• Germany Unveils €2.7BN Ukraine Arms Package As Zelensky Tours Europe
  Germany Unveils €2.7BN Ukraine Arms Package As Zelensky Tours Europe

  Over the weekend Germany unveiled a a new weapons package worth 2.7 billion euros ($2.95 billion) for Ukraine, at a moment President Volodymyr Zelensky is meeting with Western leaders in Europe.

  “An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine!” Zelensky tweeted after arriving in EU and NATO member Italy on Saturday. He met with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for 70 minutes, thanking her for “for helping to save lives”, after which he met with Pope Francis in the Vatican, reportedly lobbying the pontiff to back Kiev’s own peace plan.

  

  Zelensky then traveled to Germany on Sunday, the day after Berlin confirmed the massive new defense aid package.

  Naturally, the Ukrainian leader is already pressing for more – as The New York Times writes of the trip to meeting with Scholz: “Speaking to journalists side by side at the chancellery on Sunday morning, Mr. Zelensky and Chancellor Olaf Scholz traded remarks of gratitude and praise. But their responses to some questions — namely on fighter jets — reflected that Kyiv is still struggling to gain traction with Berlin and other Western allies on some of its key demands.”

  Apparently German could only roll out the red carpet for Zelensky in a guilt-free way only after pledging the billions in new arms:

  Mr. Zelensky was escorted to Berlin by German fighter jets for his first trip to Germany since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began more than a year ago. He met first with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Berlin’s Bellevue Palace and was then received with military honors by Mr. Scholz at the chancellery.

  The grand reception came a day after Germany had announced its largest package of military aid yet for Kyiv and as the two nations seek to turn the page on months of rocky relations.

  Zelensky wrote on Twitter in conjunction with his Berlin visit Sunday: “German air defense systems, artillery, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles are saving Ukrainian lives and bringing us closer to victory,” and stressed: “Germany is a reliable ally!”

  All of this is a huge about-face for Germany, which has been hesitant since the start of the conflict to jump headlong into a proxy war situation which may eventually escalate into a direct Russia-NATO clash. But Berlin grew bolder with the supply of Leopard II battle tanks. Zelensky attempted to address German concerns Sunday:

  Ukraine has no plans to hit targets in Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said in Germany, where Kyiv secured a big new defence aid package.

  “We are not attacking Russian territory,” he said after talks in Berlin with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

  “We are preparing a counterattack to de-occupy the illegitimately conquered territories,” Mr Zelensky added.

  But the past couple months of increasing drone attacks from Ukraine, particularly on Russian oil facilities, show differently.

  Pentagon leaks examined by The Washington Post also reveal that Zelensky has secretly greenlighted attacks inside Russian territory:

  The leaked documents confirm Zelensky favors occupying Russian villages to gain leverage over Moscow, bombing a pipeline that transfers Russian oil to Hungary, a NATO member, and privately pining for long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russia. https://t.co/f7yFPD4Vqx

  — Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) May 14, 2023

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

  On Saturday there were multiple Russian aircraft downed in the same border region near Ukraine, with many observers saying this may have been a cross-border shoot-down situation which would mark a huge advance in Ukraine’s capabilities. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 05/15/2023 – 02:45

• Play It Again Uncle Sam… Debunked Syrian Chemical Weapons Card In Ukraine
  Play It Again Uncle Sam… Debunked Syrian Chemical Weapons Card In Ukraine

  Authored by Finian Cuningham,

  Western media are now accusing Russian forces of preparing to use chemical weapons (CW) of mass destruction in Ukraine, thereby making the case for greater NATO military intervention.

  

  The CW card is a complete dud. That Western media are playing it shows they are also complete duds, and that their role is as sinister as mass drug-dealing.

  Deliberate provocation by Western powers is the watchword. Britain this week supplying long-range missiles, as well as depleted uranium artillery shells, and drone attacks on the Kremlin are part of a sequence to solicit never-ending escalation. Accusing Russia of planning to use chemical weapons of mass destruction, as with earlier claims of Russia willing to use nuclear weapons, is all part of the orchestrated provocation.

  The degradation of Western media standards has become so bad that they can get away with retailing such nonsense to consumers of this “information”.

  First of all, Russia does not have any chemical weapons. As a signatory to the international treaty known as the Chemical Weapons Convention (1997), the Russian Federation verifiably destroyed all of its arsenals as per its signatory obligations. The complete decommissioning of these weapons by Russia in 2017 was verified by the Organization for the Prohibition on Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

  The United States is the only major power that has not fully implemented the CW convention by retaining stockpiles of these weapons.

  Not only is speculation about Russian forces possibly using CW in Ukraine baseless, but the Western media are also deploying the shoddy lie used earlier against Syria. Incredibly, for anyone cognizant of the facts, such calumny is still peddled to blame the wrong people when the real perpetrator in Syria was Western-backed militants and their CIA and MI6-sponsored media accomplices, the so-called White Helmets.

  Western media continue to claim that the Syrian government forces of Bashar al Assad used CW against civilians during the decade-old civil war in the Arab country. Russia supported the Syrian army to defeat NATO-backed radical extremists.

  Now the Western media are moralizing that the United States and other Western powers took no punitive action against Syria over CW which, it is contended, is acting as a precedent for Russia to use these weapons in the Ukraine conflict.

  Euronews quotes Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former British military intelligence officer, as saying:

  “The international community needs to reaffirm that any use of chemical or biological weapons would not be acceptable in any shape or form… I’m sure NATO and the West would act if they [Russia] used chemical weapons in Ukraine. But having said that they stood by when Assad used such weapons in Syria and that might embolden Putin.”

  This is an outrageous lie being propagated by the Western media. It has been documented by independent investigations that the CW attacks in Syria were actually carried out by NATO-backed mercenaries in false-flag operations to provoke Western military intervention. One of those false flags in the city of Douma in April 2018 succeeded in its nefarious aims. Following the incident – dutifully amplified at the time by Western media for gaslighting the Western public – U.S. President Donald Trump bombed Syria “in revenge” along with British and French allies.

  However, it turned out later that Syria, Russia and Iran were vindicated in their initial claims that the CW incidents in Syria were false-flag stunts. Indeed, it was shown that personnel in the UN watchdog, the OPCW, engaged in a cover-up to implicate the Assad government when the real perpetrator was the jihadists backed by the West, as reported by Aaron Maté and other independent journalists.

  The accusatory claims against the Syrian government did not stand up to scrutiny. Following its joining of the CWC treaty, less than a year later Syria destroyed all of its CW stockpiles in 2014, as verified by UN inspectors.

  How could Syrian government forces then use CW in later alleged incidents? Besides, there was no tactical advantage from a military point of view in using such munitions even if there were stealth stockpiles remaining.

  Likewise, Russia does not possess CW and besides has no tactical need for them. In the current Ukraine conflict, Russia has the upper hand militarily in securing the Donbass territory bordering Ukraine, and its forces have all but taken control of the strategically important city of Bakhmut (Artyomovsk) after months of intense battle. Russian drones have been effective in targeting Ukrainian troops taking cover in civilian homes and buildings.

  The real analogy is that the NATO-backed Kiev regime forces are on the back foot in a similar way to how NATO-backed mercenaries in Syria were facing a rout. Just like the Syrian jihadists tried to do, the incentive is for the Kiev regime to deploy CW in a desperate bid to trigger a direct U.S. and NATO military intervention.

  After all, the much-ballyhooed counter-offensive by Ukrainian forces has failed to materialize despite months of Western media hyping up. The Kiev puppet president Vladimir Zelensky has this week again played down a counter-offensive being launched unless more Western weapons are delivered.

  Certainly, the Ukrainian Neo-Nazis in the Azov and Aidar battalions are deranged enough to deploy CW like the cut-throat counterparts that NATO previously deployed in Syria. The Ukrainian Nazi worshippers have been firing U.S. and British-supplied shells at the civilian nuclear plant at Zaporozhye for months in the same insane gamble to deliberately create a catastrophe.

  The chemical-weapon scenario in Ukraine is a deplorable propaganda ruse aided and abetted by Western media who reference the nonsense by pumping out the debunked lie about Syria.

  Such media have indulged the worst Russophobia, demonizing Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russians generally as “mad savages”. Lamentably, the Western public has been conditioned to expect the worst in Ukraine, including the deployment of nuclear and chemical weapons by Russia, despite Moscow’s categorical denials.

  The shameful irony is that those who are capable of the worst conduct and the most desperate, despicable measures are the Western regimes and their NeoNazi surrogates in Ukraine. The imperial powers want to escalate the war in Ukraine against Russia. War is the refuge for their historically failing global dominance.

  Western media are the new opium of the people, purposed to daze and confuse, unconscionably, too, at a time of immense danger when the wrong, disastrously consequential decisions are permitted.

  People need to kick the habit, go cold turkey and disabuse themselves of the Western media’s lying web. Before the world is thrown over the abyss.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 05/15/2023 – 02:00

• Elites' Lies Meant To Deliver Us From Reality
  Elites’ Lies Meant To Deliver Us From Reality

  Authored by Roger Kimball via American Greatness,

  “Because he can.” 

  That’s the answer one has to give to those who ask how Alvin Bragg, a local district attorney in office by the slimmest of margins – and then only because of a huge subsidy from the anti-American billionaire George Soros – can get away with antics like indicting Donald Trump, a former (and, possibly, future) president of the United States, and, now, with charging former Marine Daniel Penny with manslaughter because he (along with at least two others) intervened to stop Jordan Neely from attacking fellow passengers on a New York subway. 

  Because he can.

  As a friend remarked when digesting the spectacle of Penny being led away in handcuffs, totalitarian movements often start slowly, almost timidly, but as they gain power, they become more brazen. After a certain point, they do outrageous things just to intimidate the public and demonstrate their power.  

  We now know that the FBI, the CIA, and other elements of America’s security apparatus intervened directly in the decision making of Twitter and other social media companies to influence the course of the 2020 election. One part of that intervention had to do with organizing 51 senior former intelligence figures to sign a letter declaring that Hunter Biden’s laptop was “Russian disinformation.”

  That was a lie. They knew it was a lie. It didn’t matter. They did it because they knew they could get away with it.

  The United States is on the verge of being inundated with thousands upon thousands of illegal aliens. Many are from South or Central America. Hundreds are from China, even though they are crossing that notional line we used to be able to call, without irony, our southern border. Why did the Biden Administration decide to enact a real-life Camp of the Saints invasion of the United States?

  Because it could. There was no immediate price to pay. 

  In her classic study, The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt makes several observations that bear on our current situation. “There is no doubt,” she observes, 

  that the elite was pleased whenever the underworld frightened respectable society into accepting it on an equal footing. The members of the elite did not object at all to paying a price, the destruction of civilization, for the fun of seeing how those who had been excluded unjustly in the past forced their way into it. They were not particularly outraged at the monstrous forgeries in historiography of which all totalitarian regimes are guilty and which announce themselves clearly enough and totalitarian propaganda.

