s up to him to decide.” Then Putin offered his own congratulations for the re-election – on the record. The dialogue may be on: “We are willing to talk to Trump.”

  Putin extolled Russia-China relations as part of their strategic partnership as being “at the highest level in modern history.” He also praised his own personal relation with Xi Jinping. That paved the way for the real killer, when it comes to US-Russia-China: “If the US had chosen a trilateral cooperation instead of double constraint – everyone would win.”

  An excellent question by Brazilian economist Paulo Nogueira Batista Jr – a former vice-president of the NDB, the BRICS bank – led Putin to clarify his own position on de-dollarization. He stated flatly that “my role is to see ideas shaped that we then propose to our partners”.

  The key target is “proposing to create a new investment platform using electronic payments.” That will address the “most promising markets” in the near future – South Asia, Africa, parts of Latin America: “They will need investment, technologies.” And “tools independent from inflation” – with regulation “through Central Banks and the NDB. We agreed to have a working group meeting regularly at government level. We are in no hurry.”

  So that puts to rest any scenario of an immediate BRICS financial bombshell – even as “two-thirds of our trade is being serviced in national currencies” and among BRICS the figures are also high.

  BRICS Bridge will be tested – soon. As for creating a single currency, that’s “premature. We need to achieve greater integration of economies, increase the quality of economies to a certain – compatible – level.”

  Then, the bombshell: “We never wanted to abandon the dollar!” That goes a long way to explain Putin’s own view on de-dollarization: “They are undoing it with their own hand – the power of the dollar.”

  All of the above is just a sample of the width and breath of themes addressed by the President during the Valdai Q&A. The forum itself offered precious nuggets all across the spectrum. Some participants – correctly – noted the absence of “the majority of the majority”: youth and women. Africans were impressed with “the sharp mind of Russian bureaucracy.”

  A Chinese view noted how “the Chinese don’t swim against the current; they cross the river and reach the other bank.” There was a near consensus that development should be “based in different cultural values of civilizations” – actually Putin’s own view. Also imperative is the “need for aggregate authority” among the Global South.

  A Greek insight was particularly powerful when it comes to the civilizational approach to politics: “Civilizations don’t clash. States do.” Thus the new – playful – motto that could guide not only BRICS but the whole Global Majority: “Make Civilizations, Not War.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 23:20

• Americans Spend Big On Christmas Cheer… And Mums
  Americans Spend Big On Christmas Cheer… And Mums

  With an expected per-person spending of $875, no other holiday rooted in long-standing tradition comes close to the winter holiday season, which starts on November 1 and ends on December 31. 

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  As Statista’s Florian Zandt reports, data from the National Retail Federation (NRF) shows that spending for the runner-up, Mother’s Day, only amounts to one third of Thanksgiving and Christmas consumer spending, with no other seasonal event coming close.

  While Mother’s Day spending stood at $274 per person in 2023, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Easter ranged between $192 and $196 in the past year. 

  Halloween, where money is mostly spent on costumes and decorations according to additional data from the NRF, comes in sixth with an expected per-person spend of $108. While most of the holidays featured on the list have roots in history reaching back hundreds to thousands of years, the Super Bowl is a relatively new phenomenon. This fact notwithstanding, U.S. Americans on average still spend $85 per person on arguably the most important U.S. sports event of the year.

  When taking into account not just festivities connected to specific celebrations, two other occasions take the first and second spots in the ranking: Back-to-college and back-to-school. However, these two events are not comparable to the rest of the list, since the average expected spending of $1,367 and $890, respectively, is calculated by household and not per person. Having more than one individual per household in need of school supplies, clothing or electronics for the new school year can skew the results. Therefore, it’s likely that even while the per-household figures for back-to-college and back-to-school are higher, the winter holiday season still ranks first in individual spending.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 22:45

• What You Need To Know About Preparing For Emergencies, According To A Top Survivalist
  What You Need To Know About Preparing For Emergencies, According To A Top Survivalist

  Authored by Krista Thomas via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The Expert

  EJ Snyder knows a thing or two about survival. After 25 years in the U.S. Army, he emerged as the extreme survivalist “Skullcrusher” on television shows like “Naked and Afraid,” “Dual Survival,” and “First Man Out.”

  

  Today, in addition to teaching survival skills and speaking at events around the country, he also writes. His new book is “Emergency Home Preparedness: The Ultimate Guide for Bugging In During Natural Disasters, Civil Unrest, and More.” He’s also signed on as executive VP with SurvivalMastery.co, an online subscriber-based platform designed to teach self-sufficiency skills.

  “It’s been God’s path for me. I love getting the word out about these things,” he said. “It’s a matter of confidence if you do plan for these things. It makes the situation a little bit easier.”

  At the time of this interview, Snyder was putting his survivalist skills into practice in North Carolina, aiding other veterans with Hurricane Helene relief efforts.  We tapped the former Army Ranger for advice on how best to prepare for any kind of emergency with survival skills.

  The Epoch Times: There are a lot of different approaches to prepping, and different personalities teaching about the subject. What’s different about you and your approach?

  EJ Snyder: I try to approach teaching survival skills with skull-crushing common sense based on reality. I want you to be able to do the tasks when it matters most. I teach super simply … helping the everyday Joe or Joan to handle bad days and be sufficient.

  The Epoch Times: How did you get interested in preparing for emergencies?

  Mr. Snyder: When I was a little boy at 8 years old, I remember it was wintertime in the late afternoon, and we had been sitting in a tree stand. It was getting very cold. I followed the steps back a couple of miles to camp and it started snowing. I got distracted and I remember trying to follow my tracks, and I couldn’t see them because the snow covered them up.

  I got lost and panicked. I saw a rock and thought I should get on the rock and call my dad. I was in the dark for an hour. My uncles and dad were looking for me and finally found me. My dad then taught me about a compass and it taught me to be prepared for any situation.

  Later, I was a Ranger instructor and went to the U.S. Army SERE School. I became the primary survival and tracking expert for Ranger students. But Y2K was the real catalyst. I wanted myself and my family to be ready. So I started with a list of what I needed, like bug-out bags and stored foods such as rice. We had enough spaghetti for two years. If something would have happened, we would have been prepared. Several months later, we were able to help people survive a Category 3 storm.

  That is how it all got started. It is critically important because we’ve got to save lives here. I’m passionate about survival to help people help themselves.

  

  The Epoch Times: Can you tell us about emergencies that you may have been in, and how that went for you and yours?

  Mr. Snyder: I remember there was a time when I was driving in the winter in upstate New York. I was big about preparedness by this point and made sure I had a winter survival kit in the vehicle: blankets, meals, extra coats, and dry clothing with gloves and hats. We were driving in a blizzard and the minivan slid off the road.

  We were way out, like three miles to the main road. Cell service was down. At that time, cell towers were not that great, but I was hoping my text would have gone through to a neighbor. My son, who was 3, was nervous and scared.

  We were there three hours and low on gas, so I wrapped us up in blankets and shut down the vehicle. I started a survival candle in a coffee can because it raises the temperature in the car by 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit. We sat there while I was keeping him calm, and we ate a little food and drank some water.

  I decided to take action. I pulled out the sled and put my son in it, then got my winter boots and snow shoes on, and when we were bundled up we went hiking out three miles. Finally we got to an intersection and made it to a farmhouse, where I was able to make a landline phone call with my location. My neighbor with a four-wheel drive and skid plow picked us up and got us home. We had to wait a couple of days.

  That’s being prepared and thinking through a plan. You want to be forward-thinking about having the basics and think about what might be missing. Murphy is always waiting to ambush you when things go wrong.

  The Epoch Times: What kind of emergencies do you foresee the need to be prepared for, given the current state of the world?

  Mr. Snyder: It’s pretty cut and dry because we’ve seen a lot. Man-made disasters, natural disasters, war, pandemic, and civil unrest are the main situations. Or we have to deal with active shooters who want to hurt people.

  When you have these situations, you plan for them and always rehearse. Check your survival kit.

  How about a fire in your home? Evacuate and make sure you know how to get out. If you’re bugging in, have you rehearsed your escape route? In emergency planning, you have to have a PACE plan, which stands for primary, alternative, contingency, and emergency. This is your action plan. To sum it up, survival is simple. Keep your planning simple.

  The Epoch Times: How long should people be prepared to ride out an emergency?

  Mr. Snyder: Seventy-two hours isn’t going to do squat! You should stock three meals per day for each person in your family, plus snacks and one gallon of water per day per person—enough to last for 90 days. Then, add enough for another person who might knock at your door. You can help your neighbor out. If you have to stretch it out, do one meal a day.

  With 90 days down, start looking at six months for however many are in your family, rationing what you have plus supplies from fishing or hunting. You can stretch it out over a year.

  Have heirloom seeds and freeze them up just in case the grocery stores aren’t available. When you freeze the seeds, you extend their shelf life. They will be ready when you need them.

  Don’t be scared, be prepared. If you get some preparedness skills, it builds your confidence up. If you have prepared in an emergency situation, that’s power and confidence.

  Fear cripples people. Not doing anything in an emergency situation can cost you your life. One of the big things is to remain calm. Then assess the situation, take care of the wounded and sick, and after that make a plan. What resources do you have? What equipment is available? Who is around you and what skills do they have? Make a detailed plan and share the details with everyone.

  Rehearse and then execute. Have your situational awareness up. Adapt the plan as you go. Improvise if you have to and then, as they say, overcome. You’re a winner.

  

  Don’t forget health and fitness. You should have on hand extra prescription glasses, prescription medications to last six months to a year, over-the-counter medicines, and first aid kits to handle cuts and bruises. Learn basic first aid. Learn how to suture.

  Food and Water

  The Epoch Times: What water storage and purification equipment do you have and recommend?

  Mr. Snyder: I recommend getting five-gallon water jugs from a home improvement store. You can store water in an easy way. If you can’t afford it, buy water in jugs and refill them. Get 55-gallon drums to collect rainwater from your roof (to water plants or to wash).

  Lastly, consider one of several types of water filtration systems, including the Lifesaver Water Purifier or the Grayl GeoPress, a bottle that gives you crystal clear drinking water. I can boil water right in it, as there’s a nesting cup and an actual stove sleeve. Sawyer is a good brand to consider, too.

  Most of my systems are simplistic. Unless you have a backup generator, once you lose power, you won’t be able to power those sources. What can I have on hand that I don’t need electricity to generate? In emergency situations, have tradable items that you use, like gold and silver, because certain items will be important. It’s possible to be set back by 200 years.

  The Epoch Times: Please walk us through the essential foods in your own long-term storage pantry. What makes each item a good choice?

  Mr. Snyder: A good choice would be survival foods with nutritional value from My Patriot Supply. Store up on them, as they are packed with a lot of calories. MREs [meals, ready-to-eat] are good too because they have a long shelf life. After that, choose canned goods and dry goods like rice, black beans, pasta, dehydrated fruits, fruit snacks, and jerky.

  Supplement by fishing and hunting and trapping. You don’t have to complicate it. Use snares. Learn how to process fish and game. Eventually, supplies will run out and you will need to go out and get your own food.

  The Epoch Times: What essential emergency food storage and cooking equipment do you have and recommend?

  Mr. Snyder: Always have multiple ways to cook. I recommend a BBQ grill. I do keep propane in a storage cage for my Blackstone grill. Another option is the RockPot, a pot that doesn’t require flame. It is amazing. You can throw it on your stone or in the fire to heat it up; it cooks your food in the case.

  I have a ton of cast-iron frying pans and pots from The Lodge. Aluminum-type pans are good for backpacks. I have a fire pit with a cooking area with bricks for open fire. Backpack stoves are good for one person. I’ve had a Coleman 2 Burner Stove in my camping gear forever.

  Read the rest here…

   

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 22:10

• General Flynn Delivers Bone-Chilling Post-Election Warning
  General Flynn Delivers Bone-Chilling Post-Election Warning

  First, they tried to take Trump from the ballot.

  Then, they tried to throw him behind bars.

  And when that didn’t work, they went after his life.

  But now, as The Burning Platform’s Jim Quinn details below, after two terrifying assassination attempts, General Flynn warns that it could happen again.

  

  During an eye-opening conversation with Steve Bannon, Flynn told Trump’s inner circle to brace for another attempt on Trump’s life before he reaches the Oval Office in January.

  Speaking with urgency, Flynn stated

  “Number one, Trump needs to be very, very certain of the security around him… They have already tried it a couple of times. They’ll try it again between now and inauguration. That, to me, is job number one.”

  He also told viewers that the real battle lies ahead, urging Trump to prepare for an all-out war against the Deep State.

  “We can eliminate a lot of this nonsense by being prepared for what we know the enemy is going to do… Accountability must happen.”

  This conversation is a must-listen…

  General Flynn Delivers Bone-Chilling Post-Election Warning

  First, they tried to take Trump from the ballot. Then, they tried to throw him behind bars. And when that didn’t work, they went after his life.

  After two terrifying assassination attempts, General Flynn warns… pic.twitter.com/6VUn3yV5eH

  — The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) November 8, 2024

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

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 21:35

• Entrepreneurialism Isn't A Choice, It's A State Of Mind: The Genius Of Bernie Marcus
  Entrepreneurialism Isn’t A Choice, It’s A State Of Mind: The Genius Of Bernie Marcus

  Authored by John Tamny via RealClearMarkets,

  “Get out of the car! Get the f**k out of my car.” That’s a paraphrase of the words of the recently passed, and incomparably GREAT Bernie Marcus. Marcus, along with Arthur Blank and Ken Langone, co-founded The Home Depot.

  

  The individual Marcus ordered out of his car was a venture capitalist, and more crucially for Marcus and his colleagues, a venture capitalist who had agreed to invest $3 million in The Home Depot. As Marcus recalled in Built From Scratch, the 1999 business memoir he co-authored with Blank, “we needed that $3 million the way somebody dying of stab wounds needs blood in his veins.”

  Yet the principled Marcus still wouldn’t take a cent from the investor precisely because the investor insulted Marcus and the team he’d put together with all sorts of demands. They would have to give up health insurance, and accept even less pay than the low pay they’d already accepted in return for risky employment at a business that was more a concept than a business.

  Marcus’s actions from long ago raise an obvious question: With money extraordinarily tight for a concept that had attracted no interest from blue-chip investment banks (they went with the wonderful Ken Langone and his “no-name investment bank”), why didn’t Marcus accept the terms (any terms) necessary to keep things afloat?

  The answer is that entrepreneurialism isn’t a choice, it’s a state of mind. It’s a powerful belief in a different way of not just meeting, but leading the needs of customers that’s so deeply ingrained that it’s near impossible to compromise one’s vision. Marcus’s vision wouldn’t be insulted by this nit-picking investor, only for Marcus and colleagues to have the last laugh. By the late 1990s, the $3 million would have been worth $12 billion.

  About the gains the VC missed out on, they’re a happy story, but also realistically a distraction. The much bigger story is just how profoundly the market’s view of The Home Depot had changed. In the staggering return that the unnamed VC missed out on, it’s easier to see just how at odds the vision of Marcus, Blank and Langone was relative to conventional wisdom. As Marcus himself explained it, “no one believed we could do it.” The latter is regularly said by people from all walks of life, and is often said in self-serving fashion.

  Marcus was speaking the truth, though in surely understated fashion. See the VC’s would-have-been returns yet again. No one passes up an investment like that unless the consensus is that they most certainly can’t do it. Yet Marcus et al did do it.

  Better yet, they did it in decent fashion. About the bankers who helped finance and liquefy the eventual growth of The Home Depot, Marcus wrote that “they put their careers on the line for us, and we protect them.” So true. Banks make loans that need to be paid back, which means bankers that make errant loans won’t long be in the employ of banks.  

  Customers were treated even better than bankers. They had to be handled with care, and more important, they were never to be sold what they didn’t need. Instead, they would be treated beautifully by The Home Depot’s expert associates on the assumption that if catered to, eventually they’d rely on The Home Depot for the big purchases required to execute big projects in the home.

  Crucially, the cost of buying for big projects was very low. Marcus understood as the greats of business do that real wealth is created not via so-called “pricing power” and the margins that come with it, but through prices that are pushed down as much as possible in concert with shrinking margins. Marcus knew that low prices provided to customers would be made up for in much higher sales volume. He was correct.

  Evidence supporting the previous claim can be found in the continued rise of Home Depot’s market cap. Notable about the latter is that the aforementioned VC’s missed investment opportunity of the $12 billion variety was calculated by Marcus in 1999 numbers. Stop and imagine what it would be now with The Home Depot valued at roughly $400 billion.

  Which further speaks to the endless decency of Marcus. He recognized that “real money is equity,” and lived up to his aphorism. He developed an employee stock ownership plan that created thousands of millionaire associates at The Home Depot. More evidence of his greatness. His genius will be missed, but not forgotten.

  John Tamny is editor of RealClearMarkets, President of the Parkview Institute, a senior fellow at the Market Institute, and a senior economic adviser to Applied Finance Advisors (www.appliedfinance.com). His latest book, released on April 16, 2024 and co-authored with Jack Ryan, is Bringing Adam Smith Into the American Home: A Case Against Homeownership. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 21:00

• Even Shapiro Couldn't Have Saved PA For The Democrats
  Even Shapiro Couldn’t Have Saved PA For The Democrats

  Authored by Oliver Bateman via RealClearPennsylvania,

  Elections often tell you less about the winners than the losers. Victory has many fathers, as the saying goes, but defeat shows you exactly what went wrong. Pennsylvania’s 2024 results offer a master class in Democratic collapse: while Trump edged out Kamala Harris by 2 points in the presidential race, Republicans romped to victory in every down-ballot statewide contest. Dave McCormick pulled out a narrow victory over three-term Senator Bob Casey; Dave Sunday trounced Eugene DePasquale by 5 points in the attorney general race; and incumbent Tim DeFoor beat Malcolm Kenyatta by an even wider margin for auditor general.

  

  The story of how Democrats fumbled Pennsylvania reveals itself in the campaign’s final weeks. Trump’s operation blanketed working-class neighborhoods with simple, direct messaging: “Trump: Safe Borders/Kamala: Open Borders,” “Trump: Low Inflation/Harris: High Inflation.” His team’s “Kamala is for they/them” ad sparked legal threats but achieved its intended effect — the Democrats are worried about boutique issues rather than kitchen-table concerns like inflation. Harris, meanwhile, released a series of slickly-produced but culturally tone-deaf ads attempting to portray Pennsylvania working-class life.

  Harris’s response proved telling. Her team launched what they considered their October surprise: a series of joint appearances with unpopular former Republican Liz Cheney focused on “saving democracy.” The rallies, held primarily in affluent suburban enclaves, epitomized the campaign’s fundamental misread of the state’s political geography. Her campaign’s last notable attempt at working-class authenticity – a commercial featuring a supposed working-class local who seemed like an actor delivering focus-grouped lines about Trump being a “little silver spoon boy” – landed with my working-class relatives about as well as vegan bulgogi tacos at a union hall.

  This messaging disconnect infected every Democratic campaign. DePasquale, running for attorney general, leaned heavily on his record as a fiscal watchdog and government reformer – but not as a prosecutor, because he never was one. A compelling pitch in theory, but it withered against career prosecutor Sunday’s relentless focus on fentanyl seizures and declining crime rates in York County. While DePasquale talked process and oversight, Sunday’s team plastered social media with bodycam footage of drug busts and arrests.

  Kenyatta’s auditor general campaign highlighted the party’s deeper problems. The 34-year-old progressive rising star, known mainly for viral speeches and an unsuccessful Senate bid, campaigned on transforming the office into a vehicle for social change – which made sense when one realized he had no experience in the role. Against incumbent DeFoor’s straightforward non-partisan message about cutting waste and protecting taxpayers, Kenyatta’s ambitious agenda read like a DEI solution in search of a problem.

  Even Casey, who built his career on careful moderation and labor support, couldn’t find enough votes to secure a fourth term in office. After decades positioning himself as a blue-collar, Blue-Dog Democrat, Casey’s recent selective embrace of progressive causes provided perfect fodder for McCormick’s advertising team. While Republican ads hammered Casey’s voting record and association with flip-flopping presidential candidate Harris, his campaign responded with a barrage of increasingly desperate fundraising emails, each one predicting imminent doom. The horrendously off-key messaging – subject lines included “To avoid a catastrophe” and “The worst news yet” – became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Who wants to vote for a loser?

  The results expose the bankruptcy of Democrats’ coalition-building strategy. Harris’s team believed they could unite urban progressives and anti-Trump suburbanites while holding just enough working-class voters through careful messaging and strategic positioning. Instead, they achieved a rare political feat: speaking convincingly to absolutely no one.

  Gov. Josh Shapiro, floated as Harris’s potential running mate, embodied these contradictions. His “Get Sh*t Done” gubernatorial slogan had promised pragmatic results but delivered historic inaction, as the Commonwealth Foundation has reported –d just 111 bills signed in 18 months, the fewest of any Pennsylvania governor in 50 years. For comparison, Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin pushed through 1,654 bills in the same period with a part-time (and divided) legislature.

  The implications stretch beyond a single election cycle. Despite its slowly-dwindling population, Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes and competitive Senate seats make it essential to any future Democratic coalition. Yet Tuesday’s results suggest the party has lost its ability to communicate effectively with voters outside Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The state office margins – larger than the presidential gap – indicate problems deeper than any individual candidate’s shortcomings.

  Much as they have since 2016, Democrats continued to try to thread an impossible needle: mollifying progressives with substance-free identity politics while also wooing suburban Republicans and maintaining their working-class base in the absence of genuine working-class policy proposals. The result was messaging so carefully calibrated it became meaningless, every bit as insubstantial as Kamala Harris’ final cameo appearance on SNL.

  Unless and until Democrats can craft a message that resonates beyond their urban strongholds – and find experienced, competent candidates capable of delivering said message without sounding like McKinsey consultants explaining steel manufacturing to career steelworkers – Tuesday’s results may augur a permanent realignment in a state they once considered to be winnable. Here in the Keystone State, as elsewhere in the country, the party’s obsession with building the perfect coalition has left them with hardly any coalition at all.

  Oliver Bateman is a historian and journalist based in Pittsburgh. He blogs, vlogs, and podcasts at his Substack, Oliver Bateman Does the Work.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 20:25

• Can Trump Tame Resistance 2.0?
  Can Trump Tame Resistance 2.0?

  Authored by J. Peder Zane via RealClearPolitics.com,

  Last Tuesday, we were all equal – one person, one vote. Against every effort by the liberal elites, a slim majority of Americans returned Donald Trump to the White House, investing him with vast authority through their 73 million votes.

  

  On Wednesday, the normal order of inequality was restored. The potent forces in government, business, media, and academia that opposed Trump by hook or crook took back up their undemocratic reins of power and began to plot how, as Kamala Harris put it in her concession speech, they “will continue to keep fighting.”

  This is not as bad as it sounds. America became a free and prosperous nation in large part because of the constraints our founders put on government – both in the checks and balances at the federal level and the federalism that invests states with great authority. This, along with the visionary Bill of Rights and the refusal to establish a national church, created vast opportunities for individuals and non-governmental organizations to shape our country.

  This diffusion of power is a major reason why we have never come close to dictatorship. Even with the vast expansion of government since the New Deal and Great Society, there are still too many moving parts for a wannabe authoritarian to corral.

  As it empowers the non-governmental actors, the American system depends on an implicit set of checks and balances – both vigilance and restraint – on the behavior of the people. One clear example concerns speech. The First Amendment’s broad protections are limited by the guardrails imposed by ever-evolving community standards regarding acceptable discourse. In theory, everybody can say the n-word, but you really can’t, along with a host of slurs that once filled our newspapers.

  Another example involves accepting the results of elections. Even in Ronald Reagan’s 1984 landslide, about 42% of Americans did not vote for the Gipper. Still, the losing side is expected to accept defeat graciously, to respect the authority their adversary has gained in this zero-sum game of elections, and take up the mantle of the loyal opposition.

  In the wake of Trump’s victory, this is another norm that conspicuous segments of the modern Democratic Party seem intent on breaking – not through a Jan. 6 episode of violence but through the legislative maneuvers, investigations, and lawfare that marked their resistance during his first term.

  Before the election, the legacy media was filled with largely celebratory articles about efforts to Trump-proof government in case he won. This effort is now being turbocharged with reports that President Biden aims to use the lame-duck session to thwart his successor. Governor Gavin Newsom has called a special session of the California legislature to Trump-proof state laws. Governor Maura Healey has said Massachusetts state police will not support Trump’s mass immigration plans – a bedrock promise of his campaign, which is backed by a majority of Americans.

  This opposition is only the tip of a long spear of Resistance 2.0. The liberal and leftist elites in the legacy media, academia, and various other power centers have made clear that they will do everything they can, not just to oppose but to undermine and delegitimize the democratically elected president. This is not business as usual, nor is it merely an echo of Mitch McConnell’s vow in 2010 to make Obama a one-term president. It is a rejection of the compact that has long ruled American politics in which the losing side gives the winner a chance to prove them wrong.

  How could they? Their unhinged claims that Trump is an authoritarian fascist are not a political ploy but a deeply held belief, cultivated over decades of Manichean indoctrination. They have used similar language to describe every Republican president since Reagan. Trump is the culmination of this uncompromising worldview.

  The concise paraphrase of the physicist Max Planck’s insight – that science proceeds one funeral at a time – captures what Trump is up against. Democrats and their allies are too invested in their own ideology to change. They will keep fighting, banking on a return to power in two or four years when they can continue their project to transform America. They are masters of the long game.

  In response, Trump and his allies must first hope that the GOP retains control of the House of Representatives – votes are still being counted. This is crucial for limiting the Democrats’ ability to kneecap the new administration with spurious congressional investigations. More importantly, Trump must, as best he can, limit his love for battle, resist his instinct to take the bait. He should treat his opponents with the contempt they deserve, ignoring their provocations for the sake of effective governance.

  He should be guided by the single best line of his campaign, “My revenge will be success.” He must focus on our problems rather than his enemies. The challenges we face – especially our unsustainable debt, an economy that is not working for ordinary Americans, and a world beset by conflict – have little to do with the opinions of Democrats and the New York Times.

  Yes, his opponents enjoy great power, which they will brandish in an attempt to weaken and frustrate him. But if he can rise above their malice – and his own pettiness – he just might make America great again.

  *  *  *

  J. Peder Zane is an editor for RealClearInvestigations and a columnist for RealClearPolitics. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @jpederzane.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 19:50

• Visualizing The Rise Of Bitcoin's Hashrate
  Visualizing The Rise Of Bitcoin’s Hashrate

  The computing power used to mine bitcoin is at all-time highs, rising by more than sixfold since November 2019.

  Today, 94% of bitcoin’s supply has been mined out of the total cap of 21 million. To mine bitcoin, powerful computers solve complex math problems that validate and secure the network. The total computing power, or bitcoin hashrate, measures how many guesses per second are made to solve these calculations.

  This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld, shows bitcoin’s hashrate since 2016, based on data from Blockchain.com.

  

  Bitcoin Hashrate Hits Record Highs

  Below, we show how the total bitcoin hashrate hit a 693.1 million terahashes per second in late October, rising significantly over the past month:

  Date	Bitcoin Price (USD)	Total Hashrate (Terahashes per second)
  Oct 30 2024	$70,287	693.1M
  Oct 2024	$62,051	641.4M
  Sep 2024	$56,157	637.6M
  Aug 2024	$60,675	615.9M
  Jul 2024	$57,042	580.4M
  Jun 2024	$70,542	599.4M
  May 2024	$64,023	624.0M
  Apr 2024	$67,857	604.8M
  Mar 2024	$63,154	574.9M
  Feb 2024	$42,658	524.7M
  Jan 2024	$42,862	506.4M
  Dec 2023	$44,084	476.6M
  Nov 2023	$35,035	446.6M
  Oct 2023	$27,429	407.4M
  Sep 2023	$25,970	387.1M
  Aug 2023	$29,076	380.4M
  Jul 2023	$30,499	370.0M
  Jun 2023	$25,742	358.1M
  May 2023	$29,039	346.4M
  Apr 2023	$27,812	331.0M
  Mar 2023	$22,351	293.6M
  Feb 2023	$22,936	273.5M
  Jan 2023	$16,669	250.1M
  Dec 2022	$16,966	256.0M
  Nov 2022	$21,300	261.8M
  Oct 2022	$19,633	232.6M
  Sep 2022	$19,835	211.4M
  Aug 2022	$22,624	200.0M
  Jul 2022	$20,154	214.5M
  Jun 2022	$29,902	216.5M
  May 2022	$37,720	209.1M
  Apr 2022	$46,422	199.9M
  Mar 2022	$39,167	198.4M
  Feb 2022	$41,405	187.3M
  Jan 2022	$46,460	173.9M
  Dec 2021	$49,484	161.2M
  Nov 2021	$61,006	149.1M
  Oct 2021	$48,234	136.6M
  Sep 2021	$50,025	121.9M
  Aug 2021	$39,722	101.3M
  Jul 2021	$33,698	120.1M
  Jun 2021	$35,539	159.7M
  May 2021	$57,213	157.3M
  Apr 2021	$57,094	160.6M
  Mar 2021	$48,369	154.6M
  Feb 2021	$38,311	149.4M
  Jan 2021	$33,081	136.7M
  Dec 2020	$18,658	129.0M
  Nov 2020	$14,161	130.5M
  Oct 2020	$10,795	135.2M
  Sep 2020	$10,168	123.9M
  Aug 2020	$11,233	121.3M
  Jul 2020	$9,139	112.5M
  Jun 2020	$9,788	103.1M
  May 2020	$9,029	112.0M
  Apr 2020	$6,778	105.9M
  Mar 2020	$8,758	111.5M
  Feb 2020	$9,614	109.1M
  Jan 2020	$7,334	96.3M
  Dec 2019	$7,394	91.7M
  Nov 2019	$9,322	95.1M
  Oct 2019	$8,240	89.5M
  Sep 2019	$10,628	74.8M
  Aug 2019	$10,978	67.0M
  Jul 2019	$11,005	57.4M
  Jun 2019	$7,789	50.4M
  May 2019	$5,657	45.8M
  Apr 2019	$4,976	45.0M
  Mar 2019	$3,701	44.0M
  Feb 2019	$3,428	41.9M
  Jan 2019	$3,788	38.3M
  Dec 2018	$3,694	42.9M
  Nov 2018	$6,404	51.3M
  Oct 2018	$6,466	51.3M
  Sep 2018	$7,257	49.0M
  Aug 2018	$7,005	40.0M
  Jul 2018	$6,533	37.4M
  Jun 2018	$7,613	31.7M
  May 2018	$9,726	28.5M
  Apr 2018	$7,425	25.2M
  Mar 2018	$11,470	22.3M
  Feb 2018	$6,905	18.2M
  Jan 2018	$15,098	13.6M
  Dec 2017	$11,718	9.9M
  Nov 2017	$7,392	9.4M
  Oct 2017	$4,308	7.9M
  Sep 2017	$4,626	6.4M
  Aug 2017	$2,857	6.1M
  Jul 2017	$2,617	5.1M
  Jun 2017	$2,698	4.5M
  May 2017	$1,533	3.8M
  Apr 2017	$1,152	3.5M
  Mar 2017	$1,274	3.2M
  Feb 2017	$1,016	2.8M
  Jan 2017	$1,021	2.3M
  Dec 2016	$768	2.0M
  Nov 2016	$706	1.8M
  Oct 2016	$613	1.7M
  Sep 2016	$606	1.6M
  Aug 2016	$573	1.5M
  Jul 2016	$682	1.5M
  Jun 2016	$576	1.4M
  May 2016	$450	1.3M
  Apr 2016	$422	1.2M

  Since bitcoin’s fourth halving in April 2024, the hashrate has hit all-time highs, while bitcoin’s price has increased by roughly 4% as of November 4, 2024.

  During each halving event, which occurs every four years, the reward for mining bitcoin is cut in half. In April, it dropped from 6.25 to 3.125 bitcoins, making it harder for miners to turn a profit with unchanged operating costs.

  Despite this, rising hashrates indicate a rising number of active miners, signaling a bullish outlook. As bitcoin’s price rises, it incentivizes miners to join the network since it becomes more profitable, pushing up the hashrate.

  Today, notable miners include publicly traded companies like Core Scientific, Riot Platforms, and Marathon Digital, which operate machines capable of trillions of hashes per second using specialized hardware. For instance, Core Scientific runs 169,000 miners, while Riot Platforms aims to fully deploy at least 100,000 miners by 2025.

  Still, performance varies across major bitcoin mining companies this year. While Core Scientific stands as one of the top-performing miners year-to-date, with 267% returns as of November 4, both Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital have declined over 20%. By comparison, bitcoin has risen 53%, approaching record highs seen in March.

  To learn more about this topic from a crypto ownership perspective, check out this graphic on the largest corporate holders of bitcoin.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 19:15

• Here's Why These Geopolitical And Financial Chokepoints Need Your Attention…
  Here’s Why These Geopolitical And Financial Chokepoints Need Your Attention…

  Authored by Chris MacIntosh via InternationalMan.com,

  • The Houthis in Yemen tried to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

  • Then Hezbollah droned his house. Apparently, he was not at home at the time.

  • Iran launched an unprecedented missile attack on Israel. The part you probably didn’t hear about is that Iran says a “state of war” now exists between them and Israel.

  • France ended all arms exports to Israel, and the Israel’s pissed and subsequently bombed a French factory in Syria — an F you and no thanks for all the previous arms shipments and military aid.

  • Russia sent 33 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Lebanon.

  • Israel bombed Syria’s capital, Damascus.

  • Erdogan compared Israel with the Nazis.

  I’ve probably missed a whole lot of things, but you get the picture. None of the above is good in any shape or form.

  

  This last point I pay a lot of attention to, and here’s why.

  • Turkey has the second largest military in NATO, and it’s clearly going to leave or be kicked out.

  • Turkey also controls the Bosphorus, and Iran controls the strait of Hormuz.

  • The Houthis effectively now (to some extent at least) control the Suez.

  That, my friends, is the holy trinity of supply disruption in oil shipments.

  What else?

  Well, an interesting little dilemma is opening up for NATO. What happens if Israel decides to have a go at Turkey — either inside Turkish territory or outside? That would, according to the NATO treaty, constitute an attack on a NATO partner and immediately mean that all NATO members were now at war with… Israel.

  So should that actually happen, obviously NATO will side with Israel. Realise that the Mossad agent Epstein was not the only scumbag running such an operation, controlling influential US politicians and businessmen, and the idea that similar operations throughout NATO countries are not carried out is beyond naive. So all this means is that NATO will back Israel, despite Israel not being part of NATO. And when Turkey is kicked out of NATO, it will, I believe, be a nail in the coffin for NATO, at least as it stands today, which is to say kinda, sorta legitimate (if you bend your mind enough and watch enough CNBC, BBC and CNN). But this would put an end to that and NATO’s quickly fading veneer of credibility would fall away.

  Then we’d have three of the most critical geopolitical choke points on the planet all controlled by members of the BRICS. I do hope you realise that this will never be allowed to happen by the Western powers. And because the world seems to be run by Satanic paedophiles who will never want to give up power, war it will be.

  Speaking of geopolitical chokepoints…

  Chairman Xi has reportedly ordered his military to “prepare for war.”

  During a visit to the PLA Rocket Force, the elite unit overseeing China’s nuclear and conventional missiles, Xi gave a commanding speech demanding they “enhance their strategic deterrent and ensure combat readiness at all times.”

  The PLA Rocket Force controls nukes and long-range missile capabilities crucial for any conflict, including a potential invasion of Taiwan.

  Xi’s visit comes just days after Beijing deployed over 100 jets, drones, and warships around Taiwan, signalling an escalation in the ongoing standoff.

  China has repeatedly stated it won’t rule out using force to bring Taiwan under its control.

  I do hope you’re long hard assets.

  

  Gold, despite being under-owned by both institutional and retail, keeps making new highs, and in all currencies!

  Capital Controls by Another Name

  When I made the claim that Europe would soon experience capital controls, folks looked at me like I’ve two heads. Lunacy, I tell you. Wild, crazy, conspiracy theories.

  The blustering turns to huffing when I point out the following from the not so distant past:

  • Cyprus implemented capital controls in 2013 during its banking crisis, restricting bank withdrawals as well as transfers abroad.

  • Greece imposed capital controls in 2015 amid its debt crisis, limiting cash withdrawals and overseas transfers.

  • Iceland instituted capital controls in 2008 during the global financial crisis.

  Furthermore, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) made policy changes in 2022 allowing nations to implement capital controls preemptively and for “national/international security reasons.” Conveniently, they don’t tell us what those might be.

  Anyway, fast forward to today…

  

  There is a very good reason for this. Here’s Tether’s market cap over time.

  

  Try sending money across borders, and you’re increasingly facing mounting restrictions.

  If you’re Russian, Chinese, Iranian, Palestinian, then things are even harder. But it is everywhere, and increasingly everyone is affected.

  For instance, I just received a notification from a bank (I was moving money from one account to another) stating the following:

  Regulations have changed regarding the justification of the origin of funds and transfers from abroad. Our institution is governed by these regulations.

  In the past, statements of account were accepted, but now it does not apply. Therefore, now the origin of the funds must be justified by means of an attestation report, Cpa, or its equivalent abroad (in this case the document must be apostilled in the country of origin).

  In order not to reject the incoming transfer, please justify it with one of the above mentioned documents.

  This is to send a small (a few thousand dollars) sum of money simply to get some bills paid. Sheesh!

  So you can see why Tether is so attractive. It allows you to still use the USD, since Tether is backed by treasuries (supposedly, I don’t really know and they’ve never passed an audit, so…), allowing for liquidity and, of course, subsequent lack of volatility. BUT importantly, it moves on rails outside of the Western-controlled banking system. It’s what has the technocrats getting their panties in a bunch and moving to block it.

  Next up, actual ostensible capital controls in the traditional banking system. Watch! This is needed before they blow up the debt bubble.

  *  *  *

  The Western system is undergoing substantial changes, and the signs of moral decay, corruption, and increasing debt are impossible to ignore. With the Great Reset in motion, the United Nations, World Economic Forum, IMF, WHO, World Bank, and Davos man are all promoting a unified agenda that will affect us all. To get ahead of the chaos, download our free PDF report “Clash of the Systems: Thoughts on Investing at a Unique Point in Time” by clicking here.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 18:40

• Radical Left Activates Anti-Trump Protests In Midtown Manhattan
  Radical Left Activates Anti-Trump Protests In Midtown Manhattan

  Democrats have activated their network of social justice warriors for the second time in days following a Trump victory early Wednseday morning. The latest mobilization effort of far-left activists by mysterious and dark money-funded nonprofit groups is occurring on the streets of New York City on Saturday afternoon. 

  X user Open Source Intel uploaded footage of what appears to be thousands of anti-Trump protesters in Midtown Manhattan. 

  “Thousands march in Midtown Manhattan as New York City law enforcement monitors. Protesters rally against fascism, deportation, anti-trans hate, and systemic oppression, expressing concerns over Donald Trump’s election as the 47th President,” the X user said, adding, “Chants of “Racist, sexist, anti-gay” and signs highlight their solidarity for marginalized communities.” 

  WATCH⚡️

  Protest in Midtown Manhattan Against Trump’s Election

  Thousands march in Midtown Manhattan as New York City law enforcement monitors. Protesters rally against fascism, deportation, anti-trans hate, and systemic oppression, expressing concerns over Donald Trump’s… pic.twitter.com/RMEnKVqU4b

  — Open Source Intel (@Osint613) November 9, 2024

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

  Here’s more footage of the protest, which appears well organized and funded—in other words, not organic.

  New York City — A large crowd gathered to protest in favor of open borders. They are opposed to the deportations of illegal foreign nationals promised by the Trump campaign. During Biden-Harris’ administration, an estimated 10–20m entered the country. pic.twitter.com/Wn1k6nx3J5

  — Andy Ngo 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) November 9, 2024

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

  🚨🇺🇸BREAKING: UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS PROTEST TRUMP’S DEPORTATION PLANS

  In New York City, undocumented immigrants filled the streets, declaring they won’t leave.

  Trump’s plan promises the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, potentially using military resources to… pic.twitter.com/yoySzZTrnj

  — Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 9, 2024

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

  🚨THOUSANDS of Illegal Immigrants March in NYC, Protesting Anti-Immigrant Laws and Trump’s Policies

  Currently, illegal immigrants from Ecuador and Peru are marching through New York City, holding signs that read “No to the anti-immigrant laws, no to deportations.” The protest… pic.twitter.com/c0rov3TNOb

  — Kristy Tallman (@KristyTallman) November 9, 2024

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

  🚨HAPPENING NOW
  Major Protest taking place in New York City, going against Donald Trump.

  They refuse to acknowledge that the American people spoke on Election Day. We are fed up with democrat leadership!

