• Is This The End Of The Myth Of A Stable Germany?
  Is This The End Of The Myth Of A Stable Germany?

  Via Remix News,

  Germany’s right-wing AfD party openly expresses what many ordinary Germans believe today, something that traditional political parties, imprisoned in the circle of political correctness, do not want to admit…

  

  German politicians have become accustomed to the convenient role of judges deciding which political parties and their programs in various countries are sufficiently European and deserving of acceptance in accordance with the prevailing canons of liberal Western democracy, and which should be condemned and separated by a “firewall.”

  This severity and principality always clearly increase among German political and media commentators, especially when it comes to forming opinions about politics in Central and Eastern European countries.

  There are exceptions, such as Wolfgang Schauble, a veteran of German politics, who tirelessly reminds us that Germany should not teach anyone in Europe how democracy should work. However, his voice has been relegated to the sidelines.

  There are many indications that in the near future, German media and politicians will have to pay more attention to the situation on their own political scene.

  This is all due to the increasingly popular right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD). This party, founded in 2013, was initially quite an exotic undertaking of a group of economists and university professors opposed to Angela Merkel’s then policy towards the crisis in the eurozone.

  After a decade of isolation on the political scene, due to the effects of the migration crisis, Berlin’s restrictive policy in combating the pandemic, inflation, and the social and economic costs of stringent climate policy, currently one in five voters declares readiness to support AfD. In the eastern lands of Germany, it can even count on 30 percent of the votes.

  During the party congress in Magdeburg, alongside slogans calling for freedom and sovereignty, the demand for peace was equally strong.

  The AfD particularly attracts those who traditionally harbor resentment towards America, still see Russia as Germany’s strategic partner, and blame the West’s policies for the war in Ukraine.

  The attractiveness of this party and its growing support can generally be explained by the fact that it openly and loudly expresses what many ordinary Germans believe today, something that traditional political parties, imprisoned in the circle of political correctness, do not want to admit.

  The current climate in Germany has triggered a self-propelling mechanism in which the simple rejection of alternative citizens’ views pushes politics toward greater polarization and a growing loss of stability.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 08/04/2023 – 02:00

• Stockman Warns "American Democracy Will Pay A Terrible Price" For Jack Smith's Insouciance
  Stockman Warns “American Democracy Will Pay A Terrible Price” For Jack Smith’s Insouciance

  Authored by David Stockman via Contra Corner blog,

  The Saturday Night Massacre That Wasn’t And The Threat Of Incumbent Party Rule

  Talk about a coup d’ etat… even an existential threat to American Democracy. We’ve got it now. In spades.

  

  We are referring to Jack Smith’s latest bogus indictment of Donald Trump, of course. Handing it down just as the Hunter Biden/Biden Crime Family saga is reaching its denouement, the Special Counsel has now proven himself to be a veritable anti-Thomas Jefferson, brandishing what amounts to a malefic Declaration of Incumbent Party Rule.

  That’s truly the gravamen of this 45 page abomination. It has nothing to do with justice or the rule of law or the protection of Democracy, and everything to do with triggering a trial clock in the DC District Court that will result in a guaranteed guilty verdict before November 5, 2024.

  And should that succeed, no incumbent party will ever again go into a presidential election without mobilizing the machinery of the DOJ to its partisan advantage. After all, this is the ultimate weaponization of the judicial branch of American government by the Incumbent Party—an attempt to cancel an election via “preventive detention” of the leading candidate of the Opposition.

  Is this not the very thing that Banana Republics do? Is this political screed in the guise of an “indictment” not a fatal blow to the very essence of free elections-based democracy—the absolute insulation of the machinery of government from partisan influence and elections interference?

  As it happens, this matter was settled long ago—way back in the Congressional elections of 1938, which swept the New Dealers from the US House and Senate. During the prior presidential election, FDR had wiped GOP candidate Alf Landon off the map—with no small help from millions of WPA employees who had been required to vote for Roosevelt in order to get on the Federal dole. But in those fair times the electorate was having none of the Incumbent Party using their tax dollars to re-elect itself, thereby putting the New Deal Democrats out to pasture for decades to come.

  But now comes something far more nefarious. Not a mere bribe of the voters via tax dollars shuffled into their pockets, but use of the government’s badge, guns and detention facilities to insure that even a candidate as decrepit and unfit for purpose as Joe Biden enjoys a Rooseveltian sweep in 2024 for want of the leading opposition candidate’s name on the ballot.

  To be sure, we do not quarrel with the end game here. To wit, the Donald is utterly unfit for the nation’s highest office. He never should have stumbled into the job by a hairline 100,000 votes in three battleground states (Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania) in 2016, and must not be allowed within a country-mile of the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue ever again.

  But safeguarding the republic from Donald Trump’s egomaniacal incompetence, bilious rants, uninformed laziness, flagrant delusions and principle-free quest for power and glory is the job of the voters.

  If they do not understand by now that they made one mistake, it is not the job of a rogue prosecutor to nail shut the GOP-side of the ballot box in order to save them from another.

  And we do mean rogue prosecutor. Jack Smith has penned a potent Opposition Research paper, but it is utterly bogus as a criminal indictment. That’s because it embodies exactly the age-old ploy used by all zealous prosecutors when the don’t have hard evidence of a specific crime. To wit, they cobble together a spurious “conspiracy” narrative from a string of wholly legal and/or prosaic actions and events involving the defendant, and then backdate them with mens rea (guilty intent) and the assertion that that everything contained in the resulting made-for-TV narrative was done “knowingly”.

  Well, when it comes to the very inner sanctum of American democracy—the conduct of free and honest national elections—that threadbare ploy is definitely not OK. Even when applied to crime bosses and alleged white collar miscreants, conspiracy charges are a prosecutors’ racket that more often than not results in an unfair miscarriage of justice.

  But when applied to the leading Opposition Candidate for acts and behaviors that were par for the Trumpian course, done in the wide open public and which were essentially an exercise, albeit a reckless one, in protected speech, a conspiracy indictment is just plain beyond the pale.

  For crying out loud. The criminal prosecution of an ex-president and current election front-runner entails a super-duper heavy burden of proof, not just enough plausibility to get a Mafia don into court. To the contrary, it needs be predicated upon a damn serious “high crime” and provable criminal actions by the target that actively threatened America’s national security or core democratic processes.

  By contrast, Jack Smith’s latest indictment is the very opposite. It’s self-evidently another exercise in prosecutorial “I gotcha”, and is even more tortured than the classified documents case. For instance, Trump retweeted a post labeling the Republican leaders of the Pennsylvania legislature as “cowards”  on December 4, 2020. By the lights of Jack Smith that exercise in social media dissing was evidence of Trump’s complicity in a felonious conspiracy.

  The same thing happened when several weeks later VP Pence called Trump to wish him Merry Christmas and Trump turned the conversation to the vice president’s role in the upcoming electoral vote count. So by merely raising the topic about an event to occur two weeks later, and a potential action by Pence that was still legally in play at least in the minds of a minority of Trump’s advisors, the sitting president of the United States thereby participated in said felonious conspiracy!

  The indictment is packed with pages on end of such legal humbug. But before you get lost in the utter trivia, it needs be remembered that we are actually in the midst of a fraught exercise in democracy, not a law school Moot Court proceeding on the proposition, taken in splendid abstraction, that no one is above the law.

  The plain fact is that Smith’s 45 pages of purported nefarious doings do not embody a criminal conspiracy at all. What the indictment actually describes is TrumpWorld at work in all of its pandemonium, bickering, incompetence and shoot-from-the hip recklessness. The self-evident reason that Trump pursued the election fraud canard right up until the wee hours of January 7th, when the electors finally certified Biden’s victory, is that the man is a megalomaniacal brute who just won’t take “no” for an answer.

  After all, by then nearly everyone who knew anything had told him that the election was over, that he had lost and that while the election reeked from the odor of an unprecedented 60 million mail-in votes and massive but dubious Democrat “ballot harvesting”, the level of provable fraud did not rise to anything remotely determinative of a different outcome. In fact, his Attorney General, Bill Barr, had bailed weeks earlier, the White House counsels office had given up the ghost and three days earlier Trump himself had chickened out of the required Saturday Night Massacre redux.

  That is, when he threatened to put the last remaining election fraud believer, Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark (co-conspirator #4), in the top DOJ spot on January 3rd, the acting AG and acting deputy AG threatened to resign. And they warned that much of the top DOJ escheleon would go with them.

  But as Senator Lloyd Bentsen of 1992 vice-presidential debate fame might of said in behalf of the Washington ruling class, “We knew Dick Nixon, and you are no Tricky Dick.”

  That is to say, Trump is a bully and blowhard, but ultimately a big chicken. To actually have committed the crime of election interference he would have had to fire the entire top tier of the DOJ on January 3rd, get a dubious opinion from their replacements that the Vice President had the constitutional authority to reject the Biden electors from the six battleground states (see below) and then intimidate Pence until he complied with Trump’s wishes.

  Alas, the Donald didn’t have the cojones. And when push-came-to-shove his own government resisted his petulant defiance of the facts and law at every turn.

  So there was no conspiracy and no threat to Democracy.

  There was just the bitter end obstinance and bombast of a defeated old bully and his drunken companion, Rudy Giuliani, who had once capriciously welded the badge and gun that is soon to come down on his own head, too.

  Still, expressing disagreement with and contradicting the advice of 95% of your advisors in a public venue like social media is not a crime, and not proof of a lie.

  Likewise, endlessly pestering your Vice-President to read the constitution—to the effect that he could send the Biden electors home—in a manner that virtually all the lawyers in the vicinity of the nation’s Capitol disagreed with is not a crime, either.

  At the end of the day the bomb that got dropped on American democracy last night by the beltway puppeteers who stage-manage Joe Biden is just a lengthy catalogue of all the advice that Trump rejected—advice that said he was wrong about whether there was sufficient fraud to alter the outcome of the election.

  Indeed, even by the time the state electors first meet on December 16th the “rampant fraud” horse being paraded by nincompoops like Rudy Giuliani and the other alleged co-conspirators was pretty much out the barn-door. The fact that Trump persisted in grasping for its disappearing rear-end right until the end on January 6th is powerful reason why he is not qualified to serve again.

  For want of doubt, recall that the popular vote was not even close with Biden’s 81.2 million ballots exceeding Trump’s 74.2 million by more than 7 million or 9%. Far more importantly, Trump’s electoral college deficit in the six swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania was 79 votes compared to Biden’ winning margin of 74 votes (306 to 232). Accordingly, there had to be sufficient fraud—–311,000 votes worth—- in these states to swing every one of them in the Donald’s favor and thereby alter the national outcome.

  Well, here are the vote margins in these six state’s that had to be overcome by expurgation of any and all votes fraudulently cast or counted. Yet by mid-December every one of the big claims regarding dead voters in Georgia or a midnight ballot dump in Michigan or 2o3,000 more votes than voters in Pennsylvania had been pretty much debunked.

  For instance, upon investigation the Republican governor of Georgia has admitted to only 2 dead voters, not the 10,000 that Trump had claimed. Similarly, the 203,000 more votes than voters in Pennsylvania turned out to be less than 8,000, as far as we can tell from official election results. And the mid-night dump of ballots in Detroit has apparently been par for the course in that godforsaken jurisdiction for a good while and thereby an indication of incompetence, not fraud.

  In that regard, the Republican Speaker of the Michigan House said all there was to be said about the Donald’s errant campaign to extract victory from the jaws of defeat—not only in Michigan but in the six contested states generally:

  We’ve diligently examined these reports of fraud to the best of our ability. … … I fought hard for President Trump. Nobody wanted him to win more than me.  I think he’s done an incredible job. But I love our republic, too. I can’t fathom risking our norms, traditions and institutions to pass a resolution retroactively changing the electors for Trump, simply because some think there may have been enough widespread fraud to give him the win. That’s unprecedented for good reason. And that’s why there is not enough support in the House to cast a new slate of electors. I fear we’d lose our country forever. This truly would bring mutually assured destruction for every future election in regards to the Electoral College. And I can’t stand for that. I won’t.

  Number of Electoral Votes and Popular Vote Difference By Swing State:

  • Arizona (11 electoral votes; 10,457 votes)

  • Georgia (16 electoral votes; 11,779 votes)

  • Michigan (16 electoral votes; 154,188 votes)

  • Nevada (6 electoral votes; 33,596 votes)

  • Pennsylvania (20 electoral votes; 80,555 votes)

  • Wisconsin (10 electoral votes; 20,682 votes)

  In any event, it is evident from the above summary that the numbers just weren’t remotely there. Yet Trump persisted until there was almost no one left even in his inner circle except crackpots who thought he won. He thus tweeted this bit of bombast at 6:01 PM on January 6th when it was all over except the shouting:

   “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long……

  That’s smoking gun enough. Donald J. Trump disqualified himself for another term then and there by issuing this preposterous bit of bombast.

  And yet, and yet. That outcome was a matter for the voters to decide, not a rogue prosecutor leading a partisan witch-hunt.

  In truth, this action by the weaponized Biden Justice Department amounts to a present day variation of the aphorism immortalized by Stalin’s security chief, Levrenti Beria:

  “Show me Donald Trump and I’ll show you the crime”.

  Prosecutor Smith has done exactly that now for the second time in as many months. And American democracy will pay a terrible price for such insouciance for a long time to come.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 08/04/2023 – 00:00

• Chick-Fil-A To Test New "Drive-Under" Concept, Larger Kitchens To Increase Efficiency
  Chick-Fil-A To Test New “Drive-Under” Concept, Larger Kitchens To Increase Efficiency

  Of all the new fast food drive-thru concepts we have written about over the years, Chick-Fil-A may be on the verge of the coolest.

  The popular chicken chain is testing a new concept where to-order orders will arrive at their destination vehicles down a chute. It plans on testing the concept at a new store in Atlanta, with a focus on trying to cut down its wait times, CBS wrote this week.

  The chain will also be debuting a new walk-in concept store in New York City. 

  In a statement the store put out this week, Khalilah Cooper, executive director, restaurant design, said: “Digital orders make up more than half of total sales in some markets – and growing – so we know our customers have an appetite for convenience.”

  Cooper continued: “Understanding this desire for convenience, the locations for these tests were intentionally selected with the customers in mind, giving them more control over their desired experience and cutting down wait-time, while continuing to provide genuine hospitality and care to every guest.”

  

  The new Atlanta store is going to have 4 drive-thru lanes, with two of them dedicated to mobile order pickups. The lanes will run under the restaurant, instead of around it, like current stores. This will allow the kitchen in the new concept store to be twice as large. 

  “Orders will travel through an overhead conveyor belt connected with chutes that run down the sides,” CBS wrote. 

  “By building the kitchen above the drive-thru lanes, meals are expedited to the Team Member who delivers the order directly to the customer in a space protected by the upper level, so hospitality won’t be sacrificed for speed of service. Regardless of how you choose to order your meal, the restaurant design is made to elevate and accelerate the experience but keep the human interaction at its core,” the company said in its statement. 

  “We want to leverage technology to elevate the human touchpoints in our restaurants,” said Cooper. “These new digital formats make the customer and Team Member experience more seamless, and therefore more memorable, and give back precious time to connect with each other.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 23:40

• Striking Hollywood Actors And Writers Might Have To Get Used To Stagnant Wages
  Striking Hollywood Actors And Writers Might Have To Get Used To Stagnant Wages

  Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute,

  People with jobs, children, and actual responsibilities might not have noticed, but Hollywood is nearly shut down right now thanks to both a writers’ strike and an actors’ strike. Or more accurately: only the writers and actors who are members of unions are on strike. Members of SAG-AFTRA (SAG) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are refusing to work until TV and movie studios agree to a variety of demands.

  These actors and writers may be in for some unpleasant surprises, however. Studio revenues and advertising income isn’t what it used to be. Cable subscriptions are down. Theater attendance has not recovered from covid. When revenues are stagnant or falling, it’s harder to get the studios to raise compensation.

  Another big problem writers and actors face is that we now live in an age when mid-budget content creators who can reach millions of viewers through platforms like Youtube and Tiktok and Twitter. These people are usually not union members, and that means a lot of non-union competition for Hollywood content creators.

  This all highlights a central problem that unions have always faced: labor unions do not—and never have—raised wages for all workers in any particular industry. They can only raise wages for union members. But, if non-union workers can still write, film, edit, and act outside union control, they will always offer an alternative to union workers. Moreover, rising wages can only be supported in the long run by rising levels of productivity. That is, writers and actors can only expect sustainably larger pay if they’re also bringing in more net revenue. But it’s not clear rising revenue is something that Hollywood actors and writers should expect.

  In this new age of decentralized and democratized content creation, union members’ demands may simply be based on wishful thinking for a bygone era.

  

  The Decline of Hollywood Dominance

  The last substantial actors’ strike was in 1980. The last time both actors and writers went in strike together was in 1960. That was a very long time ago. In those days—whether we’re talking 1960 or 1980—the big-three television stations, the large movie studios, and the artists behind them utterly dominated the world of visual entertainment. There were few viewing choices outside of what was only a handful of television stations or what was playing in movie theaters. Actors were in a fairly good position to demand higher pay for their work which in many cases enjoyed a near-captive audience. After all, summer blockbusters were a rising trend. Movie stars were household names. Prime time television commanded enormous nationwide audiences.

  In 2023, the situation is very different. Yes, videos and podcasts from online content creators is not the same product as shows produced by big studios. Yet, it is nonetheless a “substitute good,” as the economists say, and it does offer competition in the form of pulling viewers away from traditional media. Ten-minute comedy videos on Youtube may be very rough around the edges compared to a slick 30-minute program on cable, but the non-studio content nonetheless competes with the studios for the viewers’ time. An hour spent watching Youtube content is an hour not spent watching something on NBC.

  As a result, ad revenues are down and studios are losing revenue in many areas. A report on TV advertising by Enders Analysis concludes “TV advertising is expected to decline over 10% in Q1 2023 and by approximately 5% overall in 2023.” David Bloom reports at Forbes that “Disney has reported its linear networks revenue (which includes its cable operations) dropped 7% percent while operating income dropped a painful 35%.” Overall net revenues continue to grow for many studios, but positive revenues have come largely through cost-cutting measures. Studios have been cutting back new film and television projects which means lower overall wages for many writers and actors.

  Meanwhile, Warner Bros Discovery endured an 11-percent drop in revenue in late 2022 as advertising revenues softened. Hollywood studios have endured a variety of box office disappointments this year from The Flash to Pixar’s Elemental to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Variety also reports on how movie stars are no longer reliable money makers. Since the collapse of the DVD business in 2008, few new actors have reached the heights of an Arnold or a Stallone. This makes it harder to predict which films will be a success. There are few “sure things” in movie production in 2023, which leads studios to become far more cautious about what they’ll pay out ahead of time to writers and actors.

  What do the Actors and Writers Want?

  Indeed, what appears to be keeping the studios afloat at all are the streaming services such as Peacock, HBO MAX, and Disney+. Yet, actors and writers are compensated differently for streaming content than theatrical releases and TV broadcasting. Thus, the demands by both unions center largely on changes like the shift to streaming. For example, pay for actors and writers is currently constructed in such a way that big pay increases can be had through box office revenues and syndicated television. Thanks to the rise of streaming services, however, these older means of getting at the big bucks are no longer nearly as rewarding for actors and writers.

  Other concerns center around artificial intelligence and computer-generated images. There are rising concerns among writers that AI programs could be used to complete or write screenplays and teleplays. Actor are concerned that CGI will allow studios to use an actor’s likeness without actually paying the actors in question.

  The reluctance by studios to expand compensation to these platforms is not necessarily a function of nefarious intent as union activists often imply. (Note, for example, actor Ron Perlman’s threat to burn down the houses of studio executives.) Rather, studios continue to face large threats to advertising revenues, cable-TV income, and box office gains. Simply as a matter of responsibility to stockholders, the studios have to find ways to cut costs, and are naturally reluctant to cut into their most reliable cash cows right now: streaming.

  Eventually, however, a deal will be struck, and Moody’s predicts this will cost media companies from $450 million to $600 million per year.

  This may prove to be a late rearguard action, however, as neither studios nor writers nor actors can escape competition from outside Hollywood. Consider the sheer volume of content from highly popular Youtube creators like Mr. Beast or popular podcasters like Joe Rogan. People can spend hours per week consuming their content, without any dollars going to traditional content from studios. This content is far more decentralized than Hollywood and enjoys much less overhead. 

  So, any new demands from writers and actors will have to come in light of the fact there is a large entertainment world beyond the reach of the Hollywood unions and studios. This naturally presents a challenge to unions which thrive on the idea that they control at least a sizable portion of the available labor within a certain field. Moreover, there is a nearly constant stream of new writers and actors willing to offer their services to the big studios in the hopes of making it big.

  Henry Hazlitt explains how this is a problem for the unions:

  It is important to keep in mind that the unions cannot create a “monopoly” of all labor, but at best a monopoly of labor in certain specific crafts, firms, or industries. A monopolist of a product can get a higher monopoly price for that product, and perhaps a higher total income from it, by deliberately restricting the supply … But while the unions can and do restrict their membership, and exclude other workers from it, they cannot reduce the total number of workers seeking jobs. 

  These unions are in less of a position than ever to control the work of actors and writers. There are just too many platforms offering too many opportunities to outsiders. 

  Hazlitt notes unions “claim the ‘right’ to prevent anybody else from taking the jobs that they have abandoned [during the strike]. That is the purpose of their mass picket lines, and of the vandalism and violence that they either resort to or threaten. This constantly undermines the facade of a union monopoly on labor.”

  This facade is more obvious than ever as non-Hollywood entertainment continues to grow in both quality and availability. The actors and writers will likely get their raises this year. But their old-fashioned studio-labor model may not survive much longer. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 23:20

• Study Reveals Drunkest Cities In America Are Run By Democrats
  Study Reveals Drunkest Cities In America Are Run By Democrats

  The most commonly abused drug in the US is alcohol. Since alcohol is socially acceptable, more people are addicted to alcohol than any other drug. A new study by the finance website Insider Monkey has revealed the top ten US cities with the highest alcohol consumption per capita. 

  Insider Monkey said Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ranked number on the list because of its “lowest alcohol tax rates in the country, resulting in lower retail and wholesale prices.” Milwaukee is a Democratic stronghold with an excessive drinking rate of 24.6%. 

  Analysts with Insider Monkey used County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, the US Census Bureau, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data to find metro areas with the highest excessive drinking rates. Only cities with populations of 200,000 or more were analyzed. The rate measures the percentage of a city’s adult population that reports binge or heavy drinking in the last month. 

  Number two is Minneapolis, Minnesota, yet another Democratic stronghold. It has an excessive drinking rate of 23.5%. Third is Boston, Massachusetts, another Democratic stronghold with an excessive drinking rate of 23.1%. Fourth is Buffalo, New York — you might have already guessed it — another Democratic stronghold — has an excessive drinking rate of 22.8%. 

  

  Fifth on the list is crime-ridden Chicago, with an excessive drinking rate of 22.7%. And sixth is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with an excessive drinking rate of 22.5%. Seventh is New Orleans, with an excessive drinking rate of 21.9%. Eight is Sacramento, California, with a 21.6% excessive drinking rate. Nine is Portland, Oregon, and last but not least is Austin, Texas. 

  So what’s the commonality between all of these cities? Well, they’re all Democratic strongholds. And excessive drinking cost the US economy $250 billion in 2010 (Latest figures available by the CDC).

  Virtue-signaling Democrats who say they’re for the people but are letting their cities implode with rampant drug use, an explosion in homelessness, and a surge in violent crime. Do they even care about law and order?

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 23:00

• Radicals vs. Atlanta: The Global Left's Violent Rage Over A Police Academy Meant To Prevent Killings
  Radicals vs. Atlanta: The Global Left’s Violent Rage Over A Police Academy Meant To Prevent Killings

  Authored by Lee Fang via RealClear Wire,

  Throughout the United States, it takes three times as many hours of training to become a nail technician, a barber, or a plumber as it does to become a police officer. 

  

  Finland, Australia, Denmark, and Germany – countries with far less crime and a fraction of American gun violence – spend dramatically more to prepare officers before sending them off into the streets. Finland, for instance, provides police cadets with 5,500 hours of training, nearly 14 times the minimum 408 training hours required by the state police board in Georgia. 

  Highly trained law enforcement officers, studies consistently show, are better at handling mental health emergencies and defusing violent confrontations, are less likely to engage in racial bias, and are more equipped to build community bonds necessary for good police work.

  Poorly trained officers, in contrast, are more likely to use force and rely on their firearms, a tendency that has led to lost lives and scandals. Georgia’s police officers are among the least trained in the country. 

  The evidence suggests a focus on police training can also mend deep wounds from years of officer misconduct. Newark, N.J., under a court order because of rampant police abuses, has decided to adopt yearly seminars for police officers, including training that emphasizes mental health programs for traumatized police officers. Although the reforms cost over $7.5 million, they began paying dividends almost immediately. In 2020, Newark had zero police shootings. Crime rates that year went down. 

  Municipalities have recently turned to the Integrating Communications, Assessment and Tactics standard of police training. The ICAT approach, focused on communication tools to calm volatile situations, is credited with lowering use-of-force incidents by nearly one-third, reducing injuries to officers and civilians. As part of a reform agenda, city leaders in Atlanta announced a police academy focused on adopting the most modern de-escalation tactics, including the ICAT method. 

  Despite the clear need for more and better police training, opposition to the planned Atlanta Public Safety Training Center – derisively dubbed “Cop City” – is now among the most popular protest causes of self-styled radicals. Viral social media posts have claimed that the academy is focused on advancing “white supremacy” and that it is designed for “militarization” tactics. Some claim, ominously, that Israeli special forces will be brought to the training center to teach the Atlanta Police Department to terrorize minority groups. 

  The conspiratorial allegations have frustrated local officials, who say that planning meetings, which have been open to the public, made it clear that the academy is doing nothing of the sort. Instead, it will feature modern facilities to train police, firefighters, and other emergency responders in professional best practices.

  Protest organizers carefully ignore any of the publicly debated training curriculum and have instead made the center into a target for an abstract smorgasbord of left-wing causes. In one recent podcast from a local organizer and several national left-wing influencers, activists called the “Cop City” protest an attempt to “link intensive policing, undemocratic land use processes with the issue of climate change,” and “a global struggle against fascism” to “disrupt the machinery of capitalism.” 

  Such rhetoric has made meaningful discussion nearly impossible. In June, as the Atlanta city council debated the future of the training center, demonstrators from as far as Los Angeles mobbed the hearing. Outside the government chamber, protesters chanted, “If you build it, we will burn it.” 

  The slogans were far from an idle threat. Demonstrators have thrown fireworks and incendiary devices at law enforcement and set fires at the proposed police academy site in the forest. 

  “Atlanta has an opportunity to create the prototype of what real training should look like, a model for the rest of the country,” said Rev. Timothy McDonald III, senior pastor of First Iconium Baptist Church in Atlanta. But he added that the role of anarchists has prevented substantive debate about the proposed center.

  “Antifa, they don’t want any kind of training, they don’t want any police. No policing is no answer. We got to have police and you got to have trained police,” said McDonald. 

  McDonald runs a community center designed to reduce gun violence and serves as a board member of People for the American Way. He’s one of many local progressives frustrated by the escalating violence and opposition to the training center. 

  “Training is everything. You don’t go to the doctor unless the doctor is trained,” said McDonald, who has advised police reform efforts around the country. 

  But such arguments are lost on radicals singularly dedicated to destroying anything with “police” in the name. 

  Leftists from around the world have come to Atlanta to protest the training center. During violent confrontations with law enforcement earlier this year, only two of the 23 arrested at the site were from Georgia. The rest were from as far as Canada and France. Last year, at another protest over the proposed Atlanta police academy, every single arrested demonstrator was from outside the state. Construction crews have been attacked and local legislators followed to their homes in a bid to intimidate them. 

  In January, the dangerous protest tactics led to deadly violence. During an attempt to clear an encampment of protesters at the proposed training center site, an armed protester and Georgia state troopers exchanged gunfire. The activist, 26-year-old Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, graduated in 2021 from Florida State University with a degree in environmental science. Known as “Tortuguita” (Little Turtle), he had moved from Tallahassee to join the protesters. Georgia investigators say that on Jan. 18, Teran refused to clear the area and fired a shot that injured a state trooper. In response, law enforcement returned fire and killed him. 

  The death of Teran at the “Cop City” site, one local Atlanta columnist worried, would likely only fuel even more of an “activist Lollapalooza” environment, attracting a festival-like atmosphere of roving leftists seeking the latest, most fashionable outrage, further polarizing the issue. Online leftists have incorporated the slogan, “Trees give life, police take it. Viva, viva, Tortuguita!” 

  And indeed, the protest has gone global. “Stop Cop City” signs can be spotted in Paris, Brooklyn and San Francisco, while the movement has spread. The official activist coalition includes three groups from Santa Cruz, Calif. Anarchists are now targeting a new program proposed this year by liberal New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy that trains police to work alongside mental health professionals. That program, one local anarchist group claims, shows that the “white power establishment wants to build cop city everywhere.” 

  The anti-police training movement is well-funded and receives glowing, uncritical coverage in many prestige media outlets. James “Fergie” Chambers, the anarchist heir to a billionaire media fortune, recently promised $600,000 for the anti-training center campaign. Another liberal foundation called Solidaire, funded by Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg among other wealthy California donors, is offering tips to activists on how to derail the police training center. 

  Why is better police training now the focus of progressive left ire? Not long ago, President Barack Obama convened a commission on police reform, addressing the inadequate training of officers as the top priority. 

  The episode highlights the divergent views around policing that formed in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter movement. Many saw the moment as an opportunity for substantive reform, such as requirements for body cameras, enhanced training, and legal accountability. Others, especially upper-class activists, have used the movement as fuel for theatric protest violence with no tangible goals and no serious concern for public safety. 

  The “Stop Cop City” momentum has shifted the norms of the criminal justice movement. In 2015, the NAACP, for instance, strongly backed Obama’s calls for greater investments in police training and de-escalation tactics, calling such reforms “absolutely critical” in testimony before Congress. Those days appear to be long gone. In June, Gary Spencer of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund described the proposed Atlanta training center as a project for “perpetuating militarized policing that will endanger the lives of our residents, our visitors, and put the Black people and Brown people in Atlanta at a heightened risk of police violence.” 

  Atlanta in particular began the process of creating this academy as part of a series of reforms to reduce police brutality while addressing crime. In the aftermath of 2020, following violent protests after the police killing of Rayshard Brooks – a young man who grabbed an officer’s taser, leading to a violent confrontation and the police officer killing him – then-Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms faced a crisis. 

  Bottoms promised better training of officers and greater police oversight, but she also faced a crime wave and low morale among officers. Homicide in her city was up by 58% while over 200 police officers had either resigned or retired in the wake of the Brooks riots. Bottoms needed to navigate calls for criminal justice reform from the protest movement the year prior while responding to rising crime. 

  In April 2021, the mayor announced the creation of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, a new complex to be built on an 85-acre plot of land owned by the city. The idea married the problems into one solution. Bottoms said the facility would help overhaul the force to recruit new officers and train them with modern policing techniques, focused on tactics to avoid officer-involved shootings. 

  The new academy would train officers, emergency medical staff, and firefighters with input from community leaders and civil rights experts. Both Atlanta firefighters and police currently train at decrepit old buildings, and the unions representing both workforces have long called for new facilities. 

  “People say we need to abolish police or defund the police, well I don’t know how you do that, unless somebody is going to abolish crime,” said Bottoms at a press conference defending the center. “What I’ve said repeatedly over the last year is that holding the men and women who serve us in a public safety capacity accountable is not mutually exclusive from supporting them.” 
   
  The mayoral proposal for reform made clear that every Atlanta police officer will receive ICAT de-escalation training.

  The notion that the training center is a stalking horse for white supremacy strains credulity. Bottoms and her successor, Andre Dickens, are black, as are the majority of city council members backing the project.  

  If anything, the “Stop Cop City” movement has rippled with identity-based rage. Atlanta City Councilman Michael Julian Bond, the son of the civil rights icon Julian Bond and an outspoken proponent of the training center, has said that his office has been deluged with death threats and racist messages from protesters. “There’s been gratuitous use of the ‘N-word’ against me,” Bond told reporters earlier this summer. “They wish I was dead like my father.” 

  But the proposal instantly faced opposition from leftist groups who saw the investment in a new training center as a bitter rebuke of the “defund the police” movement. 

  Before the first city council hearing, demonstrators swarmed the home of Atlanta Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd, gathering on her lawn and porch to bang pans and chant. There was no interest in discussing the proposal. “No cop city,” the protesters yelled. 

  Not long after, environmentalists joined the protests, claiming the forest for the proposed site is a habitat worthy of special protection. Encampments sprouted on the proposed site, and activists began funneling Molotov cocktails and weapons, preparing for clashes with law enforcement and construction workers. 

  The city has in turn promised plans to build one of the largest public city parks on the 300-acre site, and will plant 100 hardwood trees for every tree removed to build the 85-acre training center. The academy shooting range will be indoors, muffled from noise. Atlanta has passed special additions to the training center plan, forbidding the use of helicopters and explosives, and requiring special training for police on protecting speech rights. 

  But no attempted engagement has pacified the movement. The opposition has only intensified, with activists viewing the center as an existential threat. 

  “This project is based upon genocide,” implored one activist at the most recent city council meeting. A man covered in tattoos claimed that he had dedicated his life to “fighting fascism,” and was anguished that the U.S. had gone from “putting bullets in Nazi’s heads” to now “reward[ing] them with pay raises and playgrounds,” a reference to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. “If this facility is built, queer trans people, black people, indigenous people are going to be killed,” claimed another activist at the hearing. 

  Despite such talk, ordinary Atlanta residents remain supportive of the project. A poll conducted earlier this year at the direction of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, found 61% of residents in favor of moving forward with the center. The council hearing in June on the project ended with a 10-4 vote in favor. 

  If activists cannot stop the training center with violence or extreme rhetoric, they’re also proposing a ballot measure to cancel the training center. Last week, a judge approved a petition extending the time for activists to collect signatures to move the process forward. 

  During the July Fourth weekend, protesters said they torched construction equipment again, and reportedly set fire to Atlanta Police Department motorcycles as a threat against city plans to continue moving forward with the safety training center. 

  The ongoing dispute has left many in Atlanta baffled by the conspiratorial rhetoric and violent activism, which now threatens the future of the academy. 

  “I know crowds can get excited when emotions are high, but there hasn’t been the right kind of dialogue,” said Rev. Gerald Durley, an Atlanta activist and longtime community leader. 

  Durley, who has participated in the planning for the training center, noted that he’s been on the front lines challenging police tactics and fighting for more effective oversight. 

  “Police, certainly in America, need more training, not just on police investigations but on de-escalation and crowd control,” said Durley. “When you come down to the actual facts and figures, this training center would be something good.” 

  The demonstrators, he said, had lost sight of how to fix ongoing problems with policing. 

  “It’s hard for me to condemn a pitbull,” added Durley, “if I haven’t trained that pitbull on what to do.” 

  Lee Fang is an independent journalist based in San Francisco. He writes an investigative newsletter on Substack via www.leefang.com.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 22:40

• July Jobs Preview: Hot Print Sends Yields Soaring, Puts September Hike In Play
  July Jobs Preview: Hot Print Sends Yields Soaring, Puts September Hike In Play

  After dropping to the lowest level since Dec 2020 (when it was negative 268K), in July the rate of payroll growth is expected to slow further, with measures of wage growth also seen cooling further. Consensus expects payrolls to slow to 200K from 209K, while hourly earnings rise 4.2% vs a year ago, down from 4.4% last month.

  

  That said, analyst whisper numbers and gauges of the US labor market strength are supportive of a stronger reading: as Newsquawk notes, ADP’s gauge of payrolls surprised to the upside once again, though many analysts dismiss the data series as an unreliable forecaster for the NFP data; weekly claims data has trended lower relative to the June survey week; PMI surveys allude to healthy labor market conditions, and consumers have confidence in the outlook for the labor market. And tracking estimates are also above what the consensus predicts. Looking forward, payroll additions are expected to ease further, but Fedwatchers still suggest that a print in July that is in line with the consensus would still likely keep the prospect of another FOMC rate rise in play.

  EXPECTATIONS:

  • NFPs: Analysts expect 200k nonfarm payrolls to be added to the US economy in July, slightly below the 209k added in June.
  • Unemployment rate: The jobless rate is expected to remain unchanged at 3.6% (note: the FOMC’s latest projections anticipate the jobless rate will rise to 4.1% by the end of this year, before ticking up to 4.5% next year).
  • Average Hourly Earnings: Consensus expects a cooling to 4.2% Y/Y from 4.4%, with the monthly print expected at +0.3% M/M (down from +0.4%);
  • Average Weekly Hours: expected to remain at 34.4hrs. According to whispers, the bias could be to the upside; traders cite a Bloomberg report which was tracking payrolls growth at 364k this month, and sees the jobless rate falling to 3.5%. That would certainly be viewed as a very hawkish development and would send yields sharply higher still.

  ADP DATA: ADP’s data surprised to the upside, once again, reporting 324k private payrolls were added in July, blitzing
  through the consensus view of 189k (the range of forecasts 140-300k); the prior data for June was revised lower to 455k
  from an initially stated 497k (which in turn was more than double the NFP print of 209K so it’s rather safe to ignore ADP). The wages metrics also cooled sharply again, taking the annual rate for Job Stayers to 6.2% Y/Y (from 6.4%), and for Job Changers to 10.2% from 11.2%. For obvious reasons, analysts continue to be critical of the ADP’s ability to forecast the BLS payrolls data. Pantheon Macroeconomics, a very vocal critic, said that “since its relaunch with new methodology last August, ADP has been both unforecastable and deeply unreliable as an indicator of the official first estimate of private payrolls each month,” adding that the data “has no implications for our July forecast.” Of course, it very well could be that ADP is right and it is the BLS “data” that is massaged for political purposes.

  WEEKLY CLAIMS: Weekly initial and continuing jobless claims data has eased in the July survey week relative to the June survey window; initial jobless claims were at 228k vs 265k (with the moving average at 238k vs 265k), while continuing claims was 1.69mln vs 1.73mln (with the average moving lower to 1.72mln from 1.76mln).

  BUSINESS SURVEYS: S&P Global’s PMI Data is mixed in its outlook for the labor market; its flash release for July said firms expanded workforce numbers, though the rate of job creation was only marginal, however, and the weakest since January. “Some manufacturing companies noted that the solid rise in payrolls was due to greater ease of hiring, with some also mentioning an improvement in employee retention and improved confidence in the outlook,” it said, “in contrast, services firms reported the slowest rise in employment for six months in July, continuing to highlight challenges retaining and attracting staff due to rising wage costs.”

  CONSUMER CONFIDENCE: The Conference Board reported that Consumer Confidence improved in July, with assessments of the present situation rising on brighter views of employment conditions, where the spread between consumers saying jobs are ‘plentiful’ versus ‘hard to get’ widened further. “This likely reflects upbeat feelings about a labor market that continues to outperform,” CB said. Additionally, consumers’ assessment about the short-term labor market outlook was also more favourable, with slightly more consumers expecting more jobs to be available, while slightly fewer anticipate less jobs.

  JOLTs: It is also worth noting that the JOLTs data for June (which is one month delayed vs the July jobs data from the BLS due tomorrow) reported job openings of 9.582mln, beneath the expected 9.61mln, and 9.824mln prior. Wells Fargo said that “since the Fed began tightening policy in March 2022, job openings have fallen 20% while the unemployment rate has trended sideways,” adding that “this marks an encouraging step towards inflation subsiding without a recession, but with price growth still elevated and a pullback in demand for workers ongoing, a “soft landing” remains far from assured.” The number of new hires and quit both also slumped, signaling a sharp slowdown in the labor market.

  ARGUING FOR A STRONGER-THAN-EXPECTED REPORT

  • Big Data. Alternative measures of employment growth indicate strong job gains in nJuly, with a median pace of +360k across the four indicators tracked.

  

  • Arrival of summer student workforce. When the labor market is tight, payroll ngrowth tends to remain strong in July, with average payroll gains 15k above the full-year average (see Exhibit 2). We believe this reflects the interaction between labor availability and the spring hiring season: seasonal labor market slack peaks at the start of the year, troughs in early May, then rebounds in June and July with the arrival of the student summer workforce.

  

  • Job availability. JOLTS job openings were roughly unchanged month-over-month (at 9.6mn) and in line with consensus expectations in June, and online measures have similarly flattened out over the past few months (Exhibit 3). While labor demand has fallen meaningfully from last year’s peak, it remains elevated by 1.0-2.5mn relative to 2019 and represents a positive factor for job growth. The Conference Board labor differential—the difference between the percent of respondents saying jobs are plentiful and those saying jobs are hard to get—increased by 4.4pt to 37.2 in July.

  

  ARGUING FOR A WEAKER-THAN-EXPECTED REPORT

  • Employer surveys. The employment components of business surveys improved on net but remained at weak levels in July. The employment component of Goldman’s manufacturing survey tracker edged up to 49.6 and the employment component of our services survey tracker increased to 51.4.

  NEUTRAL FACTORS:

  • Layoffs. Announced layoffs reported by Challenger, Gray & Christmas declined sharply in July (-36.8% to 24k, SA by GS), compared to 45k on average in the second half of 2022. While initial jobless claims fell to an average of 238k in the July payroll month (vs. 251k in June), the recent string of declines likely benefited from favorable seasonal comparisons. The JOLTS layoff rate was unchanged at 1.0% in June.

  VARIANT TAKE:  In its preview, Goldman – which has been chronically bullish ahead of payroll reports and mostly on the wrong side of consensus – estimates an above-consensus 250k payrolls in July as “job growth tends to remain strong in July when the labor market is tight—reflecting strong hiring of youth summer workers—and three of the alternative measures of employment growth we track indicate a strong pace of job growth.” The bank is also more optimistic than consensus, estimating that the unemployment rate edged down by 0.1% to 3.5% (vs. consensus of 3.6%) reflecting a rise in household employment and unchanged labor force participation at 62.6%. The bank is in line with consensus regarding wages and estimates a 0.3% increase in average hourly earnings that lowers the year-on-year rate to 4.2% “reflecting waning upward wage pressures and positive calendar effects (consensus also 0.3% / 4.2%).”

  POLICY IMPLICATIONS: SGH Macro’s Fedwatcher Tim Duy suggests that if the data is in line with market expectations, and in the context of a GDP growth rate running above 2%, it keeps the prospect of a FOMC rate hike on the table at the October and/or November meetings, and adds that anything below 200k will give the Fed scope to continue to pause on rate changes. Duy says that July’s data could be elevated due to seasonal effects, but payroll growth of around 300k or more over the next two reports would probably be consistent with unemployment below 3.5% by the time of the September meeting. “That combined with a Q3 growth outlook of more than 2% would probably put a September rate hike into play,” SGH writes, “that’s arguably an extreme situation (or maybe not if the economy is rebounding from the “recession” of the 4Q21 and 1Q22 and the Fed’s series of rate hikes?), and the Fed would hate it.”

  The bottom line is that if the whisper numbers based on the “big data” forecasts – or the monthly ADP report – are remotely accurate, and payrolls reverse the recent decline, odds of another rate hike will spike, which in a time of soaring deficits and $1 trillion in debt issuance this quarter will send the 10Y to fresh 2023 highs, fast approaching 4.50%.

  Extended preview research available to pro subscribers

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 22:20

• Mysterious Land Acquisition Group Sues Farmers After Buying Land Surrounding Air Force Base
  Mysterious Land Acquisition Group Sues Farmers After Buying Land Surrounding Air Force Base

  Authored by Masooma Haq via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  An agriculture land acquisition company that is reported to have bought up land on three sides of a major U.S. Air Force base in California is now suing the farmers who sold them the land.

  

  Flannery Associates LLC spent nearly $800 million to buy the land surrounding Travis Air Force Base, then filed a $510 million lawsuit in May against the farmers.

  Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) told NewsNation the suit is likely a tactic to financially destroy the farmers.

  Mr. Garamendi said some of the families he has spoken to did not want to sell to Flannery, but the company made them offers for huge amounts. Flannery’s lawsuit accuses the farmers of conspiring to inflate the price of the farms.

  “It’s a suit designed to force the farmers to lawyer up, spend tens of thousands of dollars on lawyering, and maybe at the end of the day, bankrupt themselves,” Mr. Garamendi said. “In fact, that has happened to at least one family that I know of and I’ve heard rumors that another family simply said we can’t afford the lawyers.”

  

  Intimidation Suspected

  According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Air Force’s Foreign Investment Risk Review Office has not been able to determine who is funding the purchases, even after an 18-month investigation into the purchase of the 140 properties around the Air Force base.

  Based on property records, the land covers California’s Solano County from the Sacramento River to Fairfield, including land directly bordering three sides of the Air Force base, The Wall Street Journal reported.

  Sarah Donnelly is a member of the city council for Rio Vista, California, which borders the land purchased by Flannery. She said she is highly suspicious of Flannery’s motives.

  “The Flannery group is an unknown entity,” Ms. Donnelly told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “Based on the fact that they are suing our farmers, their intentions are suspect.“

  “I can only assume they are suing as a form of intimidation,” she added.

  ABC7 reported the company began purchasing the land in 2018, and accelerated purchases in 2022 and 2023.

  Flannery, represented by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, claims lost profits from land it did not buy and from overcharges for properties it did purchase.

  “If the conspirators had acted independently, they could have each individually negotiated a sale with Flannery and made tens of millions of dollars in profits,” Flannery’s attorneys said in the complaint. “But the conspirators wanted to make hundreds of millions.”

  National Security Concerns

  The suit against the California farmers comes at a time when U.S. lawmakers have been growing increasingly alarmed about farmland purchases by U.S. adversaries, such as China and Iran.

  Congress is imposing more guards against foreign adversary purchases of land near sensitive sites.

  U.S. Reps. Mike Thompson (R-Calif.) and Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) introduced legislation on July 12 to strengthen and expand protections around national security sites, critical infrastructure, and farmland.

  “Protecting national security and food security go hand in hand in our region—which is why it is vital to know who owns land around national security sites,” Mr. Thompson said in a statement.

  

  Public records of Solano County, where Travis Air Force Base is located, can trace Flannery Associates LLC back to Feb. 9, 2018. Roughly 52,000 acres with 314 land purchases are directly connected with this mysterious company.

  “The land purchases go up to the fence of Travis Air Force Base, the home of the largest wing of the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command,” Thompson’s office said in the statement.

  When asked if he had spying concerns, Mr. Garamendi, who represents the area where Travis Air Force Base sits, told ABC7 he had “every reason in the world” to suspect there is spying going on.

  “This land is adjacent to a critical national security platform, Travis Air Force Base; therefore [it’s] an area where spy operations or any other nefarious activity could take place,” he said. “That could detrimentally impact the ability of Travis Air Force Base to operate in a moment of national emergency.”

  In addition, U.S. senators recently approved a measure in the National Defense Authorization Act that would prohibit China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia from purchasing U.S. farmland and would screen American investment in high-tech ventures on foreign adversary soil.

  The provision passed in a vote of 91–7.

  Lear Zhou and Reuters contributed to this report.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 22:00

• Beijing Battered By Heaviest Rainfall In 140 Years
  Beijing Battered By Heaviest Rainfall In 140 Years

  On Wednesday, Beijing lifted flood warnings following the heaviest rainfall the Chinese capital has experienced in over 140 years, resulting from the remnants of Typhoon Doksuri. The torrential rain was a relief after the region endured months of extreme weather conditions, including record-breaking heatwaves and severe droughts. 

  The torrential rain was a relief after the region endured months of extreme weather conditions, including record-breaking heatwaves and severe droughts. 

  🇨🇳 Floods test China’s disaster-response systems as emergency level raised

  Full Story → https://t.co/fHdpxa6mdO

  China’s capital Beijing experienced rain with an unusual intensity this past week, that breached many local meteorological records.

  WATCH 👇 pic.twitter.com/9Rvq7pap86

  — PiQ (@PriapusIQ) August 3, 2023

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

  Clips of #Floods in #China and Why a Single Rainfall Can Be So Devastating?
  (You must watch to the end! And turn on CC)#CCP #Chinanews #Beijing #Xijinping pic.twitter.com/p2e1ibXVBS

  — Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng 曾錚真言 (@jenniferzeng97) August 2, 2023

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

  The #flood in western #Beijing seen on the high-speed train. There are many #mountainous areas in #Mentougou District in the west of Beijing, and heavy rains have brought huge floods. Beijing #Daxing #Airport is downstream of it.#CHINA #FLOOD #HEAVYRAINS #HEAVYFLOOD pic.twitter.com/On1aoJIGOQ

  — Nitesh rathore (@niteshr813) August 2, 2023

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

  Massive flood due to heavy rainfall cases cars drown in Zhuozhou of #Hebei, China.#flooding #flooding #BeijingFlood #storm #TyphoonDoksuri #typhoon #pagbaha #rain#China pic.twitter.com/SHixvbJ8m7

  — Anil Kumar Verma (@AnilKumarVerma_) August 3, 2023

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

  Across flood control zones in Hebei, the South China Morning Post reported more than 850,000 people have been evacuated. 

  A senior Hebei water official told CCTV that floodwaters would subside in about a month. Damage assessments are currently underway.

  The Guardian cites forecasters who expect more typhoon activity to hit China this year. 

  Typhoon Khanun, the sixth typhoon of this year, is hitting Northern Taiwan on Thursday, shutting businesses and schools while airlines canceled flights. Taiwan’s stock and foreign exchange markets were also closed due to weather-related issues. 

  

  For much of the Northern Hemisphere summer, China has been baking in record-breaking heatwaves. The rainfall is a welcoming sign. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 21:40

• Conservatives Should Lead On Electric Transmission Reform
  Conservatives Should Lead On Electric Transmission Reform

  Authored by Devin Hartman via RealClear Wire,

  Electric transmission can be rather complex, but done right it boils down to two simple benefits: lower costs and fewer blackouts. Currently, bad regulation results in expensive transmission that fails to address growing reliability threats. 

  As debt limit negotiations revealed, conservatives are hesitant to welcome electric transmission expansion. It is hard to blame them. Media headlines frame transmission development as synonymous with progressives’ agenda. Ballooning transmission expenses have led to consumers demanding reform. Crucially, proper transmission reform strikes right at the core of the conservative energy message – lower costs and greater reliability – by efficiently expanding the grid. 

  The problem surrounding transmission is deeply flawed regulation that rewards massive overspending on inefficient projects and deters efficient development. Of the $20-$25 billion spent annually on transmission, over 90% is subject to neither competitive bidding nor a cost-benefit test. Most projects are advanced by local monopoly utilities and rubber-stamped by regulators, and captive customers bear the costs. Republican Commissioner Mark Christie of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has taken the lead to work with states to fix this. 

  Meanwhile, FERC has a pending rulemaking to fix regional transmission. Consumers and free market groups paint a clear reform path. FERC needs to strengthen regional planning for economic projects, which are determined by cost-benefit tests and put out for competitive bid, while eliminating exemptions for inefficient monopoly projects.  

  Regional and local transmission problems can be fixed by regulatory leaders. But they are less equipped to handle the gaping hole in transmission policy: interregional transmission. Fortunately, conservatives like Neil Chatterjee, who served as President Trump’s FERC chairman, offer great insight. 

  While FERC tries to fix the regional transmission framework, no such framework even exists for interregional transmission. The result is that hardly any interregional transmission has been developed, despite huge cost and reliability advantages compared to small projects. Since the majority of grid reliability events stem from severe weather events, the ability of one region in emergency conditions to import power from a neighbor’s surplus is vital to keep the lights on. Winter Storms Uri and Elliott made this clear. Reliability authorities expect threats to worsen amid “insufficient transmission for large power transfers.” 

  Conservatives have expressed interest in two approaches to interregional transmission reform. The first is to build transmission like natural gas pipelines. The underappreciated catalyst of the gas revolution last decade was the institution of nationwide competitive reforms. In this model, competitive gas producers and consumers voluntarily contracted for pipeline service with competitive pipeline developers. This signals where, when and how much pipeline expansion is economical. The resulting infrastructure fueled the great energy story of the 2010s. 

  About one-third of states instituted similar competitive reforms in the electric industry. The downstream segment – competitive retail energy providers – seek reforms to enable them to obtain the benefits of voluntarily contracting for interregional transmission. Competitive transmission developers want similar reforms, such as monetizing the reliability benefit of firm power imports in competitive electricity markets. Such reforms should be prioritized, but they will only work in the minority of the country that embraced electricity competition. 

  Most of the country clings to vertically-integrated monopoly utilities. Their profits are determined by the amount of capital they spend, which creates a perverse incentive to manage costs. To think monopoly utilities would be willing to pursue low-cost transmission development is a fool’s errand. Instead, they have a pattern of torpedoing cost-efficient large-scale transmission to justify building more expensive local transmission and power plants. For example, Entergy recently undercut a $100 million transmission project to justify a new billion dollar power plant. Mandatory transmission planning requirements are the only option to foster least-cost transmission development in monopoly jurisdictions.

  Transmission planning requirements come in different shapes and sizes. Some can be excessive and inefficient, others necessary and prudent. One concept has emerged to establish a floor for prudent transmission investment: minimum interregional transfer requirements. This entered debt limit negotiations in the form of the BIG WIRES Act, which is a thoughtful approach by Democrats seeking bipartisanship. However, it proposes a uniform requirement across all regions.

  Conservative thought leaders have been resistant to the idea of Congress imposing an arbitrary requirement on interregional transfer. Their instincts serve them well. Grid economics and reliability conditions vary by region. Some conservatives skeptical of a uniform requirement find a tailored approach more appealing, where transfer levels are determined by region-specific reliability conditions and benefit-cost analysis.

  Such an approach would deliver “no regrets” transmission development. Not only are such projects vital to bolster grid reliability, but they often reduce more costs than they create. For example, an interregional transmission line during Winter Storm Uri would have paid for itself in four days. 

  The status quo is not cutting it. Costs are rising and reliability conditions are worsening. Enabling voluntary capital to flow is the best option, where it is feasible. For the rest, “no regrets” transmission solutions are now a matter of energy security, not political convenience.

  Devin Hartman is the policy director for the R Street Institute’s energy and environmental program. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 21:20

• Pentagon Mulls Placing US Troops On Shipping Tankers To Prevent Iranian Seizure
  Pentagon Mulls Placing US Troops On Shipping Tankers To Prevent Iranian Seizure

  The Pentagon is pursuing strategic ways to prevent further seizures of international vessels by Iran’s military, particularly in and near the vital Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf region. There’s been a series of tit-for-tat tanker seizures of late between Tehran and Washington, as the US attempts crude oil sanctions enforcement against Iran.

  And now the US is mulling more drastic action, with The Associated Press reporting Thursday, “The U.S. military is considering putting armed personnel on commercial ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, in what would be an unheard of action aimed at stopping Iran from seizing and harassing civilian vessels,” per four American officials cited in the report. Some reports now suggest Marines are already being trained for the proposed program.

  

  The ongoing ‘tanker wars’ began in the summer of 2019, and has more recently seen headlines such as the following: Quiet US Seizure Of Iranian Crude Prompted Iran’s Capture Of Houston-Destined Tanker.

  No details have as of yet been revealed of the potential plan to place US military personnel aboard tankers entering ‘hot zones’ where Iranian naval patrols are known to frequent, but it comes following Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announcing that additional Marines have been sent to the Gulf region.

  Austin said in late July that the USS Bataan amphibious readiness group and the 26th Marine Expeditional Unit have been deployed, which consists of about 2,500 Marines, to provide “even greater flexibility and maritime capability in the region.”

  The amphibious readiness group consists of the Bataan warship and two others, the USS Mesa Verde and the USS Carter Hall. The group had already left Norfolk, Virginia earlier in July. 

  Weeks ago the Pentagon sent the USS Thomas Hudner and additional F-35 and F-16 fighter jets to the region, to assist A-10 attack aircraft, as tankers have come under increasing threat – including an incident in which one was fired upon. 

  “One official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the military had already been training some Marines in the Middle East to be on the vessels.”https://t.co/3mH9aPGMaq

  — Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) August 3, 2023

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  Interestingly, these additional measures against Tehran come in tandem with the US sending more advanced combat jets to the region in response to aggressive behavior from Russian aircraft over the skies of Syria. There’s also growing concerns that pro-Iranian elements will attack more US outposts in northeast Syria.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 21:00

• Ousted Niger President Urges US Intervention Amid Fears Wagner Could Move In
  Ousted Niger President Urges US Intervention Amid Fears Wagner Could Move In

  Update(2050ET): On Thursday evening The Washington Post published an op-ed by the ousted president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, calling on the United States and the “entire international community” to intervene in order to restore him to power, and return the country to constitutional order.

  He also stated in the Washington Post that he was writing “as a hostage”, at a moment unrest has persisted in the streets, following his overthrow by the military last Friday (and by his own presidential guard). 

  Earlier in the day the junta declared the formal withdrawal of Niger’s ambassadors from France, the US, Nigeria and Togo. There are now growing fears of an alliance between Niger’s military and Russia’s Wagner Group, which has a significant presence across West Africa and elsewhere on the continent.

  The New York Times has speculated on this prospect, writing Wednesday:

  A week after a military overthrow of Niger’s elected president, a coup leader and other officers flew to neighboring Mali on Wednesday to meet with its rulers, raising concerns that a key Western ally could grow closer to military leaders in Mali who partner with the Kremlin-backed Wagner private military company.

  Gen. Salifou Modi, one of the putschists who removed President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger from power last week, was part of a delegation of military officials who visited Mali, according to a post on social media from the office of the president in Mali.

  The Wagner group has about 1,500 troops in Mali, allied with the military regime there. Its founder, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, has praised the coup in Niger and offered Wagner’s services to the new rulers, though it is unclear what operational control he still has over the group after his failed mutiny in Russia in June.

  Already the rhetoric of ‘Russia being behind the coup’ is growing, as a top Ukrainian official has already alleged this week. Is a Cold War 2.0 in Africa in the works?

  Map of African countries that have signed military agreements with Russia pic.twitter.com/CKlAC9zePv

  — The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) August 3, 2023

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  * * *

  As of late Wednesday (US time) the State Department ordered a partial evacuation of the American embassy in Niamey, the capital of Niger. This after European-led efforts to fly EU citizens from the capital were already well underway.

  The State Department said non-emergency personnel and eligible family members would leave the country “given ongoing developments” and “out of an abundance of caution” amid the unrest following last Friday’s military coup, which saw President Mohamed Bazoum get overthrown by his own presidential guard. 

  

  “The U.S. is committed to our relationship with the people of Niger. The embassy remains open, and our leaders are diplomatically engaged at the highest levels,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced. Senior officials will still be working from the embassy, which has remained functioning. 

  “Commercial flight options are limited.  We updated our travel advisory to reflect this and informed U.S. citizens that we are only able to provide emergency assistance to U.S. citizens in Niger given our reduced personnel,” the statement said, also as France is leading evac flights for EU citizens seeking exit from the country.

  Reportedly, hundreds of Americans have already been evacuated, and over 1,000 European Union citizens as well, as the flights out of the capital continue. France on Thursday announced the completion of its large-scale evacuations.

  Meanwhile, in fresh statements President Joe Biden has urged the junta leaders to restore the democratically-elected government.

  “I call for President Bazoum and his family to be immediately released, and for the preservation of Niger’s hard-earned democracy,” Biden said. “The Nigerien people have the right to choose their leaders,” the US president said. “They have expressed their will through free and fair elections — and that must be respected.”

  Ironically Biden’s plea to release and restore Bazoum came on the 63rd anniversary of Niger’s independence. His words also came amid rumors of possible French military intervention. There are hundreds of Western troops in the country, especially from France and the US, who were ostensibly there for ‘counterterror’ operations.

  But the presence of Western bases in Niger might not last long under the junta, given ‘anti-imperialist’ nature of coup supporters in the streets has been amply demonstrated by their waving Russian flags. Also, the Russian mercenary group Wagner is just next door in Mali. From the West’s perspective, looming large in the background is expanding Russian influence in Africa.

  Just in: @PentagonPresSec confirms there are no changes to the 1,100 US troops still stationed in Niger, and the U.S. military will not take part in the ordered evacuation of embassy personnel. pic.twitter.com/BbwHODC3YK

  — Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) August 3, 2023

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  Coup leader Gen Abdourahamane Tchiani is continuing to warned against “any interference in the internal affairs” of Niger, while alleging the now exiled government has been plotting with the French to allow some kind of intervention. This also as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday spoke to ousted President Mohamed Bazoum on Wednesday, and other international leaders have been in contact.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 20:50

• How The Establishment Uses 'Hate And Fear' To Manipulate Voters
  How The Establishment Uses ‘Hate And Fear’ To Manipulate Voters

  Authored by Edward Ring via American Greatness,

  “Hate and fear might as well be the GOP’s motto. And while there was a time when a liberal like me saying that would be accurately labeled hyperbolic, that time has passed. Show me what, aside from hate and fear, the modern Republican Party is all about.”

   – Columnist Rex Huppke, writing for USA Today, July 16, 2023

  Huppke’s comment is something we hear all the time. The campaign to dehumanize MAGA Republicans as hatemongers and fearmongers is a staple of the liberal media, is the playbook for Democrat politicians all the way up to President Biden, and is supported by almost the entire academic community. This dehumanization campaign isn’t restricted to Democrats. Establishment Republicans either equivocate, or explicitly join Democrats in demonizing MAGA Republicans.

  If Huppke’s self-described hyperbole typifies how housebroken establishment pundits attack MAGA Republicans, a more intellectual approach to sowing hatred and fear of MAGA Republicans is exemplified in the writings of an influential political commentator, Heather Cox Richardson, who earns an estimated $1.0 million per year from her Substack subscribers. When writing about alleged “messages of anti-inclusion and hate” proffered by the grassroots group Moms for Liberty, Richardson quoted Chris Rufo to make her point about a supposed “attack on democracy” coming from the American Right:

  “Radical right activists like Rufo believe they must capture the central institutions of the U.S. and get rid of the tenets of democracy—individual rights, academic freedom, free markets, separation of church and state, equality before the law—in order to save the country.”

  In an extensive body of work, Richardson’s consistent theme is that Republicans are dangerous extremists, relying on misinformation to spread hate and fear. While her tone is objective and she carefully avoids the appearance of hyperbole, her message is consistently biased. Richardson is not objective, or she would blend empathy with her criticism of right-of-center groups such as Moms for Liberty. Instead, Richardson is an active participant in a process of polarization, not mutual understanding.

  What Richardson misses, perhaps willfully, is that the “central institutions” of the U.S. have already been “captured” by left-wing extremists, who use them as a platform to spread the most potently seductive blend of hatemongering and fearmongering in the history of propaganda. Equally significant, and also ignored by Richardson, is that America’s most powerful corporations and wealthiest individuals have, with rare exceptions, determined that embracing the leftist narrative offers them a path to more profit and more power.

  

  How Democrats Sow Hatred and Fear

  On a host of critical issues the pervasive reach of this narrative of fear and hate is omnipresent. The strategy is obvious: saturate the population with fear, then tacitly urge them to hate anyone who is allegedly responsible, and, crucially, hate anyone who attempts to diminish or deny the threat posed by whoever or whatever is so allegedly fearsome. The “climate emergency” is a perfect example.

  When it comes to spreading fear, catastrophic floods, rising seas, deadly heat and raging fires are images that tap something primal in humans. All of these threats are now conveyed to the American public, nonstop, by every establishment institution. A normal heatwave is now “historic,” despite evidence to the contrary, and television screens show temperature maps smothered in red, as if the world was on fire. A powerful storm is now called a “bomb cyclone,” and whatever damage or death may result is blamed on “human caused climate change.” To cope, laws and regulations are demanded, and passed, that convey unprecedented new powers to government bureaucracies and politically connected corporations.

  With the fear comes hate. Anyone questioning the climate crisis narrative is a right-wing extremist. The use of the word “denier” to describe a climate skeptic is a particularly effective choice, since it triggers associations with the commonly used term “holocaust denier,” used to describe anyone repugnant enough to deny the Nazi genocide against Europe’s Jews during the Second World War. In a classic and typical strategy of inversion, as well, climate skeptics are accused of being funded by fossil fuel companies. And this accusation sticks, despite the obvious fact that if supplies of the most indispensable fuel on earth are constrained, fossil fuel companies make more profit.

  The militancy and fanaticism of climate alarmists is well documented and growing. But it isn’t love for the planet, much less people, that motivates them. It is obsessive anxiety, nurtured by fearmongers on the corporate, Democratic Left, who have captured America’s institutions and stoke that anxiety with every new storm and every hot day. And with existential anxiety comes hatred for anyone who would get in the way of whatever radical solutions might ease that anxiety.

  Fearmongering from Democrats is everywhere. The “war on women.” “Systemic racism.” The “genocide against black men by police.” “Turning back the clock” on rights of women and minorities. And, of course the latest, the campaign to “erase” transsexuals.

  The False Premises of Democratic Fearmongering

  None of these claims have any solid basis in facts. Women have more rights in America than they ever have, anywhere in the world, today as well as throughout history. Systemic racism in its modern incarnation favors virtually anyone belonging to a “protected status group,” which in practice means anyone who is not a heterosexual white male.

  The number of blacks killed each year at the hands of police is vanishingly small. Between 2015 and 2021, a total of 135 unarmed blacks were killed by police, an average of 19 per year. With more than 23 million black males living in the U.S., the chances of an unarmed black man in America dying at the hands of police in any given year is less than one in a million. In most of these cases there is an explanation for what happened, while some of these killings are clearly inexcusable and horribly wrong. But with over 1 million sworn police officers in the United States, some abuses are a statistical inevitability. That doesn’t justify them, but it is not evidence of an “epidemic of violence against black men,” much less “genocide.”

  This doesn’t stop the Democratic hate machine. If you question the black genocide narrative, you are a racist. If you are a racist, you deserve to be hated.

  As for “turning back the clock,” there is a gaping difference, completely ignored by Democrats, between trying to restore common sense, fairness, and sanity to America’s culture and American institutions, and going back to the 1950s, much less the 1850s. Moms for Liberty can be forgiven if they want to keep books written at the third grade level that offer graphic instructions on how to perform oral and anal sex, out of the libraries of elementary schools. Similarly, activists like Chris Rufo have a point when they suggest it might be a tragic mistake for America’s medical and psychiatric establishment to endorse hormone blockers and genitalia altering surgery on minors.

  These people are not “haters.” They are fighting madness, curated by an establishment that has traded sanity and standards for a manipulated, collectively psychotic, fearful, hateful, and very useful Democrat mob.