  It’s not only the compact between the elite and the underclass that is relevant to our experience in the United States today. There is also the incontinent deployment of the word “democracy,” not as a term describing a specific form of political organization but rather as a cognitively empty but talismanic vocable around which political animus can be nurtured and set to work. The latest variation is Our Democracy^TM, dragged out whenever the process of political demonization needs a boost.

  “It has been frequently pointed out,” Arendt notes, “that totalitarian movements use and abuse democratic freedoms in order to abolish them.” 

  The reaction to the January 6, 2021 jamboree at the Capitol—an event egged on and at least in part organized by (alleged) state actors like Ray Epps—is a case in point. As he showed last week in his exchange with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Donald Trump began trying to diffuse the potential for violence at that protest the day before, on January 5, and he continued through the day on January 6. No matter. The script called for him to be the villain of the piece, so the villain he is publicly accounted to be. 

  So many things in our social and political life today seem surreal.

  The prospect that “misgendering” someone might be against the law—i.e., a tort that did not even exist yesterday is now illegal; the whole phenomenon of so-called “transgenderism,” a revolt against reality if there ever was one; the bizarre obsession with race, involving the demonization of whites and the fabrication of an imaginary sin called “white supremacy,” on the one hand, and the groveling obeisance of phantasmagoric “reparations” to blacks, on the other. You can’t tune into the internet these days without being confronted with scenes of blacks rampaging through fast-food restaurants, school corridors, or shops like Target and Walmart. They smash and steal and smash and what happens to them? Nothing. All this and more is part of what Arendt called totalitarianism’s “experiment against reality.” 

  “Before they seize power and establish a world according to their doctrines,” she pointed out,

  “totalitarian movements conjure up a lying world of consistency which is more adequate to the needs of the human mind than reality itself; in which, through sheer imagination, uprooted masses can feel at home and are spared the never-ending shocks which real life and real experiences deal to human beings and their expectations.”

  “The shocks which real life and real experiences deal to human beings.” That is what our masters are pretending to insulate us from with their fantastic lies about human nature, economic reality, and empirical truth.

  The only silver lining in this minatory storm cloud is the fact that such movements, though unconscionably cruel, arbitrary, and destructive, are also astonishingly fragile.

  

  The last word goes to Arendt.

  “Nothing is more characteristic of the totalitarian movements in general, and of the quality of fame of their leaders in particular than the startling swiftness with which they are forgotten and the startling ease with which they can be replaced.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 05/15/2023 – 00:00

• Is The Next Commodity Super-Cycle Right Around The Corner?
  Is The Next Commodity Super-Cycle Right Around The Corner?

  In recent years, commodity prices have reached a 50-year low relative to overall equity markets (S&P 500).

  Historically, lows in the ratio of commodities to equities have corresponded with the beginning of new commodity supercycles.

  As Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti shows in the infographic below, using data from Incrementum AG and Crescat Capital LLC, the relationship between commodities and U.S. equities has varied greatly over the last five decades.

  

  What is a Commodity Supercycle?

  A commodity supercycle occurs when prices of commodities rise above their long-term averages for long periods of time, even decades. Once the supply has adequately grown to meet demand, the cycle enters a downswing.

  The last commodity supercycle started in 1996 and peaked in 2011, driven by raw material demand from rapid industrialization taking place in Brazil, India, Russia, and China.

  

  Source: Bank of Canada, IHS

  While no two supercycles look the same, they all have three indicators in common: a surge in supply, a surge in demand, and a surge in price.

  In general, commodity prices and equity valuations tend to have a low to negative correlation, making it rare to see the two moving in tandem in the same direction for any long period of time.

  Commodity Prices and Equity Valuations

  In line with the above notion, commodity prices and equity valuations have often been at odds with one another in past market cycles.

  During the 1970s and early 1980s, for example, rising oil prices led to a significant decline in stock prices as higher energy costs hurt corporate profits. In contrast, during the first half of the 2000s, low oil prices were accompanied by a strong equity bull market that ended with the 2008 stock market crash.

  The relationship, however, is not always straightforward and can be affected by various other factors, such as global economic growth, supply and demand, inflation, and other market events.

  With the most recent commodity supercycle peaking in 2011, could the next big one be right around the corner?

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 23:00

• Most People Believe That Life In America Is "Worse" Than It Was 50 Years Ago
  Most People Believe That Life In America Is “Worse” Than It Was 50 Years Ago

  Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

  If you could go back and live in 1973, would you do it? 

  To me, that is not an easy question to answer. 

  I think that for many of us it would be a real challenge to adjust to a world without the Internet and so many of the other technologies that we enjoy today.  But I also think that if we were suddenly transported back to that time we would be absolutely shocked by how freely people lived.  In 2023, there are literally millions of different laws, rules, regulations and ordinances that constrain how we behave down to the smallest detail.  A lot of us still think that we are “free”, but that hasn’t actually been true for a very long time.  In addition, the values of our society are completely different from what they were in 1973.  Over the past 50 years our culture has been completely turned upside down, and we can see the nightmarish consequences of this cultural revolution all around us.

  

  Of course there was no time in U.S. history when life was perfect.  But when Pew Research recently asked people if life in America “is better, worse, or about the same as it was 50 years ago”, an overwhelming majority of respondents said that life is worse today…

  The survey showed Americans with a negative view on how life is for people now. They were asked, “In general, would you say life in America today is better, worse, or about the same as it was 50 years ago for people like you?”

  Over half, 58 percent, said they believe life is “worse” for people like them than it was 50 years ago. That reflects a 15-point increase from the 43 percent who said the same in July 2021.

  Only 23 percent said they believe life is “better,” and 19 percent said it is “about the same.”

  Needless to say, if many of us had to pick the best years in American history, 1973 would not be among the top few choices.

  The economy was really struggling and the fashions were absolutely horrible.

  But if you watch this 1973 street footage from New York City, you can see that life was pretty good and people seemed to be pretty happy…

  Would I want to trade my current life for a life in 1973?

  No.

  But if I could trade the people and values of 1973 for the people and values of 2023, I would do that in a heartbeat.

  Our society is falling apart all around us, and that is because the character of this nation has been fundamentally transformed.

  Crime rates are spiking in our major cities, mass killings are happening at a record pace, our streets are filled with drug addicts, and the biggest crooks of all are walking the halls of power.

  In addition, we live at a time when millions of Americans are afraid to leave their homes because our society is literally teeming with predators.  For example, the next time a hotel manager tells you that he wants to check in on you, it may not be because he is concerned about your air conditioning unit…

  A manager at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Nashville has been charged with aggravated burglary and assault after he reportedly entered a guest’s room and sucked on his toes.

  According to Metro police, 52-year-old David Neal was the night manager at downtown Nashville’s Hilton Hotel, located in the 100 block of 4th Avenue South.

  Police said Neal allegedly made a key card and used it to enter the guest’s room on March 30 at around 5 a.m. The guest told police he woke up and found Neal sucking on his toes. He immediately confronted Neal and recognized him as the person who had come into his room the day before with another employee to address an issue the guest was having with his TV, according to investigators.

  There are millions of others just like him all over the country.

  And some of them even get invited to the White House.

  Of course it is debatable whether we even have a “country” at this point because we essentially have no southern border.

  Thousands upon thousands of migrants illegally enter the U.S. every single day, and this isn’t just causing enormous issues in the border states.

  In the state of Indiana, approximately 22 percent of all students in the public schools “receive lessons in both English and Spanish”…

  But it’s not just a problem in the border states. Take Indiana, for example, where Indianapolis police have just declared the capital city a sanctuary for the invasion. WISH reported last year: “Across Indiana, there are nearly 78,000 students called ‘English Learners’ who receive lessons in both English and Spanish. The number of English learners in Indiana schools has increased by almost 27,000 from six years ago.” FAIR estimates that 22% of Indianapolis students are LEPs!

  And now that Title 42 is expiring, the surge of migration that we have been witnessing is likely to become an avalanche…

  Tens of thousands of migrants are reportedly surging at the U.S.-Mexico border ahead of Title 42’s expiration.

  In the Texas border city of El Paso, about 2,200 migrants are currently camped or living on the streets a few blocks from major ports of entry that connect El Paso with the Mexican city of Juárez. The city is prepared to open up shelters next week if needed at two vacant school buildings and a civic center.

  So the pace of societal change is only going to accelerate even more in the years ahead.

  I just wish that things would go back to the way they once were.

  We live at a time where almost everything is corrupt.  For example, if I order a chicken sandwich at a restaurant, I want them to give me a piece of meat that comes from a dead chicken.

  But instead, our “chicken-based products” often contain fillers such as “seaweed” and “wood pulp”…

  Fried chicken is a favorite for millions of Americans – but many of the options offered by America’s biggest fast food chains contain other unexpected ingredients.

  These restaurants will often fill their food with additives, preservative and even other proteins in order to keep costs to a minimum and give their offerings a longer shelf life. Others may use buzzwords such as ‘premium’ or ‘all-white meat’ to describe their poultry-based offerings.

  But more surprising ingredients – such as beef, seaweed and even wood pulp – can be found in the recipe for some chicken-based products at major restaurants.

  Yuck!

  And don’t even get me started on the “meat glue” that is used to hold many of our meat products together.

  The reason so many people eat “organic” today is because they want to eat like people did 50 or 60 years ago.

  In fact, many of the “movements” that we are witnessing right now are simply attempts to recapture what life in America was once like.

  We have lost so much, and we are losing even more with each passing day.

  But there are still many of us that remember how great America was in the old days, and we simply are not willing to stand by and just accept the new version of “America” that is now being forced upon us.

  *  *  *

  Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 22:30

• Haiti's Escalating Gang Violence
  Haiti’s Escalating Gang Violence

  Violence in Haiti claimed the lives of at least 846 people in the first three months of 2023, according to a report released by the UN Human Rights Office.

  As Statista’s Anna Fleck reports, outbreaks have increased in frequency and intensity in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, with armed gangs having expanded into areas previously deemed safe, such as Kenscoff and Pétion Ville.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  In the same quarter, an estimated 13,490 people are believed to have fled their homes due to the violence and socio-economic situation. Several schools and healthcare facilities have had to shut in Port-au-Prince, while the escalations have led to a restriction of movement, impeding access to basic services, including food and water.

  The country has been facing a particularly intensive period of political and social crisis since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. Following his death, the ensuing power vacuum has been filled by rival gangs, while Moïse’s successor, Prime Minister Ariel Henry, has faced challenges over his legitimacy within the country.

  

  Tom Phillips of The Guardian draws attention to the complexity of the situation, highlighting how the country’s overlapping crises are rooted also in a history of international interventions, including the U.S. occupation from 1915-1934, as well as the impacts of “reparations” to France, and the devastating earthquake of 2010 that killed up to 300,000 people.