  The libs are raging!!! Share and Follow for updates 🇺🇸 @TPAction_ pic.twitter.com/zMch2FFkf3

  — Bo (@dittletv) November 9, 2024

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

  On Wednseday night, hundreds—if not thousands—of protesters—many holding signs outside the Trump Hotel in Obama’s Chicago shouted into megaphones, “Trump is a fascist” and “racist,” echoing hate speech spewed by the defunct Harris-Walz campaign in the months leading up to November 5.

  Radical Left Activates Anti-Trump Protests As AoC Riles Up Rioters https://t.co/AlkCgZ67Sp

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 7, 2024

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

  Remember this week, far-left activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was on X, saying the quiet part out loud: “There are … mass movements of people that mobilize to protect one another in times of fascism and authoritarianism … and this is the era that we are poised to enter.”

  🚨FEARMONGER AOC ON DONALD TRUMP:

  “We are about to enter a political period of fascism and authoritarianism. It is not uncommon to jail political dissidents or legislative opponents.”

  The audacity of the projection and hypocrisy is jaw-dropping. Wild.pic.twitter.com/a8n79nRxtN

  — Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) November 7, 2024

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

  In other words, AOC appears to be giving marching orders to her followers, whom some Marxists regard as “agents of change” or “agents of history.” These folks will be herded like cattle—or “useful idiots”—onto city streets by a mysterious web of nonprofits funded by dark money from leftist billionaires.

  The Democrat’s playbook to potentially unleash another wave of social unrest through activism campaigns, with command-and-control centers operated by nonprofits, will likely not be tolerated under a Trump administration.

  Under the Trump administration, if Elon Musk wants to cut wasteful government spending while increasing national security, then slash the government’s ability to hand out grants like candy to far-left activism groups, done with little oversight. 

  The problem with radical leftist protests this time around is that Trump won the popular vote, and a majority of Americans won’t put up with this activist shit any longer. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 18:05

• All States Are Empires Of Lies
  All States Are Empires Of Lies

  By Thomas DiLorenzo of The Mises Institute. This article is a version of a speech delivered at the 2024 Mises Institute Supporters Summit.

  “Most economists are political apologists masquerading as economists,” wrote Doug Casey in one of his columns.

  “They prescribe the way they would like the world to work and tailor theories to help politicians demonstrate the virtue and necessity of their quest for power.”

  

  Moreover, wrote Casey, “The field of economics has been turned into the handmaiden of government in order to give a scientific justification for things the government wants to do.”

  This of course is not a new development. Ludwig von Mises was calling the universities of his day “nurseries of socialism” but, thankfully, there is always a remnant of students who resist the statist brainwashing. The above quote about concocted “scientific” justifications for interventionism and socialism, by the way, sounds like a precise definition of Keynes’s General Theory. 

  Casey’s sound advice is that to be a good citizen one needs to “become your own economist.” Don’t rely on the state’s mouthpieces in the “media” or even academe for your economic knowledge. Educate yourself to some degree; it doesn’t take a university degree. Indeed, everything we do at the Mises Institute is geared toward helping anyone anywhere to become their own economist (preferably Austrian School and not Keynesian or Post Keynesian!) and avoid being bamboozled by the state and its court historian economists. 

  Mises never joined the American Economic Association, the association of academic economists founded in the 1880s. The association’s founding document provides a clue as to why. “The state is an educational and ethical agency whose positive aid is an indispensable condition of human progress,” the document purred. “The doctrine of laissez faire,” on the other hand, “is unsafe in politics and unsound in morals,” said the statist moral scolds who founded the American Economic Association.

  There are exceptions, the Austrian School economists being the most prominent, but the majority of academic economists view themselves as advisors or potential advisors to the state. They are Rothbard’s “court historians” with degrees in economics instead of history. The role that they serve is the same as all “intellectuals” in our almost 100 percent state-funded universities. As Rothbard put it: “The majority [of the electorate] must be persuaded by ideology that their government is good, wise, and at least inevitable. Promoting this ideology . . . is the vital task of the ‘intellectuals.’” In return, the “intellectuals” are given government jobs, grants, placement at prestigious universities, book deals, and myriad other political payoffs. (Mises wrote that history, law, and economics are the disciplines most widely used to bamboozle the public about the supposedly good, wise, and inevitable state).

  Take the Fed – please (as Rodney Dangerfield would say). Economist Larry White published a journal article several years ago that revealed that about 75 percent of all articles published in academic economic journals on the subject of monetary policy are published by economists who are in some way associated with the Fed. As Milton Friedman once said, “If you want a career as a monetary economist it is best not to criticize the major employer in your field.” And so they do not. 

  If there is ever any criticism it is always constructive criticism about how to supposedly become even better at central planning. Most Americans are rationally ignorant of the Fed, and what little they do know about it is overwhelmingly shaped by the Fed’s “court historians,” especially the ones who teach economics at colleges and universities. The Austrian economists (but not all of them) are the only ones to challenge the existence of the Fed and call for its abolition. 

  In addition to being the federal government’s legalized counterfeiting arm, the Fed is also another appendage of the government’s massive propaganda apparatus. The laughingly labeled “independent” Fed’s research, according to economist Emre Kuvvet writing in The Independent Review, increasingly focuses on “climate change, gender, race, and inequality” – the “woke” political agenda of the Democrat party. The one true statement that Joe Biden made as president was “It’s not Milton Friedman’s Fed anymore.”

  The New York Fed has always been considered to be the most powerful and influential of all the Fed branches. Its homepage defines its mission as a “desire to root out the intolerable inequities and injustice grounded in systemic racism . . . steadfast in our commitment to work for a more equitable economy and society.” A clearer definition of socialism would be hard to find.

  Kuvvet found that of all the employees of the Fed’s Board of Governors there are 97 Democrats and 2 Republicans.

  “Leadership positions” on the Board consist of 45 Democrats and 1 Republican. As I said, it’s just another D.C. government propaganda mill. 

  Some Examples of the Empire of Economic Lies

  A typical introductory economics textbook devotes most space to endless stories of “market failure” (free-rider problems, externalities, monopoly and oligopoly, monopolistic competition, asymmetric information, and on and on), and almost nothing about entrepreneurship, the cornerstone of capitalism. 

  It wasn’t always like that. When the first federal antitrust law was passed in 1890 (the Sherman Antitrust Act) the entire economics profession, which was very small at the time, opposed then new law as being inherently incompatible with competition, as Jack High and I proved by quoting all of them in a July 1988 Economic Inquiry article. They all viewed competition like the Austrian economists always have – as a dynamic, rivalrous process of discovery and entrepreneurship, and thought that antitrust law could only disrupt that process and distort markets.

  By the 1930s a new and more “scientific-sounding” theory of “perfect” competition had been invented, which asserted that competitive perfection required all homogenous products and prices in an industry, perfect information in the minds of buyers and sellers, costless entry into and exit from industry, an “many” firms, whatever that might mean.

  For the next half century and more, economists would spin thousands o tall tales about how the real world fell short of this “perfection,” defined as market failure, and prescribed regulation, control, nationalization, or regimentation by presumably wise and, well, perfect politicians and bureaucrats. UCLA economist Harold Demsetz labeled this dishonest method of analysis “the Nirvana fallacy”: Comparing the real world to an unachievable never never land of Nirvana. As F.A. Hayek once described it, “In perfect competition there is no competition.” That is, there could not be product differentiation, price cutting, advertising, research and development, the rise to the top of a few superior-performing firms in an industry – all the ingredients of genuine competition.

  Generations of students have also been taught that in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries large-scale production of electricity, water supply, telephone services and other similar products was producing “natural” (i.e., free market) monopolies. Governments then stepped in and legally mandated public utility monopolies, supposedly to be regulated “in the public interest.” I proved this to be yet another falsehood in my paper, “They Myth of Natural Monopoly.” There was vigorous competition in all these industries. They were monopolized by the state, not the free market, with loot-sharing agreements whereby state and local governments would share in the monopoly profits created by their government-mandated monopolies.

  Then there’s the Big Lie of the Sherman Antitrust Act which was supposedly needed because of “rampant monopolization” in the 1880s as the industrial revolution proceeded in America. In an article in The International Review of Law and Economics I showed that the industries being accused of monopolization at the time were by far the most competitive, dynamic, price-cutting, innovative, and production-expanding industries in America. The purpose of the Sherman Act was to stifle competition, not to “protect” it. 

  One of the most ridiculous things taught to generations of economics students was that because of the free-rider problem the U.S. would be spending far too little on “national defense.” “Efficiency” requires coercive taxation. There are economists who have defended Pentagon corruption and fraud on the basis that it expands defense spending, which is supposedly hindered by that nasty free rider problem. Who on earth would define Pentagon spending as “efficient”? !

  It was only in the past ten years that the “mainstream” of the economics profession finally discovered that the massive interventions of the New Deal actually made the Great Depression more severe and longer lasting, something the Austrian economists have said all along. This Big Revelation was made in an article in the prestigious Journal of Political Economy by Professor Lee Ohanian of UCLA, an editor of the American Economic Review at the time. Better late than never.

  Nobel prizes in economics have been awarded for many theories of “market failure” that subsequent research proved to be bogus. Janet Yellen’s husband, George Akerloff, was a co-recipient of the award for a paper that, in 1970, predicted that the used car market would soon disappear because of “asymmetric information” between buyers and sellers. He apparently never heard of thirty-day warranties that allow car buyers to determine whether or not they had been sold a “lemon.”

  David Card was awarded a Nobel prize for a paper claiming that minimum wage laws do not cause unemployment that was called “deeply flawed” by a National Bureau of Economic Research redo of his study. There are many similar episodes.

  Economics students are taught that the root cause of pollution is profit seeking, which ignores the fact that the worst pollution in all the world over the past century, by far, was in the socialist countries of the world in the twentieth century that prohibited private profit seeking. A corollary to the profit-seeking-causes-pollution theory is that wise and benevolent government bureaucrats are needed to solve this problem. This not only ignores political reality, but also ignores how the absence of property rights causes many pollution problems in the first place, and also how entrepreneurs solve many “externality” problems because it is profitable to do so. 

  In public finance students are taught that tax “loopholes” are inefficient because they supposedly create “artificial” market distortions. It’s much more efficient, they are taught, to let government bureaucrats spend more of your money. Then there’s the cornerstone of Keynesian economics – the canard of “the paradox of thrift” which asserts that savings reduces consumption, which in turn reduces GDP, which leads to lower savings. This theory has “justified” confiscatory taxation of interest income on savings for decades. 

  The intellectual godfather of mainstream economics will probably always be Paul Samuelson, whose Principles of Economics textbook dominated textbook sales for forty years, with almost all other textbooks during that time being imitations of his book. The statist bias that permeated that book and the others like it can be encapsulated by what Samuelson wrote in his 1988 edition – a prediction that by the year 2000 Soviet GDP would be larger than U.S. GDP. 

  All of this demonstrates why Austrian economics is more important now than ever. The economics profession has not been immune from the cult of political correctness. In fact, it was politically incorrect before political correctness was cool, as Mises’ comment about how the universities of his day were “nurseries of socialism” shows. Doug Casey was right when he wrote that most economists are political apologists masquerading as economists. Yours Truly recognized this as a college student decades ago, and was blown away by the discovery of Mises and the Austrian School, the writings of which very clearly showed that the Austrians were unique in that they were powerfully devoted to the intellectual search for the truth about how the economic world (and beyond) works, and how governments don’t work, and were not at all interested in being apologists for the plundering class.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 17:30

• Dems Float Plan To Push Ailing Justice Sotomayor Off Supreme Court So Biden Can Replace Her Before Trump Is Sworn In
  Dems Float Plan To Push Ailing Justice Sotomayor Off Supreme Court So Biden Can Replace Her Before Trump Is Sworn In

  Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

  Democrats are reportedly having serious discussions about mounting a pressure campaign to force ailing Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to resign so Joe Biden can nominate a replacement before President-Elect Donald Trump is sworn in.

  

  After losing their Senate majority to the GOP, Democrats are concerned that Republicans will be “revving up the old conveyor belt of conservative judicial nominees” as soon President-Elect Trump takes office, Politico reported.

  For Democrats, this is a hair-on-fire moment. And though the discourse in the media is presently dominated by recriminations about how this all happened, another arguably more urgent conversation is blowing up largely outside of public view: whether to push for 70-year-old Supreme Court Justice SONIA SOTOMAYOR to step down while Dems still have the power to approve her replacement.

  This isn’t simply some flight of fancy happening among progressive activists online. It’s a conversation members of the Senate are actively engaged in.

   

  A Democrat senator told Politico that the topic of pushing Sotomayor off the Supreme Court “has come up repeatedly this week in talks with their colleagues.”

  These “Beltway speculative conversations,” according to Politico, have inevitably hit roadblocks for two reasons:

  (1) It’d be a risky play with the party already trying to figure out how to handle a crowded lame-duck session

  (2) no senator seems to be offering to be the person to put his or her neck on their line publicly (or even privately) by pushing for Sotomayor to step aside.

  When Democrats first floated the idea of jettisoning Sotomayor last year, they were accused of ableism and racism.

  The names of possible replacements have been discussed, including the allegedly “moderate” D.C. Circuit Judge J. Michelle Childs, who was reportedly on Joe Biden’s SCOTUS short list, and has already been vetted.

  Another name floated on Friday was none other than Kamala Harris.

  On CNN this morning, attorney Bakari Sellers,  a Democrat former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, suggested that Biden could nominate Harris, giving her a new purpose in life after being vanquished by Trump.

  Just as Democrat elders forced Biden to quit his campaign after his disastrous debate with Trump, the party could pressure Sotomayor to step down. Harris, of course, quickly replaced Biden as the presidential candidate and could potentially replace Sotomayor on the Supreme Court if Democrats succeed in their pressure campaign.

  Sellers suggested the operation could be pushed through before Trump takes the presidency.

  “I think that’s actually a very good plan. I think it’s something that should happen,” he said. “You know, Justice Sotomayor has been a more than able justice. I know that she may be having some personal issues that she contends with while serving on the bench. But, you know, I don’t want Justice Sotomayor to be another Ruth Bader Ginsburg in terms of staying too long.”

  The plan is not without certain risks for Democrats.

  If Sotomayor agreed to resign, “she can sort of resign conditionally on someone being appointed to replace her,” the Democrat senator told Playbook. “But she can’t resign conditioned on a specific person. What happens if she resigns and the nominee to replace her isn’t confirmed and the next president fills the vacancy?”

  Then there’s the abbreviated timeline. Democrats would have to convince her to retire immediately, Biden would have to nominate a successor, they would have to figure out how to bring enough senators on board, dodge whatever obstructions Republicans throw in their way and get a whole floor vote before the new Congress is sworn in. There would be no room for error or delay.

  “We would have to have assurances from any shaky senator that they would back a nominee in the lame duck, because what do you do if she announces she’s going to step down and then independent West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin doesn’t support her and then [Republican Sens.] Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski back off and say they’re not going to support a new nominee?” a senior Democrat told Politico. “Do you just rescind that letter?”

  The senator told Politico that the logistics of the operation may well be “insurmountable,” and it might “be better to focus on confirming lower-court judges, filling vacancies Trump can’t later fill himself.”

  Sen. Josh Hawley commented on the record Friday: “This is not happening. No way, no how,” he posted on X . “The Senate will not confirm any last-minute Dem Supreme Court nominee between now and January. The next SCOTUS justice will be nominated by Donald J. Trump.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 16:20

• Musk Says "Time Is Up For The Warmonger Profiteers" In Nod To Trump Ukraine Peace Plan
  Musk Says “Time Is Up For The Warmonger Profiteers” In Nod To Trump Ukraine Peace Plan

  The Wall Street Journal this week reported that President-Elect Donald Trump is being presented with an array of competing proposals from advisers related to his campaign promise to immediately end the war in Ukraine upon entering the White House.

  While he’s reportedly yet to approve a specific plan, and much might also depend on his team identifying who will fill the top national security and foreign policy posts in the administration, what’s clear is the Zelensky government will feel the pressure to immediately sit at the negotiating table with Moscow.

  The WSJ has revealed that the current options being considered all involve imposing a ‘freeze’ on the war, which to Kiev’s dismay would involve “cementing Russia’s seizure of roughly 20 percent of Ukraine” while imposing a 20-year suspension on Ukraine pursuing NATO membership.

  

  The front lines in the east “would essentially lock in place” according to the proposed plan which is reportedly attracting most attention within Trump’s team, and this freeze would be enforced by European peacekeepers along an 800-mile demilitarized zone.

  Trump officials have told the WSJ that the president-elect is committed to seeing that no American troops are deployed as part of policing this buffer zone; instead the Europeans should shoulder the burden:

  Who would police that territory remains unclear, but one adviser said the peacekeeping force wouldn’t involve American troops, nor come from a U.S.-funded international body, such as the United Nations.

  “We can do training and other support but the barrel of the gun is going to be European,” a member of Trump’s team said. “We are not sending American men and women to uphold peace in Ukraine. And we are not paying for it. Get the Poles, Germans, British and French to do it.”

  The degree to which this plan is actually being mulled and favored by Trump is unclear. Ukraine is likely to object to being forced to give up such a large chunk of what it sees as its legitimate sovereign territory.

  “Anyone—no matter how senior in Trump’s circle—who claims to have a different view or more detailed window into his plans on Ukraine simply doesn’t know what he or she is talking about or doesn’t understand that he makes his own calls on national-security issues, many times in the moment, particularly on an issue as central as this,” a former Trump National Security Council aide told WSJ by way of important caveat. 

  However, Elon Musk, who was invited by Trump to join in on a phone call with Ukraine’s President Zelensky this week, has suggested the above peace plan is likely top of the list of what’s being considered.

  “The senseless killing will end soon. Time is up for the warmonger profiteers,” Musk posted on X in direct response to X commentator Mario Nawfal, who wrote about “Trump’s plan for Ukraine.”

  Nawfal in his original post which caught Musk’s attention wrote that Trump “reportedly plans an 800-mile demilitarized zone between Russia and Ukraine, with British and European troops patrolling the area” – quoting Newsweek. “Under the proposal, Russia would retain its territorial gains, and Ukraine would agree not to join NATO for 20 years,” Nawfal’s post added. 

  The senseless killing will end soon.

  Time is up for the warmonger profiteers.

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 8, 2024

  Another controversial aspect to the plan would be Washington would continue to pump Ukraine full of weapons while declaring it ‘neutral’ regarding NATO. J.D. Vance has previously called for Ukraine being “heavily fortified so the Russians don’t invade again” as part of a future peace process.

  But this would probably be especially objected to by the Kremlin, given a stated aim of Putin’s in executing the war is precisely to ‘demilitarize’ Ukraine, and to halt the advance of NATO infrastructure into the former Soviet satellite. Putin might perceive that the West continuing to arm Ukraine for many years to come would just set things up for another major future clash and war in Eastern Europe.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 15:45

• US District Court Judge Blocks Illinois Ban On Certain Types Of Rifles, Attachments
  US District Court Judge Blocks Illinois Ban On Certain Types Of Rifles, Attachments

  Authored by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times,

  A U.S. District Court Judge has permanently enjoined the state of Illinois from enforcing its “Protecting Illinois Communities Act” (PICA), a ban on certain types of semiautomatic rifles and so-called “high capacity” magazines.

  

  In a 168-page ruling, Judge Stephen McGlynn of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois wrote that PICA was “unconstitutional under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution as applied to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment.” The order is stayed for 30 days.

  Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office said it plans to appeal the ruling.

  “Although this decision is disappointing, the Protect Illinois Communities Act remains in effect for the next 30 days. The law is an important part of the state’s comprehensive efforts to make communities safe from gun violence,” Raoul’s spokesperson Annie Thompson wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.

  “We will continue to defend the law’s constitutionality, as we have in courtrooms throughout Illinois, and plan to appeal the court’s decision.”

  Gun rights advocates hailed the ruling as a victory in their fight to preserve the Second Amendment.

  “We are gratified that the Court properly found that these bans violate the constitutionally protected rights of Illinois residents and visitors,” Brandon Combs, president of the Firearms Policy Coalition, wrote in a post on X.

  “As we clearly showed at trial, PICA fails even under the Seventh Circuit’s misguided test that conflicts with binding Supreme Court precedent.”

  The ruling was issued for four lawsuits that had been combined because they covered the same issues. Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Gun Owners Foundation, and plaintiffs in one of the lawsuits, issued statements celebrating the injunction as a step forward.

  “We are thrilled with the victory and for the citizens of Illinois. We the People deserve the right to decide how best to protect ourselves and our loved ones,” Erich Pratt, GOA’s senior vice president, said in a statement on the group’s website.

  Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed PICA into law in January 2023. It outlawed AK-47 and AR-15 style rifles, as well as rifle magazines that hold more than 10 rounds and pistol magazines that hold more than 15 rounds.

  The only exceptions to the ban were for “trained professionals,” such as law enforcement officers, and people who owned such guns before January 2024. The law also expanded licensing and permitting regulations.

  McGlynn ruled that the Illinois law did not meet the standard set under the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. In that case, the high court ruled that gun laws must be in accordance with the plain text of the Constitution and comparable to the law in effect at the time the Second Amendment was ratified.

  While the state referenced firearms regulations found in English Common law in its argument, McGlynn said it failed to meet the Bruen standard.

  “Sadly, there are those who seek to usher in a sort of post-Constitution era where the citizens’ individual rights are only as important as they are convenient to a ruling class,” McGlynn’s decision states.

  Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker gives a COVID-19 update in the Blue Room at the Thompson Center in Chicago on Feb. 9, 2022. Tyler LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times via AP

  “Seeking ancient laws that may partner well with a present-day infringement on a right proclaimed in the Bill of Rights without reading it in conjunction with the aforementioned history is nonsense.”

  The plaintiffs hope the U.S. Supreme Court will agree to hear a similar case from Maryland and settle the question of so-called “assault weapons.”

  Plaintiffs in that case, Snope v. Brown, filed a petition for certiorari—a request to be heard—with the high court on Aug. 21. The plaintiffs claim that, like PICA, Maryland’s law unconstitutionally prohibits firearms that are “in common use for lawful purposes.”

  In 2013, Maryland adopted the Firearms Safety Act, which bans 45 types of guns, including AR15 and AK47-style rifles and various shotguns “or their copies, regardless of which company produced and manufactured that assault weapon.”

  The plaintiffs originally sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on Dec. 1, 2020.

  Snope v. Brown is the third iteration of the 2020 lawsuit. It is commonly known by its most recent title, Bianchi v. Brown.

  “Certiorari is required in this case,” said Adam Kraut, executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation at the time the petition to the Supreme Court was filed, “to correct an increasingly widespread misunderstanding of the Supreme Court precedent, and the Second Amendment, itself. The specific type of firearm in question is commonly owned across the country, placing it well within the scope of the Second Amendment.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 15:10

• Israeli Jets Wound Syrian Soldiers In Third Attack This Week
  Israeli Jets Wound Syrian Soldiers In Third Attack This Week

  The Saturday overnight hours witnessed another Israeli attack on Syria, which marks at least the third such air raid this week, as part of a stepped up campaign to wage war on the ‘pro-Iran’ axis which includes Damascus and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

  The new strikes occurred in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib, wounding several soldiers and resulting in destruction of military infrastructure. “At around 00:45 after midnight, the Israeli army launched an air aggression from the direction of southeast Aleppo, targeting a number of sites in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib,” SANA news agency cited a military source as saying.

  

  The UK-based anti-Assad opposition outlet Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the strikes had targeted military installations where units and members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Tehran-backed factions are based.

  Israel has been attacking Syria with increased frequency over the last several weeks in connection with the Hezbollah war in south Lebanon, despite widespread acknowledgement that Syria is staying out of events related to the Gaza war.

  Many have asked why Assad has stayed relatively quiet in the context of the Gaza war, Hezbollah war, and the Israeli standoff with Iran. One anti-Assad pundit whose name is Hassan Hassan writes the following:

  The regime has used the war to restore an older perception, established first by former President Hafez al-Assad, that it alone has the ability to keep Syria’s border with Israel quiet and secure. Rather than emerging as a new front for the Iranian axis, as many have long feared since the country descended into conflict in 2011, Syria is attempting to settle into its old role, while taking steps to gradually return to the regional fold through significant diplomatic and political overtures aimed at once more normalizing its position.

  He continues by explaining that Syria is willing do endure smaller hits on infrastructure, without responding, if this ensures Assad government survival:

  For Syria, the risks could be substantial and catastrophic if Israel escalates its attacks to include targeting Syria’s top leadership, rather than focusing solely on logistical hubs tied to Iran’s military buildup in the country. The rebels in the north could also take advantage in such a scenario, attacking regime areas after years of near quiet on the front lines, apart from frequent strikes in rebel areas.

  It remains that the biggest al-Qaeda stronghold in the world today is centered in Idlib province in northwest Syria, on the border with Turkey – which has played a major part along with other NATO powers like the United States in propping up the hardline Islamic stronghold.

  These latest Syria strikes happened alongside other offensives elsewhere in the region. The National reports Saturday that “Dozens were killed in separate overnight air strikes launched by the Israeli military on Lebanon, Syria and Gaza as it intensifies its attack on what it claims to be Hamas and Hezbollah positions.”

  

  “Israel launched 14 air strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs late on Friday, shortly after Israel’s military warned residents to leave parts of the area,” the report added, noting that there were an unknown number of casualties.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 14:35

• Trump Flips Nevada, Nears Sweep Of Swing States
  Trump Flips Nevada, Nears Sweep Of Swing States

  Authored by John Haughey via The Epoch Times,

  President-elect Donald Trump has flipped Nevada, nearly three days after he was declared winner of the 2024 race to the White House.

  

  The race was called at 9:15 p.m. PT on Nov. 8. Trump has now won six of the seven swing states and appears poised to capture them all.

  

  He is leading in Arizona, the final battleground that has not yet been called.

  

  With this win, Trump becomes the first Republican to win the Silver State since 2004.

  He lost the 2016 race here to Hillary Clinton by 2.42 percentage points and the 2020 contest to candidate Joe Biden by 2.4 points.

  Republicans had reason to believe Trump’s third time would be the charm after posting a robust in-person early vote lead and registration gains since 2020.

  While Harris has consistently, but narrowly, led in Nevada polls since succeeding Biden as the Democrat’s nominee in July, two of four late surveys showed Trump suddenly surging as a clear favorite.

  An Atlas Intel Nov. 1–2 survey of 782 likely voters had Trump leading by 5.5 percentage points and a Susquehanna Oct. 28–31 poll of 400 likely voters had Trump up by a breakaway 6 percentage points.

  Meanwhile, a NY Times/Siena Oct. 24 to Nov. 2 survey of 1,010 likely voters had Harris up 2-to-3 percentage points and an Emerson Oct. 29 to Oct. 31 poll of 700 likely voters put her up by 1 percent.

  Many media outlets had declared Trump the winner of the battleground state’s six Electoral College votes for days before the AP formally finally did so.

  AP called the race with 96 percent of statewide ballots counted. Trump had 724,498 votes, 50.7 percent, to Harris’s 678,399 votes, or 47.4 percent.

  He led by 3.3 percent, or by 46,099 votes.

  There had been as many as 13,000 mail-in ballots, including more than 11,000 from Clark County, flagged for discrepancies, primarily mismatched signatures. Elections offices had been frantically scrambling to contact affected voters to “cure” or verify those votes by Nov. 9.

  Trump was not only winning Washoe County – which includes Reno and is Nevada’s second-largest voting constituency – by about 1,600 votes but had garnered more than 478,000 votes in Clark County, where 71 percent of the state’s 3.2 million residents and 2.03 million active voters live, and where Democrats need to run up big numbers to win statewide races.

  Just amazing pic.twitter.com/BPJ928xZFg

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 7, 2024

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

  That doesn’t appear to have happened in 2024. While Harris was leading in Clark County with 504,828 votes late afternoon Nov. 8, that was only 26,000 more than what Trump had received in the blue county, significantly below the threshold needed to overcome GOP votes across the state.

  Interestingly, in both these cases – Arizona and Nevada – the incumbent Democrat Senators are leading despite President Trump’s lead in the presidential race:

  Jacky Rosen (D) has been declared the winner over Veteran Sam Brown. Rosen got around the same number of votes as Kamala…

  

  But, In Arizona, Kari Lake (R) is holding it close still. BUT notice that the Dem senator has received far more votes than Kamala did…

  

  Lake and campaign officials have been expressing confidence that Lake, who lost the 2022 gubernatorial election, will ultimately win the Arizona Senate race. They’ve been urging people to cure ballots, meaning fix mistakes on ballots so their votes are counted.

  Under Arizona law, voters have five days after Election Day to fix issues with their ballots.

  “There are lawyers and trained observers monitoring tabulation of ballots, duplicating, and adjudication until we are done. I’m in constant touch with Kari’s lawyers and supporters about this and we are watching every ballot drop,” Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer who leads an election integrity team for state and national Republicans, said on the social media platform X.

  As of the current projections, Republicans will have 53 Senate seats in the next Congress, compared to 45 for Democrats or nominal independents who caucus with the Democrats.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 14:00

• "Show No Mercy": Trump's Campaign Pledge To Annihilate Mexican Cartels Goes Viral
  “Show No Mercy”: Trump’s Campaign Pledge To Annihilate Mexican Cartels Goes Viral

  Now, as Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, Mexican cartels, Chinese chemical companies, money laundering networks across North America, and US-based drug dealers are on notice that the boom times under the Biden-Harris regime’s open southern border policies will soon be coming to an end. 

  If Trump follows through with his 2023 campaign promise to “wage war” against Mexican drug cartels, then Americans could expect an end to the horrific 100,000 US drug death overdose crisis per year caused by fentanyl and other drugs – much of which starts as precursor chemicals shipped from China, cooked into fentanyl by Mexican cartels, then flooded in the Lower 48. 

  

  Here’s Trump’s action plan to destroy the cartels:

  • Restore all Trump border policies and fully secure border

  • Deploy all necessary military assets, including the U.S. Navy, to impose a full naval embargo on the cartels, to ensure they cannot use our region’s waters to traffic illicit drugs to the U.S.

  • Order the Department of Defense to make appropriate use of special forces, cyber warfare, and other covert and overt actions to inflict maximum damage on cartel leadership, infrastructure, and operations

  • Designate the major drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations

  • Cut off the cartels’ access to the global financial system

  • Get full cooperation of neighboring governments to dismantle the cartels, or else fully expose the bribes and corruption that protect these criminal networks

  • Ask Congress to ensure drug smugglers and traffickers can receive the Death Penalty

  Trump’s team released this video in December 2023 titled “President Donald J. Trump Declares War on Cartels.” 

  Donald Trump’s plan to end the drug epidemic in America by declaring war on the drug cartels.

  “We will show no mercy on the cartels.”

  1. “Deploy all necessary military assets, including the US Navy to impose the full naval embargo and the cartels.”

  2. “Guarantee that the… pic.twitter.com/iQyrP4gAL7

  — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 8, 2024

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

  Now the question arises: Does the Trump-Vance team still hold these strong cartel-busting views after announcing them nearly a year ago?

  Absolutely… 

  Here’s JD Vance on the campaign trail in late October: “On behalf of every American who has lost a loved one due to this border crisis, we’re going to kick some cartel ass when President Donald J. Trump takes office.”

  On behalf of every American who has lost a loved one due to this border crisis, we’re going to kick some cartel ass when President Donald J. Trump takes office. pic.twitter.com/bjo4zNoC0O

  — JD Vance (@JDVance) October 23, 2024

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

  Not too long ago, Trump announced financial armageddon for Mexican cartels: “I’m announcing that for the first time under my administration, we are seizing the assets of the criminal gangs and drug cartels and we will use those assets to create a compensation fund to provide restitution for the victims of migrant crime.” 

  Trump just dropped a bombshell – he’s gonna use money seized from gang bangers and cartel bosses, and flip that dirty money into a fund for the real victims, the ones hit by migrant crime. pic.twitter.com/FN4Mad6KOi

  — Catch Up (@CatchUpFeed) October 29, 2024

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  At the Republican National Convention, Tom Homan, who served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement between 2017 and 2018, told Mexican cartels: “You’re done.” 

  Trump’s ICE Director,
  Tom Homan, tells illegals “You better start packing now… cause you’re going home”

  This can’t happen fast enough.
  Deport every last one them and BUILD THAT WALL. pic.twitter.com/1GIabpUgKm

  — Kerry Slone(Stilettos&Shotguns) (@thereal_SnS) November 6, 2024

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

  Americans are desperately hoping for closed borders and a resolution to this drug death chaos and illegal alien invasion. Trump’s historic election sweep shows just that. Now get to work, Mr. President.

  Former ICE Director Tom Homan is the definition of “no nonsense.” We need more leaders like him.

  Let me promise you: He is NOT going to be caught wearing furry masks, or concerning himself with made-up boogeymen like ‘White Rage.’ pic.twitter.com/RKTZMZ5Bmb

  — Elevator Charles 🛗 (@coopsimms) November 7, 2024

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  In our view, the Trump team next year could start by disrupting the financial networks – or command and control centers – of cartels. Trump already mentioned seizing assets, but what’s rarely mentioned is the possibility of sanctioning Mexican banks.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 13:25

• Taiwan Receives Its First Batch Of HIMARS Rocket Systems From US
  Taiwan Receives Its First Batch Of HIMARS Rocket Systems From US

  Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

  Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that the island received its first batch of US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), which it first ordered in 2020.

  The HIMARS is a truck-mounted mobile rocket launch system that can fire a variety of munitions, including the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), which Taiwan has purchased. The ATACMS have a range of about 186 miles.

  

  The US approval of a sale to Taiwan for HIMARS and ATACMS in 2020 was significant since it marked the first time the US offered weapons that could reach mainland China. The sale also included AGM-84H cruise missiles, which have a range of 168 miles and can be fired by Taiwan’s F-16 fighter jets.

  Taiwan ordered 11 of the HIMARS systems in 2020 and ordered another 18 in 2022. The island’s Defense Ministry said the first 11 have arrived, and Taiwanese troops are reportedly undergoing training to use them. 

  The US has deployed troops to Taiwan for training in recent years, including on the outer islands of Kinmen, which are just a few miles off mainland China’s coast.

  Taiwanese troops were recently in the US training on HIMARS at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that at least 17 soldiers from Taiwan completed training on the HIMARS in August, and Fort Sill’s Facebook page shared a photo of the Taiwanese troops.

  The US has continued to increase military support for Taiwan despite constant warnings from China that the island is the “first red line” in US-China relations that must not be crossed.

  The US has always sold weapons to Taiwan since Washington severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979 as part of a normalization deal with China. Last year, the US started providing US-funded military aid, marking a significant escalation in US support for the island.

  

  In September, President Biden approved a $567 million arms package for Taiwan using the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows him to ship weapons straight from US military stockpiles.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 12:50

• Trump's Election Victory Proves That The Hollywood Elite No Longer Matter
  Trump’s Election Victory Proves That The Hollywood Elite No Longer Matter

  Kamala Harris is toast.  The political spin has been crushed underfoot.  The polls were wrong (again) and the presidential race wasn’t even close.  But Harris’ defeat is only a symbol of something much bigger; the national repudiation of an elitist system that has long thrived on the public worship of false idols.

  The narrative throughout the Joe Biden campaign was that the old ghoul was “sharp as a tack”.  That fantasy was quickly exposed to the masses in a single election debate.  The Harris campaign narrative was that Democrats are the “party of joy”, and they tried real hard to sell this illusion using a horde of celebrities and legacy media talking heads as a foil. 

  It’s difficult to artificially generate joy.  But beyond that, the era of the celebrity endorsement is long gone.  Americans don’t care anymore and this seems to be confounding the progressive media.  According to them Harris ran a “flawless campaign”.  Joy Reid argued that with the number of celebrity endorsements Harris received her victory should have been assured.

  JOY REID: Kamala Harris was a “historic, flawlessly run” campaign pic.twitter.com/sJMhcfVYxO

  — HOT SPOT (@HotSpotHotSpot) November 6, 2024

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

  Kamala even had the cast of The Avengers on her side.  The problem is that The Avengers and Harris never presented a valid economic policy plan, which is what the public really cares about.

  THESE PEOPLE ARE OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY
  The Avengers cast held a group call to encourage everyone to vote for Kamala Harris. pic.twitter.com/l33Ij1R50k

  — 🇺🇸Land Of ILLUSION🇺🇸 (@Landofillusion1) November 1, 2024

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

  Though one could argue that the Trump campaign also highlighted their celebrity endorsements (or that Trump’s TV stardom years ago is an example of celebrity power), the difference is that actors and pop stars were central to Kamala’s presidential run while they were a side note for Trump.  He didn’t need Hollywood to rally for him. 

  There is an assumption by media pundits that movie star endorsements are somehow organic; but actors and singers can be bought.  Rumors abound that both Biden and Harris were paying big money to social media influencers in the early days of the election cycle and it’s a fair bet that they were doing the same thing with celebrity mascots. 

  How much Harris campaign money was flowing into the pockets of these people?  Recent reports indicate that the Biden/Harris camp generated double the amount of donations that Trump received, yet she spent so much bread her campaign is now allegedly $20 million in debt.  If this is true then it highlights the incredible expense involved in creating fake joy, as well as the pointlessness of the Hollywood cult.

  In other words, they can’t buy hype anymore. 

  Cash might have been a big motivator for celebrities to jump on the Kamala bandwagon, but there’s also the issue of impending investigations into Hollywood’s degeneracy and pedophilia.  With Trump in office there will be increasing public demands for the release of the Esptein client lists as well as the exposure of the alleged Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs tapes.  Trump is likely to oblige.

  Finally, the residents of Tinsel Town are notorious for living within a bubble of ideological delusion.  It’s true that decades ago celebrities had far more influence on the opinions of the general public, and perhaps they think they’re still living in that “golden” era.  It’s simply not the case, as the latest election proves.  The realization is hitting them like a ton of bricks.

  TRUMP IS NOT A LEGITIMATE PRESIDENT. pic.twitter.com/Vbwg1xKEeh

  — jc ★ (@buttaflyku) November 6, 2024

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  Narcissists cannot handle the revelation that they are irrelevant, and so they quickly become unhinged.

  Kathy Griffin isn’t coping well pic.twitter.com/uICbCMWQ0k

  — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 7, 2024

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

  The political left roots itself in the idea that they are the core of culture and they pride themselves on being the gatekeepers for what the public sees and hears.  They have long sought to dominate popular media through subversion and they’ll often brag about their success in infiltrating every corner of the entertainment industry.  But does any of this matter anymore?  Ricky Gervais answers this question in brilliant parody.

  “Hey guys, I’m a celebrity, I know everything about stuff like Science & Politics – so trust me when I tell you who to vote for”

  “If you don’t vote my way it’s like a hate crime, it makes me sad”

  The ever Brilliant Ricky Gervais mocking the corrupt Hollywood Diddy Party… pic.twitter.com/uXjJrTjw7G

  — Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) November 1, 2024

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  The alternative media today is dominating the establishment media.  Celebrities, once living behind a carefully crafted marketing image, are now exposed on social media as the dunces they really are.  Trump’s latest victory in the face of the La La Land army might just herald the total destruction of the old Hollywood regime.  

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/09/2024 – 12:15

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• 'Fasten Your Seatbelts' – Pepe Escobar Explores The 'Trumpquake'
  'Fasten Your Seatbelts' – Pepe Escobar Explores The 'Trumpquake'

  Authored by Pepe Escobar,

  On the political Richter scale, that was a killer – literally. What was supposed to be a Liberal Totalitarian Show was brutally, unceremoniously, swept out of the park – any park. Even before Election Day, critical thinking was aware of the stakes. With fraud, Kamala wins.

  With no fraud, Trump wins.

  There were, at best, (failed) attempts at fraud.

  

  The key question still remains: what does the U.S. Deep State really want?

  My inbox is infested with loads of weepy reports from U.S. Think Tankland wondering, in disbelief, why Kamala could possibly lose.

  It’s quite straightforward – apart from her sheer incompetence cum utter mediocrity literally cackling out loud – the legacy of the administration she was part of is ghastly – all the way from Crash Test Dummy to Little Butcher Blinkie.

  Instead of bothering to care about the abysmal state of affairs, at every level, concerning that mythical entity, “the American people”, they chose to invest everything on a neocon-manufactured proxy war to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia – stealing Russian assets, unleashing a tsunami of sanctions, shipping an array of wunderwaffen. The weaponization of Ukraine led to countless Ukrainian dead and the inevitable, fast-approaching cosmic humiliation of NATO in the black soil of Novorossiya.

  They invested everything to support a genocide in Gaza conducted with a huge arsenal of American weapons: a lebensraum-coded ethnic cleansing cum extermination op directed by a bunch of Talmudic psychos – and marketed under the “rules-based international order” spewed out by Butcher Blinkie in every bilateral or multilateral gathering.

  It’s no wonder that West Asia and the wider Global South soon got the message of what may happen to anyone daring to go against the Hegemon’s “interests”. Thus the counterpunch: the strengthening of BRICS and BRICS+, celebrated for all the world to see two weeks ago in Kazan.

