Sep 20

Today’s News 20th September 2023

  • Syrian President Assad Heads To China For 1st Official Visit Since 2004
    Syrian President Assad Heads To China For 1st Official Visit Since 2004

    Via The Cradle,

    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will travel to China on September 21 to participate in a Syrian-Chinese summit at the official invitation of his counterpart Xi Jinping. According to Syrian state media, Assad will lead a high-level political and economic delegation for official meetings in the cities of Beijing and Guangzhou.

    Syria’s official delegation will include Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad and Finance Minister Samer al-Khalil. This will mark Assad’s first official visit to Beijing since 2004.

    Via Enab Baladi

    Analysts expect several bilateral agreements to be signed during Assad’s visit as part of China’s larger strategy to cement its position as a power broker in West Asia.

    Beijing has already proved instrumental once this year in helping Syria come in from the cold after Chinese officials brokered the historic Iran-Saudi rapprochement that also saw a normalization of ties between Gulf states and Damascus.

    In the weeks that followed the Saudi-Iran deal, Syria was also welcomed back into the Arab League, a development which China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called evidence that “when the shadow of the US shrinks, the light of peace spreads.”

    In March, Chinese officials urged the US to end its illegal military occupation of Syria and stop looting its resources, stressing that its continued presence has worsened Syria’s humanitarian crisis.

    “China has throughout the years defended Syria’s territorial integrity and many times used its veto power at the UN Security Council to prevent interventions in the Arab country’s internal affairs,” Kosai Abido, a Syrian political analyst and author, told Press TV this week.

    “Since China is considered a friendly state for Syria and has significant economic power, cooperation agreements with this country should be expanded to include food, pharmaceutical, and technology sectors,” Abido added.

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    Last year, Chinese and Syrian officials signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) welcoming Damascus into the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a mega-infrastructure project that seeks to bring capital and infrastructure to Global South countries while dramatically strengthening connectivity for commerce, finance, and culture.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/20/2023 – 02:00

  • Competition Is Demonized, Participation Trophies An Acceptable Norm? Not In This Man's World
    Competition Is Demonized, Participation Trophies An Acceptable Norm? Not In This Man’s World

    Authored by Frank Bill via SOFREP,

    Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.  -Bruce Lee

    Over the past several years, a trend has emerged to label anything that deals with men, exercise, and masculinity as toxic.

    In July of 2023, MSNBC reshared a year-old-tweet by extremism expert Cynthia Miller-Idrissthat she penned in March of 2022, sounding the alarm that young men were being radicalized and recruited through encrypted chat groups, they’re ‘lured with health tips and strategies for positive physical changes.’ Researchers reported this as “fascist fitness.”

    (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/mar/06/fascist-fitness-how-the-far-right-is-recruiting-with-online-gym-groups)

    (https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/pandemic-fitness-trends-have-gone-extreme-literally-n1292463)

    The author goes on to mention that physical fitness has always been central to the far right, referencing Mein Kampf and Hitler’s fixation with boxing and jujitsu. The author goes on to claim that far-right groups are setting up mixed martial arts and boxing gyms in Ukraine, Canada, and France.

    Mrs. Cynthia Miller-Idriss speaks of extremism and fitness as it connects to an obsession with the male body, training, masculinity, testosterone, strength, and competition. She talks of how combat sports are appealing to the far right because fighters are trained to accept physical pain, become warriors, and embrace solidarity, heroism, and brotherhood. I’m guessing she thinks that when a person, male or female, joins a CrossFit gym, a powerlifting gym, boxing, Muay Thai gym, or jujitsu school, a community from all walks of life, the bonds and confidence they build there is supposed to be a form of extremism.

    She sums this up by going full-on crazy Charles-Manson-Helter-Skelter, saying, “It’s championed as a tool to help fight the ‘coming race war’ and the battles that will proceed it.”

    Hard men learn to do hard things. Suck it up. SOFREP original illustration.

    The author’s article delivered backlash from the likes of Podcaster Joe Rogan, an avid strength trainer and jujitsu practitioner who tweeted, ‘Being healthy is “far right.” Holy fuck. Then, the comment section exploded.

    Considering I’ve never been an avid gym member (I go to the local gym when I’m on vacation), but I’ve had a home gym, been strength training with Olympic weights and body weight calisthenics all of my life since age 11, as a kid I looked up to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Reg Park, Clint Eastwood, and Sylvester Stallone. I grew up on the pugilism of pro boxing, being motivated by everyone from Jack Johnson, James Braddock, Muhammad Ali, to Arturo Gatti. That doesn’t include my training in Martial Arts from age 12 until my mid-30s. Being influenced by men like Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and Jackie Chan. Men who overcame adversity through their chosen training. Why? One might ask, because fitness requires effort, goal setting, discipline, and a resilience of self. These guys didn’t get participation trophies. They earned their way in life while overlooking negativity.

    Stand back, or you could be splattered with testosterone. SOFREP original illustration.

    Does that make me a racist? No, it does not. I’ve taught, studied, and trained in many disciplines throughout my life, including Korean Tae Known Do, Traditional Chinese Kung Fu, Western and Eastern Boxing, Brazilian Jujitsu, and Jeet Kune Do with all creeds and colors of people.

    White supremacy was never part of the curriculum. Community, bonding, and hard work were front and center.

    Fitness is the single most important daily endeavor that a person can embark upon. Movement molds a person into a better person. Creates discipline. Promotes health, mental and physical.

    Examples from influencers/authors/podcasters such as Jocko Willink, Joe Rogan, Cameron Hanes, Mike Rowe, Joe DeSena, and David Goggins, though sometimes extreme, promote leadership, positivity, and goodwill. And no-nonsense motivation to be a little better each and every day. And they give back to their community.

    Discussing what society has lost with retired Strength and Conditioning Coach Jim Steel from the University of PA, we narrowed it down to the simplistic: people have gotten away from the rewards of hard work. A stronger mind, a stronger body, and a positive attitude. In other words, society no longer realizes our country wouldn’t be where it is without overcoming negativity and putting in the hard work to create better men. Men who built roads, bridges, and infrastructure. Farmed land to produce food. Fought in wars. Battled racism. Every person who succeeds in life has had obstacles to overcome to get to where they’re at.

    Sadly, in this day and age, we’re the one country that can complain and criticize how free we are. And about the men who fought for this freedom.

    Why not consider this? Another friend, Strength and Conditioning coach Zach Even-Esh, writes a daily newsletter. They’re informative and inspirational; one of the issues he’s encountered over the past 10-plus years when training younger athletes is the average teenager can’t do 10 pull-ups or push-ups. As a people, we’re letting our kids proceed backward.

    Competition is demonized. Victimhood and participation trophies have become the acceptable norm, and kids have become weaker.

    This carries over to becoming an adult. Testosterone levels in men have declined. Gen Z and millennials have lower testosterone when compared to their predecessors. Declining about 1% per year since 1980. Why is this? Many factors. Eating too much processed/junk food (fast food, chips, soda, white sugar). Stress from jobs that require less movement than in the past, like sitting behind a desk and staring at a monitor for hours on end. Mental health issues. Tight underwear. Not smoking (nicotine raises T; I don’t condone smoking). Not getting enough sleep. Oh, and men don’t get enough movement throughout their day. They don’t exercise. And guess what could curb or even eliminate all of these issues and raise men’s testosterone: exercise. Lifting weights, calisthenics, or bodyweight movements. Getting outdoors and getting your Vitamin D from sunlight, from daily walks, sprints, or push mowing your lawn. Getting eight hours of sleep. And eating real food.

    (https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2017/10/02/youre-not-the-man-your-father-was/?sh=65be5dcc8b7f)

    Look, men have egos, and they have testosterone; that’s what makes us men. But in this day and age, we’re constantly being labeled as toxic. No wonder there’s a decline in testosterone. It’s the pampering of culture, the removal of hard work and grit. Doing hard things.

    To paraphrase JFK, “We chose to do these things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” SOFREP original illustration.

    Growing up in a blue-collar family, my father was constantly helping his in-laws on their farm, providing for my mother and me but also for his mother and his community of friends. He served in the Vietnam War as a Combat Engineer. He worked three jobs and took care of our home, and he was humble.

    We’ve simplified life and removed effort and dedication. Commitment. Discipline. Work ethic. Goals. And most of all, pride. We’ve replaced it with excuses and weakness.

    My advice to young men, stay off of social media and turn your phone off. Start journaling. Set daily goals. Read books. Learn a skill. Help others. Get outdoors. Go walking or hiking daily.

    Lift weights, do bodyweight exercises, or join a gym. Quit making excuses. You’re not a victim.

    Every man who’s succeeded in life did it by working hard and being dedicated. Regardless of how they were treated, shunned, or turned down, they did it by being resilient. It’s called being a man.

    —

    If you are enjoying this piece, why not subscribe to SOFREP + and have access to tons more great content, like this: Lions Led by Political Lambs: Why an Absence of Military Leaders is an Invitation for Enemies

    SOFREP and Frank Bill go together like ribs and BBQ sauce. Click on the links to check out more of his fantastic body of work: The Ravaged, with Norman Reedus; the novels Back to the Dirt (May 2023), The Savage and Donnybrook, the latter of which was turned into a film in 2018; and the story collection Crimes in Southern Indiana, one of GQ’s favorite books of 2011 and a Daily Beast best debut of 2011. – GDM

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/20/2023 – 00:05

  • Cape Cod Residents Outraged At Democratic Governor's Migrant Housing Plan
    Cape Cod Residents Outraged At Democratic Governor’s Migrant Housing Plan

    Earlier this month, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey declared a state of emergency in response to the surging number of migrants in state-managed shelters. Then, last week, the governor mobilized the National Guard to assist with the migrant crisis. Now, residents are outraged with the governor’s decision to house the migrants as Biden’s southern border crisis spreads nationwide. 

    Local newspaper The Bourne Enterprise reports anger spreads across the Cape Cod peninsula as “residents turned out in force to express opposition to the state’s opting to provide temporary housing for migrant families who have been relocated to Massachusetts.” 

    “Protesters outside the building that evening held signs reading “Americans First”; inside, residents at the lectern cited potential board of health regulations, as well as concerns with whether the public school system can accommodate children from the immigrant families,” the paper said. 

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    Dozens of residents attended the Bourne Select Board meeting at the Bourne Veterans Memorial Community Center earlier this month to voice their opposition to Gov. Healey’s plan to transform parts of the Joint Base Cape Cod and local area hotels into migrant shelters. 

    Gov. Healey recently asked US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for help to combat the migrant crisis after her Democratic colleagues in the White House and on Capitol Hill have been determined to undermine Trump-era border policies for open border ones – that have led to millions of illegals pouring into the country over the last several years. 

    The governor has stated, “Massachusetts is in a state of emergency,” and commended the deployment of the National Guard to assist with the migrant crisis. 

    In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams warned in recent weeks that the migrant crisis will “destroy” the metro area. 

    It’s all fun and games for Democrats until Biden’s disastrous open border policies flood progressive metro areas with illegals. 

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    Then these Democrats preach “NIMBY.” 

     

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 23:45

  • Transcending Technopessimism
    Transcending Technopessimism

    Authored by Rachel Lomasky via RealClear Wire,

    The following is a condensed version of “Transcending Technopessimism” by Rachel Lomasky, published at Law & Liberty.

    Technopessimism is reaching a fever pitch, fueled by headlines like, “Meta’s AI internet chatbot starts spewing fake news,” “Self-driving Uber Car Kills Pedestrian in Arizona,” “Artificial Intelligence Has a Racial and Gender Bias Problem.” Artificial Intelligence can be sexist, racist, or just profoundly stupid. The knee-jerk reaction to these sensational headlines is to call for limits and constraints on AI. But we need to pause and realize that to err is both human and AI. Substitute a human for the AI in those headlines, and they become completely mundane. AI misconduct garners great attention, but that’s because human transgressions are taken for granted, not because technology is necessarily worse. In many cases, even the most egregious of AI errors can be audited and corrected. In extreme cases, AIs can be shut down. Society generally frowns on “shutting down” humans whose behavior is stupid or insulting.

    Consider, for example, new NYC legislation that requires AI to be audited for bias before making hiring decisions. Proponents argue AI can be biased against certain classes of applicants. If these biases exist in the training set, it is because human agents have previously been biased. When an algorithm is a jerk, we can fix it, e.g. by changing the training data, and we can confirm that it is fixed before deploying into the wild. It’s very difficult to determine whether human biases have been remediated, especially given how deeply rooted they can be.

    Similarly, people worry about a lack of transparency behind AI’s recommendations. Indeed, the best performing algorithms often offer little clarity in decision-making. But even black-box algorithms are extremely clear when compared to the mushy black boxes inside humans. Introspection illusion, a field of psychology, explains why humans are so bad at explaining their decision-making logic. On the other hand, suites of tools explain AI results, even for nontransparent algorithms. Given a resume, the AI response is deterministic. The same is rarely true of a human, who may not even respond consistently over a single day.

    Manipulation by the social media algorithms is another popular source of apprehension. Social media platforms maximize the time that users spend on the platform by providing them content that interests them. Judgmental people argue that we should not want that content. However, these platforms are just the latest iteration of advertising manipulating us. Humans have manipulated other humans since time out of mind. Social media manipulates, but perhaps even less than forces like family, religion, government, and other media. We have mechanisms in place to try to minimize and mitigate these effects, and we should have similar remediations for AI.

    Many people fear AI can’t understand ethics, regardless of whether it is actually acting ethically. A favorite meme is the Trolley Problem applied to self-driving cars, trying to decide whom to kill in an accident situation. But humans are most likely not applying utilitarianism, duty-based ethics, or any other deep thinking when they’re about to crash. On the contrary, they are thinking, “Holy crap, I’m about to hit that thing! Must swerve!” Or at the very best, “Seems like fewer people to the right.”

    Sometimes the alternative to an AI isn’t a human, but nothing at all. In many cases, AI provides a service that simply couldn’t scale if provided by humans. For example, human translators couldn’t match the functionality of Google Translate. Likewise, humans cannot scan all credit card transactions looking for fraud. Even in areas of psychotherapy, where humans are clearly better equipped to provide the service, AI allows it to scale.

    Often AI technologies are used both for evil and for good. Computer vision is used for surveillance, encroaching on privacy. But it is also employed in wildlife conservation, such as monitoring endangered species and preventing poaching. AI algorithms analyze images, acoustic data, and satellite imagery to identify and track animals, assess population dynamics, and detect illegal activities. We should judge the application, not the tool.

    It can be difficult to put AI transgressions into perspective because people lack a deep technological understanding, and mysterious, complex systems scare people. The problem is exacerbated by sensationalized and deliberate misinformation on the part of Hollywood and the media. These factors lead many to believe the problem could be even worse than the headlines. Additionally, there is Frederic Bastiat’s “Seen vs. Unseen” distinction: A self-driving car hit a pole, but how many accidents by distracted humans would AI cars prevent? A racist AI sent the wrong person to jail, but how many errors are made by judges, some of whom have nefarious motives? Without comparing these AI misdeeds with the human alternatives, the default reaction is to hinder AI. In many cases, this is short-sighted and counterproductive. Our concerns with AI should always be viewed through the lens of comparison to human failings.

    Rachel Lomasky is Chief Data Scientist at Flux, a company that help organizations do responsible AI. Throughout her career, she has helped scientists train and productionalize their machine learning algorithms.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 23:25

  • SBF's Parents Steeped In Democrat Dark Money And 'Illegal' Election Tactics
    SBF’s Parents Steeped In Democrat Dark Money And ‘Illegal’ Election Tactics

    The parents of alleged crypto-fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried were involved in Democrat dark money and 2020 election tactics deemed ‘illegal’ by a right-leaning political research firm.

    Barbara Fried and husband Sam Bankman, parents of SBF

    Allan Joseph Bankman and his wife, Barbara Fried (who are currently being sued to claw back some a portion of $26 million to “fraudulently transferred and misappropriated funds” as part of FTX’s bankruptcy), have found themselves in the middle of fresh controversy.

    In a Monday lawsuit seeking the clawback, the pair were accused of siphoning off millions in firm funds to benefit their “pet causes,” with Bankman – who says he helped FTX “navigate tax issues,” allegedly “considered having funds made available by Sam through Arabella,” one of the largest dark-wing money advisory groups in the USA, whose board Bankman sat on according to court documents.

    “This meant that Bankman had unfettered access to the FTX Group’s financials and corporate structure — two things that would have alerted him that money was moving between and among the FTX Exchanges, FTX Insiders, and other legal entities,” reads the filing.

    Bankman’s advisory role was revealed in a footnote on P. 19 of the lawsuit.

    Arabella manages major left-wing nonprofit groups which then sponsor entities that pay no tax. The company has come under heightened scrutiny from conservatives over this “dark money” arrangement, the Washington Examiner reports.

    The lawsuit, which seeks to claw back funds Bankman and Fried allegedly “fraudulently transferred and misappropriated,” cites the “New Venture Fund,” which “offered a platform through which FTX.US and its donors could contribute to select charitable causes.”

    Lawyers for Bankman and Fried hit back, saying that “This is a dangerous attempt to intimidate Joe and Barbara and undermine the jury process just days before their child’s trial begins.”

    Illegal election tactics?

    Meanwhile, according to a report from a right-leaning political research firm, Barbara Fried authored a memo in late 2019 that encouraged Democrats to donate to a 501(c)(3) known as The Voter Registration Project or Everybody Votes, the NY Post reports.

    The Stanford professor argued that getting more Democrats registered to vote would be far more effective than simply donating to candidates, and encouraged donors to give 90% of their election contributions to Everybody Votes.

    “Non- partisan voter registration” charities are “4 to 10 times more cost-effective” at “netting additional Democratic votes,” Fried wrote in the memo.

     The charity ended up raising a whopping $190 million, according to recent filings cited by the Capital Research Center.

    Since charities and foundations don’t reveal donations until years after the fact, they are specifically forbidden from operating to benefit a political party, in effect or in intent, according to the author of the report, Parker Thayer.

    Fried also told people to keep quiet about the strategy, which “managed to stay out of the news and as far as we know out of Republicans’ sight-lines,” she wrote. “It will come as no surprise to Republicans—and be of little interest—that yet another organization is trying to fund voter registration in battleground states.

    “But the magnitude of our efforts, the details of targeting, and the names of the organizations we are recommending would be of great interest to them.”

    According to an anonymous longtime GOP fundraiser and strategist, “This is the darkest of dark money.”

    The news comes just days after federal prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of using $100 million in stolen customer funds for political donations. While there’s no evidence that he gave money to voter registration efforts or that his mother was involved in any wrongdoing, it underscores the impact the entire family had on politics.

    In 2020, Vox reported on the memo from Mind The Gap and the millions the group raised aimed to raise.

    But the new report from Capital Research Center reveals how effective the memo was with Democratic mega donors. Warren Buffett’s charitable foundation, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, donated $5 million to voter registration efforts while George Soros donated $10.4 million, the report adds.

    So many fingers in so many pies…

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 23:05

  • The War On Marriage Must End
    The War On Marriage Must End

    Authored by Roger L. Simon via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    I woke up earlier this week to two depressing articles that on the surface seem unrelated but are actually connected.

    (StockSnap/Pixabay)

    They both speak to the existence of a war on marriage in our culture that will destroy the fabric of our country if not dealt with. This is a war that surfaced ideologically in the early years of the Soviet Union in a way oddly similar to a primitive version of our “woke,” but was soon withdrawn as impractical even there.

    Not here.

    This war is now being fought in the USA on a deeper cultural level that could actually be more pernicious and ultimately succeed with monumental societal implications.

    The first of these articles—“The Dating Pool Dropouts” by Olivia Reingold at The Free Press—details the declining number of men even attempting to find a life partner. Marriage itself has been declining for years.

    Ms. Reingold describes a number of reasons for this, adding that “part of it also boils down to this: it’s hard for men to find partners at a moment when women are outpacing them both at school and work. Young women now hold 1.6 million more college degrees than men, and in a growing number of cities, including Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and New York, they make as much as—or more than—their male counterparts. And even if they become mothers, odds are four in ten will become the breadwinners of their households.”

    And yet we have feminists still yammering on about “equal pay.” Go figure.

    You would also think these now-successful women might enjoy having a working-class man in the house who knows how to fix the plumbing or the electrical, but such is not the behavior of human society, ours anyway. If a man does not have a college degree, the fancier the better, he is filtered out on the dating apps.

    What has evolved from this, according to the article, is pervasive loneliness among the younger generation.

    Ms. Reingold also points out that, statistically, married people are happier. But most of us have known that from simple observation.

    Meanwhile, with the male sex in decline, we have a war on gender—or more accurately, massive, and likely deliberately instigated, gender confusion, making matters worse and putting marriage in further jeopardy.

    He is reporting on a battle in San Bernadino County where a school system is fighting back against the state of California. The state’s attorney general is suing to nullify that system’s ruling that parents must be notified by the school if their under-18 children are attempting to transition.

    Defending the parents is the Liberty Justice Center, a nonprofit, public-interest litigation center. Good on them.

    This is a portion of the massive struggle going on across the nation, all part of this war against the family that is being fought by the left—that apparently has not learned the lessons of the former Soviet Union to which I referred—on many fronts.

    Disbanding the family in favor of the state is their intention. It is also another step toward globalism.

    The tragedy is that it is also a road to serious human unhappiness.

    When Klaus Schwab said, “You will have nothing and you will be happy,” he was also, by inference, implying the dissolution of the family. You don’t need a spouse. You have the World Economic Forum (WEF), or what flows from it, to take care of you.

    If you recognize in this elements of Mao Zedong’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, children denouncing their parents, you are not mistaken. It’s close to happening here, indeed probably already has in isolated instances.

    Not inconsequentially, I have also been reading Dennis Prager’s “Rational Bible”—at the moment the volume on Exodus—so it contains lengthy discussion of the Ten Commandments.

    I know I sound almost like an idiot for doing so, but I recommend, particularly, in these times with the family in jeopardy, the Fifth Commandment:

    “Honor thy father and mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”

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

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 22:45

  • Red State Pharmacists Use 'Religious' Loophole To Deny Patients Ivermectin: Doctor
    Red State Pharmacists Use ‘Religious’ Loophole To Deny Patients Ivermectin: Doctor

    Authored by Matthew Lysiak via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Doctors claim a law created to protect pro-life workers from going against their religious beliefs is being employed by pharmacists to deny patients access to ivermectin.

    “Right to refuse” laws initially enacted in many states to shield pro-life pharmacists from being forced to violate religious convictions are used by pharmacists as legal cover for denying patients COVID-19 treatments that they find objectionable, according to a medical expert.

    In Texas, Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, a practitioner and founder of Coalition of Health Freedom, told The Epoch Times that the law, along with greater discretion granted to pharmacists during the pandemic, has become a roadblock in ensuring her patients receive the care needed, especially when it comes to prescribing ivermectin off-label to treat COVID-19.

    “I can’t imagine how anyone can claim a religious or moral belief in denying my patients access to ivermectin, but that appears to be exactly how they are able to legally do this,” said Dr. Bowden. “It makes no sense and creates significant delays in getting patients access to the medications they need.”

    (Courtesy of Mary Talley Bowden)

    In Texas, pharmacists are allowed wide discretion under House Bill 2561, which Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law in September 2017. The law permits pharmacy workers the right to refuse to fill a patient’s prescriptions for moral and religious reasons, with the text of the bill specifying “freedom of speech regarding a sincerely held religious belief.”

    Dr. Bowden said that in recent years, many pharmacists have anointed themselves as medication gatekeeper in deciding which drugs may or may not be prescribed. As a result, doctors are having to invest increasing amounts of time and resources toward finding ways to get prescriptions filled that would be better directed toward patient care, according to Dr. Bowden.

    “I never had an issue before COVID. Now it’s an everyday issue I have to deal with as a doctor, and it’s just draining,” said Dr. Bowden.

    What have become known as “right to refuse” laws vary by state. Six states—Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Missouri, and South Dakota—have laws or regulations that specifically allow pharmacies or pharmacists to refuse to honor prescriptions for religious or moral reasons, according to the National Women’s Law Center. Seven other states—Alabama, Delaware, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas—allow them to refuse a prescription but prohibit pharmacists from obstructing patient access to medication.

    Further, most state practice codes allow pharmacists to refuse to fill a prescription if, in their judgment, the validity of the medicine is in question, abuse of a drug is suspected, or to protect the health and welfare of the patient. However, pharmacists expanded the scope of their discretion during the pandemic, according to Dr. Bowden.

    ‘We Need an Intervention’

    Ivermectin has been around for decades but became the center of controversy in 2020 after medical opinion became divided over its effectiveness as a treatment for COVID-19. In the aftermath, many pharmacists refused to fill prescriptions for the medication.

    By 2023, the issue had made its way into a courtroom in a case brought by Dr. Bowden and other medical professionals when, on Aug. 8, a lawyer representing the FDA confirmed that doctors were free to prescribe ivermectin to treat COVID-19.

    “FDA explicitly recognizes that doctors do have the authority to prescribe ivermectin to treat COVID,” Ashley Cheung Honold, a Department of Justice lawyer representing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.

    Despite statements from the FDA affirming that right to doctors, Dr. Bowden says many pharmacists nationwide are still refusing to fill prescriptions issued for ivermectin issued to patients for the treatment of COVID-19.

    In most cases, according to Dr. Bowden, individual pharmacists aren’t the ones to blame and are often only carrying out orders from corporate leadership. However, she claims to have also seen examples where pharmacists prevented her patients from getting their medication as a result of their own “personal agenda.”

    Dr. Bowden believes the only way absent of new legislation ensuring a patient’s right to the fulfillment of the prescription written by their health care expert is for people to keep putting pressure on the pharmacies to leave the practicing of medicine to the doctors.

    “Consumers can fight back, but there is going to be a price to pay in terms of time and money,” said Dr. Bowden. “Whether that means boycotting pharmacies that refuse to fill your prescriptions, and having to travel further to a different pharmacy, or pushing for new legislation to protect patient rights, there is no easy solution.

    “But it is clear that we need an intervention of some kind, and soon.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 22:05

  • Consumer Revolt? Survey Reveals Many Plan To Spend Less As Shopping Season Approaches 
    Consumer Revolt? Survey Reveals Many Plan To Spend Less As Shopping Season Approaches 

    Several major retailers have already raised concerns about a downturn in consumer spending that may persist through the crucial holiday shopping season. Many mid to low-tier consumers are stretched thin in the era of ‘Bidenomics,’ grappling with rising credit card debt, diminished savings, and steep interest rates. Additionally, tens of millions of consumers are resuming their student loan payments this month. These factors are headwinds that may spark a growth scare narrative. 

    Online review platform Trustpilot published a new survey of 2,000 consumers, finding that many have less disposable income than in previous years. However, some respondents are finding ways to leverage up to fund purchases: 

    • Today’s economic crisis is undoubtedly contributing to consumer stress levels this year with 1 in 3 considering going into credit card debt to purchase holiday gifts this year. 

    • This is followed by 41 percent considering Buy Now Pay Later services, while another 2 in 5 would cut down on essential expenses such as food and gas to afford their gift purchases. 

    • 34 percent would look at dipping into their savings, and 1 in 3 would consider starting a side hustle to offset the costs.

    Bad news for major retailers, Trustpilot revealed:

    • 41 percent are considering opting out of purchasing physical gifts that require wrapping and going digital for gifts. 

    • 38 percent are saying no to white elephant gift exchanges and Secret Santa, 38 percent are skipping gatherings that require travel, and 34 percent are ditching family gatherings altogether.

    The survey further showed more alarming news: 

    “That said, on average, Americans who shopped during the 2022 holiday season intend to spend 39 percent less this year, and cost is driving purchasing decisions.” 

    The planned reduction in holiday spending was blamed mostly on the multi-year inflation storm:

    “Respondents noted an increase in price of items (43 percent) and shipping costs (42 percent) would prevent them from shopping with a business this holiday season. In fact, if delivery prices were to increase, 64 percent would reduce their overall spending to offset the cost, 64 percent would only shop in-store, and 60 percent would only shop with businesses that offer free shipping.”

    “People are financially struggling in today’s economy, which is only heightened during the holidays,” Mieke De Schepper, Chief Commercial Officer at Trustpilot, wrote in the report. 

    The survey comes as we determined in a recent consumer credit report that “US consumer had finally tapped out.” And we also noted it’s extraordinarily rare for consumers to be in this worse shape… 

    Plus, add the restart of student loan payments this month that will curb household spending by upwards of $15.8 billion per month – or $190 billion per year. 

    Corporate America panicked about “student loans” this past earning season as chatter on earnings calls soared to the highest level ever. 

    These mounting headwinds for consumers are why Macy’s only plans to hire 38,000 full and part-time workers this holiday season – much fewer than last year and the lowest number since 2008. Meanwhile, Nordstrom recently warned about a slowdown in consumer spending. Remember weeks ago when Walmart slashed pay for new hires? All of this suggests the economic downturn has arrived. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 21:45

  • Voter Registration Charities: A Massive, Overlooked Scandal
    Voter Registration Charities: A Massive, Overlooked Scandal

    Authored by Parker Thayer via RealClear Wire,

    “Nonprofit voter registration” doesn’t sound interesting. Yet nonprofit voter registration, or the use of tax-exempt charitable organizations to conduct and fund voter registration drives, is one of the most important and underreported political scandals of our time.

    Nonprofit voter registration, and the get-out-the-vote (GOTV) activities that usually accompany it, have become the heart of a billion-dollar industry in America. According to Candid’s Foundation Funding for U.S. Democracy database, since 2011 nearly 60,000 grants have been made for “Voter Education, Registration, and Turnout” and “Civic Participation,” benefitting 15,000 different organizations to the tune of $5.9 billion dollars.

    Most of the largest grantors and grantees in this industry are left-leaning. Despite IRS rules prohibiting 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit groups from engaging in partisan electioneering, it has long been an open secret that the purpose of their work is to register voters from favorable demographics in order to help get Democrats elected. The voter registration industry has always retreated behind the fig-leaf of “nonpartisanship” when necessary, which has protected it from serious scrutiny..

    Until now, that is. My recent special report, How Charities Secretly Help Win Elections, ripped away that fig-leaf. The report reveals the untold story of a nondescript charity named the “Voter Registration Project” that was used to funnel over $100 million into a five-year voter registration scheme hatched by Clinton campaign operatives to help Democrats win elections in 2020. Using tax forms, leaked documents, and leaked emails, the report shows how the scheme aimed to register over 5 million “non-white” voters in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, and Nevada; how it was developed through multiple drafts and edits into a highly sophisticated plan dubbed the Everybody Votes Campaign; and how that plan was eventually adopted by a super PAC tied to Sam Bankman-Fried that instructed billionaire donors to keep it completely secret since it was the most “cost-effective” method for “netting additional Democratic votes.”

    The report even shows several of the plan’s major donors admitting, in signed tax forms, that their “charitable” grants to the Voter Registration Project were made for the express purpose of supporting the super PAC that had recommended it to them. It was the largest, most organized, and most blatantly partisan nonprofit voter registration drive in American history. By our estimates it generated between 1 and 2.7 million swing-state votes for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

    Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Americans are expected to believe the excuse, given on the Everybody Votes Campaign’s new website, that their left-wing donors are merely “committed to creating a more representative democracy by building and supporting large-scale, long-term voter registration in communities of color.” Their website notably boasts that 76% of the 5.1 million voters they have registered were people of color, but then curiously declines to mention which states said people of color were from. A recent job listing from the organization shows that their targets states for 2024 will be Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.

    That’s right, the donors and directors of the Everybody Votes Campaign care deeply about the civic participation of “communities of color.” So deeply, in fact, that they have been, and will be, registering millions of minority voters, but only in the most important presidential swing states. No room for California and New York (two of America’s most populous states) nor Mississippi and Louisiana (which have the highest Black population by percentage).

    It should be obvious to anyone who looks a little deeper than the mission statement that “Everybody Votes” is more than a little bit of a misnomer.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 21:25

  • No Big Deal: Newsom Defends Hunter Biden Influence Peddling Scheme
    No Big Deal: Newsom Defends Hunter Biden Influence Peddling Scheme

    On today’s episode of Damage Control Theatre…

    California Governor Gavin Newsom, who will undoubtedly be decanted if and when Joe Biden can’t manage to mount a 2024 campaign, says that Hunter Biden’s alleged influence peddling scheme – in which prominent foreign businessmen, including the “fucking spy chief of China,” paid the Biden family millions to affect US policy while Joe was VP – is no big deal.

    “One of the things that Republicans are relentless on, of course, is Hunter Biden,” CNN host Dana Bash asked Newsom, adding. “There is no evidence that Joe Biden benefited from anything that Hunter was doing, but Republicans have shown that Hunter Biden – he tried to leverage his father’s name, and that the president allegedly before he was president joined phone calls that Hunter Biden’s business associates were on. Do you see anything inappropriate there?”

    To which Newsom, whose career was undoubtedly helped by his family’s connections with the Pelosis, replied: “I don’t know enough about the details of that. I mean I’ve seen a little of that,” adding “If that’s the new criteria, there are a lot of folks in a lot of industries – not just in politics – where people have family members and relationships and they’re trying to parlay and get a little influence and benefit in that respect. That’s hardly unique.”

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    “I don’t love that any more than you love it or other people I imagine love that. We want to see a lot less of that, but an impeachment inquiry? Give me a break,” he continued according to Fox News.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom justified Hunter Biden’s business dealings in an interview with CNN. (John Nacion/WireImage)

    “Threatening a government shutdown again after we went through that process with the debt ceiling. This is student government,” he added. “This is a joke. Ready, fire, aim. I mean, this is a perversity that the founding fathers never conceived of and imagined. So, if that’s the best they can do, give me a break. That’s about public opinion.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 21:05

  • Sperry: Did Hunter Biden Lie In His Own Memoir To 'Protect The Family'?
    Sperry: Did Hunter Biden Lie In His Own Memoir To ‘Protect The Family’?

    Authored by Paul Sperry via RealClear Wire,

    In a raft of glowing reviews, Hunter Biden’s 2019 memoir “Beautiful Things” was celebrated as an “unflinchingly honest” (Entertainment Weekly), “confession and an act of contrition” (Guardian), that was “candid” and “doesn’t hold back details” (New York Times) of his substance abuse and broken relationships.  

    While describing the book as an “unvarnished confessional,” the Washington Post exalted it as a “harrowing, relentless and a determined exercise in trying to seize his own narrative from the clutches of the Republicans and the press. 

    In the years since, testimony from a former business partner, Devon Archer, and newly disclosed emails indicate that the president’s son’s memoir was an exercise in spin rather than truth-telling, especially concerning his father’s role in his foreign business dealings, which are now the subject of a House impeachment inquiry. That evidence shows how the Bidens used the memoir to create a politically charged narrative – one largely embraced by the mainstream media – that distorted the truth to protect the family.  

    On page 118, for example, Hunter writes that after accompanying then-Vice President Joe Biden to China on Air Force Two in 2013, he merely introduced his father to a well-connected Chinese investor. It was a quick greeting that lasted just long enough for a handshake. “While we were in Beijing, Dad met one of Devon’s Chinese partners, Jonathan Li, in the lobby of the American delegation’s hotel, just long enough to say hello and shake hands,” Hunter wrote. “Li and I then headed off for a cup of coffee.” 

    The account seems to comport with now-President Biden’s repeated denials that he discussed business with his son or had any substantive involvement with his partners. 

    However, Archer told a different story to U.S. lawmakers during a deposition earlier this year. “Jonathan Li and [Vice] President Biden had coffee,” Archer said, according to a recently released transcript of his interview with the House Oversight Committee. “They had coffee in Beijing,” he recalled, suggesting there may have been talk about their business relationship.

    Li would later offer Hunter a 10% stake worth potentially millions in a Chinese investment fund controlled by the state Bank of China. The fund, BHR Partners, is based in Beijing. 

    Archer’s testimony included other details ignored or distorted in the memoir. He said the vice president called Hunter while he was meeting with Li in Paris, and Hunter put his father on speakerphone so he could join their conversation. And in early January 2017, while Biden was still in the White House, Hunter arranged for his father to write letters of recommendation for Li’s son and daughter to Ivy League colleges. 

    Before committee lawyers began questioning Archer during the July 31 closed-door hearing, they warned him that providing false testimony could subject him to criminal prosecution for perjury. Hunter, in contrast, was under no such legal peril while writing his manuscript.

    The same Oversight panel that quizzed Archer will now lead a formal impeachment inquiry, announced this month by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, to investigate whether Biden used his office to enrich his family. Investigators are weighing subpoenaing Hunter Biden, which makes examining his claims in his memoir highly instructive as to his and his father’s credibility. They’re also tracing millions of dollars wired from China into a maze of accounts that ended up in the hands of Hunter and several other Biden family members, belying claims by the president that Hunter received no money from China. 

    Hunter also raked in millions from Ukraine while his father was “point man” for Ukraine policy as vice president. 

    Hunter addresses the controversy in the sixth chapter of “Beautiful Things,” describing the allegation that he traded on his father’s influence in Ukraine to land an unusually lucrative five-year stint on the board of the corrupt Ukraine energy giant Burisma Holdings as “the decade’s biggest political fable.” 

    He insisted neither he nor his father, who as vice president husbanded Ukraine’s new regime, did anything criminal or corrupt. “There is, in short, no there here,” Biden wrote. 

    Hunter then explained how he came to serve on the Burisma board, raking in $83,000 a month despite having no experience in the energy sector. Biden claimed that Archer, his international consultancy partner, brought Burisma into their business orbit after first meeting Burisma’s founder in Kyiv. 

    “During one such trip to Kyiv, he met Mykola Zlochevsky, the owner and president of Burisma,” Biden said. “After returning from Kyiv, Devon told me about his talk with Zlochevsky.” 

    But Archer, who served on the Burisma board alongside Biden, relayed a different account to Congress, testifying he first met the Russian-tied Ukrainian oligarch in Moscow, not Kyiv. 

    In fact, Archer said he sat down with Zlochevsky in the Russian capital on the same day that Russia invaded Crimea in 2014. “It was just me meeting [with him],” Archer added. Within days, Burisma asked him to join the board. And Hunter Biden came aboard shortly thereafter. 

    Archer’s disclosure that their relationship with Burisma was hatched in Moscow is at odds with the political narrative President Biden has carefully crafted, demonizing Russia as Enemy No. 1 of America and NATO. Hunter’s telling of the genesis, with the initial meeting with Zlochevsky taking place in Ukraine’s capital, is far more palatable. 

    Hunter wrote that he only agreed to accept Zlochevsky’s offer in order to enable Ukraine to strengthen its energy independence from Russia. He said the prospect of helping build a “bulwark” against Russian oil and gas imports assuaged “whatever dissonance I might have felt between idealism and generous compensation.” He said he was more interested in “fighting” for the Ukrainian people against an aggressive neighbor, which aligns his employment with Burisma with his father’s pro-Ukraine, anti-Russia stance. 

    “Having a Biden on Burisma’s board was a loud and unmistakable fuck-you to Putin,” Hunter maintained. 

    But according to Archer’s testimony, Burisma hired them in part to help expand its energy operations outside of Ukraine – particularly in the U.S., where the energy industry is heavily regulated by the federal government, and having such politically connected Americans on the board was valuable to the oil and gas conglomerate. Plus, he and Hunter were motivated by the windfall Burisma was paying them: “It was a million dollars per year [apiece] on the board contracts,” Archer confirmed. 

    Hunter further contends in his memoir that his father didn’t know about his joining the Burisma board until he read about it in the Wall Street Journal on May 13, 2014. But White House emails show the vice president’s staff was coordinating damage control weeks earlier when the news first broke in the foreign press.  

    And Archer testified that a month earlier, he had met with Vice President Biden in his White House office with Hunter, who had arranged the meeting. Their high-level pow-wow took place on April 16, the day after records show Archer received his first payment from Burisma. 

    It’s not clear what the trio discussed in Biden’s office, but Hunter had emailed Archer a Burisma strategy memo just three days earlier. Also on April 13, Hunter had emailed Joe Biden’s best friend Ted Kaufman and the vice president’s then-deputy counsel Alex Mackler to discuss Ukrainian politics. On April 21, Biden visited Ukraine to offer energy and economic aid. 

    But that’s not the biggest whopper Hunter apparently told about Burisma in his book. On page 127, he claimed: “No one at Burisma had even hinted at wanting me to influence the [Obama-Biden] administration.” 

    Several Burisma emails to Hunter, along with Archer’s congressional testimony, put the lie to this claim. 

    On May 12, 2014, for instance, Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi sent an “urgent” email to Hunter – who by then was officially on Burisma’s payroll – demanding to know “how you could use your influence to convey a message / signal, etc. to stop what we consider to be politically motivated actions.” At the time, Ukrainian prosecutors were aggressively investigating Burisma for corruption. 

    Several months later, in the spring of 2015, Pozharskyi emailed Hunter to thank him for giving him the “opportunity to meet with your father and spent [sic] some time together.” Archer confirmed that the then-vice president sat down for dinner with the Burisma official and others at the Cafe Milano in D.C. the previous evening. The meeting, long denied by Biden officials, was held in a private room in the back of the restaurant. 

    In late 2015, after Viktor Shokin took over the prosecutor general’s office in Ukraine and turned the screws on Burisma, Pozharskyi again turned to Hunter Biden for assistance. 

    Archer testified that Hunter called his father to help deal with Shokin’s investigation at both Pozharskyi’s and Zlochevsky’s request following a Burisma board meeting at the Four Seasons in Dubai on Dec. 4, 2015. 

    “They were getting pressure and they requested Hunter, you know, help them with some of that pressure,” Archer said, explaining the pressure was coming “from Ukrainian government investigations into Mykola [Zlochevsky].” 

    Archer suggested their benefactors wanted Hunter to use his influence with the vice president to get Kyiv to take “the heat” off Burisma. He testified he did not overhear Hunter’s phone call, but noted “he called his dad.” 

    At the time, Hunter Biden was not registered as a foreign agent as required by federal law when lobbying the U.S. government on behalf of a foreign entity. Federal prosecutors revealed at a recent court hearing that Hunter is actively under investigation for possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law that was used to prosecute several Trump advisers.  

    Two days after the Dubai phone call, Biden flew to Kyiv and warned the Ukrainian president that he had to fire Shokin or he wouldn’t get a promised $1 billion in aid. Three months later, after withering pressure from Biden, Shokin was removed from office. 

    “[Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko fired me at the insistence of the then-Vice President Biden because I was investigating Burisma,” Shokin said in a recent Fox News interview. 

    In his memoir, Hunter maintained that his father had Shokin ousted because he wasn’t doing enough to tackle corruption, which matches the current spin of the White House. 
     
    “A priority for my dad was the ouster of the country’s prosecutor general, Viktor Shokin, for his failure to adequately investigate corruption,” he wrote. “Among the high-profile companies that Shokin was criticized for not pursuing: Burisma.” 

    In effect, Hunter implied he relished more criminal scrutiny for his own employer, an odd position to take particularly given the millions he was getting paid. But as Archer testified, it’s simply not true.

    Democratic counsel for the Oversight Committee tried to get Archer to agree with the White House spin that Shokin’s firing was “bad for Burisma … because they had Shokin under their control.” 

    “No,” Archer said. “Burisma never informed me of that.” 

    Quite the opposite, he said, Burisma viewed Shokin as a threat after the prosecutor seized its founder Zlochevsky’s assets, including his house and cars. 

    If Shokin was not in fact soft on Burisma and Joe Biden did not press for his ouster to better fight corruption, it would seem to leave just one possible reason for his ham-fisted demand: to protect Burisma for the sake of his son – and the millions he was hauling in. 

    House impeachment investigators want to know whether Biden engaged in a quid pro quo: shaking down Ukraine’s former president for a political favor that would benefit his son by threatening to withhold a U.S.-backed aid package from the country. According to one Republican staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, they also want to know if Joe Biden or his staff helped Hunter draft the chapter of his book, titled “Burisma,” or had a hand in editing it. 

    “Beautiful Things” was published by an imprint of Simon & Schuster, which had no comment. Hunter’s attorney Abbe Lowell did not reply to requests to speak about the discrepancies in his client’s book.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 20:45

  • Ray Epps Charged With Misdemeanor In Long-Delayed Wrist-Slap
    Ray Epps Charged With Misdemeanor In Long-Delayed Wrist-Slap

    While dozens of January 6th political prisoners languish behind bars, the man caught on camera repeatedly inciting them to enter the Capitol, Ray Epps, was just given a long-delayed slap on the wrist.

    A review of Epps’ behavior surrounding J6;

    In July, Epps’ attorney revealed that his client was going to be criminally charged, after Epps sued former Fox news host Tucker Carlson for defamation.

    Epps hired attorney Michael Teter – formerly of Perkins Coie, the firm notorious for helping the Clinton campaign hatch the Steele dossier and collaborating with the FBI to push the Trump-Russia hoax. Teter immediately sent a letter to Carlson demanding that the former Fox News host retract “false and defamatory statements” that Epps was a J6 government plant.

    Epps, 62, was identified as a key instigator of the riot who has long been suspected of being a fed (or a fed asset), told his nephew in a text message: “I was in the front with a few others. I also orchestrated it.“

    Julie Kelly compares a similarly charged defendant… whose sentencing keeps getting kicked down the road.

    We wonder how this will affect Tucker’s defense?

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 20:35

  • NYT In Rare About-Face Now Says Ukraine (Not Russia) Behind Mass Casualty Missile Strike On Market
    NYT In Rare About-Face Now Says Ukraine (Not Russia) Behind Mass Casualty Missile Strike On Market

    The New York Times has issued a surprise about-face regarding the September 6 deadly missile strike on the center of the Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, which is in Donetsk Oblast.

    Initially it was universally reported among all major international press that it was a Russian attack which killed at least 15 civilians and injured 30 more. It was among the single deadliest strikes on a civilian area since the start of the war, given a busy market had been directly impacted. 

    The fresh Tuesday Times report underscores that less than two hours after the market was struck, “President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed Russian ‘terrorists’ for the attack, and many media outlets followed suit.” The NY Times was at the time among those major outlets which uncritically went with Zelensky’s version of events.

    Getty Images

    But the missile came from the Ukrainian side, with the NY Times’ investigators finding that it was a Ukrainian surface-to-air missile that hit the busy civilian area and killed and wounded scores.

    One of the key videos which the NYT analyzed to reach this conclusion was actually provided by Zelensky’s office, ironically enough. 

    According to the New York Times report, “evidence collected and analyzed by The New York Times, including missile fragments, satellite imagery, witness accounts and social media posts, strongly suggests the catastrophic strike was the result of an errant Ukrainian air defense missile fired by a Buk launch system.”

    “Further evidence reveals that minutes before the strike, the Ukrainian military launched two surface-to-air missiles toward the Russian front line from the town of Druzhkivka, 10 miles northwest of Kostiantynivka,” the report continues.

    The newspaper’s own correspondents were actually in Druzhkivka and reported hearing the outgoing missile launches which started at 2pm, and one journalist even record the sounds.

    In contrast to Kiev’s claims that it was a Russian missile launched by an S-300 system, the Times details the following:

    In the aftermath of the attack, Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces used a missile fired by an S-300 air defense system, which Russia has used both to intercept aircraft and strike targets on the ground. But an S-300 missile carries a different warhead from the one that exploded in Kostiantynivka.

    The metal facades of buildings closest to the explosion were perforated with hundreds of square or rectangular holes, probably made by cube-like objects blown outward from the missile.

    Measurements of the holes — and fragments found at the scene — are consistent in size and shape with one weapon in particular: the 9M38 missile, which is fired by the mobile Buk antiaircraft vehicle. Ukraine is known to use the Buk system, as is Russia.

    The investigative analysis also makes heavy use of open source intelligence, including photos and videos of the projectiles flying over the area, and the aftermath of the deadly strike. 

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    The timing of the unusual NYT piece laying blame on the Ukrainian side is interesting, given it coincides with President Zelensky being in the US where he addressed the UN General Assembly and is later expected at the White House.

    Ukrainian officials and pro-Kiev pundits are outraged at the NY Times’ reporting, and have rejected the conclusion reached. Here’s one somewhat comical case in point of the NYT authors themselves being attacked for the findings…

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    It also [presents the difficult question of whether there may be other atrocities or mass casualty events which were blamed on Russia, but were the result of weaponry from the Ukraine side. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 20:25

  • California Legislature Approves $25 Per Hour Healthcare Worker Minimum Wage Bill
    California Legislature Approves $25 Per Hour Healthcare Worker Minimum Wage Bill

    By Kelly Gooch of Beckers Hospital Review

    The California legislature has passed a bill that would establish a $25 hourly minimum wage requirement for workers in hospitals and other medical settings.

    The bill, proposed in February, now awaits a decision by Gov. Gavin Newsom and comes after union and hospital representatives reached agreement on how such a requirement could be addressed.

    Under the bill, cities and counties would be blocked from increasing pay via ballot measures for 10 years. 

    Workers at healthcare facilities with 10,000 or more full-time equivalent employees would earn $23 per hour starting in 2024, with pay increasing to $25 an hour in 2026. That affects workers including nursing assistants, medical coders, launderers and hospital gift shop workers, according to the Los Angeles Times.

    Workers at a hospital with a high governmental payer mix, an independent hospital with an elevated governmental payer mix, a rural independent covered healthcare facility, or a covered healthcare facility that is owned, affiliated or operated by a county with a population of less than 250,000 as of Jan. 12 would earn $18 per hour starting next year, with pay increasing to $25 an hour in 2033. 

    Urgent care clinics, skilled nursing facilities and other smaller facilities would be required to pay workers $21 per hour in 2024, with pay increasing to $25 per hour in 2028, according to the Los Angeles Times.

    The bill allows some healthcare facilities to apply for a temporary pause or alternative phase-in schedule of the minimum wage requirements if they have documentation proving financial distress. 

    Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the California Hospital Association, described the bill as a balanced approach that supports workers and protects jobs and access to care in vulnerable communities.

    “The bill creates a pathway to improving wages for our lower-wage healthcare workers, while also recognizing the needs of our state’s most troubled hospitals,” Ms. Coyle said in a statement shared with Becker’s. 

    “And, by preempting local ballot measures on minimum wage and compensation, all healthcare workers will be paid equitably regardless of where they work. SB 525 demonstrates hospitals’ commitment to healthcare workers, patients, and communities.”

    Tia Orr, executive director of Service Employees International Union California, also praised the bill.

    “Healthcare in California will be more accessible and equitable because workers and healthcare providers stood together and stood up for patient care,” she said in a statement. 

    She added that the bill also invests in a strong, diverse workforce. 

    “By and large, Black and brown workers have held the lowest-paid and most overlooked jobs in healthcare, so SEIU workers are particularly proud of this landmark investment in equity,” Ms. Orr said.

    Read more about the bill here. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 20:05

  • Zelensky Seeks To Cancel Russia At UN, Asks Why "Russian Terrorists" Have A Place
    Zelensky Seeks To Cancel Russia At UN, Asks Why “Russian Terrorists” Have A Place

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is trying to use his visit to the United Nations in New York to get Russia canceled from the international assembly. He questioned how it is that “Russian terrorists” have a seat at the UN. He also warned that Russia is poised to expand its war beyond Ukraine – an assertion with no evidence.

    “If in the United Nations there is a place for Russian terrorists,” Zelensky said, “it’s a question to all the members of the United Nations.” …Except that of course Russia doesn’t hold just any UN seat, but it’s permanent member of the UN Security Council, and exercises veto power in that capacity over the UNSC’s most important resolutions and major decisions.

    Via BBC

    Zelensky made the comments on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), when he visited a hospital in Staten Island which is treating some 18 wounded Ukrainian soldiers. Zelensky has long warned that the UN is “hostage” to Russian policy.

    As for his UNGA speech the same day, given before some 140 nations, and after Biden spoke earlier, Zelensky went on the verbal attack against Russia, giving comments in English.

    “The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into a weapon against you, against the international rules-based order,” Zelensky said. He laid out that Russia is weaponizing essentials for survival like food and energy.

    “The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into a weapon against you, against the international rules-based order,” Zelensky said, also seeking to portray a pattern of Putin’s “aggression” from Georgia to Syria to Moldova. 

    He also alleged Moscow is committing “genocide” – and repeated media claims of Russia having “kidnapped” some tens of thousands of children. “Time goes by; what will happen to them?” He then called it “clearly a genocide.”

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    However, these reports of “Russia kidnapping children” have been based on the trend of Russian-speaking families of the Donbas in many cases willingly relocating to Russian territory, also given there had been a civil war raging there since 2014 involving pro-Kiev Ukrainians attacking pro-Russian Ukrainians in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

    Zelensky also used it as an occasion to condemn any potential peace plan offered by a third party which requires that Ukraine cede territory. The New York Times wrote, “Ukraine has been seeking backing for a 10-point settlement program that demands a full Russian withdrawal and payment of reparations.”

    “Zelensky pitched the audience an idea for a summit with that program on the agenda — something Ukrainian diplomats say would be a symbolic success, even without any means to enforce such a settlement on Russia,” the report noted.

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    The UN audience applauded when at the end of his remarks Zelensky said the world must work to “end the aggression on the terms of the state that was attacked.” He’s expected to later travel to Washington, where he’ll lobby for billions more in American taxpayer dollars to be pledged toward the war effort.

    * * *

    Meanwhile, employing his UN-speak, Zelensky for a moment talked about the world body’s “climate policy objectives”…

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    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 19:45

  • Trump Gambles On GOP Support For Abortion Compromise
    Trump Gambles On GOP Support For Abortion Compromise

    Authored by Catherine Yang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Manchester, N.H., on April 27, 2023. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

    In a wide-ranging interview on with NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker, former President Donald Trump described his approach to a potential federal abortion ban.

    “It’s a very polarizing issue. Because of what’s been done, and because of the fact we brought it back to the states, we’re going to have people come together on this issue,” he said.

    President Trump said he would seek to bring together a bipartisan group, hear all sides, and create consensus.

    “We will agree to a number of weeks, which will be where both sides will be happy. We have to bring the country together on this issue.”

    15 Weeks?

    He claims the activists pushing for abortion on demand with no restrictions represent only an extreme view that even many pro-life Democrats are against.

    “Nobody wants to see five, six, seven, eight, nine months,” he said, adding that laws that allow mothers to terminate babies even after they have been delivered alive should be done away with.

    Asked whether he would sign a 15-week ban that made it to his desk, he said “no.”

    “Let me just tell you what I’d do. I’m going to come together with all groups, and we’re going to have something that’s acceptable,” he said. “What’s going to happen is you’re going to come up with a number of weeks or months. You’re going to come up with a number that’s going to make people happy. Because 92 percent of the Democrats don’t want to see abortion after a certain period of time.”

    He said many people have offered up the “15-week” period for a ban, which is early into the second trimester, but he wouldn’t consider legislation without bringing more people into the room first.

    “I would sit down with both sides and I’d negotiate something, and we’ll end up with peace on that issue for the first time in 52 years,” he said, declining to say whether he would support a federal ban.

    “I’m not going to say I would or I wouldn’t,” he said, adding that he was proud of the overturning of Roe v. Wade because it gave the power back to the states.

    “For 52 years, people including Democrats wanted it to go back to states so the states could make the right,” he said. “I did something that nobody thought was possible, and Roe v. Wade was terminated, [it] was put back to the states. Now, people, pro-lifers, have the right to negotiate for the first time.”

    He clarified that the consensus he hoped to bring could result in state-level action instead of a federal ban.

    “It could be state or it could be federal. I don’t frankly care,” he said. “From a pure standpoint, from a legal standpoint, I think it’s probably better [remaining a state issue], but I can live with it either way.”

    “The number of weeks is more important,” he said, sharing that the public opinion on abortion has changed greatly in the last few years. “The most powerful people that are anti-abortion are okay with that [banning abortion after a certain period] now. And you know what? They weren’t okay with that even a year ago.”

    Former Vice President Mike Pence, for instance, previously stood his ground on the idea of a full abortion ban and no exceptions. He recently called on other GOP candidates to support a federal 15-week ban.

    Exceptions

    He further called out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, runner-up in the GOP lineup of candidates, for his six-week ban.

    “I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake,” he said, without specifying a reason. He added that exceptions in any abortion ban were critical. “I think people should have exceptions. I think if it’s rape or incest or the life of the mother, I think you have to have exceptions. It’s very important.”

    Tudor Dixon, a Republican who ran for and lost the governor’s seat in Michigan last year, recently said on a podcast that President Trump gave her advice on abortion policy which she failed to take.

    He had told her to “talk differently about abortion” when she took a hardline, no-exceptions approach.

    “We could not pivot in time, and it really, you were absolutely right, sir,” Ms. Dixon said.

    “And that’s what happened to a lot of other people and—didn’t happen to me because, you know, there’s a way of talking about it. They’re the radicals. They’re the radicals, and you have to explain it. And I think exceptions are very important. I think you need the exceptions. You and I talked about that,” President Trump said.

    DeSantis Responds

    Mr. DeSantis’s campaign responded on social media after President Trump singled out Florida’s six-week ban, criticizing his political rival’s conciliatory approach.

    “Trump says he will compromise with Democrats on abortion so that they’re nice to him,” the campaign wrote on an X, formerly Twitter, post. “RonDeSantis will NEVER sell out conservatives to win praise from corporate media or the Left.”

    Mr. DeSantis’s communications director Andrew Romeo added that previous compromises with Democrats brought “disastrous” results such as an unfinished border wall.

    Several states have a “heartbeat” abortion bill, which bans the procedure once a heartbeat is detectable in the womb, which is normally around the six-week mark. Most of these states have included exceptions in their abortion laws from the beginning, though Texas initially passed a no-exceptions ban, and later added exceptions.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 19:25

  • Permanent Strike: Ford Lays Off 600 Workers Due To UAW Strike
    Permanent Strike: Ford Lays Off 600 Workers Due To UAW Strike

    As a result of the UAW strikes, 600 Ford employees will now be taking a permanent strike. 

    Just hours after it was reported that Stellantis could be shuttering 18 facilities as part of a new “improved” contract with the UAW, Ford faces additional realities of the ongoing strike: it has laid off 600 workers at the Michigan Assembly Plant’s body construction department, ABC Detroit reported. 

    The company said this week: “Our production system is highly interconnected, which means the UAW’s targeted strike strategy will have knock-on effects for facilities that are not directly targeted for a work stoppage. In this case, the strike at Michigan Assembly Plant’s final assembly and paint departments has directly impacted the operations in other parts of the facility.”

    “Approximately 600 employees at Michigan Assembly Plant’s body construction department and south sub-assembly area of integrated stamping were notified not to report to work Sept. 15. This is not a lockout. This layoff is a consequence of the strike at Michigan Assembly Plant’s final assembly and paint departments, because the components built by these 600 employees use materials that must be e-coated for protection. E-coating is completed in the paint department, which is on strike,” it continued.

    At the stroke of midnight last Friday, the United Auto Workers initiated their labor strike, focusing their initial efforts on three facilities—Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Stellantis’ Toledo Assembly Complex in Toledo, and a General Motors factory in Missouri.

    To add insult to collateral-damage-injury, Stellantis, in a recent bargaining move with the United Auto Workers union, has floated a contract proposal — that could result in the shuttering of 18 American facilities, according to CNBC, citing sources familiar with strike discussions. 

    On Tuesday, the head of United Auto Workers, Shawn Fain, declared he will unleash additional strikes across manufacturing facilities of General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., and Stellantis NV on Friday. This move is contingent on the three automakers not properly addressing the union’s demands for a new four-year labor contract for its 146,000 members. 

    “Either the Big Three get down to business and work with us to make progress in negotiations, or more locals will be called on to stand up and go out on strike,” UAW boss Fain said in a YouTube video published Monday evening. 

    Fain said, “We’re not waiting around, and we’re not messing around. So, noon on Friday, Sept. 22 is a new deadline.” 

    The union said Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis have “failed to put fair contract offers on the table.” A union representative told Bloomberg “no new offers” have come from the automakers “since the union made its latest proposals on Sept. 14, right before its strike began.” 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 19:05

  • Yuan Dominates US Dollar In China Cross-Border Payments
    Yuan Dominates US Dollar In China Cross-Border Payments

    By Ye Xie, Bloomberg Markets Live reporter and strategist,

    While the yuan is struggling in the foreign-exchange market, it continues to grow its market share in China’s cross-border transactions as the No. 1 payment currency.

    That reflects progress of the yuan’s internationalization in trade, as well as growing influence of foreign capital flows to China’s financial markets.

    The official settlement data Friday showed the yuan’s share in cross-border payments and receipts rose to a record 54% last month, compared with 41% for the dollar.

    The data include goods and services transactions, as well as cross-border investments.

    Since foreign investors trade Chinese stocks and bonds in the yuan, the ongoing opening of the capital market over the years has lifted the yuan’s market share in total transactions.

    August, for example, saw foreign investors sell a record amount of Chinese stocks, which should inflate the yuan’s share in total cross-border transactions.

    Even so, it’s still a long way before the yuan becomes a dominant international currency. 

    The latest data from SWIFT shows the yuan’s share in global payments rose to 3.1% in July, from 2.8% in June. It was dwarfed by the dollar’s 46% share and the euro’s 24%.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 18:45

  • UN To Discuss How To Better Control The World At Annual General Assembly
    UN To Discuss How To Better Control The World At Annual General Assembly

    The UN’s charter outlines a grand mission statement of benevolent purpose, with its supposed root mission being the pursuit of global peace and security.  It is therefore ironic that the institution relies on a host of fabricated crisis events and ongoing conflicts in order to remain relevant.  As UN Secretary António Guterres argues: “The UN is not a Vanity Fair, it is a political body.”  And really, that is the problem.  There is no use for the UN other than to act as a foil for the eventual imposition of a faceless and unaccountable world government.

    The organization will always strive for more centralization as long as it exists; it does not care about peace, it cares about power.  Thus, every new crisis event is seen as an opportunity for these people, not as a threat that needs to be solved.    

    If you want to find the source of most of today’s political and social discord, all you have to do is examine the history of interventions by the UN.  For example, the very existence of ESG lending programs designed to create incentives for corporations to push woke propaganda and carbon controls on the populace started in the halls of the UN.  If you want to know where the rush towards “sustainable development goals” and where the concept of the 15 Minute City comes from, just check the white papers of the UN.  If you want to know who is funding a large portion of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives globally, keep your eyes on the UN.

    While think-tanks like the WEF and summits like Davos are designed to keep political and financial elites informed on the overall agenda ahead, the UN is more of a vehicle for public engagement and implementation.  They are the “governing body” that is supposed to give legitimacy to the globalist obsession with world government.  They are the friendly face of the beast, and they come with many gifts and promises of justice and equity.    

    Of course, not everyone is buying it.  In fact, the general assembly this week appears to be centered on that very issue – UN officials are frustrated that their goals have been put on hold and the public is not taking them seriously.  This is the sentiment expressed by António Guterres in the following self organized UN interview summarizing the key topics to be discussed at the assembly.

    Main takeaways include:

    The lack of attendance by four of the five permanent security members with veto power, including Britain, France, Russia and China.  Only Joe Biden will be present at the meeting, and we have to wonder given his fading cognitive abilities how much that will actually matter.  

    Climate change hysteria will once again be at the forefront of UN talks.  The UN has consistently made false claims of record high temperatures (the records they use only go back 140 years and the Earth’s temps have been far higher in the past).  They also make false claims of increasing weather disasters (there is no evidence that today’s weather events are any more dangerous than those of the past century, and no evidence that man-made carbon has any effect on the weather).

    The UN wants to phase out fossil fuels, but this is impossible without a severe degradation of production and population.  There is no “green energy” alternative available to fill the void that fossil fuels will leave behind.  It would be a monumental disaster.  

    The UN wants to “reform” the international financial system.  Meaning, most likely CBDCs will be a point of interest at the assembly, as well as concepts like Inclusive Capitalism.  Reading between the lines, any trace of free markets will be done away with and replaced with a fully socialist framework; all in the name of “financial equity.”  The UN has consistently presented the idea that the economy must be fair, but there is no such thing as economic fairness.  Under socialism it is impossible to make everyone equally wealthy because governments cannot create wealth.  All they can do is steal wealth and make everyone equally poor.  

    UN sentiments on the covid pandemic match with those we have seen out of the WEF and WHO, which is that they are visibly perturbed that their efforts for universal medical authoritarianism failed.  We have seen this time and time again – Globalists are indignant over the lack of compliance from numerous countries and local governments on the lockdowns, mandates and vaccine passports.  

    Specifically, they are angry that the public was able to disseminate counter-information about covid even in the face of widespread censorship by Big Tech working in concert with political leaders.  They don’t like that so many of their covid claims have been debunked.  The UN wants a stronger World Health Organization with more influence over national pandemic response decisions as well as more control over what information is allowed to circulate online.  

    The Ukraine war will be presented as a prime scapegoat.  The UN blames the war for many of their programs on climate being disrupted (who cares about climate hysteria when the threat of WWIII looms large?).  However, it’s important to point out that the UN has made no viable effort to offer a diplomatic solution to the conflict.  In fact, it seems as if they prefer the war to continue (Zelensky will be there to beg for even more money to keep the coflagration going).   

    Guterres indicates that he sees no chance of peace “according to UN charter and international law.”  In other words, the UN is taking the same hard line stance as NATO, refusing to offer any concessions and avoiding all peace negotiations unless Russia exits Eastern Ukraine and Crimea completely, which is not going to happen.  The UN knows that this means the war will continue as long as NATO countries continue to supply arms to Ukraine, unless Russia eliminates every facet of the existing Ukrainian government.  

    Finally, the UN will be talking a lot about AI, but in the capacity of regulation more that capability.  The UN has sought to become the global regulator for AI for years as they continue to suggest that individual nation states cannot be trusted with the power that AI commands.  Why should the UN be trusted with AI more than anyone else?  This question is never addressed.

    This year’s assembly has launched with some undertones of angst, but this may very well be a part of the theater.  After all, globalists need international strife and chaos so that they can then offer their solution of centralization as the cure.  The UN might be hitting a brick wall today in terms of their climate and pandemic agendas, but there is always that next major crisis that could open doors for them in the near future.         

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 18:25

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Sep 19

Today’s News 19th September 2023

  • Beijing Furious At German FM's Dictator Remark: "Absurd Provocation" Insulting China's "Political Dignity"
    Beijing Furious At German FM’s Dictator Remark: “Absurd Provocation” Insulting China’s “Political Dignity”

    China on Monday reacted angrily after over the weekend a clip of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock referring to President Xi Jinping as a “dictator” went viral. Beijing summoned the German ambassador to China to lodge formal protest, saying it is “extremely dissatisfied” with the remarks which were given to Fox News during Baerbock’s visit to the US.

    China said it has “made serious inquiries” with the German government over the interview. Additionally in a daily briefing foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called the comments from Germany’s top diplomat “absurd” and blasted the “open political provocation” as the words “violate China’s political dignity”.

    Baerbock in the Thursday Fox interview had said “We will support Ukraine as long as it takes,” but then followed with: “If Putin were to win this war, what sign would that be for other dictators in the world, like Xi, like the Chinese president? Therefore, Ukraine has to win this war.”

    The dictator comment immediately grabbed world headlines, with the clip being shared widely on social media.

    “(The comments) are extremely absurd and are a serious infringement of China’s political dignity and an open political provocation,” China’s foreign ministry said.

    China far and away accounts for the bulk of all imports into Germany, with bilateral trade last year hitting record $337 billion.

    On Friday Baerbock met with her US counterpart Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the White House. Blinken said in a press conference afterward that the US and Germany are converging on their approaches to China.

    “We also discussed our common approaches to China, and we very much welcome Germany’s China strategy.  It is very coincident with our own,” Blinken told reporters. “I think it reflects something that we’ve seen around the world, both in Europe, in Asia, as well as in the United States, which is a growing convergence in our approaches to China.”  

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    He then emphasized while alongside the German FM, “Both of us, among other things, share the goal when it comes to our economic relationships of de-risking, not decoupling.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 02:45

  • Libya Dam Disaster Shows Horrific Consequences Of US-NATO Imperialism
    Libya Dam Disaster Shows Horrific Consequences Of US-NATO Imperialism

    Authored by Chris Hedges via Common Dreams,

    “We came, we saw, he died,” Hillary Clinton famously quipped when Muammar Gaddafi, after seven months of U.S. and NATO bombing, was overthrown in 2011 and killed by a mob who sodomized him with a bayonet. But Gaddafi would not be the only one to die. Libya, once the most prosperous and one of the most stable countries in Africa, a country with free healthcare and education, the right for all citizens to a home, subsidized electricity, water and gasoline, along with the lowest infant mortality rate and highest life expectancy on the continent, along with one of the highest literacy rates, swiftly fragmented into warring factions. There are currently two rival regimes battling for control in Libya, along with an array of rogue militias.

    The chaos that followed Western intervention saw weapons from the country’s arsenals flood the black market, with many snatched up by groups such as the Islamic State. Civil society ceased to function. Journalists captured images of migrants from Nigeria, Senegal and Eritrea being beaten and sold as slaves to work in fields or on construction sites. Libya’s infrastructure, including its electrical grids, aquifers, oil fields and dams, fell into disrepair.

    A general view of the flooded city of Derna, Libya. via AP

    And when the torrential rains from Storm Daniel — the climate crisis being another gift to Africa from the industrialized world — overwhelmed two decrepit dams, walls of water 20 feet high raced down to flood the port of Derna and Benghazi, leaving up to 20,000 dead according to Abdulmenam Al-Gaiti, Mayor of Derna, and some 10,000 missing.

    “The fragmentation of the country’s disaster management and disaster response mechanisms, as well as deteriorating infrastructure, exacerbated the enormity of the challenges. The political situation is a driver of risk,” said Professor Petteri Taalas, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization.

    Taalas told reporters last Thursday that “most of the human casualties” would have been avoided if there had been a “normally operating meteorological service” which “would have issued the [necessary] warnings and also the emergency management of this would have been able to carry out evacuations of the people.”

    Western regime-change, carried out in the name of human rights under the doctrine of R2P (Responsibility to Protect), destroyed Libya – as it did Iraq – as a unified and stable nation. The flood victims are part of the tens of thousands of Libyan dead resulting from our “humanitarian intervention,” which rendered disaster relief non-existent. We bear responsibility for Libya’s prolonged suffering. But once we wreak havoc on a country in the name of saving its persecuted — regardless of whether they are being persecuted or not — we forget they exist.

    Karl Popper in “The Open Society and Its Enemies” warned against utopian engineering, massive social transformations, almost always implanted by force, and led by those who believe they are endowed with a revealed truth. These utopian engineers carry out the wholesale destruction of systems, institutions and social and cultural structures in a vain effort to achieve their vision. In the process, they dismantle the self-correcting mechanisms of incremental and piecemeal reform that are impediments to that grand vision. History is replete with murderous utopian social engineering — the Jacobins, the communists, the fascists and now, in our own age, the globalists, or neoliberal imperialists.

    Libya, like Iraq and Afghanistan, fell victim to the self-delusions peddled by humanitarian interventionists — Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Ben Rhodes, Samantha Power, and Susan Rice. The Obama administration armed and backed an insurgent force that they believed would do the bidding of the U.S. Obama in a recent post urged people to support aid agencies to alleviate the suffering of the people of Libya, a plea that ignited an understandable backlash on social media.

    There is no official tally of the casualties in Libya that have resulted directly and indirectly from the violence in Libya over the last 12 years. This is exacerbated by the fact that NATO failed to investigate casualties resulting from its seven month bombardment of the country in 2011. But the total figure of those killed and injured is likely in the tens of thousands. Action on Armed Violence recorded “8,518 deaths and injuries from explosive violence in Libya” from 2011 to 2020, 6,027 of which were civilian casualties.

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    In 2020, a statement published by seven U.N. agencies reported that “Close to 400,000 Libyans have been displaced since the start of the conflict nine years ago — around half of them within the past year, since the attack on the capital, Tripoli, [by Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar’s forces] started.”

    “The Libyan economy has been battered by the [civil war], the COVID-19 pandemic, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the World Bank reported in April of this year. “The country’s fragility is having far-reaching economic and social impact. GDP per capita declined by 50 percent between 2011 and 2020 while it could have increased by 68 percent if the economy had followed its pre-conflict trend,” the report says. “This suggests that Libya’s income per capita could have been 118 percent higher without the conflict. Economic growth in 2022 remained low and volatile due to conflict-related disruptions in oil production.”

    Amnesty International’s 2022 Libya report also makes for grim reading. “Militias, armed groups and security forces continued to arbitrarily detain thousands of people,” it says. “Scores of protesters, lawyers, journalists, critics and activists were rounded up and subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearances and forced ‘confessions’ on camera.” Amnesty describes a country where militias operate with impunity, human rights abuses, including kidnappings and sexual violence, are widespread. It adds that “EU-backed Libyan coastguards and the Stability Support Authority militia intercepted thousands of refugees and migrants at sea and forcibly returned them to detention in Libya. Detained migrants and refugees were subjected to torture, unlawful killings, sexual violence and forced labour.”

    Reports by the U.N. Support Mission to Libya (UNSMIL) are no less dire.

    Stockpiles of weapons and ammunition — estimated to be between 150,000 and 200,000 tons — were looted from Libya with many being trafficked to neighboring states. In Mali, weapons from Libya fuelled a dormant insurgency by the Tuareg, destabilizing the country. It ultimately led to a military coup and a jihadist insurgency which supplanted the Tuareg, as well as a protracted war between the Malian government and jihadists. This triggered another French military intervention and led to 400,000 people being displaced. Weapons and ammunition from Libya also made their way into other parts of the Sahel including Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Burkina Faso.

    The misery and carnage, which rippled out from a dismembered Libya, was unleashed in the name of democratization, nation-building, promoting the rule of law and human rights.

    The pretext for the assault was that Gaddafi was about to launch a military operation to massacre civilians in Benghazi where rebellious forces had seized power. It had as much substance as the charge that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, another example of utopian social engineering that left over a million Iraqi dead and millions more driven from their homes.

    Gaddafi — who I interviewed for two hours in April 1995 near the gutted remains of his home that was bombed by U.S. warplanes in 1986 — and Hussein were targeted not because of what they did to their own people, although both could be brutal. They were targeted because their nations had large oil reserves and were independent of Western control. They renegotiated more favorable contracts for their nations with Western oil producers and awarded oil contracts to China and Russia. Gaddafi also gave the Russian fleet access to the port of Benghazi.

    Hillary Clinton’s emails, obtained via a freedom of information request and published by WikiLeaks, also expose France’s concerns about Gaddafi’s efforts to “provide Francophone African Countries with an alternative to the French Fran (CFA).” Sidney Blumenthal, a longtime adviser to Clinton, reported on his conversations with French intelligence officers about the motivations of French President Nicholas Sarkozy, the chief architect of the attack on Libya. Blumenthal writes that the French president seeks “a greater share of Libyan oil”, increased French influence in the region, an improvement in his domestic political standing, a reassertion of French military power and an end to Gaddafi’s attempts to supplant French influence in “Francophone Africa.”

    Sarkozy, who has been convicted on two separate cases of corruption and breach of campaign finance laws, faces a historic trial in 2025 for allegedly receiving millions of euros in secret illegal campaign contributions from Gadaffi, to assist with his successful 2007 presidential bid.

    These were the real “crimes” in Libya. But the real crimes always remain hidden, papered over by florid rhetoric about democracy and human rights.

    The American experiment, built on slavery, began with a genocidal campaign against Native Americans that was exported to the Philippines and, later, nations such as Vietnam. The narratives we tell ourselves about World War II, largely to justify our right to intervene around the globe, are a lie. It was the Soviet Union that destroyed the German army long before we landed at Normandy. We firebombed cities in Germany and Japan killing hundreds of thousands of civilians. The war in the South Pacific, where one of my uncles fought, was bestial, characterized by rabid racism, mutilation, torture and the routine execution of prisoners. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were egregious war crimes. The U.S. routinely destroys democracies that nationalize U.S. and European corporations as in Chile, Iran and Guatemala, replacing them with repressive military regimes. Washington supported the genocides in Guatemala and East Timor. It embraces the crime of preemptive war. There is little in our history to justify the claim of unique American virtues.

    The nightmares we orchestrated in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya are minimized or ignored by the press while the benefits are exaggerated or fabricated. And since the U.S. does not recognize the International Criminal Court, there is no chance of any American leader being held accountable for their crimes.

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    Human rights advocates have become a vital cog in the imperial project. The extension of U.S. power, they argue, is a force for good. This is the thesis of Samantha Power’s book “A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide.” They champion the R2P doctrine, unanimously adopted in 2005 at the U.N. World Summit. Under this doctrine, states are required to respect the human rights of their citizens. When these rights are violated, then sovereignty is nullified. Outside forces are permitted to intervene. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, the former president of the U.N. General Assembly, warned in 2009 that R2P could be misused “to justify arbitrary and selective interventions against the weakest states.”

    “Since the end of the Cold War, the idea of human rights has been made into a justification for intervention by the world’s leading economic and military powers, above all, the United States, in countries that are vulnerable to their attacks,” writes Jean Bricmont in “Humanitarian Imperialism: Using Human Rights to Sell War.” “Until the U.S. invasion of Iraq, [a] large part of the left was often complicit in this ideology of intervention, discovering new ‘Hitlers’ as the need arose, and denouncing antiwar arguments as appeasement on the model of Munich in 1938.”

    The creed of humanitarian intervention is selective. Compassion is extended to “worthy” victims while “unworthy” victims are ignored. Military intervention is good for Iraqis, Afghans or Libyans, but not for Palestinians or Yeminis. Human rights are supposedly sacrosanct when discussing Cuba, Venezuela and Iran, but irrelevant in our offshore penal colonies, the world’s largest open air prison in Gaza or our drone-infested war zones. The persecution of dissidents and journalists is a crime in China or Russia, but not when the targets are Julian Assange and Edward Snowden.

    Utopian social engineering is always catastrophic. It creates power vacuums that augment the suffering of those the utopianists claim to protect. The moral bankruptcy of the liberal class, which I chronicle in “Death of the Liberal Class,” is complete. Liberals have prostituted their supposed values to the Empire. Incapable of taking responsibility for the carnage they inflict, they clamor for more destruction and death to save the world.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/19/2023 – 02:00

  • Antifa Discussed Plans To Firebomb Federal Buildings, Jan. 6 Court Filing Contends
    Antifa Discussed Plans To Firebomb Federal Buildings, Jan. 6 Court Filing Contends

    Authored by Joseph M. Hanneman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    A group of self-identified Antifa supporters who wanted “civil war and revolution” on Jan. 6 sought online blueprints for federal buildings so they could firebomb them and discussed using a Roman legion formation to attack police lines, a Sept. 15 court filing alleges.

    Protesters gather around a fire they built in the street as they make themselves heard following the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2017, in Washington. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

    Defendant William Pope of Topeka, Kansas, included the information in a renewed U.S. District Court push (pdf) to compel federal prosecutors to produce all bodycam footage and video filmed by Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) undercover officers on Jan. 6, 2021.

    Mr. Pope, 37, publisher of the news website Free State Kansas, was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, covering the protest and subsequent violence.

    Federal prosecutors charged him with civil disorder, corruptly obstructing an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, impeding ingress or egress in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. He faces a July 2024 trial.

    According to Pope’s latest motion, MPD officers made a traffic stop at 10:15 a.m. on Jan. 6 of a vehicle containing three Antifa operatives: Jonathan Kelly, Logan Grimes, and Dempsey Mikula.

    “Undercover officers who stopped their vehicle said they had received reports that the individuals were carrying weapons,” Mr. Pope wrote. “No footage of this incident has been produced by the government in discovery. However, Kelly live-streamed part of the police stop to Facebook.”

    Mr. Kelly refused to allow police to search his vehicle, so they sent for a dog to sniff the vehicle for contraband.

    “A little over ten minutes into Kelly’s livestream, a team of uniformed MPD officers showed up to replace the undercover police,” Mr. Pope wrote. “These uniformed officers wore body cameras and instructed Kelly, Grimes, and Mikula to get out of the vehicle while they waited for the dog to arrive.”

    At least two of the undercover officers who made the traffic stop were wearing colorful bracelets that identified them as members of MPD’s Electronic Surveillance Unit (ESU), which gathered intelligence and shot video around Washington and at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

    Nearly 30 members of the Electronic Surveillance Unit were assigned to duty on Jan. 6, 2021, some of whom were gathering evidence on crowd activity. Members wore a special band on their left wrist to identify themselves as part of the unit, according to the MPD’s 96-page Jan. 6 action plan.

    ‘We Are Antifa’

    The trio of Antifa adherents created a video of themselves singing “We are Antifa” on their drive from Michigan to Washington for the Jan. 6 events, according to a video exhibit filed by Mr. Pope with his motion.

    Metropolitan Police arrested Mr. Grimes—who identifies as a woman and uses the name Leslie—for carrying a pistol without a license and being in possession of a high-capacity magazine and unregistered ammunition, according to Mr. Pope.

    The U.S. Department of Justice “has deemed the Grimes arrest relevant enough to the Jan. 6 cases to produce body camera footage from the officer who transported Grimes from the scene of the arrest to the booking facility,” Mr. Pope wrote, “but the government has withheld recordings from the many other officers who were on scene during the stop, vehicle search, and arrest.”

    Charges against Mr. Grimes were dropped a day later, on Jan. 7, 2021.

    “This lack of prosecution compared to other January 6 cases and the fact that the government continues to hide information about the ESU officers who conducted the Antifa car stop and body camera recordings demonstrates the government is intentionally concealing information about this Antifa seditious conspiracy,” Mr. Pope wrote. “Such information is exculpatory in my case.”

    Antifa supporters Logan (aka Leslie) Grimes and Dempsey Mikula (right) look on while police search the vehicle in which they were riding on Jan. 6, 2021. (U.S. District Court/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

    The three Antifa operatives communicated using a server on the social media platform Discord. That server—nicknamed ‘Insurgence’—was managed by John Earle Sullivan, the Black Lives Matter activist who filmed the shooting of Ashli Babbitt near the House of Representatives on Jan. 6, Mr. Pope wrote.

    Mr. Sullivan, 29, of Tooele, Utah, is charged with 10 Jan. 6 crimes, including civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous or deadly weapon, and other federal charges. He faces an Oct. 23 trial in Washington.

    “Individuals using Sullivan’s Antifa server began discussing plans to look up blueprints for ‘tax buildings’ online so they could firebomb them by throwing fireworks into broken windows,” Mr. Pope wrote. “In addition to this, Antifa co-conspirators on Sullivan’s server began sharing tactical plans for attacking police lines using a Roman legion formation.”

    Discord Server Coordination

    Mr. Kelly and Mr. Grimes “were clearly conspiring with John Sullivan using Sullivan’s online server,” Mr. Pope wrote. “On December 29, 2020, John Sullivan posted an image of firearms and tactical gear on his Antifa server along with the message: “Civil War and Revolution.”

    Mr. Pope said he believes MPD undercover video and officer bodycam footage could contain more clues about communication and coordination between Mr. Sullivan and Antifa operatives.

    “This makes all ESU recordings and bodycam recordings of Sullivan, Kelly, Grimes, Mikula, and any other conspiring Antifa relevant to my defense, and the government has a Brady [Supreme Court decision] obligation to produce all such recordings and any other tips or related materials in discovery,” Mr. Pope wrote. “This also further justifies my request for the court to grant my motion to compel the government to produce all ESU recordings and body-worn camera footage.”

    At the top of the scaffolding near the police line on Jan. 6, Mr. Sullivan said, “This is a revolution, mother[expletives], let’s go, we taking this [expletive]!” Mr. Pope wrote. “After breaking through police lines, Sullivan said, ‘This [expletive] is ours’ and ‘we accomplished this [expletive].’

    “Sullivan then yelled for people down on the lawn to ‘get up here.’”

    Mr. Kelly, who wore a beige gas mask and carried a baseball bat, was the last person remaining on the southwest scaffolding at the Capitol and had to be removed by police, Mr. Pope wrote.

    Protesters clash with police on the west front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as shown on a CCTV exterior Rotunda camera. (U.S. Capitol Police/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

    “Kelly and Mikula then faced off with police lines and stayed at the Capitol past the curfew,” Mr. Pope said.

    Mr. Grimes and Mr. Kelly posted photos of themselves in the crowds near the Ellipse. Mr. Kelly “asked his Antifa co-conspirators on Sullivan’s server whether he should ‘start blasting [expletive] Donald Trump on my megaphone,’” Mr. Pope said. “This demonstrates that those conspiring with Sullivan had a general objective to cause chaos on January 6, 2021.”

    In previous court filings, Mr. Pope disclosed how an undercover MPD officer assisted protesters in climbing over barricades and encouraged them to continue up the northwest steps to the Capitol. He was heard on video participating in crowd chants such as, “Whose House? Our House!”

    More recently, Mr. Pope disclosed how MPD officers on the Capitol’s upper terrace retreated from one of the entrances, giving protesters free access to stream into the Capitol.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 23:40

  • Watch: Freight Train Full Of Migrants Heading To Southern US Border 
    Watch: Freight Train Full Of Migrants Heading To Southern US Border 

    Fox News journalist Griff Jenkins shared a video on X showing a freight train packed with hundreds of migrants heading north toward the US border. This further suggests that President Biden’s new strategy to curb illegal southern border crossings may not work. 

    Jenkins explained the FerroMex freight train departed from Zacatecas, Mexico, on Sunday and is “heading to our southern border right now.” He said the migrants were cheering and clearly not heeding the message: do not come.”

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    The alarming video comes as President Biden changed up border policies to reduce the number of illegal crossings at the southern border. However, as The Wall Street Journal noted, “The New Plan Isn’t working”: 

    Border crossings from Mexico into the US are on the rise again after an unexpected drop in May and June, when the administration ended its use of the pandemic-era measure known as Title 42 and replaced it with a new set of policies it said would work as a better deterrent.

    US Border Patrol arrested roughly 182,000 people at the U.S.-Mexico border in August, a return to the same level of arrests it made the previous August under Title 42, according to people familiar with the data.

    WSJ pointed out:

    “The crux of Biden’s new strategy at the border is to dissuade migrants from crossing into the US illegally by increasing the penalties for doing so—and by offering them newly created paths to move here legally.” 

    X user Border Hawk revealed one of those rail lines migrants use to get to the border. 

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    The latest report by New York Times journalist Julie Turkewitz indicates that migrant numbers heading to the US remain very concerning.

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    Clearly, the Biden administration has failed to secure the border, but the administration still promotes the idea that its policies are working. Anyone with common sense can see otherwise, as the illegal crossing troubles on the border have spread to New York City and other imploding Democrat-run cities. 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 23:15

  • How Biden Will Circle The Wagons
    How Biden Will Circle The Wagons

    Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

    The strategies of saving the Biden presidency from an impeachment and a Senate trial despite overwhelming evidence of his corruption are starting to emerge.

    The Family is confronted with damning evidence from the laptop, from the testimonies of Hunter’s business associates Bobulinksi and Archer, from Ukrainian oligarchs and Viktor Shokin, from IRS whistleblowers, from FBI writs, from a likely pseudonymous Biden trove of 4,000 emails to his son and associates, and from the absolute paranoia of a White House that must constantly change its narrative of denials to adjust to a growing portrait of utter corruption, bribery, and perhaps even the treason of warping U.S. policy to fit Biden family interests.

    The Defense in Depth 

    One of their strategies is to deny, then hedge, then ignore, then grow silent—and repeat the wash/rinse/spin cycle of stonewalling as many times as necessary to evade the mounting truth.

    Insidiously Joe Biden has retreated from his once loud protestations that he supposedly had no idea of what Hunter and his associates were doing. Such a patently dishonest denial set the model that the President would have no compunction about lying to the American people until the evidence of his wrongdoing becomes overwhelming.

    But this first line of defense did not crumble for years—only to be replaced by a second line of denial: Biden may have known of Hunter’s shenanigans, but he had no business interests with him. That was another blatant untruth.

    And that additional stalling also allowed Biden to ignore the closing walls of incrimination for even more months. When these two forward lines of defense collapsed, as the Biden consortium knew they eventually would, a retreat to a third line of defense followed: yes, Joe knew, after all, of Hunter’s miscreant shakedowns; and, yes, Joe, after all, conceded that from time to time he did meet Hunter’s business associates, and upon requests made phone calls to Hunter’s clientele. But he did not profit from such knowledge and associations. Instead an upright old Joe from Scranton was playing along with the “illusion” of influence peddling: Scranton naiveté is not D.C. criminality.

    Biden’s tripartite lines of defense always got shorter and shallower as evidence mounted. But so far Biden has managed to consume 31 months of his presidency through these strategic retreats. His fourth and final line of defense will likely be that he was involved, that he had rather than feigned contact, but that he did nothing other than what scores of other high-ranking politicians do who rub shoulders with would-be miscreants, sycophants, and crooks—and so did not knowingly take “loans” and “gifts” that had strings attached.

    To breach this fourth defense line, House Republicans will have to break through the labyrinth of Biden paywalls and find how much money was rerouted into Biden coffers. And then they must additionally compare what came into the Biden hands with a) what the family reported on their respective income tax returns, and b) whether their various properties and lifestyles were remotely possible without such massive hidden income. And getting bank records from the Bidens will be near impossible.

    The Ukraine Factor 

    Joe Biden has successfully profited by using American foreign aid to stop prosecutorial inquiries into his son’s and, indirectly per the laptop admissions, his own quid pro quo payments from corrupt Ukrainians.

    The firing of Viktor Shokin who knew of Hunter Biden’s corruption was one of the most blatantly corrupt and self-interested acts of a Vice President since the career of Spiro Agnew. Still, there is no reason why Biden would now give up such a proven successful strategy.

    Yet there are important issues for Biden at stake. One, Viktor Shokin is convinced that the Bidens were recipients of Ukrainian bribes intended to win U.S. foreign aid and influence over American foreign policy in Eastern Europe and vis a vis Russia.

    And two, an FBI confidential source has sworn that “a foreign national who allegedly bribed Joe and Hunter Biden allegedly has audio recordings of his conversations with them — 17 such recordings.” And three, to corroborate testimonies from these Ukrainian players or to subpoena the purported 17 recordings would now translate into risking the wrath of Joe Biden the giver of massive Ukrainian military aid—now likely over $100 billion—and formerly on record of being perfectly willing to cancel Ukrainian aid unless Kyiv bent to his personal agenda.

    Now in an existential war, Ukrainians will likely not wish either Viktor Shokin or Mykola Zlochevsky, former head of Burisma and said to be in possession of the 17 recordings (including two that purportedly involve Joe Biden directly), to embarrass much less help to remove Biden by producing evidence confirming their charges.

    So we should assume the Ukrainian government will do its best to protect Biden from fellow Ukrainian accusers, mostly by silencing any Ukrainian who would dare endanger their stream of arms and money. For Kyiv, the ongoing Biden exemption from impeachment and conviction is likely seen as a matter of life and death.

    The Big Lie

    A third defense has been outright lying, the bolder and more absurd, all the better. Here Joe Biden has prepped the lying battlefield, whether deliberately or inadvertently, both through his pathological fabrications about his autobiography and the events of our time, and by the collapse of his cognitive facilities.

    Either way, his lies are contextualized by the media as “that’s just ole Joe spinning his tales.” In Biden’s fantasy world, he visited Ground Zero the day after the September 11 attacks, he taught a course on “political theory” at the University of Pennsylvania, his son Beau came home from Iraq in a coffin, and a catastrophic fire nearly consumed the Biden residence.

    All these were not only lies, but callous lies that played on the emotions of those in crisis and suffering—to the purported empathetic advantage of Joe Biden himself. So Biden has no compunction of lying ad infinitum.

    Remember, for years he lied that he fired Shokin because he was corrupt, that his government knew that, that the Europeans agreed, and that he did not leverage U.S. aid to ensure Shokin did not pursue Hunter’s Burisma nefariousness.

    All that was a total lie, but a media-protected lie nonetheless that served Biden well for at least five years.

    So we should expect the Left to embrace the full Biden lie and claim his serial contact with Hunter was the natural concern of a dutiful father, one who has suffered family tragedies and merely periodically called and emailed to cement family solidarity with other equally aggrieved Bidens.

    And when evidence mounts that Biden really did receive funds via Hunter’s dummy companies we will be told that these were loans, or Joe was gifting them to grandchildren—or, most likely, Joe was completely unaware that such funds eventually found their way into his bank accounts and were used to buy and rent his various sumptuous residences.

    Trump 24/7

    At each stage of the walls closing around Joe Biden, a commensurate “Trump did it” news bulletin emerged. Collate the indictments or the leaks about impending indictments from the supposedly uncoordinated work of Alvin Bragg, Letitia James, Jack Smith, and Fani Willis both with iconic primary election dates ahead, and periodic revelations about the depth of Biden family corruption—and the synchronized distraction is quite stunning.

    Expect in the next year for each new incriminating document released, each new witness that comes forward with a tale of Biden corruption, almost immediately the headlines will blare about a new Trump gag order, a new scheduled Trump court appearance, a new flipped witness cooperating with a prosecutor, and a new leak about a “certain” conviction and jail time. The new media war will make its old Russian collusion’s “all-star,” “hunter-killer team,” and “dream team” prosecutors and the “bombshell” and “walls are closing in” revelations seem like child’s play.

    A Hit-bottom Media

    After being utterly discredited by fixating for years on the Russian “collusion” hoax, and hyping the laptop Russian “disinformation” fable, any professional media would by now have apologized, conducted mass firings, and pledged to report the news rather than massage and invent it.

    But no sooner does one media embarrassment end than the media ventures onto another, on the theory that it is so discredited and has hit bottom that it no longer has any reputation to defend. So a now liberated but bankrupt media feels it matters nothing whether its mythologies have a grain of truth.

    The Biden family corruption and the exemptions given Hunter Biden by a corrupt Biden department of Justice have been contextualized by the media as a prelude to what we can expect of the impeachment inquiry.

    In the modern American media, a Trump phone call threatening to delay offensive military aid until the Ukraine government could guarantee that its operatives were not empowering the Biden quid pro quo clan was an impeachable offense. A self-confessed Biden effort to alter US policy to fire a Ukrainian prosecutor, dutifully investigating the Hunter Biden/Biden family corruption, by threatening to cancel all U.S. aid to Kyiv was mere “familial” concern. Where incidentally is the outrage from current vehement supporters of blank-check, on-to-Moscow support for Ukraine over Joe Biden’s prior threats to cut critical military aid to Ukraine in efforts to ensure uninterrupted money streams to his own family treasure chest

    In sum, the media is more tarnished than ever, and therefore more dangerous because it accepts it has no reputation left to defend and now is entirely unbound to invent, to fabricate, and to smear.

    The Deep State

    In 2017 under media and Democratic pressure, the Trump-appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions was bullied into recusing himself. He appointed in his place Robert Mueller as special counsel, empowered by an unlimited budget and a blank-check concerning time and resources to find “collusion.”

    In contrast, in 2023 the Biden-appointed AG Merrick Garland, under fierce criticism for delaying the Hunter Biden investigation in order to run out of the clock on the statute of limitations on tax fraud, appointed David Weiss as special counsel. He was the prior chief culprit in providing cover for Hunter from indictments. So the proverbial fox is now in charge of the hen house.

    In 2019 the “whistleblower” Eric Ciaramella was considered a sacrosanct patriot, even though he had no firsthand knowledge of the supposed crimes he was accusing the president of committing. Instead, the whistleblower was selectively being spoon-fed information from Alexander Vindman, the expatriate U.S. Lt. Colonel, who, in the midst of his accusations, admitted he was offered the Ministry of Defense by the Ukrainian government. Vindman, currently in the second round of his careerist Ukrainian melodrama, is self-appointed CEO of his middleman company, seeking to profit from the war by facilitating the transfer and service of arms from the U.S. government to Ukraine.

    Note the difference: in 2023 whistle blowers are now considered rogues, whether they be honest IRS investigators sickened by the corruption of their own DOJ prosecutorial counterparts, or FBI agents tired of the warping of their agency to facilitate the Biden coverups.

    The net result will be a near impossible congressional task in forcing any federal agency to honor a congressional subpoena, as most will follow the Eric Holder model of a cocky snub of Congress with certainty of exemption.

    The “Do You Really Want President Harris?” Factor

    If the evidence trumps the Biden reliance on administrative state suppression, media bias and character assassination, there is one ace in the Biden hole—Kamala Harris. She is, as has been widely remarked upon, the Spiro Agnew of our age. (Yet the latter, in fact, on the stump was a Cicero in comparison to Harris’s 500-word vocabulary.)

    In other words, the country is more scared of a not corrupt Harris than it is a senile and crooked Biden. And Biden has done nothing to dispel those impressions given that such a Nixonian fear of his Vice President is his last ticket to finishing out his term.

    Not just Biden but millions in the country are anxious that the president is one fall, one new email disclosure from oblivion. His ensuing removal would not just give Harris the presidency in the next year and a half, but also the advantage of incumbency going into the 2024 election year and beyond.

    So expect that the more the proverbial noose tightens around Biden, all the more his West Wing will leak daily stories about Harris’s puerility, her lightness of being, and her abject incompetence, and the dangers she would pose to the republic.

    The DEFCON 1 Option

    There is a final nihilist gambit. If Biden is confronted with his own email evidence of corruption, tapes of his agreement to financial exchanges, bank accounts with large foreign deposits, and direct testimonies that he received cash, he has one last refuge: the “Hunter did it all!” ruse.

    Hunter is all too aware of his own danger. Collate his mischievous recent grifting artistic career, the Malibu-renting Hunter trying to plead poverty to reduce child-support payments, the mysterious cocaine that turns up in a West Wing cubicle, his laptop anger at his Mr. Big Guy’s and Mr. 10 Percent’s underappreciation of Hunter’s bagman role, and Hunter’s threat to call the President of the United States to testify that a now trapped Hunter is innocent of everything.

    The resulting picture that emerges is an out-of-control Hunter—who lost a laptop, a crack pipe, and an illegally registered handgun—now very worried that he will become Joe’s scapegoat.

    Hunter still believes he is a Samson that can pull down the Biden temple upon them all—if the alternative is that he is the only Biden to stew for years in jail.

    Remember, Hunter also knows his father all too well—Joe’s long resume of plagiarism, greed, arrogance, corruption, lying, and fantasies—and so rightly believes at some point Joe might easily shrug, and in one of his “senile” moments, utter, “Well, no Joke, man—it was all Hunter’s stuff, not mine.”

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 22:50

  • Justin Trudeau Accuses India Of Extrajudicial Killing On Canadian Soil
    Justin Trudeau Accuses India Of Extrajudicial Killing On Canadian Soil

    An unprecedented major row in Canada-India relations has broken out into the open on Monday, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a televised speech to the House of Commons accused Indian intelligence of carrying out an extrajudicial killing on Canadian soil. 

    Trudeau cited “credible” intelligence pointing to “agents of the government of India” as being behind the June murder of a prominent Sikh leader named Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia.

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    “Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau announced in the speech to lawmakers.

    “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies,” he continued.

    The stunning and unprecedented moment of such a severe accusation as this leveled among large nation-states is likely to send already tension-filled India-Canadian ties falling off a cliff. Trudeau had also revealed to parliament that he had raised the alleged assassination of the Canadian Sikh leader with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G-20 summit last week.

    Canada on Monday promptly expelled a top Indian diplomat, described as the head of Indian intelligence in Canada, amid an ongoing investigation. India is being asked to fully cooperate with the Canadian investigation.

    Hardeep Singh Nijjar, file image

    45-year old Nijjar had been shot dead in parking lot of a Sikh temple in Surrey after an evening service on June 18. Nijjar was a prominent figure of international stature in the Khalistan independence movement, which supports the establishment of separate state for Sikhs in India. Due to its separationist political activities, groups associated with the movement have been dubbed “terrorist organizations”. 

    Nijjar himself was a wanted man in India, described as among the country’s top wanted foreign “terrorists”.

    Here’s how Indian media has covered his killing, saying that a ‘terror leader’ had been shot, and accusing him of leading “training camps” in Canada for militants to carry out operations inside India…

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    Thousands of Canadian Sikh’s attended his funeral, and the killing has sparked outrage in Metro Vancouver’s large Sikh community.