  Both Prime Minister Henry and the UN High Commissioner Volker Türk have called on the international community to deploy a time-bound “specialized support force” to assist the country’s authorities. However, some Haitians reject the proposal of international intervention based on past experiences of foreign forces in the country.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 22:00

• US-China Tensions Thawing As Washington Fears Allies Will View Policies As Too Aggressive
  US-China Tensions Thawing As Washington Fears Allies Will View Policies As Too Aggressive

  Authored by Connor Freeman via AntiWar.com,

  Renewed meetings between senior American and Chinese officials may suggest the fragile relations between the world’s two largest economies could begin to thaw with increased communication and diplomacy, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

  National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in Vienna last week. Wang, the director of China’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission, spoke with Sullivan for eight hours over the course of two days. The meeting was pulled together quickly, US and Chinese officials told the Post, and marked the highest level dialogue between the two sides since President Joe Biden met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Bali last November. The leader-level meeting helped ease tensions after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s provocative visit to Taipei last August, paving the way for further diplomacy, eyeing a visit to Beijing by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

  

  Though Washington’s top diplomat would have met with Wang, and likely President Xi, earlier this year, the long planned visit was canceled by Blinken on the eve of his departure last February amid concerns over a Chinese meteorological balloon traversing the continental US as a result of unexpected weather . The balloon was shot down by an American F-22 off of South Carolina’s coast.

  Later that month, Blinken stoked tensions further and confronted Wang on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. Blinken claimed, without evidence, that China “sent a surveillance balloon over our territory, violating our sovereignty.” In response, during the following months, Beijing effectively froze the US out of high level, bilateral talks.

  A senior US official speaking to the Post described the meeting this week between Sullivan and Wang as “candid” and “constructive.” Sullivan was said to have “raised the cases of detained American citizens in China and counternarcotics operations as well as regional security issues,” namely Taiwan.

  Under Biden, the US has been expanding a massive buildup in the Indo-Pacific targeting Beijing and concurrently increasing military as well as diplomatic ties with Taipei. In recent weeks and months, President Tsai Ing-wen was hosted by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for talks in California, making McCarthy the highest level US official to host a Taiwanese leader on US soil since Washington severed diplomatic ties with Taipei, and recognized Beijing, almost 50 years ago.

  In the 2023 NDAA bill, signed by Biden, Washington committed billions of dollars in military aid to Taiwan, and deployed an unprecedented 200 troops to the island, training the breakaway province’s forces for war with the mainland. China views Washington’s Taiwan policy as consistently violating the One-China principle , which Xi told Biden is the “first red line that must not be crossed.”

  Lack of communication between both sides combined with Washington’s confrontational posture and significantlyexpanded military presence in the South China Sea, for instance, raises the chances that an accident, miscalculation, or standoff will be impossible to solve diplomatically and potentially lead to a major conflict.

  Sullivan also reportedly discussed the war in Ukraine with Wang and “shared concerns” about Beijing possibly arming Moscow – echoing a months-old propaganda claim originally made by Blinken, without evidence, during his meeting with Wang in February. China denies Washington’s accusation, which is based on “scant intelligence,” according to an official from a G7 country speaking to Reuters.

  According to the Post, after the Vienna meeting, both sides “expressed a willingness to de-escalate tensions and said they intend to maintain a strategic communication channel.” These latest talks closely followed a tense exchange between Nicholas Burns, the US ambassador to China, and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang.

  A Chinese Foreign Ministry readout, said Qin made clear that the US must “respect China’s bottom line and red line, and stop undermining China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests. In particular, we must correctly handle the Taiwan issue, stop hollowing out the one-China principle, and stop supporting and condoning ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces.”

  Burns also recently met with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao for what the US envoy described as an “open and detailed discussion on the bilateral trade relationship.” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and special climate envoy John Kerry all plan to soon make trips to Beijing. Last week, Kerry said he was invited to visit Beijing in the “near term.”

  The Post report also said the tentatively improving conditions may boost the likelihood that Blinken could visit Beijing later this year. One Chinese official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there were “barriers” to overcome before any visit could take place. Beijing “has always been willing. … It’s now the responsibility of the US side to ensure their actions match their words.”

  The same official emphasized there are areas where the two sides could make “meaningful progress,” such as climate change, but added that Taiwan and trade policy continues to “cloud discussions.” In addition to increasing sanctions and decoupling withparts of China, the White House seeks to significantly limit US investments in the country as well as cripple China’s semiconductor industry.

  It remains to be seen what, if any, meaningful concessions Washington is willing to make with respect to its provocative China policies. On Thursday, Bloomberg reported the US is demanding “a flurry of meetings and phone calls” with Chinese counterparts from the lowest to the highest levels for public relations reasons. Sources say the administration is concerned that their allies in Europe and Asia think the US is growing too hostile and unwilling to ease tensions with Beijing. Their hope is that if Xi refuses to engage, then Washington can paint China as recalcitrant.

  Connor Freeman is the assistant editor and a writer at theLibertarian Institute, primarily covering foreign policy. He is a co-host on the Conflicts of Interest podcast. His writing has been featured in media outlets such as Antiwar.com, Counterpunch, and the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. He has also appeared on Liberty Weekly, Around the Empire, and Parallax Views. You can follow him on Twitter@FreemansMind96 .

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 21:30

• Runoff In Turkey Looks Certain As Erdogan & Kilicdaroglu Fall Short
  Runoff In Turkey Looks Certain As Erdogan & Kilicdaroglu Fall Short

  Update(2010ET): Kemal Kilicdaroglu has pulled off a bit of an upset, in a potential political earthquake which could rock Turkey, given now there’s a real shot at unseating President Erdogan as the incumbent has stayed below the 50% mark, with 97% of the vote counted by 3am local time. That means a likely May 28 second round between the two candidates. Live tracker is here as votes continue coming in. The latest per an Al Monitor correspondent: 

  • Erdogan does NOT claim victory 
  • Runoff seems likely 
  • Counting ongoing, waiting absentee 
  • Official results wait to Monday 
  • Opposition questioning integrity of ballot counting

  As for the vote for parliament, Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and allied Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) are set to retain their majority. Erdogan sounded upbeat in late night speech…

  Erdogan made an appearance at the AKP headquarters, singing a song. He is happy.

  He says he is leading with a clear margin in unofficial results.

  “The vote count for domestic and abroad votes continue. We wait for the final results”

  pic.twitter.com/mLV4wADCLz

  — Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) May 14, 2023

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  “Throughout our political life, without exception, we have always respected the decision of the national will. We respect it in this election as well, and we will respect it in the next elections,” Erdogan said. But he added: “We believe we will win in first round” – while also saying he’s ready to go to a second round if that’s the outcome.

  Kilicdaroglu meanwhile charged Erdogan with “blocking the will of Turkey” – which is perhaps a preview of the political fighting and chaos to come of the next two weeks: 

  Kemal Kilicdaroglu has said that the Erdogan camp keeps objecting to the results from certain ballot boxes to block the system.

  “There are ballot boxes that have been objected to six times, 11 times,” he said, adding: “You are blocking the will of Turkey.”

  Kilicdaroglu said: “You cannot prevent what will happen through objections. We will not allow a fait accompli.”

  The real surprise tonight – and disruptor for both sides – was a third candidate, Sinan Ogan of the ultra-nationalist Ancestor Alliance. He took around five percent of the vote and and prevented an outright win (surpassing 50% of the vote is required for victory) for either of the two leading candidates.

  Will Ogan endorse Erdogan or Kilicdaroglu in the runoff? This will likely determine the outcome in two weeks.

  * * *

  Update(1630ET): Erdogan has slipped below the 50% mark with about 90% of the votes counted.

  If no one crosses the 50-percent mark, the top two candidates will enter a second round run-off, which would be set for May 28.

  

  And here’s Anka news agency at 94.45 percent of ballot boxes opened:

  • Erdogan: 49.02 percent
  • Kilicdaroglu: 45.2 percent
  • Ogan: 5.3 percent

  Anadolu says 89.2 percent of ballot boxes have been counted:

  • Erdogan: 49.94 percent
  • Kilicdaroglu: 44.3 percent
  • Ogan: 5.3 percent

  There’s been controversy over just how Erdogan’s early surge was being reported, per Middle East Eye:

  Anadolu Agency has released a statement saying it is publishing results data based on signed and stamped ballot box records and it doesn’t make any preference. The state news agency releases the results as they come out, it insists.

  Earlier, Istanbul Mayor Ekram Imamoglu, an opposition vice presidential candidate, accused Anadolu of misrepresenting the results by indicating a very large early lead for Erdogan (which has now shrunk).

  The agency says its 2,500 employees, along with a polling companies, have been working hard to get the data. It says it will take legal action against the parties “inaccurately” blaming the agency for the election results.

  * * *

  Update(1435ET): TRT World is reporting over 70% of votes counted, Erdogan still holds a firm lead according to multiple outlets and their data:

  UPDATE on #Turkey election vote count

  **Erdogan is leading in both counts**

  —— Anka: 62% of the ballot boxes counted

  • Erdogan: 48%
  • Kilicdaroglu: 46.22%
  • Ogan: 5.32%

  —— Anadolu: 65 percent counted

  • Erdogan; 51.33%
  • Kilicdaroglu; 42.85%
  • Ogan; 5.31% pic.twitter.com/PjpMYtAPpy

  — Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) May 14, 2023

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  Update(1355ET): This is still a very early picture, given also the opposition is complaining that state media is utilizing selective electoral data in its early reporting, with many analysts predicting the gap will close as counting continues…

  #Turkey elections update;

  — Anadolu: 51% counted

  • Erdogan; 52.03
  • Kilicdaroglu; 42.11
  • Ogan; 5.33

  — Anka: 41.48% counted

  • Erdogan: 47.25
  • Kilicdaroglu: 46.98
  • Ogan; 5.31 pic.twitter.com/uVSK2pwzDr

  — Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) May 14, 2023

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  However, Kilicdaroglu’s CHP is providing very different figures of the results trickling in…

  According to CHP results, Kilicdaroglu is close to %50

  Kilicdaroglu: %49/24
  Erdogan: %44.8
  Total ballot boxes: 192K
  Counted: 56K

  This could still end at the first round for KK if we trust CHP HQ results. Though early to tell https://t.co/4cZqUIhVNG

  — ilhan tanir (@WashingtonPoint) May 14, 2023

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  Per Middle East Eye:

  A well-placed source within the Turkish government told MEE’s Ragip Soylu that the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) projection, based on current data, suggests there is a 50 percent chance that Erdogan will win the first round with 50.2 or 50.4 percent.

  There is also a 50 percent chance that there will be a runoff.