  At least this administration had a merit, strengthening the bonds between all major “existential threats” to the Hegemon: three BRICS (Russia, China, Iran), plus the indomitable DPRK. All that in contrast with a meager tactical victory – which may not last long: the absolute vassalization of Europe.

  Hanging Ukraine on Europe’s neck

  Of course, foreign policy does not win U.S. elections. Americans themselves will have to solve their dilemmas, or plunge into civil war. As for the bulk of the Global Majority, it harbors no illusions. Trumpquake’s coded message is that the Zionist lobby wins – again. Perhaps not so unanimously when we consider all strands of neo-cons and Zio-cons. Wall Street wins again (BlackRock’s Larry Fink said so even before Election Day). And prominent silos across the Deep State also win again.

  That begs a modified question; what if Trump feels emboldened enough after January 25 to launch a Stalinist purge of the Deep State?

  Election Day proceeded nearly simultaneously with the Valdai Club annual meeting in Sochi, where the superstar, not surprisingly, was eminent geopolitician Sergey Karaganov. Of course he directly referred to the Empire’s Forever Wars: “We are living in biblical times.”

  And even before Trumpquake, Karaganov stressed, calmly, “We will defeat the West in Ukraine – without resorting to ultimate means.” And that “will provide for a peaceful withdrawal of the U.S. – which will become a normal superpower.” Europe, meanwhile, “will move to the sidelines of History.”

  All of that spot on. But then Karaganov introduced a startling concept: “The war in Ukraine is a replacement of WWIII. Afterwards, we can agree on some kind of order in Eurasia.”

  That would be the “indivisibility of security” proposed by Putin to Washington – and rejected – on December 2021, part of the “Greater Eurasia Partnership” that was conceptualized by Karaganov himself.

  The problem though is his conclusion: “Let’s make the Ukrainian war the last major war in the 21st century.”

  Ay, there’s the rub: the real major war is actually Eretz Israel v. the Axis of Resistance in West Asia.

  Let’s have a quick pit stop in Europe before getting to the meat of this matter. Trumpquake is all set to hang Ukraine on Europe’s neck like a larger-than-life albatross. The shorthand: Exit American money financing the born-to-lose Project Ukraine. Enter German money filling the coffers of the weapons lobby inside the Ray McGovern-coined MICIMATT (military-industrial-congressional-intelligence-media-academia-think tank complex).

  The U.S. Treasury has issued an internal memorandum valid until April 30, 2025 – when Trump will be already three months in power – allowing transactions with Russian banks on anything related to oil, natural gas, timber and any form of uranium.

  As for the gullible, Brussels-run EU, they will pay the heavy load on weaponizing rump Ukraine while accepting wave after wave of new refugees and saying goodbye to any of their funds already invested in that humongous black hole.

  Beware of that Tony Soprano wannabe

  Trumpquake – if taken at face value – is bound to further weaponize the U.S. dollar; Trump has threatened, on the record, to blacklist any nation that uses other currencies for international trade. BRICS and BRICS+ partners have registered it; and that will accelerate the testing of all models in the BRICS lab leading towards a multi-layered alternative trade settlement system.

  BRICS and the Global Majority also know that Trump in fact signed off on Nordstream sanctions – when he referred recently to “killing” Nord Steam. And they also know he did less than zero during Trump 1.0 to find a solution for the proxy war in Ukraine.

  Now we come to the clincher.

  Trump personally destroyed the JCPOA – the Iran nuclear deal – brokered by the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany). Moscow – and Beijing – know perfectly well how this led to further destabilization of the whole of West Asia, in conjunction to the Trump-ordered assassination of Gen Soleimani, which started what I termed the Raging Twenties.

  Last but not least, Trump brokered the bombastically-named “Deal of the Century”: the Abraham Accords, which if implemented will forever bury any possibility of an Israel/Palestine two-state solution.

  The deal – which may be considered as nefarious as the 1917 Balfour declaration – may be in a coma. But MbS’s Whatsapp pal Jared Kushner is back, and will certainly renew the pressure. MbS still has not made up his mind when it comes to BRICS. Trump will go bonkers if MbS increasingly starts to navigate the petroyuan way.

  All that brings us to a supremely nefarious character, Tony Soprano wannabe Mike Pompeo, who is a serious candidate to become head of the Pentagon. That would spell major trouble ahead. Pompeo was CIA director and Secretary of State under Trump 1.0. He is an uber-hawk on Russia, China and especially Iran.

  Arguably the pressing question from now on is whether Trump – whose life was spared by God, in his own interpretation – does what is expected of him by his uber-wealthy donors, appoints Pompeo and similar gangsters for key posts, and invests on Israel’s war against Iran and the Axis of Resistance.

  If that’s the case, he won’t have to worry about another failed sniper. But if he really tries to run his own independent game, there’s no question he will be a dead man walking.

  So the whole Global Majority waits with bated breath. How will Trumpquake translate in the geopolitical MAGA sphere? Sure bets focus on extensive use of private military companies (PMCs) for foreign policy “missions” and selected, targeted military “interventions”. Targets could include any Global South player from Mexico (to “secure the border”) to Venezuela (the Monroe doctrine “securing the oil”), Yemen (to “secure the Red Sea”) and of course Iran (a massive bombing campaign to “secure Israel”).

  In a nutshell: no new wars (as Trump promised), just a few targeted incursions. Plus Hybrid War on maximum overdrive. Brazil, watch out: Trumpquake will not tolerate a truly sovereign BRICS member increasing its Global South influence in the “Western Hemisphere”.

  Fasten your seatbelts: whatever happens, Trumpquake is bound to be a bumpy ride.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 23:25

• Russia Dominates US As World's Largest Owner Of Natural Resources
  Russia Dominates US As World's Largest Owner Of Natural Resources

  Natural resources are the backbone of modern manufacturing, necessary to produce everything around us.

  According to 2021 data from Statista, 10 countries dominate the global natural resource landscape, each holding vast reserves critical for various industries.

  

  Russia’s $75 Trillion in Natural Resources

  Russia leads the pack with natural resources valued at $75 trillion, largely consisting of coal, natural gas, oil, and rare earth metals. At the end of 2018, Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment valued the country’s mineral reserves at approximately $1.44 trillion.

  In terms of global share, Russia is unmatched in natural gas, holding the world’s largest proven reserves at 1.32 quadrillion cubic feet as of 2020—nearly 20% of the global total. Russia also ranks as a gold powerhouse.

  Other Resource Giants

  The United States ranks second, with an estimated $45 trillion in natural resources, including coal, timber, natural gas, and valuable metals like gold.

  

   

  In Saudi Arabia and Canada, oil wealth drives natural resources, placing these countries third and fourth on the list. Saudi Arabia, with its vast oil fields, has been a leader in global energy markets. Canada, on the other hand, also benefits from substantial uranium deposits and is home to some of the world’s largest lumber companies.

  Further down the list, China has vast coal reserves, positioning it as the top producer of the fuel.

  Mineral-rich Brazil and Australia are leading producers of metals like iron ore, while Australia is also a top exporter of coal.

  If you enjoyed this graphic, make sure to check out this graphic that shows how global coal consumption is still rising.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 23:00

• US Has A New Strategy To Counter China's AI Threat
  US Has A New Strategy To Counter China's AI Threat

  Authored by Antonio Graceffo via The Epoch Times,

  The White House has released the first-ever U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) strategy, developed to counter China’s ambitions to lead AI development globally and leverage it across military and civilian sectors for strategic dominance.

  

  On Oct. 24, the White House issued the National Security Memorandum (NSM) on Artificial Intelligence (AI), underscoring the urgent need for the United States to lead in AI governance and set global standards for security, transparency, and ethical use. This initiative seeks to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) efforts to dominate the AI field.

  Through initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative and aggressive tactics within organizations such as the World Trade Organization, the United Nations, and the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the CCP has shown its intent to reshape international rules in ways that favor Beijing’s interests, often disregarding established global norms. Allowing China to dictate AI standards could have far-reaching and severe consequences globally.

  The AI threat from the Chinese regime to U.S. national security is substantial and complex, involving China’s integration of AI across both civilian and military sectors as part of its long-term strategy. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has voiced concerns over China’s use of AI for internal surveillance and misinformation campaigns, which are now being exported and pose threats to U.S. and allied security.

  A key component of Beijing’s AI strategy is the “intelligentization“ of its military, aiming to use AI for advanced decision-making and autonomous systems, which could give the regime a strategic military advantage in ways that the United States may struggle to counter.

  China’s AI-powered military advancements include deploying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and uncrewed surface vessels (unmanned naval drones), as well as enhancing command and control operations. These capabilities could disrupt U.S. intelligence operations or destabilize military power balances in sensitive regions like the Taiwan Strait. Such risks highlight the urgency for the United States to monitor and counter these developments, as China’s rapid AI integration could make predicting and countering its moves increasingly difficult.

  Some analysts believe that AI will be so crucial in future wars that, without it, the U.S. military might be unable to defeat the Chinese military, the People’s Liberation Army. The recent U.S. memorandum directs defense and national security agencies to incorporate AI in defense, intelligence, and counterintelligence operations. The White House emphasizes integrating AI into national security while protecting AI resources from foreign threats, with a particular focus on mitigating risks like technology transfer and espionage in the AI supply chain. The NSM further prioritizes intelligence gathering on competitor activities in the U.S. AI sector to counter economic and technological espionage targeting American AI leadership.

  China’s national AI strategy prioritizes advancements in AI technology and active participation in global AI governance. Central to this strategy is military-civil fusion, where civilian AI advancements are rapidly applied to military technology, giving China a strategic advantage in innovation and resource use. While the U.S. government is also funding AI development, and the recent memorandum aims to integrate AI into intelligence and defense to maintain competitiveness and prevent AI-based operational advantages for China, especially in cyber and autonomous warfare, China may still be outpacing the United States in certain critical areas.

  “The 2023 National Security Scorecard: Critical Technologies Edition” report from Govini offers an in-depth look at the U.S.–China rivalry in key technologies essential to national security. It highlights vulnerabilities in U.S. defense due to a heavy reliance on Chinese suppliers, especially in AI. The report indicates that China now leads the United States in AI innovation, as evidenced by its high patent output and robust development of machine learning applications that impact both military and civilian sectors. This growing gap underscores the need for the United States to strengthen its AI research and development, secure its supply chains, and lessen its dependence on technology from adversarial sources, such as communist China, to maintain a strategic edge in national security.

  Alongside enhancing its AI capabilities, the United States must encourage its allies to strengthen their own. Speaking at the National Defense University on Oct. 24, Sullivan stressed the importance of international partnerships to provide secure alternatives to China’s AI-powered digital infrastructure, which poses risks of data compromise, surveillance, and censorship. He cautioned that reversing course can be difficult and costly once nations adopt China’s technology.

  The White House asserts that achieving U.S. dominance in AI requires both public and private collaboration to drive innovation, secure AI talent, and maintain computational advantages. Key initiatives include strengthening domestic AI research, enhancing cybersecurity, and ensuring a secure AI ecosystem. The CHIPS Act boosts U.S. capacity in advanced chip production critical for AI, while recent policies restrict China’s access to AI-enabling semiconductor technology to slow its military advancements.

  Although non-defense research funding has decreased in recent years, the Biden administration is coordinating with Congress to secure resources to improve AI capabilities, such as government supercomputers and supply chain security for semiconductor production. Without these measures, experts warn that China’s rapid AI adoption could shift military power in its favor, especially in contested regions like Taiwan.

  To counter the CCP’s AI threat, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) advises that the U.S. bolster its military AI capabilities, establish norms for responsible AI use in defense, and work closely with allies on these issues. CNAS recommends negotiating risk reduction and confidence-building measures with China specifically for military AI while simultaneously pursuing broader crisis management frameworks.

  Additionally, CNAS suggests integrating military AI into diplomatic efforts on nuclear and strategic stability with China, addressing risks from AI’s rapid, unpredictable nature, and prioritizing intelligence on China’s military AI advancements.

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

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 22:35

• Wedding-flation: The State-By-State Costs Of Tying-The-Knot
  Wedding-flation: The State-By-State Costs Of Tying-The-Knot

  Weddings have always been monumental milestones. However, pulling off the perfect celebration can come with a hefty price tag.

  In this graphic, Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti visualizes the average wedding costs in the U.S. by state (excluding Alaska and Hawaii), according to data compiled by The Knot as of December 2023, which surveyed 9,318 couples across the country.

  

  Most Expensive Locations to Host a Wedding

  According to the study conducted by The Knot, the national average cost of a wedding in 2023 reached $35,000, compared to the $30,000 average recorded the previous year.

  Cities like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago are among the most expensive locations to host a wedding, while states with smaller populations, such as Idaho, West Virginia, and Wyoming, offer more affordable alternatives.

  State	Cost
  New Jersey	$55,000
  New York	$49,000
  Connecticut	$44,000
  Maine	$44,000
  New Hampshire	$44,000
  Rhode Island	$44,000
  Vermont	$44,000
  DC	$42,000
  Massachusetts	$42,000
  California	$41,000
  Delaware	$39,000
  Illinois	$39,000
  Maryland	$39,000
  South Carolina	$39,000
  Pennsylvania	$38,000
  Virginia	$38,000
  Louisiana	$37,000
  West Virginia	$36,000
  Alabama	$34,000
  Colorado	$34,000
  Florida	$34,000
  Mississippi	$33,000
  Arizona	$32,000
  Texas	$32,000
  Minnesota	$31,000
  North Carolina	$31,000
  Georgia	$30,000
  Ohio	$30,000
  Oregon	$30,000
  Washington	$30,000
  Michigan	$29,000
  Wisconsin	$29,000
  Tennessee	$28,000
  Missouri	$27,000
  Indiana	$26,000
  New Mexico	$26,000
  Wyoming	$26,000
  Arkansas	$25,000
  Kansas	$25,000
  Oklahoma	$25,000
  Iowa	$24,000
  South Dakota	$23,000
  Nebraska	$22,000
  North Dakota	$22,000
  Nevada	$21,000
  Idaho	$20,000
  Kentucky	$20,000
  Montana	$20,000
  Utah	$17,000

  What Drives Wedding Costs?

  Several factors contribute to the rise in wedding costs.

  On average, couples hire 14 vendors to execute their big day. The wedding reception venue, live band, and photographer are typically the priciest of these.

  Furthermore, the demand for wedding planners has seen a notable increase, with 37% of couples in 2023 opting for professional planning services, up from 30% in 2019. These experts help orchestrate everything from catering to decor, ensuring that each detail aligns with the couple’s vision.

  The costs on this map do not include another big-ticket item—the engagement ring, which averages over $5,000.

  If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out this graphic, which shows what you need to earn to own a home in 50 American cities.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 22:10

• Trump Can Repair The Damage That Biden Dealt To Indo-US Ties
  Trump Can Repair The Damage That Biden Dealt To Indo-US Ties

  Authored by Andrew Korybko via substack,

  Trump’s return to the White House is seen by India as an opportunity to repair the damage that Biden dealt to bilateral ties. Summer 2023’s alleged attempted assassination scandal, which readers can learn more about here, toxified their relations and was followed by American meddling in the latest Indian general elections. Bangladesh’s US-backed regime change several months ago was regarded by many Indians as a betrayal of their regional security interests. The US has also pressured India to dump Russia.  

  

  All of that might soon be water under the bridge if Trump brings Indian Americans and Indian-friendly officials with him back to Washington.

  This would be especially so if Kashyap Patel is confirmed as the next CIA chief like some have speculated that Trump is planning to propose.

  If the stars align, then the first order of business that India would want to have happen is for the US to crack down on Delhi-designated terrorists-separatists to the maximum extent that American law allows.

  The state protection that Khalistani leaders like Gurpatwant Singh Pannun enjoy while they openly imply threats to bomb Indian airliners and assassinate its diplomats among other crimes has convinced many Indians that these figures and their movement are being wielded as Hybrid War weapons against India. Trump campaigned on a law-and-order platform whose principles are incompatible with these provocations so there are hopes that he’ll put a stop to them as the first step to repairing ties.

  Next on India’s wish list is for the US to stop meddling in its domestic affairs. Criticism of its socio-political situation is seen as unfriendly, while the efforts of various NGOs to cultivate anti-state sentiment – especially in the Christian-populated Northeastern States – is considered absolutely unacceptable. Relations can never truly return to normal until these activities are ended. For that to happen, however, Trump must successfully rein in liberal-globalist elements of his “deep state”, which will be a challenge.

  Moving along, India also wants the US to pressure the new Bangladeshi government into respecting the rights of the country’s Hindu minority, who’ve been victimized by pogroms and other forms of violence since summer’s regime change. Truly free and fair elections should also be held as soon as possible. Speculative plans for a US military facility there are also troubling due to how much this could disrupt the balance of power in the region. The US should therefore keep India’s legitimate concerns in mind.

  Elsewhere on the regional front, India would appreciate the US once again treating it as its top partner instead of continuing to balance between it and Pakistan. The Biden Administration departed from the first Trump Administration’s Indo-centric regional policy partially due to its liberal-globalist ideological agenda that set it at odds with Modi’s conservative-nationalist government. His team also flirted with improving ties with China, and distancing the US from India to a degree was seen as a means to that end.

  American pressure on India to dump Russia should also stop if Trump wants to improve bilateral ties. He recently pledged to “un-unite” Russia and China, who he claims had been forced together by Biden, so India could argue that letting Indo-Russo trade blossom helps achieve this goal by preemptively averting Russia’s potentially disproportionate dependence on China. Trump’s team is expected to follow a Kissingerian Great Power balancing strategy so this appeal to its global role might resonate with them.  

  And finally, although India entered into a rapprochement with China just several weeks ago that the US was inadvertently responsible for as explained here, it wouldn’t mind if Trump took a tougher stance on China than Biden and privileged India as a counterbalance to the People’s Republic. In pursuit of that, the US could continue exporting high-tech military equipment to India and ideally make progress on negotiating a free trade deal. The latter is easier said than done but should still figure on the agenda.

  Altogether, the future looks bright for Indo-US ties so long as Indian Americans, Indian-friendly officials, and geopolitical pragmatists follow Trump into the White House, all of which is expected judging by the latest reports. In that case, the challenge will then be reining in liberal-globalist elements of the “deep state” in order to prevent them from subverting the Indo-US rapprochement, which would be greatly facilitated if the Guajarati-descended Trump loyalist Patel becomes the next CIA chief.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 21:45

• FEMA Official Removed After 'Avoid Trump Houses' Message Leaks, DeSantis Orders Investigation
  FEMA Official Removed After 'Avoid Trump Houses' Message Leaks, DeSantis Orders Investigation

  An official with the Federal Emergency Management Agency was “removed from their role” and is under investigation after the Daily Wire obtained a leaked internal message in which they ordered workers to bypass the homes of Trump supporters as they surveyed the damage caused by Hurricane Milton in Florida.

  

  In the leaked message, a FEMA supervisor told workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump” as they canvassed Lake Placid, Florida to find residents who may qualify for federal aid.

  The supervisor, Marn’i Washington, told workers both verbally and in a group chat to avoid Trump supporters’ homes, multiple government officials told the Daily Wire.

  “When we got there we were told to discriminate against people. It’s almost unbelievable to think that somebody in the federal government would think that’s okay,” one of the employees told the outlet, adding that it was wrong to discriminate against Trump supporters when they were at their “most vulnerable.”

  

  “I volunteered to help disaster victims, not discriminate against them,” said the employee. “It didn’t matter if people were black, white, Hispanic, for Trump, for Harris. Everyone deserves the same amount of help.”

  The guidance came as the Biden administration was criticized over its sluggish response to Hurricane Helene in rural areas across the country. In Roan Mountain, Tennessee, for example, locals told The Daily Wire it took nearly two weeks for FEMA to show up. The town is located in Carter County, which voted 81% for Trump on Tuesday. 

  The FEMA agents ordered not to help houses with Trump signs were operating in Highlands County, a deep-red area located in south central Florida that backed Trump by 70% on Tuesday. It was hit with tornadoes, torrential wind and rain, and flooding when Milton hit in October.  -Daily Wire

  Following the report, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) ordered an investigation into the incident.

  “The blatant weaponization of government by partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy is yet another reason why the Biden-Harris administration is in its final days,” DeSantis wrote on X. “New leadership is on the way in DC, and I’m optimistic that these partisan bureaucrats will be fired.”

  FEMA, meanwhile, has “removed” Washington “from their role” within the agency.

  FULL STATEMENT: “FEMA helps all survivors regardless of their political preference or affiliation and we are deeply disturbed by this employee’s actions. While we believe this is an isolated incident, we have taken measures to remove the employee from their role and are…

  — Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) November 8, 2024

  That wasn’t enough for some…

  wait so the “extreme actions” taken to respond to this were to… continue to employ this individual?

  — stevemur (@stevemur) November 8, 2024

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

  “Remove the employee from their role”

  So, they’re still employed by the government and being paid with our tax dollars, I would assume.

  This person needs to go to jail.

  — Mike Osborne (@M_David_Osborne) November 8, 2024

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

  Unless “removed from role” means fired, FEMA needs to rethink their response.
  I can’t wait until Elon gets a hold of this department.

  — blueagave (@1blueagave) November 8, 2024

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

   

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 21:20

• This Is What An Electoral Landside Looks Like… And The Consequences For Democrats
  This Is What An Electoral Landside Looks Like… And The Consequences For Democrats

  Authored by Richard Truesdell and Keith Lehmann via American Greatness,

  While there are a few close states not officially yet called, Trump is on his way to what we called several weeks ago, something close to a 312 – 226 Electoral College vote victory.

  He’s swept all seven swing states. He made New Hampshire and Virginia competitive, expanding his electoral map and forcing Democrats to spend resources in the race’s waning days.

  Best of all, he won a resounding popular vote victory, the final numbers of which will come in the days to come.

  

  What did we learn from Trump’s victory in 2024? It played out much as it did in 2016 with the collapse of the vaunted Democrat “Blue Wall” of Rust Belt states. That it was Harris that had a ceiling below 50%, not Trump. With the exception of just one state, Michigan, where Trump won 49.8% of the vote, Trump won more than 50% of the vote in the six remaining crucial swing states.

  Down ballot, Republicans made sizable gains in the Senate and it’s now looking likely that there will be no Speaker of the House Hakeem Jeffries in place to derail the Trump 47 legislative agenda. Not having to work to be reelected, Trump is, in essence, a lame-duck president when he takes the oath of office on January 20, 2025. On Day One, the Trump Administration can start cleaning house of the Deep State operatives who infest every level of the federal bureaucracy, especially top appointees and executives. And the deportation of criminal aliens will start immediately with the support of both houses of Congress.

  That starts with the Department of Justice (DOJ), where on Wednesday it pulled off an unconstitutionally-appointed attack dog, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, from the two federal cases in DC and Florida. The Fani Willis election interference case in Georgia is on life support and faces the prospect of also being shut down by Georgia law. Only in the Alvin Bragg/Judge Marchon Stormy Daniels case in New York does Trump face the prospect of incarceration. But it’s likely until after his term ends, and this will cause far leftists’ heads to explode. Marchon is likely, if he has the good sense, to suspend the sentence while Trump’s attorneys wind the case through the appeals process.

  As we said months ago, the real cost of this election for Democrats will be that Trump will get to appoint at least two more Supreme Court justices to replace Clarence Thomas and Samual Alito (who have stayed on the court awaiting a Republican victory in 2025) from a crop of young Conservative jurists in their 40s, so Trump’s impact will last long after both Trump and both of us will be six-feet under.

  He might even get to pick Justice Sotomayor’s replacement, giving the SCOTUS a 7 – 2 Conservative majority. More than the false flag of Project 2025, this is what Democrats now face on crucial social issues like abortion (which turned out to not be enough to motivate Republican women to vote against Trump, Senate Republicans, and the incoming Republican/Conservative agenda). With a few Senate races still to be decided, Republicans will control the Senate on their way to a 53 – 47 or 54 – 46 majority. This means that squishy Republican RINOs like Susan Collins from Maine and Lisa Murkowski from Alaska will be unable to derail the Trump Train on legislative issues and court appointments.

  This is the nightmare scenario for Democrats that absolutely no one is talking about.

  Sometimes it’s hard to accept trends that we really want because, as Conservatives, we’re used to disappointment. This election is a good example; we wanted Trump but were ready to accept Harris due to all of the money and power behind her. Yet, the people stepped up and made the right choice. It restored faith in the American electorate.

  Thus far, we have not seen the massive cheat that took place in 2020 because the race was never close enough for the cheat to be plausible. Look at this chart comparing the popular vote over the past four presidential cycles:

  

  Source: ZeroHedge

  It starts with the 18 million “additional” votes in 2020. Harris did not benefit from the cheat machine this year because:

  • No pandemic lockdown

  • Lots of people watching for ballot fraud

  • The race was not even close, thus the cheating would have been too obvious

  • Kamala Harris…REALLY?

  Look at the trajectory going back when Biden was “elected” in 2020. The Dems figured they could cheat their way into power forever, no matter how incompetent or unqualified the candidate. Putting Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket was their way of sticking a thumb into the eye of America, stating, “We are in control and can do whatever we want, and there is nothing you can do about it.” What effing hubris.

  The election cycle’s biggest loser beyond Harris and her buffoonish running mate Tim Walz was Barack Obama and the cadre of so-called celebrities with their nonstop condescension toward America. Obama stands out, continuously expressing his “disappointment” at us. This cipher with a chip on his shoulder has always been the least accomplished person walking into any room yet portrays himself as some sort of statesman with no record of doing anything except feathering his own nest. Even many middle-of-the-road Democrats are tired of this guy and his outsized ego.

  Harris is toast; now that she’s lost and conceded, she will be memory-holed by the media and cast out to sea, never to be let anywhere near a position of power—well, maybe in California, the only place where she has any chance whatsoever at being elected to anything. But nationally, a huge embarrassment for Democrats who thought they could nominate a ham sandwich and get away with it.

  Democrats are now at a crossroads. They have no leadership that has any credibility due to the laughably ridiculous Harris-Walz campaign. We could write a scathing post-mortem on this but why even bother? This campaign was a joke—a fraud put upon the public by the Democrats who believed they were going to be in power forever and thought they could put a couple of stupid, malleable candidates with mental issues in front of the public and sell them as viable leaders of our country. This is worse than Chauncy Gardner in “Being There.” Chauncy could at least articulate his thoughts, as he fooled everyone into thinking he was some brilliant political and cultural philosopher. These two were a monumental train wreck, particularly when placed next to the Trump/Vance ticket.

  The Democrats are in a disastrous position that might not even be fixable for a generation or two. There is no back bench of viable young lefties, only socialists/communists with Big Government positions that can only be implemented in deep blue states (CA, NY, IL, VA, MI) and have no national appeal. And these blue states have a population that is growing tired of the conditions with which they have been living for decades and are now empowered by Trump to effect change.

  We strongly sense a cultural shift that is going in our favor. The abject bullshit that we as a nation have been force-fed over the past twenty years is coming to a reckoning that could only take place here in the U.S.

  With Trump’s likely SCOTUS appointments and the house cleaning that is likely to take place, it will be glorious to envision. Democrats in the House of Representatives like the reprehensible Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and his bunch will challenge the election results because they have nothing to lose in the effort. They must play to their far-left base to keep them placated so they can retain power in some reduced way. But this will turn out to be theater in the end…and Raskin will be relegated even more to the position of radical weirdo screaming from the back bench, which, we’re sure, he’s okay with.

  This is a second Reagan “Morning in America” moment, and it’s grand. It’s time to breathe a sigh of relief that we were correct in our prognostication for the 2024 election result.

  The four-year-long Biden-Harris national nightmare is now over. Trump’s decisive win will be the beginning of a decades-long Golden Age of freedom, prosperity, economic growth, and a smaller, more accountable government that actually works for its citizens.

  God bless Donald Trump and his band of happy warriors, ready for the battle ahead!

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 20:55

• Judge Sets Monday Deadline For Giuliani To Hand Over Assets
  Judge Sets Monday Deadline For Giuliani To Hand Over Assets

  Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has until Monday, Nov. 11 to transfer some of his assets from his Palm Beach property to the law firm representing plaintiffs in the defamation suit against him.

  

  Giuliani was convicted of defamation after two Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, a mother and daughter, sued him after he claimed that they had illegally tampered with voting devices during the 2020 presidential election. He was hit with a nearly $150 million judgement.

  Last month, Judge Lewis Liman ordered Giuliani to hand over his Manhattan apartment and other valuables to the plaintiffs. His lawyer, Kenneth Caruso, has vowed to fight the judgement and have it overturned, and challenged aspects of the transfer order on technical legal grounds.

  During a Nov. 7 hearing, Caruso called it “vindictive” for the prosecution to force Giuliani to give up a watch that once belonged to the former mayor’s grandfather – prompting a rebuke from Liman, who told Caruso that New York law makes no distinction between items of sentimental value and items lacking any such value.

  As the Epoch Times notes further, the judge stated that he had an order from a Washington court, registered in his court, that mandated the transfer of assets to satisfy the defamation judgment, and that would guide his rulings.

  Nathan, the Willkie Farr & Gallagher attorney, said the defense hasn’t been transparent or cooperative.

  Nathan said he and his colleagues had only recently learned of the establishment of a limited liability company, Standard USA LLC, for which records indicate Giuliani held 88 percent ownership and associates of the former mayor held minority positions.

  Logistics

  During the hearing, the lawyers engaged in contentious exchanges with the judge about the location and value of certain of Giuliani’s assets. These included real estate, cars, jewelry, watches, and money.

  At one point, the judge grew irritated with what he saw as vague and evasive answers on the part of the defense.

  “The notion that your client doesn’t have any notion of where his assets are is farcical,” Liman told Caruso.

  Giuliani spoke briefly on his own behalf and criticized what he saw as overly aggressive questioning directed at people close to him about his assets.

  “Some of the questions are inappropriate, because of the way people have been treated,” Giuliani said.

  The judge maintained that the former mayor had not offered a legally material pretext for evading a question about his assets.

  “Nobody is going to exercise self-help. You’re going to answer that question fully and truthfully. Do you understand that?” the judge said, before overruling the former mayor’s objection.

  Caruso acknowledged that items of value, among them jewelry and watches, including the watch that once belonged to Giuliani’s grandfather, are currently in Palm Beach, Florida, and nothing is impeding their transfer.

   

  But other miscellaneous items of value are now in a storage facility in Ronkonkoma, New York. Caruso said his client is currently unable to get items out of that Long Island storage facility.

   

  Neither Willkie Farr & Gallagher nor Giuliani’s legal team responded by publication time to a request for comment.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 20:30

• What A Second Trump Administration Means For Energy And Natural Resources
  What A Second Trump Administration Means For Energy And Natural Resources

  By Simon Flowers, Chairman of Wood Mackenzie and author of The Edge

  The US has a President-elect with power to wield. A likely Republican trifecta would strengthen President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration across domestic and global affairs. Along with the White House, the GOP will have control of the Senate and (probably) the House of Representatives.

  President-elect Trump himself has declared he has a “mandate”, although he will be subject to the checks and balances inherent in the US political system. The Supreme Court, with six of its nine justices appointed by a Republican president, is also likely to be broadly supportive of his policy agenda.

  A Trump administration means radical changes for tariffs on imports, climate policy and international affairs. For the energy and natural resources sectors, the implications are many. A pathway nearer to our new delayed transition scenario is now more likely. Here are our team’s initial thoughts.

  Power and renewables and decarbonisation:

  The US will backtrack on net zero. Bipartisan support for measures in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) means that a full repeal is unlikely, but the expiration of tax cuts passed in President Trump’s first term will force Congress to re-examine incentives for low-carbon energy.

  Near-term growth expectations for wind, solar, battery storage and EVs rely on IRA incentives, including 10-plus years of eligibility for production and investment tax credits. Even if Congress doesn’t end those credits, various elements of the IRA – including tax credit timelines, financing mechanisms or bonus adders – are likely to be removed or modified.

  If those tax credits are phased out, tariffs put on equipment imports and restrictions on permitting, then we estimate renewable deployments could be reduced by a third. The Biden administration’s emissions standards for thermal power plants will be scrapped, although the rules are likely to be the subject of further legal battles.

  Prospects for new data centres and factories seeking an electricity supply look better under a Republican administration and Congress, especially if corporate buyers relent on meeting emission reduction goals. We have identified over 51 GW of new data centre announcements since 2023, and manufacturing is set to add at least 15 GW of new demand.

  Broad permitting reform to expedite infrastructure development has the best chance in decades. Construction of new gas pipelines, electricity transmission and power plants should be able to respond faster to market load growth.

  Support for domestic renewable energy manufacturing is one part of the IRA policy framework that is likely to be relatively resilient. And there’s potential upside for US manufacturers from increased protectionist measures. But if renewables deployment is lower, then that will mean a smaller market for US manufacturers. Plus, tariffs will raise the cost of low-carbon technologies for US consumers, dampening penetration rates.

  For vehicles, the new administration is expected to revise tailpipe emission standards from 2027, easing the pressures that were pushing manufacturers towards EVs.

  Reductions in support for low-emissions technologies will have implications for metals demand. But reforms of project approvals and a clear definition of ‘critical minerals’ could offer supply upside for large US copper and lithium project pipelines.

  

  Oil market:

  Tariffs could slow US and global economic growth, reducing oil demand by as much as 0.5 million b/d in 2025 – one-third of Wood Mackenzie’s current projection for next year’s global oil demand growth. This has the potential to soften oil prices by US$5 to US$7/bbl from current levels, assuming no other risks such as an escalation in Israel-Iran hostilities. Weaker oil demand growth represents a downside risk to the refining industry, but tariff protection should result in US refiners outperforming.

  The Trump administration faces a complex and dangerous conflict in the Middle East with the potential to escalate into a full-on regional war. Iran has promised to respond to Israel’s last round of strikes, which could, in turn, provoke Israel to attack Iran’s nuclear installations and oil infrastructure. That scenario could push oil prices sharply higher until spare productive capacity – currently about 6 million b/d – brings more barrels into the market.

  Liquefied natural gas:

  Of all the energy and natural resources sectors, the US LNG industry will arguably benefit the most from the election outcome. A Trump victory provides more clarity on the industry’s direction, potentially paving the way for much-needed investments to help maintain more affordable global LNG prices post-2030. But the route ahead won’t be all smooth sailing.

  President-elect Trump has promised that, on his first day in office, he would end the Biden administration’s pause on new LNG export permits for sales to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the US. Inevitably, it will take time for the Department of Energy (DOE) to re-staff and satisfy requisite legal and environmental reviews, despite Republicans’ likely control of both legislative branches. New permits might only be issued after the spring, enabling projects to FID in the second half of the year.

  But some risks remain. The Trump administration will have limited influence on the lawsuit that threatens to vacate FERC approval for the Rio Grande and Texas LNG projects. And while President-elect Trump might well shelve the soon-to-be-published DOE study on the environmental impact of the US LNG industry, environmentalist groups will likely step up legal efforts to stop projects, possibly leveraging the study itself. Trump’s economic manifesto also poses a risk. Proposed import tariffs could make US LNG exports a target for retaliation while the anticipated increase in domestic gas prices could still prompt second thoughts on how much additional LNG should be exported.

  US upstream oil and gas:

  A second Trump administration emboldens support for expanding domestic oil and gas production, but it’s unlikely to spur additional growth anytime soon.

  Familiar Republican rhetoric such as “drill, baby, drill” resurfaced during the election campaign, and the president-elect even discussed opening new supply geographies previously inaccessible. However, for the large public E&Ps that control half of the US Lower 48’s rigs and develop much of the best leasehold, it’s the return of capital frameworks that will dictate investment. And increased tariffs threaten to expose the industry to cost inflation.

  There will be some positives. Policy adjustments to streamline well permitting could encourage more niche onshore drilling on federal land. A new Republican administration may also attempt to overturn a lower court’s ruling in order to preserve legacy Gulf of Mexico permitting laws that are currently under review.

  For private US Lower 48 producers, in particular, conditions to raise fresh capital could improve because investors perceive less terminal value risk under an oil- and gas-oriented Washington. And if corporate M&A becomes more streamlined, a build cycle of new private E&Ps could support some activity growth in the coming years.

  The president-elect has been relatively outspoken about emissions regulations and we expect some rollback of the EPA’s new oil and gas framework. However, many E&Ps have already undertaken considerable self-regulation, as they did with their drilling activity, to lower their scope 1 and 2 emissions.

  US economy:

  President-elect Trump has pledged to hike tariffs on imports to at least 10% globally, with a more penal 60% rate for Chinese imports. The tariffs could be enacted early in 2025 by executive order, supplanting existing trade agreements.

  In the short term, increases in domestic production to substitute for imports will be minimal. Shifting trade patterns, especially to reduce imports from China, will be material. But with tariffs rising for all trading partners, import costs will increase.

  We estimate raising tariffs could cost an additional US$450 billion in import duties in 2025, a burden that US businesses and households would carry. And this is before any global retaliation.

  While President-elect Trump is promising corporate tax cuts to compensate, gambling on aggressive protectionism is unlikely to pay off. We expect higher inflation, higher interest rates and higher debt.

  Geopolitics:

  US-China competition is set to remain the defining strategic relationship of the 21st century, as President-elect Trump’s tariff plans make very clear. His trade strategy is aimed not just at rebuilding US manufacturing industry, but also at strengthening US military capabilities and influence relative to other countries, especially China.

  He will withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on climate and possibly the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, symbolic of his rejection of international efforts to limit global warming. The result is likely to be a more fragmented picture of global climate policy, with different countries and regions pursuing varying strategies to reduce emissions, rather than attempting to forge a global consensus on action. The US voice at the upcoming COP29 discussions will carry much less weight.

  On the campaign trail, Trump had pledged to bring peace to Ukraine and the Middle East. He can be expected to attempt to defuse international tensions by putting pressure on Ukraine to agree a peace settlement with Russia and will also try to broker agreements in the Middle East.

  However, he remains a staunch supporter of Israel and will be expected to ramp up pressure on Iran with tougher enforcement of sanctions.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 20:05

• Biden Lifts Ban On US Defense Firms In Ukraine Ahead Of Trump Entering Oval
  Biden Lifts Ban On US Defense Firms In Ukraine Ahead Of Trump Entering Oval

  The lame-duck Biden administration has lifted a de facto ban on American military contractors deploying to Ukraine. The change had reportedly been formally approved a month before the election, but is officially taking effect now.

  The move is being framed as necessary in order to maintain sophisticated equipment and defense technology provided to Ukraine by Western allies. “In order to help Ukraine repair and maintain military equipment provided by the US and its allies, DoD (Department of Defense) is soliciting bids for a small number of contractors who will help Ukraine maintain the assistance we’ve already provided,” a defense official was quoted in CNN as saying.

  

  “These contractors will be located far from the front lines and they will not be fighting Russian forces. They will help Ukrainian Armed Forces rapidly repair and maintain US provided equipment as needed so it can be quickly returned to the front lines,” the official added.

  And yet this clearly marks another huge step toward opening the floodgates for US private military firms. Already, there’s a significant presence of American foreign fighters in Ukraine, and this has already included foreign contractors on the ground.

  However, American companies have never been able to operate inside Ukraine while servicing DOD contracts. US companies have so far been there under Ukrainian government contracts.

  The Pentagon has further explained this as necessary in order to urgently work on systems like F-16s and Patriots missile batteries, which “require specific technical expertise to maintain.”

  “It is worth noting that there already are a wide array of American companies who have personnel in Ukraine fulfilling contracts for the Ukrainian government, so this will not lead to a substantial increase of employees of US companies working on the ground in Ukraine,” a defense official was quoted separately in Stripes as saying.

  In a sense this just cuts out the Ukrainian ‘middleman’ – given that Washington has sunk billions of dollars into Kiev’s coffers. From there, Ukraine used the American funds to then go and hire American companies.

  So to a large degree billions in US taxpayer’s funds have been flowing the whole time from main street into the pockets of the major defense firms… who were already operating in Ukraine. Just now it will be a more direct process – the funds will get to the US defense companies faster.

  This is a blatant attempt by the Biden-Harris administration to escalate tensions with Russian prior to President Trump taking office and to box him in on Ukraine policy. https://t.co/XEjuqlEdWJ

  — Dan Caldwell 🇺🇸 (@dandcaldwell) November 8, 2024

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

  President-Elect Trump has meanwhile promised to end the war between Ukraine and Russia “within 24 hours” if being sworn into office. As for the lifting of the ban on US defense contractors, it’s unclear whether he’ll keep that policy in place. Very likely he won’t do anything to reverse it.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 19:40

• The System Worked
  The System Worked

  Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

  These have been a dark few years in which many suppositions about the U.S. system of government have come into question. You can see it in the polls showing the loss of trust. It has pertained to everything from medicine to media to tech to academia and of course government.

  

  In addition, the sources we once associated with expertise have pushed agendas that have contradicted all experience and hence have been rejected by vast numbers.

  The United States is hardly alone in this. Most countries of the world today are dealing with a wrenching upheaval in politics and social order generally. Stability has turned to instability, certainty to uncertainty, and clarity to the fog of war. The resulting thicket seemed to offer no way out.