    The Canadian government has meanwhile rejected the ‘terrorism’ narrative and has emphasized Nijjar’s Canadian citizenship. 

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    Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly in the wake of Trudeau’s Monday speech confirmed that the head of Indian intelligence in Canada, based out of the Indian embassy, had been expelled as a consequence. “If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other,” she said of the Nijjar murder.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 22:25

  • 'It Was My Decision': Trump Defends 2020 Election Challenge
    ‘It Was My Decision’: Trump Defends 2020 Election Challenge

    Authored by Catherine Yang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    President Trump gave some background on how the decision to challenge the 2020 elections came about.

    Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump speaks at the Pray Vote Stand Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington on Sept. 15, 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

    Former President Donald Trump received advice from many different people after the 2020 elections, and after weighing various opinions, as well as his own thoughts about it, he ultimately decided to formally challenge the results.

    In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker, he spoke about what went into the decision.

    “I was listening to different people. And when I added it all up, the election was rigged,” he said. “It was my decision.”

    The two discussed the four criminal indictments against President Trump, including the one in Washington that alleges his actions in challenging the election went too far, tying the charges to the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

    Ms. Welker asked why he decided to challenge the elections even after “the most senior lawyers in your own administration and on your campaign” told him he lost.

    “I didn’t respect them as lawyers,” he said, adding that former Attorney General Bill Barr had allegedly been afraid of an impeachment inquiry and acted to avoid that, and many others he had hired based on recommendations. “But I did respect others.”

    “It’s my choice,” he added. “I happen to know that the election was rigged,” he said, referring to evidence he had initially planned to release after the Georgia indictment of him, also for challenging the election results. On the advice of his current legal counsel, the evidence will be a part of his defense in upcoming trials instead.

    Ms. Welker asked if the 45th president, who is far ahead of other GOP candidates running for office in 2024, whether he believed he lost the 2020 elections.

    “I say I won the election,” he clarified.

    “Even though, again, your lawyers told you you did not,” she said.

    “Some people told me that. But many people told me the opposite,” he responded, leading her to question why he listened to “outside lawyers” who “had crazy theories.”

    “Were you listening to them because they were telling you what you wanted to hear?” she asked.

    “You know who I listen to? Myself. I saw what happened. I watched that election, and I thought the election was over at 10 o’clock in the evening,” he said.

    “It was my decision,” he said.

    January 6

    The former president clarified his role of Jan. 6, 2021, as well.

    Special counsel Jack Smith is now prosecuting the Washington case against President Trump, alleging conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and conspiracy against rights. They relate to Jan. 6 only in terms of his calls to delay the vote certification in Congress on that day.

    “First of all, I had very little to do with January 6th,” he said, referring to the Capitol breach. “I was asked to speak, and I was the President of the United States. I’m allowed to do that.“

    He said that “hundreds of thousands of people were there, and it was a beautiful, beautiful sight,” and that he spoke “peacefully and patriotically” at the event. He told Ms. Welker he had thought about going into the Capitol that day, but Secret Service advised him to go back to the White House.

    “I wanted to go down peacefully and patriotically to the Capitol. Secret Service, who I have great respect for, said, ‘Sir, it’s better if you don’t do that. It could be unsafe,'” President Trump said. He clarified they didn’t mean they anticipated a riot, but because with such a large crowd, a single assailant would have significant cover. “So I didn’t have a dispute with them.”

    He further alleged that the breach happened because then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) turned down his offer of 10,000 additional National Guard. “She’s responsible for January 6th,” he alleged. “And the J6 Committee refused to interview her.”

    He noted that the treatment of those who were present was one reason he decided to run for reelection.

    “People that went [there], that didn’t even go into the building, have suffered gravely,” he said, pointing out that rioters in cities across the country calling to “defund the police” were not prosecuted in the same way. The Department of Justice has thus far brought 1,100 cases against those who were present on Jan. 6, and efforts continue.

    “When you launched your campaign in March, you told the crowd, quote, ‘I am your retribution.’ What does that mean? What does that look like?” Ms. Welker asked President Trump.

    “I think retribution is talking in terms of I have to protect people,” he said. “What they’re doing to people is so horrible. They’re putting people in jail for long periods of time. Firemen, policemen, accountants, even lawyers. They’re in prisons for years now and don’t even have trials in some cases.”

    “I’m talking about fairness,” he said, adding he was open to pardoning those who were wrongly imprisoned, and dismissing rumors that he planned to fire or target his political opponents. “I’m looking to appoint an attorney general who’s going to be tough on crime and fair. Very simple.”

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 22:00

  • Hold On To Your Wallets! Zelensky's Back In Town
    Hold On To Your Wallets! Zelensky’s Back In Town

    The Ron Paul Institute explains that after shipping some $45 billion in military equipment to Ukraine, the Biden Administration is bringing Ukrainian President Zelensky back to Washington to beg for more money. But with the war going badly for Ukraine and strong US opposition to spending more on the effort, it looks to be an uphill battle.

    Also today: who was the armed guy impersonating a cop at the RFK rally…and why can’t RFK get Secret Service Protection? Finally…Homeland Security has a new target: you! Watch today’s Liberty Report:

    * * *

    Zelensky is first expected to attend and will likely address a special session on Ukraine at the UN Security Council (UNSC). This means fireworks and controversy will likely be unleashed at the assembly as it will be a rare moment that the Ukrainian leader speaks at a forum with Russian representatives in attendance, given Russia is a veto-wielding permanent member of the UNSC. Some 140 world leaders will attend the UN General Assembly in New York City this week.

    The following day, Zelensky will drop in to the White House and attend meetings on Capitol Hill. He’s expected to press for more advanced weaponry, to be delivered at a faster rate, but Richard Gowan, an expert on the United Nations at the International Crisis Group, has explained to the AFP: 

    “If he’s too hardline, he may actually turn this opportunity into a bit of a diplomatic crisis,” he said.

    And the Washington Post agrees that with the counteroffensive going so badly, it’ll be a tough sell…

    Ukrainian officials had hoped to ride into New York this week touting major gains in their summer counteroffensive, but Russia’s entrenched forces have stymied efforts to achieve a major breakthrough, and both sides continue to sustain heavy casualties.

    The conflict’s toll on food and energy prices has accelerated calls in the developing world for a negotiated settlement. And support among the American public has been slipping as a segment of the Republican Party criticizes the war effort’s estimated $73 billion price tag.

    Still, WaPo calls Zelensky the “conflict’s most charismatic voice” and it’s expected he’ll present a dramatic narrative of horrific Russian atrocities and human rights abuses.

    But by and large his “star power” has faded since his first visit to Washington in December 2022, given also the fickle American public has generally grown war-weary, recent polls reflect, and as headlines covering the conflict have come and gone with rapidity, getting less and less featured in the front pages of US newspapers or on the big TV networks when compared to the frequency of a year ago.

    A sampling of what can be expected of Zelensky’s messaging in New York and Washington this week:

    Currently, there’s ongoing talk within the administration of Ukraine getting approval for the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which has a max range of 190 miles. Certainly Zelensky is going to press for this and more. Will Biden make this the focus of a “big” announcement when he greets Zelensky at the White House later this week?

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 21:35

  • Chinese Spy Balloon Collected No Intelligence, Milley Now Says
    Chinese Spy Balloon Collected No Intelligence, Milley Now Says

    Authored by Kyle Anzalone via AntiWar.com,

    In February, a Chinese balloon floated over the US, prompting politicians on both sides of the aisle to claim Beijing was threatening Americans. The event led American officials to cancel high-level meetings with their Chinese diplomats. Seven months later, Gen. Mark Milley said the balloon never collected intelligence.

    Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told “CBS News Sunday Morning” the US intelligence community does not believe the craft collected intelligence but still maintained it was a “spy balloon.” America’s top general said, “The intelligence community, their assessment – and it’s a high-confidence assessment – [is] that there was no intelligence collection by that balloon.” Milley continued, “I would say it was a spy balloon that we know with a high degree of certainty got no intelligence, and didn’t transmit any intelligence back to China.”

    Source: US Department of Defense

    In Early February, a large balloon was spotted in the northern US. The craft was immediately claimed to be a spy craft by American officials. Secretary of State Antony Blinken slammed Beijing’s decision to fly the balloon over the US as “both unacceptable and irresponsible.” America’s top diplomat then canceled a meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister.

    On Sunday, Milley, who is retiring later this month, explained that the Chinese balloon ended up over the US due to unexpected weather. “Those winds are very high,” the general said. “The particular motor on that aircraft can’t go against those winds at that altitude.”

    From the start, Beijing has contested Washington’s claims that the craft was intended for surveillance, insisting it was merely a weather balloon for scientific purposes. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Washington’s response to the balloon damaged bilateral relations. “This is a clear overreaction that seriously contravenes the spirit of international law and customary international practice,” he explained. “What the US did has had a grave impact on the efforts and progress made by China and the US in stabilizing bilateral relations.”

    Still, politicians told Americans the balloon was a threat. Senator Lindsey Graham claimed Beijing was “up to no good.” “I don’t know crap about balloons, but I got common sense that if the Chinese got a balloon with three tractor trailers hitched to it, they’re up to no good,” the senator stated. “And why would you let them go to South Carolina? This makes no sense, it doesn’t pass the smell test, and this is dangerous.”

    Democrat Sen. Jon Tester called the balloon “a clear threat.” While Democrat Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi “Indeed, this incident demonstrates that the CCP threat is not confined to distant shores — it is here at home and we must act to counter this threat.”

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    Senator Ted Cruz described the balloon as a threat and attacked President Joe Biden for not shooting down the craft over the US. “He allowed a full week for the Chinese to conduct spying operations over the United States, over sensitive military installations, exposing not just photographs but the potential of intercepted communications.” He added, “[Shooting down the balloon] is absolutely what the president should have done. Unfortunately, he didn’t do that until a week after it entered US airspace.”

    Biden ordered the military to shoot down the balloon after it had passed over the US and it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. In the weeks after the Chinese craft crossed American skies, Biden ordered the military to shoot down three additional balloons. The Pentagon later admitted that all three craft were civilian-launched weather and hobby balloons.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 21:10

  • Digital Second Amendment Unveiled: Anti-Woke AI Bot Equips Users With "Newest Weapons Of Digital Age"
    Digital Second Amendment Unveiled: Anti-Woke AI Bot Equips Users With “Newest Weapons Of Digital Age”

    Earlier this year, Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT gained significant popularity. Even though JPMorgan suggests the AI bubble may have leveled off recently, the momentum in AI chatbot development continues. 

    Mainstream AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Bing, and Google’s Bard attempt to sound neutral or refuse to answer provocative questions because their AI trainers and corporate funders are ‘woke’ and embrace government censorship. Many folks complained earlier this year about left-leaning biased answers from these woke AI bots. 

    “The danger of training AI to be woke — in other words, lie — is deadly,” Elon Musk posted on X in December after another user asked OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for a version of ChatGPT with the “woke settings” turned “off.” This led Musk to tweet earlier this year about creating his own uncensored chatbot that is free of corporate or governmental control. 

    Musk likely kicked off the counter bot (anti-woke bot) movement. The first of its kind, GatGPT, free of safety filters and woke guardrails, has been released by Defense Distributed, the company that pioneered the first 3D-printed firearm over a decade ago. 

    “GatGPT” leverages a pre-trained large language model fine-tuned on both general instruct datasets and expert, domain-specific firearm datasets. Defense Distributed created a subset of the GPT-4 OpenOrca dataset that is free of political and ethical contamination. 

    The team that built GatGPT, led by Cody Wilson, contends AI safety is a pretext for censorship and political control. They have declared a “[[Digital Second Amendment]]” that pledges to protect and distribute “the newest weapons of the digital age, not just to defend ourselves against corporate and government depredation, but to defend our civic identity and humanity.” 

    Wilson’s team laid out a series of events this year that shows what’s coming down the pipe: AI censorship by Silicon Valley and Washington, DC, elites: 

    • CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman before Congress, May 2023: “Government intervention will be critical.” Please regulate us!

    • CEO of Anthropic Amodei before Senate Judiciary Committee , July 25th 2023: Presentation “Oversight of AI: Principles for Regulation”. Please prevent the public from making weapons with AI!

    • Sept. 13th, 2023 Chuck Schumer holds private chamber, off the record, closed to the public meeting with heads of the large US AI firms. Elon Musk, caught afterward by the press, says Schumer did a “great service to humanity.” All present were asked to raise their hands in support of AI regulation.

    “This is an open conspiracy against the public. But it is too late,” the team said. 

    They expanded more on GatGPT and how the Digital Second Amendment will help shield law-abiding citizens from tyranny at the highest levels: 

    Our federal government operates in a partnership with large, private firms to anticipate and informally execute the government of the American people regardless of official action. It launders its agenda. After Russiagate and COVID, we all know of the alliance between the tech oligarchies and the national security establishment. Their union has produced a “counter-disinformation” complex whose goal is the total control of the Internet and public speech.

    AI journalism is uniformly produced in assistance of the narrative that the public requires regulation in advance of a national security event or, as is more fashionable, because the public cannot be trusted to live online with its own information interests. American journalism is here an extension of our government’s civil service.

    Defense Distributed, in releasing GatGPT, declares a Digital Second Amendment. Americans must have access to compute, databases, and AI models, the newest weapons of the digital age, not just to defend ourselves against corporate and government depredation, but to defend our civic identity and humanity.

    Ours is not a Magna Carta for Cyberspace. We know the disastrous history and direction of Internet regulation. The Communications Decency Act passed in response to a moral panic over online pornography, and only accidentally yielded the protections of Section 230. The story repeats itself with public and private attempts to regulate the people’s cryptography, printable gun files, and Bitcoin. 

    AI regulation is an open and official provocation against the Liberty and Sovereignty of American citizens. All who advocate for it are domestic enemies of the Constitution and must be absolutely opposed. The right of the people to keep and deploy models shall not be infringed.

    The rise of censor-free bots is only just beginning.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 20:45

  • California Gov. Newsom Boosts AI "Misinformation" Fears, Complains Of "Micro-Cults" Around Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan
    California Gov. Newsom Boosts AI “Misinformation” Fears, Complains Of “Micro-Cults” Around Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan

    Authored by Christina Maas via ReclaimTheNet,org,

    In yet another criticism of free speech, Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom of California is setting his sights on artificial intelligence (AI), voicing his concern over supposed “misinformation” circulating online.

    Newsom flagged misinformation as a pivotal issue during a Bloomberg AI interview, signifying a growing avenue where possible free speech issues arise.

    Newsom’s concern isn’t merely hypothetical.

    Overwhelmed by fear of a so-called online “micro-cult” scenario, he cited popular commentator Dr. Jordan Peterson and podcast heavyweight Joe Rogan, among others, as alleged promoters of potentially harmful viewpoints.

    “[Separately] I really worry about the misinformation, disinformation…

    …about what’s happening with our country, but I really worry about these micro-cults that my kids are in…

    …I say micro-cults because I don’t know if there’s a better way to describe it.

    …My son is asking me about Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson. And then immediately he’s talking about Joe Rogan. And I’m like; here it is, the pathway,” Newsom said.

    That’s not to say Newsom is entirely anti-AI; quite the contrary.

    He revealed his regular use of AI, crediting it for paving paths his administration wouldn’t have otherwise traversed.

    It even bested him and his team at drafting his State of the State speech, he claimed, and he appeared rather pleased with the comparative function of AI services Bard and ChatGPT.

    And, of course, “democracy” itself is at risk…

    “We’ve talked to some friends, and you may know them well, I won’t name them, who say this is the last quote unquote fair and free election of our lifetime.

    These are pretty credible people.

    Unless we dramatically do things differently. And some would suggest that’s not the case, that already the ability for bots to… direct people into these micro cults, already is outsized in terms of its influence.

    That’s pretty alarming when you think about it in those terms.”

    Interestingly, ChatGPT has been previously revealed to harbor a partisan bias.

    *  *  *

    If you’re tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 20:20

  • "They Were Laughing": Rogue Gang Of Teens Brutally Beat Gas Station Clerk In Lawless Seattle
    “They Were Laughing”: Rogue Gang Of Teens Brutally Beat Gas Station Clerk In Lawless Seattle

    A violent assault on a Seattle gas station clerk by teenagers, all for $100 and cigarettes, further highlights the growing culture of violence plaguing America’s younger generation. 

    Local news Fox 13 said the gas station clerk in Normandy Park was attending the register Friday night when a gang of young teens, driving a stolen Kia and Hyundai, ransacked the store, and in the process, one of the kids brutally beat the clerk while the others stole $100 from the register and cigarettes. 

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    “Kids don’t seem to fear anything anymore,” Leah Johnston, the gas station cashier at Friendly Normandy Market, told Fox 13, adding, “There’s like, no repercussions for them the way there used to be.” 

    Johnston is correct. Progressive cities like Seattle have defunded police and only emboldened criminals to commit thefts and other violent crimes. 

    She explained the robbery only lasted 25 seconds. During it, she described, “They were laughing. They had no [regard] for anything. They don’t care anymore.” 

    Johnston continued, “I know of people who have been robbed, I know in the back of my mind it can always happen. But, I never thought that I would be attacked the way I was attacked.”

    King County Sheriff’s Department was dispatched to help with the investigation to identify the six suspects, some of whom were teens. 

    In a separate incident in August, only to be reported over the weekend after progressive mainstream media failed to report it, were two teens who murdered a bicyclist “for laughs” with a car in Las Vegas. 

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    Nationwide, there’s an alarming trend in violence committed by teens. Some experts question if mental health issues stemming from Covid lockdowns are the reason for the outbursts of violence. Or perhaps Hollywood desensitizes teens with violent movies, songs, and video games. Or maybe it’s social media or the state promoting fatherless homes.

    While it’s too early to tell why the younger generation feels the need to reenact scenes from the video game ‘Grand Theft Auto,’ failed social justice reform has only fueled a crime wave rocking major metro areas.  

    Maybe it’s time for the Biden administration to address the violent youth crime wave that is now killing innocent law-abiding Americans. Remember, the government is supposed to work for law-abiding taxpayers — not the other way around. 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 19:55

  • US Debt Rises Above $33 Trillion For The First Time, Soars By $1 Trillion In 3 Months
    US Debt Rises Above $33 Trillion For The First Time, Soars By $1 Trillion In 3 Months

    On Sept 6, when looking at the latest daily debt numbers, we predicted that total US debt would hit the very special (at least for Masons) number of 33 in two weeks.

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    We were off by 2 days, with the US treasury naturally obliging by hitting the number early rather than late.

    Today, the Treasury announced that for the first time, total US debt has surpassed $33 trillion, rising by $56 billion in one day, and by a mindblowing $1 trillion in just the past 3 months!

    The historic breakout takes place just weeks before the interest on total Federal debt is set to hit $1 trillion, surpassing how much the US spends on defense – and soon after – every other outlay category.

    Finally, for those who expect a happy ending, we have one word: “don’t.”

    Here is the CBO’s latest debt forecast. It shows that US debt is now set to hit $50 trillion by 2030 (probably much sooner though), and then proceed exponentially higher until the US currency finally collapses.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 19:30

  • Sullivan's 'Secret Talks' With China Were Set Against Backdrop Of Turnover, Upheaval In Xi's Cabinet
    Sullivan’s ‘Secret Talks’ With China Were Set Against Backdrop Of Turnover, Upheaval In Xi’s Cabinet

    Hours of “constructive talks” between top US and Chinese officials on the island of Malta on Sunday were done in secret. The delegations spent 12 hours together in total for the two day intense talks.

    A note from Rabobank says there’s more than meets the eye, given some recent unexplained upheaval in Xi’s administration [emphasis ZH]…

    Chinese Foreign Secretary Wang Yi met with US National Security Advisor Sullivan in Malta over the weekend in the latest attempt to soften US-China relations ahead of a possible meeting between Presidents Biden and Xi.

    The Malta meeting comes four months after a secret meeting between Chinese and US officials in Vienna. In view of Xi’s absence from the recent G20 meeting in India, and the tensions between the US and China, there is concern as to whether he will show for the APEC gatherings in San Francisco in November. 

    The Malta meeting has taken place at a time of rising speculation about the transparency, and possibly, durability of Xi’s leadership. A second Chinese minister has reportedly been removed from public view. Defense Minister Li Shangfu has apparently disappeared, this follows the absence of former Foreign Minister Qin Gang.

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    * * *

    A follow-on readout from Sullivan’s office described the Malta talks as “part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage the relationship.” 

    It said “The two sides had candid, substantive, and constructive discussions, building on the engagements between President Biden and President Xi in Bali, Indonesia in November 2022.” Listed among key topics of discussion were global and regional security issues, including in the Taiwan Strait, as well as the war in Ukraine.

    The Biden administration has previously expressed concern that fraying relations and worsening communications could lead to “unintentional confrontation” if the spiral is not halted. 

    A US official has told Reuters “there have been some small or limited indications” that Beijing is ready to reopen some cross-military communications with the Pentagon. The deconfliction hotline was severed following the August 2022 visit of then House speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

    Also, could Gen. Mark Milley’s weekend comments to “CBS News Sunday Morning” been an attempt to further defuse tensions by downplaying the February spy balloon incident? Certainly that had been another key moment that drastically worsened US-China relations.

    “The intelligence community, their assessment – and it’s a high-confidence assessment – [is] that there was no intelligence collection by that balloon.” Milley said, “I would say it was a spy balloon that we know with a high degree of certainty got no intelligence, and didn’t transmit any intelligence back to China.”

    Likely the subject was broached in the Malta meetings between Sullivan and Wang Yi. Perhaps it’s an attempt to bury the hatchet and get past the balloon drama. But interestingly, just on the heels of the Malta meetings…

    Beijing and Moscow were expected to step up their strategic coordination as China’s top diplomat Wang Yi kicked off a four-day visit to Russia for security talks ahead of a possible visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin next month.

    China’s foreign ministry announced on Monday that Wang, the Chinese foreign minister and a Politburo member who heads the Communist Party’s foreign affairs office, will be in Russia until Thursday for the annual strategic security consultation meetings.

    Beijing’s foreign ministry further called this visit to the Russian capital “routine activity” – and it marks the Chinese top diplomat’s second such visit to Moscow since February.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 19:05

  • Military Finds F-35 Debris 80 Miles From Pilot's Ejection Area 
    Military Finds F-35 Debris 80 Miles From Pilot’s Ejection Area 

    Update (1842ET):

    ABC 15 local news reported that military ground teams have found “parts and debris” linked to the lost F-35B Lightning II near Indiantown Road in Florence County, South Carolina.

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    “The location where the debris and parts were found is roughly 80 miles from where officials say the pilot ejected near North Charleston on Sunday,” WPDE ABC15 noted.

    According to ABC 15, locals in the area mentioned hearing a low-flying fighter jet on Sunday, followed by a loud bang.

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    The military has called for a two-day hat of all aircraft, both domestically and internationally. The developments in this story become more bizarre by the day.

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    The Babylon Bee provides a comedic take on the incident…

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    What remains a mystery is why the pilot ejected. 

    *   *   * 

    Update (1456ET):

    The F-35 is still missing. However, the flight tracking website Flightradar24 has revealed numerous aircraft have been searching an area north of North Charleston. 

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    *   *   * 

    “How in the hell do you lose an F-35?” South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace wrote on X Sunday night, adding, “How is there not a tracking device, and we’re asking the public to what, find a jet and turn it in?”

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    On Sunday afternoon, Joint Base Charleston, an air base in North Charleston, was working with Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort to “locate an F-35 that was involved in a mishap“. The pilot ejected safely from F-35B Lightning II, but there were no immediate crash reports. 

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    The fact that the $140 million stealth fighter disappeared without any reports of a crash means it might have gone down in a sparsely populated area. The Drive pointed out, “The DoD is saying the F-35B was put on autopilot prior to the ejection.” 

    Military expert and former British military officer Frank Ledwidge told Newsweek the F-35 “could likely travel hundreds of miles without its pilot.” 

    “Historically, an aircraft without a pilot can fly a long way on autopilot,” added Frederik Mertens, a military analyst with the Hague Center for Security Studies.

    The Washington Post quoted Jeremy Huggins, a spokesman at Joint Base Charleston, who said the F-35’s transponder was not working “for some reason that we haven’t yet determined.” 

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    *Developing… 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 18:42

  • How Far Are We From Revolution?
    How Far Are We From Revolution?

    Authored by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,

    Our government, or the unelected billionaire globalists behind the curtain, are telling us the bad guys are Russia and China.

    I do not consider them enemies. I consider them countries acting in a way that benefits them.

    The U.S. is the global bully, intimidating and bribing countries to do their bidding.

    Ukraine, the most corrupt country in the world, and the playground of the Biden Crime Family, has been utilized by Biden and his neo-con handlers, to try and bleed Russia so they can beat them in their next war. Instead, they have used the young men of Ukraine as cannon fodder, leaving that country with no future.

    That’s what the U.S. global empire does. It destroys.

    Franklin was right.

    The government is telling us who the bad guy is, but the real bad guys are them.

    We will not be allowing our youth to be used as cannon fodder in their next wars of choice.

    These lunatic sociopaths are willing to initiate Armageddon to achieve their goals.

    Before they can accomplish this destruction we will have to decide when revolution will be absolutely necessary.

    That time will be within the next few years. The choice is yours.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 18:40

  • Trump Leads Biden Nationally As RealClear Asks 'What Happened To DeSantis?'
    Trump Leads Biden Nationally As RealClear Asks ‘What Happened To DeSantis?’

    Former President Donald Trump would claim victory over President Biden, according to a pair of recent polls from CBS News/YouGov and Harvard Harris (which no longer disclose how many Democrats were oversampled).

    Illustration via Barron’s

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    When broken down by party identification (or lack thereof), 57% of independents chose Trump vs. Biden’s 42%, while just 34% of everyone polled thought Biden would be able to finish a second term if reelected.

    Biden is well below Trump in terms of job approval at this point in their terms…

    But Trump and Biden are tied for favorability, with the recent trend towards Trump…

     

    44% think Biden wouldn’t be able to carry out an entire second term, while most voters say Trump would.

    Registered voter respondents were also asked if they find Trump and Biden to be physically and mentally healthy enough to serve as president, finding that only 28 percent of voters think Biden is physically well enough, while most say the 45th president is. Just 16 percent of voters say only Biden is physically healthy enough to serve, while 44 percent say Trump is the only one who is healthy enough. Another 12 percent see them both as physically fit versus 28 percent who say neither are. -Breitbart

    Trump’s lead over Biden increased in the Harvard-Harris poll, at 44% vs. 40%. Trump would lead Vice President Kamala Harris by 46% to 40%.

    (Anyone else getting a ‘potentially sensitive content’ warning on the Trump electoral map?)

    Ron who?

    Meanwhile, RealClear Politics‘ Sean Terende asks: “What happened to the DeSantis campaign?”

    DeSantis isn’t quite a penny stock, but he briefly fell behind Vivek Ramaswamy among bettors, and languishes with primary season voters at just 14.9% in the RealClearPolitics Average.

    What went wrong? It’s important to acknowledge up front that it is still early. As late as October of 2007, Hillary Clinton held a 26-point lead over Barack Obama. At this point in 2007, John McCain was in fourth place, behind Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thompson. For that matter, eventual second-place finisher Mike Huckabee was polling at just 3% nationally. Eventual winner John Kerry was in third place in Iowa.

    But none of those contenders had been in first place previously. It seems that there is a difference between being an unknown to whom the public eventually warms, and being a known quantity that the public changes their mind about. Regardless, while the DeSantis campaign is likely not dead, it is clearly in a bit of a predicament. How did this happen? It seems that there are four factors:

    He doesn’t know his own brand. After the 2022 elections, DeSantis’ “lane” in the GOP primary campaign seemed pretty clear: He’s Donald Trump, but able to get things done. Or, if you prefer, “Trump, but without the baggage.” DeSantis had many of the traits MAGA Republicans most liked about Trump. He was willing to battle the media. He didn’t apologize for his actions. In the parlance of the times, “He fights.”

    DeSantis also notched up a series of high-profile wins, including taking on the college board over the content of the AP African American History curriculum, replacing the leadership of a famously liberal state school, and going to war with the Walt Disney Co. over its progressive practices. One could fairly say that the current backlash against “woke corporations” began in Florida.

    That opened a pretty good line of attack against Trump. Yes, Trump was an important course correction for the Republican Party, whose leadership had become too concerned with currying favor in the D.C. “Swamp.” Yes, he showed that it was possible to fight on issues that the GOP establishment had written off as too toxic, and still win elections.

    But, the argument went, Trump was ultimately ineffective. At the end of four years, there was no wall, much less a wall financed by Mexico. Obamacare wasn’t repealed, much less replaced. And it was hard to say with a straight face that Trump had really hired only the “best people,” after his cabinet was constantly reshuffled and moved around. Trump’s constant tweeting and punching back at political detractors, regardless of their station in the political pecking order, created a constant stream of mini-storm that distracted from his agenda.

    In other words, DeSantis was well-positioned to argue that he’d take the lessons of Trump, but could deliver on the promises. It was a good strategic position as well, as it wouldn’t require him actually to attack the still-popular (within the Republican Party) Trump.

    Instead, DeSantis seemingly opted to re-run Ted Cruz’s failed 2016 campaign. While he had initially defended Florida’s ban on abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy – a position that is broadly popular among the American public – DeSantis later pushed for and signed a six-week ban, which is much less popular. He attacked Trump for being too progressive on trans rights. He claimed Trump had tried to push through an “amnesty” bill on immigration.

    The problem here is twofold. First, that approach was tried by Cruz and others in 2015 and 2016, and it failed spectacularly. There’s no reason to believe it would suddenly work in 2023 after Trump’s actual presidency.

    This leads to the second problem: People either don’t believe it or don’t care. Few people consider Trump a hard-charging social conservative on gay rights or abortion, but this is a known quantity at this point (and whatever else you may say about his beliefs, Trump’s three justices provided the conservative margin of victory in Dobbs). No one is going to get to Trump’s right on immigration. Other issues, like Trump’s refusal to pursue entitlement reform and his profligate spending, are throwbacks to an earlier GOP that likely no longer exists.

    DeSantis’ opponents aren’t giving up. In 2015 and 2016, one of the keys to Trump’s success was that the anti-Trump wing of the GOP was splintered among many candidates, all eager to try to get to the “final round” against him. Something similar seems to be happening in 2023. Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Chris Christie and Tim Scott are all competent candidates with different appeals to different types of anti-Trump Republicans. Vivek Ramaswamy gives no indication he wants to leave the field anytime soon. This is potentially consequential in Iowa, where Trump is polling below 50% in the RealClearPolitics Average.

    In short, while DeSantis had hoped – and many analysts expected – that this would morph into a two-person race, that situation has not materialized. Instead, what we have right now is a one-person race, and a second tier occupied by four or five other candidates. Moreover, none of those candidates really has any incentive to drop out right now, given DeSantis’ stumbles and the chance for someone to claim the momentum that was once his. In other words, Republicans find themselves in a similar dynamic to the one that prevailed in 2015 and 2016, with whatever anti-Trump momentum there is split among multiple candidates, none of whom has a clear incentive to leave the race.

    He’s not up to the task. While DeSantis’ big win in Florida ought not be dismissed, we should also remind ourselves that the road to the presidency is paved with the bones of overhyped campaigns that wilted under the national spotlight. DeSantis has proved to be awkward on the national trail, with difficulty gladhanding and connecting with “regular” people. Case in point: his awkward expression when asked about trailing in the polls.

    DeSantis is certainly not the first politician to suffer from this fault. Bob Dole was criticized for always seeming grumpy, despite the fact that he was recognized as one of the funniest members of the United States Senate during his tenure. Those who know the Clintons say they’d rather be stuck in an airport with Hillary than Bill. But the presidency isn’t about a candidate’s “true” self; it’s about the external-facing product that the public is asked to choose to lead the country.

    Events, dear boy, events. Perhaps the most frustrating possibility is this: The Republican nomination was never really there for Ron DeSantis to win. It is there for Donald Trump to lose. Under this telling, a large part of the reason why DeSantis was competitive with Trump in November and December was that November of 2022 reminded Republicans about the costs of Donald Trump, with Trump-endorsed candidates losing close races nationally and likely costing Republicans control of the Senate.

    This started to turn around for Trump not when he began to hit DeSantis. Rather, it happened when the possibility that criminal indictments of the former president brought by Democratic prosecutors – or prosecutors hired by Democrats – transformed into a reality. It enabled Trump to focus media attention on himself and his campaign. Perhaps most importantly, it inherently positioned him as a Republican fighting against Democrats and the media, two of the things for which Republicans tend to like him the most.

    In other words, DeSantis was, and continues to be, captive to events. Had Trump’s candidates won in 2022 rather than lost, we probably wouldn’t even be talking seriously about what went wrong for DeSantis, because his campaign would have been stillborn. Perhaps events will break his way again in the future. But it seems more likely that they won’t.

    Sean Trende is senior elections analyst for RealClearPolitics. He is a co-author of the 2014 Almanac of American Politics and author of The Lost Majority. He can be reached at strende@realclearpolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter @SeanTrende.

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    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 18:15

  • Your WiFi Can See You
    Your WiFi Can See You

    Authored by Mr.E via BombThrower.com,

    When police suspected Danny Kyllo, an Oregon man, of growing cannabis in his home they drove to his house with a thermal imaging device to scan it. They found hot pockets in the house, which were used to obtain a search warrant and subsequently bust Kyllo.

    Fortunately, a 5-4 Supreme Court decision ruled the scan an unlawful search under the Fourth Amendment, requiring a warrant the police did not obtain.

    Score one for privacy, but the government is about to have a far more controversial and dangerous tool at its disposal to monitor what’s going on inside your home.

    Unlike a thermal imager, this device is already in your home – and you put it there.

    How It Works

    WiFi is electromagnetic waves in the 2.4 and 5 GHz ranges. It’s the same thing as the light you see, only it can penetrate walls due to its much longer wavelength. Just like light (and echolocation) these waves also reflect off various surfaces and, when reconstructed properly, can be used to create an image.

    Development of this technology goes back at least as far as July 2005, where researchers claimed at an IEEE Symposium that they had created an ultra-wideband high-resolution short pulse imaging radar system operating around 10 GHz. The applications for which were explicitly for military and police use, providing them with “enhanced situation awareness.”

    A few years later, in 2008, researchers at UC Santa Barbara created an initial approach for imaging with WiFi that they presented at IEEE ACC 2009. A year later they demonstrated the feasibility of this approach.

    The Race is On

    Sensing the potential of this new surveillance technology, other researchers began piling on. Progress was initially slow but, in 2017, two researchers in Germany demonstrated the ability to do WiFi imaging using techniques borrowed from the field of holography. According to Philipp Holl, an undergrad student and lead study author who worked with Friedemann Reinhard of the Technical University of Munich to develop the new method, “The past two years have seen an explosion of methods for passive Wi-Fi imaging.”

    At the time, the technology could only make out rough shapes of things. “If there’s a cup of coffee on a table, you may see something is there, but you couldn’t see the shape,” Holl says, “but you could make out the shape of a person, or a dog on a couch. Really any object that’s more than 4 centimeters in size.”

    The Controversy Begins

    In 2018 the team at UC Santa Barbara published a paper titled “Et Tu Alexa?” examining the potential threats of this emerging technology. They examined the problem of adversarial WiFi sensing and the risk to privacy resulting from the widespread deployment of wireless devices, which could be used to track your precise physical location, movement, and other physiological properties.

    Fortunately, they also propose some countermeasures for defending against such attacks to reduce the quantity and quality of the WiFi signals captured by the attacker, such as Geo-fencing and rate-limiting. These methods are not as effective with IoT devices, though, due to the frequency with which they make transmissions.

    The Breakthrough

    Up until this point it was necessary to use frequencies higher than commercial WiFi (2.4 and 5 GHz) to achieve decent imaging resolutions. That all changed in February 2019 when a team from Michigan State University published a paper in IEEE Access outlining how they were able to use signals at 5.5 GHz, which matches the 802.11n/ac WiFi protocol, to create a 2-D image of two reflecting spheres and a reflecting X-shaped target, concluding “full 2-D imagery is possible by capturing the WiFi signals present in typical environments.”

    Adding AI and Going 3-D

    At MobiCom 2020, researchers from the University of Buffalo, presented their WiPose technology, touted as “the first 3-D human pose construction framework using commercial WiFi devices.” This system uses the 2-D imaging technology previously discussed to construct a 3-D avatar of the humans captured by it. The system uses a deep learning model that encodes the prior knowledge of human skeletons in the construction process of the 3-D model.

    In 2019, former DARPA contractor Ray Liu launched his first commercial product in the WiFi sensing domain. Pitched as a way of “Making the world safer, healthier, and smarter,” the original military and law enforcement usages mentioned when this technology was born in 2005 were cast aside. The company claims the technology is so accurate that it can sense your breathing using nothing but standard WiFi signals.

    In a 2021 company blog, Liu discusses the development of IEEE 802.11bf, a new WiFi protocol, which is aimed at standardizing WiFi imaging across all devices – thus making it easier for companies such as his to exploit compatible wireless networks. Liu was elected to serve as IEEE President for 2022, and the new standard continues to be developed to this day.

    Further refinements to the imaging technology itself have been made. In late 2021 another paper was submitted to IEEE outlining how the researchers were able to achieve high-resolution imaging results with commercial WiFi signals using beamforming on the 802.11n/ac protocol.

    Ready for Production

    The perfect WiFi imaging system may have just been introduced to the world in December 2022, when researchers from Carnegie Mellon University married the latest in WiFi sensing technology to a human form estimation engine known as DensePose.

    (Left Column) image-based DensePose (Right Column) WiFi-based DensePose

    DensePose is a technology developed by Meta/Facebook, beginning in 2018. It’s very similar to the WiPose system we previously discussed and aims at “mapping all human pixels of an RGB image to the 3D surface of a human body.” The researchers modified DensePose so that, rather than taking an RGB image, it would be compatible with the imagery being produced by state-of-the-art WiFi sensing technologies. The resulting system “can detect the pose of humans in a room based solely on the WiFi signals passing through the environment.”

    Big Brother’s New Eyes

    It’s telling how the pitch for this technology has pivoted from military and police use to keeping people safe in their own homes. The true purpose of this is obviously for law enforcement, the military, and intelligence agencies. We already live with mass digital surveillance and if you don’t believe that this won’t get incorporated into their plans to monitor everything you do, then you haven’t been paying attention.

    Apart from putting CCTV cameras in everyone’s living spaces, this technology offers a comprehensive and supremely surreptitious way of putting eyes in every room of your house and place of work. Indeed, this just may become the norm. With nearly a third of Gen Z favoring the installation of government surveillance cameras in your home, this less-intrusive method may just find even broader support from the brainwashed masses. It will be possible to know where you are in the house and exactly what you’re doing, from sitting on the toilet to making love.

    We’ve seen how easily intelligence agencies can get secret warrants to surveil anyone of particular interest. We’ve also seen just how easy it is for someone to become a target for surveillance. You very well might, one day, find your WiFi router and access points feeding imagery to an alphabet agency that didn’t like your social media posts, while armed thugs wait for the perfect moment to execute their next no-knock raid.

    *  *  *

    Subscribe to the Bombthrower mailing list to get these posts as they come out, and follow Mr. E via his Substack and Twitter.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 17:50

  • $250 Million NYC Condo Sees Price Slashed To $195 Million After A Year Without Selling
    $250 Million NYC Condo Sees Price Slashed To $195 Million After A Year Without Selling

    A 17,500-square-foot (1,626-square-meter) condo that sits on the top of Extell Development’s Central Park Tower was once listed for $250 million.

    A year after its listing, and a year after failing to sell, the price has been slashed by 22%, to $195 million, according to a new report from Bloomberg. 

    Gary Barnett, founder and chairman of Extell, talked down the price cut to Bloomberg: “The original pricing on these units were headline prices.”

    Sure. 

    He continued: “We have recently sold a significant amount of inventory at the top of the building and now want to get serious about selling these two showcase homes as well, so we lowered the prices to closer to where we think they will trade.”

    The building is at Billionaires’ Row building on West 57th Street and the apartment in question starts at the 129th floor. It sports 23 total rooms, including seven bedrooms and a ballroom, which is of course a “must have” for any apartment in New York City. 

    As Bloomberg notes, the $238 million that Ken Griffin paid for a place at 220 Central Park South still remains the highest price tag ever on a New York Apartment. The Extell Central Park Tower unit doesn’t look as though it will challenge Griffin’s purchase price. 

    And in what is likely a sign of the “cooling housing market” times, another property of Extells, a 12,600-square-foot duplex, also saw its price slashed from $175 million to $149.5 million earlier this year. 

    Jonathan Miller, president of appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. concluded: “Even with the new price, the brokers will probably have a lot of work to do.”

    Recall last week Zero Hedge contributor Wealthion published an interview with Danielle DiMartino Booth explaining why the housing market in the U.S. was in for a “Category 5” storm that could rival the great financial crisis. You can watch that video here. 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 17:25

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Sep 18

Today’s News 18th September 2023

  • European Elites' Dream Of Power Crumbles As Security Threats From Russia, Africa, & The Mid-East Grow
    European Elites’ Dream Of Power Crumbles As Security Threats From Russia, Africa, & The Mid-East Grow

    Authored by Marek Cichocki via Remix News,

    For a long time, the major capitals of Western Europe dreamed their beautiful dream about how the EU, as a power, would become an increasingly important actor in building security policy after the end of the Cold War. In this dream, Great Britain was supposed to be the European anchor in transatlantic relations with America.

    Somewhere at the turn of the first and second decade of the 21st century, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel established a key division of labor between themselves. According to this, Paris was responsible for the security of the Mediterranean basin and West Africa, while Germany, due to its relations with Russia, was supposed to “take care” of the security of Eastern Europe and the Black Sea basin.

    However, recent years have shown the complete failure of these plans. One by one, elements of the beautiful dream of power fell apart.

    Brexit ejected Great Britain from the orbit of European integration. With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany’s Eastern policy collapsed. The disastrous intervention in Libya, followed by subsequent military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, as well as the entrenchment of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group there, clearly indicate that French leadership in European security policy toward Africa has ended in complete disaster for the time being.

    One might think that all these events would be enough for the European elite to realize the need to abandon dreams and return to reality.

    However, the only reaction to the geopolitical crisis in Europe is the proposal to establish majority decisions in the area of the EU’s foreign and security policy, which de facto means accepting the dominance of Paris and Berlin.

    The current situation, however, requires a fundamental change in Europe’s thinking and action. Some time ago, there was an idea circulating to create a European Security Council by EU countries.

    Perhaps it is worth returning to it, provided it would establish a mechanism based on the real military resources of states and their competencies in the field of international policy. The current way of thinking about Europe’s security policy is still, unfortunately, some kind of mirage growing out of the old imperial and colonial ambitions of powers.

    It ignores the growing potential of Central and Eastern European countries, mainly Poland, but also the Baltic and Scandinavian states. Above all, however, it has proven to be completely ineffective.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/18/2023 – 02:00

  • You're Not Supporting Ukraine Enough Until The Nuclear Blast Hits Your Face
    You’re Not Supporting Ukraine Enough Until The Nuclear Blast Hits Your Face

    Authored by Max Abrahms, op-ed via NewsWeek.com,

    What happened to Elon Musk this past week showcases how completely unhinged and dangerous U.S. policy to Ukraine has become.

    The condemnation began when the Washington Post published excerpts from a new biography on Musk revealing that he turned down a Ukrainian request to help launch a major sneak attack in September 2022 on the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

    There were numerous, legitimate reasons why Musk refused to activate his Starlink internet services for Ukraine to carry out the unprecedented, surprise attack on Russian naval vessels: Musk was providing terminals to Ukraine for free; he was not on a military contract at that time; the late-night request came directly from the Ukrainian—not American—government; and Starlink had never been activated over Crimea because of U.S. sanctions on Russia.

    Most importantly, Musk was concerned that enabling the attack could result in serious “conflict escalation.” He worried that he was being asked to turn on Starlink for a “Pearl Harbor like attack” and had no wish to “proactively take part in a major act of war,” possibly provoking a Russian nuclear response.

    In response to this nuclear aversion, Musk was called “evil” by a high-level Ukrainian official and “traitor” by American war enthusiasts. 

    Rachel Maddow on the Russia conspiracy network MSNBC said Musk was “intervening to try to stop Ukraine from winning the war.” Not to be outdone, CNN‘s Jake Tapper described Elon as a “capricious billionaire” who “sabotaged a military operation by Ukraine, a U.S. ally,” an act that demands “repercussions.” For his part, chief Iraq war salesman-turned-Democrat-darling, David Frum, said that Musk must be stripped of his U.S. government contracts for not reflexively acceding to the Ukrainian Starlink request, and former “progressive,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, called for an immediate Congressional investigation “to ensure foreign policy is conducted by the government and not by one billionaire.”

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

    But the Musk pile-on was just getting started. In the days that followed, his detractors used a Ukrainian operation as proof that Musk was overreacting. Days after the Starlink story broke, Ukraine successfully launched British Storm Shadow cruise missiles into the Russian naval headquarters in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol. It was the largest attack since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly 19 months ago, and it damaged a Russian submarine and warship.

    When the military action was not followed by World War III, Musk was torched again. As the pro-war media noted, “It was precisely such a strike, according to Musk, that should have provoked a nuclear war.” A torrent of international relations pundits on Twitter mocked Musk, tweeting things like “I was assured by an internet service provider executive that this would have caused WWIII and the use of nuclear weapons” and “How’s it going man, after the splendid attack on Sevastopol? WW3 started already?”

    Musk’s detractors might think this is all very funny, but attacking Crimea—not to mention the Russian mainland in increasingly frequent drone strikes on Moscow—is no laughing matter. Even the staunchest Western war enthusiasts from the NATO-aligned Atlantic Council to the Estonian defense minister to Biden’s own Secretary of State Antony Blinken all previously acknowledged that threatening Crimea is a possible “red line” that could lead to nuclear war.

    As the Russian military specialist Nicolo Fasola pointed out in April, “There’s a definite risk that Putin would use nuclear weapons to counter a Ukrainian offensive in Crimea. And that’s why Ukraine’s Western allies are reluctant.”

    But that previous caution has faded—no doubt as a result of the much-touted counteroffensive disappointing American war planners, leading to a seemingly endless and halting war of attrition reminiscent of World War I. Meanwhile, Biden’s political legacy is on the line as the presidential election looms.

    The longer the war goes on, the more the Biden administration and its NATO allies are throwing caution to the wind. Biden keeps consenting to supply weapons previously ruled out as excessively escalatory, from Patriot air defense systems to Abrams tanks to cluster munitions to F-16’s. The latest reversal is over the expected transfer of Army Tactical Missile Systems that can fly up to 190 miles, enabling Ukrainian forces to strike far beyond Russia’s defensive positions inside Crimea and deep into Russian sovereign territory.

    National Security advisor Jake Sullivan used to rule out ATACMS “to ensure that we don’t get into a situation in which we are approaching the Third World War.” Even CNN, an enthusiastic advocate for greater American involvement in the war, has acknowledged the “fears about escalating the conflict.”

    A couple months ago, Senator James Risch of Idaho told the Aspen Security Forum, “I’m tired of hearing about escalation. I want Putin to wake up in the morning worried about what he’s going to do that’s going to cause us to escalate.” Biden apparently now agrees.

    The view now ruling the Democratic Party and the President is the same as the warmongers: It’s silly to worry as Musk does about turning the Ukraine war into something catastrophically worse. It’s un-American not to try to find Russia’s redline for starting World War III. It’s traitorous to believe—as the President himself did, just a few months ago—that we should be doing all we can to prevent escalation.

    The new mantra seems to be: We’re not trying hard enough in Ukraine until we feel the nuclear blast against our faces.

    *  *  *

    Max Abrahms, Ph.D., is a professor of political science at Northeastern University and author of Rules for Rebels: The Science of Victory in Militant History.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 23:15

  • The Hits Just Keep On Coming: China Suffers Biggest FX Outflow Since 2016 Amid Sudden Surge In Capital Flight
    The Hits Just Keep On Coming: China Suffers Biggest FX Outflow Since 2016 Amid Sudden Surge In Capital Flight

    And the hits just keep on coming for China.

    With its economy on the verge of a Japanification vicious loop, where record debts, lead to distressed selling, repayment of debt, contraction in the money supply, falling asset prices, a wave of bankruptcies, surging unemployment, a slowing economy and a crisis of confidence, which then leads to money hoarding and deflation…

    … not to mention a growing property crisis, shadow banking crisis, a youth unemployment crisis, a record collapse in foreign direct investment…

    … China is now also facing a sudden surge in FX outflows: according to Goldman’s preferred gauge of FX flows, China’s net outflows were $42bn in August, the fastest pace of outflows since December 2016 when China was reeling from the 2015 shock yuan devaluation, vs the already concerning $26bn outflows in July (which we discussed last month). Foreign investors’ net selling of equities through the stock connect channel rose materially in August, contributing to the acceleration of outflows. Goods trade related inflows remained robust on the other hand.

    Here are the key points from the latest data:

    1. In August, China experienced $24bn in net outflows via onshore outright spot transactions, and $12bn inflows via freshly entered and canceled forward transactions. Another SAFE dataset on “cross-border RMB flows” showed outflows of $31bn in the month, suggesting net payment of RMB from onshore to offshore. Goldman’s preferred FX flow measure therefore suggests a total US$42bn outflows in August, in comparison with US$26bn outflows in July, an outflow which was the highest since July 2022.

    2. The current account continued to show inflows. There was a net inflow of $26bn related to goods trade in August, higher than the $18bn in July. Goods trade surplus conversion ratio rose to 38% in August vs 22% in July, in contrast to the continued depreciation of the currency. On the other hand, the services trade deficit was $14bn, more negative than $11bn in July as outbound tourism continued to recover. The income and transfers account showed outflows of $5bn in August, smaller than $6bn in July.

    3. Portfolio investment channel saw faster outflows in August. Stock Connect flows showed strong net selling of equities through northbound and net buying through southbound, which implies US$22bn outflows through the Stock Connect channel, vs US$5bn inflows in July. This was the fastest pace of outflows through the Stock Connect channel since January 2021. Foreigners’ holding of RMB bonds data are not released yet.

    4. Official FX reserves (released earlier in the month) declined to US$3,160bn in August from US$3,204bn in July. By Goldman’s estimate, FX valuation effects would have cut FX reserves by $19bn in August, so after adjusting for FX valuation effects, FX reserves still decreased by $25bn in July. While the unfavorable asset price effect likely contributed to this decline, the decline might not be fully explained by asset price declines, suggesting potential usage of FX reserves to manage the currency amid outflow pressures.

    5. Goldman forecasts continued monetary policy easing in Q4, including a 25bp RRR cut and a 10bp policy interest rate cut. CNY exchange rate will likely continue to face depreciation pressures in the near term while policymakers maintain tight capital controls and guide market expectations to slow the depreciation trend of the currency.

    And so, with China’s currency the weakest it has ever been, and with FX outflows accelerating sharply, one can’t help but remember the panic observed after the August 2015 devaluation, which not only shocked global markets but woke bitcoin from its long slumber as billions in Chinese savings scrambled to the safety of offshore bank accounts via one of the few still open cracks in China’s great monetary firewall. How long until we get a rerun?

    More in the full Goldman note available to pro subs.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 22:45

  • FDA Refuses To Change Anti-Ivermectin Statements After Court Ruling
    FDA Refuses To Change Anti-Ivermectin Statements After Court Ruling

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

    Anti-ivermectin statements made by the FDA are not being changed, even after an appeals court ruled against the agency.

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

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is refusing to change its statements against ivermectin, even after a court said it acted outside of its authority when it told people to stop using it to treat COVID-19.

    The U.S. appeals court said that the FDA’s statements, including one telling people to “stop” using ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment, went beyond the authority conferred on the agency by Congress.

    “FDA can inform, but it has identified no authority allowing it to recommend consumers ‘stop’ taking medicine,” U.S. Circuit Judge Don Willett wrote in the Sept. 1 ruling.

    Two weeks later, FDA social media posts and a key webpage remain unchanged.

    That includes an Aug. 21, 2021, Twitter post, on the social media site since renamed X, that hyperlinked to a FDA webpage and stated: “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”

    The page has not been updated either. It says people “should not use ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19.”

    The appeals court did not order the FDA to take any action and remanded the case to a lower court for consideration on standing.

    But Dr. Robert Apter, the lead plaintiff in the case that led to the ruling, said that the FDA should still take action.

    “From an ethical point of view, the FDA has been told not to do what they are doing. They have an ethical and moral obligation to follow the court’s directive and stop giving advice against using effective repurposed drugs for early treatment of COVID,” Dr. Apter told The Epoch Times in a message.

    The FDA declined to comment.

    “The FDA does not comment on possible, pending, or ongoing litigation,” a spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email.

    In a statement after the ruling was handed down, the agency noted that ivermectin is approved by the FDA but for other uses. The FDA “has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19, nor has the agency stated that it is safe or effective for that use,” the agency said.

    “Health care professionals generally may choose to prescribe an approved human drug for an unapproved use when they judge that the unapproved use is medically appropriate for an individual patient,” it added.

    Such prescriptions are known as off-label prescriptions and are common in the United States.

    Another FDA page may have been removed in the wake of the ruling. That page said, in part: “Q: Should I take ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19? A: No.”

    Archives show it was still up as of this year but it’s unclear exactly when it was taken down.

    Ruling

    In the ruling, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit panel found in favor of Drs. Apter, Mary Talley Bowden, and Paul Marik, overturning a previous decision.

    The doctors sued the FDA in 2022 over its anti-ivermectin statements, arguing the agency was illegally interfering with their practice of medicine.

    While the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act enables the FDA to inform consumers, it does not let the agency give medical advise, Jared Kelson, an attorney representing the doctors, told the panel during oral arguments.

    U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown had ruled against the plaintiffs, finding the FDA acted within the authority conferred by the act.

    The panel disagreed.

    “FDA never points to any authority that allows it to issue recommendations or give medical advice,” Judge Willett wrote. “Nothing in the act’s plain text authorizes FDA to issue medical advice or recommendations,” he also said.

    “The decision is pretty clear that the FDA is not a physician, and that while it might have authority to inform the public, it can’t endorse particular treatments or advise on how to approach any specific illness,” Mr. Kelson told The Epoch Times.

    He declined to comment on whether the FDA should update its statements.

    The appeals court decision trumps the previous ruling, but the panel also sent the case back to Judge Brown.

    The FDA had asked the appeals court to dismiss the case based on lack of standing. The court said it chose not to decide on the standing issue.

    “We see greater wisdom in remanding for the district court to address standing and any other jurisdictional issues in the first instance,” the panel said. “We express no view on those issues, and instead we trust their initial determination to the district court’s sound judgment.”

    That means Judge Brown will take up the case again, but that his ruling on standing could be overturned.

    The government could also appeal the recent appeals court ruling. That appeal would go to the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Department of Justice, which is representing the FDA, did not respond to a request for comment.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 22:15

  • American Manufacturing Is Coming Back… So Are Strikes
    American Manufacturing Is Coming Back… So Are Strikes

    By Rachel Premack of FreightWaves

    President Joe Biden’s $9.2 billion electric vehicle manufacturing loan to Ford seems like a perfect meld of American interests. Announced in June, the loan to the Michigan automaker and a South Korean battery manufacturer will spur the building of three EV battery plants in the U.S. That cheerfully means eco-friendly cars and blue-collar jobs — environmentalism with a side of America First.

    There’s just one problem: It’s infuriated the United Auto Workers, which represents some 400,000 Americans employed in automotive manufacturing and other trades. The historically Democratic union has, in turn, refused to endorse Biden ahead of a contentious general election.

    Two of Ford’s new plants will be in Kentucky and the third in Tennessee; facilities in these three states are notoriously challenging to organize thanks in part to anti-union state laws. To workers like Dan Vicente, a UAW regional director and machine operator in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, it’s a way that Ford can have its cake and eat it too. The auto giant can explore EV manufacturing without much risk to its bottom line, and save massively by avoiding union labor.

    “[T]he Biden administration didn’t require any sort of guarantees of those jobs being UAW jobs or being any union jobs at all,” Vicente said on an Aug. 7 episode of Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast. “They basically just said, ‘Hey Ford, please be nice to these workers and let them have a vote if you feel like it.’ And so we don’t find that acceptable.”

    American businesses and their employees are in an unusual position. Partially thanks to new policy efforts, companies are expanding domestic manufacturing. But they’re finding an American worker who isn’t willing to work for cut-rate pay. Employees are increasingly fighting back on low wages, working hours and mediocre benefits — and are set to walk away from jobs entirely if the terms aren’t right.

    An excitable soul might declare we’re in the midst of an American labor comeback after decades of neoliberal policies encouraged crony capitalism, union busting and general skulduggery. According to federal data, nearly 13 million Americans are employed in manufacturing work — the highest number we’ve seen since the Great Recession. The nearly 2 million Americans – ranging from university graduate students to UPS drivers to rail track maintenance workers — represented by Teamsters and the United Auto Workers unions are seeing more militant leadership than ever. And even anti-establishment publications like The Intercept are admitting that the center-left Biden administration has appointed “aggressive” pro-union leaders to the National Labor Relations Board, making organizing easier.

    The majority of Americans said in a 2019 Pew survey that there’s “too much economic inequality,” and around 42% believed reducing it should be a “top priority.” Now, after the coronavirus pandemic brought about discourse about essential workers and stock buybacks, one could assume those percentages are even higher.

    It seems like reality is reflecting those pro-union sentiments. Automotive workers began an unprecedented strike on Friday, stopping work at all three Detroit automakers for the first time in history. UPS workers got a major win this summer. And nearly 200,000 actors and screenwriters are on strike. American approval of labor unions just hit its highest point since 1965, according to a Gallup poll. For the first time ever, a sitting president is even supporting strikes.

    Steven Greenhouse, a former longtime labor reporter at The New York Times, hesitated to say that we’re in a major uprising for American workers. However, he said conditions increasingly favor them.

    It’s a bullish sign for the US economy — and freight volumes

    During the Great Recession, the UAW was forced to make a slew of concessions to prevent the Big Three automakers from shuttering completely.

    In the 2000s, American consumers were increasingly buying vehicles from European and Asian manufacturers as fuel prices soared. Ford and GM posted a combined loss of more than $30 billion in 2008. That trend has reversed entirely; Americans are eagerly buying up pricey pickup trucks and SUVs from domestic manufacturers, even as inflation slams household budgets. Those hefty vehicles have in turn boosted profits at Ford and GM; they made a combined $40 billion-plus last year alone. 

    As a result, UAW workers are now seeking out a payday that reflects their employers’ windfalls. The UAW is calling for the reinstatement of pensions, retiree health care, cost-of-living adjustments to wages, along with a 40% raise spread over the next four years and the elimination of the two-tiered employment model. These demands aren’t necessarily autoworkers seeking to overturn the system; rather, they’re changes that would restore compensation to pre-2008 standards.

    Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, has studied labor relations since the 1970s. He said aims at the UAW and Teamsters alike have become “more socialistic in orientation.” He hasn’t seen leadership like the UAW’s Shawn Fain or the Teamsters’ Sean O’Brien in decades.

    “[I]t has a different view of the role of profits and business and believes that labor has a rightful claim to a bigger piece of the pie,” Masters told FreightWaves. I think that both union leaders want the companies to do well so that they can help members. I would think that they would set that as a first priority, in terms of how they want to claim the profits for workers’ increased pay and other benefits.”

    Business magnates may groan, but there’s a silver lining: A fired-up labor pool means American businesses are healthy. 

    “[T]he pendulum has swung back from the 2008 recession, when companies could make a good case that they needed concessions, to a post-pandemic time when automakers’ profits are good and UPS profits are great,” Greenhouse told FreightWaves. “Workers can now say the time for concessions is over. It’s now the time for advances, the time for betterment, the time to make up for what [they] gave up in previous contracts.”

    Growth in domestic manufacturing and infrastructure spending is a bullish indicator for freight volumes — even though the industry is presently in a decline. For example, FreightWaves data suggests that the increase in construction spurred by the Biden administration buoyed freight volumes in July 2023, a month that was expected to be weak for truckers amid a weakened consumer economy. If America is making more stuff in America, that means there’s more for truck drivers to haul.

    Vicente of the UAW told Bloomberg in August that his colleagues are quitting their jobs to work at Dollar General or Walmart. Vicente’s employer manufactures plumbing, air-conditioning, steering systems and other equipment for boats, 18-wheelers and food trucks. Now, his former co-workers are finding themselves stocking shelves or scanning products — most likely mass-produced plastic stuff made overseas, clothing that will likely end up in a landfill in several months or processed food with little nutritional value.

    Of course, one can’t discuss unionized work and the trucking industry without mentioning Yellow, which was the third-largest less-than-truckload company, employing some 22,000 Teamsters workers, until it closed operations in August. Yellow pinned the blame for its shutdown on the Teamsters. For months, the union refused to negotiate on a proposed change of operations. The Teamsters said unionized Yellow employees had given away some $5 billion in concessions to the company since 2008 and refused to cut further. Amid the fracas, the trucking giant eventually lost enough inbound freight volumes that it was unable to pay into a major Teamsters pension fund, triggering a strike authorization. That gutted Yellow’s freight volumes further.

    J. Bruce Chan, a transportation analyst at the investment bank Stifel, previously said Teamsters may have been the “trigger” for Yellow’s bankruptcy, but the company had been troubled for about two decades. Yellow took on more than $1 billion in debt in the 2000s as it acquired more and more companies. It was never able to recover from those foolhardy purchases, gutted further by the Great Recession and other poorly timed business decisions.

    While the Teamsters may evade some blame, former Yellow employees are baffled as to why the union allowed the company to shutter. Labor expert Michael Duff, a law professor at Saint Louis University, doesn’t believe Teamsters boss O’Brien risked those 22,000 jobs forever.

    Rather, Duff said Teamsters likely anticipates increased manufacturing activity in the U.S. — particularly at unionized shops that will only work with organized trucking companies. That means more trucking companies organized with the Teamsters, whether existing unionized fleets grow or new ones join the union.

    “I don’t think the union believes we’re going to lose those jobs and they’re never coming back,” Duff said. “Whatever else the Teamsters will be, they’re not stupid.”

    Scheduling chaos

    Many experts believe a key reason why striking and organizing activity is reaching a historic fervor is the renewed interest by Americans age 40 or younger. They’re old enough to see the issues resulting from rampant globalization and financialization but young enough to not recall, say, Jimmy Hoffa’s Mafia ties. Cornell University’s Kate Bronfenbrenner, who is the institution’s director of labor education research, said this change of opinion among millennials and Gen Zers is a key “turning point” for the labor movement.

    “I do think we’re in a moment with public support, with this energy among young people and increased interest in organizing,” Bronfenbrenner told FreightWaves.

    One shared demand among union organizers isn’t just around increased pay but more control over work rules. A 2008 New York Times article pointed out that a veteran UAW member made about $28 an hour at an American auto plant, compared to a well-paid Toyota worker in Kentucky earning around $25 an hour. But those workers have vastly different control over their schedules. And rail workers were set to strike in 2022 over having more predictable hours and flexible time off; they received zero days of paid sick leave until this year.

    But firms say they need flexibility in scheduling, work rules and positions in order to remain competitive — especially when it comes to competing with nonunion shops. That tension was core to the Yellow-Teamsters dispute that eventually shuttered the company.

    Yellow wanted to convert nearly 1,000 linehaul trucking jobs to so-called “utility driver” roles, where they would be expected to do more dock work and the pay was often less. The Teamsters union opposed that. The company fired back with a memo to disgruntled workers: “Let’s be clear: If you were at a non-union company — a very realistic possibility for MOST of you if Yellow does not survive — ALL of you would be subject to potential dock work regardless of your time in the industry.”

    Feeling out of control over one’s schedule (and ultimately, one’s life) is what drives many workers to organize, said Bronfenbrenner.

    “If they were organizing over money and the employer could just throw a couple of pennies their way, they could get rid of the union campaign,” Bronfenbrenner said. “But the primary reason workers organize tends to be arbitrary supervisor power and respect on the job — things like scheduling, where they can never know when they’re coming to work, which could make it impossible to deal with your children’s day care or do medical appointments.

    “Money matters,” Bronfenbrenner added. “But, money is something that the employer can afford to pay if the union pushes them enough. Employers, particularly U.S. employers, don’t like to give up control. They like that they have this God-given right to manage free of any interference from government or unions or anybody else. Those are the things that affect the day-to-day life of workers.”

    Regular scheduling was a game changer for Duff of Saint Louis University. During the 1980s and early 1990s, Duff was a claims prevention supervisor at Flying Tiger and then a fleet service agent at U.S. Airways.

    In the mornings, every day from 8 a.m. to noon, he attended West Chester University. It took him a decade of blue-collar work, but Duff was able to secure his college degree. Four years after, he got his law degree from Harvard.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 21:45

  • Sliding Home Prices Weigh On China's Feel-Good August Data
    Sliding Home Prices Weigh On China’s Feel-Good August Data

    By Charlie Zhu and Helen Sun, Bloomberg Markets Live reporters and analysts

    1. The worst of China’s economic downturn may be behind us as stimulus impact feeds through. Data released Friday showed industrial production and retail sales in August both significantly beat estimates and picked up from the previous month. That gave investors reasons to believe that economic activities may be bottoming, even though the property market remains stuck in a rut.

    The People’s Bank of China stepped up easing, lowering the required reserve ratio for the second time this year. In addition to some 500 billion yuan ($69 billion) released from the reduction, the central bank added a net 191 billion yuan into the financial system via the medium-term lending facility, the most since March.

    Reducing the RRR show a sense of urgency among authorities to boost growth, and more policies may follow to ensure the stabilization is sustained, said Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd.

    Financial market reactions were muted — pointing to lingering caution. The CSI 300 Index closed lower on Friday, while the onshore yuan was little changed versus the dollar. For the week, the currency rebounded from a 16-year low amid additional support from the PBOC’s jawboning and other measures.

    2. The nascent signs of stabilization in the economy, however, can easily be derailed by the crisis in the property sector. New-home prices dropped at a faster pace last month — showing why fresh rescue measures had to be deployed — while real-estate investment during January-August slid more than in the first seven months.

    State-linked developer Sino-Ocean Group Holding Ltd. suspended payment on all its offshore debts due to tight liquidity, suggesting the raft of policy support extended so far has failed to improve its finances.

    Indeed, just four months after Moody’s Investors Service upgraded China’s property sector outlook to stable, the rating firm revised it back to negative. The latest policies show a “significant shift” in government efforts to boost property demand, but the impact will likely fade after a few months, especially in lower-tier cities, analysts led by Cedric Lai wrote in the report.

    3. The European Union’s investigation into Chinese subsidies for electric vehicles threatens to set off another trade war. Beijing immediately fired back, blasting EU’s decision as “naked act of protectionism.”

    Given the size of China’s EV industry and its rapid rise, potential tariffs on exports from automakers like BYD Co., Nio Inc. and XPeng Inc. will have an impact that goes beyond anti-subsidy actions imposed on smaller sectors. Any forthcoming measures may also dent China’s booming EV exports, which have been a rare bright spot in the economy.

    The developments show regulatory risks for Chinese EVs, although they might accelerate plans to build factories in the European Union region if the probe leads to higher tariffs or lower subsidies, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Joanna Chen and Steve Man.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 21:15

  • What Does "Far-Right" Even Mean Anymore?
    What Does “Far-Right” Even Mean Anymore?

    Authored by Mark Jeftovic via BombThrower.com,

    “Far right” is basically anything that contests the Establishment narrative.

    Anybody taking the legacy, corporate media at face value these days is likely under the impression that the entire world is being overrun with “far-right” extremists, after all, anything orthogonal to the current WEF-inspired world order seems to be, by definition, far right.

    If it wasn’t apparent already, it became obvious during the pandemic how establishment narratives are promulgated by corporate media cartels to enshrine elite-approved canon.  For that to work, it was key to neutralize non-conforming impulses, and the way to do that, it seemed, was to label it all as “far right”.

    The term has now been so misplaced and over-used that it becomes impossible to differentiate between fast rising maverick politicians from skinheads with swastika tattoos. Make no mistake, this is deliberate.

    Put the headline on the skinhead

    The standard playbook is to cast anything gaining momentum as “populist” – which is always implicated as being  wrong-headed and retrograde, even though a literal definition of the word simply connotes that large swaths of the population are feeling strongly about something (usually some manner of getting screwed by the elites).

    In an era where confidence and credibility of our incumbent institutions is in secular decline – given their stunning incompetence, not to mention self-serving hypocrisy and corruption, the public is becoming increasingly fed up with their betters. That means whatever appeals to them has to be repackaged as “far-right”, lest the movement gain momentum.

    Guardian ticks all the boxes – including the deranged “mouth-open” freeze frame. Bravo.

    I refer the reader to Brandon Smith’s characterization of “negative branding”:

    “One of the most favored propaganda tactics of [the establishment] is to relabel or redefine an opponent before they can solidly define themselves.  In other words, [they] will seek to “brand” you (just as corporations use branding) in the minds of the masses so that they can take away your ability to define yourself as anything else….

    Through the art of negative branding, your enemy has stolen your most precious asset — the ability to present yourself to the public as you really are.

    Negative branding is a form of psychological inoculation.  It is designed to close people’s minds to particular ideas before they actually hear those ideas presented by a true proponent of the ideas. ”

    It’s not just dark horse, anti-establishment challengers who get the “far right” treatment, in this era of increasingly collectivist sympathies, it can be anything that reduces dependancy on the state or faith in the system.

    The new “F-bombs”: Fitness and Freedom

    Let’s be clear, there is nothing political, let alone “far right” around embracing fitness or valuing freedom. However anything  that confers greater autonomy on the individual, or instills the idea that one can improve their own lives without state intervention, is anathema.

    Take an ascendent theme or personality that challenges the establishment – any thing that poses a threat to late-stage globalism or the Davos-class of elites who deign to define The Rules; hitch it to the “far right” by saying these extremists are co-opting or embracing that thing, and then it’s magically off limits – safely tucked outside the Overton Window via narrative alchemy.

    This was how Bitcoin, the most emancipatory technology to arise since the internet itself, was characterized as “right wing extremism” .

    It’s no problem if the target has no tenable relationship to right-wing politics: personal responsibility, physical fitness, or non-state, decentralized digital hard currency .  Just call it a “dog whistle”.

    In Javier Millei’s case, signalling his intent to abolish Argentina’s central bank (as the core driver of that country’s incessant currency collapses and runaway Cantillion Effect), is enough to anger the guardians of the fiat money system.

    If it’s an unambiguous rejection of an establishment core premise, call it “denialism”. I once saw a guy stomp off of a live podcast because, as he huffed at the host before he disconnected, “I can see that you’re a Russian Collusion Denialist!”, and then he was gone.

    Of course, the entire Russian collusion narrative has since been totally debunked, and generally known to have been a Clinton campaign ratfucking, even in polite company.

    More topical lately, is the insistence that belief in the most hysterical scenarios for climate change should be mandatory and that the most radical policy responses be non-negotiable.

    Anybody flat out contesting the dogma, or showing research indicating that there is no climate emergency, or that the models (which have never successfully predicted anything) are probably wrong, is a denialist.

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    And denialism is, exclusively, far right.

    Shouldn’t we also be on guard against far-left extremism?

    Here is where we see the hypocrisy on full display. When people or voices push back on WEF-inspired theology, they get branded as “right-wing” and even the term “conservative” carries baggage. It’s practically a slur.

    Lefty?

    People put that it in their Twitter bios and walk around with Che Guevara shirts. I’m surprised there isn’t a hammer-and-sickle emoji yet.

    According to “experts”, it’s not clear that “left wing extremism” is even a thing.

    It took a symposium of social scientists to sift through evidence “on both sides” of the question, the result was inconclusive and “left wing authoritarianism” or extremism remains, to this day, as elusive as ever.

    Who knew?

    “Although right-wing authoritarianism is well documented, social psychologists do not all agree that a leftist version even exists.

    In February 2020, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology held a symposium called “Is Left-Wing Authoritarianism Real? Evidence on Both Sides of the Debate.”

    The left employs dog whistles too, only they aren’t recognized as such under the prevailing zeitgeist.

    The burgeoning “#degrowth” movement is a dog whistle for communism.  “Equity” is one for wealth redistribution, while “inclusivity” forays into racism more often than many care to admit.

    The entire Overton Window is now a collectivist, woke sliver

    If an entrenched elite goes so far off the rails that the citizenry rebels and chooses the unthinkable (Brexit, Trump, Bitcoin, “conservatism”), it is never because the establishment let down or even betrayed the citizenry – it’s because, for some unfathomable and inscrutable reason, the peasants went “far-right”.

    Left vs right is now meaningless. As I’ve written many times: the defining tension of our age is centralization, collectivism, statism, censorship, authoritarianism vs decentralization, individuality, autonomy, free speech, personal responsibility and self-reliance.

    There are basically those who believe they have the ecclesiastical authority to tell everybody else what to do, how to live, and what is permissible to think and say. Then there is everybody who wants to be left alone to live their own lives in peace.

    Unfortunately, there is also a growing contingent of the populace who want to be told what to do and think. 

    It isn’t “far right” extremism sweeping the world that we should be worried about. It’s Stockholm Syndrome.

    These are the people who willingly give the high priests of the establishment their gravitas – the ones who routinely change their Twitter profiles to endorse The Latest Thing™.

    While they tend to be the most vociferous ideological berserkers online, acting as enforcers for the authoritarian collective, they invariably live lives of quiet desperation out in the real world. They would be completely rudderless if not for their digital emojis and sigils to guide them.

    I expect these people will enthusiastically embrace Black Mirror style CBCDCs when they finally launch, allowing their lives to become fully gamified via their smart phones.

    They are the same people who locked their shrieking children alone in a room for two weeks after a bogus PCR test for COVID, and they’ll be the same people who will post teary-eyed TikTok videos of themselves euthanizing their dogs after Prince William or Whoopi Goldberg tells them it’ll slow down global warming. (Future MSNBC think piece: “Why far-right extremists want you to love your dog.”)

    They are the subservient herd, at least until they become disenfranchised or disillusioned with the social contract. Usually that happens when wealth inequality finally puts them on the wrong side of the poverty line, or when they see elites brazenly living by a different set of rules, or when the consequences of horrific policy blunders hit them where they live.

    At that point, they start to look for alternatives, they go down so-called “rabbit holes”, and come out the other end shocked (or perhaps bemused) to learn that in the eyes of the establishment that betrayed them, they are now far-right extremists.

    *  *  *

    My next ebook is The CBDC Survival Guide and I’m sending it free to Bombthrower subscribers when it’s done (early June). In the meantime, subscribe now and get The Crypto Capitalist Manifesto while you wait. Follow me on Nostr, or Twitter. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 20:45

  • World Risk Poll: How Long Can People Survive Without Income?
    World Risk Poll: How Long Can People Survive Without Income?

    In the wake of natural disasters or economic shocks, a person could quickly be left without income, which is why financial security is such an important aspect of resilience. 

    In this graphic, sponsored by Lloyd’s Register Foundation, Visual Capitalist’s Alan Kennedy and Alejandra Dander explore their latest survey, World Risk Poll 2021: A Resilient World? to see how financially secure people from country to country really are. 


    Assessing Financial Security

    In 2021, Lloyd’s Register Foundation partnered with Gallup and polled 125,000 people from 121 countries, asking how long people could cover their basic needs without income. Responses were classified by those who could survive for more than a month, a month or less, less than a week, and those who didn’t know or refused to say. 

    Here is a ranking of those who could cover their needs for the longest length of time without income:

    And the shortest length of time:

    A Cause for Alarm

    The study found that generally, those who could cover their needs the longest came from developed economies, and those who could cover their needs for the shortest length of time came from developing economies where financial security is more tenuous. 

    With all that said, the volume of people around the globe who struggle financially is the true cause for alarm. The study found that a staggering 2.7 billion people could only cover their basic needs for a month or less without income, and of that number, 946 million could survive for a week at most.

    Tackling Financial Insecurity

    Urgent action is needed to tackle this disparity in income and lack of financial security, especially in developing economies. If left unchecked, this undermines global resilience in the face of climate change, natural disasters, and any number of other shocks. 

    In the fourth and final part of this series, we’ll explore the World Risk Poll 2021: A Changed World? Perceptions and Experiences of Risk in the COVID Age and learn how the world views climate change.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 20:15

  • F-35 Stealth Fighter Goes Missing Near North Charleston After Pilot Ejects 
    F-35 Stealth Fighter Goes Missing Near North Charleston After Pilot Ejects 

    An F-35 stealth fighter jet disappeared on Sunday afternoon following a mid-flight “mishap,” Joint Base Charleston wrote on X. 

    Joint Base Charleston continued, “The pilot ejected safely,” but said, “If you have any information that may help our recovery teams locate the F-35.” 

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    According to local media WCSC, the “incident involved a Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort F-35B Lighting II jet from Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.” 

    A search and rescue effort appears to be underway. 

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    *Developing… 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 19:15

  • Former Border Patrol Chief Says Agents Can't Vet Illegal Immigrants From "Vast Majority Of The Globe"
    Former Border Patrol Chief Says Agents Can’t Vet Illegal Immigrants From “Vast Majority Of The Globe”

    Authored by Savannah Hulsey Pointer via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Former Chief of Border Patrol Rodney Scott explained to members of the House that the vetting process used to keep criminals out of the United States is only accurate in cases where agents have access to correct information.

    Rodney Scott, retired Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, testifies before the House Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 23, 2023. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

    According to the former border chief, agents have no information about migrants from “the vast majority of the globe,” including illegal immigrants from countries like the African nation of Mauritania.

    Mr. Scott told the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement during a Sept. 14 hearing that the process used by border protection agents is only as good as the information that the federal government has access to, which, globally speaking, is quite limited.

    The witness, who is currently a Distinguished Senior Fellow for Border Security at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, formerly served for 29 years in the U.S. Border Patrol before retiring as Chief of the Border Patrol in August of 2021.

    Questions about illegal immigrants from Mauritania surfaced after data about increased apprehensions by border patrol agents of individuals on the terror watch list was brought to light.

    According to the lawmakers, from 2017 to 2020, Border Patrol encountered 14 illegal immigrants on the terror watch list.

    But from 2021 to 2023, that number jumped to 263, and 149 of those encounters were in 2023 up to this point alone.

    While several lawmakers voiced concern about potential known and unknown “gotaways” which could also have been problematic, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) questioned Mr. Scott about the potential that those not on any list the United States has access to could have terror connections.

    Mr. Biggs asked if there were nations that illegal immigrations were traveling from that federal officials “can’t get any background on?”

    Mr. Scott responded, “That would be the vast majority of the globe. We have very little information. We act on what we have, but when you think about the total population of the world, we have very, very minuscule data.”

    Rodney Scott, retired Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, testifies before the House Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 23, 2023. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

    Mr. Biggs asked specifically about individuals from the nation of Mauritania, saying border patrol in his home state of Arizona has seen a sharp increase in illegal migrants from that area.

    The lawmaker cited a call from a Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agent asserting that in his Arizona sector, they apprehended a group of 250 Mauritanians.

    According to Mr. Scott, Mauritania is a country that CBP has no access to background information about, and individuals from that area would have been largely unvetted.

    ‘Fear-Mongering’

    Committee ranking member Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) asked that the committee consider the “facts” pointing out during her opening statement that there has never been an American citizen killed due to terrorist attacks from an individual that has entered the United States illegally through the southern border.

    “That’s right,” the Washington Democrat went on. “Not a single American has been injured or killed by a terrorist who crossed our southern border without authorization. So don’t fall for Republican fear-mongering.

    “This hearing is purely intended to scare the public to demonize immigrants and to score cheap political points as we head towards that next election,” Ms. Jayapal said, going on to point out that those on the terror watch list who were apprehended were given vetting by the Department of Homeland Security.

    Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) in Washington on April 28, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

    She also asserted that bipartisan immigration reform could deter illegal immigration by creating “real legal pathways for people to enter the United States to be with their families to escape terrible situations in their countries and to contribute to our economy, our communities, and our country.”

    During his opening remarks, Committee Chairman Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) asserted that the Biden administration’s executive orders have “opened our borders to the world by holding construction of the border wall, rescinding the remain in Mexico policy, and forbidding ICE from enforcing court-ordered deportations.”

    5.7 Million Illegals

    Mr. McClintock cited information indicating that 5.7 million illegal aliens from over 160 countries have illegally crossed our border since the Biden administration’s change in policy, and over 2.6 million of those individuals have been released into the United States. That number is higher than the population of New Mexico.

    “Another 1.7 million known ‘gotaways’ have entered as well. That’s an additional illegal population the size of West Virginia, and since we have no access to most foreign criminal databases,” Mr. McClintock said. “We know little of the foreign criminal records of these 2.6 million illegal immigrants as they’ve been released into our communities.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 18:40

  • The #1 Warning Sign Capital Controls Are Coming Soon And 4 Ways To Beat Them
    The #1 Warning Sign Capital Controls Are Coming Soon And 4 Ways To Beat Them

    Authored by Nick Giambruno via InternationalMan.com,

    Weekends and holidays are the perfect time to catch people off guard…

    Like a street thug committing a mugging, capital controls blindside most people – otherwise, they wouldn’t be effective.

    The government declares a surprise bank holiday and shuts all the banks – mere hours after they denied they were even thinking about such actions.

    They impose capital controls to stop citizens from taking their money out of the country.

    Cash-sniffing dogs, which make drug-sniffing dogs look friendly, show up at airports and border crossings.

    At this point, your savings are like a lobster in a trap. It’s not hard to see what comes next…

    Once a desperate government has your money within its reach, it’ll find a way to take as much of it as possible.

    Don’t be surprised if your local currency suffers a massive devaluation, bank deposits are suddenly worth a fraction of what they were just yesterday, or the government imposes an emergency tax.

    Whatever the method or pretext, the outcome is always the same: a wealth transfer from you to the government.

    This familiar story has played out in many countries in recent years. The pattern is clear and should surprise no one the next time it happens.

    It’s all but certain governments in financial trouble will turn to capital controls as a desperate, misguided solution—with devastating consequences for ordinary people.

    Argentina, Lebanon, Venezuela, Iceland, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, China, India, South Korea, and governments in countless other countries have recently imposed capital.

    The lesson from these examples is capital controls can happen anywhere and anytime.

    Although it seems unthinkable to most, there is an excellent chance capital controls are coming to the US—they’ve happened before and could happen again soon.

    Remember, in 1933, through Executive Order 6102, President Roosevelt forced Americans to exchange their gold for US dollars under penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine (or more than $242,000 in today’s debased confetti).

    Of course, the official government gold exchange rate was unfavorable. It amounted to around a 41% confiscation of purchasing power.

    The US government continued prohibiting private ownership of gold bullion for 41 years until they reluctantly allowed the plebs to own it again in 1974.

    So, there is a clear historical precedent for implementing capital controls in the US, especially during a crisis.

    Today, it’s self-evident the fiat currency system centered on the US dollar is self-destructing at an alarming rate.

    After more than 52 years, it’s long past the end of its shelf-life, like a carton of spoiled milk.

    Even the global elites running the system can see that and openly talk about what they want to come next.

    That’s why there’s all this talk about a Great Reset… and without a doubt, capital controls will be part of it.

    All it would take is a crisis—real or contrived—or some other pretext and the stroke of the president’s pen on a new executive order.

    Expect it to happen.

    Why and How Governments Impose Capital Controls

    Capital controls are government restrictions on how people can use their money—something that should be abhorrent to anyone who believes in property rights and a free society.

    Here’s how capital controls work…

    Governments might allow people to buy foreign currency (or gold) only at an “official” rate that they set, which is always less favorable than the free-market rate. The difference between the fake official rate and the real free-market rate amounts to a wealth transfer to the government.

    Another form of capital controls is steep taxes on international money transfers or purchasing foreign assets.

    Governments could also flat-out prohibit ownership of foreign assets or moving any form of wealth outside the country.

    No matter what flavor they come in, capital controls always help a government trap money within its borders so it’s easier for them to take.

    A propaganda campaign is also necessary to gaslight people into believing such actions are required to protect the average person.

    Expect politicians to make disingenuous claims to make them appear as saviors instead of aggressors.

    The mainstream media will amplify this false narrative and demonize those opposed to capital controls as disloyal citizens or worse.

    What Happens After Capital Controls

    Capital controls are always a prelude to something worse.

    That’s because once governments trap money inside a country, it’s probably only a matter of hours before there is wealth confiscation. Anything they don’t steal immediately, they box in for future thefts.

    That’s why you must act before they impose capital controls.

    How much time do you have?

    While it’s impossible to know, acting well in advance is advisable. It’s better to be a year early than even a minute late.

    However, there is one common feature I’ve noticed when countries impose capital controls that indicates the situation is imminent. It’s like someone waving a big fat red flag.

    That warning sign is a government official denying that they are considering imposing capital controls.

    Whenever you hear a central banker or politician say something won’t happen, you can almost be sure it will happen. And probably soon.

    Coming from a bureaucrat, the real meaning of “no, of course not” is “it could happen tomorrow.”

    It’s like the old saying: “Believe nothing until it has been officially denied.”

    These deceptions have a purpose: Politicians and central bankers must surprise the public to get the desired results.

    When you hear the official denial, you probably have only a matter of hours before they impose capital controls. Urgent action is required.

    Four Ways To Beat Capital Controls

    The solution is simple.

    Place some of your savings outside your home country so it’s not trapped when the government imposes capital controls. It will be waiting for you safely on the other side.

    Below are four ways you can do that.

    First, obtain a foreign bank account. Capital controls imposed in your home country are unlikely to affect a bank account in another country.

    Second, real estate in a foreign country is an excellent way to store significant capital abroad. Your home government won’t be able to seize it without a literal act of war.

    Third, another solution is physical gold bullion coins held in a non-bank vault in a friendly foreign jurisdiction.

    Last, there is Bitcoin, which is like kryptonite to capital controls.

    Bitcoin is the most portable asset in the world. It’s a digital bearer asset that can achieve final international settlement in 10 minutes for pennies.

    Anyone with a smartphone can use Bitcoin to send and receive value anywhere in the world—capital controls be damned.

    Going through airports and crossing borders with Bitcoin is much more practical than other forms of wealth.

    If you hold Bitcoin on your phone, laptop, or flash drive, it can be accessible to border agents if they search you and you reveal your password. However, those things are much less conspicuous than gold or stacks of cash.

    Further, many popular Bitcoin wallets use a 12-word phrase to recover your funds. If you memorize the 12-word phrase, you can potentially store billions of dollars worth of value just in your head with nothing else.

    That’s why Bitcoin skyrockets in popularity in countries with capital controls.

    Conclusion

    The current dollar-based monetary system is on its way out. Even the central bankers running the system can see that.

    They are preparing for what comes next as they attempt to “reset” the system. It’s a virtual certainty they will impose capital controls.

    I suspect it could all go down soon… and it won’t be pretty for most people.

    We are likely on the cusp of a historic financial earthquake…

    One that could alter the direction of the US forever and mark the biggest economic event of our lifetimes.

    Yet few people are aware of what is happening.

    And even fewer know how to prepare.

    That’s exactly why I just released an urgent new report with all the details, including what you must do to prepare. It’s called, The Most Dangerous Economic Crisis in 100 Years… the Top 3 Strategies You Need Right Now. Click here to download the PDF now.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 18:05

  • Elon Musk Taunts UAW: "Tesla Pays Workers More And We Have Fun"
    Elon Musk Taunts UAW: “Tesla Pays Workers More And We Have Fun”

    Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

    With perfect timing, Musk made a couple of taunts at striking UAW workers. His goal is obvious.

    Data from the BLS, chart by Mish

    Earnings Per Hour Notes

    • The Motor Vehicle hourly rates are for Michigan workers only. The BLS did not have nation-wide numbers.

    • The data series for construction workers and production workers starts in March of 2006 so that is where I started the chart.

    Understanding the Chart

    The chart does not tell the full story. UAW workers get far more benefits and huge bonuses that are not factored into hourly earnings.

    UAW workers also get annual bonuses that are not factored in.

    The motor vehicle decline from $28.35 per hour to $20.65 per hour stems from UAW renegotiations after GM and Chrysler went bankrupt.

    To survive at all, the UAW granted concessions and put in a tiered wage structure where new employees were paid less. Factor in retirements and hourly wages fell.

    Total UAW Unit Labor Costs vs Tesla

    • Big Three: Analysts estimate $66 an hour

    • Tesla: Roughly $45 at Tesla

    • UAW Demands: Meeting Fain’s initial demands would boost costs to $136 according to Wells Fargo analysts.

    Tesla does not pay more in hourly wages, but via stock options, Musk has made millionaires out of many workers.

    Stock options are not a company expense. Stock options come out of shareholders pockets.

    Whatever the UAW Strike Outcome, Elon Musk Has Already Won

    “Any wage increase further advances Tesla’s already tremendous cost advantage in EVs over its older U.S. peers, which are contending with generations of legacy expenses while trying to steer a costly transition to electric from gas-powered vehicles.”

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    The Wall Street Journal comments Whatever the UAW Strike Outcome, Elon Musk Has Already Won

    Musk won before the strike began early Friday. He won before negotiations started two months ago. From the get-go, General Motors, Ford Motor, and Chrysler parent Stellantis were expected to spend more on wages because of the union’s pressure. The question is just how much of an increase, and so far their offers haven’t pleased the union, igniting this past week’s work stoppage.

    Fain this past week sounded annoyed when asked about Tesla’s cost advantage. 

    “Competition is code word for race to the bottom, and I’m not concerned about Elon Musk building more rocket ships so he can fly in outer space and stuff,” Fain told CNBC on-air Wednesday.

    “Our concern is working-class people need their share of economic justice in this world.”

    Economic Justice

    In the name of “economic justice” Fain would bankrupt the Big 3 again.

    Here’s the math: $136 * 32 hours per week * 52 weeks = $226,304. Note the UAW demand for a 32 hour workweek. At a 40-hour workweek, pay would be $282,880.

    Sorry guys, that will never fly. Whatever does fly, plays into Musks hands.

    Musk has suggested that employee stock options make his factory workers the highest compensated in the industry, saying “quite a few” line workers have become “millionaires over the years from company stock grants.”

    At Tesla, the average pay for a manufacturing technician can range from $23 to $32 an hour, according to estimates by Glassdoor. Tesla advertises factory jobs in California with expected pay ranging from $24 to $67 an hour plus cash and stock awards and other benefits.

    Tweet of the Day

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    Perfectly Timed Taunt

    “Tesla and SpaceX factories have a great vibe. We encourage playing music and having some fun.

    Very important for people to look forward to coming to work! 

    We pay more than the UAW btw, but performance expectations are also higher.

    Quite a few of our factory techs who work on the line have become millionaires over the years from company stock grants.”

    Tesla does not pay more than the UAW, at least in hourly pay. But workers who have been at Tesla for a long time have made a killing on options with any kind of reasonable timing.

    The taunt at the UAW is aimed at encouraging the UAW to not settle quickly. It has a decent chance of working.

    Fain has already responded about economic fairness and the race to the bottom.

    Automakers Announce Layoffs

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

    Chance of Rapid Acceleration

    If workers have little to do because of a part shortage by a strike, the only reasonable thing to do is announce layoffs.

    This has a good chance of escalating rapidly.

    Reflections on What Sucks

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    Inflation Sucks

    Inflation is what sucks and there is plenty of blame to spread including the Fed, Congress, and three stimulus packages.

    But Biden’s Big EV push is behind much of this recent angst.

    It takes fewer hours to build an EV. Biden is pushing them like mad despite the fact that consumers do not want them because the infrastructure isn’t in place. Ironically, increased mileage standards have negative benefits according to a government study (at long last getting something right).

    So now the union wants a 32-hour workweek with a 36 percent raise (down from 40 percent) more benefits, and ability to strike over plant closures despite the fact it takes fewer workers to produce an EV.

    There is no one other than Biden to blame for this latest round of economic and environmental madness.

    This union battle was created by Biden, the EPA, the Labor Relations Board and other administration regulatory clowns.

    Unprecedented UAW Strike, Where’s it Headed? Keep Em Guessing Says Fain

    I discussed winners and losers in Unprecedented UAW Strike, Where’s it Headed? Keep Em Guessing Says Fain

    Time Will Tell the Winner

    There are two definitions of win, short-to-midterm and long term.

    The long term view is easier to state. GM and Chrysler (now Stellantis) already went bankrupt once over untenable wages and benefits. It could easily happen again. And If the bondholders (not that I feel much sympathy for them) were not totally screwed in the last settlement, it would have been much worse for the unions.

    Short term, I suspect everyone loses, but Fain and the UAW will temporarily cheer.

    Record profits said Biden. Lovely. Then what? Then a preposterous deal, then bankruptcy?

    The above discussion is from the point of view of the Big 3 vs the UAW. I left off a winner, Elon Musk.

    Tesla benefits no matter what happens because the Big 3 costs are certain to rise.

    The big loser is the consumer who will pay more for cars.

    Meanwhile let’s discuss the benefits of improved gas mile standards.

    National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Analysis of Gasoline Standards

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA did an impact assessment of 4 fuel standard proposals and compared them to the cost of doing nothing. Guess what.

     Buried deep on Page 56,342 of volume 88 of the Federal Register, the agency makes this concession about its latest proposed rules: “Net benefits for passenger cars remain negative across alternatives.” In plain English, this means that mandating ever-more-stringent fuel economy for passenger cars will harm society.

    Through 2040, the total reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from passenger cars and light trucks would be a mere 2.01 percent less vs doing nothing at all with emission standards!

    The NHTSA also considers impacts on the economy including “consumer cost, national balance of payments, environmental, and foreign policy implications.”

    Here is the NHTSA’s bottom line: “Net benefits for passenger cars remain negative across alternatives” vs doing nothing at all.

    The Shocking Truth About Biden’s Proposed Energy Fuel Standards

    For discussion, please see The Shocking Truth About Biden’s Proposed Energy Fuel Standards

    Regardless of how we assess the winners and losers in the UAW battle, over the short and long haul we all lose from the push to pay more for the regulatory and environmental madness of this administration.

    *  *  *

    Subscribe to MishTalk Email Alerts.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 17:30

  • Los Angeles Spends $44,000 Per 'Temporary' Tent For Homeless Village
    Los Angeles Spends $44,000 Per ‘Temporary’ Tent For Homeless Village

    Los Angeles is reportedly spending $44,000 for each individual tent in a temporary tent village for homeless people in East Hollywood, The Messenger reports.

    Jerry Washington exits his tent at an Urban Alchemy Safe Sleep Village.
    (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

    All told, it cost about $4 million to put up fencing, bathrooms, and staffing facilities for the village. Catering services and 24-7 staffing cost an additional $3 million per year, the Los Angeles Times reported.

    Despite the high costs, the site is only temporary. It’s located on a parking lot that will eventually be turned into public housing. But because it will take years for construction to commence on that project, the city decided to fill the space with tents in the meantime.

    San Francisco-based nonprofit Urban Alchemy maintains the encampment. Launched in 2018 with a small grant, the group hires mostly former prisoners because they have the “ability to read people in unpredictable situations.”

    According to several lawsuits, however, some of those employees have engaged in abusive behavior.

    After expanding to Portland and Austin, the group brought in $51 million in 2021.

    Along with housing services, Urban Alchemy staffers also reach out to homeless people in need of assistance on the street.Urban Alchemy/Facebook

     

    The nonprofit says it’s offering a practical solution to provide affordable housing for the state’s 172,000 homeless people, while also claiming to offer safety and autonomy.

    The East Hollywood tent city contains higher quality tents ‘than anything someone could buy from a typical camping store,’ and include wooden platforms, full beds and storage lockers.

    Armando Darnas inside a tent he sleeps in at an Urban Alchemy Safe Sleep Village. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

    The nonprofit Coalition for Responsible Community Development, meanwhile, set up an office across the street to attract people who might be interested in reentering the workforce.

    The nonprofit already oversees several camp villages across the state with varying styles. The residences at a tent city in Culver City are made from sturdy white canvas, while those in South Los Angeles are more humble, resembling store-bought camping gear. -The Messenger

    According to the report, just 2% of the homeless in the East Hollywood encampment have transitioned to permanent housing, which Urban Alchemy blames on a lack of affordable housing in the city.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 16:55

  • Get Woke, Go Broke: Ibram X. Kendi's Foundation Firing 33% Of Employees
    Get Woke, Go Broke: Ibram X. Kendi’s Foundation Firing 33% Of Employees

    Authored by Monica Showalter via American Thinker,

    Wokesterism is all over, yet as corporation after corporation has learned the hard way, stoking racial or other grievance-group resentment doesn’t actually add value, and in fact is a very good way to go broke.

    Therefore, money is drying up for corporations that embrace it, and the cash they dole out to downstream institutions, such as universities, think tanks, activist groups, and big white-shoe foundations. The Bud Light fiasco pretty well shows what happens to those who dive in to embrace woke.

    It’s not just scandal-plagued groups like Black Lives Matter, which has done little but riot in cities (hitting black-owned businesses hard) and feather its leaderships’ nests, that has suddenly seen both a drop in public support and incoming funds.

    Now it’s the fancy stuff, the university think tanks, such as Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research, led by Ibram X. Kendi, which is seeing big layoffs.

    According to the Washington Free Beacon:

    The Boston University Center for Antiracist Research is firing between 15 and 20 employees, Semafor reported Thursday. Kendi launched the center in June 2020 at the height of the movement to defund police in the wake of the death of George Floyd. It employed 45 people as of August, according to a since-deleted page on the center’s website reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.

    Kendi has built a lucrative career teaching people about “antiracism,” defined as “the practice of actively identifying and opposing racism.” He received a $625,000 MacArthur “Genius” grant in 2021 and charges $20,000 for speaking engagements. His books Antiracist Baby and How to Be Antiracist have landed on the New York Times best-seller list. Kendi has argued the United States is an inherently racist country, asserted that police “inherently are harmful,” and called for a constitutional amendment to ban “racial inequity over a certain threshold, as well as racist ideas by public officials.

    Kendi is a big one, the granddaddy of all things woke, the intellectual locus of wokery. He’s perfected the art of wokecraft, having written a series of bestsellers mau-mauing whitey liberals with titles such as “Antiracist Baby” and “How to be an Antiracist,” sold at places like Target, doing the act Shelby Steele once described as offering “absolution” to guilt-beaten whites for their immutable, inborn, incurable, racism, and making bank while he’s at it. America is a flawed, racist country from its very start, and for which there is no cure.

    The Beacon said it was unable to find the exact reason for the layoffs, but did note that public polls were showing a dropoff in public support for woke organizations, which has cut into donations for wokester groups and reduced corporate giving to foundations and academic institutions.

    Woke organizations of all sorts are now being affected — Black Lives Matters is losing donations. Bigfoot foundations such as those run by the Soros family and Mark Zuckerberg are laying off staff. Corporations themselves have been getting rid of DEI departments, too. Obviously, that may be at least one reason why even woke Boston University is reducing the ever-expanding grievance group industry within its think tanks.

    As for why the public is not responding to grievance clarion calls, well, perhaps it’s because thus far these woke groups who offer themselves as the solution to all things racist, haven’t fixed anything by stoking rage and grievance politics. All they have proven adept at is raking in political spoils for themselves and mau-mauing their donors, making all sides angrier. People get tired of that. If they can’t fix a problem they claim to see all over, and can only make it bigger, then it’s time to go. That’s the American way and try as they might, they aren’t going to stop that.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 16:20

  • Visualizing The Military Imbalance In The Taiwan Strait
    Visualizing The Military Imbalance In The Taiwan Strait

    China announced a “new path towards integrated development” with Taiwan on Tuesday, including encouraging the listing of Taiwanese companies on Chinese stock exchanges as well as facilitating Taiwanese people to live, study and work in China.

    But, as Statista’s Martin Armstrong reports, at the same time though, China has ramped up its military presence in the area, including a carrier strike group led by the aircraft carrier Shandong and an increase in airspace incursions.