  * * *

  (Update 11:53ET): Polls are closed and vote counting is underway across Turkey as President Erdogan’s political future hangs in the balance after two decades in power. Al Jazeera has compiled the following notes of what to expect in the hours and days ahead: 

  • Polls closed at 5pm (14:00 GMT) and counting is under way.
  • Preliminary results are expected later on Sunday, but the official results may take up to three days to be confirmed. There are no exit polls.
  • A candidate needs more than 50 percent of votes in the first round to win outright. If no one crosses the 50-percent mark, the top two candidates will go head to head in a run-off two weeks later, with this year’s vote set for May 28.
  • Pre-election polls gave a slight lead to Kilicdaroglu, 74, the joint candidate of a six-party opposition alliance who leads the centre-left, pro-secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP.
  • Some have expressed concerns over whether Erdogan would cede power, if he lost. Erdogan, however, said in an interview with more than a dozen Turkish broadcasters on Friday that he came to power through democracy and would act in line with the democratic process.

  So far no major security incidents or irregularities have been reported by either side.

  So far, it seems the main complaint of Turkish opposition parties on the election is on the reporting of state funded public news agency, AA, that they say is trying to make Erdogan look ahead with selective initial entry of electoral data to mislead public

  — Ziya Meral (@Ziya_Meral) May 14, 2023

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  Interactive coverage is here as results come in. With about 10% of the votes counted, here’s where things stand at this early stage…

  Initial results, 9.1% of the votes counted;

  • Erdogan; 59.5%
  • Kilicdaroglu; 34.8%
  • Ogan; 5.1%

  Ogan is making a surprise, per Anadolu Agency data pic.twitter.com/lkUXx7TMOm

  — Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) May 14, 2023

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  Analysts believe Erdogan’s numbers will likely to drop as more ballots are counted.

  Erdogan is leading pic.twitter.com/NPVyyLv4ba

  — Russian Market (@runews) May 14, 2023

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  Emerging numbers out of Istanbul: 

  İstanbul’da saat: 19.17 itibariyle sandıkların %15 sisteme girdi ve %15 veriye göre:
  Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu: % 51.33
  R. Tayyip Erdoğan : % 43.94
  Sinan Oğan : % 4.45
  Muharrem İnce : % 0.28#SanaSöz 🫶

  — Canan Kaftancıoğlu (@Canan_Kaftanci) May 14, 2023

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  * * *

  Polls are nearing closure in Turkey on Sunday late afternoon (local) in what is shaping up to be the biggest challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two-decade grip over the country, by his main rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the Kemalist and secular Republican People’s Party (CHP).

  Over 64 million people are eligible to vote in this election, which also will decide the next parliament for a five-year term. By all accounts voter turnout has been high even into the final two hours before polling stations close at 5pm local time (14:00 GMT). No results are expected to trickle in for many hours, as Turkish law prevents releasing any results until 9pm (18:00 GMT, or 2pm Eastern US).

  

  Middle East Eye observes that “Schools, where voters have been casting their ballots, were noticeably more crowded by midday in Turkey than in previous elections, MEE correspondent Yusuf Selman Inanc reported.”

  “Experts predict that this election will see one of the highest voter turnouts in Turkey’s history,” the report continues. In this first round if no candidate secures over 50%, the vote heads to a run-off two weeks later. Any potential runoff would he held on May 28. The CHP’s Kilicdaroglu is representing six different parties as a unity candidate who are desperate to see Erdogan booted from power.

  Among the issues driving public anger, which could result in an upset ousting the incumbent, includes worsening economic conditions and especially the devastating Feb. 6 earthquake and its aftermath – and the subsequent scandals which have since been exposed related to Erdogan’s AK Party officials overseeing years of shoddy construction of buildings across central and southern Turkey and cutting corners. It’s widely perceived that this greatly exacerbated the death and destruction, in a natural disaster which took over 50,000 lives across southern Turkey.

  Yesterday, as a final campaign message, Erdogan lashed at Washington while hoping to whip up anti-US fervor and passion among his conservative Islamist supporters.

  Today on a campaign trail by #Turkey‘s Erdogan:

  * I get my orders from Allah
  * US President Biden ordered to topple me
  * Opposition will sanction Russia on US orders
  * Russian meddling into Turkish elections is a lie
  * West gone crazy when Hagia Sophia turned to a mosque pic.twitter.com/1EwMvFLGxb

  — Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) May 13, 2023

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  Speaking Saturday in Istanbul’s Umraniye district, Erdogan referenced comments made by President Joe Biden in 2020 when he was on the campaign trail which said the US should encourage Erdogan’s opponents to defeat him at the polls.

  “Biden gave the order to topple Erdogan, I know this. All my people know this,” said Erdogan “If that is the case, then the ballots tomorrow will give a response to Biden too.”

  Polls on the eve of Sunday’s vote revealed a tight race: “Polls show Erdogan trailing the main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu a day ahead of one of the most consequential elections in Turkey’s modern history.” According to regional analyst Hakan Akbas, managing director of consulting firm Strategic Advisory Services:

  “There is so much at stake for President Erdogan and his AKP (Justice and Development Party) for the first time, as his 20-year rule over Türkiye may come to an end given the unified opposition has managed to maintain a strong alliance and stay on a hope-building positive campaign.”

  Akbas told CNBC: “The next president of Türkiye will face the challenge of restoring economic stability and state institutions such as the central bank, treasury, and wealth fund and rebuild investor confidence.” He described further, “The country suffers from historically low FX reserves, widening current account deficit, artificially overvalued local currency, undisciplined fiscal balance and persistent, high inflation.

  Insane lines at the polling stations in #Turkey’s large cities like Istanbul.

  I think folding the large ballot paper to stick it in a narrow envelope takes longer than usual time. And the turnout rate is very high.

  Hard to see how this would end in four hours pic.twitter.com/6asejFM7Xk

  — Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) May 14, 2023

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  Turkey has been notorious for blocking US-based social media, particularly at sensitive moments impacting the country and domestic politics. That’s certainly the case when it comes to national elections like this. 

  This gave way to some weekend controversy centered on Elon Musk regarding Turkish censorship of Twitter and the company’s reaction…

  Did your brain fall out of your head, Yglesias? The choice is have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2023

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  We could post what the government in Turkey sent us. Will do.

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2023

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  * * *

  Below is a note from BofA Global Research: Who is exposed to Turkiye?

  Companies exposed to Türkiye In the light of the upcoming Turkish general elections, in our Screen of the Week we focus on those companies with exposure to the country (Exhibit 1). Our Turkish economist highlights that, regardless of the election outcome, she expects a weaker TRY and tightening economic conditions to address imbalances in the economy (see: Türkiye Viewpoint: Elections in May: is Türkiye heading towards orthodoxy? 30 March 2023). The Turkish exposure of European companies is limited, only 0.14% directly reported revenue exposure in 2021 and they show 284 links from Türkiye in the supply chain, of which 40% are suppliers.

  8th consecutive weekly outflow from Europe

  Europe-focused equity funds recorded the eighth consecutive weekly outflow of $2.34bn last week, with a net -17.8% of funds seeing net inflows. Active funds saw outflows of $1.36bn and passive funds of $0.98bn. Europe-focused funds have seen $8.3bn of outflows YTD: $21.7bn of outflows from active funds and $13.4bn of inflows into passive funds. Growth stocks ($0.2bn) and Spain ($0.03bn) recorded the largest inflows last week, while Switzerland ($0.8bn), Financials ($0.4bn) and Size stocks ($0.3bn) posted the largest outflows. No sector recorded inflows last week.

  BofA ERR: Europe improves after upgrades in Healthcare

  The Global BofA four-week EPS Revision Ratio (ERR) increased to 0.93, led by improvements in Europe and North America. The European BofA four-week ERR rose the most across regions over the week to 1.18, the highest level in the past 4 weeks. This uplift was driven mainly by Healthcare, Italy and Low Risk, whose ratios improved the most last week, while Utilities, Switzerland and Rising Momentum ratios dropped the most.

  * * *

  Below is a snapshot summary of the two main candidates we previously featured in this analysis…

  Two ways of ending a campaign for #Turkey’s elections:

  • Kilicdaroglu, on the left, visited Ataturk’s mausoleum in Ankara left flowers

  • Erdogan, on the right, attended the evening prayers at Hagia Sophia pic.twitter.com/BwxGX5TqqK

  — Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) May 13, 2023

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  Erdogan: The Islamic Populist

  Recep Erdogan, 69, has led Turkey since 2003, first as Prime Minister, then as a ceremonial President, and then as a powerful President. Erdogan grew up in a working class family in the rough Kasimpasa neighborhood in the European part of Istanbul, though he spent some of his childhood in his family’s ancestral hometown of Rize, on the east coast of the Black Sea. Erdogan’s father was a Coast Guard officer. As a young man he played semi-professional football; he remains an avid fan of Istanbul’s Fenerbahce football club and is regularly seen wearing a football scarf with his fashionable suits. In 1994 Erdogan became the Mayor of Istanbul running with the pro-Islamic Welfare party. In 1999, Erdogan was sentenced to four months in prison for reading a poem in 1997 that was said to violate Turkiye’s secularism laws. A man of many talents, Erdogan released an album of lyric poetry before going to prison; it became a best-seller in Turkey. As part of his sentence, Erdogan was banned from running for Parliament, but it was annulled after the AKP, which he founded despite not being allowed to run for office, won the 2002 elections. After the rules were changed to allow him to run for office, Erdogan ran in a special election in 2003 and became Prime Minister days after winning.

  

  When Erdogan first took power, he was seen as someone that the West could “work with.” In an article for Politico Christian Oliver writes,

  It’s now easy to forget that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was once hailed as the paragon of a ‘Muslim democrat,’ who could serve as a model to the entire Islamic world…Finally, there was a master-juggler, who could balance Islamism, parliamentary democracy, progressive welfare, NATO membership and EU-oriented reforms.

  I certainly had forgotten that, if I ever knew it in the first place. I did remember that it was Turkey’s priority to join the European Union, something which faded over the years until the process was suspended over Turkey’s record on human rights, media freedoms, and other such matters. After taking power Erdogan quickly got a reputation in the West for being difficult to work with when he would not allow US troops to be stationed in Turkish or Iraqi Kurdistan during the Iraq War. Over the years Erdogan consolidated power, first through a 2010 referendum which made the President directly elected instead of selected by Parliament. Erdogan became the first directly elected President of Turkiye in 2014. Then there was the 2017 referendum making the Presidency a position with many legal powers. In 2016 there was a coup attempt, allegedly by supporters of US-based exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. Many have been highly skeptical of the Erdogan regime’s story about the coup, with some suggesting it was entirely staged. What is undeniable is that Erdogan used the coup attempt to remove an enormous number of political opponents; the 2017 referendum took place under a state of emergency.

  Over the past several years, especially since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Erdogan has been taking Turkey on an increasingly independent course. Tensions had already been high due to the war in Syria, where Turkiye had been fighting a sort of proxy war against its own NATO allies. Currently, the West opposes reconciliation with Syria, something both Turkish candidates want to pursue. The continued presence of Syrian refugees has become deeply unpopular in Turkey, and both candidates are looking to send them home. However, Assad has been hesitant to work with Erdogan, both because Turkey continues to occupy much of northern Syria and further Assad has expressed concern about giving Erdogan a “win” in the lead-up to the elections.