  As an inevitable part of this, many people have questioned whether the democratic system of choosing leaders works properly anymore. Protests following election returns are common worldwide, not necessarily because people have stopped believing in the ideal but because they doubt that the count is accurate and the ballots are legitimate. Technology has not helped this problem but rather introduced more doubt.

  This problem has massively afflicted the United States in recent years. There have been doubts at every point, not helped by a well-documented loosening of voting rules during the pandemic response (the CDC encouraged mail-in voting) and then after during a refugee wave that has disrupted many communities around the country. This is a serious problem: when people have doubts about such a core functioning of the system, there is a feeling of being caged in a machine only the elites control.

  This is a major reason for the shock concerning election results. It’s not just that the Republicans swept the presidency and one if not both houses of Congress but also the popular vote, which no one really believed possible. The betting markets gave such an outcome very low odds.

  Many people this year trudged the polls with grave doubts about the relevance of what they were doing. Is the system so broken that the will of the people no longer matters as compared with the power of the elites?

  This was a real shock, from people from all sides. It was that the people’s voice rose above all the money, manipulation, claims of fraud, uncertainties over voter ID, technology, and so much more. For years now, people have habitually found fault with nearly everything. The prediction was that the conclusion of the vote in the presidency would take days, weeks, or even months. Such a prospect is enormously depressing for a nation that imagines itself to be a great one.

  But sure enough, the results came in on a perfect schedule, as the polls closed, culminating in a result for a candidate that had for years now faced down attacks from every angle. It was the least expected conclusion to the most contentious election of our lives or perhaps in a century or more.

  It was a clean victory for Donald J. Trump, including the popular vote. Not only that: it was a credible result. That’s the key.

  The result accomplished much. It wiped out several years of partisan agitation against the system of the Electoral College as established in the U.S. Constitution. The purpose of this institution is to grant a more even representation of the states as entities over the popular will. This traces to the federalist system established by the Founders, not a unity government from the center but a federation of states that have come together for their common betterment. Wiping that structure out would have been transformative.

  But with a victory of the popular vote, that is no longer an issue. It would not have changed the result. This feature, truly blessed, of the outcome also quelled much-predicted street violence. Even the concession speech by Kamala Harris was conciliatory, and contained not even one hint of funny business or rigging. It was a clear and challenged expression of popular will to which everyone on all sides had to accede.

  As she said, this does not mean giving up principles or disappearing. It means working harder in the future for causes in which one believes to make them ascend in the public mind, waiting to be embodied in a candidate who can carry those concerns to the halls of power.

  In other words, we have been granted, and mercifully, a peaceful transition of power. Herein lies the genius of the democratic form. It was never created or defended because it produces perfection. It is messy and difficult. Its purpose as forged hundreds of years ago, even tracing to ancient times, is to provide a better solution to public discontent than war and revolution. To prevent violence, bloodshed, and social dissolution is the whole point.

  And that is precisely what has happened. We had in contest here two dramatically different visions of the role of government. Instead of civil war, we had ballot boxes and peace.

  If you voted this time, you know this interesting feeling of being handed a ballot and given a private space to make your selection. It confers on the individual a sense of responsibility and influence, not ultimate power of course but something else: a right of participation in the civic commonwealth. The remarkable thing about 2024 is the voters were able to see how their participation makes a crucial difference.

  This experience alone has done more to restore American patriotism than anything to occur in many years. Americans could feel pride in the wisdom of the Founders. Crucially, the results echoed around the world, encouraging millions and billions to see how it is possible to go against the grain of the establishment, the media, the academic elites, and the whole system of intimidation and control, and do so in a way that is consistent with civility and public order.

  Once again, America provided a beautiful lesson to the world in how it is done. It’s been many years since we could feel pride in that. Many people around the world, watching the lockdowns unfold and the political conflicts grow ever more intense, had begun to wonder if we still had it, if this country was still capable of leading by example. Well, we did. And the example will resound all over the world, encouraging “populist” movements in all countries. We did it not through force of arms or financial pressure but rather by being an example of light in the darkness.

  We should not underestimate the power of this. Many people the world over are looking to the United States to protect free speech, guarantee election integrity, uphold the ideal of democracy, and celebrate the possibility of living together under a system of transparent integrity.

  There is a long way to go with much-needed and far-reaching reform, and everyone must hope that the new administration is willing to do what is necessary. That said, Election Day was a wonderful start, an example to the world that freedom still works and is still valued here and should be everywhere.

  Do you feel a sudden sense of pride in what we have here, despite all the flaws and missteps? I certainly do. It’s been a long time coming but it seems finally to be here. For that we should all be deeply grateful.

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

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 19:15

• Maximum Pressure 2.0: Trump Planning To 'Drastically Throttle' Iran's Oil Sales
  Maximum Pressure 2.0: Trump Planning To 'Drastically Throttle' Iran's Oil Sales

  A strong indicator of what a second Trump presidency’s approach to the Middle East will be has been seen in the appointment of Brian Hook, who was special envoy for Iran in the first Trump administration. Hook is expected to receive a high level national security post this time around, and he previously led the ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against the Islamic Republic.

  It’s being widely reported that ‘maximum pressure’ against Tehran is back on, for example in the Wall Street Journal on Friday: “President-elect Donald Trump plans to drastically increase sanctions on Iran and throttle its oil sales as part of an aggressive strategy to undercut Tehran’s support of violent Mideast proxies and its nuclear program, according to people briefed on his early plans.”

  “I think you are going to see the sanctions go back on, you are going to see much more, both diplomatically and financially, they are trying to isolate Iran,” a former White House official was quoted in the report as saying. “I think the perception is that Iran is definitely in a position of weakness right now, and now is an opportunity to exploit that weakness.”

  

  Also likely to inform Trump’s policy are the reports claiming that agents of Iran are trying to assassinate him. While there have been propaganda videos coming out of Tehran suggesting such, it remains that there’s no publicly disclosed proof or smoking gun evidence of any active plotting in place. However, top officials of President Biden’s intelligence community say that there is evidence, and earlier this fall briefed Trump and his team.

  Mick Mulroy, a top defense official within the first Trump administration observed that “People tend to take that stuff personally.” He added that “If he’s going to be hawkish on any particular country, designated major adversaries, it’s Iran.”

  As for Brian Hook, he recently told CNN that measures will be taken to further “isolate Iran diplomatically and weaken them economically” to prevent it from supporting regional proxies such as Hezbollah, Hamas, or the Houthis.

  “It’s going to be maximum pressure 2.0,” Robert McNally, a former US energy official, is also predicting. This will likely involve seeking to disrupt sales to China, which remains Iran’s largest oil purchaser, through bans on Chinese ports receiving the shipments. But enforcing this will present another problem.

  In prior years the US has been known to attempt direct naval intercepts of tankers carrying Iranian oil en route to places like sanctioned-starved Syria. And the reality is that even during the last four years of Biden, Tehran has remained highly isolated internationally, and with industries like aviation and auto devastated by sanctions already long in place.

  Of course, currently there is also the backdrop of potential war between Iran and Israel looming, though for now both sides have appeared to back off following each’s tit-for-tat recent strikes. Trump is expected to take the US in an even more hawkish direction concerning defense and aid given to America’s ‘number one Mideast partner’. Part of this is also likely to include cementing Saudi Arabia’s entry into the Abraham Accords, which has clearly and indefinitely been put on hold by the Gaza war.

  BREAKING

  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges Friday in a thwarted Iranian plot to kill President-elect Donald Trump before this week’s presidential election.

  A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan alleges that an unnamed…

  — Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) November 8, 2024

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

  But there’s still a potential Catch-22 which is sure to complicate a max pressure 2.0 campaign. A new op-ed in Foreign Policy lays it out as follows:

  There are still comprehensive sanctions on Iran, but the Biden administration has tended to look the other way at Iran’s oil sales. That had everything to do with the political calculations of a president who was stung early on in his administration by high energy prices. The collective pain of Americans at the gas pump contributed to Biden’s persistently low approval rating.

  That dilemma will not go away as Trump’s team enters the White House and seeks to ratchet Washington’s already hawkish anti-Iran policy:

  It remains an open question if Trump would risk the same through tougher sanctions enforcement. It depends on how he calculates his parochial interests: Does he want to be the guy who got “the better deal”—consistent with his self-image as master dealmaker—or does he want to ensure that Americans enjoy cheap oil and gas? Does he think he can do both? Only President-elect Trump could know the answers to those questions—and he may not either.

  The same author and national security pundit, Steven Cook has highlighted that even during his first term where Iran has heavily targeted, and IRGC Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani was taken out by a US drone, Trump still showed a high degree of pragmatism in backing off at certain key points.

  “No interest in regime change…”

  Brian Hook, Trump’s Iran envoy and architect of Abraham Accords, on Trump’s outlook on Tehran:

  “No interest in regime change. The future of Iran will be decided by the Iranian people.”

  “He will isolate Iran diplomatically and weaken them economically.”
  pic.twitter.com/GlvBrTrsLR

  — Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) November 7, 2024

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  Cook writes that “Trump was otherwise quite dovish on Iran. At moments when it would have been legitimate for Trump to use military force—after the IRGC seized oil tankers, mined the Persian Gulf, shot down an American drone operating in international airspace, and bombed Saudi oil facilities—the president chose (with bipartisan support) not to respond.”

  There’s also the question of what Israel’s actions will be, given it will likely feel even more of a free reign to respond how it wants to Iran, now with a stauncher supporter in the White House – and with hawks like Hook at the helm of Mideast policy.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 18:50

• Harvard Prof Says People Are Better Off Than They Think, Blames Media For Harris Loss
  Harvard Prof Says People Are Better Off Than They Think, Blames Media For Harris Loss

  Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

  Jason Furman, a Harvard professor and Chair of Obama’s CEA lectures people on how well off they are…

  

  You might be thinking this is another Mish satirical fiction post, but it’s not. Here are some ideas to ponder by Jason Furman.

  It’s the Media’s Fault

  • “The macroeconomy is strong–high growth, low unemployment, falling inflation–the best of any advanced economy. But there was a reluctance to present/understand how families were still not out of the deep inflation hole. And too much masked by cherrypicking/misleading stats.”

  • “Selective amplification has been rife. How many times did you see a chart of US GDP exceeding other G7 economies?”

  • “Cherrypicking also rife.”

  • “Most wage data shows that wages have, indeed, risen more than prices. BUT, most wage series show that it was well below trend but the few that showed above trend amplified much more often to the exclusion of showing other measures.”

  • “Or the endless repeating of that graph w/ the increase in spending on manufacturing structures (often shown nominal, ignoring the big price increase) as a sign of a manuf resurgence when other manuf investment was down, manuf employment down & prodn flat.” [Mish Note – I never once saw that chart and if I didn’t, who did?]

  • “Yes people suffer from money illusion (thinking they deserve their raises but price increases happen to them).”

  • “Yes, many problems were amplified by misleading media and partisanship.”

  • “I don’t pretend to know what message politicians should use. Maybe Harris should have bragged more about how great everything was by using selective data. Maybe she should have been more negative. I really don’t know.”

  • [Mish comment: Gee, I wonder if lying about the economy on top of lawfare, calling Trump a fascist, and pretending to support fracking while saying she could not think of anything she would have done differently than Biden, would have helped. Then again perhaps telling people they were better off than the average person in Germany may have worked. I really don’t know.]

  • “A lot of horrendous right-wing misinformation out there.” [Mish comment, note the irony of that statement vs the previous two bullet points.]

  Reflections on Academic Wonderland

  Academic clowns sit in their ivory towers telling people how good they should feel. On top of that they blame the media.

  If I posted a chart of GDP of the US vs Europe, who the heck would have seen it other than those in academic wonderland, stock market investors, and a select few of us on Twitter?

  More to the point, the idea is idiotic. The average person does not give a damn if US GDP is better than Europe. Only those in wonderland would concoct such a construct.

  And seriously, has anyone here seen the “endless repeating” of the chart of manufacturing that Furman refers to?

  Furman proves how much out of touch academia is with the lives of ordinary people.

  Here’s Your Money Illusion

  

  Hello Jim Bianco, please give Jason Furman a call.

  Blaming the Media for Amplification

  Blaming the media is an amazing hoot of its own. Hell yes, everything was amplified, about 15-1 against Trump.

  The media repeated every charge of racism, lawfare (without calling it lawfare), and finally, things accelerated so much we had Obama and Biden calling Trump a Nazi and a fascist.

  Wage Revisions

  

  Real hourly compensation fell 4.2 percent in 2022. And it fell a revised 0.2 percent in 2023.

  Damn that BLS Productivity Report.

  That report was out yesterday. So, Furman believed things were better in 2023 than they were. But people didn’t. It’s “money illusion” says Furman.

  Professor, can we discuss the real world instead of your illusion?

  The Brookings Institute Wonders Why Consumer Sentiment is So Bad

  The Brookings Institute is right there with Furman. It called low consumer sentiment a paradox.

  I gave a helping hand to the Brookings Institute.

  Dear Brookings, Here’s Your Paradox

  • The Immigrant Crime Spree is Real, Not Imaginary

  • Negative 818,000 job revisions

  • Job openings crash

  • Full Time Employment: -1,000,600 from a year ago

  • Total employment: only +216,000 from a year ago

  • Excluding government, year-over-year employment is negative for the last 9 consecutive months

  • Non-agricultural employment excluding government peaked in August of 2023 at 138.026 million and is now 137.240 million, down 786,000 since the peak.

  • The unemployment rate is up 0.7 percent from the low at a pace that strongly suggests recession.

  • Home prices are up 49 percent in less than five years to new record highs.

  • A $150,000 house in 1988 now costs $707,500.

  • The mortgage rate is back above 7 percent.

  • The share of first-time buyers of existing homes is at a record low.

  • Even if you have a home, what about flood insurance, fire insurance, and car insurance.

  • The Fed’s Beige Book looks very recessionary

  • The immigrant crime spree is real. The FBI lied about the crime rate dropping.

  • Evictions are at record highs in many states and might be everywhere were it not for eviction moratoriums.

  • Tens of millions of people want to buy a home but can’t afford one and a different set of tens of millions of people are trapped in their homes but won’t because of mortgage rates.

  • A Bank of America survey shows over 40 percent of the nation is living paycheck to paycheck.

  Please consider The Brookings Institute Wonders Why Consumer Sentiment is So Bad, I Can Help

  In my post, I offer 10 charts and many links that I challenge Furman and The Brookings Institute to refute.

  Please click on the above link, and give it a crack. Tell me and my readers why GDP and warm fluffy thoughts would have mattered more than my allegedly cherrypicked data.

  Citing GDP, the stock market, CEO confidence, and even increased air travel (things the average Joe does not give a damn about), the Brookings Institute could not figure out why sentiment is in the gutter.

  I am pleased to report Jason Furman has figured this out.

  It’s the Media!

  In academic wonderland, if we do not tell people they are losing money to inflation, then they wouldn’t know.

  And then they would have voted for Harris. And that’s why she lost.

  Silly Me

  I thought that 40% of the nation living paycheck-to-paycheck mattered. I thought negative year-over-year employment for the last nine months, except for government, mattered.

  I thought that millions of people trapped in their homes unable to move, somehow mattered. And I thought millions of other people unable to buy a home (but let’s not call that inflation) mattered.

  For more of my thoughts, please see Why Trump Won the Election in One Clear Picture

  Please check it out and tell me where I went wrong.

  Bottom line, Furman nailed it.

  Harris lost because of the media. If only we would have told people they were better off than they were, people would have believed it.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 18:25

• Hezbollah Targeted Israel's Trump Heights The Day After Election
  Hezbollah Targeted Israel's Trump Heights The Day After Election

  This week Hezbollah rockets targeted Israel’s Trump Heights settlement, a remote community in the central Golan Heights – which was taken from Syria after the Six Day War of 1967.

  Iranian state media as well as a report in Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen indicated that Hezbollah specifically targeted Trump Height the day after he won the Tuesday US presidential election.

  

  “Sirens sounded in Trump Heights as Hezbollah rocket attack targeted the Golan Heights on Wednesday,” an Israeli regional sources also said. “The attack came shortly after the election results were announced, indicating that Trump was the victor.”

  The tiny Jewish settlement was named after Trump in 2019, during his first term, in acknowledgement of his declaring that the US recognizes Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

  It was an ultra-controversial move at the time, given most of the rest of the world considers it “Israeli-occupied territory” belonging to Syria.

  At the time of the attack sirens blared not just in Trump Heights, but across other locations of northern and central Israel.

  But the “Trump Heights” designation has always been more about a PR move for the existing community to improve and expand, as the Associated Press explains:

  But a large-scale influx of new residents never materialized after that 2019 ceremony, and just a couple dozen families live in Trump Heights, or “Ramat Trump” in Hebrew. Job opportunities are limited, and Israel’s more than yearlong war against Hezbollah militants in nearby Lebanon has added to the sense of isolation.

  Trump’s election has inspired hope in the community that it will attract more members and also more funding for security improvements.

  Hezbollah is salty after Trumps win.

  Hezbollah launched rockets targeting Ramat Trump, the town named after Trump in recognition of his acknowledgment of the Golan Heights as part of Israel. pic.twitter.com/ecp6ISgAmx

  — Open Source Intel (@Osint613) November 6, 2024

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  One resident observed that “President Trump’s return to the White House definitely puts the town in the headlines.”

  It had also made big headlines when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went there for an unveiling ceremony in 2019. During that June 2019 ceremony, BBC noted that “Building work has yet to begin but a sign bearing Mr Trump’s name and US and Israeli flags was unveiled. However, it also noted that “Critics called the move a publicity stunt with no legal authority.”

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 18:00

• Early Warning Signs Of A Total Economic And Social Collapse
  Early Warning Signs Of A Total Economic And Social Collapse

  Authored by J.G.Martinez via The Organic Prepper blog,

  A total economic and social collapse is a catastrophic event characterized by the widespread dysfunction of critical systems, including government, economy, infrastructure, and basic services. While such a scenario is extreme, recognizing early warning signs can be crucial.

  

  I have been monitoring the Cuba scenario.

  To me, that is the definition of a failed State holding to the remains of a collapsed country ruled by thugs terrified of a popular armed uprising.

  As our economy was destroyed by design, to control the population and crush the opposition among other goals, I believe I can describe the indications better than someone who never watched this happening.

  In my research, a few events arose, as expected. Nevertheless, there were a couple of not-so-evident things that I’m going to point out.

  By now, most of you reading this are very much aware of the loom and doom that destroyed the Venezuelan economy, and even these days, we feel panic every time the exchange rate with the USD changes.

  For this past month (Oct. 2024), it went up 13%.

  Enough to shake many people and make others begin thinking again about migrating.

  Meanwhile, we have a single-digit “growing”, and a 50% inflation…in USDs. (This year!)

  It is awesome to see how, despite oil production increasing at a snail’s pace, inflation seems to be looming again. It has been up almost 15% since 2022.

  Here are some key indicators:

  Economic Indicators

  • Hyperinflation: Uncontrolled inflation that rapidly erodes the value of currency. Shortly after the bus driver got into the Palace we started to see how our currency started this infamous process. This was so severe that it wiped off most of the wealth and living standards. We haven’t been able to recover it ever since 2015 when it started. This is so self-explanatory that there is not too much need for further discussion.

  • Commodity Shortages: Severe shortages of essential goods like food, water, and fuel. At the present moment, supermarkets are overflowing with all kinds of products. Of course, getting the money to buy them is the hard part. Most of them come from Brazil, for the sake of money laundering schemes related to gold, and the fees charged by the concession of the narcotics trafficking routes control to the “producers”. But can’t prove it though.

  • Mass Unemployment: it occurs when a significant portion of a nation’s workforce is unable to find suitable employment. Here, “suitable” refers to jobs that align with an individual’s existing skills and experience. Unemployment in large amounts, is often viewed as a symptom of a deeper malaise within a society. It can serve as a powerful indicator of a nation’s economic health and can signal the onset of more severe societal problems. Mass unemployment is a financial issue at its core. When a large number of people are out of work, it has a ripple effect throughout the economy. Consumer spending decreases as people have less disposable income. Businesses are forced to lay off more workers because of the decline in demand, in a downward spiral.

  • Recession/Depression: This can lead to a recession or even a depression, depending on the severity and duration of the unemployment. The effect of mass unemployment deteriorates the nation’s tax base. With fewer people working and paying taxes, governments have less revenue to fund essential services like education, healthcare, and infrastructure. This can lead to a decline in the quality of life for citizens and further erode the nation’s competitiveness. The social consequences of mass unemployment are equally profound. High unemployment rates are often associated with increased crime rates, societal unrest, and political instability.

  • Uptick in property crime: When people are searching for work without success, they may turn to desperate measures to support themselves and their families. I have seen this happening. This means an increase in property crime, drug use, and other serious antisocial behaviors. We have experienced first-hand how mass unemployment is eroding the social cohesion. It is not as if we had faith in the ruling gang to begin with, but re-engineering of our social fabric executed by Cuban agents made it much worse. This led to a breakdown of social trust and made it difficult for communities to come together to solve problems. Mass unemployment can have a significant impact on a nation’s political landscape, and Venezuela is (sadly) one of the most relevant examples in modern History. Discontent with the handling of the economy can lead to political instability and even regime change (as it is already happening, happily!). Populist politicians often exploit the economic anxieties of unemployed workers to gain power, promising easy solutions to complex problems.

  • Unsustainable Debt: A national debt that exceeds a country’s capacity to repay. An enormous external debt has exacerbated Venezuela’s economic crisis. This situation brings along a payload of negative consequences that have made our circumstances even worse. Let’s define this: debt is considered unsustainable when a country is incapable of paying back the interest or principal on its loans. This situation is known to generate a crisis involving both economic and societal aspects. The government is then forced to allocate a large portion of its resources to debt service, rather than investing in areas such as health, education, and infrastructure.

  Traditionally, our country has experienced a weakness in the public sector regarding these three areas mentioned above. The trend then goes downhill with time, as the real responsible for the crisis are those controlling all the aspects of the public financial system, including the monetary policy. There are no experts that want to be involved in that mess, by the way; most of the “official” public “servants” with middle rank and choice makers don’t have neither the skills nor the will to do something to improve the situation. Their only goal is to perform as financial operators to help them in the cover-ups. The 100% control of the price of the USD is what makes our Central Bank a joke.

  • Financial Market Collapse: The collapse of stock markets and a general loss of confidence in financial institutions. Mind you, in the most recent post-apo movie that sparkled our interest in one of the streaming sites, one of the main characters could read something was happening…in the charts of the stock exchanges of the world. I have read some good fiction, and it’s quite interesting to see how some of the characters are related to the financial world and can read the writings and make some predictions.

  Social Indicators

  • Increased Violence: crime, civil unrest, and social conflict are (obviously) among the most visible.

  As a side note, why wait for this to happen? Any sane prepper should know that leaving early to avoid a potentially harmful situation is the way to go. You don’t have a place to Bug Out? Can you Bug in safely for a while until things clear up? Can you Bug out at all? Include here the State-sponsored actions to “pacify” the country and you will see how advanced the collapse is. Another failed State that we should be looking at is Cuba. The collapse is total there. Over one million people left in 2023 only. 

  Add this book to your library to keep all the Organic Prepper articles on dangerous times in your library.

  • Mass Migration: A large-scale exodus of people seeking better living conditions. I consider this as the most painful indicator. Being part of these statistics, I can say I share encountered feelings regarding this. This is not only the most painful but the most visible. If things were livable, people wouldn’t flee away.

  • Family Breakdown: A rise in family disintegration and social issues like poverty, mental health issues like depression, and substance abuse. Another catastrophic effect of all the circumstances mentioned above.

  • Infrastructure Collapse: Failures in essential services such as electricity, water, and sanitation.

  • Erosion of Trust: A widespread loss of confidence in government, businesses, and other institutions. This should have disappeared in Venezuela like back in the early 60s. The influence of the red Caribbean gang dates from that era, indeed.

  Political Indicators

  • Political Instability: Weak governance, frequent regime changes, and internal conflict.

  • Corruption: Widespread corruption at all levels of government.

  • Human Rights Abuses: Restrictions on freedom of speech, political persecution, and state-sponsored violence.

  Environmental Indicators

  • Environmental Degradation: Severe pollution, deforestation, and biodiversity loss.

  • Resource Depletion: Scarcity of essential resources like water and energy.

  • Natural Disasters: Increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters.

  It’s crucial to note that these indicators often interact and can exacerbate one another.

  A total collapse is typically a gradual process, marked by a series of interconnected events. It won´t be like your typical Hollywood collapse, where the family is someday having dinner or hanging out in a mall and the next fighting for survival with a horde of…whatever your favorite monster is.

  While it may seem like a distant possibility, understanding the warning signs can help mitigate risks and prepare for potential challenges.

  This is not intended to be a political article; on the contrary.

  I found it amazing to learn that a war does not have to be necessarily declared; it can unfold without such formalities.

  If it’s like this, then I’m afraid we should be pretty much aware of the facts, and the actions of everyone involved in such plays; and pay much less attention to the biased mainstream media nonsense.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 17:40

• ​​​​​​​Mountain Miracle: One Of Maryland's Poorest Elementary Schools Outperforms Thanks To "Our Community"
  ​​​​​​​Mountain Miracle: One Of Maryland's Poorest Elementary Schools Outperforms Thanks To "Our Community"

  A remarkable education success story in Western Maryland plays out in the heart of Trump’s coal country—where “Trump Digs Coal” signs lined the roads during this past election cycle. It’s a heartwarming story of how community, family, traditionalism, and conservative values come together and foster the proper learning environment that allows children at one of Maryland’s poorest elementary schools to achieve massive education outperformance compared with hundreds of other schools in the state. 

  Investigative journalist Chris Papst of Fox45 News’ Project Baltimore visited Crellin Elementary School, Maryland’s westernmost school, just about a mile from West Virginia. It’s a Title 1 school, meaning it has a massive concentration of impoverished students. Of the more than 1,400 public schools in the entire state, 464 are considered Title 1.

  A public school w/ bee hives, an amphitheater built from coal, hemlock forest, apple orchard, greenhouse, vegetable garden, goats, sheep, chickens, wetlands & a trout stream.

  It’s Maryland’s only high-poverty 5-Star school.@FOXBaltimore @GCPSHappeningshttps://t.co/Fat6gYWOlM

  — Chris Papst (@chrispapst) November 7, 2024

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  Of those 464 schools, Crellin is the only one earning a five-star educational excellence rating from the Maryland State Department of Education. 

  

  Even though the children come from some of the poorest households in the state and possibly the nation, the educational miracle at Crellin is very simple: community. 

  

  “We took the walls down to the school and open it up to the community. So, the community is part of our school,” Principal Dana McCauley told Papst. 

  Papst’s report continues:

  Principal Dana McCauley knows her school, Crellin Elementary, in Garrett County is unique. She knows Crellin is Maryland’s westernmost school, just about a mile from West Virginia. She also knows it’s likely the only one in the state where elementary students walk chickens at recess.

  “The kids have a stake in the school?” Asked Project Baltimore’s Chris Papst.

  “Oh yes. Yeah. So, they’re responsible for there’s many chores that need done around here. Many chores,” explained McCauley.

  “The kids do chores?” Replied Papst.

  “They do chores. Yes,” replied McCauley. “There’s all the barn work that needs done. The stalls have to be cleaned, the animals need fed and watered every day. The eggs need collected.”

  So, how does this translate to educational success? McCauley says the students feel like the school is “their place” and “they’re invested in it”.

  …

  So, how did that happen? The story begins 23 years ago.

  McCauley has been leading Crellin Elementary since 2001. Not just as its principal, but also as a teacher. And it was in that role that, 23 years ago, she made a life-changing discovery.

  “I remember my first year here sitting in class watching some of the kids. And then going outside with them, going down to the stream and watching some of our squirrel-iest kids in the classroom thrive. I thought, there’s got to be something to this,” McCauley told Project Baltimore.

  Soon after, McCauley learned Crellin sits on the polluted land of an abandoned coal mine where acid mine draining has colored the rocks orange. At first, to McCulley, that seemed like a big problem. But it was within the rocks that she had an idea.

  “It’s good to not know what you don’t know. That makes sense? So, you’re not afraid of the obstacles because you’re not even aware of what they might be,” explained McCauley.

  On a whim, McCauley gathered community support and petitioned Garrett County, which awarded the school ownership of a six-acre site of the mine to clean up. That was the moment Crellin’s unique story began.

  “We took the walls down to the school and open it up to the community. So, the community is part of our school,” said McCauley.

  Over the next few years, the students, staff, parents and neighbors worked to restore the land. Now, there’s thriving wetlands, a hemlock forest and trout stream, which is all made possible by a limestone retention pond the school built to naturally filter and clean the acid mine drainage.

  Once the school had fully cleaned the six-acres, McCauley expanded her vision. Maryland does not have sanctioned agricultural programs for elementary schools. So, in 2013, McCauley started her own. Today, Crellin has an apple orchard, greenhouse, vegetable garden and multiple barns with goats, sheep and – of course – chickens.

  Parents, according to McCauley, built the hen house. And now it is maintained by the school community, which includes the students.

  You see, where the students work is also where they learn. A classroom amphitheater is built from a giant pile of coal covered in dirt. Class is held in the greenhouse all winter long.

  Crellin Elementary is a public school. But McCauley says no public education dollars were used for any of the school’s agricultural or coal mine reclamation projects. Over 23 years, McCauley has applied for dozens of local, state and federal agricultural and reclamation grants. She won most of them, collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars for the school and its many projects.

  “It’s a lot of work,” McCauley told Project Baltimore.

  Work that over two decades has culminated in Crellin’s five-star rating which makes this school one of one in Maryland.

  “Is what you’re doing here. Could it be done at any school?” Questioned Papst.

  “I think it’d be different. Because this is unique to our community,” explained McCauley. “Because it’s not about the stream. It’s not about the stream. It’s about those who help make that all possible. That’s what it’s all about.”

  The education miracle in the mountains of Maryland, at one of the state’s poorest elementary schools, shows that massive budgets aren’t necessary to improve test scores. Instead, community, family, tradition, hard work, and conservative values create an environment that money can’t always buy, uplifting these children spiritually and setting them up for success.

  Must Watch: 

  On the opposite side of the state, in the liberal hell-hole of Baltimore City, education budgets for the city are nearly $2bln annually, yet test scores are some of the worst in the nation. Papst has led an investigation into a massive grade-switching scandal in the school system.

  The educational miracle happening at Crellin should be examined by the folks on Trump’s transition team, some of whom will be lining the education department. Apparently, success can be achieved with local communities—not necessarily by throwing endless amounts of taxpayer funds at school systems hoping for test scores to rise.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 17:20

• FBI Stopped Iranian Plot To Assassinate Trump
  FBI Stopped Iranian Plot To Assassinate Trump

  Authored by Andrew Thornebrooke via The EPoch Times,

  U.S. authorities thwarted an Iranian plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump, new documents reveal.

  

  The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges on Nov. 8 against three men who it is alleged were involved in a murder-for-iran network orchestrated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which the United States designates as a terrorist organization.

  “The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in an associated statement.

  “We will not stand for the Iranian regime’s attempts to endanger the American people and America’s national security.”

  The Justice Department said that authorities arrested Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt in New York, and that a third man, Farhad Shakeri, remained at large and was believed to be in Iran.

  Shakeri immigrated to the United States as a child and was deported in or about 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction.

  The criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan alleges that an unnamed official in the IRGC instructed a Shakeri in September to put together a plan to surveil and ultimately kill Trump.

  Shakeri was unable to create a plan by then, the complaint said, and the official told him Iran would pause its plan until after the presidential election because the official believed Trump would lose and it would be easier to assassinate him then.

  Shakeri then went to work building a network of accomplices, offering $100,000 to locate and kill Trump and other individuals of U.S. and Israeli origin, according to the complaint.

  “We have also charged and arrested two individuals who we allege were recruited as part of that network to silence and kill, on U.S. soil, an American journalist who has been a prominent critic of the regime,” Garland said.

  The plot, with the charges unsealed just days after Trump’s defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election, reflects what federal officials have described as ongoing efforts by Iran to target U.S. government officials, including Trump, on U.S. soil. The Justice Department’s statement said that these efforts include assault, kidnapping, and murder, both to repress and silence dissidents critical of the Iranian regime and to take vengeance for the January 2020 death of then-IRGC Commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a Trump-ordered U.S. drone strike in Baghdad.

  “The charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target U.S. citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in an associated statement.

  “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — a designated foreign terrorist organization—has been conspiring with criminals and hitmen to target and gun down Americans on U.S. soil and that simply won’t be tolerated.”

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 17:00

• US Banks' Domestic Deposits Tumble For Second Week In A Row
  US Banks' Domestic Deposits Tumble For Second Week In A Row

  Money market funds saw a very small net outflow (-$2.2BN) last week, leaving them still just shy of the record high…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  On the bank side of the savings world, total deposits (SA) rose $17.5BN to its highest since Sept 2022…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  On a non-seasonally-adjusted basis, total deposits jumped a huge $148BN (reversing the prior week’s $133BN deposit decline)…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Rather oddly, excluding foreign deposits, domestic US banks saw a $22BN net deposit outflow last week on an SA basis during the week-ending 10/30 (but a $113BN inflow on an NSA basis)…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  On an NSA basis, Large banks saw $86BN inflows and Small banks $27BN inflows. However, on an SA basis, large banks saw $21BN outflows and small banks $1.5BN outflows.

  Interestingly, loan volumes shrank at small banks but surged for large banks…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Finally, bank deposits at the Fed rose last week (and so did US equity market capitalization to a new record high)…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Will this ever recouple?

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 16:40

• "We Won't Be Certifying The Election…"
  "We Won't Be Certifying The Election…"

  Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

  Aborted

  “Let folks cast their votes for Trump if that’s their choice. But mark my words, we won’t be certifying the election. He might win, but we’ll ensure he doesn’t step foot in the Oval Office.”

  – Jamie Raskin (D-MD)

  At last, it appears that the Party of Chaos got its fondest wish: it aborted itself in the 2024 election. “Joe Biden” was the coat-hanger it used: this miserable, grifting, now-senile hack politician who will be remembered only for driving his country to the verge of ruin. And for what? All in an effort to cover-up a long train of crimes and abuses against the American people perpetrated by a permanent bureaucracy gone rogue that was the party’s partner-in-crime. And now it’s over. 

  

  The childishness of the Left — AOC whining about “fascism” — is under-appreciated. Note how the party’s most august mouthpiece, The New York Times, pretends to soul-search in the aftermath of the election debacle.

  “Many Democrats were considering how to navigate a dark future, with the party unable to stop Mr. Trump from carrying out a right-wing transformation of American government. Others turned inward, searching for why the nation rejected them. They spoke about misinformation and the struggle to communicate the party’s vision in a diminished news environment inundated with right-wing propaganda”

  – The New York Times

  The New York Times diminished itself. It drove itself crazy with narratives — just as a crazy person with disordered thoughts can’t discern what’s real and what’s not. What they need is a serious mental health check. The time for incessant lying, hoaxing, and performative hysteria is over. On Thursday, in a three-minute speech, the President-elect set out a clear list of measures to reconstruct a national consensus based on reality. It includes firing a lot of people in the agencies, dis-embedding all the inspector-generals from the departments they oversee, establishing a “truth and reconciliation commission” to declassify and publish documents “related to alleged deep state activities, including spying, censorship, and corruption,” and finding out who exactly at the CIA / FBI / DHS / and other places has been leaking fables and falsehoods to the news media. In other words, clear away a shit-ton of untruth that burdens the consciousness of country.

  Though the statement omitted to say so directly, it’s very likely that a number of public officials will find themselves before grand juries in the years ahead. If you haven’t figured it out already, you’ll learn that the term “misinformation” was just the gas in the gaslight used to confound the country about what has really been at stake — which is your personal liberty in what is supposed to be a free country. The Democratic Party and the Deep State blob really did try to steal that from you.

  As they stole the 2020 election — which is probably one of the things to be revealed in the process. Look at this bar graph. Note how many millions more votes were cast in the 2020 elections than in the two previous and now in the 2024 contest. How did that happen? Where did that surplus supply come from? The Covid-19 scam provided the cover for a profligate mail-in ballot operation. They deluged the country with paper. Mark Zuckerberg provided $450-million through his cut-out charities to hire thousands of party activists to harvest and fill-out fraudulent ballots, and stuff them in drop-boxes by the hundredweight, with special attention to the crucial precincts in swing states — and that’s what landed the basement-cringing candidate, “Joe Biden,” in the White House.

  

  It was that simple, and that much in-your-face, and for four years the official organs of the news swatted the truth away claiming they were “false, baseless, conspiracy theories” — and half the country was credulous enough to believe that. Or mentally ill, not able to tell fantasy from reality, especially in the newsrooms. Even more shamefully, this half of the country was led by the better-educated, credentialed, managerial class of citizens, who, amazingly, managed to turn intelligence into a new kind of personal liability. (The simplest explanation for that astounding failure is that people who consider themselves “experts” eagerly believe other experts and credentialed authorities, making them easiest to dupe. That’s why the faculty lounges are full of Jacobins.)

  The winning side in this contest didn’t vote against Kamala Harris so much as they voted against the Democratic Party, the Party of Chaos, of BLM riots, of drag queens in the school library, of men in the women’s swim lane (and locker room), of forced vaccinations (your bodily autonomy, sister?), of locking up grandmothers who walked through the Capitol rotunda, of state-driven censorship, of malicious political prosecutions, of ruinous proxy war, of flooding the country with criminal alien mutts, of Mao Zedong style erasing of history, of FISA court surveillance, and, finally, of the same sort of self-loathing for the nation that a three hundred pound sophomore with a nose ring and sleeve tattoos feels for herself.

  Indeed, the page is turning, but the story has suddenly changed. It remains to be seen whether the Democratic Party blows up altogether now in what’s shaping up to be a time of harsh recrimination, or whether its front-line activists, Marc Elias, Norm Eisen, Mary McCord, Lisa Monaco and Company skulk in the background hatching new schemes to try to drive the republic insane. They’ll have to work fast because the law might be coming after them in January. But they surely know that.

  Between now and then, prepare to put your shoulder to the wheel. It’s not just the US government that begs for reform, but many of the secular operations of daily life in America, especially of an economic scene dominated by freakishly gigantic monopolies that have impoverished so many local communities, destroyed livelihoods and whole ways of life, and made slaves of citizens. That story has hardly begun to be told.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/08/2024 – 16:20

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• The 2024 Election As A Spiritual War
  The 2024 Election As A Spiritual War

  Authored by Nic Carter via X (emphasis ours),

  

  My view of the election is that Trump and Harris were locked in a spiritual battle. Many, including myself, felt that the sparing of Trump’s life in the first assassination was an act of clear divine providence. For him to turn his head at that precise moment to avoid the assassin’s bullet, suffering only a grazed ear – it defies belief. I don’t believe in coincidences like that. Trump himself leaned into the religious overtones, understanding that many Christian supporters had come to see him as a messianic figure. Personally, I do believe – and there are many examples of this in the Bible – that God selects certain individuals to carry out His plans on Earth, and there is no doubt in my mind that Trump is one of those individuals. (Isaiah 6:8 says: “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me”)

  Trump’s travails have been almost Job-like. Stripped of virtually everything, impeached, battered, humiliated, almost killed, slandered, deplatformed, sued, on the verge of being thrown in prison for the rest of his life, Trump found the strength to mount a remarkable campaign and win. It is the greatest political comeback in American history. Many see his resilience as superhuman and divinely inspired.

  Now on the other side we have another religion, one I consider idolatrous, but a religion nonetheless. See when you strip God from life, you don’t leave people intact, but rather you leave them with a God-shaped hole. Today’s left has eliminated (or corrupted) the Church, and in its place they have adopted secular religions (some call this ‘gnostism’). Harris and her progressive supporters subscribe to three of these cults: climate doomerism, wokeism, and to a lesser extent AI safety. Broadly, these all fall under the umbrella of decel-ism.

  It’s worth unpacking these slightly. Climate and AI doomerism are contemporary millenarian cults; that is, they are concerned with the apocalypse. Adherents to such cults believe that a reckoning is coming which will transform the earth, punish the sinful, save the worthy, or just wipe us out entirely. On climate, the idea is that we committed a grave original sin by debauching nature and emitting CO2; Gaia is punishing us by unleashing her wrath in the form of ever-intensifying storms (never mind that the cost to humans from climate-related disasters has been falling); and if we don’t sufficiently change our ways we will be extinguished in a final day of reckoning (think The Day After Tomorrow). AI safety is a newer cult, but very similar: we summoned a demon of sorts by creating AI, and we risk destroying humanity if we delve any deeper into machine intelligence. (There is a trippier variant of the AI doomer cult in which we achieve a rapture and merge with the Machine God in some kind of singularity.) Both cults stress the sin of industrial pursuit, and in both case the solutions are the same: slow down or even reverse progress.