  Democrats (and RINOs) Are Corporate Puppets

  The truth about climate, identity, and healthy morality doesn’t matter to Democrat leaders, and if all you care about is acquiring, keeping, and growing political and economic power, why should it? Fearmongering and hatemongering is the hard currency of Democrats. It is being used to purchase and transform a nation. Pundits like Rex Huppke traffic in this currency because it’s an easy schtick. It also pleases the corporations and oligarchs that pay Huppke. These special interests recognize how coopting the rhetoric of leftist fear and hate diffuses what until recently was a virulent leftist aversion to corporate power and private wealth. At the same time, they recognize how the green agenda and equity agenda will enable them to acquire still more power.

  The biggest lie in American politics is that Democrats and RINOs care about the American people, especially the underdog or “disadvantaged.” They do not. Democrats have become a party controlled by transnational elites, multinational corporations, international banks, and supranational institutions. Worse, much worse, is the flawed, misanthropic agenda of this coalition: turning America into a technology driven police state, using environmentalism and “equity” as justification to level down and subdue the American people. And the psychological weapon to advance this agenda is to foment fear and hatred against whoever might expose the lie.

  Partisan academics like Heather Cox Richardson hide the propagandistic essence of their work by adopting an intellectual tone, and selectively omitting relevant facts. But they, too, are feeding the fear and hate machine that defines corporate Leftism in America today. If Richardson, or Huppke, and all the other thousands of hacks who have climbed the greasy pole of leftist influencing truly cared about fighting hate and fear, they would look in the mirror. They might recognize that corruption and hate, sadly, can be found everywhere. Starting from that novel premise, from time to time they might honestly examine what merit and moral worth might be found in MAGA Republican populism, and what nihilistic madness might be found in their own backyards.

  That would constitute balance. That would be a step towards reconciliation and unity. It might lead to a new political consensus that demands freedom be more than an illusion, and rejects a national policy of managed decline.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 20:40

• Korean Exchange Sounds Alarm Over Superconductor Stock Mania
  Korean Exchange Sounds Alarm Over Superconductor Stock Mania

  Late Wednesday, the Korean Exchange warned investors about speculative trading in superconductor-related stocks following claims of a technological breakthrough that could revolutionize the energy industry.

  On Thursday, small-cap stocks such as Duksung Co. and Sunam Co. surged as much as their 30% daily limits for their third consecutive session. Sunam has jumped 220% in the last eight sessions, while Duksung has increased 165%. Mobiis Co. and Shinsung Delta Tech Co. have risen by 125% and 107%, respectively. 

  

  Because of the volatility, the exchange told investors to be careful before investing in Duksung, Sunam, Mobiis, and Shinsung Delta Tech. It issued the lowest of a three-level warning system on the companies, stopping short of trading halts. 

  “The bourse hands down such designations when there’s a probability of speculative bets and unfair trades so that investors may exercise caution before investment,” Bloomberg noted, adding, “The exchange operator can escalate warning levels before mandating a one-day trading suspension.”

  On July 22, South Korean researchers published a paper on a new superconductor technology that utilizes a lead-based material called “LK-99” — the world’s first superconductor able to conduct electricity at room temperature and ambient pressure. Typically, superconductivity has only been achieved at sub-zero temperatures, limiting its use in the real economy to only a few commercial applications, such as hospital MRI scanners. The claim of the breakthrough might suggest superconductivity could revolutionize the energy industry.

  “Investors should be cautious on increased volatility in these superconductor theme stocks as their substance is not clear,” said Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities Co.

  “The name of the metal is LK-99. It is a cutting edge ambient pressure room temperature super conductor. It has both huge military and civilian applications. And that’s not even the best part, John, you can make it in your oven at home.” pic.twitter.com/ZHEWqlLESS

  — The Klendathu Writoooooooooor (@KlendathuCap) August 2, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 20:20

• Victor Davis Hanson: Two Sets Of Laws For Two Americas
  Victor Davis Hanson: Two Sets Of Laws For Two Americas

  Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

  Two sets of laws now operate in an increasingly unrecognizable America…

  

  Consider the matter of unlawfully removing and storing classified papers.

  Donald Trump may go to prison for removing contested White House files to his home.

  So far Joe Biden seems exempt from just such legal jeopardy.

  But as a senator and Vice President with no right, as does a president, to declassify files, Biden removed and, as a private citizen kept for years classified files in unsecure locations.

  Biden’s team strangely revealed the unlawful removals after years of silence.

  It did so because the Biden administration found itself in the untenable position of prosecuting the former president for “crimes” that the current president committed as well—albeit far earlier and longer.

  Impeachable phone calls?

  Donald Trump was impeached by a Democratic House for delaying foreign aid until the Ukrainian government guaranteed that Hunter Biden and his family were no longer engaged in corrupt influence peddling in Kyiv.

  In addition, the Left charged that Trump was targeting Joe Biden, his possible 2020 rival.

  Yet Biden, with impunity, bragged that he had fired a Ukrainian prosecutor looking into his own son’s schemes by promising to cancel outright American foreign aid.

  And the Biden administration’s Justice Department is now targeting Trump, currently the frontrunning challenger to Biden in 2024.

  Election denialism?

  Trump was indicted by Special Counsel Jack Smith, in part for supposedly conspiratorially “unlawfully discounting legitimate votes.”

  Will Smith then also indict Stacey Abrams? For years Abrams falsely claimed that she was the real governor of Georgia. She toured the country in hopes of “discounting” the state vote count.

  Or maybe Smith was referring to the conspiracist and former president Jimmy Carter.

  He alleged that Trump in 2016 “lost the election, and he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf.”

  Will Smith charge Hillary Clinton?

  She serially libeled Trump as an “illegitimate” president.

  Clinton hatched the Russian collusion hoax, and bragged she joined the “Resistance” to continue her attacks on an elected president.

  Or maybe Smith meant the Hollywood crowd.

  Lots of actors cut commercials after the 2016 election—begging viewers to pressure the electors to ignore their constitutional duties to honor their states’ popular vote and instead swing their ballots to Hillary Clinton?

  Was not that “insurrectionary?”

  Or was Smith thinking of January 2005?

  Then 32 Democratic House members and Sen. Barbara Boxer tried to nullify the legally certified vote in Ohio—to thereby elect the loser John Kerry.

  How about destroying evidence?

  Trump was also indicted for allegedly attempting to erase video material from his own cameras in his own house.

  Yet Hillary Clinton with impunity eliminated subpoenaed communication devices and thousands of emails.

  Violations of security? Trump was indicted for supposedly loosely talking about classified material to visitors at his home.

  So will prosecutor Smith’s indictments also extend to Hillary Clinton?

  She sent classified documents illegally over her unsecure private server.

  FBI Director James Comey memorialized a confidential president conversation.

  Then he deliberately leaked what properly was a classified document to the media. It was all part of Comey’s Machiavellian gambit to prompt the appointment of a favorable special prosecutor.

  What about subversion of the electoral process?

  Donald Trump was indicted for supposedly undermining the election of 2020 by questioning the integrity of the balloting.

  In 2016, Hillary Clinton’s campaign illegally hired two foreign nationals Christopher Steele and Igor Danchenko to compile falsehoods about her opponent Trump.

  Clinton hid her payments behind three paywalls.

  Her team, along with the FBI, helped leak the counterfeit dossier to the media and high officials to undermine her opponent—and thus subvert the election itself.

  Lying and perjury?

  Two Trump aides and Trump himself are indicted for supposedly stonewalling federal investigators by claiming either amnesia or ignorance.

  That tact is exactly what James Comey did 245 times while under oath before Congress.

  What do former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former Director of the CIA John Brennan, and former interim FBI Director Andrew McCabe all have in common?

  All three admitted they flagrantly lied either under oath to Congress or to federal investigators.

  The three were never indicted for their false and perjurious testimonies.

  We have now serially devolved from the 2016 election “Russian collusion” hoax, to the 2020 election “Russian disinformation” laptop hoax, and down to the 2024 election weaponized indictments.

  Out of pathological hatred or fear of Donald Trump, the Left has crafted one set of laws for themselves, and another for all other Americans.

  They smugly believe their own moral superiority grants them such a right to apply laws unequally—or to ignore them altogether.

  To retain power at all cost, and to destroy a political rival, leftwing Democrats are systematically dismantling the constitutional foundations of the United States as we once knew them.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 20:00

• Oakland NAACP Begs For More Cops Amid 'Heyday For Criminals'
  Oakland NAACP Begs For More Cops Amid ‘Heyday For Criminals’

  The Oakland branch of the NAACP says that thanks to the city’s “failed” leadership and the movement to defund the police, crime is rampant and “everyone’s in danger.” In a blistering op-ed, the NAACP slams the city – including DA Pamela Price, for public safety spiraling out of control, Golden Gate Media reports.

  

  “Oakland residents are sick and tired of our intolerable public safety crisis that overwhelmingly impacts minority communities. Murders, shootings, violent armed robberies, home invasions, car break-ins, sideshows, and highway shootouts have become a pervasive fixture of life in Oakland. We call on all elected leaders to unite and declare a state of emergency and bring together massive resources to address our public safety crisis,” reads the letter.

  The @NAACPOAKLAND just release a statement regarding Oakland’s escalating violence.
  Please read and share far and wide. pic.twitter.com/sxaIEpl13c

  — Seneca Scott (@SenecaSpeaks21) July 28, 2023

  “Failed leadership, including the movement to defund the police, our District Attorney’s unwillingness to charge and prosecute people who murder and commit life threatening serious crimes, and the proliferation of anti-police rhetoric have created a heyday for Oakland criminals,” reads the op-ed by Cynthia Adams, President of the Oakland Branch of the NAACP, and Bishop Bob Jackson of the Acts Full Gospel Church. 

  “We urge African Americans to speak out and demand improved public safety,” it continues. “We also encourage Oakland’s White, Asian, and Latino communities to speak out against crime and stop allowing themselves to be shamed into silence. There is nothing compassionate or progressive about allowing criminal behavior to fester and rob Oakland residents of their basic rights to public safety. It is not racist or unkind to want to be safe from crime. No one should live in fear in our city.”

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsIn March of 2021, The Guardian noted that Oakland saw a horrific spike in crime after the city pushed forward with defunding their police department.

  Following the reduction in police presence, the city experienced a 314% increase in homicides vs. the same time in 2020, and a 113% increase in firearms assaults.

  In Oakland, Defund OPD, a five-year-old campaign housed within the Anti-Police Terror Project (APTP), is a leading voice in the city’s efforts to reduce police spending and invest in areas such as housing, unarmed mental health responses and violence prevention programs.

  The campaign began in 2015, a year that the APTP co-founder Cat Brooks refers to as a “bloody” one. The city’s police department killed 11 people and the following year was embroiled in scandal after officers sexually exploited and trafficked a teenager. Since their defunding effort launched, APTP has kept sustained pressure on city officials to cut the department’s budget by at least half. -The Guardian

  And now, residents are starring in their own version of Escape from Oakland.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 19:40

• Four Indicted In Money Laundering Scheme To Fund Human Smuggling Operation
  Four Indicted In Money Laundering Scheme To Fund Human Smuggling Operation

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

  Several defendants, previously convicted of human smuggling, have been issued a superseding indictment for a money laundering scheme to fund a human smuggling operation in Texas amid a federal investigation.

  

  The indictment alleges the four defendants conspired to create a network of straw men and bank accounts under the guise of payments for construction work to transport illegal aliens.

  The Southern District of Texas (SDT) has issued a superseding indictment charging 32-year-old Erminia Serrano Piedra, of Elgin, Texas; 40-year-old Oscar Angel Monroy Alcibar, also of Elgin; 34-year-old Pedro Hairo Abrigo, of Killeen, Texas; and 38-year-old Juan Diego Martinez-Rodriguez, of Dale, Texas, with conspiracy to launder money.

  “As alleged in the superseding indictment, the defendants conspired to engage in financial transactions designed to conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of ill-gotten proceeds of illicit human smuggling and the unlawful harboring and transportation of undocumented aliens,” the press release stated.

  The superseding indictment permitted the criminal forfeiture of three properties estimated at $2.275 million, $515,000, and $344,000, with money judgments of up to $2,945.027.

  ‘Boss Lady’

  Piedra, aka “Boss Lady,” is alleged to be the leader of the human smuggling operation comprised of 14 defendants indicted in September 2022.

  “According to the indictment, the human smuggling organization used drivers to pick up migrants near the U.S.-Mexico border and transport them into the interior of the United States, often harboring them at ‘stash houses’ along the way in locations such as Laredo and Austin, Texas,” the press release stated.

  “Drivers for the human smuggling organization allegedly hid migrants in suitcases placed in pickup trucks and crammed migrants in the back of tractor-trailers, covered beds of pickup trucks, repurposed water tankers, and wooden crates strapped to flatbed trailers. These methods allegedly placed the migrants’ lives in danger, because they were frequently held in confined spaces with little ventilation, which became overheated, and they were driven at high speeds with no vehicle safety devices.”

  

  A driver for the organization could be paid up to $2,500 for each migrant transported.

  “Sadly, this case is an example of what we see in our district, too many times, especially in our border communities,” said U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery for the SDT.

  “Our Laredo office works continuously with our valued partners to bring to justice those who allegedly put profits ahead of everything else. No amount of money should be a substitute for human life.”

  

  ‘Gotaways’

  Since January 2021, border patrol agents have estimated over 1.7 million immigrants have crossed the border, avoiding detection because of their criminal history.

  These “gotaways” infiltrate local Texas communities.

  “When I took office, this all started,” Brent Smith, Kinney County Attorney, told Epoch TV in the documentary “Gotaways: The Hidden Border Crisis.”

  “We started having several reports of illegal aliens coming through properties damaging fences, breaking into houses, even assaulting landowners,” Mr. Smith said.

  Mr. Smith recalled an elderly woman who reported escaping an illegal alien’s assault on her ATV and a mother and a child who were inside their house when illegals were trying to break in.

  “And at that point, we were hoping the federal government was going to step in and do something,” Mr. Smith said. “But they didn’t.”

  

  Christopher Roswell, a hunting ranch property owner in Maverick County, was reported in the documentary to have testified before the Texas Senate, stating that what he’s witnessed over the last two years “has been completely insane.”

  “We’ve been cussed at, threatened, had rocks and sticks thrown at us, our dogs have been beaten on multiple occasions by illegals,” Mr. Roswell said. “My wife, my kids, our employees, and myself wear a pistol everywhere we go on the ranch.”

  Property owners and ranch managers such as Cole Hill of Kinney County report continued harassment.

  “It’s a very scary situation knowing that we’re this far out,” Mr. Hill said.

  “We shouldn’t have any trespassers on our property; we are way out in the middle of nowhere. It took border patrol an hour and seven minutes to get here. We’ve been cast to the wolves to deal with this problem because nobody else wants it.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 19:20

• US Intelligence Has Been Manipulating Wikipedia For Over A Decade: Wiki Co-Founder
  US Intelligence Has Been Manipulating Wikipedia For Over A Decade: Wiki Co-Founder

  The co-founder of Wikipedia has revealed a bombshell concerning long-running suspicions of US intelligence interference and manipulation on the world’s most well-known collaborative online encyclopedia. The site’s co-creator Larry Sanger spoke to journalist Glenn Greenwald on his “System Update” podcast, and outlined the known “information warfare” efforts of US intelligence, which have to some extend make Wikipedia a tool of “control” by the left-liberal Washington deep state.

  Some observers who have long watched and carefully documented US government involvement in major social media platforms as well as Wikipedia itself have commented, “the CIA Is running Wikipedia, Wow, what a shocker. Sanger asserted during Greenwald’s show, “We do have evidence that, as early as 2008, that CIA and FBI computers were used to edit Wikipedia,” before posing: “Do you think that they stopped doing that back then?”

  

  Sanger explained that the intelligence agencies “pay off the most influential people to push their agendas, which they’re already mostly in line with, or they just develop their own talent within the community, learn the Wikipedia game, and then push what they want to say with their own people.”

  “A great part of intelligence and information warfare is conducted online,” he added, and then specified: “on websites like Wikipedia.” For that reason along with others explored in the interview, Sanger calls it “the most biased encyclopedia” in history.

  He described that US intelligence manipulation of the immensely large platform and repository of information had been going on for more than a decade (Wikipedia was founded and appeared online in 2001).

  In particular, Greenwald brought up Wikipedia’s entry for the topic Biden-Ukraine conspiracy theory, and pointed out that “there is a mountain of evidence showing that Hunter Biden was paid $80,000 a month by Burisma executives.” It is an established fact that Burisma executives were “getting a lot in value in the way of access to Joe Biden, the most important US official on Ukraine,” Greenwald said. “And yet, according to the Wikipedia article, this evidence doesn’t exist, it’s just a complete conspiracy theory.”

  “Remember, this is supposed to be an ideology-free, neutral encyclopedia”, Greenwald then quipped sarcastically. 

  Watch the full interview with the Wikipedia co-founder:

  Below is a section of the Sanger interview transcript wherein Greenwald lambasts Wikipedia’s treatment of the whole Biden-Ukraine scandal:

  “The very first sentence reads ‘The Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory is a series of false allegations that Joe Biden, while he was Vice President of the United States, engaged in corrupt activities relating to his son, Hunter Biden, who was on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma.”

  “As part of efforts by Donald Trump and his campaign in the Trump–Ukraine scandal, which led to Trump’s first impeachment, these falsehoods were spread in an attempt to damage Joe Biden’s reputation and chances during the 2020 presidential campaign,” the Wikipedia entry still reads.

  “So notice: The Biden-Ukraine scandal is – according to Wikipedia – the ‘Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory’ but the Trump controversy involving Ukraine is ‘the Trump–Ukraine scandal’. Everything is written to comport with the liberal world view and the Democratic Party talking points.”

  The two also agreed that Covid entries were heavily subject to propaganda and skewed information:

  “Let me tell you a fact,” Greenwald said. “The view of the leading scientists in the US Department of Energy as well as the FBI is that the most likely explanation for how the Covid pandemic emerged is through the research that was being funded by the United States and conducted in the Wuhan lab. You would have no idea that was true – on one of the most important questions of the last decade: Where the Covid pandemic came from.”

  “Every word (on Wikipedia) is designed to suggest that only right-wing conspiracy theorists would invest any plausibility in the theory that the virus came from a (lab) leak and not from a naturally occurring event, even though the top virologists in the world wrote to Dr. Fauci at the start of the pandemic and were adamant that the evidence was consistent with manipulation in a lab.”

  “If you asked Joy Reid to comment on the Covid pandemic, that’s exactly what she would tell you. And that’s true of almost every entry. It shocked me when I started looking at (Wikipedia) over the last six months, how blatant it has become.”

  The problems that @ggreenwald identifies with @wikipedia extend to its ridiculous defamation of scientists skeptical of lockdowns. Take a look at the shameful pages of two excellent scientists, @VPrasadMDMPH and John Ioannidis. Wikipedia editors politicize science. https://t.co/20P5NQ4DrD

  — Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) August 3, 2023

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

  Sanger explained that prior to a decade ago, Wikipedia “used to be kind of anti-establishment” but then it seemed to be hijacked. “Between 2005 and 2012 or so, there was this very definite shift to Wikipedia becoming an establishment mouthpiece. It was amazing. I never would’ve guessed that in 2001,” the site’s co-founder concluded.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 19:00

• Trump Lawyer: 3rd Indictment "Opens Door" To More Scrutiny Of 2020 Election
  Trump Lawyer: 3rd Indictment “Opens Door” To More Scrutiny Of 2020 Election

  Authored by Janice Hisle and Jan Jikielek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The third indictment of former President Donald Trump could produce unintended consequences for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), one of his lawyers says.

  

  Legal experts disagree about the strength of the Aug. 1 indictment itself. But in interviews with The Epoch Times, they concurred with Mr. Trump’s legal spokeswoman, New Jersey attorney Alina Habba, on one point: DOJ prosecutors may have difficulty proving their case.

  Mr. Trump is scheduled to appear in a Washington federal court today, Aug. 3, on a four-count indictment. It alleges that the former president willfully made untrue claims that the 2020 election of Democrat President Joe Biden was fraudulent.

  The election dispute culminated in a protest in Washington; a number of agitators breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, against Mr. Trump’s expressed wishes as Congress was preparing to certify Mr. Biden’s victory. More than 1,000 people, including some who committed no violence, were charged.

  The DOJ is alleging that Mr. Trump orchestrated a conspiracy against the U.S. government during the two months leading to Jan. 6, 2021, the indictment says.

  

  Mind-Readers?

  Under presidential immunity and free speech rights, Mr. Trump is allowed to dispute the election, Ms. Habba said. She also questions how the government can show that Mr. Trump knew he was making false assertions.

  “The thing that makes this case the most weak is:  How are you going to prove what he actually believed?” Ms. Habba said in an interview with The Epoch Times on Aug. 2, a day after the new indictment was filed.

  Mr. Trump has never conceded defeat and has continued to assert that the election was “rigged” or “stolen” ever since Mr. Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president in January 2021.

  Ms. Habba and many other lawyers are denouncing the latest indictment of Mr. Trump as an attempt to criminalize political disagreements.

  Attorney Mike Allen, a legal analyst based in Cincinnati, Ohio, told The Epoch Times: “Even if what Trump said was not accurate, he’s allowed to do that; the First Amendment protects lies. It’s not a pretty thing. But that’s the way it is.”

  Accused of Going Too Far

  Mr. Trump and his supporters say the latest indictment is another example of a “weaponized” justice system’s disparate treatment of him.

  They point out that no one was charged for the false statements that fueled the years-long and costly “Russian collusion” investigations of Mr. Trump. The FBI would never have launched that probe if it had followed its own rules, Special Counsel John Durham concluded in a May report.

  Further, Mr. Trump and his allies point out that Democrats faced no repercussions for their strenuously objecting to the results of several elections and alleging that Mr. Trump “stole” the 2016 election.

  A New York lawyer and former federal prosecutor, Kevin O’Brien, says that, while disputing election results “goes way back in American history,” Mr. Trump allegedly forged new territory with his alleged actions.

  Despite even trusted advisers telling Mr. Trump that he lost the election, he allegedly took “steps to try to overturn that, including using force and intimidation and high-pressure tactics,” Mr. O’Brien told The Epoch Times.

  “This is absolutely unique in the history of this country. And I think one of the things that’s most impressive about the indictment is it makes that point.”

  

  ‘A Dangerous Proposition’

  But Ms. Habba says that, by bringing the latest charges against Mr. Trump, the government is taking a number of risks.

  “These cases are tough to prove on a good day, but they [the DOJ prosecutors] also forget that they’ve exposed themselves,” she said.

  “When you bring a lawsuit, you now open the door to subpoenas. You now open the door to us being able to ask you questions about the legitimacy of the 2020 election, for us being able to look at things like that.”

  “So, you know, it’s a dangerous proposition, and I’m not sure it was well-thought-through, to be honest,” she said.

  Ms. Habba called the indictment “sloppy” and said the repeated prosecutions of Mr. Trump have made federal prosecutors’ political motivations very clear. “It’s for the headline, not for the win,” Ms. Habba said.

  DOJ spokesman Peter Carr declined to comment.

  

  Obstacles Loom

  But Mr. O’Brien praised the 45-page indictment of Mr. Trump as “a remarkable piece of work.” It is clear, well-written, and rather concisely lays out “a very, very complex fact pattern” in easily-understood language, Mr. O’Brien said.

  Clear communication from prosecutors is key, he said, because criminal defendants are entitled to trials by jurors—ordinary citizens tasked with digesting complex legal circumstances.

  Even with a well-explained indictment, the case against Mr. Trump poses considerable hurdles, Mr. O’Brien said.

  Some aspects of the case are “vague,” he said. Also, it will be challenging to prevent jurors from getting distracted by the politics of the case, he said.

  “It’s not about ‘a bad actor in the White House,’ however you define that; it’s about specific crimes as alleged, and the focus has to be on those things,” Mr. O’Brien said.

  Prosecution Seems ‘Political’

  Polls show Mr. Trump is the clear frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination to challenge the Democrats’ nominee, presumably Mr. Biden, in the 2024 election.

  Mr. Allen said that, to him, the prosecution seems to be “political.”

  He also observed that, when Special Counsel Jack Smith announced the charges during a short news conference on Aug. 1, “he was visibly nervous.”

  Mr. Allen detected that Mr. Smith’s voice was “quivering somewhat,” and “he just did not seem sure of himself.”

  “I think he knows he’s out on a legal limb on this thing,” Mr. Allen said.

  “You know, this is an indictment of the former president of the United States and the leading Republican candidate for the election in 2024—pretty important stuff to the American people,” Mr. Allen said. “Why wouldn’t he take questions? Again, I think it speaks volumes.”

  Mr. Trump’s allies allege that his political rival’s administration prosecuting him constitutes a type of election interference. But Mr. Biden has denied influencing Mr. Smith’s pursuit of charges against the former president.

  

  Both Major Candidates Embroiled

  Mr. Smith has secured grand jury indictments of Mr. Trump in two separate cases.

  Besides the Washington case alleging a post-election conspiracy in 2020-21, Mr. Trump is also facing 40 charges in a Florida case alleging mishandling of government records after he left the White House.

  In addition, he is facing state business records charges in New York and is widely expected to be indicted for his challenge of the 2020 election results in Georgia.

  Altogether, if Mr. Trump were to be convicted of all the charges, he would face a maximum of more than 600 years in prison.

  Many of Mr. Trump’s allies, including Ms. Habba, say the timing of the indictments seems to be intended to deflect attention from the emerging scandal swirling around Mr. Biden.

  House Republicans are making allegations of corruption. They say they found bank records showing millions of dollars from foreigners were paid to members of Mr. Biden’s family while he served as vice president under Barack Obama. They say the payments appear to have been made for access to Mr. Biden’s political influence.

  Ms. Habba alleges the DOJ’s indictments have followed a pattern: “One day after a bad news cycle for the Biden family, every single indictment, exactly 24 hours later, hit Trump with an indictment. I mean, that says it all.”

  For example, on July 31, lawmakers grilled Devon Archer, a friend and business associate of the current president’s son, Hunter Biden. The topic: of the closed-door session: Mr. Joe Biden’s possible involvement with his son’s foreign business dealings. The next day, Mr. Trump was indicted on the 2020 election charges.

  Mr. O’Brien, however, sees those purported bombshells as duds thus far.

  

  Questions of Timing

  He acknowledges that the criticism of the DOJ’s timing of the indictments could have been avoided if the probe had been launched sooner. But he thinks that Mr. Biden had no desire to “be bothered with it” after he was inaugurated in January 2021.

  “So, far from being a pet project of Joe Biden, it was exactly the opposite,” Mr. O’Brien said. “He didn’t want to have anything to do with it.”

  But televised congressional hearings about the events of Jan. 6 aired in mid-2022. Revelations from those hearings apparently forced Mr. Biden’s administration to act, Mr. O’Brien said.

  Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Mr. Smith to look into Mr. Trump’s past activities in November, just a few days after the former president announced his 2024 presidential run.

  At the time, Mr. Garland said Mr. Trump’s candidacy played a role in launching the investigation.

  “Based on recent developments, including the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election, and the sitting president’s stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel,” Mr. Garland stated when he appointed Mr. Smith.

  

  Expected Charges Excluded

  While many legal experts had predicted that Mr. Smith might pursue charges of seditious conspiracy against Mr. Trump, that charge is notably absent from his Aug. 1 indictment. His foes were salivating over the notion that a conviction on that charge would forbid Mr. Trump from holding elected office in the United States.

  The seditious conspiracy charge can be used to prosecute people for conspiring “to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States.”

  More broadly, the law also can be applied to two or more people who work together to “prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States.”

  Some analysts believed that a string of convictions against Jan. 6 defendants on that charge earlier this year could buttress such a prosecution of Mr. Trump.

  But others said Mr. Trump’s own words, which had been held against him, could also help him defend against such a charge.

  Even though Mr. Trump said people have to “fight like hell” for what they believe in, he encouraged protesters who had gathered at The Ellipse to march “peacefully and patriotically” to the Capitol, about a mile away.

  

  More Action Possible

  It was wise for Mr. Smith to avoid unnecessarily complicating the case against Mr. Trump with seditious conspiracy charges, Mr. O’Brien said.

  Instead, Mr. Smith relied on “bread-and-butter statutes” often used to prosecute conspiracies, Mr. O’Brien said. However, “obstruction of an official proceeding” is a less-commonly-used charge, he said.

  Mr. Allen, the Ohio attorney, said the government might be planning to unleash the seditious conspiracy charge on Mr. Trump later in an updated indictment.

  Such a superseding indictment also could be used to charge any or all of the six unnamed “co-conspirators” described in the original Aug. 1 indictment.

  Just last week, Mr. Smith used a superseding indictment to add charges and a third defendant to the Florida classified-documents case against Mr. Trump.

  In the 2020 election-dispute case, Mr. Allen noted that four of the six alleged co-conspirators are identified as attorneys.

  That poses another obstacle for prosecutors: attorney-client privilege, which prevents lawyers from divulging information from clients.

  Giuliani: Trump Had ‘Good-Faith’ Basis

  Based on descriptions in the indictment, it appears that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a longtime Trump ally, is among the four attorneys. Mr. Giuliani made a number of public statements on behalf of Mr. Trump’s crusade to challenge the 2020 election results.

  Mr. Giuliani’s spokesman, Ted Goodman, would neither confirm nor deny media reports identifying Mr. Guiliani as “Co-Conspirator 1.”

  But, in a text message to The Epoch Times, Mr. Goodman said: “Every fact Mayor Rudy Giuliani possesses about this case establishes the good-faith basis President Donald Trump had for the action he took during the two-month period charged in the indictment.”

  “This indictment eviscerates the First Amendment and criminalizes the ruling regime’s number-one political opponent for daring to ask questions about the 2020 election results,” Mr. Goodman wrote.

  The prosecution of Mr. Trump also “underscores the tragic reality of our two-tiered justice system,” he said. There is one system “for the regime in power” and another for “anyone who dares to oppose the ruling regime.”

  “This indictment is particularly egregious in light of the growing evidence proving that Joe Biden and his family made millions of dollars in bribes from America’s most intransigent adversaries,” Mr. Goodman said.

  Jackson Richman contributed to this story.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 18:40

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• "Persistent Threat Actors": Norway Government Ministries Suffered 4 Month Long Cyberattack
  “Persistent Threat Actors”: Norway Government Ministries Suffered 4 Month Long Cyberattack

  Norway’s government ministries have fallen victim to a cyberattack that lasted “at least four months”, according to a Bloomberg article that broke early Wednesday morning. The attack was carried out via a vulnerability linked to mobile device management, the report says. 

  Norwegian and US cybersecurity agencies confirmed that the vulnerability affecting Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile “allowed advanced persistent threat actors…to gather information from several Norwegian organizations, and gain access to and compromise a Norwegian government agency’s network from at least April”.

  A joint cybersecurity advisory was issued on August 1 and can be read in full here. 

  The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Norway’s National Cyber Security Centre said: “Mobile device management systems are attractive targets for threat actors because they provide elevated access to thousands of mobile devices.”

  Ivanti has released patches for the vulnerabilities already, on July 23 and July 28, Bloomberg reported. 

  

  The news comes just weeks after it was reported that Chinese hackers had accessed the email of a U.S. ambassador and had compromised “hundreds of thousands” of U.S. government emails. 

  We noted, citing the Wall Street Journal in late July that hackers “linked to Beijing” accessed the email account of the U.S. ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, in an attack that reportedly has “compromised at least hundreds of thousands of individual U.S. government emails.”

  Daniel Kritenbrink, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, was also hacked in the cyber-espionage attack. While it remains unconfirmed, the two diplomats are believed to be the two most senior officials at the State Department targeted in the alleged spying campaign disclosed last week.

  Unlike previous so-called “Russian hacking” campaigns which dominated the news between 2016 and 2022 and which were fabricated by the FBI to cover up the FBI’s own criminal activity, and where everything about the perps was known instantaneously, the “contours” of the Chinese hacking campaign aren’t fully known.

  According to the Journal, while the infiltration was limited to unclassified emails, “the inboxes of Burns and Kritenbrink could have allowed the hackers to glean insights into U.S. planning for a recent string of visits to China by senior Biden administration officials, as well as internal conversations about U.S. policies toward its rival amid a period of delicate diplomacy that has been challenged repeatedly in recent months.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 02:45

• UK Windfall Tax Here To Stay Despite Energy Sector Overhaul
  UK Windfall Tax Here To Stay Despite Energy Sector Overhaul

  Via OilPrice.com,

  • The UK government’s latest energy announcements include pledges for carbon capture and storage and the release of more oil and gas licenses in the North Sea, but they do not signal a reversal in the windfall tax.

  • Despite a review of the oil and gas sector’s tax regime, changes to the Energy Profits Levy will not be considered, and the windfall tax will remain in effect until March 2028.

  • The windfall tax, along with a special 40% corporation tax rate for oil and gas producers, has led to North Sea producers pulling out of domestic projects and has raised concerns about the UK’s investment climate.

  Downing Street’s latest energy announcements this morning will not lead to a reversal in the controversial windfall tax, despite industry hopes of it being softened to make the country’s investment climate more attractive.

  Many of the new measures were trailed in the media before they were announced this week, including the pledges for carbon capture and storage and at least 100 more oil and gas licences in the North Sea.

  These proposals will likely provoke a reaction from climate protestors and activists, including Just Stop Oil – which have been active with demonstrations across the country since last summer.

  But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appeared to pull a rabbit out of the hat with confirmation of a review of the oil and gas sector’s tax regime, with a potential announcement later this year.

  This will not , however, mean the windfall tax – first introduced by Sunak and toughened under Chancellor Jeremy Hunt – will be removed any time soon.

  

  Five more years of government windfall tax

  In its call for evidence from the industry, the government confirmed that the focus is on the long-term investment climate of the North Sea, and that changes to the Energy Profits Levy will not be considered.

  For now, it appears Downing Street considers its recent introduction of a so-called ‘price floor’ – the Energy Security Investment Mechanism – will be sufficient.

  This withdraws the windfall tax when oil prices decline to $71.40 per barrel and gas prices slide below 54p per therm.

  Brent Crude oil is currently priced at $85.10 per barrel, while gas is priced at 67.7p per therm on the UK’s benchmark, well above the thresholds.

  In contrast to industry hopes, the consultation will focus on the investment climate beyond March 2028, when the Energy Profits Levy will finally conclude, so the windfall tax should stay until then.

  Robin Allan, chairman of the association, told City A.M. he welcomed today’s announcement of funding for new carbon capture projects and at least 100 further North Sea oil and gas licences, but warned that that the country’s “broader fiscal regime remains uncompetitive.”

  “We look forward to responding to the planned review of taxes on the sector. Whilst we remain concerned that the UK’s broader fiscal regime remains uncompetitive, this consultation will be a great opportunity to review net zero capital allowances, which can support the North Sea oil and gas sector’s commitment to decarbonise the supply chain.”

  This perspective was backed by Ithaca Energy, which argued that “fiscal stability is paramount for the industry given the large and long duration of capital investments.”

  A spokesperson told City A.M.: “The Energy Profits Levy in its current form continues to impact investment across the UK North Sea with windfall taxes remaining despite softening in commodity prices and profits no longer being windfall in nature.”

  Government faces challenge to woo North Sea

  As it stands, the Energy Profits Levy is set at 35 per cent and runs through to its end date despite fossil fuel prices and wholesale costs easing – with the government not expected to trigger its price floor at any point over the next five years.

  This is on top of the special 40 per cent corporation tax rate oil and gas producers pay – nearly double the rate of other industries.

  The tax has contributed to North Sea producers pulling out of domestic projects.

  So far this includes Total slashing £100m plans to work on an infill well on Elgin this year, Enquest planning to leave its Kraken field in the North Sea to “natural decline, and Harbour Energy cutting jobs at its Aberdeen base alongside shifting investment to the US and South America.

  Meanwhile, Ithaca Energy has been locked in talks with the government over the UK’s investment climate before it moved forward with commitments for Rosebank, as first reported by City A.M.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 02:00

• Technocensorship: The Government's War On So-Called 'Dangerous Ideas'
  Technocensorship: The Government’s War On So-Called ‘Dangerous Ideas’

  Authored by John & Nisha Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,

  “There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.”

  – Ray Bradbury

  What we are witnessing is the modern-day equivalent of book burning which involves doing away with dangerous ideas—legitimate or not—and the people who espouse them.Seventy years after Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 depicted a fictional world in which books are burned in order to suppress dissenting ideas, while televised entertainment is used to anesthetize the populace and render them easily pacified, distracted and controlled, we find ourselves navigating an eerily similar reality.

  Welcome to the age of technocensorship.

  On paper – under the First Amendment, at least – we are technically free to speak.

  

  In reality, however, we are now only as free to speak as a government official—or corporate entities such as Facebook, Google or YouTube—may allow.

  Case in point: internal documents released by the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government confirmed what we have long suspected: that the government has been working in tandem with social media companies to censor speech.

  By “censor,” we’re referring to concerted efforts by the government to muzzle, silence and altogether eradicate any speech that runs afoul of the government’s own approved narrative.

  This is political correctness taken to its most chilling and oppressive extreme.

  The revelations that Facebook worked in concert with the Biden administration to censor content related to COVID-19, including humorous jokes, credible information and so-called disinformation, followed on the heels of a ruling by a federal court in Louisiana that prohibits executive branch officials from communicating with social media companies about controversial content in their online forums.

  Likening the government’s heavy-handed attempts to pressure social media companies to suppress content critical of COVID vaccines or the election to “an almost dystopian scenario,” Judge Terry Doughty warned that “the United States Government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth.’”

  This is the very definition of technofascism.

  Clothed in tyrannical self-righteousness, technofascism is powered by technological behemoths (both corporate and governmental) working in tandem to achieve a common goal.

  The government is not protecting us from “dangerous” disinformation campaigns. It is laying the groundwork to insulate us from “dangerous” ideas that might cause us to think for ourselves and, in so doing, challenge the power elite’s stranglehold over our lives.

  Thus far, the tech giants have been able to sidestep the First Amendment by virtue of their non-governmental status, but it’s a dubious distinction at best when they are marching in lockstep with the government’s dictates.

  As Philip Hamburger and Jenin Younes write for The Wall Street Journal: “The First Amendment prohibits the government from ‘abridging the freedom of speech.’ Supreme Court doctrine makes clear that government can’t constitutionally evade the amendment by working through private companies.”

  Nothing good can come from allowing the government to sidestep the Constitution.

  The steady, pervasive censorship creep that is being inflicted on us by corporate tech giants with the blessing of the powers-that-be threatens to bring about a restructuring of reality straight out of Orwell’s 1984, where the Ministry of Truth polices speech and ensures that facts conform to whatever version of reality the government propagandists embrace.

  Orwell intended 1984 as a warning. Instead, it is being used as a dystopian instruction manual for socially engineering a populace that is compliant, conformist and obedient to Big Brother.

  This is the slippery slope that leads to the end of free speech as we once knew it.

  In a world increasingly automated and filtered through the lens of artificial intelligence, we are finding ourselves at the mercy of inflexible algorithms that dictate the boundaries of our liberties.

  Once artificial intelligence becomes a fully integrated part of the government bureaucracy, there will be little recourse: we will all be subject to the intransigent judgments of techno-rulers.

  This is how it starts.

  First, the censors went after so-called extremists spouting so-called “hate speech.”

  Then they went after so-called extremists spouting so-called “disinformation” about stolen elections, the Holocaust, and Hunter Biden.

  By the time so-called extremists found themselves in the crosshairs for spouting so-called “misinformation” about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines, the censors had developed a system and strategy for silencing the nonconformists.

  Eventually, depending on how the government and its corporate allies define what constitutes “extremism, “we the people” might all be considered guilty of some thought crime or other.

  Whatever we tolerate now—whatever we turn a blind eye to—whatever we rationalize when it is inflicted on others, whether in the name of securing racial justice or defending democracy or combatting fascism, will eventually come back to imprison us, one and all.

  Watch and learn.

  We should all be alarmed when any individual or group—prominent or not—is censored, silenced and made to disappear from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram for voicing ideas that are deemed politically incorrect, hateful, dangerous or conspiratorial.

  Given what we know about the government’s tendency to define its own reality and attach its own labels to behavior and speech that challenges its authority, this should be cause for alarm across the entire political spectrum.

  Here’s the point: you don’t have to like or agree with anyone who has been muzzled or made to disappear online because of their views, but to ignore the long-term ramifications of such censorship is dangerously naïve, because whatever powers you allow the government and its corporate operatives to claim now will eventually be used against you by tyrants of your own making.

  As Glenn Greenwald writes for The Intercept:

  The glaring fallacy that always lies at the heart of pro-censorship sentiments is the gullible, delusional belief that censorship powers will be deployed only to suppress views one dislikes, but never one’s own views… Facebook is not some benevolent, kind, compassionate parent or a subversive, radical actor who is going to police our discourse in order to protect the weak and marginalized or serve as a noble check on mischief by the powerful. They are almost always going to do exactly the opposite: protect the powerful from those who seek to undermine elite institutions and reject their orthodoxies. Tech giants, like all corporations, are required by law to have one overriding objective: maximizing shareholder value. They are always going to use their power to appease those they perceive wield the greatest political and economic power.

  Be warned: it’s a slippery slope from censoring so-called illegitimate ideas to silencing truth.

  Eventually, as George Orwell predicted, telling the truth will become a revolutionary act.

  If the government can control speech, it can control thought and, in turn, it can control the minds of the citizenry.

  It’s happening already.

  With every passing day, we’re being moved further down the road towards a totalitarian society characterized by government censorship, violence, corruption, hypocrisy and intolerance, all packaged for our supposed benefit in the Orwellian doublespeak of national security, tolerance and so-called “government speech.”

  Little by little, Americans are being conditioned to accept routine incursions on their freedoms.

  This is how oppression becomes systemic, what is referred to as creeping normality, or a death by a thousand cuts.

  It’s a concept invoked by Pulitzer Prize-winning scientist Jared Diamond to describe how major changes, if implemented slowly in small stages over time, can be accepted as normal without the shock and resistance that might greet a sudden upheaval.

  Diamond’s concerns related to Easter Island’s now-vanished civilization and the societal decline and environmental degradation that contributed to it, but it’s a powerful analogy for the steady erosion of our freedoms and decline of our country right under our noses.

  As Diamond explains, “In just a few centuries, the people of Easter Island wiped out their forest, drove their plants and animals to extinction, and saw their complex society spiral into chaos and cannibalism… Why didn’t they look around, realize what they were doing, and stop before it was too late? What were they thinking when they cut down the last palm tree?”

  His answer: “I suspect that the disaster happened not with a bang but with a whimper.”

  Much like America’s own colonists, Easter Island’s early colonists discovered a new world—“a pristine paradise”—teeming with life. Yet almost 2000 years after its first settlers arrived, Easter Island was reduced to a barren graveyard by a populace so focused on their immediate needs that they failed to preserve paradise for future generations.

  The same could be said of the America today: it, too, is being reduced to a barren graveyard by a populace so focused on their immediate needs that they are failing to preserve freedom for future generations.

  In Easter Island’s case, as Diamond speculates:

  The forest…vanished slowly, over decades. Perhaps war interrupted the moving teams; perhaps by the time the carvers had finished their work, the last rope snapped. In the meantime, any islander who tried to warn about the dangers of progressive deforestation would have been overridden by vested interests of carvers, bureaucrats, and chiefs, whose jobs depended on continued deforestation… The changes in forest cover from year to year would have been hard to detect… Only older people, recollecting their childhoods decades earlier, could have recognized a difference. Gradually trees became fewer, smaller, and less important. By the time the last fruit-bearing adult palm tree was cut, palms had long since ceased to be of economic significance. That left only smaller and smaller palm saplings to clear each year, along with other bushes and treelets. No one would have noticed the felling of the last small palm.”

  Sound painfully familiar yet?

  We’ve already torn down the rich forest of liberties established by our founders. It has vanished slowly, over the decades. The erosion of our freedoms has happened so incrementally, no one seems to have noticed. Only the older generations, remembering what true freedom was like, recognize the difference. Gradually, the freedoms enjoyed by the citizenry have become fewer, smaller and less important. By the time the last freedom falls, no one will know the difference.

  This is how tyranny rises and freedom falls: with a thousand cuts, each one justified or ignored or shrugged over as inconsequential enough by itself to bother, but they add up.

  Each cut, each attempt to undermine our freedoms, each loss of some critical right—to think freely, to assemble, to speak without fear of being shamed or censored, to raise our children as we see fit, to worship or not worship as our conscience dictates, to eat what we want and love who we want, to live as we want—they add up to an immeasurable failure on the part of each and every one of us to stop the descent down that slippery slope.

  As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, we are on that downward slope now.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/03/2023 – 00:00

• Brazil Ends Tightening Cycle With Larger Than Expected 50bps Rate Cut; Other Central Banks To Follow
  Brazil Ends Tightening Cycle With Larger Than Expected 50bps Rate Cut; Other Central Banks To Follow

  In the end, Lula got his wish and won his quiet war with Brazil’s central bank.

  As BBG’s Sebastian Boyd writes, Brazil’s central bank “couldn’t help but surprise traders today”, and it did so not only with the first rate cut in three years, ending its tightening cycle – which sent the Selic target rate from 2% in March 2021 to 13.75 % in August 2022 – but also did so with a bigger cut than many expected.

  

  The Copom cut the policy rate by 50bp to 13.25% in a tight 5-4 split decision, after keeping it at 13.75% for exactly one year. The four dissenting votes were for a milder 25bp cut. 

  Going into the meeting, swaps traders were roughly evenly split between 25 and 50 bps, while 30 of 41 economists in Bloomberg’s survey expected a 25-bp cut and 11 saw 50 bps. The bank said it considered cutting the Selic by a quarter-point, but chose to make a larger cut because of continuing improvement in the country’s inflation outlook.

  “If the scenario evolves as expected, the committee members unanimously anticipate further reductions of the same magnitude in the next meetings, and it judges that this pace is appropriate to keep the necessary contractionary monetary policy for the disinflationary process,” the Central Bank of Brazil said in a statement.

  And while Brazil wasn’t the first central bank to cut its key interest rate first – Uruguay was first, and Chile also followed with a larger-than-expected cut last week – it is by far the biggest so far. Interestingly, the decision was not unanimous. Both the new appointee, Gabriel Galipolo and the president Roberto Campos Neto voted for 50 bps.

  The decision was dovish to market expectations but not to market pricing. The (bi-modal) market consensus was leaning towards a 25bp rate cut: of the 41 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, 31 expected a 25bp rate cut and 10 a larger 50bp rate cut.

  Even with the larger-than-expected cut Wednesday, the gap between inflation and the Selic rate remains wide and even deeper cuts may be in store, said Gino Olivares, chief economist at Azimut Brasil Wealth Management.

  If the central bank trims half a percentage point for the next three meetings, “we will have the Selic at 11.75% at the end of the year, which is still a contractionist level,” Olivares said. “In the future, they will have to evaluate whether to accelerate the pace of easing.”

  As the WSJ notes, the central bank began raising the Selic after inflation started to pick up toward the end of 2020 and then rose faster as the Brazil’s economy recovered from the pandemic-induced slowdown. The Russian invasion of Ukraine later pushed inflation even higher as energy and food prices gained amid supply disruptions.

  Higher interest rates are now having the expected effect on inflation and the economy, and other factors are also helping calm concerns at the central bank, said Matheus Pizzani, an economist at brokerage CM Capital Markets.

  “The more recent evolution of inflation has been closer to what was hoped,” Pizzani said. High rates are helping slow the economy, concerns about the new Brazilian government’s fiscal policies have eased, and the outlook for services inflation is improving, he added.

  * * *

  In justifying its decision, the Copom – which just a few months ago was contemplating raising its inflation target – signaled the need to maintain a contractionary monetary stance until the disinflationary process consolidates and inflation expectations anchor around its targets. The Copom stated that the improvement of the inflation backdrop, reflecting in part the lagged effects of monetary policy, coupled with the reduction of longer-term inflation expectations provided “the necessary confidence to start a gradual cycle of monetary policy easing”.

  The Copom considered the option of reducing the Selic rate to 13.50%, but concluded that it was appropriate to adopt a 50bp cut in this meeting due to an improvement in the inflation dynamics, reinforcing, however, the firm objective of keeping a contractionary monetary policy to re-anchor expectations and bring inflation to the target over the relevant horizon.

  The forward guidance points to the maintenance of the current pace of rate cuts in the next meetings (view held by all directors if the macro scenario evolves as expected). The characterization of the balance of risks for inflation suffered significant modifications but remained broadly neutral. The conditional inflation forecast for end-2024 did not improve (remained at 3.4%; i.e., still above the 3.0% target by end-2024 target.

  Some economists say part of the current decline in Brazil’s 12-month inflation readings are temporary, stemming from fuel tax cuts the government applied last year. That effect is likely to dissipate in coming months, leading to a possible uptick in the headline inflation measure even as the economy slows, said CM Capital’s Pizzani.

  “Inflation readings will increasingly reflect actual supply and demand imbalances,” he said. He sees inflation bouncing back to 4.8% in December, before falling to 3.8% a year later.

  Looking ahead, Goldman expects the Copom to cut the Selic rate by 50 bp at the three remaining 2023 meetings, driving the Selic to 11.75% by end-end.

  Here are some more details on the rate cut from Goldman

  • 1. For the Copom, the decision to cut 50bp to 13.25% “is compatible with the strategy of convergence of inflation to around the target over the relevant horizon for monetary policy, which includes the 2024, and to a lesser extent 2025, calendar years.” We highlight that 2025 entered the relevant horizon for monetary policy in the August meeting (previously the only relevant horizon was the 2024 calendar years).
  • 2. The Copom reiterated the need to maintain a contractionary monetary stance until the disinflationary process consolidates and inflation expectations anchor around its targets.
  • 3. The Copom stated that the improvement of the inflation backdrop, reflecting in part the lagged effects of monetary policy, coupled with the reduction of longer-term inflation expectations, after the recent decision of the National Monetary Council on the inflation target, “have given the necessary confidence to start a gradual cycle of monetary policy easing”.
  • 4. The Copom considered the option of reducing the Selic rate to 13.50%, but it concluded that it was appropriate to adopt a 50bp in this meeting due to an improvement in the inflation dynamics, reinforcing, however, the firm objective of keeping a contractionary monetary policy to reanchor expectations and bring inflation to the target over the relevant horizon. For the Copom, the current context, characterized by a stage in which the disinflationary process tends to be slower and with partial reanchoring of inflation expectations, requires serenity and moderation in the conduct of monetary policy.
  • 5. Forward guidance: No acceleration in the pace of rate cuts. For the Copom, if the macro scenario evolves as expected, its members unanimously anticipate further cuts of the same magnitude in the next meetings, and judge that this pace [-50bp] is appropriate to keep the monetary stance contractionary necessary for the disinflationary process.
  • 6. Finally, the Copom emphasized that the total magnitude of the easing cycle throughout time will depend on the inflation dynamics, especially the components that are more sensitive to monetary policy and economic activity, on inflation expectations (in particular long-term expectations), on its inflation projections, on the output gap, and on the balance of risks.
  • 7. The Reference Scenario with a BRL/USD that follows a PPP path starting at 4.75 (vs. 4.85 at the June meeting), the Selic path of the market scenario, and where oil prices follow approximately the futures curve for the next six-months, and rise 2% per year thereafter, shows headline inflation at 4.9% by end-2023 (5.0% at the June meeting and still above the 3.25% target), 3.4% by end-2024 (3.4% at the June meeting and closer to the 3.00% target), and 3.0% for end-2025 (vs 3.1 in the June QIR). The assumption for inflation in regulated tariffs/prices rose for 2023 (+40bp to 9.4%) and were unchanged for 2024 (at 4.6%). That is, in this scenario the conditional inflation forecasts for end-2024 remained above the target.
  • 8. The characterization of the balance of risks for inflation suffered significant modifications but remained broadly neutral.
    • a. As upside risks to the inflation outlook and inflation expectations, the Copom mentions: (i) greater persistence of global inflationary pressures; and (ii) stronger than expected services inflation resilience/stickiness due to a tighter output gap. The Copom added risk (ii) and deleted as upside risks to inflation: “some residual” uncertainty about the final design of fiscal framework to be approved in Congress and, more relevant for monetary policy, its impact on the expectations for public debt and inflation paths, and on risky assets and a deeper or more persistent unanchoring of long-term inflation expectations.
    • b. As downside risks, the Copom stated: (i) a deeper than expected deceleration of global economic activity, particularly due to adverse conditions in the global financial system; and (ii) stronger than expected impact on global inflation from synchronized monetary policy tightening. As downside risks the Copom added risk (ii) and deleted from the statement the risks from: (i) additional decline of the price of commodities measured in local currency (although a sizeable part of this movement has already been observed); and; (ii) a slowdown in domestic credit origination that is deeper than what would be compatible with the current stance of monetary policy.
  • 9. The Copom’s updated scenario can be summarized as follows.
    • a. The global environment remains uncertain, with some disinflation at the margin, but against an environment with still high core inflation and labor market resilience in many countries.
    • b. On the domestic front, the Copom repeated that “the recent set of indicators remains in line with the baseline scenario of activity deceleration” in the coming quarters.
    • c. Notwithstanding the recent reduction of headline inflation, the Copom anticipates an increase in annual headline inflation during 2H2013. Moreover, several core inflation measures have declined recently but remain above the inflation target.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 23:40

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

  While the pedo-loving propagandists at the once-great Rolling Stone and other major media outlets attacked the anti-child-trafficking film “Sound of Freedom,” calling it a “QAnon-tinged thriller about child-trafficking” which is “designed to appeal to the conscience of a conspiracy-addled boomer” — the FBI announced Tuesday it rescued more than 200 sex trafficking victims during a two-week nationwide operation in July. 

  Known as “Operation Cross Country,” nearly every FBI field office was involved in the annual two-week operation that led to the arrest of 126 suspects of child sexual exploitation and human trafficking offenses, and 68 suspects of trafficking were identified or arrested. 

  The bureau and its local partners found 59 minor victims of child sex trafficking and sexual exploitation and another 59 children who had been reported missing. 

  “Human traffickers prey on the most vulnerable members of our society, and their crimes scar victims — many of them children — for life. The FBI’s commitment to combatting this threat will never waver, and we will continue to send our message that these atrocities will not be tolerated,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.

  “Sex traffickers exploit and endanger some of the most vulnerable members of our society and cause their victims unimaginable harm,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said

  Garland continued, “This operation, which located 59 actively missing children, builds on the tremendous work the FBI has undertaken over many years to rescue minor victims and arrest those responsible for these unspeakable crimes. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners across the country to prevent human trafficking; increase detection, investigation and prosecution of human trafficking crimes; and expand support and services to protect and empower survivors.”

  The FBI worked with a child protection organization, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and concentrated efforts on “identifying and locating victims of sex trafficking and investigating and arresting individuals and criminal enterprises involved in both child sex and human trafficking.”

  While the operation was underway, Jim Caviezel’s anti-child-trafficking Sound of Freedom film was released nationwide on theater screens and became a summer blockbuster. However, a chorus of mainstream hit pieces denounced it as a “QAnon” conspiracy flick.

  

  Even Bloomberg.

  Is ‘Sound of Freedom’ a QAnon dog whistle, or is it just another thriller? @nberlat saw the movie and has an answer. https://t.co/qmk1Sa7DNg via @opinion

  — Bloomberg (@business) July 15, 2023

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

  We should be grateful for the people who made the film and put a spotlight on the unspoken truth of child sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. We should be asking why the mainstream corporate press made a concerted effort to play down the issue. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 23:20

• The Global Warming Hoax Is A Rerun Of A Plot As Old As Mankind
  The Global Warming Hoax Is A Rerun Of A Plot As Old As Mankind

  Authored by Rob Smith via RealClear Markets,

  What were the Redneck’s last words before he died? Answer: watch this fellas! Men are conquerors, if this were not true, America would’ve never been discovered. Our “conquer” DNA makes us do things that women will never understand. Admittedly, some of the things we do can fairly be described as “stupid.” But, we have to do what we have to do.  A couple weeks ago, I was in Greenwich, Connecticut. It was late evening, and I was sitting on a park bench in a lovely and lush park with an enchanting young lass. The sun was setting, and her perfume blended with the subtle, cool breezes blowing off Long Island Sound, enriching the amorous senses of your author. But suddenly, I had to get up. I walked 50 paces and proudly peed on some city park shrubbery. The ingénue was quite puzzled. However, I had to do what I had to do to tell Greenwich, Conn that I was the boss of it. Rick put Elsa on the plane in Casablanca, this was kind of the same thing.

  

  My son Coleman and I exercise our conquer gene in multiple ways. One of which is, if we see water we have to go in. Swimming in Maine when not even the natives will put their toe in the water is our way to tell the ocean, we own you, you are our bitch and we are not afraid of you. Like I said, I don’t expect you ladies to understand. Last year Coleman and I were hiking down a canyon in Southern California. When we got to the bottom, there was a lagoon with what looked like venomous snakes swimming across it. Coleman gave me a look that said “c’mon dad, let’s do it,” and promptly dived in. I have never been prouder of my son for doing anything stupider!

  Lately, the mainstream and very liberal news media has been telling us that we are experiencing record high temperatures in their efforts to spread fear and get us to swallow the hoax of climate change. It’s not that hot, indeed it has been a mild summer.  News flash: it is supposed to be hot in the summer. Now one of the cognitive benefits of doing “stupid conquer” stuff is having historical memory about the condition of the elements.  Not terribly long ago, when I should’ve been a responsible adult since I had 3 children to put through private school, my other stupid male friends and I participated in what we called “The Heat Bowl.” On what we deemed were likely the hottest days of the year, generally around 105 degrees, we would play tennis (on hard courts) under the boiling sun. I remember many a Heat Bowl and many 105-degree days. By the way when John Blankenship got heat stroke after one of our matches, we teased him unmercifully because that’s all a part of being a stupid male. Ladies, I trust you are taking notes. I remember many consecutive weeks in the high 90s, and summers when the thermometer was well over 100 for 7 days. I remember being in Virginia Beach when it was 110 degrees. My buds and I had a contest to see who could walk the farthest barefoot on the hot sand. My feet did not fare well that day, and I was called the P word.

  So to the Main Stream Media, I raise my middle finger, you can’t fool me because I actually have a memory. With this said, I am amazed at all those who don’t. Yesterday, this lady who comes into Starbucks every day was complaining about the “record” heat. She’s one of those New York Times reading types.  She’s married to some academic and she walks 10 blocks to Starbucks wearing one of those “I” whatever you call it facemasks. She’s in her mid-70s, you would think she might have a memory without having to consort with the NYT and NPR to tell her how to think, but no, she is a robot whose memory card has been yanked out.

  I fear for my country. It is as though everyone was “born yesterday” and they wake up, log onto social media and are then given their orders on what to believe.  Yet, no one seems to remember how wrong many of our “distinguished experts” and media personalities have been in the past and how many times. If it happened more than two days ago, well it didn’t happen. So in an effort to save western civilization, here are a few tips that will keep you from being a mindless drone and a Stepford Wife to the mainstream media:

  • Don’t believe anything you read or any video you watch. Everybody has an agenda, even your very humble and modest author. My agenda is simple and noble, I want to save western civilization. However, all the other pundits out there are evil manipulators. Before you swallow what these charlatans say, check what tribe they belong to and who might be greasing their palms. Who do they want to suck up to and what are their past life experiences? Have they ever owned a company and had to fret about not making payroll on a Friday?  Has the pundit ever had an independent thought or does he just mouth what everyone else in his tribe mouths?

  • The lessons of history teach us virtually everything we need to know about economics, politics, sociology, philosophy and the nature of man. To learn the lessons of history, never pay any attention to any university professor, especially an Ivy League professor ( see # 1 above). In fact, your first synapse of thought should be to disbelieve whatever they say. Read lots of history (nonfiction) written by authors who are independent and NOT university professors. Discuss what you have read with “real” people who are engaged in the private sector for their livelihood and have practical knowledge and life experiences dealing with all the vagaries of the human condition.

  • Does the pundit practice what Plato called the “noble lie?” Is he so obsessed with his holiness and righteous mission that he feels justified in purposefully lying to achieve what he deems to be the greater good?

  • Don’t be bedazzled by fancy titles and those who cling to the title of “expert.” Many experts justify their existence by creating new theories of thought that bring attention to themselves, as opposed to solving practical issues. Fancy talkers are not necessarily fancy thinkers. My dad used to use the term “slaughters the King’s English,” as in “she’s a great waitress, but boy does she slaughter the King’s English.” No one loves clever semantics executed with proper Strunk and White precision more than I do, but there are a lot of “Bubbas” and “Tammy Sues” whose verb conjugations aren’t perfect, but who are smart as a whip with intelligence skills that the tweed jacket and ascot wearing college professor does not have.

  • How many times has the pundit been wrong?  I’ve never experienced this sensation, but if I ever were to be wrong about anything, I would imagine I would have great remorse and would be extraordinarily careful in the future to phrase my punditry in a truthful manner. Most of our pundits, politicians and media personalities lie with impunity because they know in two days’ time your memory card will be wiped clean. When a pundit has been wrong many times and shows no remorse or willingness to reverse course, the pundit has an agenda and is not interested in the truth

  • The door-to-door vacuum salesman is trying to sell you a vacuum.  That’s obvious, but many don’t realize that the pundit and news personality is also a salesman. Treat the pundit and news personality the same way you treat the vacuum salesman. Shop around and vet several vacuum salesmen, both door to door and those at the appliance store. Talk to real people who use vacuums like the ones you are considering buying.

  Memory. The best answers to every vexing investment decision, public policy problem or even questions on relationships all stem from having and retaining a long memory. What works, what doesn’t work and why. The world’s memory is history. The virtue signalers, the Karens and the woke all want to twist and subvert history for their own self-indulgent reasons, almost always stemming from some sort of hatred or antipathy towards people in the present. To them, history is a tool to “get something” today. To others such as your humble author, it is a tool to learn how to prevent future mistakes. How do you know what to believe? History is human nature. Place yourself in the exact time frame and under the exact circumstances, be honest and ask yourself what you would have done.  99.9% of the time, you would not have been Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Nathan Hale, you would’ve pursued your self-interest which we are all prone to do. History is always the result of the way we are wired.

  Getting back to the Heat Bowl. History is replete with the devilishness of kings and their proxies who spread fear so they can have an excuse to take away your liberty. The Climate Change hoax is a rerun of a plot that’s been foisted on mankind throughout recorded history. This play is as old as Pericles’ Odean theatre.

  Luckily, there are stupid men who do stupid things and you Dear Reader can go watch the yearly Heat Bowl contests on ESPN Classics and see that it was much hotter then than it is now.

  Robert C. Smith is Managing Partner of Chartwell Capital Advisors and likes to opine on the Rob Is Right Podcast and Webpage.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 23:00

• Biden Now Wants To Arm Taiwan Using Ukraine Budget
  Biden Now Wants To Arm Taiwan Using Ukraine Budget

  In a bombshell new report, Financial Times has revealed that President Biden plans to formally ask Congress to use funds to arm Taiwan utilizing the supplemental budge for Ukraine. 

  The report states that the White House’s Office of Management and Budget “will include funding for Taiwan in the supplemental request as part of an effort to accelerate the provision of weapons, according to two people familiar with the plan.”

  If approved by Congress, this would be a major milestone in Washington’s bolstering Taiwan’s defense, given the self-ruled island would for the first time ever receive American arms through what’s called “foreign military financing.”

  

  It would also mark a first time use of the “presidential drawdown authority” for Taiwan, meaning the Pentagon would tap its own stockpiles which has long been used to supply Ukraine.

  The FT report has come on the heels of last Friday’s newly announced White House aid package of up to $345 million for Taiwan. 

  China’s Taiwan Affairs Office issued another blistering condemnation of US military support to Taiwan, underscoring that Beijing’s efforts to unify the island to the mainland will continue undeterred. 

  “No matter how much of the ordinary people’s taxpayer money the … Taiwanese separatist forces spend, no matter how many U.S. weapons, it will not shake our resolve to solve the Taiwan problem,” Taiwan Affairs Office said, adding “…Or shake our firm will to realize the reunification of our motherland.”

  Meanwhile, Nikkei Asia has observed in some fresh analysis that the Chinese PLA military has steadily increased and even sped up preparations to blockade Taiwan ever since the Pelosi visit. This has continued unabated, FT observes, writing:

  China has greatly increased its conducting of military drills simulating the containment of Taiwan since then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island a year ago. Nikkei analyzed the possibility of China’s invasion of Taiwan, using drone-taken images and views by experts.

  Even the range of activities by the Chinese military around Taiwan has changed. Before Pelosi’s visit on Aug. 2 of last year, Chinese military planes and ships rarely moved around to the east of Taiwan. Instead, they primarily engaged in activities southwest of the island. Over the past year, they have become active in the Western Pacific, or the Philippine Sea, having Taiwan to the west.

  Both of the large Chinese aircraft carriers–the Shandong, which was its first domestically developed aircraft carrier–and the Liaoning, have been spotted in waters near Taiwan, and are becoming more active in conducting war simulations, alarming Taipei further.

  Looking at GDP and economic growth, one might ask the obvious: why does Taiwan need our constant taxpayer dollars on a continual basis (akin to Ukraine)? 

  

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 22:40

• Steve Bannon Pushes Trump/Kennedy Ticket For 2024
  Steve Bannon Pushes Trump/Kennedy Ticket For 2024

  Authored by Naveen Anthrapully via The Epoch Times,

  Steve Bannon has reiterated his preference for a Trump/Kennedy ticket for the 2024 presidential run, suggesting that the combination would produce a “massive landslide” win, even as the possibility remains almost nil.

  

  The former White House chief strategist expects a “firestorm of the lawfare will start next spring” for the former president, Mr. Bannon said during a Sunday episode of the podcast “Bannon’s War Room,” referring to the mounting legal issues which Mr. Trump faces at the moment.

  If Trump can “walk through that fire,” he can get “55 percent or more of the country.”

  And then, “if somehow it worked out [that] you could get Kennedy as a running mate – and I don’t know, that is far from even technically can happen because of the structure of the Democratic and Republican parties and ballot access and all that – you could get 60 percent or higher in the country and win a massive landslide.”

  Steve Bannon talked about Trump and RFK Jr. being on the same ticket:

  “I think if somehow it worked out that you could get Kennedy as a running mate …you could get 60 percent or higher in the country.” pic.twitter.com/vllluxntit

  — PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) July 31, 2023

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  Mr. Bannon had earlier suggested a Trump/Kennedy ticket in April.