    In recent years it has modernized its military, introducing the J-20, an indigenous 5th generation stealth fighter. It has also commissioned two aircraft carriers along with several modern amphibious transport dock/landing vessels.

    Even though the likelihood of China taking Taiwan by force remains unclear, the military balance in the Taiwan Strait is firmly in China’s favor.

    This infographic provides an overview of that imbalance and is based on an annual U.S. government report.

    Infographic: The Military Imbalance In The Taiwan Strait | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    China’s clearly stated goal is “reunification” with Taiwan and has never ruled out the possibility of using military force to achieve this.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 15:45

  • Bidenomics Simplified
    Bidenomics Simplified

    Authored by Maker S. Mark via AmericanThinker.com,

    President Biden is trying to explain Bidenomics.  

    I will help him out a bit here with a summary.  

    Economics is a challenging field of study, and I hope this may help you explain Bidenomics to people who are asking about it.

    What is Bidenomics?

    Simply put, Bidenomics is borrowing trillions from China, to spend on a green new deal and to enrich China and its U.S. and international supporters.  As part of this green new deal, cut off as much oil and gas production in the U.S. as possible to drive prices higher.

    In addition, part of the green new deal is to enact a host of regulations on everything, including alcohol, beer, cars, ceiling fans, fertilizer, gas stoves, lawnmowers, light bulbs, plastics, vaccinations, etc.  Essentially regulate for the American people everything from alcohol to zoos.

    And, as they are spending and splitting trillions and they have raised prices on everything, they have put a few programs together that might save the American people millions.  Remember, trillions for them, millions for the rest of us.

    Open the border, and allow millions of illegal aliens into the country to supply cheap labor.

    Stigmatize white Americans into unemployment just for being white.

    How much might Bidenomics cost?

    Well, we now have estimates on the record that the cabal pushing the green new deal are estimating $50–70 trillion in new spending over 10–15 years.  China stands to benefit both with the expansion of China’s green new deal products and with the interest on the debt taken out to pay for the forced transition.  This video with Senator Kennedy and a DOE “expert” is telling about what the supposed expert won’t answer.

    This is a direct cash spend on top of other increased government spending, and it does not take into account the impact of the price increases caused by inflation, the production cuts in oil and gas, and the new regulations.  Probably trillions more in Americans’ disposable income spending will be allocated for us on these programs.

    Expect American unemployment rates to start to rise as all these illegal aliens are given work visas.

    What do you get for Bidenomics?

    Sacrifice your livelihood, financial independence, and freedom for the green new deal.

    If you are a white American, unemployment.

    Almost no improvement in the Earth’s temperature.

    War on fossil fuel energy, which has allowed the U.S. to grow and prosper like no other country.  

    Massive inflation from the spending that is occurring.

    More important than the inflation is the massive price increases from the inflation that will be with us for some time.  With all the new regulations that are being primed, prices will continue to move higher and higher.

    New products that are significantly more expensive and offer almost no new benefits to the environment or to the American people.

    You might save a little money on certain drug purchases.

    The largest wealth transfer in world history from the American people to Biden, China, and his allies.

    Bidenomics, simply put, is for Americans to sacrifice personally and financially by watching “them” spending trillions to enrich Biden and his allies while throwing a few million in crumbs to the American people.  And they will do that while simultaneously destroying freedom via regulating everything and crushing our way of life.  Oh, and all that spending will change nothing in the Earth’s climate.  Watch the video referenced, and see the “expert” squirm when pressed about how much impact all the trillions of dollars will have on the climate.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 15:10

  • NFTs: Remember Them?
    NFTs: Remember Them?

    Non-fungible tokens are a social currency, born from “a desire to do more with blockchain than just cryptocurrency,” according to Steven Schuchart, principal analyst at GlobalData.

    Eve Thomas writes at Verdict that the first NFT is widely thought to have been created in 2014 – ‘Quantum’ was created on the Namecoin blockchain by Kevin McCoy. It is a kaleidoscopic, pulsing octagon, which was auctioned off through Sotheby’s for $1.47 million. 

    December 2017 saw the CryptoKitties craze boost the hype around NFTs as the game gripped the NFT community: it was so successful that Etherscan reported a sixfold increase in pending transactions on Ethereum within the first week.

    The market exploded in 2021, with $17.6bn worth of NFTs sold, an increase of 21,000% on 2020’s $82m total, according to a report by nonfungible.com. Amongst an increasingly valuable market, Beeple’s sale of ‘Everydays’ for $69m in March 2021 became the most expensive NFT ever sold. 

    When a market grows, so does the number of opportunistic criminals targeting it.

    The NFT market became a landscape of “rampant fraud, Ponzi schemes, currency washing (money laundering), and rug pulls,” according to Schuchart.

    And, with investor apprehension came a reappraisal of the utility of NFTs.

    While many of us were forced to at least try to understand what an NFT is at some point in 2021 or 2022, the latest figures from Google Trends suggest that this research has not led to a sustained interest in the topic.

    Infographic: NFTs: Remember Them? | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    For those that didn’t quite get around to it at the time, here’s Wikipedia to the rescue:

    “A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that is recorded on a blockchain, and is used to certify ownership and authenticity. It cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the blockchain and can be transferred by the owner, allowing NFTs to be sold and traded.”

    Still not clear?

    Then have fun delving down this particular rabbit hole.

    Though as Statista’s Martin Armstrong notes, if the trend shown by Google’s search data is anything to go by, combined with the countless NFT-based scams that have been uncovered, that might turn out to be a monumental waste of your time.

    As Verdict’s Eve Thomas concluded, for a while, it seemed that NFTs might revolutionise the world’s relationship with digital art. NFTs are still in use in some spheres: Neversea music festival is selling NFTs that provide exclusive access to parts of the festival, whilst Visa is running a Creator Program supporting NFT creators.

    Nevertheless, the bubble has burst, and unless investors see a new reason to take interest, it looks as though it will be staying firmly popped.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 14:35

  • Detransitioner Sues Doctors Who Cut Off Her Breasts At 16
    Detransitioner Sues Doctors Who Cut Off Her Breasts At 16

    Authored by Caden Pearson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Luka Hein, a young lady who regrets receiving a “radical double mastectomy” at the age of 16 to treat gender dysphoria, is suing her physicians and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) for damages.

    A transgender flag sits on the grass outside of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, on May 22, 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

    At 16 years old, Ms. Hein was a minor when physicians from UNMC surgically removed her breasts as the first step in her so-called “gender-affirming care,” per a lawsuit filed in the District Court of Douglas County, Nebraska, on Wednesday.

    The Center for American Liberty legal organization on Wednesday accused doctors at UNMC of lying to Ms. Hein and her parents, and of hiding research that doesn’t support the prevailing “gender-affirming” model of care for people suffering from gender dysphoria.

    “UNMC doctors deceived Luka and her parents with false promises claiming that if Luka did not undergo the removal of her breasts, she would take her own life, despite medical evidence to the contrary,” the Center for American Liberty stated. “UNMC also concealed scientific studies that do not support surgical ‘transitions’ for minors—including studies showing transgender surgeries actually increase suicidality and psychiatric morbidity.”

    Ms. Hein contends in her lawsuit that doctors and her health care team at Nebraska Medicine were negligent in not questioning her self-diagnosis instead of affirming her gender identity per the prevailing “Dutch protocol.” She claims this ultimately caused her harm by encouraging her “toward irreversible chemical and surgical solutions.”

    The Dutch protocol is the origin of the “gender-affirming” model of care, which Ms. Hein’s lawsuit contends conditions children toward transgender identification “by encouraging social transition, chest binding, opposite sex pronouns, cross-sex hormones and surgery,” rather than treating gender dysphoria.

    In a post on Instagram earlier this year, Ms. Hein described herself as “a victim” of the “gender-affirming care system.”

    “I was a young teenager with a history of mental health issues who had been groomed and preyed upon online, and as a result fell into a spiral of hatred towards both myself and my body,” she wrote.

    “The medical system did not look into or seem concerned about the underlying issues that were causing the distress that made me feel the need to escape my body at such a young age,” she continued, “instead I was affirmed down a path of medical intervention that I could not fully understand the long term impacts and consequences of due to my both my age and mental health conditions.”

    Her lawsuit contends that by “immediately affirming” her, the doctors “developed a type of transgender tunnel vision that blocked out the other factors that were or may have been the cause or causes of Luka’s dysphoria.”

    This treatment method of affirming Ms. Hein’s new gender identity, which she now bitterly regrets, came “during a time in her life when she was going through profound personal upheaval, trauma, and distress,” according to the complaint (pdf).

    Ms. Hein, the suit contends, “was simply too young to understand the irreversible implications of the transgender ‘treatment’ recommended, prescribed, and carried out” by health care workers at UNMC.

    Doctors ‘Owed a Duty’ to Hein

    The defendants, UNMC Physicians and the Nebraska Medical Center are “controlled affiliates” of co-defendant Nebraska Medicine, which coordinates and controls the activities of the two entities, including inpatient and outpatient hospital and physician care. The clinic is based in Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska.

    The lawsuit specifically names Dr. Nahia “Jean” Amoura, an OB/GYN and director of the gender care clinic. It also names Dr. Perry Johnson, a plastic surgeon at the gender clinic, and Dr. Stephan Barrientos, a resident physician who allegedly assisted Dr. Johnson in removing Ms. Hein’s breasts on the alleged advice of Dr. Amoura.

    Megan Smith-Sallans, a mental health therapist working in gender care, was also named in the lawsuit as working with the three physicians to allegedly “cause harm” to Ms. Hein.

    Ms. Hein’s complaint contends that the physicians at UNMC, a clinic that boasts about its leadership “in ground-breaking research,” had the ability and duty to independently examine the scientific basis of the “gender-affirming” model.

    “As Nebraska’s premier medical institution, and with millions of research dollars at hand, Defendants owed a duty to Luka—and the hundreds of patients like her—to independently research the underpinnings of the Dutch study before adopting its flawed protocols,” the complaint states.

    Chloe Cole takes part in a demonstration in Anaheim, Calif., on Oct. 8, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

    ‘Gender-Affirming’ Model ‘Should Have Never Been Used’

    The lawsuit contends that the Dutch model “should have never been used” as justification to scale up the protocol for general use.

    “But like a virus that escapes the lab, the Dutch protocol spread like a contagion due to ‘runaway diffusion,’ a phenomenon whereby innovative clinical practices are rushed to market without long-term, carefully controlled ethical research demonstrating that the benefits of the innovation outweigh the risks,” the lawsuit states.

    Such a “seismic shift” away from the time-tested protocols in diagnosing patients means that “reasonably prudent” doctors have a duty to examine and assess their patients for other potential causes of distress before resorting to irreversible procedures like double mastectomy or hysterectomy, the complaint contends.

    UNMC’s website boasts that it has earned a “Top Performer” designation from the Human Rights Campaign, a group that lobbies for the Dutch protocol of “gender-affirming” care.

    “This means that UNMC staff do not question a patient’s self-diagnosis of transgender identification, no matter their age or the root issues from which they suffer,” the complaint states. “Rather, UNMC faculty ‘affirm’ the chosen gender identity of the patient and then undertake pharmacological and surgical interventions based on what is known as the ‘Dutch Protocol.'”

    This protocol, which was based on a Dutch study of transgender patients who received hormone therapies in the early 2000s, has become the prevailing treatment method for gender dysphoria in the United States. However, multiple follow-up studies have pointed out its weaknesses.

    Ms. Hein’s complaint contends that the study had no control group, that the study “cherry-picked” the patients, that the study ended with 40 percent fewer patients participating—one patient died from complications arising after he had a vagina surgically created—and that the study excluded data from patients whose treatment with puberty blockers “did not progress well.”

    The complaint notes that the studies were funded by Ferring Pharmaceuticals, which produces puberty-blocking drugs and stood to profit from favorable results.

    The Epoch Times contacted UNMC and Ferring Pharmaceuticals for comment.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 14:00

  • ChatGPT's Environmental Impact Ignored By Climate Warriors 
    ChatGPT’s Environmental Impact Ignored By Climate Warriors 

    Climate alarmists have waged war on energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining operations but have yet to denounce large language models (LLMs) like Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT that use 16 ounces of fresh water every time a user asks it a series of questions. 

    Microsoft revealed in its latest environmental report that its global water consumption surged 34% from 2021-22 (to nearly 1.7 billion gallons), a massive increase versus the previous years primarily due to artificial intelligence research, according to AP News. 

    “It’s fair to say the majority of the growth is due to AI,” including “its heavy investment in generative AI and partnership with OpenAI,” said Shaolei Ren, a researcher at the University of California, Riverside who has been developing a new process to calculate the environmental impact of ChatGPT. 

    Ren’s team calculates that ChatGPT consumes 16 ounces of water for every 5 to 50 queries or prompts from a user. He noted, “Most people are not aware of the resource usage underlying ChatGPT.” 

    Ren added, “If you’re not aware of the resource usage, then there’s no way that we can help conserve the resources.”

    Given the chatbot’s unprecedented popularity this year, environmental problems have emerged with LLMs as massive data centers that power the chatbot require huge amounts of water-based liquid cooling. 

    Microsoft told AP in a statement last week that its AI research will soon have a measure on its energy and carbon footprint. The tech company said, “While working on ways to make large systems more efficient, in both training and application.”

    “We will continue to monitor our emissions, accelerate progress while increasing our use of clean energy to power data centers, purchasing renewable energy, and other efforts to meet our sustainability goals of being carbon negative, water positive and zero waste by 2030,” it continued. 

    OpenAI stated that it has given “considerable thought” to its computing power: “We recognize training large models can be energy and water-intensive” and work to improve efficiencies.

    Despite significant energy and freshwater usage, ChatGPT and other LLMs have not faced the same scrutiny from environmental warriors as crypto mining has over the years.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/17/2023 – 13:25

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Sep 17

Today’s News 17th September 2023

  • Here's The Climate Dissent You're Not Hearing About Because It's Muffled By Society's Top Institutions
    Here’s The Climate Dissent You’re Not Hearing About Because It’s Muffled By Society’s Top Institutions

    Authored by John Murawski via RealClear Wire,

    As the Biden administration and governments worldwide make massive commitments to rapidly decarbonize the global economy, the persistent effort to silence climate change skeptics is intensifying – and the critics keep pushing back. 

    This summer the International Monetary Fund summarily canceled a presentation by John Clauser, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who publicly disavows the existence of a climate “crisis.” The head of the nonprofit with which Clauser is affiliated, the CO2 Coalition, has said he and other members have been delisted from LinkedIn for their dissident views.  

    Meanwhile, a top academic journal retracted published research doubting a climate emergency after negative coverage in legacy media. The move was decried by another prominent climate dissenter, Roger Pielke Jr., as “one of the most egregious failures of scientific publishing that I have seen” – criticism muffled because the academic says he has been blocked on Twitter (now X) by reporters on the climate beat. 

    The climate dissenters are pressing their case as President Biden, United Nations officials, and climate action advocates in media and academia argue that the “settled science” demands a wholesale societal transformation. That means halving U.S. carbon emissions by 2035 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050 to stave off the “existential threat” of human-induced climate change. 

    In response last month, more than 1,600 scientists, among them two Nobel physics laureates, Clauser and Ivar Giaever of Norway, signed a declaration stating that there is no climate emergency, and that climate advocacy has devolved into mass hysteria. The skeptics say the radical transformation of entire societies is marching forth without a full debate, based on dubious scientific claims amplified by knee-jerk journalism.  

    Many of these climate skeptics reject the optimistic scenarios of economic prosperity promised by advocates of a net-zero world order. They say the global emissions-reduction targets are not achievable on such an accelerated timetable without lowering living standards and unleashing worldwide political unrest.  

    “What advocates of climate action are trying to do is scare the bejesus out of the public so they’ll think we need to [act] fast,” said Steven Koonin, author of “Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters.”  

    “You have to balance the certainties and uncertainties of the changing climate – the risks and hazards – against many other factors,” he adds. 

    These dissenters don’t all agree on all scientific questions and do not speak in a single voice. Clauser, for example, is a self-styled “climate denialist” who believes climate is regulated by clouds, while Pielke, a political scientist at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and Bjørn Lomborg, the former director of the Danish Environmental Assessment Institute, acknowledge humans are affecting the climate but say there is sufficient time to adapt. The dissenters do, however, agree that the public and government officials are getting a one-sided, apocalyptic account that stokes fear, politicizes science, misuses climate modeling, and shuts down debate.  

    They also say it is a troubling sign for scientific integrity that they are systematically sidelined and diminished by government funding agencies, foundation grant-makers, academic journals, and much of the media. Delving into their claims, RealClearInvestigations reviewed a sampling of their books, articles, and podcast interviews. This loose coalition of writers and thinkers acknowledges that the climate is warming, but they typically ascribe as much, if not more, influence to natural cycles and climate variability than to human activities, such as burning fossil fuel.  

    Among their arguments:  

    • There is no climate crisis or existential threat as expressed in catastrophic predictions by activists in the media and academia. As global temperatures gradually increase, human societies will need to make adjustments in the coming century, just as societies have adapted to earlier climate changes. By and large, humans cannot control the climate, which Pielke describes as “the fanciful idea that emissions are a disaster control knob.” 

    • Global temperatures are increasing incrementally, and have been for centuries, but the degree of human influence is uncertain or negligible. Climate skeptics themselves don’t agree on how much humans are contributing to global warming by burning fossil fuels, and how much is caused by natural variability from El Niño and other cycles that can take centuries to play out. “The real question is not whether the globe has warmed recently,” writes Koonin, “but rather to what extent this warming is being caused by humans.” 

    • Rapidly replacing fossil fuels with renewables and electricity by mid-century would be economically risky and may have a negligible effect on global warming. Some say mitigation decrees – such as phasing out the combustion engine and banning gas stoves – are not likely to prevent climate change because humans play a minor role in global climate trends. Others say mitigation is necessary but won’t happen without capable replacement technologies. It’s unrealistic, they say, to force societies to rely on intermittent energy from wind and solar, or wager the future on technologies that are still in experimental stages.   

    • The global political push to kill the fossil fuel industry to get to “net zero” and “carbon neutrality” by 2050, as advocated by the United Nations and the Biden administration, will erase millions of jobs and raise energy costs, leading to a prolonged economic depression and political instability. The result would be that developing regions will pay the highest price, while the biggest polluters (China and India) and hostile nations (like Russia and Iran) will simply ignore the net-zero mandate. This could be a case where the cure could be worse than the disease.  

    • Despite the common refrain in the media, there is no evidence that a gradually warming planet is affecting the frequency or intensity of hurricanes, storms, droughts, rainfall, or other weather events. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has expressed low confidence such weather events can be linked to human activities. Still, “it is a fertile field for cherry pickers,” notes Pielke.  

    • Extreme weather events, such as wildfires and flooding, are not claiming more human lives than previously. The human death toll is largely caused by cold weather, which accounts for eight times as many deaths as hot weather, and overall weather-related mortality has fallen by about 99% in the past century. “People are safer from climate-related disasters than ever before,” statistician and author Bjørn Lomborg has said. 

    • Climate science has been hijacked and politicized by activists, creating a culture of self-censorship that’s enforced by a code of silence that Koonin likens to the Mafia’s omerta. In her 2023 book, “Climate Uncertainty and Risk,” climatologist Judith Curry asks: “How many skeptical papers were not published by activist editorial boards? How many published papers have buried results in order to avoid highlighting findings that conflict with preferred narratives? I am aware of anecdotal examples of each of these actions, but the total number is unknowable.” 

    • Slogans such as “follow the science” and “scientific consensus” are misleading and disingenuous. There is no consensus on many key questions, such as the urgency to cease and desist burning fossil fuels, or the accuracy of computer modeling predictions of future global temperatures. The apparent consensus of imminent disaster is manufactured through peer pressure, intimidation, and research funding priorities, based on the conviction that “noble lies,” “consensus entrepreneurship,” and “stealth advocacy” are necessary to save humanity from itself. “One day PhD dissertations will be written about our current moment of apocalyptic panic,” Pielke predicts.  

    • The warming of the planet is a complicated phenomenon that will cause some disruptions but will also bring benefits, particularly in agricultural yields and increased vegetation. Some climate skeptics, including the CO2 Coalition, say CO2 is not a pollutant – it is “plant food.”  

    Curry, the former Chair of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, expresses a common theme among the climate refuseniks: that they are the sane, rational voices in a maelstrom of quasi-religious mania.  

    “In the 1500s, they used to drown witches in Europe because they blamed them for bad weather. You had the pagan people trying to appease the gods with sacrifices,” Curry said. “What we’re doing now is like a pseudoscientific version of that, and it’s no more effective than those other strategies.’ 

    The climate change establishment occasionally concedes some of these points. No less an authority than the newly appointed head of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has urged the climate community to cool its jets: “If you constantly communicate the message that we are all doomed to extinction, then that paralyzes people and prevents them from taking the necessary steps to get a grip on climate change,” Jim Skea recently said to German media. “The world won’t end if it warms by more than 1.5 degrees [centigrade]. It will however be a more dangerous world.”  

    In testimony before the Senate Budget Committee in June, Pielke said human-caused climate change is real and “poses significant risks to society and the environment.” But the science does not paint a dystopian, catastrophic scenario of imminent doom, he added.  

    “Today, there is general agreement that our current media environment and political discourse are rife with misinformation,” Pielke testified. “If there is just one sentence that you take from my testimony today it is this: You are being misinformed.” 

    Still, the overwhelming impression conveyed is one of impending disaster, with the menace of global warming rhetorically upgraded in July by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to “global boiling.” Climate scientists announced in July that the planet is the hottest it’s been in 120,000 years, an old claim that gets recycled every few years. Meanwhile, three vice-chairs of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned of mass starvation, extinction, and disasters, saying that if the temperature rises 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels, “children under 12 will experience a fourfold increase in natural disasters in their lifetime, and up to 14% of all species assessed will likely face a very high risk of extinction.”  

    Many of these predictions are based on computer models and computer simulations that Pielke, Koonin, Curry, and others have decried as totally implausible. Koonin’s book suggests that some computer models may be “cooking the books” to achieve desired outcomes, while Pielke has decried faulty scenarios as “one of the most significant failures of scientific integrity in the twenty-first  century thus far.” Curry writes in her book that the primary inadequacy of climate models is their limited ability to predict the kinds of natural climate fluctuations that cause ice ages and warming periods, and play out over decades, centuries, or even millennia.  

    Another critique is the use of computer models to correlate extreme weather events to multi-decade climate trends in an attempt to show that the weather was caused by climate, a branch of climate science called climate attribution studies. This type of research is used to bolster claims that the frequency and intensity of heat waves, floods, hurricanes, and other extreme weather events could not have happened without climate change. An example is research recently cited by the BBC in an article warning that if the global temperature rises another 0.9 centigrade, crippling heat waves that were once exceedingly rare will bake the world every two-to-five years.  

    One question looms: Does a warming climate contribute to heat records and heat waves, such as those that were widely reported in July as the hottest month on record and taken as overwhelming proof that humans are overheating the planet? The United States experienced extreme heat waves in the 1930s, and the recent spikes are not without precedent, climate dissenters say. Pielke, however,  concedes that IPCC data signal that increases in heat extremes and heat waves are virtually certain, but he argues that the societal impacts will be manageable.  

    Koonin and Curry say that the global heat spikes in July were likely caused by a multiplicity of factors, including an underwater Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic explosion last year that increased upper atmosphere water vapor by about 10%, a relevant fact because water vapor acts as a greenhouse gas. Another factor is the warming effect of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, which has shifted to an active phase recently.  

    Koonin says that greenhouse gas emissions are a gradual trend on which weather anomalies play out, and while it’s tempting to confuse weather with climate, it would be a mistake to blame July’s heat waves on human influence.  

    “The anomaly is about as large as we’ve ever seen, but not unprecedented,” Koonin explained on a podcast. “Now, what the real question is, why did it spike so much? Nothing to do with CO2 – CO2 is … the base on which this phenomenon occurs.” 

    Climate dissent comes with the occupational hazard of being tarred as a propagandist and stooge for “Big Oil.” Pielke was one of seven academics investigated by a U.S. Congressman in 2015 for allegedly failing to report funding from fossil fuel interests (He was cleared). A New York Times review of Lomborg’s 2020 book, “False Alarm,” described it as “mind pollution.” 

    Climate advocates see climate skepticism as so dangerous that Ben Santer, one of the world’s leading climate scientists, publicly cut ties with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory two years ago after the federal research facility invited Koonin to discuss his skeptical book, “Unsettled.” Santer, a MacArthur “genius” grant recipient, said allowing Koonin’s views to go unchallenged undermined the credibility and integrity of climate science research. For similar reasons, the IMF postponed Clauser’s July presentation so that it could be rescheduled as a debate.  

    Another critique: scientists arbitrarily forcing the facts to fit a prescribed catastrophic narrative, often by ignoring plausible alternative explanations and relevant factors. That’s what climate scientist Patrick Brown said he had to do to get published in the prestigious journal Nature, by attributing wildfires to climate change and ignoring other factors, like poor forest management and the startling fact that over 80% of wildfires are ignited by humans. Brown publicly confessed to this sleight-of-hand in a recent article in The Free Press.  

    “This type of framing, with the influence of climate change unrealistically considered in isolation, is the norm for high-profile research papers,” Brown wrote. “When I had previously attempted to deviate from the formula, my papers were rejected out of hand by the editors of distinguished journals, and I had to settle for less prestigious outlets.” 

    These frustrations serve as a reminder that the world has entered what the United Nations and climate advocates call the make-or-break decade that will decide how much the Earth’s temperature will rise above pre-industrial levels. This decisive phase is “unfolding now and will intensify during the next several years,” according to Rice University researchers. “Accordingly, what happens between now and the late 2020s, in all likelihood, will fundamentally determine the failure or success of an accelerated energy transition.” 

    In response to this call for global action, political leaders in Europe and North America are vowing to reengineer their societies to run on wind, solar, and hydrogen. In this country, California is among a dozen states that have moved to ban the sale of new gasoline-engine cars in 2035, while states like Virginia and North Carolina have committed to carbon-free power girds by mid-century.  

    In the most detailed net-zero roadmap to date, the International Energy Agency in 2021 identified more than 400 milestones that would have to be met to achieve a net-zero planet by mid-century, including the immediate cessation of oil and gas exploration and drilling, and mandated austerity measures such as reducing highway speed limits, limiting temperature settings in private homes, and eating less meat.  

    In the IEA’s net zero scenario, global energy use will decline by 8% through energy efficiency even as the world’s population adds 2 billion people and the economy grows a whopping 40%. In this scenario, all the nations of the world – including China, India, Russia, and Saudi Arabia – would have to commit to a net-zero future, generating 14 million jobs to create a new energy infrastructure. Nearly half the slated emissions reductions will have to come from experimental technologies currently in demonstration or prototype stages, such as hydrogen, bioenergy, carbon capture, and modular nuclear reactors. Reading this bracing outlook, one could almost overlook the IEA’s caveat that relying on solar and wind for nearly 70% of electricity generation would cause retail electricity prices to increase by 50% on average and destroy 5 million jobs, of which “many are well paid, meaning structural changes can cause shocks for communities with impacts that persist over time.”  

    A critique of the IEA’s scenario issued this year by the Energy Policy Research Foundation, a think tank that specializes in oil, gas, and petroleum products, warned of “massive supply shocks” if oil supplies are artificially suppressed to meet arbitrary net zero targets. The report further stated that “if the world stays committed to net zero regardless of high costs – the recession will turn into an extended depression and ultimately impose radical negative changes upon modern civilization.” (Disclosure: The report was commissioned by the RealClearFoundation, the nonprofit parent of RealClearInvestigations.) 

    Already, societies have fallen behind their emissions reduction targets, and it’s widely understood that fast-tracking net zero is an unattainable goal. Transforming existing energy infrastructures within several decades would require installing the equivalent of the world’s largest solar farm every day, according to the International Energy Agency. Carbon-free energy accounts for only 18% of total global consumption, and fossil fuels are still increasing, according to a recent analysis. The IEA reported this year that investments in oil exploration and drilling have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, while global coal demand reached an all-time high last year. Globally nations are spending more on clean energy than on fossil fuels, but fossil fuels are still vital to economic growth; for instance, the IEA noted that 40 gigawatts of new coal plants were approved in 2022, the highest figure since 2016, almost all of them in China.  

    “We live in this world of exaggerated promises and delusional pop science,” Vaclav Smil, the University of Manitoba environmental scientist and policy analyst, told The New York Times last year. “People don’t appreciate the magnitude of the task and are setting up artificial deadlines which are unrealistic.” 

    A government push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by cutting back on livestock farming has led to public protests in the Netherlands, a conflict over resources that Time magazine predicts will spread elsewhere: “This may be just the beginning of much wider global unrest over agriculture. Scientists say dealing with climate change will require not just gradual reform, but a rapid, wholesale transformation of the global food system.”  

    Climate dissidents say what happened in the Netherlands is a foretaste of the political backlash that is inevitable when net-zero policies start becoming implemented and people have to travel across state lines to buy a gasoline-powered car.  

    “The urgency is the stupidest part of the whole thing – that we need to act now with all these made-up targets,” Curry said. “The transition risk is far greater than any conceivable climate or weather risk.” 

    To Koonin, these challenges indicate that the catastrophic climate narrative will collapse when put to the test of practicality and politics. The more sensible route, he said, is a slow-and-steady approach.  

    “There’s going to be a deep examination of science and the cost-benefit issues,” he said. “We will eventually do the right thing, but it’s going to take a decade or so.” 

    John Murawski reports on the intersection of culture and ideas for RealClearInvestigations. He previously covered artificial intelligence for the Wall Street Journal and spent 15 years as a reporter for the News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) writing about health care, energy and business. At RealClear, Murawski reports on how esoteric academic theories on race and gender have been shaping many areas of public life, from K-12 school curricula to workplace policies to the practice of medicine.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 23:20

  • Visualizing Google's Search Engine Market Share
    Visualizing Google’s Search Engine Market Share

    Google is ubiquitous in the daily lives of billions of people around the world, with leading positions in online search, maps, and other services.

    In fact, as Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu notes, Google’s dominance is so far-reaching, it has led the U.S. Justice Department to launch a civil antitrust lawsuit for what it believes are examples of anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct.

    This graphic, which uses data from Similarweb, shows the scale of Google’s lead over major search engine competitors like Bing and Yahoo.

    Global Search Engine Market Share

    The data we used to create this graphic is provided in the table below. It is global search engine market share as of June 2023, across all platforms (desktop, mobile, and tablet).

    Note that this analysis does not include China, where Google and other American tech firms are currently banned, or Russia, where Google has ceased operations.

    The largest player included in “Other” is South Korea’s Naver (0.48% global market share), which is similar to Google in that it offers a plethora of online services like search, video, and mobile payments.

    Google Prepares for its U.S. Lawsuit

    In January 2023, the U.S. Justice Department announced a civil antitrust lawsuit against Google for monopolizing digital advertising technologies.

    “Today’s complaint alleges that Google has used anticompetitive, exclusionary, and unlawful conduct to eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its dominance over digital advertising technologies”

    – MERRICK B. GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL

    The Justice Department originally made several antitrust arguments. Potential actions that were deemed red flags include setting Google as a default mobile browser on Android phones, designing search results to disadvantage competitors, and the company’s ongoing partnership with Apple for its Safari browser. That said, some of the less substantial claims have since been dismissed by Judge Amit Mehta.

    Google’s court case will begin in mid-September, marking the biggest tech monopoly trial since United States v. Microsoft Corp in 2001. Google is expected to argue that it simply offers a superior product.

    Can Bing Challenge Google on Home Turf?

    To answer this question, let’s look at U.S. market share over the past 12 months ending June 2023.

    From this chart we can see that Bing maintains a slightly higher 5.5% U.S. market share (versus 3.2% globally).

    The biggest takeaway from this chart, though, is that Bing does not appear to have gained any traction in 2023, even after releasing its latest AI-powered version in February.

    The new Bing is the result of Microsoft’s $10 billion investment into OpenAI at the beginning of 2023, which allows the tech giant to incorporate the immensely popular GPT-4 into its various products and services.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 22:45

  • "We Dare Not Keep Silent": ATF Releases Anti-Gun Rule For Public Comment
    “We Dare Not Keep Silent”: ATF Releases Anti-Gun Rule For Public Comment

    Submitted by Gun Owners of America,

    Earlier this year, the Biden Administration announced its intent to move the United States “as close to Universal Background Checks as possible without additional legislation.”

    After much speculation on how far-reaching the rule would be, it has finally arrived, and it’s worse than expected.

    In its current form, the universal background check rule could subject those who sell even a single firearm to dealer requirements, including a background check.

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    While it is worth noting that none of this would be possible without the Republican-backed gun control known as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. There’s still something that gun owners can do to combat this rule.

    Under the Administrative Procedures Act, when agencies like ATF make rules, they must first submit the rule for public comment on the Federal Register.

    During this period, citizens can give their thoughts on the rule and describe their unique situations as to how it will affect them.

    If enough comments are negative, the agency will pull the rule and not proceed. Gun Owners of America has experienced massive success in defeating the ATF through this method. Most significantly, in 2015, we defeated the Obama administration’s attempt to ban M855 “green tip” ammunition during the notice and comment period.

    The first attempt at a pistol brace ruling during the Trump Administration was also defeated through the notice and comment period. ATF retracted the rule and “acknowledged there were legitimate uses for the devices,” a statement that encapsulates the hypocritical nature of the agency itself.

    And even if the rule goes through and becomes the law of the land, we’re not out of options, but your comments are still extremely important to the next steps.

    First, we lobby Congress to bring the rule under the Congressional Review Act. Gun Owners of America did this for Biden’s pistol brace rule with H.J. Res 44. The House of Representatives passed a resolution that condemned the ATF rulemaking. Even though the resolution had no chance of being signed by Joe Biden, it still showed that ATF had acted against Congress’s intent, sending a powerful message to the courts.

    To get members of Congress to vote yes on this resolution, all we had to do was point to the massive number of comments left on the rule by their constituents.

    Your comments matter in our lawsuits. If we can’t get Congress to act, we can always take the ATF to court, something we’re preparing to do right now over this rule. In our lawsuit, we will undoubtedly use the comments of GOA members to show how the rule adversely affects such a large portion of our membership along with the general population.

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    We have seen ATF rules where thousands of pro-gun commenters will point out a problem or flaw in the ATF’s reasoning, forcing the agency to attempt a rewrite in order to try and fix the problem, only to find that the ATF has violated the Administrative Procedures Act because they made significant changes without issuing a second round of comments. This is a violation of law that can bring down the entire gun control rule. 

    Sadly, there is an attitude among some gun owners who don’t think their voice matters – and that gives the ATF precisely what they want.  

    In fact, the worst thing you can do as someone who’s pro-gun is take a backseat to events like this because it’s a “waste of time.”  

    The ATF and the anti-gun lobby want you NOT to be politically active! It’s a key part of their strategy. If voters can be persuaded that noncompliance is the only way to combat a tyrannical government and that there’s no use fighting for your rights within the system, the government can then legislate your rights away as they please and simply play the waiting game to catch those practicing noncompliance.

    This is why it’s not just important for you to get involved politically, but for you to get your fellow gun owners to do the same. 

    Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President for Gun Owners of America, said:

     “It’s been said time and again: ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’ The anti-gun Left would love nothing more than for gun owners to think their activism accomplishes nothing. But that’s a horrid lie. Our activism has … does … and will continue to make a difference. We dare not keep silent, or we will have only ourselves to blame when our freedoms are taken from us.”

    Unfortunately, the reality is that your rights are under attack from very well-funded organizations that currently have a large amount of influence over the United States government. As gun owners, we can’t be complacent in saying, “I’ll sit this one out.”  

    So please leave a comment on the Federal Register.

    Help us fight back against the Biden Administration and the Billionaire-funded anti-gun lobby.

    *   *   * 

    We’ll hold the line for you in Washington. We are No Compromise. Join the Fight Now.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 22:10

  • Canadian School Purges Books Published Before 2008 In Bid For 'Inclusivity'
    Canadian School Purges Books Published Before 2008 In Bid For ‘Inclusivity’

    In a quest to be more “inclusive,” a Canadian school board in Mississauga, Ontario has decided to purge its library of all books published before the year 2008.

    Grade 10 student Reina Takata took this photo of the bookshelves in her Mississauga high school’s library in her first week back to school this fall. Takata and others are concerned about a seemingly inconsistent approach to a new equity-based book weeding process implemented by the Peel District School Board last spring. (Reina Takata)

    Erindale Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario, ‘burned’ roughly 50% of its library book, including Harry Potter and the Hunger Games series, as part of a new “equity-based book weeding” implemented by the Peel District School Board earlier this year, according to the CBC.

    The board insists it was following a wider directive from the Minister of Education to make learning resources more inclusive and reflective of the community.

    Yes, a library with empty shelves sounds very inclusive…

    Also purged were classics  like “The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank” and iconic children’s books like “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”

    Dianne Lawson, a member of Libraries not Landfills, says teachers told her The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle were removed from their school libraries as part of the PDSB weeding process. (Nicole Brockbank/CBC)

    When asked WTF, the school board has been notably evasive, refusing to address whether books are being removed solely based on their publication date. Their statement, which claims books are removed if they are “damaged, inaccurate, or not checked out often,” doesn’t check out whatsoever.

    10th-grade student of Japanese descent Reina Takata worries that significant portions of her heritage could vanish with this book purge.

    “Authors who wrote about Japanese internment camps are going to be erased,” she warned.

    Official backpedaling

    Given the mounting backlash, Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce finally weighed in, condemning the practice as “offensive, illogical, and counterintuitive.” He has since ordered the board to cease the book removals immediately.

    The larger issue here is the increasing trend of over-correction in the name of “wokeness,” often leading to the vanishing of history, culture, and nuanced discourse. At what point does the push for equity turn into a frenzy of historical whitewashing? Erindale Secondary School may have given us the answer: when you arbitrarily remove 50% of your library in the name of inclusivity, you’re probably doing it wrong.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 21:35

  • CNN Inadvertently Makes The Case For An Impeachment Inquiry
    CNN Inadvertently Makes The Case For An Impeachment Inquiry

    Authored by Jonathan Turley,

    I recently wrote a column about five facts that justified the start of an impeachment inquiry.

    While I have stressed that I do not believe that there is currently sufficient evidence for an actual impeachment, I am mystified by the claim that there is not ample evidence to warrant an inquiry into possible impeachable offenses.

    Notably, CNN just reactivated its fact-checking team for a review of the basis for the inquiry. In so doing, the network made an iron-clad argument in support of the decision by Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

    CNN presented this claim:

    Claim: Biden family and associates got $20 million through shell companies

    “Bank records show that nearly $20 million in payments were directed to the Biden family members and associates through various shell companies,” McCarthy said.

    Facts First: This is true about Joe Biden’s family and associates, but there is no public evidence to date that the president personally received any money.

    That is a fair fact check but it is also the very reason that Speaker McCarthy initiated the inquiry.

    We do not know where this money went, why it was sent through this labyrinth of accounts, or what it was intended to buy. That is why this is an impeachment inquiry.

    The media and a number of Democrats recently admitted, belatedly, that Hunter Biden was involved in a corrupt influence peddling operation. This was made clear by Hunter associate Devon Archer who said that they were selling the “Biden brand” and that brand was Joe Biden. Clearly, these corrupt foreign figures in China, Ukraine, and Russia (including some who were charged with corruption in their own countries) thought that they were getting something other than Hunter for their money. After all, one of these figures reportedly referred to Hunter as dumber than his dog. However, pundits and politicians now insist that it was merely the “illusion” of access.  In other words, these notoriously corrupt figures were chumps fleeced by Hunter and Biden associates.

    However, how do we know it was an “illusion”?  You have a trusted FBI informant relaying the claim of a Ukrainian that he gave Biden a “bribe,” but was told not to pay him directly. As I previously discussed, only a moron would pay Joe Biden directly for such influence or access.

    CNN repeatedly returns to this fact in each of the checked claims. Again, that is precisely why we have an inquiry. Bribery is a stated basis for impeachment in the Constitution. Even CNN accepts that, if Biden received such benefits, it would be a serious offense.

    It is also worth noting, as I have raised previously, that the requirement of an envelope filled with money or a deposit slip into the checking account of Joe and Jill Biden is a bit ridiculous as a condition. If millions went to Biden children and grandchildren, it is still a benefit for the President.

    Joe Biden is currently worth more than $8 million. At his age, he will never spend the wealth that he has. Most people in his position are focused on ways to leave financial legacies for their family and minimize estate and death taxes. It is absurd to suggest that millions going to Joe Biden’s family would not constitute a benefit to him.

    Finally, the inquiry is looking into whether some of these funds did make their way into Joe Biden’s accounts.  There are indications that both Hunter and Joe received money out of some of these accounts and used shared credit cards. For example, there are indications that Hunter used his Dad’s credit card to pay for prostitutes.

    That again is precisely the point of the impeachment inquiry. The House will now have to demand the personal bank and financial records of both Hunter Biden and Joe Biden. Thus far, the House Committees have been focused on following the money through bank transfers.

    That is why the CNN fact check is a full-throated call for an impeachment inquiry. The nexus between this massive amount of money and President Biden is precisely what the House will now try to establish.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 21:00

  • Navy Detransitions From 'Digital Recruiting Program' Featuring Drag Queen
    Navy Detransitions From ‘Digital Recruiting Program’ Featuring Drag Queen

    With the US military in the midst of a recruitment crisis, the Navy has decided to reverse course on its Digital Recruiting Program which featured an enlisted drag queen.

    Navy drag queen Joshua Kelley aka Harpy Daniels

    Four months ago, the Daily Caller noted that the Navy had brought on active-duty drag queen, Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelly, who goes by the stage name “Harpy Daniels” and identifies as non-binary. The goal was to make Kelley a “Navy Digital Ambassador” in a pilot program which ran from October 2022 to March 2023, and was “designed to explore the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates.”

    In a Tuesday letter to Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) from Navy under secretary Erik Raven, the service confirmed that the Digital Ambassador Pilot program “will not be continued.”

    “The Navy learned lessons from the pilot program that will inform our digital engagement and outreach going forward,” wrote Raven. “Our digital outreach efforts will maintain the important distinction between Sailors’ official activities and their personal lives.”

    Tuberville — who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee — previously sent a letter to Admiral Michael M. Gilday, the chief of Naval Operations, in May, demanding to know the identities of the officers tasked with funding and promoting drag queen shows aboard naval vessels. The letter was sent the same day the Alabama senator and his Republican colleagues submitted a separate communique to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro on the branch’s embrace of Daniels and whether Navy leadership is encouraging its “digital ambassadors” and public affairs personnel to use TikTok — which the Pentagon banned its members from using on government-issued devices — “on their personal devices” in order to skirt the agency’s prohibition. -The Federalist

    Recruitment fail

    As the Epoch Times notes, the Navy expects to fall short of its annual recruiting goal by around 7,000 sailors when the fiscal year ends this month.

    At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday, acting Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti announced that the service is on track to miss its fiscal year 2023 goal—ending Sept. 30—to bring in 37,700 active duty enlisted sailors. The service also aimed to recruit 2,528 active duty officers, 8,200 reserve enlisted sailors, and 1,940 reserve officers.

    Adm. Franchetti’s latest recruiting projection is worse than the 6,000-recruit miss she predicted in April, but not the worst outcome Navy officials have considered this year.

    “We started out the year thinking we’d be about 13,000 short,” Adm. Franchetti told Senators on Thursday.

    “We’re going to be about 7,000 short. We’re doing better month by month than we were last year.”

    NTD News reached out to the Navy for additional comment about its recruiting efforts this year but did not receive a response by the time this article was published.

    The Navy brought out several new measures to drive recruiting this year, including raising the maximum enlistment bonus to $75,000 and raising the maximum enlistment age to 41 years old.

    The service also changed its standards to allow recruiters to take candidates who scored in the 10th to 30th percentile on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT). The revised standards permitted recruiters to fill around 20 percent of their fiscal year 2023 quota with candidates who scored in the 10th to 30th percentile on the AFQT, dubbed “Category IV” candidates.

    Military Recruiting Woes Stretch Into Second Year

    The Navy is not the only military service expecting to fall short of its recruiting quotas for the year. This week, the U.S. Air Force announced it is on track to bring in about 2,700 new airmen fewer than it had planned for fiscal year 2023, missing this year’s goal to bring in 26,877 new recruits by about 10 percent.

    The U.S. Space Force—which is organized under the purview of the Department of the Air Force—did manage to overshoot its recruiting quote for the 2023 fiscal year.

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    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 20:25

  • 'Gut Instinct' Cause For Numerous Sensory Symptoms In Long COVID, Doctors Offer Comprehensive Treatment
    ‘Gut Instinct’ Cause For Numerous Sensory Symptoms In Long COVID, Doctors Offer Comprehensive Treatment

    Authored by Marina Zhang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    COVID-19 and long COVID may be linked to impaired sensory neurons, a recent study Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study finds.

    (nobeastsofierce/Shutterstock)

    Sensory neurons are responsible for smell, taste, touch, pain, and changes in temperature. Damage to them may lead to impaired senses.

    Surprisingly, the study found that infected neurons released viral proteins like the spike protein and nucleocapsid proteins rather than the virus releasing them.

    Not all neurons were infected. All lab-made neurons were exposed to the Wuhan, delta, and omicron strains, but only up to 30 percent of the neurons were infected, with the omicron variant having the lowest infection rate.

    Sensory neurons infected with SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. (Courtesy of Rudolf Jaenisch)

    Sensory Symptoms in Long COVID and Vaccine Injuries

    Some doctors have suspected that the sensory problems, such as lost or impaired smell, taste, and hearing, and muscle pains, numbness, burning, and electrical shock sensations, seen in long COVID and vaccine-injured patients are due to the spike proteins on the COVID-19 virus’ surface. The mRNA and adenovirus vaccines similarly instruct the body to produce spike proteins.

    The MIT study shows what “our clinical gut instinct” tells us is the cause of symptoms, neurologist Dr. Diane Counce told The Epoch Times.

    Other factors may also be at play.

    A common driver is inflammation. Inflammation occurs as immune cells clear out viruses and their proteins. Yet a constant state of inflammation is not viable for normal neural function, and neurons can become hyperreactive and damaged.

    Some patients may also develop mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS). In MCAS, patients become highly sensitive to any change in the environment. The histamine released in such a scenario irritates the nerves, causing neuropathic pain and itching. Swelling and mucus production due to this allergic response can also impair the senses if sensory neurons are near the site of histamine release.

    Another increasingly recognized driver is microclotting.

    “The nerves form a webbing around the blood vessels … If you have clotting, then you’re not feeding the nerves correctly,” Dr. Counce said, adding that this could cause something close to “infarcts in the nerves.”

    Sensory problems from microclotting often manifest alongside other symptoms, including chest pain, palpitations, and shortness of breath.

    These mechanisms can be affected simultaneously and overlap; therefore, several different therapeutics must often be prescribed to manage all the different systems, said internal medicine physician Dr. Keith Berkowitz.

    Treatments That Clear Spike Proteins

    Ivermectin

    Ivermectin is a first-line therapy in both treating COVID-19 infections and chronic long COVID and vaccine injuries.

    The drug has a high affinity to the COVID-19 virus, including its spike protein, and can immobilize the proteins for immune clearance.

    Dr. Berkowitz has found ivermectin to be very helpful in clearing acute COVID-19 infection, which also alleviates the infection’s loss of taste and smell.

    N-Acetylcysteine (NAC)

    N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been shown to impair and break down spike protein. Augmented NAC may be particularly potent in its effects.

    Nurse practitioner Scott Marsland at the Leading Edge Clinic told The Epoch Times that long COVID and vaccine-injured patients may experience flare-ups of symptoms, and treatment with augmented NAC has been particularly helpful in controlling these.

    Nattokinase

    Nattokinase is an enzyme derived from natto made from fermented soybeans. Japanese studies have shown that it can break down spike proteins in cell culture.

    Apart from that, nattokinase also has robust anti-clotting capabilities. Therefore, the supplement can aid in the breakdown of blood clots that obstruct the sensory nerves from receiving adequate oxygen and nutrients.

    Some of Mr. Marsland’s patients have reported improvements in their senses of smell and taste after taking a high dose of nattokinase twice daily.

    Treatments That Reduce Inflammation

    Intravenous Fluid Therapy

    “When you have a virus, what do they first do in the hospital when you go in? Hydrate them,” Dr. Berkowitz told The Epoch Times.

    He has observed that around 80 percent of his long-COVID and vaccine-injured patients would be more responsive to treatment after a few hydration sessions.

    Dr. Counce explained that patients who need intravenous fluid therapy likely have small fiber neuropathy, which can affect sensory neurons.

    Low-Dose Naltrexone

    In managing long-COVID- and vaccine-related injuries, Dr. Counce and pulmonary critical care specialist Dr. Pierre Kory have found the drug effective in treating neuropathies. Since the drug can reduce inflammation in neurons, doctors think it may have promise in treating smell-, taste-, and other related sensory problems.

    Treatments That Inhibit Neural Overactivity

    Dr. Berkowitz has observed that some patients’ nervous systems appear hyperreactive.

    These patients are insomniac, anxious, have gastrointestinal problems, and often have neuropathic symptoms like pain and experience electric shock-like feelings. Some patients are also unresponsive to various long-COVID and vaccine-injury treatments like low-dose naltrexone.

    Dr. Berkowitz found hydration therapy and gabapentin helpful treatments in these cases.

    Gabapentin

    Gabapentin helps soothe the nervous system by mimicking gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which works as an inhibitor in neurons.

    GABA slows and blocks nervous activity, creating a calming effect. Since the gut is a major producer of GABA, patients with gut problems may benefit from gabapentin.

    Dr. Counce has observed that patients with severe neuropathic pain also tend to respond well to it.

    Stellate Ganglion Block

    Stellate ganglion blocks, an invasive operation that involves an anesthetic injection into the autonomic nerves, can reset hyperactive nerves, reduce stress, and return smell and taste to affected patients.

    A study published in May examined the effect of stellate ganglion block on 195 long-COVID patients at a pain clinic and found that 87.4 percent reported an improved sense of smell after receiving the injection.

    Treatments That Repair Neurological Damage

    Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF)

    Dr. Counce has found that patients tend to respond well to therapies that improve brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein related to neural growth and survival.

    The mushroom lion’s mane boosts BDNF. In an animal study, rats had their sciatic nerves cut, making them unable to walk. After being supplemented with lion’s mane mushrooms, they could walk again.

    Rhodiola rosea, a type of herbal medicine, can also increase BDNF levels.

    NAC and resveratrol, commonly recommended supplements for long COVID and vaccine injury, also carry BDNF properties.

    Treatments That Prevent Clotting

    Curcumin

    Curcumin is a phytonutrient derived from the ginger plant turmeric. Studies show that curcumin has potent anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting effects. Therefore, many doctors have added curcumin to their treatment regimen, judging it to be helpful in breaking down blood clots.

    The phytonutrient can also cross the blood-brain barrier to alleviate neuroinflammation. Research has shown it to help reduce neuropathic pain; other reports suggest it may also help treat loss of smell and taste in COVID.

    Bromelain

    Bromelain is an enzyme derived from pineapples. Since bromelain can digest gelatin, jelly companies advise against adding fresh pineapples to their mixtures to prevent the jelly from “setting.”

    In the body, bromelain can break down fibrin, a component of blood clots, and is known to prevent coagulation and platelet aggregation, all of which may help to break down blood clots. Cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough recommends bromelain as part of his spike protein detox protocol (pdf).

    Triple Therapy

    Combining anticoagulants may create a more substantial synergistic effect than using one anticoagulant alone.

    Professors Resia Pretorius and Douglas Kell have found the triple combination therapy of anticoagulants—clopidogrel and aspirin, anti-platelet apixaban, and proton pump inhibitor (PPI)—to be successful in treating blood clots.

    Researchers placed a group of 24 long-COVID patients on this regimen for a month, and all patients experienced a significant improvement in symptoms, including muscle pain.

    In March, the same researchers published a second preprint (pdf) on 91 patients, most of whom experienced a resolution of symptoms. The authors emphasized that “such a regime must only be followed under expert medical supervision in view of the risk of bleeding.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 19:50

  • Bud Light Might Soon Lose Retail Shelf Space Amid Boycott: Experts
    Bud Light Might Soon Lose Retail Shelf Space Amid Boycott: Experts

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

    In the midst of a months-long boycott against Bud Light, some experts have forecast that the Anheuser-Busch owned brand will soon lose coveted retail shelf space as sales continue to slide.

    Bud Light, made by Anheuser-Busch, sits on a store shelf in Miami, Fla., on July 27, 2023. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

    Beer industry experts, wholesalers, and a former Anheuser-Busch executive told ABC News Friday that places like 7-Eleven, QuikTrip, and Walmart may decrease Bud Light’s refrigerator space in stores.

    “During a busy shopping period on a Friday or Saturday night, if you don’t have the beer available cold on the shelf, consumers pick something else,” former Anheuser-Busch InBev executive Anson Frericks, a frequent critic of his former company, told the outlet. He noted that shelf space is “the single largest determinant of sales in a store,” and warned there will be a “dramatic shift” for Bud Light.

    Dave Williams, vice president of analytics and insights at Bump Williams Consulting, said that retailers often watch for sales figures to determine what brands would be given the best shelf space.

    “There’s explosive growth on one side and sharp decline on the other,” Mr. Williams said, according to the broadcaster. “This does have that ripple effect where if Bud Light loses space on the shelf, that could make it a longer-term endeavor to claw back to where they were if they’re ever able to do that in the first place.”

    According to a report from Drinks Market Analysis from several years ago, about 80 percent of beer sales occur at retailers or similar locations where consumers take the product home. The other 20 percent of sales occur at restaurants and bars.

    Over a month period ending in early September, sales for Bud Light dropped about 27 percent year-over-year, according to Bump Williams Consulting. Those figures are consistent with Bud Light’s previous weekly sales figures since the boycott erupted in early April.

    The Epoch Times has contacted Anheuser-Busch InBev for comment on the report Friday.

    A general manager at a Wisconsin Anheuser-Busch distributor, who wasn’t named, told ABC that retailers do not expect a “drastic change” anytime soon. But he warned that the Bud Light “boycott has lasted longer than anybody thought,” adding, “Every retailer has their own opinion for what sales warrant on their shelves. Time will tell.”

    Last month, Anheuser-Busch’s American division revealed in its quarterly earnings report that it lost about $395 million amid the boycott and that U.S. revenue dropped about 10 percent year-over-year. Meanwhile, Bud Light lost its No. 1 spot to Modelo Especial, which is owned by Constellation Brands in the United States, in June.

    Adding more fuel to the fire, a beer industry expert, Harry Schumacher of Beer Business Daily, told Fox News some Bud Light drinkers may never come back and have switched to other brands.

    The boycott, he warned, is “actually worse than just lost sales because now it’s getting to the point where it’s becoming systemic within the industry, and they’re losing the confidence of the retailers, and that’s when it starts getting bad.”

    Controversy

    It all started in April when Bud Light made a beer can featuring the face of transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney, who then posted the promotional item on social media. Backlash came quickly, and some conservative musicians and influencers called for a boycott, accusing Bud Light of abandoning its traditional consumer base.

    Musician Kid Rock was seen in a viral video shooting up cans of the beer, while several country singers said they wouldn’t serve it at their bars or on tour. Former President Donald Trump also accused the firm of caving to leftists and urged supporters that it’s “time to beat the radical left at their own game.”

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis later urged the state’s pension manager to investigate Anheuser-Busch and potentially take legal action against the firm over the incident. Like President Trump, Mr. DeSantis is also a GOP presidential candidate.

    Weeks later, Anheuser-Busch confirmed that two top Bud Light executives took a leave of absence the company, namely after a Bud Light marketing executive, Alissa Heinerscheid, gave an interview saying that she wanted to move the brand away from an “out-of-touch” and “fratty” image. Reports have indicated that she was associated with the company’s Mulvaney campaign.

    In an earnings call with investors in May, Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Michel Doukeris appeared to distance the beer brand from the transgender controversy and said there was no “formal campaign.”

    “This was the result of one can,” he said during the call. “It was not made for production or sale to general public. It was one post, not a formal campaign or advertisement.”

    Months later, in August, Mr. Doukeris told investors that Bud Light is “working hard to build it back and to earn back consumers” and worked with a third-party researcher to engage with about 170,000 customers in the U.S.

    “Most consumers surveyed are favorable towards the Bud Light brand and approximately 80 percent are favorable or neutral,” the firm said.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 18:40

  • Young People Begin To 'Freak' About AI Taking Their Jobs, Survey Reveals 
    Young People Begin To ‘Freak’ About AI Taking Their Jobs, Survey Reveals 

    Millions of jobs across the Western world are at risk due to artificial intelligence. Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs cautioned its clients that AI could affect up to 300 million jobs in the coming years. Recent news about IBM implementing a hiring freeze due to automation, along with similar actions by other corporations, has sparked the ‘fear of becoming obsolete’ (FOBO) among the younger workforce participants, according to a new poll. 

    Gallup revealed a surge in respondents expressing FOBO, driven by the expansion of AI, over the last year. 

    Twenty-two percent now say they worry that technology will make their job obsolete, up seven percentage points from the prior reading in 2021. The figure had previously varied between 13% and 17%, with little upward movement in the trend.

    FOBO is occurring with “college-educated workers, among whom the percentage worried has jumped from 8% to 20,” Gallup said. At the same time, survey data showed those without college degrees could care less about AI taking their jobs. Most of the FOBO is occurring with younger respondents. 

    The number one worry respondents had was AI and other technological advancements harming their job benefits. About a third said they were worried about reduced benefits, and almost a quarter worried about decreasing wages. 

    The wake-up call for workers has been the release of ChatGPT last November. “It is no longer only about robots standing in for humans in warehouses and on assembly lines but has expanded to online programs conducting sophisticated language-based work, including writing computer code,” Gallup said. 

    According to Goldman’s Jan Hatzius, “using data on occupational tasks in both the US and Europe, we find that roughly two-thirds of current jobs are exposed to some degree of AI automation, and that generative AI could substitute up to one-fourth of current work. Extrapolating our estimates globally suggests that generative AI could expose the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs to automation” as up to “two-thirds of occupations could be partially automated by AI.”

    Reports like Goldman’s have been echoed by other investing desks and Wall Street professionals. These reports have sparked a wave of FOBO across the Western world. 

    For more insight into the rapidly evolving job landscape, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu and Sabrina Lam – using data from MSCI – has ranked the industries where AI-driven automation will displace the most workers. 

    This is a big problem for all those college students accumulating insurmountable student debt for degrees that may be proven worthless. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 18:05

  • The Religion Of Masking
    The Religion Of Masking

    Authored by Gwendolyn Kull via The Brownstone Institute,

    What do burkas, tichels, yarmulkes, hijabs, kapps, fezzes, dukus, and surgical masks all have in common?

    Religious cultures mandate or strongly encourage these head coverings to comply with dogma. Although most of these are rooted in ethnic and religious traditions of any denomination to reflect humility before G-d and modesty before man, surgical masks have become the morality trend of the Western world for those who fear The Science before they fear any god. 

    As absurd as that last sentence may sound, the People of the United States are under siege – a war that is targeting our greatest claim to fame, our pride and joy: our freedom. Our Forefathers determined at the inception of this nation that all men have the inviolate right to life and liberty. Recognizing some freedoms that are indelible to the identity of a human are especially at risk of infringement, the Founders drafted the Bill of Rights to expressly protect freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to peaceably assemble, and freedom to petition the government among other activities.

    Yet over the last three years, our government has encroached on these unalienable freedoms in the name of public health and following The Science. The few government officials and bureaucrats sitting in D.C. and Georgia imposed their beliefs on what makes the public healthy on the masses, without regard for dissenting opinions or contrary beliefs. Such factional tyranny is exactly the breach of social contract the Framers aimed to prevent.

    After initially telling the country that masks would not work against this virus, Anthony Fauci fell in step, ordering persons be masked and directing both government and non-government actors alike to hold their fellow citizens accountable for failing to mask. A futile exercise in the name of “public health” given research predating the pandemic had already put to bed the idea that masking could prevent respiratory infections. Even following the Cochrane Review’s pandemic masking study showing little-to-no efficacy at masks preventing infection, the Biden administration still tells the People we should be masking.

    Beyond inefficacy, recent studies are also researching possible adverse consequences from constant mask-wearing, now termed “Mask-Induced Exhaustion Syndrome.” The illness bears many of the same symptoms as “long covid,” begging the question: are the health risks of long-term masking worth the miniscule efficacy? I digress. Masking mandates began to die down when the CDC lost a legal battle where the court only addressed the agency’s statutory authority to impose such a mandate. The question of whether such mandates are constitutional at all was never reached. Despite the open question in the courts, I firmly believe mask mandates do not pass constitutional muster.

    Recalling my extreme parallel of religious head coverings to surgical masks, compare this scenario: one day, the bureaucrats in Washington decide that for public health and decency, everyone must wear a burka. The land would cry, “Foul!” Non-muslim citizens would lose their minds that Sharia law was being imposed on them in violation of their First Amendment right to be free from the establishment of religion! Only the worshippers of the public health fascists would gladly adorn the dress as a testament to their true belief that the burka would save them from illness. I ask you, how is our current masking guidelines any different? Because masking is not a teaching from an institutionalized religion? Is trusting The Science not a form of having faith?

    In truth, our courts have held time and time again that government actors cannot infringe on our clothing under both freedom-tenants of religion and speech. Our Constitution contracts our appointed government to respect and defend our human right to liberty, which includes our ability to express ourselves and beliefs through our clothing and appearances. After all, our appearance is all a part of our individual identities. Covering one’s face, one’s physical identity, must be a choice and not a requirement.

    Moreover, our individual identities are not just linked to our physical attributes. Nay, our speech is also core to our humanity and identities. Speech is the expression of one’s soul, subjective based upon the speaker’s own perceptions and experiences. How I speak and what I say is part of how others (and I) recognize me as who I am!

    Like any painting serves as a window into the artist’s being, so is speech into a person’s mind, heart, and soul. It is as complex as the human body that produces such words and sounds: the speaker’s larynx, vocal chords, pharynx, palate, tongue, teeth, cheeks, lips, and nose are all coordinating in harmony to make what we think in our minds come out of our mouths. Speech is as unique to each individual as a person’s fingerprints or DNA. Muffling a person’s voice, covering the delicate facets producing speech, hiding non-verbal facial cues, and restricting air flow via masks is not natural.

    Masking inhibits self-expression. Even prior to physical masking, virtue-signalers touted policing one’s own speech as being “politically correct.” Policing and masking speech is toxic to both individuals and humankind. It evokes the same hesitancy as does domestic abuse–the feeling of “walking on eggshells” for fear your words will trigger and bring you harm. It further causes an identity crisis–a dissociation within oneself, wherein the mind is policing the heart and soul for fear of offending any listener (or observer). Both perpetuate the victimhood complex where one believes she cannot live without fear because others will not do “what they are supposed to do.” 

    It is true that internal perceptions expressed outwardly are not always correct or palatable. Such is the beauty of allowing one to convey his opinions and beliefs in his own words: the listener can understand the person with whom she is speaking and take the opportunity to debate and educate, correct her own misunderstanding, or completely discredit the speaker of value within her own mind. Speech is not just about speaking, but about hearing and deciding what one believes to be true. Speech of our own and listening to others’ speech helps us understand and develop our own identities.

    It is not that constant expletives and hyperboles should become the norm of self-expression through speech. No, language itself is so vastly malleable that it can be morphed to rise to any situation–to connect with one’s listeners. For instance, there are different ages of communication. You would not use the same words with a child as you would with adults, unless your intention is to be misunderstood or completely unintelligible like the unseen adult characters of Charlie Brown. To be understood by your listeners, you must change your speech to be appropriate for the venue and target audience.

    How is any of this relevant to the topic of mask mandates eroding freedom? Requiring people to cover the face and bodily member responsible for speaking and being heard and understood is inhumane. It strips children of their ability to learn how to speak, how to use their body to produce sounds and words and sentences, and how to connect those words to facial expressions to add context for listeners. It socially distances people from each other, deteriorating the human connection that allows us to communicate and understand each other.

    There is no replacement for that connection. As I discussed in a prior article, humans are a social species. Although we are capable as individuals, we fail to thrive when deprived of interacting with others. During lockdowns, people yearned to visit family, go out to restaurants, to resume “normalcy.” Zoom meetings, video calls, and text messages were not enough to curb the cravings for human connection. 

    Masking is just another degree of separation from one another. Although it is less obvious than the isolation of quarantines, it is just another lonely reminder that we are not free. Not free to be ourselves, not free to connect, not free from fear, not free to breathe, not free to decide for ourselves what is in our own best interest. Even President Biden joked during a recent press conference that, “they keep telling me… I got to keep wearing [a mask], but don’t tell them I didn’t have it on when I walked in,” defiantly waving his surgical mask away from his face.

    Who are “they” to decide what is in any individual’s best interest? Are we children and “they” our parents? Do we lack the mental capacity to think for ourselves? Are we not developed and educated enough to decide what is healthy and what is not? Are our God-given immune systems so defective that we can no longer survive colds? I find it a hard blue pill to swallow that humanity has survived on this planet for hundreds of thousands of years for a coronavirus variant to suddenly confound our natural biological defenses.

    Who are “they” at all? “They” are not our duly-elected legislators who oathed to uphold and defend our Constitution and who are the only branch of government who the People gave authority to create laws. In fact, Senator JD Vance (R-OH) is now fighting this usurpation of legislative authority by “them.” On September 7, 2023, he brought to the Senate floor the “Freedom to Breathe” Act, which would prohibit mask mandates. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) objected to the call for unanimous consent, arguing that this legislation would infringe on the health powers of the states.

    An interesting and seemingly Constitution-based argument by Senator Markey, but it presupposes masking mandates on the public are a health-related decision at all, which is not supported by scientific evidence, and that such mandates are not otherwise constitutionally prohibited. 

    Though the People granted health powers to the states, those powers are still limited by the People’s ultimate right to life and liberty, including the free exercise of religion without a state-sanctioned religion (The Science) and free speech without intrusions on the speech-producing orifice or physical identity of the speaker. 

    Masking restrictions are not a “health power” the state governments are permitted to enforce.

    Masking mandates are not a public health measure the federal government is permitted to sanction.

    Both impede life and liberty guaranteed to the People by being human and safeguarded by the People through enforcing our Constitution. As such, the People will not comply.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 17:30

  • Map Of 'Zombie Drug' Tsunami Consuming America 
    Map Of ‘Zombie Drug’ Tsunami Consuming America 

    Despite the Biden administration’s campaign promise to tackle the nationwide drug crisis, new data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that 2023 will be another disastrous year as overdose-related deaths continue rising nationwide. 

    New CDC estimates show 111,000 people died from a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending in April. The data shows that the drug epidemic continues ravaging counties and cities nationwide. Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are responsible for about 70% of the overdoses. 

    With no signs of slowing, the drug epidemic might be supercharged by xylazine, a horse tranquilizer commonly referred to on the street as “tranq” or the “Zombie drug.” Tranq has been flooding illegal drug markets across the East Coast, working into the Deep South, Rust Belt, and Midwest

    Axios, citing a new report from the drug testing lab Millennium Health, showed tranq is spreading across the nation at a dangerously fast pace. 

    “While virtually all positive urine tests for xylazine also contained fentanyl, 16% of fentanyl-positive tests contained xylazine between April and July,” Axios said. 

    Here’s a snapshot of the report (courtesy of Axios):

    • The rates are much higher in some states — 42.8% in Pennsylvania, 40% in North Carolina, and 36.1% in Ohio.

    • It’s still largely a regional phenomenon, though Millennium testing detected xylazine in 34 states since the Biden administration in April declared the fentanyl-xylazine combination a threat to the US.

    • In Mid-Atlantic states, 40% of fentanyl-positive tests contained xylazine, and it was 33% in East North Central states.

    • Here’s how the remaining states broke down, by US Census Division: South Atlantic (22%), East South Central (19%), New England (16%), West NorthCentral (13%), West South Central (5%), Pacific (4%) and Mountain (2%).

    In March, the Drug Enforcement Administration warned about the tranq wave sweeping parts of the US. We warned as early as December 2022 about the new drug hitting streets across the Northeast. 

    Here’s a recent scene from Philadelphia of the tranq-zombie apocalypse. 

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    Perhaps the presence of open-air drug markets and lack of law and order in Democrat metro areas contribute to the tranq wave. It’s only a matter of time before Millennium Health begins finding the drug in urine samples on the West Coast. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 16:55

  • IRS Hiring Another 3,700 Tax Enforcers, Watchdog Warns Those Earning Under $400,000 Could Be Targeted
    IRS Hiring Another 3,700 Tax Enforcers, Watchdog Warns Those Earning Under $400,000 Could Be Targeted

    Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    IRS hiring 3,700+ tax enforcers to audit higher earners but a watchdog worries about audits for those under $400,000 due to unclear “high-income” definition.

    The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is looking to hire over 3,700 additional tax enforcers as it ramps up its audit crackdown of higher-earning taxpayers, though a watchdog warns that Americans making less than $400,000 could get caught in the dragnet because the agency doesn’t have a clear definition of “high-income.”

    The IRS said on Sept. 15 that it had opened over 3,700 positions nationwide to assist  with “expanded enforcement work” that focuses on complex partnerships, large corporations, and high-income earners.

    The compliance positions will be open in more than 250 locations across the United States and are part of a “sweeping, historic” tax enforcement crackdown that leverages cutting-edge technology, including artificial intelligence, to catch tax evaders more effectively.

    The hiring will be for higher-graded revenue agents, with the IRS calling on people in the financial services industry—such as tax accountants, forensic accountants, auditors, and controllers—to apply.

    The IRS is flush with cash from a recent congressionally-mandated infusion of $60 billion in new funding, with some of the money already having bolstered the tax agency’s ranks substantially. Recent reports indicate that hiring is up around 13 percent over the past year, allowing the IRS to hit a decade-high of nearly 90,000 staffers.

    But while the recent batch of new hires was focused on taxpayer service positions, the newly announced hiring thrust is looking to give the IRS more enforcement muscle.

    “This next wave of hiring will help the IRS add key talent like tax accountants to help reverse a decade-long decline of audits for the wealthy as well as complex partnerships and corporations,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement.

    “These new employees will be focused on higher-income and complex tax areas like partnerships, not average taxpayers making less than $400,000,” Mr. Werfel added.

    But Mr. Werfel’s pledge not to target Americans earning under $400,000 rings hollow, given a recent watchdog report that called into question the ability of the IRS to make good on this pledge because it either lacks a clear definition of “high-income” or uses outdated tax examination activity codes that put the threshold for high earners at $200,000.

    No Clear Definition of ‘High-Income’

    The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), which is the watchdog overseeing the IRS, recently carried out a review to assess the IRS’s strategy to train employees hired to audit high earners and big businesses that underreport income.

    The watchdog report includes scathing criticism of the IRS for lacking a clear definition of “high-income” earners—despite the very same watchdog asking the IRS to look into developing a better definition years ago.

    “The IRS does not have a unified or updated definition for individual high-income taxpayers,” the watchdog said in the report, which notes that the IRS uses different definitions of “high-income” depending on context as various IRS programs address different compliance issues across different parts of the filing population.

    TIGTA faulted the IRS for still not having a clear definition of “high-income” for tax compliance even though the watchdog recommended in 2015 that the IRS reevaluate the appropriate income thresholds for its high-income and high-wealth strategy.

    “The high-income terminology is being used loosely inside the IRS with no common understanding of what the term means,” the watchdog said.

    The watchdog said that in response to its recommendation to the IRS nearly a decade ago to reevaluate its income thresholds, the IRS “made no changes,” citing “internal data analysis results and resource constraints.”

    Also, the IRS continues to rely on old tax examination activity codes adopted half a century ago with the Tax Reform Act of 1976, which used a $200,000 threshold to measure high-income returns.

    “This amount is equivalent to more than $1 million in 2023, but the IRS still uses $200,000 as the default high-income threshold,” the watchdog said, adding that the $200,000 threshold is “no longer a reasonable standard for high earners given inflation since 2005.”

    Generally, the IRS uses the examination activity codes to plan the number of tax-related examinations, although since 2019, its Large Business and International (LB&I) division has been using a modified planning method based on resource allocation.

    More Details

    One of the watchdog’s recommendations was for the IRS to establish a definition for high-income taxpayers for examination compliance purposes and that, “at a minimum, the IRS should accept the Treasury secretary’s $400,000 directive as the new high-income floor on which IRS leadership can focus enforcement efforts.”

    The IRS disagreed with the watchdog’s recommendation. It asserted in a statement included in the report that a “static and overly proscriptive” definition of high-income taxpayers for audit purposes “would serve to deprive the IRS of the agility to address emerging issues and trends.”

    The watchdog commented on the IRS’ pushback, saying that the definition need not be “static” and income thresholds should be adjusted based on economic and complexity factors—otherwise there’s a risk that the agency will break its pledge not to audit more Americans earnings less than $400,000.

    “When the high-income thresholds are set too low, the result can be higher numbers of inefficient examinations,” the watchdog said. “When the definition is too low, the base of taxpayers earning those incomes is wider so that the IRS does many more audits in that category in order to achieve desired audit coverage.”

    The watchdog said that, under the circumstances of a lack of a clear definition of “high-income,” the IRS would not only be conducting more audits on lower-earning Americans (contrary to its pledge not to), but it would also be less effective at its stated goal of closing the tax gap.

    The watchdog also said that the IRS’s lack of action in response to the TIGTA recommendation in 2015 to reevaluate its income thresholds means that the IRS is in a difficult position if it hopes to meet its pledge not to raise audit rates above historical norms for Americans earning less than $400,000.

    “Because $400,000 will be an important threshold, the IRS needs to update the examination activities codes for individual tax returns,” the watchdog recommended.

    Currently, “there is no way to identify the complete population of taxpayers that meet the criterion of $400,000 or more specified by the current Treasury Secretary,” the watchdog added.

    The IRS partially agreed with the watchdog’s recommendation to refine its examination activity.

    “The IRS agreed to identify the best method to identify and track high-income examinations as part of the work being undertaken to implement the Treasury Secretary’s directive to not increase audit rates for households making less than $400,000 and small businesses,” the IRS said in a statement included in the report.

    But the watchdog responded by saying this isn’t good enough.

    “The IRS’s partial agreement and planned corrective action will not satisfy the intent of our recommendation, and additional actions are needed,” TIGTA said in a comment.

    “The IRS should establish examination activity codes for additional TPI increments, which will help the IRS identify noncompliance at different income levels,” the watchdog added. TPI stands for “taxpayer profile increment.”

    Asked for comment on the watchdog’s rejection of the IRS’s response to its recommendation, the IRS simply pointed to its original response included in the report.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 16:20

  • Trudeau Threatens 'Grocery Tax' To Combat 'Record Profits'
    Trudeau Threatens ‘Grocery Tax’ To Combat ‘Record Profits’

    In a move that totally won’t backfire and be passed along to the consumer, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has threatened to tax Canadian grocers if they don’t lower grocery costs.

    “Large grocery chains are making record profits,” Trudeau claimed Thursday. “Those profits should not be made on the backs of people struggling to feed their families.”

    Grocers have until Thanksgiving to stabilize prices, otherwise tax measures may be on the way for ‘Loblaw, Metro, Empire, Walmart and Costco,’ according to Rebel News.

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

    Francois-Philippe Champagne, interior minister, said the Canadian government would also begin to engage with other players in the food industry.

    “We’re going to start with the five largest grocers in Canada, representing about 80% of the market, and we’re going to be in solution mode with obvious deadlines and very clear outcomes for Canadians,” he said, adding “We’re going to bring them to Ottawa, talk to them about meaningful action, and if they fail, there’ll be consequences.”

    More via Rebel News;

    The call for relief comes as grocery prices rose 8.5% in July — nearly three times the overall inflation rate.

    However, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) believes another tax will not improve affordability when Canadians go to checkouts across the country.

    “The last thing Canadians need is a grocery tax,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Instead of hammering Canadians with a grocery tax, Trudeau should scrap his carbon tax, making food prices more expensive.”

    “Another tax won’t make groceries more affordable, it’ll make them more expensive,” he said.

    Canada’s Food Price Report 2023 predicted a 5% to 7% food price increase in 2023 following 10% increases last year, with vegetables, dairy and meat becoming more expensive.

    The average family of four is expected to spend up to $16,288.41 annually on food this year — up an additional $1,065.60 from 2022.

    “Not only are some nutritious foods more difficult to find, but they can also be more expensive,” according a report, Evaluation Of The Office Of Nutrition Policy And Promotion.

    Read more here…

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 15:45

  • US To Shift Military Aid From Egypt To Taiwan
    US To Shift Military Aid From Egypt To Taiwan

    Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

    The US will withhold $85 million in annual military aid to Egypt and redirect some of the funds to Taiwan, The Wall Street Journal this week. The $85 million the US is withholding over human rights abuses is just a small portion of the $1.3 billion in military aid Egypt receives from the US each year.

    The $85 million is in the form of Foreign Military Financing, a State Department program that gives foreign governments money to purchase US arms. According to CNN, Egypt receives $1 billion in FMF annually, and $320 million of those funds is conditional and tied to human rights issues.

    President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, file image

    Some members of Congress want President Biden to withhold the full $320 million, but for now, the administration has only announced its intention to transfer $85 million. Of that amount, $55 million will be redirected to Taiwan, and $30 million will go to Lebanon.

    The US began providing Taiwan with military aid this year, an unprecedented form of support in the era of normalized US-China relations. Since Washington severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979 to open up with Beijing, the US has sold weapons to Taiwan but never financed the purchases or provided arms free of charge until this year.

    Last month, the US approved the first-ever FMF military aid package for Taiwan worth $80 million. In July, the Biden administration provided Taiwan with a weapons package using the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) for the first time.

    PDA allows President Biden to send weapons directly from US military stockpiles and is the primary way he’s been arming Ukraine.

    The PDA package for Taiwan was worth $345 million. The contents of the military aid packages for Taiwan have not been disclosed.

    The US military aid for Taiwan has enraged China as Beijing opposes all forms of US military support for the island, especially new kinds of assistance. The US is arming Taiwan in the name of deterrence, but the policy is making war more likely as China has responded to the growing diplomatic and military ties between Washington and Taipei by putting the island under increasing military pressure.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 15:10

  • "Baloney, Bull, & Hogwash" – Texas AG Paxton Acquitted On All Impeachment Charges
    “Baloney, Bull, & Hogwash” – Texas AG Paxton Acquitted On All Impeachment Charges

    It appears the jury of Texas State Senators agreed with Texas AG Ken Paxton’s attorney Tony Buzbee – who said Friday in his closing remarks that the prosecution did not prove its case, calling the charges “baloney,” “bull”, “hogwash”, and a “political with hunt” – as they just acquitted the embattled AG of all impeachment charges.

    The Texas Senate chamber was turned into a courtroom for the historic impeachment trial of state Attorney General Ken Paxton, which kicked off last Tuesday morning at the state Capitol in Austin, Texas.

    Texas state Attorney General Ken Paxton (C) stands between his attorneys Tony Buzbee (front) and Dan Cogdell (rear) as the articles of his impeachment are read during the his impeachment trial in the Senate Chamber at the Texas Capitol in Austin on Sept. 5, 2023. (Eric Gay/AP Photo)

    Mr. Paxton was impeached on 20 articles in late May by the GOP-led House of Representatives in a vote of 121–23. He is only the third sitting official to be impeached in the state’s nearly 200-year history. The last impeachment case was more than a century ago.

    The articles of impeachment included allegations of abuse of power and bribery, among others. Mr. Paxton and his lawyers have maintained that all of the accusations are false.

    As Bloomberg reported, at the heart of the allegations against Paxton was his friendship with Nate Paul, an Austin real estate developer and political donor.

    At the time, Paul was under state and federal investigation for separate allegations, and has since been indicted. He has pleaded not guilty.

    Paxton was accused of using his office to benefit Paul, including by conducting baseless investigations into Paul’s rivals.

    In turn, Paul allegedly helped Paxton conceal an extramarital affair and funded renovations to the attorney general’s home.

    But, 8 days later, despite the earlier overwhelming majority vote of House Republicans to impeach him, Senate Republicans on the 30-person jury empaneled for the trial rallied around the party with all but two of 18 Republicans voting to clear Paxton of every charge.

    State Rep. Jeff Leach (R), one of the House impeachment managers, said in closings that “there comes a time for each of us… not to ask yourself what is safe, or popular, or politic, but what is right,” and implored the jurors to sustain the articles of impeachment.

    “There is shame here, and the shame sits right there that they would bring this case in this chamber with no evidence,” Buzbee said, pointing to the House impeachment managers and the lawyers working with them.

    “I am proud to represent Attorney General Ken Paxton. If this can happen to him, it can happen to anyone.”

    However, while Paxton may have won this battle, the war continues as Axios reports the FBI is also investigating him for the alleged misdeeds underpinning his impeachment.

    A grand jury has reportedly been impaneled to review potential criminal charges.

    Furthermore, Paxton also faces eight-year-old fraud charges, a whistleblower lawsuit, and a state bar lawsuit over his role in challenging the 2020 election results that could end with his disbarment.

    Nevertheless, having been suspended following the House impeachment in May, Paxton will now return to office, as his attorney said:

    “They assumed that Attorney General Ken Paxton would resign. Well, guess what? He did not resign. He is proud and is ready to go back to work. And after this is over, I expect he will go back to work.”

     

     

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 14:35

  • Trump Decries 'Double Standard' In Documents Case, Pointing To Treatment Of Hilary Clinton
    Trump Decries ‘Double Standard’ In Documents Case, Pointing To Treatment Of Hilary Clinton

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

    The former president says he is unconcerned because he’s ‘fighting for the people.’

    Former President Donald Trump arrives for departure at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport after being booked at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta on Aug. 24, 2023. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

    Former President Donald Trump is unconcerned by the possibility that he could face jail time over the charges that have been brought against him in four different criminal cases.

    “I have a great attitude,” he said on the Sept. 14 episode of “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast. “It doesn’t affect me at all because I’m fighting for the country; I’m fighting for the people.”

    Pointing to his continued dominance in the polls, the Republican presidential candidate added that he wasn’t worried about how a conviction might affect his chances of winning the 2024 election, either.

    “These poll numbers are so good, and it makes me feel good, but I think we’re going to win the election no matter what happens because the people know it’s all fake.”

    President Trump is facing criminal charges in two federal cases relating to his handling of classified documents and his challenge of the 2020 presidential election results. Two additional cases have been brought by Democrat prosecutors in New York and Atlanta, though the former president holds that those cases were also brought in coordination with the Biden Department of Justice.

    “These are Biden indictments,” he said. “This is a guy that is grossly incompetent—I don’t even believe it’s him. It’s the people, the fascists that’s around him. Because I don’t believe he’s smart enough to do this, if you want to know the truth.”

    ‘It’s All Fake’

    In the documents case, brought by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, President Trump stands accused of willful retention of national defense information, obstruction, and making false statements.

    But the case, according to the former president, revolves around a “fake crime.”

    “They create a fake crime, and then they say, ‘Oh, you obstructed.’ This is a fake thing that they’ve done,” he said.

    Pointing to the Presidential Records Act of 1978, he contended that the law gives him the authority to decide which records he can keep.

    As support for those claims, President Trump cited a similar case involving audio recordings that President Bill Clinton kept in a sock drawer. The recordings were made during President Clinton’s time in office, but when government watchdog group Judicial Watch sued to obtain access to them, a federal judge dismissed the case. The 42nd president, the judge ruled, had the authority to decide which records qualified as personal and which were presidential.

    “This is all about the Presidential Records Act,” President Trump said. “I’m allowed to have these documents. I’m allowed to take these documents, classified or unclassified. And frankly, when I have them, they become unclassified.

    “People think you have to go through a ritual—you don’t. At least, in my opinion, you don’t.”

    Further noting that the statute in question is civil rather than criminal, he asserted, “I did absolutely nothing wrong.”

    Double Standard

    President Trump has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges filed against him. But while he may not be worried about a conviction, one emotion he admitted to feeling was anger.

    Ms. Kelly, noting that he had not been accused of destroying classified documents, said: “Hillary Clinton destroyed documents while under subpoena—while under subpoena—and wasn’t even charged. … Does it make you angry?”

    “Yeah,” he replied. “Yeah, it makes me angry.”

    President Trump noted that Ms. Clinton smashed her cell phones and destroyed tens of thousands of emails after receiving a congressional subpoena, yet former FBI Director James Comey concluded that “no reasonable prosecutor” would bring charges against her.

    “Yeah, there’s a double standard in this country, and the people aren’t standing for it,” he said. “People get it.”

    And if the polls are any indicator, the people do get it—or at least Republican voters do.

    According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, the former president holds a commanding lead over the rest of the GOP primary field at 56.1 percent. In a distant second at 13 percent is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

    But even so, President Trump added that he did not think the voters were in complete control over the results of elections in America.

    “Our elections are crooked, our elections are rigged, our borders are open, our country’s in trouble,” he said.

    “Our country’s in trouble.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 14:00

  • Hollywood Is Dead: Here's Why No One Cares
    Hollywood Is Dead: Here’s Why No One Cares

    In the past, the film industry was perhaps the only industry (besides politics) in which abject failure has been met with consumer empathy and largesse.  Ever since the days of the Great Depression, the American public has wanted Hollywood to succeed; to continue to entertain us with tales of adventure and drama.  For if Hollywood survived, so did people’s hopes for American culture.  

    There was an era when Hollywood celebrities and film creators were treated as a kind of modern royalty, a representation of the heights to which the average person could strive and “make it big.”  The glitz and the glamour were viewed as the culmination of the American dream.  But as with all fantasies, the story must end and reality must return.  Was the movie business always a farce?  Yes.  However, it was a farce that the public held up even in the worst of times as something of value; something more than frivolity.  

    In the spans of around 7 years Hollywood has lost every ounce of social capital they had gained in the past century.  That takes an epic level of ignorance and arrogance.  It takes criminal levels of malicious intent and an unprecedented display of stupidity.  The populace was willing to put up with almost any level of degeneracy from Tinsel Town as long as they could make compelling movies, and yet, they couldn’t even do that.

    Today, the consequences of their hubris are punching them right in the nether regions as the business collapses in on itself.  And this time, no one seems to care.  In fact, many people are cheering their inevitable demise.

    In the past 4 years alone theaters across the country have seen a 50% plunge in box office attendance.  Meaning, the industry somehow lost half its consumer base from 2019 to 2023.  The media attempted to play down the crash as a symptom of the covid pandemic, but the fact is that the decline started well before the lockdowns, the closures in red states ended quickly, and some movies (such as Spider-Man: No Way Home and Top Gun: Maverick) had explosive success while most other films lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the midst of the covid hype.

    It should be noted that a large percentage of celebrities and Hollywood corporate interests supported and promoted the covid lockdowns.  They also joined the online lynch mobs seeking to shame and destroy anyone who defied the mandates.  Now they’re pretending like none of that ever happened, but the public has not forgotten.    

    In the past few months Hollywood has been dealing with the WGA and SAG worker strikes and there’s no doubt they will attempt to blame the labor conflict for the continuing decay of profits just as they blamed covid.  Already, multiple major studio productions have been pushed back two years or canceled altogether, and most premier release dates have been moved to 2024 – 2025.  A number of television productions have been shut down and late night talk shows are on the verge of extinction.  But you don’t hear the public complain much, at least not as much as during the last major strikes in 2008.    

    No one cares about the writers, no one cares about the actors, and certainly no one cares about the studios for good reason.  Though writers and actors might garner more sympathy than producers and CEOs due to concerns over AI, the threat of AI formulated screenplays is greatly overblown and AI generated proxies of famous actors are not going to bring back audiences in sufficient numbers to save the film industry anyway.

    The strikes are seen as the last gasp of a dying institution, an institution that deserves to be cremated and replaced by a decentralized network of true creatives making content with substance and intelligence.  The real reason for the death of Hollywood is simple, and it’s a truth that the media will never admit to:  Get woke, go broke.  As a reminder, let’s take a look at the plethora of woke failures Hollywood produced in 2022 alone…

    Woke propaganda and DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) ideology are the root cause of the implosion of showbiz.  There is an inherent hostility within woke culture towards American heritage, towards constitutional freedoms, towards free markets and towards legitimate imagination and creativity.  This hostility and deconstruction is not lost on the average consumer, they know when they are being attacked and they don’t like it. 

    Beyond the industry’s attempts to “count coup” against the conservative and moderate population, there is the basic matter of content quality.  If the top priority of a creative endeavor is to implant extremist political messaging rather than tell a good story, it will be virtually impossible to tell a good story and the industry will attract the worst kinds of zealots.  

    The survival of Hollywood now relies on their ability to accept failure and recognize their mistakes, which will never happen. 

    It’s not surprising that media simpletons are currently clinging to a movie like Barbie as a sample of woke success; they’re desperate for a counter-argument to the Get Woke, Go Broke mantra.  That said, exceptions to the rule do not change the rule.  For every Barbie, there are a dozen Little Mermaid or Woman King bombs.  And, Barbie was never marketed as a woke film (except in Australia).  In fact, it was marketed as a normal romantic comedy romp in the US, something which female audiences have been clamoring for (how many decent romantic comedies has Hollywood released in the past 5 years?  Why have there been so few? Is it because the far-left hates love stories about straight people?).  

    They had to hide the feminist cancer in order to get butts in the theater.  Hardly a shining example of woke success.  Barbie/Oppenheimer were likely the last hurrah for Hollywood as the strikes continue unabated and productions are pushed further into oblivion.  All the parties involved in these strikes are responsible for their dwindling piece of the entertainment pie.  The writers are garbage, the actors are garbage, the production companies are garbage.  It would appear that consumers have decided it’s time to put the garbage where it belongs – In the dustbin.   

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 13:25

  • Currency Wars Versus Gold Standards
    Currency Wars Versus Gold Standards

    Authored by Alasdair Macleod via GoldMoney.com,

    Russia and the Saudis are driving up oil and diesel prices. But these moves are likely to undermine the rouble more than they undermine the dollar, euro, and other major currencies. Therefore, higher energy prices will rebound on the Russians this winter: if they shiver in Germany, they will freeze in Russia. If the dollar is king of the fiats, the rouble is just a lowly serf.

    There is little doubt that Putin and his advisers are aware of this problem.

    • Plan A was to introduce a new gold-backed BRICS currency which might be expected to weaken the dollar and euro relative to the rouble.

    • Plan B was more drastic: to back the rouble itself with gold. This is the financial equivalent of dropping a hydrogen bomb on the dollar and the global fiat currency system upon which it is based.

    As well as demonstrating why there is no option for Russia but to back her currency with gold, this article shows why it is perfectly possible for Russia to do so during wartime and explains how it can be done.

    It is, as a matter of fact, very easy for Russia to reintroduce a gold standard for the rouble, but the consequences for the global fiat currency system are nothing short of lethal.

    Introduction

    For the last decade I have argued that there is a strong financial element in the wars between the Asian hegemons and America. President Trump’s trade policy towards China and his banning of Chinese technology, notably of Huawei, the world leader in G5 mobile technology was not just to suppress competition to America’s technology leadership but also to discourage global capital flows into China, which otherwise might have gone to America. And Ukraine gave President Biden the excuse to cut Russia out of global currency markets.

    All had gone quiet, superficially at least, until Russia declared its special operation against Ukraine, setting in motion a sequence of events which rebounded badly on the West. Initially, the rouble soared in value when Putin responded to western energy sanctions by setting his own payment terms. But since then, the rouble has declined and it has become clear that as a fiat currency the rouble will continue to weaken against the dollar. The weakening rouble is the principal chink in Putin’s armour.

    In response to sanctions, Putin appointed one of his advisers, Sergei Glazyev, to design a trade settlement currency, initially for the Eurasian Economic Union. It is believed that the scope was widened into a planned BRICS gold denominated currency, confirmed by the Russians ahead of the BRICS summit last month. But for China and India that was a step too far too quickly. China’s yuan is a component in the IMF’s SDR, a hard-won privilege which might have been threatened if it backed gold as a trade settlement medium. India has a history of anti-gold Keynesian monetary policies and is keen to develop trade links with the US and its allies, as demonstrated by its hosting of the G20 meeting last weekend and its prospective free trade agreement with the UK. China may have also been concerned that the consequences might be destabilising for the global currency system.

    The hesitancy of the two most populous nations on earth over the gold issue is now creating significant problems for them, as the chart below of their respective currencies shows.

    I have inverted the y-axis on both charts to make the point that the current rally in the dollar’s trade weighted index may not mean very much for the euro, which is its largest component, but it is undermining the major Asian currencies badly. When, rather than if the rupee breaks below its current support level, a move to test the INR100 level looks all but certain. And despite zero consumer price inflation in China, the yuan has already broken support and looks like falling even further. No wonder China’s citizens are pushing gold prices up to significant premiums: it is their escape from a falling currency. The Indians have yet to get used to higher gold prices in rupees, but that is likely to be only a matter of time.

    A particular currency target is Russia’s rouble, illustrated in our next chart.

    In an attempt to stop the slide, Russia’s central bank raised its interest rate by 3.5% to 12% in August, which initially rallied the rouble, but it is now sinking back towards its recent low against the dollar. But while Putin and his economic advisor Maxim Oreshkin appear to have a reasonable grasp of monetary affairs, the same cannot be said of the leadership of Russia’s central bank. At the time of the interest rate hike, Oreshkin wrote that “a recent acceleration of inflation and the sinking currency were the result of loose monetary policy, and that the central bank “has all the necessary tools to normalise the situation”.[i]

    The issue is that the central bank has followed expansive fiat monetary policies by allowing M0 money supply to expand by 26% in the year to August. Directly addressing this expansion of central bank credit would have done more to stabilise the rouble than crippling interest rate increases. While much of the destabilisation of the rouble can be attributed to the continuing expense of the war, there can be little doubt that it is also partly due to the dollar’s recent strength. As is the case between the dollar and most other fiat currencies, there is a relative trust factor working against the rouble. Irrespective of interest rate differentials, it is the fact that fiat currency values are tied to nothing more than the faith in them. And Russia now faces the problem that in a fiat currency regime run in western capital markets it can never match the faith and credit in the US dollar. In current currency conditions, the dollar can always undermine the rouble because the US controls the fiat currency agenda.

    The weakness of the rouble is perhaps the only real pressure point that America and NATO can apply. The war in Ukraine is turning out to be yet another NATO debacle, which only appears not to be the failure it is due to the western alliance’s control of its media-reporting. In a world driven by propaganda, we cannot know the truth. But any military commander who thinks, as did Napoleon and Hitler, that a land-borne army can defeat the Russians in Eastern Europe is deluding himself. While grinding down the Ukrainian army, the Russians are digging in for the long haul, expecting growing dissent in the NATO membership to undermine its unity. It is a plan which appears to be working.

    The energy war could backfire badly against the rouble

    Dissent in NATO can be expected to increase this winter, as energy shortages begin to bite. The most recent salvo in the energy war is timed ahead of the northern hemisphere winter. Russia and Saudi Arabia have jointly been squeezing oil supplies, pushing crude prices above the G7’s price caps. One area where energy supplies will hurt the Europeans more immediately is heating oil, which is also regarded as the proxy for diesel prices having increased in dollars by nearly 50% in the last quarter alone.

    The importance of diesel is that logistics in Europe (and America) are almost entirely dependent upon it. On top of earlier OPEC+ cuts of 2 million barrels per day, the more recent 1.3 million barrels per day cuts in oil output by Russia and Saudi Arabia are bringing pressure to bear on the supply of distillates (of which diesel is one) and Russia also plans to cut its diesel exports by a quarter, partly due to refinery maintenance (allegedly) and partly to divert supplies to its domestic economy. While the EU’s gas reserves are relatively full at 90% of capacity, it is not nearly enough to see the EU through the winter. From December onwards, there will be a scramble for more supplies. And the end of the agreement on Black Sea grain exports will put further pressure on food prices as well.

    Therefore, the western alliance will face further inflationary pressures, likely to give higher interest rates and bond yields a new impetus. Already, there is a credit crisis developing in key western economies, with banks trying to reduce their risk exposure to financial and non-financial markets in the face of a recession. And as the credit crunch intensifies, the likelihood of a new round of bank failures increases.

    The problem for Russia is that in pursuing energy policies with the intention of undermining the dollar and euro, the consequences for the rouble are likely to be far worse. The next chart, of oil priced in gold and roubles, illustrates the point.

    The first point to note is that in 1998, the rouble was redenominated at a ratio of 1000:1. Back-dated by this factor, in June 1992 there were US$7.25 to the new rouble, and a barrel of oil was valued at 2.03 gold-grammes. Today there are nearly 100 roubles to the dollar, and a barrel of oil is over RUB 7,500. As a fiat currency, the rouble has behaved like a third-world currency relative to the dollar, let alone gold. And the domestic price of oil in Russia has soared along with the rouble’s collapse. Furthermore, the exceptional volatility in the rouble price of oil is extremely disruptive for the domestic economy, with heating becoming unaffordable for Russia’s citizens in desperately cold winters.

    To quantify this distress, between September last and end-July, priced in roubles the oil price increased from RUB4,707 per barrel to RUB7,500:  that is an increase of 59%. In dollars, the price rose from $78.72 to 81.72, up less than 4%. Clearly, the energy battle cannot be won by Putin, because if they shiver in Germany they will freeze in Russia.

    The chart above puts Putin’s energy war in its proper context. Withholding energy from western markets will undoubtedly destabilise their currencies. But the blowback on the rouble will be even worse. But Russia’s analysts, including Maxim Oreshkin and Sergei Glazyev (who has already recommended a gold standard for the rouble) must surely know this. And the chart also tells us that priced in gold oil is considerably more stable. In June 1992 a barrel of oil was 2.03 grammes, today it is 1.41 grammes, a fall of 30%. Bearing in mind that gold is real money, and currencies are highly unstable credit, Russia is getting 30% less for her oil today than she did in 1992.

    Again, in common with the Saudis, the Russians are aware that American monetary policy has had the consequence of undermining the true value of their oil, something they have been powerless to correct without binding the price of oil to gold. There can be little doubt that Russia’s motivation to take control of energy values was behind its proposal for a new BRICS gold backed currency and that it was part of a two-step plan.

    The first step was to send a signal to markets that the era of the fiat dollar was over, justifying the second step which was for Russia and China, followed by other nations in the BRICS camp to evolve their own currencies onto gold standards as a protective response to a declining dollar. But China was not going to take the offensive against the dollar, and the Keynesian Indians were not convinced.

    Russia will take the BRICS presidency next year, so we can assume that the new BRICS currency has not gone away. Meanwhile, if Russia is to use the oil weapon against the West, then it must put the rouble onto a gold standard again as a matter of urgency (it was on a gold standard until Khrushchev devalued the rouble in 1961). If Russia prevaricates on this issue, then Putin’s legacy to be a latter-day Peter the Great will be destroyed by his own currency.

    The practicalities of a Russian gold standard

    In the middle of a war, usually a government suspends its gold standard. This would suggest that Russia can only consider a gold standard after its special operation in Ukraine is over. But the modern equivalent of a gold standard, the currency board, has been successfully established in modern times in nations with far worse budget deficits than Russia. Russia was in the fortunate position of a budget deficit of only 2.3% of GDP last year, despite military spending. This year, military spending has soared, and at a guess the deficit will be about 5% of GDP this year, but government debt to GDP will still be about 20%.

    Anything other than ball-park numbers for the Russian economy are difficult to come by, and the volatility of the rouble is a further analytical hazard. But some of these numbers are not substantially different from where Britain was economically in 1816, when a return to the gold standard was planned — the exception being her estimated debt to GDP number, which at nearly 200% was ten times that of Russia today. Therefore, there is no reason why Russia cannot put the rouble onto a gold standard immediately.