  Compare Trump and Harris on AI and Climate. Trump wants to re-energize America’s heartland, unleash our abundant energy resources for Bitcoin mining, AI, chip manufacturing, and so on. Trump recognizes that we cannot hamstring ourselves with a Merkel-style Energiewende. It’s suicide to sacrifice ourselves to the angry climate God via Thunbergesque atonement while China prints coal and nuclear plants. Meanwhile, Harris stands for an insipid green transition which simply hasn’t paid off anywhere it has been tried. The left’s infatuation for green transitions should be understood as superstition, not policy. (If they really believed in the existential risk from climate, they would be all in on nuclear, or even global cooling with aerosolized sulfates. They aren’t.) On AI, Harris stands for AI Safety, the self-aggrandizing Silicon Valley cult which both worships and fears the machine God. Trump instead sees AI as a vital strategic resource to be unleashed, making no underlying metaphysical claims whatsoever.

  Leaving aside the decel cults, the most important spiritual lens through which Harris should be understood is wokeism. Wokeism is in some ways similar to those other two secular cults, in that it has rituals, priests, and has the elements of original sin – whiteness, privilege, etc. Wokeism even has a millenarian bent in that it presumes that the world is fundamentally unjust and subject to vast oppressive conspiracies (although it doesn’t clearly specify what the day of reckoning might look like). However the inherent flaw of Wokeism and the reason it doesn’t universalize well is that it offers no absolution. There’s no way for a straight white man (or anyone else near the top of the privilege hierarchy) to atone for their original sin. Compare with Christianity, which stresses (depending on the denomination) that all you have to do to be absolved of your sins is accept Jesus Christ into your heart. So wokeism can’t really sustain itself, because it’s dependent on a spiritual underclass of “oppressors” who are willing to continually submit to and elevate the least privileged (the trans disabled PoC, etc). But who would sign up for a religion that offers no atonement? Even the most ardent white wokes must feel a twinge of doubt at their membership in the cult, realizing that they are permanent Dalits in the woke caste system.

  So I see the Trump Harris conflict through the lens of a spiritual war. Of course, the battle between right and left already has a spiritual component in that it’s not just two sets of rival policy positions but in fact a much more deep-seated set of mutually conflicting worldviews; individual versus system-level thinking, merit versus racial score-settling, small government versus collectivism, nuclear family versus the state as your family, and so on. In the case of Trump and Harris it was even more direct. Trump plays the role of an unintentional Messiah, almost accidentally thrust into this savior role. Though Trump’s faith may not be particularly sincere, his fans’ belief that he is a tortured savior chosen by God is. Meanwhile Harris is the purest representative we’ve seen of the progressive religion to date, being selected for the role not due to her track record in government but because of her anointed status within the woke cult. She is perfect: Black, Indian, a woman, and so on. (She merely lacked charisma, meaningful policy views, a distinct message of change, or a platform.) There can be no real dispute that she was more of an empty vessel for woke payloads than a genuine candidate. Her campaign was mainly focused on marshalling the high-propensity female vote on abortion, shaming minorities into falling in line, scolding men into voting “for their wives and daughters”, and so on. She abjectly refused to specify meaningful policy positions, keeping them deliberately vague, running instead on pure identitarianism.

  To the right, her great sacrilege was her primary campaign issue – the murder of unborn children. Other issues she stands for – the coercive chemical castration of children, for instance, are considered not simply poor policy by the right, but downright satanic. It’s unsurprising that Trump’s strongest campaign message was “Kamala is for They/Them. Trump is for You.” For Trump’s Christian supporters, the distinction could not have been starker. Many felt that this was the last election if she won. The left misunderstood this when folks like Elon said it. The idea wasn’t that there would never be an election ever again, but rather that the left would vastly accelerate their import of the third world and spontaneously grant them citizenship. This isn’t far-fetched. The left was quite explicit about their desire to do this, and they partially executed on it under Biden. Some on the left, too, felt that if Trump regained power, he would fashion the government into a fascist authoritarian regime and permanently leave democracy behind. So this election had a decidedly existential bent to it. Many on both sides felt that this would be last freely contested vote.

  As a Christian and a conservative, I am encouraged that America resoundingly rejected these woke cults and their emissary in Harris. This was a realigning election which cannot be written off as a fluke like 2016 was. Hispanics shifted abruptly right, undermining the Left’s core coalition. Harris actually underperformed Biden with black voters, showing the weakness of her identitarian campaign. Black men in particular defected from the left quite markedly. Trump gained with young voters, a generally secular group that is still infatuated with wokeism. By contrast, Trump did astoundingly well with Catholics, winning them by 18 points, the largest gap in decades. Trump also gained with Protestants relative to 2020. Eighty percent of evangelicals broke for Trump, again a better margin than 2020. Harris’ campaign built around Roe simply wasn’t compelling enough. And some of her high-propensity supporters, like suburban white moms, were turned off by the left’s ritual sacrifice of girls at the altar of wokeism (by allowing males in women’s sports, for instance). Voters were more concerned with immigration and the economy.

  The democrats should engage in soul searching and realize that by embracing cults like wokeism, and GDP-destroying fantasies like climate doomerism and AI doomerism, they are swimming against the current. Their Obama coalition has been shattered in the biggest realigning election since Reagan. Having lost the working class, Hispanic vote, and unable to import new voters as they had planned, if they continue down the path of racial shame and elevating DEI candidates, they will lose over and over. As for the right, they have resurrected their messiah. Expectations couldn’t be higher. But one thing is clear. Religion, real religion, is still a force to be reckoned with in American politics. The left has lost the Mandate of Heaven. It belongs to Trump now.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 23:25

• Alex Soros Shocked That the Incumbent Political Order Is Being Crushed Around The Globe
  Alex Soros Shocked That the Incumbent Political Order Is Being Crushed Around The Globe

  Almost exactly one year ago, we wrote that 2024 would be the busiest political year on record…

  

  …. and it certainly has delivered, including these main highlights.

  • The Taiwanese election in January 2024
  • Indian elections in April/May
  • European Parliamentary elections in June
  • The US Presidential Election in November.

  So with the main events of 2024 now in the rearview mirror we can conclude that this has been a catastrophic year for incumbents at elections.

  And not just in the US where Democrats have lost ground relative to four years earlier, but incumbents have also lost ground in the UK, France, India, Japan and South Africa as well this year.

  

  It gets worse: an even more amazing stat comes from the FT, which reports that every governing party facing election in a developed country this year lost vote share, the first time this has ever happened!

  

  According to Deutsche Bank, it’s also the first time since the late 1800s that the incumbent party in the White House has lost three consecutive presidential elections.

  

  A fascinating stat. So why is this happening across the world? Accord to Jim Reid there are three things going on:

  1. The economy is a big factor for most if not all countries here, and growth has slowed down relative to previous decades. That’s left voters disappointed, having not seen gains in their living standards that they’d previously been used to. Even though growth is stronger in the US, voters have not tended to suggest this when polled, and have certainly highlighted inflation and the cost of living as a big issue.
  2. Immigration. Many voters have been concerned that incumbents have no solution to their concerns over migration.
  3. Selected mismanagement claims and domestic scandals. This is clearly not the case everywhere, but it’s cost incumbents in several countries.
  4. Voters in general have become much more willing to change their vote from election to election. A smaller share of the electorate vote the same way all the time, meaning it’s easier to see big swings from one election to the next, as there’s now more swing voters up for grabs.

  Overall, it feels like voters have ignored the extremely generous handouts after Covid – which ultimately sparked the biggest inflationary tsunami in 40 years – and instead focused on the costs of these in the aftermath. The top cost likely being inflation, and although it’s fallen back now, voters experience this on a cumulative basis, rather than a 12-month basis as economists often analyze.

  The interesting question is whether this trend will continue. The fact that this is the first time in over 120 years that the US incumbent party has lost three times in a row might hint at a more structural problem where politicians are unable to deliver against expectations in a world of lower growth and fairly regular shocks.

  Maybe, as Jim Reid concludes, James Carville’s “It’s the economy, stupid” remains the key going forward. A world where productivity growth remains low doesn’t help any incumbent promising a brighter future. So if we do get a productivity miracle at some point from AI then maybe promises can be kept. Then again, to assume that a bunch of woke chatbots can revolutionize the way we live and work, may be even more naive than thinking Kamala Harris could defeat Donald Trump.

  One thing is certain: any political phenomenon which has even Alex Soros – who just wasted $1 billion backing the biggest Democrat loser in recent history – shocked that people everywhere are fed up with leaders who put globalist agendas above their own citizens, and are finally voting for leaders who actually serve them…

  Before you beat yourself up about the elections pls read this:
  The incumbents in every single one of the 10 major countries that have been tracked by the ParlGov global research project and held national elections in 2024 were given a kicking by voters. This is the first time… https://t.co/XiO03kEDDj

  — Alex Soros (@AlexanderSoros) November 7, 2024

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

  … has got to be good.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 23:00

• Arizonans Approve Police Arrests Of Illegal Entrants, Right To Abortion
  Arizonans Approve Police Arrests Of Illegal Entrants, Right To Abortion

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

  Two controversial ballot initiatives concerning illegal immigration and abortion easily passed at the ballot box on Nov. 5 with broad support from voters.

  

  Proposition 314, a statutory amendment referred by the Arizona Legislature, prohibits illegal immigrants from entering the state directly from a foreign country at any location other than a lawful port of entry.

  The law effectively empowers Arizona law enforcement officers to arrest illegal immigrants. It also bars illegal immigrants from knowingly submitting false documents to apply for public benefits or a job and makes it a class 2 felony for an adult to knowingly sell fentanyl that later causes the death of another person.

  The proposition needed only a simple majority to pass and coasted to victory with 63 percent of the vote. Its success comes as Arizona has effectively become ground zero for the nation’s border crisis.

  In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector in Arizona reported more than 463,000 encounters with illegal immigrants—the highest total among all nine sectors.

  In August, U.S. Customs and Border Protection made its largest-ever singular seizure of fentanyl when it intercepted 4 million pills at the sector’s Lukeville port of entry.

  A Noble Predictive Insights poll released in September had indicated widespread support for Proposition 314, with 63 percent of registered voters signaling their approval. It was also supported by majorities of Republicans (77 percent), independents (57 percent), and Democrats (52 percent) alike.

  But Living United for Change in Arizona, an opponent of the measure, has expressed concerns that it might lead to “rampant racial profiling” and civil rights violations.

  Abortion Amendment Passes

  Arizona was also one of 10 states that voted on the issue of abortion this election.

  In a 62–38 vote, the state approved a citizen-led initiative to establish a constitutional right to abortion through fetal viability, and when a “health care professional” deems it necessary to protect the mother’s life or health.

  Proposition 139 also bars the state from penalizing anyone who assists a woman in obtaining an abortion.

  At present, abortion is legal in Arizona through 15 weeks of pregnancy, though the issue has been a matter of contention in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision, which overturned the federal right to abortion.

  The ruling gave way to a court battle in the state over the enforcement of a near-total abortion ban dating back to 1864. After the Arizona Supreme Court ruled in April that the law could be enforced, state lawmakers voted to repeal it.

  Arizonans for Abortion Access, the group that put forward the new amendment, applauded voters’ decision to adopt it.

  “We did it!” the group wrote in an X post. “Arizona has overwhelmingly voted to protect abortion access! We proved, yet again, that Arizona is a state that values freedom and individual rights.”

  Opponents of the measure argued that the inclusion of an exception for the mother’s general “health” could be interpreted to authorize late-term abortions for virtually any reason. They also held that it would prohibit health and safety regulations to protect women and minors while removing licensed physicians from the equation.

  By the morning of Nov. 6, a petition was already circulating online asking Arizona state senators to either repeal the amendment or enact new legislation to “help decrease the actual number of abortions performed in our state.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 22:35

• John Fetterman Calls Constituents 'Dipshits' For How They Voted In Post-Election Rage Tweet
  John Fetterman Calls Constituents ‘Dipshits’ For How They Voted In Post-Election Rage Tweet

  Among the chorus of unhinged outrage, name calling and mental breakdowns post President Trump’s massive landslide victory on Tuesday, Walmart fashion model and Democratic U.S. Senator John Fetterman added his own ‘special’ brew of insanity to the mix on Thursday when he called his constituents ‘dipshits’. 

  Tweeting about the ongoing Senate race in Pennsylvania, where Republican Dave McCormick has already declared victory (and has been called the winner by AP) while three term incumbent Democrat Bob Casey has yet to concede and is pushing for a recount, Fetterman tweeted that “Pennsylvania is going to count every last vote.”

  “That’s not controversial—that’s the law,” he wrote, before finishing his deep thought with “Also, Green dipshits’ votes helping elect the GOP.”

  

  The comment comes hours after the Democrats lost in a landslide, with some Democratic strategists coming to terms with the fact that the party has lost the country because it constantly insults and lectures them.

  “I’m going to speak some hard truths to my friends in the Democratic Party. This is not Joe Biden’s fault. It’s not Kamala Harris’ fault. It’s not Barack Obama’s fault — it is the fault of the Democratic Party in not knowing how to communicate effectively to voters,” Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky said on CNN on Wednesday.

  Apparently, Fetterman did not get that memo. 

  For those looking to keep track of what other consequential impacts Fetterman has had on his party, he also appeared on the Joe Rogan podcast and was completely unable to muster up any type of coherent excuse for Democrats’ horrific job on the border over the last 4 years.

  Keep up the great work, John.

  Calling Green voters “dipshits” is not a great way to win them over

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 8, 2024

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

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 22:10

• How A 2nd Trump Administration Might Affect Foreign Policy
  How A 2nd Trump Administration Might Affect Foreign Policy

  Authored by Andrew Thornebrooke and Ryan Morgan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The second administration of President-elect Donald Trump is anticipated to bring great change to America’s foreign policy establishment.

  

  From wars in Europe and the Middle East to an increasingly adversarial relationship with China in the Indo-Pacific, Trump has vowed to make sweeping changes to the way the United States approaches international statecraft.

  That has some in the foreign policy establishment in Washington on edge. Still, others are confident that there will be a winding down of armed conflicts worldwide as the nation’s highest office embraces a more assertive and, at times, confrontational tone with allies and adversaries alike.

  Staring China Down in the Indo-Pacific

  Among the most pressing threats to be tackled by the second Trump administration is an increasingly adversarial China, whose ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has repeatedly sought to undermine U.S. interests throughout the world in recent years.

  Key to doing that will be to shore up alliances in the region, including with Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines, as well as reaffirming Washington’s commitment to defend Taiwan from CCP aggression.

  John Mills, who previously served as the director for cybersecurity policy, strategy, and international affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, said that the nation’s regional partners would welcome the clarity that a second Trump administration would bring to Washington’s foreign policy.

  “These countries love the authenticity and clarity of Trump,” Mills told The Epoch Times.

  Likewise, Mills said he believes that same clarity would help thwart an overt military conflict between China and the United States from erupting.

  “The likelihood of conflict in the western Pacific decreases significantly under Trump,” Mills said. “Why? Because he’s showing clarity and resolve at all times. Clarity and resolve help prevent war. Lack of clarity and resolve creates war.

  “Trump 2.0 in the western Pacific will significantly decrease the likelihood of open conflict between the CCP and the Western world.”

  To that end, Mills said that the CCP is less likely to engage in overtly hostile acts against the United States under the incoming administration than the Biden administration because Chinese authorities “know they will be held accountable.”

  Casey Fleming, CEO of the global risk and intelligence advisory firm BlackOps Partners, said he expects the CCP to curb its more overt malign activity under a second Trump administration.

  “A Trump administration will put the CCP on notice and will challenge their unbridled aggression in the Indo-Pacific and throughout the world,” Fleming told The Epoch Times.

  Confronting a War in Europe

  During his first administration, Trump gained a prickly reputation for toughness with U.S. allies in Europe. He repeatedly threatened to leave the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the world’s largest military alliance, due to a disparity in how much the United States contributed compared to other allies.

  Many of the nation’s NATO partners have significantly upped their defense spending since then, both in reaction to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and out of a concern that a Trump administration would not come to their aid if they were perceived as piggybacking on U.S. defense spending.

  Trump has also made ending the war in Ukraine swiftly a key campaign pledge, positioning himself in stark contrast to the outgoing Biden administration, which pledged security assistance to embattled Kyiv for as long as it would take to secure Ukrainian victory, though never defined what that victory would look like.

  While Trump has said he’d focus on bringing both sides to the negotiating table, Paul Davis, foreign policy analyst and adjunct professor at the Institute for World Politics, doesn’t expect a dramatic drop-off in U.S. support for Ukraine anytime soon.

  “I don’t think Trump is going to change a lot,” Davis said. “He did have a meeting with [Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy] back in September, and I think he understands the need to maintain support.”

  Likewise, Mills added that a second Trump administration would unlikely pull back its support for partners and allies in Europe so long as those nations carry their own weight in defense spending.

  “All that is being asked is at least 2 percent of GDP spent on defense and, in reality, 4 to 5 percent is the new 2 percent,” Mills said.

  “That’s all. That is the primary metric Trump looks at [with] partners, and I think that’s extremely reasonable.”

  Defending Israel in the Middle East

  The second Trump administration will also inherit a precarious situation in the Middle East as Israel expands its war against Iranian proxy groups in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, and Yemen.

  Trump has repeatedly given vociferous support for Israel and is likely to go to great lengths to ensure the nation has the full support of the United States, following a falling out between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden over Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza.

  Davis said that he expects Trump “will definitely make sure that the world knows that Israel is secured by the U.S. military.”

  To that end, it appears Israeli leadership expects the same. Netanyahu was the first foreign leader to call President-elect Trump in the early hours of the morning after the election was called. Netanyahu congratulated Trump on the election and discussed the Iranian threat, according to an Israeli readout of the call.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 21:45

• This Is The Median Home Price In Each US State
  This Is The Median Home Price In Each US State

  In 2024, buying a home in the U.S. looks vastly different depending on where you are.

  Factors like local demand, land availability, economic conditions, and housing regulations all contribute to the median home prices in each state.

  This map, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, visualizes the median home sale price for a single-family home in each U.S. state in 2024.

  

  The data is updated as of September 2024 and comes from ATTOM.

  Which States Have the Highest Home Sales Prices?

  As of August 2024, the median home sales price for a single-family home in the United States is about $385,000.

  State	Median Estimated Home Sales Price
  Hawaii	$851,930
  California	$776,000
  District of Columbia	$659,072
  Massachusetts	$640,113
  Washington	$609,540
  Colorado	$561,205
  Utah	$530,041
  New Jersey	$523,500
  Oregon	$511,434
  New Hampshire	$500,429
  Rhode Island	$487,985
  New York	$476,429
  Idaho	$456,839
  Nevada	$445,883
  Maryland	$436,985
  Arizona	$435,839
  Vermont	$411,381
  Florida	$405,289
  Connecticut	$403,750
  Delaware	$399,857
  Virginia	$394,678
  Montana	$388,053
  Maine	$384,783
  Alaska	$381,744
  Minnesota	$348,126
  Wyoming	$344,432
  North Carolina	$340,330
  Georgia	$333,903
  Tennessee	$327,855
  South Dakota	$318,000
  Texas	$314,750
  Wisconsin	$305,000
  South Carolina	$301,057
  New Mexico	$301,000
  Illinois	$286,413
  Pennsylvania	$279,709
  Michigan	$262,814
  Nebraska	$262,637
  Missouri	$259,250
  North Dakota	$253,116
  Kansas	$238,824
  Indiana	$238,411
  Alabama	$235,675
  Ohio	$230,500
  Kentucky	$211,235
  Iowa	$203,770
  Arkansas	$203,067
  Oklahoma	$200,378
  Louisiana	$190,900
  Mississippi	$183,507
  West Virginia	$167,110

  Hawaii has the highest median house price in the U.S. at around $852,000, over double the national average, primarily due to its limited land availability, strict housing regulations, and high demand for housing in a desirable climate.

  A University of Hawaii report found that regulatory costs, including lengthy permitting processes and strict zoning laws, account for more than half (58%) of the median price of a new condominium in Hawaii.

  Hawaii’s finite land area and high demand driven by tourism and military presence further inflate property values.

  California comes in at second, with a median home price of $776,000. The coastal state is home to some of the most unaffordable metropolitan areas in the U.S., including Los Angeles and San Jose, where the home price-to-income ratio is over 10.

  Predominantly rural states like West Virginia ($167K), Mississippi ($184K), and Arkansas ($191K) have significantly lower median home prices than urbanized states like California ($776K) or New York ($476K).

  To learn more about the U.S. real estate market, check out this graphic that visualizes which states have the most cities where homes average $1 million or more.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 21:20

• Levi Strauss Heir Leads San Francisco Mayor's Race
  Levi Strauss Heir Leads San Francisco Mayor’s Race

  Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Daniel Lurie, a philanthropist and an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, appears poised to oust San Francisco Mayor London Breed in her bid for reelection, as the city continued to post election results on Nov. 6.

  

  Lurie led Breed by 12 points Wednesday morning, earning 56 percent of the vote, compared to the incumbent’s 44 percent.

  Breed has not yet conceded, but told supporters Tuesday she would wait until all votes were counted.

  “It ain’t over till it’s over,” she told supporters at an election night party Tuesday, according to wire reports.

  She noted she was also behind in her first race for mayor in 2019, but won the office. Breed is the first black woman to serve as mayor of San Francisco.

  The county has not yet certified the results and planned to issue preliminary numbers around 4 p.m. Thursday, according to the Department of Elections.

  The county is still processing about 157,000 ballots, most of which are vote-by-mail ballots received Monday and Tuesday by mail and at polling places, the elections department reported in a press release provided to The Epoch Times Wednesday.

  The county also has to process 20,000 provisional ballots cast at polling locations by voters whose names are not on the voter registration list.

  The county may take up to 30 days after Elections Day to certify the final election results, according to the department.

  The mayor’s challenger signaled that he is ready to get to work, according to a letter to his supporters posted on social media and his website.

  Lurie thanked his supporters in the letter Tuesday night, saying the city was ready for change.

  “Over the past 13 months, I’ve had the great experience of meeting with San Franciscans in every corner of our city,” Lurie wrote. “I heard your frustrations but also your hope and desire to write our next chapter.”

  He added it was time for leadership rooted in “true public service, one that puts the people of San Francisco above all else.”

  The candidate spent more than $9 million of his own money in the race to replace Breed. He raised more than $16 million, according to financial reports.

  Lurie is the son of Rabbi Brian Lurie and Miriam “Mimi” Lurie Haas. His parents divorced when he was a child and Lurie’s mother subsequently married Peter Haas, a great-grandnephew of Levi Strauss.

  Haas is a billionaire and one of the largest shareholders of Levi Strauss & Co.

  Strauss, an immigrant from Bavaria, opened a dry goods company in San Francisco at the height of the California Gold Rush in 1853, according to the company. Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis created blue jeans in 1873 to meet the needs of miners, cowboys, and workers at the time.

  Lurie is the founder and CEO of Tipping Point Community, a San Francisco nonprofit launched in 2005 that raises money and helps educate, employ, house, and support impoverished people in the Bay Area, according to his biography.

  Breed is a native San Franciscan who was raised by her grandmother in the city’s public housing. She has spent much of her efforts during the last year responding to retail, tech, hotel, and corporate departures from the city.

  

  She supported two successful public safety ballot measures passed in March—propositions E and F—to expand police powers and compel some drug users to enter treatment.

  Multiple companies have shuttered businesses in the once-thriving City by the Bay in recent years, with some citing the increase in retail theft, homelessness, and open-air drug use.

  Most recently, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was shot during an attempted robbery in the city’s downtown Union Square in August. Pearsall survived the shooting.

  Breed did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday and her campaign has not released a public statement after results started rolling in.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 20:55

• The Grift Is Ending: ESG Fund Managers Being Told To "Keep Their Lawyers Very Close"
  The Grift Is Ending: ESG Fund Managers Being Told To “Keep Their Lawyers Very Close”

  We’ve known the ESG grift has been coming to a screeching halt for years now, with major investment banks and companies dropping their initiatives while the GOP goes on a rampage to try root out the faux-virtue signaling. 

  But now with President Trump once again taking the White House, one investment bank is advising ESG fund managers to “keep their lawyers very close”, as the full scale death of ESG may very well be on the door step, according to Yahoo Finance.

  Aniket Shah wrote in a note this week: “We’d encourage all ESG fund managers to have a lawyer on the team, or on speed-dial.”

  He continued: “Antitrust risk remains high for asset managers in ESG; there haven’t been any cases yet, thus there is no legal precedent. Further, legal risks regarding fiduciary duty will stay relevant as states enforce anti-ESG laws.”

  Yahoo reports that Trump’s victory has already hit green sector stocks, with wind-energy companies among the hardest hit. Beyond potential bans and obstructive policies, the ESG sector faces rising legal risks.

  

  Key GOP figures argue ESG-focused firms neglect fiduciary duties, while Republican attorneys general accuse financial firms using ESG metrics of collusion against fossil fuels and fueling inflation.

  In response, “greenhushing”—keeping ESG efforts quiet—is likely, Jefferies analysts note. Corporate CEOs are also expected to seek legal guidance to adapt to this shifting landscape.

  Jeffries said: “General counsels are in the ear of CEOs, frightened about legal retaliation to ESG initiatives. The backlash could lead to more focused and pragmatic companies, engaging in strategic discussions closely tied to their business model.”

  Analysts argue that a public backlash, similar to 2016, could pressure companies to address issues like abortion and diversity. Conflicting state policies on ESG could create a “nightmare” of fragmented requirements, they warn.

  Shareholders may still push for ESG risk disclosures aligned with the International Sustainability Standards Board, even as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce maintains it isn’t against ESG or climate disclosures. Notably, these observations focus on the ESG label itself, not the broader clean energy transition.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 20:30

• Woke Bloodbath: Leftist Movements Are Paying The Price For Their Arrogance
  Woke Bloodbath: Leftist Movements Are Paying The Price For Their Arrogance

  Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

  If you thought Kamala Harris was a sure win in 2024, then you haven’t been paying attention to the epic shift in the cultural zeitgeist over the past few years. The thing that bothers me most about political and social analysis is dealing with people who foolishly assume nothing ever changes. Things change all the time. People can and do learn from the past. Nothing is hopeless, and nihilists are lazy and incompetent.

  

  For example, since 2020 within liberty movement circles there has been a contingent of naysayers claiming that red states were being subversively “turned blue” by leftists relocating during the pandemic. My argument was that this was an idiotic take.

  Yes, there were mass relocations across the US but all the data showed the vast majority of these people were conservatives seeking to escape blue state tyranny. I can’t tell you how many “experts” tried to argue with me that Texas, Florida, Idaho, and even my state of Montana were all going to be overrun by progressives. In the aftermath of the election I was once again proven right and they were utterly wrong.

  Florida was an absolute landslide for conservatives. It wasn’t even close and I doubt that state will ever come close to being blue again. The same happened with Texas, Idaho, Montana, etc. There was no blue wave. It didn’t exist. It was actually a red wave.

  As I noted in my recent article ‘Losing Power? The Elites And The Leftist Mob Would Rather Burn It All To the Ground’, a Trump victory was inevitable along with a conservative mandate. The sea change in American society was evident. That’s why leftists and globalists will continue to use mob actions, economic disaster and geopolitical crisis to burn America to the ground. They know their time is quickly running out and if they can’t control the country, they’ll try to torch it.

  Regardless of what you might think of the candidates or the election in general, the fact of the matter is this election was a RESOUNDING rejection by Americans of the woke ideology and the political left. Trump won in a landslide, not just in the electoral college but also the popular vote, and Trump ran on an anti-woke and anti-globalist platform. The public has spoken.

  The Democrats embraced woke cultism, they embraced globalist authoritarianism and now they’ve paid the price. Kamala Harris’ embarrassing defeat is the ultimate expression of “Get woke, go broke”. It’s undeniable – No one likes the progressive left. No one likes their race grifting, no one likes their gay and trans grifting, no one likes their targeting of children for indoctrination, no one likes their censorship agenda, no one likes their open borders, no one likes their lying and no one likes their elitism.

  Their movement is dead in the water and a lot of them are bewildered as to what happened.  I’m here to explain some of the biggest reasons why they are universally despised…

  The Covid Coup

  Americans are pissed about the Democrat/globalist attempt to establish a medical tyranny and they aren’t going to forget what happened. Only a couple years ago Democrats and leftist governments around the world were talking about vaccine passports designed to force conservatives to take the experimental vaccine (and the boosters forever).

  They were trying to legislate the creation of covid camps for people who refused to comply. They wanted to fine people, lock them up, keep them under house arrest and even take their children away. They shut down the economy, ordered people to wear useless masks, told people to stay six feet apart and they closed down outdoor recreation. They violated every fundamental of viral science in an insane effort to dominate the world.

  To this day there are still leftists that wear the masks as a symbol of their fealty to the covid dictatorship. The problem was, they greatly underestimated public resistance to their agenda and it failed. Now, they face a reckoning for their power mongering.

  January 6th Propaganda And The Rewriting Of History

  Mass conservative protests are pretty rare. We tend to endure quietly and wait for reason to win the day. Violence is not usually in the cards until we are pushed to the brink. This is exactly what happened on January 6th.

  Video evidence shows capitol police fired rubber bullets and tear gas grenades into a peaceful and unarmed crowd of protesters. This attack led directly to the crowd fighting back and eventually raising the building itself. Then, the police ultimately opened the doors to the building and let people wander in. Those protesters walked around for a couple hours and then left on their own. That’s not what an “insurrection” looks like.

  Afterwards, Democrats cherry picked limited footage from the event and claimed it was an “attack on democracy” akin to treason. They lied incessantly and staged the narrative that conservatives were domestic terrorists bent on installing Trump as a totalitarian leader. Americans have seen through this nonsense and the election shows it.

  Economic Denial

  The Biden Admin spent the better part of the last four years trying to deny the reality of stagflation. They have also denied that the economy continues to decline, asserting that the country is in “recovery”, that the jobs market is improving and that inflation is going down.

  None of this was true. Inflation is cumulative and just because CPI goes down does not mean prices are going down. Americans are still paying 30% to 50% more on most necessities compared to 2019. Om top of that, nation debt and consumer debt have skyrocketed to dangerous levels. One could debate who is ultimately to blame for this (the central banks and establishment elites are to blame), but this doesn’t change the fact that the Democrats tried to hide the threat from the public.

  Sexualization And “Transing” Of Children

  Leave the kids alone. It was a simple warning from conservatives and leftists refused to listen. Now, they’re going to pay dearly. The woke movement to push trans ideology in public schools is perhaps the most evil scheme our civilization has ever encountered. Gender fluidity is a non-science, a fantasy with no basis in fact. There are only two genders. Period. Pushing confusing gender identity politics on vulnerable kids, often without parent’s knowledge, is monstrous.

  The end game of this plan is the chemical sterilization and even physical castration of America’s youth and the majority of Democrats support it. For this alone they should be booted from the country for the rest of their lives.

  Beyond the politics, there is also the issue of child sexualization. Democrat politicians have consistently pushed for more degeneracy in public education environments, with sexually explicit content made available even in elementary schools. This is child grooming, plain and simple, and most Americans know exactly where it leads.

  Mass Censorship And Government Collusion With Big Tech

  The Biden/Harris Administration has been thoroughly busted, first by the exposure of the Twitter Files and then by Big Tech leaders like Mark Zuckerberg. It is a fact – The federal government worked directly with legacy media and social media conglomerates to silence public dissent.

  They censored contrary data on covid, on the vaccines, on the lockdowns, on the masks, on the mandates. They censored political stories that were harmful to the Democrats like the Hunter Biden Laptop story. They shut down entire YouTube channels and Twitter accounts, destroying people’s access to public discourse as well as their livelihoods. All of this was in absolute violation of the Bill of Rights and the 1st Amendment.

  They need to be punished for this, and that’s why so many Americans voted to give Trump a mandate. They want him to deal out retribution on the matter so that it never happens again.

  Race Grifting And Calling Latinos “Latinx”

  Democrats and woke activists treat minorities as if they are property of the political party. They try to keep minorities firmly chained to the progressive plantation by telling them they are “victims” that need the help of the DNC in order to get “justice.” Clearly, minorities are getting tired of being treated like they’re stupid.

  One big factor that I think really crippled Democrats in the election is the woke attempt to “de-gender” the Spanish language by calling Latinos “Latinx”. The Dems went full retard here and it really hurt them. Hispanics voted in record numbers for Donald Trump, and he also doubled his votes among blacks.

  I have a message to white liberal women in particular: Minorities don’t need your help, your protection or your pity. Please shut your mouths, shut your legs, go back to your cats and your pointless office jobs and leave them be.

  Open Borders And The Great Replacement

  The Great Replacement has been falsely portrayed by the corporate media as a “racist” theory, but race has nothing to do with it. The replacement issue is about culture, not skin color.

  There is an obvious effort on the part of the progressive establishment to flood the US with third world migrants, thereby erasing the cultural heritage of the west and diluting it with people that have no understanding of individual liberties or responsibilities.

  They have offered illegal migrants a host of subsidies and incentives to get them to come to America and they intend to offer these same people amnesty, using American tax dollars to buy off a permanent block of Democrat voters. This would give the leftists a voting majority for generations to come.

  It’s not just white Americans that see what’s happening; legal citizens who are Hispanic understand the game as well. Black communities in the US also always suffer when mass immigration takes place and they can read the writing on the wall. No one wants this, which is why the border issue was the top voter concern in every election survey, right next to the economy.

  Leftist Arrogance

  Progressives have long operated on the fallacy that they are “more educated” than conservatives and are thus smarter and more qualified to dictate the terms of our society. The reality is, most leftists are dumb as stumps.

  They live in their own echo chambers on social media. They live in the masturbatory halls of woke academia. They live in dwindling cities controlled by Democrat governments and rarely leave the comfort of their apartments, their dog parks and their coffee shops. They think they are worldly but they know nothing of the world because they never go outside of their ideological bubble. They don’t have the courage to do that.

  The reality is, a college degree is a wooden spoon (an award for last place) rather than a legitimate accomplishment these days. Unless a student enters a STEM field they are unlikely to come out of a university with anything of value. These places are indoctrination centers, not pillars of higher learning.

  The Inability To Accept Responsibility

  Leftists are inherent losers and mentally weak. They were the kids that were babied most of their lives. They were the kids that struggled most with meritocracy in school. They’re the kids that participation trophies were invented for. They have long relied on emotional outbursts rather than effort to get what they want. Instead of improving themselves and striving for something better, they cry victim when they can’t compete.

  I never met a leftist in my life that was good at taking responsibility for their own failures. Their narcissism and obsession with personal identity has been exposed. Their fake concern for victim status groups no longer convinces anyone. They desperately want to be the main character in some grand heroic drama that the rest of us applaud, but this is not going to happen.

  The best the woke mob can hope for is to return to a life of obscurity where they belong. The more they try to become the center of attention the worse things get for them. Their best bet is to stop trying to rule the world and thank their lucky stars they get to continue living in this country.

  *  *  *

  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
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 20:05

• Duke Energy Considers Making Coal Power Great Again Under Trump
  Duke Energy Considers Making Coal Power Great Again Under Trump

  In an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday, Duke Energy Chief Financial Officer Brian Savoy explained how a Trump victory could roll back climate regulations on power generation at utility plants, just as electricity demand soars due to newly built artificial intelligence data centers. Meanwhile, Democrats, wearing climate crisis blinders, have pushed disastrous de-growth ‘green’ policies removing fossil fuel generation from the grid, resulting in shockingly high power prices for some customers – and even causing power crisis in some parts of the Mid-Atlantic.

  CFO Savoy told Bloomberg that he would reexamine plans to convert some coal-fired power generation units in Indiana to natural gas. He said that in a deregulated environment under Trump, dual conversion, known as switching power plants or industrial boilers from coal to NatGas, would “make sense” in Indiana, adding there’s even a chance some power generation units would remain coal-burning. 

  Trump is expected to reverse Biden-Harris’ far-left climate policies, which have acted as an economic muzzle on the US economy. At the same time, China built a record number of coal plants that fed cheap power to factories, essentially making US companies unable to compete with Chinese ones in international markets. Trump may focus on rolling back greenhouse gas emission controls on the gas, oil, coal, power, and auto sectors.

  Following the victory on Wednseday, American Energy Alliance congratulated the former President and said it was excited to “unwind the Biden-Harris administration’s regulatory onslaught on American energy producers.”

  “Throughout his campaign, President Trump expressed his unabashed support for American energy,” IER and AEA President Thomas Pyle told Utility Dive in a statement.

  Pyle continued, “He promised to embrace domestic oil and gas production, lower energy and electricity prices, and undo the inflationary Biden-Harris Green New Deal policies, especially the wasteful taxpayer-funded subsidies in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.”

  There’s no denying that another Trump presidency will slow the energy transition to a more sensible speed, as the current trajectory puts the nation on a crash course with power inflation amid all the new power demand from AI data centers.

  Donald Trump says to be dominant in AI, America requires twice the electricity of current capacity and he pledges to meet that demand, partly through nuclear power pic.twitter.com/HooPgk4Qpa

  — Tsarathustra (@tsarnick) July 27, 2024

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  With Republicans in charge of the Senate, the White House, and potentially the House, Trump will move quickly to deregulate the power industry and lower energy costs for Americans by restarting fossil fuel power generators. Trump must also continue the revival of America’s nuclear power plants. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 19:40

• Judge Denies AstraZeneca's Motion To Dismiss In Vaccine Injury Case
  Judge Denies AstraZeneca’s Motion To Dismiss In Vaccine Injury Case

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

  A federal law that grants broad legal immunity to vaccine manufacturers does not protect AstraZeneca against a breach of contract claim brought by a woman who was injured by the company’s vaccine, a U.S. judge ruled on Nov. 4.

  

  The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act protects manufacturers of vaccines during times of emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Brianne Dressen sued AstraZeneca for neglecting to, as promised in a contract, cover the costs of injuries she suffered after participating in the company’s clinical trial in 2020. The pharmaceutical company said it was immune from the lawsuit under the PREP Act.

  U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby disagreed, ruling on Monday in favor of Dressen and denying AstraZeneca’s motion to dismiss.

  While Dressen can’t sue over the injuries, she can over the breach of contract because the legal immunity granted by the law does not cover at least some contractual claims, Shelby said.

  “The basis of Dressen’s claim is a broken promise, not a countermeasure,” he said, adding later: “Dressen was administered a covered countermeasure, and she was warned that she may suffer from an adverse reaction, but the fact that she suffered from such reaction was not sufficient to ripen her claim. Rather, she only has a claim because AstraZeneca made a contractual promise to her that happened to involve the effects of a covered countermeasure.”

  AstraZeneca put forth a theory in legal filings that immunity from breach of contract claims helps encourage the quick development and deployment of countermeasures during health emergencies, which is the purpose of the PREP Act. Dressen’s lawyers argued enforcing contracts achieves the same result. The judge sided with the latter.

  “If the PREP Act immunized deceptive contractual inducement and sanctioned illusory promises, then no one would agree to undertake the high-risk activities that are critical during public health emergency responses,” Shelby said. “The PREP Act drafters could not have intended to allow pharmaceutical companies to make illusory promises to clinical trial participants because doing so would erode public trust and undermine the ability to recruit willing participants, which in turn would erode and undermine pandemic preparedness.”

  The judge used the example of AstraZeneca agreeing to pay $125 for time and travel reimbursements to Dressen per study visit during the clinical trial. “AstraZeneca’s theory of immunity would allow it to shirk this and any other promise made to trial participants merely because the promise ultimately relates to the administration or use of a vaccine,” he said.

  Dressen, a preschool teacher in Utah, volunteered for the 2020 clinical trial. The consent form she signed said AstraZeneca would “cover the costs of research injuries” and “pay the costs of medical treatment.” After receiving the company’s shot, she suffered from a variety of injuries. U.S. National Institutes of Health doctors diagnosed her with vaccine side effects.

  AstraZeneca largely declined to offer payment for treatment, beyond a final offer of $1,243, according to court documents.

  AstraZeneca’s vaccine was administered widely in some other countries but U.S. authorities never authorized its use beyond clinical trials.

  Shelby’s ruling means Dressen’s case will move forward.

  Dressen wrote on the social media platform X that the judge “handed down a thoughtful and timely decision.”

  “My deepest gratitude to the court for respectfully reviewing this important case and allowing it to move forward,” she said.

  An AstraZeneca spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email that the company cannot comment on ongoing litigation.

  “Patient safety is our highest priority,” the spokesperson said. “From the body of evidence in clinical trials and real-world data, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has continuously been shown to have an acceptable safety profile and regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 19:15

• "I'm Dry As A Desert": White Liberal Women Threaten To Become Pro-Life After Trump Win
  “I’m Dry As A Desert”: White Liberal Women Threaten To Become Pro-Life After Trump Win

  Young white liberal women, plagued with the ‘woke mind virus,’ have swung so far off the deep end that some are now threatening to align themselves with pro-Christian values. They are advocating for abstaining from sex, dating, marriage, and even children over the outcome of the 2024 presidential election because males voted for the ‘Orange Man’…

  Far-left corporate media outlets like CBS News and the Washington Post have pushed out stories about South Korea’s “4B Movement”  gaining traction among feminists in the United States shortly after Trump won.