  Last May, I wrote about the many moves which Erdogan had been making, all of which indicated a newly empowered Turkey. However, in the last year Turkey has worked to improve relations not only with Syria but also with Greece, particularly following the earthquake. Further, Turkey accepted Finland’s NATO membership, though continues to hold out on Sweden; Kilicdaroglu intends to immediately approve Sweden’s membership if elected. Erdogan has also continued to employ diplomacy regarding the Russia-Ukraine War, though maintaining the Turkey-brokered grain deal has proven tenuous. All of these things have infuriated the United States and Europe and their scribbling class, who continue to view NATO as a sort of “Gentleman’s Club of liberal democracies” and ignore Turkey’s incredible geopolitical importance and enormous military. The clumsy foreign policy of the Western liberal internationalists plays into Erdogan’s hands, who has claimed his opponents are, “in hock to terrorists, the imperialist West, murky international high-finance and LGBTQ+ organizations.” One is left wondering if a publication such as The Economist publishing that they “warmly endorse” Kilicdaroglu does more to help Erdogan than it does Kilicdaroglu; besides the terrorist part, it appears to be factually accurate that the latter three prefer the opposition.

  For all he has done to consolidate power and restore the nation’s pride, Erdogan remains at serious risk due to economic issues. Though many support his modernizing the military, you cannot eat fighter jets. The President using a religious justification to ignore “mainstream” economic advice during an ongoing inflation crisis must be maddening to educated, secular Turks. However, what matters more to the public than economic ideas are what we call “bread and butter” issues in the United States [though perhaps “onion and potato” issues is more appropriate for this election.] It is very bad for an incumbent when the price of staple vegetables becomes a major campaign issue. One Erdogan supporter went so far as to write a song saying, “We will eat dry bread and onions but we will not abandon Erdogan.” That is perhaps true of his devotees, but many will abandon a political leader if he must eat his bread without oil. For his part, Erdogan has vacillated between denying the problem and downplaying it’s significance, saying “you wouldn’t sacrifice your leader for onion and potato.” In Erdogan’s defense, exports have gone up a substantial amount, which is a goal of his economic policies, and average wages and the legal minimum wage have gone up a healthy amount. Unfortunately, none of this is enough to balance out the severe inflation. Still, there is a plausible argument to be made that this is just a sort of economic growing pains. However, being as it is considered that the earthquake response was badly mismanaged, it is difficult to sell the narrative that Erdogan has things under control.

  Kilicdaroglu: the Secular Liberal

  

  The opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, 74, is everything that Erdogan is not: conventional, polite, professional, and secular. He has a sort of humble professorial demeanor in contrast to Erdogan’s bombastic flair. He has been described as “soft-spoken” and “low key.” One international diplomat with experience in Turkey, speaking to Time on the condition of anonymity, called Kilicdaroglu the “anti-Erdogan,” and further said, “There are points… when a grayer personality is exactly what people want.” This certainly can be true of politics, especially if the public has grown tired of a large personality like Erdogan who has held power for many years. Kemal Kilicdaroglu is appropriately named: he is a staunch Kemalist, who wants to return Turkey to the secular parliamentary democracy envisioned by its founder Ataturk. He is pledging to be a less powerful President than Erdogan- somewhat unusual for a politician- and has said he will only serve one term and then retire to spend time with his grandchildren. An accountant by trade, he intends to follow the economic advice of experts, and certainly would not set financial policies based on his religious views. He is on message, talking about inflation and returning to a more pluralistic political system. Further, Kilicdaroglu wants to have much more NATO-friendly policies, but Western analysts are warning that he won’t make the West’s “dreams come true.” The reality is that though he will be more measured in his speech and behavior, Kilicdaroglu will most likely continue to pursue a largely independent foreign policy which includes resisting the Western sanctions regime against Russia, immediate normalization with Syria, and working to deport Syrian refugees from the country. It is not clear how possible it is to implement Kilicdaroglu’s Syria policies.

  Few articles mention Kilicdaroglu’s personal background and upbringing, in large part because he is almost intentionally uninteresting and does not talk about his personal life. His wife once said he is so soft spoken “You can’t even have a decent argument with him.” [I personally find that untrustworthy, as some of the most sociopathic people can always maintain pleasant demeanor.] According to a profile in Time magazine [the only of several I consulted for this article to contain the story of his childhood] Kilicdaroglu was “born into a family of 9” [so the 8th child?] in a the remote mountain village of Ballica in eastern Anatolia. His family raised goats and he walked to school without shoes. Later, his father got low-level civil service postings which caused them to move to different towns. He was a studious child who played an instrument called the saz and dreamed of becoming a teacher. In college, he got involved in left wing protests and graduated to become a tax inspector. He married a cousin from his hometown, an ancient tradition in that region. While raising his family he worked his way up to the director of the national social security institution [he was, after all, one of the nation’s top rated bureaucrats.] Kilicdaroglu is from a family which follows a minority sect of Islam known as Alevi, which is considered to be a non-mainstream branch of Shia Islam with similarities to Syria’s Alawites. Alevis have been historically oppressed in the Anatolia; it was considered to be breaking a major taboo for him to publicly discuss this religious background.

  Kilicdaroglu entered politics in 2002 at age 53, in what has been referred to as a “retirement hobby.” He began to rise up the ranks of the CHP by using his tax inspection skills to expose corruption in the AKP. In 2010 he became the leader of the party after the head of the party had a sex tape scandal– this was probably an example of the party wanting a “grayer personality.” Though Kilicdaroglu has been unsuccessful at increasing CHP’s parliamentary seats, he has raised his personal profile through a series of non-violent protests, such as a “March for Justice” from Ankara to Istanbul in 2017. Kilicdaroglu models himself after Gandhi, and is sometimes called “Turkiye’s Gandhi.” Further, he has been successful in making in-roads into the nation’s large Kurdish community, who one politician said used to consider the CHP “non-votable,” due to Ataturk’s Turkish nationalism.

  Kilicdaroglu finds himself in a difficult position. He is backed by a disparate coalition while trying to increase parliamentary power. Further, though Kilicdaroglu has been polling ahead in the first round polls, the AKP alliance is ahead in parliamentary polling. The opposition wants to revert back to the old system of governance, or at least make wide-ranging reforms empowering the parliament, but there is no real way to do that without an strong parliamentary majority. Even if the coalition can hold together in the legislature, there is no expectation they will have a large majority. As an anonymous opposition official told journalist Ragip Soylu, the opposition may end up in an ironic position where the only way they can rule and try to reduce the unitary Presidential power is by Presidential decree.

  Kilicdaroglu may not be the most dynamic man, but he can win if enough of the public wants less “exciting” government than they have had from Erdogan. Further, while this sort of constitutional reform may not seem like a campaign issue that will connect with the public, Erdogan’s consolidation of power is unprecedented in modern Turkey and the public has noticed. Since Erdogan has taken so much power it makes it easy to blame all of the country’s problems on him. İlke Toygür of the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid said, “Parliament has a very strong symbolic value in Turkey…One of the biggest complaints now is that people lost their links to decision-making candidates.” In this election, it is in some ways true that “democracy is on the ballot.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 21:11

• "It's Just Not Safe": Decades-Old Baltimore Business Closes Shop Because Of Crime, Blames Democrats
  “It’s Just Not Safe”: Decades-Old Baltimore Business Closes Shop Because Of Crime, Blames Democrats

  In cities stretching from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, New York City, Chicago, and numerous cities along the West Coast, progressive leadership has failed to enforce law and order. These crime-ridden metropolises are experiencing an exodus of businesses of all sizes due to a tidal wave of thefts. 

  The latest incident comes as a mom-and-pop business, operating in Baltimore City for more than four decades, has been forced to shutter operations because of numerous armed robberies. 

  Jody Rosoff, the owner of Doc’s Smoke Shop in Baltimore’s Highlandtown neighborhood, told local media Fox 45 that she has been robbed at gunpoint for the second time in six months and just recently had to shoot an intruder. 

  “This is our second armed robbery in six months,” Rosoff said. 

  She said her business has been operating in the city for decades and now has to close up shop because “it’s not safe for anybody on this street that’s a small business owner.” 

  “We have been here in the city for 44 years. For 44 years, we’ve paid property taxes, retail sales taxes, and we have employed people. It’s just not safe. It’s not safe for my employees or for me. It’s not safe for anybody on this street that’s a small business owner. We can’t afford armed security. The business just isn’t there.”

  It turns out the robber was a convicted felon with a lengthy record spanning more than two decades. She pointed to the city’s progressive leadership for “soft on crime policies” that keep dangerous people on the street. 

  “Shame on the mayor, shame on the judges, and the prosecutors and our former state’s attorney for letting this happen to Baltimore City,” Rosoff said.

  Meanwhile, in the city’s downtown district, shootings, carjackings, muggings, and out-of-control packs of teenagers are wreaking havoc. 

  Just a late night run at the great Baltimore City’s #InnerHarbor #SpringBreak vibes #SpringBreak2023 #Baltimore #Maryland #น้องวินอยากเป็นพี่วิน #TAEHYUNGxCELINE #SuccessionHBO #Succession #ChaguoSmartNaAirtel #Maryland #Taiwan #TikTok #SummerMMFF2023 #INVASION #Russia… pic.twitter.com/X36btbT65g

  — Daniel Barahona (@GlobalSETT) April 10, 2023

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  Why Democrat leadership has let the city deteriorate so badly is beyond comprehension… There is no accountability with leadership’s failed policies. However, businesses are leaving (read: “Entire Downtown Is Effectively Dead:” Baltimore City Descends Further Into Turmoil).  

  

  

  Beyond Baltimore, businesses across NYC, Chicago, Portland, and San Francisco, to name a few, are leaving as crime surges. While Democrats don’t want to be accountable for their failed policies, a symptom of such failure is the exodus of companies (as well as people). 

  The exodus of liberal cities is an ongoing theme post-virus pandemic and will continue until law and order is re-established. Just look at the chaos earlier last week in San Francisco. 

  Wild Video from Oakland California sideshow street Takeover last night

  (@ppv_tahoe) Video footage was filmed on the 100 block of 10th street overnight.#oakland #sideshow #california
  📸 _okpatrick pic.twitter.com/Nc6laXxTEB

  — PPV-TAHOE – News Journalist (@ppv_tahoe) May 6, 2023

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  Democrats have transformed parts of this country into a clown world by abandoning law and order. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 21:00

• Judge Orders FDA To Speed Up Release Of COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Data From 23.5 Years To Just 2
  Judge Orders FDA To Speed Up Release Of COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Data From 23.5 Years To Just 2

  Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  A federal judge in Texas this week ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make public data it relied on to license COVID-19 vaccines—Moderna’s for adults and Pfizer’s for children—at an accelerated rate, requiring all documents to be made public by mid-2025 rather than, as the FDA wanted, over the course of around 23.5 years.

  

  In a decision hailed as a win for transparency by the lawyer representing the plaintiffs (the parents of a child injured by a COVID-19 vaccine) in a lawsuit (pdf) against the FDA, the Texas judge ordered the FDA to produce the data about ten times faster than the agency wanted.