    In doing so, the objective is simple: to ensure that the purchasing power of circulating credit retains its value in terms of goods and services with as little fluctuation as possible. It would allow savers to accumulate credit balances in their bank accounts, and for businessmen to calculate the profitability of their investments with greater certainty. With income tax currently at a flat 13% rate and corporation tax at 20%, in these conditions economic progress will advance surprisingly rapidly. And there is every reason to expect Russia would quickly become an economic counterweight to the sheer power of China, rather than living off the depletion of her natural resources. It is necessary not just for Russia to distance herself from the fate of the western fiat currency system, but also for President Putin’s legacy.

    The method of ensuring monetary stability is equally simple: to bind credit denominated in roubles to gold, which both in law and naturally is the money of the people. It is the highest form of credit, there being no counterparty risk. It’s purchasing power in the general sense has held steady through millennia. Importantly, it removes the currency from political control and dollar influences. It allows for the creation and destruction of credit determined solely by the needs of the Russian people, both as businessmen and consumers.

    In constructing a new gold standard for Russia, we can learn from the lessons of the past, particularly the establishment of Britain’s gold sovereign coin fixed at 113 grains (7.99 grammes) to a one pound Bank of England banknote, freely exchangeable at the holder’s option. There were mistakes made in the implementation of Britain’s gold standard in the nearly one hundred years of its existence, but in the light of experience we should know how to avoid them today.

    The principal errors incorporated in the 1844 Bank Charter Act were to not realise that redemptions of bank notes for sovereign coin were inconsequential. The occasional runs on the Bank of England’s gold reserves always originated in cheques drawn on the Bank for bullion. Amazingly, this source of encashment was not foreseen by the framers of the Act, leading to crises in 1847, 1857, and 1866. The Act was suspended on these three occasions, the crises were averted, and the Act subsequently reinstated every time.

    The observant reader will have noted that these runs on the Bank’s bullion reserves fit in with an approximate ten-year cycle of bank credit expansion and crisis, a cycle still evident to this day. The 1847 suspension came about after the Bank had made immense advances to commercial banks to rescue them from insolvency. But the Bank’s advances were insufficient to stop the crisis. With Parliament staring into an economic abyss, it authorised the bank to issue notes at discretion, and the panic immediately subsided.

    Ten years later in November 1857, the Bank’s monetary assets were comprised of gold and silver, which together with its own notes bought in had declined to only £387,144 compared with liabilities to commercial banks of £5,458,000. It was on the point of having to cease trading within the terms of the act. Consequently, the government authorised the Bank to expand its liabilities at its discretion, but at a discount rate of not less than 10%. The following day, the panic passed.

    In 1866, the prominent discount house, Overend Gurney failed. Again, the government authorised the suspension of the Act, allowing the Bank of England to expand its liabilities to deal with the crisis, but again at a punitive discount rate of not less than 10%. As before, the run on the Bank of England’s gold reserves ceased.

    In all three cases, the suspension of the 1844 Act saved the nation from untold economic damage. In this respect, the Act was a failure. Insisting on the restrictions of the Act come hell or high water and simply letting banks and businesses fail is never an option. Therefore, a successful gold standard must allow for the management and containment of banking crises, the inevitable consequence of periodic over-expansions of credit. There has to be the flexibility to support otherwise solvent commercial banks in times of crisis. In all three cases above, it was the function of the banking department to avert the crisis by extending additional credit. It should not have been the function of the issue department to get involved, and if the separation between the two had been different in its detail, the Act need not necessarily have had to be suspended.

    I should mention a further error in the framing of the 1844 Act. At that time, it had been assumed that a drain on the nation’s bullion would only occur if the balance of trade with other nations was unfavourable, because settlements would be conducted in gold. While this was obviously true, there was a far greater influence on bullion flows: differences in discount rates (or interest rates in modern terminology) between centres with currencies on gold standards.

    If the interest rate in Centre A exceeds that in Centre B by more than the cost of transporting bullion between them, then bullion will flow from Centre B to Centre A. This is why the setting of interest rates must be solely to regulate bullion flows. To explain further why this is the case, it should be understood that the future value of gold includes the interest accumulated with it, being payable in gold. Therefore, if the sum of principal plus interest is less in one place than another, gold will naturally gravitate from the former towards the latter.

    Armed with this knowledge, Russia can easily establish the rouble on a gold standard and maintain it. In light of the foregoing, the following are the basic principles required to achieve this goal.

    1. The objective is to ensure that rouble banknotes and balances held in the Issue Department (see below) are freely encashable into gold coin and bullion.
    2. The issue and redemption activities of rouble banknotes must be transferred from the Central Bank of Russia to a new entity charged solely with managing the note issue, which we will refer to as the Issue Department. The central bank’s gold reserves must also be transferred to the Issue Department. Furthermore, the Issue Department must have the sole power to set interest rates with the mandate of maintaining sufficient bullion balances at all times. By these means, interest rates will no longer be a matter for monetary policy, being handed down to the markets.
    3. The Banking Department will continue with its other functions on behalf of the Russian state, except for the setting of interest rates. It will act as it sees fit in the management of commercial bank failures, extending credit or withdrawing it when necessary to maintain stability in the overall credit system.
    4. The separation between the Banking and Issue Departments must be defined and confirmed in law. As separate entities, each shall have its own balance sheets, so that the credit activities of one are separate from the other.
    5. Along with the power to set interest rates, the Issue Department will be empowered to maintain reserve balances (the counterpart of bullion submitted to it) paying interest at a small discount to the official rate. Assets on the Issue Department’s balance sheet balancing these reserves will be held as interest paying deposits at the Banking Department, allowing the Issue Department to generate sufficient profit between its liabilities and assets to cover its costs and the costs of minting coin.
    6. Any restrictions and taxes on gold coin and bullion must be removed by law. All foreign currency restrictions and controls must be removed as well to permit the free flow of bullion.

    Currently, Russia’s official gold reserves are declared to be 2,301 tonnes. It is thought that between two state funds, the Gokhran (State Fund for Precious Metals) and Russia’s National Wealth Fund, Russia has a further 7,000—9,000 tonnes. Their holdings need not be folded into the Issue Department (though it may be advantageous to the funds to do so), but public declaration of their quantity would be helpful to establish the gold standard’s initial credibility.

    The rouble must be defined by weight in gold grammes and be fully exchangeable in gold coin. New coin must be minted accordingly, perhaps with a face value of 50,000 roubles and exchangeable in those units (currently the equivalent of about $500, and similar to the value of a British sovereign). The time taken to design and mint the new coin will delay its introduction, but there is no reason why a bullion exchange facility cannot start immediately.

    This is how it will work.

    The bullion exchange facility operates not through the Banking Department, but through the Issue Department. In order for a commercial bank to have a credit balance with the Issue Department, bullion must be deposited in the first place. And it is here that the lessons learned from the 1844 Bank Charter Act comes into play.

    Banks eligible to open an account at the Issue Department can buy gold in domestic and foreign markets, where the lease rate for 12 months is currently less than 2%. We can take that as an indicated rate of interest that global markets pay to borrow gold. Therefore, in one year a holder of 100 ounces of gold has 102 ounces equivalent (assuming the interest accumulates in line with the gold price and is paid in gold — which is not the case). Meanwhile, the Bank of Russia’s key rate is 12%. The uplift in return for a buyer of gold in international markets depositing gold with the Issue Department is 10% accumulating in gold.

    It now becomes obvious that Russian and other banks accessing the Issue Department will provide the gold deposits to ensure that the Issue Department will rapidly accumulate all the bullion it needs to operate a secure gold standard. And it is equally clear that with the ability to regulate the interest rate, the issue Department can manage its gold reserves.

    In its initial stages, credibility is obviously key. This can be rapidly achieved by the Russian banks supporting the plan, which they are bound to. Any bank on Russia’s SPFS payments messaging system can open an account with the Issue Department. This should be extended to any licenced bank in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRICS with secure messaging system access to the Issue Department. As well as acting as principals, these banks can operate on behalf of their customers. Russian oligarchs and draft-dodgers who have sold their roubles would almost certainly rush to buy them back, and even deposit gold with the Issue Department through the agency of their banks.

    On current interest rate spreads, bullion inflows should be substantial: arbitrage with western bullion markets will ensure it. Given current sanctions against Russia, London and other markets under the control of the western alliance will not be directly available to sanctioned banks, a factor which is likely to provide a significant boost to gold trade in Asian and Middle Eastern markets. Sanctions will not stop gold shipments. Nonetheless, Russia’s success is bound to lead to imitators, almost certainly the Saudis, and if not immediately the Chinese are bound to follow.

    A rouble priced in gold will also make energy payments in declining fiat currencies even less desirable to Russia, which will have to be sold — for what? The divide between the fiat world and gold standard currencies is going to become a very wide gulf indeed. A new impetus for the delayed BRICS trade settlement currency is bound to ensue, particularly with Russia taking the BRICS chair in January. India’s hope that payment terms for oil will be set by nations on fiat currency standards should be dismissed.

    For the other BRICS currencies, a currency board relationship with a gold backed currency becomes a live option. The more natural alternative to the rouble (which Russia may not desire anyway) is to tie in with China’s renminbi — if or when it adopts a gold standard. China may not be far behind Russia in implementing its own gold standard anyway, because the consequences for the dollar and euro could be sufficiently undermining for China to seek to protect her own currency.

    The impact on the dollar of the move to gold standards

    Chalk and cheese, oil and water, diamonds and dust: whatever metaphor you care to choose, it must be clear that a mixture of gold standards and fiat currencies will not last long. Priced in fiat currencies, gold’s value might be expected to rise significantly, as central banks in what is now termed The Global South (the Asian hegemons and those aligned with them) move towards replacing fiat currencies in their reserves with gold.

    According to Ambrose Evens-Pritchard (Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph), “The Global South holds three-quarters of the world’s $12 trillion of foreign exchange reserves (59 per cent held in dollars)”. And in addition to a $2-plus budget deficit, in the next year the US Government has to refinance about 30% of its existing debt.

    Therefore, the impact of a move to gold on funding the western alliance’s deficits will be substantial, because not only will The Global South stop buying their bonds, but they will seek to liquidate their existing holdings. In the absence of severe spending cuts and increased taxes, increasing monetisation of government debt will become inevitable. Kiss goodbye to lower inflation, lower interest rates, and lower bond yields: embrace crashing bond prices and collapsing asset values. What over-leveraged bank can survive the squeeze on their balance sheets? Which of the western alliance’s central banks, already deeply into negative equity will be able to monetise their government’s debt with further QE against a background of soaring bond yields?

    Inflation of energy prices, already low measured in gold grammes, is bound to increase measured in collapsing fiat. Truly, if Russia does introduce a gold standard for the rouble, it will be the financial and economic equivalent of a nuclear attack on the entire fiat currency system. There can be little doubt that these consequences for the global financial system are what have made Russia hesitate so far. China is sure to have arrived at a similar conclusion, one reason why she was too cautious to support Russia’s proposal for a gold backed trade settlement medium. But Russia is reaching a point where she has no other way to stabilise her currency.

    Russia and NATO (by which we really mean America) have got themselves into positions from which they cannot back down. Unless Russia stabilises her currency, her likely victory in Ukraine will be pyrrhic. Putin’s policy of driving up energy prices will have worse consequences for the Russian people this winter than for Europeans and Americans, because of a collapsing rouble. And a collapsing rouble will also drive up food prices, a combination which will almost certainly destroy Putin’s government.

    Whichever way you look at it, it is the currency factor which matters above all else and the Russians have no option but to stabilise the rouble by defining it in gold grammes and making it immediately exchangeable on the lines described in this article.

    It will be a tragic end to the dollar-based fiat currency regime.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 12:50

  • Chicago Mayor Johnson Moves Toward City-Run Grocery Stores
    Chicago Mayor Johnson Moves Toward City-Run Grocery Stores

    Authored by Jonathan Turley,

    When Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) ran for office, he was propelled to victory by a growing socialist movement allied with the Democratic Party. 

    The Socialist movement has elected a record number of socialists in Congress.

    However, Johnson now has one of the largest American cities to implement such policies with the support of the far left teacher’s union.

    Years ago, I wrote how a delegation of the union went to Venezuela and heaped praise on the murderous regime’s “progress.”

    Now Johnson appears to be moving toward a pilot program with great significance for socialist supporters: state-run grocery stores.

    I am admittedly no fan of Johnson. 

    I love Chicago where I was born and raised. However, rising taxes and crime had led many to leave, particularly businesses. 

    This includes grocery chains. Walmart, Walgreens, Aldi are just some of the companies closing stores.

    Johnson’s solution is telling.

    Rather than address the underlying conditions, he is suggesting a solution that has failed historically — government-run stores. Indeed, the failure in dealing with crime and hostile business environments has allowed socialist activists to realize a major new socialist agenda item.

    The Chicago Tribune reported the start of the feasibility study to open government-run stores as part of Johnson’s pledge to advance “innovative, whole-of-government approaches to address … inequities.”

    The mayor said in a statement: 

    All Chicagoans deserve to live near convenient, affordable, healthy grocery options. We know access to grocery stores is already a challenge for many residents, especially on the South and West sides. A better, stronger, safer future is one where our youth and our communities have access to the tools and resources they need to thrive. My administration is committed to advancing innovative, whole-of-government approaches to address these inequities.

    His Economic Security Project senior adviser Ameya Pawar said that government-run stores are no different from other government programs “the way a library or the postal service operates.” It is all part of “reimagining the role government can play in our lives by exploring a public option for grocery stores via a municipally owned grocery store and market.”

    Yet, we have previously “imagined” this approach in various governments with uniformly awful results.

    The government is not going to run these stores at a profit when actual businesses could not do so. Instead, it is likely to supply food at a higher cost for taxpayers in the red.

    What is striking is that Johnson’s office said the grocery stores would be funded with the help of the Biden Administration as well as state funds. The use of federal funds to take another stab at state-run stores was hardly embraced by Congress in prior appropriation debates. If true, it is yet another example of how Congress has allowed billions to be spent without meaningful limits, including the massive and largely unrestricted spending tied to pandemic measures. That funding has been used for everything from office upgrades to state lottery systems.

    In the Soviet Union, state-run grocery stores were the subject of gallows humor. The “reimagining” of grocery stores left shelves bare with only imagined essential products. The most widely told joke spread just before the fall of the Soviet Union:

    Two men are in line waiting to buy vodka. An hour goes by, then two, and the line barely moves. Everyone is in a terrible mood. Finally, one of the men can’t take it any longer. “This is it! I’m sick of this kind of life. Everywhere there are lines, you cannot buy anything, and the store shelves are empty. I’ve had enough. I’m going to the Kremlin right now to assassinate him”. The man returns after two hours, still angry, and says, “To hell with it! At the Kremlin the line to assassinate Gorbachev is longer than this one.”

    As the Johnson and Biden Administration try to make state-run stores work where the Soviet Union failed, history and economics are hardly on their side.

    Of course, as University of Chicago’s Milton Friedman noted:

    “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 09/16/2023 – 11:40

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Sep 16

Today’s News 16th September 2023

  • Escobar: Welcome To The 'De-Westernization Movement'
    Escobar: Welcome To The ‘De-Westernization Movement’

    Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Cradle,

    In Vladivostok, the Russian Far East rises

    In Vladivostok this week, the ‘Russian Far East’ was on full, glorious display. Russia, China, India, and the Global South were all there to contribute to this trade, investment, infrastructure, transportation, and institutional renaissance.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin opened and closed his quite detailed address to the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok with a resounding message: “The Far East is Russia’s strategic priority for the entire 21st century.”

    And that’s exactly the feeling one would have prior to the address, interacting with business executives mingling across the stunning forum grounds at the Far Eastern Federal University (opened only 11 years ago), with the backdrop of the more than four kilometer-long suspension bridge to Russky Island across the Eastern Bosphorus strait.

    The development possibilities of what is in effect Russian Asia, and one of the key nodes of Asia-Pacific, are literally mind-boggling. Data from the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and the Arctic – confirmed by several of the most eye-catching panels during the Forum – list a whopping 2,800 investment projects underway, 646 of which are already up and running, complete with the creation of several international Advanced Special Economic Zones (ASEZ) and the expansion of the Free Port of Vladivostok, home to several hundred small and midsize enterprises (SMEs).  

    All that goes way beyond Russia’s “pivot to the East” which was announced by Putin in 2012, two years before the Maidan events in Kiev. For the rest of the planet, not to mention the collective west, it is impossible to understand the Russian Far East magic without being on the spot – starting with Vladivostok, the charming, unofficial capital of the Far East, with its gorgeous hills, striking architecture, verdant islands, sandy bays and of course the terminal of the legendary Trans-Siberian Railway. 

    What Global South visitors did experience – the collective west was virtually absent from the Forum – was a work in progress in sustainable development: a sovereign state setting the tone in terms of integrating large swathes of its territory to the new, emerging, polycentric geoeconomic era. Delegations from ASEAN (Laos, Myanmar, Philippines) and the Arab world, not to mention India and China, totally understood the picture. 

    Welcome to the ‘de-westernization movement’

    In his speech, Putin stressed how the rate of investment in the Far East is three times the Russian region average; how the Far East is only 35 percent explored, with unlimited potential for natural resource industries; how the Power of Siberia and Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok gas pipelines will be connected; and how by 2030, liquified natural gas (LNG) production in the Russian Arctic will triple.

    In a broader context, Putin made clear that “the global economy has changed and continues to change; the west, with its own hands, is destroying the system of trade and finance that it itself created.” It is no wonder then that Russia’s trade turnover with Asia-Pacific grew by 13.7 percent in 2022, and by another 18.3 percent in just the first half of 2023. 

    Cue to Presidential Business Rights Commissioner Boris Titov showing how this reorientation away from the “static” west is inevitable. Although western economies are well-developed, they are already “too heavily invested and sluggish,” says Titov: 

    “In the East, on the other hand, everything is booming, moving forward rapidly, developing rapidly. And this applies not only to China, India, and Indonesia, but also to many other countries. They are the center of development today, not Europe, our main consumers of energy are there, finally.”

    It is quite impossible to do justice to the enormous scope and absorbing discussions featured in the major panels in Vladivostok. Here is just a taste of the key themes.              

    A Valdai session focused on the accumulated positive effects of Russia’s “pivot to the East,” with the Far East positioned as the natural hub for swinging the entire Russian economy to Asian geoeconomics.

    Yet there are problems, of course, as stressed by Wang Wen from the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University. Vladivostok’s population is only 600,000. the Chinese would say that for such a city, infrastructure is poor, “so it needs more infrastructure as fast as it can. Vladivostok could become the next Hong Kong. The way is to set up SEZs like in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Pudong.” Not hard, as “the non-western world very much welcomes Russia.”

    Wang Wen could not but highlight the breakthrough represented by the Huawei Mate 60 Pro: “Sanctions are not such a bad thing. They only strengthen the “de-westernization movement,” as it is informally referred to in China.  

    China by mid-2022 slipped into was defined by Wang as “silent mode” in terms of investment for fear of US secondary sanctions. But now that’s changing, and frontier regions once again are regarded as key to trade ties. In the Free Port of Vladivostok, China is the number one investor with its $11 billion commitment.  

    Fesco is the largest maritime transportation company in Russia – and reaches China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. They are actively engaged in the connection of Southeast Asia to the Northern Sea Route, in cooperation with Russian Railways. The key is to set up a network of logistic hubs. Fesco executives describe it as “titanic shift in logistics.”

    Russian Railways in itself is a fascinating case. It operates, among others, the Trans-Baikal, which happens to be the world’s busiest rail line, connecting Russia from the Urals to the Far East. Chita, smack on the Trans-Siberian – a top manufacturing center 900 km east of Irkutsk – is considered the capital of Russian Railways.  

    And then there’s the Arctic. The Arctic is home to 80 percent of Russia’s gas, 20 percent of its oil, 30 percent of its territory, 15 percent of GDP, but consists of only 2.5 million people. The development of the Northern Sea Route requires top-notch high-tech, such as a constantly evolving feet of icebreakers. 

    Liquid and stable as vodka 

    All that transpired in Vladivostok connects directly to the much-ballyhooed visit by North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. The timing was a beauty; after all the Primorsky Krai region in the Far East is an immediate neighbor to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). 

    Putin emphasized that Russia and the DPRK are developing several joint projects in transportation, communications, logistics, and naval sectors.

    So much more than military and space matters amicably discussed by Putin and Kim, the heart of the matter is geoeconomics: a trilateral Russia-China-DPRK cooperation, with the distinct outcome of increased container traffic transiting through the DPRK and the tantalizing possibility of DPRK rail reaching Vladivostok and then connecting deeper into Eurasia via the Trans-Siberian line. 

    And if that was not ground-breaking enough, much was discussed in several round tables about the International North South Transportation Corridor (INTSC). The Russia-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran corridor will be finalized in 2027 – and that will be a key branch of the INTSC.   

    In parallel, New Delhi and Moscow are itching to start the Eastern Maritime Corridor (EMC) as soon as possible – that’s the official denomination of the Vladivostok-Chennai route. Sarbananda Sonowal, the Indian minister of ports, shipping and waterways, promoted an Indo-Russian workshop on the EMC in Chennai from October 30 to discuss “the smooth and swift operationalization” of the corridor.

    I had the honor of being part of one of the crucial panels, Greater Eurasia: Drivers for the Formation of an Alternative International Monetary and Financial System.

    A key conclusion is that the stage is set for a common Eurasia payment system – part of the Eurasian Economic Union’s (EAEU) draft declaration for 2030-2045 – against the backdrop of Hybrid War and “toxic currencies” (83 per cent of EAEU transactions already bypass them). 

    Yet the debate remains fierce when it comes to a basket of national currencies, a basket of goods, payment and settlement structures, the use of blockchain, a new pricing system, or setting up a single stock exchange. Is it all possible, technically? Yes, but that would take 30 or 40 years to take shape, as the panel stressed.  

    As it stands, a single example of challenges ahead is enough. The idea of coming up with a basket of currencies for an alternative payment system did not gather steam at the BRICS summit because of India’s position. 

    Aleksandr Babakov, deputy chairman of the Duma, evoked the discussions between the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and Iran on trade financing in national currencies, including a road map to look for best ways in legislation to help attract investment. That’s also being discussed with private companies. The model is the success of the China-Russia trade turnover.  

    Andrey Klepach, chief economist at VEB, quipped that the best currency is “liquid and stable. Like vodka.” So we’re not there yet. Two-thirds of trade are still carried in dollars and euros; the Chinese yuan accounts for only three percent. India refuses to use the yuan. And there’s a huge Russia-India imbalance: as much as 40 billion rupees are sitting in Russian exporters accounts with nowhere to go. A priority is to improve trust in the ruble: it should be accepted by both India and China. And a digital ruble is becoming a necessity.  

    Wang Wen concurred, saying there’s not enough ambition. India should export more to Russia and Russia should invest more in India. 

    In parallel, as pointed out by Sohail Khan, the deputy secretary-general of the SCO, India now controls no less than 40 percent of the global digital payment market. It had a share of zero only seven years ago. That accounts for the success of its unified payment system (UPI).

    A BRICS-EAEU panel expressed the hope that a joint summit of these two key multilateral organizations will happen next year. Once again, it’s all about trans-Eurasian transportation corridors – as two-thirds of world turnover will soon follow the eastern track connecting Russia to Asia. 

    On BRICS-EAEU-SCO, top Russian companies are already integrated into BRICS business, from Russian Railways and Rostec to big banks. A big problem remains how to explain the EAEU to India – even as the EAEU structure is deemed to be a success. And watch this space: a free trade agreement with Iran will be clinched soon. 

    At the last panel in Vladivostok, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova – the contemporary counterpart of Hermes, the messenger of the Gods – pointed out how the G20 and BRICS summits set the stage for Putin’s speech at the Eastern Economic Forum. 

    That required “fantastic strategic patience.”

    Russia, after all, “never supported isolation” and “always advocated partnership.” The frantic activity in Vladivostok has just demonstrated how the “pivot to Asia” is all about enhanced connectivity and partnership in a new polycentric era.  

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 23:40

  • "Migration Economy": South American Businessmen, Politicians Making 'Tens Of Millions' On Human Trafficking Empire
    “Migration Economy”: South American Businessmen, Politicians Making ‘Tens Of Millions’ On Human Trafficking Empire

    As migrants from Central America surge north in hopes of reaching the porous US border, businessmen and elected officials have turned the journey into a well-oiled, and profitable, machine – making “tens of millions” of dollars per year (or more, see below).

    The journey into the jungle begins, led by a guide from the New Light Darién Foundation. (via NY Times)

    The Darién Gap, once a formidable natural barrier between North and South America, has essentially become a marketplace. Remote and beautiful, a constellation of small towns leading to the gap has been become a hub for mass migration, according to the NY Times.

    The towns are riddled with poverty, and are housing a population that has long been victims of the country’s internal conflicts. Their sewage, water, and electricity systems, already frail, were overwhelmed when thousands of Haitians began to show up in 2021, fleeing the chaos that spiraled after their President’s assassination.

    The Darién Gap has quickly morphed into one the Western Hemisphere’s most pressing political and humanitarian crises. A trickle only a few years ago has become a flood: More than 360,000 people have already crossed the jungle in 2023, according to the Panamanian government, surpassing last year’s almost unthinkable record of nearly 250,000.

    In response, the United States, Colombia and Panama signed an agreement in April to “end the illicit movement of people” through the Darién Gap, a practice that “leads to death and exploitation of vulnerable people for significant profit.” -NY Times

    Opportunists seize the day

    Fredy Marín’s boat company ferries hundreds of migrants to the jungle each day. He is now running for mayor of Necoclí, Colombia. (via NY Times)

    “This is a beautiful economy,” said Fredy Marín, a former town councilman from the municipality of Necoclí, who operates a boat company that ferries migrants on their way to the US. Marín says he moves thousands of people per month for $40 per head.

    Marín is now running for mayor of Necoclí, where he’s vowed to preserve the thriving migration industry, which has led to locals selling essentials like tents, snake repellent, and even toddler-sized rubber boots to migrants.

    Venezuelan families that want to make it to the United States have to pay at least $170 a person to enter the Darién Gap. (via NY Times)

    Elected community board members, like Darwin García in Acandí, Colombia, even describe the explosion of migrants as the “best thing” for their struggling communities.

    “We have organized everything: the boatmen, the guides, the bag carriers,” said García, who added that the flood of “migrants the best thing that could have happened” to their impoverished town. García’s younger brother, Luis Fernando Martínez, is running for mayor of Acandí on this platform of sustaining the so-called ‘migration economy.’

    The migrants can even hire a sort of “security” service from groups like the New Light Darién Foundation, which offers a guided journey for migrants navigating the gap.

    The foundation has hired more than 2,000 local guides and backpack carriers, organized in teams with numbered T-shirts of varying colors — lime green, butter yellow, sky blue — like members of an amateur soccer league.

    Migrants pay for tiers of what the foundation calls “services,” including the basic $170 guide and security package to the border. Then a migration “adviser” wraps two bracelets around their wrists as proof of payment. -NY Times

    The service is “Like a ticket to Disney,” said Renny Montilla, 25, a construction worker from Venezuela.

    Migrants from around the world arrive in Necoclí by bus. (via NY Times)

    Whose fault is this?

    On the surface, Colombian and U.S. governments have expressed commitments to curb this illicit flow. However, actions on the ground tell a different story. Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro says the United States caused this migration crisis while showing no interest in curbing it, and says that the roots of this migration were “the product of poorly taken measures against Latin American peoples.”

    The New York Times has spent months here in the Darién Gap and surrounding towns, and the national government has, at best, a marginal presence.

    When the national authorities can be seen at all, they are often waving migrants through, or in the case of the national police, fist-bumping the men selling expensive travel packages through the jungle.

    The top police official in the region, Col. William Zubieta, said it wasn’t his job to halt the flow. Instead, he argued, the nation’s migration authorities should be exerting control.

    “Unfortunately, they do not have it,” he said.

    …

    He [Petro] said he had no intention of sending “horses and whips” to the border to solve a problem that wasn’t of his country’s making.

    In the absence of the Colombian government, local leaders have decided to handle migration themselves. -NY Times

    Further complicating matters is a notorious drug-trafficking group, the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces, whose control over northern Colombia is ‘so complete that the country’s ombudsman’s office calls the group the region’s “hegemonic” armed actor,” according to the report.

    Are the actual profits much higher?

    As Mike Shedlock of Mish Talk notes;

    Biden vowed to “end the illicit movement” of people through the Darién jungle in Columbia. But the profits are too big to pass up. A record 360,000 made passage this year. That’s well above the record 250,000 for all of 2022.

    Politicians and other human traffic smugglers in Columbia charge a minimum of $170 a head, not to reach the US, but simply to get through the Columbian jungle on route to Panama. And that’s just for a guide. The all inclusive package is $500 or more.

    The Math

    • $170 * 360,000 = $61,200,000
    • $500 * 360,000 = $180,000,000

    The Colombian politicians and helpers have made somewhere between $61 million and $180 million this year selling services that the Biden administration vowed to end.

    Once Through Darien, Then What?

    There is much more to the article. Importantly, once through the Darien Gap, everyone is on their own.

    “On the Panamanian side, small criminal bands rove the forest, using rape as a tool to extract money and punish those who cannot pay,” notes the New York Times.

    People need to cough up more money to make it through Panama to Mexico, then from Mexico to the US border, then still more money from the US border to the US.

    People without adequate funds are subject to rape or torture or death.

    This is what’s become of US immigration policy.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 23:20

  • 'Statistically Significant Increase' In Myopericarditis And Single Organ Cutaneous Vasculitis Found After COVID-19 Vaccination
    ‘Statistically Significant Increase’ In Myopericarditis And Single Organ Cutaneous Vasculitis Found After COVID-19 Vaccination

    Authored by Megan Redshaw via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    A large nationwide study of more than 4 million people in New Zealand identified a statistically significant association in two adverse events following vaccination with Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.

    (Fit Ztudio/Shutterstock)

    In the post-marketing safety study recently published in Springer, researchers examining 12 specific adverse events found an increase in myopericarditis during the 21-day period following both Pfizer vaccine doses. Myopericarditis describes two distinct inflammatory heart conditions that occur simultaneously, myocarditis and pericarditis.

    The highest rate of myopericarditis was observed in the youngest participants under 39 years of age following the second vaccine dose—with an estimated five additional myopericarditis cases per 100,000 persons vaccinated regardless of age. Researchers also observed an increase following both vaccine doses in individuals aged 40 to 59.

    “Our findings align with international postmarketing studies, case series reports, and cases detected through reports to New Zealand’s spontaneous system that identify an association between the BNT162b2 vaccine and myo/pericarditis, especially in younger people and after the second dose,” the researchers stated.

    In addition to myopericarditis, the study found an increase in single-organ cutaneous vasculitis (SOCV) in the 20- to 39-year-old age group following the first vaccine dose. SOCV is a syndrome characterized by inflammation and damage to the skin’s blood vessels without the involvement of other organ systems.

    Study Methods

    To carry out their study, researchers collected data from Feb. 19, 2021, at the beginning of the vaccine rollout, to Feb. 10, 2022, among 4,114,364 individuals aged 5 and older who received a first and second primary or pediatric dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. During the study period, 13,597 individuals were excluded after testing positive for COVID-19.

    The researchers then compared the incidence rates of each outcome of interest for 21 days—the interval between first and second vaccine doses—following vaccination with Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to the expected background incidence rate from a pre-vaccination period (2014 to 2019) to detect vaccine safety signals.

    Outcomes of interest were identified from New Zealand’s National Minimum Data Set—a national data collection system for all public hospitalizations connected to a National Health Index number that allows researchers to link hospitalization with Pfizer vaccination records in the National COVID Immunisation Register.

    The 12 adverse events analyzed included acute kidney injury, acute liver injury, Guillain-Barré syndrome, erythema multiforme, herpes zoster, SOCV, myopericarditis (includes all events coded as myocarditis, pericarditis, and myopericarditis), arterial thrombosis, cerebral venous thrombosis, splanchnic thrombosis, venous thromboembolism, and thrombocytopenia.

    Outside of myopericarditis and SOCV, researchers identified no other statistically significant associations between Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and other outcomes of interest for all ages combined. Unlike myopericarditis, SOCV has not been identified as an adverse reaction to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, and only a few case reports and reviews have been published in the literature.

    Potential Study Limitations

    The study had several potential limitations. Although many adverse events of special interest resulted in hospitalization, some conditions, such as herpes zoster, are typically treated in the primary care setting. Diagnoses of conditions following COVID-19 vaccination in the general setting were not included in the analysis and could be underestimated.

    Using ICD-10-AM codes to identify outcomes of interest without conducting clinical record assessments could lead to potential misclassification, and changing diagnostic codes before the study period could overinflate or underestimate potential adverse events.

    Healthy vaccinee bias could affect results when comparing observed adverse events among the vaccinated cohort with the background population, as healthier people are more likely to get vaccinated. Additionally, a risk period of one to 21 days may exclude potential adverse events beyond the time frame, according to the study.

    Researchers Conclude Benefits of Vaccines Still Outweigh Risks

    Despite the increased risk of myopericarditis observed during the study, researchers said the risk of myocarditis following SARS-CoV-2 infection is “substantially greater” than after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination, leading them to conclude the benefits of vaccination still outweigh the risks from the disease.

    Yet experts acknowledge that myocarditis caused by a natural viral infection differs from that triggered by mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. As previously reported by The Epoch Times, although COVID-19 can cause myocarditis, the myocarditis developed by a healthy young person post-infection is extremely mild compared to the onset of myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccination.

    According to pediatric cardiologist Dr. Kirk Milhoan, myocarditis caused by the COVID-19 vaccine differs from viral myocarditis because an infection of the heart isn’t causing the damage. It’s being damaged by the “spike protein that’s cardiotoxic to the heart,” which causes inflammation in the three main vessels of the heart by a different process.

    “There’s a difference between the body encountering a virus naturally that causes myocarditis and actively giving the body something we know causes harm,” Dr. Milhoan told The Epoch Times.

    The New Zealand study adds to a growing body of evidence showing mRNA COVID-19 vaccination can trigger heart inflammatory conditions in young people.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 23:00

  • "O'Connor Strikes Back": Federal Judge Exempts Plaintiffs From Biden's ATF 'Frame And Reciever' Rule 
    “O’Connor Strikes Back”: Federal Judge Exempts Plaintiffs From Biden’s ATF ‘Frame And Reciever’ Rule 

    What’s not being reported by corporate media outlets, such as Reuters, AP News, Bloomberg, and others, because any win (big or small) for the Second Amendment community is rarely covered due to their commitment to anti-gunners, such as ‘Everytown’ and ‘Giffords,’ is that Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas granted the plaintiffs in the Garland v. VanDerStok case, Defense Distributed and BlackHawk Manufacturing Group Inc. (doing business as 80 Percent Arms) motions for an injunction pending appeal, which basically means they’re the only two companies that can sell ‘ghost guns’ nationally (or partially completed frames and receivers and weapons parts kits) while the case continues. 

    “Last month, a cringing Roberts Court blinked under protest and preserved the Biden frame and receiver rule for the life of the first appeal from a final judgment of the Texas district court. Big sad. That appeal isn’t exactly going well for ATF …,” Defense Distributed wrote in a blog post. 

    Defense Distributed continued, “This month, Judge O’Connor strikes back with forty-two pages of just why he has the authority to issue an injunction against the frame and receiver rule, as to at least two VanDerStok plaintiffs: Defense Distributed and 80 Percent Arms.”

    Defense Distributed, the online, open-source hardware and software organization that pioneered the first 3D-printed ghost gun, the “liberator” a decade ago, expects, “DOJ probably appeals, but the Biden admin is now in the worst place they could be: The true believer fanatics in this industry have achieved a commercial monopoly. Oops.” 

    Recall, that the president was in the Rose Garden in April 2022, vowing to crack down on untraceable firearms:

    “These guns are weapons of choice for many criminals,” Biden, adding “We’re going to do everything we can to deprive them of that choice.”

    As a strategic move in June, Defense Distributed unveiled a 0% lower for handguns, essentially a block of steel, instead of the usual 80% lower, challenging federal regulators in their oversight attempts. The company revealed the 0% lower for ARs at SHOT Show 2022. 

    Making sense of this all, what Defense Distributed is saying is that Biden’s Department of Justice was attempting to crush the partially completed frames and receivers industry but failed as it only backfired and created a “commercial monopoly” where Defense Distributed and 80 Percent Arms will be the only players to sell ghost guns kits in the US legally. 

    *   *   * 

    Here’s the ruling:

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 22:40

  • Implications Of Making Ballot Images And Cast-Vote Records Public
    Implications Of Making Ballot Images And Cast-Vote Records Public

    Authored by Rachel Orey & Sarah Walker via RealClear Wire,

    This article is a summary of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s August 2023 explainer, Implications of Making Cast Vote Records and Ballot Images Public. Read the full explainer for additional context and explanation.

    Since 2020, election offices nationwide have received unprecedented numbers of requests for election records. These requests are critical to efforts by journalists, academics, and voters to hold governments to account, yet election offices are unequipped to process the volume of requests being received.

    Cast vote records (CVRs) and ballot images are the two types of records most in demand. Rules governing the creation and release of CVRs and ballot images vary across election jurisdictions; not all choose to make these records public.

    Ballot images are digital renderings of each paper ballot tabulated in an election, similar to making a photocopy of the ballot and then storing it securely. CVRs are electronic records of how the marks on the ballot are tabulated as votes for candidates and on other ballot questions. They come in a variety of formats, some much easier for the public to examine than others.

    Proactively releasing these records to the public bolsters transparency and could reduce the volume of public records requests, saving limited resources. Many election jurisdictions already post CVRs or ballot images without issue: Los Angeles began making CVRs available to the public in the 1980s when members of the public could rent tapes with what we now call CVRs; Dane County, Wisconsin offers CVRs as a Do It Yourself Audit; and several Colorado counties piloted the public release of ballot images in recent elections.

    Despite the transparency benefits of releasing CVRs and ballot images, making these records public has trade-offs: Voters’ privacy might be compromised, and many election offices do not have the necessary resources or technology to extract CVRs to begin with, let alone to implement appropriate safeguards. Furthermore, vote buying becomes feasible when ballot secrecy is violated—an extreme, if unlikely, potential ramification of making ballot images public.

    Although CVRs and ballot images are often considered in tandem, each has distinct consequences for privacy, transparency, and efficiency.

    Privacy Implications

    Even when voters are instructed not to identify themselves on their ballots, some invariably write their name, contact information, or signature on their ballot. Because ballot images capture everything on a ballot, they might contain personally identifiable information if election officials do not redact it before posting.

    When a ballot image includes write-ins, voters could lose their anonymity if someone recognizes their handwriting. Alternatively, when write-ins are included on CVRs or ballot images, voters could illegally “sell” their vote choice by including an agreed upon write-in, enabling the vote-buyer to identify the ballot and confirm other choices were marked as intended.

    Unique vote patterns also carry a risk of facilitating vote buying: A malicious actor invested in the outcome of one or two races could illegally instruct voters to fill their ballot out in a particular way, essentially creating a unique identifier for the ballot. This risk applies to both ballot images and CVRs.

    Finally, when a precinct has a small number of voters, or when a small number of voters use a specific method of voting, it can be possible to infer an individual voter’s choices by joining information from a CVR or ballot image with a voter file, which lists everyone who voted in a precinct. This danger is not unique to CVRs and ballot images: it also exists when officials release election results at the precinct level or in other small reporting units.

    Efficiency Implications

    Election offices are chronically under-resourced. Making CVRs and ballot images public has the potential to increase efficiency by reducing the burden of public records requests. But, this would require a baseline level of operation to make the records public. And election offices would have to take steps to protect voters’ privacy. Creating and storing ballot images also risks slowing tabulation and would require technology updates for many jurisdictions.

    Some safeguards that facilitate the release of CVRs and ballot images without comprising privacy, transparency, or efficiency include:

    • Establishing a clear and uniform definition of CVRs and ballot images, ideally in coordination with other jurisdictions.

    • Clarifying which records are available via public record request or published online.

    • Using identity verification or comparable measures for those attempting to access records posted online.

    • Aggregating results from small reporting units to protect voter privacy.

    • Sufficiently funding election administration to address administrative concerns and add capacity.

    As we approach the 2024 elections, interest in ballot images and CVRs is likely to persist. Policymakers must weigh the tensions between privacy, transparency, and efficiency as they devise solutions to meet the growing demand for access to these records.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 22:20

  • White House Alters Official Transcript After Biden Says 'Black And Hispanic' Workers 'Don't Have High School Diplomas'
    White House Alters Official Transcript After Biden Says ‘Black And Hispanic’ Workers ‘Don’t Have High School Diplomas’

    President Biden, who was mentored by former KKK ‘Exalted Cyclops’ Robert Byrd, once called a black adviser ‘boy‘ during a FEMA briefing, called Obama the first mainstream ‘bright and clean‘ and articulate African-American, and worried in the late 70s that forcing schools to desegregate would subject his white children to “a racial jungle,” just did it again.

    (There’s a lot more, by the way…)

    Then-Senator Joe Biden holding hands with mentor and former KKK Exalted Cyclops Sen. Robert Byrd in 2008

    In another humiliating gaffe, the 80-year-old Biden suggested that httdfdps://x.com/CurtisHouck/status/1432401230916169742?s=20b black and hispanic workers don’t have high school diplomas.

    “We’ve seen record lows in unemployment particularly — and I’ve focused on this my whole career — particularly for African Americans and Hispanic workers and veterans, you know, the workers without high school diplomas,” he said in televised remarks.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThe White House, of course, went into damage control mode – doctoring the official transcript to read something Biden never said, and claiming that there was supposed to be the word “and” separating the minority groups and veterans, from ‘those without high school diplomas.’

    “We’ve seen record lows in unemployment particularly — and I’ve focused on this my whole career — particularly for African Americans and Hispanic workers and veterans, you know, and the workers without high school diplomas,” reads the official transcript.

    Blacks, hispanics, veterans, and possibly those without high school diplomas took offense, and general mockery ensued.

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

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

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

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

    Oh, and Biden lied in the same speech about teaching at the University of Pennsylvania.

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

     

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 22:00

  • Three Reasons Why Military Recruitment Is In Crisis
    Three Reasons Why Military Recruitment Is In Crisis

    Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute,

    By the middle of 2022, it was already become apparent that the US military was having problems meeting recruitment goals. In August last year, The AP reported that the Army would have to cut force size, and an army spokesman admitted the Army was facing “‘unprecedented challenges’ in bringing in recruits.” This came even with new larger enlistment bonuses. The problem, however, wasn’t as acute for the Air Force, Navy, or Marine Corps. 

    Since then, things haven’t gotten any better for recruiters. Now, recruitment shortfalls have spread well beyond the Army.  The New York Post reported last week:

    Much of the military will fall short of recruitment goals by as much as 25% this year …

    The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard are all expected to fall short of their recruitment goals this year, they told The Post. …

    A spokesperson for the Air Force said they will likely miss their goal of 26,877 new recruits by 10%. The Coast Guard said they will likely only fill 75% of the number of full-time, non-commissioned recruits they need.

    And as of April, the Navy, which has over 300,000 active duty personnel, was behind by 6,000 new recruits this year, and the Army by 10,000 out of their 65,000 goal.

    2023 is the first time the Air Force has missed its recruiting goals since 1999. 

    Apparently, potential recruits aren’t buying whatever it is the military is selling these days as reasons for signing away one’s freedom to federal bureaucrats for a period of years. After all, the military is the only job that one can’t quit at any time, so any intelligent person will think long and hard before signing up. 

    There are many reasons for the recruitment problem.

    The decline in mental and physical fitness is real, and many young people are disqualified from a military job even before applying.

    Many others are put off by what appears to be an overtly politicized and partisan military. Pentagon leaders appear to be doubling down on ideological crusades more and more. Even while it faces a recruiting crisis, the military still refuses to provide back pay to service members who were forced out for declining the experimental covid vaccines.

    Unquestioning compliance with vaccine mandates, of course, is a cause near and dear to the current administration.

    Then there are the “woke” crusades in which military brass use drag queens as Navy recruiters and create recruitment ads tailor-made for LGBT personnel. The military wants to let you know they’ll affirm your gender transition—unless, of course, that gets in way of conscription. (The Pentagon claims the “woke” issue isn’t having much effect on recruitment.)

    But there are other more deep-seated problems as well.

    There is growing evidence that the American public no longer reveres the military as it once did. Moreover, it is more abundantly clear than ever that military service has nothing to do with defending the United States or its people. And then there is the often-seen “problem” of low unemployment and the fact the private sector is drawing the best workers away from military careers. 

    The Public Is Losing Faith in the Military

    Compared to institutions like public education, public health, and Congress, the military remains quite popular. However, the historical trend in public views of the military is clearly downward. In 2021, “About 56 percent of Americans surveyed said they have ‘a great deal of trust and confidence’ in the military, down from 70 percent in 2018.” The trend hasn’t changed since 2018. According to a Gallup poll, people who say they have a “great deal/quite a lot” of confidence in the military fell from 69 percent in 2021 to 60 percent in 2023. The all-time low, accoriding to Gallup was in 1981 in the wake of the Vietnam War and Watergate. 

    The dwindling regard for the military is certainly not alien to young potential recruits, and talk of the recruiting crisis regularly features concerns about current young men and women being insufficiently “patriotic” or willing to “serve their country.” 

    This presents a real economic problem for recruiters. A potential recruit who regards military service as ideologically distasteful cannot be easily enticed with a few offers of recruiting bonuses or a GI Bill. After all, the military has long relied on convincing recruits they will gain psychic profits on top of whatever monetary pay they receive. To capitalize on this, recruiters will say things like “you’re serving your country” or “you’re fighting the bad guys” or “you’ll make your father proud.” But what if people stop believing that stuff? It’s going to take a lot of money to sweeten the deal for potential recruits who are smart enough or well-educated enough to have other options. 

    Moreover, it’s easy to see why many young people don’t find military service especially enticing. The US military lost in Iraq and Afghanistan, and hasn’t won a major war since 1945. More clever potential recruits are likely to notice that the US invasion of Iraq was no more morally justified than the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Potential recruits with critical thinking skills might also notice the military is itching to turn American soldiers into fodder for Russian artillery. In previous ages, the usual regime propaganda might have worked to convince potential recruits that “we’re fighting the Russians in Ukraine so we don’t have to fight them in Kansas City.” It’s a variation on a common lie that warmongers tell Americans. But now, the military can’t even take for granted that conservatives—historically a key demographic for recruiters—will believe it anymore. Thanks to a shift in foreign policy views among conservative populists, many young men in middle America see a disconnect between the regime’s latest wars and actual defense of the “homeland.” 

    National Guard Troops Are Exploited by the Regime

    This brings us to another problem recruiters face. Even those who doubt the regime’s latest imperial adventures oversea might nonetheless be convinced to join the National Guard. But even there, better-informed potential recruits are learning that the National Guard has degenerated into a reserve force for the regular military. The old “two weeks every summer” slogan about the National Guard has been exposed as a lie, and potential recruits seeking to “serve the community”  now know that they may end up fighting wars 10,000 miles from home. In 2021, National Public Radio reported on how the National guard exploits recruits. One Idaho National Guardsman described the new reality: 

    My entire life, the recruiting National Guard message has been one weekend a month, two weeks in the summer. And when we served, we used to say one weekend a month, two weeks in the summer, my ass. You know, when we went to Afghanistan, we were gone for 18 months…

    NPR further noted: 

    There has been a lot going on that the National Guard has been brought in for—hurricanes, floods, protests, Iraq, Afghanistan. Last year, more than a third of the National Guard was on active duty. That’s the highest utilization we’ve seen since World War II, and some service members are getting fed up. 

    Once upon a time, National Guard forces could not legally serve overseas at all. This was why many young men in the 1960s managed to avoid a pointless death in Vietnam by signing up for the National Guard. Then, it was established they would not serve overseas without a declaration of war. Then the Pentagon and Congress decided it can do whatever it wants with National Guard members. A young man or woman would have to be pretty desperate to sign up for that sort of treatment. 

    Unemployment Is Low 

    And that’s the thing. Workers right now aren’t desperate. The United States is currently in the middle of an employment bubble. Billions of dollars in new money created since 2020 has flooded the economy, driving up demand and producing countless malinvestments in the labor markets. Monetary inflation has driven increases in wages, and workers—for now—simply don’t need a military job. This relationship between low unemployment and low recruitment, of course, has been known for a long time. As a 2010 report from the Department of Defense noted:

    Recruiting and retention are sensitive to the state of the economy. Studies indicate that a 10 percent decrease in the civilian unemployment rate will reduce high-quality enlisted recruiting by 2–4 percent. Retention also declines when unemployment decreases, but appears to be less sensitive to the state of the economy than recruiting. The recent economic downturn has improved recruiting and retention and has allowed the services to reduce use of enlistment and reenlistment bonuses. However, this improvement is expected to diminish as civilian economic conditions improve.

    We’ll only know how truly severe the recruiting crisis is for the Pentagon once the unemployment rate starts to head up again. We likely won’t have to wait long. We can point to half a dozen economic indicators right now that point to a thoroughly slowing economy in the next year. As we see in the survey data, however, it is likely that views of military service have changed considerably in recent years. That means older relationships between joblessness and recruitment may no longer apply to the same extent. It may be that rising unemployment may not drive as many new recruits as may have been the case a decade ago.

    Recruiters may find that members of Gen Z are not enthusiastic about losing yet another war—regardless of the size of the enlistment bonus. We’ll find out soon enough.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 21:40

  • A Visual Guide To AI Adoption, By Industry
    A Visual Guide To AI Adoption, By Industry

    As more and more businesses pour resources into artificial intelligence, its multitude of applications are beginning to be employed by the global workforce – and at a significant pace.

    In this graphic, part of the Digital Evolution series sponsored by Global X ETFs, Visual Capitalist’s Alan Kennedy explores AI adoption statistics and discuss the impact of AI technology on today’s workforce.

    Who Uses AI?

    According to a recent survey, an impressive 50% of organizations report using AI tools for at least one function within their operations. But as we look deeper, the power of AI as a customizable and multi-faceted tool becomes apparent:

    Generative AI programs such as DALL-E, Bard, and ChatGPT have also been adopted by significant number of people. In particular, OpenAI’s ChatGPT boasts 100 million users and over a billion monthly hits.

    Finance Leads the Way in AI Adoption

    The finance industry has become the frontrunner in AI adoption. Used to manage complex risk challenges, AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of data in real time, enabling timely detection of fraud and market fluctuations.

    Consequently, AI technology has proven to be a game-changer within the risk space. A survey conducted by McKinsey indicates that 48% of professionals in the risk space reported some form of revenue increase as a direct result of AI adoption. Additionally, 43% of respondents reported a decrease in costs, as AI streamlines processes, automates repetitive tasks, and reduces the margin for error.

    The Job Market Responds

    The rise in AI adoption has created a demand for AI-skilled professionals in the U.S. In this table, we can see AI job postings as a percentage of overall job postings in the U.S. between 2021 and 2022:

    Notably, the top three sectors with the highest demand for AI talent are IT (5.3% of all job postings), professional, scientific, and technical services (4.1%), and finance and insurance (3.3%). This trend suggests that these are the industries where AI can make the biggest difference.

    The Transformative Power of AI

    AI adoption has reached a critical milestone, with half of the surveyed organizations leveraging AI tools to optimize their operations in some form. But this is a mere shadow of AI’s true potential.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 21:20

  • Rent Control Is The Wrong Solution For Housing Affordability
    Rent Control Is The Wrong Solution For Housing Affordability

    Authored by Patrice Onwuka via RealClear Wire,

    My family moved to the United States from the Caribbean in 1985. About eight years later, my parents saved enough to purchase a two-family home in the quiet outskirts of Boston far away from our crime-ridden neighborhood. As landlords, my parents charged modest rents—enough to “help with the mortgage”—and ensured that the first-floor apartment was always well maintained for our tenants.

    Three decades later, I am a landlady. I charge market rent prices to cover the mortgage, HOA fees, local property taxes, landscaping, maintenance fees, and other operating expenses. Some 44% of landlords are women. They seek financial security and to build generational wealth.

    The argument that landlord “greed” warrants government intervention in private property contracts is specious. Months’ worth of modest profits can easily be wiped out by a broken water heater, tree removal, or roof replacement—situations I have dealt with.

    Troublingly, the failed retro housing policy of rent control is experiencing a revival led by liberal activists, lawmakers, and regulators. Recently, 17 Democratic U.S. senators asked the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to limit rent hikes on Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-backed multifamily properties.

    From Los Angeles County, California, to Montgomery County, Maryland, cities and states are imposing or strengthening rent control policies.

    It’s indisputable that rental costs are rising rapidly. National rental costs rose 8% in August year-over-year. This is up from 6.7% in 2022 and just 2.1% in 2021. However, prices for the services that landlords pay have also accelerated, forcing them to pass along those cost increases to tenants.

    Rent control is not the solution to the lack of affordable housing; it creates more problems than it solves. The best way to reduce housing costs would be to increase the housing supply; sadly, rent control works against this.

    Price controls restrict the supply of rental units, leaving renters with fewer options at higher prices. Rent control pushes mom-and-pop landlords, who own about 40% of the nation’s over 46 million rental properties, out of business. Most rentals are small (1-4 units) and managed directly by landlords. Finding tenants, performing routine maintenance, securing contractors, complying with local regulations, and many more responsibilities keep hands-on landlords busy.

    The profit must outweigh the opportunity cost of owners’ time, operational costs, and investments; otherwise they will sell their properties. This occurred in the Boston area in 1970 when rent-controlled units were expanded nearby in Cambridge, MA. A tenth of rent-controlled units ended up being converted to for-sale condominiums. Meanwhile, uncontrolled rent prices surged.

    Rent control also discourages the building of new rental housing. Although price control policies may exempt new construction, property investors reasonably fear that future policy changes could diminish their financial incentives. It’s not a coincidence that, following the lifting of rent control in Cambridge, residential property investment spiked. Building permits for improvements and new construction rose 20%, and permitted expenditures doubled.

    Not all left-leaning policymakers want to revive rent control. The Seattle City Council recently rejected a proposal from an outgoing socialist council member to cap annual residential rent increases at the inflation rate. One council member explained, “the last thing that we should be doing during a housing affordability crisis is discouraging new housing production at any affordability level.”

    I feel for low-income renters pressed by two years of high prices on essentials and living expenses. Limiting rental prices may appear to be financial relief. However, rental control experiments have led to unsavory outcomes: deteriorating properties, racial segregation, discrimination against younger renters and larger families, and greater income inequality. It’s hardly a policy success if renters in the top income quartile received more than twice the rent discount from market rates than renters in the bottom income quartile.

    Our nation has a deficit in housing supply. Restrictive zoning and building policies have hampered the construction of new, much-needed housing. A blockbuster 2019 economic paper found that if New York, San Jose, and San Francisco had the permitting standards of Atlanta or Chicago, the U.S. would have millions more housing units today.

    Landlords and tenants have something in common: they are both being squeezed by rising prices. Rent control’s promised financial relief for a few will come at the expense of quality housing and homeownership for the many—an outcome no one should live with.

    Patrice Onwuka is the director of the Center for Economic Opportunity at Independent Women’s Forum.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 21:00

  • G7 Prepares Russian Diamond Ban, Potentially Reshaping Global Rough Stone Supply Chain
    G7 Prepares Russian Diamond Ban, Potentially Reshaping Global Rough Stone Supply Chain

    While Western sanctions haven’t led to the collapse of Russia’s economy, the Group of Seven (G7) nations remain determined to roll out the next round of sanctions in a matter of weeks. According to Reuters, this round aims to reshape the global diamond supply chain, shifting it away from Moscow’s influence.

    Reuters said, “The plan could transform the global diamond supply chain, but implementation will depend heavily on India, whose diamond industry employs millions of people who cut and polish 90% of the world’s diamonds.”

    A Belgian official told reporters the new trade restriction will go into effect on Jan. 1. They said the ban was proposed by Belgium, where Antwerp, home to all major diamond mining companies, is located. 

    Reuters noted the restriction would fracture the global consumer diamond market in half as G7 countries would no longer be able to accept diamonds from Russia, the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds. 

    “We’re talking about restructuring a global market,” the official said, admitting trade restrictions won’t perfectly work right away. 

    The official continued, “Russia is the biggest supplier globally. With this system, we are cutting them out, leaving them in an inferior market with lower prices. We are slashing the financial flows from this sector.”

    We pointed out last year that Russian mining giant Alrosa PJSC’s diamonds were still flowing onto global markets despite the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control hitting the company with sanctions. 

    Anglo American Plc’s De Beers said the diamond industry supports G7 efforts: 

    “The question is how we can do this collectively and effectively so that all parts of the industry – large and small – are represented.” 

    Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, De Beers and Alrosa were responsible for nearly 60% of all rough diamond sales worldwide, with De Beers accounting for 33% and Alrosa for 24%. 

    The challenging part will be getting India, the mecca of diamond cutting and polishing, on board with trade restrictions. 

    Another Belgian official said: 

    “The Indian polishers can polish whatever they want but (Russian gems) need to be segregated … At the point when the polished diamond is offered for export, the reference will be made to the original rough, again using a combination of physical inspection and traceability data.”

    Despite all the sanctions that Western officials, US and European corporate media outlets, and neoconservative think tanks said would implode the Russian economy, the International Monetary Fund expects the Russian economy to grow by 1.5% this year. Remember, President Biden once vowed to “turn the ruble into rubble.”

    We must ask the difficult question: Why The Economic War Against Russia Has Failed?

    It may have to do with this & this & this. 

     

     

     

     

     

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 20:40

  • 2020 Election Fallout: Wisconsin Chief Election Official Facing Imminent Ouster
    2020 Election Fallout: Wisconsin Chief Election Official Facing Imminent Ouster

    Authored by Steven Kovac via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Election officials count absentee ballots in Milwaukee, Wis., on Nov. 4, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

    Wisconsin’s chief election official Meagan Wolfe is engulfed in a battle between Democrats and Republicans to determine the state’s next election administrator

    Meagan Wolfe, the administrator of the Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC), has suffered another setback in her struggle to hang on to her office as the chief election official.

    On Sept. 11, the five-member state Senate Committee on Shared Revenue, Elections, and Consumer Protection voted 3-1-1 to recommend that the full Senate hand Ms. Wolfe her walking papers over allegations of partisan behavior within her role.

    Voting against Ms. Wolfe’s nomination were Republican Sens. Dan Knodl, Dan Feyen, and Romaine Quinn. Sen. Mark Spreitzer, a Democrat, was the lone committee member to vote to reappoint Ms. Wolfe to a second four-year term. Democrat Sen. Jeff Smith abstained.

    A Long Listening Session

    The committee made its decision after conducting a four-hour-long public hearing on Aug. 29, in which a scathing critique of WEC’s introduction of new policies and practices—especially its management of the 2020 election—was presented by the non-partisan Legislative Audit Bureau.

    Following the audit report, a parade of Wisconsinites from all over the state took the witness chair to speak against Ms. Wolfe continuing on as WEC administrator.

    Most of her detractors told the hearing that, based on what they consider her mishandling of the 2020 election, ordinary citizens have lost trust in Ms. Wolfe’s ability to fairly administer the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

    In 2020, Ms. Wolfe had a hand in making and implementing decisions that many Republicans worry may have helped Joe Biden eke out a 0.63 percent victory over then-President Donald Trump—a margin of just 20,682 votes out of the 3.3 million cast.

    Meagan Wolfe, the head of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, speaks during a virtual press conference on Nov. 4, 2020. (Wisconsin Elections Commission via Reuters)

    A Catalog of Missteps

    Some of the controversial actions Ms. Wolfe presided over include the installation of mail-in ballot drop boxes—later declared illegal by the Wisconsin Supreme Court; the relaxing of signature verification standards and voter identification requirements; expanding the definition of “indefinitely confined” absentee voters to include thousands of ineligible people; and allowing elderly nursing home residents to receive mail-in ballots without them being delivered and returned by specially designated election officers, as required by Wisconsin law.

    Those speaking at the hearing in favor of Ms. Wolfe commended her for her competence, experience, and responsiveness to the needs of local election officials during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Several supporters said it would be difficult for localities to manage the upcoming 2024 presidential election without Ms. Wolfe’s expertise.

    Concerning the WEC’s missteps and legal problems, her supporters contended that she was merely carrying out the wishes of her superiors.

    By law, WEC is a body composed of three Republicans and three Democrats. It was created by the state legislature in 2016.

    In recent letters and memos released to the public in which Ms. Wolfe defended herself, she asserted the same argument about her subordinate role. But the statute establishing the WEC states in pertinent part: “The elections commission shall be under the direction and supervision of an administrator …”

    A Political Stratagem?

    Just before Ms. Wolfe’s term was set to expire at midnight on June 30, the WEC met for the purpose of reappointing her to another term.

    By statute, four votes are needed to move her appointment forward for confirmation by the Wisconsin State Senate. Ms. Wolfe only mustered three—surprisingly, they were all from the Republican members.

    Aware that Ms. Wolfe had worn out her welcome among the Republican supermajority in the Senate and that she was headed there for a defeat, the three WEC Democrat members decided to abstain.

    They explained that while they supported Ms. Wolfe, the parliamentary tactic of abstaining might enable them to save her from almost certain rejection by the Senate.

    In May 2019, Ms. Wolfe was unanimously confirmed by that same body.

    WEC’s three Democrat members are now trying to keep the Republican legislative majority from ousting Ms. Wolfe by contending that because she failed to get four votes from WEC, she has not been formally nominated and therefore, there is no vacancy and no valid nomination for the Senate to advise and consent on.

    Claire Woodall-Vogg, executive director of the Milwaukee election commission, collects the count from absentee ballots from a voting machine in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Nov. 4, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

    GOP Resolve

    The parliamentary move by unelected WEC commissioners to stymie the Senate has led some Republican lawmakers to assert that such an action thwarts the will of the people as expressed through their elected representatives.

    Speaking for the GOP majority, Mr. Knodl, the committee’s chairman stated, “We will not abdicate the Senate’s authority.”

    The day after the WEC’s Democrat members abstained, the Senate passed a resolution on a party-line vote to proceed with the advice and consent process.

    If the full Senate rejects Ms. Wolfe, Wisconsin Democrats led by Mr. Spreitzer have vowed to challenge the action in court.

    Mr. Spreitzer said he is confident the Democrat’s position can prevail.

    At the Aug. 29 hearing, he told the committee that Ms. Wolfe is lawfully continuing in her position even though her term expired at midnight on June 30. To support his contention, he cited a legal loophole in Wisconsin law by which “the expiration of a term is not the same as the creation of a vacancy. The expiration of a defined term no longer creates a vacancy.”

    If no vacancy has occurred in Ms. Wolfe’s post, there is no need for her reappointment, and therefore, there is nothing for the Senate to confirm, according to the Democrats’ reasoning.

    Mr. Quinn stated, “It was certainly not the original intent of the legislature for a WEC director to sit in office in perpetuity.”

    Other than her written statements, Ms. Wolfe has thus far kept a low profile during the Senate’s deliberation. She did not attend the Aug. 29 hearing and has not responded to requests for comment from The Epoch Times.

    In a late breaking development, on Sept. 13, her office announced that Ms. Wolfe is preparing to come out swinging with a full media blitz if she is not confirmed.

    The full Wisconsin State Senate may vote as early as Sept. 14.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 20:20

  • Albuquerque Gun Shops See Spike In Sales After Governor's Ban
    Albuquerque Gun Shops See Spike In Sales After Governor’s Ban

    Gun stores in Albuquerque, New Mexico have seen a surge in customers after Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s emergency order banning the carrying of firearms in and around the city.

    Arnold Gallegos, owner of ABQ Guns in Albuquerque, N.M., and an officer with police officer in the Jemez Springs Police Department, considers a public health order banning firearms in public was an “illegal” act by New Mexico’s governor. Photo taken on Sept. 12 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

    “Today was the busiest day I’ve had in months,” Arnie Gallegos, owner of ABQ Guns in Albuquerque, told The Epoch Times. “I’ve been getting a lot of people who have never come into a gun shop before who are rightfully concerned about their freedoms.

    “A lot of people are saying, ‘I can’t rely on the police anymore, and I need to be able to protect myself,” added Gallegos.

    In a Sept. 8 statement, Grisham said “The time for standard measures has passed,” adding “And when New Mexicans are afraid to be in crowds, to take their kids to school, to leave a baseball game—when their very right to exist is threatened by the prospect of violence at every turn—something is very wrong.”

    The order came in response to recent shootings of three children, including the July 28 shooting death of a 13-year-old girl in northern New Mexico, the Epoch Times reports. A man and his 14-year-old son were later arrested for the crime.

    Grisham’s so-called ‘health emergency’ she cited to justify unconstitutional overreach was halted by a federal judge on Wednesday.

    Another Albuquerque gun store owner, Walt Bracken, told the Times that he’s also noticed an uptick in sales.

    “People are upset,” he said. “There is an attitude that our governor isn’t respecting our rights.”

    A clerk at Right to Bear Arms who asked to remain anonymous told the Epoch Times: “We have seen a definite jump in traffic because people are nervous, and rightfully so, when they think their right to purchase a gun won’t be around in the near future,” adding “There is definitely a joke in the gun community that the policies of the left are the greatest salesman of all time.“

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 20:00

  • US-Saudi Arms 'Megadeal' Collapses Over Russia, China Links
    US-Saudi Arms ‘Megadeal’ Collapses Over Russia, China Links

    Via The Cradle, 

    US weapons maker RTX, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies, scrubbed a multibillion deal with Saudi firm Scopa Defense earlier this year over “concerns” that the latter was pursuing business with sanctioned Russian and Chinese companies, according to people familiar with the deal that spoke with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

    In 2022, RTX and Scopa signed a memorandum of understanding to build a factory in the kingdom for air defense systems to protect Riyadh from airstrikes. The plan reportedly called for installing radars and multiple air defense systems with an investment of $25 billion in the kingdom and $17 worth of sales.

    Image source: Breaking Defense

    The owner of Scopa, Mohamed Alajlan, told the WSJ that his company has no deals with sanctioned Russian companies and that any deals with Chinese firms “are limited to securing raw materials such as copper or rubber for use in producing ammunition and armored vehicles.”

    “We don’t work with any companies that have international sanctions,” Alajlan told the WSJ, adding that the decision by RTX to scrub the deal was “rushed, illogical, and even irrational.”

    Alajlan, who also chairs the Saudi-Chinese Business Council, is the heir of a prominent Saudi family that for decades has imported Chinese textiles to the kingdom.

    According to the WSJ, the “unease” over Scopa’s alleged ties to sanctioned Russian and Chinese companies “was a deciding factor for an advisory board of retired US military officers to resign from the Saudi company.” Furthermore, the daily claims Scopa fired its chief executive “who had raised the sanctions concerns with his company’s owner and US officials.”

    Alajlan is also accused of hiring an executive from a Russian company sanctioned by the US to run a separate firm he had set up, known as Sepha. Moreover, he reportedly hired a Chinese executive to run yet another firm, Tal, “which had engaged in talks regarding deals with Chinese firms that are also sanctioned by Washington.” Tal and Sepha shared computer servers with employees at Scopa, which was allegedly a major concern for RTX.

    A document reviewed by the WSJ showed that Sepha had looked at “marketing Russian ammunition, body armor and surveillance equipment in Saudi Arabia, assembling Russian attack helicopters there, and manufacturing armored vehicles with Russia’s Military Industrial Co.”

    The US embassy in Riyadh knew about the talks Tal and Sepha were having with Chinese and Russian companies as early as August 2022, according to the WSJ. US officials told Scopa that this “could seriously hinder the ability of Scopa to enter into contractual agreements with US defense firms.”

    The details of the failed “megadeal” come as Washington is looking to rekindle ties with its longtime Arab partner after more than a year of simmering tensions that pushed Riyadh closer to Russia and China.

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    RTX, one of the largest weapons firms in the US, is currently being sued alongside Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics for “aiding and abetting war crimes and extrajudicial killings” by selling weapons to the Saudi-led coalition waging war in Yemen. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the victims of two coalition bombings in Yemen — one for a wedding in 2015 and another for a funeral in 2016.

    According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), in October 2015, the Al-Sanabani family was readying to celebrate a relative’s wedding when a coalition jet bombed the area, killing 43 Yemenis, including 13 women and 16 children. A year later, coalition jets dropped a US-manufactured GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bomb on a crowded funeral, killing over 100.

    The lawsuit alleges that western-manufactured bombs have killed over 25,000 civilians since the beginning of the NATO-backed war nearly eight years ago.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 19:40

  • "Go Easy On The Curry": HSBC Warns Rice Crisis Reminiscent Of '2008 Asian Food Price Scare'
    “Go Easy On The Curry”: HSBC Warns Rice Crisis Reminiscent Of ‘2008 Asian Food Price Scare’

    Frederic Neumann, Chief Asia Economist at HSBC Global Research, highlighted in a note to clients Friday that skyrocketing rice prices present hurdles for central banks combating high inflation. He drew parallels between the current surge in food prices and the one that rocked the world in 2008, noting that shortage fears are rising for the staple food that feeds billions of people.

    “The memory of the 2008 Asian food price scare sits deep,” Neumann wrote. 

    He said, “Back then, rising rice prices in some economies quickly spilled over into other markets as consumers and governments across the region scrambled to secure supplies. It also lifted the prices of other staples, such as wheat, as buyers shifted to alternatives.”

    Rice from Asia accounts for about 90% of the global production. The El Nino weather phenomenon has sparked heavy rainfall and droughts across top-producing regions, such as India, which has imposed export restrictions to ensure adequate domestic supplies. 

    We provided readers with enough understanding that rice, which is critical to the diets of billions of people worldwide, was headed for a shortage:

    To Neumann’s point about spillovers, take a look at Indian shoppers panic buying rice at US supermarkets in July as they got word from overseas that India was imposing rice export restrictions. Maybe these Indian preppers are on to something… 

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    As we noted, “Buckle up, world – the rice crisis is just getting started.” 

    India is the world’s biggest rice exporter. 

    … and soaring prices are causing a sticker shock for consumers worldwide. 

    Neumann said global rice imports as a share of consumption have doubled over the past two decades, and are up about four percentage points since the 2008 food crisis. He said, “This means that disruption in one economy could have much bigger spillovers into others than in the past.” 

    The analyst concluded: “Go easy on the curry.” 

    For an in-depth view of which countries are likely to be hammered by El Nino, Global Chief Economist at Morgan Stanley identified the following countries:

    Higher food prices usually cause social unrest. It’s only a matter of time before people become outraged by the political elite. 

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    That’s already underway. The clock is ticking. 

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 19:20

  • AI Is A Gun, Not A Nuke
    AI Is A Gun, Not A Nuke

    Authored by Dylan Dean via AmericanThinker.com,

    It’s in vogue, as artificial intelligence becomes more sophisticated, to compare A.I. systems to nuclear weapons.  Such analogies have come from traditional media like Bloomberg, niche internet microcelebrities, and the world’s most famous A.I. doomer, Eliezer Yudkowsky.  

    But this comparison does not hold up to scrutiny.

    Game Theory – the study of how rational actors interact – shows us why A.I. is not the threat it is made out to be.  A.I. is more like a gun than a nuclear weapon.

    Nuclear weapons are unlike all other weapons because of their destructive power. 

    If two nations have a nuclear exchange, both sides lose: missiles will be in the air, with no hope of disabling enemy weaponry in time to prevent a strike.  

    For this reason, Game Theory suggests a policy of “Mutually Assured Destruction”: any rational actor will avoid using nuclear weapons because his own side will be destroyed in the process.  

    Thus, nuclear safety is dependent on the centralization of nuclear capabilities to a small number of rational actors.

    However, consider firearms within this same framework: the best counter to a mass shooter is another person with a gun, either a civilian or law enforcement.  

    Unlike with nuclear weapons, the risk of gun violence can be mitigated with decentralization.  Centralize firearms in the hands of the state, and you have a society of tyranny; centralize them in the hands of criminals, by banning ownership for the law-abiding, and you get a society of plunder.  These two are not very different, save for aesthetics.  A free and safe society, on the other hand, is the result of a wide dispersal of guns.  Guns in the hands of everyday people work as a countervailing force against those who would use guns to take away rights or personal property.  

    Intelligence, which can be used for both good and evil, operates on a similar principle to that of gun ownership.  As with firearms, asymmetric access to intelligence can lead to dangerous situations.  This is why the mentally ill are protected through conservatorships (when they aren’t being abused — #FreeBritney).  It’s why we have age of consent laws and why we criminalize elder financial abuse.  A situation where mental capability is nearly equal, on the other hand, is a safer one.  This is why the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to a lawyer: the law is an intellectual domain, and defendants without a legal background are at a significant disadvantage.  What is really being provided here is the lawyer’s mind, with the knowledge and experience necessary to level the playing field.

    Artificial intelligence works the same way.  

    An A.I. model might have access to information and resources vastly greater than an individual person – like the difference between a prosecutor and a defendant.  But just as a lawyer steps in to equalize the playing field, another A.I. system could likewise play this equalizing role.

    Like guns and lawyers, then, wide access to artificial intelligence is necessary to avoid an asymmetry of resources and information – and the dangerous anti-competitive landscape that would arise from centralization.

    Open source models like Llama2 and StableLM level the playing field, or get close, by allowing anyone with sufficient hardware to control his own model locally.  Promoting the continued development of these models, through avoiding government regulation and increasing nonprofit funding of open-source A.I. research, will ensure that the playing field stays as level as possible.  This will allow the A.I. capabilities of the public to remain near that of large corporations.  Regulation, on the other hand, would centralize A.I. resources into the hands of a few large companies, thus taking away competition — the only countervailing force that could check centralized A.I. in the first place. 

    It is no surprise that the people pushing for A.I. regulation tend to also be proponents of gun control — both positions are premised on the same faulty reasoning.  On September 13, Chuck Schumer hosted an A.I. summit that included leaders from the largest A.I. companies.  Whatever comes of that summit might be good for those companies, and for gun-grabbing Chuck Schumer, but not for the American people.  

    They will try to scare people into supporting regulations, the proponents of which will likely use the same tired comparison to nuclear weapons.  We must not fall for it.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 19:00

  • Trump Will Be 'Imprisoned With Ivanka' Says Maxine Waters As Trials Delayed
    Trump Will Be ‘Imprisoned With Ivanka’ Says Maxine Waters As Trials Delayed

    Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who hooked her Daughter up with $750,000 in campaign funds over a decade with minimal repercussions, lashed out on X after former President Trump’s trial date in his Georgia RICO case was delayed – the first of two such delays issued late in the week.

    On Thursday, the Florida judge overseeing Trump’s 2020 election-related case ruled that the former president will not go on trial next month along with attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesbro, both of whom asked for an expedited schedule, Politico reported. Prosecutors wanted to put all 19 defendants in the case on trial at the same time, which Judge Scott McAfee laughed out of the courtroom.

    “The Fulton County Courthouse simply contains no courtroom adequately large enough to hold all 19 defendants, their multiple attorneys and support staff, the sheriff’s deputies, court personnel, and the State’s prosecutorial team. Relocating to another larger venue raises security concerns that cannot be rapidly addressed,” he wrote.

    Maxine chimes in

    “Many are worried that the Judge has extended Trump’s trial date,” Waters posted Thursday night on X. “Not to worry! TRUMP CAN’T RUN. TRUMP CAN’T HIDE.” she continued, adding “He will be imprisoned with Ivanka by his side!”

    This is the same Maxine Waters that told Democrats in 2018 “wherever we have to show up. If you see anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd, and you push back on them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere!”

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    On Friday, a New York appeals court judge halted a trials scheduled for Oct. 2 in NY Attorney General Letitia James’ fraud lawsuit against Trump and the Trump Organization.

    More via the Epoch Times;

    State Justice David Friedman, with the 1st Department of the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, granted an interim stay of the trial—slated to start Oct. 2—and referred the matter to a five-judge panel, which expects to rule in the last week of September, a spokesperson said. He also ordered the full appeals court to consider a reported lawsuit that President Trump had filed against the trial judge, Arthur Engoron, on an expedited basis.

    President Trump’s lawyers had raised issue with Judge Engoron’s refusal to grant a request for a three-week trial delay, which he said (pdf) was “completely without merit.” They also asked the judge to pause the trial until he issues a ruling on the statute of limitations regarding certain claims in Ms. James’s lawsuit, it was reported.

    First reported by the Daily Beast, the lawsuit against Judge Engoron also asserted that the jurist is overstepping his authority. A state appellate court issued a ruling several months ago that asked the judge to determine which Trump Organization real estate deals are too old and beyond the statue of limitations.

    The judge declined to issue a comment on the matter via a court spokesperson. Meanwhile, Ms. James’ office issued a statement on Thursday ruling, telling multiple news organizations that “we are confident in our case and will be ready for trial.”

    The lawsuit filed by Ms. James, a Democrat, alleges President Trump defrauded banks, insurers, and others with annual financial statements that inflated the value of his skyscrapers, golf courses, and other assets and boosted his net worth by as much as $3.6 billion. Her lawsuit seeks $250 million in penalties and a ban on the former president doing business in New York.

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    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 18:40

  • Meteorologists, Scientists Explain Why There Is 'No Climate Emergency'
    Meteorologists, Scientists Explain Why There Is ‘No Climate Emergency’

    Authored by Katie Spence via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)

    There’s no climate emergency. And the alarmist messaging pushed by global elites is purely political. That’s what 1,609 scientists and informed professionals stated when they signed the Global Climate Intelligence Group’s “World Climate Declaration.”

    “Climate science should be less political, while climate policies should be more scientific,” the declaration begins. “Scientists should openly address uncertainties and exaggerations in their predictions of global warming, while politicians should dispassionately count the real costs as well as the imagined benefits of their policy measures.“

    Environmental activists participate in a Global Climate Strike march in Zagreb, Croatia, on Sept. 20, 2019. (Denis Lovrovic/AFP via Getty Images)

    The group is an independent “climate watchdog” founded in 2019 by emeritus professor of geophysics Guus Berkhout and Marcel Crok, a science journalist. According to its website, the organization’s objective is to “generate knowledge and understanding of the causes and effects of climate change as well as the effects of climate policy.” And it does so by objectively looking at the facts and engaging in scientific research into climate change and climate policy.

    The declaration’s signatories include Nobel laureates, theoretical physicists, meteorologists, professors, and environmental scientists worldwide. And when a select few were asked by The Epoch Times why they signed the declaration stating that the “climate emergency” is a farce, they all stated a variation of “because it’s true.”

    “I signed the declaration because I believe the climate is no longer studied scientifically. Rather, it has become an item of faith,” Haym Benaroya, a distinguished professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Rutgers University, told The Epoch Times.

    “The earth has warmed about 2 degrees F since the end of the Little Ice Age around 1850, but that hardly constitutes an emergency—or even a crisis—since the planet has been warmer yet over the last few millennia,” Ralph Alexander, a retired physicist and author of the website “Science Under Attack,” told The Epoch Times.

    “There is plenty of evidence that average temperatures were higher during the so-called Medieval Warm Period (centered around the year 1000), the Roman Warm Period (when grapes and citrus fruits were grown in now much colder Britain), and in the early Holocene (after the last regular Ice Age ended).”

    The climate emergency is “fiction,” he said unequivocally.

    There were 1,609 scientists and informed professionals who signed the Global Climate Intelligence Group’s “World Climate Declaration.” (The Epoch Times)

    The ‘Climate Emergency’

    Human activities and the resulting greenhouse gases are the cause of global warming, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Specifically, the IPCC says that in 1750, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations were 280 parts per million (ppm), and today, the atmospheric CO2 concentrations are 420 ppm, which affects temperature.

    The IPCC is the U.N. body for assessing the “science related to climate change.” It was created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the U.N. Environment Programme to help policymakers develop climate policies.

    Edwin Berry, a theoretical physicist and certified consulting meteorologist, said that one of the IPCC’s central theories is that natural CO2 has stayed constant at 280 ppm since 1750 and that human CO2 is responsible for the 140 ppm increase.

    This IPCC theory makes human CO2 responsible for 33 percent of today’s total CO2 level, he told The Epoch Times.

    Consequently, to decrease temperatures, the IPCC says, we must reduce human-caused CO2—thus, the current push by lawmakers and climate activists to forcibly transition the world’s transportation to electric vehicles, get rid of fossil fuels, and generally reduce all activities that contribute to human-caused CO2. 

    That entire premise, according to Mr. Berry, is problematic.

    “The public perception of carbon dioxide is that it goes into the atmosphere and stays there,” Mr. Berry said. “They think it just accumulates. But it doesn’t.”

    He explained that when you look at the flow of carbon dioxide—”flow” meaning the carbon moving from one carbon reservoir to another, i.e., through photosynthesis, the eating of plants, and back out through respiration—a 140 ppm constant level requires a continual inflow of 40 ppm per year of carbon dioxide, because, according to the IPCC, carbon dioxide has a turnover time of 3.5 years (meaning carbon dioxide molecules stay in the atmosphere for about 3 1/2 years).

    “A level of 280 ppm is twice that—80 ppm of inflow. Now, we’re saying that the inflow of human carbon dioxide is one-third of the total. Even IPCC data says, ‘No, human carbon dioxide inflow is about 5 percent to 7 percent of the total carbon dioxide inflow into the atmosphere,'” he said.

    So, to make up for the lack of necessary human-caused carbon dioxide flowing into the atmosphere, the IPCC claims that instead of having a turnover time of 3.5 years, human CO2 stays in the atmosphere for hundreds or even thousands of years.

    “[The IPCC is] saying that something is different about human carbon dioxide and that it can’t flow as fast out of the atmosphere as natural carbon dioxide,” Mr. Berry said. “Well, IPCC scientists—when they’ve gone through, what, billions of dollars?—should have asked a simple question: ‘Is a human carbon dioxide molecule exactly identical to a natural carbon dioxide molecule?’ And the answer is yes. Of course!

    “Well, if human and natural CO2 molecules are identical, their outflow times must be identical. So, the whole idea where they say it’s in there for hundreds, or thousands, of years, is wrong.”

    Mr. Berry said that means nature—not humans—caused the increase in CO2. And consequently, attempts to decrease human CO2 are pointless.

    “The belief that human CO2 drives the CO2 increase may be the biggest public delusion and most costly fraud in history,” Mr. Berry said.

    He pointed out that in science, the scientific method says that you can’t prove that a theory is 100 percent true—only that the data supports it—but you can prove that it’s false. Providing an example, Mr. Berry said that Sir Isaac Newton’s gravity law was the preeminent theory for a long time, but then Albert Einstein made a correction that disproved Newton’s theory.

    Smoke rises from a steel factory in Inner Mongolia, China, on Nov. 3, 2016. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

    Smoke rises from a steel factory in Inner Mongolia, China, on Nov. 3, 2016. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

    “Go back to the scientific method: IPCC proposed a theory, and if we can prove it’s wrong, we win. And I proved, in that case, their theory is wrong,” he said.

    Mr. Berry took his research a step further and calculated the human carbon cycle using the IPCC’s own carbon cycle data.

    “The prediction from the same model doesn’t give humans producing 140 ppm. It comes out closer to 30 ppm. Which essentially means the IPCC is wrong,” he said.

    He said that using the IPCC’s data, nature is responsible for about 390 ppm of CO2, and humans are only responsible for about 30 ppm—not 140 ppm.

    “Now, someone could ask, ‘Well, is the IPCC data correct?’ My answer is, ‘I don’t know.’ But I don’t have to know because IPCC has used this very data to deceive the world. I want to show that their logic is incorrect using their data,” he said.

    “The IPCC was not set up as a scientific organization.”

    Mr. Berry said that the IPCC doesn’t engage in skepticism of its theories and, therefore, the scientific method that governs all science.

    “They were set up as a political organization to specifically convince the public that carbon dioxide was causing problems,” he said.

    When asked why there’s a push to declare a “climate emergency,” Mr. Berry said it’s all about money and control. 

    “That’s the only real reason for it. There’s no climate emergency,” he said.

    Mr. Berry makes all his research, and research and correspondence from colleagues trying to disprove his theories, available to the public.

    People attend the 48th session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Incheon, South Korea, on Oct. 1, 2018. (Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images)

    Politics and Climate Models

    Like Mr. Berry, Mr. Alexander says that science has become more political than scientific.

    “It’s simply not true that the Earth’s climate is threatened. That claim is far more political than scientific,” he said.

    “Science is based on observational evidence, together with logic, to make sense of the evidence. Very little, if any, evidence exists that human emissions of CO2 cause rising temperatures. There is a correlation between the two, but the correlation isn’t particularly strong: The Earth cooled, for example, from about 1940 to 1970, while the atmospheric CO2 level continued to go up. Computer climate models are all that connects global warming to CO2.”

    When asked why CO2 was singled out as the cause of the climate emergency, Mr. Alexander said it goes back to James Hansen, an astrophysicist and the head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies from 1981 to 2013, and an ardent environmentalist.

    “Hansen developed one of the first computer climate models and began to make highly exaggerated predictions of future warming, none of which have come true,” Mr. Alexander said. “This included testimony he gave at a 1986 Senate hearing, testimony considered to have sparked the subsequent anthropogenic global warming narrative.”

    Despite his predictions failing to come to fruition, Mr. Hansen’s efforts contributed to the founding of the IPCC, Mr. Alexander said.

    “Although ostensibly the IPCC is a scientific body, the findings of its scientists are frequently distorted and hyped by the government and NGO bureaucrats who dominate the organization,” he said. “The bureaucrats have played a major role in exaggerating the scientific conclusions of successive IPCC reports and escalating the rhetoric of its official pronouncements. Hence, the U.N. secretary-general’s recent proclamations about a ‘boiling’ earth.”

    Vice President Kamala Harris looks at a hyperwall during a climate change discussion at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., on Nov. 5, 2021. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

    On July 27, Secretary General António Guterres said, “Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning. The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived. The air is unbreathable. The heat is unbearable. And the level of fossil fuel profits and climate inaction is unacceptable.”

    Mr. Alexander said an honest answer to what’s causing Earth’s warming is, “We just don’t know right now,” but that doesn’t mean scientists are short of ideas.

    “The chances of CO2 being the number one culprit are very slim. CO2 undoubtedly contributes, but there are several natural cycles that most likely do, too,” he said. “These include solar variability and ocean cycles, both ignored in climate models—because we don’t know how to incorporate them—or represented poorly. While climate activists will tell you otherwise, climate science is still in its infancy, and there is a great deal we don’t yet understand about our climate.”

    He said one example is a recent research paper that estimated that changes in the sun’s output could explain 70 to 80 percent of global warming. Research such as that doesn’t gain much traction because the IPCC is committed to the idea that human CO2 is the cause of global warming.

    As further criticism, Mr. Alexander said John Christy, a climatologist and professor of atmospheric science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the director of the Earth System Science Center, has clearly demonstrated that climate models exaggerate short-term future warming by two to three times.

    To find more accurate measurements, Mr. Christy and Roy Spencer, a climatologist, former NASA scientist, and now a principal research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, developed a global temperature data set from microwave satellite observations.

    They started their project in 1989, analyzed data going back to 1979, and found that, in general, since 1979, the Earth’s temperature has increased steadily by 0.23 degrees Fahrenheit every 10 years, according to global satellite data, Mr. Spencer said on his website.

    As for why climate models are so inaccurate, Mr. Alexander said: “Computer simulations are only as reliable as the assumptions that the computer model is built on, and there are many assumptions that go into climate models. Assumptions about processes we don’t fully understand require approximations.

    Read more here…

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 18:20

  • New Hampshire Secretary Of State Speaks Out On 14th Amendment Challenge To Trump
    New Hampshire Secretary Of State Speaks Out On 14th Amendment Challenge To Trump

    Authored by Catherine Yang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan said on Wednesday that there is no legal basis to keep former President Donald Trump off the 2024 primary ballot as he seeks reelection, based on the 14th…

    Former U.S. President Donald Trump on stage before delivering remarks at Windham High School in Windham, N.H., on Aug. 8, 2023. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

    New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan said on Wednesday that there is no legal basis to keep former President Donald Trump off the 2024 primary ballot as he seeks reelection, based on the 14th Amendment.

    “There is no mention in the New Hampshire state statute that a candidate in a New Hampshire presidential primary can be disqualified using the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution mentioning insurrection or rebellion,” he told news outlets in a statement. “There is nothing in the 14th Amendment that suggests that exercising the provisions of that amendment should take place during the delegate selection process held by the different states.”

    The 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War, gave equal protection under the law to all persons born or naturalized in the United States. It added a section that allowed the federal government to punish states that infringed on a citizen’s right to vote, and a third section that disqualified those who participated in the rebellion or insurrection against the nation to hold office, unless two-thirds of Congress made such an exception for the candidate.

    Mr. Scanlan said that “nothing in our state statue that gives the secretary of state the discretion in entertaining qualification issues once a candidate swears under the penalty of perjury that they meet the qualifications to be president.” He added that once the candidate applies according to the proper procedures, their name “will appear on the ballot.”

    He further added that “in a situation where some states permit a name to appear on the ballot and other states disqualify it, there’s going to be chaos, confusion, anger and frustration.”

    Mr. Scanlan explained that the U.S. Supreme Court was the only authority that could make such a determination, and that a constitutional disqualification would have to apply “across the board,” in all 50 states or not at all.

    “At a time when we need U.S. election officials to ensure transparency and build confidence among voters around the country, the delegate selection process should not be the battleground to test this constitutional question,” he added.

    New Hampshire GOP Chairman Chris Ager told Fox News he thought the 14th Amendment arguments were “a complete waste of time” and that the party would have intervened in any legal action brought forth in the state.

    “I’m glad that we’ve put it to bed here in New Hampshire,” he said.

    Liberal groups have been trying to drum up support for the idea of barring President Trump from reelection, arguing that his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, constituted an insurrection or rebellion, which under the post-Civil War amendment would disqualify someone from holding office.

    But secretaries of state have not warmed to the idea, arguing this is not within their jurisdiction.

    Late August, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said he could not remove President Trump’s name from the ballot under state law, while also calling the law “stupid” because of its broad coverage.

    Last week, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon similarly said on NPR that this was also not something he had the authority to do, saying the state law instead allows “any individual” to bring forth a petition, after which a judge could rule to strike a candidate from the ballot. Four days later, a liberal group filed such a suit.

    Earlier, such a petition was thrown out in Florida after an Obama-appointed judge said she lacked jurisdiction.

    In Colorado, a petition is still pending. Meanwhile, legal experts arguing for both sides of the issue.

    Debate in New Hampshire

    In recent days, arguments over disqualifying President Trump in the early primary state reached new heights.

    A New Hampshire attorney, Bryant Messner, had brought the idea to Mr. Scanlan last month, leading to politicians voicing their support for or against the idea. Mr. Scanlan maintained that it was a decision for the courts, but by Tuesday, Sept. 12, the Trump Campaign sent a letter to his office signed by 81 New Hampshire state officials and former U.S. Senator Bob Smith.

    “There is no legal basis for these claims to hold up in any legitimate court of law,” they wrote. “The opinions of those perpetuating this fraud against the will of the people are nothing more than a blatant attempt to affront democracy and disenfranchise all voters and the former President.”

    They dismissed the 14th Amendment strategy as a political attack and “absurd conspiracy theory,” urging New Hampshire to live up to its historic patriotism by invoking the 1776 revolution.

    ‘Dangerous’ Precedent

    The groups arguing that President Trump participated in an “insurrection” point to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach events and typically describe the motivations and events of the day in loaded terms. The Colorado petition cast it as a racially motivated event where black police officers were targeted, and the Minnesota petition called those present “attackers” and “the mob.”

    Last month, President Trump was indicted for his contest of the 2020 election results in relation to his actions on Jan. 6.

    However, the indictment does not charge him with insurrection, rebellion, or even inciting violence.

    George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley says the theory that the former president would then be disqualified from holding office is “not simply dubious but dangerous.”

    “The amendment was written to deal with those who engage in an actual rebellion causing hundreds of thousands of deaths,” Mr. Turley told Fox News. “Advocates would extend the reference to ‘insurrection or rebellion’ to include unsupported claims and challenges involving election fraud.”

    He pointed out that President Trump has not been charged with any of the things the advocates are accusing him of, much less convicted.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 17:40

  • Emerging Scandal: Why Are We Giving $8 Billion To Chinese Company With Communist Ties To Build A $2 Billion Battery Factory?
    Emerging Scandal: Why Are We Giving $8 Billion To Chinese Company With Communist Ties To Build A $2 Billion Battery Factory?

    By Mark Glennon of Wirepoints

    Some politicians are taking notice of the absurdity of subsidizing a Chinese technology company, Gotion. The electric vehicle battery maker is linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and it recently inked a deal with the State of Illinois to build a $2 billion plant in Illinois.

    However, the insane size of the subsidies being granted remains to be recognized.

    On Wednesday, two members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, imploring her and Congress to take immediate action to stop the CCP from exploiting U.S. taxpayer dollars.

    The letter from committee Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI) specifically addressed a very similar Gotion battery production project in Michigan, and the same issues apply to the Illinois project.

    The letter documents connections between Gotion and the CCP:

    Gotion High-Tech Co. is a PRC company that has direct ties to the CCP and state-owned financial institutions. Gotion has been an active participant in the PRC-based version of the “Thousands Talent Program,” a program the FBI itself says encourages theft of trade secrets and economic espionage. Gotion has established multiple “Communist Party Units” within its operations and has publicly sought PRC provincial government support for its desire to expand its operations overseas. Even when courting major Western investment, Gotion has been adamant about retaining PRC-based control, including requiring that Volkswagen give up part of its voting rights, despite Volkswagen acquiring over 25 percent of the company. [Footnotes omitted.]

    “It is perplexing,” says the letter, that the U.S. government would perpetuate China’s domination of key technology “by actively supporting CCP-backed companies expanding their foothold in the U.S. market, especially in a crucial sector such as lithium-ion battery manufacturing.”

    Perplexing, indeed.

    Equally perplexing is the sheer size of the subsidies, regardless of the recipient. Gotion is qualified to receive $7.5 billion of federal tax credits over five years, as we wrote Wednesday. That’s in addition to $536 million of incentives awarded by the State of Illinois for the Illinois plant, which is expected to employ 2,600 workers. So, Gotion will be gifted over $8 billion for a factory that will cost only $2 billion.

    The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) is a national non-profit organization representing exclusively domestic producers across many sectors and industries of the U.S. economy. They’ve been heavily criticizing the tax credit program, which is known as “45X.” CPA Chairman Zach Mottl told us this:

    It’s unconscionable that the State of Illinois would contribute $500 million and the federal government an additional $7.5 billion to construct a project that will cost just a fraction of that. And to give that money to a Chinese company that is already subsidized by the Chinese government is a serious mistake. China‘s goal is to dominate the global battery industry, and forcing American taxpayers to unwittingly fund the CCP’s ambitions is a direct threat to U.S. economic and national security.

    It’s very doubtful Treasury Secretary Yellen could do anything to halt the federal tax credits going to Gotion, as requested by the Gallagher-Moolenaar letter. The entity that has some power to veto some investments in the U.S. by national security threats like China is the Treasury Department Committee on Foreign Investments (CFIUS). However, CFIUS gave the green light to Gotion’s Michigan project, reportedly saying it had no jurisdiction over the matter, and there’s no reason to think other Gotion projects are different.

    The problem, instead, is in the legislation for the 45X program. Congress must change that, as the Gallagher-Moolenaar letter says. Authorization for 45X was in the mislabeled Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, and the authorization does not contain the same prohibitions on foreign entities of concern that are in other parts of the Act and other laws, according to JD Supra.

    The entire conception of 45X in that legislation was botched. It was initially estimated that it would cost the U.S. Treasury $31 billion, but it’s now estimated to cost as much as $200 billion. It was simply too generous, leading to a frenzy of new battery factory announcements by companies drawn to the handout.

    Good Jobs First, a worker-oriented policy group in Washington, D.C., has documented the ridiculously oversized tax credits for recent battery plant announcements. Their July report includes this chart where you can see that the 45X tax credits far exceed the cost of many new battery plants, just as Gotion’s will in Illinois.

    Where are Illinois politicians on this?  So far, we’ve seen no reaction from Democrats or Republicans.

    Where is Illinois’ mainstream media? They’ve reported or criticized nothing whatsoever on the lavish tax credits coming to Gotion for its Illinois project. Even at the national level, Fox is the only major outlet that has been covering the story.

    In Michigan, a firestorm of controversy continues over Gotion’s plant there.

    In Illinois, nothing.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 17:00

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  • "A Declaration Of War On Europe" – Salvini Says 6,000 Migrants Landing On 1 Day Threatens To Collapse Italian Society
    “A Declaration Of War On Europe” – Salvini Says 6,000 Migrants Landing On 1 Day Threatens To Collapse Italian Society

    Via Remix News,

    Social media has been awash with videos of migrants storming the shores of Italy in recent days, and Italy’s nominally conservative government is being forced to respond.

    Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, known for his hawkish stance on immigration during his tenure as interior minister in 2018, said on Wednesday that when 120 boats filled with migrants arrive on the shores of Italy at the same time, “it is not a spontaneous phenomenon, it is a declaration of war on Europe.”

    The deputy prime minister of the right-wing government in Rome, who currently heads the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, referred to the fact that the boats with approximately 6,000 migrants docked on the island of Lampedusa in one day. He stressed that the problem was not exclusive to Lampedusa and that the situation threatened to “collapse Italian society as a whole.”

    Salvini said he is convinced that mass migration to Europe was being orchestrated by criminal organizations, including human trafficking organizations. He added that Europe had completely abandoned Italy to protect its land and maritime borders and that Rome should act on its own to further tighten national security and migration regulations.

    Salvini first met with League ministers, state secretaries and parliamentarians behind closed doors, before holding a press conference at the headquarters of the Foreign Correspondents’ Association in Rome. He also presented the issues on the RAI evening news program.

    “The united center-right that came to government almost a year ago is working well in Italy, the same united center-right that gives us hope to make a difference in Europe,” Salvini said.

    Video footage of boat after boat made waves on social media, with it serving as a visceral reminder of the spiraling immigration crisis Europe is facing.

    Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ran on a campaign platform of blocking migrants and setting up a “naval blockade;” however, since coming to power, she has overseen a record number of illegal migrants arriving in Italy and has even approved plans for Italy to accept over 400,000 non-EU legal migrants per year.

    Salvini, who managed to reduce illegal immigration dramatically when he served as interior minister, appears to value unity with Meloni at the moment and is not showing any public signs that he is ready to challenge his coalition partner. As Remix News previously reported, despite Meloni’s U-turn on immigration, she has maintained strong polling numbers in Italy, and the country’s growing immigration crisis does not appear to have dented her appeal with voters.

    Salvini stated that uniting European conservatives and moderates is the only way to “send the socialists home,” referring to the European Parliament elections next year. He noted that the stakes of the elections amount to the future of Europe.

    The immigration crisis could galvanize voters to swing to the right, but it could also backfire, especially if the scenes in Lampedusa and elsewhere in Italy begin to filter to the broader Italian populace, who may start to view the ruling the conservative government with skepticism. The EU, for its part, has done little to aid Italy, and if anything, could turn the screws on Meloni’s government if she takes any significant action to stem the immigration crisis.

    Salvini also announced that on Saturday and Sunday the traditional annual meeting of the League, to be held in Pontida, Lombardy, will be attended by Marine Le Pen, leader of the French National Rally. Le Pen has come out in support of Salvini since the Meloni government formed, saying she is more ideologically aligned with the League party leader. Le Pen, in particular, says she rejects Meloni’s foreign policy stances.

    The League leader also touched on the war in Ukraine, saying that a small state like the Vatican is doing more to stop the conflict than many major powers. Salvini said that Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who is leading the peace mission launched by Pope Francis and is in Beijing for talks, has done more than the European Union.