  During one of the podcasts, Mr. Bannon said that former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake was his top choice for Mr. Trump’s vice president. However, if she were not available, “Kennedy would be an excellent choice.”

  Ms. Lake carries a high opinion of RFK Jr. In July, she criticized people who called Mr. Kennedy a “MAGA Democrat,” pointing out that “they just don’t want outsiders in the political machine, they don’t want outsiders coming into the swamp, draining the swamp.”

  “They just want just the pre-approved, controllably, easily blackmailed, and easily bribed people like Biden and the whole swamp system down there.”

  In addition to Mr. Bannon, many other conservatives are open to the idea of a Trump/Kennedy challenge for the 2024 election.

  In an April 29 social media post, former national security advisor Michael Flynn said that he was “really starting to like this presidential candidate’s attitude,” referring to Kennedy.

  Conservative talk show host Steve Deace said in an April 6 post to social media that “as long as he doesn’t go trans, a man with high character and courage like RFK Jr. will be tempting.”

  GOP operative Roger Stone has also extended support for a Trump/Kennedy challenge.

  Despite the support, Mr. Kennedy has dismissed the possibility of teaming up with Mr. Trump.

  “Just to quell any speculation, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES will I join Donald Trump on an electoral ticket. Our positions on certain fundamental issues, our approaches to governance, and our philosophies of leadership could not be further apart,” Mr. Kennedy said in a May 10 post on social media.

  Trump/Kennedy Similarities, DeSantis’s View

  Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Kennedy share numerous similarities. For one, they have both been targeted by the mainstream media.

  In an interview with Fox in late July, Mr. Kennedy said that he has been “really slammed in a way that I think is unprecedented, even more than President Trump was slammed by the mainstream, by the corporate media.”

  In May, The Washington Post ran an opinion piece with the headline: “His name is Kennedy. His campaign is pure Trump.”

  “Like Trump, Kennedy is given to skillful demagoguery, casually misleading with the conviction of a truth-teller … What makes Kennedy most like Trump, though, is the overlay of conspiracy and contempt that tinges nearly everything he says, the destructive distrust in the electorate he seeks to channel,” the article said about Mr. Kennedy.

  Mr. Trump has long been a victim of censorship, with the most famous example being (formerly) Twitter censoring his social media posts and canceling his account. Mr. Kennedy has been met with similar censorship attempts.

  Prior to a July 20 hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, Democrats circulated a letter to House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), asking that Mr. Kennedy be de-platformed from a scheduled testimony.

  Mr. Jordan and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) dismissed such censorship attempts. “The hearing that we have this week is about censorship,” Mr. McCarthy told reporters at the time when asked about the letter. “I don’t think censoring somebody is actually the answer here.”

  Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a GOP presidential candidate, also has a favorable view of Mr. Kennedy, suggesting that he would consider the Democrat for a health position in his administration if he wins the 2024 race.

  However, Mr. DeSantis dismissed Mr. Kennedy as a choice for vice president, citing the Democrat’s opposition to the U.S. Supreme court’s strike-down of affirmative-action policies at American universities and his pro-climate change activities.

  Popularity and Poll Rankings

  Mr. Kennedy enjoys a great deal of appeal among the American public.

  “A new Harvard-Harris poll puts my favorability rating at 47 percent—higher than Trump (45 percent), DeSantis (40 percent), Biden (39 percent), and every public figure in the poll,” Mr. Kennedy said in a July 23 post on social media.

  “And do you know what’s even more remarkable? My unfavorability rating was the lowest among all candidates, at only 26 percent. That shows that the relentless media attacks just aren’t working. People don’t believe the media anymore—with good reason.”

  In polls, Mr. Biden has a massive lead over Mr. Kennedy. An average of multiple poll results showed Mr. Biden having more than 64 percent support in the Democratic primary polls, far ahead of Mr. Kennedy’s 15 percent.

  Mr. Biden also has more financial backing for the elections. According to data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Mr. Biden raised close to $20 million in the first half of the year, triple the $6.36 million raised by Mr. Kennedy.

  Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Kennedy have expressed high regard for each other. In an interview with Newsmax in June, Mr. Trump said he was impressed with how Mr. Kennedy has boosted his popularity in polls.

  “I respect him—a lot of people respect him. He’s got some very important points to be made,” the former president said, referring to Mr. Kennedy.

  During a town hall hosted by News Nations in late June, Mr. Kennedy said he was “proud that President Trump likes me, even though I don’t agree with him on most of his issues.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 22:20

• Biden's Open-Border Policies Create Depression-Era "Hooverville" In New York's Central Park
  Biden’s Open-Border Policies Create Depression-Era “Hooverville” In New York’s Central Park

  The Depression-era shantytowns known as Hoovervilles, are about to make a triumphal return smack in the middle of New York’s Central Park.

  

  Amid a relentless influx of illegal immigrants that has exposed liberal NIMBY hypocrisy in the quote-unquote Sanctuary City that is New York, Bloomberg reports that officials are considering housing migrants in Manhattan’s Central Park and Brooklyn’s Prospect Park as part of a plan to find new sites for some of the more than 95,000 asylum seekers who have arrived in the past 15 months.

  “Everything is on the table,” Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom said Wednesday at a press conference when asked about housing migrants in city parks. The sites are among 3,000 locations the city is reviewing, she said.

  LIVE NOW: Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom hosts an asylum seeker briefing at City Hall https://t.co/pHBpIWl4fK

  — NYC Mayor’s Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) August 2, 2023

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  Gothamist first reported that New York City is considering erecting tents in the two major parks and on Randall’s Island as possible sites for the asylum seekers, citing unidentified people familiar with the discussions.

  According to Bloomberg, Williams-Isom declined to comment on how imminent the plan is, and didn’t answer a question about who the city is working with on potential plans to house people in city parks, although it is safe to assume that Blackrock is going to expand its role as America’s favorite (and biggest) landlord monopolist by branching out into tents (and collecting a generous multi-billion government handout in the process).

  A memo obtained by CNN earlier this year listed a YMCA in Park Slope, Brooklyn; a recreation center in Staten Island; the campuses of York College and Medgar Evers College; and the parking lot at Citi Field in Queens as possible shelter sites.

  Placing migrants in temporary structures inside either Central Park or Prospect Park would bring high visibility to a crisis that’s dogged Mayor Eric Adams’s administration for months, and cement the city’s transformation into a modern version of the 1970’s crime and drug ridden Manhattan. On Tuesday, scores of people were sleeping and waiting for help on the sidewalks outside the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan.

  Adams has repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for failing to provide significant logistical or financial aid to the city to help manage the crisis. The mayor and members of New York’s congressional delegation met last week with US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to discuss the issue.

  On Wednesday, Williams-Isom denied the city is letting people sleep on the streets as a tactic to force the federal government to come to the city’s aid; it is however a tactic to ensure that many of the wealthiest New Yorkers depart the city for Florida, taking billions in income tax payments with them. No one in the Adams administration “would use any people to do a stunt,” Williams-Isom said, which is amusing because that’s precisely what people the Adams administration is doing.

  The city’s shelter system housed 107,900 people as of July 30, a record high that has more than doubled since January 2022, when the total shelter census citywide stood at 45,000 people. Some 56,600 of the city’s current shelter residents are migrants.

  

  On rare occasions in Central Park’s history, the iconic public space has been commandeered for housing in emergencies. During the Great Depression, homeless people set up “Hoovervilles” and in a few months, it will be as if a new Great Depression has arrived to what was once the world’s greatest city.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 22:07

• Unnecessary Outrage Stirred By Florida's African American History Curriculum
  Unnecessary Outrage Stirred By Florida’s African American History Curriculum

  Authored by Richard Trzupek via The Epoch Times,

  Vice President Kamala Harris claimed that middle school students in Florida will “be taught that enslaved people benefited from slavery.”

  

  Ms. Harris was referring to one of almost 200 focal points of instruction that the Florida Board of Education has adopted for instructors teaching African American history.

  The passage in question says (pdf):

  “Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

  Besides being demonstrably true, that sentence is hardly a blanket endorsement of what used to be called “the Peculiar Institution” in antebellum America.

  It’s clear that Florida middle schoolers will be taught that slavery was and is cruel and morally reprehensible. In that context, they will also learn that some slaves learned new skills like farming, smithing, carpentry, etc. during their servitude.

  Repeating that truth hardly removes even one speck of the stain on our national soul that’s tied to slavery in America.

  Some news outlets called VP Harris out for misrepresenting Florida’s curriculum.

  Among those, the hosts on Fox News’s “The Five” discussed the issue, which led to Fox personality Greg Gutfeld making the following comment:

  “Did you ever read ‘Man’s Search for Meaning?’ Vic Frankl talks about how you have to survive in a concentration camp by having skills. You had to be useful. Utility. Utility kept you alive.”

  A number of left-leaning news outlets and politicians were horrified, having decided that Gutfeld was defending the Nazi extermination camps for supposedly providing educational opportunities for prisoners. “Let’s get something straight that the American people understand full well and that is not complicated: there was nothing good about slavery; there was nothing good about the Holocaust,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said. “Full stop.”

  There was much more of the same sort of outrage spread far and wide. Reading the vitriol directed at Gutfeld, who combines thoughtful and witty about as well as any pundit going since P.J. O’Rourke passed away, was a depressing exercise. Depressing because this incident is yet another example of how many Americans have gone deliberately tone-deaf, attributing the worst possible motivations to anyone considered an enemy. What is said isn’t nearly as important as who said it. One can attribute any meaning one wants to words they don’t understand.

  Clearly, the point of Florida’s guidance isn’t to glorify the practice of slavery, it’s to pay homage to the human spirit that can find a way to survive even in the worst of conditions. Clearly, that was Frankl’s point, and in referencing him, Gutfeld’s as well. Heroes aren’t created in cesspools like slavery and genocide. Heroes are forged in the fires of adversity. Just as no Israelite wanted to be under Pharoah’s thumb, no African-American wished to feel the boot-heal of the slave master on his or her neck. When freedom finally came, each would find they not only survived, but—for some—they even grew.

  Recall the moment in “The Shawshank Redemption” when Captain Hadley is holding Andy Dufresne precariously at the edge of the roof, perhaps a moment away from letting him fall to his death. Dufresne explains to Hadley how he can get out of paying taxes on a $35,000 inheritance. It’s a turning point in the movie, the moment Dufresne stops being perpetually abused meat and starts to become a useful, and therefore somewhat respected, human being of sorts. Shawshank will not become heaven, but at least it will no longer be hell.

  I was present at the memorial service recognizing the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and Birkenau in 1995. The camps, located near my family’s ancestral home of Krakow, have always made a huge impression on me both for what they tell us about man’s cruelty and for what they tell us about man’s resiliency. I had the privilege to speak to some survivors, and the message I took away was this: In that horror, every prisoner had a choice: give up or try to find a way to keep going. I didn’t get a sense that anyone begrudged or belittled those who gave up. It was understandable, I suppose. But if you tried to keep going, there was little you wouldn’t try.

  That was Frankl’s point. If you’re Andy Dufresne and you have great accounting skills, then you try to leverage those skills to make your life a little less hard. If you’re an inmate of an extermination camp and are an expert carpenter, you try to leverage those skills to get an extra ration, or a good blanket, or anything else that will keep you alive for another day. So no, in pointing this out, Greg Gutfeld wasn’t being outrageous. But the outraged? They’re being ridiculous.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 21:40

• Chinese Government Asks Brokers How To Boost Stock Prices
  Chinese Government Asks Brokers How To Boost Stock Prices

  China’s markets regulator is asking securities firms how to boost stock prices, stoking concerns that Beijing is desperate to restore investor confidence, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

  

  Last week, the China Securities Regulatory Commission held a meeting with several brokerage houses to solicit feedback. Among the measures proposed by the brokers was a possible cut in the stamp duty on stocks trading, as well as a slowdown in IPO traffic to help boost liquidity, the people said.

  The CSRC gave no indications of how they plan to boost the market, though the strategy session with brokers suggests that Chinese officials are highly motivated to carry out an earlier pledge by the Politburo to supercharge the nation’s $10 trillion stock market and boost investor confidence. Raising the prices of stocks, where quite a bit of household savings is tied up, would help Beijing shore up funding for the corporate sector.

  Participating in last week’s consultation was a rare meet-up between the CSRC and global funds, where officials including Vice Chairman Fang Xinghai attempted to calm concerns among foreign investors over investing in China.

  Chinese stocks have been weighed down by the nation’s slowing economy for much of this year, underperforming their emerging market peers at one point by the widest margin since at least 1999.

  The CSI financials subgauge soared 4.6% on Friday, extending gains earlier this week amid market chatter of a stamp duty cut. Hithink Royalflush Information Network Co. surged 17% and China Galaxy Securities Co. jumped by the 10% daily limit.

  The gains helped lift the CSI 300 Index by 2.3%. The benchmark gauge recorded the best weekly performance since November. Overseas investors net purchased 16 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) of mainland shares on Friday, taking the week’s inflows to the largest since January. -Bloomberg

  “The speculation about cutting stamp duty has helped lift market sentiment today, as the move would be following the vows to boost financial markets mentioned during the Politburo” meeting, said Steven Leung, executive director at UOB-Kay Hian Hong Kong.

   

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 21:20

• White House Backs Renewal Of Law Enabling Spying On Americans
  White House Backs Renewal Of Law Enabling Spying On Americans

  Authored by Connor Freeman via The Libertarian Institute, 

  The Joe Biden administration released a report endorsing the renewal of a controversial law which enables US intelligence agencies to spy on foreign nationals and American citizens on Monday. This comes amid a heated debate in Congress regarding how such surveillance powers are weaponized against the American people, as well as a slew of scandals involving these capabilities being wielded by the FBI against protesters and lawmakers.

  Published by the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and Intelligence Oversight Board, the 42-page report states that a failure of Congress to renew Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act – before it expires at the end of the year – would constitute “one of the worst intelligence failures of our time.”

  

  Section 702 authorizes a tool used by US spy agencies to conduct warrantless surveillance on foreign targets and any Americans with whom they may be interacting. This practice has long been criticized by domestic civil liberties groups because in the process also collected are US citizens’ electronic communications including phone calls, text messages, and emails.

  Unless reauthorized in December, the law will expire. This will be complicated as growing animosity over the spy bureaucracies’ abuse of power continues to prompt stiff opposition and demands for extensive reforms from lawmakers across the aisle and particularly the GOP.

  Most recently, a declassified court document revealed the FBI improperly searched a surveillance database created by Section 702 to search information about a US senator, a state senator, and a state judge.

  A senior FBI official made clear to Politico that the unnamed FBI analyst who snooped on the US senator and the state senator was not authorized to conduct searches using “sensitive query terms,” including the names of people running for office or public officials. The improper searches did not even meet the threshold of being “reasonably likely to retrieve” evidence of a crime or foreign intelligence information.

  Despite the claim that the analyst had evidence that these officials were being targeted by a foreign spy service, the aforementioned FBI official conceded to Politico that if the analyst had sought the required pre-approval from the deputy director for the queries, “they would not have been approved.”

  In light of rampant misconduct, such as the targeting of January 6th and Black Lives Matter protesters during recent years, the White House’s report says “FBI personnel should receive additional training on what foreign intelligence entails.” The administration does acknowledge, however, that the bureau’s conduct “undermined public confidence in its ability to use Section 702 in the way it was intended.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 21:00

• FAA Greenlights Largest Drone For Commercial Operations Across US
  FAA Greenlights Largest Drone For Commercial Operations Across US

  California-based startup Pyka has been cleared by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly the world’s largest electric cargo aircraft in controlled US air space. 

  Pelican Spray is a fully autonomous and 100% electric agricultural aircraft with zero emissions. The fixed-wing aircraft weighs 1,125 pounds and was just approved for commercial operations across the US, according to Bloomberg, citing comments from the operating officer and co-founder Chuma Ogunwole. 

  

  Pyka’s new technology eliminates the need for aviation fuel, thus reducing operating costs for farmers and providing substantial environmental benefits. The drone can provide round-the-clock spraying due to its automation capabilities. It has already proven a huge success for Costa Rica, Honduras, and Brazil farmers. 

  Pyka, founded in 2017, is already selling the spraying version of the drone. Other versions include Pelican Cargo, which can carry 400 lbs of payload up to 200 miles. 

  

  This comes as the FAA prepares for the first crewed flying taxi flights by 2027. 

  

  Bloomberg pointed out:

  Getting FAA authorization for passenger aircrafts is a long and difficult process and a significant hurdle for the electric aviation industry. 

  The main challenge to electrifying commercial passenger aviation, though, is the limitations of battery technology that make it infeasible to fly any meaningful distance with multiple passengers onboard.

  The US military purchased more electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft this week. 

  

  Potential uses of unmanned and manned drones, in fixed-wing or eVTOL configurations, are set to soar by the decade’s end. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 20:40

• The Legal Cases Against Trump Explained
  The Legal Cases Against Trump Explained

  Authored by Petr Svab via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Former President Donald Trump is running for the White House while facing three indictments and one more criminal investigation. Never before has a former president been criminally charged—much less a frontrunner in another presidential race.

  As the remaining investigation gets closer to possible charges and the indicted ones inch closer to trials, Mr. Trump has repeatedly pledged that he would continue his campaign even if convicted.

  

  Defense Documents

  The most developed case so far involves Mr. Trump’s keeping of documents from his presidency. Special counsel Jack Smith charged Mr. Trump and two of his employees with 37 felony counts, including illegal retention of national defense information, obstruction of government, and lying to the government.

  While the trial is set for May 2024, some legal observers expect further delays.

  The case traces back to Mr. Trump’s January 2021 exit from the White House. His belongings and some of the documents from his time in office were packed in boxes and shipped to his home at the Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach, Florida.

  The indictment argues that it was at this point that Mr. Trump committed 31 counts of illegally retaining national defense information because he “caused” the boxes to be moved. While this crime, under the Espionage Act, requires criminal intent, no evidence has emerged so far that Mr. Trump was aware the 31 documents in question were in the boxes.

  It appears that Mr. Trump was under the impression that he could go through the boxes at his own pace and keep whatever he deemed personal. However, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) had a different view; it demanded the return of all presidential documents as soon as possible.

  

  Under the Presidential Records Act, all official presidential records must be handed over to NARA, and former presidents are only allowed to take personal items such as journals and artifacts that weren’t intended for official government business. The problem is, the law doesn’t include an enforcement mechanism.

  In 2012, when Judicial Watch tried to force former President Bill Clinton to turn over dozens of interview tapes from his presidency that he had kept, Mr. Clinton claimed that the tapes were personal, and the court sided with him. Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an appointee of President Barack Obama, argued that the court had no way to second-guess a president’s assertion of what is or isn’t personal.

  “Since the President is completely entrusted with the management and even the disposal of Presidential records during his time in office, it would be difficult for this Court to conclude that Congress intended that he would have less authority to do what he pleases with what he considers to be his personal records,” Judge Jackson wrote.

  Mr. Trump has repeatedly cited that case as justification for keeping whatever documents he wanted. However, he faces the charges in Florida, where the case isn’t a controlling precedent.

  Mr. Trump sent 15 boxes of materials to NARA in January 2022. NARA then made a referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ) upon finding that some of the documents had classification markings. Shortly after, the DOJ began an investigation.

  On May 11, 2022, the DOJ obtained a subpoena that compelled Mr. Trump to turn over all documents with classification markings, including electronic files, at Mar-a-Lago.

  Some defense lawyers and former prosecutors have argued that Mr. Trump should have challenged the subpoena as overly broad. The subpoena didn’t specify whether it only covered originals or also copies and whether it covered obviously declassified documents. There are millions of declassified documents online that still have visible classification markings. Locating any such documents in Trump’s possession at Mar-a-Lago—all physical copies ever printed out and all such files on any computers and storage media he owns—would have been a monumental task.

  

  Mr. Trump did no such all-encompassing search. He let his lawyer search some of the boxes brought from the White House.

  Most of the obstruction charges focus on that point, alleging that Mr. Trump had his aide, Walt Nauta, move boxes out of a storage room at Mar-a-Lago so that they couldn’t be searched by the lawyer.

  Smith added a few more charges on July 27, alleging that Mr. Trump asked his property manager at Mar-a-Lago, Carlos de Oliveira, to have security camera footage deleted after the DOJ subpoenaed some of the footage in June 2022. Smith alleges the footage showed Mr. Nauta moving boxes in and out of the storage room. The updated indictment doesn’t cite direct evidence that Mr. Trump made such a request—only de Oliviera’s alleged claim that he did.

  Mr. Smith’s adding of new charges and an additional defendant at this point may displease the judge overseeing the case, Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee. Just a few weeks ago, Mr. Smith requested that the case go to trial in December—a rather short timeline if Mr. Smith knew at the time that additional charges may be forthcoming.

  Mr. Trump could theoretically render the whole case moot if he wins the election and issues himself a pardon, although some legal scholars question whether presidents can do that.

  Mr. Smith, former head of the DOJ Public Integrity Section, was appointed a special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland on Nov. 18, 2022, to investigate Mr. Trump’s documents retention as well as his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, protest and riot at the U.S. Capitol.

  January 6 Case

  On Aug. 1, Mr. Smith revealed his indictment of Mr. Trump in the January 6 investigation. He charged the former president with conspiracy to “impair, obstruct, and defeat” the collection and counting of electoral votes, conspiracy against Americans’ right to vote, obstruction of the electoral vote counting by Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, and conspiracy to obstruct the electoral vote counting.

  Mr. Trump said he was informed on July 16 that he was a target of a grand jury investigation in relation to the January 6 incident.

  The case centers on Mr. Trump’s claims of fraud and other illegalities in the 2020 election and how they played into the events at the Capitol, where a part of a massive protest over the election results boiled over into violence, with some people breaking into the building and fighting with police.

  

  The indictment alleges that Trump knew his attacks on the election results were false, largely because some people, including state and federal officials, told him some of the claims were false and he kept repeating them.

  The 45-page indictment also focuses on Trump’s repeated urging of Vice President Mike Pence to reject electoral votes from states where Trump had contested the results.

  It further alleged that Trump incited the January 6 violence by telling the protesters that he hoped Pence would “send [the electoral votes] back to the states to recertify,” despite knowing that Pence repeatedly rejected the idea.

  There’s extensive evidence of illegalities during the election, including illegal changes to election rules made with the excuse of the COVID-19 pandemic and some instances of fraud. None of the allegations, however, have been successfully litigated to overturn the election result in any state. Many of the cases have been dismissed for procedural reasons, rather than on the merits of the evidence.

  Mr. Trump has argued that if indicted, the proceedings would give him an opportunity to expose information about improprieties in the election.

  Georgia Election Case

  Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis began investigating Mr. Trump shortly after taking office in the largest Georgia county in January 2021.

  On Jan. 24, 2022, Fulton County Superior Court granted Ms. Willis’s request for a special purpose grand jury that couldn’t bring charges, but can subpoena witnesses. That panel worked for about eight months, interviewing about 75 witnesses starting in May 2022, local media reported.

  Ms. Willis recently said she’s “ready to go,” following up on her previous promises to bring charges by Sept. 1.

  

  The core issue of the probe, according to local media, was a telephone call by Mr. Trump to the state’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, on Jan. 2, 2021.

  The content of the call was selectively leaked to the media to create the narrative that Mr. Trump asked Mr. Raffensperger to “find” him enough votes to overturn the election.

  When the transcript of the call was released, it turned out that Mr. Trump said he believed hundreds of thousands of ballots had been cast illegally in the state, particularly in Fulton County, which includes the Democrat bastion of Atlanta. He profusely criticized Mr. Raffensperger for failing to sufficiently investigate the fraud allegations.

  “Why wouldn’t you want to find the right answer?” Mr. Trump asked.

  Mr. Raffensperger and his team countered some of the allegations during the call, saying they were already investigated.

  Several times during the conversation, Mr. Trump noted that he only needed to identify about 11,000 illegal votes because that was the margin by which he lost the state.

  “If you check with Fulton County, you’ll have hundreds of thousands because they dumped ballots into Fulton County and the other county next to it,” Mr. Trump said.

  “So what are we going to do here folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break. You know, we have that in spades already.”

  Another part of Ms. Willis’s investigation seems to focus on the alternative set of electors who convened at the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, to cast their votes for Mr. Trump, despite the official vote count giving the victory to Mr. Trump’s opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden.

  Ms. Willis informed the electors that they were targets of her investigation, and at least eight of the 16 were granted immunity in exchange for their testimony, The Washington Post reported in May.

  The state’s Republican Party started a website on July 31 that criticizes the Willis investigation for targeting the electors. It says that the “contingent electors” cast their votes with the express acknowledgment that they would only be counted in case Mr. Trump’s lawsuit challenging the election results in the state succeeded.

  The website points to a similar incident in 1960, when John F. Kennedy sued to overturn election results in Hawaii. A set of Democrat electors had cast their votes for Mr. Kennedy even though the state already certified its vote count, with Richard Nixon as the winner. The lawsuit succeeded and the alternative votes were counted.

  In Mr. Trump’s case, the lawsuit wasn’t heard until Jan. 8, 2021, two days after the counting of the electoral votes. The suit was tossed on procedural grounds, never getting a hearing on its evidence.

  Ms. Willis was barred by a judge from pursuing charges against one of the alternate electors, Georgia’s new lieutenant governor, Burt Jones, after Ms. Willis hosted a campaign fundraiser for Mr. Jones’s opponent in the 2022 race, Charlie Bailey.

  Hush Money Case

  The first criminal charges against Mr. Trump came in March from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in New York.

  Mr. Bragg alleged that Mr. Trump committed 34 felonies because payments marked in his accounting books as legal expenses were in fact reimbursing his then-lawyer Michael Cohen for payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

  

  Ms. Daniels communicated to Trump ahead of the 2016 election that she intended to sell to the press her story alleging she had an affair with Trump in 2006; she said she was willing to keep the story to herself if paid. Mr. Trump indeed had Mr. Cohen pay about $130,000 in exchange for a non-disclosure agreement, which Ms. Daniels ended up breaking. Mr. Trump’s company then reimbursed Mr. Cohen.

  Mr. Bragg is treating the bookkeeping entries for payments to Mr. Cohen as violations of New York law against falsifying business records. Such violations would only be misdemeanors unless committed in the advancement of another crime. Mr. Bragg has argued that is indeed the case, although the indictment fails to specify what was the other crime supposed to be. There has been speculation in the media that the other crime was a campaign law violation. The argument would be that the hush money for Ms. Daniels was, in fact, an illegal campaign contribution.

  Trial is scheduled for March 25, 2024.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 20:20

• Lebron James' "I Promise" School Hasn't Had A Single Student Pass The State's Math Test
  Lebron James’ “I Promise” School Hasn’t Had A Single Student Pass The State’s Math Test

  LeBron James is a G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) on the basketball court. But all that greatness has yet to trickle down in the LeBron James-supported I Promise School classrooms in Akron, Ohio. 

  A new Akron Beacon Journal (ABJ) report said, “This fall’s class of eighth graders at the I Promise School hasn’t had a single student pass the state’s math test since the group was in the third grade.”

  

  The revelations were alarming to some Akron Board of Education members who asked for the data on the school’s progress that opened in 2018 as a part of the Akron Public Schools system and partially funded by the LeBron James Family Foundation. 

  During last week’s board meeting, Akron Public Schools board member Valerie McKitrick said, “Not one? In three years?”

  “It is discouraging,” responded Keith Liechty-Clifford, the district’s director of school improvement.

  ABJ said some board members are questioning whether I Promise is meeting its goals of helping students who are two or more years behind grade level.

  Ohio school board officials are concerned I Promise School, which is 60% black and 28% of the 554 students have disabilities, is failing the youth: 

  “The state has also issued its first concern about the school: Two of I Promise’s biggest subgroups of students, Black students and those with disabilities, are now testing in the bottom 5% in the state, landing the school on the Ohio Department of Education’s list of those requiring targeted intervention,” ABJ reported.

  Board President Derrick Hall voiced concern about the apparent lack of improvement for most I Promise School test scores, even though the students were given abundant resources during Covid. 

  “For me as a board member, I just think about all the resources that we’re providing.

   “And I just, I’m just disappointed that I don’t think, it doesn’t appear like we’re seeing the kind of change that we would expect to see,” Hall said. 

  The school receives local, state, and federal funding as any other public school, as well as $1.4 million from LeBron’s foundation. 

  

  I Promise released a statement about the disappointing test results, deflecting the short-term problems by indicating, “When we started this work to wraparound students through education, we entered this partnership with Akron Public School for the long haul.” 

  While there was no official statement for the exact reason behind the terrible test scores, mounting evidence shows children suffered significant learning loss during Covid lockdowns.  

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 20:00

• NYT Discloses New Details About Biden's Universal Background Check Mandate
  NYT Discloses New Details About Biden’s Universal Background Check Mandate

  Submitted by Gun Owners of America,

  Earlier this year, we reported on President Biden’s announcement that he’d be directing the Department of Justice to “move the United States as close as possible to universal background checks without additional legislation.” 

  The move to govern by executive fiat is loud and clear. The ATF & DOJ will publish this new rule in the second half of 2024, with a proposal released “soon,” according to a new report by the New York Times —which seems to have access to internal ATF policy.  

  2️⃣Anti-gunners are rebranding private firearm sales as “the gun seller loophole” to justify executive action—rather than the passage of a new law.🤯https://t.co/e0vXbfZu3V

  — Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) August 1, 2023

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

  Other details about the rule in the NYT report include: 

  Anyone who makes “a profit” from selling firearms, perhaps as little as $1, is to be prohibited from selling their privately owned firearms without a Federal Firearms License (FFL) or a background check. 

  According to the report, anti-gun organizations are pushing ATF to limit the number of firearms sales a private citizen may engage in without an FFL. Currently, anti-gunners want to limit collectors and sellers to 5 guns or fewer. An Obama-era regulation would have set the threshold at 1–2-gun sales per person.  

  Failing to register as an FFL holder will carry a penalty of up to 5 years in Federal prison and a $250,000 fine. 

  1️⃣@NYTimes (which leaked the info) stated that the proposal is “expected to be released soon” with a final rule to be published in the “second half of 2024.”

  — Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) August 1, 2023

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

  Universal Background Checks, especially when implemented by executive order, are a blatant infringement — with no basis in the text or history of the Second Amendment.  

  For Universal Background Checks to exist, there must be a registry to support a trace. Forms 4473—transformed by the Biden Administration into permanent gun registration forms — are the only enforcement mechanism for Universal Background Checks, as they would prove who obtained a firearm legally (and has a Form 4473 to prove it) and who did not complete the required registration form (and has therefore violated the law).  

  Registries of firearms always precede confiscation. 

  

  GOA has already announced plans to file a lawsuit to block this rule, but that does not absolve Congress of its responsibility to use every means necessary to defend the Second Amendment. 

  While Gun Owners of America fights for the Second Amendment in the courts, Congress must repeal the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act  —the law that has allowed for ATF to now subvert Congress with this rulemaking. The act has been completely weaponized, gun owners have gained nothing, and America is no safer. 

  Congress must also participate in the rulemaking process and voice its opposition to backdoor universal background registration checks during the public notice and comment period alongside GOA members. After commenting during the proposed rule phase, Congress must also take up a joint resolution of disapproval pursuant to the Congressional Review Act and strike down this unconstitutional infringement. 

  *    *    *

  We’ll hold the line for you in Washington. We are No Compromise. Join the Fight Now. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 19:40

• "Major Artery" In Downtown San Fran Is Deserted
  “Major Artery” In Downtown San Fran Is Deserted

  The term “San Fransicko,” coined by Michael Shellenberger, describes the deteriorating condition of downtown San Francisco, a consequence of the city’s Democrat leadership. It reflects how progressive policies have failed, creating an increasingly unsafe environment. Without law and order, the conditions to raise a family or even operate a business are impossible — and because of that, an exodus continues, creating a ghost town in the city’s downtown shopping district. 

  The 2024 presidential election cycle has already started. President Biden is touting ‘Bidenomics‘ while White House officials pointed to the revival of American factories despite the latest manufacturing data showing a contraction.

  Democrats are making concerted efforts to distract the public’s attention from chaotic urban areas under their control. That’s because these crime-ridden metro areas are imploding. The lack of enforcing law and order from progressive city halls caused a mass exodus of businesses and people to relocate to safer places.

  San Francisco has been the epicenter of what can go wrong for urban areas when progressives ram down disastrous social justice reforms — like emboldening criminals to steal from shops because anything valued under $950 is a misdemeanor shoplifting charge. 

  Youtuber METAL LEO’s latest video, “Every Store Is CLOSED On Market St San Francisco,” is a stunning 12 minutes of the city’s downtown shopping district transformed into a ghost town. 

  

  “Market Street is a major artery in San Francisco, California. It had all kinds of shops, malls, bars, restaurants, and stores that are now closed,” the Youtuber said in the video’s description.

  

  He said the video “begins at The Embarcadero in front of the Ferry Building and runs southwest through downtown, passing the Civic Center and the Castro District, to the intersection with Portola Drive in the Twin Peaks Embarcadero.” 

  Mayor London Breed will never admit her policies have failed. However, it’s too late for her because a recent poll commissioned by Probolsky Research found 60% of voters in San Francisco “disapprove” of Breed’s performance, and only 22% believe she deserves re-election.  

  Democrats hate when the spotlight is turned on their imploding cities. They will never admit their progressive policies have failed. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 19:20

• Jack Smith Admits To Making False Claim To Court In Trump Case
  Jack Smith Admits To Making False Claim To Court In Trump Case

  Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Special counsel Jack Smith’s team made a startling admission in its case against former President Donald Trump, acknowledging in a new court filing that it failed to turn over all evidence to Mr. Trump’s legal team as required by law and falsely claimed that it had.

  

  Mr. Smith’s team said in a July 31 court filing (pdf) in its classified documents case against the former president that it had incorrectly claimed during a July 18 court hearing that it had provided all Mar-a-Lago surveillance footage to Mr. Trump’s defense attorneys, as required by law.

  “On July 27, as part of the preparation for the superseding indictment coming later that day and the discovery production for Defendant De Oliveira, the Government learned that this footage had not been processed and uploaded to the platform established for the defense to view the subpoenaed footage,” Mr. Smith’s team wrote in the July 31 filing.

  “The Government’s representation at the July 18 hearing that all surveillance footage the Government had obtained pre-indictment had been produced was therefore incorrect.”

  Under what is called the Brady rule, prosecutors in a criminal trial have a constitutional duty to disclose all evidence to a defendant’s legal team, including information that is favorable to the accused and could reduce a potential sentence.

  Mr. Smith’s team accused Mr. Trump in a new “superseding indictment” (pdf) filed on July 27 of conspiring with his staff to delete some security footage so that the grand jury in the case would not see all the evidence.

  The Department of Justice didn’t immediately return a request for comment from The Epoch Times.

  

  Trump Denies Deleting Tapes

  In the superseding indictment, the special counsel charged Mr. Trump with willful retention of national defense information and two charges in connection to claims that he allegedly told a Mar-a-Lago worker to delete security tapes to prevent a grand jury from seeing them.

  Mar-a-Lago staffer Carlos De Oliveira has been named as a third defendant in the superseding indictment, along with Trump aide Walt Nauta and the former commander-in-chief.

  Mr. Trump took to his social media platform to deny the new charges, claiming that Mr. Smith’s new allegation is false and tantamount to election interference ahead of the 2024 contest.

  “The security tapes being deleted was a made up lie by deranged Jack Smith! Election interference,” Mr. Trump wrote in all caps in a post on Truth Social on Aug. 1.

  In the superseding indictment, prosecutors allege that Mr. De Oliveira told another Mar-a-Lago employee that “the boss” wanted a server “deleted” on June 27, 2022. That came about two months before FBI agents raided the Palm Beach resort owned by the former president, uncovering allegedly classified documents in a storage area.

  Mr. Trump has said he used presidential authority to declassify all the relevant documents in the case against him and has denied that he hid any materials from the government.

  In a statement following the July 27 announcement of a superseding indictment and new charges, Mr. Trump’s campaign said that the new allegations were part of a “continued desperate and flailing attempt” to harass the former president.

  “Deranged Jack Smith knows that they have no case and is casting about for any way to salvage their illegal witch hunt and to get someone other than Donald Trump to run against Crooked Joe Biden,” the campaign team wrote.

  An average of polling data compiled by RealClear Politics shows a very close matchup between President Joe Biden and Mr. Trump, with the former enjoying a lead of 0.9 percentage points.

  Mr. Smith’s superseding indictment increases the total number of charges in the classified materials case to 40.

  

  Other Trump Cases

  The former president, who is the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is involved in a number of legal disputes.

  U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is investigating Mr. Trump’s role in actions surrounding his challenges to the 2020 presidential election that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. Mr. Trump said his attorneys met with U.S. Justice Department officials on July 27 a sign that charges could come soon.

  Mr. Smith has accused Mr. Trump of unlawfully keeping classified national security documents when he left office in 2021 and of lying to officials who tried to recover them.

  Mr. Trump, on June 13, pleaded not guilty to those charges, which include alleged violations of the Espionage Act, which criminalizes unauthorized possession of defense information.

  A New York grand jury has indicted Mr. Trump for allegedly falsifying business records in connection with a payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.

  Also in New York, Mr. Trump faces a civil lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleging fraud.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 19:00

• Faulty COVID Study Claims Republicans Had 43% Higher Death Rate Due To "Vaccine Hesitancy"
  Faulty COVID Study Claims Republicans Had 43% Higher Death Rate Due To “Vaccine Hesitancy”

  We have seen numerous false conclusions made by covid studies over the course of the past few years, with the majority of them relying on assumptions rather than scientific data.  In the majority of cases, these studies attempt to paint conservatives and unvaccinated individuals as a danger to others or a danger to themselves, with a clear political bias in favor of Democrats and pro-vaccine advocates.  In other words, the studies fit the data to support their preconceived notions – The exact opposite of science.

  Leftists are abuzz this week on social media in light of a newly published study funded by Yale University suggesting that Republicans in Florida and Ohio died at a rate 43% higher than Democrats.  This is proof, they claim, that Republicans were wrong about covid mandates and vaccinations and they are paying for it with their lives.  Except, this is not reality.

  

  First, to be clear, every major study on covid deaths puts the median Infection Fatality Rate at 0.23%.  Meaning, on average 99.8% of people are under no serious threat from the virus.  This vital stat is never mention in the Yale study (or in the media, for that matter).

  Yale uses excess mortality data at the county level, coupled with voter registration records to form conclusions on covid death rates in correlation with party affiliation.  Published at JAMA Network under the title ‘Excess Death Rates for Republican and Democratic Registered Voters in Florida and Ohio During the COVID-19 Pandemic’, it relies on a data drought rather than a complete set of statistics to form its conclusions.  Let’s go through the failings of the study one by one….

  1)  For example, the study admits that it did not have access to the cause of death for the individuals involved.  They simply assume that excess deaths were in fact covid related deaths.

  2)  The study does not include data on vaccination status at the individual level.  Meaning, they had no proof that excess deaths in Republican counties were unvaccinated people.  Again, they merely assume that this is the case.   

  3)  The study also admits that research before the COVID-19 pandemic has found evidence of higher death rates in Republican-leaning counties than Democratic-leaning counties.  Meaning, death rates are supposedly higher within Republican counties regardless of covid.

  4)  The study did not find a significant difference in death rates between Republican and Democrat counties in Florida.  It only found such differences in counties in Ohio.  Already, this suggests a failed premise given it was only applicable in one state.  

  5)  The study excluded voters registered as independent and third party (Why?).  Around 41% of American voters identify as politically independent according to Gallup polls.  Would their inclusion in the study dilute the results contrary to the study’s obvious political bias?

  6) The study gathered excess death data from May 2021, around the time they argue most US adults would have access to the covid vaccines. This is a narrow snapshot in time rather than a comprehensive look at Republican and Democrat deaths over the full length of the pandemic and vaccinations.  It should be noted that infections and fatality rates started plunging months before the vaccines were introduced widely to the public.  This is not a factor the study takes into consideration.     

  

  7)  Out of the four age groups included in the study, Republicans only had higher excess deaths in two of them (and only in Ohio).  The study briefly glosses over the fact that Democratic voters had significantly higher excess death rates compared with Republican voters for the age group 65 to 74 years.  That is to say, the baseline theory that Republicans have more covid deaths is debunked by the study’s own data.  

  Where does this leave us?  To summarize, the Yale study is incomplete and in some ways self contradicting.  In some age groups, Democrats had more excess deaths than Republicans.  In Florida, there was no significant difference in deaths between Republicans and Democrats.  Yet, Yale jumps to a politically charged conclusion in favor of Democrats anyway.  Why?

  A cursory glance at Yale University’s medical departments and their relationship to Pfizer should give people pause before accepting this study at face value.  Pfizer has donated tens of millions of dollars over the past two decades to Yale, including the building of a $35 million medical research center and millions in covid research related grants in the past few years.

  The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has also given millions to Yale specifically for covid research.  Both Gates and Pfizer have a vested monetary and political interest in pushing a pro-vaccine message.  Beyond that, the vast majority of Yale faculty political donations go to Democrat candidates.  Yale is a Democrat run university, so it’s not surprising that they would fund an incomplete study that favors Democrat narratives. 

  The lesson here?  Science is being politically weaponized, and every single new claim from such institutions needs to be thoroughly examined rather than taken at face value.        

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 18:40

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• Destruction Of Traditional Values Leads To The Hegemony Of Political Correctness, Says Senior Polish MEP
  Destruction Of Traditional Values Leads To The Hegemony Of Political Correctness, Says Senior Polish MEP

  Authored by Grzegorz Adamczyk via Remix News,

  The destruction of traditional values and institutions in the name of freedom of pluralism is leading to the despotic rule of political correctness, guarded by liberal states, corporations and international organizations, a senior MEP for Poland’s governing party has claimed.

  

  Professor Ryszard Legutko, a philosophy scholar and Law and Justice (PiS) MEP, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that mankind has a natural tendency for self-destruction because of its ability to change the world through technology, but these technological developments can be a force for good or ill.

  It often leads man to hubris and pride, which, as the Greeks observed, always comes before a fall, he noted.

  Legutko observed that hubris is dominant in today’s world with man feeling he can control the world, that he can experiment with gender, death, life, and family. The result is that man is becoming ridiculous in his fallibility. All systems of ethics always warn against hubris.

  The professor believes that memory is crucial to overcome hubris, and the lack of memory leads to man’s downfall. Revolutions are a classic example of societies losing their memories and destroying their own experience and traditional institutions such as church, family and heritage. 

  “We had hoped that communism might teach people to have respect for the experience of history. It has not. We are now moving in the direction of another revolution targeted at ending the traditional family, the nation-state and religion,” warned Legutko.

  “The present cultural revolutionaries remind us of the ancient Greek shoemaker Herostratus, who burned down the Temple of Artemis in an effort to become significant by destroying something of value. “

  He sees many such examples in modern society, people specializing in being offensive and blasphemous. They think they are special and on a mission to create a brave new world in which they will play God, but without memory and experience they fail to spot the long-term consequences of actions such as undermining parental control and family ties, he warned.

  The paradox here is that the mania of liberation leads to slavery. The democratic liberal state is hyper-active and regulates everything; the way we behave, speak and even think. A repressive system is developing and those who do not conform are increasingly subject to punishment.

  Corporations and international bodies such as the EU are actively engaged in assisting in the creation of the new despotism. 

  According to Legutko, the more they say we are diverse, the more uniform we become in our behavior and thinking. It is a global fraud that spells doom for mankind.

  “There is some resistance and pushback toward freedom and learning from experience, but it is not enough. Conformism and political correctness are still on the march,” the senior Polish MEP added.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/02/2023 – 02:00

• Escobar: First We Go For Moscow, Then We Take Beijing
  Escobar: First We Go For Moscow, Then We Take Beijing

  Authored by Pepe Escobar,

  The new multipolar order will of course not be without its own conflicts and growing pains…

  

  The Global Majority is free to choose two different paths to counteract the rabid, cognitive dissonant Straussian neocon psychos in charge of imperial foreign policy; to relentlessly ridicule them, or to work hard on the long and winding road leading to a new multipolar reality.

  Reality struck deep at the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg, with its astonishing breadth and scope, reflected in the official declaration and key facts such as Russia writing off no less than $23 billion in African debt, and President Putin calling for Africa to enter the G20 and the UNSC (“It’s time to correct this historical injustice.”)

  Three interventions in St. Petersburg summarize the pan-African drive to finally get rid of exploitative neocolonialism.

  President of Eritrea Isaias Afwerki:

  “They are printing money. They are not manufacturing anything at all, it’s printing money. This has been one of their weapons globally – the monetary system… sanctions here, sanctions there… We need a new financial architecture globally.”

  President of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traoré, the face of a resurgent Global South and the world’s youngest leader:

  “A slave that does not rebel does not deserve pity. The African Union (AU) must stop condemning Africans who decide to fight against their own puppet regimes of the West.”

  President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni:

  “One facet of neo-colonialism and colonialism was Africa being confined to producing only raw materials, crops, like coffee, and minerals (…) This issue is the biggest factor why the African economies are stunted; they do not grow, because all the value is taken by other people (…) So, what I want to propose to Russia and China is to discourage as a policy the importing of raw materials from Africa, to instead work with the Africans to add value at source.”

  In a nutshell: pan-Africa should go all-out creating their own brands and value-added products, without waiting for “approval” from the West.

  The South African drama

  South Africa is an immensely complex case. Under extreme pressure from the usual suspects, Pretoria had already succumbed to the collective West hysteria related to Putin’s attendance of the upcoming BRICS summit, settling for the physical presence of Foreign Minister Lavrov and Putin via videoconference.

  Then, during a personal meeting with Putin in St. Petersburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa decided to speak in the name of all African leaders, thanking Russia for the offer of free grain, but stressing they had not come to “receive gifts; Africa proposes the return of the grain deal.”

  Translation: this is not about free grain offered for several African nations; this is about Pretoria wanting to cash in on the deal, which privileges globalist oligarchs and their Kiev vassal.

  Now compare it with the Russian position. Putin once again made it very clear: fulfill our demands and we return to the grain deal. Meanwhile, Russia remains a leader in wheat production – as it was before; and while prices keep rising on global markets, Moscow will share the income with the poorest African nations.

  Tensions inside BRICS, as illustrated in this case, are painfully real, and come from the weakest nodes. For all the devious rhetoric, the fact is India and Brazil prefer BRICS+ to proceed slowly, as sherpas confirm off the record.

  Among the over 40 nations – and counting – which are dying to become part of the club, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia are very well positioned to be accepted in the first tier of BRICS+ members, unlike Argentina (which basically paid an IMF loan so it can continue to be paying IMF loans).

  Reality is dictating the slow approach. Brasilia – under extreme pressure from the “Biden combo” – has a minimalistic margin of maneuver. And New Delhi is proposing first an “observer” status for prospective members, before full admission. Very much like in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), whose recent summit was decided by New Delhi to be held online. For a very simple reason: India did not want to sit on the same table with China.

  What’s worrying is that the practical, gargantuan work schedule for both BRICS and the SCO is being slowed down by a toxic mix of internal squabbles and foreign interference. Yet the Russia-China strategic partnership must have anticipated it – and there are contingencies in place.

  Essentially, broader discussions are accelerated while minor partners get their act together (or not…) What’s clear is that, for instance, Indonesia, Iran and Saudi Arabia possibly being admitted to BRICS+ will immediately change the internal balance of power, and the weak links will necessarily have to catch up.

  EAEU to the rescue

  St. Petersburg also demonstrated something crucial in the evolving multilateral organization front: the renewed importance of the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU). The EAEU is fast expanding beyond Central Asia towards Southeast Asia (a free trade agreement with Indonesia is imminent), Africa and crucially, the DPRK: that was discussed in detail during Defense Minister Shoigu’s rock star welcome in Pyongyang.

  All that spells out a road map like this: the EAEU in the vanguard, in parallel to China’s BRI (crucial forum coming up in Beijing in October) until BRICS+ and SCO gridlock is solved.

  Only one BRICS member without which is impossible to build Eurasia integration has serious problems with China: India (and that includes rivalry for influence in Africa, West Asia and Central Asia).

  Simultaneously, there’s only one BRICS member capable of influencing India: Russia.

  Now that’s a challenge for the ages. Yet Moscow does have the potential – and the competence – for regulating the whole new, emerging system of international relations. The timing for implementing what will be in fact a new world system is now, and immediately ahead: from 2025 to 2030.

  So Russia-India relations will arguably become the key to fully unlock BRICS+. Issues will include an iron-clad Russian oil road to India via Rosneft; solving the Afghanistan riddle (with Moscow keeping Beijing and New Delhi in sync); a more muscular presence within the SCO; closer security deliberations among the three Ministries of Defense; including Chinese and Indian observers in the Russia-Africa process; and all of the above micro-managed by Putin himself.

  If China-India competition is already a big deal, we should expect it to become even more complex after 2030. So here’s Russia facing yet another primordial historical/cultural mission. This goes way beyond the Himalayas. It spans the full arc of China-India competition.

  And don’t forget to call the Steel Kitten

  It’s always immensely enlightening to follow BRICS-related analyses by Sergey Glazyev, the Minister of Integration and Macroeconomics at the EAEU’s Economic Commission.

  Glazyev, in two major interviews, has confirmed that a “sanction-proof” BRICS digital unit of account is under discussion, based not only on BRICS national currencies but also a basket of commodities.

  He also confirmed that “we” are working to establish an internal BRICS group to design and establish the new system (by the way, these discussions within the EAEU are way more advanced).

  According to Glazyev, a payments system outside of SWIFT can be set up through a network of state-run digital currencies – not to be confused with cryptocurrencies backed only by private speculators.

  Glazyev also forcefully defends the adoption of the digital ruble. He argues that’s the way to track blockchain transactions and prevent non-intended use of funds – as in diversion into speculative markets.

  Apart from all the huge challenges, the optimal path ahead spells out EAEU and BRICS+ observing international law and slowly but surely building the payments system capable of circumventing massive imperial choke points. A new BRICS currency can wait. What matters is the evolution of so many interconnections as the new system’s infrastructure is being built.

  And that brings us once again to North Korea.

  The Shoigu visit de facto cleared the path for the DPRK to totally align with the Russia-China strategic partnership in the massive Eurasian integration/development/mutual security process.

  Oh, the ironies of “post-everything” History. The Hegemon may have actually been trapped into destroying NATO as a credible military force just as Russia-China reinvigorated a major ally in Northeast Asia and the Far East – complete with nuclear power, ballistic missiles, and a hyper-productive industrial military complex.

  So the Straussian neocon psychos want to expand their unwinnable Forever War to rabid hyena Poland and the Baltic chihuahuas? As in first we go to Moscow, then we take Beijing? Be our guest. But first be sure to place a call to Global South powerhouse DPRK. Steel Kitten Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong Un’s younger sister, will be delighted.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 23:40

• US Buyers Shy Away From China Inc. With No Regrets
  US Buyers Shy Away From China Inc. With No Regrets

  By George Lei, Bloomberg markets live reporter and strategist

  Chinese equities in July posted their best returns in six months, yet US-based investors have refrained from chasing the rally, according to data tracking flows into exchange-traded funds. They instead have bolstered stock holdings in other emerging markets, in contrast to Hong Kong-based investors whose purchases of onshore equities have reached a 23-week high.

  The MSCI China Index was up 9.3% last month and rallied a total of 12.7% between June and July, the kind of performance unseen since the heyday of the reopening trade. On a 20-day basis, total purchases of mainland stocks from Hong Kong-based investors reached 49.2 billion yuan ($6.85 billion), the highest since February 23.

  

  US buyers, in contrast, have largely soured on China Inc. since February. On a 20-day basis, the iShares MSCI China ETF saw total outflows of $75 million as of July 31, despite stimulus bets and stock-market rallies over the past two months. Meanwhile, the iShares MSCI EM ex-China ETF received constant inflows throughout the year, with the 20-day total reaching $369 million as of July 31.

  

  MSCI’s China ETF now has assets of around $8.4 billion, 70% above that of the other fund. If present trends continue, however, the ETF dedicated to EM ex-China will eventually exceed the China fund in terms of assets under management in the coming years.

  Recent rallies in Chinese stocks appear to be “mostly driven by short covering” and few global funds are “buying into China in any meaningful way yet,” Michael J. Oh, a San Francisco-based portfolio manager at Matthews Asia, told Bloomberg. “Beijing has said a lot of positive things but there’s still a lack of actions,” Oh noted.

  US sanctions on some Chinese firms and other forms of regulatory crackdowns may have also scared away American investors. This week, a US House committee demanded information from BlackRock about the inclusion of Chinese companies in its funds, alleging facilitation of American investment into parts of China Inc. blacklisted by the White House. Similar requests were also made to MSCI. As President Joe Biden is reportedly planning for new curbs on US tech investment in China, American appetite for companies in the world’s second largest economy will only wane further.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 23:00

• Hollywood Is Completely Freaked Out Over AI
  Hollywood Is Completely Freaked Out Over AI

  The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) has put Hollywood creatives in a panic over fears that the technology will replace their jobs entirely.

  AI has become a central issue as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) enter into labor negotiations with studios, with the WGA asking studios to commit to not using AI for generating scripts or training large language models such as ChatGPT to produce variations of their work.

  “They wouldn’t even discuss it with us, and that made us worried,” said LA comedian, Adam Conover, in a statement to Bloomberg. “It made me say, ‘Oh, these people actually are planning to use it to try to undermine us.’”

  

  Creatives in the industry already say that they aren’t banking enough from streaming services and that technology companies exploit their labor. Now they fear AI will eliminate their jobs entirely, replacing their voices and faces with computer-generated renditions. AI is already being used to create marketing materials, eliminate swear words and reduce the cost of visual effects.

  Studios, meanwhile, have been hesitant to commit to rules governing the technology.

  Meanwhile, the potential for AI to replace human actors with CGI renditions has also become a major point of contention in the most significant labor dispute in 60 years, as both actors and writers strike at the same time, shutting down several TV and film productions.

  

  Studio executives have dismissed the threat of AI as overstated, however they do acknowledge that it does offer cost savings amid declining revenue streams and efforts to cut costs. The technology can save costs in postproduction, while companies such as Flawless AI are offering AI-based solutions for ‘enhancing’ actor performances or dubbing dialogue in any language.

  “Human performance will persist, but how we make content will change drastically,” said Tom Graham, co-founder of AI deepfake pros Metaphysic.

  Almost every major studio already uses AI in some capacity, even if it’s not talked about. Many work with a company near the beach in Santa Monica called Flawless, which offers a suite of postproduction tools that save time and money.

  DeepEditor, for example, lets filmmakers move an actor’s performance from one shot to another. If you have Margot Robbie talking behind a desk, say, you can decide to show her from a different angle without needing more takes. AI Reshoot lets filmmakers replace dialogue, as long as they have audio of the actor speaking the words. TrueSync allows for dubbing in any language; filmmakers can adjust the movement of an actor’s mouth to make it look as if they’re speaking the foreign words accurately. -Bloomberg

  So with the industry shifting towards the use of AI, creatives are demanding guarantees on consent, control and compensation when it’s employed.

  Another issue AI raises is that of copyrights and infringement. Both deepfake technology and generative AI (script writing) raise concerns over the unauthorized use of actors’ likenesses and intellectual property. Currently, Getty Images is suing Stability AI for allegedly using copyrighted works without permission.

  Acording to Hillary Krane, chief legal officer at Hollywood talent agency CAA, people have rights to control the publicity of their name, image and likeness, but “the speed of technology is undermining our ability to effectively enforce those rights.“

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 22:40

• The Corruption Of Science By Politics
  The Corruption Of Science By Politics

  Authored by Jeffrey A. Tucker via The Epoch Times Newsletter,

  Been to the movies lately? Maybe you are trying them out again. They seemed to have improved under the desperate desire to get audiences back.

  

  I know there are reasonable criticisms but I found “Barbie” to be fun, if only because it completely ignored the last 20 years of gender dysphoria and asserted bracing but welcome sex binary.

  “Mission Impossible” was a blast too but we’ve come to expect that from this franchise. Unexpected is “The Sound of Freedom” which is a terrifying expose of contemporary issues that, for reasons which are unclear, is a film utterly despised by the left.

  We should talk about “Oppenheimer.” It’s about many things but ultimately the theme concerns the use and abuse of science in service of state power.

  The U.S. government tapped a promising physicist to build a better bomb. Once two years and $2 billion were consumed in the great project, it needed to be deployed, whether necessary to win the war or not. Germany was already defeated and Japan was ready to surrender but the chance to demonstrate to the world the superior military might of the United States was too good to pass up.

  J. Robert Oppenheimer swallowed his moral scruples about the bombings in Japan—he thought the bomb would be used against Nazis—that cost hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. But he drew the line at pushing for the hydrogen bomb or building even more of the bombs he built. He became an advocate for arms control in order to avoid an escalation with the Soviet Union.

  At this point, he was hounded by Washington for his personal Russian relationships that included dalliances with communists. So yes, his benefactor the state turned on him, exactly as the film depicts Albert Einstein predicting to him.

  Later of course his reputation was restored. And this movie goes a very long way to memorialize him as a complicated but brilliant man.

  One feature of the film I found particularly valuable was explaining the extremely strange relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union in these years. Following the Great War, there was a massive Red Scare in this country from 1918 to 1923, and that included Congressional hearings, censorship, and new sedition legislation that is today being used by the Biden administration against Trump and his supporters.

  During the New Deal, which amounted to a rejection of free-enterprise dynamics of the American spirit, President Roosevelt brought into his administration many admirers of Soviet “achievements” in agriculture and housing. Among them was the hugely influential Rex Tugwell, an economist who embraced central planning and crafted much of the legislation in those years that cartelized industry, controlled prices, and embarked on Soviet-style projects.

  This is one reason that champions of freedom in those days despised the New Deal. Reds were all over Washington. And despite the legend, their policies did not release the United States from the grip of depression but only prolonged it with controls, spending, regulation, and subsidies.

  Yes, I know, we’ll never get rid of the myth that the New Deal saved us but the reality is that the Depression lasted through the next war and didn’t really end until peace came in 1945 and following.

  But step back a few years in time. When the United States entered World War II, the U.S. and Russia became allies, and FDR and Stalin became fast friends in the effort to defeat the Nazis and Imperial Japan. It was “Roosevelt’s Road to Russia” that was completed in this alliance. During those days, there was no danger for scientists and others in having communist and Red connections but rather quite the reverse.

  After the war, there was another switcheroo. President Harry Truman was facing party losses in Congress and cleverly triangulated by ramping up the Red Scare again. In 1948, the communists won an election in Greece, and this was highlighted in the United States as evidence of a growing imperialism under the influence of Moscow.

  In the blink of an eye, Russia went from valiant ally to feared enemy. And this was a decade and a half after the United States went from feared enemy to valuable domestic influence. And this was only a decade and a half after Russia went from friend of the West to feared enemy. Yep, in the course of a half-century, the switch happened three times.

  Did you ever wonder why George Orwell’s book “1984” was so named? It was a spin on 1948 when the Cold War began and within an instant the public mind flipped from celebrating to hating an entire nation. This is why in the book, international relations between Oceania, Eurasia, and East Asia were in continued flux. With each change, the announcement went out that we’ve always been at war with whomever the ruling class wanted war with next.

  At the end of the Cold War, the United States celebrated emancipation in Russia and the demise of the Soviet Union and trade relations picked up. But sure enough, two and a half decades later, mainstream media—the same voices who once favored arms control and peace during the Cold War—is agitating for war with Russia. As in Orwell’s book, they tell us that we’ve always been at war with Russia.

  The same crowd that agitated for decades for peace with Russia now wants all-out war!

  In any case, this is the larger historical context in which Oppenheimer was grilled for his communist connections and why he went from friend to enemy so quickly. It was all about regime priorities. They have exerted more influence on science in modern times than we care to admit.

  Let’s explore a case from the science of economics.

  When the American Economic Association was founded in 1885, one of its first publications was an utterly vicious and disgraceful tract that favored segregation, white supremacy, eugenics, and much worse, not only for blacks but also for southern Italians, Jews, and Slavs, if you can believe it.

  This deployment of fake science kept up for decades in all the mainstream economics textbooks and journals. It didn’t really end until after the Second World War. This is a tragic history because economics as a science began in the late Middle Ages with an emancipatory spirit. It was corrupted in the United States during the 20th century by state influence.

  And so it has been throughout the century. This impacts every discipline from physics to economics to engineering to climatology.

  Speaking of which, the founder of climatology in America is Harvard professor Robert DeCourcy Ward (1867–1931). He was a consummate member of the academic establishment. He was a founder of the American Restriction League, one of the first organizations to advocate a “scientific” approach to immigration rooted in Darwinian evolutionary theory and the policy of eugenics.

  “Darwin and his followers laid the foundation of the science of eugenics,” Ward alleged in his manifesto published in the North American Review in July 1910. “Why,” Ward demanded, “should the breeding of man, the most important animal of all, alone be left to chance?”

  By “chance,” of course, he meant choice. Ward explained that the United States had a “remarkably favorable opportunity for practicing eugenic principles.” And there was a desperate need to do so, because “already we have not hundreds of thousands, but millions of Italians and Slavs and Jews whose blood is going into the new American race.”

  Thus are the thoughts of the earliest Harvard climatologist. And his successors have not distanced themselves from state priorities either, as you can easily discover by picking up today’s newspapers.

  Read the rest here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 22:20

• Watch: Jill Biden's Ex-Husband Breaks Silence Over "Very Dangerous Biden Crime Family"
  Watch: Jill Biden’s Ex-Husband Breaks Silence Over “Very Dangerous Biden Crime Family”

  The ex-husband of First Lady Jill Biden has broken his silence to speak out against the “Biden crime family” for “targeting” he and Donald Trump.

  

  Bill Stevenson, who was married to Jill Biden between 1970 and 1975, told Newsmax last week that the president’s brother, Frankie Biden, tried to intimidate him during his divorce with Jill, and claimed the family threatened him with repercussions.

  “Frankie Biden of the Biden crime family comes up to me and he goes, “Give her the house or you’re going to have serious problems,”” Stevenson said. “I looked at Frankie and I said, “Are you threatening me?” and needless to say, about two months later, my brother and I were indicted for that tax charge for $8,200.”

  When asked to clarify whether he thinks Joe Biden was behind the tax charge, Stevenson told host Greg Kelly: “I not only think it, but I know it,” adding that he “could not believe the power of Joe Biden and the Department of Justice. I couldn’t believe it.”

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  Kelly also noted the parallels between Stevenson’s case and Hunter Biden’s ongoing tax troubles – noting that Hunter was hit with just two misdemeanor counts for $2.2 million in unpaid taxes, while Stevenson and his brother were slapped with two felonies for just over $8,000 in unpaid taxes.

  “It’s hard to believe what they’re doing to President Trump right now, and that’s why I came to you,” said Stevenson, 75. “He is doing the exact same thing.”

  “I was on the wrong side of them, and they have literally come after me for 35 years in a row. One little thing after another,” he continued. “I can’t let them do this to a president that I love and respect. I can’t let them do this to our country.”

  “This is the only reason I’ve come forward. It’s like I said, nothing about the divorce, no bitterness, but Jimmy, Frankie, and President Biden are very dangerous, and it’s tragic. I can’t let them do what they did to me to President Trump. I can’t do it,” he added.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 22:00

• Meat Consumption And Longevity
  Meat Consumption And Longevity

  Authored by Sally Fallon Morell via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  In February of last year, the International Journal of General Medicine published a study that was easy to miss, as no major media publication reported on “Total Meat Intake is Associated with Life Expectancy: A Cross-Sectional Data Analysis of 175 Contemporary Populations,” by Wenpeng You and his team of researchers.

  For years we have heard that the secret to a long life is to cut back on meat consumption and increase our intake of carbs—advice that is enshrined in the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans. But that’s not what these researchers found.

  You and his team analyzed data from 175 countries and territories—in other words, almost the whole world—and used various statistical methods to “explore and compare the correlations between newborn life expectancy … life expectancy at five years of life … and intakes of meat, and carbohydrate crops, respectively. The established risk factors to life expectancy—caloric intake, urbanization, obesity and education levels—were included as the potential confounders.”

  The researchers found that worldwide, meat intake was associated with a longer life. “This relationship remained significant when influences of caloric intake, urbanization, obesity, education and carbohydrate crops were statistically controlled.” By contrast, consumption of carbohydrates had a weak but negative correlation with life expectancy.

  

  Blue Zones and Meat Consumption

  You may be wondering about the “blue zone” areas of the world—those with a high percentage of centenarians. According to Dan Buettner, author of “The Blue Zones, Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest,” the key to a long life is to minimize meat consumption and eat plenty of vegetables.

  Don’t the long-lived people living in the blue zones eat a mostly plant-based diet?

  Well, actually, no. For example, in Sardinia, Mr. Buettner’s first noted blue zone, meat consumption is higher among the long-lived peasants living in the mountains than those living in the valleys, according to a 2015 study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Say the authors:

  “The identification of a hot spot of exceptional longevity, the Longevity Blue Zone (LBZ), in the mountain population of Sardinia has aroused considerable interest toward its traditional food as one of the potential causal factors … Up to a short time ago, the LBZ population depended mostly upon livestock rearing, and consumption of animal-derived foods was relatively higher than in the rest of the island.” [emphasis added]

  For Okinawa, his second listed blue zone, Mr. Buettner insists that “Older Okinawans have eaten a plant-based diet most of their lives. Their meals of stir-fried vegetables, sweet potatoes and tofu are high in nutrients and low in calories.” However, that’s not what researchers found in a 1992 study comparing the diets of mainland Japanese and those living on the island of Okinawa.

  They found that the proportion of the diet from protein and fats—mainly pork and pork fat, but also fish—was higher in Okinawa. Another fact: the Okinawans love Spam—consuming more than one can per person per week—for a total of just over seven million cans of canned pork annually. Spam is the kind of “fatty, processed meat” that Buettner warns against.

  Moving on to the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica—an area teaming with cattle, goats, and pigs—folks there also love their lard. A 2013 study of the region found that the older Nicoyans ate more fish, more meat, and more saturated fat (from lard) than inhabitants of other regions in Costa Rica. They are also fond of a stew based on organ meats called “sustancia.”

  In the blue zone of Ikaria, Greece, Buettner describes the diet as plant-based with a “low intake of saturated fats from meat and dairy.” Yet the islanders consume lots of goat and sheep dairy products, which are very high in saturated fat—and as is the custom throughout Greece—they frequently consume fatty lamb.