  “Democracy dies behind closed doors,” is how U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman opened his order (pdf), issued on May 9, which requires the FDA to produce the data on Moderna’s and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines at an average rate of at least 180,000 pages per month.

  The FDA had argued it would be “impractical” to release the estimated 4.8 million pages at more than between 1,000 and 16,000 pages per month, which would have taken at least 23.5 years.

  Aaron Siri of Siri & Glimstad, who represents the plaintiffs in the legal action against the FDA, called the decision “another blow for transparency and accountability” that builds on an earlier court order targeting Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine data for those aged 16 and older.

  The January 2022 order (pdf), also issued by Pittman, forced the FDA to produce all its data on Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for those aged 16 and older at a rate of 55,000 pages per month, or much faster than the 75 years the agency had sought.

  “That production should be completed in a few more months,” Siri said in a statement, referring to the earlier Pfizer data for those aged 16 and up.

  The latest order requires the FDA to produce all of its data on Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds (and Moderna’s product for adults) by June 31, 2025.

  The FDA did not immediately return a request for comment by The Epoch Times.

  ‘Stale Information Is of Little Value’

  While the judge noted in his order that the court recognizes the FDA’s limited resources dedicated to freedom of information requests (FOIA), he argued that “the number of resources an agency dedicates to such requests does not dictate the bounds of an individual’s FOIA rights.”

  “Instead, the Court must ensure that the fullest possible disclosure of the information sought is timely provided—as ‘stale information is of little value,’” Pittman wrote.

  In order to ensure the FDA can meet the accelerated deadline—so around ten times faster than the agency wanted—the judge ordered the parties to the lawsuit to confer and submit a joint production schedule for the data by May 23, 2023.

  In the earlier case adjudicated by Pittman, the FDA had argued it only had the bandwidth to review and release around 500 pages per month of an estimated total 450,000 pages of material about the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for those aged 16 and older.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 20:30

• Toronto 'Anti-Capitalist' Pay-When-You-Can Cafe Shuts Down After Just One Year
  Toronto ‘Anti-Capitalist’ Pay-When-You-Can Cafe Shuts Down After Just One Year

  A Toronto cafe for anti-capitalists, “The Anarchist,” is permanently shuttering after just 12 months in business after following a “pay-when-you-can” business model.

  

  The Anarchist describes itself as an “anti-capitalist, anti-colonial cafe, shop and radical community space on stolen land.”

  “Unfortunately, the lack of generational wealth/seed capital from ethically bankrupt sources left me unable to weather the quiet winter season, or to grow in the ways needed to be sustainable longer-term,” the owner, Gabriel Sims-Fewer wrote last week.

  The Anarchist, which opened for business in March of 2022, went viral last year, with internet users mocking the leftist cafe for charging high prices for its “speciality” coffee as well as selling “radical” art, books, clothing, jewellery, tote bags, and stickers. –Breitbart

  “Fuck the rich. Fuck the police. Fuck the state. Fuck the colonial death camp we call “Canada”,” Gabriel wrote.

  

  “It’s been an amazing experience, connecting with so many great community members, sparking desperately needed debate, raising the blood pressure of Conservatives (that includes you, “anarcho-capitalists” and “Libertarians”), fulfilling the dream of most service workers by not having to tolerate the presence of professional class-traitors (pigs and military), and experimenting with living and working in ways that don’t enthusiastically embrace the pure misanthropy of Capitalism,” he continued.

  How could this have possibly happened?

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 20:00

• NYC Converts Hotels To Shelters To Accommodate Expected Influx Of Illegal Immigrants
  NYC Converts Hotels To Shelters To Accommodate Expected Influx Of Illegal Immigrants

  Authored Efthymis Oraiopoulos via The Epoch Times,

  The historic Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan—shuttered three years ago—is being reopened to accommodate an anticipated influx of illegal immigrants just as other New York City hotels are being converted to emergency shelters.

  

  Mayor Eric Adams announced Saturday that the city will use the Roosevelt to eventually provide as many as 1,000 rooms for migrants who are expected to arrive in the coming weeks because of the expiration of pandemic-era rules, known collectively as Title 42, that had allowed federal officials to turn away asylum seekers from the U.S. border with Mexico.

  Across the city, hotels like the Roosevelt are being transformed into emergency shelters, many of them within walking distance from Times Square, the World Trade Center memorial site, and the Empire State Building.

  Adams says the city is running out of room for illegal immigrants and has sought help from the state and federal governments.

  He said New York in recent weeks has been seeing 500 illegal immigrant arrivals per day. More than 61,000 have sought services from the city in the past 12 months.

  On Thursday he said that once the rules change, “we could potentially get thousands of people a day in our city.”

  Title 42 is a law enacted in 1944 allowing the federal government to curb immigration to protect public health. The Trump administration imposed these restrictions at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago.

  The restrictions of Title 42 ended on May 11 and more than 10,000 illegal migrants per day are expected to cross the southern border.

  

  Migrants are seen after crossing the Rio Bravo river with the intention of turning themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on May 9, 2023. (Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters)

  New York City officials are expecting to receive busloads of migrants from Texas and other border states. The officials have explored housing the newcomers in airplane hangars, a race track, gymnasiums, or even tents in Central Park. Others could wind up on the streets, advocates feared, despite the city’s court-ordered commitment to provide all residents with access to a place to stay.

  Adams, a Democrat, temporarily suspended on Wednesday portions of New York’s law guaranteeing shelter to all residents. Adams signed an executive order so that the city has no obligation to meet a strict deadline for providing that shelter.

  A few hours later, he sent roughly two dozen illegal immigrants on a bus to a hotel in the upstate town of Newburgh, overriding fierce backlash from local leaders.

  Many illegal immigrants residing in New York have arrived from Texas, after Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott started sending them there on buses, last year.

  Several other Democrat-leaning cities, including Chicago and Denver, have also grappled with a growing number of illegal immigrants and how to provide them with food, medicine, and shelter without significant federal funding.

  According to a New York Times report, even the owner of the iconic Flatiron Building in Manhattan was asked to turn the skyscraper into a shelter, but he declined.

  At a news conference Thursday, Manuel Castro, the commissioner for immigrant affairs, said the city “no longer can physically accommodate people that request emergency shelter.”

  The city has also faced pushback in its early efforts to escort illegal immigrants out of the city. In Rockland County, local officials successfully secured a temporary restraining order banning the city from sending illegal immigrants to a hotel.

  After two dozen illegal immigrants arrived in a Newburgh hotel on Thursday, Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus, a Republican, blamed Adams for a “disorganized disaster,” vowing to secure his own restraining order.

  

  Security stands at the doors of The Crossroads Hotel where two busloads of illegal immigrants arrived hours earlier in Newburgh, N.Y., on May 11, 2023. (John Minchillo/AP Photo)

  Speaking to reporters Thursday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said the city faced an “untenable situation.” But she said she also understood the stress faced by county executives and their decision not to support the buses.

  “Our view is to continue working with the counties, but really focusing on continuing to support Mayor Adams because he’s receiving the brunt of most of this,” she said.

  Adams has also accused the White House of “turning its back on New York City,” asking that work permits be given to illegal immigrants to solve the problem.

  Adams said in April that the migrant influx into New York could cost the city more than $4 billion, at a time when the city is already facing a major budget shortfall.

  New Regulation on Illegal Immigrants

  The United States rolled out a regulation on May 10 that presumes most migrants are ineligible for asylum if they passed through other nations without seeking protection elsewhere first, or if they failed to use legal pathways for U.S. entry.

  The rule, which was set to come into effect on Thursday and to expire in two years, will apply to the vast majority of non-Mexican migrants seeking asylum since they typically pass through multiple countries en route to the United States.

  Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing 18,000 Border Patrol agents and support personnel, told The Epoch Times as many as 13,000 illegal migrants a day are expected to cross with the collapse of Title 42 at 11:59 p.m. on May 11.

  “I would say that we’re looking at a minimum of 13,000,” Judd said on May 10. “We’ve arrested more than 10,000 people per day, for the last three days, and that number just continues to go up.”

  Those estimates could reach 16,000 per day if nothing is done to halt the incursion.

  Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said migrants who cross the border illegally without being properly processed will be ineligible for asylum.

  But, Judd said, the Biden administration is misleading the public.

  “That’s a half-truth at best,” he said.

  While people caught illegally crossing the border will be told they can’t claim asylum under the new rule, they will still have the right to appeal, and because the border patrol can’t hold them until their appeal hearings, they will be released into the United States.

  “They’re telling the American people what the intention of the rule is, but they’re not telling them the practical application of the rule,” he said.

  

  Migrants wait in line to enter the United States from Tijuana, Mexico, on May 11, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

  Detention facilities are already three times over capacity, leaving the border patrol no choice but to release illegal immigrants.

  “We’re doing mass releases,” he said. “Now, it’s just mass releases to the street because we can’t hold this many people.”

  More than two years of lax border policies have led to this massive influx of illegal migrants and strained the system, turning agents who once patrolled the southern border into desk clerks who process asylum claims, he said.

  “It pulls resources from patrolling the border,” he said. “That’s what arrests mean to us.”

  At 10,000 arrests a day, about 70 percent of border patrol agents are doing administrative duties, he said, adding the Biden administration prefers to use the word apprehensions “to make it sound nicer.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 19:30

• "The Worst Is Now Behind Us": Q1 Earnings Season Much Better Than Feared
  “The Worst Is Now Behind Us”: Q1 Earnings Season Much Better Than Feared

  For much of 2023, some of the biggest Wall Street bears were betting – quite vocally in certain prominent cases- that Q1 earnings season would finally be the nail in the coffin of the bear market rally. However, with consensus expectations tumbling into the earnings print (as they always do), the bogey to beat ended up being quite easy and as a result, Q1 2023 earnings season has proven to be much better than feared.

  With 90% of S&P companies reporting results, here is where we stand:

  • S&P 500 profits fell by 3% year/year, stronger than consensus estimates of a 7% decline at the start of reporting season.  In Europe, earnings actually rose by 3% y/y which is a positive surprise factor of 10% vs IBES estimates.

  

  • At a sector level, delivery has been mixed. In the US, Energy, Industrials and Discretionary are recording double-digit EPS growth, while 7 of the remaining sectors are coming in flat or down on a yoy basis. Financials EPS grew by +5% year/year. In Europe, Discretionary, Staples, Financials and Tech have fared better, while Energy, Materials and Communication Services are down double-digit.

  

   

  • Excluding Energy, S&P 500 year/year EPS growth troughed in 4Q 2022… and Goldman – unlike Morgan Stanley – believes that the worst of the 2023 negative earnings revision cycle is now behind us, to wit: “The earnings backdrop is showing green shoots of improvement. Excluding Energy, S&P 500 year/year EPS growth improved sequentially from -6% in 4Q 2022 to -5% in 1Q 2023.”