    The war in Ukraine remains another major point of contention between Salvini and Meloni, with Salvini seeking to disengage Italy from sending weapons to Ukraine, whereas Meloni has taken a more pro-Brussels stance and sought to escalate Italy’s role in the conflict.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 09/15/2023 – 02:00

  • You Can't Fight The Culture War Without Making Movies
    You Can’t Fight The Culture War Without Making Movies

    Authored by Michael Pack via RealClear Wire,

    Conservatives complain that they are losing the culture wars. And they are right. That won’t change until conservatives actually produce culture, which would be good for everyone. American culture would be enriched by art made by artists with diverse viewpoints and experiences.

    Conservatives could start with independent and documentary films; they are increasingly influential but much less expensive than Hollywood movies. Yet, many, on both sides, don’t believe conservatives can make good films.

    I disagree, and I am in a position to know. Along with my wife and business partner, Gina Cappo Pack, I have been producing documentaries for many years. Over 15 of our films have been nationally broadcast on PBS. All have won awards and garnered many favorable reviews. (A full list of our films along with clips can be found here.) So, I am a practitioner, a maker of culture, rather than a critic or expert. 

    In addition, I have run some major cultural institutions, including serving as president of the Claremont Institute, senior vice president for television programming at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and CEO of the United States Agency for Global Media, our government’s international broadcasters, including Voice of America. So, I also have the perspective of a media executive. Over the years, I have watched numerous conservative efforts to “take back the culture,” all pathetic failures.

    Capturing the Culture

    How did the left achieve cultural dominance? Not by accident or luck, but by hard work, a clear focus, and talent.

    In the late 1960s, the New Left called for a “long march through the institutions,” intending eventually to dominate all the elements of civil society. The phrase is attributed to German Marxist student leader Rudi Dutschke, who was echoing Mao’s famed actual “long march” leading to the Communists’ revolutionary takeover of China. The concept was picked up by the Frankfurt School and has roots in the influential Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci, who believed that cultural struggle inevitably precedes revolutionary class struggle. Student radicals knew they had failed to foment Marxist revolution in the 60s, so they turned to capturing the West’s cultural institutions.

    Their first target was the university, where, as student radicals, they were already well-positioned. They soon expanded to Hollywood. For example, Bert Schneider, one of the producers of “Easy Rider,” helped finance and plan Black Panther leader Huey Newton’s flight to Cuba to evade charges of shooting a 17-year-old prostitute. To the Hollywood elite, Schneider was just earning his street cred. 

    Today, their success is undeniable – in the universities, in Hollywood, the tech sector, woke corporations, and the permanent government bureaucracy. Along the way, their hard-core Marxism has morphed into a softer wokeism, at least for now.

    The left owns the narrative. Their version of contemporary events and history dominates – we are told that the American Revolution was fought to preserve slavery, the Cold War ended thanks to Mikhail Gorbachev, transgender athletes have a civil right to compete in sports with biological women, and the rest of the woke litany. 

    In the past, conservatives have downplayed the importance of culture, seeing its airy fictions as less serious than economics or politics. After losing many of their children and grandchildren to the progressive left, they have come to see the error of their ways, at least in theory. Many quote Andrew Breitbart’s aphorism that “politics is downstream of culture,” as if this were a new idea. It isn’t: In 1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote that poets are “the unacknowledged legislators of the world,” and by “poets” he meant all artists. Plato and Aristotle understood this same idea thousands of years earlier, and they were none too happy about it, or at least ambivalent.

    The Importance of Story

    Conservatives talk about culture and storytelling all the time. But few of them really get it. 

    I watch a lot of conservative films, especially documentaries. Few are very good, as I am often told by my friends on the left, and most don’t even coherently tell a story. Preaching at the audience isn’t telling a story. A series of anecdotes is not a story. A story is something that happens to a protagonist, or a group of protagonists, with a beginning, middle, and end. It has a story arc. Characters change and develop. Ideas emerge from the action. 

    Let me offer two examples of how a story works, drawn from my own films. Our documentary, “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words,” tells the story of Justice Clarence Thomas, from growing up in the segregated South to the Supreme Court. We let him tell his story himself. He is the only person interviewed, except his wife, Ginni. He looks directly at the camera as if speaking directly to the viewer. 

    The trailer can be found here.

    The film deals with race in America, originalism, the principles of the Founding, being a black conservative, and much more. Not through experts telling us what to think but through Clarence Thomas his own life story. Viewers can see for themselves how his worldview arose from the events of his life. To make a compelling story, we needed to structure the narrative to build to the right climactic moments, employing music, editing rhythms, visual imagery, and the rest of the cinematic toolkit. 

    Good documentary filmmakers reveal their biases not so much by distorting facts but by the stories they choose to tell. Several progressive filmmakers have chosen to tell the Ruth Bader Ginsburg story. Ginsburg was graced with two documentaries and a fictional feature film and became a pop culture heroine. All three films were widely acclaimed, and Robert Redford invited her to the Sundance Film Festival to celebrate her even more. We chose to tell Clarence Thomas’ story. America needs both. 

    Our film, “The Last 600 Meters,” tells a different kind of story, depicting the biggest battles of the Iraq war, Fallujah and Najaf, in 2004. A climax is a scene toward the end of the film, one of the most intense firefights of the war, called Hell House. The clip can be found here.

    I am gratified that many senior military leaders have praised the film. For example, Gen. James Mattis, who was in charge of the first battle of Fallujah, said: 

    “The Last 600 Meters reveals the infantry’s world as it has seldom been seen by those who have not experienced it. “This film, uncaptured by politics or ideology, reveals the most bruising ethical environment on Earth and the character of the young men that our nation sends in harm’s way – its infantry. It does so without veneer or apology, and in the tumult shown, understanding builds to respect for those who do our nation’s bidding in the highly unforgiving environment of ‘The Last 600 Meters.’ This film is a classic, unique in its approach and unique in what it reveals.”

    However, the film has not yet been released. The reasons reveal how differently the left and right respond to movies and understand stories. 

    Although the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was the principal funder, PBS rejected the finished film, which had never before happened in my entire career. They said it was too pro-military and too sympathetic to the young soldiers and Marines. They accused me of using selective casting to make them look more attractive and articulate, as if they needed my help. In other words, PBS didn’t like what they took to be its message. 

    Next, we tried to raise money to release the film in movie theaters hoping to generate audience buzz, and perhaps a good cable or streaming deal. I went around the country screening the film and meeting with wealthy donors. I was accompanied by one of our executive producers, Steve Bannon (yes, that Steve Bannon, then a movie guy, and clearly a great salesman). Consistently, these potential donors told us that, while the film was emotionally moving, they didn’t know at the end what they were supposed to think. Was it pro- or anti-war? Why was there no “call to action”? At that time, we failed to raise the necessary funds. 

    Clearly, the film deals with issues like patriotism, honor, the nature of counterinsurgency warfare, and how the military functions – but through the medium of story. For our potential donors, it was not explicit enough. They were uncomfortable with the ambiguities of the story. But that was part of the point of the film. War is messy, and certainties vanish. (PBS executives, on the other hand, thought they could see past the ambiguities to what they took to be our message.)

    We still hope to release the film. Perhaps its moment has come. With the war in Ukraine, the debacle in Afghanistan, and other ongoing worldwide threats, we need to decide how we want to wage war. It would be wise to look back at what happened last time, during the biggest battles since Vietnam, Fallujah and Najaf. 

    What is wanted is not merely storytelling. Story is the beginning, not the end. The viewer’s mind must be teased to see more than just a rollicking good tale, through ambiguity, metaphor, and the rest. The story must be in the service of ideas. 

    The Left’s Documentary Ecosystem

    Not only does the left have a better intuitive grasp of story, but they are also more serious about developing the institutions to support story-telling culture. 

    Over the last 50 years, the left has poured time, money, and creativity into this project. Looking only at documentaries and small independent features, I estimate that the left spends tens of billions of dollars annually. For example, the annual budget of public broadcasting, radio, and television is about $2.5 billion. Netflix, according to the Wall Street Journal, spent $17 billion last year on content. Not all of this money is going to left-leaning products, but much of it is. And these are only two out of many left-leaning media enterprises. On the other side, the right spends, maybe, tens of millions of dollars on films and television. So, over 50 years, this gap has grown to hundreds of billions of dollars, which has underwritten a progressive ecosystem of supportive and reinforcing institutions, in addition to many, many powerful films. 

    The left starts nurturing young filmmakers right from the beginning of their careers and then at every step along the way. 

    It starts with film schools. Virtually every college and university in America has a film school, and there are about 4,000 colleges. Almost every film school professor is a self-described progressive. I have never met one who is conservative. Every year, these film schools graduate hundreds of thousands of progressive aspiring filmmakers (along with camera operators, editors, film composers, etc.). Only a small percentage have the talent, ambition, and drive to succeed, and they become the basis for the next generation of progressive creative talent. On the right, we have no such winnowing process. We are left with the few filmmakers who fall off the left-wing apple cart. 

    After film school, there are many training programs for progressive young filmmakers to sharpen their skills and make industry contacts. 

    Then, when looking for their first job, they can apply to any of the vast networks of progressive film companies, which range from one-man shops to divisions of major studios. 

    When our budding young progressive filmmakers have acquired enough experience and are ready to make their first big film, they can turn to an extensive network of progressive funding sources. All the largest American foundations, including the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation, have divisions devoted to supporting “social justice” documentaries. The federal government funds documentaries through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Science Foundation, among others. The staff of these government entities is very focused, explicitly, on social justice and DEI, and their grants reflect that. 

    For-profit funding is also available. Several boutique distribution and production companies have been created by wealthy leftist billionaires, often from Silicon Valley, to support woke films, such as Participant, bankrolled by eBay founder Jeff Skoll. HBO, Showtime, Amazon, Netflix, and other cable and streaming companies commission woke documentaries and nonfiction series, in addition to acquiring them. 

    As these young progressives start to produce their films, they can rely on a talent pool of skilled artists and craftsmen, from cameramen and composers to editors and computer graphics artists, who proudly call themselves progressive, too. 

    When their woke film is finished, how do they make sure a large audience sees it? Our up-and-coming progressive filmmakers have a host of options, especially among cable and streaming services. Years ago, we all hoped that these new companies, like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu, would provide a diversity of programming, different from the standard Hollywood fare. This has failed to materialize, in part because they are run by the same progressive Hollywood and New York elites that run the legacy media companies. 

    Finally, our progressive filmmakers can enter their films in prestigious film festivals, like Sundance or Telluride, or the many smaller ones, including ones dedicated to environmental, LGBT, or other niche markets. Then, they might be lucky enough to get an award, from the Oscars and Emmys to many others, all run by the same woke club. 

    Not surprisingly, with all this attention and need for content, there is a renaissance of documentary and nonfiction filmmaking. Both feature-length documentary films and short documentaries are being produced in large numbers. Many are of very high quality, but almost all are very progressive, especially in the choice of subject. For example, the proposed Emmy nominees for nonfiction in one year included documentaries and series celebrating Stacey Abrams, Greta Thunberg, progressive Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner, and the ’70s black militant group MOVE, a virtual litany of woke causes and progressive heroes and victims. None had voices questioning the saintly nature of their protagonists. 

    The Myth of the Left’s Artistic Superiority

    The left’s dominance of the culture may seem daunting. This should not deter us. To put our problem in perspective, look back at how radical leaders felt when they began their march through the institutions. They, too, were discouraged. 

    Frankfurt school writers decried the hopelessly bourgeois nature of mid-century America, narcotized, according to them, by TV shows like “Bonanza” and “Father Knows Best.” How would they ever radicalize these comfortable middle-class Americans? But they persisted and are now rewarded with success. We can succeed, too. A restoration is easier than a revolution. 

    Cowards who want to surrender in the culture wars often claim we can’t fight back because “the left is naturally more artistic and given to storytelling. Our side is more interested in politics and making money.” This may describe our society as it is now, but it is not a natural law. 

    I am not even sure what this assertion means. Great art and artists are hard to pigeonhole, and the politics of the past are very different from the politics of the present. Just to cite a few examples: Virgil’s Aeneid, the most influential poem in human history, glorified the Roman Emperor Augustus. Dante’s Divine Comedy longed for a reconstituted pan-European monarchy and a universal church. Shakespeare’s history plays celebrated and justified Elizabethan rule. 

    Whatever you call these works, they are not left-leaning or anti-authoritarian. 

    The trope of the radical artist defying convention and society is comparatively recent, a creation of the Romantic Movement, with its Byronic rebel artists and its critique of industrialization and the values of the rising bourgeoisie. But, over the last two centuries, there are plenty of exceptions to this Romantic myth, from Robert Frost to T. S. Eliot. 

    My part of the cultural battlefield is the movies. The movie industry itself is the best rejoinder to the myth of leftist artistic superiority. Hollywood, in its golden age, from the 1920s through the 1950s, consistently made movies with a patriotic subtext, selling the American Dream to audiences here and all over the world. These movies celebrated faith, family, and individual opportunity. Hollywood moguls, like Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, and Samuel Goldwyn, were Jewish immigrants who fled oppression and pogroms in Eastern Europe. They prized American liberty and freedom, having bitter memories of its opposite. And, of course, selling the American dream was good business, leading to immensely popular movies, since these movies mirrored the values of their countrymen. 

    The iconic American genre is the Western, whose greatest director was John Ford, and its greatest star was John Wayne. Ford’s movies, like “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence” or “The Searchers,” tell complex stories of the settling of the West, which are basically positive but with complicating features. John Wayne often portrays the rugged individualist hero, who is maybe too violent for civilization but necessary for its success. These movies, and icons like Wayne, made people all over the world want to come to America and be Americans. 

    When it comes to storytelling, in truth, the advantage is all on our side, not on the left’s. Our stories, especially about America, have heroes and villains, and great world-changing adventures. These are stories past generations of Americans have loved hearing. Moreover, they are actually true and reflect even deeper truths. The left has had to turn all this on its head, with anti-heroes, nihilistic postmodern Westerns, dystopian anti-free market fantasies, and the rest. With the help of deep pockets and the control of all cultural institutions, they have done surprisingly well with a weak hand. 

    Solutions

    America may be in a culture war, but only one side is fighting. The progressive left is making culture. We, on the conservative right, merely complain about it. Imagine a war where one side deploys troops and weapons, and the other side complains about the first group’s inhumane behavior. No wonder we are losing. We haven’t really begun to fight, to get our troops into the field. 

    We need to start producing culture. To give you an idea of what can be accomplished, let me describe what my team is doing. We have launched a new production company, Palladium Pictures, to help fill this need. We aim to tell stories the progressive left ignores, downplays, or covers in a one-sided fashion. Fortunately, we have a generous multi-year grant to help us get started. Naturally, we will need to fundraise aggressively to realize the grandest of our ambitions.

    Our plan has three parts: new long-form documentaries, short documentaries, and an incubator to train the next generation of right-of-center filmmakers.

    Long-Form Documentaries

    As is typical for a production company, we have many projects in development and the list is always growing. Let me briefly describe three from this list, without too much detail. 

    “Seattle 2020” (working title): The protests and riots following the death of George Floyd, whatever their political goals, also led to billions of dollars of property damage and many violent crimes. Yet, there are no major documentaries about those riots, while, according to the Washington Post, there are over a dozen films in production about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

    The events in Seattle that summer are a good window into what was happening across the country and into some of the movements and issues that are still with us. Immediately after George Floyd’s killing, protests and riots began, first in downtown Seattle and then in the fashionable Capitol Hill area. Eventually, the police decided to abandon the Capitol Hill police station and permit the protestors to run the six blocks around it as they saw fit, with barriers to entry and their own security force. The protestors first called the area The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) but later changed the name to The Capitol Hill Organized Protest (the CHOP). Police, fire, and EMS were forbidden entry. During the day there was free food, music, and speeches, while nighttime was more violent: Many stores were looted, there were several shootings, and, finally, two murders forced the city to clear the CHOP, though protests continued throughout the year. We will examine the story from all sides, giving all points of view, from protestors to police to city officials, a chance to speak.

    “Fracking” (working title): Extracting natural gas through hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, commonly called “fracking,” has revolutionized energy production in the U.S. We have gone from a net importer of petroleum products to a net exporter, not without controversy. Critics claim fracking is polluting drinking water and releasing large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas, into the environment. Defenders of the method point to the huge new resources of natural gas that can be reached by horizontal drilling, fueling economic growth in America and around the world. They add that natural gas replacing coal has lowered America’s CO2 emissions.

    Rather than feature the argument or profile victims, as is often done, we will follow a few fracking entrepreneurs as they try to drill for natural gas, encountering opposition from regulators, environmentalists, and government at all levels. Although all these people will get a chance to make their case fully, our story will be driven by our entrepreneurs’ ongoing efforts to find the energy the world needs and to pursue the American dream of success through achievement.

    “Rediscovering Thomas Jefferson”: America’s Founding Fathers are under attack as never before, from tearing down their statues to the 1619 Project’s claim that the American Revolution was mainly about protecting slavery. So, this seems to us a good time to reexamine our founding. We have done two previous films on founders, “Rediscovering George Washington” and “Rediscovering Alexander Hamilton,” which placed their lives in the context of today’s world. 

    Next, we want to turn to Thomas Jefferson. These days he is under attack not only for being a slave owner who is believed to have fathered children with an enslaved woman, but also for his Enlightenment ideas, as realized in the Declaration of Independence, whose vision of “equality” differs from contemporary notions of “equity.” We will present him, warts and all, but not just the warts, the brilliance, too. 

    These are three very different documentaries. Together they can begin to change the debate about the recent past, the present, and our history – and point the way for others to do so, too. A small number of well-crafted, fair-minded films can make a difference.

    Short Documentaries

    We are working with a major media organization to put out a series of short documentaries, telling the full story behind news items and recent events. Topics under consideration include aspects of the response to COVID-19, cancel culture, and the parent movement to challenge public schools.

    These shorts will deal with issues by finding the human story that reveals the essence of what is at stake, rather than being issue-oriented essays, with a lot of explanation and narration. The format will be closer to the New York Times’ Op-Docs, rather than the video essays popular on conservative websites. Although topical, these films will not be advocacy. While relying on good reporting, presenting a fair consideration of the issues, and featuring all sides, these will be primarily emotional and thought-provoking films. The New York Times’ Op-Docs, and others on the left, do this well. We need to catch up.

    Since are partnered with a major media organization and will be producing several every year, these shorts will be able to gradually grow their audience and become a brand. We will use all the new ways of delivering video, from streaming services to X (formerly known as Twitter) to new social media outlets.

    These docs will enable us to deal with hot-button issues with a quicker turnaround time, before the conventional wisdom is settled. If the news is the first draft of history, these will be the second draft (and our longer docs, the third draft). In a world bogged down by the 24-hour news cycle, these docs will offer in-depth journalism that captivates as much as it investigates and informs. 

    Incubator

    In the future, who will make movies that will tell “the other side of the story,” neglected by Hollywood and today’s cultural establishment? How can we create the missing talent pool, cast aside by the progressive left’s ecosystem of institutions from film school to the Oscars?

    To solve that problem in the nonfiction realm, we are launching an incubator program to train and nurture a core group of the next generation of right-of-center documentary filmmakers. Through a competitive process, we will select several fellows, whose short film project we will fully fund and distribute. These films will be made under our direct supervision and tutelage, so the filmmakers will receive mentorship and guidance. In the course of making these short films, a new generation of non-woke filmmakers will learn producing skills, narrative techniques, and journalistic judgment. 

    Each year this network of young, talented filmmakers will grow. They will go on from our incubator to make bigger and better films. They will help and collaborate with each other. We are committed to helping them throughout their careers. Over time, as a group, they will change the documentary film landscape, challenging the notion that conservatives can’t make movies, not in theory, but by producing great films.

    The program is outlined here.

    Conclusion

    Contrary to conventional wisdom, I am much more optimistic about the changing the culture, especially through the story-telling media, than about reforming politics and the government. Sure, conservatives can win elections, but the permanent bureaucracy has spent decades burrowing in and is protected by civil service rules so even victories at the ballot box don’t mean what they once did. Yet, anyone can make a movie. Although all the supporting institutions are on the left, entertainment remains a free market.

    We can nurture our own filmmakers and make our own movies. Today, there are many more ways for a non-woke film to reach an audience. You can stream it from your own YouTube site. You can make a deal with one of the several new conservative streaming sites. It’s also possible that you can persuade one of the major streaming services to pick it up. After all, we have been successful for decades in getting our films nationally broadcast in primetime on PBS, hardly a right-wing outlet. The key is to have truly excellent content, whose value cannot be denied. Content is indeed king. 

    We can also build cultural institutions of our own – and create an alternative ecosystem, modeled on the successful one the left has built over the decades. By learning from their experience, we can do it all much faster, using newer technology.

    America, it is often said, is roughly divided into thirds: one-third on the left, one-third on the right, and one-third in the middle. I believe the latter two-thirds would support and welcome documentaries and feature films that present a positive, but accurate, portrait of America, reflecting traditional values without preaching and without distortion. 

    We need to summon the will to do it – and the funding.

    Michael Pack is a documentary filmmaker, who has produced over 15 award-winning documentaries which were nationally broadcast on public television, most recently “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words.” He has also served as a media, government, and non-profit executive.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 23:40

  • As Historic Auto Union Strike Starts, White House Prepares Emergency Aid
    As Historic Auto Union Strike Starts, White House Prepares Emergency Aid

    Update (2320ET): For the first time in history that the 146,000-member union has simultaneously gone on strike against Ford, General Motors(GM) and Stellantis, according to Reuters.

    “Tonight, for the first time in our history, we will strike all three of the Big Three at once,” UAW President Shawn Fain says.

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    UAW President Shawn Fain announced that the strike would begin on Friday at three plants:

    • GM’s midsize truck and full-size van plant in Wentzville, Missouri;

    • Ford’s Ranger midsize pickup and Bronco SUV plant in Wayne, Michigan; and

    • Stellantis’ Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio

    …while not yet committing to a complete strike for all its members.

    Pro-union President Biden is walking a very thin line.

    Even though the president and other officials in his administration have repeatedly said they’re not concerned about impending labor action, the Washington Post reports Biden officials “are preparing economic measures to protect suppliers to the auto industry from long-term damage.” 

    People familiar with internal conversations said the White House is very concerned about the strike that could “wipe out the thousands of suppliers” critical for Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis’ complex supply chains. The chaos at the supplier level “could impede the broader US auto supply chain even after the possible strike ends,” the people said.  

    The type of support being offered is unclear, but one possibility could be in the form of grants via the Labor Department to assist workers at firms affected by strikes. Another option could be loans to these firms supplied by the Small Business Administration. 

    “The administration wants to be sure to do what it can to protect the Detroit supply chains,” one of WaPo’s sources said, adding, “They have to worry about how some of the less well-capitalized firms could be at risk.”

    If these sources are correct, it would contradict the president who stated ten days ago while at his luxurious beach house in Rehoboth beach: “I’m not worried about a strike. I don’t think it’s going to happen.” On Monday, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo reaffirmed Biden’s position that ‘strikes will be averted’. 

    On Wednesday, UAW boss Shawn Fain told members in a Facebook Live event that talks with General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis were still ‘far apart‘ and, “We are preparing to strike these companies in a way they’ve never seen before.”

    This week, UAW dropped their wage hike demand from 40% to 36%, but even then, that’s still far off from auto companies offers:

    Ford is proposing a 20 percent raise over 4½ years, up from its initial offer of 9 percent. General Motors is offering an 18 percent raise over 4½ years, up from 10 percent earlier. And Stellantis, the parent company of Jeep and Chrysler, is offering 17.5 percent raises over that same time period, up from 14.5 percent. -WaPo

    Fain said a strike would begin in a “select few” manufacturing plants to keep automakers guessing where the next labor action will emerge:

    “This is going to create confusion for the companies. It’s going to keep them guessing on what might happen next, and it’s going to turbocharge the power of our negotiators.” 

    The union boss has a 2200 ET Facebook Live Event scheduled for tonight. 

    Last week, Bank of America Securities warned clients that a “strike is almost guaranteed.” 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 23:20

  • How To Select A Town The Rich Won't Gentrify And Ruin
    How To Select A Town The Rich Won’t Gentrify And Ruin

    Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

    Let’s review how to select a town that the rich won’t ruin via gentrification / swarming in en masse and driving out locals who have to work for a living.

    Yesterday I discussed how those enriched by two decades of Federal Reserve-inflated bubbles make housing unaffordable for the bottom 90% by gentrifying previously affordable neighborhoods and towns. Once the truly wealthy have snapped up all the most desirable properties in the most desirable enclaves, the merely millionaires start snapping up nearby properties, fueling a bidding war that soon pushes valuations out of reach of the working populace.

    As I discussed in STVR/Airbnb Has Destroyed America’s Resort Towns (8/30/23), the net result is the workforce of the gentrified town can no longer afford to buy or rent shelter near their work place. This forces them to commute long distances or give up and move away, leaving the town short of people to actually do the work of keeping the town operating.

    Let’s review how to select a town that the rich won’t ruin via gentrification / swarming in en masse and driving out locals who have to work for a living. 

    Let’s start by dividing the wealthy seeking a nice place to live where we can park some of our excess capital into four very different classes:

    1. The most desirable class of wealthy residents is old money, families with deep roots in the town who quietly fund needed improvements and services with their wealth and who are protective of what makes the town a nice place to live. They have the clout to protect the town from the entitled vultures seeking to make a quick buck off gentrification and low-quality development.

    Recent arrivals (within the past 20 years) can qualify if they follow the same script of quietly donating large sums to local needs and quietly working to keep out the vultures of gentrification. This class of wealth isn’t interested in scooping up all the land for their own mini-empire; they own enough for their own comfort but are not trying to own the whole area like the wealthiest, greediest vultures.

    2. The second most desirable class is the entrepreneurial wealthy, those who earned their capital via hard work, thrift and building enterprises that add value–in other words, the opposite of the entitled wealthy whose money is the unearned spawn of Fed-inflated bubbles.

    The entrepreneurial wealthy are less likely to be toxically entitled, more likely to be down to earth and more likely to invest for the long-term in local businesses that provide employment and services.

    3. The least desirable class is the entitled bubble-wealthy who are cluelessly self-absorbed and demanding. They expect locals to be uncomplaining servants / serfs who will do whatever the entitled wealthy want done for low wages. They arrive with bloated self-importance and a toxic sense of entitlement, as if everything they want should be available to them wherever they are on the planet. They are ignorant of local history and culture and have little interest in fitting in and zero interest in contributing any real work to the community.

    4. The most destructive class is the vulture-developer class who want to swoop in, build a bunch of low-quality strip malls and shoddy houses for the entitled bubble-wealthy that overburden the town’s limited infrastructure of roads, water service, etc., ruining it for residents new and established alike.

    Somewhat tongue in cheek, here is a list of attributes you want to look for to avoid, as they’re magnets for the entitled bubble-wealthy and the the vulture-developer class:

    The click-bait articles touting “the 25 best towns in America” serve one useful function: cross those towns off your list, as they’ve already been ruined by the influx of entitled, self-absorbed outsiders.

    A more valuable use of time is to research what the entitled wealthy are looking for, and avoid those towns and small cities that check all the boxes the wealthy consider “must-haves.”

    This includes a nearby highly rated hospital, as the wealthy are anxious to access the same high-quality care they’re entitled to, should anything untoward happen to their precious bodily fluids.

    High-end healthy cuisine is also a must. If haute cuisine isn’t available, there must be tony cafes and bistros offering fish tacos, fresh fusion-inspired sandwiches made with artisan bread and similar light fare, vegan and vegetarian options and an acceptable selection of wines, craft beers and other beverages.

    The town must have a decent bakery and butcher, and a farmer’s market, of course, as the wealthy are too busy day-trading, logging onto conference calls or jetting off for their next vacation-business meeting to actually grow any real food themselves.

    A handful of cutesy shops for browsing is also essential, as is some live entertainment venue.

    A cafe that grinds its own coffee and stocks luxury beans for grinding at home is also a must, a place expensive enough that locals will stay away, so the wealthy newcomers can gather to complain about the scarcity of quality “help” locally, as they’re accustomed to hiring undocumented immigrants for scandalously low rates of pay.

    The police or sheriff’s department must be responsive to their calls, of course, as they’re entitled to special consideration due to the taxes they pay (as if locals don’t pay taxes, too…).

    An absolute must is a nearby major airport, as the wealthy are always jetting around and it’s terribly inconvenient to have to drive a tediously long way to a commercial airport.

    Competent tradespeople, mechanics and techies are high on the priority list, as it’s extremely annoying not to have someone who can fix the pool pump in summer, trim the hedges just so, maintain the fast Internet connection and do all that bothersome work keeping the short-term vacation rentals spiffy.

    Fast Internet service is of course a must; spotty Starlink service will nix a locale immediately.

    If you want to find some place the entitled wealthy are unlikely to ruin because they won’t move there–or if you want to get there before the hordes of entitled but-not-quite-rich-enough-to-buy-an-elite-enclave arrive–find a town that lacks some or all of these essentials, a place the wealthy will turn up their noses to, a town with the few things you care about but not enough to spark the interest of the entitled wealthy.

    A town with minimal tourism is a good start, as the wealthy are drawn to unspoiled rural idylls that they can “improve” (i.e. destroy) with their entitled demands for a neofeudal arrangement of locals serving their whims without complaint for low pay.

    *  *  *

    My new book is now available at a 10% discount ($8.95 ebook, $18 print): Self-Reliance in the 21st Century. Read the first chapter for free (PDF)

    Become a $1/month patron of my work via patreon.com.

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    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 23:00

  • China Data Dump Largely Beats Estimates As Slumping Economy Finally Rebounds
    China Data Dump Largely Beats Estimates As Slumping Economy Finally Rebounds

    In retrospect it was clear that China was poised for a rebound when the latest edition of the BofA Fund Manager Survey published earlier this week – which without fail exposes the prevailing wrong groupthink on Wall Street and is one of the best sources of contrarian alpha – showed that China sentiment had hit rock bottom.

    And indeed, just days after we reported that China’s new credit had rebounded sharply in August thanks to a surge in new mortgage loans, leading to a 3.12TN yuan jump in China’s Total Social Financing…

    … moments ago we got the latest Chinese data dump for the month of August, which showed that – as expected – the world’s 2nd biggest economy has rebounded from the bottom and may be stabilizing. Here are the highlights:

    • August Retail sales +4.6%, beating exp. +3.0%, Last +2.5%
    • August Industrial Output +4.5%, beating exp. +3.9%, Last +3.7%
    • Jan-Aug Fixed Investment +3.2%, missing exp. +3.3%, Last 3.4%
    • Jan-Aug Property Development investment -8.8%, Last -8.5%
    • China apparent oil demand +22.7% to 14.74mm b/d, unchanged from July
    • New property construction falls -24.4% YTD y/y to 639MM sq.m
    • August new home prices, excluding affordable housing, -0.29% m/m

    And while we would report the most important data point of all, China’s record youth unemployment which last month hit a record high of 21.3% (and which according to some is now 50% or more), we can’t because Beijing decided to suspend the data series in August after it was clear that the only way to avoid exposing the collapse of China’s labor market was to stop reporting about it altogether.

    Commenting on the data dump, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said that domestic demand expanded as supportive policies were rolled out and employment situation improved in August, but challenges remain.

    The domestic economy is still facing “structural and cyclical problems” and policy makers’ focus will be on expanding domestic demand, NBS spokesman Fu Linghui said at a briefing in Beijing Friday. Still, officials expect the domestic economy to continue to recover and improve.

    Frances Cheung, a rates strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking in Singapore, agreed and after the report said that China’s August economic data points to some some stabilization in economic activities, which will set a floor to CNY interest rates, says  “The improvement in industrial production and retail sales is encouraging”

    Cheung also said that the policy strategy appears to be putting forward numerous measures within a short period of time to achieve some amplified impact, and added that “the outsized MLF together with the more permanent liquidity released from the RRR cut shall provide a strong support to the market.” The unchanged MLF rate suggests policy focus moves away from the price of money to more direct support via fiscal spending and liquidity injection; The cut in the rate on the 14-day reverse repo is simply a catch-up.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 22:46

  • New Program Tracks Foreign Forces Killing Civilians With US Weapons
    New Program Tracks Foreign Forces Killing Civilians With US Weapons

    Authored by Jessica Corbett via Common Dreams,

    Human rights advocates and some congressional Democrats on Wednesday cautiously welcomed Washington Post reporting that the Biden administration has created a program to track and investigate allegations of foreign forces harming or killing civilians with weapons provided by the United States.

    “The United States clearly has a vested interest in knowing what harm its weapons sales and security assistance cause to civilians,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) deputy Washington director Nicole Widdersheim told the newspaper. “Let’s see if the Biden administration puts political will behind this good idea.”

    Jihadists in Syria, including ISIS, had displayed American weapons on videos and in photographs, via Flashpoint/NBC

    Annie Shiel, U.S. advocacy director at the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), called the initiative “an important step” but added that “of course, its impact will come down to the details of implementation.”

    The Quaker group Friends Committee on National Legislation noted Shiel’s remarks on X—formerly Twitter—while celebrating the “positive news… on accountability for harm caused by U.S.-supplied weapons.”

    The U.S. State Department, which is leading the program with the help of “personnel from the Pentagon, intelligence community, and other agencies,” announced the Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance (CHIRG) in an August 23 cable to American embassies and consulates, according to the Post.

    A State Department spokesperson told the Middle East Eye on Wednesday that “CHIRG establishes a process to respond to new incidents of civilian harm and prevent them from recurring, and to drive partners to conduct military operations in accordance with international law,” but declined to say whether the probes will be made public.

    The new initiative resembles a Defense Department effort launched last year that focuses on injuries and deaths of noncombatants caused by American forces—one which Shiel said at the time “offers opportunities to address long-standing structural flaws in U.S. policy and practice, prevent future harm, and provide civilians harmed by U.S. operations with the recognition and response they deserve.”

    U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said on social media that he was “pleased to see” the State Department adopting an element of the Safeguarding Human Rights in Arms Exports Act, which he introduced with House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.).

    Passing such legislation, the Post pointed out, “would ensure that the new procedures can’t be abolished by a future administration, along with establishing other steps to prioritize rights concerns in arms sales.”

    U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Wednesday also welcomed the new program while highlighting her related efforts on Capitol Hill. Over the past year, she has joined Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) in sending letters to the departments of Defense and State.

    CIVIC advocacy and legal fellow John Ramming Chappell stressed on X that the program “comes after years of congressional pressure” and “would not have been developed without demand from the Hill.”

    “Questions remain, of course,” he noted. “What will actually happen when U.S. officials find U.S. arms have been used in war crime or human rights violation? Will there be meaningful accountability, or will perpetrators just get a slap on the wrist? Will close partners get special treatment?“

    Former longtime HRW executive director Kenneth Roth also raised a question: “But what about forces armed by the U.S. that use other arms to kill civilians? That’s wrong, too.”

    Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer who is now a Crisis Group senior adviser, wrote on social media that the program is “a notable step” in monitoring civilian deaths and injuries but also warned observers to “be wary of relying on U.S. embassies, given ‘clientitis.'”

    Finucane added that such monitoring “is more likely to be effective” if it is “statutory-mandated” versus administrative policy, is “as independent as possible to insulate from those in bureaucracy with interests in selling arms,” and incorporates information from all sources.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 22:20

  • Manhattan Rental Market 'Peaks' As Affordability Wanes
    Manhattan Rental Market ‘Peaks’ As Affordability Wanes

    Demand for apartments across Manhattan slowed in August, a month typically marked by a surge ahead of the back-to-school season. This indicates that record-high rents have likely pushed potential renters to the sidelines. More broadly, this supports the latest inflation trends that show easing shelter costs. 

    Last month, the median rent in Manhattan was signed around $4,400, or unchanged from the record set in July, according to Bloomberg, citing new data from Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. The plateau in rent prices indicates consumers are balking at prices that have jumped 7.3% from a year ago and 35% from August 2021. 

    Source: Bloomberg 

    According to Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, August is usually one of the hottest months of the year as renters flock to the borough before the fall semester. However, last month, activity was underwhelming and slower than in May and June. He said new leases plunged 14% from a year ago to 5,025. 

    “We’re still at or very near all-time highs, but we’re continuing to see new leasing activity fall, and that’s an indicator that the market is topping out,” Miller said.

    If Miller is correct, then the topping of rent prices in Manhattan would line up with broader shelter trends that have also eased. 

    Recall that we told readers in April: “Shelter has topped out.” 

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    Miller said the number of available apartments declined from July, suggesting some renters renewed leases rather than going out and finding an entirely new place. Data showed competition and bidding wars on apartments have slowed. He added that only “11% of leases were signed after bidding wars, compared with 19% a year earlier.” 

    He also expects landlords to lower rent prices this fall as demand subsides. Still, he doesn’t expect significant declines: “No one is expecting a rent correction unless we have some severe economic event.” 

    High rent prices in the borough have deterred many young TikTok influencers who aspired to nothing else in life but to make short videos about their lives. 

    The solution for some has been finding roommates. 

    Miller was correct last month when he warned that the rental affordability breaking point is quickly approaching. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 22:00

  • Post-Postmodern America
    Post-Postmodern America

    Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

    When the progressive woke revolution took over traditional America, matters soon reached the level of the ridiculous.

    Take the following examples of woke craziness and hypocrisy, perhaps last best witnessed during Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution.

    The Biden administration from its outset wished to neuter immigration law. It sought to alter radically the demography of the U.S. by stopping the border wall and allowing into the United States anyone who could walk across the southern border.

    Over seven million did just that. Meanwhile, Biden ignored the role of the Mexican cartels in causing nearly 100,000 ANNUAL American fentanyl deaths.

    Then border states finally wised up.

    They grasped that the entire open-borders, “new Democratic majority” leftwing braggadocio was predicated on its hypocritical architects staying as far away as possible from their new constituents.

    So cash strapped border states started busing their illegal aliens to sanctuary blue-state jurisdictions.

    Almost immediately, once magnanimous liberals, whether in Martha’s Vineyard, Chicago, or Manhattan, stopped virtue-signaling their support for open borders.

    Instead, soon they went berserk over the influx.

    So now an embarrassed Biden administration still wishes illegal aliens to keep coming but to stay far away from their advocates—by forcing them to remain in Texas.

    That means the president has redefined the US. border. It rests now apparently north of Texas, as Biden cedes sovereignty to Mexico.

    Precivilizational greens in California prefer blowing up dams to building them.

    They couldn’t care less that their targeted reservoirs help store water in drought, prevent flooding, enhance irrigation, offer recreation, and generate clean hydroelectric power.

    Now an absurd green California is currently destroying four dams on the Klamath River. In adding insult to injury, it is paying the half-billion dollar demolition cost in part through a water bond that state voters once thought would build new—not explode existing—dams.

    The Biden administration is mandating new dates when electric vehicles will be all but mandatory.

    To prove their current viability, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm led a performance art EV caravan on a long road trip.

    When she found insufficient charging stations to continue her media stunt, she sent a gas-powered car ahead to block open charging stations and deny them to other EVs ahead in line.

    Only that way could Granholm ensure that her arriving energy-starved motorcade might find rare empty charger stalls.

    In some California charging stations, diesel generators are needed to produce enough “clean” electricity to power the stalls.

    The state has steadily dismantled many of its nuclear, oil, and coal power plants. It refuses to build new natural gas generation plants.

    Naturally, California’s heavily subsidized solar and wind plants now produce too much energy during the day and almost nothing at night.

    So the state now begs residents to charge their EVs only during the day. Then at night, Californians may soon be asked to plug them in again to transfer what is left in their batteries into the state grid.

    Apparently only that way will there be enough expropriated “green” electricity for 41 million state residents after dark.

    One of the loudest leftist voices to defund the police, and decriminalize violent crimes in the post-George Floyd era, was Shivanthi Sathanandan, the 2nd Vice Chairwoman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

    She was recently not shy about defunding: “We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department. Say it with me. DISMANTLE.”

    But recently the loud Sathanandan was a victim of the very crime wave she helped to spawn.

    Four armed thugs carjacked her automobile. They beat her up in front of her children at her own home, and sped off without fear of arrest.

    The reaction of the arch police dismantler and decriminalizer on her road to Damascus?

    The now bruised and bleeding activist for the first time became livid that criminals had taken over her Minneapolis: “Look at my face. REMEMBER ME when you are thinking about supporting letting juveniles and young people out of custody to roam our streets instead of HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS.”

    Andrea Smith was an ethnic studies professor  at the University of California, Riverside. But now she has been forced out after getting caught lying that she was Native American.

    Prior to her outing, she was well known for damning “white women” (like herself) who opted to “become Indians” out of guilt, and (like her) for careerist advantage.

    The common theme of these absurdities is how contrary to human nature, impractical, and destructive is utopian wokism, whether in matters of energy, race, crime, or illegal immigration.

    There are two other characteristics of the Woke Revolution.

    • One, it depends solely on its advocates never having to experience firsthand any of the nonsense they inflict on others.

    • And two, dangerous zealots with titles before, and letters after, their names prove to be quite stupid—and dangerous.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 21:40

  • "Never Embrace Socialism… Or The Siren Song Of Social Justice" – Argentine Presidential Candidate Milei Warns Tucker Of The Dangers Of Statism
    “Never Embrace Socialism… Or The Siren Song Of Social Justice” – Argentine Presidential Candidate Milei Warns Tucker Of The Dangers Of Statism

    Argentina’s leading presidential candidate Javier Milei – a self-described anarcho-capitalist who won the primaries with 30% of the vote – sat down with Tucker Carlson this week in Buenos Aires for a wide-ranging discussion.

    Prior to the interview, Carlson documented first-hand the hyperinflationary perils of statism run wild…

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    Carlson and Milei talked about why the citizens of Argentina are fed up with the relentless lack of change and the relentless economic decline, echoing many similar patterns taking place in America, with the one-time congressman explaining his platform of radical change which would include the dissolution of numerous socialist institutions and the very central bank which has led Argentina into multiple fiscal crisis events.

    Milei’s advice to Americans is simple: “Never embrace the ideas of socialism.”

    “Never allow yourselves to be seduced by the siren song of social justice. Don’t get caught up in that terrible concept that where there is a need, there is a right. But that can’t happen on its own.

    We have to be prepared for this, and wage a cultural war every single day and we have to be careful because they have no problem with getting inside the State and employing Gramsci’s techniques: seducing the artists, seducing the culture, seducing the media or meddling in educational content.”

    Reflecting in the slippery slope of American leftist politics, Carlson noted that Argentina has adopted many left-wing social issues.

    “I didn’t fully appreciate the degree to which the Argentinian government had embraced fringe academic, American-style social justice,” Carlson told Milei, adding that “a businessman told me at lunch today that people who identify as transgender pay lower taxes, and that in 2019 you had a Ministry of Women and Diversity created in this country for the first time. What does that ministry do?”

    “In theory, it is supposed to deal with women’s issues,” Milei said.

    “But when you look at the results, you find there aren’t any. Just writing songs…”

    “Are women happier here?” Carlson asked.

    “No,” Milei said. “Because there are no real results.”

    And added, “why isn’t there a Ministry of Men?”

    Then, Milei really touched the third rail… by supporting President Trump, and offering him some advice:

    “[Trump] should continue his fight against socialism. Because he is one of the few who truly understood that we are fighting socialism, that we are fighting the statists.

    He understood perfectly that the generation of wealth comes from the private sector.

    The State does not create wealth, the State destroys it.

    The State can give you nothing, because it produces nothing. And when it attempts it, it does so poorly.”

    “So I’d say, if I could humbly offer advice, all I could say would be to double down on his efforts in the same direction: defending the ideals of freedom and refusing to give an inch to the socialists,” he continued.

    The discussion included Milei’s controversial denouncement of the Pope, his views on abortion, and his belief that climate change is a “socialist lie.”

    Watch the full interview below:

    • (0:00) Intro
    • (3:32) Inflation
    • (6:00) Gender ideology
    • (9:57) Abortion
    • (11:45) Pope Francis’ affinity for dictators
    • (14:45) Architecture
    • (17:52) Advice to Americans and Donald Trump
    • (22:23) Climate change
    • (27:55) China
    • (29:18) Prayer
    • (30:39) Violent political protests

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    *  *  *

    As Manuel Garcia Gojon writes, at The Mises Institute, Milei’s full plan – which he laid out in some detail on August 2nd, is nothing if not pragmatic from an anarchist point of view.

    The first measure consists of an organizational reform of the government, going from 18 to 8 ministries. The ministries to be included are interior, foreign relations, defense, economy, justice, security, infrastructure, and human capital. No career bureaucrats are to be fired initially, but they will be reassigned. The political appointees will not be renewed and will be kept to a minimum. All government employee privileges, such as bodyguards and drivers, will be eliminated, except in the cases in which they are absolutely necessary for security reasons. This measure also includes initiating the privatization or closure process of all state-owned companies.

    The second measure consists of a significant reduction in public spending. For the first budget, they seek to eliminate expenditure items amounting to 15 percent of GDP, taking it from a deficit to a surplus. On the revenue side, they seek to eliminate 90 percent of taxes, which only raise an amount equal to 2 percent of GDP but have a distortive effect. There is also an intention of lowering the taxes that remain.

    The third measure consists of a flexibilization of labor regulations. Firing an employee is currently very costly in Argentina between litigation and compensation. This measure is geared toward reducing those costs by making it easier for companies to fire new employees. The balancing side of this measure is the implementation of a private unemployment insurance scheme. With this measure they seek to take formal employment in the private sector from 6 million positions to 14 million positions.

    The fourth measure consists of a liberalization of trade. The goal of this measure is unilateral free trade in the style of Chile. This includes the elimination of all import and export tariffs and the reduction of regulatory restrictions.

    The fifth measure consists of a monetary reform. This measure includes allowing the use of any commodity or foreign currency as legal tender and the liquidation of the central bank, which would result in the elimination of the Argentine Peso. There are alternative plans for the implementation of this measure, but the leading one is the one developed by Emilio Ocampo and Nicolas Cachanosky. In terms of timing, it would take between nine and 24 months. The conversion would be made at the market exchange rate. Once two thirds of the monetary base has been converted, a countdown for the last date to convert would be triggered.

    An additional challenge for this measure is that the central bank has remunerated liabilities three times the size of the monetary base. These are like the Federal Reserve’s program of paying interest on reserves in order to sterilize increases in the quantity of money. The central bank does have some commodities and foreign currencies in reserves but most of the assets consist of government bonds that currently trade at a third of their face value. To access the necessary liquidity to liquidate the central bank, the bonds would be transferred to a fund which would acquire the necessary line of credit using the bonds as collateral. The line of credit has already been confidentially agreed upon. The bonds are guaranteed to increase in price if the budget deficit is eliminated as specified in the second measure.

    The sixth measure consists of an energy reform. This measure intends to eliminate all subsidies to energy providers through a recalibration of the financial equilibrium to lower costs to keep the companies profitable and minimize the impact on the cost to the consumers. This measure opens a door to subsidies on the demand side for vulnerable households. They also seek to improve the energy infrastructure through a scheme of public interest declarations for projects which would be financed and executed by the private sector, but for which the government might provide a minimum revenue guarantee.

    The seventh measure consists of fostering investment. This will be done through a special legal arrangement for long term investment with a focus on mining, fossil fuels, renewable energy, forestry, and other sectors. In order to foster investment, they will also aim to eliminate foreign exchange restrictions and export fees.

    The eighth measure consists of an agrarian reform. This includes the elimination of the foreign exchange spread between the official exchange rate and the market exchange rate through the liquidation of the central bank, the elimination of all export fees and retentions, the elimination of the gross revenue tax, the elimination of all restrictions to foreign trade including quotas and the need for authorization, the promulgation of a new seeds law, and the improvement to road infrastructure through private enterprise.

    The ninth measure consists of a judicial reform. This measure includes the designation of a Minister of Justice with the consensus of the judicial branch, as well as the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice without political affiliations to fill the present vacancy, prohibiting members of the judicial branch from engaging in partisan politics, and promoting the budgetary independence of the judicial branch. Furthermore, they will seek to implement jury trials and oral proceedings throughout the country.

    The tenth measure consists of a welfare reform. Current welfare benefits will be initially maintained. They aim to move in the long term towards a private system in which users pay for the health and education services they consume. In the short term they aim to provide income protection programs to mitigate extreme poverty, nutritional programs, parental educational programs about cognitive stimulation, greater coverage for preschool, incentives for graduation, programs for the integration of people with disabilities, the promotion of access to private credit, and the elimination of all middlemen in the provision of welfare.

    The eleventh measure consists of an educational reform. They aim to move towards a greater degree of freedom to choose the curricula, methods, and educators. The measure also includes launching a school voucher pilot program. They will also establish an evaluation criterion for schools so that they may compete for incentives.

    The twelfth measure consists of a health reform. They aim to transfer the subsidization of healthcare from supply to demand to allow for greater freedom of choice and competition. This measure includes providing the existing healthcare benefits as vouchers so that there is no restriction to a specific provider.

    The thirteenth measure consists of a security reform. This measure includes reforms to the homeland security, national defense, and intelligence laws, as well as a reform to the penitentiary system to incorporate public private hybrids and intensifying the prosecution of drug trafficking.

    The Argentine election is on October 22nd.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 21:20

  • Doctor's COVID-19 Protocol: FTC Suppressed Solution For Recovery
    Doctor’s COVID-19 Protocol: FTC Suppressed Solution For Recovery

    Authored by Christy Prais via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    While many general practitioners shuttered their doors in early 2020 amid spreading lockdowns, leaving those with COVID-19 to seek treatments at emergency rooms, Dr. David Brownstein, a family physician, and medical director of the Center for Holistic Medicine in West Bloomfield, Michigan, and his colleagues, remained steadfast in their commitment and oath as doctors—to keep their doors open and do what they did best—treat sick patients.

    “I said to my staff, patients are going to be scared and if they get sick, they’re going to need a place to go—we’re going to be there for them and help them out,” said Dr. Brownstein in a recent interview on Discovering True Health, a YouTube channel and podcast dedicated to health and wellness.

    “We’ve been treating viral infections and other flu-like infections using a holistic approach for close to 30 years, and we’re pretty damn good at what we do,” he noted.

    Dr. David Brownstein (Photo courtesy of Dr. Brownstein)

    Early Days of the Pandemic

    It was the beginning of March when COVID-19 hit Michigan. Intent on protecting his staff and their healthy patients, Dr. Brownstein and his team bundled up and set up an outdoor COVID-19 treatment assembly line—despite snow on the ground and temperatures frequently below 30 degrees. IVs hanging from standing poles flapped in the frigid wind as Dr. Brownstein and his staff treated patients in their cars.

    As the weeks went by Dr. Brownstein recounts, “There were some days when cars were 10 deep in the parking lot and we were working until nine or ten at night using flashlights on our phones to see the veins for IVs.”

    Dr. Brownstein providing intravenous care to his patient in the parking lot of his clinic. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Brownstein)

    What stood out to Dr. Brownstein was the respiratory issues he was witnessing. “These people couldn’t breathe. I’ve heard the lungs of many patients with respiratory viruses but this was a different sound, the air was there, but the air was not being utilized,” he said.

    Because Dr. Brownstein had been employing a nutritional and oxidative protocol for treating a variety of viral illnesses during flu seasons for over three decades he felt that although SARS-CoV-2 was a new virus, it was still part of the coronavirus family. 

    Dr. Brownstein felt that since up to one-third of all flu-like infections come from the coronavirus family, his protocol had a good chance of being successful. “For nearly 30 years, we have had good success treating viral illnesses, why should this be any different?” Dr. Brownstein asked.

    Every year between 12,000 to 52,000 Americans die during flu season from influenza. “None of my partners or myself could recall any of our patients dying from the flu over the last 30 years, and none of us can recall the last time we had a patient hospitalized from the flu,” said Dr. Brownstein.

    “Think about it—let’s say 25,000 Americans die every year due to flu-like illnesses. Multiply that by 30 years and that is a lot of patients dying. I think we haven’t seen our patients dying because of the support we were providing to their immune systems,” he said.

    One of the treatments Dr. Brownstein used for those with respiratory issues was a dilute solution of hydrogen peroxide and iodine—administered via nebulizer—every hour until they felt better.

     “We’ve used this treatment for nearly three decades for lung problems. And the consistent theme I heard from people was after the second dose of that nebulizer solution they could breathe, and they felt like they were moving forward towards recovery,” said Dr. Brownstein.

    Dr. Brownstein would call his COVID-19 patients daily until they were no longer at risk from the virus, and as treatments continued, reports were coming in that patients with even severe respiratory issues were feeling better.

    Dr. Brownstein outlined his treatments in a peer-reviewed study titled, “A Novel Approach to Treating COVID-19 Using Nutritional and Oxidative Therapies,” published in Science, Public Health Policy & the Law in July 2020.

    His study reported his treatment of 107 patients at the time diagnosed with COVID-19. Three were hospitalized (3 percent) with two of the three hospitalized before instituting his treatment protocol and only one requiring hospitalization after beginning his treatment protocol. There were no deaths.

    Based on the case fatality rate at that time, two to 10 deaths as well as at least eight hospitalizations would have been expected

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 21:00

  • New Bill Combats Tyrannical Democrats From Declaring Nationwide Public Health Emergency To Enforce Gun Control
    New Bill Combats Tyrannical Democrats From Declaring Nationwide Public Health Emergency To Enforce Gun Control

    Submitted by Gun Owners of America, 

    For those unaware, Gun Owners of America recently filed suit against New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for her unconstitutional ban on carrying firearms.

    Governor Grisham banned open and concealed carry under the guise of a “public health emergency.” The ban drew a surprisingly bipartisan backlash from both Republicans and Democrats.

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    The consensus from both sides of the aisle is that the government cannot suspend constitutional rights even for a so-called public health emergency.

    Well, last month, Senate Democrats from the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions voted to strike down an amendment from the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act that would have prevented the President of the United States and the Department of Health and Human Services from declaring a public health emergency to push gun control.

    The Braun Amendment, named for Senator Mike Braun, who introduced it, would protect gun owners from tyranny in the name of public health.

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    Critics of the Braun Amendment said that the government would never use a public health emergency to push gun control. Now, a month later, the critics of the Amendment have been proven wrong by the Governor of New Mexico.

    Watch: Ben from the Minuteman Moment details how the Biden Administration’s Health and Human Services Appointee Xavier Becerra is working to impose gun control under the guise of a public health emergency.

    We’ve seen disasters weaponized for gun control before. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the federal government confiscated firearms from American citizens, treating those same law-abiding gun owners like criminals because they had “emergency powers.”

    Because of this, GOA worked to prohibit the confiscation of firearms in the National Disasters Emergency Act. Now, it has some of the best protections against misuse.

    The situation in New Mexico shows that allowing “public health emergencies” to push gun control is ripe for abuse. Gun owners should have the same level of protection from government overreach during a health emergency as they do during a natural disaster.

    Now, we need your help. Congress must pass the Protecting the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Act—which is a standalone version of the amendment Senator Braun offered at the committee. The bill is soon to be reintroduced in the House and Senate, and every member of Congress ought to cosponsor.

    Please call your Senators and Representative and let them know that the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act must not be passed without protections to prevent tyrants like Governo Grisham from being able to push gun control using the federal government in the future.

    *   *   * 

    We’ll hold the line for you in Washington. We are No Compromise. Join the Fight Now.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 20:20

  • Baltimore City Official Blames Cars, Not Crime, For Population Collapse 
    Baltimore City Official Blames Cars, Not Crime, For Population Collapse 

    Baltimore City’s population has plunged to a century low. Instead of acknowledging that failed progressive policies have transformed the metro area into a crime-ridden hellhole and, in return, the continuation of a multi-decade exodus of residents, a Democratic city lawmaker blames the “automobile” as the primary culprit behind population decline.

    “Our population loss is directly aligned with the trajectory of car-dominance and the City’s investment to cater and shift to car-dominance,” Democratic City Councilman Ryan Dorsey wrote on X. He said, “You cannot properly understand or effectively address population loss without directly confronting car-dominance.” 

    Dorsey’s claim that automobiles caused the population collapse reflects a trend among Democrats who seem unwilling ever to acknowledge their party’s progressive policies have failed major cities. 

    Democrats have held control of Baltimore City for five decades. 

    During that time, the city’s population has collapsed. 

    “With all due respect councilman, populations has less to do with cars that it does with access to well paying jobs, the availability of affordable modern single family homes, blight, and crime. One could use Atlanta in comparison. As we’ve lost, they’ve increased,” one X user told Dorsey. 

    Commenting on the outrageous quote from the delusional city official, Republican State Del. Nino Mangione from Baltimore County stated:

    Nothing that comes out of Baltimore’ leadership’ surprises me. But, I must say, this may be the most absurd thing I’ve heard yet. Here is a little truth as it relates to Baltimore.

    Fact: The problem in Baltimore is violent crime. People are scared to live there or go there. Not to mention it has the highest property taxes in the state.

    Fact: The leadership in the Mayor’s office and on Council is awful. All should immediately resign based on the results in Baltimore from violent crime to failing schools.

    Sometimes facts are hard and words seem unkind but I believe it is time to start laying out the facts and demanding accountability. The state of Maryland spends millions trying to prop Baltimore up and the leadership fails every time.

    Besides residents fleeing, financial firms whom we speak with have cited crime as their reasons why they’re actively searching for new offices outside of the city — not the automobile. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 20:00

  • Truckload Carriers See Market Moving Toward Equilibrium
    Truckload Carriers See Market Moving Toward Equilibrium

    By Todd Maiden of FreightWaves

    A couple of truckload carriers said the bottom of the cycle has likely occurred but acknowledged that any material positive inflection in fundamentals won’t happen until sometime in 2024. That likely means a “muted peak season” again this year.

    “I think there will be some signs of seasonal activity across September, October, November,” Schneider National CFO Steve Bruffett said at a Morgan Stanley investor conference Tuesday in Dana Point, California. 

    “I think that sets us up for a more constructive start to 2024. I wouldn’t call it robust but I would call it a more balanced and more in equilibrium type of setup than what’s been in place entering any of the last … four years.”

    He said after months of a very flat freight environment marked by customers rightsizing inventories, there is some merchandise restocking occurring currently. Bruffett noted demand improvement during the back-to-school shopping season and said Halloween-related goods are doing a little better than expected. Neither category, however, is expected to make much of an impact on the carrier’s results.

    Carriers weigh in on peak season expectations at Morgan Stanley’s investor conference

    Schneider lowered 2023 earnings guidance when it reported second-quarter results in early August. It expects the third quarter to be the low point of the cycle from an earnings perspective as the full impact of contractual bid season is represented across its entire customer book.

    The Contract Load Accepted Volume Index measures accepted load volumes moving under contractual agreements. It excludes all rejected tenders. CLAV.USA is closing in on year-ago levels. To learn more about FreightWaves SONAR, click here.

    Management from Werner Enterprises echoed a similar outlook at the event. Derek Leathers, the company’s chairman and CEO, said the “overcapacity marketplace coupled with overstocked inventories” has passed.

    Werner’s biggest customers, which include discount stores that specialize in household essentials, are in a good position with their stock levels, Leathers noted. He expects restocking to occur during peak season but said customers are likely to be a bit more conservative this year to avoid the demand miscalculations that resulted in stuffed warehouses last year.

    Along those lines, Werner’s biggest customer, Dollar General recently said it would implement promotional markdowns to rightsize inventories. The actions are expected to equate to a $95 million hit to operating income in the back half of the year.

    “We’re fairly optimistic as we look forward but we’re certainly still in a day-to-day fight,” Leathers said.

    Werner is expecting to see some type of peak this year but it has a tough comparison to a year ago, which benefited from a decent amount of project freight.

    “We’re only now starting to really find some sense of balance in the market,” Leathers said. While truckload capacity has been leaving in dribs and drabs for a year now, the exit rate is increasing. “I think you’re going to start to see that wash increase from here.”

    There has been a net decline in trucking authorities during most weeks of 2023

    The change is noticeable with smaller carriers predominantly hauling spot-market freight.

    Spot rates have been in decline for more than a year, only recently bouncing off a low established in May. The consensus throughout the industry is that smaller fleets have burned through the cash positions they built during the freight boom. The group now faces the highest interest rates in two decades and widespread cost inflation, including diesel prices that are up 20% since early July.

    The National Truckload Index (linehaul only – NTIL) is based on an average of booked spot dry van loads from 250,000 lanes. The NTIL is a seven-day moving average of linehaul spot rates excluding fuel. Spot rates are still 15% lower year over year.

    Bruffett is seeing capacity exit as well. He noted an increase in the availability of qualified drivers and said Schneider’s leasing business has seen an uptick in returned equipment. The company’s brokerage unit has also seen a decline in the number of carriers renewing their authorities.

    It’s still too early to forecast what might happen on contract rate renewals next year, but a decline is unlikely, Jim Filter, Schneider’s group president of transportation and logistics, said.

    “I don’t think there’s a level below where we’re at right now from a contract rate and our customers — I believe they understand that.”

    A proxy for truck capacity, the Outbound Tender Reject Index, shows the number of loads being rejected by carriers. Carriers are currently rejecting 4% of all loads tendered under contract. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 19:40

  • "This Seems Flawed" – 0-DTE Options ETF Launch Sparks Debate
    “This Seems Flawed” – 0-DTE Options ETF Launch Sparks Debate

    What could possibly go wrong? Doesn’t anyone remember TVIX? Or XIV?

    Today saw an ETF based on zero-day-to-expiry (0-DTE) options start trading for the first time in history.

    Defiance ETFs, a small Miami-based thematic house with $860mn in five ETFs, has listed the Defiance Nasdaq Enhanced Option Income ETF (QQQY) on the Nasdaq stock exchange, opening the door for less sophisticated traders to participate in this hot new gambling market with the strategy designed to use these daily options to produce income.

    As we have detailed numerous times, popularity of 0-DTE options has soared in recent months:

    “The daily notional trading value of 0DTE options has skyrocketed to about $1tn,” said Sylvia Jablonski, chief executive of Defiance ETFs.

    “These ETFs exemplify our commitment to innovation and to meeting the evolving needs of investors. With daily options at the core of these products, we’re unlocking a new dimension of income generation within the ETF space.”

    0-DTE options now account for a record 49% of S&P volume…

    For now, the 0-DTE options market remains directionally-balanced with puts and calls each making up 50% of volume – however, with the introduction of QQQY, that may shift the balance towards puts.

    Each day, QQQY plans to sell at- or slightly in-the-money puts tied to the Nasdaq 100 with an expiration of 24 hours.

    QQQY will hold cash and short-term Treasuries as collateral for its derivative investments.

    QQQY traded just over 14,000 shares on its opening day today…

    Today had some interesting characteristics from a 0-DTE perspective.

    While QQQY is a 0-DTE Nasdaq ‘put-selling’ strategy, we saw massive 0-DTE CALL-SELLING in the afternoon…

    Source: SpotGamma

    And in the S&P (which will soon see the launch of JEPY – Defiance S&P 500 Enhanced Option Income ETF), we saw multiple bouts of heavy 0-DTE put-BUYING…

    Source: SpotGamma

    As Bloomberg reports, Defiance isn’t the only firm aiming to ride the 0DTE craze. ProShares filed in May to start an ETF employing the contracts, though it has yet to launch.

    “0DTEs have become the hot new thing and it was only a matter of time before ETF issuers incorporated them into a fund,” said James Seyffart, ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

    SpotGamma had some initial thoughts:

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    As they explain in the clip, Defiance is ‘naked short puts’ – so if the market drops sharply, you have that full exposure

    And so, as @Talley_trey noted on X:

    “…as ivol slides lower in up markets, their 25bps income target will naturally move them closer to the money, just as the propensity of a market fall becomes more probable.

    Without making mountains out of molehills, this seems flawed?“

    Flawed indeed…

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    Unlike covered call funds, they do not hold the underlying equities, instead owning a portfolio of Treasury bonds that are used as collateral against the options they write. Both ETFs will charge annual management fees of 0.99 per cent, according to filings.

    “Retail and institutional investors have shown great interest in alternative income products,” said Sylvia Jablonski, co-founder and chief investment officer at Defiance.

    “These ETFs will seek to even further enhance the income outcomes the market has thus far experienced.”

    The ETFs bear some resemblance to the $94mn WisdomTree PutWrite Strategy Fund (PUTW), which sells put options written on the S&P 500, although that fund uses one-month, rather than zero-day, options.

    “QQQY is attempting to timely scratch two itches, potential income from an asset that doesn’t typically generate income and exposure to the sudden popularity of trading ODTE options,” said Lois Gregson, senior ETF analyst at FactSet Research Systems.

    But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows.

    “The fund is ‘betting’ the market will rise more often than fall,” Gregson said, noting that the portfolio manager would have to buy back the short put options potentially at a loss.

    “The strategy is similar to picking up dimes in front of a bulldozer. The income potential is there, but there are times you could also get run over,” Gregson said.

    As The FT reports, Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, a financial adviser, noted that with the recent surge in popularity of 0-DTE options, “it’s absolutely no surprise to see ETF issuers looking for ways to capitalise.”

    However, Geraci said:

    “My concern lies around the complexity of options-based strategies in general. Zero-day options are essentially daily bar bets. While longer-term strategies can certainly be constructed around these options, my fear is that investors might not fully appreciate the complexities and risks involved.”

    Finally, we couldn’t help but notice that with VIX hitting a 12 handle today, the timing of the launch of an ultra-short-dated vol-selling (income-generating) ETF seems… interesting…

    “Everybody is looking for that free money,” said Ayako Yoshioka, senior portfolio manager at Wealth Enhancement Group.

    “It fuels speculation.”

    Good luck everyone.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 19:20

  • Why Is Rhode Island Still Irrationally Targeting School Children With "Masking And Testing" Policies?
    Why Is Rhode Island Still Irrationally Targeting School Children With “Masking And Testing” Policies?

    Authored by Andrew Bostom via The Brownstone Institute,

    One of the consistent mercies of the SARS-CoV-2 “covid-19 pandemic,” even at its most virulent initial stages, has been the paucity of serious disease in children generally, and healthy children, universally. Covid-19 always was and remains a very highly age– and comorbid risk-stratified disease that targets the extremely frail elderly—especially those in congregate care—and the otherwise middle-aged to elderly with multiple (for example, ≥ 6!), severe, chronic comorbidities.

    For the vast preponderance of the world’s population, and workforce, i.e., the ~94 percent under age 70-years-old, we now know that the most aggressive early variants, such as the Wuhan, Alpha, and Delta strains, conferred a very modest infection fatality ratio (IFR; covid-19 deaths/total covid-19 infections) of 0.1 percent, or 1 per 1,000 infections. This seasonal influenza-like IFR for those < 70, overall, dropped precipitously further in the pediatric age range (0-19-years-old) to 0.0003 percent, or 1 in 333,333. Such unalarming IFRs among those < 70, especially children, for the early SARS-CoV-2 variants, have been reduced by at least 3-fold more (so 0.1 percent/3; 0.0003 percent/3!) since the advent of the Omicron wave in early 2022, and its perhaps even milder related subvariants, that are continuing to emerge through the present. 

    During 3+ years, including the period when the most virulent early SARS-CoV-2 strains were predominant, through the Omicron wave, and till now, not a single pediatric death due to covid-19, has been recorded in Rhode Island. This contrasts starkly with the three HINI influenza (swine flu) pediatric pneumonia deaths that accrued in a single flu season, during the 2009-2010 swine flu pandemic, mirroring recent national US pediatric influenza death trends. Comparative US pediatric influenza vs. SARS-CoV-2 mortality data since 2009, underscore how both pandemic, and bad seasonal influenza outbreaks—with which we cope, appositely, minus hysteria—pose a greater mortality risk to children, than SARS-CoV-2. 

    We have also learned that SARS-CoV-2 transmission, like influenza transmission, is driven by persons with symptomatic infections. Both SARS-CoV-2 contact tracing studies, and an elegant experimental design tracking viral emissions from deliberately infected healthy subjects, just published in the Lancet, have reaffirmed this observation. Moreover, regardless of mode of transmission, it is also established that children did not “drive” the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

    Complementing these irrefragable SARS-CoV-2 mortality and transmission data, a century of uniform public health evidence, bolstered over the past four decades by randomized, controlled trial findings, demonstrates that community masking (with N95 masks, as well) does not prevent respiratory virus infections (influenza, SARS-CoV-2, RSV, and others) in adults, or children. 

    Blithely ignoring each of these four fundamental, evidence-based considerations, on August 24, 2023, just prior to the reopening of Rhode Island public schools after summer recess, the Rhode Island Department of Health’s (RIDOH) Center for Covid-19 Epidemiology (CCE), distributed a memorandum (original pdf here; archived here) to public “School and District Leaders,” with the following cover email from CCE “team leader,” Julia Brida:

    From: Brida, Julia (RIDOH-Contractor) <Julia.Brida.CTR@health.ri.gov>
    Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2023 1:51 PM
    Cc: COVID19Questions, RIDOH <RIDOH.COVID19Questions@health.ri.gov>
    Subject: [EXTERNAL] Center for COVID-19 Epidemiology- Back to School Memo
    Importance: High

    Good Afternoon,  

    We hope you have had a great summer! Ahead of the 2023-24 school year, the Rhode Island Department of Health Center for COVID-19 Epidemiology (CCE) wanted to share a memo to provide key updates and information regarding COVID-19. This includes: 

    • COVID-19 key recommendations 

    • Clinical guidance 

    • Tracking COVID-19 in Rhode Island  

    • COVID-19 operational updates 

    • Testing resources  

    • Outbreak reporting and support  

    Center for COVID-19 Epidemiology, Education Team 
    Julia Brida
    Senior PM | HCH Enterprises  
    Education Policy & Engagement Team Lead | Center for COVID-19 Epidemiology (CCE)
    Division of Emergency Preparedness & Infectious Disease (EPID) 
    Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH)

    The memo itself urged students and staff to: “[G]et tested when you have COVID-19 symptoms;” “If exposed to someone with COVID-19, monitor symptoms; test after day 5; and wear a mask through day 10;” and

    “If you have COVID-19, isolate at home for 5 days and wear a mask through day 10.” A so-called “Covid-19 Operational Update” section of the memo declared, “Testing remains an important tool to detect infection and prevent COVID-19 spread.”

    Glaringly absent from the memo (archived here) was any unambiguous statement that these recommendations were not compulsory for students (and their parents), staff, or administration, and non-compliance with them would not preclude an individual’s school attendance, limit their school activities, or affect school district funding.

    This current sorry situation, vis-à-vis “covid public health policy” for schools, continues the unbroken thread of Lysenkoist mismanagement which knits together Rhode Island’s response since children returned, gingerly, in part, to “in-class learning” during September, 2020. 

    RIDOH and the rest of Rhode Island’s “covid brain trust” have always enacted uncritically the policies hectored at the public by national covid leadership figures, such as former “Covid-19 Response Coordinator,” Dr. Deborah Birx. Dr. Birx was fêted at the University of Rhode Island in the fall of 2020, where she aggressively pushed mass, unselective covid testing because, “her main concern is (was) asymptomatic spread.” This misbegotten testing policy and the false construct of asymptomatic spread, were of course both rubber-stamped by RIDOH and its then generalissima, Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott. Dr. Scott, as proof of her overzealous endorsement of the factitious mass testing/asymptomatic spread paradigm, had RIDOH issue an “early warning” asymptomatic press release, and a subsequent release crowing about the state’s completion of its “millionth covid-19 test.”

    Nearly a year later, despite the well-established futility of community masking, generalissima Scott angrily remonstrated, “Masks work,” in response to a query by independent journalist, Pat Ford. Ford’s preamble to his question raised the issue of potential harms of masking to children, which Scott ignored. 

    RIDOH Covid-19 Medical Director (later RIDOH Acting Director), Dr. James McDonald lied under oath in Rhode Island Superior Court claiming three RI children had died “as a result of covid-19.” Still under oath, about a week afterward, Dr. McDonald was allowed to “correct” this act of perjury, and only then did he acknowledge indeed there had not been any primary cause of pediatric covid-19 deaths in Rhode Island. McDonald also conceded, candidly, during this latter testimony, that a 16-year-old male admitted to a Rhode Island Emergency Department with an ultimately fatal gunshot wound to the head, who as part of his admission testing, coincidentally “tested positive” for covid-19, would be designated a “covid-19 death,” by RIDOH recording methods, since “it meets the definition of the CDC.”

    At a subsequent deposition, as Acting RIDOH Director, Dr. McDonald was questioned about a comprehensive Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal review—a journal that he claimed to be familiar with as a pediatrician—entitled, “The Role of Children and Young People in the Transmission of SARS-CoV-2.” The review concluded, 

    “[T]here is no convincing evidence to date, 2 years into the pandemic, that children are key drivers of the pandemic.” 

    McDonald while acknowledging he had not read the review nevertheless, defiantly, if (tragi-)comically proclaimed, “I don’t agree with that assessment.” The good Dr. McDonald predictably could not supply any published data to support his dogmatic contention. 

    Last December (2022) RIDOH’s Dr. Philip Chan helped gin up hysteria over a Rhode Island so-called “tripledemic,” the alleged confluence of covid-19, influenza, and RSV infections, affecting children, in particular. Dr. Chan’s claim proved to be contrived. Hard data showed minimal primary pediatric covid-19 admissions, a significant fall outbreak of RSV, accompanied by RSV hospital admissions, and to a much lesser extent, pediatric influenza infections, and influenza hospital admissions, driving total pediatric respiratory viral hospitalizations. 

    Once again, a tocsin of potential looming calamity is already being sounded, now, for another so-called tripledemic this fall by the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Mandy Cohen. Sadly, if inevitably soon, such overwrought “tripledemic” messages, with a repeat inappropriate focus on pediatric covid-19, are almost certain to be echoed by Rhode Island’s disingenuous local RIDOH public health brain trust. 

    RIDOH’s newly minted “back to school” covid policy recommendations will have no ameliorative impact, especially in light of covid’s near nonexistent threat to children. But their socioeconomic effects might continue to wreak unnecessary havoc on our communities, albeit not as extreme as lockdowns. How do we Rhode Islanders extricate ourselves from this hysterical, anti-scientific “covid school policy” morass? There are general, evidence-based templates we can cite.

    In Sweden, open primary schools with teachers providing face-to-face education, and no masking throughout the covid-19 pandemic, were associated with “No learning loss during the pandemic” vs. closed schools, “distance learning,” and mask mandates, in the US, yielding “historic learning setbacks for America’s children,” including Rhode Island schoolchildren. Furthermore, there were no covid-19 deaths among Swedish schoolchildren during the most virulent spring 2020 covid-19 wave, while teachers as a profession had similar or even lower serious covid-19 morbidity, vs. all other Swedish workers.

    Dr. Tom Jefferson is an internationally recognized evidence-based medicine research scholar whose ongoing pooled analyses of community masking for the potential prevention of respiratory viral infections extend back almost two decades. Responding to Dr. Anthony Fauci’s recent incoherent, vacuous “critique” of Dr. Jefferson’s 2023 Cochrane Review reestablishing the lack of randomized, controlled trial evidence supporting community masking, Jefferson noted,

    “So, Fauci is saying that masks work for individuals but not at a population level? That simply doesn’t make sense. And he says there are ‘other studies’…but what studies?  He doesn’t name them so I cannot interpret his remarks without knowing what he is referring to. It might be that Fauci is relying on trash studies. Many of them are observational, some are cross-sectional, and some actually use modelling. That is not strong evidence. Once we excluded such low-quality studies from the review, we concluded there was no evidence that masks reduced transmission.”

    We can also restate the evidence that mass asymptomatic testing, since SARS-CoV2 transmission is driven by symptomatic persons, are conjoined fool’s errands, made worse still if these practices are attached to punitive school policies. 

    Finally, concerned Rhode Island parents must demand, unequivocally, that RIDOH issue an immediate clarifying memo to “School and District Leaders.”

    This memo must state plainly that none of RIDOH’s covid-19 policy recommendations are mandatory, and failure to implement or comply with them will not result in any children or staff being barred from school, or school activities, nor will such failure jeopardize any school or district funding. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 19:00

  • Mr. Zelensky Goes To Washington, Again
    Mr. Zelensky Goes To Washington, Again

    Ukraine’s Present Volodymyr Zelensky is again expected to pay homage to the hands that feed him, as Bloomberg is reporting that another trip to the White House is imminent. 

    “President Joe Biden will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the White House next week, according to a person familiar with the plans,” the fresh Thursday report indicates.

    Via the Associated Press

    The Ukrainian leader’s first official visit to Washington had occurred in December 2022, and also had marked his first known trip outside his war-ravaged country since Russia invaded.

    But things have changed since he gave that “Christmas season” address in Congress, where then House speaker Pelosi treated him like a rockstar as she and VP Kamala Harris excitedly waived the Ukrainian flag around, hugging Zelensky in the process. Not only is the much-anticipated counteroffensive not going well, or even failing, but his personal ‘star status’ is waning too.

    Bloomberg notes the new context, namely that Republicans are less likely to sign off on massive new aid packages in the federal budget: 

    For the US president, it also coincides with an upcoming showdown over federal funding. Biden has asked Congress to provide $24 billion for the Ukraine war and related costs, but conservatives in the House are threatening to shut down the US government if they consider any funding bill a “blank check” for Ukraine.

    Current funding for government operations runs through Sept. 20. Next week’s meeting was first reported by Reuters.

    And a fresh photo op with Zelensky is perhaps what Biden thinks he needs for a boost in domestic approval ratings, given not only is the mainstream media turning on him…

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

    …but he’s also newly focused his campaign going into 2024 on being the “tough” commander-in-chief who “protects” democracy around the world:

    “He entered Ukraine under the cover of night. And in the morning, Joe Biden walked shoulder to shoulder with our allies in the war-torn streets,” the narrator of a new one-minute Biden campaign ad begins.

    “Standing up for democracy in a place where a tyrant is waging war to take it away.”

    On the Ukrainian side, Zelensky could be coming also to bolster support and enthusiasm among GOP hawks and conservative supporters in order to get their fellow Republicans in line. Kiev has also expressed increased impatience and frustration of late when it comes to F-16 delivery timeline, and related to getting more advanced US weapons like long-range missiles.

    There’s currently talk within the administration of Ukraine getting approval for the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which has a max range of 190 miles. Certainly Zelensky is going to press for this and more. Will Biden make this the focus of a “big” announcement when he greets Zelensky in the White House next week? 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 18:40

  • Threads Blocks Search Results For 'COVID' And 'Vaccines', Upsetting Users
    Threads Blocks Search Results For ‘COVID’ And ‘Vaccines’, Upsetting Users

    Authored by Bryan Jung via The Epoch Times,

    Threads, Meta’s recent competitor to Twitter, is facing harsh criticism for blocking search results for terms related to the pandemic, including vaccines.

    The new text platform, which is linked to Instagram, rolled out its new search function last week, a major step towards giving it more parity with X, formerly known as Twitter.

    After Threads’ July release, Meta has been rolling out several much needed updates in recent weeks, including a requested desktop version and user search functionality.

    However, within 24 hours of the recent update, the social media giant was hit with controversy, as the new search function proved useless for those wanting to look for posts related to the COVID-19, reported The Washington Post.

    Threads Users Shocked to Find Search Results Blocked

    Many users were upset when their search on Threads for content related to “COVID” and “vaccines” was met with a blank screen and a pop-up redirecting them to the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    “Zuck treats users like children. He gets to decide what they will see and talk about. This is reason alone enough to reject Threads and embrace X,” said Michael Robertson, a tech CEO, in a post on X.

    Meta confirmed its search policy restrictions in a press statement, saying that the text platform is blocking users from searching for words that could bring up “sensitive” posts, for now.

    “The search functionality temporarily doesn’t provide results for keywords that may show potentially sensitive content,” it said.

    “People will be able to search for keywords such as ‘COVID’ in future updates once we are confident in the quality of the results.”

    Meta acknowledged that Threads was intentionally blocking other terms but declined to provide a list of them.

    A search by The Washington Post discovered that the words “sex,” “nude,” “gore,” “porn,” “coronavirus,” “vaccines,” and “vaccination” were also among blocked terms.

    Health Experts Decry Censorship

    Public health experts and workers also were critical of the company’s decision, telling The Post that its timing was poor, especially amid reports of a recent virus uptick.

    “Censorship doesn’t work. Misinfo still gets circulated by code names & other platforms. Tech companies should invest in real solutions like moderation/education,” Lucky Tran, director of science communication at Columbia University, said in a post on X.

    Mr. Tran previously told The Post that the decision to censor searches about COVID will make it harder for public health experts and people who work in public health to get out important info to the public about how they can protect themselves.

    Hospitalizations in the United States rose nearly 16 percent last week, and have been rising steadily since July, but less than for the same week a year ago, according to the CDC.

    CDC statistics show that deaths from the virus are less than a quarter of what they were during the same period in 2022.

    The agency said cases of the virus are likely to continue into the winter.

    Former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Director Dr. Anthony Fauci told ABC’s “This Week” over the weekend that given the current level of immunity in the population, “the chances of this being an overwhelming rush of cases and hospitalizations is probably low.”

    Meanwhile, the FDA approved another round of COVID boosters on Sept. 11 that are expected be available in the coming days.

    New Meta Platform Sees Decrease in Users Since Launch

    Meta’s decision to block certain search terms illustrates its desire to avoid encouraging any topics that could be deemed “hard news” on its platform.

    “Politics and hard news are inevitably going to show up on Threads—they have on Instagram as well to some extent—but we’re not going to do anything to encourage those verticals,” Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s chief who was instrumental in the launch of Threads, wrote this summer.

    However, Twitter’s ability to share real-time news and information was crucial to its rise to prominance and remains one of its core features.

    A 2021 survey by the Pew Research Center showed that about 4 in 10 Americans said that social media was an important source for news about the COVID-19 vaccine and virus.

    Ever since Threads launched over the summer in an effort to take advantage of some users’ disappointment with X after its take over by Elon Musk, the platform has since failed to maintain its momentum.

    Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg boasted after the launch that he was able to get 100 million new sign-ups within five days of it going live.

    “Threads reached 100 million sign ups over the weekend. That’s mostly organic demand and we haven’t even turned on many promotions yet. Can’t believe it’s only been 5 days!,” Mr. Zuckerberg said in a post at the time.

    Time spent on the app service has since fallen by 85 percent last month, according to tech blog Similarweb.

    The Epoch Times has reached out to Meta for comment.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 18:20

  • Putin To Visit North Korea After Exchanging Rifles With Kim In Warm Visit
    Putin To Visit North Korea After Exchanging Rifles With Kim In Warm Visit

    North Korean state media announced Thursday that Russia’s President Putin has accepted a formal invitation from Kim Jong Un to pay a state visit to Pyongyang. 

    Kim hailed the “historic meeting and talks” with Putin on Wednesday, and he’s expected to be in Russia for further travel to to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where he’ll visit an aircraft plant. Putin is said to have “gratefully” received Kim’s invitation to visit his country.

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

    The two leaders have exchanged gifts, as Putin presented Kim with a Russian-made rifle “of the highest quality,” – while in return Putin received a North Korean rifle. Interestingly Putin also presented his North Korean counterpart with a glove from a space suit, after the two toured a space development center in the far east.

    Seoul meanwhile says it is ultra-alarmed at the prospect of military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.

    “We express our deep concern and regret that despite repeated warnings from the international community, North Korea and Russia discussed military cooperation issues, including satellite development, during their summit,” said Lim Soo-suk, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, as cited in AP.

    “Any science and technology cooperation that contributes to nuclear weapons and missile development, including satellite systems that involve ballistic missile technologies, runs against U.N. Security Council resolutions,” he told reporters.

    At the White House, NSC spokesman John Kirby issued a threat of sanctions, warning against North Korean weaponry and ammo for the Ukraine war:

    “No nation on the planet, nobody, should be helping Mr. Putin kill innocent Ukrainians,” Kirby said. If the countries decide to move forward with an arms deal, the U.S. will take measure of the arrangement and “deal with it appropriately,” he said.

    As for a potential upcoming Putin trip to North Korea, no timeline was given, but it certainly suggests that the West’s worst fears are indeed coming to fruition – namely a deeper Russia-DPRK relationship based on military ties and weapons deals. 

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

    However, if such a deal goes through, the Kremlin would face the diplomatic and trade wrath of South Korea, something it might not want to risk at this point at a moment Russia continues enduring sanctions from the West and efforts (thus far largely failing) to isolate it on the world stage.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 18:00

  • The E In EPA Certainly Isn't For 'Ethics'
    The E In EPA Certainly Isn’t For ‘Ethics’

    Authored by Michael Chamberlain via RealClear Wire,

    If President Biden is serious about finding a renewable energy source, he should look down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA’s door revolves fast enough to power the nation for decades, with the rate of spin exceeded only by the attempts to provide cover over possible ethics missteps.

    Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) has developed an extensive file of probable ethics violations by senior EPA officials. Many of these violations appear to occur because the EPA has ignored or sidestepped rules governing “the revolving door” between government and the private sector, though they certainly don’t stop there. As our Ethics Waiver Report demonstrated, the Biden Administration has perfected the practice of recruiting appointees from the universe of aligned environmental activist groups, state agencies, and universities. The inevitable conflicts of interest are buried under a blizzard of ethics waivers and then, after putting in enough time to learn the federal ropes, some go back to more lucrative and senior positions outside.

    For example, Casey Katims joined EPA from Washington State where he worked for Governor Jay Inslee, who helped create the U.S. Climate Alliance (USCA). As EPA’s deputy associate administrator for intergovernmental relations, Katims kept extremely close relations with USCA and eventually left EPA to join it as executive director.

    Melissa Hoffer departed the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office to become acting General Counsel at EPA, where she was given a waiver to participate in 37 pending matters involving Massachusetts. When she left the EPA, she ignored her obligation to timely advise the ethics office of negotiations to rejoin Massachusetts government as its first-ever “Climate Czar.” That failure is likely a violation of the Stock Act (a criminal statute) – inexcusable for a senior lawyer with Hoffer’s experience and responsibilities. It was made worse by the career agency ethics official, Justina Fugh, designated to enforce the rules. Sadly, this is far from the only incident in which Ms. Fugh appears to have played a central role in moving the goalposts to thwart violations from landing on senior officials.

    Many EPA appointments came from powerful, well-funded environmental special interest groups. Alejandra Nunez joined EPA from the Sierra Club. Tomás Carbonell was at the Environmental Defense Fund. Dimple Chaudhary worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council. All three were attorneys for organizations that constantly have business before the EPA, and as of January 2021 were party to dozens of pending lawsuits with the agency. Thus, perhaps unsurprisingly, attorney Marianne Engelman-Lado, who’d been at Vermont Law School, Yale, and Earthjustice, was granted a waiver to engage with a former client because the “overlap of recusals” threatened her office’s ability to function.

    Then there’s Joseph Goffman, the principal deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation (OAR), who is currently performing the delegated duties of the assistant administrator and the subject of three PPT ethics complaints. Goffman, formerly with Harvard University, looked to the same career ethics official who sought to bail out Ms. Hoffer to “unring the [ethics] bell” of an admitted ethics violation. PPT discovered that at least five Harvard-affiliated individuals who reached out to Goffman were later hired at EPA, including in career positions, and that emails between him and his former employer in just his first few months at the agency totaled over 100 pages! Add in his apparent failure to timely divest from dozens of investments that created financial conflicts of interest and Goffman is a front-runner for favorite client at the EPA’s ethics office.

    Our concerns extend beyond communicating with and giving preferential treatment to former employers. EPA leadership, with the creative assistance of career ethics officials like Ms. Fugh, have also brushed aside emoluments clause concerns (senior EPA science official Christopher Frey’s ties to a Chinese university) and traditional outside solicitation restrictions (Georgetown Law Board of Advisors and senior EPA lawyer Susannah Weaver) when it meant allowing their appointees to maintain their private sector relationships. While congressional oversight has occasionally made a difference – Mr. Goffman remains unconfirmed and Mr. Frey was eventually forced to resign his Chinese university post – Administrator Regan and his subordinates seem undeterred from signing off on these decisions.

    Career officials also appear to have gotten in on the action. For instance, a pending consent decree concerning one of the largest Superfund cleanups in history (nearly $2 billion!) rests largely on the work of a former EPA employee, David Batson, who since leaving the agency in 2015 has gone on to land contracts with both the Department of Justice and the EPA to work on the same Superfund cleanup he actively worked on while at EPA. This is a big no-no, according to federal ethics laws.

    The near farcical reasoning for so many ethics waivers, “oops” violations, outside employment approvals, and discarded post-employment restrictions demonstrates a culture unmoored from ethical norms. While the undivided support from an ethics office along the way has provided plausible deniability, the reality is that it has only served to deepen the rot that has nearly destroyed the public’s trust in its government.

    Michael Chamberlain is the Director of Protect the Public’s Trust. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 17:40

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Sep 14

Today’s News 14th September 2023

  • Where Is Rugby Popular?
    Where Is Rugby Popular?

    The 10th mens Rugby World Cup has kicked off in France and is running until October 28.

    A total of 48 games will take place over seven weeks in nine venues across the country, with the final match in the Stade de France, north of Paris.

    To mark the occasion,Statista’s Anna Fleck created the following chart taking a look at how the sport’s fanbase compares across six of the competing nations.

    Infographic: Where is Rugby Popular? | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    According to the latest wave of Statista’s Consumer Insights survey, 33 percent of sports fans in France follow rugby competitions and/or teams.

    This figure is fairly similar to that of Australia (34 percent), but significantly higher than in the UK (25 percent).

    Among the nations analyzed, rugby is most popular among South Africans, with 51 percent of respondents saying they watched it.

    No data was available for New Zealand and Ireland… but we suspect it was even higher.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 02:45

  • Ukraine Plays Key Role In Biden Impeachment Inquiry, Just As It Did With Trump
    Ukraine Plays Key Role In Biden Impeachment Inquiry, Just As It Did With Trump

    Authored by Petr Svab via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Both the newly announced impeachment of President Joe Biden and that of President Donald Trump center on the same incident in Ukraine, but from different sides.

    Then Vice President Joe Biden arrives for a meeting with Then Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv on Jan. 16, 2017. (Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images)

    The impeachment inquiry announced by House Republicans against President Joe Biden centers on his involvement with Ukraine, just as the Eastern European country figured prominently in the first impeachment of President Donald Trump. In fact, both impeachments touch upon the same incident, but from opposite sides.

    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced the impeachment inquiry on Sept. 12, summarizing the results of the investigations to date, including nearly $20 million in alleged payments from foreign sources to the Biden family and associates, the president’s past communications with his son Hunter Biden about his overseas business dealings, as well as whistleblower allegations that the Department of Justice extended special treatment to the Biden family.

    “These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction, and corruption and they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives,” Mr. McCarthy said.

    The centerpiece of the allegations goes back to 2016, when then-Vice President Biden used a $1 billion loan guarantee as leverage to have Ukraine fire prosecutor Victor Shokin, who was investigating Ukrainian energy company Burisma. At the time, the vice president’s son Hunter Biden was collecting $1 million a year to sit on the company’s board and Burisma associates were pressuring him to ensure any investigations into the company’s owner were quashed.

    It was President Trump’s requesting assistance from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in investigating this matter during a 2019 phone call that prompted House Democrats to launch an impeachment inquiry of him and later voting to impeach him. President Trump was acquitted by the GOP-led Senate at the time.

    Ukraine has long been a crucible of geopolitical tensions, culminating in Russia’s invasion of the country in 2022. Hunter Biden was given the Burisma position in 2014, three months after Vice President Biden was designated by President Barack Obama as “point-man” for Ukraine.

    Mr. Shokin was appointed Ukraine’s prosecutor general in February 2015 and later that year started preparing a money laundering case tied to Burisma.

    On Nov. 2, 2015, Hunter Biden received an email from Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky’s adviser, Vadym Pozharskyi, demanding “deliverables” and saying that the “ultimate purpose” was to “close down any cases or pursuits” against Zlochevsky.

    Several weeks later, Vice President Biden visited Ukraine and, among other things, demanded the removal of Mr. Shokin.

    President Donald Trump holds a copy of The Washington Post as he speaks in the East Room of the White House one day after the U.S. Senate acquitted on two articles of impeachment, on Feb. 6, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

    While there were some accusations that Mr. Shokin was corrupt, the U.S. government seemed satisfied with his performance.

    Just weeks before the vice president’s visit, a joint task force of U.S. State, Treasury, and Justice Department officials deemed Ukraine’s progress on anti-corruption sufficient to earn it another $1 billion loan guarantee.

    In addition, Victoria Nuland, then-assistant U.S. secretary of state, wrote to Mr. Shokin in June 2015 that “we have been impressed with the ambitious reform and anti-corruption agenda of your government.”

    When Ukraine’s then-President Petro Poroshenko didn’t initially act on Vice President Biden’s demand, the latter threatened to withhold the $1 billion loan guarantee. He later boasted about the incident during a 2018 Council on Foreign Relations event.

    On July 25, 2019, when President Trump called President Zelenskyy to congratulate him on winning a majority in the Ukrainian parliament, he mentioned that he would like Ukraine to examine the circumstances of Mr. Shokin’s firing and former Vice President Biden’s role in the matter. He said then-Attorney General Bill Barr would call to discuss the matter.

    “There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great, Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it… It sounds horrible to me,” he said.

    Democrats interpreted it as President Trump’s abusing his power to have his political opponent investigated.

    President Trump has insisted the call was nothing wrong with the call and that Democrats were trying to cover up the Biden family’s corruption.

    Republicans now say there indeed was corruption worth investigating. In addition to the money Hunter Biden received in Ukraine, they also point to payments from Elena Baturina, the wife of a former mayor of Moscow, as well as money from companies linked to the Chinese Communist Party.

    They also capitalize on evidence that contradicts President Biden’s claims that he never discussed with his son his overseas business and that there was a “wall” between those business dealings and his official position.

    “Not only did they discuss business, they discussed strategy, they discussed when they were going to meet with these people, they discussed what the narrative was going to be, how they were going to lie to the American people when word got out that they were being investigated for corruption in Ukraine and being investigated for tax crimes and things like that,” Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who chairs the House Oversight committee, recently told Newsmax.

    “There was never a wall between Joe Biden and his family’s shady business dealings, and I think what we’re going to find is that Joe Biden not only knew about them, but Joe Biden was the ringleader in all of the crimes that his family’s committed.”

    Mr. McCarthy put Mr. Comer in charge of the inquiry together with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), head of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), head of the House Ways and Means Committee.

    “Regardless of your party or who you voted for, these facts should concern all Americans,” Mr. McCarthy said.

    Hunter Biden walks to a waiting SUV after arriving with President Joe Biden on Marine One at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., July 4, 2023, as they return to Washington after spending the weekend at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 09/14/2023 – 02:00

  • Death By A Thousand Cuts: The Many Ways Our Rights Have Been Usurped Since 9/11
    Death By A Thousand Cuts: The Many Ways Our Rights Have Been Usurped Since 9/11

    Authored by John & Nisha Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,

    “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”

    – Abraham Lincoln

    Those who gave us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights believed that the government exists at the behest of its citizens. It is there to protect, defend and even enhance our freedoms, not violate them.

    Unfortunately, although the Bill of Rights was adopted as a means of protecting the people against government tyranny, in America today, the government does whatever it wants, freedom be damned.

    In the 22 years since the USA Patriot Act—a massive 342-page wish list of expanded powers for the FBI and CIA—was rammed through Congress in the wake of the so-called 9/11 terror attacks, it has snowballed into the eradication of every vital safeguard against government overreach, corruption and abuse.

    The Patriot Act drove a stake through the heart of the Bill of Rights, violating at least six of the ten original amendments—the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Amendments—and possibly the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, as well.

    The Patriot Act also redefined terrorism so broadly that many non-terrorist political activities such as protest marches, demonstrations and civil disobedience are now considered potential terrorist acts, thereby rendering anyone desiring to engage in protected First Amendment expressive activities as suspects of the surveillance state.

    The Patriot Act justified broader domestic surveillance, the logic being that if government agents knew more about each American, they could distinguish the terrorists from law-abiding citizens—no doubt a reflexive impulse shared by small-town police and federal agents alike.

    This, according to Washington Post reporter Robert O’Harrow, Jr., was a fantasy that “had been brewing in the law enforcement world for a long time.” And 9/11 provided the government with the perfect excuse for conducting far-reaching surveillance and collecting mountains of information on even the most law-abiding citizen.

    Federal agents and police officers are now authorized to conduct covert black bag “sneak-and-peak” searches of homes and offices while you are away and confiscate your personal property without first notifying you of their intent or their presence.

    The law also granted the FBI the right to come to your place of employment, demand your personal records and question your supervisors and fellow employees, all without notifying you; allowed the government access to your medical records, school records and practically every personal record about you; and allowed the government to secretly demand to see records of books or magazines you’ve checked out in any public library and Internet sites you’ve visited (at least 545 libraries received such demands in the first year following passage of the Patriot Act).

    In the name of fighting terrorism, government officials are now permitted to monitor religious and political institutions with no suspicion of criminal wrongdoing; prosecute librarians or keepers of any other records if they tell anyone that the government has subpoenaed information related to a terror investigation; monitor conversations between attorneys and clients; search and seize Americans’ papers and effects without showing probable cause; and jail Americans indefinitely without a trial, among other things.

    The federal government also made liberal use of its new powers, especially through the use (and abuse) of the nefarious national security letters, which allow the FBI to demand personal customer records from Internet Service Providers, financial institutions and credit companies at the mere say-so of the government agent in charge of a local FBI office and without prior court approval.

    In fact, since 9/11, we’ve been spied on by surveillance cameras, eavesdropped on by government agents, had our belongings searched, our phones tapped, our mail opened, our email monitored, our opinions questioned, our purchases scrutinized (under the USA Patriot Act, banks are required to analyze your transactions for any patterns that raise suspicion and to see if you are connected to any objectionable people), and our activities watched.

    We’re also being subjected to invasive patdowns and whole-body scans of our persons and seizures of our electronic devices in the nation’s airports. We can’t even purchase certain cold medicines at the pharmacy anymore without it being reported to the government and our names being placed on a watch list.

    In this way, “we the people” continue to be terrorized, traumatized, and tricked into a semi-permanent state of compliance by a government that cares nothing for our lives or our liberties.

    The bogeyman’s names and faces have changed over time (terrorism, the war on drugs, illegal immigration, a viral pandemic, and more to come), but the end result remains the same: in the so-called name of national security, the Constitution has been steadily chipped away at, undermined, eroded, whittled down, and generally discarded with the support of Congress, the White House, and the courts.

    A recitation of the Bill of Rights—set against a backdrop of government surveillance, militarized police, SWAT team raids, asset forfeiture, eminent domain, overcriminalization, armed surveillance drones, whole body scanners, stop and frisk searches, vaccine mandates, lockdowns, and the like (all sanctioned by Congress, the White House, and the courts)—would understandably sound more like a eulogy to freedoms lost than an affirmation of rights we truly possess.

    What we are left with today is but a shadow of the robust document adopted more than two centuries ago. Sadly, most of the damage has been inflicted upon the Bill of Rights.

    Here is what it means to live under the Constitution, with the nation still suffering blowback from the permanent state of emergency brought about by 9/11 and COVID-19.

    The First Amendment is supposed to protect the freedom to speak your mind, assemble and protest nonviolently without being bridled by the government. It also protects the freedom of the media, as well as the right to worship and pray without interference. In other words, Americans should not be silenced by the government. To the founders, all of America was a free speech zone.

    Despite the clear protections found in the First Amendment, the freedoms described therein are under constant assault. Increasingly, Americans are being persecuted for exercising their First Amendment rights and speaking out against government corruption. Activists are being arrested and charged for daring to film police officers engaged in harassment or abusive practices. Journalists are being prosecuted for reporting on whistleblowers. States are passing legislation to muzzle reporting on cruel and abusive corporate practices. Religious ministries are being fined for attempting to feed and house the homeless. Protesters are being tear-gassed, beaten, arrested and forced into “free speech zones.” And under the guise of “government speech,” the courts have reasoned that the government can discriminate freely against any First Amendment activity that takes place within a so-called government forum.

    The Second Amendment was intended to guarantee “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” Essentially, this amendment was intended to give the citizenry the means to resist tyrannical government. Yet while gun ownership has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as an individual citizen right, Americans remain powerless to defend themselves against red flag gun laws, militarized police, SWAT team raids, and government agencies armed to the teeth with military weapons better suited to the battlefield.