  As for the Loma Linda, California, Seventh Day Adventists—Buettner’s fifth and final blue zone—it’s not clear that there are many centenarians in the population, but studies on these Adventists indicate that the men live 7.3 years longer and the women live 4.4 years longer compared to other Californians. However, very few Adventists (about 4 percent) follow a vegan diet, and as a group, they avoid alcohol, drugs, caffeine, and junk food—compared with Californians as a whole—who tend to consume alcohol, sodas, junk food, coffee, and drugs.

  Which world population has the longest lifespan? The answer is surprising: bustling, crowded, polluted Hong Kong! According to United Nations data, the life expectancy in Hong Kong is 82.38 years for men and 88.17 years for women. Another surprise: Inhabitants of Hong Kong have the highest consumption of meat and dairy foods in the world, at 500 grams (over one pound) of meat and 281 grams (almost ten ounces) of dairy products per day.

  Yet Another Media-Ignored Study on the Benefits of Meat

  I am reminded of an important study, described in The Guardian, carried out almost twenty years ago—also ignored by the media—which showed just how important meat is for growing children.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 21:40

• Biden Admin Gives Up On Refilling Strategic Petroleum Reserve Due To "Market Conditions"
  Biden Admin Gives Up On Refilling Strategic Petroleum Reserve Due To “Market Conditions”

  Update: You cannot make this shit up. Minutes after the biggest weekly crude draw in API history, with gasoline prices at 2023 highs and with wholesales gasoline prices exploding higher (guaranteeing that retail pump pries are set to soar), the Biden administration just gave up on its efforts to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, something we had joked about literally moments earlier.

  Just. Perfect. Timing

  *US SPURNS ANOTHER ROUND OF OFFERS TO REPLENISH OIL STOCKPILE https://t.co/RV9f9kXC5I

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 1, 2023

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  As a reminder, the Biden admin has been drawing down on the SPR for the last 14 weeks and – despite all the promises – has not refilled the “STRATEGIC” political petroleum reserve one little bit.

  

  So yeah: just 3 weeks after the DOE said it would buy a “whopping” 6 million barrels of sour crude – an amount which the SPR drained every 2 weeks for much of the past year – the Biden administration pulled said offer, an Energy Department spokesperson said on Tuesday, as oil prices are expected to keep rising after a output cut from Saudi Arabia.

  The U.S. made the latest solicitation to buy the sour crude oil for the SPR on July 7, and follows the release of a record 180 million barrels from the reserve last year to prevent a Democrat rout in the midterms following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Having vowed it would refill the SPR eventually, the Energy Department bought back 6.3 million barrels in recent month… and that appears to be it.

  The move was not a rejection of oil companies’ offers to sell oil to the SPR but a decision made on “market conditions,” the spokesperson said. The person not specify what that meant, but tight oil supplies that have caused global oil prices to rise above $80 per barrel in recent weeks. Of course, by refusing to refill now, it only ensures that when the need truly arises, Biden, or rather his successor, will be forced to buy the oil at triple digits.

  hey @SecGranholm how’s that SPR refill coming? We gonna buy very, very high?

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 1, 2023

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  Translation: $65 was too cheap, we’d rather wait until oil is $130 https://t.co/wYlcciUiof

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 1, 2023

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  To be sure, the Energy Department headed by the consummately incompetent Jennifer Granholm said that it “remains committed to its replenishment strategy for the SPR” which includes direct purchases, returns of oil that was loaned to companies in the wake of hurricanes and other supply disruptions, and cancellation of planned sales where drawdown is unnecessary, in coordination with Congress.

  What it really means is that the only time the SPR can possibly be refilled is when the US economy plunges into a crippling recession when Bidenomics crashes and burns the moment Biden’s $1+ trillion stimmy no longer flies.

  Oil prices are expected to surge in coming months after Saudi Arabia said it would cut output by 1 million barrels per day starting in July, on top of other cuts from eight OPEC+ countries announced in April. Banks such a Goldman predict that oil is facing a deficit of as much as 2mmb/d in the next two months, practically assuring triple digit oil returns in weeks if not days, and forces the Fed to hike much more.

  

  Meanwhile, the in a gift to refiners, the 3-2-1 crack spread is blowing out.

  

  As a reminder, when one product spread is blowing out, the market is saying that there needs to be more output of said product. When all spreads are blowing out simultaneously, that may be the market’s way of signaling it needs more refining capacity to satisfy growing product demand.

  We are seeing more of the latter (as Jet Fuel and Diesel cracks are also blowing out).

  *  *  *

  Oil prices gave back some of the recent solid gains today despite OPEC’s crude production tumbled by the most in three years as Saudi Arabia implemented a deeper cutback in a bid to shore up global markets, as dollar strength weighed on crude prices (and weak PMIs threatened demand outlooks).

  “The OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee will meet online on Friday, providing Saudi Arabia an excellent opportunity to roll its voluntary 1 million bpd production cut announced on June 3 for July production for another month to September. It would be the second time the Saudis have extended the voluntary 1 million bpd production cut. There is speculation that another 1 million roll forward could slow the global war on inflation, and kill the “golden goose,” especially heading into the end of summer driving season, and the beginning of shoulder season,” Robert Yawger, executive director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities USA, wrote in a Monday note.

  Volumes also remain muted in light summer trading, while volatility is at the lowest since January 2020.

  Expectations were for more inventory draws after last week’s across-the-board drop…

  API

  • Crude -15.4mm (-1.3mm exp) – biggest weekly draw on record

  • Cushing -1.76mm

  • Gasoline -1.68mm (-1.3mm exp)

  • Distillates -512k (-100k exp)

  Umm… API reports that Crude stocks fell 15.4mm barrels last week (yes 15.4!!!) – over 10x expectations. Product inventories also fell as did stocks at the Cushing Hub.

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  If that holds for the official data released tomorrow that will be the biggest weekly draw in the data’s history (back to 1982)

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  WTI was hovering around $81.60 ahead of the API report (well off the day’s lows) and bounced on the massive draw into the green for the day, back above $82…

  

  Back up to 2023 highs…

  

  “Oil remains one of the most attractive trades and buyers will likely emerge on every dip,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda,in a note.

  Shit’s about to get real for Mr. Biden…

  

  Unleash the SPR again?

  he’s back pic.twitter.com/5CtEVpiExl

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 1, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 21:30

• JetBlue Joins Chorus Of Airlines Warning About Slipping Demand
  JetBlue Joins Chorus Of Airlines Warning About Slipping Demand

  We recently penned an article titled “Airline Stocks Encounter Turbulence as Alaska Air Indicates Waning Demand,” followed by “Air Travel Bubble Might Be In A Stall.” Now, several US airline carriers are warning about a deceleration in domestic air travel demand. 

  JetBlue Airways Corp. is the latest to slash its full-year profit forecast over signs of sliding US travel demand: 

  “We are updating our full-year earnings outlook to reflect near-term headwinds related to the termination of the NEA, a challenging operating environment in the northeast and a greater than expected shift of pent-up Covid demand to long-haul international markets which is pressuring demand for domestic travel during the peak summer travel period,” President/COO Joanna Geraghty wrote in a statement. 

  “The guidance is extremely disappointing,” Helane Becker, a TD Cowen analyst, told clients. 

  Becker continued, “The current revenue environment where domestic fares are trending lower is driving the big reduction in earnings expectations.”

  

  JetBlue said it would earn less due to sliding demand in the third quarter than analysts expected. It joins Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines, who warned last week about waning demand. 

  According to tech firm Bloomberg Second Measure, which tracked credit and debit card transactions made with airline carriers, such as Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and JetBlue, card data for the second quarter showed a decline across all carriers tracked for the first time since Covid. 

  

  This might be an early sign that ‘revenge travel’ has passed the peak, and consumers are reducing travel, like other discretionary purchases, including electronics, apparel, and restaurants, as financial conditions tighten. 

  In a separate note, Bloomberg believes airlines risk a hard landing after the summer travel surge: “Jam-packed airports, elevated ticket prices and cheery commentary from corporate executives all pointed to strong demand for air travel this summer, helping airline stocks stage a torrid rally heading into the second-quarter earnings. But the road ahead now is starting to look bumpy now.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 21:20

• Democrats Beg Biden To Declare Emergency As Illegal Immigrants Flood NYC
  Democrats Beg Biden To Declare Emergency As Illegal Immigrants Flood NYC

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

  Fifty-four elected officials in New York City have sent a letter to President Joe Biden to address the influx of illegal immigrants in the city, asking him to declare a federal state of emergency so that the illegal immigrants can legally work in the country.

  “We are elected officials from New York City requesting your help. Our City is experiencing an unprecedented migrant influx, with a surge of asylum seekers arriving here in numbers never seen before in history. Our City is at a breaking point,” wrote New York City Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar.

  “We take pride in New York being a beacon of hope for immigrants, but the influx of migrants is so great that the City is running out of resources. New York City is being forced to reduce services for its people.”

  

  Since Spring of 2022, buses of illegal immigrants, sent from the southern border in Texas, have arrived regularly in the city. Many are asylum seekers from Venezuela escaping the socialist country’s economic collapse, and New York elected officials have welcomed them.

  While the self-declared “sanctuary city” already had difficulties housing its 60,000-plus homeless population, officials set about finding housing for tens of thousands of asylum seekers.

  By October 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency in the city. According to his office, the illegal immigrant influx could nearly double the number of people the already overtaxed shelter system needed to serve, and cost $1 billion within a fiscal year.

  “We need help, and we need it now,” Mr. Adams said. “New York City is doing our part, and now others must step up and join us.”

  Emergency Powers

  Last week, the city announced it would set up a shelter for 1,000 illegal immigrants in the parking lot of a state psychiatric hospital. The special use case was made possible by the state of emergency, which allows for use of additional resources without additional red tape.

  A federal state of emergency would allow federal agencies to work with and fund the housing and services for the illegal immigrants.

  “The federal government could then provide migrants with assistance such as shelter, food relief, healthcare, legal aid, and transportation,” Ms. Rajkumar wrote in her letter.

  The 54 Democrat lawmakers also requested that the Biden administration allow the illegal immigrants to work in the country.

  “The federal government must expedite the issuance of Employment Authorization Documents. It is a common sense and bi-partisan fix. Asylum seekers are arriving eager to work, and our Nation has 10 million job openings with 3.5 million fewer people in the workforce than projected pre-pandemic,” the letter reads. “We ask that the White House take executive actions to expedite work authorization, such as classifying asylum seekers as refugees, expanding Temporary Protected Status, increasing access to humanitarian parole, and surging the number of officers processing asylum claims.”

  The letter makes no reference to curbing the number of illegal immigrants entering the country or city, nor does it differentiate between legal and illegal immigrants. It instead makes requests that the federal government make it simpler for them to cross the southern border illegally, and to relocate them in all parts of the country, while providing additional funding for New York City.

  The city has already received $104.6 million through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which the lawmakers say equates to just 13 days of relief.

  The city expects to have spent $4.3 billion by June 2024.

  “While we welcome immigrants to our City, the current unstructured state of immigration policy and response needs to end. There needs to be a system of rules in place to manage the migrant crisis,” the letter reads. “That is why we are pleading for the White House to step in a take leadership over the influx of asylum seekers.”

  “We believe that with your leadership, we can turn this crisis into opportunity and that this can become one of history’s greatest success stories.”

  Housing Crisis

  The city is currently sheltering about 52,000 illegal immigrants, and officials say more continue to arrive by the week.

  As a “sanctuary” city, New York is one of several across the country now that have declared it will not cooperate with federal authorities to arrest and deport illegal immigrants.

  The city’s “right to shelter” law mandates that homeless families must be given a bed the same day, and adults within a day. As the city runs out of beds, it is scrambling to create temporary shelter spaces wherever possible, be it a hospital parking lot, airplane hangars, parks, or a racetrack.

  Most of these ideas have been met with strong pushback from communities. City residents, who are already feeling the housing crunch and are unable to find permanent housing of their own, have been shocked by city plans to turn their gyms, schools, and parks into housing for the illegal immigrants.

  The city had plans to further bus illegal immigrants north of the city, but local officials in those areas quickly pushed back. For the most part, the city is attempting to find the necessary amount of shelter with city resources. If the numbers continue to increase, exacerbating the issue and prompting federal intervention, the trend could be unlikely to reverse.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 21:00

• Watch: Trudeau Loses It After Being Asked A Simple Question About Seeking Peace In Ukraine
  Watch: Trudeau Loses It After Being Asked A Simple Question About Seeking Peace In Ukraine

  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been holding cross-country town halls for the past many weeks, while presenting himself as a “man of the people”—as these events are giving ordinary Canadians a rare chance to ask him unvetted questions. But apparently you’d better ask the “right” questions, or else he’ll blow up and attack you personally as the questioner. A new clip has surfaced of a recent exchange centered on a very legitimate question from an audience member about Ukraine, and Canada’s refusal to push for peace. 

  Prominent Canadian political commentator Stephen McIntyre presented the town hall video on Twitter, while providing the following context to the back-and-forth between audience member “Michael” and PM Trudeau: 

  Someone asks why Canada hasn’t put forward a peace proposal to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, even if Trudeau disagreed with the question, his knee jerk reaction is to say “Am going to call you out” and says the individual has been swayed by Russian propaganda and disinformation. Chilling and Orwellian.

  Town hall audience member Michael asks PMJT an earnest question about the war in Ukraine.

  In response, Trudeau accuses him of proliferating “Russian propaganda and disinformation.” pic.twitter.com/SGdug2hgzP

  — The Amazing Zoltan (@AmazingZoltan) August 1, 2023

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  Of course, Michael the audience member didn’t so much as “pick sides” or express some kind of admiration for the Russian side or Putin. Instead, he merely asked about the prospect for peace, and why Trudeau’s government wasn’t doing more to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table. 

  Michael began his question with, “Canada is traditionally known for advocating for peace, I know we’re a member of NATO, but I know we don’t have a nuclear weapon.” The above clip is edited (see fuller clip below), but Michael at one point explained that the conflict has become a full-blown “proxy war”, posing immense danger for uncontrollable escalation.

  And then he posed to Trudeau: “Why has your government failed to draft a peace proposal to end this war in Ukraine?” The audience member explained that Canada should be exhausting all diplomatic channels instead of escalating while following Washington’s policies of escalation.

  The prime minister immediately took a condescending tone and posture: “Am going to call you out!” he told Michael. Included in his essentially ‘non-response’ to the actual question, Trudeau called the audience member “totally wrong” before charging that his words and perspective were all coming from “Russian propaganda and disinformation”. 

  Here’s the fuller clip of the exchange…

  Here is the full and mostly complete clip for additional context. Michael does in fact – and accurately – use the term proxy war. “Proxy war” is defined as “a war instigated by a major power which does not itself become involved.” pic.twitter.com/fNiH3ObvQR

  — The Amazing Zoltan (@AmazingZoltan) August 1, 2023

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  What more can be said of this truly downright Orwellian silencing of speech and legitimate questioning of top decision-makers… 

  

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 20:40

• New Research Validates Autism's Link To Gut
  New Research Validates Autism’s Link To Gut

  Authored by Amy Denny via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Researchers have identified a microbial signature for autism spectrum disorder, a critical finding that offers clarity about how the gut microbiome influences this neurological syndrome.

  The data-driven study published by 43 researchers challenges the idea that autism is a primarily genetic condition and suggests that environmental factors may be behind the sharp rise in the debilitating condition.

  The trillions of microbes (bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microorganisms) that populate the gut microbiome are the basis of that microbial signature. Other research has found that having more microbes and greater diversity is associated with health and lower disease risk. Among other tasks, gut bacteria metabolize fiber and create metabolites that facilitate digestion, brain functions, and more.

  The study involved reanalyzing 25 previously published datasets to find autism-specific metabolic pathways that could be linked to particular gut microbes. Originated at the Simons Foundation’s Autism Research Initiative (SFARI), the meta-analysis was published on June 26 in Nature Neuroscience and aligns with a recent long-term study of microbiome-focused treatment on 18 people with autism who exhibited improvement in both gut and brain symptoms.

  “It provides further evidence that the microbiome is altered in autism and that it relates to alterations in biochemistry and that those alterations can affect GI [gastrointestinal] and neurological functioning,” James Adams, professor at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes, told The Epoch Times. He’s been studying the gut–autism link for 20 years and is co-author of the study of 18 people highlighted in the new research.

  

  The Growing Shadow of Autism

  No single cause has been found for autism spectrum disorder, which is a heterogeneous condition displaying genetic, physiological, and behavioral patterns. It’s usually diagnosed in childhood and now affects 1 in 36 children, up from 1 in 44 just two years ago.

  The obstacles to studying autism include difficulty testing children who have severe cases and difficulty observing signs and symptoms in subjects. The fact that it’s a neurological condition makes it more difficult to study.

  Combined with the vastness of the microbiome, that has made it difficult and controversial to quantify the role gastrointestinal problems play in autism. One goal of the study was to forge consensus on this relationship, Jamie Morton, one of the study’s corresponding authors and an independent consultant, told The Epoch Times.

  Mr. Morton said researchers were surprised at the connections observed when they applied an algorithm to the data. They put autistic and neurotypical controls side by side to look for such traits as gene expression, immune system response, and diet.

  “What was startling was how strong the signal was. After running our analysis, you could just see it pop off from the raw data,” Mr. Morton said. “We hadn’t seen this kind of clear overlap between gut microbial and human metabolic pathways in autism before.”

  A “pathway” is a biochemical process of linked reactions whereby one molecule is processed into another, or compounds are changed in a series of processes to deliver a certain substance to a certain place in the body. For example, you may eat a certain vitamin or compound that gets digested into other molecules that get changed into other molecules through cellular processes until they eventually reach your brain as a specific neurotransmitter.

  Researchers said the new information paves the way for precise treatment-focused research on manipulation of the microbiome. The ability to use stool analysis to see how patients respond to specific interventions over time can shape future studies and, ultimately, clinical care.

  “What’s significant about this work is not only the identification of major signatures, but also the computational analysis that identified the need for future studies to include longitudinal, carefully designed measurements and controls to enable robust interpretation,” Kelsey Martin, executive vice president of SFARI and the Simons Foundation Neuroscience Collaborations, said in a SFARI statement.

  Study Specifics

  The meta-analysis compared 600 pairs of children; each pair consisted of a child with autism and a neurotypical control of the same age and sex. Each pair was analyzed and compared using novel computational methodologies so the researchers could identify microbes with differing abundances between the two groups.

  There were 95 metabolic pathways differentially expressed in the brains of autistic subjects that had corresponding microbial pathways. “Pathways related to amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism and lipid metabolism were disproportionately represented among the overlapping pathways,” the study reads.

  Functionally, those pathways were confirmed with microbial species in the genera of Prevotella, Bifidobacterium, Desulfovibrio, and Bacteroides. And they are associated with brain gene expression changes, restrictive dietary patterns, and pro-inflammatory cytokine profiles.

  The study’s inclusion of the 2019 long-term fecal microbiota transplant study led by Mr. Adams and Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown makes the evidence more robust.

  “Another set of eyes looked at this, from a different lens, and they validated our findings,” Ms. Krajmalnik-Brown said of the meta-analysis in the statement.

  The Adams and Krajmalnik-Brown study was also published in Nature and noted lower overall microbial diversity and reduced Prevotella copri and Bifidobacterium in children with autism.

  The original study treated 18 children with a microbial transfer therapy that included two weeks of treatment with the powerful antibiotic vancomycin, a bowel cleanse, one initial high dose and 10 weeks of daily low doses of microbial transfers along with a low-dose stomach-acid suppressant.

  Essentially, subjects had their gut microbiome cleared out and received a new one from a transplant of healthy donor stool. The results included an 80-percent reduction in GI symptoms and a slow, steady improvement in autism symptoms. The two-year follow-up of the same cohort showed that children in the severe range of autism had significantly decreased symptoms and that beneficial bacteria remained high.

  Validation

  The meta-analysis provides large-scale confirmation of a theory that many clinicians and researchers have had for years based on studies and observational evidence.

  “They’re adding credibility to gut treatment with autistic kids. We’ve been treating autistic kids for decades on the gut, and we’ve had a lot of mainstream criticism for it,” Dr. Armen Nikogosian, a medical and functional doctor who specializes in autism care, told The Epoch Times. “That being said, we certainly haven’t figured it all out, but we knew there was a clear connection between the gut and the brain of the autistic child.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 20:20

• Will The Fed's New Digital Payment System Pave Way For Social Engineering?
  Will The Fed’s New Digital Payment System Pave Way For Social Engineering?

  Authored by Stefan Gleason via Headline USA,

  Last week, the Federal Reserve launched a new payment processing system dubbed “FedNow.”

  

  Officials say FedNow will allow individuals and businesses to initiate instant funds transfers between banks. Critics warn that FedNow could be a prelude to central bank digital currency (CBDC) that threatens financial privacy and freedom.

  Fund transfers between banks made through FedNow will settle directly in accounts at the central bank. Once Fed accounts become widely adopted and used for payments, critics fear it’s only one additional step to convert the “dollars” used in transactions into “FedCoin”—a proposed digital token to be issued directly by the central bank.

  To be sure, similar arguments could be used to justify a CBDC as have been made with FedNow, e.g., it will improve the speed, efficiency and reliability of payments.

  However, the FedNow system is really just a major upgrade to the highly deficient ACH payment system that has limped along for decades, with its very slow clearing time, lack of fraud prevention and other problems.

  Concerns about FedNow appear to be overblown, and FedNow should not be conflated with totalitarian CBDC schemes. Here is what Emile Phaneuf of the American Institute for Economic Research writes on the risks of CBDCs:

  Risks CBDCs present include the loss of settlement finality that comes with physical cash (as abandoning cash accompanies the push for CBDCs), loss of financial privacy, easy seizure of assets, loss of the ability to resolve problems at a local level with a commercial bank (as it would be doubtful that a central bank would come to be known for its customer service) …

  …outright prohibition on spending or purchase limits with certain merchants or on certain products, and (perhaps most importantly) the paradigm shift from money as an exercise of economic freedom to one of social engineering by central banks and their respective governments.

  The latter could manifest itself in various ways, including (to name just a few) negative interest rates (essentially a confiscation of one’s savings), the expiry of one’s money (with a date determined by the issuing central bank or its government) — or even discouraging the consumption of products like gasoline, plane tickets or red meat in order to enforce a climate agenda.

  The weaponization of the monetary system for social-engineering purposes has been in the works for decades. The abandonment of hard currency, backed by physical gold and silver, gave politicians and central bankers the power to manipulate the supply and value of the currency for their own ends.

  Under a fiat currency regime, central planners arbitrarily try to determine how much inflation (i.e., currency depreciation) to inflict on the economy.

  Under the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate, central bankers are supposed to ensure “price stability.” Instead, they openly flout that mandate, redefining “stable prices” as annual price inflation of 2%. Of course, the Fed is failing even to deliver on that objective by allowing inflation to run much hotter than 2%!

  Those who wish to preserve their purchasing power over time while protecting their financial privacy should beware of central bankers’ new campaign to promote digital Fed accounts.

  Hard money (gold and silver) held outside the banking system remains the soundest alternative to fiat currency in all its manifestations.

  Stefan Gleason is President of Money Metals Exchange, the company recently named “Best Overall Online Precious Metals Dealer” by Investopedia. A graduate of the University of Florida, Gleason is a seasoned business leader, investor, political strategist, and grassroots activist. Gleason has frequently appeared on national television networks such as CNN, FoxNews, and CNBC and in hundreds of publications such as the Wall Street Journal, TheStreet, and Seeking Alpha.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 19:40

• Mexico Demands Russia's Participation In Saudi-Hosted Ukraine Talks
  Mexico Demands Russia’s Participation In Saudi-Hosted Ukraine Talks

  Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

  Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday that his country would attend talks on Ukraine that are set to be held in Saudi Arabia this weekend only if Russia is invited.

  “If there’s acceptance from both Ukraine and Russia to look for solutions to achieve peace, we’ll participate,” Lopez Obrador said, according to Reuters. “We don’t want the Russia-Ukraine war to continue, it’s very irrational … The only thing that benefits from it is the war industry.”

  

  While being billed as peace talks, Russia has not been invited to the summit in Saudi Arabia. Nations that are not aligned with the US and NATO on the war have been invited, including India, Brazil, and China, but it’s not clear at this point which countries will attend.

  Ukraine and its Western backers intend to use the summit to try and convince non-aligned nations to adopt Kyiv’s demands for peace, which include a full Russian withdrawal from all territory that’s been captured, a non-starter for negotiations with Moscow.

  Ukraine is also demanding Russia cede Crimea, which has been controlled by Moscow since 2014 and is populated by people who are happy they are part of the Russian Federation.

  For their part, Russia insists any future peace deal must recognize the territory it has annexed in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhzhia, demonstrating how far apart the two sides are. Russia said that it would monitor the talks in Saudi Arabia this weekend.

  “Undoubtedly, Russia will keep an eye on this meeting. We’d have to fully understand what goals are being set and what the organizers actually plan to talk about. We have repeatedly said that any attempts to somehow contribute to a peaceful settlement deserve a positive assessment,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

  President AMLO says Mexico will only participate in Saudi Arabia’s Ukraine peace summit if Russia is also present pic.twitter.com/NhSOZTQzqg

  — COMBATE |🇵🇷 (@upholdreality) July 31, 2023

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

  Peskov added that a peace deal with the Ukrainian government at this time was “impossible” as long as Ukraine is “used exclusively as a tool in the collective West’s war against Russia.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 19:20

• JPMorgan Processed $1.1 Million From Jeffrey Epstein To "Girls Or Women" Despite Firing Him As Client
  JPMorgan Processed $1.1 Million From Jeffrey Epstein To “Girls Or Women” Despite Firing Him As Client

  JPMorgan Chase facilitated over $1.1 million in payments from Jeffrey Epstein to “girls or women,” despite having fired the convicted sex offender as a client, an attorney representing the US Virgin Islands told a judge on Monday.

  

  Many of the girls had Eastern European surnames, according to a filing by attorney Linda Singer to Manhattan federal judge Jed Rakoff.

  Over $320,000 of the payments were made to “numerous individuals for whom JPMorgan had no previously identified payments,” Singer wrote, accusing the bank of failing to disclose the payments until after the end of discovery – the period in which parties in a lawsuit exchange evidence.

  Singer has since asked Rakoff to impose monetary damages on the bank for failing to provide the information during discovery, and order the bank to turn over “all financial records for any newly disclosed girls or women to whom Epstein made payments,” CNBC reports.

  The Virgin Islands in its suit alleges that JPMorgan facilitated and financially benefited from sex trafficking by Epstein of young women during the years when he was a client.

  Epstein maintained a residence on a private island in the American territory where he sexually abused scores of women, and during that time kept tens of millions of dollars on deposit at JPMorgan.

  JPMorgan says it cut ties to Epstein in 2013. But Monday’s court filing challenges the bank’s timeline. -CNBC

  According to a spokeswoman for the bank, Patricia Wexler, “There is no proof this is accurate.”

  The USVI claims that documents recently turned over by JPMorgan contains new, previously unseen information that had been sought by the DA. It was assembled internally by the bank in October 2019, over three months after Epstein was arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges.

  “There is no legitimate reason for JPMorgan failing to identify payments to girls or women the bank itself identified as being related to Epstein — and potential evidence of Epstein’s sex trafficking venture — years before receiving the USVI’s discovery requests,” reads the filing, adding that a spreadsheet prepared by JPMorgan listing the dates and beneficiaries of more than 9,000 transactions payable to Epstein-related individuals between 2005 and 2019, “had a combined value of over $2.4 billion.”

  

  “Many of the entries reflected accounts and payments, numbering in the thousands and totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars in value, of which USVI had no prior knowledge or information from JPMorgan’s responses and productions during the fact discovery period,” wrote Singer.

  JPMorgan has argued that the information wasn’t provided earlier “because it was not in a custodial production and/or did not relate to individuals specifically identified by the USVI as related to Epstein.”

  Singer, however, says that “The USVI has repeatedly made clear that its discovery requests are not limited to individuals it specifically identified as being related to Epstein.”

  “The USVI specifically identified the individuals it knew were related to Epstein to make its discovery requests clearer — not relieve JPMorgan of its duty to produce known relevant documents,” reads the filing.

  What’s more, Singer says JPMorgan may not have disclosed everything, and has asked Judge Rakoff to force the bank to produce all documents and information concerning its 2019 review of Epstein matters, including “all financial records for any newly disclosed girls or women to whom Epstein made payments.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 19:00

• Mom Accuses FBI Of Entrapping Her 'Neurodiverse' Teenager In Terrorism Scheme
  Mom Accuses FBI Of Entrapping Her ‘Neurodiverse’ Teenager In Terrorism Scheme

  Authored by Ken Silva via Headline USA,

  In June 2022, Colorado woman Deanna Meyer contacted her local sheriff’s office about violent and terroristic statements that her mentally ill 17-year-old son, Davin Meyer, was making at the time.

  

  The local sheriff, in turn, contacted the FBI, which then began communicating with the teenager online. Months later, the FBI arrested Davin as he was about to board an airplane, ostensibly to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS.

  But Davin’s mother says he is no ISIS fighter. Instead, he’s an 18-year-old with no friends, who suffers from numerous mental health issues, including autism, depression and anxiety, according to the mom.

  At a detention hearing on Friday, Deanna reportedly expressed remorse that she ever sought help from law enforcement, blaming the FBI for ensnaring her son in a phony terrorism plot.

  “I bet my life he would never do that without that encouragement [from FBI informants],” she said Friday, describing how her son communicated with at least two FBI informants in chat rooms from last November until he was arrested.

  U.S. Magistrate Judge Reid Neureiter disregarded Deanna’s pleas on Friday and ordered Davin to remain in custody. Neureiter pointed to the fact that Davin allegedly threatened his mother’s life when he was still a juvenile—even though the mother said he hasn’t threatened her since he turned 18.

  The judge did acknowledge the mother’s arguments in his five-page order.

  “The mother testified at the detention hearing that she never believed he would likely move ahead with his expressed intentions, and the defendant only took steps to travel to the Middle East after finding a ‘community’ online, which included confidential FBI sources,” Judge Neureiter said.

  “According to the defendant’s mother, he has ‘never had a friend’ and finding this community that appeared to be supportive of his plans is what likely caused him to act by buying the ticket to fly to Turkey.”

  Neureiter also acknowledged Davin’s mental health problems.

  “The defendant is ‘neurodiverse’ and was diagnosed at the age of nine of being on the autism spectrum, and he has also been diagnosed with having a low processing speed and massive depression. The defendant may also have obsessive compulsive disorder,” the judge said.

  “The defendant has received diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder; attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood; specific learning disorder with impairment in mathematics; and major depressive disorder, recurrent episode, moderate.”

  However, Judge Neureiter said it’s in the public interest to keep Davin incarcerated.

  “This is a difficult situation, and must be extremely heart-wrenching for the defendant’s family, in particular his mother, who has long believed the defendant needs help and therapy,” he said.

  “Putting a defendant with his disabilities in jail, pending trial, will not address his condition nor provide the therapy that he apparently needs. It will, however, ensure that he cannot do violence to anyone.”

  The judge concluded by saying he’d reconsider his order if the Meyer family can find a suitable mental health facility to house Davin.

  Other bizarre details about the Meyer case can be found in the arrest affidavit of FBI task force officer Joni Tangeman.

  For instance, Tangeman said Davin followed “white supremacist ideology” when he was 15-years-old, before he began practicing Islam in late 2020. Tangeman further said that Davin said when he was 17 that if he didn’t go to the Middle East, he would build a fertilizer bomb in the United States—the same bomb used in the Oklahoma City bombing.

  Additionally, the FBI officer admitted she knew about Davin’s mental health issues when investigating him.

  “I am aware that MEYER has previously received mental health treatment, including residential treatment programs,” she said, adding that Davin apparently refused to take his medication when he converted to Islam.

  “MEYER refused to take any prescription medication prescribed by the psychiatrist because it would be against his Islamic religion, and he also refused to go to school or participate in online school programs,” Tangeman said.

  “Records show that MEYER has received diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder; attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood; specific learning disorder with impairment in mathematics; and major depressive disorder, recurrent episode, moderate.”

  The Meyer case follows the FBI arresting another mentally challenged 18-year-old, Mateo Ventura, for allegedly intending to help ISIS. Last month, The Intercept published an interview with Ventura’s father, who also accused FBI informants of entrapping his son.

  “He was born prematurely, he had brain development issues. I had the school do a neurosurgery evaluation on him and they said his brain was underdeveloped,” Ventura’s father, Paul Ventura, told The Intercept. “He was suffering endless bullying at school with other kids taking food off his plate, tripping him in the hallway, humiliating him, laughing at him.”

  Ventura is currently in a private mental health facility as his case proceeds. Meyer’s preliminary hearing is set for July 31.

  Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 18:40

• Goldman Sachs Analyst Found Dead In NYC Water
  Goldman Sachs Analyst Found Dead In NYC Water

  The 27-year-old Goldman Sachs senior analyst who went missing after a “Zeds Dead” concert in New York City’s Brooklyn borough early Saturday morning has been found dead. 

  The father of Goldman’s John Castic told Fox 5 New York that his son was found floating in the waters of Newtown Creek Tuesday — about a half mile from where he went missing. 

  “They have found his body and confirmed it’s him.

  “It appears to have been death by misadventure. His wallet and phone were found on him,” his father, Jeffrey Castic, told Fox 5. 

  Castic was last seen at 0230 ET Saturday, leaving a Zeds Dead concert at The Brooklyn Mirage in East Williamsburg. 

  

  The New York Post said, “At about 11 a.m. on Tuesday, a man spotted a bloated, shirtless body floating face-down in the English Kills, a branch of the East River tributary, near 1100 Grand Street.”

  Fox 5 pointed out that another young man also vanished from the same music venue in June and turned up dead five days later in Newtown Creek.

  Police said the deaths are both being investigated. Some have speculated there might be some connection. 

  This is the second Goldman analyst to have perished in about a year. 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 18:20

• Confidence In US Military At Lowest Point In 26 Years: Gallup Poll
  Confidence In US Military At Lowest Point In 26 Years: Gallup Poll

  Authored by Ryan Morgan via The Epoch Times,

  Confidence in one of the most trusted institutions in the United States, the military, has fallen to its lowest point in more than 25 years, according to a new poll by Gallup.

  

  On Monday, Gallup shared the results of a June poll, which found about 60 percent of U.S. adults who were surveyed expressed either a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the U.S. military, while the remainder expressed “very little” or only “some” confidence in the military. This figure marks the lowest level of confidence in the U.S. military since 1997.

  The drop in support was most significant among respondents who identified as Republican. Since Gallup began polling trust in the military in 1975, Republicans have typically held the highest degree of confidence in the U.S. military. In the final year of President Donald Trump’s presidency, 91 percent of Republican respondents had expressed moderate to high confidence in the military. Now only 68 percent of Republican respondents feel that way, a 23-point drop.

  The U.S. military also lost a significant measure of trust and confidence from independent voters. In 2019, 73 percent of independents felt a moderate to high confidence in the military, but that number fell to 68 percent in 2020 and has since dropped an additional 13 points.

  Democratic confidence in the military has not seen much resurgence since President Joe Biden took office. During Mr. Trump’s term, the portion of Democrats who had moderate to high confidence in the military fell from 69 percent in 2016 to a low point of 58 percent in 2019. Just 61 percent of Democratic respondents had moderate to high confidence in the military near the end of Mr. Trump’s presidency in 2020. Democratic confidence in the military did rise in the first two years of Mr. Biden’s presidency, up to 68 percent last year, but has fallen back down to 62 percent this year. Democratic confidence in the military was higher in 2017 and 2018 under Mr. Trump than it is now.

  While trust in the military has reached a low point not seen in a quarter century, the military still remains one of the most trusted institutions in the country. In fact, the military was second only to small businesses as the most trusted institution, with 65 percent of respondents expressing a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in those businesses.

  Twenty-six percent of respondents expressed a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the presidency, placing that institution alongside public schools, banks, and big tech companies in terms of public trust, while 14 percent of respondents shared a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in big businesses and just 8 percent felt the same about Congress.

  Declining Trust in Military

  The Gallup poll did not include additional questions about what is contributing to the loss of confidence in the military.

  Other recent polling has also indicated a loss of confidence in the U.S. military. In February of last year, the Pew Research Center published results (pdf) finding 74 percent of respondents had at least a fair amount of confidence that the U.S. military’s ability to act in the best interests of the U.S. public. That number was down from 83 percent who felt the same way in November of 2020.

  In November of last year, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation published its National Defense Survey results (pdf) for 2022, finding just 48 percent of respondents had “a great deal” of trust and confidence in the military. Seventy percent of respondents had felt “a great deal” of trust and confidence in the military in 2018 when the Reagan Foundation first began the survey, showing a 22-point drop.

  Sixty-two percent of respondents in the Reagan Foundation survey said military leadership becoming overly politicized contributed to their declining confidence. Those concerns about politicization were held by 60 percent of Democrats, 60 percent of Independents, and 65 percent of Republicans. Fifty percent of that survey’s respondents blamed “wokeness” in the military for hurting their confidence, while 46 percent said “far-right or extremist individuals” hurt their confidence in the military.

  Fifty-nine percent of the respondents in the Reagan Foundation survey said the performance and competence of the president had decreased their confidence in the military.

  The military struggled to reach its recruiting goals last year.

  The U.S. Navy hit its recruiting goal for active-duty enlisted personnel but missed its goals for recruiting new active and reserve officers and reserve enlisted personnel. The U.S. Air Force also met its active-duty recruiting goals but missed its recruiting goals for the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard.

  The U.S. Army saw the biggest miss of all branches last year, with the service falling 15,000 recruits short of its 60,000 recruit goal for fiscal year 2022—a 25 percent shortfall.

  In April, Army, Navy and Air Force leaders predicted they could miss their recruiting goals again this year, the Military Times reported.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 18:00

• Trump Indicted (Again) For 'Efforts To Overturn 2020 Election'; DeSantis Defends
  Trump Indicted (Again) For ‘Efforts To Overturn 2020 Election’; DeSantis Defends

  Update (1834ET): As reactions to Trump’s latest indictment roll in, one notable defender is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who tweeted that he would, as president, “end the weaponization of government, replace the FBI Director, and ensure a single standard of justice for all Americans.”

  DeSantis added that DC is a “swamp,” and that it’s “unfair to have to stand trial before a jury that is reflective of the swamp mentality.”

  As President, I will end the weaponization of government, replace the FBI Director, and ensure a single standard of justice for all Americans.

  While I’ve seen reports, I have not read the indictment. I do, though, believe we need to enact reforms so that Americans have the right…

  — Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 1, 2023

  More reactions:

  It’s official. Unelected reckless prosecutors and unelected Democrat DC grand jurors are trying to decide the presidential election. Democrat DAs and the earlier indictment, same thing. Talk about attempting to deny voters the right to choose the next president — that IS what…

  — Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 1, 2023

  Free speech has been indicted. Read this section of the indictment.

  It acknowledges that Trump has the right to say, even falsely, the results were fraudulent and claim he won the election. That’s protected by the First Amendment.

  But the indictment says he can’t lie about… pic.twitter.com/tKDBP93j3Z

  — Will Cain (@willcain) August 1, 2023

  The sanctimony is putrid. Talk about a nothing burger. Out of control DOJ.

  — Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) August 1, 2023

  Jack Smith cites CISA — which interfered in the 2020 election by censoring, directly and by proxy, millions of Americans and their speech about the election — as an authority to indict Trump. Can’t make it up pic.twitter.com/Rx7f7OkX4B

  — Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) August 1, 2023

  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries call the Jan. 6 indictment “the most serious and most consequential thus far.” pic.twitter.com/ZQLq6Bjsjr

  — Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 1, 2023

  BREAKING: Attorney General Merrick Garland makes a statement about the indictment of former President Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/cxzCRS8cmT

  — NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) August 1, 2023

  …The press conference held by Smith only deepened the unease for some of us. Smith railed against the January 6th riot and made it sound like he was indicting Trump on incitement. He didn’t. The disconnect was glaring and concerning.

  — Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) August 1, 2023

  *  *  *

  Another day, another indictment aimed at keeping former President Trump out of the Oval Office.

  “I hear that Deranged Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favorite President, me, at 5:00 P.M,” Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social. “Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago? Why did they wait so long? Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign. Prosecutorial Misconduct!” he continued.

  

  And on Tuesday, Jack Smith did just that – indicting Trump yet again for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

  The indictment focuses on schemes by Trump and his allies to subvert the transfer of power and keep him in office despite his loss to Joe Biden.

  Trump has been indicted on four counts:

  

  The Conspiracy

  From on or about November 14,2020, through on or about January 20,2021, in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, the Defendant, DONALD J. TRUMP, did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with co-conspirators, known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to defraud the United States by using dishonesty, fraud, and deceit to impair, obstruct, and defeat the lawful federal government function by which the results of the presidential election are collected, counted, and certified by the federal government.

  The purpose of the conspiracy was to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by using knowingly false claims of election fraud to obstruct the federal government function by which those results are collected, counted, and certified.

  Special Counsel Jack Smith gave a lame speech following his latest ‘win’ (that surely won’t actually help Trump, right?)

  Watch:

  …

  The Defendant, his co-conspirators, and their agents made knowingly false claims that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

  These prolific lies about election fraud included dozens of specific claims that there had been substantial fraud in certain states, such as that large numbers of dead, non-resident, non-citizen, or otherwise ineligible voters had cast ballots, or that voting machines had changed votes for the Defendant to votes for Biden.

  These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false.

  In fact, the Defendant was notified repeatedly that his claims were untrue—often by the people on whom he relied for candid advice on important matters, and who were best positioned to know the facts –  and he deliberately disregarded the truth.

  Read the full docket below:

  It’s the third criminal case brought against the former president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.

  *  *  *

  As we detailed earlier, on Monday, Trump called the indictments “election interference” and “prosecutorial misconduct,” adding that they’re being used to distract from investigations into the Biden family’s own dealings with foreign nationals.

  “The Radical Left Democrat Thugs shouldn’t be allowed to investigate me during, and in the middle of, my campaign for President. Why didn’t they file these ridiculous charges 2.5 years ago?” Trump wrote, adding “They waited because they wanted to illegally and negatively influence the 2024 Presidential Election, arguably the most important Election in the history of the USA. We are going to take our now Third World Nation (Airports, Elections, Roads/Highways, Borders, etc.) and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. BE STRONG!”

  Trump’s defenders jump into action

  “Yesterday was an awful day for the @JoeBiden crime family,” tweeted former Arizona Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R), referring to bombshell allegations against the Biden family over international corruption. “The regime desperately needs a distraction for their Pravda Press to spread.”

  “Watch as they indict @realDonaldTrump again to change the narrative.“

  Yesterday was an awful day for the @JoeBiden crime family.

  Their corrupt house of cards is crashing down.

  The regime desperately needs a distraction for their Pravda Press to spread.

  Watch as they indict @realDonaldTrump again to change the narrative.

  It’s like clockwork.

  — Kari Lake (@KariLake) August 1, 2023

  Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that Trump is “burning through money on legal fees so fast that it risks leaving him short of cash just when he will need it most — in a potential general election rematch against President Joe Biden next fall.”

  The former president raised $54 million from donors in the first six months of the year – more than any other Republican candidate, but that his legal bills are emptying his coffers nearly as fast as he fills them.

  Nearly half of Trump’s January-to-June haul went to lawyers, $25.5 million, draining cash reserves left from the midterm cycle, according to Federal Election Commission filings. A person familiar with the finances of Trump’s committees said legal expenses were actually closer to $40 million.

  …

  Two entities, Save America and Make America Great Again PAC — which is separate from MAGA Inc. — are footing his legal fees. They ended June with only $4.2 million cash on hand, about enough to cover another month’s worth of costs. The expenditures forced Save America, which donated $60 million in 2022 to Trump’s super PAC, to ask for a refund. It got $12.3 million back.

  To keep the entities paying his legal fees funded, Trump will have to divert about half the money he raises through a joint fundraising committee. From January to June, the joint fundraising committee transferred $29.2 million to Trump’s campaign and $2.2 million to his leadership PAC and ended June with $5.7 million cash on hand. The remainder was spent on fundraising expenses. -Bloomberg

  “The weaponized Department of Justice has continued to go after innocent Americans because they worked for President Trump,” said campaign spokesman Steven Cheung. “To protect these innocent people from financial ruin and prevent their lives from being completely destroyed, the leadership PAC contributed to their legal fees.”

  Trump, meanwhile, can continue to tap his allied super PAC, Make America Great Again, Inc, which had $31 million at the end of June after depleting 44% of its cash in the first six months of 2023.

  More via the Epoch Times;

  Mr. Trump said on July 27 that his lawyers had met with the Justice Department and had a “productive meeting,” and that “an indictment of me would only further destroy our country.”

  Jurors were seen entering a courthouse Thursday morning, and news reports had claimed an indictment could come as soon as that same day.

  More than 1,000 people have already been charged with Jan. 6-related offenses.

  Multiple Cases

  Mr. Trump is facing another investigation in Georgia, where Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney on Monday rejected Mr. Trump’s bid to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the case.

  The criminal investigation centers around a phone call Mr. Trump made to Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in 2020, asking about the number of votes for him in the state.

  “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” then-President Trump said to Mr. Raffensperger.

  Ms. Willis maintains that Mr. Trump tried to illegally overturn the results of the presidential election in the state of Georgia. Mr. Trump says the investigation is “strictly a political witch hunt.”

  Mr. Trump’s legal team argued that she had a partisan interest in the case, which should disqualify her. Judge McBurney wrote that the team failed to show Ms. Willis was biased in her actions.

  The case will be heard on Aug. 10.

  Meanwhile, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has been contacted by Mr. Smith’s office, presumably about the Jan. 6 case.

  Mr. Smith is also in charge of the Mar-a-Lago case concerning classified documents, in which he last week announced three new charges.

  

  Last week, the special counsel charged Mr. Trump with willful retention of national defense information and two charges in connection to the claims that he told a Mar-a-Lago worker to delete security tapes to prevent a grand jury from seeing them. In that filing, the Department of Justice (DOJ) named Mar-a-Lago staffer Carlos De Oliveira as a third defendant in the complaint.

  On Sunday, Mr. Trump denied all three charges.

  “Mar-a-Lago security tapes were not deleted,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “They were voluntarily handed over to the thugs, headed up by deranged Jack Smith. We did not even go to court to stop them from getting these tapes. I never told anybody to delete them. Prosecutorial fiction & misconduct! Election interference!”

  “They knowingly accuse you of a fake crime, a crime that they actually make up, you fight these false charges hard, and they try and get you on ‘obstruction,’” Mr. Trump wrote. “We are dealing with sick and evil people!”

  Alina Habba, spokesperson and attorney for Mr. Trump, told Fox News in a July 30 interview that Mr. Trump never directed an employee to delete tapes.

  “When he has his turn in court, and when we get to file our papers, you will see that every single video, every single surveillance tape that was requested, was turned over,” Ms. Habba said. “If President Trump didn’t want something turned over, I assure you, that is something that could have been done. But he never would act like that. He is the most ethical American I know.

  “The new superseding indictment that came out, which they tried to get another headline for President Trump, was facts that said that President Trump did what? What was the obstruction of justice because no tapes were deleted. He turned them over; he cooperated as he always does. But they would like the American public to believe in these bogus indictments that there are some facts that say that President Trump was obstructing justice.”

  Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and maintains that as president, he had the right to take the documents as well as the right to declassify them. The case is set to go to trial in May 2024.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 08/01/2023 – 17:40

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• More Warmongers Elevated In The Biden Administration
  More Warmongers Elevated In The Biden Administration

  Authored by Caitlin Johnstone,

  The Biden administration looks set to become even more warlike than it already was if you can imagine, with virulent Russia hawk Victoria Nuland and virulent China hawk Charles Q Brown now being elevated to lofty positions by the White House.

  Nuland, the wife of alpha neocon Robert Kagan, has been named acting deputy secretary of state by President Biden, at least until a new deputy secretary has been named. This places her at second in command within the State Department, second only to Tony Blinken.

  

  In an article about Nuland’s unique role in souring relations between the US and Russia during her previous tenure in the State Department under Obama, Responsible Statecraft’s Connor Echols writes the following of the latest news:

  Nuland’s appointment will be a boon for Russia hawks who want to turn up the heat on the Kremlin. But, for those who favor a negotiated end to the conflict in Ukraine, a promotion for the notoriously “undiplomatic diplomat” will be a bitter pill.

  A few quick reminders are in order. When Nuland was serving in the Obama administration, she had a now-infamous leaked call with the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. As the Maidan Uprising roiled the country, the pair of American diplomats discussed conversations with opposition leaders, and Nuland expressed support for putting Arseniy Yatseniuk into power. (Yatseniuk would become prime minister later that month, after Russia-friendly former President Viktor Yanukovych fled the country.) At one memorable point in the call, Nuland said “Fu–k the EU” in response to Europe’s softer stance on the protests.

  The controversy surrounding the call — and larger implications of U.S. involvement in the ouster of Yanukovych — kicked up tensions with Russia and contributed to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to seize Crimea and support an insurgency in eastern Ukraine. Her handing out  food to demonstrators on the ground in Kyiv probably didn’t help either. Nuland, along with State Department sanctions czar Daniel Fried, then led the effort to punish Putin through sanctions. Another official at State reportedly asked Fried if “the Russians realize that the two hardest-line people in the entire U.S. government are now in a position to go after them?”

  In a 2015 Consortium News article titled “The Mess That Nuland Made,” the late Robert Parry singled out Nuland as the primary architect of the 2014 regime change operation in Ukraine, which, as Aaron Maté explained last year, paved the way to the war we’re seeing there today. Hopefully her position winds up being temporary.

  In other news, the Senate Arms Services Committee has voted to confirm Biden’s selection of General Charles Q Brown Jr as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, replacing Mark Milley. A full senate vote will now take place on whether to confirm Brown — currently the Air Force Chief of Staff — for the nation’s highest military office.

  Brown is unambiguous about his belief that the US must hasten to militarize against China in the so-called Indo-Pacific to prepare for confrontation between the two powers, calling for more US bases in the region and increased efforts to arm Taiwan during his hearing before the Senate Arms Services Committee earlier this month.

  Biden’s Joint Chiefs Pick Wants More Bases in Asia to Prepare for War With China
  Gen. Charles Q. Brown has been nominated to replace Gen. Mark Milley
  by Dave DeCamp@DecampDave https://t.co/q0WAJj0lJC pic.twitter.com/z6cxX1Og6f

  — Antiwar.com (@Antiwarcom) July 12, 2023

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  Back in May, Moon of Alabama flagged Brown’s nomination in an article which also noted that several advocates of military restraint had been resigning from their positions within the administration, including Wendy Sherman, the deputy secretary of state who Nuland has taken over for.

  It’s too soon to draw any firm conclusions, but to see voices of restraint stepping down and proponents of escalation stepping up could be a bad portent of things to come

  * * *

  My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, throwing some money into my tip jar on Patreon, Paypal, or Substack, buying an issue of my monthly zine, and following me on Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud or YouTube. If you want to read more you can buy my books. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I’m trying to do with this platform, click here. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley. 

  Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 23:40

• Watch: South African Black Party Chants 'Kill The Boer (White), Kill The Farmer'
  Watch: South African Black Party Chants ‘Kill The Boer (White), Kill The Farmer’

  The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, also known as the “Black Party” in South Africa, is a far left Marxist movement with a membership in the millions.

  The party has consistently called for the eradication of all white South Africans, though this fact often goes completely ignored by the western media.

  At a rally this week packed with members wearing communist red, EFF leader Julius Malema hyped up the mob with a racially charged chant of ‘Kill the Boers! Kill the farmers!’

  The word Boer is used in South Africa to describe white farmers of Dutch heritage, or white people in general. 

  Shocking video shows South Africa’s black party singing “kill the Boer (Whites), kill the White farmer”

  This is all downstream from the rotten secular religion of wokeness and CRT plaguing America today.

  You have been warned.

  WATCH.

  pic.twitter.com/P4T8XqSjMq

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 31, 2023

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  As a reminder, in 2022, The Equality Division of the Supreme Court in South Africa has ruled that the song “Kill the Boers” was not a case of “hate speech.” 

  The hateful song, which celebrates the killing of Dutch settlers in South Africa, is protected by freedom of expression and must be left to the political debate within society, according to the court.

  EFF members are suspected in the past of engaging in attacks on white owned farms and murdering farmers; horrifying crimes which the media has consistently denied are a problem in the region.  In some cases perpetrators are acquitted by courts despite ample evidence of their guilt. 

  In 2018, as the violent attacks and death threats against white farmers in South Africa ramped up, a delegation of 30 South African farming families arrived in Russia’s Stavropol region seeking refuge.

  “It’s a matter of life and death – there are attacks on us. It’s got to the point where the politicians are stirring up a wave of violence,” Adi Slebus told the media at the time.

  “The climate here [in the Stavropol region] is temperate, and this land is created by God for farming. All this is very attractive.”

  It appears the rhetoric (and actions) are once again boiling over.

  South African political leaders claim the attacks are not racially motivated. 

  “anti-racist” means “anti-white” #WhiteGenocide pic.twitter.com/Kg5nH2glGX

  — Robert Sepehr (@robertsepehr) July 31, 2023

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  As many in the US have noted, the rise of Marxist movements in South Africa may be a glimpse into America’s future if something is not done soon to stop the proliferation of woke ideology. 

  Calls for racial violence against white people have become commonplace, and though any similar public declarations within the US by white supremacist groups are admonished as reprehensible, if minority activists do it, it’s simply called “political speech.”

  Not surprisingly, coverage of the EFF rally by the western media has been thoroughly washed, with the majority of news outlets not mentioning the underlying atmosphere of racial hatred. 

  It’s no different from their treatment of the BLM riots, which were described as “mostly peaceful” and “fiery but peaceful” protests as neighborhoods in multiple American cities burned. 

  Luckily, there is a growing contingent of moderate and conservative minorities refusing to submit to the far-left plantation. 

  One can only hope that this will be enough to diffuse racial tensions in the US in the coming years. 

  Unfortunately, South Africa may be too far gone into the clutches of Marxist fanaticism to turn back. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 23:20

• Energy Industry Fears White House Will Declare COVID-Like 'Climate Emergency'
  Energy Industry Fears White House Will Declare COVID-Like ‘Climate Emergency’

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

  Some energy industry groups are expressing concern that the White House will declare a COVID-19-like emergency—but for the climate instead.

  “They’re leaning to that direction,” U.S. Oil and Gas Association President Tim Stewart told Just the News in an article published on July 30. “If you grant the president’s emergency powers to declare a climate emergency, it’s just like COVID.”

  

  An emergency declaration on the climate could give the president “vast and unchecked authority to shut down everything from communications to infrastructure,” said Mr. Stewart, who has been a critic of the Biden administration.

  Infrastructure around water and electricity could be affected by such a decision, he said.

  “They can literally do exactly what they did in COVID,” Mr. Stewart said. “If you disagree with the climate emergency, [speech] can be shut down. We really need to be paying attention to that because that power could be extended indefinitely until the ‘climate emergency’ is over. Who knows how long that would last.”

  The White House press office didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment about whether the administration might be preparing such a declaration.

  President Joe Biden and other administration officials have said that the United States and the world are in the midst of a “climate crisis” and have used language describing it as an emergency. So far, Mr. Biden has stopped short of declaring an emergency, although some Democrats and environmental groups have pushed the idea.

  About 60 congressional Democrats recently backed legislation known as the “Climate Emergency Act of 2021,” sponsored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), that would require the Biden administration to make a climate-related emergency declaration.

  Last week, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres released an alarmist message saying that “the era of global warming has ended” and “the era of global boiling has arrived.” Using adjectives that included “terrifying,” Mr. Guterres said U.N. member states “must turn a year of burning heat into a year of burning ambition.”

  A number of legacy media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, have floated proposals such as purposefully implementing an “occasional blackout” to “help solve climate change.” A Guardian article published last week calls on the Biden administration to “declare a climate emergency” and states that it “must do so now.”

  Mr. Stewart recently said the LA Times article and similar reports are part of a “propaganda war” that’s designed to “condition the public to think people it is their duty to the State to be miserable, cold, and hungry.”

  “It wasn’t too long ago that even posing a question like this would be considered preposterous even from Democrats,” he said. “After all—one of the defining problems of Third World countries is the lack of reliable energy infrastructure and supply.”

  Amid relatively high temperatures across the East Coast last week, the White House sent out what it described as the “first-ever” heat wave hazard alert for people working outside.

  

  “President Biden has asked the Department of Labor (DOL) to issue the first-ever Hazard Alert for heat, and DOL will also ramp up enforcement to protect workers from extreme heat,” a White House fact sheet released on July 27 states. “For years, heat has been the number one cause of weather-related deaths in America.”

  At the time, Mr. Biden’s announcement came as about 40 percent of the U.S. population was under heat advisories, according to the National Weather Service. As of July 30, the hot weather was mostly relegated to the southeastern United States, the agency stated.

  The largest power grid operator in the country also issued an emergency alert, which ended on July 28, because of high demand.

  “PJM has issued these alerts to help prepare generators for the onset of intense heat,” the grid operator said. “A Hot Weather Alert helps to prepare transmission and generation personnel and facilities for extreme heat and/or humidity that may cause capacity problems on the grid.

  “Temperatures are expected to be near or above 90 degrees in these regions, which drives up the demand for electricity.”

  Notably, data from the Environmental Protection Agency show that some of the hottest heat waves in the United States occurred in the 1930s and particularly in 1936. At the same time during that same decade, the Dust Bowl occurred, greatly damaging farmland across the central United States while sparking a mass exodus of farmers to Southern California that inspired author John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.”

  Earlier this year, PJM released a report that suggested that state and federal policies to de-carbonize the grid are “[presenting] increasing reliability risks during the transition, due to a potential timing mismatch between resource retirements, load growth and the pace of new generation entry.”

  De-carbonization of the grid refers to the reduction of fossil fuel usage and greater reliance on solar, wind, and hydroelectric power sources.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 23:00

• Canadian Pastor Convicted Of Inciting Mischief In Trucker Protests Facing Up To 10 Years Prison
  Canadian Pastor Convicted Of Inciting Mischief In Trucker Protests Facing Up To 10 Years Prison

  Authored by Allan Stein via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Pastor Artur Pawlowski’s troubles with the Canadian authorities began long before his sermon to commercial truckers encouraging their peaceful defiance against what he thought were “oppressive” public health mandates for COVID-19.

  

  In 2005, he began serving and ministering to downtown Calgary—Alberta’s poor and downtrodden. “In other words, feeding the homeless and praying for them, which is now illegal,” he described to The Epoch Times in a telephone interview while under house arrest in Calgary following his court conviction in May for inciting mischief and violating his release conditions.

  The police eventually showed up at Mr. Pawlowski’s church, telling him he couldn’t feed the homeless by law. Neither was he allowed to assemble or preach in public.

  Such actions are also illegal and punishable with tickets, fines, and even jail time.

  

  “They even have laws on the books that distributing printed materials—Bibles and Gospel tracts—is illegal. So I got tickets for that,” Mr. Pawlowski said.

  He added that tensions with the authorities had reached the point where police showed up at his church weekly.

  During the pandemic, he received 40 tickets for COVID-19 violations, including one for a Christmas celebration he said drew a response from over 100 police officers, 52 police vehicles, as well as anti-terrorism units.

  Over 300 Citations

  Between 2005 and 2015, Mr. Pawlowski said he received over 300 citations for refusing to stop preaching, feeding the homeless, and doing what he thought was helpful to those in need.

  He was arrested and charged in 2006 for reading the Bible in public, and considers being the first Canadian to receive a COVID-19 ticket for feeding the homeless a badge of honor in what he’d say was righteous defiance.

  “I asked them a simple question: ‘What do you think will happen to the homeless if we kick them out of shelters and shut down soup kitchens?’” he said of his efforts.

  

  Mr. Pawlowski, pastor of the Cave of Adullam ministry and founder of Street Church Ministries in Calgary, said he has also been granted some victories in the eyes of the law. He won significant court battles through Alberta’s provincial courts of appeal.

  On Aug. 9, Mr. Pawlowski, a native of Poland and an acolyte of the “Solidarity Movement,” could receive up to 10 years in prison for the charge of “inciting mischief” during Canada’s nationwide trucker protests last year.

  The protests rose in response to the public health rules of Canada’s Trudeau administration, sparking a massive “Freedom Convoy” from like-minded residents that threatened to bring the nation’s economy to a halt unless COVID-19 restrictions that were also impacting the economy and mental health were lifted.

  Response to Government Overreach

  As a Christian minister, Mr. Pawlowski said he believed he was waging a spiritual battle against “government overreach” during the pandemic, even if it means he has to pay fines, get arrested, or go to jail.

  On Feb. 7, 2022, at the border crossing blockade in Coutts, Alberta, Mr. Pawlowski told a crowd of commercial truckers, “It’s about time for Canadians to rise up and start roaring.”

  “For the first time in two years, you’ve got the power. They’ve got the guns, yes—it’s all useless when you all rise up. There is no tyrant big enough that can stop [the] masses.”

  Canadian authorities arrested and charged him with inciting mischief and interfering with essential infrastructure under Alberta’s Critical Infrastructure Defense Act of 2020.

  The Critical Infrastructure Defense Act “protects essential infrastructure from damage or interference caused by blockades or similar activities, which can cause significant public safety, social, economic and environmental consequences.”

  

  Mr. Pawlowski said Canadian authorities also accused him of promoting “genocide” for referencing the Solidarity Movement contributing to the fall of communism in Poland.

  “Of course, if you listened to my service, you will know that I said no guns, no swords, just stand for God and human rights during my sermon three times,” he said of the accusation.

  Mr. Pawlowski said he spent 50 days in prison, mostly in solitary confinement surrounded by concrete cells, before he was placed in maximum security and a psychiatric ward without evaluation.

  The court found him guilty of inciting mischief in May. Judge Gordon Krinke placed him under 12-hour daily house arrest until his sentencing date.

  

  “So, encouraging Canadians to stand for God and state human rights is a criminal act, a terrorism act,” said Mr. Pawlowski, who needs special permission to leave his house between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. “Therefore I am guilty, and all of them are guilty, according to this judge.”

  Months later, he is “still under house arrest in Calgary,” he said.

  Belief on Trial

  “I am the first Canadian where my sermon and speech were on trial. Everything was about what I said. The lawyers argued what I meant. It was a charade, a show trial—a joke,” Mr. Pawlowski said.

  “I was not allowed to say a word as they debated what I said and what I meant. They couldn’t agree on the wording.”

  Mr. Pawlowski said he is also the first Canadian citizen charged with eco-terrorism in the history of Canada.

  “And now, the judge ruled I am the first Canadian ever to be found guilty of inciting mischief and eco-terrorism,” Mr. Pawlowski said. “The Canadian courts are upside down. I am a political prisoner. It has nothing to do with law and order,” he expressed.

  An Alberta Crown Prosecution Service spokesman told The Epoch Times in an email that the agency has “no comment on this matter.”

  Sarah Miller of JSS Barristers is currently representing Mr. Pawlowski in the case. She said she “currently cannot speak to media regarding this case while the sentencing is outstanding.”

  However, Ms. Miller said she does not expect sentencing to occur on Aug. 9. Rather, the proceedings will “set the date for sentencing.”

  “I hope to be able to speak publicly about this case in the future,” Ms. Miller added.

  Son Expresses Cry for Help

  The pastor’s son, Nathan Pawlowski, recently testified in the European Parliament about the “consequences of abuse of power under the guise of help” during the pandemic by the Canadian government.

  “I am here today in desperation—a cry for help,” Nathan Pawlowski said by videolink from Canada. “I would like to tell you all the things about freedom and democracy that I like, but I no longer know those things.

  “They have been taken away from us Canadians. Canada has fallen. We no longer have freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or the right to assemble, associate, or express ourselves, or have free media or disagree with the government.”

  Nathan Pawlowski said his father could be imprisoned for up to a decade for his trucker sermon and referenced the Solidarity Movement.

  “This case sets a precedent with all Canadians—and the world—if you allow this to happen,” he said.

  He explained that his father was charged with preaching and reading the Bible publicly because the government had ruled that the Bible is “hateful and isn’t inclusive.”

  “My father told the truckers to stand for their rights, Solidarity-style, and to do so peacefully.”

  “If he goes down, we are all lost as Canadians. If a pastor goes to prison, what can they do to the rest of us?” the younger Pawlowski said.

  ‘Seen This Movie Before’

  In a video recording played by his son, Mr. Pawlowski also addressed the European Parliament—as a political dissident “born behind the Iron Curtain of Poland, crushed by the iron fist of oppression” in Canada.

  “Freedom is more than a word—it’s a measure of our humanity, courage, and determination. It’s a cost borne by soldiers, journalists, and volunteers,” he said.

  Mr. Pawlowski told The Epoch Times he had received offers of money and government positions in exchange for his silence, but he’s “not for sale.”

  “I have seen this movie before” under communism in Poland, he said. “It does not end well.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 22:20

• Biden Admin Wants 58 MPG Fuel Efficiency Standard By 2032
  Biden Admin Wants 58 MPG Fuel Efficiency Standard By 2032

  The Biden administration on Friday announced a proposal to require raising fuel economy standards to 58 miles per gallon.

  

  The proposal, from the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), would aim for a respective 2% annual increase for passenger cars, and a 4% increase in light trucks’ Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for 2027 – 2032 models, and would require 2030 – 2035 “heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans” to boost fuel economy by 10% per year.

  “If finalized as proposed, the updated standards would save Americans hundreds of dollars at the pump,” reads a NHTSA press release. “all while making America more energy secure and less reliant on foreign oil.”

  CAFE requirements are not as stringent as an Environmental Protection Agency proposal in April to cut vehicle tailpipe emissions. NHTSA is barred by law from considering electric vehicles fuel economy in setting standards.

  The EPA said its proposed 2027-2032 standards would cut emissions by 56%, or 13% annual average pollution cuts and result in 67% of new vehicles in 2032 being electric.

  NHTSA estimates its proposal would cut gasoline consumption by 88 billion gallons through 2050. –Reuters

  The NHTSA also estimates $18 billion of “combined benefits” would be realized as a result.

  The rule, according to the agency, “will encourage manufacturers producing (internal combustion engine) vehicles during the standard-setting timeframe to achieve significant fuel economy, improve energy security, and reduce harmful pollution by a large amount.”

  The NHTSA is seeking comment on five alternatives, ranging from not hiking requirements to raising them annually by 6% for cars and 8% for light trucks.

  The Alliance for Automotive Innovation which represents GM, Toyota, Volkswagen and others has asked the EPA to soften its emissions proposal, calling it “neither reasonable nor achievable.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 22:00

• White House Rejects Australia's Call To Drop Assange Charges
  White House Rejects Australia’s Call To Drop Assange Charges

  Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

  Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday rejected Australian concerns about WikiLeaks founder and Australian citizen Julian Assange, who faces up to 175 years in prison if extradited to the US and convicted for exposing US war crimes.