  

  • Revenues grew by 4% in both the US and Europe, above expectations for growth of 3% and 1%, respectively. The proportion of companies beating estimates has picked up in both the US and Europe.

  

  • Net margins contracted by 99bps, the 3rd consecutive quarter of year/year margin decline, but by less than the 146bps expected. Margins in every sector surprised to the upside, led by Materials and Info Tech.
    • Still, if there was one recurring theme across earnings season it is this: as JPM notes, profit margins are showing increasing signs of a rollover, with Q1 EPS growth minus sales growth the weakest in a while (even if not as bad as initially expected).

  

  • The aggregate S&P 500 EPS surprise of 5% was in line with the historical median after being below average for most of 2022. The stock price reaction to beats has been rather subdued, though, where stocks that are beating estimates are, on average, outperforming by less than typical. On the other side, those that are missing estimates are being penalized by more than their historical median.

  

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 19:00

• Turley: America's Blackout On Biden Corruption Is Truly 'Pulitzer-Level Stuff'
  Turley: America’s Blackout On Biden Corruption Is Truly ‘Pulitzer-Level Stuff’

  Authored by Jonathan Turley, op-ed via The Hill,

  This week, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) tried to do the impossible. After he and his colleagues presented a labyrinth of LLC shell companies and accounts used to funnel as much as $10 million to Biden family members, Donalds tried to induce the press to show some interest in the massive corruption scandal.

  “For those in the press, this easy pickings & Pulitzer-level stuff right here,” he pleaded.

  

  The response was virtually immediate.

  Despite showing nine Biden family members allegedly receiving funds from corrupt figures in Romania, China and other countries, The New Republic quickly ran a story headlined “Republicans Finally Admit They Have No Incriminating Evidence on Joe Biden.”

  For many of us, it was otherworldly. A decade ago, when then-Vice President Joe Biden was denouncing corruption in Romania and Ukraine and promising action by the United States, massive payments were flowing to his son Hunter Biden and a variety of family members, including Biden grandchildren.

  Last year, I wrote a column about how the media were preparing a difficult “scandal implosion” to protect the Bidens and themselves from the backlash from disclosures of this influence peddling operation.

  The brilliance of the Biden team was that it invested the media in this scandal at the outset by burying the laptop story as “Russian disinformation” before the election.

  That was, of course, false, but it took two years for most major media outlets to admit that the laptop was authentic.

  But the media then ignored what was on that “authentic laptop.” Hundreds of emails detailed potentially criminal conduct and raw influence peddling in foreign countries.

  When media outlets such as the New York Post confirmed the emails, the media then insisted that there was no corroboration of the influence peddling payments and no clear proof of criminal conduct. It entirely ignored the obvious corruption itself.

  Now that the House has released corroboration in actual money transfers linking many in the Biden family, the media is insisting that this is no scandal because there is not directly proof of payments to Joe Biden.

  Putting aside that this is only the fourth month of an investigation, the media’s demand of a direct payment to President Biden is laughably absurd. The payments were going to his family, but he was the object of the influence peddling. 

  The House has shown millions of dollars going to at least nine Bidens like dividends from a family business. As a long-time critic of influence peddling among both Republicans and Democrats, I have never seen the equal of the Bidens.

  The whole purpose of influence peddling is to use family members as shields for corrupt officials. Instead of making a direct payment to a politician, which could be seen as a bribe, you can give millions to his or her spouse or children.

  Moreover, these emails include references to Joe Biden getting a 10 percent cut of one Chinese deal. It also shows Biden associates warning not to use Joe Biden’s name but to employ code names like “the Big Guy.” At the same time, the president and the first lady are referenced as benefiting from offices and receiving payments from Hunter.

  Indeed, Hunter complains that his father is taking half of everything that he is raking in.

  None of that matters.

  The New York Times ran a piece headlined, “House Republican Report Finds No Evidence of Wrongdoing by President Biden.” That is putting aside evidence against all the family members around Joe Biden. It also ignored that other evidence clearly shows Biden lied about this family not receiving Chinese funds or that he never had any knowledge of his son’s business dealings. 

  The fact is that the Times may indeed be trying for another Pulitzer Prize. The newspaper previously won a Pulitzer for the now debunked Russian collusion story. It was later revealed that this story was based on a dossier funded by the Clinton campaign and placed in the media by Clinton officials. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward warned the co-winner The Washington Post that the story was unreliable but was ignored. The Pulitzer Committee refused to withdraw the award.

  What Donalds fails to appreciate is that this is sometimes how Pulitzers are made. Roughly 100 years ago, New York Times reporter Walter Duranty won the Pulitzer for his coverage of the Soviet Union despite serving as an apologist for Joe Stalin. Duranty refused to report on actual conditions from mass killing to starvation in the “worker’s paradise.”

  Thus, when the Soviets were starving to death as many as 10 million Ukrainians, the Times ran a Duranty story with the headline “Russians Hungry but Not Starving.” He not only spinned Stalin labor camps that killed millions but also attacked reporters who sought to uncover the truth.

  Years later, Ukraine and various groups demanded that Duranty’s prize be rescinded, but the Committee insisted that there was no “clear and convincing evidence of deliberate deception.”

  What is most impressive about this week is that all but a few outlets seem to be angling for the next Duranty Pulitzer. 

  In discussing modern Russian propaganda, researchers at the Rand Corporation described it as having “two distinctive features: high numbers of channels and messages and a shameless willingness to disseminate partial truths or outright fictions.”

  Sound familiar?

  Today we are seeing a much more dangerous phenomenon.

  The coverage this week has all the markings of a state media. The consistent spin. The almost universal lack of details. The absurd distinctions. 

  It is the blindside of our First Amendment, which addresses the classic use of state authority to coerce and control media. It does not address a circumstance in which most of the media will maintain an official line out of by consent rather than coercion.

  The media simply fails to see the story. Of course, it can always look to the president for enlightenment.

  Just before his son received a massive transfer of money from one of the most corrupt figures in Romania, Biden explained to that country why corruption must remain everyone’s focus.

  “Corruption is a cancer, a cancer that eats away at a citizen’s faith in democracy,” he said. “

  Corruption is just another form of tyranny.”

  It is just a shame that no one wants to cover it.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 18:30

• Watch: Did CNN Accidentally Admit The Truth About Illegal Migrants And Title 42?
  Watch: Did CNN Accidentally Admit The Truth About Illegal Migrants And Title 42?

  The political left has been actively pushing for the end of Title 42 as the only existing legal avenue for direct expulsion of illegal immigrants back to their country of origin.  Without the protections in place, border agents will now be forced to release the majority of migrants into the US under asylum. 

  At the same time, the media and the Biden Administration have also been pressing the narrative that there has been “no significant increase” in illegal crossings with the expiration of the policy.  The message is that Title 42 is not as important as the public thinks it is in stopping illegal caravans.  However, the migrants sneaking into the US today might disagree.  

  CNN may have accidentally let slip the reality of impending invasion post-Title 42 when an illegal migrant they interviewed indicated that was the exact reason why he crossed the US border in the first place.  The news crew quickly moves past the segment with little more than a brief acknowledgment of the very thing border states have been warning about for many months. 

  CNN: “Were you aware of Title 42 and that they were gonna open the border like before the pandemic?”

  “Yes.”

  CNN: “That’s why you came?”

  “Yes.” pic.twitter.com/wv3fta5XYJ

  — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 11, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 18:00

• NYC May Start Charging Fines That Vary With Offender's Income
  NYC May Start Charging Fines That Vary With Offender’s Income

  New York City council is considering a plan to impose fines for parking and other violations that are adjusted based on the income of the offender. Depending on one’s point of view, it’s either a step toward more proportionate justice or a deeper embrace of Marxism. 

  The proposal for a pilot program to test the concept comes from South Brooklyn Councilman Justin Brannan, whose colorful background includes being a hardcore punk guitarist for the bands Indecision and Most Precious Blood, and working in alternative-energy venture capital at Bear Stearns.  

  

  Brannan didn’t invent the varying-fine concept. It’s been tried in a few US jurisdictions and several European countries. Typically, those programs are used when punishing felony or misdemeanor violations, but Brannan’s scheme would apply to mere civil offenses. 

  If the program moves forward, it would apply to at least 10 local laws, and Brannan would like the higher rates to apply only to those with incomes over $500,000, whom he characterizes as comprising the dreaded top “1 percent.” 

  “Fine amounts are arbitrary as it is so why should a public school teacher and a billionaire pay the same fine?” asked Brannan in an interview with Reason. For instance, a $115 ticket for a working family of four could be a real hardship whereas a $115 ticket for an individual making $500K is a joke and does absolutely nothing to change their behavior.”

  This type of income-dependent financial punishment is called a “day fine.” Here’s how it was explained by the Vera Institute of Justice‘s Judith Green in a 1990 paper: 

  “First, the court sentences the offender to a certain number of day-fine units (e.g., 15, 60, 120 units) according to the gravity of the offense, but without regard to his or her means. Then the value of each unit is set at a share of the offender’s daily income (hence the name ‘day fine’), and the total fine amount is determined by simple multiplication.”

  “Studies have shown that day-fine programs typically lead to more people actually paying their fines, in part because penalties that were once out of reach for low-income and middle-class residents become more manageable,” reports the New York Times. 

  

  That’s an attractive dynamic for a cash-strapped, migrant-smothered city like New York, which currently has $2 billion in civil fines that have gone unpaid since 2017. At the same time, it sounds like it would be a bureaucratic nightmare to administer. 

  If the purpose of a fine is to inflict pain and change behavior, one might — perhaps grudgingly — see some logic in the day-fine approach. Then again, many of those fines are just victimless-crime, government piracy dressed up in the name of “public safety.” 

  Worst of all, the day-fine scheme is all too reminiscent of the overarching Marxist slogan, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”  

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 17:00

• Daniel Penny Raises $1.6 Million Via GiveSendGo After Being Charged In Death Of Jordan Neely
  Daniel Penny Raises $1.6 Million Via GiveSendGo After Being Charged In Death Of Jordan Neely

  Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

  A crowdfunding campaign supporting the legal defense fund for former Marine Daniel Penny, who was charged in the death of a homeless man on the New York City subway, has surged to more than $1.5 million in a few days.

  

  His lawyers, Thomas Kenniff and Steven Kaiser, launched the campaign on the crowdfunding site GiveSendGo last week, saying that Penny was only “protecting individuals” on a subway train from what they described as an assailant, who later died. Penny, 24, was arraigned Friday on one count of second-degree manslaughter for allegedly fatally choking 30-year-old Jordan Neely.

  According to prosecutors, they said that Neely—who has a lengthy criminal history and was described as homeless—was “making threats and scaring passengers.” In New York state, a conviction for second-degree manslaughter can result in a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

  “Funds are being raised to pay Mr. Penny’s legal fees incurred from any criminal charges filed and any future civil lawsuits that may arise, as well as expenses related to his defense,” said the crowdfunding page for Penny.