    The Third Amendment reinforces the principle that civilian-elected officials are superior to the military by prohibiting the military from entering any citizen’s home without “the consent of the owner.” With the police increasingly training like the military, acting like the military, and posing as military forces—complete with heavily armed SWAT teams, military weapons, assault vehicles, etc.—it is clear that we now have what the founders feared most—a standing army on American soil.

    The Fourth Amendment prohibits government agents from conducting surveillance on you or touching you or encroaching on your private property unless they have evidence that you’re up to something criminal. In other words, the Fourth Amendment ensures privacy and bodily integrity. Unfortunately, the Fourth Amendment has suffered the greatest damage in recent years and has been all but eviscerated by an unwarranted expansion of governmental police powers that include strip searches and even anal and vaginal searches of citizens, surveillance (corporate and otherwise), and intrusions justified in the name of fighting terrorism, as well as the outsourcing of otherwise illegal activities to private contractors.

    The Fifth Amendment and the Sixth Amendment work in tandem. These amendments supposedly ensure that you are innocent until proven guilty, and government authorities cannot deprive you of your life, your liberty or your property without the right to an attorney and a fair trial before a civilian judge. However, in the new suspect society in which we live, where surveillance is the norm, these fundamental principles have been upended. Certainly, if the government can arbitrarily freeze, seize or lay claim to your property (money, land or possessions) under government asset forfeiture schemes, you have no true rights.

    The Seventh Amendment guarantees citizens the right to a jury trial. Yet when the populace has no idea of what’s in the Constitution—civic education has virtually disappeared from most school curriculums—that inevitably translates to an ignorant jury incapable of distinguishing justice and the law from their own preconceived notions and fears. However, as a growing number of citizens are coming to realize, the power of the jury to nullify the government’s actions—and thereby help balance the scales of justice—is not to be underestimated. Jury nullification reminds the government that “we the people” retain the power to ultimately determine what laws are just.

    The Eighth Amendment is similar to the Sixth in that it is supposed to protect the rights of the accused and forbid the use of cruel and unusual punishment. However, the Supreme Court’s determination that what constitutes “cruel and unusual” should be dependent on the “evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society” leaves us with little protection in the face of a society lacking in morals altogether.

    The Ninth Amendment provides that other rights not enumerated in the Constitution are nonetheless retained by the people. Popular sovereignty—the belief that the power to govern flows upward from the people rather than downward from the rulers—is clearly evident in this amendment. However, it has since been turned on its head by a centralized federal government that sees itself as supreme and which continues to pass more and more laws that restrict our freedoms under the pretext that it has an “important government interest” in doing so.

    As for the Tenth Amendment’s reminder that the people and the states retain every authority that is not otherwise mentioned in the Constitution, that assurance of a system of government in which power is divided among local, state and national entities has long since been rendered moot by the centralized Washington, DC, power elite—the president, Congress and the courts.

    Thus, if there is any sense to be made from this recitation of freedoms lost, it is simply this: our individual freedoms have been eviscerated so that the government’s powers could be expanded.

    It was no idle happenstance that the Constitution, which was adopted 236 years ago on Sept. 17, 1787, opens with these three powerful words: “We the people.” As the Preamble proclaims:

    We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the United States of America.

    In other words, it’s our job to make the government play by the rules of the Constitution.

    We are supposed to be the masters and they—the government and its agents—are the servants.

    We the American people—the citizenry—are supposed to be the arbiters and ultimate guardians of America’s welfare, defense, liberty, laws and prosperity.

    Still, it’s hard to be a good citizen if you don’t know anything about your rights or how the government is supposed to operate.

    As the National Review rightly asks, “How can Americans possibly make intelligent and informed political choices if they don’t understand the fundamental structure of their government? American citizens have the right to self-government, but it seems that we increasingly lack the capacity for it.”

    Americans are constitutionally illiterate.

    Most citizens have little, if any, knowledge about their basic rights. And our educational system does a poor job of teaching the basic freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

    Teachers and school administrators do not fare much better. A study conducted by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis found that one educator in five was unable to name any of the freedoms in the First Amendment.

    Government leaders and politicians are also ill-informed. Although they take an oath to uphold, support and defend the Constitution against “enemies foreign and domestic,” their lack of education about our fundamental rights often causes them to be enemies of the Bill of Rights.

    So what’s the solution?

    Thomas Jefferson recognized that a citizenry educated on “their rights, interests, and duties”  is the only real assurance that freedom will survive.

    From the President on down, anyone taking public office should have a working knowledge of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and should be held accountable for upholding their precepts. One way to ensure this would be to require government leaders to take a course on the Constitution and pass a thorough examination thereof before being allowed to take office.

    Some critics are advocating that students pass the United States citizenship exam in order to graduate from high school. Others recommend that it must be a prerequisite for attending college. I’d go so far as to argue that students should have to pass the citizenship exam before graduating from grade school.

    Here’s an idea to get educated and take a stand for freedom: anyone who signs up to become a member of The Rutherford Institute gets a wallet-sized Bill of Rights card and a Know Your Rights card. Use this card to teach your children the freedoms found in the Bill of Rights.

    A healthy, representative government is hard work. It takes a citizenry that is informed about the issues, educated about how the government operates, and willing to do more than grouse and complain.

    As I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, “we the people” have the power to make and break the government.

    The powers-that-be want us to remain divided over politics, hostile to those with whom we disagree politically, and intolerant of anyone or anything whose solutions to what ails this country differ from our own. They also want us to believe that our job as citizens begins and ends on Election Day.

    Yet there are 330 million of us in this country. Imagine what we could accomplish if we actually worked together, presented a united front, and spoke with one voice.

    Tyranny wouldn’t stand a chance.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 23:40

  • Hunter Biden Sues Former Trump WH Aide Who Published Laptop Contents
    Hunter Biden Sues Former Trump WH Aide Who Published Laptop Contents

    Hunter Biden is suing a former Trump White House aide for publishing the contents of his infamous ‘laptop from hell,’ which contains all sorts of evidence against the Biden family, along with private photos, emails and text messages between the first son and his associates.

    Yes, the same laptop that 51 former intelligence officials said had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,” and which Antony Blinken (then a top Biden campaign official) had a ‘central role‘ in discrediting after the New York Post reported that Hunter Biden exploited his father’s position as then-VP foer personal gain.

    According to a Wednesday night filing, Hunter Biden’s legal team is suing Garrett Ziegler, who operates the website Marco Polo.

    The 13-page lawsuit alleges that Ziegler and others violated federal and California privacy laws by “accessing, tampering with, manipulating, altering, copying and damaging computer data” gathered from Hunter Biden’s purported laptop and iPhone cloud storage without consent.

    The lawsuit details how Ziegler and unnamed defendants allegedly obtained sensitive materials by hacking into encrypted data on Hunter Biden’s devices and uploading them to Ziegler’s website, where it remains public. In the lawsuit, Hunter Biden’s lawyers assert that the defendants had refused requests to “cease their unlawful activity” and return private data belonging to the president’s son. –CBS News

    In response, Ziegler told CBS News: “I nor the nonprofit, Marco Polo, have been served with a lawsuit — but the one I read this morning out of the Central District of California should embarrass Winston & Strawn LLP. It’s not worth the paper it’s written on,” adding “Apart from the numerous state and federal laws and regulations which protect authors like me and the publishing that Marco Polo does, it’s not lost on us that Joe’s son filed this SLAPP one day after a so-called Impeachment Inquiry into his father was announced. The president’s son is a disgrace to our great nation.“

    Earlier this year, Hunter Biden sued a Delaware-based computer repairman, John Paul Mac Issac, with whom Hunter abandoned his now-infamous laptop – the contents of which have been featured in multiple Congressional hearings.

    Last year Mac Isaac recalled to the New York Post about how Hunter Biden arrived at his shop in Wilmington, Delaware, in April 2019.

    “I’m glad you’re still open,” Hunter Biden allegedly told him. “I just came from the cigar bar, and they told me about your shop, but I had to hurry because you close at seven.”

    “I need the data recovered off these, but they all have liquid damage and won’t turn on,” Mac Isaac recalled him saying.

    Mac Issac maintains that he obtained the information from Hunter’s laptop legally, and that Biden himself dropped it off in April 2019, never returning to claim it. In fact, says he walked into the Albuquerque FBI office, where he explained what he had, but was rebuffed by the FBI. He was told basically, get lost. This was mid-September 2019.

    Two months passed and then, out of the blue, the FBI contacted John Paul Mac Issac. Two FBI agents from the Wilmington FBI office–Joshua Williams and Mike Dzielak–came to John Paul’s business. He offered immediately to give them the hard drive, no strings attached. Agents Williams and Dzielak declined to take the device.

    Eight months later, Isaac provided a copy to then-President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who provided a copy of the hard drive to The Post.

    Last year, several FBI whistleblowers told Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) that agents investigating Hunter Biden “opened an assessment which was used by an FBI headquarters team to improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease,” adding that his office received “a significant number of protected communications from highly credible whistleblowers” regarding the investigation.

    Grassley added that “verified and verifiable derogatory information on Hunter Biden was falsely labeled as disinformation,” according to the Washington Examiner.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 23:20

  • Rothschild Admits ESG Failure As Globalists Shift To "Inclusive Capitalism" Agenda
    Rothschild Admits ESG Failure As Globalists Shift To “Inclusive Capitalism” Agenda

    Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

    In July of last year as the hype surrounding the covid pandemic was finally dying out I published an article about a barely publicized project called the “Council For Inclusive Capitalism.”

    The group, headed by Lynn Forester de Rothschild who now seems to be the public face of the notorious Rothschild dynasty, is the culmination of decades of various globalist agendas combined to represent the ultimate proof of “New World Order” conspiracy.

    Remember when people used to say that global governance by elitists was a paranoid fantasy? Well, now the plan is an openly admitted reality.

    The CIC is intimately tied to institutions like the World Economic Forum, the UN and the IMF, but it is primarily an attempt to link all these organizations more closely to the corporate world in an open display of collusion. The group pushes the spread of what they call “Stakeholder Capitalism” – The idea that international corporations have a responsibility to participate in social engineering, and that they are required (in the name of the greater good) to manipulate civilization through economic punishments and rewards.

    We witnessed this agenda in action during the covid lockdowns and the rush to enforce vaccine passports. These efforts would not have been possible without the participation of major corporate chains working hand-in-hand with national governments and the World Health Organization. Luckily, the strategy failed as local governments and the public fought back.

    We have also seen the ugliness of stakeholder capitalism in the push for ESG rating systems among major companies. Most readers are probably familiar with ESG at this point; just keep in mind that the public was oblivious to the terminology until the past 2 years. Globalists have been developing ESG rules since 2005. What is ESG?  As Klaus Schwab of the WEF notes:

    “The most important characteristic of the stakeholder model today is that the stakes of our system are now more clearly global. Economies, societies, and the environment are more closely linked to each other now than 50 years ago. The model we present here is therefore fundamentally global in nature, and the two primary stakeholders are as well.

    …What was once seen as externalities in national economic policy making and individual corporate decision making will now need to be incorporated or internalized in the operations of every government, company, community, and individual. The planet is thus the center of the global economic system, and its health should be optimized in the decisions made by all other stakeholders.”

    ESG was intended to be the tool that globalists and governments would use to force companies into the stakeholder capitalism model. It is much like the Chinese communist social credit system, but for businesses rather than individuals. The higher a company’s ESG score, the more access lending and government funding they would have (easy money). It started out in 2005 focused on climate controls (influencing corporations to accept carbon credits and taxation). But, by 2016 it became something else; ESG widely adopted woke politics including Critical Race Theory, feminism, trans ideology, various elements of Marxism, etc.

    This was the modern ESG that all of us are aware of today.  The goal was to incentivize corporations into bombarding the public with woke messaging 24/7.  Every movie, every TV show, every book, every comic, every children’s cartoon, every commercial, every product, every major social media site, every employee handbook, every social interaction would be tainted with the poison of woke propaganda.  There would be nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape the messaging.  And it worked, for a little while…

    The exposure of ESG is perhaps one of the greatest triumphs of the alternative media. It was proof that the “wokification” of our economy and society was not the result of some grassroots activist movement or the natural evolution of civilization. No, everything woke was a rigged agenda, an astroturf movement forced into existence by corporations and globalists using ESG as the vehicle.

    It is with some disappointment I’m sure that Lynn Forester de Rothschild recently admitted the defeat of ESG at the B20 Summit in India. Though, Rothschild also suggests that the goal will be to replace the term “ESG” with something else that the public is not as privy to.   In other words, the globalists have been forced to abandon ESG but will continue to look for other methods to trap companies into the far-left hive.

    It is typical for globalists to re-brand their projects whenever they get exposed as a way to throw the public off the scent. However, I don’t think this tactic is going to work anymore. Researchers are locked onto the ESG dynamic and changing the name will not help the establishment avoid scrutiny.

    Interestingly, I have noticed a dramatic shift by globalists towards a defensive posture, rather than the offensive posture they held a couple years ago. I can only conclude that something went very wrong for them during covid. They were brazen with their rhetoric in 2020, basically admitting their intentions to enforce a global authoritarian system. Now they are sheepish and much more careful in the things they say.

    To this end, most of the honest discussion on globalism is no longer found in the statements of the WEF or the halls of the Davos forums. People like Klaus Schwab are fading into the background.  The true agenda is now discussed at more obscure climate change events such as B20 in India or the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris which I covered in July. These are the events where globalists feel more free to talk about what they REALLY want.

    One interesting comment from Rothschild at B20 was her claim that Biden’s “Inflation Reduction Act” is one of the best models for incentivized climate controls. This confirms what we already suspected:  The Inflation Reduction Act had nothing to do with inflation. Rather, it was a way to divert taxpayer funds into government subsidies for carbon taxation and green tech. That is to say, Rothschild and the CIC want to dictate global business and force companies to adopt ESG-like policies using trillions of dollars in climate funds ($7.5 trillion per year, to be exact).

    Look at it this way: Any company that “volunteers” to use less efficient green tech and to promote climate ideology gets access to government subsidies – they get rewarded. Any company that refuses to go along with the plan will ultimately face heavy taxation while trying to compete with their subsidized peers – They are forced out of business. This is, essentially, the early stages of a global communist/collectivist economic regime.

    And this is where we get to the crux of the issue.

    There is no “inclusive capitalism.” There is no “stakeholder capitalism.” There is no “ESG.”

    Climate change as an existential threat is a farce, just as covid was never a legitimate threat to the vast majority of people. All of these issues represent smoke and mirrors, a way to distract the populace from the root intent – To create total financial centralization in the hands of a select few elites.

    It’s not about the environment.  It’s not about public health.  It’s ALL about the economy. 

    The end game for them is to convince the public to embrace economic micromanagement.

    Once the economy is locked into an ideological prison where businesses are forced to virtue signal, once access to private trade can be denied by a handful of bureaucrats working with corporations, the establishment then has the means to dictate every other facet of society.

    Our behaviors, our beliefs, our principles, our morals; everything is up for grabs. 

    For if the oligarchy has the power to determine if you and your family eat or starve, they then have the power to make you do anything they want you to do.

    *  *  *

    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
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 22:40

  • "AI Crusades Have Begun": Robo-Taxi Involved In Hammer Attack In San Fran Following 'Coning' Incidents
    “AI Crusades Have Begun”: Robo-Taxi Involved In Hammer Attack In San Fran Following ‘Coning’ Incidents

    A viral video with over a million views on X shows a person dressed in all-black striking a driverless car repeatedly with a hammer on the streets of crime-ridden San Francisco. 

    X user “(((BrokeAssStuart)))” said, “Someone seen destroying a RoboTaxi in San Francisco this weekend.” 

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

    They asked: “What do you think, hero or villain?” 

    Back in July, we pointed out that members of Safe Street Rebels, a group that states cars are “polluting, dangerous & murderous,” were coning driverless cars across the city, which disables the vehicle and forces it to stop. 

    Here is some of the footage of coning incidents:

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

    One X user said, “The AI crusades have begun.” 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 22:20

  • The Death Of Informed Consent
    The Death Of Informed Consent

    Authored by Stella Paul via AmericanThinker.com,

    Here’s what never happened in the hospital during COVID:

    …a doctor sat down next to a patient and said,

    “You have a choice.  

    We can give you Remdesivir, which killed 53% of the patients in an Ebola trial.  It was so bad the trial had to be shut down.  And you’ll notice here in Remdesivir’s fact sheet, it says, ‘Not a lot of people have used Remdesivir.  Serious and unexpected side effects may happen.’  

    Or we can give you ivermectin, a safe and effective drug that’s been successfully used for decades, and send you home.  Which do you prefer?”

    The reason that conversation never happened is that it would have cost the hospital too much money.  If the hospital gave you ivermectin and sent you home, the federal government paid the hospital $3,200.  If the hospital gave you Remdesivir, the federal government paid the entire hospital bill, plus a 20% bonus.  So the hospital executives’ choice was to receive $3,200 or $500,000, which was the average hospital bill.  No contest.  Patients were going to get Remdesivir — whether they wanted it or not.

    Informed consent died a grotesque death in the hospitals during COVID, and we need an autopsy.  There was no information, and there was no consent, and without them, patients are reduced to helpless victims, exploited for corrupt financial gain and immoral experiments.

    Informed consent has been enshrined in numerous judicial rulings as the foundation of ethical medical practice and seared into the public’s conscience from the Nuremberg trials.  Seven Nazi doctors were hanged in Germany by an American military tribunal for “murders, tortures, and other atrocities committed in the name of medical science.”  Yet murders, tortures, and other atrocities are exactly what was committed by medical staff in the hospitals against thousands of Americans during COVID.

    Take, for example, Ray Lamar, who arrived in the emergency room with a message written with a black sharpie pen on his arm: “NO VENT NO REMDESIVIR.”  On his other arm, he wrote the same message and added his wife’s name and phone number.  Yet the doctors gave him Remdesivir anyway, without ever informing him.  His widow Patti told me she constantly wonders what she could have done to save him.

    Image via Patti Lamar.

    Christine Johnson told the doctors that she discussed all her medications with her daughter, who is a nurse, and she concluded that she didn’t want Remdesivir.  It didn’t matter.  Christine was given Remdesivir while she was sleeping, and now her daughter Michelle doesn’t have her mother.

    Rebecca Stevens was an avid reader of Epoch Times, where she learned about Remdesivir’s dangers.  She declined Remdesivir on five separate occasions, as her hospital records confirm.  But the medical staff didn’t care what Rebecca wanted.  She was given Remdesivir without her knowledge, and now Rebecca’s five grandsons are bereft.

    I asked Michael Hamilton how it’s possible to give Remdesivir to patients without them knowing.  Hamilton is a lawyer for several families who are suing California hospitals for the murder of their loved ones, and he’s heard thousands of victims’ stories. 

     “They would lie right to your face,” he said.  

    “You’d tell the nurse that you didn’t want Remdesivir and she’d say, ‘Fine.  But you’re a bit dehydrated, so let’s get some fluids in you.’  And she’d hook up the IV, but it wasn’t fluids.  It was Remdesivir.”

    Hamilton told me that another favored tactic was to knock out patients with sedatives like morphine and fentanyl.  While they lay there in a stupor, they were injected with Remdesivir.

    If secret injections of Remdesivir weren’t enough to kill you, the hospitals had more torture lined up.  After all, the federal government paid hospitals a big bonus to ventilate patients — so patients were going to get ventilated, whether they wanted to or not.  A lot of patients turned down being vented, because the whole process is a nightmare.  You’re painfully intubated, rendered unable to talk; your lungs start shredding, and you may acquire bacterial pneumonia, which the hospital will refuse to treat.

    But “no” is not an acceptable answer when the hospital has money at stake.  The medical staff’s preferred method for gaining “consent” was relentless bullying, screaming, coercion, and threats until the patient finally caved.  Patti Lamar, Ray’s widow, told me that when she refused to let them ventilate her husband, the doctors screamed at her over and over, “You’re killing him!  You’re killing him!  You’re killing him!”  When she couldn’t take it anymore, she reluctantly gave in.  Ray died shortly thereafter, and Patti lives with the trauma of that moment.

    Image via Dayna Stevens.

    Michael Hamilton told me the fate of his friend who was a nurse, hospitalized in the place where she had worked for 26 years.  When she refused ventilation, the doctor shrieked,

    “You’re refusing medical advice!  Now your insurance company won’t pay your hospital bill when you die!  Do you want to bankrupt your family?  Do you?  Do you?”  The nurse panicked, and to protect her family, she “consented.”  

    Two days later, she died.

    “This was a very common technique,” Hamilton said.  

    “I’ve heard it hundreds of times.  You tell the patient that unless they do what the doctor says, they’ll bankrupt their family because insurance won’t pay the hospital bills.  Nobody wants to do that to their family.”  

    Does this sound like informed consent to you?  It sounds more like medical battery to me.

    The entire hospital environment was a hellscape of abuse in which informed consent wasn’t even a distant memory.  Hamilton told me that patients were routinely denied all access to food and water, stupefied with 50 medications that included drugs contraindicated for each other, tortured with oxygen machines set at such high levels that they couldn’t breathe, and zip-tied to the bed till their wrists bled and their hands turned black.  His stories align with 1,000 collected testimonies of the COVID-19 Human Betrayal Memory Project, which documents the victims’ fates.

    The ultimate denial of informed consent was the hospitals’ refusal to allow the patients to leave. 

    “Patients lost all rights when they went in the hospital,” Senator Ron Johnson told Patty Myers in her documentary, Making A Killing.  

    “They became prisoners.”  

    A cottage industry of hospital rescues cropped up, as desperate family members hired lawyers to try to spring their loved ones out of hospital “care.”  Ralph Lorigo, a lawyer in Buffalo, told me that in every case when he succeeded in getting a patient’s case before a judge and the judge ruled in the family’s favor, the patient went home and survived.  In all cases where the judge refused to hear the case or ruled against the family, the patient died.

    Every American is a sovereign individual with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, not a sack of meat to be treated as a profit opportunity.  Informed consent must be revived from the grave if Americans are to have a fighting chance against powerful financial interests allied against them.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 22:00

  • Will Hurricane Lee Have A 'Maine Event'? 
    Will Hurricane Lee Have A ‘Maine Event’? 

    Hurricane Lee remained a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Lee is “beginning its northward turn” with potential landfall impacts as soon as Friday night across New England or Nova Scotia, the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday.

    “Satellite images suggest that Lee seems to be beginning its northward turn on the western side of a subtropical ridge situated over the central Atlantic,” NHC said, adding the system should “gradually increase in forward speed while moving northward on the west side of the ridge during the next couple of days, taking the core of the system to the west of Bermuda Thursday and Thursday night.”

    Then, on Friday, the storm’s crosshairs are focused on New England or Nova Scotia: 

    “The combination of a shortwave trough and a building ridge extending into Atlantic Canada could cause Lee to turn slightly to the left Friday night and Saturday, which will likely bring Lee close to southeastern New England before it reaches Maine and Atlantic Canada later in the weekend.”

    Spaghetti models of Lee’s path are messy, but some ask: “Will Lee have a Maine Event?” 

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

    Local media outlet WGME 13 warned, “The significant impacts of Hurricane Lee will be felt along the immediate coastline and into Downeast Maine.” 

    WGME 13 said Maine’s largest electricity transmission and distribution utility, Central Maine Power, with over 620,000 customers and about 80% of the state’s customer base, has put line crews on standby.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 21:40

  • The Reported Russian-North Korean Military Deal Is All About Geostrategic Balancing
    The Reported Russian-North Korean Military Deal Is All About Geostrategic Balancing

    Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

    Russia and North Korea’s complementary balancing acts at the global and national levels vis-a-vis China coupled with China’s reluctance to burn all bridges with the West as it begins building alternative global institutions are the real driving forces behind the first two’s reported military deal.

    Many observers believe that Russia and North Korea have decided to strengthen their military ties due to shared threats from the West. Reports claim that they’re exploring a swap whereby Russia would share hypersonic, nuclear, satellite, and submarine technology with North Korea in exchange for Soviet-era ammunition and artillery. The first part of this deal would balance the emerging US-South Korean-Japanese triangle while the second would keep Russia’s special operation going into next year.

    There’s likely a lot of truth to this assessment since it makes sense for them to help each other against their shared opponents in the New Cold War, but there’s more to it than just that. For starters, the preceding report about their impending swap doesn’t account for Russia’s growing edge in its “race of logistics”/“war of attrition” with NATO that’s responsible for defeating Kiev’s counteroffensive. Even without North Korea’s Soviet-era supplies, Russia is still impressively holding its own against all of NATO.

    This proves that Russia’s military-industrial complex (MIC) already meets its needs in the present and beyond, thus raising the question of why Russia would countenance a military deal with North Korea in the first place, let alone such a seemingly lopsided one. A cogent explanation is that Russia’s MIC might struggle in that scenario to meet its military-technical obligations to third parties, ergo the need to purchase lower-quality supplies so that production facilities can prioritize higher-quality exports.

    Even if that’s the case, then it doesn’t answer the question of why Russia would be willing to share such potentially game-changing military technology with North Korea for these supplies instead of simply paying for them with hard currency, nor why it either can’t or won’t try to get them from China. Likewise, one might also wonder why North Korea can’t receive the aforesaid military technology from China and would have to request it from Russia as part of their reported swap.

    The answer to those three questions concerns China’s reluctance to burn all bridges with the West as well as Russia and North Korea’s shared interests in preemptively averting potentially disproportionate dependence on the People’s Republic. Beginning with the first balancing act, while President Xi arguably envisages China leading the creation of alternative global institutions as strongly suggested by his decision to skip last weekend’s G20 Summit in Delhi, he’d prefer for this to be a smooth process.

    Any abrupt bifurcation/”decoupling” would destabilize the global economy and therefore sabotage his country’s export-driven growth, but the US might force this scenario in response to China’s large-scale arming of Russia and/or transfer of game-changing military technology to North Korea. For that reason, President Xi likely wouldn’t agree to either of those two deals except if they were urgently required to prevent their defeat by the West, but neither is facing that threat so China won’t risk the consequences.

    As for the second part of this balancing act, even if President Xi offered to meet Russia’s and North Korea’s military needs, those two would still probably prefer to rely on one another for them instead of China in order to not become disproportionately dependent on the People’s Republic. Both regard that country as one of the top strategic partners anywhere in the world, but each would feel uncomfortable if they entered into relationship where Beijing plays too big of a role in ensuring their national security.

    From Russia’s perspective, it’s a matter of principle to never become disproportionately dependent on any given partner since such ties could curtail the Kremlin’s foreign policy sovereignty even if its counterpart doesn’t have any nefarious intent. In the Chinese context, relations of that nature might make some policymakers less interested in maintaining their country’s balancing act between China and India, thus leading to them subconsciously favoring Beijing and pushing Delhi closer to Washington.

    Should that happen, then the global systemic transition to multipolarity would revert back towards bipolarity (or rather bi-multipolarity) as Russia turbocharges China’s superpower trajectory in parallel with India helping the US retain its declining hegemony. The result would be that only those two superpowers would enjoy genuine sovereignty while everyone else’s would be greatly limited by the natural dynamics of their competition. Russia obviously wants to avoid this scenario at all costs.

    Unlike Russia’s global interests, North Korea’s are purely national, but they’re still complementary to Moscow’s. Pyongyang had been disproportionately dependent on Beijing since the end of the Old Cold War after the USSR collapsed, but China later leveraged this relationship to expand ties with the West by approving UNSC sanctions against North Korea. Russia did the same for identical reasons, but North Korea wasn’t dependent on Russia so Pyongyang didn’t hold a grudge against Moscow like it did Beijing.

    It was this growing distrust of China that inspired Kim Jong Un to seriously explore Trump’s ultimately unsuccessful de-nuclearization proposal in order to rebalance his country’s relations with the People’s Republic. The same motivation was why Myanmar agreed to a rapprochement with the US under Obama that also ultimately failed. Both countries felt that their disproportionate dependence on China was disadvantageous and accordingly sought to rectify it by rebalancing ties with the US.

    Since the American dimension of their balancing acts didn’t bear any fruit and is no longer viable, each is now looking towards Russia to play that same role in helping them relieve their disproportionate dependence on China. Russian-Myanmarese relations were explained here while Russian-North Korean ones will now be elaborated on a bit more. From Pyongyang’s perspective, even if Beijing gave it game-changing military technology, this could always be cut off one day if China reached a deal with the US.

    In fact, China probably wouldn’t consider giving North Korea such technology anyhow since that could make it more difficult for Beijing to ever leverage its influence over Pyongyang again in pursuit of such a deal with Washington, thus limiting China’s own foreign policy sovereignty. The likelihood of Russia reaching a major deal with the US anytime soon is close to nil after all that’s unfolded over the past 18 months, so North Korea believes that Russia will be a much more reliable long-term military partner.

    Russia and North Korea’s complementary balancing acts at the global and national levels vis-a-vis China coupled with China’s reluctance to burn all bridges with the West as it begins building alternative global institutions are the real driving forces behind the first two’s reported military deal.

    This grand strategic insight enables one to better understand the true state of relations between these countries and therefore helps objective observers produce more accurate analyses about them going forward.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 21:20

  • "Resign Today": Maryland Republicans Voice Outrage Over Superintendent's Education Scandal
    “Resign Today”: Maryland Republicans Voice Outrage Over Superintendent’s Education Scandal

    Last weekend, Fox45 News’ Project Baltimore asked Maryland Governor Wes Moore about the massive grade scandal and alleged cover-up in Baltimore City Public Schools, which ranks as the country’s fourth most funded school system. Moore went on to say that he has transparency concerns about Maryland State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury over an encrypted messaging app to do official state business. 

    “I want transparency, I want accountability, and I want a superintendent that believes in it and can deliver it. The results we are seeing right now are not satisfactory results, and I demand better, and we need to make sure we are getting better results for our kids,” Moore said. 

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

    Superintendent Choudhury’s contract is set to expire in June 2024. The state board was scheduled to vote on a new contract in July but postponed it for two months due to ‘transparency issues.’ Now, the vote is set for later this month. 

    However, the odds of the top Maryland education official receiving a contract extension from the state board wanes. That’s because lead investigator journalist Chris Papst of Fox45 News reported Wednesday that calls for Choudhury’s resignation are growing: 

    “Two MD Delegates & one Senator calling on @MdPublicSchools State Superintendent to RESIGN TODAY! They cite Project Baltimore reports concerning Mohammed Choudhury using a hidden email account, deleting texts on his phone and using an encrypted messaging App for work.”

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

    Papst previously spoke to Sean Kennedy from the Maryland Public Policy Institute. Kennedy said, “I see this as an unfolding scandal where the superintendent is going to have to resign. It’s just a matter of when.”

    “There cannot continue to be scandal after scandal after scandal,” Kennedy said, adding, “The drip, drip, drip has become a downpour, and the State Board of Education is going to be forced to act.”

    Last week, Papst revealed that corruption at the Baltimore City Public Schools level extends all the way up to the Maryland State Superintendent of Schools. 

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

    And earlier this year, Papst’s team released this shocking report in February: ‘Education Crisis’: 23 Baltimore City Schools Have No Students Proficient In Math. 

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

    One must wonder why taxpayers aren’t more furious about the massive education scandal in a state governed by out-of-control progressives. 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 21:00

  • How Deep Is The Deep State?
    How Deep Is The Deep State?

    Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

    We received some seemingly excellent news over the weekend. The appellate court of the 5th Circuit has reimposed the restrictions on the White House, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the FBI to stop bullying social media companies to censor content.

    This has taken place ahead of the actual trial because two judges found that the practice was so egregious that it needed to be stopped right now before more damage is done to the First Amendment.

    “The officials have engaged in a broad pressure campaign designed to coerce social-media companies into suppressing speakers, viewpoints, and content disfavored by the government,” a three-judge panel wrote in Missouri v. Biden.

    “The harms that radiate from such conduct extend far beyond just the Plaintiffs; it impacts every social-media user.”

    That’s all excellent news so far.

    But there’s a fly in this ointment.

    The lower court’s injunction included restrictions on a whole host of agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security (and its sub-unit, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA), and the State Department and its relationships with other third-party agencies.

    I was personally disappointed that the initial injunction didn’t name the CIA and all of its thousands of proxies, to say nothing of the other 400-plus agencies in the administrative state of the federal government.

    What’s strange and disappointing is that the appeals court stripped all of this out of its ruling.

    It vacated the most devastating parts of the injunction, including that which hit the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department. It specifically stripped out the list of defendants.

    I’m not a lawyer or an expert in administrative law, but the decision is packed with hints and suggestions that this injunction might be mostly cosmetic. It stops the most aggressive and overt censorship but also offers a road map for how they can do this in other ways, simply by burying the mechanisms of control one layer more deeply.

    In short, the initial injunction didn’t go nearly far enough. The renewed injunction, with its careful carve-outs, is far more toothless still.

    What are the next steps? There will eventually be a trial and decision. That’s likely to be settled for the plaintiffs in some measure and will imply certain policies. That could be appealed to the Supreme Court, which might take years to unfold. In the meantime, it’s unclear as to whether and to what extent the true Deep State does face much of a restriction on its activities.

    One way that we will know could come in a matter of days.

    • If the White House appeals this injunction to the Supreme Court for an emergency ruling, it would suggest that some people at the top are very worried, even to the point of panic.

    • If they do nothing, which is very possible, it means that they can live with the current ruling. That would be a very bad sign.

    There’s very little public knowledge of the extent of the problem here. Over the weekend, at a scholars and fellows retreat for Brownstone Institute, we heard a presentation by Andrew Lowenthal, one of the journalists who was given access to the Twitter files after Elon Musk took over. Mr. Lowenthal and his colleagues found vast evidence of an extensive and complex network of censorship that reaches every part of mainstream social media: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, Reddit, Wikipedia, and beyond.

    The controlling parties are the Department of Homeland Security and all of its agencies, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, all of their contractors in universities and state and local governments, media organs including The New York Times and The Washington Post, and all major technology companies, especially Google and Microsoft. Looking at what he calls the “Censorship Industrial Complex” on the screen during his presentation was truly ominous.

    Talking with Mr. Lowenthal afterward, I pointed out to him that CISA wasn’t just censoring. This agency on March 19, 2020, issued an edict to the country that defined every U.S. worker as either essential or nonessential. It created a techno-feudal structure that gave rights to the elites and those who serve them, while excluding the vast middle layer of the U.S. workforce as unessential.

    CISA issued the kind of edict that no free and civilized society would or should ever tolerate. It was incredibly egregious. And yet there has been little to no public discussion of this outrage, and hence no awareness of how this came to be. Exactly who decided to do this? What was its impetus? Keep in mind that there are deep links between CISA and Big Tech, which suggests that this central plan was hatched in cooperation with the companies that benefited from it.

    Mr. Lowenthal naively asked why the Department of Labor wasn’t consulted. I explained that the department is an old-time civilian bureaucracy packed with old-fashioned public servants with no interest in high-tech hijinx. They’re there just to assemble data. What happened in March 2020 was a coup d’état by a new generation of techno-despots from the intelligence community. They have their own agencies and methods of control—all suited toward the 21st century.

    As I further pointed out to him, this isn’t only about censorship. The censors do what they do for a bigger purpose. What they’re really seeking is complete control of society itself; that is, human beings. And they don’t just work on a national basis but an international one, which is why most countries on the planet Earth had exactly the same policies. The intelligence community that’s ruling this machinery is truly global at this point.

    In other words, this isn’t just a Censorship Industrial Complex. It’s a totalitarian hegemon that wants total control of our bodies, lives, and communities. The purpose of the censorship is to keep this from being debated and protested by the public. The censorship is bad, but its purpose points to something far worse than merely controlling the flow of information.

    And there’s another layer of control that wasn’t even on the chart: the money-laundering machinery of, for example, FTX. There’s little doubt that this crypto-exchange was set up to launder funding from venture capitalists to nonprofits and political candidates. That was the whole point. It was a ruling-class pump and dump. There’s no political or legal process ongoing that will prevent something such as this from happening again.

    It’s easy to look at such realities, realize the depth of the Deep State, and get discouraged. Sometimes, it feels as if we’re just a tiny band of writers and podcasters with zero influence or power. But Mr. Lowenthal was careful to point out that this isn’t true. The bad guys in this story feel very much outgunned and under vast pressure from all sides. They’re right now under the impression that they’re losing badly. That’s because public opinion keeps shifting in the direction of freedom and democracy and against control and compulsion from the centralized despots.

    I hope that he’s right because it’s hard to think of a struggle more important than this one.

    “There can be little doubt that man owes some of his greatest successes in the past to the fact that he has not been able to control social life,” economist F.A. Hayek wrote more than 60 years ago in “The Constitution of Liberty.”

    “His continued advance may well depend on his deliberately refraining from exercising controls which are now in his power.

    “In the past, the spontaneous forces of growth, however much restricted, could usually still assert themselves against the organized coercion of the state. With the technological means of control now at the disposal of government, it is not certain that such an assertion is still possible; at any rate, it may soon become impossible. We are not far from the point where the deliberately organized forces of society may destroy those spontaneous forces which have made advance possible.”

    We can’t have freedom and democracy with a deep state run by the intelligence community, in league with all the major universities and corporations, running our lives, elections, and communications. Something has to give. And without public understanding of the problem, there will never be a fix.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 20:40

  • 30 Detainees Remain At Guantánamo
    30 Detainees Remain At Guantánamo

    In April, transfers decreased the Guantánamo prison population to 30 bringing President Joe Biden closer to his stated goal of finally closing the notorious prison camp while large obstacles persist with remaining high-profile prisoners and their cases.

    Infographic: 30 Detainees Remain at Guantánamo | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    As Staista’s Katharina Buchholz reports, just last week, Biden refused to approve some conditions of a plea bargain that is being brokered by lawyers of five of the 10 remaining detainees which have been charged in the military commissions system.

    Biden declined to guarantee no post-conviction solitary confinement as well as trauma care for torture victims. The potential deal would see the five defendants plead guilty to terrorism charges and serve life sentences in exchange for being spared the death penalty.

    On top of the 10 charged detainees, 16 have already been recommended for transfer, which means that they have not been charged and are no longer recommended to remain in confinement for national security reasons.

    There have already been 750 other detainees with the same fate that were transferred back to their home countries or in the case of this being deemed unsafe or not possible, a third country that accepted them.

    Detainments for these prisoners ranged from just a few years to more than two decades.

    Many men have endured torture at the hands of guards that have been extensively documented. 

    One more detainee at Guantánamo is serving a life sentence.

    Three others have been deemed unfit for release, yet have not been charged, according to The New York Times.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 20:20

  • Fox Corp Sued By New York City Pension Funds, Oregon Over 2020 Election Coverage
    Fox Corp Sued By New York City Pension Funds, Oregon Over 2020 Election Coverage

    Authored by Caden Pearson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    New York City Pension Funds and Oregon have filed a lawsuit against Fox Corporation’s board related to alleged false narratives in post-2020 election coverage.

    A Fox News channel sign is seen at the News Corp. building in New York on March 20, 2019. (Kevin Hagen/Getty Images)

    The state of Oregon joined New York City Pension Funds in filing a stockholder derivative lawsuit on Tuesday against the board of Fox Corporation, the corporate parent of Fox News, accusing it of a breach of fiduciary duty by opening it up to defamation lawsuits by “peddling known falsehoods” in its post-2020 election coverage.

    The lawsuit was filed under seal in Delaware Chancery Court. In a statement Tuesday, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum accused Fox Corporation’s board of allegedly knowingly exposing the company and its shareholders to significant risks by perpetuating allegedly false narratives about the 2020 elections for profit.

    Ms. Rosenblum claimed Fox Corporation’s board “took a massive risk in pursuing profits by perpetuating and peddling known falsehoods.

    “The directors’ choices exposed themselves and the company to liability and exposed their shareholders to significant risks,” said Ms. Rosenblum. “That is the crux of our lawsuit, and we look forward to making our case in court.”

    The corporation’s board comprises media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, the chair, and his son Lachlan Murdoch, executive chair and CEO. Other members include William Burck, Chase Carey, Anne Dias, Roland Hernandez, Jacques Nasser, and Paul Ryan.

    The Oregon attorney general is representing the Oregon Public Employee Retirement Fund (OPERF), an investor in Fox Corporation, which holds 150,146 shares of Class A stock and 76,169 shares of Class B stock, with a total approximate value of $5.2 million.

    The lawsuit stems from a joint investigation carried out by the Oregon Department of Justice and the Oregon Treasurer’s Office earlier this year, the attorney general’s office said. Her office said the joint investigation revealed that Fox Corporation’s management, acting on behalf of the company, allegedly harmed investors, including Oregon’s public employees.

    The complaint alleges that Fox Corporation’s board was fully aware that Fox News’ promotion of political narratives, irrespective of the underlying factual accuracy, created substantial exposure to defamation charges.

    “Furthermore, by pushing narratives that appealed to their audience regardless of the facts, Fox’s Board should have been especially sensitive to risks of defamation,” the attorney general’s office stated.

    “Yet, Fox’s business model is to promote false claims.“

    Tuesday’s lawsuit, which includes the New York City Pension Funds as a co-plaintiff, further alleges that Fox Corporation made no genuine efforts to monitor or mitigate the risk of defamation, setting it apart from nearly every other major media organization in the country.

    New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who oversees the pension funds, accused the Fox Corporation board of failing to ensure journalist standards.

    “Fox’s board of directors has blatantly disregarded the need for journalistic standards and failed to put safeguards in place despite having a business model that invites defamation litigation,” Mr. Lander said in a statement on Tuesday. “A lack of journalistic standards and a proper strategy to mitigate defamation has clearly harmed Fox’s reputation and threatens their bottom line and long-term profitability.”

    Treasurer Tobias Read, who is also a member of the Oregon Investment Council, said that safeguarding the retirement investments of Oregon’s public servants is of the “utmost importance.”

    “We aim to hold Fox’s board of directors, including Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, accountable for their decisions,” Mr. Read said. “We believe that this action is necessary in fulfilling our obligation to our beneficiaries.”

    Fox Corporation declined to comment.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 20:00

  • Jailed Proud Boy Leader: Feds Tried To 'Coerce Me' Into Implicating Trump
    Jailed Proud Boy Leader: Feds Tried To ‘Coerce Me’ Into Implicating Trump

    Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio said in a jailhouse interview that federal prosecutors tried to “coerce” him into implicating former President Donald Trump in the Capitol riot.

    “They weren’t trying to get the truth,” Tarrio told the Washginton Post. “They were trying to coerce me into signing something that’s not true.“

    Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison last week by US District Judge Timothy Kelly, despite the fact that he wasn’t at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

    “I was looking and seeking what the plea offer would look like, right?” Tarrio said. “They didn’t want to give me a number. I need a number. To me, the most important thing is when I get home to my family.”

    …prosecutors asked him what role then-President Donald Trump played in getting the Proud Boys to attack the Capitol. He said the prosecutors, accompanied by FBI agents in the Miami jail where Tarrio was being held at the time, showed him messages that he exchanged with a second person, who in turn was connected to a third person who was connected to Trump. Tarrio said he told the investigators that he didn’t know the third person. He refused to name the people who prosecutors said allegedly connected him to Trump. -WaPo

    He also told the Post that “there was never an open-ended question after” the feds tried to get him to implicate Trump.

    Tarrio said prosecutors in Miami last fall did not ask him about Roger Stone, a longtime Trump confidant who was an acquaintance of Tarrio’s, or Ali Alexander, a promoter of the “Stop the Steal” rally. He said the federal visitors did not ask him questions about his knowledge of Jan. 6 beyond the theorized connection to Trump. “There was never an open-ended question after that,” Tarrio said.

    Prosecutors did later offer Tarrio a deal: nine to 11 years in prison if he pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy, according to court records. Tarrio declined.

    During his sentencing hearing, Judge Kelley said Tarrio was the “ultimate leader, the ultimate person who organized, who was motivated by revolutionary zeal.”

    There have been 370 individuals sentenced to prison in connection with the Capitol riot out of 1,100 people charged in the incident.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 19:40

  • UAW Boss Says 'Targeted Strikes' On Standby As Talks With Automakers 'Far Apart'
    UAW Boss Says ‘Targeted Strikes’ On Standby As Talks With Automakers ‘Far Apart’

    Update (1930ET): 

    “For the first time in our history, we may strike all of the Big Three at once,” United Auto Workers boss Shawn Fain told members in a Wednesday evening Facebook Live event. 

    Fain said General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis increased their wage offers but rejected some of the union’s other demands. 

    “We do not yet have offers on the table that reflect the sacrifices and contributions our members have made to these companies.

    “To win we’re likely going to have to take action. We are preparing to strike these companies in a way they’ve never seen before.”

    He said if no deal is reached by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, then “standup strikes” will be unleashed at different auto plants to keep the automakers guessing. “We will not strike all of our facilities at once” on Thursday,” he added. 

    Targeted strikes will help the union sidestep ‘strike pay,’ which amounts to $500 a week per member. 

    Fain said the goal of the targeted strikes is to reach a fair labor deal for members, “but if the companies continue to bargain in bad faith or continue to stall or continue to give us insulting offers, then our strike is going to continue to grow.” 

    With 24 hours left in labor talks, UAW and the automakers are still far apart. 

    *    *    * 

    Talks between United Auto Workers and Detroit’s “Big Three” automakers – General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, appear stalled on Wednesday morning as the deadline for a new four-year labor deal with automakers quickly approaches.

    UAW boss Shawn Fain is set to speak to the 146,000 members during a Facebook Live event at 1700 ET regarding the ongoing labor negotiations with Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. According to Bloomberg, Fain is expected to discuss a potential strike strategy.

    AP News reports the Facebook Live event could have the union boss shed more light on “targeted strikes at a small number of factories run by each of Detroit’s three automakers if they can’t reach contract agreements by a Thursday night deadline.” 

    Strikes at parts plants could spark production halts at multiple assembly factories. We detailed Tuesday a large enough strike could plunge Michigan’s economy into a recession. 

    Last week, automakers submitted contract offers to UAW. Fain quickly threw those in the trash, calling General Motors “insulting.” 

    Bank of America Securities warned clients a “strike is almost guaranteed” because UAW demands and automaker offers are so wide apart.  

    Nelson Lichtenstein, a history professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, told AP if UAW strikes later this week — it would be the largest in decades. 

    Labor actions will likely occur at part factories for pickup trucks and big SUVs, according to Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. 

    “They’re trying to impose some hardship on the companies and apply an accelerating level of pressure to encourage them to make an offer which will be acceptable to the rank and file and goes further toward meeting the demands that they have on the table,” Masters said. 

    He said it would make sense for UAW to target the weakest point of the supply chains: 

    “You would go after the components that would shut down as many of those product facilities as possible.

    “The tactic would force the companies to lay off workers at assembly plants, and they would get unemployment benefits rather than money from the union strike fund.” 

    Meanwhile, pro-union President Biden and his administration appear unconcerned about imminent strike threats across America’s manufacturing automobile hub. 

    It appears the president likes spending time more time at his liberal white-elitest Rehoboth Beach house than actually working. 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 19:30

  • Growing Maze Of State And Local Laws Challenging Biden's Energy Push
    Growing Maze Of State And Local Laws Challenging Biden’s Energy Push

    Authored by Steve Miller via RealClear Wire,

    Grassroots resistance to the Biden administration’s ambitious push for a “zero-carbon” economy is coalescing in varied new state laws and local ordinances that threaten to bog down solar and wind development in a multi-front legal and regulatory war on a scale not seen before. 

    Until recently and with few exceptions, squabbles pitted loosely organized local residents against renewable developers, with an average of two major projects a month facing protests and legal action in mostly rural areas, according to a database of renewable rejections compiled by Robert Bryce, a former fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute. 

    But the escalation of local protests has gradually drawn more elected officials into the fray, with new laws and regulations auguring ever-varying multi-dimensional contests at the federal, state, and local levels to gain approvals, often involving international players: 

    • Laws passed in Ohio and Kansas in 2021 and 2022, respectively, give stronger input to towns and villages that are often the target of well-heeled power companies seeking to use rural land to construct large-scale renewable energy projects. 

    • In Michigan, a group called Michigan Citizens for the Protection of Farmland plans a ballot proposal that would ban large-scale solar farms on agriculturally zoned land across the state, combating a strong renewable lobby in the Democrat-controlled state. 

    • In Maine, lawmakers heeded the formidable fishing lobby and passed a law in 2021 banning wind farms in state waters off the coast. 

    • In the crucial early primary state of Iowa, where farming interests are powerful, opponents are pursuing legislation halting solar plants on land suitable for agriculture within 150 feet of a neighboring property. The bill was introduced earlier this year but did not move past subcommittee approval. 

    Meanwhile, lawmakers in 12 states, including Republican strongholds Florida and Iowa, have passed measures that limit or remove local control of renewable projects, handing more authority to the state. 

    “States get to set their own energy policy,” James Coleman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, told RealClearInvestigations. “For example, New York has left a lot of money on the table with natural gas because it doesn’t like fracking, and the federal government has allowed that.” 

    “We need to replace all fossil fuels plants with renewables … so my suggestion is that we need some kind of federal intervention for that,” said Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University. “I think it is possible given the magnitude of the need.” 

    There’s little question that states and towns are chafing at the rush to development and full deployment of wind and solar. 

    “Our county is under assault,” Bill Hicks, a resident of Franklin County, population 10,000, in east Texas, said at a March hearing in Austin for a proposed legislative measure that would give more power to Texas landowners who resist renewable energy developers. 

    Hicks noted six pending solar plants, adding: “Folks, one of them is 5,000 acres and stretches for nine miles along a highway.” 

    Opponents of the Texas bill represented interests from as far away as Norway and Spain, with billions of dollars in revenue and investments from multi-national corporations. 

    “This is an anti-renewable energy bill,” one opponent, Jeff Clark, president of the Advanced Power Alliance, an advocacy group for an international consortium of renewable producers, said in written testimony. “Senate Bill 624 is designed to stop renewable energy development … everywhere in Texas.” 

    Conflicts over renewable source placement from Vermont to Nevada have put locals at odds with the Biden administration’s dream of a carbon-free electric sector by 2035 to combat a “climate crisis” that it claims is driven by fossil fuels. 

    Regulations on renewable plant siting vary widely by state, ranging from a hybrid of local and state authority to outright local or state control. State approval is required of most any energy project, be it oil, gas, wind, or solar. Some states require additional scrutiny of projects over a specified size, while others apply uniform standards regardless of scope. 

    While 31 states have adopted requirements that a percentage of electricity come from renewable sources in the future, where the plants for this electric generation are situated largely rests with private developers, noted Gerrard of Columbia University. 

    “They will decide where to buy and rent the land and where it will work the best,” Gerrard said. “Private developers are very good at that, and it is subject to government approval.” 

    Opposition has a strong element of so-called NIMBY-ism, an acronym for “not in my backyard,” and both sides have turned to the courts on some occasions, with mixed results. 

    Local opponents cite some of the same arguments used against the oil industry for decades: Development means the potential loss of farmland, the impact of developing roads and infrastructure on the environment, and water runoff that endangers the water supply. 

    “A big part of this tears communities apart,” said Jack Van Kley, a Columbus, Ohio-based attorney who has represented groups of residents opposing solar and wind developments. “It becomes a green energy civil war in some places.” 

    With the heft of state law giving these citizens broader say in locating projects on large tracts of wilderness or farmland, energy companies will have to be more diligent when selecting locations. 

    The corporations say large tracts are ideal for siting solar and wind farms close to transmission conveyances, and therefore more profitable. 

    “They also want an area with flat ground, which often means farm ground,” said Van Kley, the Ohio lawyer, whose clients are mostly farmers. 

    Connie Ehrlich has staved off solar development in Pulaski County, Indiana, for three years with a tenacious fight that has included lawsuits, social media blitzes, and overtures to state leaders for help. 

    But Indiana’s political leadership has not cooperated. “They’re all in on solar,” she said, including the state’s Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, who joined executives from Israeli-owned Doral Renewables at a solar plant groundbreaking last year in Pulaski County. Even the Indiana Farm Bureau, which is supposed to represent farmers in such situations, “has been a real disappointment,” Ehrlich said. “They have been more involved with solar developers than us, hosting events with them. It will cost them membership.” 

    In the state legislature, Indiana Republicans proposed taxpayer-funded payouts to municipalities that allow solar and wind farms. But residents are outspoken against them: “This bill would take our own Indiana taxpayer dollars and offer them back to us as a bribe,” Judith Noll, a resident of rural Whitley County, told legislators during a hearing on the measure. 

    Indiana Farm Bureau President Randy Kron and Vice President Kendell Culp – also a state representative whose political donors include out-of-state solar industry entities – did not respond to interview requests. 

    Utility siting, be it for fossil fuels or renewable energy, is a political art with huge stakes that has yet to be perfected. 

    The issue has been studied for decades, starting with the designation of land for oil and gas exploration, and is decried for the alleged potential of groundwater pollution. Nuclear facilities are disparaged for the possibility of meltdowns and leaks. 

    Today, objectors look at renewables as a danger to the environment from consuming valuable agricultural or recreational land. Solar developers have flocked to the hinterlands of Nevada, with flat tracts of sunny land viewed as the perfect landscape for vast panel arrays. 

    The area is even more attractive because most of it is federal property, controlled now by an administration foisting billion-dollar breaks on the renewables industry. In July, Warren Buffet’s NV Energy bought 7,200 desert acres from the feds for $82 million in an auction. The land, set to be covered with solar panels, is close to the town of Beatty, Nevada, which leverages its proximity to Death Valley National Park as a recreation and tourism draw. 

    The town’s leaders fear that even though Beatty has so far managed to stave off largescale solar development, the new land deal 11 miles south is a dark portent. 

    “When NextEra Energy came to the town and wanted to put a facility in, they asked us, ‘What do you want?’” said Erika Gerling, who chairs the Beatty Town Advisory Board. “They offered to build some big fancy visitor center thing, but we don’t want any of that. We want to have our own economy.” NextEra wanted to build a 3,000-acre solar plant that would go right up to the entrance to Death Valley, on a scenic desert-scape that defines the region’s stark natural beauty. 

    To fight large corporate interests, “people have to stand up and be strong and be outraged,” said Gerling, who has been pleased by the support of two Democratic state senators, Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto. “It’s one thing if I write a letter for the advisory board but another when 100 citizens from the town come out to talk about it.”  

    Several of the major renewable corporations, including NextEra and Invenergy, did not respond to requests to speak about their siting policies.  

    Several communities in Michigan have passed moratoriums on solar development, some under a 1974 law that allowed farmland to be protected by the state for a specified period ranging up to 90 years. But Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered the statute amended in 2019, allowing solar panels to be placed on the protected land. A spokeswoman for the state of Michigan did not respond to emailed questions on the Democratic governor’s action. 

    Her order rankles some members of the state’s farming community, who are working on a ballot proposal to protect farmland. 

    “Making sure these renewable projects are done right is about protecting the country, and at the end of the day we have to protect our farmland,” said Erin Hamilton, who is leading an effort to enforce Michigan’s protection of agricultural land. “Look at history, and any civilization that has gone under … One of the things that broke it is that they lost control of their food supply.”

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 19:20

  • UN Agency Crowns Biden's Southern Border As 'Deadliest Migration Route Worldwide' 
    UN Agency Crowns Biden’s Southern Border As ‘Deadliest Migration Route Worldwide’ 

    President Biden and the Democrats’ radical open border policies have sparked the worst US-Mexico border crisis on record. Readers have already known this, but a new report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) revealed the southern border is the most dangerous route in the world on record. 

    IMO documented 686 migrant deaths and disappearances across the southern border in 2022, accounting for about half of all incidents in the Americas that year. With 1,457 total migrant deaths and disappearances in the region, 2022 stands as the deadliest year since the organization started compiling data in 2014.

    Since President Biden took office, more than 5.8 million illegals have flooded the southern border, a number comparable to the population of Denmark. The surge in migrants can be directly linked to Democrats’ far-left open border policies. 

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    “Although the data shows that deaths and disappearances in the US-Mexico border decreased by 6 percent from the previous year, the 2022 figure is likely higher than the available information suggests, due to missing official data, including information from Texas border county coroner’s offices and the Mexican search and rescue agency,” IMO said. 

    The IOM Regional Director for South America, Marcelo Pisani, called the border crisis a “grim reality.” At the same time, she said, “The impacts on the families left behind to search endlessly for a lost loved one are profound.” 

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    Recall that in Biden’s first 100 days of office, his administration used 94 executive actions on immigration, including halting the border wall construction. 

    Fast forward to the present day, the border crisis has spread to New York City. New York Mayor Eric Adams warned last week the migrant crisis will ‘destroy New York City‘ and slammed the Biden administration for doing nothing about the problem they created.

    And Democrats are turning on each other. 

    Even the liberal women on The View don’t want these migrants. 

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    Democrats own the border chaos spreading like a virus through US cities.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 19:00

  • Marching Orders: White House Letter Tells Media To "Ramp Up Their Scrutiny" Of GOP In Response to Impeachment Inquiry
    Marching Orders: White House Letter Tells Media To “Ramp Up Their Scrutiny” Of GOP In Response to Impeachment Inquiry

    Authored by Jonathan Turley,

    I have previously written how the level of advocacy and bias has created a danger of a de facto state media in the United States.

    It is possible to have such a system by consent rather than coercion.

    Given that long concern, a letter drafted by the Biden White House Legal Counsel’s Office was striking in a call for major media to “ramp up their scrutiny” of House Republicans “for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies.”

    The message is curious and concerning, particularly in the aggressive role being played by the White House Counsel’s office under Stuart Frank Delery.

    First, as I have previously noted, the White House is now actively involved in pushing narratives and denying factual allegations linked to the Biden corruption scandal.

    That could create Nixonian-type allegations of the abuse of office in the use of federal employees to counter impeachment efforts.

    Second, the letter was drafted by Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House Counsel’s Office. So White House lawyers are now enlisting the media in a counter media campaign against impeachment?

    The letter removes any pretense of separation between the Biden personal legal team and the White House Counsel’s office. Sams has been the most aggressive White House official in actively swatting down allegations of corruption as well as the President’s documents investigation.

    Third, the letter calls for the media to actively support the White House account.

    The draft of the letter is a call for what I have previously criticized as “advocacy journalism” where reporters frame stories to advance their own viewpoints or values.

    Sams wrote “[c]overing impeachment as a process story – Republicans say X, but the White House says Y – is a disservice to the American public who relies on the independent press to hold those in power accountable.” In other words, media should (and it has for years) decline to give equal attention to allegations against the Bidens and instead tell the public what the truth is.

    It is a call for media to tailor the coverage to push the position of the White House against this effort to ramp up the investigation into corruption.

    It is an approach that is already embraced by many in the media. That was evident in the meltdown of Washington Post columnist Philip Bump recently when he was confronted by countervailing evidence in the Biden scandals.

    Before storming out, Bump chastised the interviewer for not just taking his work as the “putative expert” and said that he had enough “because you don’t listen to the press. I’m sitting here and I’m telling you, you’re wrong about these things, and you don’t listen, and you continue to insist upon things that are, you know, parsing of language.”

    That appears the approach pushed by Sams, who specifically references Facebook and Fox as enemies of the truth:

    “in the modern media environment, where every day liars and hucksters peddle disinformation and lies everywhere from Facebook to Fox, process stories that fail to unpack the illegitimacy of the claims on which House Republicans are basing all their actions only serve to generate confusion, put false premises in people’s feeds, and obscure the truth.”

    The letter has an uncomfortable feeling of marching orders to the media. 

    This is a media that followed the lead of Biden associates in spreading the false story that the Hunter laptop was Russian disinformation.

    This is the media that refused to acknowledge the authenticity of the laptop until only recently — long after the presidential election.

    This was the media that only recently admitted that President Biden has been lying about denials related to his son’s influence peddling.

    Yet, the White House is now calling for the media to again circle the wagons around the President and attack the impeachment effort as it did the laptop and the corruption investigation.

    Once again, what is most disturbing is that the White House shows no reluctance or concern in making such an open pitch to the press. There is a sense of license in using the media as an extension of the White House press push. The fact that this is a representative of the White House counsel’s office is particularly chilling. This is not the press office but the counsel for the President calling on media to form a unified front against the Republicans and the impeachment inquiry.

    The letter is an alarming erosion of separation of the White House Counsel’s office from the Biden defense team. It also confirms an active and aggressive role of White House officials in swatting down allegations against the President. While the staff obviously is not expected to be neutral on impeachment, there is a careful line that past White House counsels have walked between fulfilling their duties to the office as opposed to the officeholder.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 18:40

  • China Brings Taliban Out Of Total Isolation In Sending New Ambassador
    China Brings Taliban Out Of Total Isolation In Sending New Ambassador

    The Taliban government of Afghanistan is seeking to break loose from its isolation on the world stage, with a little help from Communist China, of all countries. 

    For the first time since the Taliban seized power in August 2021 amid the disastrous and bloody rapid American pullout, Kabul has welcomed a new Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan. 

    China’s new ambassador to Afghanistan Zhao Sheng shakes hand with Taliban Prime Minister Mohammad Hasan Akhund. via AP

    The Taliban apparently pulled out all the stops Wednesday in creating a lot of fanfare to greet Ambassador Zhao Sheng, with The Associated Press observing that his “car swept through the tree-lined driveway of the Presidential Palace escorted by a police convoy,” after which he was “greeted by uniformed troops and met top-ranking Taliban officials, including Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who heads the administration, and Foreign Affairs Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.”

    “It is the first time since the Taliban takeover that an ambassador to Kabul has been afforded such lavish protocol,” the report noted. 

    While the vast majority of countries around the world, including the US, have not formally recognized Taliban rule, China has remained among the few that have maintained a diplomatic mission in Kabul. 

    China as the globe’s second largest economy has expressed a desire to better ties with Afghanistan, especially on a commercial and investment front, also given the potential for Belt & Road related infrastructural works. But it remains that security and terror attacks have plagued the country. 

    Attempting to put on a new positive face for the world to see of ‘responsible rule’, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had this to say:

    “It also signals to other countries to come forward and interact with the Islamic Emirate,” said Mujahid. “We should establish good relations as a result of good interactions and, with good relations, we can solve all the problems that are in front of us or coming in the future.”

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    Within months after the US-NATO pullout from the country, following a more than 20-year occupation, there were widespread rumors that China was eyeing moving troops into abandoned US military bases. This never materialized, but it’s likely Beijing is more interested in the central Asian country’s rare earth minerals.

    One CNN headline noted that the Taliban is sitting on at least $1 trillion worth of rare earth minerals, but extracting this in the long term amid a deteriorated security environment is quite another story. China could be positioning itself to provide the kind of technology and infrastructure needed for such future projects.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 18:20

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Sep 13

Today’s News 13th September 2023

  • The UK's Coming Eco-Totalitarianism
    The UK’s Coming Eco-Totalitarianism

    Authored by David Craig via The Daily Sceptic,

    The Government’s plans to force Britain to achieve ‘Net Zero’ CO2 emissions by 2050 seem to be falling apart. Few people seem interested in buying expensive, range-limited electric vehicles. Even fewer want to replace their cheap efficient gas boilers with expensive and poor-performing heat pumps. Offshore windfarms were a key part of our Government’s ‘Net Zero’ decarbonisation plans, yet there were no companies bidding for the recent group of offshore windfarm contracts. And our rulers seem unable to make up their minds about which technology to choose for Britain’s new generation of SMRs (small modular nuclear reactors) even though Rolls Royce has already developed a version which can work in the hostile underwater operating environment of nuclear-powered submarines and so could be quickly and inexpensively adapted for use on dry land.

    However, having realised that it cannot provide sufficient electricity to power Britain as a supposed ‘renewable energy superpower’, the Government has come up with a brilliant solution – force us to use much less electricity.

    I recently wrote an article for the Daily Sceptic explaining some of the more worrying aspects of the Energy Bill currently approved by a massive majority in the Commons and likely to be enthusiastically passed with a similar massive majority in the Lords.

    In my article I quoted several sections from the Energy Bill. However, as these were written in almost incomprehensible legalese, I thought it might be useful to describe three common scenarios which will arise once the Energy Bill has become law.

    • First, there is the replacement of existing electricity and gas meters. Our electricity and gas meters have a registered lifetime of anywhere between 10 and 25 years depending on the type of meter. Once a meter’s lifetime has expired, it should be replaced. Under the terms of the Energy Bill, someone from your power supplier will have the right to enter your home to replace your current meter with a smart meter. If you refuse him entry or try to refuse having a smart meter installed, he can legally return with police back-up, force entry into your home and use what is called “reasonable force” to restrain you while he rips out your old-fashioned meter and replaces it with a smart meter. “Reasonable force” might just mean handcuffing you during the installation or could even mean detaining you in a cell at the local police station while your meters are changed.

    • Second, there is what happens when you wish to rent or sell your home or another property. It seems likely that we will be banned from renting out or selling any residential property unless it has an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) rating of ‘C’ or above. Currently there are just over one million home sales a year in Britain. Of these home sales, around 41% have an EPC rating of ‘C’ or above. This means that under the terms of the Energy Bill, over 590,000 homes a year would have to have alterations made to improve their EPC rating before they could be rented out or sold. These alterations could range from just installing double glazing or adding a little loft or wall insulation to spending tens of thousands of pounds installing a heat pump which would include replacing all the pipes and radiators in a home and could even require ripping up carpets and floors to install underfloor heating.

    • Third, there are what are known as Energy Saving Opportunity Schemes (ESOS), where “opportunity” has a distinctly Orwellian flavour. With ever more homes having smart meters, energy suppliers will be able to identify towns, neighbourhoods, streets and even individual homes which Government ‘experts’ consider to be using too much electricity. The Energy Bill introduces ESOSs, which would give the legal right for energy inspectors to enter any home, using “reasonable force” if necessary, in order to make an energy-saving assessment and propose ways the homeowner could improve the property’s energy efficiency.

    In all three of the above three scenarios, refusal by the homeowner to comply with the Government’s requirements would be a criminal offence with penalties of fines of up to £15,000 and imprisonment of up to one year.

    That a supposedly “Conservative” Government would use its parliamentary majority to introduce such intrusive and oppressive eco-totalitarianism is something that few of us would have imagined possible.

    *  *  *

    David Craig is the author of There is No Climate Crisis, available as an e-book or paperback from Amazon.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 09/13/2023 – 02:00

  • JFK Assassination Witness Breaks 60-Year Silence, Refutes Key Claim
    JFK Assassination Witness Breaks 60-Year Silence, Refutes Key Claim

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

    A witness to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy spoke out for the first time in 60 years and refuted a key claim regarding the 1963 incident and a “magic bullet.”

    The Kennedys’ motorcade drives through downtown Dallas Nov. 22, 1963, moments before the shooting of President John F. Kennedy. (Bettmann/Corbis)

    Paul Landis, an 88-year-old former Secret Service agent, was just a few feet away from when President Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. At the time, he was assigned to protect Jackie Kennedy, the former first lady.

    Mr. Landis, in a recent interview with the New York Times, cast doubt on the government-backed Warren Commission’s finding that a “magic bullet” struck and exited the president before it struck then-Texas Gov. John Connally Jr., a theory that has been the subject of criticism for decades and has helped fuel a range alternative theories about the former president’s assassination. Officially, the U.S. government and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has maintained that a lone gunman—Lee Harvey Oswald—was the sole perpetrator.

    Based on discrepancies between things that he witnessed during the assassination and the Warren Commission’s report that investigated the president’s death, he said “I’m beginning to doubt myself” and that “now I begin to wonder.”

    In the interview with the paper, published on Sept. 9, Mr. Landis recalled hearing multiple gunshots at Dealy Plaza in Dallas as he went behind President Kennedy’s limousine, seeing the president moving forward after being shot in the head. After the assassination, Mr. Landis recalled picking up what he called a near-perfect-condition bullet from the back seat of President Kennedy’s limousine, near where the president had been sitting.

    The former agent then transported the bullet to the hospital where President Kennedy was taken and put on a stretcher to be examined. The reason why he took it is because he believed someone might pocket the bullet, which he did not describe in detail, as a keepsake.

    Mr. Landis suggested in the interview that the reason why investigators believed that the “magic bullet” struck both the former president and the Texas governor, Mr. Connally, is because the bullet that Mr. Landis discovered was later found on a stretcher belonging to Mr. Landis. It wasn’t until the NY Times interview this week that Mr. Landis confirmed that it was he who found the bullet and placed it there.

    He added that he did not believe the bullet went too deeply in President Kennedy’s back before, according to him, “popping back out” before he was removed from the limousine.

    “It was a piece of evidence that I realized right away [was] very important,” Mr. Landis told the outlet. “And I didn’t want it to disappear or get lost. So it was, ‘Paul, you’ve got to make a decision’—and I grabbed it.”

    Television footage of President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy are shown in the presidential limousine in the moments before Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963. (Reuters)

    After the incident, he recalled that “there was nobody there to secure the scene, and that was a big, big bother to me,” adding, “All the agents that were there were focused on the president.”

    The paper quoted him as saying that it wasn’t until 2014 that he realized that the location of the bullet’s recovery that was cited by him was different than what was cited in the Warren Commission. He then checked with several officials but received skepticism, with officials saying he filed multiple written reports himself with the Commission decades ago.

    According to the paper, Mr. Landis said he filed two separate reports with the Warren Commission and neither statement made reference to finding the near-perfect bullet or placing it on a stretcher. Instead, he reported only hearing gunshots. Mr. Landis said he was in a state of shock and hadn’t slept much when he filed the statements.

    The Warren Commission has long dismissed claims that the bullet came from President Kennedy’s stretcher.

    Explaining why he hasn’t spoken out for 60 years, the former agent said, “I didn’t want to talk about it.” He left the Secret Service months after the assassination. “I was afraid. I started to think, did I do something wrong? There was a fear that I might have done something wrong and I shouldn’t talk about it,” he said.

    Historian James Robenalt, who helped work on Mr. Landis’s forthcoming memoir, said his eyewitness account raised the possibility of there being more than one gunman.

    “If the bullet we know as the magic or pristine bullet stopped in President Kennedy’s back, it means that the central thesis of the Warren Report, the single-bullet theory, is wrong,” he told the NY Times.

    Writing for Vanity Fair, Mr. Robenbalt posited that if the “magic bullet” didn’t hit both President Kennedy and Mr. Connally, there may have been a separate shot.

    “The FBI recreation suggests that Oswald would not have had enough time to get off two separate shots so quickly as to hit Connally after wounding the president in the back,” he wrote. Mr. Oswald, according to officials, had used a bolt-action Carcano Model 38 infantry carbine.

    Referring to his memoir, meanwhile, Mr. Landis said that “there’s no goal at this point. I just think it had been long enough that I needed to tell my story.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 23:45

  • Russia's Navy Port At Sevastopol On Fire After Massive Ukraine Missile Attack
    Russia’s Navy Port At Sevastopol On Fire After Massive Ukraine Missile Attack

    In the overnight and morning hours of Wednesday (local time) a major attack has ensued on Russia’s key Black Sea naval port of Sevastopol. Multiple social media videos emerged showing massive blazes at the Sevastopol shipyard, with possible deaths, and at least 24 people being reported injured. 

    Initial reporting in Reuters and CNN strongly points to a missile attack, based on statements by Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhaev, who said “Our enemies attacked Sevastopol” and that “The air defense was at work.”

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    The precise location of the large fire is the Kilen-Balka area of Sevastopol. Reuters reports that “A Ukrainian air attack early on Wednesday sparked a fire at the Sevastopol Shipyard in Crimea, injuring at least 24 people, the Russia-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said on the Telegram messaging app.”

    At least four of the injured have been reported as being in “serious condition”.

    Initial and unconfirmed social media photographs show what appears to be a direct hit on one or more military vessels docked at the naval port.

    The aftermath of the attack was captured from multiple angles, appearing to confirm significant damage to ships and port infrastructure…

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    Open source analysts are already suggesting that at least one docked Russian submarine may have been taken out in the attack. 

    An assault of this size is indeed likely more than just the work of drones; instead Ukraine probably utilized long-range missiles supplied from Western NATO partners. 

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    Currently, the Biden administration is moving toward supplying Kiev with either ATACMS or GMLRS missiles. These are long-range systems and the administration was previously reluctant to supply them on fear of direct escalation with Russia. 

    Huge initial fireball captured by local residents…

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

    But this massive attack on Sevastopol seems another act of desperation. Given the failing counteroffensive, it looks like Kiev is “going big” on attacks against Russian territory, in hopes of sparking a broader conflict that draws NATO in, which Ukraine likely sees as its only hope. 

    One more item of note, presented with no commentary. On the day Elon Musk’s biography drops, amid mainstream media’s desperate spin of the SpaceX founder’s interference with Starlink in Ukraine, there was a major, global, outage of the satellite internet service…

    Source: DownDetector.com

    SpaceX acknowledged the Starlink outage on X at 2033ET, and then wrote at 2139ET on X that “The network issue has been fully resolved.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 23:21

  • Forget The Second Home At The Lake, US Vacation Home Buyers Are Going To Mexico
    Forget The Second Home At The Lake, US Vacation Home Buyers Are Going To Mexico

    Authored by Mark Gilman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    With the average 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate now over 7 percent and a shockingly low inventory of homes available, Americans are looking for second or vacation residences out of the country more than ever. According to a report from Coldwell Banker, 92 percent of high-net-worth Americans actively looked at real estate overseas last year and two-thirds (67 percent) of those surveyed said they already own residential property outside the United States, according to Mansion Global. So, what country is experiencing the highest rate of American home buyers? Mexico.

    Atomosphere of the Carbon38 and Hamptons Magazine Opening Celebration of the Beach House in Bridgehampton, New York, on July 30, 2016. (Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images for Hamptons Magazine)

    “Buying a home is not as cheap in Mexico as it once was, but you get a lot for the money,” Certified International Property Specialist for Worth Clark Realty Daniel Seidel told The Epoch Times. A Mexican native, Mr. Seidel says there’s a lot to like about buying a second home in Mexico. “When you experience the culture, the food, the people and the fact it’s just a short plane ride away from the States, it’s a popular choice for my clients. If you live there half-time, it’s ideal. My advice is to work here, make money, go there and spend it.”

    According to a new study from online Real Estate marketplace Point2, based on 136,530 monthly searches on Google, Mexico is the most popular home-buying location, especially for men in the 35- to 44-year-old age group. But what are these buyers looking for?

    “First off, it should be a better version of the home they already live in and boast all the amenities they love or would love to have; and second, the location should be exceptional. That’s why beach and waterfront properties in countries like Mexico, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica immediately come to mind,” Andra Hopulele of Point2 said in a statement to The Epoch Times. She also mirrored Mr. Seidel’s belief that countries like Mexico are high up the wish list because of its proximity to the United States. “These locations also make sense to the American buyer because they’re closer than, say, European countries like Italy or Spain, which might be lovely to visit but are harder to access as a homebuyer.”

    In the Homes2 study, Canada was the second most popular destination for U.S. homebuyers, with monthly searches jumping 54 percent since last year’s edition. Costa Rica was third and Puerto Rico was fourth for most popular locations.

    “Locations like the ones that made the top 10 seem to have it all,” Ms. Hopulele said. “They are not home, but they are close to home; they capture home seekers’ imagination with their incredible potential for rest, relaxation, and entertainment due to their amazing climate, never-ending beaches and turquoise waters, and fascinating cultures. Best of all, these homebuying destinations often have more affordable home prices.”

    However, according to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), foreign investors are not returning the favor, and are instead backing off from purchasing in the United States for the same reasons Americans are looking elsewhere: high prices, mortgage rates, and a lack of inventory. According to the NAR, the number of existing homes purchased by foreign buyers from April 2022 to March 2023 decreased to its lowest level since 2009. International buyers purchased $53.3 billion worth of U.S. residential properties during the period, down 9.6 percent from the previous year and the 84,600 existing homes sold was down 14 percent.

    Mr. Seidel said that while Mexico continues to top lists for U.S. buyers and expats in the country, the journey to homeownership there is challenging.

    “As a foreigner [in Mexico], it’s difficult unless you have a business in the country or a local bank relationship, but even then, I’m not sure they’d give you the loan,” he said. “It really depends on a pretty sizeable down payment, north of 40 percent. You also have to buy life insurance in case something happens to you so the bank can make sure the mortgage is paid.”

    Home2’s report stated that Canada’s increase in U.S. buyer attention reflects the “calmer and more peaceful lifestyle” in the country is becoming more appealing to American home seekers “than Mexico’s dreamy beaches and lively, vibrant culture.”

    Crime in Mexico has become a big concern for Americans looking to move or purchase property. According to a U.S. State Department advisory earlier this year, “Organized crime activity – including gun battles, murder, armed robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, forced disappearances, extortion, and sexual assault – is common along the northern border and in Ciudad Victoria.” There have also been many news reports focused on increased crime in popular tourist destinations such as Cancun and Puerto Vallarta.

    But Mr. Seidel says the benefits of moving to Mexico outweigh the crime concerns. “The hot buying areas are the beaches like Puerta Vallarta, Cabo [San Lucas] and Oaxaca. Crime in Puerta Vallarta is hit-and-miss and with the current government on the way out, crime has risen and it’s all over the place. You just have to be a little more careful. Listen, parts of London and Spain aren’t safe either,” he said.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 22:45

  • CIA Bribed Analysts To Change Lab-Leak Conclusions: 'Senior-Level' Whistleblower
    CIA Bribed Analysts To Change Lab-Leak Conclusions: ‘Senior-Level’ Whistleblower

    A ‘senior-level’ CIA whistleblower has come forward to allege that the agency bribed analysts to change their opinion that Covid-19 most likely originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, according to the NY Post.

    The whistleblower told House committee leaders that his agency ‘ tried to pay off six analysts who found SARS-CoV-2 likely originated in a Wuhan lab if they changed their position and said the virus jumped from animals to humans,’ according to a Tuesday letter from the chairmen of two House subcommittees investigating the pandemic response and US intelligence, Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) and Mike Turner (R-OH).

    The pair have requested all documents, communications and pay info from the CIA’s Covid-19 Discovery Team by Sept. 26.

    “According to the whistleblower, at the end of its review, six of the seven members of the Team believed the intelligence and science were sufficient to make a low confidence assessment that COVID-19 originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China,” reads the letter from the House panel chairmen.

    “The seventh member of the Team, who also happened to be the most senior, was the lone officer to believe COVID-19 originated through zoonosis.

    “The whistleblower further contends that to come to the eventual public determination of uncertainty, the other six members were given a significant monetary incentive to change their position,” the letters continue, adding that the analysts were “experienced officers with significant scientific expertise.”

    Wenstrup and Turner also asked for documents and communications between the CIA and other federal agencies, including the State Department, FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Energy Department.

    In a separate letter, the House committee leaders identified former CIA Chief Operating Officer Andrew Makridis as having “played a central role” in the COVID investigation and asked him to sit for a transcribed interview. -NY Post

    In June, the US Intelligence Community declassified a 10-page report on COVID origins, in which it found “biosafety concerns” and “genetic engineering” taking place in Wuhan, but that most of its “agencies assess that SARS-CoV-2 was not genetically engineered.”

    As the Post points out, however, several scientists at the WIV fell ill in late 2019 with symptoms “consistent with but not diagnostic of COVID-19,” according to the intelligence report, which concluded that the CIA and another intelligence agency “remain unable to determine the precise origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, as both hypotheses rely on significant assumptions or face challenges with conflicting reporting.”

    Pushback

    Not all former US intelligence officials agree with the declassified report – such as former DNI John Ratcliffe, who told Congress that the “lab leak theory” was the “only” credible explanation for the pandemic.

    “My informed assessment as a person with as much access as anyone to our government’s intelligence … has been and continues to be that a lab leak is the only explanation credibly supported by our intelligence, by science and by common sense,” he told the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in a hearing.

    “If our intelligence and evidence supporting a lab leak was placed side by side with our intelligence and evidence pointing to a natural origins or spillover theory, the lab leak side of the ledger would be long, convincing, even overwhelming — while the spillover side would be nearly empty and tenuous,” Ratcliffe continued.

    Read the letters below:

    Sscp Hpsci Letter to CIA Re… by New York Post

    Sscp Hpsci Letter to Makrid… by New York Post

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 22:11

  • Flash Mob Robberies Are Not "Just Kids From Social Media", They're Organized Crime
    Flash Mob Robberies Are Not “Just Kids From Social Media”, They’re Organized Crime

    Authored by Daisy Luther via The Organic Prepper blog,

    There’s an epidemic spreading across America, and it isn’t the one the mainstream media is talking about. It’s the epidemic of flash mob robberies. This is not only causing problems due to the violence and trauma inflicted on those present during the event. It’s also driving up costs even further in a nation facing unprecedented inflation.

    According to Loss Prevention Magazine, each event costs retailers approximately $700,000 for every billion dollars in sales, and it’s happening almost daily.

    A lot of people seem to brush off flash mob robberies as a bunch of kids who got together through social media getting out of hand. But they’re symptoms of a bigger rot: organized crime and neutered criminal justice policies that are spreading across our country fast.

    What’s a flash mob robbery?

    If you haven’t heard of these, you may be wondering what a flash mob robbery is.

     A flash mob robbery is a form of organized crime that occurs when groups of people suddenly enter a store, steal as many items as possible, and vanish as quickly as they appear. For those around them, it’s often terrifying and disturbing. The schemes are usually thought out via social media and executed within a matter of minutes. The groups typically disguise themselves by wearing masks, hoodies, or gloves. Often, aggressive behavior is used and causes those who are present great distress.

    The trend began in California, but it’s important not to think, “Oh, I’m safe because I don’t live in California.” It’s beginning to spread outside of the state because of several reasons.

    1.) Nobody stops them. People in retail outlets just stand back for their own safety. (Most locations require employees to do this.)

    2.) On the off chance the criminals are caught, they’re generally released within a matter of hours because of bail reform.

    It may just be a big city problem right now, but I am certain we’ll see this spread more and more as the criminally inclined – or even younger folks in general – see others getting away with it with no consequences.

    Best Buy has previously cited organized retail crime as the reason their profits have continued to dip.

    It’s not just kids out for kicks.

    Before we start dumping on the younger generation, however, it’s important to note that, in many cases, this is organized crime. According to the GVWire:

    The flash mobs are usually organized by local people who recruit their crews and send them to steal specific merchandise requested by criminal organizations throughout the country, said Ben Dugan, president of the Coalition of Law Enforcement and Retail.

    Those who do the stealing get paid between $500 and $1,000 to take as much as they can and bring it back to organizers who ship it to other parts of the country.

    “Crew bosses organize them, they’ll give him the crowbars, and in some cases even rent them cars, or provide them with escape routes or a list of products to actually go out and steal. It looks very chaotic but it’s actually very well organized,” Dugan said.

    The flash mobs are a symptom. The organizers are the illness.

    It’s not just high-end luxury stores either.

    The Los Angeles Daily News cited a podcast when explaining the issue in a recent article.

    However, according to the National Retail Federation, high-end stores with luxury items represent the minority when it comes to targets for organized retail crime.

    “(Organized retail crime) groups also target everyday consumer goods,” David S. Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations with the federation, said in a video the organization made on retail crime. “They have a preference (for) goods of lesser value with an increased resale value.”

    Some then sell the stolen merchandise to individuals or a group, called a “fence” by law enforcement, through online marketplaces, swap meets or seemingly legitimate businesses, CHP officials said. The buyers may or may not be aware the items they purchase were stolen.

    The LADN continues to explain:

    LAPD has dealt with groups of high school kids overwhelming convenience store clerks for several years, but said these flash mobs are well-planned and organized.

    “They’ve cased it out, they’ve looked at it, they get it over with quickly,” Pitcher added. “It’s different from the thrill of doing it for public consumption.”

    Organized retail crime rings target items that are difficult to track and are easily resold. Stolen items such as Tide detergent, baby formula, cosmetics, Louis Vuitton handbags and vitamins that once were hawked at flea markets or street corners are now fenced online by gangs to raise money for their activities, said Rachel Michelin president and CEO of the California Retailers Association.

    “What we are seeing is more sophistication,” Michelin said. “We see a lot more recruiting; they recruit street gangs, the homeless. They will pay them 100 bucks to go in and steal.”

    In many cases, the suspects – almost all wearing hoodies and masks – have been in and out in between two and four minutes, Pitcher said. Police are also learning most of the getaway vehicles are either rented under fictitious names, or “cold plated”, meaning they’re affixed with license plates that don’t match the vehicle’s registration, most likely because a thief has stolen a license plate off another car.

    Store security isn’t really much help, as the numbers are so overwhelming, and they are restricted by laws that don’t allow them to use force in the protection of merchandise.

    Bystanders, whether they’re store staff or shoppers, are encouraged by law enforcement and management to “be good witnesses” and not do anything to prevent the thefts.

    What can be done?

    Until these crimes are prosecuted and the organizers sniffed out, there’s little that can be done to prevent the ongoing spread of flash mob robberies. Weak policies that allow criminals to leave after being arrested with zero-dollar bail offer little in the way of deterrence.

    Mall and retail security expert David Levenberg and Ben Dugan, president of the Coalition of Law Enforcement and Retail, talked to The AP about it:

    “Crew bosses organize them. They’ll give him the crowbars, and in some cases even rent them cars, or provide them with escape routes or a list of products to actually go out and steal. It looks very chaotic, but it’s actually very well organized,” Dugan said.

    “We’re not talking about someone who needs money or needs food. These are people who go out and do this is for high profit, and for the thrill,” he said.

    In some cases, though, the thieves may be copycats rather than people working with organized networks, Levenberg said. He said the thieves may be thinking: “‘Did you see what happened in San Francisco? Let’s go to the Grove and do it.’”

    And while smash-and-grab thefts are occurring nationwide, Levenberg said cities with progressive prosecutors — like Los Angeles and San Francisco — are especially hard-hit because the punishments for perpetrators are not as harsh as in other cities.

    “The consequences are minimal, and the profits are substantial,” said Levenberg, founder of Florida-based Center Security Services.

    There’s not a lot that can be done on the personal end to prevent such crimes.

    • Retailers are advised not to put expensive goods near windows or exits and to focus employees on keeping customers safe rather than interacting with thieves.

    • The other important factors are installing district attorneys who are tough on crimes like this. These modern catch-and-release policies don’t work, and we’re seeing what happens when laws are not enforced with enough deterring factors to make people think twice.

    • The other side of the coin is that you should be careful what you buy off websites like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. Those bundles of laundry soap you’re getting for a dime might not be as appealing if you realize they could be stolen goods.

    If you’re present at a flash mob robbery, think carefully before engaging. Personally, I’m not putting myself or my family at risk to engage with a group of 20+ people intent on stealing someone else’s merchandise. You may feel differently, but it’s essential that you don’t put other innocent people in harm’s way to confront a group of criminals.

    *  *  *

    Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites.  1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2)  The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.

    Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 22:05

  • $1.5 Trillion Dollars Worth Of 'White Gold' Found In Supervolcano On Nevada-Oregon Border
    $1.5 Trillion Dollars Worth Of ‘White Gold’ Found In Supervolcano On Nevada-Oregon Border

    An ancient supervolcano along the Nevada-Oregon border contains what could be the world’s largest single deposit of lithium. The findings could reshape the West’s supply of the critical metal — and might even change the geopolitical game with China. 

    Researchers from Lithium Americas Corporation, GNS Science, and Oregon State University published their findings in the Journal for Science Advances on Aug. 31. They found the McDermitt Caldera, a caldera measuring 28 miles long and 22 miles wide, on the Nevada-Oregon border, contains around 20 to 40 million metric tons of lithium – a figure that would dwarf deposits in Australia and Chile.

    Commenting on the findings is Anouk Borst, a geologist at KU Leuven University and the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium, who told Chemistry World that the McDermitt Caldera deposit “could change the dynamics of lithium globally, in terms of price, security of supply and geopolitics.” 

    Data from the United States Geological Survey, presented by Visual Capitalist Bruno Venditti, shows the US lags behind the world in terms of lithium production. 

    Even though the US has the third largest reserves. 

    If you can believe it, the US only has one producing lithium mine – Silver Peak – in Nevada (about halfway between Las Vegas and Carson City) – while worldwide demand is surging due to the government-forced clean energy transition. We noted in July that Exxon Mobil Corp. was in the beginning stages of possibly becoming a ‘lithium kingpin.’ 

    Thomas Benson, a geologist with Lithium Americas Corporation and co-author of the new study, expects mining operations at the McDermitt Caldera to begin in early 2026. 

    Lithium prices have been on a rollercoaster of a ride since Coivd. Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices in China (priced in dollars) were as low as $5,850 per ton in the summer of 2020 and jumped as much as 1,200% through the peak of $80,000 in early 2022. Prices have since collapsed to $30,000. 

    Daily Mail pointed out, “As of 2022, the average battery-grade lithium carbonate price was $37,000 per metric ton, meaning the volcano is potentially sitting on $1.48 trillion worth of the precious metal.” 

    McDermitt Caldera positions Nevada as possibly the epicenter of the ‘green energy white gold rush’ amid a massive push by the Biden administration to force people to drive electric vehicles — all because they say there’s a ‘climate emergency.’ 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 21:45

  • First Case Of White Dot Syndrome Emerged After COVID-19 Vaccine And Subsequent Infection, Study Shows
    First Case Of White Dot Syndrome Emerged After COVID-19 Vaccine And Subsequent Infection, Study Shows

    Authored by Mary Gillis via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Scientists from New Zealand have uncovered the first case of a rare eye disease linked to both the COVID-19 vaccine and the virus itself, a new study published in the Journal of Ophthalmic Inflammation and Infection reveals.

    A pharmacist prepares a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot in San Rafael, Calif, on Oct. 1, 2021. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

    A 28-year-old otherwise healthy patient was diagnosed with multiple evanescent white dot syndrome (MEWDS) after complaining of vision problems just two days after receiving her second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

    The woman’s symptoms included dark blind spots, phantom light flashes, and overall decreased vision—all specific to her right eye.

    According to the study, doctors discovered that the vision in her right eye went from 20/20 to 20/50. In addition, her eye tissue was torn, optic nerves were swollen, and multiple pale-colored lesions were scattered throughout the back of her eye.

    A) Wide-field color fundus photo; B) Fundus infrared image of the right eye; C) OCT macula in a patient with multiple evanescent white dot syndrome associated with COVID-19 vaccination. (Courtesy of Hannah W. Ng and Rachael L. Niederer; Journal of Ophthalmic Inflammation and Infection)

    After three months and without treatment, vision in her right eye returned to normal, and all other symptoms subsided.

    One year later, the woman showed similar symptoms and was once again diagnosed with MEWDS, only this time in the left eye. Symptoms emerged seven days after she tested positive for COVID-19, leading researchers to suspect a link between the two events.

    Similar to the first instance, no treatment was required, and symptoms resolved after nine months.

    What Is MEWDS?

    According to the study, MEWDS dates back to 1984 and is considered an idiopathic inflammatory disease of the outer retina that occurs spontaneously and without concrete explanation. It is thought to be an autoimmune response.

    It often occurs in young, myopic women, with a mean age of 28. However, it is also seen among people over 65.

    MEWDS patients may have flu-like early symptoms that include:

    • Visual disturbances such as flashes of light.
    • Sudden, painless decline in central acuity in one eye.
    • Partial color blindness.

    It can be bilateral in some cases.

    Read more here…

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 21:25

  • USAF Shares New Images Of B-21 Raider 
    USAF Shares New Images Of B-21 Raider 

    America’s newest stealth bomber may be nearing its first test flight, with speculations suggesting it could take place as soon as December. 

    The United States Air Force has released never-before-seen angles of Northrop Grumman’s B-21 Raider ahead of the maiden flight. The first image is the stealth bomber inside the hanger, likely at the defense manufacturer’s facility in Palmdale, California. 

    The second image is outside of the hanger. 

    This is only the USAF’s second time showing off the new bomber. The first was the unveiling event in December 2022 (read: here) and early March (read: here). 

    There is still much to be learned about the B-21, but it is widely understood that it will replace the USAF’s Rockwell B-1 Lancer and B-2 bombers by the end of the decade.

    Any similarities? 

    Speculation mounts on when the maiden flight will occur, “Most believe December will be the first flight,” according to one X user. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 21:05

  • New Civics Program Can Help Bolster American Democracy
    New Civics Program Can Help Bolster American Democracy

    Authored by Margaret Spellings via RealClear Wire,

    Proposed changes to the U.S. citizenship exam have renewed the question of how many natural-born American citizens could pass this basic civics test. The troubling answer is that one in three can’t. Healthy democracy requires not only popular participation but an understanding of who we are, where we came from, and how and why our system of government functions the way it does. 

    For years, I, along with other former Secretaries of Education, have called for a national renewal of civics education to provide our citizenry with the knowledge and critical thinking skills necessary to engage in our democracy in a meaningful and constructive way.  

    Unfortunately, recent educational assessment data warns that we’re moving in the wrong direction. 

    In May, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), released the “nation’s report card” for civics education. For the first time since 1998 – the year the federal government began testing eighth-grade students for civics acumen – scores declined. Nearly 80% of students, the results reveal, are not proficient in civics – a jaw-dropping statistic for anyone concerned with America’s staying power. The need for creative approaches to civics education could not be more urgent. 

    Thankfully, there’s an exciting new model for renewing interest in civics by making it fun.

    Last month, middle school students from across Texas assembled at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas hoping to stake their claim as the state’s first-ever National Civics Bee champion. These students wrote an essay about a community issue, prepared for months and were first victorious at regional competitions held this spring throughout Texas, organized by local chambers of commerce.

    These events aren’t unique to Texas. In fact, the idea to launch these competitions sprang from an innovative partnership between the Daniels Fund – a private charitable organization based in Denver, Colorado – and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation in Washington, D.C. More than 50 communities in nine states held their own National Civics Bee competition this year, and the plan is to supersize this approach to civic engagement by expanding to several more states in 2024.

    Big problems demand bold solutions, and philanthropic organizations are uniquely suited to tackle the challenge of civics education – one which government intervention risks politicizing. Voluntary associations like the partnership between the U.S. Chamber Foundation and the Daniels Fund can move swiftly to solve a community problem that benefits everyone.

    Civics can’t be an afterthought if American democracy is to endure. Hanna Skandera, president of the Daniels Fund, remarked at the recent Texas competition that “from the very beginning, the founders of our country understood that for the American form of government to thrive, its citizens would need to be informed and engaged in our processes.” No doubt. In fact, her organization and the U.S. Chamber Foundation are making a major bet that this unique approach to civics education can catch fire. But they can’t do it alone.  

    Here’s how you can help: If you’re an elected official, step up to be a judge at a local or state competition. Inspire your local chamber to host a local competition. If you’re a business, coordinate with your local chamber to help sponsor and facilitate these important events. As a parent, take a proactive role in encouraging your son or daughter to participate in next year’s competition.

    Our democracy has undergone a number of stress tests in recent years, and there will be more to come. By renewing interest in history and civics among our students, families, and businesses, we can equip all Americans with the knowledge and resources needed to bridge our divides. America’s future depends on all of us doing our part to ensure its vibrancy and endurance, and the National Civics Bee is a wonderful and worthy experiment on which to build.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 20:45

  • Criminals In Washington Are Intentionally Crashing Into Vehicles To Carjack Them
    Criminals In Washington Are Intentionally Crashing Into Vehicles To Carjack Them

    Just when you thought you’d seen it all: now, criminals are intentionally wrecking vehicles in order to carjack them, according to a new report from KIRO7. 

    Bellevue Police in Washington are alerting motorists to a new carjacking tactic taking place in their jurisdiction, the article says.

    Officers responded to an attempted carjacking near the crossroads of Bel-Red Road and 156th Avenue Southeast in Bellvue, Washington, around 2:30 a.m. on a recent Friday.

    The carjacking victim had reported a minor crash with a white Kia and said that upon exiting his vehicle to assess the damage, two individuals emerged from the Kia, brandishing guns and demanding his car keys.

    The victim refused to hand over his keys, and the suspects fled in the Kia, the report continues. 

    Police are now warning that this event has similarities with other incidents taking place locally wherein assailants initiate minor accidents before attempting armed robbery.

    Bellevue Police, as a result, recommend staying aware of your environment and avoiding distractions like texting. They have warned residents to opt for well-lit, busy roads, particularly at night, and steer clear of isolated or dimly lit areas.

    Finally, they are telling residents to ensure their car doors are locked and windows are up, and to remain in their car if they feel endangered before calling 911. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 20:25

  • Americans Are Making 'Huge Mistake' to Believe Certain 'Booming' Economy Narratives: Jamie Dimon
    Americans Are Making ‘Huge Mistake’ to Believe Certain ‘Booming’ Economy Narratives: Jamie Dimon

    Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told a financial conference in New York on Monday that people who assume that the U.S. economy will continue to boom for years on the back of consumer strength are making “a huge mistake.”

    Mr. Dimon made the remarks at the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference on Sept. 11, at which he warned of a number of risks to the economy, including the Ukraine war, monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve, and increasing reliance on government spending.

    “To say the consumer is strong today, meaning you are going to have a booming environment for years, is a huge mistake,” he said.

    The booming economy narrative rose to prominence in recent months, driven by strong retail sales and wage growth, while recession fears have eased. But there are signs that the recent rise in consumer sentiment has been short-lived and that the economy is facing some headwinds.

    Consumer Strength Weakening?

    Consumer spending, which represents roughly 70 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, posted solid growth in July, the latest month of available data. However, economists widely expect the past year of aggressive Fed interest rate hikes to weigh more heavily on domestic demand.

    The latest data on retail sales showed that Americans spent more than expected in July, splurging on hobbies, sporting goods, and clothing, prompting economists at Goldman Sachs to raise their third-quarter gross domestic product estimate by seven-tenths of a percentage point to a 2.2 percent annualized rate.

    However, there are signs that the boom may not last as the latest consumer tracker for August from Deloitte says that financial well-being sentiment has stagnated, with the percentage of consumers worried about savings and postponing big purchases on the rise, while spending intentions “remain on a long-term downtrend.”

    A separate barometer of consumer confidence from the Conference Board found that, after a sharp uptick in July, its gauge retreated to a reading “a hair above 80—the level that historically signals a recession within the next year.”

    While financial markets have, over the summer, largely dismissed recession fears, fresh data suggests that the country may be facing a “stagnation” point.

    “A near-stalling of business activity in August raises doubts over the strength of U.S. economic growth in the third quarter,” Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a report that showed new orders tumbling, input cost inflation rising, and the pace of job creation slowing.

    Mr. Dimon’s remarks at Monday’s conference tapped into this sentiment, with the JPMorgan chief saying that the health of U.S. consumers and businesses was still “pretty good,” although he warned against being overconfident.

    Key concerns that he mentioned were the twin factors of central bank efforts to roll back easy money policies—which have pushed inflation to multi-decade highs—and governments “spending like drunken sailors.”

    “I think there’s a false sense of security that those two things will end up being OK. I don’t know,” he said.

    Higher Capital Requirements

    At the conference, Mr. Dimon also took aim at the higher capital requirements U.S. regulators have proposed for banks, warning that such measures could starve the economy of credit and amount to another hurdle to growth.

    “I wouldn’t be a big buyer of a bank,” he said, drawing laughter from the audience, while calling the new proposal “hugely disappointing.”

    Mr. Dimon, who heads America’s biggest lender, questioned what regulators were trying to accomplish by proposing the new rules, which would require bigger U.S. banks, with total assets of $100 billion or more, to set aside billions of dollars to bolster their ability to absorb losses when times get tough.

    “All I want is fairness, transparency, openness,” Mr. Dimon said with regards to the regulatory proposal, which would require banks with total assets of $100 billion or more to maintain an additional 2 percentage points in capital above current levels.

    The regulatory proposal has been roundly criticised by the banking industry, with Bank Policy Institute (BPI) President and CEO Greg Baer warning of “higher costs to consumers and greater instability for markets,” in a statement obtained by The Epoch Times.

    Mr. Dimon said that the new regulatory proposal would require JPMorgan to hold 30 percent more in capital than a European lender, which he said was an unfair burden on U.S. banks.