  Blinken was in Australia with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to discuss bolstering military ties between the US and Australia. At a press conference during the visit, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Canberra has made clear to Washington that it wants the US to drop its case against Assange.

  

  “We have made clear our view that Mr. Assange’s case has dragged on for too long and our desire that it be brought to a conclusion. And we’ve said that publicly, and you would anticipate that that reflects also the position we articulate in private,” Wong said.

  Blinken confirmed that the issue has been discussed but rejected Australia’s concerns. He said Australia must recognize the US’s position on Assange, claiming the Wikileaks founder’s alleged actions risked “very serious harm to our national security.”

  “Mr. Assange was charged with very serious criminal conduct in the United States in connection with his alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of our country,” Blinken said. “So I say that only because just as we understand sensitivities here, it’s important that our friends understand sensitivities in the United States.”

  Assange has been indicted under the Espionage Act by the US Justice Department related to documents WikiLeaks published that it obtained from former Army Private Chelsea Manning. But Assange obtained the material using standard journalistic practices, and if he is convicted in the US, it would set a grave precedent for press freedom.

  Assange has been held in London’s Belmarsh Prison since April 2019 and recently filed another appeal against the UK’s decision to extradite him to the United States. “Mr. Assange has filed a renewal of appeal application in the UK,” Wong said. “The Australian Government is not party to these legal proceedings, and nor can we intervene with them. Having said that, we will continue to offer him consular assistance and to convey our expectations about his treatment.”

  

  While Wong says the Australian government wants the case against Assange to be brought to an end, it has not impacted ties between the US-Australia. After signing the AUKUS military pact that will eventually allow Canberra to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, the US and Australia continue to increase military cooperation.

  After two days of talks in Australia, the two sides announced the US would expand its military presence in the country by sending more submarines, adding regular rotations of US Army watercraft, and collaborating on joint missile production. The US expansion in Australia is part of its military buildup to prepare for a future war with China.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 21:40

• Joe Biden Met With Moscow Mayor's Wife Before $3.5 Million Wire To Hunter: Devon Archer
  Joe Biden Met With Moscow Mayor’s Wife Before $3.5 Million Wire To Hunter: Devon Archer

  While former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer spills the beans about Burisma, Joe, and the Biden family dealings, the Daily Mail revealed on Monday that Hunter Biden’s real estate firm received a $40 million investment from a Russian oligarch, Yelena Baturina, the billionaire widow of the former mayor of Moscow.

  

  Baturina also wired $3.5 million to a Hunter-linked company, in what her brother, Viktor Baturin, tells the Daily Mail was “a payment to enter the American market.”

  And which, as Devon Archer testified on Monday, kept her off the sanctions list.

  DailyMail.com can now reveal that Hunter’s financial relationship with Baturina was far more extensive, with her firm investing $40million in a real estate venture by Hunter’s company Rosemont Realty.

  In 2012 Hunter’s firm had a $69.7million plan to invest in 2.15million sq ft of office space in seven US cities.

  Documents outlining the plan said the money came from a mix of investors, including $40million from Inteco Management AG, a Swiss company owned by Baturina.

  The Inteco group is a plastics and construction behemoth that made Baturina the richest woman in Russia at the time. She has a current net worth of $1.4billion according to Forbes. -Daily Mail

  Baturina wired the $3.5 million on February 14, 2014, when Joe Biden was Vice President of the United States. The wires were made in a series of payments to Rosemont Seneca Thornton LLC, for “Consultancy Agreement DD12.02.2014.”

  The deal had been negotiated in 2012. In 2016, Baturina established a US office to oversee her US investments, and in 2016 she invested $10 million in commercial buildings near the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

  The payments were flagged in suspicious activity reports filed with the US Treasury Department.

  Hunter’s lawyer, George Mesires (not the bong guy) has previously denied that the money went to Hunter.

  “Hunter Biden had no interest in and was not a co-founder of Rosemont Seneca Thornton, so the claim that he was paid $3.5 million is false,” he told CNN in September 2020.

  The emails came to the Daily Mail via the anti-corruption group, the Kazakhstani Initiative on Asset Recovery.

  Now, we find from Devon Archer that Joe Biden met with Baturina in Georgetown before the $40 million investment, after which she was left off the Biden administration’s sanctions list.

  LAST YEAR: Karine Jean-Pierre refused to say why Biden didn’t sanction Russian billionaire Elena Baturina — nor if Biden met with her in Georgetown while he was VP.

  Today, Hunter’s former business partner testified that meeting did, in fact, happen.pic.twitter.com/trzfN9ilMK

  — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 31, 2023

  More:

  8) The Biden Administration’s public sanctions list for Russian oligarchs does not contain Baturina.

  — Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 31, 2023

  And your daily reminder that Trump was impeached for simply asking about shady Biden family dealings.

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

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 21:20

• The Most Embarrassing "Facebook Files" Revelation? The Press, Exposed As Censors
  The Most Embarrassing “Facebook Files” Revelation? The Press, Exposed As Censors

  Authored by Matt Taibbi via Racket News,

  

  The most embarrassing revelation of the “Facebook Files” released by House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan yesterday (described in more detail here) involves the news media:

  

  In one damning email, an unnamed Facebook executive wrote to Mark Zuckerberg and Cheryl Sandberg:

  We are facing continued pressure from external stakeholders, including the White House and the press, to remove more Covid-19 vaccine discouraging content.

  We see repeatedly in internal communications not only in the email above, but in the Twitter Files, in the exhibits of the Missouri v Biden lawsuit, and even in the Freedom of Information request results beginning to trickle in here at Racket, that the news media has for some time been working in concert with civil society organizations, government, and tech platforms, as part of the censorship apparatus.

  In the summer of 2021, the White House and Joe Biden were in the middle of a major factual faceplant. They were not only telling people the Covid-19 vaccine was a sure bet — “You’re not going to get Covid if you have these vaccinations” is how Biden put it — but that those who questioned its efficacy were “killing people.” But the shot didn’t work as advertised. It didn’t prevent contraction or transmission, something Biden himself continued to be wrong about as late as December of that year.

  If you go back and give a careful read to corporate media content from that time describing the administration’s war against “disinformation,” you’ll see outlets were themselves not confident the vaccine worked. Take the New York Times effort from July 16th, 2021, “They’re Killing People: Biden Denounces Social Media for Virus Disinformation.” You can see the Times tiptoeing around what they meant, when they used the word “disinformation.” In this and other pieces they used phrases like, “the spread of anti-vaccine misinformation,” “how to track misinformation,” “the prevalence of misinformation,” even “Biden’s forceful statement capped weeks of anger in the White House over the dissemination of vaccine disinformation,” but they repeatedly hesitated to say what the misinformation was.

  Any editor will tell you this language is a giveaway. Journalists wrote expansively about “disinformation,” but rarely got into specifics. They knew that they couldn’t state with certainty that the vaccine worked, that there weren’t side effects, etc., yet still denounced people who asked those questions. This is because they agreed with the concept of “malinformation,” i.e. there are things that may be true factually, but which may produce political results considered adverse. “Hestiancy” was one such bugbear. Note the language from the unnamed Facebook executive above, which describes the press lashing out “Covid-19 vaccine discouraging content,” not “disinformation.”

  This is total corruption of the news. We’re supposed to be in the business of questioning officials, even if the questions are unpopular. That’s our entire role! If we don’t do that, we serve no purpose, maybe even a negative purpose. Moreover, think of the implications. News outlets wail about “disinformation” when they’re aware the public has tuned them out. When people don’t listen to reporters, it’s usually because they suck. You can do the math, as to why the current crop embraces censorship. A more embarrassing outcome for our business would be hard to imagine.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 21:00

• Meet One Startup Trying To End Hangovers With Synthetic Alcohol
  Meet One Startup Trying To End Hangovers With Synthetic Alcohol

  For at least a year we have been writing about the secular shift in the beverage world to non-alcoholic drinks – and the corresponding ways with which alcohol giants are changing their product roadmaps to adapt.

  Now, the next “big thing” in the alcohol world could wind up being synthetic alcohol, according to the Wall Street Journal. The idea of a synthetic alcohol substitute could seek to address hangovers or other ill-effects of cocktails, according to the report. 

  GABA Labs is one company that is looking to try and make synthetic alcohol that can deliver the positive effects of the drink, without the negatives. Namely, the company is seeking to avoid hangovers, health problems or slurred speech. The company is using gamma-aminobutyric acid to try and hit relaxation receptors in the brain while avoiding the negatives that alcohol delivers to the body. 

  David Orren, managing director of GABA Labs, told WSJ: “Alcohol is like playing the piano with boxing gloves on. You hit too many keys.”

  Dr. David Nutt, the chief scientific officer of GABA Labs, is a former psychiatrist and neuropsychopharmacologist. He has spent two years as chief of section of clinical science in the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism at the National Institutes of Health, the Journal notes, and has long argued about the negative effect of alcohol on society. 

  

  “It feels like what a glass of wine feels like. It feels relaxing. It makes you a bit more chatty, a bit more socially engaged with people,” he said about the company’s product, called Alcarelle. 

  GABA is looking to raise $10.3 million and finish food safety testing in the U.S. by the middle of 2026, the report says. Orren and Nutt have been testing the product themselves, with Orren commenting: “It feels like a warm glow. You’re being you. And you’re being with somebody that’s being them. You’re being real.” 

  The next step will be testing the product, including testing it when mixed with actual alcohol. 

  Dr. Mack Mitchell, senior medical advisor for Amygdala, a company working to inhibit alcohol cravings with an oral drug that targets similar receptors, commented: “People who can’t control drinking don’t always want to stop drinking completely. They just want to be able to drink normally.” 

  Another company, Indivior, is working on a nasal spray to inhibit alcohol cravings as well. Its CEO Mark Crossley added: “I arrive in the parking lot. I don’t want six or seven drinks. I’ll top up with a nasal spray.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 20:40

• Victor Davis Hanson: The Biden Presidency Is Unsustainable
  Victor Davis Hanson: The Biden Presidency Is Unsustainable

  Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

  Imagine if Gavin Newsom was currently Vice President amid the final meltdown of the Biden family consortium.

  

  Does anyone doubt that Biden would then either be forced to resign by Democratic politicos (for reasons in addition to his escalating dementia), or would be impeached and perhaps abdicate Nixon-style?

  The presence of the now predictable mediocrity of Kamala Harris and the impossibility, given her race and gender, of removing her, for now is about all that keeps a cognitively declining Biden still in office. The Left fears what she could do as president to the Democratic Party; conservatives are terrified of what she could do to the country.

  Joe Biden’s bewilderment exempts his embarrassments from accountability in the way that Hunter Biden’s addictions excuse his past serial criminality. But the passes granted to both father and son would be now unsustainable with a viable Vice President in waiting.

  Indeed, the Harris problem explains some of current Democratic strategy.

  Backroom leaks and growing insider rumors of Biden dementia confirm the portrait of an often befuddled president whom the public by now knows all too well.

  The aimless House Democrats’ “how-dare-you-even-consider-an-impeachment inquiry” furor, coupled with their half-hearted efforts, along with the media, to refute the actual charges of corruption of the Biden family, suggest that he will not run for reelection—but also not be impeached much less convicted or removed under the 25th Amendment.

  So the Harris dilemma explains a lot: finding a way to keep her out of current power until Biden somehow finishes his first term, and thus letting the Democratic 2024 primary candidates organically abort her presidential aspirations.

  There are a few problems, however, with this strategy.

  One, can Joe Biden finish his first term?

  That would require his staff to shorten his already truncated workday for the next 18 months to about 2-3 hours of work per day.

  He would have to be kept away from photo-ops with young (especially female) children, lest he turkey-gobbles the cheek of another victim to a worldwide audience.

  He can no longer read off a teleprompter without slurring his words, losing his place, or going off extemporaneously on to topics such as “Vladimir” Zelenskyy, the “Iraq” war in Ukraine, or relief over the curing of cancer.

  He cannot hold half-hour press conferences given his incoherence and his angry prevarications. He still insists incredulously that he never discussed the Biden family business with Hunter, although we may soon see transcripts, recordings, and affidavits that he was in fact intimately involved in and profited from it. 

  The Strange Case of Hunter in the White House

  Hunter is toxic and capable of leaving behind incriminating evidence or engaging in surreal behavior anywhere and anytime. Why would a former crack cocaine addict be brought into the White House, after which a bag of cocaine was for the first time in presidential history found abandoned in the West Wing?

  (Partial answer: why and how would an addict leave an incriminating crackpipe in a rental car, simply abandon a laptop at a repair shop with evidence of his own felonious behavior on it, or allow his illegally registered handgun to turn up in a dumpster near a school)?

  An outside, disinterested observer who read the contents of the laptop and Hunter’s wounded-fawn protestations about his unappreciated role in enriching his father and uncle, or digested his unhinged recent career as a quid-pro-quo, paint-by-the-numbers artiste, selling high-priced junk in exchange for presidential flavors, would conclude that the Bidens are apprehensive of the unpredictable Hunter. Keep your friends close, but your explosive son even closer.

  Of course, they fear Hunter’s recklessness, addictions, and greed—but more perhaps his ability to take down the entire Biden clan should they distance themselves too far from him or leak that the family’s corrupt schemes were birthed by the fall-guy Hunter alone.

  Aside from Joe’s cognitive decline and Hunter’s volatility, no one believes anymore Joe Biden’s patent lies that he never discussed with Hunter his lucrative grifting career. Already, the untruth has transmogrified into he never did business with Hunter—and soon perhaps he never profited from the business he did and discussed with Hunter.

  No matter, by year’s end there will be witnesses and hard data showing that Joe himself discussed pay-for-play schemes with foreign entities, of the sort he long ago boasted with previous impunity before a Council of Foreign Relations event.

  This is no Whitewater, Trooper-gate, or Stormy Daniels scandal, but bribery of the sort explicitly outlined by the Constitution for removal from office: “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

  Selling influence to foreign-government related enterprises is, of course, not just bribery but perhaps treason as well. And it involves other “high Crimes and Misdemeanors,” among them tax fraud on unreported foreign income.

  Moreover, it is arguable that the Biden shake-down consortium has altered the very nature of U.S. foreign policy. We will never know the full effect of the false Russian disinformation/laptop narrative, following the fake Russian collusion hoax, on Kremlin thinking. Nor can we explain why Joe Biden once urged Putin to lay off hacking humanitarian U.S. targets, or suggested that a minor invasion of Ukraine would not elicit a U.S. response, or offered to airlift Zelenskyy out of Kyiv in the first days of the war.

  Nor can we explain why China was never held accountable by Biden after new information entailed the role of the Wuhan lab in birthing the Covid virus, or for sending a spy balloon across the continental U.S. with impunity. Meanwhile, the administration’s crazy talk of partnering with a supposedly non-bellicose China seems unhinged.

  Finally, given the first Trump impeachment, what is the Left now going to say to House Republicans—“You cannot in this country impeach a president merely for threatening to cancel foreign aid unless Ukraine fired a prosecutor looking into his high-ranking family’s illegal influence selling?”

  Equality Under the Law?

  The Democrats in their Trump derangement fits so lowered the bar for impeachment and special prosecutions, that not impeaching or removing Biden under the Left’s own new standards seems almost ridiculous.

  If Trump earned hysteria about 25th-amendment removal (to the point of taking and acing the Montreal Cognitive Assessment) for a halting gait on an occasion descending a ramp, how could a non-compos-mentis and chronically falling Biden not be so examined?

  Moreover, Trump was impeached for 1) asking a foreign leader to examine the corruption of the Biden family with Ukraine while he put a hold on approved foreign aid to Ukraine; 2) and at the time, it was possible that Joe Biden could have been Trump’s likely future 2020 opponent.

  But in contrast note that Biden 1) issued an ultimatum that a Ukraine prosecutor would either be summarily fired, or aid would be ended. And he was fired!; and 2) Biden was only a possible general-election presidential rival when Trump called Zelensky; Trump is currently the front-runner against a putative Biden candidacy in 2024.

  Biden has also done far more than ask Ukraine to ensure a political opponent was not guilty of corruption, but rather sicced a special DOJ prosecutor on Trump for taking out classified papers in the manner that Joe Biden himself did years earlier, without the prerogative as a senator or vice president of declassifying such papers.

  Harris Paradoxes

  The open disregard for Kamala Harris is not just a Republican phenomenon. Her dismal popularity reflects that such disappointment in her is bipartisan. And now the likely machinations mentioned to keep her out of the presidency are undoing all the racial and gender pandering that explain her otherwise inexplicable appointment in the first place. At some point the Democratic identity-politics base is going to pressure the party’s hierarchy to back off and back Harris or face charges of racism.

  In an odd way, the Left’s tolerance of Biden’s own cognitive impairment also strengthens Harris’s case, especially among her diversity base. Kamala utters incomprehensible sentences; Joe cannot finish them. Kamala’s public declamations are kindergarten stuff; Joe’s are more nursery school level. In theory, Kamala can be coached and improve; Joe’s declines are at a geometric rate that is irreversible.

  So if someone so cognitively challenged is currently President with the full assent of the Democratic Party, for what reasons does it turn its animus on a Vice President who is still relatively young and hale?

  How odd that the Left knows that both the current President and Vice President should not be in either job after 2024; and yet its own prior pandering and rank politicking have made both almost impossible to remove. And how odder that the extra-legal measures the Left took to emasculate the Trump presidency are now the low standards by which an utterly corrupt Biden can be investigated, indicted, impeached, or forced to resign.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 20:20

• "National Priority": USAF Buys Six Midnight eVTOL Aircraft For Rescue Operations
  “National Priority”: USAF Buys Six Midnight eVTOL Aircraft For Rescue Operations

  The US Air Force entered into a contract with Archer Aviation Inc. to purchase six electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in a deal worth up to $142 million. The agreement is an expansion of Archer’s partnership with the Pentagon and represents a move by the world’s largest military to pursue new flight technology for the modern battlefield. 

  Archer first partnered with the Pentagon in 2021 on a series of projects through the Air Force’s AFWERX (work project) program to accelerate development in the vertical flight market. The purchase announced on Monday of six Midnight electric air taxis will provide an alternative to helicopters for personnel transport, logistics support, and rescue missions. 

  

  “This expansion of Archer’s partnership with the DoD represents a significant investment in the future of the country and will help ensure the US maintains its leadership position in aviation,” Archer wrote in a press release. 

  Now, with Archer recently completing the manufacturing of its first Midnight aircraft, the DoD recognizes that with its vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, target payload of approximately 1,000lbs, proprietary electric powertrain system, and low noise profile, Archer’s aircraft represents a potential paradigm shift in military aviation and operations. These aircraft hold the promise of enhancing rapid response, agility, and operational effectiveness across a wide range of mission profiles, from personnel transport and logistics support to rescue operations and more. — the company wrote 

  “This historic agreement reflects the steadfast commitment by our Armed Forces to embrace the cutting-edge technology our eVTOL aircraft offer,” said Adam Goldstein, Archer’s Founder and CEO.

  Goldstein continued, “It’s clear that the development and commercialization of eVTOL technology continues to remain a national priority. We look forward to working closely with the US Department of Defense and the US Air Force to integrate Midnight into their operational fleet with a focus on transport, logistics and rescue operations.”

  Besides Archer, Joby Aviation has already received orders from the Pentagon for its eVTOLs. Joby expects to deliver its first eVTOL to the USAF in 2024. 

  

  Archer shares jumped as much as 12%, and Joby shares were up 4.5%. 

  

  While the Pentagon is ramping up eVTOL orders, the Federal Aviation Administration is preparing for nationwide flying taxi operations by 2028. 

  

  And if you want to get in on the action, let’s say owning an Alef Aeronautics’ “Model A” flying car for recreational purposes — the pilot in command will likely need an airlift or eVTOL rating, which means you’ll need a private pilots license to operate in controlled airspace. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 20:00

• Kunstler: "Remember, The Government Is Not Our Country"
  Kunstler: “Remember, The Government Is Not Our Country”

  Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,

  Blobulation

  “Biden has restored the integrity of the Department of Justice”

  – Dan Goldman, Congressman from New York

  Surely Merrick Garland is not running the Department of Justice, but which gloopy pseudopod of the Blob is?

  My guess would be some Intel Community politburo made up mostly of people you’ve never heard of.

  The trouble is these geniuses confuse political fuckery with the operations of law.

  

  So, Saturday night when the lights were supposedly off at the DOJ, and much of America was tuned out — getting new tattoos, arguing with the re-po man, watching the Orioles — the Blob told a lawyer from the Southern District of New York, one Damian Williams, to send a letter to Federal Judge Ronnie Abrams asking her to set a date for one Devon Archer to report to prison on a bond fraud conviction that Mr. Archer is appealing on the grounds of DOJ sentencing misconduct. Like, can you hurry that up, please?

  Devon Archer, you recall, was the college room-mate and later close business associate of R. Hunter Biden, First Son, who is in a bit of trouble for laundering money from foreign companies and governments through a score of shell companies that then made large payouts to Biden family members, including the so-called Big Guy currently living in the White House. Mr. Archer, who has been in hiding (wonder why?) is scheduled to be deposed by the House Oversight Committee today. It is believed that he knows a thing or two about the Biden family business doings, enough, say, to corroborate the shit-ton of documentary evidence already in the Committee’s possession that lays out a pretty stark template of bribery with adumbrations of treason.

  Sounds serious, a little bit, especially since it’s become ever more obvious that the whole federal law enforcement apparatus has been aware of the Biden family’s activities since well before “Joe Biden” was selected to be elected president. Of course, Mr. Archer’s testimony would only be the cherry on a well-baked cake. Chairman James Comer (R-KY) of the Oversight Committee says his investigators have rooted out new banking shenanigans on top of the over one hundred suspicious activity reports already in their files, despite obstruction and obfuscation from the Blob’s IRS and FBI arms. He seems determined to press forward and I daresay the Blob will find it very difficult to stop him.

  Speaker Kevin McCarthy declared last week that all this roguery was “rising to the level of an impeachment inquiry.” D’ya think? What I wonder is: would such an inquiry begin to unravel the secret of who has been running “Joe Biden” lo these many months of face-plants, preposterous utterances, morning “lids,” and other indications that the commander-in-chief of the USA is not much more than a media apparition? One might also ask: was this really the best that Blob could come up with? Really? Him? This ghastly load of damaged goods?

  Five House members: Matt Gaetz, Mike Johnson, Chip Roy, Harriet Hageman, and Dan Bishop, are calling for an emergency return from the August recess to get the impeachment process rolling. Let the case be made in an orderly and comprehensive process. See if The New York Times and its allies in the captive Blob media can ignore the proceeding. It will probably shock their readers-and-watchers to learn that the Biden family bribery and racketeering scandal actually exists. Will any of them ask: how come we never heard about this?

  Behind all these blobulations looms the specter of Mr. Trump’s attempted return to power. What would he do in the remote case that he escapes the Blob’s mendacious prosecutions? Chop the Blob into a million gelatinous fragments, expose it to enough heat to vaporize it all, and recalibrate a US government back to the task of operating the few things it might arguably be competent at. Such a program would obviate the Blob’s drive to destroy everything worth operating in the human project of remaining civilized.

  Alas, Blobism has become the religion of the deranged intellectual / managerial class in America. The chief concern of this crypto-gnostic religion is summoning demons to harass those it regards as heretics to Blobism. Thus, it is well within the historic tradition of fanatical / hysterical paroxysms that shake ordinary human doings and end up needlessly and wrongfully killing a lot of people.

  No doubt Blobism is a product of the Intel Community run by that mysterious politburo, with assists from partners in foreign lands such as the WEF, the WHO, the CCP, and a coterie of essentially stateless super-rich guys with axes to grind. It was designed to derange the people who do most of its on-the-ground dirty work. They already have a lot of blood on their hands with the Covid-19 trip laid on the world, the pointless war in Ukraine, which it started deliberately, and now the forced de-industrialization of the West with a crusade against farming on the side, to make sure that those who don’t die of vaccine-related immune system disorders just starve to death.

  Beginning a process to expel “Joe Biden” would be like cutting the head off a chicken. The head doesn’t have much going on inside of it except the eat-and-sleep-scratch-and-cackle algorithm, but without that head, the rest of the chicken just staggers around in circles for a minute before it drops dead. Our government needs to go through that for the country to become itself again. And remember: the government is not our country.

  *  *  *

  Support his blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 19:40

• "Peacetime Is Over": Financial Times Pens Puff Piece On Silicon Valley Defense Tech Startups After NDAA Passage 
  “Peacetime Is Over”: Financial Times Pens Puff Piece On Silicon Valley Defense Tech Startups After NDAA Passage 

  We have pointed out that AI competition between the US and China is heating up. In 2019, we wrote a note titled As Tech War Unfolds, AI Arms-Race Erupts, China Could Overtake US By Next Decade and penned this in April, Winner Takes All: The US-China Race To AI Mastery. 

  In yet another sign the arms race could intensify, a new Financial Times article titled How Silicon Valley is Assisting the Pentagon in the AI Arms Race appears to be a promotional piece that reads as if a lobbying group wrote it to convince folks that after the passage of the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, more taxpayers dollars should flow to Silicon Valley defense startups rather than the five prime contractors, which include Lockheed Martin and Boeing. 

  But getting the defence department to reallocate some of its mammoth $886bn budget from its five incumbent prime contractors, which include Lockheed Martin and Boeing, to the thousands of entrepreneurs producing cutting-edge systems remains an obstacle. Tech entrepreneurs and investors have accused military leaders of engaging in “innovation theatre” — paying lip service to the benefits of disruptive technology while holding back lucrative contracts. -FT

  Steve Blank, a tech veteran and founding member of the Gordian Knot Center at Stanford, said, “For the first time ever, the US military is dependent on commercial tech to win a war, but they’re not organized to deal with commercial tech.” 

  “China operates like Silicon Valley,” Blank added, in reference to the tech sector’s speed of innovation and agility — noting: “On a good day, the DoD operates like Detroit,” the metro area that has yet to recover from a plunge in auto-making. “It’s not a fair fight.”

  

  FT pointed out, “Ukraine’s deployment of dual-use technology — capabilities that have both commercial and defense applications — such as satellite imagery and autonomous drones is among the biggest catalysts for the US to bridge the chasm between Washington and California.”  

  “What’s happened in Ukraine has been a game-changer. More commercial technology is being used than during any other disagreement,” said Mike Brown, a venture capitalist at Shield Capital and the former director of the Defence Innovation Unit.

  Brown said, “That has got the wheels turning for the US military, which is saying, ‘We need to adopt far more of this.'”

  Again, the article reads that the “groundbreaking” commercial tech used in the war in Ukraine is grounds to divert military monies to California defense tech startups, which will better prepare the military for an even more significant issue: an AI arms race with China. 

  For some fear porn, the author declares, “Peacetime is over,” outlining a list of Silicon Valley defense startups that would add value to military capabilities on the modern battlefield if they received a larger chunk of the new Pentagon budget for 2024. 

  Furthermore, the promotional article about Silicon Valley’s defense startups failed to address potential dystopian outcomes, such as the dire implications of AI killing humans (there was already an incident of one rogue AI drone). 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 19:20

• "Too Big To Hide" – Ed Dowd Slams COVID Vax Injuries "Cover-Up… It's A Crime"
  “Too Big To Hide” – Ed Dowd Slams COVID Vax Injuries “Cover-Up… It’s A Crime”

  Via Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com,

  Former Wall Street money manager Ed Dowd is still a skillful number cruncher.  Dowd made billions of dollars in profits by being right on the data. He’s right on the data again in his recent wildly popular book “Cause Unknown” The Epidemic of Sudden Deaths in 2021 and 2022. 

  

  Dowd’s book documents the extreme deaths and horrible injuries that are now skyrocketing in number.  The huge problems being caused by the CV19 bioweapon/vax are increasing, unstoppable and no longer need to be proven.  Dowd says,

  “I was not in the room, but at this point, it is a crime because it’s a coverup. 

  I said this in my book in December of 2022.  They see the same data that I see, and the data has only gotten worse since then.  So, it’s a crime, and it’s a coverup.  That’s all you need to know...

  Forget about the who and the why.  It was a bioweapon.  It was a mistake.  I don’t care at this point.  This is a joke.  They are killing people. 

  They continue to mandate these jabs at some universities.  Some employers still mandate them.  The UK is requiring all school children who enter school in the fall to take these shots. 

  This is a joke.  This is a crime.  This is a coverup, and it’s murder at this point.”

  In 2022 alone, Dowd figured 30% of the workforce had been killed, disabled and cannot work or is working chronically ill.  Dowd says the death and disability trend for 2023 is way up.  Thousands everyday are reporting they are getting sick, and Dowd says the CV19 bioweapon injections are to blame.  Supply chains and society are going to grind to a crawl, and Dowd predicts,

  “Everything is slowly breaking down. 

  You won’t see this on the news, but you will see this when you need something done, and you will experience this. 

  You are going to be gaslit and told everything is fine. 

  There is not problem here.  Don’t look over here. 

  We are going to see glacial Mad Max.  

  Things are going to get harder to do.  Businesses and services you take for granted are going to become scarce. 

  I think we are going to see a deflation in financial assets that will start soon enough.  We will have inflation in things you need like food, medical care and much other stuff.”

  Dowd also points out,

  “The Justice Department is protecting the looting operation that’s been going on for 40 plus years. 

  Everybody in Washington D.C. is literally stealing your taxpayer dollars…

  The Deep State protects the looting operation, and they are all in on it.”

  Ivermectin is being used by doctors like Pierre Kory as a base drug for treating CV19 vaxed injured patients and unvaxed patients harmed by so-called “shedding.”  Yet, it is still being withheld from a public that desperately needs it.  Why is Ivermectin being restricted?  Dowd says,

  “For them to start pushing Ivermectin would expose them.  They are the ones who said what do you mean and called it horse paste.  Criminals and people in coverup mode continue as if everything is fine until they are caught. 

  That’s what happened at Enron.  Enron was fraud, and the stock was down 50% from the highs… I was skeptical, and I protected my firm from it and got out of it…

  This is the same thing.  Criminals are going to act as if everything is fine, and they are not going to ever admit that Ivermectin is worth anything to anybody because to do so would unravel their whole thread of lies.  I take Ivermectin and I have never been vaccinated, and I take a little dose of Ivermectin a couple times a week.”

  In closing, Dowd says,

  “This is going to become too big to hide.  Congress needs to act.  These people in the GOP are forming committees on J6 and other things.  That’s great and good on you.  How about the Covid vaccine committee?  Call me up, I’ll share my numbers.”

  Dowd also talks about the importance of holding cash, the dollar’s near term and longer term future, gold as a core investment and the wild card of world war.

  There is much more in the 49-minute interview.

  Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he goes One-on-One with money manager and investment expert Ed Dowd, author of the book called “Cause Unknown” The Epidemic of Sudden Deaths in 2021 and 2022

  *  *  *

  To Donate to USAWatchdog.com Click Here

  You can order Dowd’s book called “Cause Unknown” by clicking here.

  If you want to go to Dowd’s website called PhinanceTechnologies.com, click here.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 19:00

• Exxon About To Become 'Lithium Kingpin'? Talks Begin With Tesla, Ford, Volkswagen, Reports Say
  Exxon About To Become ‘Lithium Kingpin’? Talks Begin With Tesla, Ford, Volkswagen, Reports Say

  Exxon Mobil Corp. is planning to enter the minerals game by becoming a supplier of lithium to Tesla Inc., Ford Motor Co., Volkswagen AG, and other automakers, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. 

  The sources said discussions are in the “early stages and also include battery giants Samsung and SK On Co.” If the report is correct, Exxon appears to be searching for buyers as it positions itself to capitalize on the electric-vehicle boom amid pressure by ESG funds and the Biden administration to shrink its core oil production and refining businesses. 

  The people also said Exxon is in talks with lithium producer Albemarle Corp. The company told Bloomberg, “Given Albemarle’s leadership role in the market, people routinely want to speak with us — especially when looking at potential resources.”

  

  In a conference call with investors last Friday, Exxon’s CEO Darren Woods broke the silence about the interest in lithium brine mining. He said Exxon wants to extract lithium from underground saltwater, a cheaper and more environmentally friendly method than traditional mining on the surface. 

  “We can bring it on at a much lower cost, and I think, importantly, with much less environmental impact versus open mining that they’re doing in other parts of the world,” Woods said. 

  

  He continued, “The processing of the brine and extracting the lithium is very consistent with a lot of the things that we do in our refineries and chemical plants and, in fact, in some of our upstream operations.” 

  The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Exxon plans “to build one of the world’s largest lithium processing facilities” in Arkansas. 

  Exxon might be an emerging player in the lithium field as the US rushes to secure critical mineral supply chains amid souring relations with China. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 18:40

• The Jokes Write Themselves
  The Jokes Write Themselves

  By Benjamin Picton of Rabobank

  It’s important to maintain a sense of humor in the markets. Here at Rabobank we occasionally get accused of being perma-bears but I think that’s a little unfair because, like any team, we have a diversity of views and some of us are actually quite upbeat! Nevertheless, we have been fairly negative on the global outlook for a while. I prefer to think of this as cheerful pessimism, which Charlie Munger assures us is the best way to be, and he ought to know.

  Indeed, there is much cause for mirth because funny things happen in the markets all the time. A case in point is the news over the weekend that the Bank of England will be leaning on the expertise of Ben “sub-prime is contained” Bernanke to lead a review into the Bank’s forecasting performance. We’re not suggesting that a bit of navel-gazing wouldn’t be justified for the Bank given its recent forecasting performance, but if you’re going to take advice on a subject wouldn’t it make sense to ask somebody with more of a track record of success?

  Another famous Bernanke clanger was his assurances to Congress that the United States would not enter recession in 2008. I don’t want to jinx it, but that sounds eerily similar to the prognostications of another former Fed Chair, Janet Yellen, who has also been telling us pretty much the same thing recently. Yellen isn’t alone in her view. Following the decision to increase the Fed Funds rate last week Jerome Powell told us that Fed staff no longer expect a recession in 2023. That probably invalidates my working theory that Yellen’s no recession call might just have been the magic mushrooms talking, but it still might be worth checking what was on the menu at the Bank of England when the Bernanke decision was made.

  Regular readers will know that our resident Fed expert, Philip Marey, has been cheerfully pessimistic for quite some time about the prospects for US growth later in the year. That is still the case, but the dataflow recently has been pretty good. Second quarter GDP last week beat the consensus forecast by miles, the core PCE deflator showed moderation, durable goods orders were strong and new jobless claims continue to outperform. Talk of a soft landing, or even “no landing” is creeping back into markets, but risks are legion! Commercial real estate jitters, deep losses on bank ‘hold to maturity’ portfolios, sky-high PE ratios and oodles of debt are all known-knowns (that we are ignoring for the time being), but what about the unknowns?

  For this, I turn to my colleague Michael Every:

  Saudi Arabia is to hold a peace summit over Ukraine, without Russia(!), and is potentially interested in a peace deal with Israel, with strings attached for the far-right Israeli government and the White House, which would have to offer a mutual defence treaty, against Iran, and backing for a Saudi civilian nuclear program – those who know the Middle East can see the upsides *and* the downsides of that potential dynamic. But ‘Peace now’, then, to match the ‘rate cuts soon’ vibe? Hardly! Consider: Kyiv may (or may not) have been behind new drone attacks on Moscow; Ukraine’s counter-offensive may finally be working; Russia’s Medvedev has stated Ukrainian success would require a Russian nuclear response; and, as the Financial Times (and others) warn, ‘Putin is looking for a bigger war, not an off-ramp, in Ukraine’, the Polish PM and senate suggest the Wagner group may soon stage a provocation at the Suwalki gap between Belarus and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad to test NATO unity. In short, far fatter tail risks than another 25bp hike from the Fed or ECB remain present. Even assuming we don’t get a bigger war, NATO defence spending needs to surge to keep pace with rising global threats just as some economists are talking about fiscal prudence again. Japan, which just tightened monetary policy, will see its military spending leap from $122.5bn to $310bn over the next five years. Meanwhile, the New York Times warns Chinese hackers placed malware in key US infrastructure, which logically may need to be replaced, alongside ongoing onshoring. In short, markets may like doves but there is no guarantee of either ‘peace now’ or ‘rate cuts soon’.

  It’s hard not to see some black humor in staging peace talks that don’t include the main belligerent. Signs of further Russian aggression are particularly concerning given the position of relative weakness that Europe is starting from. The German manufacturing PMI released last week looks absolutely diabolical, as do the preliminary growth figures for the second quarter. The situation is sufficiently serious for Economy Minister Habeck to caution last week that the economy faces five difficult years of green industrial transition.

  Greeks and Italians who have been subject to more than a little finger-wagging from Berlin over the years may be enjoying the Schadenfreude for the time being, but a weak Germany in a time of geopolitical tensions is not in the broader interests of the EU. That is no laughing matter.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 18:20

• The Indoctrination Of America's Boys Is Not Working…
  The Indoctrination Of America’s Boys Is Not Working…

  Major media outlets, including The Washington Post and numerous left-slanted ones, have published articles to persuade the public that the up-and-coming generation holds more socially and politically progressive attitudes. However, a new respected federal survey of American youth shows otherwise. 

  The Hill cites a new survey from Monitoring the Future that shows an explosion of high school seniors that identify as male and say they’re “conservative” or “very conservative.” Data from the survey extends back more than a half-century to the mid-1970s. The eruption happened during President Trump’s first term. Meanwhile, male respondents who identified as “liberals” plunged to 13%. 

  

  As for female seniors during Trump’s first term, there was a surge in ones who identified as “liberals” while identifying as a “conservative’ was unchanged. 

  

  Although this is just one study, outlets such as WaPo and Axios reference other studies indicating a leftward shift among America’s youth.

  

  

  

  Even with progressives implanting their agendas in public schools, such as ‘woke’ math, this study shows that perhaps the indoctrination of the young generation into aligning with the Democratic party might be faltering.

  

  Can this be attributed to Trump?

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 18:00

• A Tale Of Two Plea Deals
  A Tale Of Two Plea Deals

  Authored by Techno Fog via The Reactionary (emphasis ours),

  As discussed here and elsewhere, the Hunter Biden plea deal (and its accompanying exhibits and diversion agreement) is a curious document: it reduces the power of federal prosecutors to convict Hunter Biden for more serious charges; it eliminates the potential for Hunter Biden to be a cooperating witness; it keeps the DOJ from Congressional oversight; its ambiguous terms could have foreclosed future prosecution of Hunter Biden for Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) charges; and it left Judge Maryellen Noreika rejecting it, for the time being, citing concerns with its potential unconstitutionality and its unprecedented structure.

  

  And that doesn’t even take into consideration that the plea agreement was made after the statute of limitations on some of Hunter Biden’s crimes had passed, after charging recommendations of the DOJ Tax Division were ignored, after the scope of the broader investigation was improperly limited, and after search warrants were rejected and witness interviews were sabotaged.

  But we want to get to something else that has been all but ignored until now – how two prosecutors assigned to the Hunter Biden case, Leo Wise and Derek Hines, treated less serious tax cases as compared to the Hunter Biden case.

  Before we get to that, it’s important to understand who we’re dealing with. Leo Wise is a trial attorney in the DOJ Criminal Division – Public Integrity Section. He has held that position since June of 2023; prior to that, he was the Chief of the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland’s Fraud and Public corruption unit (a position from which he was demoted after disagreements with supervisors over staffing). He has been with the DOJ since at least 2004.

  By all accounts, Wise is an aggressive prosecutor. It’s in his DNA. He was part of the Enron Task Force, assisted in the racketeering trial against big tobacco (US v. Philip Morris), and prosecuted significant high-profile cases against corrupt leadership in Baltimore, including the Baltimore Police Gun Trace Task Force, former Baltimore mayor Catherine Pugh, and former Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby. Wise also “brought the biggest racketeering case in Maryland history.”

  Assisting Wise on the Hunter Biden case is Derek Hines, an equally aggressive prosecutor whose current role is Assistant US Attorney at the DOJ Criminal Division. Hines, for example, was part of Wise’s prosecution team in the Baltimore Police Gun Trace Task Force, which “won indictments against 11 men – eight Baltimore cops, two civilians, and one Philadelphia office” who robbed drug dealers, sold drugs, and ran interference for drug dealers.

  Wise and Hines have been described in one Baltimore Sun article as relentless prosecutors who “are like the terminator.” They are hardliners who “pursue stern sentences and prosecute even small-time crooks.”

  

  The Hunter Biden case isn’t the first time Wise and Hines have prosecuted a tax case. Back in 2018, they prosecuted Darryl De Sousa, a former Baltimore Police Commissioner for three counts of failing to file individual tax returns. The case of De Sousa is particularly instructive, as it demonstrates the uncharacteristically soft prosecution of Hunter Biden by Wise and Hines. Allow us to explain.

  De Sousa was charged with failing to file an income tax return for the years 2013-2015, in violation of 26 USC § 7203. Not only had he failed to file income tax returns for those years, but De Sousa had also owed the IRS taxes for other years (2008-2012) and had “falsely claimed deductions that he was not entitled to.”

  The De Sousa case was relatively small, though it did concern misconduct by a public official. He only owed approximately $60,000; the tax loss calculated by the IRS was between $40,000 and $100,000. De Sousa pleaded guilty to failing to file an income tax for the years 2013-2015. DOJ prosecutors Wise and Hines (who, by the way, both served under currently Special Counsel Robert K. Hur when he was US Attorney for the District of Maryland) saw to it that the stipulation of facts included in the November 20, 2018 plea agreement itemized (1) the false deductions claimed by De Sousa, such as vehicle expenses and travel expenses and charitable donations; (2) the specific times De Sousa was put on notice that he owed taxes; and (3) the specific amounts owed by De Sousa in each of the applicable years.

  Wise and Hines, true to their reputations, demanded De Sousa go to prison: 12 months incarceration was necessary to send a message to all other tax cheats. There was no promise to recommend probation. The judge would end up sentencing De Sousa to 10 months.

  Let’s compare De Sousa’s treatment to the Hunter Biden case.

  • Both cases involve violations of 26 USC § 7203 (willful failure to pay tax).

  • The tax loss in the De Sousa case was between $40,000 and $100,000; Wise and Hines recommended he serve a year in prison. The tax loss in the Hunter Biden case is between $1,199,524 and $1,593,329. Wise and Hines, in apparent agreement with DOJ supervisors, recommend Hunter get probation.  

  • Where Wise and Hines made sure the Court was aware of the numerous false deductions in the De Sousa Case, Wise and Hines agree that Hunter Biden’s more significant deductions for sex clubs and prostitutes was because Hunter “miscategorized certain personal expenses as legitimate business expenses.” In doing so, these prosecutors have allowed felony fraud to be excused as a mis-categorization.

  • In fact, Wise and Hines omitted a discussion of the facts underlying many of the charges recommended by the IRS Tax Division, including those involving fraud (26 USC § 7206). De Sousa never received that benefit – likely because De Sousa, unlike Biden, wasn’t allowed to write his own stipulation.

  • Wise and Hines agreed to the claim that Hunter Biden received $1,000,000 from Patrick Ho (a Chinese national convicted for bribery) “as a payment for legal fees” – without even thinking to question whether that payment was a bribe masked as legal fees.

  • Wise and Hines failed to inform the Court of whether Hunter Biden owed California income taxes. In the De Sousa case, that defendant’s outstanding Maryland tax obligations were listed for a number of years and he was required to pay restitution to Maryland.

  • De Sousa’s plea deal was standard and readily accepted by that court. The Hunter Biden plea/diversion was “unprecedented” and abnormal and without “authority”, contained ambiguous paragraphs that could have allowed Hunter to avoid any type of FARA prosecution, and the diversion itself is probably unconstitutional.

  If we can briefly summarize – in the De Sousa case, DOJ prosecutors Wise and Hines wanted to send a message that you get a harsh sentence if you try to avoid your taxes. The DOJ, assisted by Wise and Hines, now sends a different message in the Hunter Biden case: the son of the President gets preferential treatment. More egregious tax crimes are no longer subject to imprisonment.

  Barring shocking revelations, DOJ “terminators” Leo Wise and Derek Hines, the prosecutors who in the past pursued “stern sentences”, the two men who made their names in the Department by taking down notorious targets, are now doing all they can – from misrepresenting Hunter’s conduct to the Court to omitting key details of Hunter’s tax fraud – to make sure the President’s son doesn’t even get a slap on the wrist.

  Subscribe to The Reactionary here…

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 17:40

• Air Travel Bubble Might Be In A Stall
  Air Travel Bubble Might Be In A Stall

  There are early indications that the air travel boom post-Covid might be in the early stages of a stall following a slowdown in consumer credit and debit card transactions of airline ticket purchases in the second quarter, according to tech firm Bloomberg Second Measure. This would mark the first drop in two years since government-enforced lockdowns led carriers to reduce flights nationwide. 

  Once the skies reopened after lockdowns were lifted, consumers began to travel, and some called it ‘revenge travel’ to make up for time and experiences lost during the pandemic. But after a two-year boom and soaring airfare inflation, consumers are reducing travel, like other discretionary purchases, including electronics, apparel, and restaurants. 

  Bloomberg Second Measure data for the second quarter shows anonymous credit and debit card transactions made with airline carriers, such as Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and JetBlue. 

  

  According to the transaction data, Alaska, American, and Delta experienced the most significant quarterly declines. This data aligns with Alaska’s earnings report last week, warning about a slowdown in demand. 

  Southwest reported earnings last week that topped Wall Street’s expectations but was concerned about how demand will hold up in the second half of the year. 

  The good news is the latest CPI report showed ticket inflation has finally plummeted. 

  

  But that might not stoke demand as consumers are already pulling back on overall card spending as retailer sales disappointed in June. Many consumers have been battered by two years of negative real wage growth that forced them to drain personal savings and rack up insurmountable credit card debt in a high-rate environment. 

  The new data that shows consumers are pulling back on air travel is an ominous one despite the White House touting ‘Bidenomics’ has sparked an economic ‘renaissance.’ 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 07/31/2023 – 17:20

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• Should America Dominate The World?
  Should America Dominate The World?

  Authored by Edward Ring via American Greatness,

  Forty years ago, during the final decade of the Cold War, nobody had any illusions about America being perfect. Without wallowing in the topic, we all knew our nation had ongoing social and economic problems, and that our history was filled with examples of oppression. But for most Americans, understanding the grim reality of life for people living in the Soviet Union provided clarity. It was understood that no country is perfect, and compared to the USSR, living in America was paradise.

  The argument that America, by a wide margin, is the lesser of two evils, does not get the traction today that it got during the Cold War. But there is no justification for its diminished relevance. Despite alarming new challenges to the rights and freedoms of American citizens, the gap between America and its contemporary rivals, Russia and China, is as wide as it’s ever been. And in the case of China, the magnitude of the threat they now pose to American global leadership is far more than anything the USSR could have once posed.

  These considerations give rise to a pair of sobering questions:

  First, is China an expansionist nation, committed to growing powerful enough to dominate the world and impose its vision of human rights onto all of humanity?

  Second, before we level well deserved criticisms on American foreign and domestic policies, shouldn’t we compare these policies to those practiced by the Chinese government?

  Forty years ago, those questions mattered. Today, we need to revisit these questions.

  

  Does China Intend to Dominate the World?

  China is committed to an expansionist strategy. In just the last century, an era during which Western powers were relinquishing their claims to foreign colonies, China has annexed Inner Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang. The Chinese have absorbed Hong Kong, cracking down on human rights they had pledged to uphold. They have lopped off chunks of Indian Kashmir as well as the northern portion of Indian state of Assam. The Chinese openly declare their intention to absorb the independent nation of Taiwan. They’re even claiming virtually all of the South China Sea, in defiance of every other bordering nation.

  China’s expansionist tensions with neighboring nations and Borg like assimilation of the occupied nations within its borders should provide clues to how it treats all its citizens. China’s population is more than 90 percent comprised of the Han ethnic group, and they are probably the most surveilled, micromanaged population on earth. Any dissent that deviates from the collective is immediately suppressed.

  One may go on endlessly about allegedly parallel encroachments on the rights of Americans to express dissent, but it isn’t remotely comparable to what Chinese people go through. The regime of Xi Jinping has turned China into the world’s biggest prison camp, with nearly 1.4 billion inmates. Law enforcement extends well beyond criminal behavior to “social behavior,” where not just what you do, but what you say, what you think, and how you worship are all strictly regulated.

  China’s economic aggression is well documented and points to an unavoidable conclusion; nations that do business with China are going to be systematically robbed of their technological edge and their financial stability. According to Fortune, one in five corporations say China has stolen their intellectual property in the past year. Estimates of how much this costs the U.S. economy range as high as $600 billion per year.

  China’s economic war with the United States has been unrelenting. Over the past 25 years the cumulative U.S. trade deficit with China is nearly $6 trillion. China retains some of its trade surplus with the U.S. in the form of debt, currently an estimated $1.6 trillion.

  Another way China is expanding its economic reach and influence in the world is through the “Belt and Road Initiative,” a modern version of the ancient Silk Road connecting East to West. In theory this is a laudable series of infrastructure projects linking China with trading partners across Asia, Europe, Africa and beyond with a series of highways, railroads, and modernized seaports. But participating nations are realizing that Chinese investment carries a high price.

  The way China intends to control the railroads and seaports being built across this new Silk Road is by using the so-called debt trap. This is a practice whereby China lends billions of dollars to an economically weaker country for them to construct infrastructure. Chinese firms then pour in materials and labor to build the project, which means the Chinese loan funds are repatriated right back into Chinese hands. Then when the debtor nation can’t afford to pay back the loan, the Chinese seize ownership of the project as collateral.

  An article published by the Washington Post provides an extensive list of nations already victimized by China’s infrastructure debt trap. They include Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Montenegro, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. Some of these projects involve debt nearly equal to the entire GDP of the host nations. In many cases, Chinese-only gated communities are constructed, sometimes entire cities, swarming with Chinese security forces.

  China’s economic imperialism is also reflected in its global buying binge. Using the savings generated from their huge trade surplus, China is buying companies and real estate all over the world. The United States is one of the only nations in the world that allows foreign companies to purchase controlling interests in U.S. companies, and China has taken full advantage of that. Michele Nash-Hoff, writing for Industry Week, posed this question: “Did we let the USSR buy our companies during the Cold War? No, we didn’t! We realized that we would be helping our enemy. This was pretty simple, common sense, but we don’t seem to have this same common sense when dealing with China.”

  American Globalism – The Alternative to China

  The evidence that China is an expansionist nation is overwhelming. In addition to China’s territorial aggression and predatory economic policies, there are the precedents of history. Throughout recorded history, expansionist empires have risen and fallen. Across all continents and through the millennia, regardless of geography or ethnicity, empires have fought wars of conquest. Today is no different. America will rise to the challenge of China, or China will dominate the world. And this gives rise to the second question: How do America’s foreign and domestic policies compare to China’s, and how can they be better calibrated to unite Americans and set an attractive example for people in the rest of the world?

  Only in this context can the American government’s current cultural priorities and globalist ambitions be fairly evaluated. Most American conservatives will agree that a month-long display of gay pride flags in front of every government building in America and every embassy America has in foreign nations, is pushing the woke narrative to ridiculous extremes. But compared to what? Compared to the Iranian regime hanging homosexuals from construction cranes? The Ugandans making homosexual acts subject to the death penalty?

  Conservative Americans have ample reason to criticize the way establishment institutions, certainly including the federal government, have pandered to the extremist wing of the LGBTQ+ lobby. That the cultural pendulum will swing back to some more universally tolerable position is quite likely, and soon would be better. But which is worse? Nations where homosexuals are executed, or nations where activist gender extremists are overly indulged?

  America’s Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, meeting with Chinese diplomats in Alaska two years ago, was criticized for acknowledging American imperfections, saying “we have the humility to know that we are a country eternally striving to become a more perfect union.”

  Blinken, and his boss, Joe Biden, may be leading America down a perilous path. But Blinken was right to acknowledge that America is “eternally striving to become a more perfect union.” The debates we are having in America over identity and equity may be tedious and threatening, and with good reason, but it’s a process at work in American society today that is unthinkable in China. America’s rival in the world is a fascist police state. For all of its flaws, and for all of its dangerous drift into decadence, America is a better place to live than China. The existential importance of that fact should not be lost on anyone, whether they are woke malcontents or appalled conservatives.

  Moving towards a more perfect union will not be easy. Restoring colorblind meritocracy and reestablishing reasonable gender norms will take time, but is probably inevitable. The woke have simply gone too far. An even greater threat to a desirable Pax Americana, however, concerns how America’s establishment is responding to the “climate crisis.” Current policies, designed to stifle development of hydroelectric, nuclear, and natural gas sources of energy, are guaranteed to weaken America and alienate the world. They will impose a tyranny of surveillance and rationing in developed nations, and they will cause chaos, poverty, and endless war in developing nations. They are outrageous and will drive nonaligned nations into alliances with China.

  It may be that the greatest test of American democracy in the 21st century will be whether or not the cabal of oligarchs that have hijacked America’s energy policy can be overcome by a media that has finally come to its senses and a population that awakens from its brainwashed stupor. Without adequate supplies of energy, civilization will falter and individual freedom will die. Claiming that adequate energy can be delivered worldwide exclusively via wind and solar power, without also relying on hydro, nuclear, and natural gas is a blatant, misanthropic, opportunistic lie. This lie, unchallenged, will fatally undermine the credibility of American leadership in the world.

  Answering the question “should America dominate the world” requires recognition of an immutable prerequisite: If America does not, someone else will. And for all of its many flaws, some of them horrifically and even murderously misguided, when compared to empires of the past and rivals in the present, America’s empire is remarkably benevolent. That fact used to matter, and it still does. We would do well to embrace it, even as we work towards something better.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 23:30

• China Leads The Way In Electrifying The Road
  China Leads The Way In Electrifying The Road

  Over the last ten years, China has become the global battery electric vehicle (BEV) forerunner, increasing its annual sales of fully-electric cars from roughly 10,000 in 2012 to 4.4 million in 2022.

  As Statista’s Florian Zandt shows in the chart below, based on data from the Global EV Data Explorer maintained by the International Energy Agency, three out of the five countries with the most BEVs sold last year have been part of the top 5 ever since e-mobility turned from a marketing buzzword to a tangible effort towards reducing CO2 production in transport.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  Apart from China, which jumped from third place in terms of BEV sales in 2012 to the uncontested number one spot in 2017, the United States and France have also been at the forefront of electrifying their passenger car fleets.

  Since 2017, Germany has also become a serious contender in this area, registering around half a million new fully-electric cars in 2022.

  When it comes to growth, China again can’t be beaten, increasing its annual sales by 44,000 percent from 2012 to 2022.

  This drive towards electric mobility coincides with the People’s Republic’s efforts in the energy sector.

  The country is expected to reach its goals in energy production via wind and solar five years earlier than planned and will produce 1,200 gigawatts through the aforementioned renewables by 2025 according to media reports. Renewable energy made up 45 percent of China’s total energy capacity in 2022, up from 26 percent in 2011.

  With a buzzworthy topic like e-mobility, it helps to put the numbers in perspective though.

  Last year, total sales of passenger cars in China amounted to 23.6 million, which means only about 19 percent of new cars were BEVs. However, the second biggest market for BEVs fares far worse.

  In the U.S., 13.8 million light vehicles, which include the most popular segment for U.S. car buyers, light trucks, were sold, of which 800,000 or roughly six percent were BEVs.

  Germany, the United Kingdom and France, on the other hand, are hot on the heels of the People’s Republic with BEVs market shares in new cars sold ranging from 13 to 18 percent.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 23:00

• Beijing Signals It's Not Just All Talk This Time
  Beijing Signals It’s Not Just All Talk This Time

  By Charlie Zhu and Helen Sun, Bloomberg Markets Live reporters and strategists

  Three things we learned last week:

  1. It looks like China’s markets may be on an inflection point, finally. The mainland stock benchmark CSI 300 Index gained 4.5% last week, marking its best performance since November. A gauge of tech shares in Hong Kong entered a bull market.

  Chinese shares surged Tuesday after senior leaders vowed again to shore up economic growth, before paring the gains in the following two sessions due to skepticism about a dearth of detailed measures. The rally resumed Friday as signs emerged that policymakers aren’t just paying lip service to their support pledges.

  “The recognition of a new supply-demand paradigm in real estate helped to open policy space,” Citigroup strategists led by Gaurav Garg wrote in a note, adding the reference to a holistic resolution to local debt issues also helped contain fears of a blowout.

  

  2. With signs of stress plaguing some developers once considered safe, investors may need to brace for more volatility in credit markets. A local risk assessor put bonds issued by Country Garden’s onshore unit on its watch list, and the major builder’s dollar notes slumped as JPMorgan downgraded the firm’s stock rating to underweight.

  Meantime, state-backed Sino-Ocean Group is seeking investor approval to extend three dollar-note coupons by two months
  “Constraints on the actions that China can undertake may not be well appreciated,” Chang Wei Liang, a strategist at DBS Bank, wrote in a note. “A nuanced view to Chinese credit is still warranted.”

  3. There are growing indications that authorities are taking concrete action to address some of the biggest market concerns. Among the catalysts for Friday’s stock gains was news that signaled regulators’ intention to support tech investments. A separate report on the possibility of a cut in stamp duties helped too.

  The housing minister urged regulators and lenders to strengthen efforts to revive the ailing property sector, calling for homebuyers who had paid off previous mortgages to be considered first-time purchasers.

  

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 22:30

• DOJ Denies Trying To Jail Hunter Biden Witness Before Tomorrow's Testimony
  DOJ Denies Trying To Jail Hunter Biden Witness Before Tomorrow’s Testimony

  Update (2030ET): The DOJ has responded to allegations that they want Hunter Biden witness Devon Archer arrested before tomorrow’s testimony, saying in a statement:

  “To be clear, the Government does not request (and has never requested) that the defendant surrender before his Congressional testimony,” reads a Sunday night filing. “For the avoidance of all doubt, the Government requests that any surrender date, should the Court order one, be scheduled to occur after the defendant’s Congressional testimony is completed.”

  BREAKING: BIDEN DOJ BLINKS – FILES NEW LETTER ALLOWING DEVON ARCHER TO TESTIFY TOMORROW

  They felt the pressure pic.twitter.com/op8BHgFKGd

  — Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) July 31, 2023

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

  *  *  *

  The Department of Justice is pushing a federal judge to jail former Hunter Biden witness Devon Archer just days ahead of his hotly anticipated congressional testimony, court documents reveal.

  

  On Saturday, Manhattan federal prosecutors filed a letter asking a judge to set a date for Archer to begin his one-year sentence in a fraud case which is unrelated to Hunter’s various scandals. The request came less than a week after the Second Court of Appeals upheld Archer’s 2018 conviction on two felony charges for his role in a conspiracy to defraud a Native American tribe.

  Archer is scheduled to testify on Monday in front of the House Oversight Committee.

  Here’s Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer on @MariaBartiromo #Sundaymorningfutures describing this letter as “obstruction of justice” and decrying “the lengths to which the Biden legal team has gone to try to intimidate our witnesses, to coordinate with the DOJ and… https://t.co/8a25tsSOAQ

  — Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) July 30, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsAs the NY Post notes;

  Archer — who is set to deliver closed-door testimony to the House Oversight Committee on Monday about Biden — had been challenging the conviction.

  His attorney, Matthew Schwartz, said he would be filing a formal response to the request from the US Attorney’s Office by Wednesday — and noted that his client would still testify as planned despite allegations the DOJ letter was an intimidation tactic.

  …

  Back in 2009, Archer, Biden, and Christopher Heinz co-founded investment and advisory firm Rosemont Seneca Partners, which the first son used as a vehicle for many of his overseas business endeavors.

  Archer is expected to testify that Hunter Biden would dial-in his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden during various meetings with overseas partners, as The Post exclusively reported.

  “We are aware of speculation that the Department of Justice’s weekend request to have Mr. Archer report to prison is an attempt by the Biden administration to intimidate him in advance of his meeting with the House Oversight Committee,” said Archer’s attorney, Matthew Schwartz, adding that his client will testify as planned despite allegations that the DOJ letter was an intimidation tactic.

  “To be clear, Mr. Archer does not agree with that speculation,” Schwartz added. “In any case, Mr. Archer will do what he has planned to do all along, which is to show up on Monday and to honestly answer the questions that are put to him by the Congressional investigators.”

  Blatant obstruction of a congressional investigation by the DOJ but the media ignores it. pic.twitter.com/MzzGk51XEi

  — RedVirgo🔥Stacy 🔥 (@stacy_redvirgo) July 30, 2023

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

  Devon Archer has just been threatened 💥

  “And I am receiving calls from the Southern District of New York from the U.S. Attorney himself.
  My best friend in business Devon… has named me as a witness without telling me, in a Criminal case… and my Father without telling me.” pic.twitter.com/GL0NxV3kbo

  — Joni Job (@jj_talking) July 30, 2023

  This shows how scared they are – which tells you they know they are in real trouble – which tells you he is guilty…. https://t.co/BzsXf7ZXrq

  — Lara Logan (@laralogan) July 30, 2023

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

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 22:23

• Russia 'Ready' For Clash With US Over Syrian Skies, Putin Says
  Russia ‘Ready’ For Clash With US Over Syrian Skies, Putin Says

  President Putin in a Saturday statement given to the press significantly ramped up his rhetoric regarding a potential clash with the United States over Syria.

  TASS media quoted him as saying that “Russia is ready for any scenario” if it comes to that, but still “does not want a direct military clash with the US.” 

  

  This summer has seen a series of near-miss incidents between Russian fighter jets and American MQ-9 Reaper drones. In two incidents this month, the US drones were actually damaged from the encounters, which has reportedly involved the Russian warplanes shooting flares or else possibly dumping fuel. 

  The US drones can be damaged by these flares, which according to the Pentagon has happened. When asked about this, Putin stressed in the new comments that “we are always ready for any scenario, but no one wants this.”

  “On an American initiative, we once created a special mechanism to prevent these conflicts; we have department heads that communicate directly with each other, and consult on any crisis situation,” he said of a military-to-military contact hotline intended to avoid inadvertent clash. “This shows that no one wants clashes.”

  Both sides have blamed the other for ‘unsafe’ and ‘irresponsible’ aerial operations over Syria. Russia’s RT has tallied the following, from Moscow’s perspective:

  The Russian military has reported a total of 23 dangerous incidents involving its aircraft and those of the US-led coalition since early 2023, said Admiral Oleg Gurinov, the head of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria. Most incidents took place in July, he added. 

  In 11 cases, Russian pilots recorded being targeted by Western weapon systems. Such provocations by the US-led coalition led to the automatic engagement of onboard defense systems which released decoy flares, the admiral told journalists.

  Just last week, a US Reaper drone was said to be “severely damaged” after a high-risk intercept by a Russian Su-35 fighter. 

  These near-misses over Syrian skies also come amid the backdrop of the Ukraine war, where the nuclear-armed superpower rivals keep inching toward potential direct conflict. Russian media has framed Putin’s new comments as also a warning directed against NATO broadly, in the contexts of both Syria and Ukraine.

  Previously, we’ve pointed out that In Syria, successive US administrations going back to Obama have justified any and all US military actions as based on “countering ISIS” – even though at this point the Islamic State has long been driven underground and was defeated. Russia and Syria have charged that the US really just wants to steal Syria’s oil and gas resources, as part of the continued economic war against Damascus.

  Days ago, The Wall Street Journal appeared to agree with this assessment, in a rare and surprise admission…

  WSJ on the US occupation of Syria:

  US claims to be “combating the remnants” of ISIS. Yet US troops “are operating in the east, far from the northwest enclave where suspected ISIS and al Qaeda leaders have been operating.”

  So what’s in the east? Syria’s oil and wheat. pic.twitter.com/OK9uiEOE5C

  — Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) July 28, 2023

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

  Where are the terrorists vs. where is the American troop occupation located? WSJ belatedly concedes the following…

  “The U.S. still has about 900 troops in Syria that are assisting a local partner, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, in combating the remnants of Islamic State,” the report acknowledges. “But those U.S. troops are operating in the east, far from the northwest enclave where suspected Islamic State and al Qaeda leaders have been operating.” 

  This mainstream media admission concerning jihadist-infested Idlib province in Syria’s northwest, while good, comes many years late, as is typical of belatedly acknowledged inconvenient truths.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 22:00

• Pediatrician Fired After Raising Alarm On COVID Vaccines During US Senate Event
  Pediatrician Fired After Raising Alarm On COVID Vaccines During US Senate Event

  Authored by Zachary Stieber and Jan Jekielek via The Epoch Times,

  A medical expert was terminated by one of her employers after raising concerns about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines during an event held by a U.S. senator, according to newly disclosed documents.

  

  Dr. Renata Moon, a pediatrician, poses for a picture in Washington on July 28, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

  After Dr. Renata Moon (who will appear on “American Thought Leaders” premiering Mon. Aug. 30, 7:30pm ET) testified during the December 2022 event on Capitol Hill, Washington State University officials told her that they were alerting a state medical commission because she allegedly promoted misinformation, one of the documents shows.

  The Washington Medical Commission (WMC) has said that doctors who offer misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and preventative measures “erode the public trust in the medical profession and endanger patients,” that people should lodge complaints against doctors who allegedly provide misinformation, and that it may revoke the licenses of doctors who are found to have spread misinformation.

  Drs. Jeff Haney and James Record, Washington State University officials, referenced the commission in a letter to Dr. Moon dated March 3, 2023.

  “The WMC has asked the public and practitioners to report possible spread of misinformation. There are components of your presentation that could be interpreted as a possible spread,” they wrote. “As such, we are ethically obligated to make a report to the WMC to investigate possible breach of this expectation.”

  The university informed Dr. Moon in June 2023 that it was effectively firing her by not renewing her appointment as a clinical associate professor of medicine, according to other documents reviewed by The Epoch Times.

  “At this time, the needs of the college are moving in a different direction and your participation is no longer required,” Drs. Haney and Record wrote.

  More detailed reasoning was not provided.

  “This is not about my personal situation with the school. This is about freedom of speech for all Americans,” Dr. Moon told The Epoch Times in an email.

  “We must create an ethical healthcare system that is concerned only with the well being of individual patients and not the financial interests of massive corporations. We are dealing with conflicts of interest that are larger than any of us ever imagined.”

  Testimony

  Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) convened Dr. Moon and other experts, including Drs. Peter McCullough and Robert Malone, to talk about COVID-19 vaccines. The event was titled, “COVID-19 Vaccines: What They Are, How They Work, and Possible Causes of Injuries.”