  The 4B movement is comprised of four “no’s”—no sex, no dating or marriage with men, and no having children. Some young feminists have adopted it on various social media platforms in the US to show young men voting for Republicans has consequences.

  Liberal women are abstaining from having s*x for the next 4 years. pic.twitter.com/VHLrhh26Im

  — TaraBull (@TaraBull808) November 7, 2024

  “Young men expect sex, but they also want us to not be able to have access to abortion. They can’t have both,” Michaela Thomas, an artist in Georgia, told WaPo. 

  Thomas continued, “Young women don’t want to be intimate with men who don’t fight for women’s rights; it’s showing they don’t respect us.” 

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  Genuinely, end it with them if they don’t see the issue of that man being president.

  Put yourself first. Put your body first. #4BMovement https://t.co/CLO45pMFZS pic.twitter.com/KpvAUPDaGO

  — 🇵🇷𝕹𝖆𝖙𝖆𝖑𝖎𝖆 𝕺𝖗𝖙𝖎𝖟⧗𝕽𝖔𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖋𝖋🇵🇷 (@ScarletWidow901) November 6, 2024

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

  Woman says she has an IQ of 130 and will now “stay dry” and not sleep with men because Trump was elected.

  She said it’s punishment for taking away her right to an abortion.

  Sounds good. She won’t need any abortions then.

  Way to go IQ 130. pic.twitter.com/P6wgGrvYpt

  — Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) November 7, 2024

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

  What’s hilarious is that these young white liberal women have become so confused – and so radicalized – that they don’t even realize not having sex with random guys from Tinder, Bumble, and or Hinge on the reg is more or less a reversion to traditionalism and morally right choices that align with Christian values.

  Many liberal women are now beginning a movement called “4B” where they will stop dating and withhold any sex from their partners in response to Trump’s victory since they think abortion has been banned (it hasn’t been nationally banned).

  Ladies, welcome to the pro-life movement!

  — Ann Vandersteel™️ (@annvandersteel) November 7, 2024

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  Red State’s Brandon Morse commented on the movement: 

  “Dude makes an excellent point about women’s sexuality. They went so left they started going right, claiming they’re going to stop being hoes and won’t put out until men respect them. Uh… that’s what we’ve been saying you should do all along.” 

  Dude makes an excellent point about women’s sexuality.

  They went so left they started going right, claiming they’re going to stop being hoes and won’t put out until men respect them.

  Uh… that’s what we’ve been saying you should do all along. #4BMovement pic.twitter.com/60SZxNZ4DI

  — Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) November 7, 2024

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

  One woman pointed out, “I think that liberal women are finally starting to understand what pro-life conservative women have been telling them for years …” 

  #4BMovement pic.twitter.com/5YwbZNNGLL

  — LOU ALFARO (@_louiexlouie_) November 6, 2024

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

  We penned a note shortly after Trump won, “Trump Wins, “Move To Canada” Searches Spike, Liberals Meltdown Online.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 18:50

• The Renaissance Of Civic Education
  The Renaissance Of Civic Education

  Authored by Michael Poliakoff and Jack Miller via RealClearEducation,

  Over the last 60 years, there has been unconscionable neglect of civics and American history at both the K-12 and university levels.

  Surveys by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) show that fewer than 20% of colleges nationwide require an American history or government course for graduation. Unsurprisingly, this deficit has made its way into the training of teachers too. Future K-12 teachers are unlikely to learn the basic facts about our founding principles and our long history of working toward that more perfect Union our founders envisioned.

  

  Fortunately, more and more public universities are doing their part to reverse this trend.

  In 2016, the Arizona legislature created the School for Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. This school has become a valuable training ground for ASU students seeking a thorough understanding of our nation’s governing institutions and the responsibilities of citizenship in a free society while being exposed to a diversity of viewpoints.

  The ASU model has since been replicated at 13 universities in several other states.

  Founded a year ago, the School of Civic Life and Leadership at the University of North Carolina (UNC)-Chapel Hill, which ACTA helped create, has already gained national attention. It was deservedly featured in articles in the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere. And for good reason.

  UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Civic Life and Leadership (SCiLL) offers a civic life and leadership minor that introduces students to key ideas from philosophy, history, political science, and economics. It helps prepare them for participating in consequential policy discussions and debates.

  SCiLL is explicitly dedicated to promoting civil discourse and free speech and inculcating the responsibilities of informed, engaged citizenship. UNC-Chapel Hill students who do not participate in SCiLL classes nevertheless benefit from its speaker series and Program for Public Discourse.

  Programs such as these consist of a separate academic unit within the university, supported by the state and private donors. Crucially, the head of that unit has hiring authority and almost always reports directly to the provost or president of the university.

  New institutes like SCiLL not only educate undergraduates but are also developing M.A. and Ph.D. programs. And they have already reached out to train the K-12 social studies teachers in their regions so that those teachers will be better able to teach their own pupils.

  The goal is to continue expanding these programs in states across the country.

  The Tennessee General Assembly answered Governor Bill Lee’s call to establish an institute devoted to teaching informed patriotism with a $6 million initial appropriation by an overwhelming bipartisan vote.

  The Institute of American Civics at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville offers minor and certificate programs in American civics and constitutional studies, as well as many other events, programs, and scholarships for students. It also features outstanding professional development programs for secondary school teachers. It is already drawing some of the best and brightest students – especially those who want to make a positive difference but previously could not find a constructive, nonpartisan path to pursue this passion.

  Through the efforts of Ohio state senators Jerry Cirino and Rob McColley, the State of Ohio has made the largest investment yet – $24 million – for the creation of civic education centers at five public universities in the state. Ohio State University, for example, now has the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society. Four other state universities are rapidly coming online with programs devoted to the American constitutional life.

  And at the University of Florida in Gainesville, the Hamilton Center is on its way to hiring 50 professors, including distinguished faculty recruited from elite institutions who have grown weary of having their views be marginalized.

  Young professors whose interests in the American founding, constitutional and diplomatic history, and our roots in Western civilization are often left without prospects in academe. Now, however, they are finding excellent opportunities to teach at civic centers being established throughout the country. And thousands of public university students now have a chance to get a world-class education in citizen leadership that will serve them well across an array of career pathways.

  Nonprofit organizations and their donors can play a valuable part in advancing efforts like these.

  For example, ACTA makes the case to trustees and legislatures that establishing these centers must be a priority.

  And for many years, the Jack Miller Center has invested in training and helping young professors in their careers and supporting established professors, including funding for outstanding postdoctoral fellows in American political thought and political theory.

  Today, the Jack Miller Center’s academic network includes over 1,200 professors on over 300 campuses around the country.  A number of them now hold faculty and senior leadership positions in these new schools and institutes of civic thought and leadership.

  These new institutes are devoted to teaching the whole story of America. As the late Bruce Cole, a former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities and former member of the Jack Miller Center’s Board of Directors, said, they will provide “a story of the center and the margins, the peaks and the valleys.” In contrast to what sadly so often happens on campus, they not only recognize the flaws that must be mended but also the American achievements that inspire the world.

  We have an opportunity with new generations of students to create informed patriots and renew their search for the promise of achieving the American dream. Working together, the states, the organizations working in this field, and donors can make this civics renaissance become a reality across the country.

  Michael Poliakoff is the president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. Jack Miller is the founder and chairman emeritus of the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles & History.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 18:25

• Putin Praises 'Courageous' Trump & Hints At Ukraine Talks, Phone Call Likely
  Putin Praises ‘Courageous’ Trump & Hints At Ukraine Talks, Phone Call Likely

  It appears President Vladimir Putin is jumping at the opportunity of pursuing a serious reset with the United States under the future Trump presidency. In surprisingly positive Thursday remarks, Putin issued congratulatory statements and heaped praise on Trump for winning the election, also saying he acted “like a man” following the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania last summer.

  “His behavior at the time of the attempt on his life made an impression on me,” Putin said at the Valdai Club in the Black Sea city of Sochi. “He turned out to be a courageous man. And it’s not just about the raised hand and the call to fight for his and their common ideals… He behaved, in my opinion, in a very correct way, courageously, like a man.”

  Significantly these were the very first public remarks given by Putin after the Tuesday election. The Russian leader emphasized that Trump’s campaign promises to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war “deserve attention”. Putin further highlighted Trump’s desire to improve relations with Moscow as a major plus as part of the remarks.

  

  “It seems to me, it deserves attention what was said about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to help end the Ukrainian crisis,” Putin said. “I have always said that we will work with any head of state who has the trust of the American people.”

  Without doubt, these mark the warmest words issued by Putin regarding the spiraling US relationship in years, and certainly the most positive remarks since the invasion of February 2022. Rhetoric between Moscow and Washington have over the course of the war up to now been marked by severe accusations and even veiled nuclear threats.

  And importantly, Putin signaled he might speak to Trump, per state media:

  Putin congratulated Trump on his win, and said that he is open to a phone call with the president-elect. “It wouldn’t be beneath me to call him myself,” Putin added.

  The US-President elect has in turn told NBC the following:

  President-elect Donald Trump said that Vladimir Putin wasn’t among the “probably” 70 phone conversations he has held with world leaders since winning the election, but that he still is planning to speak with the Russian president, according to NBC News. 

  “I think we’ll speak,” Trump told NBC, Thursday, the news organization said. 

  This type of positive dialogue while the Ukraine war rages was unthinkable under the Biden-Harris administration, and for that reason the Kremlin was very closely watching the US election.

  Interestingly, despite their recent subtle tensions, Ukraine’s Zelensky and President-elect Trump have spoken in the wake of the landslide election victory. Trump confirmed to NBC that Zelensky was among the congratulatory phone calls from world leaders he’s received so far since Tuesday.

  President Zelensky also issued a congratulatory statement on X, expressing hope he could work with Trump to implement “peace through strength” and that his country was “interested in developing mutually beneficial political and economic cooperation that will benefit both of our nations.”

  Ukrainian soldiers SHOOT a mannequin wearing a TRUMP SHIRT.

  Are they upset that American funds will end?pic.twitter.com/1Ic86hcddf

  — Resist the Mainstream (@ResisttheMS) November 7, 2024

  However, following this, in a Thursday press briefing, Zelensky sought to pour cold water on the potential for a quick peace:

  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy poured cold water Thursday on a plan by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to strike a rapid peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow, arguing it would amount to a “loss” for Ukraine.

  “I believe that President Trump really wants a quick decision” to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, Zelenskyy told journalists in Budapest. “He wants that. It doesn’t mean that it will happen this way.”

  He complained that a rapid ceasefire would be tantamount to “preparation to ruin and destroy our independence.” Below are more of Zelensky’s words aimed at Trump, revealing serious tensions remain, given in Budapest:

  “He [Trump] wants this war to be finished,” Zelenskyy said through an interpreter. “We all want to end this war, but a fair ending … If it is very fast, it’s going to be a loss for Ukraine.”

  The Ukrainian leader also responded to an appeal from Hungarian strongman Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, issued minutes earlier from the same stage, for a rapid ceasefire deal between the two warring camps.

  “I heard that it’s better to implement a ceasefire and then, ‘we’ll see,’” Zelenskyy said, referring to Orbán’s comments. “[A] ceasefire was tried back in 2014. We tried to reach this ceasefire and we lost Crimea and then we had the full-scale invasion.”

  But for several months as Ukrainian forces have suffered a string of defeats in Donetsk, putting the Russian army on the brink of capturing the strategic city of Pokrovsk, there have been signs that behind the scenes Western diplomats have actually been increasing the pressure on Kiev to find an exit strategy – sooner rather than later. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 18:00

• 2028
  2028

  Authored by Thomas Buckley via ‘The Point’ substack,

  So, well, now that’s over, let’s look at the 2028 presidential race.

  If you are polite, you just swore in your head – if you’re normal, you did it out loud.

  But sometimes we like to torture our readers, so let’s look ahead four years, shall we?

  

  On the Democrat side of the aisle:

  First, I wonder how one says “neener neener” in each of the world’s 7,000 languages?

  Mean, but I think we all deserve a football spike or two after the last four years.

  Donald Trump is the happiest person in the country today, the 73 or so million people who voted for him are a close second, and in a very close third is Gavin Newsom.

  It can only be assumed that the his Plumpjack (such a creepy name) wine flowed very freely last night at whichever house Gavin and the First Partner were at.  Donald Trump just did Newsom a huge favor – he vanquished the one person who could have absolutely guaranteed he couldn’t run for president at least 2032 and by that time – let’s face it: the boyish charm will have worn off a bit and the oil slick oin his head will be a bit grey and those are his two “best”  electoral qualities so, phewww.

  With her out of the way, Newsom now has a clear path to the nomination.  The national media will fawn over him and try to convince the rest of the country that California is not actually as much of a third world basket case as and if it is it’s, um, Ronald Reagan’s fault.

  Last night’s results also means that Newsom will tack to the middle for the next two years as governor, desperately trying to rub the progressive stink off of himself.  Not that that’s really great, but – for California – it’s better than nothing as he may turn back some of the most egregiously silly ideas the legislature tries to foist upon the state.

  Case in point, Newsom issued a statement yesterday that he will “work with” the new administration.

  One serious downside for Newsom did emerge last night – the nation’s opinion of the state.  That will be tough to overcome, hence one can expect the aforementioned policy shifts.

  As for Newsom’s potential competition, let’s start with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.  True, Kamala lost his state but that is not at all on him, as it were.  In fact, it seems she did him a favor by passing him over for the veep spot on the ticket.

  Of course she only settled on the rolling dough of goofball that is/was Tim Walz (note to Democrats: stopping nominating chubby white guys named Tim to be vice president,  it just doesn’t work) because Shapiro is Jewish. 

  There is no other reason, no matter what she has claimed.  She simply could not have a dastardly colonizing rapacious JEW on her ticket, what with her base being so rabidly anti-Semitic (not anti-Israel, just straight up anti-Semitic.)

  If the relatively moderate Shapiro holds Pennsylvania together for the next few years – which will be made easier by Donald Trump’s labor and energy policies, to be honest – he will be very strongly positioned for 2028 as the saner alternative to Newsom.

  Then we have Illinois Gov. J.B Pritzker, but he has some very heavy baggage.  First, he looks like a Thomas Nast caricature of an evil Gilded Age plutocrat/corrupt politician.

  Take a look:

  

  And now Pritzker:

  

  He is also in charge of one of the most poorly run, brokest, and corrupt states in the country that has outmigration numbers that give California a run for its money.  And Chicago has more murders than pretty much anywhere.

  In other words, he does not have the charm to try to cover things like that up like Newsom does.

  True, he’s a zillionaire (richer than Trump, actually) but it is inherited wealth (hotels) and his other trust fund relatives have done some absurdly woke things with their share of the money.  His cousin Jennifer – it used to be James –gave a $2 million donation to create the world’s first endowed academic chair of transgender studies, at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.

  Oh, and here she/he/whatever is:

  

  Kudos for her military service when she was a guy and her continuing support of veteran’s causes but, well, yikes.  Fat old white guys should not wear dresses.

  Case in point, Admiral Rachel Levine:

  

  Speaking of women, there’s Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.  Personally, I’m baffled by her appeal and why she is constantly touted as the Democrats “next big thing,” and that even before her Flamin’ Hot Eucharist stunt.

  

  Oh, and here’s the link to the vid: https://x.com/i/status/1844449775992893861

  She’s very controlling and privileged – her record during the pandemic could be the poster child for “rules for thee, not for me,” although she did get pretty lit at a football game so I’ll give her that.

  And then you have Pete Buttigieg – he’s gay, ya’ know – and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore – he’s black, ya’ know – and then a bunch of other folks who will give it a shot.

  And many others – except Kamala, lol – will give it a shot for it is a rather rare occurrence that a nomination for either party is completely wide open.

  On the Republican side, it’s Vice President Presumptive J.D. Vance’s race to lose.

  Trump cannot run again, so that opens up the nomination.  And short of Trump nuking Canada and/or appointing Mike Pence as his Chief of Staff, Vance is the very very odds-on favorite.

  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could have thought about challenging for 2028, but he made the huuuuge mistake of running for president this time around.  And his campaign was a pathetic disaster, so that’s strike two through eleven.

  Other than that, at this moment there is no alternative to Vance for the Republicans.

  But another issue that will be extremely important in the run up to 2028 will be what the Democrats do internally.

  No changes in California – they have 147 legislators out of 120, of course – but in the national arena.

  Tuesday’s results must show the party that it is utterly out of touch and that when it does try to touch people it can only be described a “BAD touch!!”

  But if the Democrats try to move to the center-ish they will have to deal with the lunatics they have let run the asylum.

  Gaza.  Trans.  DEI.  Government unions.  Speech codes.  Greenaholism.  Microaggressions.  And on and on…

  The party has based its existence over the past few years, as well as much of its funding, on those very things. 

  To paraphrase supporters of Joe Biden in 2020, they have let the children run the room.

  And now the regular Democrats – who obviated their responsibility –  have to give them a spanking and that is going to be difficult.  I mean, you have people on the loony left of the party that refer to being “pro-life” as being part of “the forced birth movement.”

  The wokerati – who bitch and moan about everything anyway – will not go gently into that good night.

  And whiny. And squirmy.  And howly.  And ragey.

  But it will be fun to watch.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 17:40

• Worse Off Now? Real Wages Have Declined Since Nov. 2020
  Worse Off Now? Real Wages Have Declined Since Nov. 2020

  “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

  Any incumbent president seeking re-election is faced with this political litmus test.

  A test that Kamala Harris, as the de-facto incumbent, apparently failed to pass.

  As Statista’s Felix Richter reports, according to exit polls, 46 percent of voters in key states said that their family was worse off now than it was four years ago, the highest ever in presidential exit polls. But is that really true or are we seeing what some economists described as a “vibecession”, i.e. an overly negative perception of an economy that is doing alright?

  While the U.S. economy has come through the inflation crisis relatively unscathed, with robust growth, low unemployment and high stock prices, many American families have not.

  Or at least it hasn’t felt that way.

  The main problem with inflation is the fact that it hits consumers right where it hurts: the wallet.

  In times of high inflation, when prices increase faster than nominal wages, real wages go down, meaning that workers see (and feel) the purchasing power of their income decline.

  During the current inflation crisis, this has been the case from April 2021 to April 2023, when average real hourly earnings declined for 25 consecutive months on a year-over-year basis. In May 2023, real wages began to rise again as nominal wage growth outpaced inflation once again as it normally should.

  By looking at cumulative wage growth and price increases since November 2020, we can at least try to answer the question of whether or not Americans are better off than they were four years ago and the answer is: not really.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  Between November 2020 and September 2024, nominal wages increased 19.2 percent on aggregate.

  During the same time, consumer prices have surged by 20.6 percent, though, meaning that prices hikes have erased any wage growth and left real wages 1.1 percent short off where they were four years ago.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 17:20

• The Dam Has Burst, The Floodgates Of Liberty Just Opened
  The Dam Has Burst, The Floodgates Of Liberty Just Opened

  Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance

  On Tuesday night, the country decided to take drastic measures to steer back toward the center of the aisle and common sense. At the same time, the populace delivered a fatal blow to the unholy alliance between the Democratic Party and the mainstream media, both of whom will now be forced to consider massive overhauls to the strategies they have employed over the last decade if they want a chance of being relevant over the next decade.

  Everyone knows the election was a decisive victory for Donald Trump, so there is no need to rehash the ins and outs of the numbers. Trump very clearly has a mandate, and with Republicans picking up Senate seats they were widely expected to secure back in 2022 but didn’t, American citizens have now made one of the boldest statements in the country’s history.

  My regular readers know that I wrote days ago about how a Trump win would spell the death of the mainstream media. But this victory goes far beyond that.

  Democrats thought they could compensate for a lack of merit and substance in their hand-picked candidate by doubling down on baseless inflammatory rhetoric, posturing as though they held the moral high ground, and resorting to their time-tested strategies of race hustling and identity politics.

  After all, Harris rose to the candidacy for president without any notable merit-based wins. She was crushed in the 2020 Democratic primary and was picked for vice president—admittedly by Joe Biden—only because she was a woman of color. And last night, the country’s “free market” of voters sent Democrats a reminder that meritocracy still rules the roost.

  Because Harris was such a grossly incompetent and downright phony candidate, the media’s efforts to cover for her were Herculean. This wasn’t a case of some slight liberal bias over the last few months; instead it was full-scale outright lying, deceptive editing of Harris’ interview responses, blatant, one-sided fact-checking that often ignored the facts, and a nonstop 24-hour cycle painting Donald Trump as the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler.

  

  As the British would say, the media “over-egged the pudding.” And then set the house on fire by leaving the oven on.

  In doing so, they not only laid bare their agenda and the deep threads connecting the media machine to the Democratic Party, but they also sacrificed what was left of their credibility after half a decade of hoaxes, outright lies, and biased journalism. In other words, if the media were a poker player with a dwindling chip stack, it just went all-in—and got smoked by pocket aces.

  The irony isn’t lost on me. The media took a blowtorch to the rest of its credibility, preaching about “defending democracy,” only to run cover for a candidate who never earned one primary vote.

  In hindsight, even the most delusional consultants in whatever focus group the Democrats have been using will be forced to recognize the blatantly disastrous nature of this campaign. Had they chosen any other candidate, the Democrats could have won. If they’d picked someone like Josh Shapiro as vice president, they could have won. If Harris could even recite three or four memorized 30 second lines that hinted at policy ideas with any coherence, they could have won.

  But instead, they relied on the media to paint public-relations lipstick on the pig of their campaign, hoping to save it — and America got wise to the scam.

  And now, post-election, both the media and Democrats are back at square one.

  Democrats have alienated a significant portion of the center-right, center, and center-left due to their pandering to the radical left and bizarre ideological positions. Meanwhile, the media has lost another huge segment of viewership and portion of the public trust. And the trust that has been eroded between the media and Democrats with the American public over the last four years will take a very, very long time to rebuild.

  ---

  🔥 50% OFF FOR LIFE: Using this coupon entitles you to 50% off an annual subscription to Fringe Finance for as long as you wish: Get 50% off forever

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  This is why I take the trust my readers place in me so seriously — and why I’m so appreciative of their support. Not just because at the end of the day I’m only seeking the objective truth, but because in a media subscription model (especially in finance) you can sheer the sheep of your viewers many times but only skin them once. This election cycle, the mainstream media skinned the trust of the American people for all the world to see. And they got the exact opposite result they intended for.

  I hinted over the past month that a decisive GOP victory would be more than just a win. I wrote last week that it would be a bold statement at a time when the country needed it most. Our nation has never been so stifled by dangerous, counterintuitive, and far left radical ideas and media coverage as it has been over the past five to ten years. To quote Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting, “Liberty is the soul’s right to breathe. And when I cannot take a long breath, laws are girdled too tight.”

  Never has our nation needed a massive gasp of fresh air more than it did going into last night. And that’s why I believe this mandate isn’t merely about four years of undoing the damage done by Democrats in their most recent term. Rather, it signals a potentially new golden age—a renaissance for our nation. Since Ron Paul’s campaign in 2008, there has been a growing faction in the U.S. that has fought for liberty, smaller government, lower taxes, reduced regulation, peace and fiscal responsibility.

  These are ideologies that don’t just fade over the course of four years, and now that they are firmly planted in this Trump administration and its Unity Party, they may remain a powerful force in the U.S. for decades, well beyond this administration.

  Thank you again for your trust and for supporting my work. 

  

  QTR’s Disclaimer: Please read my full legal disclaimer on my About page here. This post represents my opinions only. In addition, please understand I am an idiot and often get things wrong and lose money. I may own or transact in any names mentioned in this piece at any time without warning. Contributor posts and aggregated posts have been hand selected by me, have not been fact checked and are the opinions of their authors. They are either submitted to QTR by their author, reprinted under a Creative Commons license with my best effort to uphold what the license asks, or with the permission of the author.

  This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks or securities, just my opinions. I often lose money on positions I trade/invest in. I may add any name mentioned in this article and sell any name mentioned in this piece at any time, without further warning. None of this is a solicitation to buy or sell securities. I may or may not own names I write about and are watching. Sometimes I’m bullish without owning things, sometimes I’m bearish and do own things. Just assume my positions could be exactly the opposite of what you think they are just in case. All positions can change immediately as soon as I publish this, with or without notice and at any point I can be long, short or neutral on any position. You are on your own. Do not make decisions based on my blog. I exist on the fringe. The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided in this page. These are not the opinions of any of my employers, partners, or associates. I did my best to be honest about my disclosures but can’t guarantee I am right; I write these posts after a couple beers sometimes. I edit after my posts are published because I’m impatient and lazy, so if you see a typo, check back in a half hour. Also, I just straight up get shit wrong a lot. I mention it twice because it’s that important.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 17:00

• "You Don't Deserve Any Respect!": Steve Bannon Goes Scorched Earth On Democrats On Election Night Livestream
  “You Don’t Deserve Any Respect!”: Steve Bannon Goes Scorched Earth On Democrats On Election Night Livestream

  Steve Bannon took to his livestream on election day, just hours after leaving prison for contempt of congress charges, to offer up his take on the landslide victory President Trump was in the midst of at the time.

  Speaking about Democrats, Bannon exclaimed:

  “You stole the 2020 election. You’ve mocked and ridiculed and put people in prison and broken people’s lives because you said this thing was stolen. This entire phony thing is getting swept out. Biden’s getting swept out. Kamala Harris is getting swept out.” 

  “MSNBC is getting swept out. The Justice Department [DOJ] is getting swept out. The FBI is getting swept out. You people suck, okay? And now you’re going to pay the price for trying to destroy this country.” 

  “And we’re going to get to the bottom of where are the 600,000 votes. You manufactured them to steal this election from President Trump in 2020,” Bannon exclaimed.

  “Think of where the country would be if we hadn’t gone through the last 4 years of your madness. You don’t deserve any respect, you don’t deserve any empathy and you don’t deserve any pity,” he said.

  Bannon is on FIRE 🔥🔥🔥

  JUSTICE IS COMING! pic.twitter.com/ZcA8FIN62H

  — Patri0tsareinContr0l (@Patri0tContr0l) November 6, 2024

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

  “And if anybody gives it to you it’s Donald J. Trump because he’s got a big heart and he’s a good man. A good man you’re going to still try and put in prison on the 26th of this month, this is how much you people suck,” Bannon said. 

  “You tried to destroy his business and he came back in the greatest show of political courage in world history,” Bannon exclaimed. “What he has done is a profile in courage.”

  “No one speaks for the President but the president, and what the president said and as he said it last night on the stage is that he’s going to be a president for everybody, and we’ve got an opportunity right now to unify the country to bring this country back together,” Lewandowski, a senior adviser on Trump’s 2024 campaign, responded to The Hill. 

  “Listen, there’s going to be a lot of hyperbole out there; there’s going to be a lot of people saying they know Donald Trump or speak for him,” he said. “Unless you hear it from Donald Trump, you don’t have to listen to what these other people say.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 16:40

• Harris Was Always Doomed
  Harris Was Always Doomed

  Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

  The presidential race was not unpredictable, as the now once again discredited polls swore to us.

  

  Instead, the great Trump comeback victory was clear by the last weeks of the campaign.

  The Republicans had made massive gains in voter registrations since 2020, when Trump had lost the Electoral College by only a few thousand strategically placed votes.

  Republicans began to master the transition to non-Election Day balloting—first engineered by the left in 2020 under the pretext of COVID.

  They not only vastly exceeded their early/mail-in voting totals of 2020, but by Election Day, they often outpaced Democrats.

  For months, it was widely reported, albeit grudgingly, that there were large defections in Hispanic and African American voters from Harris.

  The betting odds over the last three weeks usually favored Trump.

  Harris simply could not run on anything she had so emphatically promoted in the past – given these left-wing, unpopular, and failed policies had no majority support.

  So, the chameleon Harris renounced her prior 30 years of earlier radical advocacies that, along with her race and gender, had forced Joe Biden in 2020 to select her as vice president.

  There was no way Harris could still support banning fracking, defunding police, opposing border security and the wall, or calling for mass amnesties and an end to the border patrol.

  Nor could Harris still promote racial reparations, ending private health care insurance, or advocating for higher income and capital gains taxes and a wealth tax.

  Much less could Harris still boast of wanting mandatory “buyback” or confiscation of some semi-automatic weapons—including entering private homes to seize them.

  So given all that, Harris simply flipped—and serially lied about who she was, renouncing her entire political career.

  Indeed, Harris began to copycat Trump’s own positions.

  And so, she never convinced the electorate that she would not flip back to her earlier radicalism once elected or even in defeat finishing out her vice presidential term.

  There were three damning realities that even if Harris had been a gifted politician and an adept speaker, she could never have changed.

  One, Harris was preposterously running as a turn-the-page, new-generation candidate.

  But why had she not sought to implement such a “new chapter” for the prior 45 months as an incumbent vice president, especially while in office during the campaign itself?

  Voters knew the answer: the entire Biden-Harris tenure was a far left-wing utter disaster, one for which the radical Harris 1.0 had for three-plus years claimed co-ownership.

  Two, why did Harris avoid all impromptu interviews and the media for most of the campaign—only to reverse course and seek out reporters when her polls eroded?

  Did it hurt Harris more to avoid the media—or meet with them and thus confirm her inanity to millions of viewers and listeners?

  Three, why did Harris serially lie to America that Joe Biden was hale and vigorous—until hours before his senility prompted leftist donors and party insiders to force him off the ticket?

  And why could she not declare her independence from the historically unpopular Biden?

  Harris instead chose to terrify voters to vote against a demonized and “fascist” Trump rather than to vote for Harris and her make-believe agendas.

  But even in demonizing Trump, the maladroit Harris hit a wall.

  By campaign’s end, Trump’s favorables were often higher than her own.

  His prior four years as president polled higher than the current Biden-Harris train wreck.

  Trump, the purported “racist,” won more Hispanic and black voters than past “moderate” Republicans like Bob Dole, John McCain or Mitt Romney.

  It was hard to damn Trump as a crazy fascist when iconic liberal figures, like Robert Kennedy or Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, were campaigning for him.

  Trump had reinvented the Republican Party by substituting ecumenical, middle-class solidarity for polarizing racial tribalism. Elitist Democrats were left to cater to the interests of their well-off and very rich donors as well as the subsidized poor.

  Finally, workaholic Donald Trump campaigned nonstop for two years, won all the primaries, and was endorsed by his two chief primary rivals.

  In contrast, the Harris “nomination” was the product of a coup that, in 48 hours, removed from the ticket an incumbent president, nullified the will of his 14 million primary voters, and coronated Harris, who had neither won nor ever entered a primary.

  That late July forced abdication of Biden lent an air of illegitimacy to Harris’s candidacy, as well as truncating the time available to campaign.

  Finally, Harris’s first major decision was to nominate as her vice president the buffoonish and inept Tim Walz. His radicalism, serial lying, and herky-jerky “weirdness” proved a force multiplier of her own mediocrity.

  In contrast, the calm, empathetic, and astute J.D. Vance eviscerated Walz in their sole debate and did the same to the media.

  Add it all up—and Harris and her star-crossed candidacy were simply and rightly doomed.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/07/2024 – 16:20

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• German Government Collapses As Mass Strikes Grind Economy To A Halt
  German Government Collapses As Mass Strikes Grind Economy To A Halt

  It’s not a good day for the establishment. Just hours after Kamala Harris – and the Democrats – staggering loss which ushered in Trump as president for the third time and gave Republicans a sweep of Congress, Germany’s three-party ruling coalition which had been on the verge of collapse for months, imploded on Wednesday evening after Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced he will fire Finance Minister Christian Lindner over persistent rifts on spending and economic reforms, a move that paves the way for a snap election at the end of March.

  

  The firing ejects Lindner’s fiscally conservative Free Democratic Party  (FDP) from the troubled coalition, forcing Scholz to call for a confidence vote that he said would take place on January 15. If Scholz loses that vote, which is virtually certain, a snap election is set to take place by March.

  The collapse of Germany’s government came just hours after Donald Trump’s clear win in the U.S. election, a result that stunned German political leaders, who depend on American military might for their country’s defense and fear Trump’s tariff policies will hobble German industry.

  “Dear fellow citizens, I would have liked to have spared you this difficult decision, especially in times like these, when uncertainty is growing,” said Scholz – viewed as the weakest German chancellor in decades – in a statement at the chancellery.

  But the rifts inside the coalition proved too great to overcome. Caught in the middle of an impossible battle, Lindner and his conservative FDP insisted that the German government stick to strict spending rules and cut taxes, even as his left-wing coalition partners wanted to maintain social spending and boost German industry through economic stimulus.

  “All too often, Minister Lindner has blocked laws in an inappropriate manner,” said Scholz in a statement. “Too often he has engaged in petty party-political tactics. Too often he has broken my trust.”

  Scholz said he had offered Lindner a deal to create an emergency fund to aid Ukraine that would exist outside Germany’s regular budget, but Lindner refused to participate in such fiscal gimmicks that saw the UK recently redefine the nature of “debt.”

  “Olaf Scholz has long failed to recognize the need for a new economic awakening in our country,” said Lindner. “He has long played down the economic concerns of our citizens.”

  As Politico reports, the FDP is the smallest party in the coalition and is now polling at only four percent — below the threshold needed to make it into the German parliament — meaning its leaders have been mulling a coalition break in order to save their political futures.

  Crisis talks in the coalition of Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, the Greens and Lindner’s Free Democratic Party had come to a head after the FDP issued a paper with demands for liberal economic reforms that were difficult for the other two parties to accept.

  Lindner’s recent policy paper, leaked to the media last week, called for tax cuts and a scaling back of climate policies in order to stimulate economic growth — both positions that put the party at odds with his coalition partners.

  Central to the coalition disagreements was the adoption of the 2025 budget by parliament in which a gap of at least €2.4 billion, and potentially far more, needs to be filled, as well as an agreement on measures to revamp the country’s ailing economy.

  The government crisis comes at the worst possible time: Trump’s victory, which anticipates imposing significant tariffs on German exports, is expected to put heavy pressure on Europe’s largest economy. An analysis from the German Economic Institute (IW) estimates that a new trade war could cost Germany €180 billion over Trump’s four years in office.

  Many in Germany had hoped that the victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. election earlier in the day would force the coalition to hold together over fears that the incoming president would give Europe’s biggest economy a hard ride, targeting its all-important car industry in a trade war.

  Ultimately, however, not even the looming threat of Trump proved enough for the fractious parties to put aside their differences.

  Sensing that the economy is about to go from bad to much worse, last Tuesday – amid mounting concern about the imminent collapse of the EU’s largest manufacturing economy – Germany’s giant trade union IG Metall launched strikes in the nation’s metal and electrical industries in an attempt to win higher wages. According to the tabloid Bild, employees began walking off the job during the night shift, including at Volkswagen’s plant in the city of Osnabruck, where workers worry the plant may be closed.

  Elsewhere, around 200 employees of the battery manufacturer Clarios went on strike in Hanover, Lower Saxony, carrying torches and union flags, the outlet wrote.

  Meanwhile, in Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, around 400 employees, including those at Jensen GmbH, KSM Castings Group, Robert Bosch, Waggonbau Graaff and ZF CV Systems Hannover, have reportedly halted operations.

  Protests are also expected at BMW and Audi plants in Bavaria. Work is to be stopped nationwide during the course of the day, the tabloid wrote.

  ”The fact that production lines are now at a standstill and offices are empty is the responsibility of the employers,” IG Metall’s negotiator and district manager Thorsten Groger stated, as quoted by Deutsche Welle.

  IG Metall is demanding a 7% pay raise compared to the 3.6% raise over a period of 27 months offered by employers’ associations, due to soaring inflation. The companies call such demands unrealistic.

  The mass strikes come as Volkswagen announced on Monday it would close “at least” three of its ten plants in Germany, lay off tens of thousands of staff and downsize remaining plants in the country. The measures are part of a cost-cutting drive, the conglomerate said earlier. Oliver Blume, chief executive of the VW Group, has cited a “difficult economic environment” and “failing competitiveness of the German economy” as factors behind the decision.

  The German Association of the Automotive Industry warned last year that the country was “dramatically losing its international competitiveness” due to soaring energy costs.

  A recent survey by the VDA auto industry association suggested that the reshuffling of the German car industry could lead to 186,000 job losses by 2035, roughly a quarter of which have already occurred.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 23:25

• Cutting Sugar In First 1,000 Days Of Life Reduces Late-Adulthood Disease Risk
  Cutting Sugar In First 1,000 Days Of Life Reduces Late-Adulthood Disease Risk

  Authored by Rachel Ann T. Melegrito via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  A low-sugar diet in utero and within the first two years of life can meaningfully reduce the risk of chronic diseases in adulthood, a new study finds.

  

  Researchers determined that a low-sugar diet during the first 1,000 days after conception lowered the child’s risk of diabetes and hypertension in adulthood by 35 percent and 20 percent, respectively, and delayed disease onset by four and two years. Eating sugar in the first two years of one’s life directly shapes a person’s long-term health risks, the findings suggest.

  “We all want to improve our health and give our children the best start in life, and reducing added sugar early is a powerful step in that direction,” Tadeja Gracner, corresponding author and senior economist at the University of Southern California (USC) Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research, told The Epoch Times.

  Dietary Experiences From Rationing: A Natural Scientific Experiment

  Researchers from USC, McGill University, and the University of California–Berkeley studied how early-life sugar restrictions affect the risk of diabetes and hypertension later in life by comparing people conceived before and after the United Kingdom’s WWII food rationing program, which limited sugar intake from 1942 to 1953. The rationing program controlled the distribution of essential goods to ensure fair access for everyone during wartime shortages.

  Those conceived shortly before rationing ended had mothers and early-life diets with low sugar intake, while those conceived after had more sugar in their early environment.

  During the rationing period, people only consumed about 8 teaspoons (40 grams) of sugar daily, which falls within today’s dietary guidelines.

  However, as soon as rationing ended, people’s sugar and sweets intake immediately shot up to almost 16 teaspoons (80 grams) per day. This increase is partly attributed to a rise in canned and dried fruit intake and a surge in sugar and sweets sales during the post-rationing period.

  Early Life Nutrition Affects Adult Health

  The study found that children exposed to rationing, both after conception and in early life, had a one-third reduced risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and hypertension when compared to those with little or no exposure to rationing.

  Previous research has shown that the first 1,000 days from conception, including pregnancy (270 days) and the first two years of life, represent a critical window for fetal development.

  “This period has been extensively studied and been shown as one of the most important developmental periods for several long-term outcomes,” said Gracner in an email.

  The study references the “fetal origins hypothesis,” which suggests that a person’s risk of disease later in life is influenced by their experience inside the womb. When a fetus detects cues from the mother’s health—like poor nutrition—it makes adjustments to help it survive, such as changing how it uses energy and responds to hormones.

  These adaptations can form “set points” that continue into adulthood. For example, if a fetus adapts to poor nutrition by slowing its metabolism, this slower metabolic rate can become a lasting set point, influencing how efficiently the body uses energy throughout life.

  Additionally, infancy and toddlerhood are identified as “crucial periods for developing a taste for sweets (or even addiction) that can elevate sugar consumption throughout life,” the authors wrote.

  “While humans generally like sweet taste, significant sugar exposure in early life can strengthen this preference,” Gracner said.

  In their current work, her team finds supporting evidence of this pattern. “We found that adults who experienced sugar rationing consume less added sugar into their midlife compared to those who never experienced rationing,” she added.

  While a mother’s low-sugar diet offered some protection, the reduced risk of development and delayed onset of chronic diseases were most pronounced when babies continued to experience a low-sugar environment beyond six months, typically when solid foods are introduced.

  While maternal nutrition during pregnancy contributed one-third of the risk reduction, adding postnatal exposure to sugar rationing (up to one year) led to significantly greater reductions in disease risk. This effect was even more pronounced when rationing continued for over a year, especially for females. This may be because, as animal studies suggest, females are more likely to develop sugar addiction and poor glucose control in high-sugar environments, both of which increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

  For those whose sugar exposure was restricted only in utero, Type 2 diabetes onset in older adulthood was delayed by about 1.5 years, and hypertension by half a year. However, people restricted both in utero and beyond one year postnatally had much longer delays: around four years for Type 2 diabetes and two years for hypertension.

  This suggests that an infant’s early solid-food diet may have an even more significant impact on health outcomes than maternal nutrition during pregnancy. However, this hypothesis could not be thoroughly tested due to insufficient data regarding early-life and maternal diets in the UK Biobank, Gracner noted.

  Read the rest here…

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 23:00

• Florida Rejects Measure To Make Abortion A Right
  Florida Rejects Measure To Make Abortion A Right

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

  A fierce battle over the legality of abortion in Florida came to a head on Nov. 5, when the state’s voters became the first in the nation to reject a push to enshrine abortion in the state’s constitution since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.