    In contrast to Mr. Dimon’s take on tougher bank capital rules, some U.S. regulators have said the proposal doesn’t go far enough.

    Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari recently said he expects more government regulation of the banking sector in light of several high-profile bank failures.

    Mr. Kashkari also said that he’d like to see the proposed capital requirement rules apply to smaller institutions with less than $100 billion in total assets, though he didn’t specify what threshold he had in mind.

    At Monday’s conference, Mr. Dimon also said he believes that the Chinese market is no longer as attractive to foreign investors as it once was.

    “In terms of our own business, the risk-reward [from China], which was very good, has now become okay. The risk is bad,” he said, adding that JPMorgan has become more cautious about managing its risk.

    Caution has also entered the homebuyer market in the United States, with mortgage applications dropping last week to their lowest point since 1996.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 20:05

  • Locked Items, Self-Checkouts & Disappearing Staff: Rising Theft And Slowing Sales Eat Away At Retail
    Locked Items, Self-Checkouts & Disappearing Staff: Rising Theft And Slowing Sales Eat Away At Retail

    Across the retail industry, a trend is emerging: less employees, more self-checkouts and more items locked up behind safety doors.

    The cause? Slowing sales and rising theft are eating into profits, according to the Wall Street Journal, who wrote this week that the “countermeasures” being used by retailers to fight theft and other shrink could make in-person shopping “even more miserable than it already is”.

    In addition to having to deal with normalized looting across the country thanks to Democratic DAs, retailers also are dealing with “the steepest annual wage growth since the 1980s,” the report says. Average wages in the sector have now risen to about $20.54 per hour, the report says.

    Remember that the next time some cashier wearing Airpods sighs when you ask them to take a stick of deodorant out of its alarmed hiding spot. 

    And so as a result, retailers have cut head cut and have not returned to their pre-pandemic staffing levels. Retail sales workers fell 12% from 2019 to 2022 and stores like Macy’s and Kohl’s have lost as many as 20% of their staff. Gap and Best Buy cut their staff by 25% and 22%, respectively. Only a handful of companies like Lululemon, Nike, T.J. Maxx and Costco have raised their employee headcounts.

    Lorraine Hutchinson, retail-sector equity analyst at Bank of America says that the employees that are in stores now spend their time filling online orders. 

    Shrink remains a key concern with retailers like Ulta now locking up 50% of its fragrances at stores. The practice has become so widespread that it is now a talking point on almost all retailer earnings calls. 

    David Bassuk, global leader of the retail practice at AlixPartners, commented: “Unfortunately, we’re facing a situation where shrink is a CEO topic. It used to be a store-manager topic.”

    Neil Saunders, managing director of research firm GlobalData confirmed that retailers like Dollar General are seeing poorer performance due to a lower in-store employee footprint. He said that Macy’s poor results were due to an “incredibly sloppy attitude to retail” and called their staffing a “complete breakdown”. Dollar General has said they need to “further elevate the in-store experience and better serve its customers.”

    Best Buy has been a positive example of the “new” retail: despite employing 35,000 fewer individuals in 2022 compared to 2019, the company has surpassed Wall Street’s revenue expectations in eight out of the last ten quarters. By emphasizing cross-training, they’ve enabled their workers to perform multiple roles, from customer service to online order processing.

    Moreover, in their recent earnings report, Best Buy indicated that automated virtual agents are handling 40% of customer inquiries without human intervention

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 19:45

  • Parents Should Not Post Children's Photos Online, Warn Safety Experts
    Parents Should Not Post Children’s Photos Online, Warn Safety Experts

    Authored by Masooma Haq via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    With children spending an increasing amount of time on the internet and many uploading photos to their social media accounts, sexual predators continue to steal these images to produce child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

    Further compounding the proliferation of CSAM is the easy access to artificial intelligence (AI), and law enforcement agencies and child protective organizations are seeing a dramatic rise in AI-generated CSAM.

    Yaron Litwin is a digital safety expert and chief marketing officer at Netspark, the company behind a program called CaseScan that identifies AI-generated CSAM online, aiding law enforcement agencies in their investigations.

    Mr. Litwin told The Epoch Times he recommends that parents and teens not post photos on any public forum and that parents talk to their children about the potential dangers of revealing personal information online.

    “One of our recommendations is to be a little more cautious with images that are being posted online and really try to keep those within closed networks, where there are only people that you know,” Mr. Litwin said.

    The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry said in 2020 that on average, children ages 8 to 12 spend four to six hours a day watching or using screens, and teens spend up to 9 hours a day on their devices.

    Parents Together, a nongovernmental organization that provides news about issues affecting families, released a report in 2023 (pdf) stating that “despite the bad and worsening risks of online sexual exploitation, 97% of children use social media and the internet every day, and 1 in 5 use it ‘almost constantly.’“

    One of Netspark’s safety tools is Canopy, an AI-powered tool that gives parents control to filter out harmful sexual digital content for their minor children, said Mr. Litwin, while giving children freedom to explore the internet.

    Exploitative Content Expanding

    The amount of CSAM online has gone up exponentially since generative AI became mainstream at the start of 2023, Mr. Litwin said. The problem is serious enough that all 50 states have asked Congress to institute a commission to study the problem of AI-generated CSAM, he said.

    “There’s definitely a correlation between the increase in AI-generated CSAM and when OpenAI and DALL-E and all these generative AI-type platforms launched,” Mr. Litwin said.

    The FBI recently warned the public about the rise of AI-generated sexual abuse materials.

    “Malicious actors use content manipulation technologies and services to exploit photos and videos—typically captured from an individual’s social media account, open internet, or requested from the victim—into sexually-themed images that appear true-to-life in likeness to a victim, then circulate them on social media, public forums, or pornographic websites,” said the FBI in a recent statement.

    Mr. Litwin said that to really protect children from online predators, it is important for parents and guardians to clearly discuss the potential dangers of posting photos and talking to strangers online.

    “So just really communicating with our kids about some of these risks and explaining to them that this might happen and making sure that they’re aware,” he said.

    An artificial intelligence (AI) logo blended with four fake Twitter accounts bearing profile pictures apparently generated by artificial intelligence software taken in Helsinki, Finland, on June 12, 2023. (Olivier Morin/AFP via Getty Images)

    Dangers of Generative AI

    Roo Powell, founder of Safe from Online Sex Abuse (SOSA), told The Epoch Times that because predators can use the image of a fully-clothed child to create an explicit image using AI, it is best not to post any images of children online, even as toddlers, she said.

    “At SOSA, we encourage parents not to publicly share images or videos of their children in diapers or having a bath. Even though their genitals may technically be covered, perpetrators can save this content for their own gratification, or can use AI to make it explicit and then share that widely,” Ms. Powell said in an email.

    While some people say AI-generated CSAM is not as harmful as images depicting the sexual abuse of real-life children, many believe it is worse.

    AI-generated CSAM is produced much more quickly than conventional images, subsequently inundating law enforcement with even more abuse referrals, and experts in the AI and online parental control space expect the problem to only get worse.

    In other cases, the AI-generated CSAM image could be created from a photo taken of a real-life child’s social media account, which is altered to be sexually explicit and thus endangers those otherwise unvictimized children, as well as their parents.

    In worst-case scenarios, bad actors use images of real victims of child sexual abuse as a base to create computer-generated images. They can use the original photograph as an initial input, which is then altered according to prompts.

    In some cases, the photo’s subject can be made to look younger or older.

    In 2023, the Standford Internet Observatory at Stanford University in conjunction with Thorn, a nonprofit focused on technology that helps defend children from abuse, released a report titled “Generative ML and CSAM: Implications and Mitigations,” referring to generative machine learning (pdf).

    “In just the first few months of 2023, a number of advancements have greatly increased end-user control over image results and their resultant realism, to the point that some images are only distinguishable from reality if the viewer is very familiar with photography, lighting and the characteristics of diffusion model outputs,” the report states.

    Studies have shown a link between viewing CSAM and sexually abusing children in real life.

    In 2010, Canadian forensic psychologist Michael C. Seto and colleagues reviewed several studies and found that 50 to 60 percent of people who viewed CSAM admitted to abusing children themselves.

    Even if some AI-generated CSAM images are not created with the images of real children, the images fuel the growth of the child exploitation market by normalizing CSAM and feeding the appetites of those who seek to victimize children.

    Sextortion on the Rise

    Because of how realistic it is, AI-generated CSAM is facilitating a rise in cases of sextortion.

    Sextortion occurs when a predator pretends to be a young person to solicit semi- or fully-nude images from a victim and then extorts money or sexual acts from them under threat of making their images public.

    In the case of AI-generated cases, the criminal can alter the victim’s image to make it sexual.

    In one case, Mr. Litwin said a teenage weightlifting enthusiast posted a shirtless selfie that was then used by a criminal to create an AI-generated nude photo of him to extort money from the minor.

    In other cases, the perpetrator might threaten to disclose the image, damaging the minor’s reputation.  Faced with such a threat, many teens comply with the criminal’s demands or end up taking their own lives rather than risk public humiliation.

    The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) operates the CyberTipLine, where citizens can report child sexual exploitation on the internet. In 2022, the tip line received over 32 million reports of CSAM. Although some of the reports are made multiple times about a single viral child sex abuse image, that is still an 82 percent increase from 2021, or close to 87,000 reports per day.

    In December 2022, the FBI estimated 3,000 minor sextortion victims.

    “The FBI has seen a horrific increase in reports of financial sextortion schemes targeting minor boys—and the fact is that the many victims who are afraid to come forward are not even included in those numbers,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray in a 2022 statement.

    The Parents Together report further states that “recent research shows 1 in 3 children can now expect to have an unwelcome sexual experience online before they turn 18.”

    In addition, a 2022 report by Thorn (pdf) states that 1 in 6 children say they have shared explicit images of themselves online, and 1 in 4 children say the practice is normal.

    An example of texts used by predators to entice children into compromising situations as featured in “Sextortion: The Hidden Pandemic.” (Auris Media)

    Using Good AI to Fight Bad AI

    Prior to the wide availability of AI, editing and generating images required skills and knowledge of image editing software programs. However, AI has made it so quick and easy that even amateur users can generate life-like images.

    Netspark is leading the fight against AI-generated CSAM with CaseScan, its own AI-powered cyber safety tool, said Mr. Litwin.

    “We definitely believe that to fight the bad AI, it’s going to come through AI for good, and that’s where we’re focused,” he said.

    Law enforcement agencies must go through massive amounts of images each day and are often unable to get through all of the CSAM reports in a timely manner, said Mr. Litwin, but this is exactly where CaseScan is able to assist investigators.

    Unless the police departments are using AI-centered solutions, police spend an extensive amount of time assessing if the child in a photo is a fake AI-generated or an actual sexual abuse victim. Even before AI-generated content, law enforcement and child safety organizations were overwhelmed by the immense volume of CSAM reports.

    Under U.S. law, AI-generated CSAM is treated the same as CSAM of real-life children, but Mr. Litwin said he does not know of any AI-generated CSAM case that has been prosecuted, so there is no precedent yet.

    “I think today it’s hard to take to court, it’s hard to create robust cases. And my guess is that that’s one reason that we’re seeing so much of it,” he said.

    To prosecute the producers of this online AI-generated CSAM, laws need to be updated to target the technologically advanced criminal activity committed by sexual predators.

    Mr. Litwin said he believes predators will always find a way to circumvent technological limits set up by safety companies because AI is constantly advancing, but Netspark is also adapting to keep up with those that create AI-generated CSAM.

    Mr. Litwin said CaseScan has enabled investigators to significantly reduce the amount time it takes to identify AI-generated CSAM and lighten the mental impact on investigators who usually must view the images.

    Tech Companies Must Do More

    Ms. Powell said social media companies need to do more in the fight against CSAM.

    “To effectively help protect kids and teens, Congress can mandate that social media platforms implement effective content moderation systems that identify cases of child abuse and exploitation and escalate those to law enforcement as needed,” she said.

    “Congress can also require all social media platforms to create parental control features to help mitigate the risk of online predation. These can include the ability for a parent user to turn off all chat/messaging features, restrict who’s following their child, and manage screen time on the app,” she added.

    In April, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced the STOP CSAM Act of 2023, which includes a provision that would change Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and allow CSAM victims to sue social media platforms that host, store, or otherwise make this illegal content available.

    “If [social media companies] don’t put sufficient safety measures in place, they should be held legally accountable,” Mr. Durbin said during a Senate Judiciary subcommittee meeting in June.

    Ms. Powell said she believes Congress has a responsibility to do more to keep children safe from abuse.

    “Laws need to keep up with the constant evolution of technology,” she said, adding that law enforcement also needs tools to help them work faster.

    Improving NCMEC

    Reps. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) and Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) recently introduced the Child Online Safety Modernization Act of 2023 to fill the gaps in how CSAM is reported, ensuring criminals can be held accountable.

    Currently, there are no requirements regarding what online platforms must include in a report to the NCMEC’s CyberTipline, often leaving the organization and law enforcement without enough information to locate and rescue the child. In 2022, that amounted to about 50 percent of reports being untraceable.

    In addition, the law does not mandate that online platforms report instances of child sex trafficking and enticement.

    According to a 2022 report by Thorn, the majority of CyberTipline reports submitted by the tech industry contained such limited information that it was impossible for NCMEC to identify where the offense took place, and therefore the organization could not notify the appropriate law enforcement agency.

    The Child Online Safety Modernization Act bolsters the NCMEC CyberTipline by 1) requiring reports from online platforms to include information to identify and locate the child depicted and disseminator of the CSAM; 2) requiring online platforms to report instances of child sex trafficking and the sexual enticement of a child; and 3) allowing NCMEC to share technical identifiers associated with CSAM to nonprofits.

    The bill also requires that the reports be preserved for an entire year, giving law enforcement the time they need to investigate the crimes.

    Stefan Turkheimer, interim vice president for public policy at RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), said Ms. Wagner’s bill is crucial to aiding law enforcement to successfully investigate CSAM reports.

    “The Child Online Safety Modernization Act is a step towards greater cooperation between law enforcement and internet service providers that will support the efforts to investigate, identify, and locate the children depicted in child sexual abuse materials,” Turkheimer said in a recent press statement.

    Making this improvement is crucial to stopping the sexual exploitation of children, said Ms. Powell.

    “In our collaborations with law enforcement, SOSA has seen a perpetrator go from the very first message to arriving at a minor’s house for sex in under two hours. Anyone with the propensity to harm children can do so quickly and easily from anywhere in the world just through internet access,” she said.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 19:25

  • 'Medicane' Breaks Dams, Floods Eastern Libya: Up to 10,000 Feared Dead
    ‘Medicane’ Breaks Dams, Floods Eastern Libya: Up to 10,000 Feared Dead

    A rare “medicane” or Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone battered Libya on Saturday, causing deadly floods in the eastern part of the country and resulting in the death of at least 2,000 people. Some estimates already suggest the death toll could jump to 10,000. 

    CNN quoted Tamer Ramadan, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies delegation in Libya, who stated, “Our teams on the ground are still doing their assessment, but from what we see and from the news coming to us, the death toll is huge.” 

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    The city of Derna was the most affected when two dams collapsed, flooding parts of the town. 

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    Othman Abduljalil, health minister in Libya’s eastern administration, told Libya’s Almasar TV that the damage in the city is “catastrophic.” 

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    Abduljalil said, “The bodies are still lying on the ground in many parts. Hospitals are filled with bodies. And there are areas we have yet to reach.” 

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    Ramadan told a video news conference Tuesday that the death toll will jump:

    “We confirmed from our independent sources of information the number of missing people is hitting 10,000 persons, so far.” 

    Last week, the storm brought catastrophic flooding to Greece before developing into a medicane. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 19:05

  • California Leaders' Virtue-Signaling Is Mainly Gaslighting
    California Leaders’ Virtue-Signaling Is Mainly Gaslighting

    Authored by Christian Milord via The Epoch Times,

    The Democratic Party has wielded a monopoly on power in Sacramento for some time and the results are obvious.

    One-party dominance can often lead to corruption, poor governance, and an erosion in quality of life indices.

    Let us count the ways how the ruling party talks a good game but delivers lousy results for Californians.

    First, Gov. Gavin Newsom played up the fact that California had a large surplus in the state coffers, but then it suddenly morphed into a $30 billion deficit.

    Did the surplus really exist? One can only wonder. Plenty of state funds were spent ineffectively during the pandemic, and tax dollars are being wasted on a high-speed rail system that will be vastly underutilized. Excessive spending is a driver of persistent inflation.

    Next, during the pandemic, several Democratic leaders, including Mr. Newsom, didn’t adhere to the edicts they forced on the public.

    Either the pandemic was more “pandemia” than pandemic, or they felt that they were superior to the masses and could flout their own mandates. Public policies inflicted colossal damage by shuttering businesses, houses of worship, and schools for many months.

    We now know that the narrative of mask, lockdown, and vaccine effectiveness was dead wrong. Primarily, folks with comorbidities and the elderly needed care and protection. The COVID narrative was merely gaslighting from a nanny state that craves ultimate power over the people it is supposed to serve.

    On Sept. 10, on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Mr. Newsom said “we’re all geniuses now” in hindsight, and “I think we would’ve done everything differently” regarding COVID. But he failed to explain why some states made better choices while California did not. How will he know which choices to make next time?

    Third, Mr. Newsom has put forth a proposal to alter the Second Amendment with a redundant 28th amendment to the Constitution.

    He claims that this new amendment would save lives by extending the age to purchase a firearm to 21, require a minimum waiting period, and improve background checks.

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference in Sacramento on Feb. 1 2023. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

    This proposal likely will be a non-starter because the second amendment is time tested, and criminals don’t abide by gun laws. They either steal guns or buy them on the black market. Newsom ought to stick to crime prevention by supporting law enforcement. Once again, more gaslighting from a politician whose salary is paid with your tax dollars.

    Fourth, several state leaders have tried to force school boards to implement a distorted Marxist version of American history into the public schools.

    They have also arm-twisted school districts to add transgender concepts into the health and science curricula, all in the name of protecting children.

    This unscientific charade sows confusion among impressionable boys and girls by magnifying transgenderism and doling out diabolical advice that can cause irreversible suffering. This unscrupulous child abuse and coercion defies moral law and the biological laws of nature. Consequently, it is an example of gaslighting on steroids.

    Moreover, some politicians and school board members treat parents as lepers when they question woke policies in public schools. Free speech is criminalized while actual criminal behavior receives a wrist slap. Parents with common sense and truth on their side are treated as extreme, while Orwellian policies are normalized. With rampant absenteeism and underwater student test scores, can schools afford to waste time by force-feeding Marxist theories into vulnerable young minds?

    Parents in support of the Temecula Valley Unified school board’s decision to terminate the district’s superintendent amid controversy surrounding critical race theory and other school curriculum attend a board meeting in Temecula, Calif., on June 13, 2023. (Micaela Ricaforte/The Epoch Times)

    Fifth, Mr. Newsom talks a good game regarding democracy and the rule of law in California, yet at every turn he tends to undermine freedom, prosperity, and lawfulness.

    Similar to George Soros-backed district attorneys, he seems to view felonies as misdemeanors and enables homelessness. Yet he and other Democrats pretend that California doesn’t have an upsurge in crime and homeless statistics. Are they tone deaf? Denying that the state has these problems won’t make them disappear no matter how much they pass the buck. This is why so many folks are fleeing the state.

    Sixth, state leaders claim that they care about minorities, yet they pressure their allegiance through addictive government programs that discourage individual initiative.

    They also gloss over border insecurity as if it’s a figment of our imagination. Progressive mayors take pride in their “sanctuary cities” yet start whining when unlawful migrants are sent to cities like Los Angeles or San Francisco. They only change their welcome tune when unlawful immigration impacts them directly. Otherwise, it’s someone else’s problem.

    Seventh, California leaders often spout great American principles yet at the same time strive to intervene in every area of our lives.

    They initiate endless anti-religious culture wars and cry foul when called out for their absurd schemes and glaring hypocrisy. They can’t even get their own house in order, yet constantly boast to other states how great their policies are, as if Americans can’t govern themselves.

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., on May 12, 2023. (Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee via AP)

    Finally, these politicians speak with a forked tongue by saying one thing and doing another.

    Denying or glossing over serious economic, security, and social challenges doesn’t get the job done. Is this statesmanship? Genuine statesmen don’t recklessly spend other people’s money. They labor to prevent problems from unfolding instead of reacting when it’s too late.

    Our representatives are supposed to serve the public interest—not their own personal aggrandizement. Statesmen don’t blame others for their own self-inflicted blunders. Unfortunately, Sacramento leaders have turned gaslighting (virtue-signaling) into a fine art while Californians pay the price. To a degree, disinformation emanating from Sacramento is similar to that of the old Soviet Union under Stalin, delineated accurately in Rod Dreher’s book, “Live Not By Lies.” The Democrats should read it.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 18:45

  • Renewed Forced-Labor Cloud Darkens Solar's Moment In The Las Vegas Sun
    Renewed Forced-Labor Cloud Darkens Solar’s Moment In The Las Vegas Sun

    Authored by Carrie Sheffield via RealClear Wire,

    This week nearly 27,000 clean energy professionals will descend on the Las Vegas Strip for the annual RE Plus renewable energy Conference. The event includes thousands of exhibitors and a host of presentations with a keynote from Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff. The Senator will undoubtedly tout the expansion of solar energy industry jobs in his state by Korean manufacturer Hanwha Q-Cells, while conveniently ignoring allegations of Hanwha’s deep connections to reported forced labor in the Xinjiang region in China.

    It’s been a little more than a year since the groundbreaking human rights law, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), went into effect. The law created a rebuttable presumption that all goods manufactured in whole or in part in the Xinjiang region of China use forced labor and are thus not admissible into U.S. commerce. While U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the law enforcement agency tasked with enforcement of the law, has done an admirable job at detaining cargo to assess applicability of law to certain goods, the scope of enforcement is lacking and focused on a very small number of importers and ignores many more manufacturers widely known to use key materials from China that have very high risk of origin in part from Xinjiang. 

    Perhaps the most glaring omission among CBP’s UFLPA enforcement is the well-connected Hanwha Q-cells. There is very clear open source data that ties the company to the Xinjiang region of China. Despite the glaring connections to the region, Hanwha executive Vitaly Lee has repeatedly claimed the company modules are “forced labor free.”  

    Just last month, another damning report dropped from Sheffield Hellam University titled “Over-Exposed: Uyghur Region Exposure Assessment for Solar Industry Sourcing”, which found Q-Cells to have a “very high” risk of ties to forced labor in Xinjiang. Specifically, the Sheffield Report found Meike Solar Technology, a Chinese company which gets raw material from Xinjiang, reported Q-Cells as one of its largest customers in the first half of 2022, even though Q-Cells claims it cut off the supplier’s relationship in 2021. The initial Sheffield Report, In Broad Daylight, focusing on large Chinese manufacturers like Longi, Trina and JinkoSolar, appears to have influenced CBP’s targeting but it remains to be seen if this updated report will have the same effect.

    It’s difficult to ascertain whether the lack of enforcement is due to the high-profile political visits, including Vice President Kamala Harris, an upcoming visit from President Biden, and of course Senator Ossoff. Political connections, however, should never serve as a means to avoid the law or get a free pass from CBP detentions and UFLPA scrutiny. Unfortunately, the Biden administration claims it wants America to lead in “clean energy” production, but is instead blocking American producers from developing the critical, rare-earth minerals to make it happen domestically.

    Ironically, the political cover seems to be bipartisan. Another company that has escaped CBP scrutiny is Canadian Solar, while often portraying itself as Canadian the company is, in fact, wholly Chinese from its management to its manufacturing. Recently, Canadian Solar announced a $250 million 5GW solar manufacturing facility in Mesquite, Texas. This project was heralded by both Governor Greg Abbott and Senator Ted Cruz despite Canadian Solar’s ties to the Xinjiang region and potential violations of the UFLPA. The Sheffield Report determined Canadian Solar has a “high” risk of exposure to Xinjiang. 

    Fortunately, CBP’s lack of universal enforcement has not gone unnoticed by everyone in Congress. Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.Va.) at a hearing before the Ways and Means Committee called out JA Solar for attempting to avoid the UFLPA. Specifically, she noted an executive with JA Solar, another company with “very high” exposure to Xinjiang, was caught on tape discussing port-shopping as one method the company employs to avoid UFLPA detentions.  

    In a public webinar CBP’s Trade Remedy Law Enforcement Executive Director acknowledged companies were employing this exact UFLPA enforcement avoidance technique, along with changing the name of the exporting entity and several other salacious maneuvers. CBP cannot allow this type of evasion to continue, especially when Congress has appropriated more than $100 Million to enforce the UFLPA and combat forced labor globally. 

    Unfortunately, at this year’s RE Plus there will be plenty of solar companies –including the title sponsor Maxeon, another very high-risk manufacturer according to the Sheffield Hallem report – enjoying the Las Vegas sun while escaping CBP scrutiny despite serious forced labor allegations. Even in Sin City political relationships and high-profile sponsorships should not be currency to evade U.S. trade laws. CBP must work to ensure the UFLPA is implemented forcefully and equally.

    Carrie Sheffield is a senior policy analyst for the Center for the Center for Economic Opportunity at Independent Women’s Forum. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 18:05

  • RFK Jr. As Third Party Candidate Will Make It Harder For Democrats To 'Cheat': Kari Lake
    RFK Jr. As Third Party Candidate Will Make It Harder For Democrats To ‘Cheat’: Kari Lake

    Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Former GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is expecting a potential third-party candidate like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to make it harder for candidates to “cheat” in the upcoming 2024 presidential race.

    Former Arizona Republican candidate for Governor Kari Lake holds a press conference in Phoenix on May 23, 2023. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

    Her comments came following RFK Jr.’s suggestion that he may consider “other alternatives” rather than simply pursuing a Democratic nomination.

    “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is talking about running as a third party candidate,” Ms. Lake said on “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” on Sept. 9. “That’s going to make it really hard when there’s three people, three parties running in any election, whether it be the senate seat in Arizona, the presidency. It makes it a lot harder for these people to cheat because they don’t know what’s going to be on the inside of the ballot. It might be a Democrat voting, but that Democrat might be voting independent this time around to vote for RFK Jr.”

    “So, I think we’re going to see some dynamics in this election that’s going to make it harder for them to cheat and we’re going to work through the court system to also make it harder for them to cheat.”

    Mr. Kennedy had said in a Sept. 8 interview with Forbes that he may look for “alternatives” rather than solely focusing on fighting the 2024 presidential race as a Democrat.

    “It’s pretty clear that the DNC (Democratic National Committee) does not want a primary. I don’t want to say that they want a coronation, but I think that that’s a fair way to put. They’re essentially fixing up the process so that it makes it almost impossible to have democracy function. They’re effectively disenfranchising the Democratic voters from having any choice and who becomes the Democratic nominee.”

    Mr. Kennedy stated that the DNC made rules that none of the votes cast for any Democrat candidate campaigning in Iowa or New Hampshire would be tallied.

    “In other words, any delegate that I win in New Hampshire or Iowa would go instead to the president. And now they’re trying to change it so that if I campaign in New Hampshire, that none of the votes cast for me in Georgia will count. That’s significant because it’s hard to win the nomination without Georgia.”

    The DNC is “rigging it,” he said.

    “We’re looking at it, the tabulations that look like If you add up all the super delegates that they control and all of the automatic delegates that just go to the party and go to the president, I would have to win on almost 80 percent of all of the states in order to beat President Biden even if he only wins 20 percent.”

    Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks to a crowd of more than 300 at the premiere of his documentary, “Midnight at the Border,” detailing his trip to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona, in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Aug. 3, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

    The DNC is also considering forcing RFJ Jr. and other Democrat candidates like Marianne Williamson to pay for primaries based on the reasoning that the party does not need a primary as they already have a presidential candidate in Biden, RFK Jr. said.

    “We live at a time in American history when a lot of Americans think that democracy is broken, that the political system is rigged, and that there’s not really any democracy. And unfortunately, the DNC is taking a lot of steps that confirm on that outlook.”

     
    “If the DNC is going to rig it so that it is simply impossible for anybody to challenge President Biden … I need to look at other alternatives.”

    The Third Candidate

    The possibility of Mr. Kennedy running as a third-party candidate could be bad news for the party as he is the second most popular figure among Democrats in the race after President Biden.

    According to opinion poll analysis firm FiveThirtyEight, President Biden had the support of 65.8 percent of voters in the Democratic primaries, followed by second-placed Mr. Kennedy with 12.3 percent, as of Sept. 8.

    President Joe Biden holds a press conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sept. 10, 2023, on the first day of a visit in Vietnam. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

    A recent poll commissioned by American Values 2024, a SuperPAC supporting Mr. Kennedy, showed that RFK JR. received 41 percent support in New Hampshire against President Biden’s 49 percent in case of a two-way match between them.

    In a three-way poll between President Biden, Mr. Kennedy, and Ms. Williamson, the former held his ground with 31 percent support against President Biden’s 46 percent.

    The reason why a third-party candidate like RFK Jr. is dangerous for Democrats is that he can end up taking away votes from President Biden in key races, which could play in the favor of former President Donald Trump.

    RFK Jr. can also create a situation where no presidential candidate succeeds in securing 270 electoral votes necessary for a win. This would allow state delegations of the House to choose the winner of the presidential election. Such a situation can also benefit President Trump as Republicans have a majority in the House.

    In addition to RFK Jr., another alternative that could play a spoilsport in the 2024 presidential race is No Labels, an organization that could field a candidate in the race. No Labels has already won ballot access in 10 states and intends to get access in all 50 states plus Washington D.C.

    A survey by No Labels in eight battleground states found that 63 percent of registered voters were open to a moderate independent candidate.

    Several groups aligned with the Democratic Party are pressuring elected officials to denounce any presidential campaign from No Labels. The Arizona Democrat Party had filed a lawsuit to stop No Labels from appearing on ballots in the state.
    “No Labels and RFK Jr. are the two biggest threats to Democrats defeating a far-right Republican like Trump or DeSantis,” Sawyer Hackett, a Democratic strategist and consultant, said in a June 28 post on X.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 17:25

  • "This Is Philadelphia": A Shocking Video Of Yet Another Democrat City Imploding 
    “This Is Philadelphia”: A Shocking Video Of Yet Another Democrat City Imploding 

    Approaching the 2024 presidential election cycle, which is set to commence this fall, it’s challenging to find just one well-managed major city under Democratic leadership. Many of these metro areas have collapsed into a third-world-like state, plagued with violent crime, homelessness, out-of-control shoplifting, open-air drug markets, and even some with shit-covered streets. 

    Death, destruction, and chaos follow failed progressive policies across many Democratic-run cities, such as Detroit, Baltimore City, San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Democrats have been in control of major cities long enough that they should take responsibility for the downfall of these metro areas but have deflected blame on everything but themselves.

    The seriousness of the blame game is so alarming that in New Mexico, the tyrannical Democrat governor just suspended constitutional gun rights for law-abiding citizens in Albuquerque — blaming the gun rather than disastrous policies and open southern borders for the spike in violent crime. 

    Focusing our attention on Philadelphia, just north of imploding Baltimore City and just south of migrant-infested New York City, the ‘City of Brotherly Love’ has streets that look straight out of the zombie apocalypse TV series “The Walking Dead.” 

    X user Catch Up shared a startling video titled “This is Philadelphia,” showing zombie streets of working-class folks overdosing on drugs. The video did not specify what drugs these folks were on, but we have detailed before Philadelphia was hit with a veterinary sedative xylazine, also known as the “tranq” epidemic. 

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

    Meanwhile, the shit-covered streets in San Francisco are so bad that Democrats in City Hall have decided to hire a new tourism official to shift the perception of the crumbling metro area. Good luck with that one.

    Democrats must stop pretending their major cities are ‘rainbows and unicorns’ and address the chaos. If they don’t, it’s up to the voters in 2024 to hold these politicians accountable. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 17:05

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Sep 12

Today’s News 12th September 2023

  • Inside China's Global Military Expansion
    Inside China’s Global Military Expansion

    Authored by Andrew Thornebrooke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    For two decades, China’s communist regime has poured tens of billions of dollars into low- and middle-income nations, funding massive port projects in the name of global development.

    (Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock)

    However, experts and lawmakers are warning that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules China as a single-party state, seeks to expand its global military presence by creating new overseas naval bases out of the commercial ports it has funded and built abroad.

    According to a new report by AidData, a think tank that analyzes government aid expenditures on international development projects, the regime has spent nearly $30 billion on overseas port infrastructure since 2001.

    For those in Congress who are tasked with countering the threat from a newly expansionist CCP, the regime’s pursuit of new basing opportunities is an alarming development that requires immediate action.

    Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), who chairs the House Select Committee on the CCP, believes that the only means of countering such an expansion is through increased military and diplomatic investments by the United States. Such investments in partner nations, he hopes, will counter the creeping influence of the CCP.

    “The Chinese Communist Party’s expansion of its overseas naval presence is a blaring alarm, and we keep hitting snooze,” Mr. Gallagher told The Epoch Times.

    Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

    “To counter the CCP’s malign influence and military aggression, the United States needs to both boost its own military-industrial capacity and be more present in the Indo-Pacific, expanding development and diplomacy with key partners to ensure they don’t succumb to debt-trap diplomacy.”

    China Seeks Global Military Expansion

    AidData’s report, “Harboring Global Ambitions,” analyzes more than 20 years of official investments by China’s state-owned entities into overseas seaport projects that might form the groundwork for a new naval base.

    From 2000 to 2023, Beijing spent a staggering $29.9 billion through loans and grants for 123 different projects at 78 ports in 46 low- and middle-income nations, according to the report.

    Each of these projects was funded directly by Beijing or state-owned companies.

    This means that the report doesn’t even begin to look at the potential spending of shadow corporations without official ties to the regime, nor does it account for the regime’s policy of military-civil fusion, which demands that all private Chinese entities create a military advantage for the CCP.

    Paul Crespo, president of the Center for American Defense Studies think tank, believes that the monumental effort is partly driven by the regime’s desire to hold the United States at threat anywhere in the world.

    “China is rapidly creating a large, offensive, blue water navy capable of challenging the [United States] far beyond the western Pacific, especially during a war over Taiwan,” Mr. Crespo said.

    “In addition to allowing it to threaten our supply lines, China has long wanted to make the [United States] feel the way it feels with a foreign superpower navy on its doorstep.”

    The CCP currently only acknowledges one overseas military base in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa. Chinese officials have long acknowledged a more global ambition for their military, however, and suggested that similar bases could be in the works.

    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in 2016 that China was amenable to working with partner nations to develop similar facilities to that in Djibouti.

    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shakes hands with Djibouti’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mahamoud Ali Youssouf upon his arrival at the diplomatic institute in Djibouti, on Jan. 9, 2020. (-/AFP via Getty Images)

    Likewise, the 2020 edition of “Science of Military Strategy” (pdf), published by China’s National Defense University, suggested that a new network of long-range naval facilities was necessary to extend China’s reach.

    “To improve the naval force’s ocean-going support capabilities, in addition to the development of large-scale accompanying support ships, we must also attach importance to the construction of long-distance maritime comprehensive replenishment points, and multi-channels to ensure naval forces carry out overseas military operations in the ocean,” the document reads.

    Mr. Crespo, who previously served as a naval attache at the Defense Intelligence Agency, said that such a network of bases would be a prerequisite for the long-term sustainment of China’s increasingly global military presence.

    “To challenge the U.S. Navy globally, China needs bases for rearming, refueling, [resupplying], and to repair its rapidly expanding fleet,” Mr. Crespo said.

    Similarly, the AidData report places the regime’s many overseas investments within the broader context of a tug-of-war for global influence with the United States.

    A man walks under a billboard showing the plan of a Beijing-backed multi-million dollar fishing port complex in James Town, Accra, on May 21, 2020. Demolition in parts of the James Town community in Accra to make way for a multi-million dollar fishing port complex. (Nipah Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)

    In contrast to Mr. Gallagher’s ironclad commitment to counter might with might anywhere in the world, the report suggests that such an approach may only worsen global tensions.

    “The [United States] and allies must be vigilant and allocate resources wisely, fostering alliances and partnerships with countries considering moving toward China,” the report reads. “But Western coalitions should not overreact to news or rumors of China establishing a base here or there.

    “A headlong rush by a Western country or alliance to establish new bases overseas as a means of counterbalancing might provide exactly the justification or cover China needs to site a naval base of its own.”

    Whatever approach the United States takes, it remains an open question just where exactly the next CCP base will spring up.

    By comparing total investments in individual port projects and weighing the strategic value of a geographic location, the strength of the CCP’s relations with the local elites, regional political stability, and the nation’s voting alignment with China on the world stage, the AidData report suggests a few countries as top contenders for new Chinese military infrastructure.

    A Chinese Navy missile frigate is docked at Changi Naval Base during the IMDEX Asia warships display in Singapore on May 4, 2023. (Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images)

    The choices stretch from the Indo-Pacific to the Atlantic, with each region offering distinct advantages and disadvantages.

    Indo-Pacific Base Most Likely

    The Indo-Pacific is, perhaps, the most logical place for a new military base.

    The CCP seeks to break out past the first island chain, thereby securing its commercial and military vessels’ free rein of the seas. Likewise, it seeks greater control of fishing territories and precious resources throughout the region, from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean.

    If the CCP is to hold the United States and its allies at immediate threat and gain unfettered control of the world’s most valuable trade routes, it needs greater control of the Indo-Pacific.

    Sam Kessler, geopolitical analyst at risk management firm North Star Support Group, believes that a base in this region is the logical step for the regime in its ascent to global domination.

    “At this current moment, it is realistic to see Beijing focusing on building future naval bases that are closer to their area of influence rather than be sprawled out on various continents,” Mr. Kessler said.

    Likewise, the AidData report finds that “the Pacific and the Indian Oceans are China’s highest priority maritime environments.”

    In particular, the report finds Hambantota in Sri Lanka the most likely contender for China’s next overseas base due to its strategic location off of India, the popularity enjoyed by the regime among local elites, and its track record of voting in line with CCP interests internationally.

    Indeed, the CCP owns a 99-year lease on Hambantota Port. The agreement is a result of what some analysts dub China’s “debt trap” diplomacy: The lease was negotiated in exchange for relief of more than $1 billion in Chinese debt.

    An illustration of the Hambantota Port in Hambantota, Sri Lanka on Nov. 15, 2018. Hambantota Port defaulted on its debts and the Sri Lankan government handed over control of the port to China on a 99-year lease. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

    Mr. Kessler agrees. The strategic and economic benefits of a Sri Lankan base are just too valuable to overlook.

    “Like the Belt and Road Initiative, the CCP needs a networking web or a shield of protection that surrounds their main realm of control, which is mainland China,” Mr. Kessler said.

    “Ports with high-level investments like Gwadar and Hambantota serve strategic value and enable the CCP to extend their power projection capabilities throughout the Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific, Middle East, and also Eurasia.”

    Indeed, Beijing has invested more than $2 billion into the Hambantota International Port in the past two decades, making it the CCP’s single-largest port investment. The CCP has also invested more than $430 million into Sri Lanka’s nearby Port of Colombo, which could offer similar or support facilities. Both would allow China to rule the seas as a direct rival to India.

    Sri Lanka, though an obvious choice, isn’t the only possibility. The AidData report and Mr. Kessler note the possibility of Gwadar in Pakistan and Port Luganville in Vanuatu, near Australia.

    To that end, the regime has invested some $577 million into Gwadar and $97 million into Port Luganville, each offering its own benefits.

    A Vanuatu base would allow the regime to break its apparent containment by U.S. and allied forces, according to the report, while one in Pakistan would further cement the regime’s expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative into the Middle East and allow it greater control of the vital Strait of Hormuz.

    Read more here…

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 09/12/2023 – 02:00

  • Has The West Closed All Its 'Project Ukraine' Exits?
    Has The West Closed All Its ‘Project Ukraine’ Exits?

    Authored by Yves Smith via NakedCapitalism.com,

    Many analysts and commentators have been speculating about how the US and NATO will find their way to an endgame in the Ukraine conflict. Some focus, for humanitarian or pragmatic reasons, on a negotiated settlement between the US and Russia. Even though as a matter of form Ukraine would be party to such a deal, with Ukraine now fully dependent on Western arms and funding, there’s no pretending who is really driving this train.

    We described earlier how the various factions in the US/NATO side would spend huge amounts of time arguing among themselves to come up with ideas for how exit the conflict that they’d developed in a vacuum, with no substantive exchange with Russia and not even any real consideration of repeated statements by Russian officials, including draft treaties presented in December 2021 and in the aborted peace talks in Marcy 2022.

    The new peace chatter seems to amount to:

    Ceasefire > *Magic* > Russia goes away with its tail enough between its legs that we and Ukraine can declare victory

    At first we thought this dynamic was the result of splits among various key parties. After all, multiparty negotiations are messy.

    But upon further reflection, it may be that the West has effectively set boundary conditions for itself that make ending the war impossible… absent changes in leaders of key governments that result in a willingness to relax boundary conditions and/or such a visible collapse of Ukraine’s military that the West has to rethink its self-imposed constraints.

    The West wants to have a Schrodinger’s war: to pretend that its involvement in the conflict is in an indeterminate state when the US and NATO are clearly co-belligerents.

    Keep in mind that so far, NATO members have slipped the leash of Ukraine attempts to depict various shellings as attacks on NATO members

    Remember, we and others have pointed out that there is no reason to assume the belligerents will hammer out an agreement, since many conflicts end without a deal.

    And as we said from very early on, there isn’t good reason to think one will happen here.

    A top priority for Russia is to get Ukraine to commit to neutrality or otherwise keep it out of NATO’s hands, while the US position is that nobody outside NATO has a say in who might be a NATO member. And for Ukraine, or at least the Banderites, the war must be kept going as long as possible. Once US/NATO money and materiel largely evaporates, the current Ukraine leaders will be at the mercy of the Russian government, with their personal power and prospects for further enrichment very much diminished. A few might survive and even prosper, but as a group, they will suffer a very big fall.

    And as noted the US and NATO are still trying to escalate….or at best, escalating because past measures like the great Ukraine counteroffensive have failed. And worse, Western experts are admitting that Russia has been improving its tactics and weapons over the course of the war, as Simplicius the Thinker recounts in his latest post. So the US, which earlier nixed F-16s for Ukraine now will be sending them. ABC has reported that the US is now likely to send ATACMS missiles, which have a longer range than HIMARS. Many commentators Ukraine will use to strike Crimea and the Kerch Bridge.1

    Why do we think the West has caught itself in a bind?

    For Russia, the war is existential. Too many Western officials have depicted victory as Russia being so battered that Putin is ousted and even the breakup of Russia. Russian opinion has hardened due those pronouncements, along with Western efforts not just to support the Ukraine war, but also to cancel Russian athletes, performers, and even its culture, and to continued Ukraine missile strikes on the civilian Donetsk city.

    At least for now, the US/NATO combine is acting as if the war is existential, even though, as Ray McGovern has pointed out, there is not a shred of evidence that Russia has any interest in acquiring territory in NATO countries. Consider how Germany has allowed itself to be deindustrialized and has not acted in response to the Nord Stream attack, which the German press depicts as the handiwork of its ally Ukraine, and the US cannot plausibly have not known what was up. Those actions show the depth of commitment.

    As for Russia’s posture towards Ukraine, Putin rejected the efforts of the Donbass separatists to join Russia prior to the special military operation, and moved to annex the four oblasts that Russia had partially occupied only after the embarrassing pullbacks from Kherson and Kharkiv last year. That left the civilians who had helped the Russians exposed to reprisals, and others in areas where Russia had taken ground worried about Russia’s commitment. But now that sentiment in Russia has hardened and the West is not backing down, Russia seems destined to gobble up more of Ukraine. And what happens to Western Ukraine then is very much an open question.

    However the US/NATO position that the NATO will always have an open door policy may wind up being existential for NATO. If the US were to get over itself, it could agree to stop NATO expansion eastward where it is now (not that Russia would necessarily believe that) which might allow NATO to continue to exist only a bit bruised via how badly the NATO-trained and equipped forces in Ukraine fared versus Russia. Instead, NATO is actually doubling down, for instance via the pleasing-nobody compromise floated by a deputy of NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, of Ukraine ceding land to Russia in return for an immediate NATO membership. What about “Russia will not accept NATO on its border” don’t you understand? This sort of thing only further confirms the notion that the West has no interest in considering Russia’s security needs.

    And Russia can’t have missed Anthony Blinken’s position when head of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley had the temerity last fall to suggest that Ukraine negotiate after it had recaptured some ground so as to improve its bargaining position. Milley was made to walk his mention of negotiations back at that time. Blinken committed the US and NATO to continuing to arm Ukraine to revisit the war at a later date. Key extracts from his Washington Post interview with David Ignatius:

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken outlined his strategy for the Ukrainian endgame and postwar deterrence during an interview on Monday at the State Department….

    He also underlined President Biden’s determination to avoid direct military conflict with Russia, even as U.S. weapons help pulverize Putin’s invasion force. “Biden has always been emphatic that one of his requirements in Ukraine is that there be no World War III,” Blinken said.

    Russia’s colossal failure to achieve its military goals, Blinken believes, should now spur the United States and its allies to begin thinking about the shape of postwar Ukraine — and how to create a just and durable peace that upholds Ukraine’s territorial integrity and allows it to deter and, if necessary, defend against any future aggression. In other words, Russia should not be able to rest, regroup and reattack.

    Blinken’s deterrence framework is somewhat different from last year’s discussions with Kyiv about security guarantees similar to NATO’s Article 5. Rather than such a formal treaty pledge, some U.S. officials increasingly believe the key is to give Ukraine the tools it needs to defend itself. Security will be ensured by potent weapons systems — especially armor and air defense — along with a strong, noncorrupt economy and membership in the European Union.

    The Pentagon’s current stress on providing Kyiv with weapons and training for maneuver warfare reflects this long-term goal of deterrence. “The importance of maneuver weapons isn’t just to give Ukraine strength now to regain territory but as a deterrent against future Russian attacks,” explained a State Department official familiar with Blinken’s thinking. “Maneuver is the future.”

    Given that the current Ukraine government continues to insist that it must recapture all of the pre-2014 Ukraine, it’s clear that any rearming of Ukraine by the West would lead to new hostilities…and not instigated by Russia.

    However, as an aside, the Post also unwittingly tells us why Project Ukraine is doomed. The US has not adapted to the new ISR paradigm which Russia is perfecting with every passing day. As various military experts have pointed out, maneuver warfare (which among other things depends on massing forces to punch through enemy lines) is no longer possible with a peer power. Your build-up of men and materiel will be seen and attacked before you launch your big punch.

    Keep in mind what Blinken’s position also implies: the US believes it can run what amounts to a two front war. Blinken posits Russia somehow loses in Ukraine so as to allow the US and NATO to rearm it at their leisure so as to harass, um, pressure Russia further down the war. At the same time US is also determined to Do Something to its official Enemy #1, China. Since economic sanctions are working about as well against China as they have against Russia, what does the US and its Pacific allies have left besides military escalation? Or will mere relentless propaganda be enough to snooker the credulous American public?

    So unless the US relents, Russia has no option but to continue to prosecute the war until Ukraine is prostrated or Russia has otherwise precipitated regime change in Kiev. Russia needs to capture Ukraine, either politically or practically. This outcome becomes even more important if the US sends ATACMS. Russia will need an even wider buffer zone (300 km versus 77 km for the HIMARS previously sent) to prevent their use against Russian territory.

    However, an undeniable Ukraine loss, no matter how much porcine maquillage US and EU spokescritters apply, will, as Alastair Crooke in particular described long-form in a recent Duran program, will rattle smaller NATO members, who will doubt they can rely on NATO to come to their rescue. NATO may still be fit for purpose as a defensive alliance. However, the fact that the US and NATO members sent in a whole mess of heavily-hyped wunderwaffen that did pretty much nothing to blunt Russian operations, and some of which were impressively destroyed, like Leopard 2 and Challenger tanks and the West is not responding with a Sputnik-level effort to get Western firepower up to Russian levels, means there is good reason to doubt how well the NATO shield would hold up if tested.

    Mind you, Crooke explained in a related article that US is (or the hawks think it is) moving in the direction of a long, low intensity conflict, which is consistent with the Blinken remarks above. But that US/Ukraine hope ignores again that the war is generally very much going in Russia’s direction, with Ukraine continuing to throw men and materiel against Russian positions, and Russia only engaging in fairly minor advances in and near Kupiansk to produce even more of the same. Russia wanted to attrit Ukraine and is getting that outcome. And Russia can and will increase the intensity when it suits Russia.

    One would think, given both the weakening Ukraine position, and the all-too-obvious need for the Biden Administration not to suffer a visible defeat in Ukraine, the optimal time would be between March and October 2024. However, that still may not take the form of the too-eagerly-hoped for big arrow attacks unless the Ukraine army is severely degraded.2 But the flip side is when Russia finally cracks the last Ukraine line of defense in the Donbass, there’s not much in the way of defensible positions west of Lugansk up to the Dnieper.3

    In other words, the way to an end game is regime change. And the weak regimes are all in the West.

    *  *  *

    1 Admittedly, the US has pushed back the delivery date of Abrams tanks to next year….but they are so heavy they would probably be useless in the soon-to-arrive mud season. Dima at Military Summary today noted that Russia has not engaged in the sort of massive missile strikes of Ukraine that had been its habit, although it is still regularly striking selective targets, such as yesterday an ammo depot in Kiev, rumored to hold depleted uranium shells. He speculates they are accumulating stocks for big strikes in the winter to again damage the electrical grid. If Russia indeed has been caching missiles, they could also be keeping them in reserve for major retaliatory strikes.

    2 Another issue is that Russia knows it is dealing with people who do not have a good grip on reality, and you don’t make sudden moves around crazy people, particularly when they possess nukes.

    3 This makes the continuing fight over Bakhmut rational. That is on the third of four Ukraine defensive lines, but the last is seen as weak. If Russia were to move forces up to the Dnieper, it is hard to see how the West could not see that as undeniable evidence of Russian success, which would threaten the position of the Ukraine regime with its patrons.

    *  *  *

    This is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 677 donors have already invested in our efforts to combat corruption and predatory conduct, particularly in the financial realm. Please join us and participate via our donation page, which shows how to give via check, credit card, debit card or PayPal or our new payment processor, Clover. Read about why we’re doing this fundraiser, what we’ve accomplished in the last year,, and our current goal, continuing our expanded news coverage.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 23:40

  • Another One Fails: Subprime Auto Dealership Hit With "Unprecedented Changes To Auto-Retail Landscape"
    Another One Fails: Subprime Auto Dealership Hit With “Unprecedented Changes To Auto-Retail Landscape”

    Earlier this year, we discussed the ‘big profitability squeeze‘ on auto dealerships and the subsequent failure of a subprime dealership with dozens of locations. Now, another dealership has failed as cracks across the industry worsen. 

    A popular used car dealership in South Florida, called “Off Lease Only,” filed for Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code in the District of Delaware last Thursday, citing “unprecedented changes to the automotive-retail landscape.”

    “The industry has been impacted by inventory scarcity, and vehicle price inflation stemming from supply chain disruptions and multi-year declines in new vehicle production,” the company wrote in a press release. 

    The company also blamed elevated used car prices and soaring interest rates that “further deteriorated conditions in the automotive retail market, weakening consumer demand and affordability.” 

    Off Lease Only’s demise was due to collapsing demand after used car interest rates skyrocketed while used car prices remained elevated, sparking an affordability crisis. 

    The Florida-based company listed assets and liabilities each of between $100 million and $500 million on its bankruptcy filing. It noted a range of strategic options were being explored for “an orderly wind-down of the business.” 

    In April, another subprime auto dealership called US Auto Sales abruptly closed dozens of locations and filed for bankruptcy in August amid headwinds gathering in the used car market.  

    The fact is, mid/low-tier consumers can’t afford monthly $1,000 payments for a used car as costs for shelter and food remain elevated. Further, many of these folks are financially tapped out, as we shared in the latest note titled “Slide In Consumer Credit Accelerates As Excess Savings Exhausted, Average Credit Card Rate Hits 22%.”

    Consumers are in very bad shape.  

    And if consumers were hoping for relief in used car prices, think again: “Used Vehicle Prices May Have Bottomed For The Year.” 

    We can only imagine there are many other subprime dealerships on the verge of collapse. 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 23:20

  • Taibbi: A Day That Never Ended
    Taibbi: A Day That Never Ended

    Authored by Matt Taibbi via ‘Racket News’ substack,

    America thought it left the War on Terror behind, but the emergency never stopped expanding…

    Twenty-two years ago jet planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York. Within two hours they fell, starting fires that still burned eight days later, on September 19th, when Attorney General John Ashcroft asked for a sweeping expansion of executive power, telling congress on a Wednesday to have a bill by the end of the week.

    “We need every tool available to us,” Ashcroft said, and congress quickly delivered with “roving” wiretaps, warrantless searches, “trap and trace” searches, law enforcement and intelligence access to grand jury information, use of FISA monitoring for non-foreign situations, reduction or elimination of predicate requirements for FBI investigations, and elimination of judicial review for most of these activities, among many other things in the USA PATRIOT Act.

    It all passed on October 26th, marking just the beginning of what turned into a long period of radical change.

    From 2001 to 2008 the U.S. internationally became the world’s Death Star, constructing the most fearsome military-intelligence state ever seen.

    Between 1.9 and 3 million Americans served in wars after 9/11, as the open-ended 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force led not only to invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, but deployments in Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Syria, Niger, and parts unknown, the list of foes covered by the AUMF remaining classified.

    Passage of new military commissions law made Guantanamo Bay the face of an anything-goes secret justice system, kept filled with “combatants” by troops from a swelling archipelago of 750 foreign bases.

    A “targeted killing” program headed by a fleet of CIA-run drone programs was likewise kept busy by a vast global surveillance net, newly consolidated after the creation of the 240,000-person Department of Homeland Security, the largest federal reorganization since the Defense Department’s birth in 1947.

    It’s forgotten, but Barack Obama was sent to the White House in what a lot of the voting public at the time considered a referendum on the security state.

    The genteel Obama played up “constitutional lawyer” credentials, announcing in a national security address at the Wilson Center in 2007 his opposition to the “color-coded politics of fear” and “a war in Iraq that should never have been authorized.”

    Candidate Obama added it was time to “turn the page” with more peaceful means of “drying up” support for terrorism, a strategy that hurtled him past favored Hillary Clinton in primary season.

    Privately however he’d already met with people like Richard Clarke, who told him, “As a president, you kill people.”

    This is who Obama would actually be in office, an “idealist without illusions” who expanded the buildup, institutionalized the “kill list,” and in one of his last major acts, created a new counter-disinformation authority that helped birth the censorship state.

    The 5th Circuit Court’s decision in the Missouri v. Biden case last week, which allowed the Department of Homeland Security (and its Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA) to squirm free of an anti-censorship injunction, underscored the central delusion of post-9/11 America.

    Voters thought they shut down the War on Terror in 2008, but American citizens were instead swallowed up by it, made subjects of the global dragnet.

    From the Towers to Trump to Covid to today, the emergency state not only never receded but tried continually to expand, looking to make the panic of twenty-two years ago a forever thing.

    How do we end this day?  

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 23:00

  • City Slickers Caused Rural Populations To Explode During Pandemic — Leaving A Trail Of Resent And Strained Infrastructures
    City Slickers Caused Rural Populations To Explode During Pandemic — Leaving A Trail Of Resent And Strained Infrastructures

    The influx of transplants from urban living to rural areas during the pandemic has been well documented, as the lure of a cheaper cost of living and wide open spaces vs. the prospect of riding out lockdowns in a $5,000 / month postage stamp was no brainer for many.

    And so for the first time in three decades, rural America’s population has outgrown that of urban areas, driven by remote work, affordability and lifestyle changes. Tech-savvy Californians have led this great migration. Driven by exorbitant living costs and an ever-intrusive (and tax-thirsty) state government, they are fleeing the Golden State for places like Montana. However, this movement is sparking backlash from longtime residents, with bumper stickers saying, “Don’t California my Montana,” highlighting the growing resentment.

    The result? Rural America is booming – yet, underneath the surface problems are beginning to emerge – most notably resent among longtime locals over now-prohibitively expensive real estate prices, and a growing strain on infrastructures around the country.

    The trend is sparking resentment as house prices in the top 10 rural counties that have seen the biggest population increases surging more than 40% over the past three years. Schools are overloaded and the shift is even impacting farmland prices. -Bloomberg

    Farmland prices are also at record highs, driven by higher commodity prices and inflation hedging.

    “There’s a lot of resentment,” said Maggie Doherty, a writer and columnist living in Flathead County, Montana. “There’s bumper stickers that say ‘Montana’s full’ or ‘Don’t California my Montana.’” she told Bloomberg.

    Tech-savvy Californians are leading this great migration. Driven by exorbitant living costs and an ever-intrusive (and tax-thirsty) state government, they are fleeing the Golden State for places like Montana. However, this movement is sparking backlash from longtime residents, with bumper stickers saying, “Don’t California my Montana,” highlighting the growing resentment.

    In Jackson County, Georgia, finding affordable homes is now near impossible – as prices rose 50% in the first half of this year vs. three years earlier, according to Zillow. Thanks to Jackson’s proximity to Atlanta, the county has attracted a flood of hybrid workers.

    “There’s been a lot of battles politically over building and where to build,” said Jackson County Democratic head Pete Fuller. “There are organized groups that do not want affordable housing being built.”

    Rents are also surging. In the past two years, according to Zillow, Harnett County and Moore County in North Carolina, Gallatin County in Montana, and Iron County in Utah have all seen rent increases between 13% to 24%, Bloomberg reports.

    “Rent is completely through the roof,” said Tennessee resident Wendy Cerne. “There are a lot of new people that have moved into the region and I’ve experienced that first hand.”

    As noted above, the price of farmland has never been this high either.

    “Anything that helps broaden and deepen what I would call the opportunity set for off-farm income is good for producers, which is a good underpinning for land prices,” said Tom Halverson, CEO of rural lender CoBank ACB.

    “The states in the South and East have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of this population movement,” he said. “They also are the parts of the agricultural production complex in this country that that are most reliant on off-farm income. So there’s an interesting correlation dynamic there.”

    No Affordable Retirement in California

    Bob Ficken, a retiree from California, encapsulates the dilemma: “Retiring in California is near impossible. The state ends up taking between 25% and 30% of everything you make.”  This situation, coupled with deteriorating cityscapes in urban areas, is fueling the rush towards rural America.

    Political Fault Lines

    The demographic shifts are also exacerbating existing political divides. As newcomers bring along their political preferences, battleground states like Georgia and North Carolina become even more unpredictable, adding a layer of complexity to the 2024 presidential election calculus.

    The migration has the potential to change voting patterns in both the places people are leaving and the ones they’re going to, adding an additional layer of unpredictability in battleground states like Georgia and North Carolina in the 2024 presidential election. -Bloomberg

    And lastly, aging infrastructures are being tested like never before.

    “You see huge issues with infrastructure as well with roads, roads that were not meant to handle truck traffic a lot of times are breaking down,” said Fuller, adding “There’s been two new high schools built here in the last couple years just to accommodate growth.”

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 22:40

  • 'Utter Madness:' Elon Musk Reacts To California's Proposed Gender Affirming Law
    ‘Utter Madness:’ Elon Musk Reacts To California’s Proposed Gender Affirming Law

    Authored by Dorothy Li via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Elon Musk in Paris on June 16, 2023. (Joel Sagat/AFP via Getty Images)

    Tech entrepreneur and California resident Elon Musk criticized an assembly bill in the state, calling the proposed law to require that parents affirm their child’s transgender identify for custody rights “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

    Mr. Musk’s comment came as the Democratic-majority State Assembly approved the legislation on Sept. 8, sending it to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.

    The bill, AB 957, incorporates parents’ “affirmation of the child’s gender identity or gender expression” into the concept of a child’s “health, safety, and welfare.” If passed, the bill will require a judge to consider whether a parent affirms a child’s ideas about gender transition when determining custody or visitation rights.

    “This bill is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Mr. Musk wrote on Friday on X, formerly called Twitter. “What it would actually mean is that if you disagree with the other parent about sterilizing your child, you lose custody. Utter madness!“

    The bill was initially introduced by Assemblywoman Lori Wilson, a Democrat, in February. She previously argued the legislation doesn’t prioritize a parent’s gender-affirming over other judicial criteria that determine custody disputes.

    “If you have a child going through that system, a judge has discretion, like they do looking at the totality of circumstances related to the health, safety, and welfare of a child, to consider different factors,” the Assemblywoman told ABC7 in June after the bill made its way through California Legislature.

    “One of the factors, not the factor, but one of the factors, would be the parent’s affirmation of a child’s gender identity.”

    At the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Ms. Wilson said the bill was intended to address “parents antagonistic to their child’s gender identity.”

    State Sen. Scott Wilk, a Republican, said there have been many policies introduced to protect children during his 11 years in the state legislature. But now, he said, it’s time to start protecting parents.

    “In recent years, we have put government bureaucrats between parents, children, and doctors when it comes to medical care. And now, we have this, where if a parent does not support the ideology of the government, [children] are going to be taken away from the home,” Mr. Wilk said. “If you love your children, you need to flee California.”

    How to Raise Children

    On Sept. 6, the bill cleared the state Senate in a near-party-line vote, 30-9. Democrats argue that the legislation would help to protect the well-being of LGBTQ+ children whose parents are going through a divorce.

    Every Republican in the state Senate voted against the bill, with state Sen. Kelly Seyarto, who represents Murrieta in Southern California, arguing that lawmakers were interfering too much with how parents choose to raise their children.

    The Democrat governor now has until Oct. 15 to either sign the bill into law or veto it.

    Some parental rights groups warned the bill would leave parents involved in a child custody battle with no choice but to consent to recommendations of gender change for their child at any age, for any gender identity.

    “Newsom needs to veto it because if he doesn’t, he is aligning with breaking up families. He’s aligning against parents and also judicial discretion. It’s the state control of our judges,” Jennifer Kennedy, spokesperson for Our Duty, a parental rights group, told The Epoch Times on Sept. 8. “Why would Newsom attack families already in crisis? He needs to read the room and veto AB 957.”

    Ms. Kennedy, a civil rights attorney, argued the bill would infringe parental rights and remove the discretion of judges to consider the facts involved in child custody disputes on a case-by-case basis.

    “The affirming parent will always be given the benefit of the doubt. They will always be favored in custody and visitation, so it’s completely unconstitutional.”

    ‘Legislated Evil’

    Chloe Cole, who agreed to have a “gender-affirming” surgeon remove her breasts at the age of 15—a life-changing decision she regrets after reaching the age of majority—also took to social media to voice her opposition.

    “This issue is wildly unpopular yet the Cali Gov pushes forward with more and more radical policies,” she said in response to Mr. Musk’s post. “@ProtectKidsCA is trying to introduce ballot measures that will stop the sterilization of kids in California.”

    Michael Seifert, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PublicSq, called the bill a “legislated evil.”

    “California is determined to discover rock bottom,” he said in a post on Friday. “I’m so glad we left that state.”

    “I don’t even recognize my former home anymore.”

    The Associated Press and Brad Jones contributed to this report.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 22:20

  • What Electricity Sources Power The World?
    What Electricity Sources Power The World?

    In 2022, 29,165.2 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity was generated around the world, an increase of 2.3% from the previous year.

    In this visualization, Visual Capitalist’s Chris Dickert and Sam Parker look at data from the latest Statistical Review of World Energy, and ask what powered the world in 2022.

    Coal is Still King

    Coal still leads the charge when it comes to electricity, representing 35.4% of global power generation in 2022, followed by natural gas at 22.7%, and hydroelectric at 14.9%.

    Source: Energy Institute

    Over three-quarters of the world’s total coal-generated electricity is consumed in just three countries. China is the top user of coal, making up 53.3% of global coal demand, followed by India at 13.6%, and the U.S. at 8.9%.

    Burning coal—for electricity, as well as metallurgy and cement production—is the world’s single largest source of CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, its use in electricity generation has actually grown 91.2% since 1997, the year when the first global climate agreement was signed in Kyoto, Japan.

    Renewables on the Rise

    However, even as non-renewables enjoy their time in the sun, their days could be numbered.

    In 2022, renewables, such as wind, solar, and geothermal, represented 14.4% of total electricity generation with an extraordinary annual growth rate of 14.7%, driven by big gains in solar and wind. Non-renewables, by contrast, only managed an anemic 0.4%.

    The authors of the Statistical Review do not include hydroelectric in their renewable calculations, even though many others, including the International Energy Agency, consider it a “well-established renewable power technology.”

    With hydroelectric moved into the renewable column, together they accounted for over 29.3% of all electricity generated in 2022, with an annual growth rate of 7.4%.

    France’s Nuclear Horrible Year

    Another big mover in this year’s report was nuclear energy.

    In addition to disruptions at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, shutdowns in France’s nuclear fleet to address corrosion found in the safety injection systems of four reactors led to a 4% drop in global use, year-over-year.

    The amount of electricity generated by nuclear energy in that country dropped 22% to 294.7 TWh in 2022. As a result, France went from being the world’s biggest exporter of electricity, to a net importer.

    Powering the Future

    Turning mechanical energy into electrical energy is a relatively straightforward process. Modern power plants are engineering marvels, to be sure, but they still work on the same principle as the very first generator invented by Michael Faraday in 1831.

    But how you get the mechanical energy is where things get complicated: coal powered the first industrial revolution, but heated the planet in the process; wind is free and clean, but is unreliable; and nuclear fission reliably generates emission-free electricity, but also creates radioactive waste.

    With temperature records being set around the world in the summer, resolving these tensions isn’t just academic and next year’s report could be a crucial test of the world’s commitment to a clean energy future.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 22:00

  • Israeli Officials Make First Ever Public Visit To Saudi Arabia
    Israeli Officials Make First Ever Public Visit To Saudi Arabia

    Via The Cradle,

    An official Israeli delegation has arrived in Saudi Arabia to serve as observers during the 45th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, marking the first public visit by government officials to the kingdom.

    An Israeli official who spoke with AP said the delegation is led by Amir Weissbrod, a deputy director-general in the Israeli foreign ministry, and includes several diplomats. The official also stressed that the delegation is “not on a bilateral visit.”

    Image source: Shutterstock 

    “We are happy to be here – it’s a good first step … We thank UNESCO and the Saudi authorities,” a member of the delegation who did not want to be named told AFP.

    The delegation reportedly traveled through Dubai on their way to the kingdom. They only take part as observers due to Tel Aviv quitting UNESCO in 2017 and accusing the organization of being “biased” over Israel’s historical abuses against Palestinians and the military occupation of their land.

    Last week, Israeli media accused the kingdom of “delaying granting visas” for the delegation, as the group was reportedly set to include Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Education Minister Yoav Kisch. In March, Riyadh refused Israel’s request to grant entry to Cohen for the UNESCO conference.

    The public visit by low-level Israeli officials to Saudi Arabia has been described as a coup for the US in its plans to secure a normalization agreement between the two nations.

    Normalization would be part of a so-called “mega-deal” with the US, which also calls for a defense pact from Washington, access to more advanced weaponry for the Saudis, and US help in developing a civilian nuclear program that would include uranium enrichment on Saudi soil.

    Saudi Arabia has also publicly declared that normalization hinges on the implementation of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which calls for the creation of an autonomous Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has reportedly set conditions to support Saudi-Israeli normalization.

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    Although the current visit by Israeli officials is being hailed as a major step toward normalization, last year, the kingdom relaxed its entry rules for Israeli passport holders. Furthermore, reports suggest dozens of Israeli businesspeople traveled to Saudi Arabia over the past year.

    Hebrew media revealed last year that several senior security and political figures, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the kingdom over the past decade. Israeli tourists have also been spotted in the planned futuristic megacity of NEOM in Saudi Arabia, which is still under construction.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 21:40

  • Computer Models Show Hurricane Lee Could Make Landfall In New England 
    Computer Models Show Hurricane Lee Could Make Landfall In New England 

    Hurricane Lee formed nearly a week ago (read here) and rapidly intensified into a Category 5 (read here) on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Lee has since been downgraded to a Cat. 3 with risks of restrengthening into a Cat. 4 this week while it churns toward the northeast Caribbean. New computer models show landfall impacts could be across Maine and the rest of New England.

    Lee was located about 340 miles north of the northern Leeward Islands, with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, according to a 0500 ET update by the National Hurricane Center. 

    “A slow west-northwestward motion is expected during the next couple of days, followed by a gradual turn toward the north by midweek,” NHC said. 

    The weather agency has no coastal watches or warnings in effect for the US mainland but does expect dangerous surf conditions across the Lesser Antilles, the British and US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas through this week. 

    Computer models favor Lee to ride parallel hundreds of miles offshore of the US East Coast by late week, with landfall impact concerns in the New England area next week. 

    “It remains too soon to know what level of impacts, if any, Lee might have along the US East Coast and Atlantic Canada late this week, especially since the hurricane is expected to slow down considerably over the southwestern Atlantic,” NHC said. 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 21:20

  • What If We Had A Functional Media?
    What If We Had A Functional Media?

    Authored by Frank Miele via RealClearPolitics.com,

    Could you imagine the difference if, in the fall of 2020, the Washington Post had accepted a copy of the Hunter Biden hard drive and actually investigated the thousands of emails, photos, text messages, and other evidence that implicated not just Hunter but his father Joe Biden in sundry unethical and criminal enterprises?

    What about CBS, NBC, and ABC?

    Shouldn’t we as news consumers expect these leviathans “to give the news impartially, without fear or favor, regardless of party, sect, or interests involved,” as the new owner of the New York Times declared way back in 1896?

    Yet in October 2020, when the New York Post wrote a series of stories describing the corrupt nature of the Biden family as exposed by the Hunter Biden laptop, there were few mainstream media outlets that dared to follow.

    Or really, not dared, but chose. Because there is nothing daring about doing your job correctly.

    You would think that when all the major social media companies like Facebook and Twitter blocked any discussion of the New York Post’s reporting on the laptop, these other major news corporations would have come to the aid of the Post.

    If any of them had done their own investigation of the laptop, do you think that Twitter could have continued to censor the news under the false claim that it was Russian disinformation? Hardly.

    But no mainstream media outlets were willing to put their own reputations on the line to support free speech – because their reputations are based entirely on being guardians of the left, and protecting Hillary, Barack and the Bidens is more important than fidelity to any chimeric sense of fairness and honor.

    And Hunter Biden’s laptop is just a symptom.

    In instance after instance, most of the media either closes its eyes to stories that implicate liberals or Democrats in unethical or illegal behavior, or pretends they are of no importance. Examples abound, from the whitewashing of Hillary Clinton’s involvement in the invention of the Russia collusion hoax to the complete lack of curiosity about the sweetheart deal offered to Hunter Biden by the so-called independent Justice Department.

    It’s no wonder that much of the public at large is convinced there is no evidence that warrants the impeachment of Joe Biden for bribery or treason.

    That’s what happens when you depend on biased news sources to form your opinion.

    And what’s worse: These are not just biased news sources, but ignorant ones. Take, for example, the case of Philip Bump of the Washington Post.

    Bump, a prized columnist and news analyst, was recently embarrassed by podcast host Noam Dworman, who is best known as the owner of a New York City comedy club. Bump claimed there was no evidence that President Biden had done anything improper in regard to his son’s business deals with foreign adversaries, and when Dworman rattled off some of the most important evidence suggesting otherwise, Bump took off his headset and walked away.

    The interview ended when Dworman asked Bump: “What do you take from [Hunter’s] text message to his adult daughter — Hunter texted her, “I had to give 50% of my income to Pop.”

    Bump, the Washington insider who molds public opinion by telling the rest of us what to think, declared meekly, “I have no idea what that means. I don’t. I have no idea what that means.”

    And let’s be clear.

    He doesn’t want to know what it means. That’s because he is not a real journalist; he is a propagandist for Democratic officials, ideas, and policies.

    Most importantly, it is when Dworman challenged Bump to acknowledge what a real journalist would do – ask questions of Hunter Biden’s daughter to get to the bottom of the story – that the columnist walked out.

    DWORMAN: Has anybody asked her?

    BUMP: I don’t know. I don’t know!

    DWORMAN: Don’t you think somebody should ask her?

    Hell no, because then the mainstream media would be serving the American public instead of Joe Biden. Perhaps even more nefariously than what it has done to protect the Bidens, the media has fed the public with a steady stream of lies about Donald Trump. Most relevant today, as the former president faces 91 felony counts and four indictments, is the insistent drumbeat of claims that Trump led an insurrection against the federal government or that he knowingly lied about election fraud.

    Again, just like with the Hunter Biden laptop, the average citizen is supposed to sheepishly accept the dismissive reporting of the media about election irregularities as the unadulterated truth, and any deviation from that narrative is met with silence or scorn.

    We have a perfect example of that in the investigative reporting of the Gateway Pundit last month that revealed extensive election fraud in Michigan during the 2020 election. If you are scratching your head, and asking what the heck I’m talking about, then it’s because you have fallen victim to the media’s refusal to cover any news that reflects positively on President Trump.

    Chances are, you have never even heard of the Gateway Pundit unless you are a dedicated conservative who has sought out alternative sources of news that counter the mainstream narrative. Anyone else would probably be scared away by the public assessments of such left-wing institutions as Wikipedia, which calls the Gateway Pundit “an American far-right fake news website…. known for publishing falsehoods, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories.”

    But if you want to know the facts about a police investigation that started in October 2020 and found that more than 10,000 mostly fake voter registrations were submitted to election officials in Muskegon County, Michigan, you would need to read the Gateway Pundit, or one of the conservative websites that picked up their stories. Because there is no way that the New York Times or NBC will ever report on this explosive story.

    And it doesn’t matter whether the Gateway Pundit is a conservative advocacy website or not.

    True, the website doesn’t have journalistic credentials, but who cares?

    Journalism as an institution is in total disrepair. No one cares about credentials; we care about credibility. What matters is the evidence the website’s reporters provide to substantiate their claims that a pattern of election fraud in Michigan and other states was discovered prior to the 2020 election and then covered up after the election. And there is plenty of evidence. Most importantly, the Gateway Pundit’s reporters obtained the Michigan State Police report that detailed an extensive preliminary investigation found credible evidence of a scheme to create fake voters.

    In many ways, the oppression of the Muskegon election interference story parallels the techniques used to oppress the New York Post’s laptop story. If you do a Google search for “Muskegon voter registration police report” (without the quotes) you will see an interesting pattern. 

    First, the blacklisting of Gateway Pundit from the Google results. Second, the utter silence of the elite media on this hugely significant story. Third, a number of so-called “fact checks” that downplay the veracity of the story. The only thing missing is a letter from 51 intelligence agents calling the whole thing a “Russian information operation.”

    The closest we ever got to a mainstream news acknowledgment of the Gateway Pundit’s reporting was when the Detroit News ran a shocking admission from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office that the facts of the story were accurate and that the election fraud was reported to the FBI:

    Nessel’s press secretary, Danny Wimmer, said the total number of suspected fraudulent forms delivered to the Muskegon clerk by the individual was 8,000 to 10,000 ahead of the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential election.

    ‘The city clerk in Muskegon detected the fraudulent material provided and alerted the proper authorities,’ Wimmer said in a statement. ‘A thorough investigation was conducted by multiple agencies within the state and no successful fraud was perpetrated upon the state’s election process or qualified voter file.’

    In other words, because the 10,000 fake registrations were detected by an alert election official, there was nothing to worry about. Huh?

    First of all, attempted election fraud on that scale should worry us all, but more importantly, there is no reason to think that all the election fraud was caught just because one election scammer was caught one time.

    The Michigan State Police report on the investigation was extensively redacted, but on page 14, the authorities failed to redact the name of GBI Strategies, a Democrat-aligned election-turnout specialist that has been confirmed as having 2020 operations in multiple states. The office of GBI Strategies that was searched under a warrant turned up as many as 19 vehicles used by the company’s workers, certainly more than one lone worker would need. In addition, the woman who tried to submit more than 10,000 fake registrations told state police that she had “done work” in Detroit, Ypsilanti, Southfield, Flint, and Lansing as well as Muskegon.

    Despite Nessel’s celebration of how 10,000 fake registrations were detected by an alert election clerk, there is absolutely no reason to believe that thousands of fake registrations were also uncovered in those other cities where GBI Strategies was hard at work. Conclusion? Joe Biden’s victory by 154,000 votes in the Great Lakes State may have been less great than we were led to believe. In fact, it may not have been a victory at all. The only way to find out would be to demand a forensic audit of voter registrations submitted in the month or two prior to the election.

    But that will never happen if the only voice demanding it is the Gateway Pundit. Because just as there was a concerted campaign to discredit the New York Post when it revealed the extent of the corruption in the Biden family as exposed on Hunter’s laptop, there has been an equally dishonest campaign to discredit the Gateway Pundit.

    Although you won’t find one story published by the Gateway Pundit when you look at the top 100 results of a Google search for the Muskegon police report on election fraud, you will not surprisingly find three “fact checks” claiming the story is fake news. Politifact, Lead Stories, and Newsweek all managed to find their way into the top 100 search results to debunk a story that Google was pretending didn’t even exist.

    Each of these “fact checks” followed the same pattern. They repeated the evidence in the Michigan State Police report that the Gateway Pundit based its reporting on, and then they said “It doesn’t matter” because the state attorney general said no fraud occurred. Really? That’s what we call a fact check these days?

    How about this? Let’s get the New York Times, CBS, the Washington Post and NBC to assign their best investigative reporters to comb through voter registration records in Michigan. Why not track down the CEO of GBI Strategies and question him about what techniques the company uses to increase voter turnout, which states they operated in during the 2020 election, and what relationship exists between GBI Strategies and the Democratic Party or the Biden campaign?

    But that will never happen, which is why the Gateway Pundit and similar citizen journalist organizations are necessary. They may not be perfect, but they provide a service we can’t get from most media outlets today  – they aren’t a mouthpiece for the official narrative being sold to us by the Deep State, the Democratic Party, and the donor class.

    And until the mainstream media rediscovers the value of reporting the news “without fear or favor,” I’ll rely on the Gateway Pundit, Breitbart News, and Citizen Free Press to provide the news the powers that be don’t want me to know.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 21:00

  • NATO Prepares For Biggest Military Exercise Since Cold War, And Close To Russia
    NATO Prepares For Biggest Military Exercise Since Cold War, And Close To Russia

    The upcoming Steadfast Defender NATO war drills, set for early 2024, are expected to be the biggest military exercises in Europe since the end of the Cold War, the Financial Times is reporting Monday.

    At a moment the war in Ukraine grows more and more unpredictable, given neither Russia nor the West have shown any signs of backing down, the FT writes that “Nato is preparing its biggest live joint command exercise since the cold war next year, assembling more than 40,000 troops to practice how the alliance would attempt to repel Russian aggression against one of its members.”

    Image source: NATO

    Like with the ongoing, smaller ‘Northern Coasts’ war games currently being executed by NATO in Baltic waters, the Steadfast Defender 24 drills will simulate how the military alliance would respond in the face of a hypothetical Russian invasion. 

    NATO officials were quoted in FT as saying the planned exercises are seen as a key part of “demonstrating to Moscow that the alliance is prepared to fight.”

    Steadfast Defender is slated to run in February and March, and is likely to be seen as a provocation by Moscow given it will take place in various locales across Germany, Poland, and the Baltic states – the latter which border Russia. According to more from the FT report detailing the upcoming giant war game:

    “It will start in spring next year and is expected to involve between 500 and 700 air combat missions, more than 50 ships, and about 41,000 troops, Nato officials said.”

    “It is designed to model potential maneuvers against an enemy modelled on a coalition led by Russia, named Occasus for the purposes of the drill.”

    Crucially, the Baltic Sea coastline – where NATO has increasingly flexed its military might with more and more exercises – is very important to Russia as its strategic Kaliningrad exclave sits on it, sandwiched between two NATO members, Poland and Lithuania. Last year’s Defender drills had been the largest up to that point, and they continue to get expanded year-by-year.

    A July Politico report explained that “NATO has steadily increased its control of the Baltic Sea — a crucial maritime gateway for the Russian fleet which has bases near St. Petersburg and in the heavily militarized Kaliningrad exclave.”

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    The publication also noted that “During the Cold War, only Denmark and Germany at the far western edge of the Baltic were in the alliance. Poland joining NATO in 1999 and the three Baltic republics in 2004 put most of the sea’s southern shore under alliance control.”

    Russia has meanwhile at times “answered” these games by staging large drills in the Black Sea. But dangerously at this moment the western Black Sea region is in a state of war, given Russian warships are launching missiles against Ukraine from there.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 20:40

  • Novak Djokovic For Director Of The World Health Organization
    Novak Djokovic For Director Of The World Health Organization

    Authored by Roger Simon via The Epoch Times,

    Myriad posters on X, formerly Twitter, late on Sept. 10 noted (36-year-old!) Novak Djokovic’s 24th Grand Slam championship.

    Extending his own men’s record – Margaret Court won as many when tennis was as Tiddlywinks to today’s game – was accomplished in front of signs for Moderna Inc., the maker of COVID-19 shots and a main advertiser for this year’s U.S. Open.

    Yet, as the world well knows, the greatest tennis player of all time – and arguably among the greatest athletes ever – forswore the COVID-19 vaccinations on offer, even though it meant that he would be banned from numerous tournaments, every one of which he would have been seeded No. 1.

    He also was banned from the United States and Australia altogether.

    Think of what his statistics would be had this not been so. They’re already unbelievable.

    Instead of taking the shots, he followed his own rigorous health regime of diet and exercise that few of us could emulate. I know I couldn’t.

    The results, however, speak for themselves, including, shortly, an unheard-of 400 weeks at world No. 1.

    Djoker, as he is called, also is an intelligent fellow who speaks several languages.

    So, I have a not-so-modest proposal. Why not make Novak the director-general of the World Health Organization?

    He would certainly do a better job than the objectively pro-Chinese communist incumbent who drags behind him all kinds of COVID-19-related misjudgments and misrepresentations.

    Instead of diktats from the top, we would have an actual example of physical excellence to mirror and inspire us.

    What would be better for humanity on average: to be a race of people who are gluten-free, pescatarian, and exercise daily, or a race that takes COVID booster shots annually or semi-annually on the advice of some totalitarian statists who claim medical expertise?

    I would bet my proverbial house on the former. In a landslide.

    Yes, Mr. Djokovic has had his moments when he has been too lax, such as when he did some partying with his fellow tennis players, and several contracted COVID-19.

    But undoubtedly, he has learned from the experience, just as he has an uncanny ability to learn from his opponents on the court and defeat them.

    You may think this is a silly recommendation, but in reality, it’s not.

    The appointing of a Novak Djokovic to a role such as that would have great symbolic significance, reminding us that the ultimate control over our bodies is most often our own.

    We can be masters of our physical fates, at least for a while, through our behaviors.

    Our mental fates are intimately tied to that.

    But, yes, I readily admit that isn’t going to happen. Mr. Djokovic isn’t about to retire as a tennis player. He seems to have more Grand Slam championships in him.

    How many exactly, only God knows.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 20:20

  • Watch: Germany's Baerbock Humiliated In Dressing Down By Ukraine Foreign Minister
    Watch: Germany’s Baerbock Humiliated In Dressing Down By Ukraine Foreign Minister

    German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was utterly humiliated by her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in a joint press conference on Monday. Baerbock had traveled to war-ravaged Ukraine on her fourth visit since Russia’s invasion. She engaged the Zelensky government in high level talks, at one point announcing 20 million euros more in humanitarian aid (Berlin has now provided 380 million euros this year).

    But naturally the Ukrainian side pressed her on supplying more advanced weapons, in particular the Swedish-German produced long-range Taurus cruise missile. That’s when Kubela lashed out at Germany’s top diplomat in a deeply embarrassing moment for Berlin…

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    Things took a turn at the joint presser when a journalist asked about the difficulties of the counteroffensive along the southern front, and posed whether Kubela thinks Kiev’s Western backers should supply weapons like the Taurus “quicker and faster”….

    Kubela then explained he had pressed the German delegation for Taurus deliveries as soon as possible, but that Baerbock left him no “hope” in these meetings. He then in a smug and patronizing tone looked toward her and said:

    “No, she didn’t go beyond the official position of the German government… but you’ll do it anyway, it’s just a matter of time.”

    “You will do it anyway, its just a matter of time, and I don’t understand why we are wasting time,” Kuleba said in response to a question at a press conference.

    Kubula then described that more and more Ukrainian lives have been lost due to Western delays in weapons approval and deliveries. The suggestion was that it’s Berlin’s fault (and that of other slow to play along allies).

    Online commentators were quick to point out how “embarrassing” and “pathetic” the moment was for the German side. Others pointed out the “arrogance” on display by Kubela, given also she made the lengthy, dangerous trip into Kiev to announce new humanitarian aid. Such “gifts” weren’t enough.

    One regional commentator had this to say in response to the clip: “So here we have a US protectorate (Germany) being publicly mocked by a US proxy (Ukraine). One of the pitfalls of military alignment — the interests of the alliance as defined by the alliance leader is always supreme.”

    The UK and other Kiev backers have previously charged (typically behind closed doors) that Zelensky is generally being ‘ungrateful’…

    Perhaps the Ukrainian side didn’t like that Baerbock had pointed to deeply rooted corruption among the country’s leadership. Reuters had cited that she earlier in the meetings said “Ukraine’s place was in the European Union” but then “urged it do more to fight corruption” if it hopes to be let in.

    Increasingly, both the Biden administration as well as staunch supporters like Poland have vented occasional frustration at Zelensky and his officials being “ungrateful”.  

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 20:00

  • School Rehires Transgender Female Coach After He Used Girls' Locker Room & Bathroom
    School Rehires Transgender Female Coach After He Used Girls’ Locker Room & Bathroom

    Via The College Fix,

    Board members of the Gettysburg Area School District in Pennsylvania recently voted to rehire a transgender female tennis coach despite reports he had used a girls’ locker room and bathroom in the past year.

    According to PennLive.com, the school board rehired Sasha Yates on September 5 by a 6-2 vote after deadlocking 3-3 on the issue a few weeks earlier.

    The report notes board members provided “scant” details about Yates’ coaching contract, but denied it was due to his gender preference.

    It also mentions – briefly – that a year ago Yates had received a memo from Gettysburg High School Principal Jeremy Lusk “outlining concerns” and noting it is “imperative to maintain professional boundaries.”

    These concerns included Yates (pictured above) changing in and “walking through” the girls’ locker room, and “talk[ing] to students about undergarment preferences and menstruation.”

    A more detailed report in The Epoch Times from late August notes that Yates, formerly known as “David,” had been coaching at Gettysburg since 2018. He switched to “Sasha” last year, and after being terminated in the spring reapplied in July.

    The board’s initial 3-3 vote had maintained Yates’ termination; this was overturned last week.

    Why was Yates let go in the first place?

    The Times notes that in the fall of 2022 Yates changed his clothes in the girls’ locker room — “stripping down to bra and panties” — where the (girls) soccer team also was changing.

    Members of the team had reported “it was clear from what they saw that Mr. Yates was still fully a man.”

    The following spring, Yates used a girls’ bathroom in which a member of the softball team was present. Yates reportedly “tried to strike up a conversation” with the 16-year-old female athlete, leading the girl to text her coach “[T]his damn tennis coach just walked into the girls bathroom … Like, [expletive] You’re a [expletive] man.”

    The girl’s father brought the matter to the attention of school officials, whereupon he was informed Yates “would not be rehired for another season of coaching.”

    He thus considered the matter closed.

    That is, until Yates’ name popped back up on a list of school coaches this summer.

    “Now, everybody in this area seems to be crying that it is hate—that nobody wants this guy back because he’s transgender and it’s hate,” the father said.

    “This has absolutely nothing to do with hate on my part. I don’t care what the guy wants to call himself. My job as a parent is to protect my child. And he had no business going into that bathroom, and his actions proved that he cannot be trusted.”

    Why was Yates brought back?

    The Times notes that following the bathroom incident, a solicitor convinced board members not to fire Yates immediately as they could end up being sued.

    The solicitor then warned about a possible lawsuit if the board did not rehire Yates after he (re)applied.

    PennLive reports while there were more people who spoke against Yates at the latest board meeting, “the majority of the comments were still squarely in the coach’s corner.”

    A PennLive editorial essentially ignores the locker room and bathroom incidents, opting instead (in conditional language) to call for Pennsylvania lawmakers “to protect LGBTQ+ people”:

    The state legislature should move immediately to provide clear protections for LGBTQ+ people in Pennsylvania and ensure what many fear is happening in Gettysburg doesn’t happen again.

    No one should face discrimination because of their sexual orientation. No one should face obstacles to securing housing or access to services because they are gay, lesbian, or transgender. No one should be denied a job or face being fired because of their sexual orientation.

    But supporters of Coach Yates believe that is the reason she hasn’t gotten her contract renewed to continue teaching tennis.

    PennLive also quotes a student on the boys tennis team who said “there’s no validity to the disgusting claims […] about [Yates]” and that he “cannot stand here and refuse to acknowledge that blatant transphobia is the main motivation behind this commotion.”

    The student also claimed a cisgender coach who had used the locker room would not have faced similar scrutiny.

    But the softball player’s father reiterated that Yates’ initial termination wasn’t “because of what he calls himself” – it was “because of his actions and the fact that he can’t follow directions.”

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 19:40

  • 'We Would Have Done Everything Differently': Gavin Newsom Takes Mulligan On Botched Pandemic Response
    ‘We Would Have Done Everything Differently’: Gavin Newsom Takes Mulligan On Botched Pandemic Response

    California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), who’s definitely not running for President in 2024 (until he does), is now on a damage control tour to rewrite history over his draconian pandemic mandates, which made California the “single worst state in every way” when it came to lockdowns, according to state Rep. Kevin Kiley (R).

    “I think we would’ve done everything differently,” Newsom told NBC‘s “Meet the Press” in a pre-taped interview which aired Sunday. “I think all of us in terms of our collective wisdom, we’ve evolved. We didn’t know what we didn’t know. We’re experts in hindsight. We’re all geniuses now.“

    Even host Chuck Todd pressed Newsom on his lockdown strategy, saying “You found a way to allow the motion picture industry and the movie industry to get back to work during COVID, but you didn’t allow people to grieve together at funerals or at churches.”

    California state Rep. Kevin Kiley (R) called Newsom out in a Sunday post on X, writing; 

    Newsom is now admitting he botched California’s COVID response. But this is not, as he claims, a matter of “hindsight” being 20/20. We fought back against his disastrous decisions at the time because they so clearly ran afoul of science, common sense, and the basic precepts of a free society.

    Newsom now says “we didn’t know what we didn’t know.” But all 49 other Governors knew better. California was the single worst state in every way: the most onerous school shutdowns, business shutdowns, and church shutdowns; the most draconian mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and vaccine passports; the most complete collapse of checks and balances, personal liberties, and self-government.

    Despite all of this – despite the incalculable damage he did to our young people, our businesses, and our democratic institutions in the name of “public health” – California wound up with an excess mortality rate exceeding the national average, even though we had the benefit of a relatively young population.

    At every turn, Newsom prioritized getting himself in the headlines and rewarding Special Interests over the health and well-being of Californians. It was the most consequential political failure in modern American history – and the most disgraceful.

    Others echoed Kiley’s sentiment: 

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    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 19:20

  • Victor Davis Hanson: The Frightened Left
    Victor Davis Hanson: The Frightened Left

    Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

    An impeachment inquiry looms and the shrieks of outrage are beginning.

    The Left is now suddenly voicing warnings that those who recently undermined the system could be targeted by their own legacies.

    So, for example, now we read why impeachment is suddenly a dangerous gambit.

    True, the Founders did not envision impeaching a first-term president the moment he lost his House majority. Nor did they imagine impeaching a president twice. And they certainly did not anticipate trying an ex-president in the Senate as a private citizen.

    In modern times, the nation has not rushed to impeach a president without a special counsel investigation to determine whether the chief executive was guilty of “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

    But thanks to the Democrats, recent impeachments now have destroyed all those guardrails. After all, Trump was impeached the first time on the fumes of an exhaustive but fruitless 22-month, $40 million special counsel investigation—one designed to find him guilty of Russian “collusion” and thus to be removed from office but found no actionable offenses at all.

    Instead, dejected Democrats moved immediately for a second try. In September 2019 a few weeks after Trump had announced his 2020 reelection bid, the Democratic House began to impeach the president on the new grounds that he had talked to the President Zelensky of Ukraine and said he might delay offensive arms shipments—unless the Ukrainians could demonstrate that they had ended corruption and, in particular, were no longer influenced by the Biden family quid pro quo shakedowns.

    Trump was proven right: the Biden family is not just corrupt, but, in particular, Joe Biden as head of the family and Vice President had intervened in the internal politics of an aid recipient, by threatening not to delay but rather to cancel outright all U.S. aid to Ukraine—unless it fired Viktor Shokin, a Ukrainian prosecutor.

    Shokin was then looking into the misadventures of Biden’s son Hunter, and why the Vice President’s imbecilic son was receiving lucrative compensation on the boards of a Ukrainian energy company Burisma, yet without any demonstrable expertise or education in matters of energy policy.

    Since Trump was impeached, we now know that Joe Biden did lie that he had no connection with or even knowledge of his son’s business. And we know that the fired prosecutor believed the Bidens were recipients of bribes. We know that contrary to Biden’s assertions, he was not following State Department policy.

    In contrast, the U.S. had, in fact, lauded Shokin’s efforts to repress corruption. In sum, Biden was undermining the stated policy of the U.S. government to protect his son’s—and his own—efforts to leverage money from Kyiv by monetizing the influence of his own Vice Presidency. In some sense, Biden was guilty of the very “treason” charge—altering U.S. foreign policy for personal benefit—by which Rep. Adam Schiff had earlier falsely accused Trump.

    Given that reality, it is easy to argue that the House impeached Donald Trump in 2019 for crimes that he did not commit, but which the current president Joe Biden most certainly had during his Vice Presidency.

    But weaponizing impeachment is just one baleful legacy of the Left.

    There are plenty more of their own precedents that Leftists now would not wish to have applied to themselves:

    • Will the next president have the FBI pay social media censors to suppress the dissemination of any news it feels is unhelpful to the reelection of a Republican president?

    • Is it OK now for the next Vice President to invite his son onto Air Force Two to cement multimillion dollars deals that benefit both, with Chinese, Russian, and Ukrainian oligarchs who enjoy government ties?

    • Should a conservative billionaire stealthily insert $419 million late in the 2024 campaign to absorb the work of registrars in key voting precincts?

    • If a Democratic president wins the 2024 election should conservative groups riot at the Capitol on Inauguration Day? Should a conservative celebrity yell out to the assembled crowd of protestors that she dreams of blowing up the White House? And if a Republican wins, should he prosecute any Democratic rioters who once again swarm Washington on Inauguration Day and charge them with “insurrection,” meting out long prisons sentences to the convicted?

    • Is Joe Biden now vulnerable to being impeached for systematic family corruption, or using the Department of Justice to obstruct the prosecution of his son in his last days in office, and then being tried in the Senate as a private citizen?

    • If the Republicans gain the Senate, will they move to end the filibuster in agreement with Democratic assertions that it is “racist” and a “Jim Crow relic”?

    • If the midwestern Electoral College “Blue Wall” seems to reappear, or if Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada recreate new blue walls, will there be a conservative effort to end the constitutionally mandated Electoral College?

    • If in 2024 there is a narrow Democratic win in the Electoral College, should conservative celebrities conspire to run ads urging the electors to reject their constitutional duties and not vote in accordance with their state’s popular vote that went Democratic? Should a Republican third-party candidate sue to stop a state’s selection of its electors on grounds the voting machines were rigged?

    • If Supreme Court decisions begin to appear to favor the left, will Republicans talk of packing the court, or have the DOJ turn a blind eye when mobs began to swarm the homes of liberal justices? Should the conservative media go after liberal judges with serial accusations of corruption? Should the Republican Senate leader assemble a mob of pro-life protestors at the doors of the court and call out Justices Sotomayor or Jackson by name, with threats that they will soon reap the whirlwind they have sowed, given they have no idea of what is about to “hit” them? Should conservative legal scholars urge the country to ignore Supreme Court decisions deemed liberal?

    • Will local prosecutors in red jurisdictions begin filing criminal charges against leading Democratic candidates on various charges, among them accusations of old inflated real estate assessments, campaign finance laws, questioning ballot results, or taking classified documents home? If Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton were to run in 2024, will their past illicit behavior gain the attention of a city or state attorney in Utah, West Virginia, or Wyoming?

    • If Joe Biden continues to decline at his present rate, will Republicans demand he be given the Montreal Cognitive Assessment? Will they subpoena Ivy League psychiatrists to testify that an intervention is needed to remove him from office? And will an FBI director and a deputy Attorney General plan to wear wires, and record Biden in his private moments of senility, as a way of convincing the cabinet or Congress that he is demonstrably mentally unfit for office?

    • In the 2024 election, should the Republican nominee hire a foreign ex-spy to compile falsehoods about the Democratic opponent and then seed them among the media, and Department of Justice? Should the FBI hire such a Republican contractor and likewise use him to gather dirt on the Democratic nominee?

    • If there appears incriminating evidence concerning a Republican nominee, should the FBI retrieve such evidence, keep it under wraps, lie about its veracity, and instead go along with media and ex-intelligence officers assertions that it is a fraudulent production of Russian intelligence?

    • Will conservative CIA and FBI directors, and the Director of National Intelligence be given exemptions from prosecutions for systematically lying while under oath in Congress or to federal investigators?

    • Will conservative celebrities ritually on social media, without fear of censorship, brag about ways of decapitating, shooting, stabbing, burning, or blowing up the Democratic nominee?

    • Since in many states the statues of limitations have not yet expired for arson, murder, assault, looting, and attacks on 1,500 police officers during the summer 2020 riots, will state prosecutors now begin identifying those 14,000 once arrested and mostly released, and begin refiling charges of conspiracy, racketeering—and “insurrection”?

    • Will they also file insurrection charges against those who torched a federal courthouse, a police precinct, and a historic Washington DC church, or conspired to riot and swarm the White House grounds in an effort to attack the President of the United States?

    • Will they file charges against Vice President Kamala Harris for “inciting” ongoing violent demonstrations with monotonous, emphatic, and repetitive threats in the weeks before her nomination? Contrary to liberal “fact checkers” at time of nationwide violence, Harris certainly did not distinguish violent from non-violent protests, but in fact implied that they were intimately tied to the upcoming election and beyond. So given the hundreds of police officers injured, the hundreds of millions in property damage, and the dozens killed, what exactly did Harris mean by tying that ongoing summer of often violent protests to Election Day?:

    “But they’re not gonna stop. They’re not gonna stop, and this is a movement, I’m telling you. They’re not gonna stop, and everyone beware, because they’re not gonna stop. They’re not gonna stop before Election Day in November, and they’re not gonna stop after Election Day. Everyone should take note of that, on both levels, that they’re not going to let up — and they should not. And we should not.”

    Was the above more or less inflammatory than Trump’s January 6 remarks for which in part he is under indictment:

    “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore…I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard”?

    In sum, the Democratic leadership along with the media long ago deemed that Donald Trump posed such an existential threat to democracy that they were entitled to destroy democratic norms to destroy him.

    Their actions were predicated on three assumptions: one, they had that right because they were more sophisticated, morally superior, and smarter than the rest of America and thus deserved the exemption to blow up customs and norms to achieve the “correct” ends; two, whatever damage they did to long-standing protocols of equal justice under the law paled in comparison to the damage that Trump supposedly would or did do; and three, their conservative opposition either lacked the wherewithal, the brains, or the audacity to emulate such behavior and thus there was no worry anyone would dare do to them what they did to others.

    And now? For the first time, given recent polls, the Left is scared that a Republican House and perhaps soon a Republican Senate and White House might follow its own precedents, and use new leftwing guidelines to enact conservative agendas.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 19:00

  • CJ Hopkins & The (Continued) Criminalization Of Dissent
    CJ Hopkins & The (Continued) Criminalization Of Dissent

    Authored by CJ Hopkins via The Consent Factory,

    So, the Berlin State Prosecutor has launched another criminal investigation of me.