  Dr. Moon testified that she had only seen two or three cases of myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation, while practicing for more than 20 years. But after the COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out, she said, she has been seeing more cases, and heard about others from fellow doctors.

  “There’s clearly been a massive increase,” Dr. Moon said.

  Dr. Moon also pulled out the package insert for the vaccines, or a piece of paper that typically outlines warnings, ingredients, and other information for a vaccine. The insert for the COVID-19 vaccines has no information and says, “intentionally blank,” the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has acknowledged.

  “How am I to give informed consent to parents when this is what I have?” Dr. Moon said.

  Regulators say people can access the information that is usually on the paper on the administration’s website. One of the vaccine manufacturers has said that the COVID-19 vaccine inserts were left blank because the information was being updated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  “I have a government telling me that I have to say ‘safe and effective’ and if I don’t, my license is at threat. We’re seeing an uptick in myocarditis. We’re seeing an uptick in adverse reactions. We have trusted these regulatory agencies—I have—for my entire career up until now,” Dr. Moon testified.

  “Something is extremely wrong, and that is the anecdotal story that I have.”

  Myocarditis is caused by the COVID-19 vaccines, U.S. officials have confirmed. The heart inflammation primarily affects younger males and can cause death.

  “It’s my obligation to speak out. It’s the obligation of any physician who thinks that there is a problem with a product to speak about that product, whether, honestly, whether they’re right or wrong,” Dr. Moon said on EpochTV’s “ATL: Now.”

  “And in this case, everything I said was completely factual.”

  

  Other Concerns

  Drs. Haney and Record claimed Dr. Moon failed to request and report an absence in order to travel to Washington and testify on the panel, which would violate faculty rules.

  They also said that Dr. Moon did not make clear she was not speaking on behalf of Washington State University, another possible rule violation, and that other parts of the roundtable were “inconsistent with expectations of the evidence-based medical education expected in developing a future generation of physicians.”

  They added, “The expressed views will require us to review your teaching assignments in the frame of the education of our students.”

  Emails reviewed by The Epoch Times show Dr. Moon did not list the university in a bio she provided Mr. Johnson’s office. The bio stated that her views were her own and that she was not speaking on behalf of any institutions with which she has or is affiliated.

  Mr. Johnson, in introducing Dr. Moon, did not mention any institution but also did not mention the latter part of the bio.

  Dr. Moon’s placard did not list an institution. One of the video streams of the panel listed Washington State University. A university investigator noted that in one email.

  “I was unaware of this happening and did everything in my power to prevent it by sending the press release and making sure not to mention the name of any employer either with my words or on the cardboard placard in front of me,” Dr. Moon told The Epoch Times.

  According to other emails, Dr. Moon requested substitutes for Dec. 6, 2021, and Dec. 8, 2021, the days before and after the panel. She was not scheduled to teach on the day of the panel. University employees responded to the messages by saying they were looking for or had found substitutes, and the university investigator confirmed that substitutes were ultimately found for both days.

  “I did it the way we’ve always done it. My senior physicians approved it; we had substitutes for my classes,” Dr. Moon told The Epoch Times.

  A university spokesman declined to comment on the situation.

  “As a matter of policy WSU does not comment on personnel matters,” the spokesman told The Epoch Times via email.

  It’s unclear if the university ultimately referred Dr. Moon to the medical commission. Dr. Moon is part of a lawsuit against the commission for enforcing its misinformation statement without proper adoption. She says the threat of having her license revoked caused her to not renew her license and has impacted her constitutional right to free speech.

  Trend?

  Dr. Moon said she’s concerned about medical schools no longer serving as venues for discussion and critical thinking.

  She recalled being called into the office of a superior over student complaints. She learned that the students complained about Dr. Moon noting correctly that some information about the COVID-19 vaccines was unknown, such as where in the body the ingredients were distributed and whether they would cause certain health problems.

  “I just engaged in some critical thinking with my students. I thought it was something that we’re supposed to do in discussion groups, and they had asked me, right?” Dr. Moon said.

  “They said that I had caused them trauma and harm by telling them that the vaccines might not be 100 percent safe. Again, these are medical students. This is a medical school. Nothing is 100 percent safe, not even aspirin is 100 percent safe. Everything has the potential for a reaction. So to have that be a complaint against me really surprised me and it really concerned me.”

  Another complaint related to how Dr. Moon, after students asked how her week in the clinic had gone, relayed how she had seen anxious and depressed children.

  Dr. Moon attributed the problems to the harsh lockdowns imposed in Washington state, like much of the country, and questioned why those policies were put into place when children face little risk from COVID-19.

  “I just said to my students, I think we need to rethink this masking that we’re doing and the social distancing and isolating, I wonder if CDC has considered that we need to think about isolating our more vulnerable in our communities and keeping them more safe and keeping them at home but letting our kids go out there,” Dr. Moon said, referring to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  “My students again stated that they were traumatized and harmed by that discussion, in a discussion group in a graduate-level medical school,” Dr. Moon said. “This is happening nationwide. Our students have lost that ability, I think, to tolerate critical thinking, and to hear perspectives that are different than the main narrative or the main party line that is being pushed.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 21:30

• Watch: G7 Vs BRICS By GDP (1992-2028)
  Watch: G7 Vs BRICS By GDP (1992-2028)

  Fifty years ago, the government finance heads from the UK, West Germany, France, and the U.S. met informally in the White House’s ground-floor library to discuss the international monetary situation at the time. This is the origin story of the G7.

  This initial group quickly expanded, adding Japan, Italy, and Canada, to solidify a bloc of the biggest non-communist economies at the time. As industrialized countries that were reaping the benefits of the post-war productivity boom, they were economic juggernauts, with G7 economic output historically contributing around 40% of global GDP.

  However, as Visual Capiutalist’s Pallavi Rao details below, the more recent emergence of another international group, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), has been carving out its own section of the global economic order.

  This animation from James Eagle uses data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and charts the percentage contribution of the G7 and BRICS members to the world economy.

  Specifically it uses GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP) using international dollars.

  Charting the Rise of BRICS vs. G7

  The acronym “BRIC”, developed by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill in 2001, was used to identify four fast-growing economies in similar stages of development. It wasn’t until 2009 that their leaders met and formalized their relationship, later inviting South Africa to join in 2010.

  ℹ️ Russia was at the time also a member of the G7, then the G8. It was invited to join in 1997 but was expelled in 2014 following the annexation of Crimea.

  While initially banded together for investment opportunities, in the last decade, BRICS has become an economic rival to G7. Several of their initiatives include building an alternate global bank, with dialogue underway for a payment system and new reserve currency.

  Below is a quick look at both groups’ contribution to the world economy in PPP-adjusted terms.

  

  A major contributing factor to BRICS’ rise is Chinese and Indian economic growth.

  After a period of rapid industrialization in the 1980s and 1990s, China’s exports got a significant boost after it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. This helped China become the world’s second largest economy by 2010.

  India’s economic rise has not been quite as swift as China’s, but by 2022, the country ranked third with a gross domestic product (PPP) of $12 trillion. Together the two countries make up nearly one-fourth of the PPP-adjusted $164 trillion world economy.

  The consequence of using the PPP metric—which better reflects the strengths of local currencies and local prices—is that it has an outsized multiplier effect on the GDPs of developing countries, where the prices of domestic goods and services tend to be cheaper.

  Below, we can see both the nominal and PPP-adjusted GDP of each G7 and BRICS country in 2023. Nominal GDP is measured in USD with market-rate currency conversion, while the adjusted GDP uses international dollars (using the U.S. as a base country for calculations) which better account for cost of living and inflation.

  

  By the IMF’s projections, BRICS countries will constitute more of the world economy in 2023 ($56 trillion) than the G7 ($52 trillion) using PPP-adjusted GDPs.

  How Will BRICS and G7 Compare in the Future?

  China and India are in a stage of economic development marked by increasing productivity, wages and consumption, which most countries in the G7 had previously enjoyed in the three decades after World War II.

  By 2028, the IMF projects BRICS countries to make up one-third of the global economy (PPP):

  

  BRICS vs. the World?

  The economic rise of BRICS carries geopolitical implications as well.

  Alongside different political ideals, BRICS’ increasing power gives its member countries financial muscle to back them up. This was put into sharp perspective after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, when both China and India abstained from condemning the war at the United Nations and continued to buy Russian oil.

  While this is likely concerning for G7 countries, the group of developed countries still wields unparalleled influence on the global stage. Nominally the G7 still commands a larger share of the global economy ($46 trillion) than BRICS ($27.7 trillion). And from the coordination of sanctions on Russia to sending military aid to Ukraine, the G7 still wields significant influence financially and politically.

  In the next few decades, especially as China and India are earmarked to lead global growth while simultaneously grappling with their own internal demographic issues, the world order is only set to become more complex and nuanced as these international blocs vie for power.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 21:00

• Power Companies Could Remotely Switch Off EV Chargers To Reduce Grid Stress
  Power Companies Could Remotely Switch Off EV Chargers To Reduce Grid Stress

  Authored by Daniel Yeng via The Epoch Times,

  Energy providers could have the option to switch off home EV charging stations remotely to reduce pressure on Queensland’s electricity grid.

  

  The proposal is part of the Australian state’s Queensland Electricity Connection Manual (QECM), which provides a framework for the grid’s operation.

  Section 8 of the QECM proposes that EV charging equipment may be limited or switched off by operators Ergon Energy and Energex (distributed network service providers or DNSPs) if it has an output of more than 20 amps—a standard domestic single-phase EV charger uses 32 amps.

  The use of such “demand management” schemes is largely unique to Queensland and is also used on residential pool cleaning machines, hot water systems, and air conditioning units under the Peaksmart program.

  Peaksmart gives households a cash rebate; in return, the operator can turn off air conditioners remotely during peak operating times (summer) to reduce pressure on the energy grid.

  The large-scale roll-out of such programs has been earmarked as a potential catalyst to close down coal-fired power stations faster—amid the net zero push—and to, instead, adopt more intermittent renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and battery.

  Confidence Towards Net Zero’s Viability is Low: MP

  Federal Nationals MP Keith Pitt, himself an electrical engineer, says a proposal to use demand management on EV charging reveals that operators have little confidence the grid can handle the uptake of electric cars expected in the push towards net zero.

  “EV take-up could increase peak demand by as much as 60 percent right across the National Electricity Market,” Mr. Pitt told The Epoch Times.

  “That would mean you need a 60 percent increase in generating electricity capacity, transmission, and distribution. So that’s every substation, every cable, every supply point, every house—it will cost an absolute fortune.”

  The federal Labor government has set a lofty goal of having 3.8 million EVs on the road by 2030—there are currently 83,000 in use.

  Further, the government is also pushing to expand the charging network, aiming for 100,000 for businesses, 3.8 million chargers in households, and 1,800 publicly available fast chargers.

  The initiative comes as part of a wider push towards net zero by 2050 and to reduce emissions by 43 percent by 2030. Further, the Labor government hopes to have 82 percent of the National Electricity Market powered by renewables.

  Advocacy Groups Push Back Against Proposal

  Advocacy groups have argued against a demand management system saying it will dampen enthusiasm for EVs.

  “We know from surveys that average consumers aren’t particularly keen on mandated orchestration of their appliances,” says the Electric Vehicle Council in its submission on the QECM (pdf).

  “The Peaksmart program enlists between 10,000 and 15,000 air conditioning units for orchestration each year … out of a total of about 300,000 that get installed. About 95 percent of consumers prefer retaining control of their air conditioning, overtaking the financial incentives on offer.”

  Meanwhile, Melissa McAuliffe, acting director of energy services at Energy Consumers Australia, says it would erode consumer trust that the “energy system is working for them.”

  “Our 2023 Energy Consumer Sentiment Survey finds that only 35 percent of households are confident that the energy industry and regulators are working in their long-term interests now,” she wrote in a submission (pdf).

  “Further, such measures are unlikely to be completely effective for consumers or the system, as consumers may look to workarounds that circumvent giving DNSPs control. For example, through disincentivising the use of EV chargers, consumers may just use regular power points.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 20:30

• Zelensky Says War 'Returning' To Russian Territory After Moscow Drone Attack
  Zelensky Says War ‘Returning’ To Russian Territory After Moscow Drone Attack

  On Sunday, the day following a major drone attack on Moscow’s financial district, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced that he is ready to “return” war to Russia’s own territory, emphasizing that this is “inevitable”.

  “Today is the 522nd day of the so-called ‘Special Military Operation’, which the Russian leadership thought would last a couple of weeks,” he said in a new video message. “Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia – to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process.” 

  He described these increasing attacks Russian territory as an “inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process” of the war between the two nations.

  

  It seemed a rare moment of Ukraine’s leadership owning up to a brazen cross-border attack deep in Russian territory. Throughout most of the war, Kiev officials have tended to stay silent on claiming responsibility specific attacks like this.

  BBC noted of Zelensky’s words that “It may be far from a confession, but President Zelensky clearly feels confident enough to pile on the pressure, and not just on the Kremlin.”

  Ukraine’s most powerful military backer, the United States, early in the conflict urged restraint when it comes to the prospect of attacking Russian territory—and has even long been resistant to providing Kiev with long-range missiles.

  And yet, there’s mounting testimony and evidence that strongly suggests US support for certain major attacks on Russian territory, especially in the Crimean peninsula. Arguably the biggest and most devastating attacks were the two bombings of the Crimean Bridge (which Russia alleges Ukrainian forces had US or NATO assistance with in both cases).

  It seems Zelensky now has greater willingness to be “open” in his intent to keep hitting Russian territory, which in turn raises to pressure on President Putin to respond with military escalation.

  Indeed Putin is now signaling he’s ready to do just that. While addressing the following remarks specifically in reference to the potential for a US-Russia clash over the skies of Syria, the issues at play certainly intersect with the Ukraine crisis as well:

  Russia is “always ready for any scenario,” President Vladimir Putin told journalists on Saturday, commenting on a potential direct confrontation between the Russian and NATO militaries. The president was responding to a question about recent near-collisions involving Russian and American aircraft in Syria. 

  “No one wants that,” the president added, pointing to the existing conflict-prevention lines that allow Russian and US officers to talk directly about “any crisis situation.” That fact that these lines still work shows that no side is interested in a conflict, he added. “If someone wants it – and that’s not us – then we’re ready,” Putin added.

  In Ukraine, there have been reports that intelligence and military command centers are being hit with Russian missiles at greater regularity.

  A new Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow. Kiev is in a desperate situation. Desperate people do desperate things. From the beginning of this war the desperate act of a nuclear war was always attributed to Russia, despite its gains in the battlefield. Why is no one paying attention…

  — Sophia (@les_politiques) July 30, 2023

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

  Some analysts have speculated that should the Ukrainian counteroffensive keep sliding toward failure and eventual defeat, Kiev will grow more desperate. Ukraine’s government might also be desperate enough to orchestrate an intentionally escalatory situation which would “ensure” the West gets more directly dragged into the war. This also at a moment Kiev officials continue to be frustrated at lack of air superiority, given the lag over the timeframe of receiving F-16 jets.

  Meanwhile…

  America, you loved Build Back Better!

  Now you’re loving Bidenomics!

  And this fall he’s delivering a very special treat:
  Bidenuclear armageddon! pic.twitter.com/Ybm68wop4G

  — Peachy Keenan (@KeenanPeachy) July 30, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 20:00

• CNN Still Pushing COVID Fear In 2023
  CNN Still Pushing COVID Fear In 2023

  Authored by Ben Bartee via PJMedia.com,

  Imagine being so soulless as to be a CNN editor still pushing COVID fear in this, the Year of Our Lord 2023.

  

  Imagine being gullible enough, as a non-ironic consumer of corporate state media, to take it all in.

  It’s time to stock up on tissues, bingeable TV options and Covid-19 tests. Yes, many signs are pointing to a Covid-19 summer surge – although one that’s far less intense than what emerged the past few summers. https://t.co/VAhO8gr4KN

  — CNN (@CNN) July 29, 2023

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

  Via CNN (emphasis added):

  It’s time to stock up on tissues, bingeable TV options and Covid-19 tests. Yes, many signs are pointing to a Covid-19 summer surge – although one that’s far less intense than what emerged the past few summers.

  Experts say they do not expect that cases will be severe or that the uptick will be prolonged, and there are early signs from wastewater data that this wavelet may already be leveling out.

  “Experts say” lots of things: that masks don’t work and then they magically do; that COVID injections stop transmission; that something called “herd immunity” is going to end the spread of a virus that constantly mutates; etc.

  If we’re keeping score, the “conspiracy theorists” have outperformed the “experts” in every way possible since the start of the pandemic. I put more stock in what my trusted colleague on Substack, with no institutional support and no budget for research, has to say about COVID than CNN.

  Continuing via CNN:

  But data posted this week by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that many Covid-19 indicators, including hospital admissions, emergency department visits and test positivity, are once again on the rise.

  Independent commercial laboratories are also noting the increase.

  “When we look at our data, we have noticed that since late June to the beginning of July and probably through now, there has been a mild uptick in cases and these are based on samples sourced from pharmacy-based testing and also from health system-based testing,” said Shishi Luo, associate director of bioinformatics at Helix, a gene sequencing company which has been assisting the CDC with tracking the gene changes of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19…

  As testing data has become more limited, wastewater surveillance can offer a more consistent view of transmission trends over time. Data from Biobot Analytics, a biotechnology firm that has partnered with the CDC, shows that the concentration of coronavirus particles in sewage samples is about a third of what it was at this time last year.

  Here’s the thing, Jack: if COVID-19 is so like a common cold as to be indistinguishable in terms of symptoms, and therefore the only way to confirm whether there’s a “surge” in cases is through testing the wastewater, what’s the point of all of this fearmongering? No one ever reports on a rise in common colds among the population because it’s irrelevant to the vast majority of people with decent immune systems. Then again, Pfizer doesn’t have any injections to sell that ostensibly inoculate against a common cold.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 19:30

• How The World Economy Is Expected To Grow
  How The World Economy Is Expected To Grow

  The latest estimates from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicate that globally, economic growth is expected to slow to the end of 2024.

  As Statista’s Martin Armstrong reports, representing a slightly more optimistic view than that offered in April – plus 0.2 points for 2023 – the IMF expects global real GDP to grow by 3.0 percent in both 2023 and 2024 after an estimated increase of 3.5 percent in 2022.

  Looking at the picture regionally, the highest growth rates are forecast for emerging and developing Asia, where output is expected to go up by 5.3 percent and 5.0 percent in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  The United States, on the other hand, is projected to see faster declining growth over this period, going from 2.1 percent in 2022 to just 1.0 percent in 2024 .

  That is a pattern mirrored in advanced economies generally, where the rate is expected to go from 2.7 percent in 2022, down to 1.4 percent in 2024.

  Contributing to this slowing growth is Germany, where a decline in GDP of 0.3 percent is forecast for 2023.

  According to the IMF, this contraction is due to “weakness in manufacturing output and economic contraction in the first quarter of 2023”.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 19:00

• 'Questionable Political Prosecutions': House Republicans Ask Garland To Release Jack Smith Conflict-Of-Interest Documents
  ‘Questionable Political Prosecutions’: House Republicans Ask Garland To Release Jack Smith Conflict-Of-Interest Documents

  Authored by Catharine Yang via The Epoch Times,

  Republican members of Congress have sent a letter asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to release the conflict-of-interest review of special counsel Jack Smith.

  “Mr. Smith has a history of questionable political prosecutions,” wrote Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) in the Wednesday letter signed by eight other representatives.

  

  Mr. Smith was appointed special counsel last November to investigate former President Donald Trump, and is heading both the Mar-a-Lago case in which Mr. Trump has been indicted, and the probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach and surrounding events.

  Mr. Trump last week announced he’d received a letter informing him he was a target of this Jan. 6 investigation that has already resulted in more than 1,000 charged, and just today wrote on social media that his lawyers have met with Department of Justice (DOJ) investigators and that, contrary to many news reports, he was not told to expect an indictment. The grand jury reportedly convened this morning.

  Prior to Mr. Smith’s appointment, it would have been standard procedure to do a background check and review of the special counsel’s “ethics and conflicts of interest,” the letter states, citing a statute.

  “We request that you provide us with unredacted copies of all documents related to the conflicts of interest review that was conducted prior to Smith’s appointment, including any reports that were prepared as a part of the review by Friday, August 4, 2023,” reads the letter, which was first obtained by The Daily Caller.

  

  Special counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment against former President Donald Trump, in Washington on June 9, 2023. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

  The letter goes on to call into question Mr. Smith’s prosecution former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, “which was unanimously overturned by the Supreme Court.”

  Mr. McDonnell had been sentenced to two years in prison for accepting bribes in 2015. In 2016 the Supreme Court overturned the conviction, ruling that the prosecutors used a “boundless interpretation of the federal bribery statute.”

  “A more limited interpretation of the term ‘official act’ leaves ample room for prosecuting corruption, while comporting with the text of the statute and the precedent of this Court,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. “Setting up a meeting, calling another public official, or hosting an event does not, standing alone, qualify as an ‘official act.’”

  “Conscientious public officials arrange meetings for constituents, contact other officials on their behalf, and include them in events all the time. The basic compact underlying representative government assumes that public officials will hear from their constituents and act appropriately on their concerns—whether it is the union official worried about a plant closing or the homeowners who wonder why it took five days to restore power to their neighborhood after a storm,” Roberts wrote.

  The letter also points out that Mr. Smith’s wife, Katy Chevigny, “produced a documentary about former First Lady Michelle Obama and donated to President [Joe] Biden’s 2020 campaign, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest for Mr. Smith.” Ms. Chevigny had donated $1,000 twice to Mr. Biden’s campaign in 2020.

  “We hope that you, in compliance with DOJ regulations, conducted the required review of potential conflicts of interest prior to Mr. Smith’s appointment. In order for the American people to have confidence in Mr. Smith’s investigation, it is vital that you release the information associated with the investigation of Mr. Smith’s potential conflicts of interest,” the letter reads.

  Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Bill Posey (R-Fla.), Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.), Matthew Rosendale Sr. (R-Mont.), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), Alex Mooney (R-W. Va.), and Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) joined Mr. Burlison in signing the letter.

  

  Supreme Court Justice John Roberts (2L) administers the oath of office to U.S. President Donald Trump as his wife Melania Trump holds the Bible and son Barron Trump looks on, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2017. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

  Third Indictment?

  Reports of the Jan. 6 grand jury meeting emerged Thursday morning as jurors were seen entering a courthouse, and news reports of Mr. Trump’s lawyers being informed of an indictment that could come as soon as that day followed. The lawyers were seen leaving before noon, and by around 1 p.m. Mr. Trump had taken to social media to dispell the rumors.

  “My attorneys had a productive meeting with the DOJ this morning, explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of me would only further destroy our Country. No indication of notice was given during the meeting—Do not trust the Fake News on anything!” he wrote.

  Mr. Trump has claimed the latest investigation is “election interference” on the part of the Biden administration, which has stayed quiet on the topic. When he announced the letter stating he was a target of this latest investigation, he wrote that a grand jury “almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.” He has already pleaded not guilty in one case related to falsifying business records, and another related to classified documents.

  “We’ll have fun on the stand with all of these people that say the Presidential Election wasn’t Rigged and Stollen. THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY!!!” Mr. Trump wrote.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 18:30

• CDC At 'Precipice' Of Recommending Annual Covid-19 Shots
  CDC At ‘Precipice’ Of Recommending Annual Covid-19 Shots

  The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is on track to recommend annual COVID-19 shots for Americans, according to the agency’s new director, Dr. Mandy Cohen.

  

  “We’re just on the precipice of that, so I don’t want to get ahead of where our scientists are here and doing that evaluation work, but yes we anticipate that COVID will become similar to flu shots, where it is going to be you get your annual flu shot and you get your annual COVID shot,” Cohen told Spectrum News, adding “We’re not quite there yet, but stay tuned. I think within the next couple of weeks, month we’re going to hear more from our experts on COVID shot.”

  The proposal, which would make COVID-19 shots akin to the flu vaccine, is expected to be finalized and announced in September despite concerns raised by critics regarding the lack of clinical trial data supporting the vaccines and the efficacy of the boosters.

  In April the CDC scaled back recommendations for people of all ages to receive a primary vaccine series and at least one booster – while countries such as England have stopped recommending or allowing certain people to get boosters, period. According to critics, the CDC should further scale back recommendations – particularly for those who are young and/or healthy until more data is available from trials and studies.

  “When you look at tracking data for the young, the rates of either infection or vaccination—in other words, the rate at which people have some level of circulating immunity—is quite high. And so the idea that that group needs to have a vaccination series now, without current research in that particular population, I don’t think is scientifically valid,” said Dr. David McCune, an oncologist, in a statement to the Epoch Times.

  The CDC’s plan ignores the fact that the vaccines have ‘faced challenges’ against the newer COVID-19 variants, while clinical data for newer, reformulated shots has yet to be made public. The updated shots which are supposed to target the XBB.1.5 variant are expected to be rolled out around September, and will exclude components of the original shot designed for the Wuhan variant.

  “Immunity from both vaccines and infection wanes over time. The only way to stay ahead of the virus is to continue to update the composition of our vaccines and administer them in a regular cadence. Although this strategy is critical, with our current generation of vaccines, it also requires immense resources for mounting frequent vaccination campaigns—at a time when antivaccination sentiment continues to grow and the public’s appetite for regular vaccinations has waned,” Health Secretary Xavier Becerra and former White House official Dr. Ashish Jha wrote in an editorial.

  

  “Next-generation vaccines and treatments are needed if we are to break the cycle of responding to new variants as they appear: we need tools that can improve our bodies’ ability to stop infections, reduce transmission, build longer-lasting immunity, and target parts of the virus that are less likely to evolve. Ideally, such vaccines and treatments would provide better protection, enabling us to avoid disruptions of our lives and continue to enjoy the activities we value.”

  Pharmaceutical companies are also developing combination vaccines to handle both COVID-19 and influenza.

  “The companies need a new market for the COVID product and they can get that by combining it with the influenza vaccine and making sure the CDC recommends that everyone get a COVID booster annually,” said Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center, in an email to the Epoch Times.

  “If CDC officials recommend that everyone get an annual COVID booster shot,” she added, “it will only further increase public distrust in vaccines and call into question the scientific and moral integrity of public health policy.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 18:00

• Inflation Is Dead… Long Live Inflation
  Inflation Is Dead… Long Live Inflation

  Submitted by Sebastian Bea of One River Asset Management

  60 years. That’s the median age of FOMC members. It puts their prime college learning years from 1983 to 1988, a period of exciting change in economics. Policy was attentive to taming inflation and shrinking the role of the government. Academicians calibrated how to keep future policy from cheating once price stability was achieved. And the world settled on inflation targeting, with New Zealand the first responder.

  “It was a bit of a shock to everyone, I think,” offered Roger Douglas, New Zealand’s finance minister in the late 1980s. “I just announced it was gonna be 2%, and it sort of stuck.” Global monetary policy can credit its current north star to “Rogernomics” – 2% became the global norm, agreeing with the direction of the wind. It was low enough to make inflation irrelevant and high enough to give policy a margin of error, greasing the wheels of an economy.

  But inflation targeting failed to achieve its objective. And for predictable reasons.

  “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure,” Charles Goodhart quipped in 1975 at a time when statistical techniques were on the rise. Models that looked useful when fitted to the past would become useless once policy used them, as everyone would anticipate their effects. And despite the vintage of policymakers learned in this era of thought, the lessons were brushed aside. The consequences cannot be. The amplitudes of financial asset prices have never been greater than in the era of “price stability.”

  And so, the pattern continues. Today, the global goods sector is in a deep recession. Industrial powerhouses of Europe’s north have become the weakest links in the global economy. Downward pressure on inflation from these sources is welcomed in overheated economies, like the US where nominal GDP is 14% above its 2010-2020 trend. One-year US inflation swaps have collapsed to 2%, a Pavlovian green light to be long growth equities. Only, that’s not really the story.

  Last year was a deflationary board, not an inflationary one. Yes, global CPI inflation rocketed to 9%, the highest in nearly two decades. But from any other vantage point, 2022 was deflationary. The US dollar rose. Equities evaporated. Bonds busted. Crypto cratered. Commodities collapsed. These are not outcomes of a world seeking inflation protection. There was a strongly held belief that inflation would be contained by rate hikes. And we got a lot of them. Cash was king.

  Now, the board is inflationary in the face of declining consumer price growth. Weak growth and low inflation in China open the door for aggressive easing, executing targeted stimulus to boost the consumer. Inflationary. Global equity gains are multiple expansion, discounting higher nominal GDP. Also, inflationary. Financial markets are internalizing the other lesson of the 1970s – monetary policy can’t do it alone in taming inflation, a fiscal anchor is needed. It isn’t there.

  Growth assets are leading performers this year with all eyes on scalable virtual worlds. Artificial intelligence. The Metaverse. Virtual currencies. Investors are enamored by scale. And like macro models, the past 20 years of scaling solutions are not the right guide to the future. Scaling the new generation of technologies will require enormous resources at a time when they are in sparse supply. A commodity supercycle will focus investors back to the need for physical investment.

  Signs are already there. Despite higher-for-longer policy rates, inflation commodities are firming. Gold is approaching cycle highs. Its correlation to bitcoin has averaged 65% this year (Bloomberg, CBAM calculations). The levels look nothing alike – bitcoin is still 57% from all-time highs. But there are two distinct patterns in the relationship between gold and bitcoin. One where bitcoin follows gold in a low-beta manner, and the other where digital gold surges in the phase of speculative excess (Figure 1).

  

  We have yet to see the unabashed speculative excess that derailed past cycles – crypto-asset markets are avoiding past mistakes. It’s a disciplined rally. Digital Financial Conditions are tight. Capital is available, but only for those with strong projects anchored to conservative planning. Even where momentum and speculation show signs of building, it is localized. Figure 2 makes the point with a scatter of one-month price changes against the year-to-date.

  

  The upward-sloping line is indicative of momentum. Those winning for the month are now winning for the year. Narrow momentum is the story of July, a bet on previously lagging assets racing ahead, like Stellar, Ripple, and Solana. This cycle’s early movers, dominated by Bitcoin and Ethereum, delivered mostly nothing in July despite an inflationary board in traditional markets. The gift of nothing is welcomed. Durable trends are built on discipline. It’s the prevailing theme in crypto-asset markets.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 17:30

• Summer Blockbuster 'Sound Of Freedom' To Hit Movie Screens "Around The World"
  Summer Blockbuster ‘Sound Of Freedom’ To Hit Movie Screens “Around The World”

  Despite a wave of negative criticism from mainstream outlets like (Rolling Stone and Bloomberg) targeting the anti-child trafficking movie “Sound of Freedom,” the independent film is defying expectations by increasing its nationwide screening count. The film’s earnings have exceeded $140 million, and there are plans to expand its reach to over 20 countries in Central and South America, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Australia, and South Africa. 

  The film’s production company Angel Studios tweeted, “Sound of Freedom is on its way around the world.” 

  You ask, we answer. “Sound of Freedom” is on its way around the world.

  Find international showtimes at https://t.co/tUytCofxfr .#SoundOfFreedom #AngelStudios pic.twitter.com/fOCIZ7od1p

  — Angel Studios (@AngelStudiosInc) July 26, 2023

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

  On Friday, Angel Studios released a statement, “SOUND OF FREEDOM enters its fourth-weekend screening in 3,411 theaters, and is crossing the total booking threshold of over 4,000 screens and topping $130M in box office revenue.” 

  “Everyone in the industry knows that films are generally supposed to lose screens week-over-week, not add them. And yet, the incredible word-of-mouth driving SOUND OF FREEDOM continues to spread. In response, we are continuing to expand our offering in theaters this weekend,” said Brandon Purdie, Angel Studios Head of Theatrical. 

  According to Box Office Mojo, the movie that only had a budget of $14.5 million has earned $140 million as of Friday since being released on July 4 — and remains in the top five hottest movies at theaters. 

  

  Geesey told Newsweek, “Since Sound of Freedom launched in the U.S., demand has been building around the world in dozens of regions and languages. Child trafficking is a global issue, and we hope to build on the incredible momentum here in the States and share the film’s powerful message worldwide.”

  He told Variety: “Sound of Freedom has become the people’s movie. This is the opposite of the top down system developed by Hollywood gatekeepers. We are empowering people to be part of choosing, funding, and sharing stories that amplify light and impact culture.”

  The film, which stars Jim Caviezel, is based on the true story of Tim Ballard, a former Homeland Security agent who battles against human trafficking. 

  “A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE MASTERPIECE THAT EVERYONE MUST SEE!”

  “An inspiring, life-changing film that captured my heart and changed the way I think about everything.”
  See showtimes at https://t.co/JEKL04lTRB #2MillionFor2Million pic.twitter.com/iCjrweVSxl

  — Angel Studios (@AngelStudiosInc) June 30, 2023

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

  At the end of the film, a message reads, “Human trafficking is a 150 billion-dollar-a-year business. The United States is one of the top destinations for human trafficking and is among the largest consumers of child sex. There are more humans trapped in slavery today than [at] any other time in history—including when slavery was legal. Millions of these slaves are children.” 

  

  No matter how much corporate media bashes the movie as nothing more than ‘QAnon conspiracy theories,’ the horrors of child trafficking are very real, and the popularity of it continues to expand worldwide. 

   

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 16:33

• "Everything Is Changing" – Californians Struggling With High Rent Prices, End Of Eviction Moratoriums
  “Everything Is Changing” – Californians Struggling With High Rent Prices, End Of Eviction Moratoriums

  Authored by Travis Gillmore via The Epoch Times,

  With some of the most expensive rent prices in the nation, Californians pay a disproportionate share of income for housing, and with evictions now returning after nearly three years of moratoriums in certain locations, some property owners and renters are finding themselves in difficult predicaments.

  

  More than 768,000 households are behind on rent in the Golden State, with debts totaling more than $5 billion, putting approximately 721,000 children at risk of eviction, according to the National Equity Atlas—a collaborative data and analytics tool founded by Oakland-based Policy Link and the University of Southern California Equity Research Institute.

  Residents in the City of Los Angeles are facing a deadline of Aug. 1 to repay all rental debt accrued between March 2020 and September 2021, with that from October 2021 to January 31, 2023, due by February 2024.

  With the first deadline imminent, Mayor Karen Bass and the city council are working to assist overburdened renters with a series of programs allowing applicants to request financial aid.

  

  Renters and housing advocates attend a protest to cancel rent and avoid evictions amid the Coronavirus pandemic in Los Angeles on Aug. 21, 2020. (Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images)

  Renters make up nearly half of the state’s population, with an estimated 17 million people leasing their homes out of 39.5 million residents, and rising prices are impacting their ability to make ends meet, according to Legislative analyses.

  Average rent prices in California are $2,902 across all sizes and property types, according to online real estate listing company Zillow as of July 21.

  Based on current listings in many areas like Orange, San Diego, Santa Clara, or San Francisco counties, homes with three bedrooms and space to accommodate a family cost at least $4,000 a month to rent.

  Supply and demand are to blame, with less housing available than is needed fueling a progressive increase in rental prices, according to economists.

  Rent increase limits for existing tenants were established with the passage in 2019 of Assembly Bill 1482, known as the California Tenant Protection Act, setting a 5 percent plus the cost of inflation or 10 percent, whichever is lower, as the highest adjustment allowed.

  New leases are not subject to the same protection, thus further incentivizing landlords to evict slow or non-paying and at-fault tenants, according to experts.

  

  A “For Lease” sign is posted in front of a house available for rent in Los Angeles on March 15, 2022. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

  Meanwhile, stakeholders on both sides of the rental equation have raised questions about various regulations instituted during the pandemic.

  Some landlords report dealing with stressful moments when renters were not paying, and they had no legal recourse to evict for non-payment, yet their mortgage payments continued to be due monthly.

  “It put all the headache on the property owner,” John Morgan, owner of multiple rental properties in Northern California, told The Epoch Times.

  “I understand some tenants were unable to pay. But some of these situations we saw across the state were people taking advantage of the moratorium. They just stopped paying and used the money to fund a better lifestyle.”

  The California Apartment Association has brought attention to the matter by filing lawsuits to limit renter protection mandates, lobbying lawmakers, and presenting stories of landlords that were owed significant sums—one more than $108,000—in back rent from families that simply chose to stop paying because they could not be evicted.

  Now with the state COVID moratoriums rescinded in June 2022 and municipal protections slowly coming to a close—with the exception of San Francisco, which is extending its policies for some low-income residents—evictions are starting to climb.

  “We don’t ever want to evict anyone, but we have bills to pay, and when they’re mounting up, it weighs on our family,” Mr. Morgan said.

  “If I can’t pay the mortgage, I don’t have a house to offer for rent.”

  

  Dozens of people hold up signs protesting against an eviction moratorium while a property owner sitting in a wheelchair continues his hunger strike in Oakland, Calif., on Feb. 26, 2023. (Xue Mingzhu/The Epoch Times)

  On the other hand, renters are faced with inflationary pressures and an uncertain economic future, with layoffs occurring in high-paying technology and finance fields in the state this year, and some rural areas experiencing economic upheaval with mounting losses reported by many businesses involved in the cannabis industry.

  “It’s been tougher to find a job and steady income this year than at any time since I moved here in 2009,” Maria Aguilera, a restaurant employee and mother of two living in Mendocino County, told The Epoch Times.

  “Everything is changing, people have less money to spend, so we’re making less in tips. Most of my money goes to rent and utilities because housing is so expensive.”

  Recognizing the issues facing renters in the state, a group of lawmakers—themselves renters—formed the Renters Caucus, a bicameral group of five Democrats dedicated to addressing rental-related housing concerns.

  Chaired by Assemblyman Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), the caucus includes fellow Assemblymembers Alex Lee (D-Milpitas), Isaac Bryan (D-Culver City), Tasha Boerner (D-Carlsbad), and Sen. Aisha Wahab (D-Fremont).

  Several proposals were introduced this year to strengthen renters’ protection, with one such measure, Senate Bill 567—authored by Sen. María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) and designed to limit rent increases to 5 percent annually—finding itself watered down in the legislative process. With price caps now stripped from its text, the bill will next be considered by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

  

  Apartments in Santa Ana, Calif., on Feb. 10, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

  Assembly Bill 12, introduced by Mr. Haney, the renters’ caucus chair, would reduce the amount of security deposit allowable from two months’ rent for an unfurnished dwelling and three months’ for furnished to the amount equal to one month’s rent for any new residential lease.

  The bill passed the Assembly and all Senate committees and will be debated on the Senate floor once legislative meetings resume in August following the summer recess.

  The author notes the importance of the bill in the analysis provided to the Legislature, as high up-front costs prevent some residents from obtaining housing, citing statistics that show average deposits of $8,000 in Los Angeles and $10,000 in San Francisco. Most landlords require first and last month along with a deposit when securing a lease.

  “While many families are able to afford their monthly rent, the requirement for two or three months’ rent solely for a security deposit places a financial burden on many who cannot afford it,” Mr. Haney argued in support of the bill in the Assembly’s analysis. “As a result, many families have to choose between acquiring more debt to afford their security deposit or not being approved for their much-needed housing.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 16:30

• "Like Organized Crime" – Multiple Banks Filed Over 170 'Suspicious Activity' Reports On The Bidens
  “Like Organized Crime” – Multiple Banks Filed Over 170 ‘Suspicious Activity’ Reports On The Bidens

  As the evidence for at least an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden mounts, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and co-host Ben Ferguson discussed the latest bombshell – 170 suspicious activity reports (SARs) from six banks over the past few years – on their podcast with House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY).

  

  As Townhall reports, these SARs are submitted and sent to the Treasury Department when banks “have a strong suspicion” that a crime has been committed, so as to protect the bank.

  As Comer emphasized, these are submitted “very seldom.”

  If someone were to have two, the chairman explained, it would be hard for that person to open up a bank account.

  Submitting an SAR, Comer added, also is “inviting the regulators to come in and regulate,” which is the last thing banks want.

  The 170 reports are thus quite significant. 

  To paint the scene here, Comer explained that what might trigger an SAR is “a large transaction that comes out of the blue.”

  BREAKING🚨 Rep. James Comer says six banks, including JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, submitted over 170 suspicious activity reports to the Treasury Department regarding the Biden family, alleging their involvement in money laundering, human trafficking, and tax… pic.twitter.com/62WcXaITeM

  — KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) July 27, 2023

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

  As @KanekoaTheGreat lays out in his detailed tweet: (emphasis ours)

  BREAKING🚨 Rep. James Comer says six banks, including JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, submitted over 170 suspicious activity reports to the Treasury Department regarding the Biden family, alleging their involvement in money laundering, human trafficking, and tax fraud.

  The American banks also raised concerns about wire transfers received by the Bidens from foreign state-owned entities, notably from the Chinese government, allegedly for the purpose of money laundering and tax evasion.

  The foreign wires were found to be directed towards Biden’s business associates before being funneled through 20 shell companies associated with the Bidens. Subsequently, the funds were distributed among various Biden family members.

  SARs are vital documents that financial institutions must file with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) when they suspect any cases of money laundering or fraudulent activities.

  Rep. Comer highlighted one specific SAR linked to a $3 million wire from China to Biden’s business partner, Rob Walker.

  This money was received in an inactive account that had maintained a $50,000 balance for ten years before the significant wire transaction from China.

  Within just 24 hours of receiving the wire, Walker initiated incremental payments to several Biden shell companies, eventually disbursing funds to four different Biden family members.

  Comer explained that concealing the source of money through the use of shell companies to deceive the IRS is considered money laundering and racketeering. 

  He noted that if the funds were intended for legitimate purposes, they could have been wired directly to Hunter Biden, but instead, they were routed through business partners and various companies with no clear legitimate purpose.

  Senator Ted Cruz asked, “So the Chinese Communist government was sending the money?”

  Rep. Comer replied, “Yes.”

  “If Hunter Biden was doing something legitimate for China, they could have just wired the money to Hunter Biden, but they didn’t,” he explained. 

  “They sent it to a company called Robinson Walker. Then they wired it to a company called Owasco. Then they wired it to another company called Bohai. These companies don’t do anything with the money.”

  Senator Cruz responded, “It’s just a bucket to pour the water in, then a bucket to pour it into somewhere else?” 

  Rep Comer said, “That’s exactly what it is and it was organized. This is like organized crime.”

  When the corporate media foolishly asks where is the evidence that the Bidens committed crimes?

  American banks have submitted hundreds of suspicious activity reports on the Biden family, alleging their involvement in human trafficking, money laundering, and tax fraud. 

  Congressional investigators have obtained bank account records and wire transfer statements on twenty shell companies owned by the Bidens, which were allegedly used for laundering illegally obtained money from China, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, and Kazakhstan as unregistered foreign agents. 

  This evidence is supported by hundreds of thousands of emails, tens of thousands of text messages, photographs, audio recordings, calendar statements, and ten years of data from Hunter Biden’s laptop, which the FBI took into its possession in 2019. @MarcoPolo501c3 published a comprehensive “Report on the Biden Laptop,” documenting 459 alleged crimes involving the Biden family and their associates, including 140 business crimes, 191 sex crimes, and 128 drug crimes.

  A $1,000 reward is offered for any verifiable corrections, but thus far, no crimes have been disputed.

  In addition, credible IRS whistleblowers have accused the Justice Department of obstructing the Hunter Biden investigation by blocking felony charges, search warrants, and interviews while preventing any investigation of the President and his family.

  Furthermore, just yesterday, a judge highlighted an unprecedented lenient deal offered by the Justice Department to Hunter Biden, which would result in no felony charges or jail time for tax fraud and lying on a gun form.

  This DOJ deal would have also granted protection to the First Son from any future prosecution related to illegally obtained money from foreign nations as an unregistered foreign agent.

  What is more corrosive and destructive to our nation than a politicized Justice Department that applies different legal standards depending on whether one’s last name is Trump or Biden?

  With Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea-deal now eviscerated, will the mainstream media find any of this “suspicious activity”, suspicious enough to warrant a report?

  

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 16:00

• DoJ Wants SBF's Bail Revoked Over Witness-Tampering, Diary Leak Allegations
  DoJ Wants SBF’s Bail Revoked Over Witness-Tampering, Diary Leak Allegations

  Authored by Amaka Nwaokocha via CoinTelegraph.com,

  According to a July 28 court filing, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking the revocation of Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) bail, accusing him of attempting to tamper with witnesses and leaking Caroline Ellison’s diary to The New York Times.

  

  The DOJ notes that SBF was released on a bond on Dec. 22, 2022, but later requested multiple bail modifications. According to the filing, on Jan. 15, 2023, the defendant reached out to the current general counsel of FTX US via email and the encrypted messaging application, Signal.

  In the communication, SBF expressed a desire to reconnect and explore the possibility of establishing a constructive relationship.

  He inquired about the potential of using each other as resources or providing mutual input on various matters.

  

  Screenshot of the DOJ’s filing. Source: CourtListener.

  SBF also allegedly used Signal for obstructive purposes, with the app’s auto-deletion feature complicating the investigation. The court expressed concerns regarding the potential risk of witness tampering in light of the defendant’s behavior.

  According to John Reed Stark, former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Internet Enforcement chief, Judge Lewis Kaplan has several options. He could view SBF’s actions as an effort to improperly influence witnesses and choose to either make further modifications to his bail conditions or revoke his bail entirely.

  He argued that Kaplan would face a tough decision in this case. If SBF is permitted to stay free, the judge will likely reiterate his previous warnings.

  The written submission comes after a July 26 hearing in a Manhattan court. U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon requested the revocation of SBF’s bail based on allegations he used his freedom to intimidate Ellison, his former romantic partner and colleague. Sassoon informed the judge that SBF attempted to “intimidate” Ellison and made around 100 calls to an NYT reporter.

  In a July 20 complaint, the DOJ also leveled accusations against SBF for leaking Ellison’s diary, accusing him of trying to publicly discredit a government witness by sharing her personal writings with a reporter.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 15:30

• A Silent Threat To The Energy Transition: America's Broken Infrastructure Policy
  A Silent Threat To The Energy Transition: America’s Broken Infrastructure Policy

  Authroed by Joshua Trott via RealClear Wire,

  On paper, the Inflation Reduction Act was a big win for America’s infrastructure and energy future: $550 billion in federal spending, with nearly $400 billion earmarked for energy projects aimed at reducing our carbon emissions by the end of the decade. But money alone, even half a trillion dollars in federal funding, can’t solve the biggest problems facing the energy industry as it works to meet global demand today while building toward a more sustainable tomorrow. 

  So much of the conversation focuses on the tired and misleading narrative about Oil & Gas villains vs. Renewable heroes. The true enemy of our sustainable energy future is the nation’s broken infrastructure policy. We could greenlight every renewable project in development today and innovate every piece of technology needed to meet our climate goals, and it wouldn’t matter because we lack the ability to utilize and store the energy we create.

  Take the West Virginia pipeline finally approved after years of stalled progress. It’s getting done not because of new funding or policy innovation, but thanks to pork barrel politics in Capitol Hill’s debt ceiling negotiations. The Mountain Valley Pipeline highlights the shortcomings of our fragmented infrastructure policy, which threatens to derail even the costliest, best-executed, and most well-intentioned energy transition plans. The stakes have never been higher, and the situation is growing more precarious by the day. 

  

  A Broken System

  There’s a massive gap between our efforts to transition to sustainable energy and our ability to make it happen. Countless examples and data points bear this out. Here are just a few:

  • At the end of 2022, there were over 10,000 projects in the U.S., most of them wind, solar, and batteries, waiting for permission to connect to the grid, up from 8,100 the year before, according to researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In 2021, backlogged projects sitting in the queue represented 1,300 gigawatts of solar, wind, and battery projects – technically enough to supply about 80% of the country’s electricity demand. 

  • Most energy storage projects never get built. A Clean Energy Group report found that “lengthening wait times and rising interconnection costs dramatically restrict the rate at which renewable generation and energy storage resources are installed.” This creates obstacles to hitting so many goals, including emissions reduction targets, renewable generation and energy storage procurement targets, and grid modernization plans.

  • California’s big three utilities may need to invest up to $50 billion by 2035 to upgrade their grids in order to meet the state’s ambitious electric vehicle goals. That’s a staggering sum, what is arguably the greenest and most forward-looking state regarding renewables, and it highlights the needs every state will face when tackling energy infrastructure investment.

  • The IR Act included hundreds of billions of dollars for solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and other technologies to tackle climate change. Yet if we can’t build new transmission at a faster pace, around 80% of the emissions reductions expected from that bill might not happen, according to researchers at Princeton University’s REPEAT Project.

  Infrastructure isn’t top of mind for most people, but it has gotten more attention in recent years, particularly after Congress passed the massive $1 trillion infrastructure bill in 2021. The legislation included funding for everything from airport repairs to clean drinking water. It also contained the largest investment in clean energy transmission and the electric grid in U.S. history – $65 billion – to be used for new transmission lines for renewable energy, advanced transmission and distribution technologies, and research hubs for next-generation technologies, including carbon capture and clean hydrogen.

  But what good are new transmission lines and next-gen technologies if they never make it past the black hole of red tape, interminable delays, supply-chain problems, and exploding costs that derail so many energy projects? 

  The Interconnection Crisis

  The demand for investment far outpaces the industry’s speed and capacity to build. In the past decade, only about 23% of all projects in interconnection queues have ultimately been able to plug into the grid and start operations. The total capacity of energy projects in the nation’s queues is growing fast and increased by 40% year-over-year in 2022, according to a recent report from the Berkeley Lab.  

  This surge of development, largely a response to government climate resilience incentives, is good news for the energy transition – in theory. But to be able to build the infrastructure needed to meet our targets, development and construction timelines must be radically shortened.

  Some more sobering statistics: The combined solar and wind capacity currently actively seeking grid interconnection roughly equals the installed capacity of the entire U.S. power plant fleet. And just 21% of projects (and 14% of capacity) seeking connection from 2000 to 2017 had been built as of the end of 2022.

  Not surprisingly, bad wait times are only getting worse. The typical duration from connection request to commercial operation increased from less than two years for projects built from 2000 to 2007 to nearly four years for those built from 2018 to 2022. When companies do finally get projects reviewed, they often face another hurdle: Local grids are at capacity, so they are required to spend much more than they planned for new transmission lines and other upgrades.

  The mission-critical priority is not the ability to build energy resources. It’s the infrastructure and ability to absorb and leverage those energy resources. Forget about politics, policy, and money – if you don’t have the infrastructure to support the new technology, nothing else matters.

  Aging Grid, Growing Problems 

  This New York Times headline from February sums up the issue well: “The U.S. Has Billions for Wind and Solar Projects. Good Luck Plugging Them In.”

  Much of the U.S. grid was built in the 1960s and 1970s, and over 70% of it is currently more than a quarter-century old. But age isn’t the grid’s only problem. The U.S. power infrastructure was built to bring energy from where fossil fuels are burned to where the energy will be used. The nation’s electricity industry, meanwhile, grew via a patchwork of local utility companies whose targets were to meet local demand and maintain grid reliability.

  Emissions-free energy sources like sun and wind are, by nature, intermittent. They’re abundant only in places where the sun is shining or the wind is blowing, and therefore need to be stored and transmitted to other locations where there is demand for power. 

  Along with the need for new ways to transmit and store sustainable energy, the existing grid will need a major upgrade as demand for electricity rises to meet the needs of electric vehicles, heat pumps, and other replacements for conventional energy sources. A modernized and expanded grid “will be the backbone of the energy transition – and a requirement of any realistic decarbonization pathway,” according to a 2022 report by McKinsey & Company.

  A recent Department of Energy draft analysis cited “a pressing need for additional electric transmission,” especially between different regions. The McKinsey study framed it more dramatically: The U.S. grid will need to expand by 60% by 2030, and doing so would require “a mind-boggling acceleration of the typical ten-year capital project timeline. It is, arguably, a century of work to do in less than a decade.” 

  So far, that expedited timeline looks like a pipe dream. PJM Interconnection, the largest electrical grid operator in the U.S., has been so inundated by connection requests that last year, it announced a freeze on new applications so it can work through a backlog of thousands of interconnection requests, mostly for renewable energy.

  Upgrading the grid is the single most important thing we must do to enable a successful energy transition. Without policy change, this problem won’t get solved. 

  Washington: We Need Action Now 

  There is no silver bullet to fix this complex set of issues. But it’s clear we need a strategic approach to infrastructure investment, and fast. Part of that investment needs to come from Washington in the form of comprehensive policy and regulatory reform, which is the single biggest blocker to private investment and healthy competition in the energy sector. 

  Simply put, building energy projects is complicated. Who pays for what is even more complicated, as processes, permitting, payment, and incentivization are all misaligned. Current policy doesn’t support the buildout we need; in fact, it slows it down and exacerbates the problem. Without policy and regulatory reform, we’ll continue to pay more and more to maintain our quality of life. Even worse, we’ll never reach the finish line in the race to a sustainable energy future.

  If we want such a future, we must completely retool our approach to building infrastructure. We must support the resourcing we need in ways that maintain reliability while also furthering our climate goals. We need improved processes for addressing state and federal permitting, with a focus on timely conflict resolution. And we need incentive structures that promote large-scale infrastructure investment and improve cross-sector collaboration.

  Pitting Oil & Gas vs. Renewables is a false choice that ignores the perilous state of our country’s infrastructure policy and sidesteps the sizable obstacles to overhauling it. Solving these issues should galvanize everyone who cares about the transition to a sustainable energy future. It also should unite the energy industry behind a clear and urgent mission: to understand the challenges posed by our grids and infrastructure, to intelligently invest in solutions that are both profitable and deliver results for society, and to ring the bell loudly about the regulatory reform that is needed to deliver on our goals.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 07/30/2023 – 14:30

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• Escobar: Geopolitical Chessboard Shifts Against US Empire
  Escobar: Geopolitical Chessboard Shifts Against US Empire

  Authored by Pepe Escobar,

  The geopolitical chessboard is in perpetual shift – and never more than in our current incandescent juncture…

  

  A fascinating consensus in discussions among Chinese scholars – including those part of the Asian and American diasporas – is that not only Germany/EU lost Russia, perhaps irretrievably, but China gained Russia, with an economy highly complementary to China’s own and with solid ties with the Global South/Global Majority that can benefit and aid Beijing.

  Meanwhile, a smatter of Atlanticist foreign policy analysts are now busy trying to change the narrative on NATO vs. Russia, applying the rudiments of realpolitik.

  The new spin is that it’s “strategic insanity” for Washington to expect to defeat Moscow, and that NATO is experiencing “donor fatigue” as the sweatshirt warmonger in Kiev “loses credibility”.

  Translation: it’s NATO as a whole that is completely losing credibility, as its humiliation in the Ukraine battlefield is now painfully graphic for all the Global Majority to see.

  Additionally, “donor fatigue” means losing a major war, badly. As military analyst Andrei Martyanov has relentlessly stressed, “NATO ‘planning’ is a joke. And they are envious, painfully envious and jealous.”

  A credible path ahead is that Moscow will not negotiate with NATO – a mere Pentagon add-on – but offer individual European nations a security pact with Russia that would make their need to belong to NATO redundant. That would assure security for any participating nation and relieve pressure on it from Washington.

  Bets could be made that the most relevant European powers might accept it, but certainly not Poland – the hyena of Europe – and the Baltic chihuahuas.

  In parallel, China could offer peace treaties to Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, and subsequently a significant part of the US Empire of Bases might vanish.

  The problem, once again, is that vassal states don’t have the authority or power to comply with any agreement ensuring peace. German businessmen, off the record, are sure that sooner or later Berlin may defy Washington and do business with the Russia-China strategic partnership because it benefits Germany.

  Yet the golden rule still has not been met: if a vassal state wants to be treated as a sovereign state, the first thing to do is to shut down key branches of the Empire of Bases and expel US troops.

  Iraq is trying to do it for years now, with no success. One third of Syria remains US-occupied – even as the US lost its proxy war against Damascus due to Russian intervention.

  The Ukraine Project as an existential conflict

  Russia has been forced to fight against a neighbor and kin that it simply can’t afford to lose; and as a nuclear and hypersonic power, it won’t.

  Even if Moscow will be somewhat strategically weakened, whatever the outcome, it’s the US – in the view of Chinese scholars – that may have committed its greatest strategic blunder since the establishment of the Empire: turning the Ukraine Project into an existential conflict, and committing the entire Empire and all its vassals to a Total War against Russia.

  That’s why we have no peace negotiations, and the refusal even of a cease fire; the only possible outcome devised by the Straussian neocon psychos who run US foreign policy is unconditional Russian surrender.

  In the recent past, Washington could afford to lose its wars of choice against Vietnam and Afghanistan. But it simply can’t afford to lose the war on Russia. When that happens, and it’s already on the horizon, the Revolt of the Vassals will be far reaching.

  It’s quite clear that from now on China and BRICS+ – with expansion starting at the summit in South Africa next month – will turbo-charge the undermining of the US dollar. With or without India.

  There will be no imminent BRICS currency – as noted by some excellent points in this discussion. The scope is huge, sherpas are only in the initial debating stages, and the broad outlines have not been defined yet.

  The BRICS+ approach will evolve from improved cross border settlement mechanisms – something everyone from Putin to Central Bank head Elvira Nabiullina have stressed – to eventually a new currency way further down the road.

  This would probably be a trade instrument rather than a sovereign currency like the euro. It will be designed to compete against the US dollar in trade, initially among BRICS+ nations, and capable of circumventing the hegemonic US dollar ecosystem.

  The key question is how long the Empire’s fake economy – clinically deconstructed by Michael Hudson – can hold out in this wide spectrum geoeconomic war.

  Everything is a ‘national security threat’

  On the electronic technology front, the Empire has gone no holds barred to impose global economic dependency, monopolizing intellectual property rights and as Michael Hudson notes, “extracting economic rent from charging high prices for high-technology computer chips, communications, and arms production.”

  In practice, not much is happening other than the prohibition for Taiwan to supply valuable chips to China, and asking TSMC to build, as soon as possible, a chip manufacturing complex in Arizona.

  However, TSMC chairman Mark Liu has remarked that the plant faced a shortage of workers with the “specialized expertise required for equipment installation in a semiconductor-grade facility.” So the much lauded TSMC chip plant in Arizona won’t start production before 2025.

  The top Empire/vassal NATO demand is that Germany and the EU must impose a Trade Iron Curtain against the Russia-China strategic partnership and their allies, thus ensuring “de-risk” trade.

  Predictably, US Think Tankland has gone bonkers, with American Enterprise Institute hacks rabidly stating that even economic de-risking is not enough: what the US needs is a hard break with China.

  In fact that dovetails with Washington smashing international free trade rules and international law, and treating any form of trade and SWIFT and financial exchanges as “national security threats” to US economic and military control.

  So the pattern ahead is not China imposing trade sanctions on the EU – which remains a top trade partner for Beijing; it’s Washington imposing a tsunami of sanctions on nations daring to break the US-led trade boycott.

  Russia-DPRK meets Russia-Africa

  Only this week, the chessboard went through two game-changing moves: the high-profile visit by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to the DPRK, and the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg.

  Shoigu was received in Pyongyang as a rock star. He had a personal meeting with Kim Jong-Un. The mutual goodwill leads to the strong possibility of North Korea eventually joining one of the multilateral organizations carving the path towards multipolarity.

  That would be, arguably, an extended Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). It could start with an EAEU-DPRK free trade agreement, such as the ones struck with Vietnam and Cuba.

  Russia is the top power in the EAEU and it can ignore sanctions on the DPRK, while BRICS+, SCO or ASEAN have too many second thoughts. A key priority for Moscow is the development of the Far East, more integration with both Koreas, and the Northern Sea Route, or Arctic Silk Road. The DPRK is then a natural partner.

  Getting the DPRK into the EAEU will do wonders for BRI investment: a sort of cover which Beijing does not enjoy for the moment when it invests in the DPRK. That could become a classic case of deeper BRI-EAEU integration.

  Russian diplomacy at the highest levels is going all out to relieve the pressure over the DPRK. Strategically, that’s a real game-changer; imagine the huge and quite sophisticated North Korean industrial-military complex added to the Russia-China strategic partnership and turning the whole Asia-Pacific paradigm upside down.

  The Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg, in itself, was another game-changer that left collective West mainstream media apoplectic. That was nothing less than Russia publicly announcing, in words and deeds, a comprehensive strategic partnership with the whole of Africa even as a hostile collective West wages Hybrid War – and otherwise – against Afro-Eurasia.

  Putin showed how Russia holds a 20% share of the global wheat market. In the first 6 months of 2023, it had already exported 10 million tons of grain to Africa. Now Russia will be providing Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Somalia and Eritrea with 25-50 thousand tons of grain each in the next 3-4 months, for free.

  Putin detailed everything from approximately 30 energy projects across Africa to the expansion of oil and gas exports and “unique non-energy applications of nuclear technology, including in medicine”; the launching of a Russian industrial zone near the Suez Canal with products to be exported throughout Africa; and the development of Africa’s financial infrastructure, including connection to the Russian payment system.

  Crucially, he also extolled closer ties between the EAEU and Africa. A forum panel, “EAEU-Africa: Horizons of Cooperation”, examined the possibilities, which include closer continental connection with both the BRICS and Asia. A torrent of free trade agreements may be in the pipeline.

  The scope of the forum was quite impressive. There were “de-neocolonialization” panels, such as “Achieving Technological Sovereignty Through Industrial Cooperation” or “New World Order: from the Legacy of Colonialism to Sovereignty and Development.”

  And of course the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) was also discussed, with major players Russia, Iran and India set to promote its crucial extension to Africa, escaping NATO littorals.

  Separate from the frantic action in St. Petersburg, Niger went through a military coup. Although the end-result remains to be seen, Niger is likely to join neighboring Mali in reasserting its foreign policy independence from Paris. French influence is also being at least “reset” in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Burkina Faso. Translation: France and the West are being evicted all across the Sahel, one-step at a time, in an irreversible process of decolonization.

  Beware the Pale Horses of Destruction

  These movements across the chessboard, from the DPRK to Africa and the chip war against China, are as crucial as the coming, shattering humiliation of NATO in Ukraine. Yet not only the Russia-China strategic partnership but also key players across the Global South/Global Majority are fully aware that Washington views Russia as a tactical enemy in preparation for the overriding Total War against China.

  As it stands, the still unresolved tragedy in Donbass as it keeps the Empire busy, and away from Asia-Pacific. Yet Washington under the Straussian neocon psychos is increasingly mired in Desperation Row, making it even more dangerous.

  All that while the BRICS+ “jungle” turbo-charges the necessary mechanisms capable of sidelining the unipolar Western “garden”, as a helpless Europe is being driven to an abyss, forced to split itself from China, BRICS+ and the de facto Global Majority.

  It doesn’t take a seasoned weatherman to see which way the steppe wind blows – as the Pale Horses of Destruction plot the trampling of the chessboard, and the wind begins to howl.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 23:30

• Only 1 In 4 Americans Enjoy "Being Social"
  Only 1 In 4 Americans Enjoy “Being Social”

  International Friendship Day will be celebrated tomorrow, July 30.

  To mark it, Statista’s Anna Fleck looks at data from a Statista Consumer Insights survey to see where “socializing” is most often considered a hobby in different countries around the world.

  As the following chart shows, Germans, and to a slightly lesser extent the Danish and Spanish, are particularly likely to include spending time with others as one of their main personal pastimes.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  By contrast, respondents in the United States and in urban India were far less likely to consider socializing as one of their top hobbies, with only around one in four picking the option.

  In the U.S., just some of the hobbies which were selected by a higher share of people included cooking and baking (40 percent of respondents), reading (36 percent), pets (34 percent), video gaming (33 percent) and outdoor activities (31 percent).

  In the U.S. at least, a slightly higher share of women said socializing was one of their hobbies (27 percent) versus men (23 percent).

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 23:00

• The Truth Is Out There
  The Truth Is Out There

  Authored by Emina Melonic via RealClear Wire,

  The cacophony of the Internet has been distracting from proper intellectual discussion for quite some time now. Over time, it has added clashes of ideological cymbals and symbols, signifying not much other than anger, destruction, and despair. The fact that Americans are divided has become a forgone conclusion. People have been split into so many subsets that it’s impossible to carry out a proper conversation. We indeed have an American Tower of Babel.

  

  To make matters worse, discourse appears to be the least of our problems. Political philosophy and political life itself have entered a post-everything phase, and this has rendered the very meaning of America on shaky grounds. What can we do in this situation? Is it possible to restore order not only in America but also in society as a whole? Glenn Ellmers’ new book, The Narrow Passage: Plato, Foucault, and the Possibility of Political Philosophy, offers challenging questions to this problem. Unlike many political analyses of today, Ellmers’ book engages deeply with several thinkers, seeking and providing clear paths out of a disorienting and dense thicket.

  Reminiscent of the past tradition of philosophical essays, The Narrow Passage is a concise and sharp reminder of philosophy’s relevance. In a world in which ideologues fancy themselves journalists, and journalists fancy themselves philosophers, Ellmers brings clear and deep thinking into the intellectual fold. Thoughtfully and with supreme confidence as well as intellectual humility, Ellmers dares to do what most writers and cultural critics are afraid of: challenge the mediocrity of ideological dogmatism, be it on the Left or Right.

  Guided by the wisdom of Plato, Leo Strauss, and Harry Jaffa, Ellmers explores the idea of political life in the context of dramatic changes our world has seen in the last few years. Ellmers’ book is part philosophical exegesis, part cultural critique, and it is these two elements that make the book and Ellmers’ voice unique. He brings together several elements of political philosophy, and “one of the central themes of this book is this battle between the scientific-bureacratic-rational state (which comes out of Hegel) and the post-modern rejection of all objective standards (which comes out of Nietzsche).”

  The extreme use of rationalism has gotten us into such metaphysical trouble. This inevitably leads to moral relativism, and no one is immune. We are more post-modern than we’d like to admit, despite the fact that we may be fighting for age old tradition. We shouldn’t run away from this. In fact, post-modernism cannot be properly dealt with without engaging with thinkers that we deem enemies.

  Enter Michel Foucault. While most conservatives either ignore or entirely dismiss Foucault as an unserious thinker, Ellmers engages with his thought in a very careful and deep way. While Ellmers’ philosophical conclusions differ greatly from Foucault’s, he asks us to reconsider Foucault’s arguments for purposes other than the French philosopher envisioned. As Ellmers writes, “Foucault’s central theme was the power discourse, or the relationship between political power, knowledge, and truth…It might be tempting to dismiss [Foucault]…as so much academic babble. But I would argue that we should reflect on Foucault’s argument in part because he is offering a quite accurate description of how today’s intellectuals perceive the world, and therefore how the ruling class, at least to some degree, thinks and operates.”