  

  After overcoming multiple legal challenges to secure its spot on Florida’s general election ballot, Amendment 4 failed to clear the final obstacle to its passage: the voters.

  A 60 percent majority was required for the measure’s adoption. At 9 p.m. on election night with 91 percent of the vote in, the measure had received 57 percent of the vote.

  The amendment sought to establish a right to abortion until fetal viability—the point at which a baby can survive outside the womb—or at any time if deemed necessary to protect the mother’s health by a “healthcare provider.”

  Its adoption would have nullified the state’s six-week abortion law, which took effect in May. That law states that abortion is illegal once a pregnancy passes the six-week mark. The law includes limited exceptions for situations involving rape, incest, human trafficking, or a serious threat to the mother’s physical health.

  Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser celebrated the voters’ decision in a statement.

  “The demise of pro-abortion Amendment 4 is a momentous victory for life in Florida and for our entire country,” Dannenfelser said. “Thanks to Gov. Ron DeSantis, when we wake up tomorrow, babies with beating hearts will still be protected in the free state of Florida.”

  DeSantis fought hard against the ballot amendment, arguing that its broad language failed to define the specific conditions under which an abortion could be performed, and by whom.

  He also held that the law would undo existing parental consent requirements for minors seeking abortions, bar the state from enacting regulations to protect pregnant women, and effectively allow for abortion up until the moment of birth.

  “This Amendment 4, this is an intentional deception on the public,” DeSantis said at an Oct. 30 press conference in Clearwater, surrounded by a group of doctors who opposed the amendment.

  Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody made the same arguments in challenging the amendment’s validity before the state’s Supreme Court. The court found those arguments unconvincing and approved the measure for the ballot.

  Floridians Protecting Freedom, the yes campaign for the amendment, sued the Florida Health Department over its attempts to stop TV stations from airing ads supporting the measure that state officials said misrepresented the state’s current law.

  A ruling has yet to be issued in the case.

  Yes on 4 Campaign Director Lauren Brenzel criticized the state’s opposition to Amendment 4 in an Oct. 16 statement.

  “The State cannot coerce television stations into removing political speech from the airwaves in an attempt to keep their abortion ban in place,” Brenzel said.

  The amendment faced another obstacle in the final weeks of the election: allegations of fraud.

  The state’s Office of Election Crimes and Security alleged that the petition’s circulators forged signatures to secure the amendment’s placement on the ballot. Law enforcement is reportedly investigating 60 individuals in connection with the case.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 22:35

• Trump Has Sweeping Plans For His 2nd Administration: Here's What He Has Proposed
  Trump Has Sweeping Plans For His 2nd Administration: Here’s What He Has Proposed

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

  Projected President-elect Donald Trump has made a number of sweeping proposals for a second term in office, outlining a wide-ranging agenda that targets federal regulations, taxes, immigration, and social issues.

  

  As of Wednesday morning, The Associated Press projected that Trump is the winner of the election after securing enough electoral votes over his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris.

  Early Wednesday, the former president and president-elect claimed victory in the 2024 presidential contest, telling supporters that voters had given him an “unprecedented and powerful mandate.” Early projections show that Trump may win not only the Electoral College but also the popular vote, something he’s never done in his previous two campaigns.

  Immigration

  Since 2015, Trump has made curbing illegal immigration a cornerstone of his campaigns. As president, he built or reconstructed about 400 miles of border barrier along the U.S.–Mexico border and implemented a number of rules curbing illegal migration into the country.

  During the campaign, Trump often said that he would initiate the largest “mass deportation” effort in U.S. history if elected. Recently, he also warned Mexico that he would impose a 25 percent tariff targeting the country if it fails to curb illegal immigration and that he would raise that tariff if Mexico doesn’t comply.

  Also, he’s suggested more enhanced screenings for immigrants, ending birthright citizenship—which may require a constitutional amendment—and reimposing certain policies enacted during his first term such as the “remain in Mexico” protocol.

  Tom Homan, a former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) who is expected to join the new administration, told media outlets last year that the scale of deportations depends on what resources are available.

  During a “60 Minutes” interview in October, Homan was asked about whether families would be separated. Homan responded, “Families can be deported together.”

  Vice President-elect JD Vance said in his debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Oct. 1 that deporting criminals would be a second Trump administration’s initial focus.

  “You’ve got to reimplement Donald Trump’s border policies, build the wall, reimplement deportations,” Vance said, adding that the United States has 20 to 25 million illegal immigrants in the country.

  “What do we do with them? I think the first thing that we do is we start with the criminal migrants.”

  Taxes and Regulations

  Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump has promised to curb federal regulations that he said would limit the creation of new U.S. jobs. He also has pledged to keep intact a 2017 tax cut that he supported and signed while in office.

  His team has also proposed a further round of individual and corporate tax cuts beyond those initiated in his first term.

  Trump has pledged to reduce the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 15 percent for companies that make their products in the United States. In a bid to win Nevada, Trump earlier this year pledged to end the taxation of tips and overtime wages to aid some service workers and waiters.

  He has pledged not to tax or cut Social Security benefits. Trump also has said that as president, he would pressure the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates but wouldn’t make any demands on the central bank.

  Some of his proposals would require congressional action. As of Wednesday morning, the GOP is projected to retake the Senate, but the picture around the House is murkier.

  Tariffs

  In multiple campaign stops this year, Trump floated the idea of a 10 percent or more tariff on all goods imported into the United States, which he said would eliminate the country’s trade deficit.

  He has also said he should have the authority to set higher tariffs on countries that have put tariffs on U.S. imports. He has threatened to impose a 200 percent tariff on some imported cars, saying he is determined in particular to keep cars from Mexico from coming into the country.

  Trump has targeted China in particular. He proposes phasing out Chinese imports of goods such as electronics, steel, and pharmaceuticals over four years. He seeks to prohibit Chinese companies from owning U.S. real estate and infrastructure in the energy and tech sectors.

  “To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is ‘tariffs,’” Trump said in an interview with John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, in October. “It’s my favorite word.”

  He added at the time, “You see these empty, old, beautiful steel mills and factories that are empty and falling down,” referring to facilities that used to make goods in the United States.

  “We’re going to bring the companies back. We’re going to lower taxes for companies that are going to make their products in the USA. And we’re going to protect those companies with strong tariffs,” Trump said.

  Micklethwait said that some economists have projected that the former president’s economic policies, including tariffs, could add trillions to the U.S. deficit. But Trump said that a number of countries, including “allies” have “taken advantage of us, more so than our enemies. ”

  More Drilling

  The former president said that he wants to cut federal regulations on drilling for oil and natural gas, a move that he says would lower energy costs and inflation. In multiple instances, Trump said he would reauthorize drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, which was suspended under the Biden administration.

  Meanwhile, he would pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords, a worldwide plan that claims to reduce carbon emissions. Trump also said he would roll back some federal policies around electric vehicles.

  In his campaign, Trump has often said that gas prices were much lower under his administration than they have been under the Biden administration. He has suggested that prices would again fall when he takes office.

  “When I left office … gasoline had reached $1.87 a gallon. We actually had many months where it was lower than that,” Trump told reporters over the summer. “But we hit $1.87, which was a perfect place, an absolutely beautiful number.”

  According to AAA, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline stands at around $3.10. The highest recorded average price for a gallon was on June 14, 2022, when it reached $5.01, AAA figures show.

  The federal Energy Information Administration’s data show that the average annual price for a gallon of gasoline did not exceed $3 under the first Trump administration.

  Social Policies

  Trump has pledged to require U.S. colleges and universities to “defend American tradition and Western civilization” and to purge them of diversity and inclusion programs, which he and Republicans have said are leftist in nature.

  He said he would direct the Justice Department to pursue civil rights cases against schools that engage in racial discrimination. At K–12 schools, Trump would support programs allowing parents to use public funds for private or religious instruction. Trump also wants to abolish the federal Department of Education and leave states in control of schooling.

  Regarding abortion, Trump has said that a federal ban on abortion is not needed and that the issue should be resolved by states. He’s also said he backs rules that advance in vitro fertilization, birth control, and prenatal care.

  In campaign events and interviews, Trump has been critical of schools allowing transgender individuals to compete in women’s sports, saying that he would impose a ban on such practices.

  “It’s a man playing in the game,” Trump said at an October town hall event. “Look at what’s happened in swimming. Look at the records that are being broken.”

  Reuters contributed to this report.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 21:45

• Toyota To Make Additional Investments In Hybrid EVs In The U.S.
  Toyota To Make Additional Investments In Hybrid EVs In The U.S.

  While the push toward EV mandates has likely taken a massive detour thanks to the election of President Trump, it still doesn’t mean hybrid vehicles (as opposed to totally battery operated vehicles) won’t continue their popularity.

  Hybrids have emerged over the last few years as the obvious choice for auto buyers looking for the benefits of EV range with the reliability that comes from traditional ICE vehicles.

  And the proof of hybrid adoption is clear. While EV investment has been cut by major legacy automakers, companies like Toyota are working on investing in and expanding their hybrid production in the U.S.

  In fact, Toyota Motor is considering further investments in North America for EV and hybrid battery production, potentially including a new factory, to strengthen its local supply chain for increased electrified vehicle output, according to Nikkei.

  

  Sean Suggs, president of Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina, said that if demand persists, “we may need to consider building more [production capacity], and that may include a different site.”

  “We are going to let the customer drive how much we go forward with,” he added.

  Toyota is already investing $13.9 billion in its North Carolina plant, now under construction. Suggs added that future investments depend on customer demand and industry trends over the next five to ten years.

  Nikkei reports that Toyota aims to raise the share of electrified vehicle sales in North America from 50% to 80% by 2030, with local battery production helping reduce costs. Production of hybrid batteries at Toyota’s North Carolina plant is set for early 2025, with trial production for EV and plug-in hybrid batteries following in late 2025 and 2026, respectively.

  Despite an 11% rise in U.S. EV sales in recent months, they still make up less than 10% of new-car sales. Toyota’s first U.S. EV plant in Kentucky is likely delayed from 2025 to early 2026.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 21:20

• Restoring The Warrior Ethos To The Trump Military
  Restoring The Warrior Ethos To The Trump Military

  Authored by ‘Cynical Publius’ via American Greatness,

  As a second Trump term becomes possible (or even likely), the literary world of military pundits is ablaze with articles, recommendations, and ideas on how to reform the Department of Defense (DoD) in a second Trump Administration.

  As a retired U.S. Army colonel, I am encouraged to see such thoughtful analyses and deeply hope a new Trump Administration takes heed of these many excellent recommendations. However, one area of concern for which I have seen little commentary is how to halt the deep institutional rot associated with what I call the “civilianization” of America’s military. The military forces of the United States of America exist first and foremost to kill the nation’s armed adversaries.

  Historically, this understanding has underpinned the “Warrior Ethos” that has made our military so great, but somewhere along the way, we lost this ethos in favor of a politicized, more civilian approach to warfare. I believe this is due to certain dysfunctional and deeply ingrained institutional processes and structures that must be fully and radically reformed in order to restore our military to one that defends the nation effectively and does not merely defend its own budget.

  

  There are four fundamental areas for institutional reform, and all involve the “de-civilianization” of warrior institutions:

  1. The “interagency” process in the DoD. After 9/11, the DoD (and the federal government more broadly) placed a significant emphasis on better coordination between the DoD and other federal departments like the State Department and the CIA. The idea was simple and appealing enough: to produce better coordination across domains. Nowhere was this more important than in the intelligence community, where failure to crosstalk between agencies led to startling intelligence failures like 9/11. However, this “interagency” approach became unfocused across all of the DoD and all agencies and became a priority in and of itself, whether it related to, for example, supposed climate change, government acquisition, federal land and water management, or leader professional development. While the goal of burgeoning interagency processes was to improve efficiency, the actual and unfortunate effect it had on the senior officer warriors of the DoD was to civilianize their mindsets. Instead of the State Department becoming more like the DoD, the DoD started thinking like the State Department. Historically, there was a healthy tension between the State Department and the DoD. The new interagency emphasis made former warriors think the goal was to be like diplomats, and it turned too many of our senior officers into wannabe State Department grandees who get invited to the best Georgetown cocktail parties. That former healthy tension between State and Defense was destroyed, and the warrior ethos of so many officers with it. We see this today in the form of the many retired and political admirals and generals who view their devotion to the D.C. bureaucracy to be more important than their oath to the Constitution, and nowhere has this phenomenon been more apparent than the nefarious shenanigans of the infamous Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Alexander Vindman, who deemed his allegiance to the interagency to be more important than the judgment of his Commander-in-Chief.

  2. Civilian degree-producing programs for line officers. All of the military services send their promising O-4s, O-5s, and O-6s to advanced degree-producing programs at civilian universities, with the choicest schooling opportunities happening at Ivy League universities. (David Petraeus and H.R. McMaster are two well-known products of this process.) The idea of the “warrior scholar” is nice in the abstract, but in reality, what we did was infect our senior military leaders with DEI sensibilities and the same woke mind virus that has nearly destroyed America’s institutions of higher learning. While advanced civilian degrees are necessary for officer specialists like physicians, dentists, attorneys, chaplains, and officers serving in science and engineering fields, they do nothing but diminish the warfighting capabilities of line officers in tactical units, nor do they enhance the strategic abilities of our most senior officers. Even worse, we made possession of these degrees a positive criterion for promotion. The other negative consequence of this woke mind virus infestation is that it flows downhill—junior officers and NCOs emulate the successful senior officers above them, and the civilianization runs rampant, reducing combat effectiveness and focusing troops on all the wrong priorities.

  3. Service academies and War Colleges emulating Ivy League universities. The institutional learning processes of our nation’s military are built upon a foundation of prestigious uniformed learning institutions. You probably know the service academies (West Point, Annapolis, and the Air Force Academy), but the service and joint service “War Colleges” (schools for O-5s and O-6s who are marked as having flag officer potential) are equally important in building military culture and skills. All of these once purely military schools now have large numbers of civilian faculty members, many of whom seek the “publish or perish” route so they can ultimately join the Ivies they so eagerly and enviously emulate. With this preponderance of civilian faculty come the civilian dogmas—DEI, the joys of the interagency, and the cancer of courses and majors that end in “studies.” When I attended the National Defense University as a promotable O-5, we even had a choice in uniforms—our usual duty uniform or a civilian coat and tie. That War College’s quest to look and feel like a civilian Ivy was palpable and very real.

  4. Career SES civilians actually control the nuts and bolts of the military. The Senior Executive Service (“SES”) represents the senior ranks of civilian federal employees. There are “career” SES members and “non-career” SES members. The non-career SES ranks generally represent political appointees, and the career SES ranks serve and keep serving regardless of who holds the presidency. In the DoD, career SES members sit in some of the highest and most influential offices in the Pentagon and the military agencies, wielding enormous power over defense budgets, material acquisition, warfighting doctrine, personnel policies, and force structure. As their military bosses come and go every two years or so, they stay. If they don’t like what their military boss tells them to do, they can obfuscate, delay, bluster, and just generally wait until a new military boss shows up, then the cycle can start again. What’s worse is that most career SES billets are filled via the Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program, which generally includes sponsorship and mentorship components that allow serving SES bureaucrats to ensure that their vision of how the bureaucracy should run will endure for decades. This bloated, careerist system of never-changing bureaucracy contributes immeasurably to the civilianization of the military and the diminishment of the Warrior Ethos and is a great inhibitor to meaningful structural change.

  So how to fix these Four Horsemen of the Civilianization Apocalypse?

  It won’t be easy, but here are some ideas:

  • Dramatically cut back on interagency activities except for strict intelligence functions. Greatly reduce officer billets in interagency positions. Make service in a non-intelligence interagency position a hindrance to promotion. Eliminate cross-agency attendance at agency professional education programs.

  • Eliminate advanced degrees as promotion criteria for line officers. Stellar service in combat and line units/ships/planes will be the overwhelming consideration for promotion.

  • Eliminate all DEI programs of every kind at all levels. Demonstrated adherence to DEI principles will be a “do not promote” criterion for officers and NCOs alike.

  • Cease all advanced degree-producing programs at civilian universities for line officers (but doctors, lawyers, chaplains, and scientists can still go).

  • Except for essential scientific and engineering faculty, fire 100% of the civilian faculty at the service academies and the War Colleges. Screen the scientific and engineering faculty for retention to ensure that their subject areas cannot be taught by rotating uniformed personnel.

  • Greatly reduce permanent military faculty at the service academies and War Colleges and limit those billets to only very specialized areas.

  • Rotate accomplished line officers through these schools as instructors. Such instructor duty will be after successful command and will signal a “must promote” officer.

  • Refocus the service academies on disciplines related to warfighting, pure science, and engineering. Eliminate any and all courses and majors that end in “studies.”

  • Completely revamp the curriculums at all War Colleges so there is a laser focus on strategy at the national and theater levels. The uniform at these schools must be military attire only.

  • Mirror all of the above in junior officer and NCO professional development programs.

  • Eliminate all career SES positions in the DoD. Let non-career (i.e., political appointee) SES members handle the arcane stuff of navigating Congress. If the flag officers commanding Army and Marine divisions, Navy carrier battle groups, and Air Force MAJCOMs (and whatever it is generals do in the Space Force) can change out every two years, the SES running the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Organizational Entropy can be replaced too.

  I am entirely confident that the above recommendations can halt the civilianization of our military and serve as a great start to restoring an essential warfighting focus. I am also entirely confident that the DoD bureaucracy will fight every recommendation I made above tooth and nail and will in fact have a host of somewhat persuasive arguments as to why I am wrong. But here is the thing: this is like chemotherapy. Our military has a cancer, and drastic actions must be taken to cure it. Yes, some healthy tissue may get destroyed, but so will the cancer itself, and the patient will live.

  Let’s build back an effective, lethal, efficient military that wins its wars for a change and leaves us all proud once again.

  * * *

  Cynical Publius is the nom de plume of a retired U.S. Army colonel, veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, and reformed denizen of the Pentagon who is now a practicing corporate law attorney. You can follow Cynical Publius on X at @CynicalPublius.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 20:55

• Thousands Of Californians Lose Power After PG&E Protects Grid As Wildfire Risks Soar 
  Thousands Of Californians Lose Power After PG&E Protects Grid As Wildfire Risks Soar 

  Pacific Gas & Electric Company has shut off power to thousands of commercial and residential customers in some areas of the Bay Area due to high winds that have increased the risk of fire. 

  “Due to changing weather conditions, PG&E has increased the estimated number of customers that could be impacted by a PSPS event. Currently, 22,000 customers are in scope in 17 counties and four tribal areas. Most of these customers are in the Western Sacramento Valley, the North Bay and in the elevated terrain of the East Bay,” PG&E wrote in a statement. 

  PG&E meteorologists warned: 

  • Above 50 mph over elevated terrain in the North and East Bay

  • Near or above 70 mph in the Geysers, Mt. St. Helena and Mt. Diablo.

  As of early Wednesday, here’s the list of the number of customers without power in Bay Area counties:

  • Napa County: 4,326

  • Solano County: 4,060

  • Alameda County: 3,554

  • Sonoma County: 2,555

  • Santa Clara County: 1,947

  Full map:

  

  SFGATE explained:

  Power shutoffs are a way to de-energize equipment and power lines that can get damaged in strong winds and send off sparks that ignite wildfires. While Tuesday’s blackouts could be a huge inconvenience for thousands of residents, the scope is much smaller than the power shutoffs that occurred in 2018 and 2019, when hundreds of thousands of households across the state were in the dark during blustery conditions. Sarkissian said that the shut-offs aren’t as widespread and large in 2024 because the utility has strengthened its equipment, including undergrounding and coating lines.

  The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for much of the Bay Area through Thursday.

  🚩It’s about to get very dry and windy, as a result – a Red Flag Warning is now in effect for critical fire weather conditions through 7 AM Thursday for the majority of the Bay Area and the Central Coast. #CAwx #OneLessSpark 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Djsq7YhJ6b

  — NWS Bay Area 🌉 (@NWSBayArea) November 5, 2024

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

  PG&E is being extra cautious since its equipment was blamed for sparking wildfires that ultimately forced the power company into bankruptcy in 2019. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 20:30

• Did Government-Sponsored Disinformation Worsen COVID-19?
  Did Government-Sponsored Disinformation Worsen COVID-19?

  Authored by Robert Malone via The Brownstone Institute,

  Highlights

  • Political disinformation was positively associated with respiratory infection incidence.

  • Government-sponsored disinformation was positively associated with the incidence of Covid-19.

  • Internet censorship led to underreporting of the incidence of respiratory infections.

  • Governments must stop sponsoring disinformation to avoid blame or gain a political advantage.

  The recent report from the US House Energy and Commerce Committee titled “We Can Do This: An Assessment of the Department of Health and Human Services’ COVID-19 Public Health Campaign” provides detailed, documented information concerning the public Covid-19 PsyWar/Propaganda disinformation campaign delivered by the “Fors Marsh Group” corporation for the US Department of Health and Human Services. This was previously discussed in this Substack essay. 

  

  According to the documentation provided, the principal HHS partner cooperating with Fors Marsh to provide content and messaging guidance regarding approved Covid-19 interventions was the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report conclusions and appendix include data summaries implying that this nearly one billion dollar campaign ($911,174,285) contributed to the development of widespread US citizen resistance to Covid-19 “vaccine” uptake, and was associated with deterioration in confidence concerning the CDC, the public health enterprise, and vaccines. 

  The Fors Marsh campaign specifically and intentionally deployed fear-based messaging to influence public behavior to comply with CDC and other USG recommendations. The intentional promotion of fear of death from an infectious disease disproportionate to actual risk of death is psychological bioterrorism and is associated with significantly greater social, political, and economic damage than that associated with known actual bioterror events such as the US Anthrax spore letter distribution campaign.

  The weaponization of fear of death from an infectious disease as a component of an intentional propaganda campaign designed to modify human behavior is morally abhorrent, and is associated with a wide range of direct economic and mental health harms. These harms were never considered during the development and deployment of this HHS-sponsored psychological warfare technology-based propaganda campaign. This type of messaging and propaganda meets the criteria of State-sponsored disinformation.

  In contrast to misinformation, which refers to simply false information, disinformation refers to false information that is spread deliberately to deceive people. Unsurprisingly, political leaders, especially those who have undermined democratic institutions, adopt disinformation as an instrument for gaining support and reducing resistance, especially during crucial political moments such as elections and wars (Guriev and Treisman, 2019).

  From the Energy and Commerce Committee report page 42:

  The CDC’s disregard for emerging evidence that contradicted its own preferred policy outcomes demonstrates an insular culture unable—and unwilling—to change course with evolving science. By November 10, 2021, in line with ACIP’s recommendation, the Campaign began airing ads targeting parents of children aged 5-11 years. These ads inaccurately suggested children were at high risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19. Many ads were emotionally manipulative and sought to incite fear by exaggerating the risk of severe illness and death among low-risk populations, such as children. This was especially true of ads that targeted parents. At the same time, the ads played down vaccine associated risks. 

  From pages 45-46:

  Nine months later, faced with a surge driven by the Delta variant, the Biden-Harris administration reneged on its pledge and announced, in a nationwide primetime address, that it would impose Covid-19 vaccine mandates. President Biden stated that “in total, the vaccine requirements in my plan will affect about 100 million Americans.” He ominously warned unvaccinated Americans or those who had only received a single dose, that “[w]e’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin.” The mandates were presented as a way to protect higher-risk vaccinated workers and those too young to be vaccinated from catching Covid-19 spread by unvaccinated individuals.

  At the time of the announcement, over 175 million Americans were vaccinated with about 80 million Americans remaining unvaccinated. The vast majority of unvaccinated individuals were under the age of 50 and at comparatively low risk of severe illness and death. More importantly, at that time, over 85 percent of people over 65 years old had received one dose, and around 78 percent had completed the two-shot primary series. Similarly, over 75 percent of people 50-64 years old had received at least one dose. Thus, the age groups at highest risk of severe illness or death were largely already vaccinated by the time the mandates were announced.

  From page 62:

  The fact that HHS’s COVID-19 pandemic policies, guidance, and recommendations, including Campaign messaging, were grounded in incorrect data generated by a faulty algorithm that had inflated the number of COVID-19 deaths shattered HHS’s remaining credibility. The CDC’s admission to overcounting deaths undermined the Campaign’s promotional materials. The Campaign’s messaging pressured parents to believe their children were facing life-or-death scenarios. By using artificially inflated child mortality rates, the Campaign greatly overstated the threat facing children and struck unnecessary fear into households everywhere. Parents felt betrayed, and those who resisted or tuned out the warnings felt vindicated. 

  Quoting for the report appendix:

  Over and over, the Campaign’s survey findings showed little to no change in vaccine uptake or readiness among the public. In spite of heavy promotion, findings reveal vaccine uptake remained unchanged for nearly a year between August 2021 and June 2022. 

  By April 2022, 76 percent of unvaccinated adults said they would never get a COVID vaccine. 

  Among unvaccinated adults, nearly half of all those surveyed remained unvaccinated due to concerns about the long-term side effects of the vaccines. Others remained concerned about the speed with which the vaccines were developed, their efficacy in preventing COVID infection and transmission, as well as mistrust of government motives in widely encouraging vaccines. 

  Survey findings between January and June 2022 also reveal no significant change in booster uptake among fully vaccinated adults. Notably, survey findings also reveal that while the Campaign was ongoing, booster uptake peaked at 27 percent in November 2021 and gradually declined to 3 percent in March 2022.

  The Campaign closely monitored vaccine hesitancy among the public, including among parents of children under 18 years. A CET survey finding from March 2022 showed between 60 and 76 percent of parents with unvaccinated children under 18 years were concerned about potential vaccine side effects. At the same time, 53 percent of adults agreed that parents should be able to make their own choices about getting their children vaccinated, and as the COVID pandemic lagged, Campaign findings indicated a 20 percent drop in the number of adults who supported mask mandates in schools over a seven-month period. Interestingly, school mask and vaccination mandates for teachers, staff, visitors, and students were most strongly supported by liberal, vaccinated adults, non-parents and those dwelling in urban areas. In contrast, parents were more likely to agree that COVID vaccines for young children, especially those under 5, were unnecessary. 

  By 2022, many Americans had had enough. In April 2022, nearly half of all surveyed adults agreed that vaccination and masking decisions are personal choices and should not be mandated. These statistics reveal how public perception significantly diverged from that of the Biden-Harris administration and the Campaign’s messaging. Demonstratively, when the federal mandate requiring masks in airports and on airplanes, buses, subways, trains, and other forms of public transportation was scheduled to expire on April 18, 2022, the CDC, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) chose to extend it another two weeks—until May 3. Although major airlines such as Delta and American Airlines called to an end to the requirement, President Biden “promised to veto any legislation overturning it.”

  By April 2022, 58 percent of adults surveyed stated they were tired of worrying about the risk of COVID and 46 percent claimed they tune out COVID related news. Fifty percent stated, “[t]he virus may not be done with us, but we need to be done with it.”

  In short, the campaign failed to achieve the intended objectives and instead was associated with the development of widespread citizen distrust and disillusionment with the State, the CDC, the US Public Health Enterprise, the Medical/Industrial complex, and vaccines in general.

  Not considered and unaddressed in the Energy and Commerce report was whether these types of State-sponsored infectious disease disinformation campaigns positively or negatively influence infectious disease outbreak outcomes. I used the US National Library of Medicine PubMed search engine to investigate this question to discover whether any high-quality peer-reviewed academic research addressing the issue had been published.

  My search revealed a March 2022 study publication by a group of Taiwanese researchers that was published in the Elsevier journal Social Science and Medicine. Is this journal a respected academic publication?

  

  Social Science and Medicine Impact Score (IS) Trend:

  • The Impact Score for Social Science and Medicine has been steadily increasing over the years, with a slight decrease in 2023 to 5.38.

  • The highest Impact Score recorded in the last 10 years is 5.54 (2022), while the lowest is 3.22 (2018).

  • According to SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), Social Science and Medicine is ranked 1.954, indicating a high level of scientific influence.

  Clearly “Social Science and Medicine” is a credible peer-reviewed academic journal.

  The article is titled “Government-sponsored disinformation and the severity of respiratory infection epidemics including COVID-19: A global analysis, 2001–2020”

  This link will take you directly to the publication, which is published as an open source document (no subscription required). But you will need to verify that you are a human. It is not too technical, and I recommend that any readers seeking additional details (such as experimental methods and data) read the primary source.

  Both the background summary and the study findings are prophetic, and almost completely aligned with the Energy and Commerce committee report.

  Abstract

  Internet misinformation and government-sponsored disinformation campaigns have been criticized for their presumed/hypothesized role in worsening the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We hypothesize that these government-sponsored disinformation campaigns have been positively associated with infectious disease epidemics, including COVID-19, over the last two decades. By integrating global surveys from the Digital Society Project, Global Burden of Disease, and other data sources across 149 countries for the period 2001–2019, we examined the association between government-sponsored disinformation and the spread of respiratory infections before the COVID-19 outbreak. Then, building on those results, we applied a negative binomial regression model to estimate the associations between government-sponsored disinformation and the confirmed cases and deaths related to COVID-19 during the first 300 days of the outbreak in each country and before vaccination began.

  After controlling for climatic, public health, socioeconomic, and political factors, we found that government-sponsored disinformation was significantly associated with the incidence and prevalence percentages of respiratory infections in susceptible populations during the period 2001–2019. The results also show that disinformation is significantly associated with the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of cases of COVID-19. The findings imply that governments may contain the damage associated with pandemics by ending their sponsorship of disinformation campaigns.

  Introduction 

  Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a worldwide medical crisis that began in 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic has escalated, accurate and inaccurate information has spread on the Internet (Islam et al., 2020). The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of the risk of an “infodemic” wherein an overwhelming amount of circulating information discredits professional advice and prevents accurate information from reaching its target audience (WHO, 2020). Some studies have found that people’s exposure to misinformation may be associated with their violation of epidemic prevention regulations or resistance to vaccination (Lee et al., 2020; Hornik et al., 2021; Loomba et al., 2021; Prandi and Primiero, 2020), and the sources of this misinformation can be traced back to political leadership in the government. For example, one study found the name of former U.S. president Donald Trump appeared in 37.9% of misinformation conversations about the COVID-19 pandemic (Evanega et al., 2020). These findings imply that attempts to conceal or distort information about the disease may contribute to its spread globally.

  Most public health studies on information issues have emphasized only the spread and effects of misinformation (Roozenbeek et al., 2020) and not considered “disinformation.” In contrast to misinformation, which refers to simply false information, disinformation refers to false information that is spread deliberately to deceive people. Unsurprisingly, political leaders, especially those who have undermined democratic institutions, adopt disinformation as an instrument for gaining support and reducing resistance, especially during crucial political moments such as elections and wars (Guriev and Treisman, 2019). In the digital era, recent studies have uncovered that more than two dozen governments have been deeply involved in disinformation campaigns to pursue their own domestic or international purposes (Bennett and Livingston, 2018; Bradshaw and Howard, 2018). 

  The relationship between such disinformation campaigns and disease spread warrants investigation particularly in the case of the COVID-19 outbreak. Some governments adopt authoritarian strategies including disinformation and censorship to protect against political accountability and criticism over the spread of epidemics. However, the effects of such activities are unclear (Edgell et al., 2021). In this paper, we hypothesize that political disinformation may lead to worse public health outcomes. By examining comprehensive data on respiratory infections from 149 countries from 2001 to 2020, the present study discovered that government-sponsored disinformation is positively associated with the spread of respiratory infections including COVID-19. The findings imply that governments may contain the damage associated with pandemics by ending their sponsorship of disinformation campaigns. 

  Government-Sponsored Disinformation and Epidemics 

  Disinformation is widely understood as being misleading content produced to further political goals, generate profits, or maliciously deceive. It may be utilized by politicians to manipulate public perception and reshape the collective decisions of the majority (Stewart et al., 2019). As an effective political tool in the digital era, one of the major origins of disinformation is a variety of agents sponsored by governments (Bradshaw and Howard, 2018). The actors disseminating government-sponsored disinformation include government-based cyber troops working as civil servants to influence public opinion (King et al., 2017), politicians and parties utilizing social media to reach their political intentions, private contractors hired by the government to promote domestic and international propaganda, volunteers that collaborate with governments, and citizens who have prominent influence on the internet and are paid by governments to spread disinformation (Bennett and Livingston, 2020).

  Accompanied by the development of the internet, government-sponsored disinformation has become a global issue over the last two decades. Comparative political studies have noted that autocracies create more fake news than democracies, while the public in democracies has also severely suffered from it (Bradshaw and Howard, 2018). In contrast to democratic governments that are elected to provide public goods through majority rule, nondemocratic governments have leaders who remain in office by gaining support from a small group of political elites without checks and balances. Autocratic governments, therefore, face the constant threat of mass protests from large numbers of disenfranchised people (De Mesquita and Smith, 2003; Acemoglu and Robinson, 2006). In the digital age, autocracies prefer to use informational instruments such as censorship and disinformation to compromise potential protests, particularly during political crises (Guriev and Treisman, 2019). For example, a recent study revealed that autocracies such as China, Russia, and Iran used internet censorship as a reactive strategy to suppress civil society after the Arab Spring (Chang and Lin, 2020).

  The political effects of government-sponsored disinformation and internet censorship on disease spread, however, remains understudied. As a tool for maintaining political stability in the government’s favor; however, disinformation may lead to dysfunction in public health systems, as well as more infections from disease. In this paper, we highlight some suspected political, informational, and institutional processes to explain the positive association between government-sponsored disinformation and the exacerbation of infectious diseases—measured by the incidence, prevalence, and death percentages of respiratory infection before the COVID-19 pandemic—and how this disinformation was associated with the number of confirmed cases (henceforth, cases) of and deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Political Incentives to Spread Disinformation about Epidemics

  As the COVID-19 outbreak has made apparent, some government incumbents accountable for controlling the disease neglected the risk and failed to prevent its spread. The failure of leadership to control the disease stimulated blame avoidance behaviors (Weaver, 1986; Baekkeskov and Rubin, 2017; Zahariadis et al., 2020), which sometimes took the form of internet censorship and government-sponsored disinformation. The Chinese government has been criticized for its alleged ignorance and suppression of information at the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic (Petersen et al., 2020), while Chinese diplomats have openly accused the United States of spreading the disease, with the Iranian and Russian governments also supporting this conspiracy theory (Whiskeyman and Berger, 2021). In Iran, the government disseminated contradictory information on national COVID-19 fatalities. On February 10, 2020, the Iranian government falsely claimed that the country had no cases of coronavirus, but a 63-year-old woman died of COVID-19 on the same day. Finally, on February 19, the Iranian regime admitted that coronavirus had spread in Iran, 9 days after the first reported death (Dubowitz and Ghasseminejad, 2020). Under the cloud of poor transparency and disinformation regarding the epidemic in Iran, the country saw severe outcomes, with 55,223 deaths as of December 31, 2020.

  Disinformation as blame avoidance behavior by political leaders was exhibited not only in autocratic countries, but also occurred in some democratic countries (Flinders, 2020). For example, during his US presidency, Donald Trump understated the risk of the COVID-19 pandemic by accusing the political opposition of conspiracy and the media of exaggeration (Calvillo et al., 2020). His statements about hydroxychloroquine as a “miracle cure” also misled the public to employ false treatments (Evanega et al., 2020). This misinformation about the disease could directly result in ineffective coping by people and undermine their institutional trust in public health agencies. However, the suspected “disinformation” from democratic leadership, in contrast to autocracies, still encountered effective checks and balances by parliaments, medical professionals, free media, and voters. 

  Disinformation and Ineffective Coping 

  Some case studies have shown that reliable and transparent government-sponsored epidemic information could have alerted public health institutions and susceptible populations early and led them to take effective preventive behaviors before the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, a key lesson learned from the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) experience in Singapore was the importance of rapid and accurate information to support effective decision-making. The innovation of frequent information reviews effectively guided local public health decisions during the H1N1-2009 epidemic (Tan, 2006; Tay et al., 2010).

  In contrast, government-sponsored disinformation disrupts the mechanisms of information exchange among public health institutions and other bodies, which can lead to ineffective coping, such as perceptions of low risk and the slow development of preventive behaviors at both the individual level, and preparedness delays and resource misallocation at the institutional level. COVID-19 studies have demonstrated that people’s belief in misinformation reduced the likelihood that they would take preventive measures such as mask wearing, social distancing, and complying with official guidelines (Lee et al., 2020; Hornik et al., 2021; Pickles et al., 2021). Case studies of Iran have revealed that government-sponsored disinformation typically results in ineffective coping by individuals and public health institutions and that the disinformation can elevate disease incidence and prevalence in an epidemic (e.g., Bastani and Bahrami, 2020).

  In addition, in contrast to democracies, autocracies such as Iran, China, Russia, and North Korea are likely to refuse information sharing and regulations promoted by the global health system during a pandemic (Burkle, 2020). When governments disseminate disinformation or suppress valid information, therefore, we expect that it is difficult for public health institutions and citizens to protect themselves from the spread of the disease. 

  Disinformation and Institutional Distrust 

  Misinformation is likely to trigger institutional distrust in public authorities and thus directs citizens’ attention away from professional advice and instead towards skeptics and harmful treatments (Brainard and Hunter, 2019) harmful treatments (Brainard and Hunter, 2019). Disinformation could be associated even more strongly with dire outcomes. Studies conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic have illustrated that distrust of government or the medical profession creates obstacles to preventing epidemics by reducing people’s compliance with official messages related to disease containment and by engendering inadequate medical service utilization. For example, studies investigating Ebola outbreaks discovered that respondents with misinformation and low trust in the government were less likely to comply with social distancing policies or take precautions against the epidemic (Blair et al., 2017; Vinck et al., 2019).

  Recent global studies on COVID-19 have reported that trust in public institutions, but not general social trust, has a negative association with the disease incidence ratio and deaths related to the pandemic (Elgar et al., 2020). For example, online survey studies confirmed that trust in government amplified compliance with official health guidelines (Pak et al., 2021); evidence from a geographic information system in European countries revealed the same pattern—the higher the political trust, the lower the regional and national human mobility (Bargain and Aminjonov, 2020). Survey studies conducted in both China and Europe have demonstrated that higher political trust before the outbreak was associated with lower incidence and mortality rates (Ye and Lyu, 2020; Oksanen et al., 2020). In addition, studies conducted in the United States have shown a negative relationship between institutional trust in science and the public health system and belief in misinformation (Dhanani and Franz, 2020; Agley and Xiao, 2021) and that both trust and information sources influence the probability that individuals will perform preventive behaviors (Fridman et al., 2020). International comparative studies have also found that distrusting citizens may not comply with regulations because of their underestimation of the risk of non-compliance (Jennings et al., 2021).

  Therefore, government-sponsored disinformation may result in distrust of public health institutions and be positively associated with the incidence and prevalence of disease. In this study, cross-national data on vaccination is not included, although other studies suggest that misinformation could result in the spread of epidemics by reducing the willingness to receive vaccination. Studies before COVID-19 have revealed that vaccination-related information on Twitter is associated with regional vaccination rates in the United States and public confidence in vaccination in Russia (Salath´ e and Khandelwal, 2011; Broniatowski et al., 2018). Based on a global survey, Lunz Trujillo and Motta (2021) found that country-level internet connectivity is associated with individual-level vaccine skepticism. A recent study on the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines also demonstrated that misinformation exposure significantly reduced the willingness of people to accept a vaccine in the UK and USA (Loomba et al., 2021). As these studies implied, government-sponsored disinformation may reduce the acceptance and coverage of vaccination and thus are likely to be positively associated with the incidence and prevalence of epidemics. To sum up, blame avoidance and other interests of politicians may stimulate government-sponsored disinformation and internet censorship efforts during epidemics.

  The disinformation might be associated with ineffective coping by people and institutions, and contribute to institutional distrust of governments and public health systems. The ineffective coping, and resistance to official guidelines of preventive behaviors and vaccination because of the distrust, might facilitate the spread of disease in epidemics. Accordingly, we expect government-sponsored disinformation to be positively associated with the incidence and prevalence measures of respiratory infections including COVID-19. 

  Conclusion 

  This study hypothesized a positive association between political disinformation and its impacts on epidemics in light of political and institutional processes. The findings reveal that government-sponsored disinformation is associated with the incidence and prevalence of respiratory infections during the period 2001–2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Government-sponsored disinformation is also positively associated with the IRR of cases of COVID-19 before vaccination program implementation. In contrast to literature focusing only on the effects of misinformation and preventive behaviors at the individual level during the COVID-19 pandemic, the present study integrated evidence from global surveys and revealed the adverse effects of government-sponsored disinformation on the management of epidemics over the last two decades. We found that disinformation is positively and significantly associated with the incidence and prevalence of respiratory infections including COVID-19, though its positive relationship with mortality of these respiratory infections was not significant. This study has some limitations. First of all, the disinformation index focused on only government sources and not on other disinformation and misinformation sources. Also, the DSP database is expert-rated and inevitably subjective.