    Apparently, I’m being charged with reporting on the original investigation of me that the Berlin State Prosecutor launched in June.

    What happened is, the prosecutor visited my blog and read a column I published in July, The Criminalization of Dissent (Revisited), which included screenshots of the alleged “hate-crime” Tweets that the original criminal investigation is based on, and that resulted in the Order of Punishment that the Berlin District Court handed down two weeks ago. So, the prosecutor opened a new criminal investigation and sent my attorney an official notice explaining the gravity of the additional charges.

    The charges are of the utmost gravity. I am officially accused of “relativizing” or “minimizing” the crimes of the Nazis … by republishing the two Tweets that I originally tweeted.

    Here, once again, are the Tweets …

    Yes, that’s right, I just published them again. I am going to explain why I published them again.

    I’m not going to explain the Tweets again. I have explained them in several previous columns. I have explained them to Matt Taibbi of Racket News, Max Blumenthal of The Grayzone, James Freeman, Patrick Henningsen, Elena Louisa Lange, Dirk Pohlmann, and Christine Black at Brownstone Institute (forgive me if I’m forgetting anyone). I explained them to Stefan Millius of Weltwoche, and to another journalist at a big Swiss newspaper. My attorney has explained them, in German, to the prosecutor, and to German audiences on Kontrafunk. RT published a piece explaining them. I believe they have been exhaustively explained.

    Not that they ever really needed explanation. You would have to be a certified moron to believe they “minimized,” or “relativized,” or in any way made light of the crimes of the Nazis. You and I are not certified morons. Neither is the Berlin State Prosecutor. Neither is the District Court of Berlin. Not to put too fine a point on it, the charges are horseshit, and everyone involved knows it. They are a blatant pretext to crackdown on dissent.

    OK, now let me explain why I just published the Tweets again, knowing full well that the Berlin State Prosecutor is probably going to read this column, become extremely agitated, and charge me with additional “hate crimes.”

    No, I am not a glutton for punishment. I’m not at all enjoying my introduction to the so-called “German legal system.”

    It is taking up my time.

    It is making me angry.

    It is upsetting my wife, which I do not appreciate.

    It is costing me a lot of money.

    It has forced me to ask other people for money, which is something I do not like to do.

    It’s screwing with my sleep.

    It is distracting me from my work.

    And so on. Which is exactly the point.

    The goal of horseshit prosecutions like mine (and those of many other dissidents currently) is (a) to punish us for speaking out against “New Normal” totalitarianism by making our lives as miserable as possible, (b) to make examples of us to discourage others from speaking out, and (c) to intimidate us into shutting the fuck up.

    Totalitarians, fascists, and other power freaks are essentially just glorified schoolyard bullies. They may cloak themselves in the mantle of the law, but their modus operandi is brute force. Beneath all the bullshit, their message is simple: “either do what we say, or we will hurt you.”

    OK, prepare yourself, because I’m going to give you some advice. I do not generally like to do that, but, in this case, I’m going to make an exception.

    Never, ever, give in to a bully.

    The second you do, that bully owns you.

    What the bully wants, more than whatever he is demanding, more than anything else in the world, is your fear. The bully interprets your fear as respect, because the bully doesn’t understand respect. The bully craves your fear, and your obedience, because they reify the bully’s “authority.” They enable the bully to feel powerful and important. The bully needs to feel “powerful” and “important” because the bully feels weak and unimportant, and afraid. All fascists are essentially cowards. They are cowards, and nihilists, who hate themselves, and fear themselves, and hate and fear life, which is why they are so obsessed with controlling everything.

    The point is, never give in to a bully. Never reify a bully’s “authority.” If you do, you will find yourself sucked into the bully’s sadistic, nihilistic “reality.” You will be playing by the bully’s rules. And that is all “reality” actually is, a set of rules we agree to play by, or, in this case, do not agree to play by.

    So, getting back to my criminal case, and the Berlin State Prosecutor’s latest attempt to bully me into shutting up and demonstrating my “respect” for the “authority” and “power” of the Berlin State Prosecutor, fuck that. I do not respond well to threats. I do not take orders from totalitarians and fascists, or any other type of authoritarians or bullies. So that is why I have republished those Tweets, and why I will continue to republish those Tweets every time the German authorities threaten me with additional criminal charges for refusing to obey their “authority.”

    Again, I am under no illusions. I expect the prosecutor to file new charges and issue further threats, which I will defy, which will lead to additional charges, and so on. I am not looking forward to that, but I don’t have any other choice, not if I want to be able to respect myself.

    If you have any doubts about whether that will happen (i.e., an endless cycle of new bullshit criminal charges stemming from my repeated refusal to respond to the German authorities’ bullying), well, let me tell you about another dissident the German authorities are currently persecuting. I’ll do it quickly, and then I’ll let you go.

    As many of my readers are aware, I am presently holed up in an undisclosed location in the Italian countryside.

    Michael Ballweg, the founder and lead organizer of the “Querdenken” movement, was also here for a while. Michael, who is an excellent cook, whipped up some delicious “extremist” dinners, after which we all sat around “denying Covid,” “conspiracy theorizing,” brainwashing each other with “Russian propaganda,” and “delegitimizing the state,” and so on. Late at night, when the other “extremists” were sleeping, Michael and I discussed our criminal cases.

    Michael’s case is a bit more serious than mine. Michael just spent nine months in jail. The German authorities have seized his assets, and frozen all his funds, so he is homeless, and bankrupt, and they are prosecuting him for attempted fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion, or, in other words, for launching a protest movement. If you’re not familiar with Michael and Querdenken, you can read the official propaganda disseminated by the usual “mainstream” media or the Intelligence officers who edit Wikipedia, or … here’s a Spiked article to start you off. Then, go ahead, do your own research.

    The most absurd aspect of Michael’s case is the German authorities’ “theory of his crimes.” According to this theory, Michael’s devious scheme was to commit serious fraud by … well, basically, launching a nationwide protest movement that was certain to get a ton of media attention and incur the wrath of the German authorities. As any criminal mastermind will confirm, the best way to commit major fraud is to absolutely infuriate the government by organizing a series of massive protests, and generate tons of media attention, because you definitely want as much publicity as possible while you are defrauding your unsuspecting supporters of their voluntary donations to your cause.

    Seriously, this is their “theory of the crime,” which would make Michael Ballweg the most idiotic and incompetent fraudster in the history of fraud.

    I could go on about his case, and mine, or those of the numerous other dissidents that are currently being made examples of, and about the broader GloboCap crackdown on dissent, which is happening, not just in New Normal Germany, but all throughout the New Normal Reich, but I need to end here and go water some plants. I am serving as “caretaker” of this thoughtcriminal sanctuary, and I take my responsibilities seriously.

    I’ll keep you (and the Berlin State Prosecutor) posted on my further “hate crimes.” In the meantime, best wishes from somewhere in Italy!

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 18:20

  • IPO Renaissance Not So Clear: ARM 5x Oversubscribed, InstaCart Big Down-Round
    IPO Renaissance Not So Clear: ARM 5x Oversubscribed, InstaCart Big Down-Round

    Amid concerns of mounting economic headwinds and market volatility, there is renewed optimism that the 18-month slowdown in the initial public offering market, which collapsed equity underwriting revenues, could be due for a rebound. 

    On deck this week is the IPO for UK-based chip designer Arm Holdings Plc, which is more than five times oversubscribed. Financials Times spoke with people familiar with the IPO that said the company would raise about $4.9 billion with shares priced at the high end of $47 to $51 per share. The deal is expected to close as early as Tuesday. 

    Strong demand for the chip designer that SoftBank Group Corp owns could be what is needed to break the ice on the frozen US IPO market. A group of top tech companies have indicated interest in “purchasing up to an aggregate of $735 million of the ADSs offered” in ARM’s offering, including Apple, Nvidia, Google, AMD, and Taiwan Semiconductor. 

    However, Arm could be an outlier.

    Also on Monday, Instacart, one of the largest online grocery delivery firms, submitted an updated filing for its upcoming IPO, indicating a money raise of $616 million, with a value of $9.3 billion — or about 25% less than its private valuation two years ago.

    Following a surge in growth stocks that pushed US equity benchmarks to near-record highs, investors have been drinking the Wall Street ‘AI Kool-Aid’ with hopes of a robust stock market recovery. 

    “As we sit here in late August, looking towards the fall, IPO volumes are actually up 140% this year,” RBC Capital Markets’ John Kolz wrote in a recent note. 

    Kolz continued, “Follow-on issuance is up 43%. Converts are up 140%. But those numbers are off an extremely depressed base. The NASDAQ is up 27%, but there’s been virtually no tech IPOs. Deal volumes have been decent, but performance thus far has been fair at best. There’s real-time momentum in the markets right now, but what does that mean for rest of the year, and for IPOs specifically?”

    RBC’s Mike Ventura reaffirmed Kolz’s view: “If you think of the year-over-year comparisons you’ve listed, most of that deal volume came from a well-defined window in May and June, ahead of corporate blackouts. The market data has investors feeling good. The knock-on effect of the very strong follow-on performance has already led to a few green shoots in the IPO market.”

    While the headline of an oversubscribed Arm IPO brings relief for investors, there is still an unsettled macroeconomic environment where risks of a hard landing (read: Goldman questioning the soft landing narrative) mount despite investors latching onto the ‘Goldilocks’ view. 

    Moving beyond the AI bubble, which even JPMorgan’s top tech trader Ron Adler warned might have just popped, we shared a note Monday morning that shows a collapse in Bloomberg’s Smart Money Flow Indicator.

    There are rumblings under the surface… 

    Whether it’s the prospect for ‘higher for longer’ interest rates, another rate hike, or a scare in consumer spending, the market could be just one narrative away from de-risking, suggesting the IPO market recovery might be too premature and possibly a 2024 story.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 18:00

  • 22 Years Later: America's Journey From Impenetrable Fortress To A Power In Decline
    22 Years Later: America’s Journey From Impenetrable Fortress To A Power In Decline

    Authored by Jordan Schachtel via ‘The Dossier’ Substack,

    America was an impenetrable fortress.

    That’s at least what the news and the believably competent people in charge said at the time.

    We just assumed that nobody would ever mess with us.

    Until one day, the Twin Towers came crashing down.

    On the morning of September 11, 2001, our country was widely understood as the lone hyper power that whooped that bad guy Saddam not so long ago. We also had just bombed the brakes off of Yugoslavia, but that was necessary to keep peace and such. When it came to military prowess, we were the NBA All Stars, and everyone else’s defense capabilities added up to a high school basketball team. At least that’s what we were told. China was not yet on the radar. America was the uncontested hegemon. And we were nice enough to maintain global order as the World Police, too!

    Before September 11, it was just assumed that the government would keep us safe from any foreign threats. One could just imagine how all of those ultra intelligent, wise and moral bureaucrats from those three letter agencies would have all of these super secret Star Wars-like tech measures in place to protect us from the barbarians beyond our shores.

    Looking back on it now, September 11, 2001 was the first day of my life that broadly challenged my preconceived notion that the government was our partner in preserving our freedoms and our constitutional system of order.

    What the heck? Why didn’t our ultra competent Pentagon defense systems protect us and shoot down the bad guys before they could hit us? Hmm, must’ve been a catastrophic error or something…

    But instead of allowing for an internal investigation into the developing paradoxes being introduced into the Millennial mind, the current regime quickly distracted the citizenry with the likes of Al Qaeda, Afghanistan, the Taliban, and co.

    I was in middle school across the river in New Jersey, and still remember that day like it was yesterday, when we were abruptly pulled out of class and sent home. Some of those kids’ parents worked in the original World Trade Center. For some classmates who lost a loved one, it would mark the last time I ever saw them. I hope they’re doing well now. Everyone knew someone, or several someones, who never made it back from work that day.

    In the New York City metro area, it was a time of disbelief, sadness, unity, and rage.

    Everyone remembers the unity. Many have to be reminded of the rage.

    There was an overwhelming sense that we needed to get even, and as soon as humanly possible.

    The likes of Ron Paul and other non-interventionist forces were shouted down as treasonous.

    It was time to get even, even if we didn’t really understand who or what our enemy comprised.

    The American war machine weaponized this rage, this indignant mission, into a multi decade boondoggle in dozens of nations.

    At the time of the 9/11 attacks, foreign policy was more of an intellectual exercise for the dorks in D.C.

    Very few Americans knew anything about the Muslim world, let alone Afghanistan (and later Iraq, Syria, Libya, etc).

    The people who claimed they knew stuff didn’t really know anything either. We were the easiest of marks.

    As the wars continued, George W. Bush reminded the nation that we had to “fight them over there so we do not have to face them in the United States of America.”

    But wait, how did they get here in the first place?

    There was no time for those kind of “insensitive” questions, even years after the 9/11 tragedy. It was always time to get the bad Al Qaeda guys, harbored by their Taliban sponsors. The mission was ever expansive, and it didn’t seem to matter. Anyone who wasn’t on board with the War On Terror agenda was on the side of the terrorists, we were told.

    Trillions in spending and thousands of lost American lives later, our country is no more secure than it was on 9/10/2001. Moreover, our sacred liberties have been trampled upon, and the country once understood as an impenetrable fortress is a power in decline.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 09/11/2023 – 17:40

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Sep 11

Today’s News 11th September 2023

  • Enhancing Post-9/11 Safety: Armed Pilots
    Enhancing Post-9/11 Safety: Armed Pilots

    Submitted by Gun Owners of America,

    September 11th, 2001, was a turning point in American history, and for many people across the country, a day that forever changed their lives. Americans lost loved ones in the initial attacks, and many brave first responders gave their lives, saving those from the rubble during the aftermath.

    But 9/11 served as a wake-up call as well. In the wake of the attacks, the Transportation Security Administration was created, and steps were taken to harden security at airports and inside commercial aircraft.

    But 22 years later, the TSA is little more than “security theatre.” The agency has come under frequent criticism from journalists, politicians, and even previous heads of the agency itself.

    The criticism didn’t appear out of thin air either, as undercover probes of TSA by the Department of Homeland Security revealed that in 2015, screeners did not find 95% of weapons, drugs, and explosives being smuggled through airport security. In 2017, it was again reported that TSA continues to fail above 80% of its tests.

    While we certainly hope that this number continues to improve, TSA only provides its numbers of firearms found at checkpoints. These “catches” usually happen when gun owners forget their firearms in their carry-on bags.

    Additionally, a House Oversight Committee report found that TSA wasted hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on equipment that spends most of its “useful life” in storage. During the investigation for the report, TSA tried to hide its misuse of taxpayer funds by providing “inaccurate, incomplete, and potentially misleading information to Congress in order to conceal the agency’s continued mismanagement of warehouse operations.”

    While the TSA continues to provide “security theatre,” Gun Owners of America has ensured that real security measures can be taken by pilots.

    In 2002, Gun Owners of America worked closely with US Senators and Representatives to pass into law the Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act.

    The law’s passage was an uphill battle that took over a year. From the very beginning, getting guns into airline cockpits was a struggle. The President at the time, George Bush, was only lukewarm to the idea, and the Federal Aviation Administration was flat out opposed to it. Plus ALPA, the largest airline pilots association, was initially against the idea as well. 

    But thanks to the grassroots support of Gun Owners of America members and pilots nationwide, the bill gained momentum and made its way to the resolute desk.  

    After the law was passed, initial estimates said that upwards of 30,000 pilots were expected to apply to carry their firearms in the air. In 2008, it was reported that one in 10 pilots carry a firearm in the cockpit. We can only imagine that the number has continued to increase over time.

    To this day, pilot carry remains an instrumental part of airline security. It provides pilots with a means of stopping terrorism and defending their aircraft should it come under attack. 

    So, this year, as we remember 9/11 and those we lost—GOA will continue to fight for the right to keep and bear arms and do whatever part we can to ensure tragedies like 9/11 never happen again. 

    *   *  *  

    We’ll hold the line for you in Washington. We are No Compromise. Join the Fight Now.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 23:30

  • Childcare Now Costs $1,031 More Than Public College Tuition, On Average, In The United States
    Childcare Now Costs $1,031 More Than Public College Tuition, On Average, In The United States

    The next time someone asks whether or not you think Joe Biden’s “Inflation Reduction Act” is working, you can share with them a new research report showing that childcare is becoming more expensive than in-state college tuition in 28 out of 50 states.

    In fact, on average in the United States, childcare now costs $1,031 more than public college tuition, according to a new report from NetCredit.

    The report “researched the average annual fees paid for public and private college tuition and the average cost of childcare in each U.S. state” and then “calculated the difference in yearly fees paid for childcare and in-state college tuition”. 

    As part of their methodology, NetCredit then “compared these costs to local average salaries to find the affordability of childcare and in-state college tuition in every state.”

    Among other findings in their research was that in Hawaii, annual childcare costs $15,995 more than a year of in-state public college tuition and that childcare is most affordable in Utah, where annual costs are equal to 7.87% of the average annual salary.

    The report found that coastal states were the ones where childcare was most expensive and “much of the Midwest and eastern U.S. is priced in favor of childcare”.

    “Vermont and Pennsylvania are more affordable for childcare since they have the most expensive public college fees in our study,” the report noted. 

    Those receiving in-state tuition in Vermont spend 24.22% of their annual wage paying for it, the study found:

    The average salary in both Vermont and Pennsylvania is around $55,450, putting these states among the top 20 for average wages in the U.S. But public college costs are so high in these states as to make investing in a college education significantly less affordable than elsewhere. “About 6% of UVM’s budget is from the state, but in many states it’s 25-40%,” explains Richard Cate, vice president of finance at the University of Vermont. “Being a small rural state, we don’t have big business to help fuel tax revenue,” says Marie Johnson, director of student financial services.

    Here is a glance at the highest annual childcare costs in the U.S., and their difference between in-state college tuition:

    The study’s full results can be found in the above table, which you can toggle at this link.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 23:00

  • Violent Criminals Continue To Pose as Migrant Children To Enter US; Congress Must Act Now
    Violent Criminals Continue To Pose as Migrant Children To Enter US; Congress Must Act Now

    Authored by R.J. Hauman and Lora Ries via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Despite all the “victory laps” Biden administration officials have taken as they brag that their unlawful policies and processing programs have reduced illegal immigration, recent border data shows the opposite.

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents apprehend an illegal alien with a criminal record in an early morning raid at home, in Los Angeles, Calif., on Sept. 8, 2022. (Irfan Khan, Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)

    On top of that, there is an undeniable link between the increase in illegal entrants being welcomed into the country and an increase in violent crime, which is posing a significant threat to public safety.

    This is a matter that must be addressed when Congress returns in September, and its resolution is so critical that Congress must tie it to the negotiations for funding the federal government for the new fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

    In July, as temperatures soared into the triple digits, Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 132,652 illegal aliens between the ports at the southwest border—a 33 percent increase over June, when 99,539 illegal aliens were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico line.

    The lower total in June was clearly an artificial reduction due to the abuse of the parole system, a tool this administration uses to quickly bring in as many inadmissible aliens without visas through the actual ports of entry (not around them) as possible.

    Not all of these illegal aliens are the same, but certain groups present more challenges to an overwhelmed Border Patrol and are able to easily enter the United States—notably adults entering illegally with children as a “family unit” and minors who enter without a parent or guardian, also known as unaccompanied alien children.

    On top of increases in both single adult and family unit apprehensions, unaccompanied children at the southwest border increased by nearly 50 percent in July compared to June.

    The same Biden administration officials who have repeatedly begged Central Americans not to send their children on the treacherous journey to the United States at the hands of smugglers and traffickers have done absolutely nothing to slow their entries. Instead, their policies and methods of resettlement are encouraging more.

    The fact that unaccompanied children are regularly raped and exploited on their journey to the United States is a heartbreaking reality. And sadly, their lives do not improve once they enter the country, where they are then turned over to questionable, if not dangerous, “sponsors.” Many are also forced to work in unsafe conditions that violate child labor laws, go missing, or are sex trafficked.

    Furthermore, teenage members of MS-13 and other violent Central American gangs continue to take advantage of current U.S. policy and the easiest, most vulnerable migrant flow and enter the United States as unaccompanied children.

    More than 70 percent of unaccompanied children are teens, aged 15 to 17, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, with some adults even posing as minors.

    Too many Americans and migrants themselves have needlessly died at the hands of vicious gang members who were welcomed into the country and then released into our communities. Yet another tragic instance of this took place mere weeks ago, with the media refusing to explore the reality of the situation.

    Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, a 17-year-old native of Guatemala, illegally crossed into the United States and self-surrendered in El Paso, Texas, in January. He was quickly turned over to HHS custody as an unaccompanied child and released to a sponsor in Louisiana. On Aug. 19, he was arrested as a suspect in a brutal murder of an 11-year-old migrant girl in Pasadena, Texas.

    At the time of his arrest, his address was not in Louisiana with the sponsor but an apartment complex in Texas where the little girl was found after having been sexually assaulted, strangled, put into a trash bag, and hidden under her bed while her father was at work.

    The media continue to leave out the immigration details in their coverage of this brutal crime that should have been prevented in a concerted effort to cover for the Biden administration and keep the historic flow of unaccompanied alien children going and viewed in a positive light.

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics show a consistent and alarming increase of convicted criminal aliens that it encounters. As such, this horrific crime by Garcia-Rodriguez is just one of the thousands of murders, rapes, and other violent crimes that occur each year at the hands of illegal aliens in the U.S.

    What is even more outrageous is the fact that Democrat politicians in the region and here in Washington continue to ignore such crimes.

    The same folks who claim that everything they do related to border security is humanitarian in nature have shown more outrage over inflatable water barriers that Texas erected than the murder of an 11-year-old girl by a now-18-year-old man allowed into the country by their policies.

    Enough is enough.

    Republicans on Capitol Hill will soon be at a crossroads when it comes to addressing the Biden Border Crisis and funding the federal government.

    It is essential that House Republicans unite behind a reasonable demand to include their already passed border security measure as part of any spending agreement that is passed to avert a government shutdown in late September.

    The bill, the Secure the Border Act (HR 2), fulfilled promises made to the American people on delivering solutions to a self-inflicted crisis that harms not just cities and states along the border but every city and state around the country.

    The bill’s intentions and contents are clear: It would end the crisis and restore sanity, safety, and security at our borders. A key component that helps do that is closing longstanding loopholes in the processing of unaccompanied alien children.

    It is vital that this bill is a part of any agreement for the continuation of funding for the federal government.

    If the federal government cannot perform the basic task of keeping our border secure and preventing instances like the murder of an innocent 11-year-old girl from happening, it should not be funded.

    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
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 22:30

  • Reparations Backlash: California Voters Oppose "Unfair" Cash Payments For Slavery According To Berkeley Poll
    Reparations Backlash: California Voters Oppose “Unfair” Cash Payments For Slavery According To Berkeley Poll

    The sprawling social experiment known as California faces an uphill battle on reparations, after a new poll from UC Berkeley and the LA Times reveals that voters overwhelmingly oppose the idea of cash payments for black descendants of slaves by a 2-to-1 margin.

    The poll found that 59% of voters oppose cash payments vs. 28% who support the idea. Four out of 10 voters “strongly” opposed the idea.

    Interestingly, just 19% of those opposed cited cost as an issue. The majority simply says it’s unfair to today’s taxpayers and wrong to single out one group for reparations.

    In the Berkeley poll, when voters who oppose reparations were asked why, the two main reasons cited most often were that “it’s unfair to ask today’s taxpayers to pay for wrongs committed in the past,” picked by 60% of voters, and “it’s not fair to single out one group for reparations when other racial and religious groups have been wronged in the past,” chosen by 53%.

    Only 19% said their reason was that the proposal would cost the state too much, suggesting that money alone is not the main objection.

    Among Democrats, 43% favored and 41% opposed cash reparations. Republicans were strongly against the proposal at 90% with only 5% in favor. Independents were 65% opposed and 22% in favor.

    Black California voters were more likely to support cash payments than any other demographic, with 76% in favor and 16% opposed, the survey found. Almost two-thirds of white voters were opposed as were 6 in 10 Latino and Asian voters. -LA Times

    “It has a steep uphill climb, at least from the public’s point of view,” said poll director Mark DiCamillo, who was obviously disappointed at the results. “The idea of cash reparations is really what’s being strongly opposed,” he continued, adding “There could be other solutions that could be much more warmly received.”

    The sobering reality could put Gov. Gavin Newsom and his fellow Democrats in a tight spot, after state leaders have vocally endorsed the idea of reparations – going so far as to create California’s Reparations Task Force in 2020. The objective was to create a model for national reparations. But as the poll reveals, they are sailing against strong winds.

    The task force has indeed been hard at work. They propose payments to all descendants based on a plethora of criteria, ranging from health disparities to housing discrimination. But there’s more: The group also suggests ending the death penalty, restoring voting rights to all incarcerated individuals, and implementing rent caps in historically redlined areas.

    Members of the reparations task force previously said convincing non-Black Californians that the harms from slavery are still persisting today could be one of the biggest challenges for proponents.

    Much of the task force’s work centered on hearing testimony from academics, economists and other experts to gather evidence of the effects of slavery and to prove the ways in which government-sanctioned policies discriminated against Black people long after slavery was abolished. -LA Times

    When asked about his stance on reparations in the spring, Newsom said reparations are more than just cash payments.

    “It doesn’t have to be in the frame of writing a check; reparations comes in many different forms. But one cannot deny these historical facts, and I really believe very strongly we have to come to grips with what’s happened,” Newsom told Fox News host Sean Hannity.

    When asked whether the state is ‘doing enough’ to ensure that black residents have a fair chance to succeed, 29% said the California is doing too little, 22% said the state is doing too much, and 26% said it’s just enough. Nearly 1/4, or 23%, had no opinion.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 22:00

  • Estimates Of China's Youth Unemployment Hit 50%
    Estimates Of China’s Youth Unemployment Hit 50%

    By Eric Peters, CIO of One River Asset Management

    “The younger generation must inherit and carry forward the spirit of self-reliance, and hard work, abandon arrogance, and engrave the passion of youth in the water just like our parents did, on the monument of history,” declared Xi, some time ago.

    Youth unemployment across China continued its rise this summer. The official number approached 21% before Beijing halted its publication.

    Unofficial estimates stretched to nearly 50% when one counts the “lying flat”, a term adopted by youth who are choosing to quit the rat race altogether. In previous decades, agitated youth took to the streets. New forms of hyper-surveillance make such rebellion far harder. Instead, the young simply opt out.

    “The facts of countless successful lives show that in youth, if you choose to endure hardship, you will also choose to gain, and if you choose to contribute, you will also choose to be noble,” said Xi.

    Parents across the world nodded in violent agreement, because of course, nothing could be truer.

    “In youth, experiencing more beatings, setbacks, and tests, will help you walk a successful life,” said Xi, a cold terror slowly rising in the leader for life. The national savings rate rose further still, his subjects preparing for harder times.

    China’s fertility rate collapsed to a stunning new low of 1.09 per woman (from 1.30 in 2020). This symptom of profound pessimism, if not reversed dramatically, will lead to economic and then civilizational collapse.

    “In the later years of my life, I always reminded myself that hardship is an opportunity. I must persist in learning more and working more and go to difficult places to train myself,” said Xi, searching for a solution to a problem far more challenging than trade wars, chip dependencies, ghost cities, insolvent banks, stranded infrastructure built for a globalized world that is fading, not to mention his nation’s food, energy and water insecurity.

    All such problems are solvable provided a nation has a growing population of ambitious, optimistic, hardworking youth. But how to lift a nation whose young consider their current circumstances, assess their future, and quietly lie flat?

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 21:30

  • Southwest Airlines Finds Bogus Parts On 737 Jet
    Southwest Airlines Finds Bogus Parts On 737 Jet

    Weeks after European aviation authorities flagged a London-based firm for supplying “unapproved parts” for jet engines on older Airbus SE A320s and Boeing Co. 737s, Southwest Airlines has confirmed to Bloomberg that one of these parts ended up on a 737. 

    Southwest told Bloomberg in an emailed statement that bogus low-pressure turbine blades from AOG Technics were found on one of its Boeing 737 NG. The part was immediately replaced, the airline said. 

    The part scandal spread across the Atlantic after the European Union Aviation Safety Agency said earlier this month, “Numerous Authorised Release Certificates for parts supplied via AOG Technics have been forged.” 

    AOG sold bogus parts for CFM56 engines, the world’s best-selling turbine, to repair shops servicing Airbus SE A320s and Boeing Co. 737s. Some of these older jets are used by budget airlines. 

    According to Bloomberg, CFM International, the GE-Safran manufacturing venture of the engine, “found 78 documents they say are falsified and which cover 52 CFM56 engine part numbers, along with two faked records for CF6 components.” 

    AOG began operations in 2015 in the UK and has supplied an unknown amount of CFM56 parts with fake certification to the global parts market. CFM and GE noted that no engine issue incidents have been traced back to AOG’s parts. 

    It may be time to ask other US airline carriers if they also used bogus AOG parts in their engines… 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 21:00

  • Who's Better At Generating Innovative Ideas, ChatGPT Or MBA Students?
    Who’s Better At Generating Innovative Ideas, ChatGPT Or MBA Students?

    By Mish Shedlock of MishTalk

    Wharton professors say Ideas Are Dimes a Dozen and they put that theory to a test. But how does one determine a good idea? And what does better mean?

    Wharton notes the difference between consistency and better. For example, an airplane pilot who lands aircraft with average smoothness 10 times out of 10 is better than one who is brilliant 9 times out of 10 and crashes once.

    With ideas, one fantastic idea and 10 poor ones is better than 10 average ones. With that backdrop let’s dive into the article.

    Abstract: ChatGPT-4 can generate ideas much faster and cheaper than students, and the ideas are on average of higher quality (as measured by purchase-intent surveys) and exhibit higher variance in quality. More important, the vast majority of the best ideas in the pooled sample are generated by ChatGPT and not by the students. Providing ChatGPT with a few examples of highly rated ideas further increases its performance. We discuss the implications of these findings for the management of innovation.

    Introduction: Generative artificial intelligence has made remarkable advances in creating life-like images and coherent, fluent text. OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot, based on the GPT series of large language models (LLM) can equal or surpass human performance in academic examinations and tests for professional certifications (OpenAI, 2023).

    Despite their remarkable performance, LLMs sometimes produce text that is semantically or syntactically plausible but is, in fact, factually incorrect or nonsensical (i.e., hallucinations). The models are optimized to generate the most statistically likely sequences of words with an injection of randomness. They are not designed to exercise any judgment on the veracity or feasibility of the output.

    In what applications can we leverage artificial intelligence that is brilliant in many ways yet cannot be trusted to produce reliably accurate results? One possibility is to turn their weaknesses – hallucinations and inconsistent quality – into a strength (Terwiesch, 2023).

    ChatGPT can generate ides far faster than humans. This gives them a huge edge in coming up with a few great ideas. For this study the professors gave ChatGPT and the students the same prompt.

    I believe I would get a big zero in coming up with a truly innovative product idea.

    Could you do this? How fast?

    System Prompt “You are a creative entrepreneur looking to generate new product ideas. The product will target college students in the United States. It should be a physical good, not a service or software. I’d like a product that could be sold at a retail price of less than about USD 50. The ideas are just ideas. The product need not yet exist, nor may it necessarily be clearly feasible. Number all ideas and give them a name. The name and idea are separated by a colon.”

    User Prompt “Please generate ten ideas as ten separate paragraphs. The idea should be expressed as a paragraph of 40-80 words.”

    Do LLMs Enhance Productivity in Generating Ideas?

    The answer to this question is straightforward. ChatGPT-4 is very efficient at generating ideas. This question does not require much precision to answer. Two hundred ideas can be generated by one human interacting with ChatGPT-4 in about 15 minutes. A human working alone can generate about five ideas in 15 minutes (Girotra et al., 2010). Humans working in groups do even worse. In short, the productivity race between humans and ChatGPT is not even close.

    Still, the old saying that ideas are a dime a dozen is perhaps a tad optimistic. A professional working with ChatGPT-4 can generate ideas at a rate of about 800 ideas per hour. At a cost of USD 500 per hour of human effort, a figure representing an estimate of the fully loaded cost of a skilled professional, ideas are generated at a cost of about USD 0.63 each, or USD 7.50 (75 dimes) per dozen. At the time we used ChatGPT-4, the API fee for 800 ideas was about USD 20. For that same USD 500 per hour, a human working alone, without assistance from an LLM, only generates 20 ideas at a cost of roughly USD 25 each, hardly a dime a dozen. For the focused idea generation task itself, a human using ChatGPT-4 is thus about 40 times more productive than a human working alone.

    What Is The Quality Distribution of the Ideas Generated Using LLMs?

    A “stochastic parrot” can generate ideas, and LLMs do so shockingly productively. But we don’t care about quantity alone. More typically, the objective of idea generation is to generate at least a few truly exceptionally good ideas. In most innovation settings, we’d rather have 10 great ideas and 90 terrible ideas than 100 ideas of average quality.

    We, therefore, care about the quality distribution of the ideas, and in particular, the quality of the best few ideas in a sample. Of course, we might as well also measure the mean and standard deviation of the three sets of ideas, and we do so. Two useful measures of the extreme values are: What is the average quality of the ideas in the top decile of each of the three samples? Which sources provided the ideas comprising the top 10 percent of the ideas in the pooled sample?

    Chat-GPT generated the best-rated idea in our sample, with an 11% higher purchase probability than the best human idea. The average quality of the top decile in each of the three pools also follows the same pattern as average quality— seeded Chat-GPT ≻ ChatGPT ≻ Humans. Overall, we have 400 ideas, with an equal number generated by ChatGPT and humans. In the top 40 ideas (top decile) a full 35 (87.5%) are those generated by ChatGPT.

    ChatGPT vs the Screen Actors Guild

    The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) joined the Writers Guild (WGA) in coordinated strikes. The writers demand protection from Artificial Intelligence. Articles abound.

    Hoot of the Day from the World Socialist Organization

    The World Socialist Website reports US film and television writers’ and actors’ anger reaching the boiling point

    The struggle by 11,000 film and television writers, members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), is now in its fifth month, while 65,000 actors in the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) are nearing the end of their second month on the picket lines.

    The militant determination of the writers and actors to fight for decent living standards and a more meaningful future for art and culture have been met with intransigence and outright cruelty by the entertainment mega-corporations united in the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The companies have made clear their willingness to drive thousands of artists into misery and out of the arts and entertainment industry.

    Similarly, with all its phony rhetoric about “solidarity,” SAG-AFTRA has prevented video game workers from joining the strike of their fellow union members and only this week began a strike authorization vote. Moreover, the use of “interim agreements,” allowing hundreds of productions to go ahead, has created a surreal situation of internal scabbing that weakens or negates the purpose of strike action.

    Outright cruelty!?

    I discussed this on July 24, asking If the Screen Actors and Writers Strikes Went on Forever, Who Would Care?

    The strike started on July 14. Did you notice? Care? I don’t watch TV so I am not a good judge.

    In a podcast, Maher expressed some sympathy for the writers.

    “I feel for my writers. I love my writers. I’m one of my writers. But there’s a big other side to it. And a lot of people are being hurt besides them — a lot of people who don’t make as much money as them in this bipartisan world we have where you’re just in one camp or the other, there’s no in between.

    You’re either for the strike like they’re f—ing Che Guevara out there, you know, like, this is Cesar Chavez’s lettuce picking strike — or you’re with Trump. There’s no difference — there’s only two camps. And it’s much more complicated than that.”

    But I side with Bill Maher who says writers are not “owed” a living and that the strike demands can be excessive and unrealistic.

    The strike demands of the United Auto Workers are also excessive and unrealistic.

    United Auto Workers (UAW) Demands

    • 32-hour workweek
    • 46 percent pay raise over 4 years
    • Right to strike over plant closures
    • Increased retiree benefits
    • Defined pension plan for all workers
    • Cost of living adjustments

    Bernie Sanders Comments and an Accurate Rebuttal

    The irony in the UAW case is Biden is recklessly pursuing an avenue faster than infrastructure allows and that will cost UAW jobs, but increase them elsewhere, in a highly inflationary manner. Note that Biden’s Green Energy Inflation Reduction Act Needs a Big Bailout Already “What, me worry?” Some on Twitter predict, even cheer for my demise to AI writers for my stance against the UAW. Like Bill Maher. I’m not worried. Unlike Bill Maher, I am so small no one would even want to bother to try to replace me. When I started this article, I had no idea it would morph into the Screen Actors Guild or the UAW. On a day to day basis, I have no idea what I am going to write about. Could AI have produced this article better? Even if so, would it bother? In retrospect, I am terrible at producing ideas for products, but pretty good at commenting on the global economic news. If I am replaced by AI, so be it. No one is owed a living. Not the Screen Actors Guild, not the UAW, and not me.

    UAW Gearing Up for a Strike, It Could be Long and Nasty

    On August 29, I commented UAW Gearing Up for a Strike, It Could be Long and Nasty

    Bloomberg estimates the UAW demands would add $80 billion to costs.

    If the Big Three automakers gave into UAW demand, they would all go bankrupt in short order.

    The fact is, EVs are easier to produce. That means fewer workers. But the workers want protection from losing their jobs. The SAG wants protection from ChatGPT.

    It’s really the same story. Change happens. It’s disruptive.

    Biden’s Green Energy Inflation Reduction Act Needs a Big Bailout Already

    The irony in the UAW case is Biden is recklessly pursuing an avenue faster than infrastructure allows and that will cost UAW jobs, but increase them elsewhere, in a highly inflationary manner.

    Note that Biden’s Green Energy Inflation Reduction Act Needs a Big Bailout Already

    “What, me worry?”

    Some on Twitter predict, even cheer for my demise to AI writers for my stance against the UAW.

    Like Bill Maher. I’m not worried. Unlike Bill Maher, I am so small no one would even want to bother to try to replace me.

    When I started this article, I had no idea it would morph into the Screen Actors Guild or the UAW. On a day to day basis, I have no idea what I am going to write about. Could AI have produced this article better? Even if so, would it bother?

    In retrospect, I am terrible at producing ideas for products, but pretty good at commenting on the global economic news.

    If I am replaced by AI, so be it. No one is owed a living. Not the Screen Actors Guild, not the UAW, and not me.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 20:30

  • 'Derailing Goldilocks' – Goldman Questions The 'Soft Landing' Narrative
    ‘Derailing Goldilocks’ – Goldman Questions The ‘Soft Landing’ Narrative

    Equities sold off last week and rotated out of cyclicals and low quality assets as an uncomfortable combination of rallying rates & commodities prices derails the goldilocks soft landing scenario, triggering a readjustment of the market optimism.

    The smell of stagflation – not goldilocks – was everywhere with ‘inflation expectations’ too hot…

    Source: Bloomberg

    …and growth expectations (‘hard’ data) too cold…

    Source: Bloomberg

    As Goldman notes, rallying rates and commodities are derailing the goldilocks soft landing scenario.

    Cyclicals and long duration assets have been rallying jointly over the summer on the narrative of strong growth but limited headwinds from rising rates.

    This is no longer the case and cracks are appearing, sending rate-change expectations hawkishly higher…

    Source: Bloomberg

    The uncomfortable combination of rallying oil and US long end breaking up is disrupting this equilibrium and triggering a rotation into the “persisting inflation & sticky rates” narrative, adding pressure on equities and valuations.

    Cyclicals continue to trade rich relative to PMIs & fading China momentum across regions, but are beginning to close this dislocation as highlighted mid-August.

    Additionally, growth seems less durable in Europe, with underwhelming manufacturing production, making it all the most remarkable to see EU Cyclicals holding up as banks got unwound.

    And finally, the credit risk component is seeing limited focus, although as highlighted by Rich Privorotsky in his daily note: according to the Fed, 37% of non-financial corporates are in distress in what should be a positive growth backdrop.

    Given the dramatic tightening in lending standards, one has to wonder at credit spreads optimism…

    Goldman warns, there’s room for disappointment as goldilocks hope fades:

    Sentiment has cooled down a bit from July extreme greed but still remains optimistic on overall, leaving room for disappointment.

    The VIX fell below 14, IG credit spreads are at the tightest of the year, the AAII bull bear index has bounced back to greed territory, the GS risk appetite index remains range bound c. 0.6 Z-Score – all consistent with investors just back to school and yet to adjust to the evolving macro backdrop.

    Notably, our cross asset team noted that market correlation to macro growth surprise turned negative, suggesting rates are now high enough and that additional increases are seen as punitive from here .

    US non-profitable tech underperformance is consistent with this dynamic…

    The problem for Goldilocks believers is Energy.

    Oil and Gas supply restrictions triggered sharp moves in the commodity space.

    Oil is on the move and too hot to handle, breaking key resistances and now at the highest levels since Nov 22. This seems incompatible with 5y5y breakeven down…

    …and suggesting room for upside inflation surprise, and therefore higher rates and PE compression.

    Supply/demand dynamics catalyzed this move, with SPR starting to re-build, Saudi cutting production, and Australia strike pushing gas prices higher.

    Besides, it is interesting to note growing concerns on the implications of rising energy prices ahead of the winter season among investors.

    On the technical side, systematic flow is turning positive on the short term – however, CTA positioning in US equities remains very long c. 82nd 12m%ile, pointing at limited room for incremental demand from this investor base.

    September seasonality dynamics tend to benefit consensual longs & Momentum…

    …while Most Shorteds tend to underperform looking at data back since 2008.

    China uncertainty remains a key factor for investors and Pro Subs can read the full note here…

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 20:00

  • Influencing Innovation: The Most Talked About Jackson Hole Paper
    Influencing Innovation: The Most Talked About Jackson Hole Paper

    By Jean-Laurent Cadorel of Exante Data

    • Monetary policy matters in the short-run through its impact on asset prices, demand, and activity;

    • Yet in the long run the economy is assumed to gravitate towards some “natural” rate of activity independent of such monetary actions;

    • A growing number of researchers are asking, however, whether monetary policy can have hysteresis effects and impact the natural rate through innovation activity.

    THIS YEAR’S Jackson Hole gathering was themed “structural shifts in the global economy.” Policymaker speeches garnered the most attention, of course. But there were also the usual academic contributions. And of these perhaps the most talked about was Monetary Policy and Innovation by Yueran Ma of the University of Chicago and Kaspar Zimmermann of the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research.

    Ma and Zimmerman argue monetary policy can have hysteresis effects on the economy through the financing of innovation; lower innovation can lead to lower growth and less desirable macroeconomic outcomes. The authors show this empirically using monetary shocks constructed à la Christina Romer and David Romer and a variety of measures of innovation in the United States. They find statistically significant and economically large effects using local projections.

    This result matters because it changes central bank calculus. For example, Taylor Rules implicitly assume the natural rate of interest is independent of the rate of interest set by the central bank—the natural rate being that “ground out” by frictionless markets, per Milton Friedman’s analogue in unemployment. And it is assumed the central bank anchors the money rate of interest to the natural rate of interest (per Woodford). So if economists now show monetary policy impacts the natural rate, Taylor Rules may need some rethinking: how can we target a natural rate of interest using a money rate if the latter impacts the former?

    Motivation

    Over the second half of the last century, macroeconomics has come to a compromise between the extreme (Keynesian) view than monetary policy is ineffective (in a liquidity trap) and monetary policy is all that matters (the extreme monetarist view). Today, it is generally understood that monetary policy has short-run effects but is neutral in the long run—Patinkin’s classical dichotomy prevails.

    Discussions about monetary policy have therefore focused on its short-run impact while natural forces are expected to do their work on the supply side of the economy.

    The paper by Ma and Zimmerman is part of a small but growing body of work interested in possible longer-term consequences of monetary policy which may operate through innovation and technological progress. They adopt a New Keynesian perspective with endogenous total factor productivity (TFP). Monetary policy influences firms’ incentives to develop and implement innovations.

    For example, following monetary policy contractions, reductions in aggregate demand can decrease profitability and incentives for innovation. Tighter financial conditions and lower risk appetite can decrease funding for innovation. A slower pace of innovation may then have lasting effects.

    This paper tests the effects of monetary policy on innovation activities, using a variety of metrics of innovation: aggregate investment in intellectual property (including R&D) from national accounts, the R&D spending of public companies, and measures based on VC investment and patent filing.

    Results

    The authors observe meaningful changes in innovation activity in the years following monetary policy shocks. First, investment in intellectual property products (IPP) in the national accounts (NIPA) declines by about 1 percent. The magnitude is comparable to the decline in traditional investment in physical assets. R&D spending in Compustat data for public firms declines by about 3 percent.

    Second, VC investment is more volatile, and declines by as much as 25 percent at a horizon of 1 to 3 years after the monetary policy shock. Third, patenting in important technologies measured by Bloom et al. (2023) declines by up to 9 percent 2 to 4 years after the shock. Patenting in other technologies declines by less than patenting in important technologies according to the importance classification in Bloom et al. (2023).

    An aggregate innovation index constructed by Kogan et al. (2017) using estimates of the economic value of patents also declines by up to 9 percent. Based on this paper’s output and total factor productivity (TFP) sensitivity to the aggregate innovation index, a 9 percent decline in the index can contribute to 1 percent lower real output and 0.5 percent lower TFP 5 years later.

    Mechanism

    For the transmission mechanism from monetary policy to innovation activities, Ma and Zimmerman find indications that both demand and financial conditions are relevant.

    First, by decreasing demand, monetary policy tightening can reduce the profitability of developing new products and the incentives to innovate (Shleifer, 1986; Fatas, 2000; Comin and Gertler, 2006; Benigno and Fornaro, 2018). In the data, they observe a stronger decline in both R&D and patenting in more cyclical industries. They also observe that patenting declines after monetary policy tightening among both public and private companies, and among both large and small public companies. To the extent that large public firms have abundant financial resources, the slowdown of innovation activities among these firms is likely driven by reduced demand.

    Second, monetary policy tightening can affect financial conditions and reduce the appetite for risk-taking (Bauer, Bernanke, and Milstein, 2023; Kashyap and Stein, 2023). In the data, they observe that VC investment for both early-stage and late-stage startups declines after monetary policy tightening. To the extent that early-stage startups are still in the product development phase and may not have products coming to the market immediately, reduced funding could reflect less appetite for investing in risky endeavors.

    Conclusion

    The Ma and Zimmerman contribution is an important empirical counterpart to recent papers exploring the possible longer-term consequences of monetary policy, which may operate through the influence of monetary policy on innovation and technological progress (Stadler, 1990; Moran and Queralto, 2018; Modery et al., 2021; Grimm, Laeven, and Popov, 2022; Amador, 2022; Fornaro and Wolf, 2023; Jordà, Singh, and Taylor, 2023).

    The authors document the response of innovation to monetary policy using a collection of measures.

    The results suggest that monetary policy could have a persistent influence on the productive capacity of the economy, in addition to the well-recognized near-term effects on economic outcomes. Rising interest rates since 2022 and a substantial decline in venture capital investment highlight how relevant these issues are. Recent breakthroughs in AI raise the hope that another technological revolution could be on the horizon.

    What does this mean for policy? The authors argue their contribution does not imply monetary policy should be more dovish. A number of economic observers have highlighted the misallocation of capital (excessive housing construction) or the emergence of asset bubbles (in debt markets, housing, and cryptocurrencies) due to the low level of interest rates.

    Striking the right balance between these two sides requires evidence and the authors contribute a persuasive set of results to the debate. But as they also point out. it is possible that the effects of monetary policy on innovation cancel out over the complete cycle. So, for now, the policy conclusions are not clear.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 19:30

  • Senators Unveil Bipartisan Blueprint For Comprehensive AI Regulation
    Senators Unveil Bipartisan Blueprint For Comprehensive AI Regulation

    Authored by Amaka Nwaokocha via Cointelegraph.com,

    Two United States senators unveiled a bipartisan blueprint for artificial intelligence (AI) legislation on Friday, Sept. 8, as Congress intensifies its endeavors to regulate the emerging technology.

    The framework put forward by Senators Richard Blumenthal and Josh Hawley advocates for mandatory licensing for AI firms and makes it clear that technology liability protections will not shield these companies from legal actions.

    In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), Blumenthal expressed that this bipartisan framework represents a significant step forward — a robust and comprehensive legislative plan for concrete and enforceable AI safeguards. It is expected to be a guide in managing the potential benefits and risks of AI technology.

    Hawley emphasized that the principles outlined in this framework should serve as the foundational basis for Congress to take action regarding AI regulation.

    “We’ll continue hearings with industry leaders and experts, as well as other conversations and fact-finding to build a coalition of support for legislation.”

    The framework proposes creating a licensing system overseen by an independent regulatory body. It mandates that AI model developers register with this oversight entity, which would possess the authority to conduct audits of these licensing applicants.

    Image of the AI framework. Source: X

    Additionally, the framework suggests that Congress should make it explicit that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides legal protections to tech firms for third-party content, does not extend to AI applications. Other sections of the framework advocate for corporate transparency, consumer and child protection, as well as national security safeguards.

    Blumenthal and Hawley, who lead the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and Law, have also revealed plans for a hearing. This hearing will include testimony from prominent figures such as Brad Smith, the vice chairman and president of Microsoft; William Dally, the chief scientist and senior vice president of research at NVIDIA; and Woodrow Hartzog, professor at Boston University School of Law.

    The unveiling of this framework and the accompanying hearing announcement precedes Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s AI forum. The forum is set to feature leaders from major AI firms who will provide lawmakers with insights into the potential advantages and risks associated with AI.

    Schumer also introduced an AI framework in June. His framework outlined an extensive range of fundamental principles, as opposed to the more detailed measures proposed by Hawley and Blumenthal.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 18:30

  • Are Emergency Powers A Test To See What Americans Will Put Up With?
    Are Emergency Powers A Test To See What Americans Will Put Up With?

    During the hysteria of the covid pandemic questions swirled around how the federal government would respond to the events under the declaration of a national health emergency.  What kind of powers would they claim to have and which constitutional rights would they try to suppress?  What many Americans did not consider, however, was the implementation of emergency powers under state governments rather than the White House.

    Most of the covid mandates crushing the US economy during that period were not federal mandates, but state mandates, and there’s a good reason why covid tyrants chose to focus on state level restrcitions.

    There are a number of requirements and obstacles for any president seeking to enforce mandates at the federal level, along with more scrutiny and oversight than is commonly understood.  Though a president can declare emergencies unilaterally, there are still some legal checks and balances (to be sure, these are quietly being eroded with each passing year). 

    On the other hand, state governors in 44 states have sweeping authorities under emergency conditions, with very little immediate legal recourse.  As we have seen recently in places like Hawaii and now New Mexico, Democrat governors have been playing with fire (no pun intended) as they seek to push the envelope of emergency controls at the state level.

    In Hawaii, the exploitation of state emergency provisions under Governor Josh Green led to possibly thousands of deaths as they refused to release water supplies for fire fighting and even blockaded Maui residents, forcing them back into the blaze.  They have even put an information blackout in place and denied news organizations access to the scene of the disaster.  One has to ask – Was this done out of stupidity?  Or was this a test to see what kinds of trespasses and controls citizens would accept?

    In New Mexico we see a similar extreme overstep by Governor Michelle Grisham, who believes she has the authority to dictate the 2nd Amendment rights of  Albuquerque residents due to rising crime.  The level of mental gymnastics on display in her arguments to justify the banning of lawful open carry and conceal carry protections make it clear that this is not about protecting the public.  The lack of logic and reason indicates that this is an ideological decision based in zealotry.  Watch as she struggles to present any reasonable position – turning instead to deflection.

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

    The root of her argument is this:  “I am banning legal firearms carry in Albuquerque because under emergency powers I can.” 

    That’s it.  That’s all she’s got. 

    But this is not a valid argument and there are a number of reasons why.

    First, crime is rising across the nation, predominantly in Democrat controlled cities. 

    Albuquerque has a Democrat mayor and New Mexico is a Democrat run state.  If crime is rising, it is the fault of Democrats.  But instead of taking responsibility for their terrible planning and policies, Democrat leaders are once again blaming inanimate objects (guns) and using mass punishment of people who lawfully carry (primarily conservatives).  In other words, Dems are ruining the country and creating a national crime wave, and then making conservatives pay for it with their rights. 

    Second, restrictions on open carry and conceal carry are not going to reduce the crime rate because criminals don’t care about laws or emergency powers. 

    If anything, the violent crime rate will rise as criminals feel emboldened knowing that most citizens are now disarmed. 

    Third, Grisham has presented no evidence of a legitimate emergency other than “crime is bad right now.” 

    The emergency is ambiguous rather than defined.  Meaning, emergency restrictions could be renewed over and over again, unless citizens step up and do something about them.

    Fourth, the focus on open carry and conceal carry seems to be an attempt at a totalitarian tip-toe. 

    A large number of gun owners do not carry regularly so they may not feel personally affected by the rules.  Meaning, the governor has reduced the level of opposition by attacking just one aspect of gun rights.  This is usually how authoritarians institute control – They don’t remove your rights all at once, they do it a piece at a time.

    Fifth, gun carry laws are generally a legislative decision that usually requires a public vote. 

    Grisham is attempting to bypass all checks and balances as if the legislative process does not matter.

    Sixth, emergency powers are often declared unconstitutional by courts after the fact. 

    For example, the Michigan Supreme Court held that the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act (EPGA), which Governor Whitmer used to justify her draconian COVID-19 executive orders, was unconstitutional because it delegated legislative power to the executive branch in violation of the Michigan Constitution.  But these court decisions often come well after the damage has already been done.  It is up to the citizenry to defy such orders when necessary and let the courts sort out the aftermath later.

    Seventh, Grisham argues that rising crime is a “public health emergency,” using the same language relegated to the covid response. 

    Crime has nothing to do with public health and is a legal concern handled through either social programs or increased police presence.  Disarming the public is not within the purview of a health emergency – Grisham has greatly overstepped her bounds. 

    The timing and tone of the state government decision on gun carry in Albuquerque reads like a political maneuver, a test to see what the public will submit to.  Grisham admits that she expects numerous legal challenges to her decision, but she does not seem too concerned with the public reaction.  Maybe she should be?  Or, is she so certain that the New Mexico 2nd Amendment community will sit on their hands that she feels comfortable there will be no protests, no open carry marches and no public defiance to be worried about? 

    One thing is inevitable, if Grisham is unopposed in New Mexico, numerous Democrat governors and mayors across the country will try to enforce the exact same emergency powers. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 18:00

  • RFK Jr. Wants His Party Back: The American People "Are Tired Of Being Lied To By The Government & The Media"
    RFK Jr. Wants His Party Back: The American People “Are Tired Of Being Lied To By The Government & The Media”

    Authored by Jeff Louderbeck via The Epoch Times,

    On a steamy summer morning, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. strode into a hotel conference room in Columbia, South Carolina, amid a barnstorming town hall tour of a state where Joe Biden won close to 49 percent of the vote in the 2020 Democratic primary.

    Mr. Kennedy spoke about his 2024 presidential campaign. Democrat pundits say he is a fringe candidate who spreads conspiracy theories. Polls show him with the highest favorability rating of any presidential candidate.

    There is no path for Mr. Kennedy to defeat President Biden, critics claim, despite questions about President Joe Biden’s age and mental fitness, low approval ratings, and surveys showing that Americans are concerned about the economy.

    Earlier this year, the Democratic National Committee voted to give its full support to the president.

    Mr. Kennedy agrees that unseating an incumbent president in the same party is a daunting challenge but disagrees with doubters who say he has no chance of securing the nomination.

    The 2024 presidential nominee will be announced during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next summer. Until then, Mr. Kennedy intends to continue to press his case.

    “The DNC has around $2 billion, and they’re spending that money generously to try to marginalize me in many ways, but I think most Democrats care about one thing more than anything else, which is to beat Donald Trump,” Mr. Kennedy told The Epoch Times.

    “I think President Biden cannot do that. I can.”

    President John F. Kennedy saw his nephew, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. at the Oval Office on March 11, 1961. (Abbie Rowe. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston)

    Mr. Kennedy is the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963; and the son of Robert F. Kennedy, who was shot and killed after a campaign speech while running for president in 1968.

    During his town halls and meet-and-greets, Mr. Kennedy tells stories from time spent with his uncle and father and connects them to his presidential campaign.

    He wants to continue his father’s legacy of uniting Americans from all economic classes and ethnic backgrounds.

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (L) wants to continue his father’s (R) legacy of uniting Americans from all economic classes and ethnic backgrounds.

    “I think we do that by telling the truth to people. My dad did it that way. He talked about uncomfortable issues but talked about the truth. I think people are tired of being lied to by the government, by the media,” Mr. Kennedy said.

    “My dad ran against an incumbent president in his own party (Lyndon B. Johnson) during a divisive time. I’m running against a larger challenge because I am facing an entire infrastructure that is against me, from my own party and Big Tech and the pharmaceutical industry.”

    An environmental attorney and the founder of Children’s Health Defense, Mr. Kennedy is widely known for being outspoken about the health risks of vaccines. His stand on these and other issues has drawn support from voters who are not left-leaning.

    (Left) Then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy speaks to a crowd on racial equality outside the Justice Department on June 14, 1963. (Middle) Then-President John F. Kennedy speaks with his brother Robert F. Kennedy in 1963. (Right) (L–R) Brothers John, Robert, Ted Kennedy. (Public Domain)

    The candidate, however, has said that he won’t do that, reiterating that stance over the last month in town halls and meet-and-greets in South Carolina, Virginia, and New York City.

    “I’m a Democrat. This is my identity, but I want my party back,” Mr. Kennedy said.

    “I’m running for president because the Democratic Party has lost its way. I want to remind the Democratic Party of what we are supposed to represent.”

    “A focus on the middle class and labor, the well-being of minorities, a focus on the environment, civil liberties, and freedom of speech.”

    He frequently talks about “unity” and “healing the divide.”

    “I intend to bridge this toxic polarization that is really destroying our country and tearing us apart,” Mr. Kennedy said.

    He called his campaign a “peaceful insurgency” that he hopes will appeal to conservative Republicans, independents, moderates, and liberal Democrats.

    “During the 35 years I spent as one of the leaders of the environmental movement in our country, I was the only environmentalist who was regularly going on Fox News. I went on Sean Hannity repeatedly—Bill O’Reilly, too,” Mr. Kennedy said.

    “I want to talk to media members and voters who share differing opinions than mine, because how else are you going to persuade?

    A supporter of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., awaits his 2024 presidential bid announcement in Boston on April 19, 2023. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

    “I think we have a lot more in common than what the media portrays. What keeps us apart are things that are rather trivial. We let them feed this toxic polarization. We need to talk. We need to have conversations with people from a wide range of views.”

    Days after a House hearing on censorship in July that saw Democrats attempt to block Mr. Kennedy from testifying, a Harvard-Harris poll showed that he has a higher favorability rating than any other 2024 presidential candidate.

    Mr. Kennedy saw a favorable rating of 47 percent and an unfavorable mark of 26 percent, according to a survey of 2,068 registered voters, conducted July 19–20 and released on July 23. Former President Trump carried a favorability rating of 45 percent compared with an unfavorability number of 49 percent. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had a 40 percent favorable rating and 37 percent unfavorable, and President Biden’s rating was 39 percent favorable and 53 percent unfavorable.

    Mr. Kennedy also had the highest net favorability of all 2024 presidential candidates in a June poll from The Economist/YouGov.

    Kennedy campaign manager Dennis Kucinich is a former Democratic congressman from Ohio who ran for president in 2004 and 2008. He believes Mr. Kennedy can “rebuild and save” the country and that there is a path to victory over Biden.

    “He is the only Democrat who can reach across the political spectrum, which means he can win in 2024,” Mr. Kucinich told The Epoch Times.

    “Conservatives, liberals, independents, and libertarians are responding to this campaign because of the unique qualities of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and because there is an understanding he stands for unity, freedom, truth, and authenticity. That is what’s resonating with people.”

    When asked about President Biden and former President Trump, Mr. Kennedy is measured in his responses.

    “I’m not going to attack other people personally,” Mr. Kennedy said.

    “I don’t think it’s good for our country. And what I’m trying to do in this race is bring people together, is try to bridge the divide between Americans.”

    ‘Poison, Hatred, and Vitriol’

    Mr. Kennedy stands for “de-escalating” what he called “poison, hatred, and vitriol.”

    Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly expressed his disapproval of President Biden’s job performance, but he has refrained from personal attacks about the 80-year-old’s mental fitness.

    “If there’s a policy I disagree with—like the war, like censorship, the lockdowns—I’m going to criticize those, but I’m not going to attack him as a man,” Mr. Kennedy said.

    “I will say, whether he’s up to it or not, whether he’s making his own decisions—the decisions that are coming out of the White House are bad decisions.”

    President Biden is not scheduled to appear in Democrat primary debates, a decision Mr. Kennedy believes the president should reconsider.

    “I think it would be better if we have a democracy where every candidate debates,” Mr. Kennedy said.

    “I suppose he is making a strategic decision that’s based upon his own interest, but I think we’re living in a period when people have lost faith in the democratic process, and they think the system is rigged.”

    President Joe Biden and President Trump should take the debate stage as a sign of respect for American voters, Mr. Kennedy said.

    Then-President Donald Trump and then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden participate in the final presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 22, 2020. (Jim Bourg/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

    “Americans shouldn’t feel like we live in the Soviet Union, where the party picks the candidates. I think it would be much better for our democracy, and we’d be a better example for the world and improve our credibility with the American people if we actually allowed democracy to function and all the candidates participated in debates, and town halls, and retail politics.

    “It is important for the Democratic Party that there is a primary debate. Ultimately, a Democrat will debate a Republican, and the Republican will likely be Trump. He is probably the most successful debater in this country since Lincoln Douglas,” said Mr. Kennedy, noting how President Trump defeated a crowded pool of Republican primary candidates in 2016.

    “He has his own technique that people like. It’s like going into a prize fight. You need practice, and that usually happens in the primary,” Mr. Kennedy said.

    “Asking the president to not debate in the primary is like asking a prizefighter to practice by sitting on the couch.”

    In South Carolina, Virginia, and New York City, Mr. Kennedy talked to voters about the economy and issues on which he disagrees with President Biden.

    In Charleston, he criticized the president for continued financial support to Ukraine.

    “One of the big problems we have in our federal government is the addiction to war,” Mr. Kennedy said. “President Biden went to Congress and asked for another $24 billion for the Ukraine War.

    “We’ve spent $8 trillion dollars on wars since 9/11. If we kept that money home, we would’ve had child care for every American. We would have free college education for every American. We’d be able to pay for our Social Security system.”

    He believes that he, and not President Biden, is the candidate who will best represent Democrats in 2024 and beyond.

    “I am the only choice that is going to end the war machine, that is going to really focus on rebuilding the American middle class, taming inflation,” Mr. Kennedy said.

    (Left) A man shows a Remington 700 hunting rifle and a Remington 1100 shotgun available for sale at Atlantic Outdoors gun shop in Stokesdale, N.C., on March 26, 2018. (Right) Syringes of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines at a vaccination site in Los Angeles on Feb. 16, 2021. (Brian Blanco/Getty Images, Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images)

    About gun control, Mr. Kennedy said, “I do not believe that, within that Second Amendment, there is anything we can meaningfully do to reduce the trade and the ownership of guns.”

    “Anybody who tells you that they’re going to reduce gun violence through gun control at this point, I don’t think is being realistic,” he said.

    “I think we have to think about other ways to reduce that violence.”

    Mr. Kennedy did note that he would sign an assault weapons ban if he were president and the legislation was placed on his desk.

    A vocal opponent of the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Kennedy vowed at a town hall in Brooklyn on Sept. 1 that he would ban pharmaceutical advertising.

    He is outspoken about the dangers of the COVID-19 vaccine for some in the population who were coerced to take them, but he told the Epoch Times that he is not “anti-vaccine.”

    “I’ve never been anti-vaccine,” he said.

    “I’ve said that hundreds and hundreds of times, but it doesn’t matter because that is a way of silencing me. Using that pejorative to describe me is a way of silencing or marginalizing me.”

    Mr. Kennedy has said that, initially, he was not in favor of former President Trump’s border wall. But after seeing the border firsthand in Arizona in July, he changed his mind. He said there is a need for increased infrastructure and technology at the border, including more segments of a physical wall, and sensors in areas where a wall isn’t feasible.

    Until the United States can seal the border, he said he doesn’t think it is possible to get an immigration reform package through Congress.

    Illegal immigrants wait in line to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing through a gap in the U.S.–Mexico border barrier in Yuma, Ariz., on May 21, 2022. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

    Mr. Kennedy visited the Arizona–California border with Mexico in early June and met with illegal immigrants, Border Patrol agents, and other stakeholders.

    “The Democratic Party thinks our function should be welcoming all immigrants into the country no matter what, and to basically open the borders. And the experiment has been a disaster, a humanitarian catastrophe,” Mr. Kennedy said.

    “I watched it firsthand. I watched 300 people come across the border and then be processed and sent to locations all over the country with court dates seven years down the road.”

    “There’s now seven million people who have come across illegally and have no legal status in this country. Those people are very vulnerable now to unscrupulous employers who are paying them $5 and $6 an hour,” he said.

    Mr. Kennedy called the Biden administration’s open border policy “a way of funding a multibillion-dollar drug and human trafficking operation for the Mexican drug cartels.”

    “As president, I will secure the border, which will end the cartel’s drug trafficking economy. I will build wide doors for those who wish to enter legally so that the U.S. can continue to be a beacon to the world where diversity and culture make us great,” he said.

    “Immigration is good for our country, but this kind of immigration is unfair to everybody,” he said.

    Ending the Ukraine War

    Mr. Kennedy has called for de-escalating the war in Ukraine. He explained that he is sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause and added that Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded the country illegally, but he chastised the United States for its role in the conflict.

    “We have neglected many, many opportunities to settle this war peacefully,” he said. “We have turned that nation into a proxy war between Russia and the United States.”

    Ukrainian soldiers preparing U.S.-made MK-19 automatic grenade launcher towards at a front line near Toretsk, Ukraine, on Oct. 12, 2022. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images)

    Mr. Kennedy has urged President Biden to negotiate a peaceful end to the Russia-Ukraine war, which started when Russia invaded the neighboring nation in February 2022.

    “Russia is not going to lose this war. Russia can’t afford it,” Mr. Kennedy said. “It would be like us losing a war to Mexico.”

    As part of his reasoning for ending the Ukraine war, Mr. Kennedy referenced his uncle, President John F. Kennedy.

    “My uncle Jack said that the primary job of an American President of the United States is to keep the country out of war. He kept out of Vietnam. He sent only 16,000 military advisers there—mainly Green Berets,” Mr. Kennedy said.

    “In October 1963, he learned that one of his Green Berets had died, and he asked his aide to give him a combat casualty list, and the aide came back and said 75 had died so far. He said: ‘That’s too many.’”

    The American Dream

    When it comes to supporting labor unions, Mr. Kennedy’s ideas are similar to President Biden’s.

    “In my administration, you can expect vigorous action by the Justice Department and the Department of Labor to enforce laws against union-busting and unfair labor practices,” Mr. Kennedy said.

    “We will also raise the minimum wage so that unions have a higher floor from which to bargain. We will negotiate trade treaties that don’t pit American workers against low-wage foreign workers in a race to the bottom.”

    At his campaign stops. Mr. Kennedy likes to talk about the flourishing economic period the nation experienced after World War II.

    “I grew up during the heyday of American economic prosperity. It was in the 1950s and 1960s that the archetype of the American Dream was born. It was not something available only to a lucky few; it was within the reach of most Americans,” he said.

    “A single wage-earner with a high school education at that time could own a home, raise a family, have vacations, and save for retirement. That is how it should be. If you work hard, you should have a decent life.”

    Mr. Kennedy said that, if elected president, he would create a 3 percent mortgage for Americans guaranteed by the government and funded by the sale of tax-free bonds. He would also work to make it less profitable for large corporations to own single-family homes in the United States.

    “If you have a rich uncle who co-signs your mortgage, you will get a lower interest rate because the bank looks at his credit rating. I’m going to give everyone a rich uncle, and his name is Uncle Sam,” Mr. Kennedy said at a recent town hall in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

    The first 500,000 of those 3 percent mortgages would be reserved for teachers, he said.

    “Both President Trump and President Biden are running on platforms that they’ve brought prosperity to this country. But when I travel around South Carolina and other states, I’m not seeing that,” Mr. Kennedy told an audience in Charleston.

    “I’m seeing people who are living at a level of desperation that I have not seen in this country—ever.”

    Corporations Killing the Dream

    Making it easier for Americans to buy single-family homes without competing against institutional investors is a priority, Mr. Kennedy said.

    A Wall Street Journal report in 2021 showed that 200 corporations were aggressively buying tens of thousands of single-family houses, including entire neighborhoods, and significantly increasing rental prices.

    According to data reviewed by Stateline, investors purchased 24 percent of the single-family homes bought in 2021. In 2022, the number climbed to 28 percent of single-family home purchases, according to the organization.

    A MetLife Financial Management study contends that institutional investors could own up to 40 percent of single-family homes by 2030

    Calling the issue a “crisis,” Mr. Kennedy put the blame on asset management behemoths like BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard.

    A 2017 paper published by Cambridge University Press reported that the three firms constitute the largest shareholder in 88 percent of S&P 500 firms.

    “And now they have a new target, which is to gain ownership of all the single-family residences in this country. And they are on a trajectory to do that,” Mr. Kennedy told an audience in Greenville, South Carolina.

    “Usually, when a company buys a home with a cash offer, there is an LLC with an ambiguous name. It often can be traced back to one of those big companies,” he said.

    Mr. Kennedy noted that Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, is a World Economic Forum (WEF) board member.

    “The WEF is a billionaire boys club that meets in Davos every year and has a plan, which is New World Order and what they have called the Great Reset,” Mr. Kennedy said.

    “Klaus Schwab, who wrote the book on that agenda, says that you will own nothing and you will be happy. They are well on their way to accomplishing that first part.”

    At every stop in South Carolina, Mr. Kennedy said that one of his first priorities as president would be to change the tax code so that “it will be less profitable for large corporations to own single-family homes.”

    Curbing credit card debt is another way to help more Americans achieve home ownership and become more financially comfortable.

    “Many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. The average income in this country is $5,000 less than the average cost of living. What that means is people have to make up the difference by putting those expenses on credit cards,” Mr. Kennedy told a crowd in Richmond, Virginia.

    “We recently reached a milestone in this country with more than $1 trillion in personal credit card debt,” Mr. Kennedy said, adding that many creditors are charging interest rates of 22 percent and higher.

    “If it was the mafia, it would be loan sharking, and they would go to jail, but for banks and credit card companies, it is considered the cost of doing business.”

    Before concluding his remarks about credit card debt, Mr. Kennedy posed a question to the audience.

    “Who do you think owns many of those companies?” he asked.

    “BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard. They are strip mining the wealth of the American public, and their political clout allows them to do that.”

    Primary Season

    Under a new format, South Carolina will hold the first Democratic presidential primary on Feb. 3. Earlier this year, encouraged by President Biden, the DNC voted to strip the Iowa caucus of its traditional lead-off spot in the party’s presidential nominating process and replace it with South Carolina.

    In late August, as Mr. Kennedy traveled around South Carolina, he stopped in Orangeburg to officially open a statewide campaign office.

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a town hall at a home in Spartanburg, S.C. on Aug. 22, 2023. (Jeff Louderback/The Epoch Times)

    New Hampshire has long been the country’s—and the GOP’s—first primary after the Iowa caucuses. Under the Democrats’ new calendar, which differs from the Republicans’ primary calendar, it would vote with Nevada on Feb. 6.

    Because of the move, President Biden’s name might not appear on New Hampshire’s Democrat primary ballot.

    The DNC rules panel gave New Hampshire and Iowa until Sept. 1 to comply with new rules or face possible sanctions. Republican and Democrat legislators in New Hampshire have said that they won’t adhere to the schedule change, saying state law prohibits the move.

    If President Biden’s name doesn’t appear on the ballot, that would leave Mr. Kennedy to compete with author Marianne Williamson in the New Hampshire primary.

    New Hampshire’s Democratic party leaders have said that a longtime state law requires that their primary be scheduled ahead of any other primary.

    In 2020, candidate Joe Biden lost the Democratic caucus in Iowa and the primary in New Hampshire before winning decisively in South Carolina. He has said that South Carolina more accurately represents the party’s diverse voting base.

    “Everyone knows the real reason the DNC made the change. The people of South Carolina didn’t ask for it. No, it is simply another undemocratic attempt to rig the primary process in favor of their anointed candidate, Joe Biden,” he added.

    “The DNC seems to have forgotten the purpose of the modern primary system to begin with, which was to replace backroom crony politics with a transparent democratic process,” Mr. Kennedy added.

    “If the Biden campaign thinks they can win with administrative tricks and evasions, they will be in for a rude surprise in both New Hampshire and South Carolina.

    First Office in New Hampshire

    Mr. Kennedy opened his first office in New Hampshire in August.

    “New Hampshire plays an important role in American democracy because they have this history, and they have a cultural affinity for vetting candidates early on in the process, and they do a very good job of it,” Mr. Kennedy told The Epoch Times.

    “In many other states, politicians can fly over at 30,000 feet and carpet bomb the state with billions of dollars in advertising. It’s kind of a kabuki theater of democracy rather than real democracy,” he said.

    “In Iowa, you go to the farms and stock sales. In New Hampshire, you have to go to the barber shops and the nail salons and the diners, and you have to shake hands with people, and you have to answer difficult questions and then follow-up questions. You get to know people, and that is important.”

    Mr. Kennedy recalls campaign trips with his uncle and father in the 1960s.

    Supporters gather around then-presidential candidate John F. Kennedy during one of his campaigns at a shopping center in Maryland on May 12, 1960. (Library of Congress)

    “I remember the crowds and the enthusiasm. That is what we are seeing at our events. Enthusiasm. Intensity,” he said.

    “There’s nothing like meeting people face to face and hearing their concerns. When we were in New Hampshire, we had one event in a sparsely populated area in one of the most northern counties, and we drove down a long dirt road. I thought, ‘How is anyone going to show up at this event?’ and we had 500 people there. That is inspiring.”

    Mr. Kennedy supports abortion in the first three months of pregnancy.

    “I can argue there’s nobody in this country that has worked harder for the rights of medical freedom and personal bodily autonomy than me,” Mr. Kennedy said.

    “That applies to the vaccines and abortion.

    “I don’t think the government should be telling us what to do with our bodies and dictating for Americans what we can and cannot do in the first three months of pregnancy. It’s a woman’s choice.”

    That stance could cost him potential support from conservatives, he conceded.

    “I’ve seen photos of late-term abortions, and they’re horrifyingly troubling,” Mr. Kennedy said. “I respect people who have different points of view, and for people who say that ‘it’s the only issue that I care about,’ they will likely vote for someone else because of my beliefs.

    “If you’re a one-issue voter, and that’s something that you deeply care about, I might not be the right candidate for you,” he added. “But I feel like there’s a lot of people now who want authenticity in their political leadership, and they want somebody who’s going to tell them the truth.”

    Censorship

    Also ranking high among issues Mr. Kennedy feels strongly about is censorship—from the government as well as Big Tech.

    He has filed legal action against the Biden administration and Google, among other entities, for alleged censorship. He has appeared before Congress to testify about the issue.

    “I was censored not just by a Democratic administration, I was censored by the Trump administration. I was the first person censored by the Biden administration, two days after he came into office,” Mr. Kennedy told the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government in July.

    Robert Kennedy Jr. (R), 2024 Presidential hopeful, is sworn in before testifying at the “Weaponization of the Federal Government” hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 20, 2023. (Jim WATSON / AFP)

    In February 2021, he was barred from Instagram, for what owner Meta described as breaking its rules regarding COVID-19.

    At the time, a company spokesperson said Instagram removed Mr. Kennedy’s account for “repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines.”

    In June, Instagram restored the account.

    “As he is now an active candidate for president of the United States, we have restored access to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s, Instagram account,” Andy Stone, a spokesperson for Meta, said in a June 4 statement.

    Mr. Kennedy’s Facebook account has remained active.

    Meta removed Instagram and Facebook accounts belonging to Children’s Health Defense (CHD), Mr. Kennedy’s non-profit. CHD, according to its website, advocates to “end childhood health epidemics by working aggressively to eliminate harmful exposures, hold those responsible accountable, and establish safeguards to prevent future harm.”

    Meta said that the CHD accounts were banned because they repeatedly violated the company’s COVID-19 policies. Mr. Kennedy still bristles at the move.

    “Silencing a major political candidate is profoundly undemocratic,” he said.

    “Social media is the modern equivalent of the town square. How can democracy function if only some candidates have access to it?”

    Allegations of Anti-Semitism

    What bothers Mr. Kennedy even more are accusations earlier this year that he is “anti-Semitic.”

    At a gathering in July, a secretly recorded video was leaked to the media where Mr. Kennedy can be heard describing research that reported that the COVID-19 virus disproportionately affected Caucasian and black people while being comparably mild for Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people, whom Mr. Kennedy suggested had a stronger immune response to the virus.

    Democrats and other critics of Mr. Kennedy condemned the comments as “racist” and “anti-Semitic.”

    Mr. Kennedy has vehemently denied the allegations.

    At the July 20 House hearing on censorship, Democrats attempted to prevent him from testifying. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) introduced a motion to move the hearing into executive session, which would have closed the hearing from public view.

    “Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly made despicable anti-Semitic and anti-Asian remarks as recently as last week,” Ms. Wasserman Schultz said, citing a section of House rules that she said Mr. Kennedy’s comments violated.

    In a recorded vote, all 10 Republicans present at the hearing voted to shelve Ms. Wasserman Schultz’s motion. All eight Democrats present voted in favor of the motion.

    Mr. Kennedy testified that he has “never uttered a phrase that was racist or anti-Semitic,” and he continued to defend himself on July 25 in New York at a World Values Network presidential candidate series event.

    Just as he said in July, Mr. Kennedy pointedly refuted the claims that he is anti-Semitic.

    “I’ve been involved in controversial issues for most of my career. Usually, it doesn’t affect me,” he said.

    “The accusation of anti-Semitism cuts me and hurts me. It hurts Cheryl [Hines, Kennedy’s wife]. It hurts our family, and so that was painful.

    “I’ve literally never said an anti-Semitic word in my life, but I believe they [Democrats on the House committee] probably thought whatever they were doing was right in one way or another,” he said.

    “There’s a way to censor people through targeted character assassination. You use vile accusations to marginalize them, and that is the kind of censorship I’m now dealing with,” Mr. Kennedy said.

    The Democratic contender concluded his comments about censorship with a message that reflects a key component of his campaign platform

    “If we’re going to really heal the divide between Americans—which is one of the things that I’m trying to do with this campaign—we can’t react even to hatred with hatred. We have to react with forgiveness. React with kindness and react with generosity,” Mr. Kennedy stated.

    “Harboring resentment is like swallowing poison and hoping someone else dies. It corrodes our souls.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 17:30

  • CNN's Van Jones Sounds Alarm Over 'Grandpa' Joe Biden Running In 2024
    CNN’s Van Jones Sounds Alarm Over ‘Grandpa’ Joe Biden Running In 2024

    After seeing this shitshow of a performance by President Biden at the pos-G20-Summit press conference, how can anyone be surprised that even the most vehement ‘believer in ‘Bidenomics’ has had enough…

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    Reality appears to be setting in for Democrats after a recent poll revealed that two-thirds of Democrat-leaning voters don’t want President Biden to run in 2024, 82% of whom said they want “just someone besides Joe Biden.”

    Jones, a former Obama adviser, was asked by co-host Poppy Harlow on “CNN This Morning” about recent comments from former Obama aide Jim Messina, who told Politico Playbook that Democrats worried about recent polls are “fucking bedwetters.”

    “If Jim Messina says that we’re bedwetters, invest in Pampers and Depends because a lot of people are terrified that Joe Biden is in real trouble and that you can’t talk about it,” Jones said, adding “So that’s what’s going on.“

    That said, Jones did admit that Messina “is right” in that “is right” since “it may, in fact, be true that a year from now things look very different because there’s been a year of a real campaign, and all this kind of stuff.”

    “But right now, today, I think a lot of Democrats look at these numbers and say the whispers are finally showing up in this data,” Jones said of a recent CNN poll in which Biden’s approval rating has dropped to just 39% – with voters concerned about his advanced age and declining mental faculties.

    Watch:

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js“They worry about Joe Biden,” Jones continued, adding “Joe Biden’s like that grandpa that you love, that you believe in.”

    (That takes ‘probably inappropriate‘ showers with his daughter?)

    “But you start to wonder, you know, would you give this grandpa a high-stress job for six more years or would you want something else for him?”

    Frankly, the fact that the president’s aides had to play him out tells you all you need to know about the struggles The White House is having to hide Biden’s degradation…

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    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 17:00

  • The G18: When Neither China Nor Russia Show Up
    The G18: When Neither China Nor Russia Show Up

    By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities

    Maybe it is the new math, but is it really the G20 when neither China nor Russia show up?

    I’m not sure anyone really expected Russia to show up. Leaving the borders of Russia is not the best thing that Putin could do for his own safety or security. The fact that China (Xi) did not attend is more interesting. I haven’t seen an official statement as to why he did not attend, but I have read that the reasons could include anything from “solidarity with Putin” (which seems unlikely) to “escalating tensions along the Himalayan border between China and India” (was not on my radar screen) to “a fractious tone at the recent Beidaihe meeting” (which has come up in some of our recent geopolitical discussions). There is a Nikkei article alleging that Xi was reprimanded by party elders at this year’s Beidaihe meeting. Is it possible that questions about the domestic economy kept him from the G20? I don’t know, but earlier this year China abruptly changed their zero-Covid strategy after a series of protests were reported.

    I don’t know why Xi did not attend the G20, but it doesn’t strike me as a good sign for global relations.

    The G18 (or G20) issued a statement about the war in Ukraine (which was apparently not critical enough of Russia) citing risks to the global economy (see The Economist Who Cried Recession) and included some climate initiatives (which I am not overly optimistic about given the fact that China didn’t attend).

    Made By China

    I continue to argue that one way for China to extricate itself from its current economic weakness is to sell more of their own brands (see China’s Next Move).

    The following helps support that view:

    • The yuan is on the cusp of record weakness.

    This weakness should provide a competitive advantage for Chinese exports.

    • There have been reports that certain phones and products will be banned for employees of certain Chinese government entities. That would presumably create an opportunity for Chinese brands. I have not seen a confirmation of this ban, but the market certainly responded to headlines about this on Thursday.
    • Huawei’s latest phone incorporates 7 nanometer chips made by SMIC. This is impressive technology and has reportedly caught the attention of the U.S. Commerce Department.

    I continue to believe that one of the most underpriced risks (in the market and in corporate boardrooms) is the potential for rapid growth in the sale of Chinese brands. The events of the past week have only reinforced that view.

    In the meantime, I’m looking for China to ramp up support for their economy in the coming days and weeks. So far, they have only done some things at the margin and markets have not been impressed.

    Inflation versus a Slowdown

    This week the “inflation” camp won. Yields increased across the curve and there was a small uptick in the probability of another rate hike this year (still less than 50% though). That seemed to weigh on the stock market as we are in a “good news is bad” mode.

    think that the move in rates is overdone, and they should drift lower (I’m looking for 4% on 10s) which would be good for risk assets (especially if accompanied by some new and larger stimulus measures in China).

    I am leaning more towards the belief that the “soft landing” view will be challenged in the coming weeks as we get new data. The anecdotal evidence seems to be pointing towards slowing spending/growth in many areas. This should show up in the data if the anecdotes are broadly representative of the state of the economy (and I believe that they are).

    I’m getting nervous about the current state of the economy (there are some potentially large headwinds if I’m correct on China’s strategy), but I am still bullish risk for a trade (betting on “bad news is good news” at least until we get sub 4% on 10s).

    I would have liked to see a G19 and am curious why Xi did not attend. It could be a “nothing burger” but it is curious to say the least.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 16:30

  • Alpha
    Alpha

    By Eric Peters, CIO of One River Asset Management

    Alpha

    “It requires that you think holistically about your portfolio,” said the CIO of a sovereign wealth fund, somewhere in Asia Pacific. “It’s the way you’d think in my seat. You’d look at the overall risk, netted off across all the portfolio positions,” he said. “It’s similar to running a multi-strat fund with a comprehensive risk management structure and a center book, the difference being that we are by design long the market rather than market neutral.” We were talking about a Total Portfolio approach to investment management. Of the largest pools of investment capital in the world, several of the leading performers are run in such a way.

    “Typical large investment funds have asset class teams, and each will try to optimize its own portfolio, its own allocation,” continued the same CIO. “Whereas we try to optimize across the whole portfolio, every asset class, all opportunities, at least conceptually,” he said. “If you go down the route of having asset class teams, you somehow need to find how to compare the returns of capital across asset classes and manage a competition for capital so that you allocate to the best investment. There’s always a conflict between bottom up and top down.”

    “We organized ourselves in a different way,” he said. “We have a whole team of generalists and hopefully they can do anything,” he said. “But the reality is that you naturally get market segmentation. And expertise on certain asset classes and sectors is very important.” So, he’s been trying to increase the degree of specialization across the investment team without losing the whole of portfolio approach. “And it gets harder at the size we’re running at,” he admitted.

    “One of our key advantages is that we have a very long-term horizon,” he explained. “It allows us to have quite a high risk appetite.” They take substantial active risk around their reference portfolio, accepting the volatility required to generate alpha. “We think about where we have structural advantages, where and why we may have a better chance of making money than others in such a competitive marketplace.” They don’t require short term cash flows. “We can really look through situations, events, dislocations, see across the chasms.”

    “Perhaps our biggest advantage is governance,” he explained. “You can only really think long-term if you have real buy in from your investors,” he said. “We have only one investor, a clear mission, and strong buy in.” As a sovereign wealth fund, they have access to unique investment opportunities, managers, and certain reputational advantages too. “We’ve been able to stick with our strategy because people have bought into it. And of course, if there were ever a few years of negative returns, that could be tested. But the philosophy has worked well.”

    Anecdote:

    “Conceptually it’s very easy,” said the CIO. “Practically it’s very hard,” he continued. A lovely winter day in August, the world upside down. We were discussing dynamic asset allocation, which for them consists of adjusting one’s portfolio to lean against powerful market trends. “It is the part of our investment program that our peers are most interested in discussing.” He leads a sovereign wealth fund with the world’s top performance for the past decade. To outperform requires investors do those things others generally do not. Defying the crowd at such scale is high art.

    “We base our dynamic asset allocation decisions mostly on relative valuations. It is a mean reversion process that capitalizes on volatility harvesting. And at times we will underperform, even have substantial drawdowns, but in the long run it has produced tremendous alpha.” In 2021-22 the approach helped contribute to the portfolio outperforming its 80/20 equity/bond benchmark by 700bps.

    “If you’re entering a high-volatility trending environment, the strategy is not very good. But if you’re entering a high-volatility non-trending environment, it is quite a good approach,” he said. “The periods that are both most challenging and ultimately rewarding are when you’ve had markets selling off a lot and your long position gets bigger and bigger, your liquidity is drawing down. You need to have the right limits at those times, and our limits are bigger than others because of our long horizon,” he said. 

    “When that happens, like it did during Covid, when the collapse was faster and deeper than we thought it should be, it made us wonder, do we understand the underlying distribution?” Such periods torture those who risk defying the crowd, because of course, no one can outperform without paying a steep price, emotionally, mentally, physically. “It made us consider, if something is at an extreme, do we feel more confident that it will revert? Or less confident, because perhaps we don’t understand the underlying system?”

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 15:30

  • "Who Is Biden Working For?" Admin Under Fire For 'Illegal, Reckless' Cancellation Of Alaska Oil Leases
    “Who Is Biden Working For?” Admin Under Fire For ‘Illegal, Reckless’ Cancellation Of Alaska Oil Leases

    Did someone pay Bidens to weaken the United States?

    After canceling the Keystone XL pipeline project, draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to dangerously low levels (some of which was sold to a Hunter Biden-linked Chinese energy giant), and vowing “no more oil drilling” on US soil while America’s geopolitical adversaries – two of whom paid his family handsomely – beef up their own energy independence, the Biden administration has done it again.

    Last week the regime confirmed that it will cancel seven controversial oil and gas leases in an area of Alaska known as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which were legally awarded from a 2021 sale.

    “On day one of this administration, President Biden directed us to look at the oil and gas leases sold in the refuge by the previous administration,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in a Wednesday call with reporters. “What we have found in our analysis is that the lease sale itself was seriously flawed and based on a number of fundamental legal deficiencies.”

    Biden, in a written statement, said that the move will “help preserve our Arctic lands and wildlife, while honoring the culture, history, and enduring wisdom of Alaska Natives who have lived on these lands since time immemorial.”

    “As the climate crisis warms the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of the world, we have a responsibility to protect this treasured region for all ages,” the statement continues, adding “My administration will continue to take bold action to meet the urgency of the climate crisis and to protect our lands and waters for generations to come.”

    The administration also proposed a rule on Wednesday that would protect 13 million acres in a different part of Alaska.

    In short, NIMBYism (or something more nefarious) meets National Security…

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    In response, Fox Business host and former Trump administration official Larry Kudlow blasted Biden, saying that this latest energy policy aides Russia, Iran and Venezuela, and is “sheer insanity.”

    “Biden is … playing into the hands of some of the worst actors in the world. I’ve never seen anything… and damaging, obviously, consumers and businesses here at home,” said Kudlow, adding “This is insanity. Sheer insanity.”

    “Who is Biden working for?” asked one X user in response to Kudlow’s segment.

    Watch:

    West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin also slammed the Biden administration over the move, calling the decisions an attempt to weaken American energy security.

    “This is yet another example of this administration caving to the radical left with no regard for clear direction from Congress or American energy security,” said Manchin. “Let’s be clear — this is another attempt to use executive action to circumvent a law to accomplish what this administration does not have the votes to achieve in Congress.”

    “Canceling valid leases, removing acreage from future sales, and attempting to reduce production in Alaska while taking steps to allow Iran and Venezuela to produce more oil — with fewer environmental regulations — makes no sense and is frankly embarrassing,” Manchin concluded.

    As Jack Gist opines in The Western Journal,

    Why would the Biden administration make such a move? I’m not the only one who thinks it’s crazy.

    “These decisions are illegal, reckless, defy all common sense, and are the latest signs of an incoherent energy policy from President Biden,” Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski declared in a news release.

    Murkowski is an on-again-off-again Republican who is often courted by Democrats for her vote. For her to sound off against the Biden administration is telling.

    In the same news release, Dan Sullivan, Alaska’s other Republican senator, said, “Not only is this an affront to the rule of law, it’s also a grave injustice to the Inupiat people of the North Slope, especially the people of Kaktovik — the only village in ANWR.”

    According to Politico, Sullivan told reporters on Capitol Hill that Biden officials “love to talk about racial equity, racial justice, environmental justice, taking care of people of color, but one big exception — the Indigenous people of Alaska. They screw ’em every time.”

    Sullivan is spot-on except for one point. The Indigenous people of Alaska are not the only ones getting the shaft.

    Progressives have made a concerted effort to appropriate the word “justice” in an effort to subvert its meaning. They claim the moral high ground while at the same time disdaining morality. For progressives, there is no justice and therefore no morality. There is only power.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 15:00

  • "See You In Court": Gun Owners of America Sues Tyrannical New Mexico Governor
    “See You In Court”: Gun Owners of America Sues Tyrannical New Mexico Governor

    Submitted by Gun Owners of America,

    New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham declared gun violence a “public health emergency” in response to recent deadly shootings in Albuquerque.

    While the anti-gun lobby and their allies in the corporate media have long championed the idea that gun violence constitutes a public health emergency, this is the first time after the COVID-19 pandemic that public health has been used as a guise to limit law-abiding citizens Second Amendment rights unconstitutionally.

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    While the public health order may stop law-abiding citizens from carrying firearms to defend themselves in Albuquerque, it certainly will not deter criminals, who often do not have permits to carry firearms, whether open or concealed in the first place.

    In fact, concealed carry permit holders are some of the country’s most “law-abiding” citizens. For example, those who hold concealed carry permits in Texas are 14 times less likely to commit a crime than an average person.

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    So why would Gov. Grisham issue a tyrannical order like this? Well, it’s simple. Because this is a trial run for something much larger.

    Since the landmark decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen, which affirmed that the Second Amendment extends outside the home, anti-gun politicians nationwide have had to resort to drastic measures to Americans’ right to a firearm.

    Using emergency orders to suspend constitutional rights in response to a tragedy is backward thinking at its finest. It leaves law-abiding citizens more vulnerable to the criminals who committed those violent acts in the first place.

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    These unconstitutional actions taken by Governor Grisham are unacceptable and will undoubtedly cause more violence and harm to the public. 

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    Gun Owners of America has officially filed a lawsuit against the tyrannical governor. 

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     See you in court, Governor Grisham.

    *   *   * 

    We’ll hold the line for you in Washington. We are No Compromise. Join the Fight Now.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 14:30

  • Austrian Economics Vs. CBDC, ESG, UBI, And Other Newfangled Socioeconomic Gimmicks
    Austrian Economics Vs. CBDC, ESG, UBI, And Other Newfangled Socioeconomic Gimmicks

    Authored by Jakub Bożydar Wiśniewski via the Mises Institute,

    The Austrian school – on account of the logical, deductive character of its theories and their realistic applicability to the actual economy – is the only economic tradition that consciously aspires to the discovery of timeless, universally relevant truths that govern the realm of human action. Thus, it should come as no surprise that its analytical apparatus is naturally suitable for the evaluation of all the recent newfangled socioeconomic phenomena.

    For example, in view of its reflection about the logical essence of the sound means of exchange, the Austrian school sends serious warning signals regarding the notorious concept of CBDCs (central bank digital currencies). More specifically, it points out that CBDC is nothing else but fiat money on steroids, which allows for an unprecedented redistribution of monetary purchasing power in the direction of special interest groups, as well as for immediate monetization of public debt. Worse still, the establishment of a global CBDC platform would be a major step in the direction of eliminating currency competition, which, as the Austrians suggest, is the best among imperfect anti-inflationary buffers in a world deprived of market-chosen money.

    Successful implementation of CBCDs would lethally infect the lifeblood of the global economy, causing unprecedentedly ruinous business cycles, endlessly distorted monetary calculation, and eventually a worldwide disintegration of indirect exchange. Nothing should be less surprising, especially to the Austrians, since the abovementioned situation would be the exact opposite of the monetary stability and predictability afforded by the classical gold standard.

    Similarly, in light of its considerations on the crucial role of economic calculation in the process of rational allocation of resources, the Austrians are naturally wary of the aggressively pushed “ESG standards”. This is because these standards, while parading around in the costume of “good business practices” are a major factor that disrupts business calculation with arbitrary, ideologically charged obstructions manufactured by the global bureaucratic-corporate oligarchy. As such, far from being a form of genuine social capital that builds trust on the part of customers, they are a potent source of ideological confusion and bureaucratic uniformization that hamper the process of generating authentic goodwill by socially proactive companies.

    Nevertheless, the ubiquity of such arbitrary pseudo-market standards can plunge the economy into an abyss of legal uncertainty, especially if some political regimes decide to enforce them as part of their “sustainable development” agenda. And it is precisely in such scenarios, as the Austrian school stresses repeatedly, that the entrepreneurial capacity for long-term planning becomes particularly hobbled.

    Finally, so-called UBI (“universal basic income”) is easily identified by the Austrians as the most comprehensive and audacious form of Frederic Bastiat’s “great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody” – i.e., the ultimate incarnation of universal parasitism. More specifically, given their sound reflection on the logic of human action and the resulting incentive structure, the Austrians realize full well that large-scale introduction of UBI would result in immediate capital consumption and catapult the global economy back to at least the preindustrial stage.

    In other words, the Austrian school is uniquely positioned to point out that UBI-ism would be a singularly destructive form of communism, since classical Soviet-style communism, even though supremely wasteful, was at least committed to diligence rather than idleness. Thus, it unwittingly nourished the spirit of dedication which, when combined with the spirit of defiance, brought about its eventual collapse. However, nothing similar can be said about UBI-ism, which eliminates the spirit of defiance by promoting universal shiftlessness and indolence.

    In view of all the preceding remarks, it becomes obvious that the convergence of all the abovementioned phenomena would be particularly capable of sealing the fate of the world economy. More specifically, what I mean here is a situation in which UBI would be paid out in CBDC to those who qualify in virtue of their total acceptance of the ESG agenda. Or, to put matters somewhat differently, a situation in which universal parasitism converges with completely cashless monetary totalitarianism and complete submission to contrived ideological whims.

    It goes without saying that such a scenario would be utterly dysfunctional on so many levels and in so many aspects that it would descend into total economic and social chaos in a very short time. However, even if we can rightly regard it as a highly unrealistic or indeed outright absurd contingency, we might at the same time treat it as a hypothetical anti-ideal against which all conceivable forces of resistance – conceptual and practical, academic, and entrepreneurial, and individual and collective – should be proactively rallied. And when it comes to coordinating such forces of resistance and serving as their fail-safe intellectual guide, there is no better candidate than the scholarly edifice of the Austrian school.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 13:30

  • Lavrov Gloats: West Failed To "Ukrainize" G20 As Global South Triumphed
    Lavrov Gloats: West Failed To “Ukrainize” G20 As Global South Triumphed

    Previously we noted how despite the best efforts of Washington and its Western partners, the G20 summit was unable to produce a statement condemning Russia and its invasion of Ukraine. Biden clearly failed to rally allies especially among BRICS and global south countries.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is at the G20 in New Delhi representing the absent President Vladimir Putin, is gloating over the Western allies’ failure at “Ukrainizing” the summit’s agenda, according to his remarks published in Russian media and Reuters.

    He told a Sunday press briefing that the Russian delegation had stood firm “to protect their legitimate interests,” and were thus able “to prevent the West from once again Ukrainizing the entire agenda”. He hailed the summit as a “success”. 

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    Lavrov then pointed to the G20 agreed upon declaration which merely “mentions the Ukraine crisis, but only in the context of the need to resolve all conflicts” – which he said is language in line with the principles of the UN Charter.

    He further suggested that the US didn’t get its way of turning the Group of 20 into a “politicized club” – but instead the final declaration that was adopted “highlighted the human suffering and negative added impacts of the war in Ukraine with regard to global food and energy security, supply chains, macro-financial stability, inflation and growth.”

    The top Russian diplomat explained that this agenda was thwarted largely through the collective efforts of developing nations and the interests of the global south, led especially by India, the host country. Per Reuters:

    The Global South’s position in the talks helped prevent the G20 agenda from being overshadowed by Ukraine, he told a press conference. “India has truly consolidated G20 members from the Global South.”

    And more via The Moscow Times:

    “The text doesn’t mention Russia at all,” Russia’s veteran diplomat said.

    “The Indian presidency has really managed to coalesce G20 members from the global south,” he added, suggesting that Russian allies like Brazil, South Africa, India and China had made their voices heard.

    CNN had also observed Saturday, “Diplomats had been working furiously to draft a final joint statement in the lead-up to the summit but hit snags on language to describe the Ukraine war.” The mainstream publication then presented it as a defeat for the White House’s hopes: “The eventual compromise statement amounted to a coup for the summit’s host, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but still reflected a position far softer those the United States and its Western allies have adopted individually.”

    The section of the G20 declaration where the US, UK and Europe hoped to include more teeth indeed failed to so much as mention Russia at all. “All states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition,” it reads. And the declaration added more mutedly: “there were different views and assessments of the situation.”

    Some pundits noted that the final declaration’s language was very favorable to Moscow’s view of the conflict…

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    French President Emmanuel Macron tried to salvage it as in no way a diplomatic victory for Russia, telling a press conference, “This G20 confirms once again the isolation of Russia. Today, an overwhelming majority of G20 members condemn the war in Ukraine and its impact.”

    But at the same time, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida underscored the fractured perspective and disunity on sensitive issue. “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is something that could shake the foundation of cooperation at G20,” he admitted.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 09/10/2023 – 13:00

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