  Foucault understands the strangeness of modern life, and the power structures that are strangling humanity. The discourse Foucault is interested in is the one that reveals the power structure and power struggle. He “shows that what may seem like propaganda and lies to abnormal or mentally recalcitrant subjects are nothing but the ebb and flow of the power discourse as it modulates in response to environmental changes.” In other words, we are just cogs in a big machine. But do we have to be?

  “You are being manipulated. But you already know that,” Ellmers writes. You might wonder what technological and social media-influenced manipulations have to do with political life; in reality, it has to do with everything. As Ellmers writes, “…Americans are lied to on a daily basis – by corporate advertisers, medical hucksters and spiritual charlatans, the sensationalist media, and of course the authorities in government.”

  Because of this, reality is constantly challenged. If reality itself is questioned, then how can a human being expect to participate in political life? All we have are forms of control, yet all of these attempts at totalitarianism are not definitive and hard. For example, it’s clear what the meaning of censorship is, theoretically speaking, but today’s censorship works in shapeshifting ways. One is censored through ambiguous means reliant on pseudo-morality.

  The authoritarians in charge are many, but who are they? Everyone and no one is in charge. The system of tyranny appears to be a mesh of vertical and horizontal lines, absolving the authoritarians of guilt as they enact their tyranny. Ellmers rightly asserts that our awareness of all of this may be an actual hindrance to doing something about it. “Our cynical hyper-awareness of being “in the cave,” our post-modern sophistication, actually drives us deeper underground and away from the natural experiences of moral-political life. We accept the idea of the authoritative political narrative or discourse, and then assume (as Foucault did) that reality is nothing but discourse.”

  Throughout his book, Ellmers is not interested in so-called solutions. This is not to say that he is not concerned about the state of the world, or that he doesn’t want to offer certain strategies in combating the chaos that is before us. But he deeply understands that if political philosophy is to be used in any way, then it has to be given room to breathe without any imposition of ideology or specific practical matters. Of course, one could argue that there is nothing more practical than politics because it gets into the heart of the matter of being a citizen. But in a society that appears to have lost interest in deeper thought, one that has gotten used to “content” and “products” that take care of immediate gratification, it will be difficult to figure out how to move away from a mob-oriented politics to one based on citizen and community.

  In all this bureaucratic and cultural mess, people are attempting to feel like they belong somewhere, that they have home. “Part of what we are seeing,” writes Ellmers, “in the re-emerging tribalism of both Left and Right may be a creation of profound emptiness in the soul created by the loss of this “belonging,” an attempt to recover a sense of meaning and purpose by recreating a holy community of citizen-believers.”

  One cannot blame people for turning to something that may resemble a like-mindedness. But caveat emptor–there are many intellectual frauds out there that are stoking the fires of chaos all for the purposes of their own self-interest. As much as the need to belong is a truly human and noble desire, we ask must ourselves: to what do we really want to belong?

  In a 1955 lecture titled “The History of Political Theory,” Hannah Arendt said that “The modern growth of worldlessness, the withering away of everything between us, can also be described as the spread of the desert. That we live and move in a desert-world was first recognized by Nietzsche, and it was also Nietzsche who made the first decisive mistake in diagnosing it.” But even deserts, as Arendt later observes, are full of storms and elements that are beyond our control. This, more than anything, seems to be a human condition, and each generation ends up experiencing it in their own way.

  But there is something more at play here, which includes the inevitable impact on the political life of a citizen. Our atomization (perhaps something Foucault already recognized) is spreading despair. As Ellmers writes, “Despair, Jaffa was fond of saying, is not only a sin (because it presumes we have been abandoned by God), but also an intellectual error.” We don’t believe in political life anymore. There is a reason for this–everywhere we look, we see corruption out in the open and we can’t do anything about it.

  Maybe we have entered a post-political age, but wouldn’t even that assessment render us weak in embracing our unwanted post-modernism? No matter what, despair should never be an option, even if sadness, anger, and loneliness often rise to the surface. It’s in the act and encounter that we become fully human, and part of that act is a recognition of political life as well as truth. Ellmers’ book is a valuable exploration of the significance and singularity of truth and authenticity, without which political life cannot exist.

  Emina Melonic’s work has appeared in National Review, The New Criterion, The Imaginative Conservative, American Greatness, Splice Today, VoegelinView, and New English Review, among others.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 22:30

• Watch: Drones Strike Moscow's Financial District
  Watch: Drones Strike Moscow’s Financial District

  Early Sunday morning, there are reports of several drone strikes in ‘Moscow City’ – a very high-end business district just 2.8 miles from the Kremlin.

  🚨 BREAKING: Drone hits an office building in Moscow, Russia.

  pic.twitter.com/ukD5PB08Ee

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 30, 2023

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

  Footage of the attack pic.twitter.com/63FZmcqOdj

  — Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) July 30, 2023

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

  ⚡️The moment the explosion in Moscow took place this morning.

  You can always count on a Russian dashcam. pic.twitter.com/rOarvur1Bo

  — War Monitor (@WarMonitors) July 30, 2023

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

  “Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow at night. The facades of the [Moscow] City’s two office towers sustained minor damage. There are no casualties or injuries,” Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Telegram.

  Of course, we have no confirmation that these were Ukrainian drones.

  News agency TASS cited emergency services as saying that there was “an explosion” between the fifth and the sixth floor of the 50-story building in the ‘IQ-Quarter’ complex, which has three high-rise buildings.

  

  The aftermath of the strike:

  Drone hits “IQ Quarter” high-rise in Moscow, which is home to apartments and government offices. At least 1 person injured pic.twitter.com/bp8VYI3j3h

  — BNO News (@BNONews) July 30, 2023

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

  The following are reportedly videos of the internal damage:

  Footage from inside the building that was struck by a drone this morning in Moscow pic.twitter.com/gSnHUrNsLZ

  — Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) July 30, 2023

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

  The damaged building has been evacuated, officials said. The evacuations from other Moscow City buildings are underway.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 22:04

• Justice Alito To Democrat Lawmakers: F U!
  Justice Alito To Democrat Lawmakers: F U!

  Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

  Answering Democrat critics who want to legislatively impose a code of conduct on the Supreme Court, Justice Samuel Alito said Congress has no constitutional authority to regulate the court.

  “Congress did not create the Supreme Court” – the Constitution did, Justice Alito told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published July 28.

  “I know this is a controversial view, but I’m willing to say it,” he said.

  “No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court – period.”

  He was referring to Article III, section 1 of the Constitution, which states:

  “The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.”

  His Republican supporters say this means Congress has a relatively free hand to regulate lower courts—including creating and abolishing them—but can do very little to the Supreme Court.

  Justice Alito said he was not sure if his colleagues on the nation’s highest court agree with this view.

  “I don’t know that any of my colleagues have spoken about it publicly, so I don’t think I should say. But I think it is something we have all thought about.”

  Justice Alito’s comments came after the Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee narrowly approved a Democrat-backed Supreme Court ethics reform bill on July 20 on a party-line vote.

  

  Republicans oppose the legislation, the proposed Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act (SCERT) of 2023 (S.359), which they say is unconstitutional. They have suggested that Democrats—many of whom want to pack the Supreme Court with liberal justices—only want to move against the judicial body because its six-member conservative-leaning majority has been handing down decisions they find objectionable.

  The proposed SCERT Act, sponsored by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), chairman of one of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s panels, would direct the Supreme Court to issue a code of conduct governing its own members and require justices to recuse themselves from certain cases. It would also mandate the public disclosure of gifts, paid travel, and income information.

  It would allow members of the public to file complaints against justices and appoint a panel of five lower court judges to investigate the complaints. Litigants would be allowed to file a motion to disqualify a justice from a case—a process Republicans say is ripe for abuse.

  The measure would impose new rules governing the filing of friend-of-the-court briefs, which seek to influence the court on specific cases and require greater disclosure by the parties filing them.

  Most of the left’s ire has been directed at conservative Justice Clarence Thomas. They are upset that wealthy Republican donor Harlan Crow gave Justice Thomas luxurious vacations, tuition support for a grandnephew he raised, and purchased low-dollar real estate from the justice’s family.

  Justice Thomas didn’t disclose the events, saying he was advised that it wasn’t required, but has vowed to disclose such events going forward.

  But critics have also attacked Justice Alito, who has defended his decisions not to disclose a paid Alaska trip in 2008 and not to recuse himself from a court case in 2014 that was related to the person who paid for the transportation.

  The justice said he did not mention the trip in a 2008 report because not disclosing it was the “standard practice” in cases like this.

  Justice Alito and the eight other members of the court voluntarily follow disclosure rules that apply to lower court judges and officials in the executive branch.

  Democrats like Mr. Whitehouse believe that the very fact that Justices Alito and Thomas have received gifts from wealthy benefactors is corruption in and of itself.

  The Supreme Court is “the only court in the country, perhaps the only court in the world, with no ethics process at all,” Mr. Whitehouse said at the committee hearing on July 20.

  “Then came the news that six politically active right wing-billionaires have been paying household expenses, engaging in financial transactions, and providing massive secret gifts of travel and hospitality for at least two justices.”

  “We are here because the highest court in the land has the lowest standard of ethics anywhere in the federal government. And justices have exhibited much improper behavior, not least in hapless efforts to excuse the misdeeds,” Mr. Whitehouse said.

  It is unclear when the full Senate will take up the proposed SCERT Act. If it passes the Democrat-controlled Senate, it seems unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

  Justice Alito also said in the interview, “I marvel at all the nonsense that has been written about me in the last year.”

  Facing political attacks, “the traditional idea about how judges and justices should behave is they should be mute” and allow others, especially “the organized bar,” to come to their defense.

  “But that’s just not happening. And so at a certain point I’ve said to myself, nobody else is going to do this, so I have to defend myself.”

  In the interview, Justice Alito also addressed the possibility that governments could begin defying Supreme Court rulings, as some did after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling that desegregated public schools.

  Public approval for the court is currently at a low ebb in the nation’s polarized political environment and some states and elected officials have been doing their best to do an end-run around the court’s decisions. Some claim the court itself is illegitimate.

  President Joe Biden frequently criticizes the court. After it struck down his student loan forgiveness program in June, instead of accepting the decision, he promptly began working on new ways to grant debt relief.

  After the court struck down New York state’s tough concealed carry gun permitting system a year ago, recognizing for the first time a constitutional right to carry firearms in public for self-defense, New York and other Democrat-led states passed new gun restrictions, some of which have been enjoined by the courts.

  After the court’s decision a year ago reversing the 1973 abortion precedent, Roe v. Wade, President Biden began pressing Congress to codify the now-overturned decision. And he’s made abortion one of the centerpieces of his 2024 reelection campaign.

  “If we’re viewed as illegitimate, then disregard of our decisions becomes more acceptable and more popular,” Justice Alito said.

  “So you can have a revival of the massive resistance that occurred in the South after Brown,” he added.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 21:30

• "Depart Haiti" Now: State Department's Dire Warning To Americans
  “Depart Haiti” Now: State Department’s Dire Warning To Americans

  Authored by Caden Pearson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)

  U.S. citizens in Haiti are urged to leave the Caribbean country immediately due to the recent surge in armed clashes between gangs and police.

  

  The U.S. Embassy in Haiti and the Department of State issued a “Level 4” travel advisory on Thursday, categorizing Haiti as a “Do Not Travel” destination.

  “On July 27, 2023, the Department of State ordered the departure of family members of U.S. government employees and non-emergency U.S. government employees,” the agency said in an updated travel advisory.

  “U.S. citizens in Haiti should depart Haiti as soon as possible by commercial or other privately available transportation options, in light of the current security situation and infrastructure challenges,” the travel advisory continues.

  U.S. citizens in the capital Port-au-Prince should monitor local news and depart only when it is safe to do so, the warnings read.

  Specific neighborhoods, including Vivy Michel, Tabarre, Torcel, Tapage, and Trutier, have been deeply affected by the violent clashes, posing significant risks to residents and visitors.

  The ability of the U.S. government to provide emergency services to its citizens in Haiti is currently extremely limited, raising concerns about their safety and well-being.

  US Embassy Sounds Alarm

  Kidnapping has become widespread in Haiti, with U.S. citizens frequently falling victim. Kidnappers often use sophisticated measures or take advantage of unplanned opportunities, even attacking convoys.

  Violent crimes involving firearms, such as armed robberies, carjackings, and kidnappings for ransom, are common and pose risks to both residents and visitors.

  “Kidnapping cases often involve ransom negotiations and U.S. citizen victims have been physically harmed during kidnappings,” the agency said, adding that victim’s families have paid thousands of dollars to rescue their family members.

  Protests, demonstrations, tire burning, and roadblocks frequently occur in Haiti and can turn violent unexpectedly.

  

  Critical shortages of gasoline, electricity, medicine, and medical supplies persist, further exacerbating the fragile situation in the country. Medical facilities lack qualified staff and basic resources.

  Travelers have reported being followed and violently attacked shortly after leaving the Port-au-Prince international airport, while private vehicles stuck in heavy traffic congestion have been targeted by robbers and carjackers.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 20:30

• "I've Never Seen Anything Like This" – Mysterious Chinese Bio-Lab Discovered In Remote California City
  “I’ve Never Seen Anything Like This” – Mysterious Chinese Bio-Lab Discovered In Remote California City

  Why would a bio-lab run by a shady Chinese company be operating in Reedley, CA in the central San Joaquin Valley?

  

  What was supposed to be an empty building used only for storage was home to a black-market type of lab testing facility.

  

  YourCentralValley.com reports that the discovery was made after a local code enforcement officer noticed this garden hose poking out a back wall of the building.

  Public Health staff also observed blood, tissue and other bodily fluid samples and serums; and THOUSANDS of vials of unlabeled fluids and suspected biological material.

  

  Additionally they found 900 genetically engineered mice, engineered to catch and carry COVID-19, living in “inhumane” conditions.

  773 of the mice had to be euthanized, and officials found another 178 mice already dead.

  “This is an unusual situation. I’ve been in government for 25 years. I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Reedley City Manager Nicole Zieba.

  Even county health officials were left in shock.

  “I’ve never seen this in my 26-year career with the County of Fresno,” said Assistant Director of the Fresno County Department of Public Health Joe Prado.

  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested the substances and detected at least 20 potentially infectious agents, including coronavirus, HIV, hepatitis and herpes, according to a Health and Human Services letter dated June 6.

  Agents also found thousands of package boxes – many with shipping labels from China. Below is a photo included in court documents in California.

  

  NBC News reports that an investigation found the tenant was Prestige BioTech, a company registered in Nevada and unlicensed for business in California. City officials spoke with Xiuquin Yao, who was identified as the company president, through emails included in the court documents.

  Yao told officials that Prestige BioTech moved assets belonging to a defunct company, Universal Meditech Inc., to the Reedley warehouse from Fresno after UMI went under. Prestige Biotech was a creditor to UMI and identified as its successor, according to court documents.

  Officials were unable to get any California-based address for either company except for the previous Fresno location from which UMI had been evicted.

  “The other addresses provided for identified authorized agents were either empty offices or addresses in China that could not be verified,” court documents said.

  As Kyle Bass asks in a brief tweet-thread:

  Is this illegal lab the tip of the iceberg? How many additional bioagent labs will be found?

  THIS WAS A LUCKY FIND.

  The lab was discovered by Reedley, CA city code enforcement officers when they saw a garden hose attached to the building and investigated.

  This investigation into this illegal Chinese bio-agent lab must be handled at the highest levels of US law enforcement to determine a comprehensive plan to protect U.S. national security.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 20:00

• Macleod: Inflation Will Return
  Macleod: Inflation Will Return

  Authored by Alasdair Macleod via GoldMoney.com,

  It is an error to expect inflation to continue to fall in America. All financial market values in the US and elsewhere are predicated on this hope.

  The misunderstanding is to assume that the widely expected recession will lead to further falls in consumer price inflation, and that therefore interest rates and bond yields will decline. These hopes are based on Keynes’s rejection of Say’s law, which simply points out there is no such thing as Keynes’s general glut because the unemployed stop producing.

  A further point is that banks are increasingly scared of lending risk, which is leading to a credit squeeze. This raises the question, as to how can interest rates fall when there is a growing shortage of credit?

  The current economic setup for the US, the Eurozone, and the UK seems set to increase central bank credit replacing commercial bank lending, which will undermine their currencies.

  Additionally, government funding requirements will increase materially at a time when cross-border investment flows are threatened by financial bear markets.

  The timing of a new BRICS gold-backed settlement currency and China’s determination to consolidate the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s sphere of influence have the potential to offer alternatives for capital flows escaping from the collapsing finances of the western alliance led by America.

  

  Above all, we are witnessing the death of fiat, because it is increasingly difficult to see how the current currency regime based on the dollar will survive.

  Market misconceptions

  Equities and bonds are priced in the expectation that consumer price inflation will subside and that interest rates will start falling in the not too distant future. This is the underlying reason behind a negative yield curve, with 10-year bond yields yielding significantly less than 2-year maturities. And the chart below shows that this disparity is the highest it has been since the 1980s.

  

  A negative yield curve is also associated with a recession to follow, and the chart confirms that negative yield curves are indeed followed by recessions. But the rate of price inflation will have to remain subdued, because expectations of low long-term rates must be confirmed by events. Indeed, the apparent success of monetary policy over the period covered by the chart without leading to persistent inflation has contributed to the widespread belief that official monetary policies work.

  But is the wager in financial markets correct, that this credit cycle will conform with those of the last forty years and that a negative yield curve tells us that with consumer demand dropping, price inflation will subside, and short-term interest rates fall? This is the essence of the belief that bond yields along the yield curve will normalise with lower yields at the front end and that the bull market in equities will remain intact.

  Sticking with the chart for the moment, you will notice that at minus 1% the negative yield on the curve far exceeds that of previous occasions, which surely must raise concerns that for once the past is not a guide to the future. Perhaps the forecast recession will be considerably worse than anything in living memory. Perhaps the long end of the yield curve is badly mispriced, being far too low. If the latter is the case, as this article will argue, the outlook for financial asset values is extremely poor.

  Illustrated below, charts of the yields on 10-year bonds around the world give little comfort.

  

  Any technical analyst would describe these charts as being in strong bull markets, merely consolidating before going higher. In the cases of Germany and the UK, the shape of the consolidation is immensely bullish. We are, of course, discussing bond yields, which means bond prices are set for further substantial falls. And if bond prices fall, equity values will fall as well. Based on the experience of the last forty years, this is the opposite of what is priced into financial markets.

  That a recession will follow seems assured. The bank credit cycle is seeing to that, with money supply not growing or even contracting alarmingly in some jurisdictions. And the neo-Keynesians who make up the bulk of the establishment and investing communities believe recessions are caused by falling demand leading to a glut of unsold products. Therefore, they believe that a recession will always knock inflation on the head. And being forward looking, markets can be expected to discount falling inflation in the expectation of recession.

  So much for Keynesian expectations. Keynesians were confused by events in the 1970s, when recession was accompanied by inflation. They had difficulty explaining this phenomenon, believing that inflation of prices was only the result of overstimulation of an economy. They had discarded Say’s law, which pointed out there could be no such thing as a general glut because production output declined with employment. They also airbrushed the conditions of every great fiat currency inflation out of their minds, ignoring the fact that if the GDP statistic had been invented earlier, Germany’s nominal GDP would have risen off the charts in 1918‑1923. And that the lagging inflation deflator would have even shown the economy to be remarkably healthy in real terms through the whole episode of the paper mark’s collapse, which for other than exporters being paid in hard currency impoverished the vast majority of the population.

  An additional problem is in the monetarists’ approach, which rarely, if ever, distinguished properly between credit and money. Admittedly, the early warnings of a downturn in economies came from monetarists who pointed to the slowdown of monetary growth in the broad money statistics. They were correct in assuming a correlation between GDP and growth in broad money. But they fell into the trap of believing that the authorities should manage economic policy in the light of changes in the quantity of money. In other words, they have become statists themselves, turning their backs on the ability of free markets to set demand for credit.

  Doubtless, today’s monetarists would claim they are merely being practical in the context of the current system, but they cannot have it both ways. In any event, their claims over the relationship between the money supply and prices only hold water in a limited context, as the following conundrum illustrates.

  Let us assume that Nation A has an economy of a certain size, measured by output volumes instead of GDP credit totals. Let us also assume that Nation B, using the same currency units and with the same quantity of human resources has an economy twice the size in terms of volume outputs. What will be the difference in the purchasing power of their common currency units?

  The first thing to note is that other things being equal, there will be substantial expansion of credit to finance the extra production. In other words, on the same population base, money supply could be approximately twice as high in Nation B compared with Nation A. But this does not mean that prices will be higher in Nation B. It is more likely they will be lower in Nation B than in NationA because of higher output volumes benefitting from economies of scale, investment in more efficient production, and enhanced competition.

  From this we can deduce a simple rule governing the monetary relationship. So long as expanded credit is provided for the enhancement of commerce it will not result in price inflation. If, in the example above, Nations A and B were simply the same nation under different conditions, doubling the quantity of credit would not result in similar increases in prices. And the purchasing power of a circulating medium is determined by markets, not its quantity. 

  There is a further distinction to be made, in this case between credit backed by sound money, which is gold, and credit backed by fiat currency. Sound money is the universally accepted money without counterparty risk, which both legally and derived from long-standing human acceptance is gold. In an earlier article[i], I showed that the expansion of bank credit (which makes up over 90% of the circulating medium) can have a short-term cyclical effect, while the more permanent destruction to its purchasing power comes from the state increasing the quantity of bank notes and commercial bank deposits on its central bank’s balance sheet. The example where the expansion of central bank credit is strictly controlled, while commercial bank deposits are determined by market factors is illustrated in the following chart of Britain under its gold standard for over nine decades, taken from the article referred to above:

  

  We can see from the first chart how under Britain’s gold coin exchange standard, the note issue was stable while commercial bank credit expanded. The crises of 1847, 1857, and 1866 which led to temporary suspensions of the Bank Charter Act of 1844 are notably reflected in wholesale price fluctuations in the lower chart, but the self-correcting nature of disruption to the general price level usually applies with there being almost no net change in the two price indices over sixty years.

  The disruptions to prices from the bank credit cycle diminished over time. Undoubtedly, much of this was due to improvements in the banking system. But there is another factor at play: over time, public confidence grew in the government’s commitment to maintaining the gold standard, so cyclical variations in the purchasing power of the currency diminished. In other words, instead of the quantity theory of money determining the relationship between changes in the quantity of currency and prices, it is its users who have the final say.

  In a gold-backed credit system, saving is a more attractive proposition. While bank credit expanded over the century, so did savings. According to the Bank of England’s statistical research, in 1830 savings represented 5.3% of GDP. By 1844, at the time of the Bank Charter Act it had risen to 14%. And by 1890, it hit a high of 22.5%. The proportions between current consumption and consumption deferred, which are savings, has a regulating influence on the general level of prices.

  Under a fiat currency regime, with respect to savings the same is true today as it was under Britain’s gold standard. In Japan and China, there is a high propensity to save. This means that the expansion of bank credit only partly fuels consumer demand. And the element which consumers save supports investment in production, which tends to reduce prices, thereby offsetting pressures for consumer prices to rise due to higher consumer spending.

  The point behind fiat currency, which has ruled us for the last 53 years, is that it gives governments an extra source of finance by inflating its quantity. In this it is fundamentally different from the sound money example which imposes a strict monetary discipline. And governments which have discouraged savings both by taxing them and by encouraging consumer spending have simply added to the tendency for consumer prices to rise and undermine the currency.

  Credit theory therefore attributes persistent non-cyclical inflation to the expansion of central bank currency and its credit, and both are associated with excessive government spending leading to budget deficits. For most advanced economies, a global slump leads to lower tax revenues and higher welfare costs. Consequently, budget deficits soar, undermining their currencies. And a currency undermined is reflected in higher consumer prices. The current lull in CPI inflation is merely temporary.

  Interest rate management by the state fails

  Markets are in thrall with central bank monetary policies, which centre on interest rate management. And despite the recent failure of these policies, economists and investors still believe that central bankers know best, and with a misreading of the great depression in mind, that their control is preferable to rates set by free markets. But there is no clearer example of policy failure than that which is exposed by current events. The suppression of interest rates to zero and below has contributed in no small measure to the mess central banks find themselves in today. Even so, critics blame the incompetence of individual central bank leaderships without appreciating the impossibility of official interest rate management to improve economic outcomes compared with leaving it to free markets.

  The groupthinking that pervades in central banking circles denies any radical reassessment of the relationship between interest rates and prices. The idea that interest rates reflect time preference, counterparty risk, and a market-based assessment of change in purchasing power of the currency is not even considered, presumably because an understanding of these factors would rule out the prospects of any official role in setting interest rates. And for the largest stock market priced in the world’s reserve currency, ignoring the true relationship between the dollar’s prospective purchasing power and interest rates is leading it towards disaster.

  Foreigners, who at the margin determine the dollar’s purchasing power are the first to turn sellers. They over-own dollars and dollar assets to the tune of $32 trillion, well in excess of US GDP. Not only are there moves afoot in an expanded BRICS to reduce dependence on the dollar, making its ownership less relevant for the nations involved, but if expectations of falling interest rates turn out to be incorrect, there is bound to be substantial foreign liquidation of US financial assets as losses mount on portfolios. Furthermore, it seems that with $6 trillion of the $32 trillion total sitting in bank deposits it is likely that a bear market driven by the receding prospects of falling interest rates, and the prospect of commercial bank credit contracting as well, will undermine the dollar’s exchange rate.

  Bank credit is contracting

  Bank credit in the US has begun to contract as the FRED chart below shows.

  

  Bearing in mind that the interest cost has increased for borrowers, they are facing mounting liquidity problems particularly for those whose sales growth is stagnating. A combination of higher input costs, persistent supply chain issues, and higher borrowing costs are set to worsen the outlook for bank credit expansion even more, with bankers becoming increasingly concerned over their risk exposure.

  The situation in the Eurozone is worse, as the next screenshot from a ZeroHedge article this week demonstrates.

  

  In its bank lending survey, the ECB admitted that “The cumulated net tightening since the beginning of 2022 has been substantial, and the bank lending survey results have provided early indications about the significant weakening in lending dynamics observed since last autumn.[ii]”

  However, by attributing the decline in bank lending to falling demand for loans is a common error of interpretation. At a time of economic stagnation — the current situation in Germany particularly refers — businesses do not stop borrowing. Instead, their demand for credit increases. The correct interpretation is that banks are withdrawing their supply of credit, with entirely different connotations. But then an official understanding of the cycle of bank credit was always wanting.

  The situation in the UK is similarly alarming, as the Bank of England’s chart below shows.

  

  In the US, Eurozone, and UK, high levels of bank balance sheet leverage and a deteriorating economic and financial outlook seem assured to lead to further contraction of bank credit. But these are also the conditions which lead to increasing credit demand to offset cash flow difficulties for borrowers. Inevitably, interest rates will rise for the minority of businesses that can present exceptionally good cases to their banks for extending credit facilities. Otherwise, they must seek funding from other sources, such as private equity houses, selling assets, or downsizing to reduce costs.

  Over the rest of this year, we will see businesses that fail to convince their banks to extend loan facilities begin to go to the wall. Furthermore, the implications for employment, tax revenues, and welfare commitments will increase government budget deficits above current expectations. And funding these increasing budget deficits will require credit expansion by the central banks, offsetting the credit contraction of the commercial banks.

  Commercial bank credit, which imparts value to both loans and deposits, with a small theoretical discount for counterparty risk is firmly tied to the value of central bank credit, evidenced in bank notes and commercial bank reserves on the central bank’s balance sheet. The difference between these two forms of bank credit is that other than cyclical variations, changes in purchasing power come entirely from central bank credit. Inevitably, if central banks are forced into expanding the quantity of their credit for whatever reason, then they will almost certainly undermine the purchasing power of their currencies.

  Foreign valuations of currencies

  In maintaining the purchasing power of the dollar, the US authorities appear to have an insuperable problem. The prospects for the economy are worsening because of the outlook for bank credit. The budget deficit is likely to increase significantly above official expectations. And with the misunderstanding of what interest rates actually represent, being the expected future value of the currency by those who presently hold it, the inflationary implications of funding the US Government’s deficit will require foreign holders not to liquidate their exposure.

  For foreigners selling dollars, the alternatives of the euro, yen, or sterling appear equally unattractive, their only positive being that the dollar is over-owned by foreigners, but the others are not. The euro has the additional problem that the entire system of the ECB and its national central bank shareholders are technically bankrupt due to hidden losses on the bonds carried on their balance sheets. And recapitalising the entire system at a time of a gathering bank credit crisis due to contracting credit leading to higher interest rates is virtually impossible.  Sterling can be likened to a poor man’s dollar, with a lack of savings and budget deficits similarly set to expand due to the impending recession. And the yen only offers negative interest rates, plus a central bank that also needs recapitalising.

  There are two alternative homes for foreign capital flows leaving these currencies. The obvious one is physical gold as an escape from increasingly risky credit tied to fiat currency. But perhaps that argument will have greater force when the new BRICS trade settlement currency being backed by gold is confirmed in the upcoming summit in Johannesburg. The less obvious option is to buy into China’s renminbi.

  The case for the renminbi is that China has substantial investment plans in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In partnership with Russia, the two hegemons are determined to protect themselves and their interests from US disruption. Not to put too fine a point on it, this is a battle which the US may have already lost. We will know more following the BRICS summit, but with the priority being to neutralise the weaponised fiat dollar, China and Russia are likely to consolidate their position as ringmasters for an enlarged group of nations.

  That being the case, while the economies of the western alliance which owes its allegiance to America are sinking into oblivion, the prospects for the combined BRICS+ and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation are improving. Unlike the time when President Trump managed to disrupt inward investment flows through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Connect, this time President Biden can only ban US funds from investing in China. In anticipation of demand for inward investment, China expanded the scheme in December last year to widen the range of equities available on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Doubtless, there will be further tweaks to this facility.

  The consequences for gold

  A resurgence of consumer price inflation during a recession has not happened for a considerable time. It is during recessions that government deficits rise. This time, the US Government’s starting point is deficits of over £1.5 trillion. And as demonstrated in this article, it is the expansion of central bank credit, not commercial bank credit, which undermines currency values on a non-cyclical basis.

  At a minimum, the stagflationary conditions of the 1970s appear to be returning, which drove the gold price to rise from $35 to $850 in less than ten years, even though the Fed Funds rate rose from 5% to a peak 19%. The problems for the dollar are shared by others, notably sterling and the euro. But the dollar is also over-owned by foreigners and almost certainly will be dumped by them, in some cases for gold.

  There could be an additional problem for the dollar arising from a new gold-backed trade settlement currency, mooted to be discussed at the BRICS summit in August. While there are some signs that it will not be universally popular with the attendees, it is notable that Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister is on record as stating that Russia has accumulated billions of useless Indian rupees as payment for oil sales. The tolerance of Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other net exporters for payment in illiquid minor currencies is strictly limited, so payment changes in a more secure currency are bound to be forced through.

  Consequently, dollar reserves at central banks representing over forty nations will be exchanged for gold — a trend which has already been evident for the last eighteen months. The gold price is therefore likely to rise materially due to economic factors set to destabilise the economies of America and her western allies. And foreign influences will shift capital away from them into gold, commodities perhaps, and the investment opportunities offered by the two Asian hegemons.

  Assuming the new gold backed trade currency is introduced, it seems bound to accelerate a move by Russia and China towards backing their own currencies with gold. Others are bound to follow. Only then will the full benefit of a widespread industrial revolution for most emerging economies be available to them. But the fiat system based on the dollar will be destroyed.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 19:30

• RFK Jr. Says Biden DHS Won't Provide Secret Service Protection
  RFK Jr. Says Biden DHS Won’t Provide Secret Service Protection

  RFK Jr., whose father was assassinated on the presidential campaign trail in 1968, says the Biden Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has denied his request for Secret Service protection.

  “Since the assassination of my father in 1968, candidates for president are provided Secret Service protection. But not me,” Kennedy tweeted.

  “Our campaign’s request included a 67-page report from the world’s leading protection firm, detailing unique and well established security and safety risks aside from commonplace death threats.”

  Since the assassination of my father in 1968, candidates for president are provided Secret Service protection. But not me.

  Typical turnaround time for pro forma protection requests from presidential candidates is 14-days. After 88-days of no response and after several…

  — Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) July 28, 2023

  Here’s Mayorkas’ letter. This screenshot is from Kennedy’s campaign website: pic.twitter.com/cEXUfPmV0c

  — Alex Nitzberg (@alexnitzberg) July 28, 2023

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

  A misleading community note was added to the tweet, which suggests that candidates will only be protected within 120 days of the general election…

  

  The Secret Service’s website suggests the same:

  

  The actual text of the law, however, makes clear that the 120-day guidance is for spouses.

  “Major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates and, within 120 days of the general Presidential election, the spouses of such candidates.“

  Punctuation matters.

  Meanwhile, an argument for why Kennedy should receive SS protection:

  1) In June of 1968, following the assassination of presidential nominee Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, the Secret Service began protecting leading presidential nominees and their spouses. Just days after the assassination the Secret Service became responsible for the safety of five…

  — Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) July 29, 2023

  (continued, emphasis ours)

  The law authorizes Secret Service protection for major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their spouses within 120 days of the general presidential election. However, the evolution of the protective detail is based upon actual threats and acts of aggression against both the highest public office in the land and those who seek the position.

  History shows there is precedent for candidates receiving protection >120 days ahead of the general election.

  Donald Trump & Ben Carson were provided Secret Service protection 365 days before Election Day in 2015

  Barack Obama was provided Secret Service protection 551 days before Election Day in 2007

  7) Ted Kennedy was provided Secret Service protection 410 days before Election Day in 1979https://t.co/1QXvEqLG5D

  — Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) July 29, 2023

  RFK Jr is within the time range of the precedent set by the candidates above (465 days from Election Day) and is arguably under even greater threat given the Kennedy family’s tragic history of assassinations.

  The Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas) has the discretion and the ability to approve or deny Secret Service coverage to presidential candidates at any point in the campaign.

  Given that the Biden Administration began to censor RFK Jr within days of getting into the White House and is continuing that censorship even through last week’s censorship hearing, it is not surprising that a Biden appointee has denied a political opponent’s request for Secret Service protection.

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

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 19:00

• Non-Human 'Biologics' Recovered From UFOs, Whistleblower Testifies
  Non-Human ‘Biologics’ Recovered From UFOs, Whistleblower Testifies

  Authored by Savannah Hulsey Pointer via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  A former Air Force intelligence officer said the U.S. government has recovered UFO vehicles as well as the “biologics” of the pilots during a House hearing on unidentified flying objects, now known as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).

  

  The Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs held a hearing on July 26, where testimony was heard from retired Maj. David Grusch, Former National Reconnaissance Officer Representative, Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Task Force, Department of Defense, and other expert witnesses.

  Mr. Grusch was one of three witnesses at the hearing entitled “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency.”

  Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) questioned Mr. Grusch about the recovery of “crashed craft[s]” and whether or if their pilots had been found.

  “You’ve stated that the government is in possession of potentially non-human spacecraft. But based on your experience and extensive conversations with experts, do you believe our government has made contact with intelligent extraterrestrials?” Ms. Mace asked.

  “That’s something I can’t discuss in a public setting,” Mr. Grusch replied.

  “If you believe we have crashed craft—as stated earlier—do we have the bodies of the pilots who piloted the craft?” Ms. Mace asked, specifically wanting to know whether any possibly recovered remains had “human or nonhuman biologics.”

  “Biologics came with some of these recoveries, yes,” said Mr. Grusch, citing those with involvement in the program directing the recovery attempts had determined that the organisms in question were “non-human.”

  “Non-human. And that was the assessment of people with direct knowledge on the program,” he said.

  .@RepNancyMace asks about extraterrestrials: “If you believe we have crashed craft…do we have the bodies of the pilots…?”

  David Grusch: “As I’ve stated…biologics came with some of these recoveries.”

  Mace: “Were they Human or non-human?”

  Grusch: “Non-human.” pic.twitter.com/TJVbIRp4jw

  — CSPAN (@cspan) July 26, 2023

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

  He also told lawmakers that he believes the U.S. government has probably been aware of “non-human” activity for nearly 100 years and affirmed to Ms. Mace that he believed there was an “active disinformation campaign within our government to deny the existence of [unidentified anomalous phenomena].”

  Fellow witness Ryan Graves, the Executive Director of Americans for Safe Aerospace, testified that he believes around 95 percent of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) currently go unreported by pilots working for the U.S. government.

  A Witnesses’ Encounter

  Another witness, retired Commander David Fravor, Former Commanding Officer for the U.S. Navy, testified before the committee about being on a training mission in 2004 when he was dispatched to investigate an ariel phenomenon that was detected on the ship’s radar persistently for weeks.

  The pilot reported seeing a “small, white, Tic Tac-shaped object” moving rapidly across the water’s surface despite having no rotors or visible means of propulsion.

  “As we pulled [our] nose onto the object at approximately one-half of a mile with the object just left of our nose, it rapidly accelerated and disappeared right in front of our aircraft. Our wingman, roughly 8,000 ft above us, also lost visual,” Mr. Fravor said.

  Shortly thereafter, the command ship informed Mr. Fravor that the object had returned to its radar after traveling approximately 60 miles in less than one minute.

  Legislators believe that as a result of a large amount of likely unreported evidence that supports the presence of unexplained events, two issues arise. The first is that it destroys the public’s faith in their government and that secrecy on the matter degrades the political process.

  “The sightings of UAPs have rarely been explained by the people who have firsthand accounts of these situations,” said Rep. Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) during the hearing.

  “This is largely due to the lack of transparency by our own government and the failure of our elected leaders to make good on their promises to release explanations and footage and mountains of over-classified documents that continue to be hidden from the American people.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 18:30

• Yellow Ceased "Regular Operations" On Friday
  Yellow Ceased “Regular Operations” On Friday

  By Rachel Premack of FreightWaves

  Yellow, the third-largest less-than-truckload company that’s in the midst of financial chaos, said in a memo to laid-off, nonunion employees viewed by FreightWaves that the company was “shutting down regular operations”.

  All locations will be closed and/or lay off some number of employees. As the memo stated:

  “We regret to inform you that your employment with Yellow Corporation, or one of its subsidiaries, (collectively referred to as the ‘Company’) will permanently terminate on July 28, 2023, or within 14 days after (the ‘Separation Date’). The Company is shutting down its regular operations on July 28, 2023, closing and/or laying off employees at all of its locations, including yours (the ‘Shut Down’).”

  

   

  The company on Friday morning laid off an unknown number of office employees, most of which were nonunion. It said in a memo to the laid-off employees that it was unable to alert them previously of this closing of business “because the Shut Down was not reasonably foreseeable.”

  

  John Murphy, who is the Teamsters National Freight director, advised union employees to collect their belongings from all offices and terminals, in the case that Yellow shutters in the coming days and facilities are not accessible.

  Murphy noted Teamsters is continuing to look for financing solutions for Yellow. However, he wrote, “the likelihood that Yellow will survive is increasingly bleak. Yellow continues to clear its system, and it appears to be laying off personnel and closing entire terminals across the country. All Yellow employees should, in our opinion, prepare for the worst, as Yellow appears to be headed to a complete shutdown within the next few days.”

  

  Employees were notified of the layoffs on Friday morning in voice-only calls. At least three executives laid off large portions of their teams:

  • Yellow Chief Information Officer Annlea Rumfola informed her team of some 300 technology employees that Friday was their last day, according to an employee on the call.
  • Steve Selvig, vice president of customer care at Yellow, informed an unknown number of customer service employees that Friday was their last day, according to an employee on the call and a local news publication.
  • Yellow Chief Commercial Officer Jason Bergman invited the following teams to a call that said Friday was their last day: local sales divisions 1, 2 and 4; all inside sales; multiple regions of corporate sales; exhibit operations managers; and Yellow third-party logistics sales. This came from two employees on the call. FreightWaves reviewed screenshots of emails sent before and a recording of the call. A Yellow representative told FreightWaves after publication that not all teams invited were laid off.

  These layoffs come ahead of a potential Yellow bankruptcy filing. A senior vice president said Yellow is expected to file for bankruptcy on Monday, according to three employees who attended an internal call in which the executive shared this news.

  Terminated employees were instructed to receive information regarding their severance pay, health care, W-2s, and other key documents through an Oracle platform, as their access to company systems will be terminated on Friday. According to a memo distributed to terminated employees viewed by FreightWaves, severance for nonunion workers depends on title and length of tenure at the company:

  

  It’s unclear why the Yellow third-party logistics sales team was invited to the layoff call, as the company is actively seeking to sell its logistics arm. A Yellow representative said in an emailed statement after the story was published that the Yellow Logistics organization has remained intact, including the Yellow Logistics salesforce.

  A Yellow representative said in an emailed statement to FreightWaves after the story was published that customers can contact Yellow’s support line at 800-610-6500 or customer.care@myyellow.com.

  “Yellow has retained a robust customer service team that is fully capable of handling inquiries and assisting with all support that customers might need,” the representative said.

  Yellow, a 99-year-old company headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, employs some 30,000 workers. About 22,000 of them are represented by the Teamsters union. Teamsters and Yellow have been locked in a monthslong strife over changing key work rules at the trucking fleet. Now, sources say Yellow may file for bankruptcy imminently. 

  In a call to Yellow sales teams, Bergman shared a statement on the company’s potential shuttering — and pinned the blame on the Teamsters’ refusal to negotiate with the company:

  “Since last January, we have made every attempt to meet with the IBT. The IBT’S refusal to negotiate for nine months, its freezing of our essential business plan, One Yellow and, finally, its strike authorizations caused customers to find alternative freight carriers and it’s had a catastrophic effect on our business. When IBT leaders were finally ready to meet this week, it was too late. By then, the IBT strike threat had already a devastating impact on our business, [unclear] investors and causing customers to quickly depart. Given this impact to our business, we are forced to announce additional headcount reductions of non-union employees.”

  In a memo published to members Thursday night, Teamsters blamed Yellow’s management for the company’s financial issues:

  “In the meantime, TNFINC and the IBT continue to try to work with the Government to determine whether there is a way to protect the Teamster families at Yellow. TNFINC and the IBT remain willing to work with Yellow and its lenders or potential lenders. Hope, however, is fading. Unfortunately, despite more than a decade of concessions totaling billions of dollars given to the Company by Teamster members as well as a massive government bailout loan in 2020, Yellow may finally be succumbing to its enormous debt burden.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 18:00

• Navy Gets The Nod: President Biden Acknowledges The Existence Of His Fifth Granddaughter
  Navy Gets The Nod: President Biden Acknowledges The Existence Of His Fifth Granddaughter

  Authored by Jonathan Turley,

  For her entire life, Navy Joan Roberts has been “she who must not be named.”

  

  There is no evidence that her father has ever visited her, let alone held her. 

  Her grandparents repeatedly denied her existence and said that they had only “four granddaughters.”

  The first time Joe Biden was asked about the existence of his granddaughter.

  What a vicious monster. pic.twitter.com/SIyWBWum0o

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 29, 2023

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  They even gave their dogs stockings at Christmas rather than Navy, who never even bit one let alone a score of Secret Service agents.

  As even Democrats began to voice their own shock at the cruelty of the First Couple shunning this child, the Bidens finally relented and recognized her existence, but only barely so.

  Pressed by Fox News, the White House issued this statement:

  “Our son Hunter and Navy’s mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward. This is not a political issue, it’s a family matter. Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy.”

  Even for those of us who merely followed this saga from the beginning, the statement was maddening and frankly insulting. It suggested that there was some reason, until now, that prevented the Bidens from acknowledging the existence of their fifth granddaughter. That is false. There was no legal, or even tactical, reason for the refusal of the First Couple to acknowledge Navy for four years.

  Navy and her mother sought that recognition and the Bidens refused. How was that in the “best interests” of this child? Were they fostering a relationship when they gave the German Shepherds stockings at Christmas but not their grandchild?

  Moreover, Hunter has not been “working together” with Lunden for the best interests of his daughter. He has been a callous cad throughout this process, consistently putting his own interests ahead of his child.

  Hunter refused to admit that he was Navy’s father for years until forced to accept the results of a court-ordered DNA test.

  He then fought child support and even her use of the name Biden. He was threatened repeatedly with contempt of court over his obstruction in the litigation in Arkansas. The statement that he has been working together with Lunden is insulting to anyone who has followed these court proceedings, let alone their granddaughter.

  In June, Hunter settled the Arkansas child support case on the condition that Lunden agreed to withdraw her request to change their child’s last name to “Biden.”

  Washington is a hard town. I have lived and worked here for decades and I am still amazed by the cold calculations of many in this city. Long-standing values and associations are routinely jettisoned for personal advantage. Here the moral strictures of the rest of the nation are flipped; vice is a virtue and integrity is a weakness.

  Yet, even in this place of utter personal corruption, the Bidens shocked the local population. It was not their millions in influence peddling. The Bidens are standouts but hardly unique in that form of corruption. It is not the President’s obvious lies about his knowledge and ties to his son’s foreign dealings. Truth is as relative in Washington as loyalty in this city. However, few have the stomach for how the Bidens treated this little girl. The Bidens spent more time fretting over the “pressure” of the White House on Major and Commander than they did the emotional impact on a four-year-old child who was prevented from even calling herself a Biden.

  So what changed after four years to compel this passing recognition in a press statement? It was not the litigation. There was never any legal reason not to recognize their granddaughter since it was confirmed by DNA and court order. It was not any sudden request of the child or her mother. They have been asking for years for such recognition.

  It was more likely the disgust expressed even by Democrats that this is simply wrong. The President is about to head out on the campaign trail and had no answer to that objection. In other words, for the First Couple, it is a political not a family matter. If it were the latter, they would have done the decent thing years ago.

  Of course, the President cannot go into his loving account of how his granddaughter is “a talker” and playful (like his German Shepherd) because he has never bothered to meet her.

  That is now a matter for this little girl to contemplate as she gets older.

  However, whatever the impetus of the sudden recognition of Navy’s existence, it was not any legal cause.

  The First Couple was free to do the decent thing at any time over the last four years. They simply did not find it in their “best interest” to do so.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 17:30

• "Jackasses! You Little Sh*ts!" – House Rep Curses Teenage Senate Pages
  “Jackasses! You Little Sh*ts!” – House Rep Curses Teenage Senate Pages

  Wisconsin Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden is facing bipartisan condemnation after giving a group of teenage Senate pages a profane tongue-lashing late Wednesday night. The rookie congressman doesn’t dispute their account, and defended his words — which some reports suggest may have been influenced by alcohol. 

  

  Pages are 16- and 17-year-olds — 30 per term — who facilitate Senate functions by delivering messages, carrying legislative papers and preparing the chamber for activity. While not on Capitol duty, the pages live in the Daniel Webster Senate Page residence, which also houses the Senate Page School.  

  When the Senate is burning the midnight oil, pages often take breaks in the Capitol rotunda. That was the case on Wednesday, as the Senate processed amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act. A Reuters correspondent says pages were lying on the floor taking photos of the rotunda. 

  

  That apparently set Van Orden off, according to a transcript the pages say they wrote in the immediate aftermath of the confrontation:

  “Wake the fuck up you little shits. … What the fuck are you all doing? Get the fuck out of here. You are defiling the space you [pieces of s‑‑‑]. Who the f‑‑‑ are you?” 

  After a page explained their role, Van Orden is said to have replied: 

  “I don’t give a fuck who you are, get out. You jackasses, get out.” 

  Democrats and Republicans united in condemning Van Orden. “I was shocked when I heard about it, and I am further shocked at his refusal to apologize to these young people,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.  “I want to associate myself with the remarks of the Majority Leader,” chimed in Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. “Everybody on this side of the aisle feels exactly the same way.” 

  Grateful every day to our Senate pages! These incredible young people are a vital part of our democracy. pic.twitter.com/AauQ6Le2Sg

  — Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) July 27, 2023

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  “Chuck Schumer should think twice before throwing stones from glass houses,” Van Orden spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement.

  House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he hadn’t yet had a chance to speak to Van Orden. “That’s not their normal Van Orden,” he told Politico. 

  Maybe it was an alcohol-infused Van Orden: PunchBowl News, which was first to report the incident, said Van Orden and his staff were heard loudly partying in his offices before his outraged rant. The outlet’s Max Cohen tweeted at photo said to show a long row of alcohol bottles in the office that night: 

  Per a source, here’s a photo from last night of a bunch of alcohol in Van Orden’s office. Van Orden and staff were heard partying loudly before he cursed out a group of teenage Senate pages pic.twitter.com/W6KF35nfWt

  — Max Cohen (@maxpcohen) July 27, 2023

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  Responding to an inquiry from The Hill, Van Orden defended his rough treatment of the high-schoolers with a questionable comparison:

  “The history of the United States Capitol Rotunda, that during the Civil War it was used as a field hospital and countless Union soldiers died on that floor, and they died because they were fighting the Civil War to end slavery. And I think that place should be treated with a tremendous amount of respect for the dead. If anyone had been laying on a series of graves in Arlington National Cemetery, what do you think people would say?”

  Van Orden is a first-termer and the first Republican to represent Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District in 26 years, after he beat Democrat Brad Pfaff in an open-seat contest by a margin of 51.8% to 48.1%. We’ll see what this incident does for his reelection bid. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 17:00

• Gasoline: The Price Rally That Nobody Saw Coming
  Gasoline: The Price Rally That Nobody Saw Coming

  Authored by Charles Kennedy via OilPrice.com,

  • Gasoline prices have gained around 20% year-to-date.

  • This week, gasoline topped $2.90 per gallon and may yet reach $3.

  • In the United States, gasoline inventories are lower than the five-year average both because of the gap between demand and production rates but also because of unplanned refinery outages.

  The direction of oil prices is top news material. Everyone follows oil prices. Many also follow the prices of the most traded oil derivatives, and some may have noticed something rather alarming in the trend of one of these derivatives.

  

  Gasoline, one of the six most traded petroleum contracts on the global futures market, has gained over 20% in the year to date, according to a recent Bloomberg report. This is more than what crude oil has gained—a lot more.

  At the start of this year, Brent crude was trading around $78 per barrel. This week, the international benchmark, which now also includes a U.S. crude grade, touched $83 per barrel.

  Gasoline, meanwhile, started the year at less than $2.50 per gallon. This week, gasoline topped $2.90 per gallon and may yet reach $3.

  

  This is a cause for worry for governments around the world because gasoline, along with diesel, plays a lead role when it comes to inflation. When the price of fuels rises, the prices of everything else rises, too, because everything else is being moved from one place to another—from producer to consumer—on vehicles using either diesel or gasoline.

  

  Yet while diesel is a lot more common for goods transportation, gasoline is a lot more popular among regular drivers. Gasoline demand is a closely watched economic indicator that analysts use to gain insight into the state of the economy, among many others.

  Right now, the data suggests that gasoline demand is quite healthy, which could be cause for optimism about the global economy were it not for the fact that supply is falling short of expectations. This is fueling concern about more inflation pain despite the efforts of central banks in Europe and North America to tame it with a series of rate hikes.

  In the United States, the Federal Reserve announced yet another hike of 25 percentage points for the benchmark interest rate this week. In the same week, gasoline prices moved higher, with the national average adding 4% in a single day. According to the EIA, gasoline stocks are some 7% below the five-year average for this time of the year. And oil drillers are not drilling more. They are drilling less.

  In Europe, governments had to step in last year and subsidize fuels amid the energy crunch and the following embargo on Russian crude and fuels. The move drew a lot of criticism from transition advocates who argued the EU is essentially selling out to the oil and gas industry by encouraging the use of its products.

  Yet those governments that implemented the subsidies knew very well what they were doing: they were avoiding riots by millions of drivers whose living standard depends quite a lot on affordable fuels.

  Meanwhile, the European Central Bank just hiked interest rates to the highest in more than two decades. And gasoline is not going down anytime soon. Because there is simply not enough supply, at least not everywhere.

  In the United States, gasoline inventories are lower than the five-year average both because of the gap between demand and production rates but also because of unplanned refinery outages, Bloomberg noted in its report, such as the one at Exxon’s Baton Rouge facility from earlier this week. In fact, for this time of year, gasoline inventories are the lowest since 2015…

  

  Media reported that a gasoline production unit was down at the Baton Rouge refinery earlier this week. The reports noted that the unit, a catalytic converter, could be down for several weeks. Needless to say, gasoline prices jumped lively at the news.

  In Europe, refining and gasoline production has been disrupted by protests in France and then, last month, Shell’s Pernis refinery in the Netherlands shut down a unit due to a leak.

  That and the shutdown of refineries in the past few years on both sides of the Atlantic have combined to create a tight supply picture even as governments consider bans for gasoline-powered cars.

  While they consider these bans and even vote on them, consumption is on the increase. Bloomberg reports that gasoline consumption in France, Germany, Spain, and Italy is on the rise. At the same time, because of the embargo on Russian fuels, feedstocks needed to produce gasoline are in short supply on the continent.

  Meanwhile, Chinese refiners are producing millions of barrels of gasoline and diesel. They are, in fact, producing so much that there were recently pressuring refining margins for the whole region. But most of the gasoline and diesel that Chinese refiners produce gets consumed locally. Because although it’s the world’s biggest EV market, China is also a giant non-EV market. And fuel demand is on the rise.

  

  The picture that gasoline supply and demand trends paint is one of prolonged tight supply and high prices.

  This, in turn, will likely keep inflation untamed despite the best efforts of central banks—efforts, which also unfortunately make life more expensive.

  The silver lining: inflation leads to lower consumption of everything. The risk is slipping into a recession.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 16:30

• These Are The States That Strike The Most
  These Are The States That Strike The Most

  Having averted what could have been the biggest work stoppage the US has known since the 1950s, the Teamsters Union agreed a deal with UPS this week that mean the approximately 330,000 UPS drivers, loaders and handlers would not strike, as Statista’s Katharina Buchholz details below, it is clear that strikes and work stoppages have returned as a mainstay of U.S. news.

  Among recent high profile walkouts, for example, are the Writers Guild of America, among newly unionized Starbucks employees and Amazon drivers, also represented by the Teamsters.

  But not every part of the U.S. sees an equal amount of these strikes, data from Cornell University suggest. 

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  While California registered the most strikes since the beginning of 2021 by far at more than 300 individual actions, Texas only registered 33 despite having around three quarters of California’s population.

  The same is true for the states of Florida and New York. Despite about equal populations, New York state saw more than 100 strikes in 2.5 years, while Florida only experienced 24 listed by Cornell – showcasing a divide between blue and red states when it comes to strikes. West Coast states Oregon and Washington as well as East Coast state Massachusetts also saw more strikes than suggested by their populations. An outlier in this logic was Missouri, which registered 33 strikes—three more than Texas—with many of them centering on St. Louis. Other cities outside the major centers experiencing a lot of strikes in the specified time frame were Minneapolis, Pittsburgh and Buffalo, where the Starbucks unionization drive started.

  The Guardian newspaper identifies the recent developments in the U.S. as a “new wave of organizing” while also concluding that the affected corporations have been engaged in counterattacks, including the firing of workers and the closing down of unionized or unionizing stores. The article also rates U.S. laws as weak in regard to protecting workers who want to unionize. In addition, many Republican-dominated U.S. states have passed so-called Right to Work laws, which prohibit mandatory union membership – contributing to regional differences in the number of union members and strikes.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 16:00

• All Bubbles Pop
  All Bubbles Pop

  Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

  The problem with bubbles of received wisdom and herd-euphoria is conditions change but the risk of something untoward happening is still perceived as inconsequentially low.

  

  All bubbles pop–and not just stock market bubbles. A speculative bubble is a psychological-social phenomenon in which confidence in the stability of future gains reaches levels where doubts are banished and risks have dissipated into thin air. This confidence can be euphoric or it can be the baseline: this (guaranteed gains) is the way the world works.

  

  This baseline confidence in the system is a form of received wisdom based on recency bias: since gains keep notching higher, the evidence supports expectations of future gains. Thus embracing what is clearly over-confidence (i.e. a bubble) is perceived as rational, and doubting future gains as irrational.

  For example, the Higher Education Bubble is popping. The PR machinery that generated the confidence that borrowing immense fortunes to pay for university diplomas was a means to securing guaranteed lifetime gains is breaking down.

  This confidence was not euphoric, it was received wisdom based on recency bias: study after study showed those with any flavor of four-year college degree earned far more over their lifetimes than those with only high school diplomas.

  But beneath this apparently rock-solid evidence, the realities of debt, supply, demand and the changing nature of work and the economy were eroding the cost-benefit of borrowing fortunes to pay for college. As the percentage of the workforce with college diplomas rose, the scarcity value of degrees declined. The gap between the low level of actual productive skills gained in most college programs and the demands of employers for high levels of real skills widened.

  With the money spigots of student debt gushing hundreds of billions of dollars into the higher education sector, universities had zero incentives to limit costs and every incentive to hire more administrators at ample salaries and construct fancy new buildings.

  The risks generated by student debts also rose. The received wisdom held that borrowing $120,000 would automatically generate a financial return of many multiple of the total debt payments. But given that the accrued interest, penalties and late fees can double the initial sum borrowed, this drag on lifetime income becomes consequential when combined with the decay of marginal returns on having a college degree.

  

  Now enrollments are plummeting, even in more affordable community colleges. The confidence in guaranteed gains from investing the time and money to get a diploma has been broken, and now bloated, ineffective (in terms of measurable productive skills learned by graduates) universities and colleges are facing declines in revenues that they are unprepared to manage.

  5 Charts That Explain the Student Debt Crisis

  The higher education bubble is not just a distortion of perceived risk and return; it’s a financial bubble of massive debt, profiteering and mal-investment. Please glance at the chart below of student loan debt, which soared from near zero 20 years ago to $1.77 trillion in highly profitable, high-interest loans owned by the wealthy at the expense of credulous students.

  Confidence in guaranteed future gains in the stock market is both received wisdom and a run-with-the-herd euphoria. Humans are social animals acutely attuned to the zeitgeist of the herd. There are strong incentives to join the herd and run with it, and the feeling of euphoria as the herd starts running is intense and gratifying.

  Combine the recency bias generated by continual “saves” by the Federal Reserve since 2008 (and arguably from 1998) with the euphoria of the stampeding herd, and the result is a heady super-confidence that risk has dropped to “permanently low levels” while stocks have reached “what looks like a permanently high plateau.”

  The problem with bubbles of received wisdom and herd-euphoria is conditions change but the risk of something untoward happening is still perceived as inconsequentially low. Consider the South Seas Bubble. In the early days of globalization and colonial expansion, the opportunity created by the granting of a monopoly for all future profiteering in a vast undeveloped region of the world was obviously compelling. It was clearly a no-brainer to bet on gains.

  Early investors were rewarded, and so were those who bought the dip. Even late-comers notched gains, and naysayers and skeptics were silenced by the monumental gains accrued by the herd.

  Then the bubble popped, as all bubbles do, and the wealth vanished into the ether. Confidence has many sources, and recency bias and the herd are the most reliable and persuasive. The Internet will grow for decades, and so earnings can grow for decades. This received wisdom, goosed by Fed liquidity, generated a herd-euphoria in 1999 and 2000 that generated spectacular gains for everyone in the herd.

  Then the herd went off the cliff, as herds tend to do when risk is perceived as inconsequentially low.

  *  *  *

  My new book is now available at a 10% discount ($8.95 ebook, $18 print): Self-Reliance in the 21st Century. Read the first chapter for free (PDF)

  Become a $1/month patron of my work via patreon.com.

  Subscribe to my Substack for free

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 15:30

• Bidenomics Accelerates Death Of American Dream  As Housing Affordability Crisis Stokes Mobile Home Demand
  Bidenomics Accelerates Death Of American Dream  As Housing Affordability Crisis Stokes Mobile Home Demand

  Here’s our coverage of the boom and bust of the RV industry:

  • April 2021: RV Sales Just Hit An All-Time High
  • March 2022: RV Shipments Soar To Record For This Time Of Year
  • July 2022: “All Of A Sudden, It Came To A Halt”: After Posting Fresh Records Just Months Earlier, RV Industry Grinds To A Halt
  • Nov 2022: RV Boom Over? Monthly Shipments Plunge As Dealerships Overflow With Campers
  • May 2023: RV Bust Worsens As Dealers Discount Trailers
  • June 2023: RV Bust Kicks Into High Gear As Winnebago Records Big Revenue Miss

  The latest results from the RV Industry Association’s June 2023 survey of manufacturers found more of the same: “Total RV shipments ended the month with 24,095 units, a decrease of (-46.4%) compared to the 44,942 units shipped in June 2022. To date, RV shipments are down (-49.2%) with 164,830 units.” 

  

  Rather than focusing on the continued RV downcycle — mainly the result of high borrowing costs which popped the demand bubble — we thought the most critical data from this report is the ongoing surge in demand for “Park Model RVs.” 

  “Park Model RVs finished June up 7.7% compared to the same month last year, with 391 wholesale shipments,” RVIA said in the report. 

  

  What are Park Model RVs? Well… 

  

  The most logical conclusion one can make about the soaring mobile home demand is possibly the worst housing affordability crisis in a generation has killed the ‘American Dream’ for many. We detailed this in a note last week titled Starter Homes Are Becoming Extinct, Making ‘The American Dream’ Unaffordable.

  Following two years of negative real wage growth that has decimated the working poor and parts of the middle class, coupled with tens of millions of folks, have been priced out of the American Dream. It’s so evident that Home Depot now sells trailers called “Gateway Pad.” 

  Isn’t ‘Bidenomics’ Great? 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 15:00

• Rise In Type 1 Diabetes Among Young People Linked To COVID-19
  Rise In Type 1 Diabetes Among Young People Linked To COVID-19

  Authored by Marina Zhang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  There was an unexpected surge in the diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes among children and teenagers worldwide amidst the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study.

  The systematic review, published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), analyzed 42 studies on diabetes incidence, including 17 studies involving nearly 38,000 people under the age of 19. The review revealed a 14 percent surge in Type 1 diabetes cases in 2020, followed by a 27 percent increase in 2021, compared to before the pandemic.

  Furthermore, the research highlighted a rise in Type 2 diabetes incidence and diabetic ketoacidosis, a severe complication of diabetes more common in Type 1 patients, after the start of the pandemic.

  

  What Is the Link Between COVID and Type 1 Diabetes?

  The exact connection between COVID-19 and the higher risk of developing diabetes is unclear, according to the authors of the study. However, some doctors disagree.

  Type 1 diabetes is well established as an autoimmune disease, where the body attacks its own pancreatic beta cells, a primary source of insulin.

  Both viral infections and vaccinations are known triggers for autoimmune diseases, and COVID-19 and its vaccine could be no exception, Dr. Paul Marik, a critical care physician, former tenured professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School, and co-founder of the Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care (FLCCC) Alliance, told The Epoch Times.

  Numerous case reports have documented instances where patients developed Type 1 diabetes following either COVID-19 infection or COVID-19 vaccination.

  The spike proteins present in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as well as those produced by the body after vaccination, are very likely to be causing autoimmunity, according to Dr. Marik.

  “There is few doubts that SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is the most likely trigger of Type 1 diabetes,” Dr. Flavio Cadegiani, an endocrinologist and researcher at Federal University of São Paulo in Brazil, told The Epoch Times via email.

  The primary role of COVID-19 spike proteins is to attach to ACE-2 receptors on cell surfaces and enter the cells. Pancreatic beta cells, which have ACE-2 receptors, are vulnerable to infection and potential damage caused by spike protein entry.

  Spike proteins also share similarities with human proteins, and their presence may lead the body to produce antibodies that not only target the spike protein but also attack human tissues, including the pancreas.

  This phenomenon of molecular mimicry is seen in vaccine-injured patients, and those with long COVID, Dr. Marik said. Studies have found autoantibodies—antibodies that attack the body’s own tissues or cells—in both groups of patients.

  Type 2 Diabetes: More Common and Complicated Consequence

  The study may mistakenly conflate Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes as the same disease, hence the “no clear underlying mechanism” conclusion, board-certified internist Dr. Keith Berkowitz told The Epoch Times.

  Type 2 diabetes, compared to Type 1, is more complex and metabolic, influenced by factors like obesity, processed food, heart disease, blood cholesterol, and hypertension.

  Dr. Berkowitz said he has observed a unique blood glucose dysregulation pattern in his post-COVID and post-vaccine patients.

  Patients with Type 2 diabetes typically have high blood sugar levels with high or low insulin levels as the beta cells become fatigued. However, Dr. Berkowitz said he observed that some of his patients had low blood sugar alongside high insulin levels, a condition he said he has never encountered before.

  “Even my well-controlled diabetic patients are not faring well, especially those who have received both vaccinations and had COVID infections,” Dr. Berkowitz added.

  Dr. Berkowitz uses intravenous fluids to address these conditions in Type 2 diabetics, restoring their water balance and blood sugar regulation. “When a diabetic goes to the hospital, the first thing they do is administer intravenous saline because insulin doesn’t work well in a severely dehydrated cell,” he said.

  Treatment for Autoimmunity and Type 1 Diabetes

  Autoimmunity is a condition where the body’s immune system mistakenly identifies its own cells, tissues, or organs as foreign invaders and attacks them. This can lead to various autoimmune diseases.

  But the body may be brought back into balance.

  1. Remove COVID-19 Spike Protein

  The spike protein may contribute to autoimmune disease, prompting doctors to consider therapies that may remove these inflammatory proteins.

  Research suggests that fasting can trigger autophagy, the process of clearing old, damaged, and foreign proteins.

  Intermittent fasting and prolonged fasts, even for three days, may “reset” the immune system, potentially reducing autoimmune activity. Fasting, however, is not recommended for children or pregnant or breastfeeding women.

  Other recommended therapies for spike protein removal include ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug, and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) supplementation.

  2. Supplement With Vitamin D

  Vitamin D insufficiency, a common deficiency among the U.S. population, has been linked to autoimmune disorders.

  Research shows vitamin D supplementation reduces autoimmune disease risk by 22 percent. Infants given vitamin D also have lower Type 1 diabetes incidence, a 2001 study found.

  Vitamin D reduces inflammation and provides infection protection. Some scientists propose it helps the immune system differentiate between self and non-self.

  Dr. Cadegiani stated that one of his first therapies is to increase Type 1 diabetes patients’ vitamin D levels between the range of 60 to 90 ng/ml, which is around 6,000 to 9,000 IUs of dietary vitamin D per day.

  Vitamin D is also linked to improved insulin sensitivity.

  3. Reduce Sugar Intake 

  Sugar contributes to inflammation, and studies have found that those who consume high levels of sugar over extended periods are at a higher risk of developing autoimmune diseases.