  However, it is the only existing global database regarding the interaction between politics and social media. Second, the pooled category of respiratory infections and the percentages of all disease causes could not be directly compared with the IRRs for a single pandemic. Data on both cases and deaths in the GBD and COVID-19 databases might not only present the impacts of the respiratory infections but also reflect differing levels of capacity among various public health systems and transparency among governments. The data on respiratory infections may be censored deliberately or underreported unintentionally by developing countries. For the application of the GBD database, we suggest that adopting the percentages of a specific type of epidemic from all causes might be a relatively more reliable choice than the rates or numbers. However, the database of epidemics might consider some adjustments to address the variation from the different capacity of public health systems.

  Despite these limitations, this study may be the first to present cross-national evidence of the association between political disinformation and the spread of epidemics including COVID-19. Our study also implies that the quality of data during the COVID-19 pandemic is an endogenous factor of informational politics. The internet censorship of autocracies tends to systematically underreport the morbidity and mortality of the pandemic. Iran is a vivid example of intentionally underreporting and also disseminating fake news. There is also evidence of deliberate inaccuracies and concealment of COVID-19 infections in lower- or middle-income countries (Richards, 2020). Rocco et al. (2021) revealed that subnational COVID-19 data quality, including mortality, is associated with media independence. Hansen et al. (2021) pointed out that in the United States, counties were more likely to release information about COVID-19 when there was a stronger opposition (Democrats) before the US presidential election. In our analysis, governments that applied censorship and spread fake news as blame avoidance behaviors may also intentionally underreport the numbers of infected and deaths. After all, concealing the numbers of cases and deaths during the pandemic is also a form of political disinformation. Therefore, we may have underestimated the association between disinformation and the severity of pandemics. The real damage of disinformation may be greater than the current findings show.

  Based on our findings, we suggest countering disinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, we would ask that governments immediately stop sponsoring disinformation for blame avoiding or regarding the disease as a strategy for gaining political advantage in domestic and international conflicts. Also, we would propose that the international community and global civil society act to prevent governments from sponsoring disinformation campaigns and internet censorship. In practice, fact-checking authorities managed by civil associations may be established to efficiently refute fake news. 

  Eliminating fake news in civil society may help curb the spread of infections. In sum, to control the pandemic, fighting disinformation can play a key role. 

  Republished from the author’s Substack

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 20:05

• Big Oil CEOs Say Middle East Conflict, U.S.-China Tension Are Biggest Risks To The Industry
  Big Oil CEOs Say Middle East Conflict, U.S.-China Tension Are Biggest Risks To The Industry

  When it comes to the price of oil, geopolitical volatility is usually a tailwind. However, when it comes to what big oil CEOs worry about the most, these conflicts – including the ongoing ones in the Middle East – are top of the list, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

  Oil executives are meeting at the region’s largest energy conference amid high market volatility, the report says. Rising tensions between Israel and Iran, an OPEC member, have traders wary of possible supply disruptions, while China’s weak economy is slowing oil demand growth.

  Meanwhile, U.S.-China relations remain uncertain, since President-elect Donald Trump has pledged significant tariff hikes on China if elected.

  BP Chief Executive Officer Murray Auchincloss commented: “The conflict in the Middle East is probably the top risk of all right now. We operate across five or six countries in the region — we are worried obviously about the security of our people and the security of energy supplies.”

  

  Shell CEO Wael Sawan added that “what happens on the US-China axis” is also a concern. He added: “We fundamentally believe the world will need more energy and we fundamentally believe it will need different forms of energy.”

  Executives on Monday expressed confidence that oil demand will keep growing, despite Asia’s economic slowdown, necessitating continued investment to meet supply needs even as the world shifts toward cleaner energy.

  Bloomberg reports that CEOs voiced mixed views on demand, with some anticipating strong growth despite a cooling Chinese economy. The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects demand to peak before 2030, while OPEC and Saudi Aramco remain optimistic, especially with recent Chinese stimulus.

  Petronas CEO Muhammad Taufik believes demand will continue beyond 2030, though price volatility hinders investment, potentially pushing futures higher, noted Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 19:40

• The Worldly Pain Of Young Americans
  The Worldly Pain Of Young Americans

  Commentary by Mark Bauerlein via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  A survey by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University reported findings that won’t surprise anyone who’s been paying attention. Among Millennials and members of Generation Z, fully one-in-three individuals suffer from some kind of mental disorder. Anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts afflict them, and the mental problems frequently manifest in physical symptoms.

  

  That’s not the evidence of the Research Center study, though. The mental health numbers above come from federal government agencies, which the Center cites in order to set up its attachment of these emotional pains to another factor, a cause rarely considered by public officials in charge of data collection and population surveys. Here is how the Center and its staff led by George Barna put it:

  “… Barna and his colleagues suggest that addressing those conditions may not require counseling, hospitalization, drugs, or other common remedies.

  “The research instead indicates that those are often symptoms of an unhealthy worldview …”

  That’s the assumption, a close relationship between a person’s general worldview and a person’s emotional state. A 20-year-old who thinks the world is a cruel habitat, that the world doesn’t care about individual human beings, that people are selfish and life is hard… that 20-year-old will feel the effects of that pessimism. He embraces a nihilism about the world that will recoil upon him and bring him down, that will include him in the negative judgment. If he thinks that climate change will bring devastation to the earth in the next 30 years, he loses hope and wonders what to do with his life. If he doesn’t trust other people, he can’t form solid and affirming relationships. Emotional agonies are inevitable.

  Data that the Center has gathered add support to the assumption. Consider these results:

  • Seven out of ten individuals under 40 years of age who responded to Center questionnaires stated that they “lack a sense of purpose and meaning in life.”
  • Only 13 percent of Generation Z and 22 percent of Millennials believe that “absolute moral truth exists and is an objective reality.”

  Given those dispiriting beliefs, we shouldn’t shake our heads at the malaise and panic of the young. In former times, thinkers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger described such regrettable attitudes in terms that combined the philosophical and the psychological, for instance, “ontological insecurity” and “metaphysical discomfort,” which they understood as peculiarly modern diseases. Those traits are still with us, Barna et al. insist, and they run in two directions, outward and inward. That life has no purpose slides smoothly into “I have no purpose.” To think that moral truth is a relative or subjective thing only is to deny oneself a reliable foundation of judgment and conviction. Young Americans are fractious and fragile, and who can avoid that condition in a world so utterly careless and capricious.

  The daily experience of average 16-year-olds only reinforces the negative worldview they bear. The videos they watch, the music they hear, the texts and photos that flood their phones, the movies and TV shows they favor—it’s a wave of entertainment that shows people behaving badly with no moral accounting. These media allow for no transcendence and no organized worship, no prayer or devotion. They are the bricks of youth culture, which doesn’t revere the past or envision a happy future. No deep meanings and profound truths. The producers of it purvey shallow ideas and emotional chaos. We have handed the rising generations an environment hostile to their souls.

  The mental problems of 21st-century youth are real. Our methods of treating them are pharmacological and therapeutic, wholly individualized. These procedures are often incomplete.

  We should add to the mix the exploration of a wayward youth’s worldview, and the modification of it should that worldview prove discouraging and depressing.

  What a teen assumes about human existence at large affects daily mood and will, the head and the heart. It’s a warning to parents. Give your children a stable moral habitat. Teach them a meaningful past and a hopeful future. If they rebel against your vision, so be it, but you will make that rebellion itself meaningful by presenting to them something meaningful to oppose.

  The depression and anxiety, in some cases at least (a not insignificant portion, I believe), are a sane response to bad influences and cynical perceptions. Youth culture is itself unhealthy, and Americans coming-of-age need to be cured of it.

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

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 19:15

• The Chinese Tax Noose Is Tightening
  The Chinese Tax Noose Is Tightening

  As the rush to try and save its economy via stimulus continues, China is simultaneously looking to shake down its citizens for unpaid taxes.

  Chinese authorities are urging wealthy individuals and corporations to conduct “self-inspections” to ensure all taxes are paid, as the country seeks to boost revenue, according to an FT report out this week. This push for compliance may further impact investor confidence in China’s economy, the world’s second largest.

  Beijing is set to announce a major fiscal stimulus aimed at stabilizing local government finances, which have been strained by debt and delayed payments, the report notes.

  Economists hope this new phase, building on efforts from September, will boost investor and household confidence after prolonged deflation linked to the property crisis.

  With China’s third-quarter growth falling below the 5% target, recent tax demands have caused concern and even “fear” among wealthy individuals in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, according to a local tax advisor.

  

  One China-based tax partner said: “Some of them simply didn’t really know what to declare when they were asked to conduct self-inspections. Many also didn’t realize before . . . [that] their overseas personal gains would be subjected to taxes in China.”

  FT reports that companies completing self-inspections have been instructed to submit stamped confirmations and keep records for potential review, according to a city notice seen by the Financial Times. Authorities are also asking individuals to pay back-taxes on overseas investments, sometimes citing a rarely used 2019 law.

  A lawyer noted that wealthy clients can negotiate with tax officials, allowing some flexibility in tax obligations. This revenue drive, including increased fines on the private sector, comes as local and central governments seek funds amid a three-year property downturn that has strained finances.

  Government land sales fell nearly 25% in the first nine months of this year, and tax revenue dropped 5.3%, leading to a 2.2% decline in fiscal revenue to Rmb16.3tn ($2.3tn).

  Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis, concluded: “China’s fiscal deficits have reached a tipping point. There is more urgency to find alternative revenue sources . . . and taxing the wealthy and some companies creates a less direct economic impact on most residents.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 18:50

• US Air Force Explores Strategic Overhaul In Pacific To Counter Rising China Challenge
  US Air Force Explores Strategic Overhaul In Pacific To Counter Rising China Challenge

  Authored by Stephen Xia and Sean Tseng via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The U.S. Air Force is considering revamping its operations in the Pacific to address increasing challenges from communist China. Rather than focusing solely on expensive fighter jets, it is shifting toward cost-effective technologies such as drones and hypersonic missiles and adopting dispersed operational tactics to maintain an advantage.

  

  A recent report from the U.S. Air Force’s China Aerospace Studies Institute highlights the need to update equipment priorities to counter China’s military expansion. Lessons from the Russia–Ukraine war have shown that modern conflicts consume resources rapidly, making reliance on a limited number of costly weapons impractical. To prepare for prolonged engagements, developing advanced yet affordable weapons is crucial.

  Long-range precision strikes and the use of drones have emerged as game-changers, allowing forces to remain effective while avoiding heavy enemy fire. Dispersed operational tactics have also proven advantageous, helping forces preserve strength and counterattack effectively. With these insights, the U.S. Air Force is preparing for potential conflicts in the Indo-Pacific, which could be more extensive and intense than the Russia–Ukraine war.

  China seeks to alter the global power balance and push U.S. forces out of the Indo-Pacific using anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) strategies. These involve the use of missiles, aircraft, and naval defenses to block access, making it costly or difficult for opponents to access contested regions.

  To counter this, the Air Force think tank recommends focusing on inexpensive, easily replaceable weapons capable of penetrating defenses, such as low-cost drones and hypersonic missiles. While advanced aircraft such as the B-21 bomber and next-generation fighter jets remain important, there is increasing emphasis on survivable, high-tech weapons and expendable platforms.

  Air Base Defense

  A significant concern is the vulnerability of U.S. air bases in the region, particularly in Japan, which Chinese missiles, drones, and hypersonic weapons could target. The Department of Defense (DOD) noted in its 2023 China Military Power Report that the People’s Liberation Army has consistently expanded its long- and mid-range ballistic missile capacity, enabling it to target critical U.S. military installations throughout the Indo-Pacific, including key bases on Guam.

  Additionally, the DOD estimates that as of May 2023, Beijing possessed more than 500 operational nuclear warheads, with numbers growing. Given China’s expanding missile capabilities, strengthening base defenses alone is insufficient. Therefore, the United States is adopting a new strategy: spreading out deployments to reduce risk.

  The U.S. military is repositioning its forces across multiple locations to reduce the risk of being targeted. This strategy involves identifying, upgrading, and restoring airfields throughout the Pacific, including old World War II sites, under an initiative known as Agile Combat Employment. This includes redeveloping airfields like the one on Tinian, a small island near Guam that was a strategic location during World War II.

  The airfields in Tinian are being expanded for the first time in decades. By positioning aircraft across a range of bases—including allied bases, remote islands, and civilian runways—the Air Force aims to increase flexibility and survivability.

  Michael P. Winkler, the Pacific Air Force’s deputy director for air and cyberspace operations, emphasized the need to avoid putting all aircraft in one place to prevent creating a “big, juicy target” for adversaries. This strategy requires access to more airfields during crises, necessitating coordination with regional allies like Japan and the Philippines.

  Operational Resiliency

  Securing access agreements with regional allies is crucial, as they are in a position to offer numerous military and civilian runways, although not all meet the Air Force’s requirements. U.S. pilots are visiting potential locations like Basa Air Base in the Philippines and airfields in Tinian, Guam, Saipan, and Palau to familiarize themselves and prepare for future operations. Upgrades are underway at several sites to enhance facilities and train personnel.

  While the Second Island Chain, which includes some U.S.-controlled areas, is easier to access and upgrade, the First Island Chain is strategically more important due to its proximity to China. This chain includes Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Operating there requires cooperation with regional partners, whose political situations can be unpredictable. Despite these challenges, the United States currently maintains strong partnerships in the region.

  Recent military exercises have tested this dispersed approach. In February, U.S. and allied aircraft operated from multiple airfields on Guam, Saipan, and Tinian. During the U.S.-led Valiant Shield exercises in June, U.S. fighter jets used Japan’s Matsushima and Hachinohe bases for the first time. Under the U.S.–Japan alliance agreement, Japanese bases can serve as evacuation sites for U.S. aircraft in emergencies.

  However, spreading out forces presents challenges, particularly in logistics. In a conflict, the United States must deliver equipment, spare parts, fuel, munitions, and support personnel to scattered and potentially contested locations or pre-position supplies there. This is complex, and the strategy’s effectiveness depends on reliable support. The Air Force must balance the benefits of dispersion with logistical practicalities.

  On a similar note, Stacie Pettyjohn, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank, said operating from more locations with smaller units reduces the chance of a successful large-scale attack by the Chinese regime, adding a layer of deterrence.

  This strategic shift reflects a broader recognition that the nature of warfare is changing. The Air Force is adapting by embracing new technologies and tactics, prioritizing flexibility, resilience, and cost-effectiveness. By dispersing forces and investing in advanced yet affordable weapons, the Air Force aims to maintain its edge in a rapidly evolving security environment.

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

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 18:25

• Dave Smith: Will Trump Be Able To End The War In Ukraine?
  Dave Smith: Will Trump Be Able To End The War In Ukraine?

  At a recent pre-election speaking and podcast event, comedian and Libertarian political commentator Dave Smith expressed his view that it is very realistic that the next President Donald Trump could successfully negotiate an end to the Ukraine war. 

  Smith’s view is optimistic, as he articulated that he believes Trump’s expressed desire to end wars in Ukraine and Gaza is genuine. But Smith also laid out that much depends on who Trump puts around him in top national security positions. Below is the hard-hitting segment featuring the prominent commentator addressing the question: will Trump be able to end the war in Ukraine?

  PBD: Will Trump be able to end the war in Ukraine?

  Dave Smith: Yes, If he listens to Tucker Carlson, Bobby Kennedy, and Vivek Ramaswamy, but not if he picks Mike Pompeo, Liz Cheney’s pick for Defense Secretary, or John Bolton, Hillary Clinton’s pick for National Security Advisor pic.twitter.com/1f5kQZQEW4

  — Liam McCollum (@MLiamMcCollum) November 6, 2024

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

  Below are Dave Smith’s words from the segment on Trump and Ukraine below [emphasis ZH]…

  “Why the hell are we even expanding our military alliance to Ukraine? And listen, Donald Trump always says that the war ‘never would have happened if I was president, and I would negotiate an end to this.’

  And I gotta say I think he’s right about that. I don’t think the war would have happened if he was president – I think he will negotiate an end to it.

  I don’t think he’s right that Hamas wouldn’t have attacked Israel if he was president – that seems kind of ridiculous to me. But he’s right: the Ukraine war could be over tomorrow if American wanted to negotiated a peace to it.

  Vladimir Putin has been trying to the entire time… 

  Well the question becomes who does Donald Trump put around him? If Donald Trump puts Mike Pompeo, aka Liz Cheney’s pick for Defense Secretary… if he puts John Bolton, aka Hillary Clinton’s pick for national security adviser – then maybe not, maybe it doesn’t happen.

  But if he listens to Tucker Carlson, and ‘Bobby’ Kennedy, and Vivek Ramaswamy, and all the smart people around him – then yes, he could negotiate an end to that war.”

  

  * * *

  Indeed, the question ultimately becomes: will Trump really keep the ‘swamp’ out of his administration this time around? We hope so.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 18:00

• "These Are Not Good People" – Trump Derangement Is The Stupidest Political Phenomenon Of Our Lifetime
  “These Are Not Good People” – Trump Derangement Is The Stupidest Political Phenomenon Of Our Lifetime

  Authored by Chris Bray via ‘Tell Me How This Ends’ substack,

  Trump Derangement is the Stupidest Political Phenomenon of My Lifetime, and Its Idiot Propagators Need to be Shoved Into a Forgotten Corner of the Culture Forever

  Spare a thought for them, America.

  Liz Cheney is probably being executed by that firing squad as you read this, and Molly Jong-Fast is undoubtedly already on her way to the camps, and the cities are emptying as the brave survivors sew diamonds into the lining of their coats and set off on foot for political asylum in Canada. What time do we get the first delivery of handmaids, Vladimir?

  So.

  The dismal cabal of hysterical adult children that makes up the alleged American cultural “mainstream,” the responsible people you see on television and in the op-ed pages — Anne Applebaum, Tom Nichols, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Adam Kinzinger, Liz Cheney, Joe Scarborough and his idiot wife, Jonathan Capehart, Max Boot, Jen Rubin, David French, Bill Kristol, Ruth Marcus, Nicolle Wallace, Dana Bash, and on and on, all of them completely interchangeable, one set of asinine talking points with a series of different faces sewn on the front — has spent the last year or ten descending into a urine-soaked psychotic tantrum. They don’t know anything, they don’t understand anything, they don’t say anything of value, they don’t contribute anything, ever, and their voices are ubiquitous. Living in this media environment is like living in a place where the air is made of manure.

  They have absorbed no lesson. This morning, the media is full of warnings about fascism and white nationalism and VLADIMIR PUTIN!!!!!!!, a wall of empty noise in response to the rejection of a wall of empty noise. Ruth Ben-Ghiat is still the Dumbest Professor in America™, by the way, and just a profoundly indecent human being:

  

  The lesson of last night is that Trump “has declared war on the US.” You disgusting braindead pig.

  The unifying reality about these soulless, mindless, worthless people is that they have no history to them, and that goes double for the history professors. How many times have you heard, for example, that the January 6 insurrection was the worst act of political violence in America since the Civil War, and how many times have you heard any of the people who made that ritual claim deal with any of the obvious examples that disprove the claim — the Colfax Massacre, the Ludlow Massacre, the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, the bombing campaigns of the Weatherman and other radical groups in the early 1970s, the wave of political assassinations in the late-1960s, and on and on — in any way?

  Related, all of their history is LITERALLY ADOLF HITLER, but you have to eventually notice that their constant demands for guardrails on the discourse and rules for social media never deal with any American history, any history of the place they think they’re talking about: the Adams administration and the Sedition Act, the military arrest of Clement Vallandigham for an anti-war speech, the Wilson administration’s arrest of anti-war activists, and so on. People who have no history but Hitler have no history.

  So in the end, they say things, but they don’t think about the things they say. At all. Their very loud voices aren’t attached to any form of cognition. The Potemkin village of our media-academic-political class barely sustains the facade. It’s nothing. They have nothing, they are nothing, the offer nothing.

  The New Republic, November 1:

  

  Here’s the lede: “Donald Trump doubled down Friday on his disturbing comments about placing Liz Cheney in front of a firing squad.”

  

  Chevy Chase, Maryland, Nov. 6

  Here’s the part of the story that describes the terrifying threat to murder an opponent with a firing squad:

  “She’s a war hawk. She kills people. She wanted uh, even in my administration, she was pushing that we go to war with everybody,” Trump said.

  “And I said that if you ever gave her a rifle, [indistinguishable] if you ever do that, she wouldn’t be doing too well.”

  “If she had to do it herself, and she had to face the consequences of battle, she wouldn’t be doing it. So it’s easy for her to talk, but she wouldn’t be doing it,” Trump continued. “She’s actually a disgrace.”

  You see, people are handed rifles when they’re shoved up against the wall to be executed by a firing squad, and being killed by a firing squad is an example of facing the consequences of battle. Makes total sense.

  These are not good people. They’re stupid, dangerous, empty, and a threat to any form of public knowledge. They deserve to have derision howled in their ugly faces for the rest of their worthless lives.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 17:40

• Hurricane Rafael Revs Up To Cat. 2 As Gulf Oil Rigs In Crosshairs 
  Hurricane Rafael Revs Up To Cat. 2 As Gulf Oil Rigs In Crosshairs 

  Hurricane Rafael intensified to a Category 2 storm on Wednesday morning and may reach Cat. 3 strength on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale by evening. Rafael’s cone of uncertainty shifted further west than previous forecasts (read: here & here), putting offshore oil/gas rigs at increased risk across the Gulf of Mexico. 

  The National Hurricane Center in the US said Rafael was just southeast of Havana and packing winds around 100 mph, making it a Cat. 2 storm. The storm is expected to strengthen into a Cat. 3 storm, unleashing “life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds, and flash flooding” across west and central Cuba. 

  “Rafael is likely to remain a hurricane over the southeastern and southern Gulf of Mexico during the next few days,” NHC’s Dan Brown wrote in a forecast. 

  The current trajectory of the storm puts about 1.55m b/d of oil production at risk, according to Bloomberg calculations of data from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the NHC.

  

  More from Bloomberg about potential storm impacts on US Gulf area oil/gas assets:

  • Rafael also threatens to cross leases that produced 1.59b cf/d of gas, 29k b/d of condensate

  • Rafael direction has shifted eastward

  • US oil production could be cut by 3.1 million to 4.9 million barrels if hurricane reaches Category 2 status: Mansfield Energy

  Oil and gas platforms that are within the cone of the storm include:

  • 

  Once Rafael arrives in the southeastern and southern Gulf of Mexico, computer models do not clearly agree on trajectory. 

  Global + Hurricane Models

  

  GFS Ensembles

  

  GEPS Ensembles

  

  “It is too soon to determine what, if any, impacts Rafael could bring to portions of the northern Gulf Coast,” NHC noted. 

  For now, Rafael’s trajectory and intensity should be closely monitored as computer models are still subject to change. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 17:20

• Goodbye Middle Class: Half Of All American Workers Make Less Than $43,222.81 A Year
  Goodbye Middle Class: Half Of All American Workers Make Less Than $43,222.81 A Year

  Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

  It is that time of the year again.  

  The Social Security Administration has finally released the final wage statistics for 2023, and they are quite sobering.  

  According to the report, last year the “median wage” in this country was just $43,222.81.  In other words, half of all American workers made less than $43,222.81, and half of all American workers made more than $43,222.81.

   That is terrible news, because the cost of living has been rising much faster than paycheck have.  More people are being squeezed out of the middle class with each passing day, but most Americans don’t even realize that this is happening because the media isn’t really talking about it.

  Poverty, homelessness and hunger are all growing all around us, and if we stay on the path that we are on the middle class will continue to be systematically eviscerated.

  

  Once upon a time, the vast majority of the country could afford to live a middle class lifestyle.

  But now those days are long gone.

  A study that was recently released found that it now takes more than $100,000 a year for a typical U.S. household to live “the American Dream” in all 50 states, and in 29 U.S. states it takes more than $150,000 a year…

  A household would have to spend more than $150,000 a year to live the dream in 29 of the 50 states, according to an analysis published in April by the personal finance site GOBankingRates.

  According to the report, the optimal American lifestyle would cost $137,842 a year in Ohio, $147,535 in Texas, $159,932 in Florida, $194,067 in New York and $245,723 in California.

  The state that has the lowest cost of living is Mississippi.

  Living the American Dream only costs $109,516 a year in that state.

  Needless to say, someone earning $43,222.81 a year is not going to be able to live the American Dream anywhere in the nation.

  Even if there are two people earning $43,222.81 a year in the same household, that still isn’t going to get you anywhere close to living the American Dream.

  When I was growing up, my father worked and my mother stayed home with the kids, and we were still able to live a middle class lifestyle.

  But now most households cannot afford to live a middle class lifestyle even if both parents are working.

  After reading that, is there anyone out there that would like to disagree with me about the fact that we have been experiencing a long-term economic decline?

  What I have been warning about all these years has been slowly but steadily playing out right in front of our eyes.

  Not too long ago, a Wall Street Journal/NORC poll found that only about one-third of the entire U.S. population actually believes that the American Dream “is still alive”…

  Only about a third of U.S. adults believe the American dream is still alive, a Wall Street Journal/NORC poll published Wednesday found.

  A survey of 2,501 people conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute twelve years ago found more than half of respondents believed the American dream “still holds true,” but now only a third feel that way, according to a recent WSJ/NORC poll of 1,502 adults. The study also found an increasingly large gap between people’s economic goals and what they think is actually attainable — a trend that was consistent across gender and party lines, but was especially common amongst younger generations.

  Nobody out there can deny what is happening.

  This is our country now, and conditions are getting worse with each passing day.

  One of the biggest reasons why the American Dream is out of reach for most of the population is because home prices have gone absolutely haywire over the last four years…

  Twenty-four percent of likely voters who rent their homes said that “the cost of housing” is the most important economic issue they’re considering as they decide their vote, according to a CNN poll conducted by SSRS between September 19 and 22.

  That’s no surprise: The US is facing a once-in-a-generation housing affordability crisis. In the four years through August 2024, national home prices have risen 45%, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index. According to the National Association of Realtors, the median sales price of a home in the US hit a record high this summer and now hovers just below that level.

  Renting used to be an affordable alternative for many people, but these days close to half of all renters in this country “spend more than 30% of their income on housing”…

  Nor has renting become any easier than buying. Nearly half of US renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing, qualifying them as “cost-burdened,” according to US Census data from September.

  In September 2024, the median rent in the U.S. was $2,050 a month.

  How are you supposed to be able to afford that if you are making just $43,222.81 a year?

  Increasingly, America is being divided into the “haves” and the “have nots”.

  If you don’t know which group you belong to, let me clue you in.  If you are not making more than $100,000 a year, you are definitely among the “have nots”.

  Unfortunately, economic conditions are rapidly getting worse, and we are seeing high profile bankruptcies happen at a pace that we haven’t seen since the global financial crisis.  For example, one of the largest crafting chains in the U.S. just filed for bankruptcy…

  Joann — the craft store chain formerly known as Jo-Ann Fabrics — has filed for bankruptcy amid ongoing financial troubles.

  But DIYers need not worry just yet: The company’s more than 800 stores nationwide will remain open and its website will stay active as the Hudson, Ohio-based company restructures its finances.

  As hordes of businesses fail all over the nation, our historic commercial real estate crisis just continues to intensify.

  If you doubt this, just check out these numbers…

  The delinquency rate of office mortgages backing commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) spiked to 9.4% in October, up a full percentage point from September, and the highest since the worst months of the meltdown that followed the Financial Crisis. The delinquency rate has doubled since June 2023 (4.5%), according to data by Trepp, which tracks and analyzes CMBS.

  I don’t even have to tell many of you what those numbers mean.

  We are headed for a historic meltdown, and it is going to absolutely devastate small to mid-size banks from coast to coast.

  Meanwhile, most Americans are just barely scraping by from month to month as our standard of living steadily deteriorates.

  We are in far more trouble than most people realize, and the months ahead are going to be extremely challenging.

  *  *  *

  Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 17:00

• Middle East At War: How Are Regional Leaders Reacting To Trump's Victory?
  Middle East At War: How Are Regional Leaders Reacting To Trump’s Victory?

  The Middle East remains on edge, and Israel is still at war on multiple fronts – in Gaza, and in Lebanon, and with the Houthis in the Red Sea region and Yemen. Iran is still threatening to retaliate against Israel, and Iraqi paramilitaries supported from Tehran are reportedly readying for battle. Israeli airstrikes on Syria have been ongoing for days. US assets from warships to long-range bombers are also parked in the region, ready for anything.

  The region could explode into bigger escalation at any moment, and tit-for-tat big attacks between Hezbollah and Israel’s military will likely persist through January, when Trump steps into the oval office. Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel have not relented, and neither have massive Israeli strikes on Beirut and eastern and southern Lebanon.

  In his victory speech, Trump acknowledged the regional hot wars playing out in various parts of the globe, two of which have involved US participation by proxy. “They said ‘He will start a war,’ I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars,” Trump said.

  

  Below are the reactions of various Middle East leaders to the Trump victory…

  Israel

  To the surprise of no one, Israel is overjoyed that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was actually the very first world leader to issue a hearty congratulations to Trump. 

  “Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback!” he said in an English-language statement. “Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory!” he said.

  Netanyahu’s hardline and hawkish National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir simply wrote on social meda “Yesssss”.

  Yesssss 💪🏻🇮🇱🇺🇸 https://t.co/kPqkYI3PDP

  — איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) November 6, 2024

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

  Turkey

  “I congratulate my friend Donald Trump, who won the presidential election in the US after a great struggle and was re-elected as the President,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan via X.

  “In this new period that will begin with the elections of the American people, I hope that Turkiye-US relations will strengthen, that regional and global crises and wars, especially the Palestinian issue and the Russia-Ukraine war, will come to an end; I believe that more efforts will be made for a more just world,” Erdogan added. 

  He declared his hope that “the elections will be beneficial for our friendly and allied people in the US and for all of humanity.”

  Iran

  Iranian government spokesperson, Fatemeh Mohajerani, said “US elections are not really our business. Our policies are steady and don’t change based on individuals. We made the necessary predictions before, and there will not be a change in people’s livelihoods,” in reference to US sanctions on Iran.

  Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Deputy Commander in Chief Ali Fadavi on Wednesday repeated that Tehran is ready for a confrontation with Israel.

  Hamas

  Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said “We urge Trump to learn from [US President Joe] Biden’s mistakes” and said that the new president will be “tested” on his statements about being able to end the war in Gaza.

  He also pointed out past statements of Trump and/or his campaign officials about US support to Israel not being endless. Interestingly Trump had received record Arab-American support in swing states like Michigan, amid anger at the Biden-Harris administration for its blank check support to Israel even as tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians die.

  “Our position regarding the new US administration will depend on its stances and practical actions towards our Palestinian people, their legitimate rights, and their just cause,” the group, designated by the US as a terror organization, additionally said.

  “The elected US President is urged to heed the voices that have risen from within American society itself for more than a year since the Zionist aggression on Gaza, rejecting occupation and genocide, and objecting to support and bias toward [Israel].”

  It’ll be interesting to watch the immediate foreign policy shifts following the Trump victory. Especially in the Middle East.

  Remember, the Abraham Accords were signed under President Trump in 2020. Israel/Saudi Arabia normalization is likely under the new administration.

  — Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) November 6, 2024

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  Palestinian Authority

  Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas congratulated Trump and expressed hope for regional peace and stability based on the future declaration of a Palestinian state and equal right and freedoms.

  “We will remain steadfast in our commitment to peace, and we are confident that the United States will support, under your leadership, the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people,” Abbas said.

  Saudi Arabia

  King Salman and MBS sent issued separate formal diplomatic cables congratulating Trump. MbS and Trump have long been close, despite during Trump’s first term the Jamal Khashoggi murder creating tensions and some distance between Riyadh and Washington.

  King Salman also praised the “historically close [bilateral] relations that everyone seeks to strengthen and develop in all fields.”

  Iraq

  Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani formally congratulated Trump. “We affirm Iraq’s firm commitment to strengthening bilateral relations with the United States on the basis of mutual respect and common interests,” he said.

  “We look forward to this new phase being the beginning of deepening cooperation between our two countries in various fields, which will contribute to achieving sustainable development and benefit the two friendly peoples.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 16:40

• Watch: Kamala Harris Gives Concession Speech
  Watch: Kamala Harris Gives Concession Speech

  After speaking with President-Elect Donald Trump earlier in the day, and after ghosting thousands of supporters last night who showed up for her at Howard, Kamala Harris is giving a concession speech.

  Watch:

  *  *  *

  Vice President Kamala Harris has called President-Elect Donald Trump to concede the election and congratulate him on beating her like Doug Emhoff’s ex-girlfriend.

  

  A crestfallen Wolf Blitzer delivers the news:

  JUST IN: Kamala Harris has called President Donald Trump to congratulate him and concede the 2024 election.

  “We are told she talked about the importance of the transfer of power…” pic.twitter.com/AuprXkAgxr

  — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 6, 2024

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  Harris campaign manager, meanwhile, sent a letter to staff in which she said “losing is unfathomably painful. It is hard. This will take a long time to process. But the work of protecting America from the impacts of a Trump Presidency starts now.”

  

  The media cope, meanwhile, continues…

  Pure, perfect projection. The lack of self-awareness is awe-inspiring. pic.twitter.com/CQrrJFJMs6

  — Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) November 6, 2024

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  Check back for updates…

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 16:24

• How The Democrats And Media Finally Went Too Far
  How The Democrats And Media Finally Went Too Far

  Authored by Frank Meile via RealClearPolitics.com,

  The reelection of Donald Trump represents, if not the single greatest comeback in political history, certainly the largest middle finger ever shown to the smug, self-centered, superior-minded elitists who think the rest of us are garbage.

  

  Of course, we didn’t need President Biden to call us “garbage” for everyday Americans to know that what we care about means nothing to the establishment. But Biden obliged anyway, and put an exclamation point to the final sorry week of Kamala Harris’ galling campaign.

  You just can’t get any worse than “garbage” – or can you? Isn’t Nazi worse? After all, the Nazis killed 17 million people. If you include all the victims of fascism, you can get that number up to 20 million. But for some reason, the legacy media didn’t care when Harris and her surrogates repeatedly called Trump and his supporters Nazis or fascists.

  You almost get the feeling that the left-leaning press despises Republicans as much as Biden, Harris, and the rest of the Democrats do. If you had any doubt, the totally bogus claim that Trump said he wanted to execute Liz Cheney was the last straw. He was making a perfectly valid argument that the former congresswoman would be less inclined to support wars if she had to fight in them. But apparently that was too sophisticated an attack for the news professionals who decided to lie about it. Instead, they maliciously claimed that Trump literally wanted to put Cheney in front of a firing squad.

  Overall, the past three weeks have been instructive in just how little the nation’s elites in the media and politics respect average citizens, and just how much they think they can manipulate us into believing their lies.

  It’s nothing new, but the latest iteration started on Oct. 13 when Kamala Harris began peddling the “enemy within” hoax, which would have voters believe that Trump had said he planned to use the military against his political opponents.

  In fact, that never happened. Fox News host Maria Bartiromo interviewed Trump and said that Joe Biden doesn’t expect a peaceful Election Day. She asked Trump if he was expecting chaos that day, but she specifically asked about the impact of outside agitators, bringing up the case of an Afghan who was charged with a terror plot, and also mentioning Chinese nationals and criminals who had crossed the border illegally.

  It was in this context that Trump said he wasn’t worried about outside agitators, but rather “the enemy from within,” meaning American citizens who might riot following the election, just as happened in 2016. He continued:

  I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics, and … it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by the National Guard, or if really necessary by the military, because they can’t let that happen.

  This turned into the closing argument of the Harris campaign, claiming that Trump had promised to unleash the military on his political opponents. It was yet another hoax by Democrats and the media, which is either incredibly stupid or incredibly dishonest. CNN’s headline was typical: “Trump suggests using military against ‘enemy from within’ on Election Day.”

  Notice that Trump didn’t “suggest” using the military; he said that chaos could be averted “if necessary” by the National Guard or “if really necessary” by the military. He never suggested this was his plan.

  The most obvious part of the lies told by CNN, Harris, and all the Democratic Party machinery was that Trump could do anything, anything at all, about Election Day violence. NOTE TO CNN: On Election Day, Joe Biden will be the president, not Donald Trump. In saying that “they can’t let that happen,” Trump was actually crediting Biden with the common sense not to let violence disrupt our most sacred democratic ritual of voting.

  Yet for more than a week, Harris and her allies peddled this nonsense to convince voters that Trump is “unhinged, unstable and unchecked.”

  Then, almost as though on cue, just over one week later on Oct. 22, Atlantic magazine editor Jeffrey Goldberg wrote a scandalous article that quoted anonymous sources as saying Trump had insulted the family of Vanessa Guillén, a Mexican-American soldier who was murdered in Texas. The article included a quote from Guillén’s sister praising President Trump for his kindness to the family, but Goldberg essentially pretended the quote didn’t exist. Instead he smeared Trump as a heartless exploiter.

  Later in the same article, Goldberg quoted Gen. John Kelly, Trump’s disgruntled former White House chief of staff, as saying Trump had told him, “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.”

  This dubious old quote was dusted off and included in the article for only one reason – to give Kamala Harris and the Democrats and the talking heads on CNN and MSNBC more fodder for their “Trump is a fascist” narrative. Lots of White House staffers were ready to deny the Kelly story, but that didn’t matter to Goldberg. Let ’er rip.

  And as further evidence of media collusion with the Harris campaign, the New York Times on the same day, Oct. 22, revealed an interview with Gen. Kelly in which he said that Trump “falls into the general definition of fascist” and “certainly prefers the dictator approach to government.”

  This double whammy of remarks by Kelly gave Harris permission to expand her attack on Trump as a fascist, and it quickly became apparent that her campaign was going to replace “joy” with “fear” as the closing argument.

  The media ran with this as a willing partner in the attempt to keep Trump out of the White House. And even before Trump held a historic rally at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, many news outlets drew bizarre comparisons to a 1939 pro-Nazi rally held by the German American Bund in an earlier iteration of the world-famous arena. Yes, that 1939 rally was an offensive anti-American gathering, but it had nothing to do with Trump’s rally in a different building 85 years later.

  Moreover, the Fake News historians somehow missed the fact that in 1933, shortly after Adolf Hitler was named chancellor of Germany, the American Jewish Congress held a National Day of Protest in the same venue. The National Park Service, in its history of Madison Square Garden, writes that “After a day of fasting and prayer, more than 55,000 people flooded MSG III and the streets surrounding it for the largest rally. Jewish leaders, union presidents, politicians, and Christian clergy addressed the crowd. They denounced the Nazis and compared the persecution of European Jews to the terror of the Ku Klux Klan.”

  The media somehow also missed the fact that there were Israeli flags and Orthodox Jews at Trump’s rally, along with two former Democratic presidential candidates, the richest man in America, a black congressman, and a variety of Jewish advisers. All that mattered in the long run was that rally organizers had invited an obscure insult comedian named Tony Hinchcliffe to open the show. Turned out Hinchcliffe lived up to his title and insulted a variety of people and ethnic groups, including Puerto Ricans.

  “I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” he joked.

  The media went nuts, claiming that Trump was racist because the comedian had insulted Puerto Rico. But that never made any sense.

  Yes, it was an uncomfortable joke, one that seemed inappropriate in the middle of a political campaign where former President Trump has been working hard to build up his share of the Hispanic vote. But it was a joke, and though most in the audience had no idea, it wasn’t a random insult, but a topical one. 

  Puerto Rico has a trash problem  thanks to a variety of causes, and it’s something a future president of the United States should help to resolve.

  But the current president can’t be bothered. Instead of using the tasteless joke to bring attention to the plight of our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico, President Biden deflected attention away from the island and provocatively said “The only garbage I see floating out there is his [Trump’s] supporters.”

  Which brings us full circle to the disastrous last week of the Harris campaign. As she lectured her would-be constituents during a speech on the Ellipse in D.C., preaching peace, brotherhood, and unity, her boss Joe Biden was in the White House behind her, telling a Zoom call that Trump supporters are “garbage.” You can’t make this stuff up.

  The Democratic Party has been unmasked once again as the party of hypocrisy, insincerity, and smugness. Just as in 2016 when the MAGA base embraced Hillary Clinton’s description of them as “deplorables,” so too did the Trump faithful now begin to greet each other as pieces of garbage. When Trump descended from his jet in Green Bay and entered a garbage truck wearing a sanitation worker’s orange vest, he closed the deal with millions of voters who are tired of being ignored.

  Don’t ever underestimate how much the establishment hates Donald Trump, but also, don’t ever underestimate how much everyday Americans hate the establishment. End of story.

  *  *  *

  Frank Miele, the retired editor of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont., is a columnist for RealClearPolitics. His book “The Media Matrix: What If Everything You Know Is Fake” is available from his Amazon author page. Visit him at HeartlandDiaryUSA.com or follow him on Facebook @HeartlandDiaryUSA and on X/Gettr @HeartlandDiary.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/06/2024 – 16:20