  In the case of patients with Type 1 diabetes, Dr. Cadegiani said that cutting glucose and carbohydrate consumption reduces insulin, and, therefore, can prevent the body from forming more autoantibodies against pancreatic beta cells.

  4. Hydroxychloroquine

  Dr. Cadegiani said that he sometimes prescribes hydroxychloroquine when a patient is positive for Type 1 diabetes antibodies, but still has around normal blood sugar levels.

  The anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine is a powerful drug that fights autoimmune diseases. It is able to bind to the ACE-2 receptors and prevent spike protein entry and is also able to block spike protein from causing further harm.

  It is currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in chronic discoid lupus erythematosus, systemic lupus erythematosus in adults, and rheumatoid arthritis, all autoimmune diseases.

  Studies have shown that hydroxychloroquine can also reduce blood sugar and is associated with a reduced risk of Type 1 diabetes. The use of chloroquine, a hydroxychloroquine derivative, in Type 1 diabetes cases can reduce inflammation in the body.

  5. Plant Supplements 

  Plant supplements like curcumin and berberine also have anti-diabetic properties and may help prevent Type 1 diabetes.

  Curcumin can decrease blood sugar and insulin levels and reduce inflammation and oxidation. Some theories have suggested that curcumin may be able to prevent the immune system from overreacting, which results in autoimmunity.

  Curcumin reduces inflammation in the gut, helping with digestion and overall gut health. An unhealthy gut can lead to a dysregulated immune system, increasing the risk of autoimmunity.

  Despite being a plant compound, berberine has been found to have potent blood glucose-lowering properties. Berberine has been shown to be protective against pancreatic beta cells and also improve insulin resistance.

  Thus, both patients with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes may supplement with berberine. Those already taking medications for diabetes may need to consult their doctors before supplementing with berberine.

  6. Diabetes Drugs 

  Dr. Cadegiani also uses diabetes drugs like metformin and liraglutide to treat and prevent Type 1 diabetes.

  Metformin is a common diabetes drug that can reduce blood sugar levels. In Type 1 diabetes, metformin increases insulin sensitivity and action and also increases peripheral glucose uptake.

  Liraglutide increases satiety and slows gastric emptying. Studies have also shown that the drug increases pancreatic beta cell mass, improves the cells’ functions, and prevents beta cell deaths, all of which may help prevent Type 1 diabetes.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 14:30

• Ukraine Firing North Korean Rockets At Russian Forces
  Ukraine Firing North Korean Rockets At Russian Forces

  North Korea may be allied with Russia, but the Ukrainian army has started firing North Korean rockets at Putin’s forces. It’s the latest illustration of how the West’s drive to sustain its proxy war against Russia has turned Ukraine’s arsenal into a wacky smorgasbord of the world’s weapons, transcending both time and geography. 

  The North Korean rockets are being fired from Ukraine’s Soviet-era Grad multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS) launchers. Their use was first reported by the Financial Times, after Ukrainian troops showed them off to the paper’s reporter. The soldiers say the rockets were “seized” from a ship by an unidentified “friendly” country.

  

  A Ukrainian defense official implied the rockets may have instead been captured from the Russians. “We capture their tanks, we capture their equipment and it is very possible that this is also the result of the Ukrainian army successfully conducting a military operation.” Or maybe not. 

  Whatever their precise origin, the rockets are nothing to brag about. A Ukrainian artillery officer told FT that the North Korean rockets — mostly manufactured some 30 or 40 years ago — are used grudgingly, as they’re highly prone to misfiring or failing to detonate. Accordingly, the soldiers cautioned against standing near the launcher while it was in action, saying the rockets “are very unreliable and do crazy things sometimes.”

  

  News of the presence of North Korean rockets in Ukraine’s arsenal comes just days after Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang to mark 70 years of the Korean War armistice and to “strengthen cooperation” between the countries. 

  Western governments have been going to great lengths to keep Ukraine’s army in action, to the point of significantly decreasing their own arsenals.  Most recently, the United States started supplying Ukraine with cluster munitions, which are banned by an international treaty that has 108 signatories — but not the United States. 

  It’s only a war crime of someone else does it?

  White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki in 2022 acknowledging the use of cluster bombs by Russia is a war crime. A year later Biden does same thing pic.twitter.com/bCmmJ51krW

  — Veterans For Peace (@VFPNational) July 14, 2023

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  Asked about the controversial move, President Biden went off-script and acknowledged the real reason why his administration would provide Ukraine with weapons known to cause disproportionate harm to civilians — weapons that his own administration had condemned when it was suggested that Russia might be using them: “[The Ukrainians] are running out of [155mm artillery shells], and we’re low on it.” 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 07/29/2023 – 14:00

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• Escobar: The Russia-Global South Connection – Africa As Strategic Partner
  Escobar: The Russia-Global South Connection – Africa As Strategic Partner

  Authored by Pepe Escobar,

  The second Russia-Africa summit, this week in St. Petersburg, should be seen as a milestone in terms of Global South integration and the concerted drive by the Global Majority towards a more equal and fair multipolar order.

  

  The summit welcomes no less than 49 African delegations. President Putin previously announced that a comprehensive declaration and a Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan all the way to 2026 will be adopted.

  Madaraka Nyerere, the son of Tanzania’s legendary anti-colonial activist and first President, Julius Nyerere, set the context, telling RT that the only “realistic” way for Africa to develop is to unite and stop being an agent for foreign exploitative powers.

  And the path towards cooperation goes through BRICS – starting with the crucial upcoming summit in South Africa, and the incorporation of more African nations into BRICS+.

  Nyerere’s father was a very important force behind the Organization of African Unity, which later became the African Union.

  South Africa’s Julius Malema succinctly expanded the geoeconomic concept of a united Africa: “They [neocolonial powers] thrive on the division of the African continent. Can you imagine the minerals of the DRC combined with the minerals of South Africa, and with a new currency based on the minerals? What can we do to the dollar? If we become a United States of Africa, with our minerals alone, we can defeat the dollar.”

  No humanitarian nature, no deal

  The Russian-African Conference of the Valdai Club functioned like a sort of final expert watch synchronization in the run-up to St. Petersburg. The first session was particularly relevant.

  That came after the publication of a comprehensive analysis by President Putin of Russia-Africa relations, with a special emphasis on the recently collapsed grain deal involving the UN, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine.

  Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the Russian Federation Council, has stressed how “Ukraine, Washington and NATO were interested in the grain corridor for sabotage”.

  In his Op-Ed, Putin explained how, “for almost a year, a total of 32.8 million tons of cargo were exported from Ukraine under the ‘deal’, of which more than 70% went to high-and above-middle-income countries, including the European Union, while countries such as Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia, as well as Yemen and Afghanistan accounted for less than 3% of the total volume – less than one million tons.”

  So that was one of the key reasons for Russia to leave the grain deal. Moscow published a list of requirements which would need to be fulfilled for Russia to reinstate it.

  Among them: a real, practical end to sanctions on Russian grain and fertilizers shipped to world markets; no more obstacles for banks and financial institutions; no more restrictions on charter of ships and insurance – that means clean logistics for all food supplies; restoration of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline.

  And a particularly crucial item: the restoration of “the original humanitarian nature of the grain deal.”

  There’s no way the collective West subjected to the Straussian neocon psychos who control US foreign policy will fulfill all or even some of these conditions.

  So Russia, by itself, will offer grain and fertilizers free of charge for the poorest nations and contracts for grain supply at normal commercial terms for the others. Supply is guaranteed: Moscow had the biggest grain harvest ever during this season.

  This is all about solidarity. At the Valdai session, a key discussion was around the importance of solidarity in the struggle against neo-colonialism and for global equality and justice.

  Oleg Ozerov, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, and Head of the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, stressed how European “former” partners persist on the one-way track of shifting blame to Russia as Africa is “acquiring agency” and “denying neo-colonialism.”

  Ozerov mentioned how “France-Afrique is collapsing – and Russia is not behind it. Russia is ensuring that Africa acts as one of the powers of the multipolar world”, as “a member of the G20 and present in the UN Security Council.” Moreover, Moscow is interested to expand Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) free trade deals towards Africa.

  Welcome to Global South “multi-vector” cooperation

  This all spells out a common theme in the Russia-Africa summit: “multi-vector cooperation”. The South African perspective, especially in the light of the raging controversy over Putin’s non-physical presence in the BRICS summit, is that “Africans are not taking sides. They want peace.”

  What matters is what Africa brings to BRICS: “Markets, and a young, educated population.”

  On the Russian bridge to Africa, what is needed, for instance, is “railways along coastlines”: connectivity, which can be developed with Russian assistance, much as China has been investing widely across Africa under BRI projects. Russia, after all, “trained many professionals across Africa.”

  There’s a wide consensus, to be reflected in the summit, that Africa is becoming an economic growth pole in the Global South – and African experts know it. State institutions are becoming more stable. The abysmal crisis in Russia-Western relations ended up boosting interest in Africa. No wonder that’s now a national priority for Russia.

  So what can Russia offer? Essentially an investment portfolio, and crucially the idea of sovereignty – without requesting anything in return.

  Mali is a fascinating case. It goes back to investments by the USSR training the workforce; at least 10,000 Malians, who were offered first-class education, including 80% of their professors.

  That intersects with the terrorism threat of the Salafi-jihadi variety, “encouraged” by the usual suspects even before 9/11. Mali holds at least 350,000 refugees, all of them unemployed. France’s “initiatives” have been deemed “totally inefficient”.

  Mali needs “broader measures” – including the launch of a new trading system. Russia after all taught how to set up infrastructure to create new jobs; time to fully profit from the knowledge of those trained in the USSR. Moreover, in 2023 over 100 students from Mali are coming to Russia on state-sponsored scholarships.

  As Russia makes inroads in French-speaking Africa, former “partners”, predictably, demonize Mali’s cooperation with Russia. With no avail. Mali has just dropped French as its official language (that has been the case since 1960).

  Under the new constitution, passed overwhelmingly with 96.9% in a June 15 referendum, French will be only a working language, while 13 national languages will also receive official language status.

  Essentially, this is about sovereignty. Coupled with the fact that the West, as recognized from Mali to Ethiopia – the only African nation never colonized by Europeans – is losing moral authority across Africa at astonishing speed.

  Multitudes in Africa now understand that Russia actively encourages freedom from neocolonialism. When it comes to geopolitical capital, Moscow now seems to enjoy all it takes to build a fruitful, Global Majority-centered strategic partnership.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 23:30

• Forget California. Texas Is "King Of Clean Energy"
  Forget California. Texas Is “King Of Clean Energy”

  California likes to pretend it leads the nation in decarbonizing its power grid but has been out ‘greened’ by an unlikely state: Texas. 

  Texas is the reddest state in the country (for now). It leads California and all other states in terms of total electricity generation from renewable sources. 

  The latest U.S. Energy Information Administration data shows Texas versus California’s power generation mix. And the clear winner in decarbonizing the grid so far is… 

  

  Since 2018, Texas has surpassed California and the national average in integrating renewable energy sources like solar and wind, thus becoming a frontrunner in the efforts to decarbonize the grid. This contradicts the popular narrative that California, with its progressive leadership, is the champion in this field.

  Bloomberg explained why Texas is now the “king of clean energy”: 

  In Texas, solar permitting is uncomplicated. Connecting projects to the electric grid is straightforward. Then there’s cheap labor, homegrown energy expertise, plenty of sunshine and an anything-goes ethos. “There’s no ‘Mother, may I?’ here,” says Doug Lewin, who worked in the Texas Legislature on energy policy and now advises power companies. “In Texas, it’s just easier to get things done.”

  Texas’ leadership in adding renewables to its power generation mix is at odds with its status as the top-producing state of crude oil, natural gas, refined products, and petrochemicals. 

  But in terms of decarbonizing power grids, Texas trumps virtue signaling California. After all, America’s largest EV carmaker, Tesla, is now based in Austin, Texas. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 23:00

• Biden's DOJ Illegally Bribing States To Pass Gun Confiscation Laws: Lawmakers
  Biden’s DOJ Illegally Bribing States To Pass Gun Confiscation Laws: Lawmakers

  Submitted by Gun Owners of America,

  Last summer, weak Republicans teamed up with Anti-Gun Democrats to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.  

  Part of that law included funding for ‘red flag laws’ nationwide. The reason for this is that the Anti-Gun lobby knows that a national red flag law is totally unconstitutional and would immediately be struck down by federal courts. So instead, they chose to bribe states with federal funds into passing their own ‘red flag’ laws at the state level, where challenges to the laws could get stuck in court proceedings for years to come.  

  According to the letter penned by Senator Roger Marshall of Kentucky and Representative Alex Mooney from West Virginia, the Biden Department of Justice has weaponized Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to Illegally bribe states into passing red flag laws. 

  In the letter, the lawmakers state that the Justice Department gave Federal funding to States that did not meet the criteria for due process.  

  “The Department of Justice appears to have weaponized the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to illegally fund ineligible red flag laws and bribe pro-gun states into passing gun confiscation laws.”  

  Interestingly, Minnesota passed a red flag law within 100 days of receiving $3.7 Million from this program.  

  These Federal grants were supposed to only be given to states whose ‘red flag’ laws met “due process requirements,” a term specifically set by one of the bill’s Republican authors, Senator John Cornyn of Texas.  

  When Gun Owners of America pointed out that this provision would be abused and ignored by the government, Republicans who supported the legislation accused GOA of lying. 

  But now it seems that states that don’t have red flag laws at all, — such as West Virginia, Alaska, Kansas, and Arkansas – got millions of dollars towards implementing these sorts of laws in their respective states.  

  This letter, — along with Representative Lauren Boebert’s Shall Not Be Infringed Act, which would repeal all the gun control passed by the 117th Congress — are just a few of the battles that GOA is fighting for your 2A rights every day on Capitol Hill. 

  Read the letter here: 

  So, pick up the phone and call your Senators and Representative and demand to know what they’re doing to hold the Biden administration accountable for this misuse of federal funds. 

  *   *   *

  We’ll hold the line for you in Washington. We are No Compromise. Join the Fight Now. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 22:30

• Environmental Protection Vs. Economic Growth
  Environmental Protection Vs. Economic Growth

  The battle in the minds of people in the U.S. between prioritizing the environment (even at the risk of curbing economic growth) or the economy (even if the environment suffers), has been a bit of a rollercoaster over the last few decades.

  As Statista’s Martin Armstrong reports, while Gallup survey data shows that back in the 80’s and 90’s, the environment was the clear winner in this moral dilemma when looked at nationally; things have started to change as the new millennium commenced.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  As Statista’s infographic illustrates, the struggle in the U.S. between the two really came to a head as the effects of the 2008 financial crisis started to bite.

  In March 2009, the economy had shifted to the forefront of most people’s minds, with a majority (51 percent) choosing the economy as a priority, compared to 42 percent favoring the environment.

  Mother Earth did eventually start to gain control over American hearts and minds again between 2015 and 2019, but the Covid-19 pandemic from 2020 onward narrowed the gap between the slight majority thinking conservation is paramount and those who feel that economic development should be given priority over conservation efforts.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 22:00

• COVID Vaccines Show 24 Times More Adverse Reactions Than Others
  COVID Vaccines Show 24 Times More Adverse Reactions Than Others

  Authored by Jessie Zhang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  

  The latest report on adverse reactions to vaccines in Western Australia has revealed that COVID-19 vaccinations have 24 times the rate of adverse reactions in the state compared to all other vaccines.

  According to the state’s vaccine safety surveillance report (pdf), COVID-19 vaccines showed that for every 100,000 COVID-19 vaccines administered, 264 adverse events following immunisations (AEFIs) were recorded.

  For all other vaccinations, 11.1 AEFIs were recorded, making the COVID-19 vaccines 23.8 times more likely than non-COVID-19 vaccines to result in adverse events.

  

  The rate of adverse events varied among different types of COVID-19 vaccines.

  The Spikevax (Moderna) vaccine recorded 281.4 AEFIs per 100,000 doses, Comirnaty (Pfizer) recorded 244.8, and the Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca) vaccine, which was removed from the vaccine program after reports emerged of blood clotting in younger people, recorded 306.

  Adverse events following vaccination can range from mild, such as a sore arm, to serious conditions, such as anaphylaxis, thrombosis with thrombocytopaenia syndrome (TTS), Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), myocarditis, and pericarditis.

  Collaboration Continues With 3-in-1 Super Jab

  Meanwhile, despite these concerns, the Australian government’s partnership with Moderna to produce vaccines using experimental messenger RNA technology to prepare for the next pandemic means these vaccines are here to stay.

  The company has been forming a trifecta jab to address the main respiratory viruses—influenza, COVID-19, and RSV to maintain its market share amid the falling revenue of vaccine companies as the health crisis subsides.

  Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine sales of US$18.4 billion in 2022 are expected to dive to $5 billion this year.

  Recently, it was granted expedited approval by Australia’s authority for medicines for its mRNA-1345 (RSV vaccine), meaning that the company will be able to launch the vaccines in Australia before any other country in the world.

  

  A spokesperson from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration told the Epoch Times that Moderna was granted an accelerated approval process on March 30 after satisfying all of the following criteria:

  • the medicine is new
  • the medicine is for the treatment, prevention, or diagnosis of a life-threatening condition
  • no other medicines that are intended to treat, prevent or diagnose the condition are included in the Australian drug register or there is substantial evidence that this medicine provides a significant improvement in efficacy or safety of the treatment, prevention or diagnosis of the condition compared to those goods already included in the register
  • there is substantial evidence that the medicine provides a major therapeutic advance.

  However, phase 3 clinical trials for Moderna’s mRNA version of the seasonal influenza vaccine have been underwhelming, showing a high rate of side effects.

  Although the vaccine generates a strong immune response against the A strains of the flu, its efficacy against B strains is not better than existing approved vaccines.

  Additionally, 70 percent of trial participants who received the shot reported adverse reactions such as headaches, swelling, and fatigue compared to 48 percent for the conventional flu vaccine.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 21:30

• Ex-Mossad Chief: Netanyahu Government Worse Than Ku Klux Klan
  Ex-Mossad Chief: Netanyahu Government Worse Than Ku Klux Klan

  The former head of Israel’s Mossad says the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is filled with “extreme lunatics” that are “a lot worse” than the Ku Klux Klan.  

  In a Thursday interview, Tamir Pardo, who led the Israeli intelligence agency from 2011 to 2016, said national security minister Itavar Ben Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich represent “horrible racist parties” — respectively, Jewish Power and Religious Zionism — that make the Klan pale in comparison. 

  

  However, Pardo said suggestions that Netanyahu is being coerced by extremists amounds to “urban legend,” telling Kan radio, “The leader has lost his mind. Nothing that has happened would have happened if the prime minister didn’t lead this process.”

  Substantiating the comparison, Pardo pointed to Smotrich’s call for the wholesale destruction of an entire Palestinian village. In the wake of the killing of two Israeli brothers, Smotrich liked a tweet in which a West Bank Israeli mayor called for the government to “wipe out the village of Huwara today.” 

  When asked why he “liked” it, Smotrich said, “Because I think the village of Huwara needs to be wiped out. I think the State of Israel should do it,” adding that “God forbid” private Israelis take matters into their own hands. 

  Israeli settlers are rampaging through the Turmus Aya village.

  Fires can be seen from miles. People are locked inside their homes. Multiple vehicles & farms burned down…

  All with total impunity & ZERO consequences!

  Yesterday settlers burned & damaged 134 cars & wounded 34! pic.twitter.com/tNNBIT3sJw

  — Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) June 21, 2023

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  Previously, Smotrich called for Palestinian mothers to be separated from Jews in the country’s maternity wards, saying, “[My wife] would not want to sleep next to someone who just gave birth to a baby who might want to murder her baby in twenty years,”

  Meanwhile, security minister Ben-Gvir decorated his home with a poster of mass murderer Baruch Goldstein, who in 1994 killed 28 Muslim worshippers and wounded 125 in the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre. 

  Exposing the hypocrisy of the Israeli government, Pardo said that if a different country adopted laws against Jews akin to the anti-Palestinian laws being passed by the Knesset, it would be considered anti-semitic. For example, this week saw the passage of a law empowering about half of Israeli’s small towns to bar Palestinians from moving in. 

  Within hours of the Israeli president meeting with President Biden and addressing Congress, the Israeli occupation government bulldozed the farming plot of a Palestinian community, in the occupied West Bankpic.twitter.com/qQdZhUI7KP

  — Rachael Swindon (@Rachael_Swindon) July 21, 2023

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  Pardo has been outspoken against the Netanyahu government’s drive to reform Israel’s judiciary system. Middle East Eye notes that in a speech against that effort, Pardo said that if a law was passed to remove the Supreme Court’s ability to apply a “reasonableness” standard, Israel would “be similar to Iran and Hungary – ostensibly a democracy, in practice a dictatorship.”

  That law was passed Monday, following months of enormous protests across the country. Pardo pins the division on Netanyahu: “A nation has been torn in two and the prime minister does not blink and shows happiness on his face.”  

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 21:05

• The F-35 Lightning's Vulnerability To Lightning Is Both Ironic And Unforgivable
  The F-35 Lightning’s Vulnerability To Lightning Is Both Ironic And Unforgivable

  Authored by Mike Fredenburg via The Epoch Times,

  That the F-35 Lightning II has been prohibited from flying anywhere near lightning is ironic. That the F-35 has been under development since 1994 and that the Pentagon “doesn’t have a path forward” to fix the F-35 is unforgivable.

  

  That a plane that’s supposed to be the foundation of American air supremacy has an Achilles heel so easily exploitable is a glaring example of how our military procurement system wastes taxpayer dollars while failing to provide the weapon systems needed to meet our national security needs.

  Yes, the F-35, the aging “wunder plane” that the U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin have been assuring us for decades is just that one fix away from being ready for full-rate production, isn’t allowed to fly within 25 miles of a thunderstorm.

  So far, the indefinite restriction has been publicly announced as applying “only” to the Air Force’s F-35A. But given the F-35 Joint Program Office’s history of hiding and “managing” bad news, it would not be at all surprising to find out that the same restrictions are in place for the Marines’ F-35B and the Navy’s F-35C, but have not yet been made public. That having this unpublicized policy in place could make sense was demonstrated in July 2021 when two F-35Bs flying out of their airbase in Japan were forced to execute emergency landings after they both suffered millions of dollars worth of lightning damage in the same storm.

  This restriction is even more crippling than the F35’s restrictions on supersonic flight, as not being able to fly within 25 miles of potential lightning activity will allow an enemy to use lightning proximity as cover for air, ground, and sea operations knowing that the F-35s will not be flying overwatch or be able to be scrambled to areas where lightning threatens them. That this is the plane that’s slated to be the replacement for F-16s, A-10s, AV-8B Harriers, F/A-18E Hornets, and F/A-18F Super Hornets is a decision that needs to be re-evaluated.

  On the face of it, it seems as if it shouldn’t be that hard to design a plane to do what planes have been doing for many decades. Each year commercial aircraft worldwide are struck tens of thousands of times by lightning. And every commercial plane is struck about once or twice a year on average. As is the case with commercial aircraft, military aircraft, while instructed to avoid thunderstorms if possible, are expected to be able to fly through them as necessary. And they’re expected to be able to take lightning strikes and complete their missions with no problem. For example, a single 1950s-era jet fighter, an F-106B Delta Dart, was struck over 700 times by lightning while flying test flights for NASA and maintained flight worthiness. Of course, that’s an extreme example, but it does demonstrate that lightning strikes need not cripple or destroy a fighter.

  So, why was the most expensive airplane/weapons system development program in the history of the world unable to come up with a plane able to do what pretty much any other plane can do? We don’t really know, because the F-35 Joint Program Office won’t reveal the problem specifics due to “operational security reasons.” But by looking at the F-35’s design history and the basics of lightning protection for aircraft, we can come up with a couple of possibilities.

  Possibility one comes out of the fact that planes with composite skins, such as that of the F-35, rely much more heavily on their on-board inert gas generating system (OBIGGS) to keep their fuel tanks from blowing up than do planes with metal skins.

  The OBIGGS pumps nitrogen into a plane’s fuel tanks as they empty to ensure that the oxygen content in the tanks never reaches a level that will support combustion (about 9 percent). That way, even if lightning does arc through the fuel tanks, the fuel vapor will not have enough oxygen to combust, and the plane doesn’t blow up.

  So, if the F-35 OBIGGS can’t generate enough nitrogen and or evenly distribute that nitrogen through all the F-35 tanks, the F-35 would be vulnerable to a lightning strike. Still, one would think that properly sizing an OBIGGS unit would be a no-brainer for F-35 designers. However, the F-35 isn’t your typical airplane, and since the beginning of its development, it has been dealing with severe weight problems, and in 2004 it went through what many would describe as a draconic weight-cutting exercise.

  Did the F-35 design team, in their eagerness to drop weight, perhaps cut it too close in estimating just how much oxygen the OBIGGS system would have to deal with for a plane with truly massive fuel tanks and a super big fuel fraction? And did they take into account just how much dissolved oxygen would be forced out of the fuel when it heated up as it provided cooling for electronics, avionics, and radar equipment—far more cooling than for which it was initially specificationed? This could be the case, but the other possibility that has yet to be mentioned publicly is even more insidious.

  The other possibility is that the F-35 is so stuffed full of sensitive electronics gear that the foil/mesh embedded in its composite skin isn’t thick enough to effectively conduct lightning strikes around the exterior of the plane. Hence a lightning strike could damage the sensitive electronics housed in the interior.

  This vulnerability may also have stemmed from a design process in which every ounce mattered, and that the weight of metal embedded in the F-35 skin necessary to conduct the lightning ended up being inadequate for the task of protecting more electronics than was ever before crammed into a single-engine fighter, or any fighter for that matter.

  That this could be the issue jibes with the previously cited incident in which F-35Bs damaged by lightning didn’t blow up but did suffer severe enough damage to require landing immediately. Of course, the exact nature of the damage was never revealed, but if it was the electronics that were damaged, that would be very bad news as a fix would almost certainly be prohibitively expensive.

  Either both, or one of the above, or maybe even none of the above, could be why the F-35 has to avoid lightning. As the Pentagon is keeping the specifics secret, we don’t know for sure. Regardless, having our main source of future airpower unable to fly in rough weather is flat-out unacceptable, and unless this critical problem can be remedied, continuing to move forward with the F-35 is actually damaging, not enhancing our national security.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 20:40

• Kansas Troopers 'Waged War On Motorists' With Bogus Stops, Interrogations: Judge
  Kansas Troopers ‘Waged War On Motorists’ With Bogus Stops, Interrogations: Judge

  “The Kansas Highway Patrol has waged war on motorists — especially out-of-state residents traveling between Colorado and Missouri on federal highway I-70,” a federal judge declared on Friday in a scathing condemnation of tyrannical practices embedded in police training.  

  Among those practices is something cops call the “Kansas Two-Step.” After pulling you over for a traffic violation and dispensing either a warning or a ticket, a cop starts walking away, but then turns back and asks, “Hey, can I ask you something?” 

  

  What feels like a friendly conversational question is actually intended to trick you. As Reason’s Jacob Sullum explains: 

  “Police are not supposed to continue detaining you after the ostensible purpose of the stop has been accomplished unless they reasonably suspect you are involved in criminal activity.

  The two-step is designed to extend the encounter by making it notionally voluntary, giving the officer a chance to elicit incriminating information, ask for permission to search your car, and/or walk a drug-sniffing dog around the vehicle.”

  Troopers are taught the technique in their training, but US District Judge Kathryn Vratil said, “the theory that a driver who remains on the scene gives knowing and voluntary consent to further questioning is nothing but a convenient fiction.”

  “Troopers occupy a position of power and authority during a traffic stop,” wrote Vratil, an appointee of George H.W. Bush, “and when a trooper quickly re-approaches a driver after a traffic stop and continues to ask questions, the authority that a trooper wields—combined with the fact that most motorists do not know that they are free to leave and KHP troopers deliberately decline to tell them that they are free to leave—communicates a strong message that the driver is not free to leave.”

  

  The Kansas Two-Step is just one piece of a policing regime that Vratil rightly found objectionable. In her decision, Vratil also criticized pretextual traffic stops, in which police contrive some reason to pull people over merely on the hope that they’ll discover something they can arrest them for. 

  “As wars go, this one is relatively easy; it’s simple and cheap, and for motorists, it’s not a fair fight,” wrote Vratil. “The war is basically a question of numbers: stop enough cars and you’re bound to discover drugs. And what’s the harm if a few constitutional rights are trampled along the way?” 

  The thicket of traffic and vehicle equipment regulations, including the ability for cops to pull drivers over for actions subjectively deemed “imprudent,” means anyone can be pulled over on a whim. 

  “Even the most cautious driver would find it virtually impossible to drive for even a short distance without violating some traffic law,” writes University of Pittsburgh law professor David Harris, whom Vratil cited in her ruling. “A police officer willing to follow any driver for a few blocks would therefore always have probable cause to make a stop.”

  

  Kansas state troopers disproportionately preyed on those with out-of-state license plates. “KHP troopers stopped 70 per cent more out-of-state drivers than would be expected if KHP troopers stopped in-state and out-of state drivers at the same rate…represent[ing] roughly 50,000 traffic stops,” wrote Vratil.

  She found the KHP has been violating tenets set down by the 2016 case of Vasquez v Lewis, which rejected searches based on flimsy pretexts such as “status as a resident of Colorado.” Vratil said troopers applied “an absurd and tenuous combination of factors” to conclude that individuals were suspicious, such as: 

  • Having a car with out-of-state plates
  • “Seeming nervous while interacting with law enforcement”
  • “Having fingerprints on the trunk lid”
  • “Going on a trip with one’s nephew”
  • “Having a bag in the passenger seat”

  Many fruitless vehicle searches were initiated by the use police dogs, whose purported alerts are determined solely by their dog handlers. That’s problematic enough, but even genuine alerts are triggered by mere odors, not drugs per se. That means a dog could very well alert simply because someone who smoked pot — maybe a car mechanic or the previous user of your rental car — touched your door handle.  

  In the coming weeks, Judge Vratil, who was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of driving under the influence, will impose an injunction. Her ruling includes a draft with provisions that would, among many other things, require troopers to:

  • Communicate to drivers when they’ve reached the point where the traffic stop has concluded and they are free to go 
  • Inform drivers of their right to refuse or revoke search consent
  • Obtain supervisory approval before commencing purportedly consensual searches
  • Maintain better traffic-stop documentation and electronic records

  Plaintiffs in the the case, Shaw v Jones, are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union. Yes, on rare occasion, the ACLU — which increasingly throws its principles to the wind to please leftist donors — still manages to occasionally do some good.   

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 20:15

• Pennsylvania Revives Effort To Impeach 'Soros-DA' Larry Krasner
  Pennsylvania Revives Effort To Impeach ‘Soros-DA’ Larry Krasner

  Authored by Beth Brelje via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  

  The move to impeach Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is back in action this week, with Pennsylvania state Rep. Craig Williams announcing that the House managers in Krasner’s impeachment trial have filed a 100-page appeal in the state Supreme Court, accusing Mr. Krasner of criminal conduct.

  In November, the state Senate voted to call Mr. Krasner to a trial to answer for seven articles of impeachment against him, which if supported could result in his removal from office.

  Mr. Krasner appealed to the Commonwealth Court asking to have the articles set aside. After many delays, the court decided the articles of impeachment did not constitute misconduct in office.

  “They relied principally on the idea that, in some of these articles, we cited ethics rules rather than criminal statutes, and they did nothing whatsoever to analyze the actual behavior that was alleged,” Mr. Williams, a former federal prosecutor told The Epoch Times in a phone interview. Mr. Williams, a Republican, is chairman of the House impeachment managers.

  “The lower court determined that the articles improperly used the ethics rules as a basis for determining whether DA Krasner’s conduct was unlawful. We have argued that the very same conduct might have just as easily been alleged as crimes. The lower court did no analysis of the unlawful behavior itself,” Mr. Williams said in a statement on the matter.

  Soros-Backed DA

  Mr. Krasner first took office in 2018. His was one of several key district attorney campaigns that was funded in part by billionaire George Soros who supports leftist progressive policies.

  In his office, Mr. Krasner has loosened responses to drug, gun, and prostitution crimes, and under his watch, homicide and other violent crimes have climbed in Philadelphia.

  “Pennsylvania’s official oppression statute makes it a crime for a public official to knowingly and intentionally deprive another’s legal rights. The articles are replete with instances where DA Krasner used his office to do exactly that, be it police officers, family members of murder victims, or other crime victims. In fact, the many alleged instances of DA Krasner and his office lying to the courts constitute overt acts in furtherance of several instances of official oppression—a crime,” Mr. Williams alleges.

  The appeal focuses on the case of Philadelphia Police Officer Robert Pownall, for which courts have reprimanded Mr. Krasner and his office.

  The case stems from a 2017 incident in which Mr. Pownall was involved in the deadly shooting of 32-year-old David Jones, who had been riding a dirt bike after a traffic stop. In 2018, Mr. Krasner charged Mr. Pownall with first-degree murder. In 2022, a Philadelphia judge dismissed all charges against Mr. Pownall.

  “In the case of the Officer Pownall shooting, the district attorney’s office failed to provide the legal instruction for homicide and made an intentional, deliberate choice not to inform the grand jurors about the justification defense available to Officer Pownall, despite being aware of it,” Mr. Williams said.

  “The trial court also found that the district attorney’s office ‘demonstrated a lack of candor to the Court by misstating the law and providing [it] with incorrect case law’ and was ‘disingenuous with the Court when it asserted [for various reasons] that it had good cause to bypass the preliminary hearing,’ resulting in prejudice to Officer Pownall and the violation of his due process rights.

  “In addition, the District Attorney’s Office withheld from Officer Pownall its own expert report concluding that Officer Pownall’s use of deadly force was justified,” Mr. Williams added.

  Mr. Krasner and his office knowingly made false statements to the courts, failed to disclose evidence in court, prejudiced the administration of justice, and neglected to provide legally required notice to victims of crime, Mr. Williams charges. All of these violate the criminal code.

  The Epoch Times reached out to Mr. Krasner’s office for comment but has yet to receive a response. In the past, Mr. Krasner and his supporters in the state House have said that he was voted into office twice, and removing him would disenfranchise voters who want his progressive policies..

  “His response to whether or not he’s allowed to behave in a way that he wants to as the district attorney is that he was elected,” Mr. Williams said of Mr. Kranser’s actions. “I don’t think that’s the standard.

  “The standard is clearly set out in the criminal statutes and in the ethical canons, and those are the standards by which we will hold him. And if he violates them, then we’ll impeach him, try him, and remove him from office, and I’ll leave it to the attorney general to decide whether or not there are other remedies. But there’s no standard that says well, if you were elected, then you can’t be tried or accused.”

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 19:50

• "If You Need Money You Can Get It" – 'Easy' Market Crushes Fed's Credit-Tightening Efforts
  “If You Need Money You Can Get It” – ‘Easy’ Market Crushes Fed’s Credit-Tightening Efforts

  Fed Chair Powell knows he has a problem… and he all but admitted it this week.

  He told journalists that “if financial conditions get looser we [may] need to do more”, but said he was confident interest rates were affecting economic activity and inflation.

  “What tends to happen is financial conditions get in and out of alignment with what we’re doing [but] ultimately over time we get where we need to go.”

  The problem – of course – is that he is full of gaslighting crap.

  

  Soaring stock prices and falling bond yields have made it so much easier for US companies to raise funds than would be expected given The Fed’s inflation-fighting efforts so far.

  In fact, as The FT reports, much of the impact of the Fed’s interest rate rises has been neutralised.

  Goldman’s Financial Conditions Index is at its ‘easiest’ since The Fed started on its 50bps rate-hikes in May 2022, and while they have continued to hike rates for the last 9 months, financial conditions have done nothing but ease as traders ‘fight The Fed’.

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Remember, looser financial conditions run counter to the Fed’s goal of slowing the economy to bring inflation under control, and make it more likely the Fed will have to keep interest rates higher for longer.

  “The reality is that financial conditions have loosened — we have [effectively] unwound roughly 450 basis points of rate hikes. Financial conditions are enough to take us back to March of last year,” said Sonal Desai, chief investment officer for Franklin Templeton Fixed Income.

  “As the market comes around to the belief that we are not going to have a recession, that implies that demand will remain strong, [and] that implies that we will not have any need to cut interest rates.”

  The looser conditions reflect a view among investors that the Fed has effectively finished raising interest rates since its main focus is bringing down inflation – which has fallen sharply in recent months.

  “I would say that conditions right now are loosening, probably to the chagrin of the Fed,” said Andy Brenner, head of international fixed income at Natalliance Securities.

  “But as long as the Fed gets better inflation numbers, they’re going to care less and less.”

  However, what few seem to believe is that inflation could re-emerge from these ‘easy’ financial conditions.

  Mike Chang, a high-yield portfolio manager at Vanguard, said financial conditions had not loosened across the board.

  “The market is still discriminating between stronger and weaker issuers and many weaker issuers still don’t have access to capital markets.”

  “Higher interest rates generally take time to work [their] way through the economy and through corporate balance sheets”, Chang added.

  “Given how much refinancing activity has occurred over the past several years in the high-yield market, it will take more time for maturities and refinancing to become a larger issue.”

  Finally, markets will closely scrutinize next Monday’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices (SLOOS) – after the last quarterly report by the Fed found that banks expected to tighten lending standards over the rest of 2023 – for signs of worsening credit conditions (or worse still for The Fed, improving conditions).

  The message – be careful what you wish for: the ‘easier’ financial conditions get, the more likely a new bubble emerges, asset prices re-inflate, and The Fed is forced to stay higher-er for longer-er…

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 19:25

• Exploding E-Bikes: Lithium Battery Fires Spread In New York And California
  Exploding E-Bikes: Lithium Battery Fires Spread In New York And California

  Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  

  Lithium-ion batteries have sparked hundreds of fires across New York and San Francisco this year, injuring dozens and resulting in the death of a few individuals, triggering worries about ongoing public safety.

  In New York, “fires caused by Lithium-ion batteries have grown exponentially every year since 2021,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said on Friday during a public safety briefing. “We are now, unfortunately, seeing more and more of these kinds of extremely fast-moving, very powerful fires with some regularity in the city. As of this week, there have been 131 fires, 76 injuries, and 13 deaths caused by these Lithium-ion batteries.”

  This is a significant jump from 2021 when there were 79 injuries and four deaths from such fires. In 2022, there were 142 injuries and six deaths. The 2023 death toll has already exceeded the past two years combined with roughly five months remaining in the year.

  Multiple lithium-ion battery fires have made it to the headlines this year. On Jan. 20, a 63-year-old man was killed and 10 more injured after a fire from a charging e-bike spread through a home in Queens.

  In April, a teenager and a 7-year-old child died in a home, also in Queens, due to a fire that erupted from an e-bike. And on May 7, four people died from a lithium battery fire that blazed through an apartment building in Upper Manhattan.

  Lithium fires are also becoming a problem in San Francisco, California. On Monday, two people had to jump out of an apartment in the Tenderloin neighborhood due to a fire believed to have been triggered by an overheated e-scooter battery—with one of them taken to a hospital suffering from serious injuries.

  In an interview with The New York Times, Capt. Jonathan Baxter, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Fire Department, said that it was the 24th fire in the city this year that was linked to rechargeable batteries.

  Since 2017, San Francisco has seen 202 battery fires which injured eight people and killed one. Of these, 58 fires broke out in 2022, up from just 13 in 2017.

  “We’re not seeing it to that same degree here in San Francisco,” Baxter said while referring to the surging lithium fire incidents in New York. “However, one fire is one too many.”

  Lithium Fires in New York

  Multiple reasons are cited for the surge in lithium fire incidents. Some point to hazardous charging practices like the use of mismatched equipment to charge the devices and overcharging as a problem. Using damaged or refurbished batteries can also pose issues. Others blame a lack of proper safety testing and regulation.

  Though lithium-ion batteries are also used in cellphones and computers, e-mobility devices pose a bigger threat as their lithium batteries tend to be larger and more susceptible to wear and tear.

  Cheap e-bikes became popular in New York during the COVID-19 pandemic when public transit was affected and orders for food deliveries surged. People who buy e-bikes usually charge these vehicles inside apartments, posing a significant risk to the residents.

  The situation has gotten so worse that some landlords in New York have banned e-bikes and other e-mobility devices.

  In a March 20 press release, the City of New York admitted that “fires caused by batteries that power e-micromobility devices are a significant problem in New York City … These fires are particularly severe and difficult to extinguish, spreading quickly and producing noxious fumes.”

  Even as NYC Mayor Eric Adams promotes e-bikes as a “convenient transportation” option for New Yorkers, he admitted that faulty and illegal devices are making their way into homes and streets, triggering fires and “putting lives at risk.”

  Lithium-ion batteries are also used in industrial settings. However, these setups are heavily regulated and subject to professional supervision. This is not the case with smaller lithium batteries used in e-bikes and other devices. Customers tend to usually not have much of an understanding of the fire risks posed by such batteries.

  Dealing With Lithium Battery Fires

  To deal with the problem of lithium battery fires, the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) is recommending that citizens only buy lithium battery devices certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory like Underwriters Laboratory (UL).

  When using batteries, the manufacturer’s charging and storage instructions must be adhered to. Batteries should be kept away from heat sources and anything flammable, and must be maintained at room temperature, it advises.

  People should avoid using aftermarket or generic batteries. They should desist from overcharging and avoid leaving the batteries charging overnight. When charging, the battery should be away from a person’s bed, pillow, or couch. While charging e-bikes, FDNY advises people to never leave them unattended.

  A bill enacted in March seeks to prohibit the sale, lease, or rental of e-bikes and other such mobility devices as well as their storage batteries in New York which fail to meet certain safety standards. The ban will come into effect in September, making New York the first American city to do so.

  The bill insists that e-mobility devices must be certified by an accredited testing laboratory for compliance with UL standards 2849, 2272, or similar safety standards set by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles in consultation with the fire department.

  “The first violation of this law would be met with a warning, but subsequent violations would carry civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violating device,” states the bill summary.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 19:00

• Starter Homes Are Becoming Extinct, Making 'The American Dream' Unaffordable
  Starter Homes Are Becoming Extinct, Making ‘The American Dream’ Unaffordable

  Hitting the news wires late this week are headlines about the Biden administration’s plan to tackle the housing affordability crisis that has persisted since the Federal Reserve aggressively raised interest rates in early 2022 to combat the worst inflation storm in a generation. The result of tighter monetary policy has propelled mortgage rates north of 7%, making starter homes for first-time buyers more unaffordable. 

  “Buyers searching for starter homes in today’s market are on a wild goose chase because in many parts of the country, there’s no such thing as a starter home anymore,” Sheharyar Bokhari, Redfin senior economist, told Bloomberg. 

  Bokhari said, “The most affordable homes for sale are no longer affordable to people with lower budgets due to the combination of rising prices and rising rates.”

  

  The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage was 7.34% on July 27, reaching its highest point since November, according to data published by Bankrate. This means the average priced starter home, around $243,000, has become increasingly unaffordable to many — with that, the American Dream quickly dies. 

  

  An increase in borrowing costs has led to more than a doubling of the average mortgage payment for a median single-family home over the course of a year, assuming a 30-year fixed mortgage with a 20% down payment.

  

  Real estate firm Redfin said buyers must earn at least $64,500 to ensure their debt-to-income ratio doesn’t exceed 30% when buying a starter home. 

  Buyers face a market where active listing for affordable homes across the US is rapidly plunging. Bokhari said new active listings are down 23% year-over-year due to homeowners staying put because many bought in an era of record-low mortgage rates. We pointed that out last week when only 1% of US homes changed hands in 2023, the lowest on record, indicating the market is in ‘complete paralysis.’ 

  Bokhari said the number of affordable homes on the market had been halved in the last decade. 

  

  The housing affordability crisis has been manifesting for more than a year. Readers have been well-informed about this trend via notes titled First-Time Homebuyers Are Absolutely Screwed Right Now and Housing Affordability Worsens As Homeownership Out Of Reach For Anyone Making Under $100k. 

  That may be why parked mobile home shipments are surging as the American Dream dies. And Home Depot understands this by offering $44,000 tiny homes (land not included). 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 18:40

• Biden: Hiding In Plain Sight
  Biden: Hiding In Plain Sight

  Authored by Charles Ortel via American Thinker,

  

  American voters who struggle to enjoy the benefits of “Bidenomics” understand that Joe Biden and his family likely never earned an honest living while Joe was senator, vice president, or president.

  Now that iconic Democrat Robert Kennedy, Jr. has called for a serious investigation into suspicious wealth accumulation by the Biden family during the President’s long career chiefly as a “public servant,” one might be tempted to get lost in minutiae and go far back over years of evidence to see whether impeachment and conviction are warranted in 2023.

  In truth, there is a simpler approach: focus on the strange and dramatic increase in Joe Biden’s personal fortune from his time as vice president starting early in the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency in late January 2017, using tools hiding in plain sight in the public domain. Begin with the final days of the Obama-Biden administration. We have yet to learn the complete truth concerning what was discussed in the Oval Office when a coterie of top officials including Obama, Biden, and Comey met there on January 5, 2017.

  This was only weeks before Donald Trump and Mike Pence took the reins of the Executive Branch on January 20, 2017. Moreover, Republicans were destined to take control over the House of Representatives and the Senate with a clear majority in the former body, and much slimmer control over the latter. Much might have been lost for key Democrats and their allies in the bureaucracy, had the incoming Trump administration enjoyed free rein to direct investigations into suspicious activities of many in the Obama-Biden administration. During eight long years while “fundamentally transforming America,” Barack Obama and others likely had positioned themselves to garner outsized financial returns in retirement from public service, following the examples set by Bill and Hillary Clinton from 2001 onwards. With so much at risk and with so many domestic and foreign challenges and uncertainties swirling, one wonders exactly why Joe Biden decided to take a brief trip over to Ukraine and to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, returning to Washington, D.C. right before Inauguration Day.

  Without doubt, a raft of paper and electronic records exists somewhere that will eventually shed light upon why Biden needed to spend crucial last-minute time with principals whom some believe have been orchestrating financial payments to the Biden family and their associates using murky means for years. These records, which IRS and FBI investigators surely considered examining at some point since 2017, remain relevant to any fair inquiry into the Biden family for monetizing Joe Biden’s influence over key American policies while he held high elective offices. According to public accounts, Biden and Obama lunched regularly at the White House to compare notes and coordinate making progress implementing key policy initiatives. Perhaps Obama and Biden (who each used alias email accounts while serving in the White House) marveled at the bold ways in which Hillary Clinton and her aides operated while she served as Secretary of State, and as Bill Clinton claimed that he directed affairs of “his” presidential foundation.

  Yet, unlike the Clintons, Biden had little to show financially from his long career in politics when he departed the vice-presidential residence.

  According to detailed information, Joe and Jill Biden declared a total of $4,122,376 in pretax income on their federal tax returns for tax years 2001 through 2016 — this works out to an average of $257,648 annually during the sixteen-year period when he finished his career as senator and, later, became vice president. Leaving aside, for the moment, fair questions concerning how Biden managed to sustain living costs for his large family from his home in Wilmington and also save for retirement, his years with educator Jill Biden do not appear to show proven ability to derive investment income, or garner outsized compensation. Yet, things were to change dramatically and for the better, days following the beginning of the Trump-Pence administration.

  Trump and Pence inherited a stumbling economy after the anemic Obama-Biden recovery and the disastrous final years of the Bush-Cheney administration. According to data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey put out by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the top ten percent of households in America saw their pretax incomes decline 8.3 % from $269,644 (on average) in 2016 to $247,174 (on average) in 2017.

  In stark contrast, Joe and Jill Biden saw their pretax income climb from $338,464 in 2016 to a whopping $9,578,639 in 2017 — an amount that was more than 28 times Biden pretax income for the prior year and more than twice, in just one year, total Biden pretax income for a 16 year period from 2001 through 2016.

  What accounted for this enormous Biden family windfall in a single year, when even the top 10% of American households suffered pronounced declines in their pretax incomes? Initial answers found in Biden tax returns warrant further inquiry, including whether the IRS line agents trying to investigate suspicious Hunter Biden activities were restricted in plowing what appears now to be fertile ground in his father’s joint tax filings for 2017. Buried back on page 23 of a 103-page tax filing for 2017, we learn that two subchapter S corporations, each formed in 2017, somehow managed to send more than $10 million dollars together in their first partial years of operation, to the Bidens.

  The first entity — CelticCapri Corp — generated $9,490,857 for the Bidens in just eleven months of existence during 2017. This total amount is more than $860,000 per month, which represents a heroic if not completely unbelievable result for a start-up. What products or services did CelticCapri provide? Who else was involved operating this business? How were other participants compensated? And, what pre-formation actions were taken before late January 2017, when CelticCapri was formally organized in Delaware? The second entity — Giacoppa Corp — made $557,882 for the Bidens in nine and one-half months, or more than $58,000 per month in a start-up year and the same sorts of questions raised about CelticCapri should be answered about Giacoppa. The American people deserve to understand why the IRS, FBI, and Department of Justice rarely target difficult-to-explain wealth-building by dynastic political families such as the Bidens and Clintons, but mount furious assaults against families like Donald Trump’s which built outsized wealth for decades, well before entering politics. Let truly serious investigations begin.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 18:20

• 'Heat Islands' Have City-Dwellers Swelter In A Concrete Jungle
  ‘Heat Islands’ Have City-Dwellers Swelter In A Concrete Jungle

  With 130 million Americans under a heat advisory, and tens of millions more on watch for or received a warning of excessive heat by the National Weather Service, one group of people is especially at risk of the negative consequences of very high temperatures: city dwellers.

  As Statista’s Anna Fleck reports, according to a new study by NGO Climate Central, 41 million Americans in 44 major cities – the equivalent of around half of these cities’ populations – habitually see outside temperatures in their Census tracts rise by an average of more than 8° Fahrenheit above those in surrounding areas. This is due to heat intensifying in densely populated and built-up areas that lack vegetation. For 5.7 million Americans in the studied areas, temperatures where they live even exceeded non-city temperatures by more than 10° Fahrenheit on average.

  The city in the study where most people face this problem was New York, with 7.1 million people or 78 percent of inhabitants subject to these so-called heat islands. New York was also the city where the most people have to endure heat islands with average temperature increases of more than 10° F – 3.8 million – or even more than 12° F, which affect 48,000 New Yorkers.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  Cities in the Southern United States known for their concrete jungles also ranked high on the heat island index, for example Houston, Los Angeles and Dallas.

  It was Chicago, however, which subjects more people to intense heat islands where temperatures rise on average more than 10° F above those outside the city.

  With 78 percent of inhabitants in heat islands, New York ranked second behind Detroit (86 percent). New Orleans came fourth at 74 percent of people living in heat islands. Miami had the highest share of people dwelling in extreme heat islands (>12°F above non-city temps): 1.5 percent, the equivalent of 12,700 people.

  People experiencing heat are advised to drink plenty of water, stay in an air-conditioned area and not leave children or pets in cars. Kids, older adults as well as people with disabilities and those working outside are especially at risk for heat-related illnesses.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 18:00

• Senate Backs Measures Tackling China Tech Investments, CCP Farmland Purchases
  Senate Backs Measures Tackling China Tech Investments, CCP Farmland Purchases

  Authored by John Haughey via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  

  The U.S. Senate on July 25 overwhelmingly adopted two amendments to the proposed defense budget that would require American tech companies to notify the Treasury Department of any dealings with China-based companies and to prevent entities and individuals from four nations, including China, from acquiring agricultural land anywhere in the country.

  The “Protection of Covered Sectors” amendment sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and five bipartisan sponsors was adopted in a 91–6 vote while the agriculture land preemption amendment, filed by Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), also with bipartisan backing, was approved in an 89–8 tally.

  Both measures are among the 872 prospective amendments filed by senators since the proposed $886.3 billion Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), or annual defense budget, advanced in a 24–1 June 23 vote.

  The Democrat-majority Senate began FY24 NDAA floor deliberations on July 18 with at least 90—including 51 submitted by Republicans—amendments set for floor debate.

  

  No ‘Culture War’ Amendments

  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) aims to have the Senate’s NDAA adopted by July 28 before the upper chamber adjourns, as the House did last week, for August recess. Neither chamber convenes again until Sept. 5.

  Mr. Schumer, in remarks before the somewhat languorous votes on July 25, said he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), among other chamber leaders, are developing “a second round of amendments” for floor discussion in the coming days.

  The GOP-majority House on July 14 approved its preliminary version of the proposed defense budget in a 219–210 near-total partisan vote with an attached raft of “culture war” amendments unlikely to pass muster in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

  Those measures include repealing the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) abortion travel policy, prohibiting DOD health care programs from providing gender transition procedures, a DOD “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” and a host of other proposed add-ons eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs to the must-pass defense budget that is normally approved in bipartisan accord.

  None of those amendments were likely to pass in the Senate so it is no surprise that the upper chamber’s proposed defense budget does not include the House’s “culture war” add-ons.

  Those differences between the adopted House defense budget and the version the Senate approves will be resolved in closely-tracked (if not watched) backroom conferences between the chambers. The goal is to present one NDAA for final adoption to both chambers ideally before the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.

  None of those House “culture war” components are in the proposed Senate NDAA, nor have any Senate versions of the House amendments thus far made it to the chamber floor.

  Mr. Schumer stressed the need for speed in getting the “must pass” defense budget adopted by the end of the week for conferencing to begin and the final budget to be in place at the start of the fiscal year.

  “We cannot let the perfect be the enemy of good,” he said, praising what has been a smooth process so far that shows “the Senate can work productively on national defense in stark contrast to the race to the bottom we saw in the House.”

  Both preliminary defense spending plans top out at the same $886.3 billion top-line figure submitted by President Joe Biden in March but vary in how that money is spent across the NDAA’s massive appropriations package. It is approximately $28 billion more than the FY23 NDAA.

  Protecting American Tech, Farmland

  In introducing Mr. Cornyn’s proposed amendment, Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) said the measure would establish a requirement that companies notify the Treasury and Commerce departments of intent to “invest in technology sectors in countries of concern.”

  The NDAA reflects “the toughest challenges that face the nation and the technological competition with China is on top of the list. The Chinese communist government doesn’t play by the rules,” Mr. Casey said.

  These “outbound investments” often imperil U.S. strategic interests and essentially amount to “technology transfers” that lead to “under-investment in domestic capabilities,” he said.

  Mr. Casey said in 2020 alone, American companies invested $200 billion in China for research and development into artificial intelligence programs.

  “That’s just in AI,” he said, noting U.S.-based entities invested $2 billion in semi-conductor production and $50 billion in biotech. “We need a targeted response to these threats to our national security.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 17:40

• Teammates Of Trans Swimmer Lia Thomas Voiced Complaints – University Offered To "Re-Educate" Them
  Teammates Of Trans Swimmer Lia Thomas Voiced Complaints – University Offered To “Re-Educate” Them

  It was perhaps unfair that the teammates of trans swimmer Lia Thomas (originally William Thomas) were accused of being complicit in the destruction of women’s sports because they “refused” to speak out.  Their initial silence in the public eye was treated by some as an endorsement of biological men posing as women participating in women’s sports.  At the time, Lia Thomas was being held up by the corporate media as a hero (or heroine), the very model of the new trans-ification of sports; a rush by trans competitors into the women’s arena soon followed.  

  However, the team members were trying to fight back.  And according to their recent testimony, Lia Thomas was made a priority by the University of Pennsylvania and they were given an ultimatum – Fall into line or risk being ostracized as “bigots.”  Furthermore, the women were told that they would have to share a locker room, changing facilities and bathrooms with the man, regularly forced to undress in front of him and be forced to watch him undress.  When they expressed concerns over this privacy issue, UPenn offered psychological services to “re-educate” Lia’s teammates so that they would feel more comfortable with the changing arrangements.   

  The trans movement has proven time and time again to be a vehicle for censorship and thought control in the name of “protecting the feelings of marginalized people.” In reality, trans activists use a classic Marxist methodology: The exploitation of false victim status as a means to gain power over others.  And while intersectional feminism was the gateway drug to the trans movement we see today, it is now ironically women who face erasure as their entire biological reality is denied.  Hopefully the tide is turning as women speak out against dangers of trans ideology, no longer content to be used by the political left as pawns while their spaces are slowly diminished.  

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 17:20

• Victor Davis Hanson: The Wild 2024 Race
  Victor Davis Hanson: The Wild 2024 Race

  Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

  Current polls, pundits, and politicos insist that the 2024 race is a sure rematch between former President Donald Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden.

  It may well turn out that way.

  But in past election cycles, summer polls 15 months before the general election usually did not mean much.

  

  In December 2003, the CBS poll headline blared, “Dean Pulls Away in Dem Race.” Howard Dean would eventually be clobbered by nominee John Kerry.

  In the Gallup Poll of late June 2007, Hillary Clinton still continued to enjoy her wide lead in the Democratic primary over eventual nominee and elected president Barack Obama.

  On the Republican side, Gallup noted of its summer 2007 polls that, “There has been little serious threat to the frontrunner, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani”—who bombed out early in the race.

  About this time in 2015, Jeb Bush was leading Donald Trump in the Republican primary. Or as CNN characterized their summer poll, “He [Bush] holds a significant lead over the second-place candidate Trump.”

  By January 2016, the favorite, can-do Wisconsin governor Scott Walker was leading all candidates by a substantial margin as they headed for the Iowa caucuses.

  There are lots of reasons to believe that 2024 may prove to be the most volatile race in recent memory.

  Not since 1912 – when third-party ex-president Theodore Roosevelt challenged incumbent President William Howard Taft in a three-way race with Woodrow Wilson – have two presidents run against each other.

  Both, remember, lost that year to the far less experienced Wilson.

  Second, Donald Trump is currently the target of at least four state and federal prosecutors.

  Millions of Americans feel that current and likely future indictments are patently political. The Trump prosecutions would never have gone ahead had he not run for the presidency a third time.

  Leftwing strategists believe that these partisan indictments will earn Trump Republican empathy.

  The legal persecutions supposedly will ensure him the nomination, but then intensify during the 2024 general campaign to bleed him out—ensuring a Democratic victory.

  Perhaps.

  But the Left’s weaponization of the legal system is playing with fire.

  They have no real idea whether their hounding will result in an indicted, inert Trump at election time, or fuel more empathy to empower him over his eventual Democratic rival, regardless of his legal status.

  Or will the nonending legal morass eventually wear out Republican primary voters, resulting in their rage at such unfairness helping another Republican candidate?

  Third, despite Democratic denials, there is mounting evidence—from emails, laptop communications, IRS whistleblowers, testimony from Biden family business associates, and likely bank records—that Joe Biden was directly involved in his son’s illegal activities.

  Yet daily new details elicit only incoherent fury from Biden—especially since he clearly has serially lied that he had no knowledge of his son Hunter’s business misadventures.

  Fourth, not since Woodrow Wilson’s incapacity rendered him bedridden and all but incommunicado for the last 17 months of his presidency, has a president appeared so enfeebled.

  The 80-year-old Biden has fallen repeatedly. He often slurs his words to the point of inaudibility.

  His halting gait radiates frailty.

  Often aides must remind Biden where he is.

  Biden appears frustrated and angry at his increasing cognitive decline—forgetting the names of foreign leaders and close associates.

  To be blunt, Joe Biden is one more serious fall from physical incapacity—and a Vice President Kamala Harris stewardship of his presidency.

  Increasing leftwing leaks and rumors spread alarm about Biden’s legal problems. Liberal writers chart his mental confusion. Progressive columnists decry his treatment of his illegitimate granddaughter.

  Apparently Democratic insiders hope Biden does not run for reelection—but by all accounts must finish his term to prevent a Kamala Harris presidency in either 2023-4 or thereafter.

  So, the leaks of Biden’s impropriety and incapacity are aimed at ensuring Biden does not run in 2024.

  Yet they apparently must not prove actionable enough to abort his current presidency.

  Fifth, the first Republican primary debate is still almost a month away. And debates often have proven the graveyard of sure-thing front-runners.

  Donald Trump has understandably indicated it would be foolish to debate while enjoying a sizable lead in the polls.

  Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine that Trump, a proven and skilled debater, would pass up the stage of a multi-million-person televised audience only to be ritually trashed in absentia on it.

  It is even more difficult to envision a frail Joe Biden holding his own against either Democratic rivals or a Republican contender in the general election.

  Add it all up, and the presidential race is unpredictable with an array of known “unknowns.”

  The only certain fact is that anyone who currently declares the outcomes of the primary races or general election a foregone conclusion is utterly delusional.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 17:00

• NatGas, Coal, Nuclear Power Save Largest US Grid As Emergency Alert Declared For Second Day
  NatGas, Coal, Nuclear Power Save Largest US Grid As Emergency Alert Declared For Second Day

   Update (1653ET):

  PJM Interconnection is being saved by natural gas, coal, and nuclear power generation as temperatures surpass 100 degrees Fahrenheit across the Mid-Alantic. 

  

  Power prices surge in some parts of the PJM as customers crank up their air conditioners. 

  

  PJM’s load forecast is currently around 144,363 megawatts as of 0419 ET. 

  

  Some say the world is “boiling,” … others might say it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere. 

  

  Where is the power generation from renewable sources? It appears that fossil fuels and nuclear power generation are doing the heavy lifting to ensure the grid doesn’t collapse. 

   

  *    *    * 

  Update (Friday):

  PJM Interconnection LLC declared another Energy Emergency Alert Level 1 through Friday. Excessive heat advisories and warnings cover much of PJM’s grid across 13 states, from Illinois to New Jersey, with over 65 million customers. 

  Here’s a map of the PJM grid: 

  

  The latest National Weather Service data shows that advisories and warnings for heat plague most of PJM’s grid. 

  

  “PJM has issued these alerts to help prepare generators for the onset of intense heat,” the grid operator said. 

  This is the second day the largest US grid operator declared a level one emergency. On Thursday, PJM’s preliminary peak load was around 148,000 megawatts and is forecasted to peak at around 155,000 megawatts later on Friday.

  PJM expects hot weather to persist through Saturday. Bloomberg data shows average temperatures across the Lower 48 are expected to peak on Saturday and possibly revert to 5-10-30-year averages. Also, notice how the yearly temperature averages have plateaued for the Northern Hemisphere summer. 

  

  “A Hot Weather Alert helps to prepare transmission and generation personnel and facilities for extreme heat and/or humidity that may cause capacity problems on the grid. Temperatures are expected to be near or above 90 degrees in these regions, which drives up the demand for electricity,” the grid operator said. 

  How did PJM become so unreliable all of a sudden? Well, PJM published a study earlier this year that showed the alarming trend of state and federal decarbonization policies across the grid that “present increasing reliability risks during the transition, due to a potential timing mismatch between resource retirements, load growth and the pace of new generation entry.”

  So before corporate media blames ‘climate change’ for power grid woes, remember decarbonization policies have sparked these instabilities. 

   

  *    *    * 

  A heat wave continues to blast the Midwest, Northeast, and South through the end of the work week, forcing the largest US grid operator to declare a level one emergency for Thursday as tens of millions of people crank up air conditioners to escape scorching temperatures as summer in the Northern Hemisphere peaks. 

  On Wednesday evening, PJM Interconnection LLC declared an Energy Emergency Alert Level 1 in 13 states that stretch from Illinois to New Jersey with over 65 million customers. PJM is concerned about maintaining adequate power reserves on Thursday as power demand is set to soar because of air conditioners. It expects demand to reach 153,286 megawatts as of 1700 ET and has about 186,000 megawatts of generating capacity. 

  

  The power mix of the grid shows natural gas, coal, and nuclear are doing most of the heavy lifting of 0600 ET. Power prices across the grid appear normal.  

  

  The surge in above-average temperatures for the Lower 48 is expected to peak on Friday and return to normal levels for this time of the year. According to Bloomberg data, 5-10-30-year average temperatures show the Northern Hemisphere summer has peaked. 

  

  Before corporate media blames “human-induced climate change” on power grid woes, we must note PJM’s reliability has worsened because of federal and state decarbonization policies. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 16:53

• CRE Troubles: US Office Space Set To Contract For First Time
  CRE Troubles: US Office Space Set To Contract For First Time

  The US has nearly 1 billion square feet of empty office space, according to commercial real estate services company JLL. Things could worsen in the CRE market (mainly office) in the coming quarters due to the Federal Reserve’s 16 months of aggressive interest rate hikes. This will continue to pressure property owners who have built their real estate empires on a mountain of debt, potentially triggering a wave of delinquencies and defaults due to high borrowing costs. All this is happening when the office sector is already struggling with reduced demand due to the proliferation of remote work, as well as some companies fleeing progressive metro areas because of soaring violent crime. 

  

  The latest sign the office sector has not hit bottom and values unlikely to return to pre-pandemic peaks this decade is the total amount of US office space is set to decline for the first time in history, according to Bloomberg, citing new data from JLL. 

  A lack of new construction and a plethora of aging office space being repurposed or destroyed will lower the amount of office space, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. Less than 5 million square feet (465,000 square meters) of new offices broke ground in the US so far this year, while 14.7 million square feet has been removed, often to be converted into buildings for other uses.

  

  That would mark the first net decline in data going back to 2000, JLL reported, adding that it’s most likely the first ever. –Bloomberg

  This means demolitions and conversions of these worthless assets are underway to correct the supply imbalance. 

  Things are so bad in New York City that 26 Empire State Buildings could fit all the empty office space in the metro area, according to the chair of Harvard Economics Department, Edward Glaeser and MIT’s Carlo Ratti.

  

  Parts of San Francisco have been transformed into a ghost town as office vacancy rates soar.

  Many downtown districts across major cities in the US are effectively ghost towns as office vacancy rates soar. This has rippled across local communities, forcing retail shops to close because of declining foot traffic. 

  In Baltimore City’s Inner Harbor district, things are so bad that office towers are being dumped at massive losses or reassessed at half the values. 

  • Beginning Of CRE Firesale? Baltimore Office Tower Dumped At 63% Discount
  • CRE Panic Hits Baltimore As Second Office Tower Dumped At 69% Discount
  • “I See A Wave Coming”: Assessed Value Of Baltimore City Office Tower Nearly Halved Amid CRE Panic

  We first pointed out the CRE dominos would begin to fall just days after the regional bank failures in March. We wrote in a note titled “Nowhere To Hide In CMBS”: CRE Nuke Goes Off With Small Banks Accounting For 70% Of Commercial Real Estate Loans. 

  Across the nation, underperforming CRE office towers and buildings will be sold or reassessed at massive discounts. Many will be demolished, and some will be converted, as the ‘Great CRE Office Reset’ is underway. 

  Let’s remember there’s a multi-trillion-dollar CRE debt maturity wall over the next five years, according to Morgan Stanley.  

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/28/2023 – 16:40