  “All contributions are greatly appreciated. Any proceeds collected which exceed those necessary to cover Mr. Penny’s legal defense will be donated to a mental health advocacy program in New York City.”

  In response to the fundraising, “The outpouring of generosity and support for Daniel Penny is beyond anything we could have imagined,” Kenniff told Fox News. “Daniel is incredibly grateful for the support of so many New Yorkers.”

  

  The fundraiser was boosted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is reportedly looking to run for president, on Twitter.

  In the incident, a witness, who wished to remain anonymous, told the New York Post that Neely appeared to be having a mental episode and started ranting wildly while on the northbound F subway train on May 1.

  “He said, ‘I don’t care. I’ll take a bullet, I’ll go to jail’ because he would kill people on the train,” a 66-year-old woman said, referring to what Neely said.

  “He said, ‘I would kill a [expletive]. I don’t care. I’ll take a bullet. I’ll go to jail.’”

  Penny did not initially engage Neely, she said. He only got involved when the situation got out of hand, she added.

  The woman told the paper that after the incident, she went back to “thank” Penny. “I hope he has a great lawyer, and I’m praying for him,” the woman said last week. “And I pray that he gets treated fairly, I really do. Because after all of this ensued, I went back and made sure that I said ‘Thank you’ to him.”

  She added: “This gentleman, Mr. Penny, did not stand up. … did not engage with the gentleman. He said not a word. It was all Mr. Neely that was … threatening the passengers. If he did not get what he wants.”

  “Gonna go to jail for life’? What? What penalties involve going to jail for life?” she asked. “Could you tell me? Yeah, it’s not kicking somebody in the shin, or punching somebody in the face.”

  Similar comments were left on the GiveSendGo fundraiser, with a number of donors saying that Penny didn’t do anything wrong and was defending himself.

  Late last week, Penny surrendered to police to face the manslaughter charge. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed days before Penny will be arrested on a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the case.

  “We cannot provide any additional information until he has been arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court, which we expect to take place tomorrow,” Bragg stated Thursday.

  Last week, the law firm alleged in a statement that their 24-year-old client was acting in self-defense when he held Neely in a chokehold on the F train on May 1, which allegedly caused him to die of compression of the neck, according to the medical examiner.

  The attorneys also alleged that their client did not mean to kill Neely, a 30-year-old man whose friends say suffered from worsening mental health. They added Neely had been behaving aggressively toward other passengers on the subway and Penny stepped in to do what he thought was right and seemed reasonable.

  Witnesses reported that Neely was complaining loudly, allegedly shouting, “I want food,” “I’m not taking no for an answer,” “I’m ready to go back to jail,” and “I’ll hurt anyone on this train.” They also reported that he had harassed passengers for years.

  Neely has a lengthy criminal record that includes dozens of prior arrests and also had a warrant out for his arrest related to a felony assault at the time of his death.

  Meanwhile, video footage has emerged online showing Penny and another man who helped to restrain him rendering aid by placing Neely into a “recovery position” after he fell unconscious. The video also shows Neely was still alive after Penny released him from the chokehold.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 16:30

• Never Forget: A Retrospective On The Media Lies Surrounding COVID
  Never Forget: A Retrospective On The Media Lies Surrounding COVID

  Lest we get too comfortable once again and forget that only a couple years ago the western world was on the verge of perpetual medical tyranny, it is important to look back at the massive media disinformation campaign concerning the effectiveness (or lack of effectiveness) of the pandemic mandates and the mRNA vaccines.  Only two years ago, the public was bombarded by possibly the most aggressive global propaganda attack in modern history.  And, this campaign was a conjoined effort between national governments, global institutions and corporations.    

  Keep in mind, all the hysteria was generated over a virus with a median official Infection Fatality Rate of only 0.23%.  That’s right, all the fear mongering featured in the video below was in reaction to a “pandemic” that 99.8% of the population would easily survive, and this death rate was known only months after the spread started.  Also keep in mind that essentially every single claim made by the media concerning covid featured below ended up being false.  In many cases, the media knew that scientific evidence ran contrary to their narrative, but they promoted that narrative anyway.

  Enjoy this flashback of corporate media covid fear mongering, and never forget…

  Covid Retrospective Series, Vol. 1

  Media: The Unvaccinated Are Scum pic.twitter.com/hPvLfEtW3O

  — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 12, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 16:00

• Macleod: The Dynamics Driving The Dollar Down
  Macleod: The Dynamics Driving The Dollar Down

  Authored by Alasdair Macleod via GoldMoney.com,

  This article examines the currency imbalances between US dollars and the other currencies and concludes that should foreign holders decide to reduce their dollar exposure, the consequences for its value would be dramatic.

  The dollar’s problems should be laid at the door of the wishful thinkers who think the state knows better than free markets. It is that which has led to currency imbalances. Central banks attempting to manage economic outcomes by manipulating interest rates and “stimulating” economic activity have acted in defiance of Say’s law, which defines the relationship between production and consumption, and the true role of a medium of exchange. 

  By dismissing this fundamental truth, the US authorities have made a rod for their own backs.

  

  Their determination to replace gold as the highest form of money with the fiat dollar has led to extraordinary levels of dollar accumulation about to be unleashed onto unsuspecting markets.

  A break below 100.50 on the dollar’s trade weighted index will probably be the signal. It currently stands at 101.50.

  Say’s law says it simplest

  John Maynard Keynes did the world a disservice with his offhand dismissal of Say’s law. Consequently, economists have lost the true relationship between production and consumption. And we have lost our understanding of the true role of currencies as a medium of exchange. Nearly all our economic errors have flowed from this dismissal. 

  In order to understand the seriousness of it with respect to the dollar today, the denial of Say’s law is no less than a denial of the division of labour. Yet, plainly, the division of labour is the basis of all human economic activity. Without having something to sell, we cannot buy the things we need which we are unable to provide for ourselves efficiently or easily. Where we differ from other animals is that we develop our personal skills to maximise the value of our specialised production so that we can increase our wider consumption for the greatest relief of our needs and desires. Our individual skills are the key that provides our wealth. And it is the role of currency as a medium of exchange which allows us to turn our production into our consumption.

  Several things follow from this truism. One is that if we reduce our total production, we reduce our total consumption, because the former leads to the latter. No, say the Keynesians, who put it the other way round. They say that if we reduce our consumption there will be a general glut of goods on the market and then prices will fall, leading to unemployment. The error is to not understand that first we must produce in order to consume, so that there cannot be a general glut, only changes in the level of productive output which are broadly matched by changes in overall consumption.

  Surely, this can be easily understood even by non-experts. But this deliberate error — for that is what it can only have been — has led to a misunderstanding of the role of the medium of exchange. It provides the means to exchange goods of unequal value: for example, a cobbler makes shoes and boots, whose unit value will be greater than the individual food items he requires daily to feed his family. It also provides producers with the credit required to finance production, paying costs incurred before a final product is sold and creditors repaid.

  This is the essence of trade. And so long as transacting individuals only produce to consume, the expansion and contraction of the sum total of money and credit purely in connection with that trade cannot alter their value in terms of goods and services generally. Not so, say Keynes’s macroeconomists, now joined in chorus by the monetarists. They claim that expansion of money and credit alters the general price relation. Both believe in manipulating credit to this end.

  Again, a child should be able to understand the flaw in this argument. The general price relation is only altered when additional currency is introduced by central banks for purposes other than the credit required for the settlement of trade in free markets.

  This is in defiance of the sole function of a medium of exchange, which is to act as the agent for turning our production into consumption. But it does mean that if excess currency accumulates in the form of credit additional to its use as a trade settlement medium, its purchasing power is undermined because it does not originate from the need to turn production into consumption. It is important to understand that it is this excess that changes the price relation, not changes in the level of credit per se. And this is the case with respect to international trade, where currency balances have accumulated.

  When a foreigner holds unspent dollars, that person or entity can be said to be “owed” US domestic goods and services. This logically follows from the unbending precepts of Say’s law. But the majority of foreign owned dollars have actually been exchanged for product of a sort. On US Treasury TIC figures, approximately $24.5 trillion are invested in long-term US Treasuries, corporate bonds, and equities. These constitute incorporeal wealth and are therefore classed in the owners’ minds as assets, just as if they were corporeal wealth, such as property, farmland, livestock, and factories, which are similarly valued in dollars. All these assets represent consumption of the fruits of production.

  It is the unspent dollars held in the correspondent banking system, together with short term Treasury and commercial bills instantly realisable, totalling some $7.2 trillion which represents the unspent balance of foreign production. It arises because foreigners have accepted dollars in payment for their goods and have yet to spend them on US goods and assets.

  What are their alternatives? They can of course hang on to their dollars, spend them on US production (presumably by increasing their ownership of financial and non-financial assets valued in US dollars), sell them to acquire non-American production and assets, or exchange them for the ownership of their own or other currencies of account.

  The altered character of the US economy

  It will not have escaped the reader’s attention that over decades the US economy has reduced its production of corporeal goods relative to the incorporeal. This means that foreigners cannot buy much in the way of semi-manufactured and manufactured goods with their dollars, but overwhelmingly incorporeal assets in the form of securities and services. Accordingly, the US economy is said by some to have been hollowed out.

  Putting services to one side, this means that by acquiring US securities, which have accumulated to a figure larger than US GDP, foreigners are committing to receive continuing dollar income streams. It is an important distinction from spending dollars on physical goods, which are not so immediately exposed to currency risk. 

  But it has been the long-term decline in interest rates driving bull markets which contributed to the accumulation of incorporeal, or credit-based assets by foreigners. And just as surely that the long-term decline in interest rates encouraged the accumulation of purely financial incorporeal assets, at some point the new trend of increasing interest rates will surely lead to an avalanche of foreign liquidation, not just of the assets themselves, but of the underlying dollars.

  But there is a substantial overhang of dollars in foreign hands already, which according to the US Treasury is just over $7.2 trillion, representing about 40% of US bank deposits. Assuming for the moment that there is no official intervention, in aggregate those dollars can only be sold for foreign currencies and gold in possession of American citizens and businesses. But according to the US Treasury’s TIC figures, American ownership of foreign currency balances is only $632bn, and we can safely disregard ownership of the gold available to satisfy dollars sales by foreigners. Therefore, the ownership of dollars in foreign hands outnumbers the available foreign exchange by over eleven times.

  Domestic owners of dollars widely believe that foreigners must hold onto dollars, because they are used to settle purchases of commodities, settle international trade, and to pay interest on dollar debt owed by foreigners. This is certainly true. But what happens if foreign holders of US financial assets begin to fear further rises in dollar interest rates? Pressure will mount for them to reduce their holdings in longer-term assets, realisable in dollars which adds to that eleven to one currency imbalance.

  Partially offsetting the $24.5 trillion foreign ownership of long-term US financial assets is US ownership of foreign financial assets amounting to $14.5 trillion — an unfavourable balance though not so much as is the case with short-term deposits. But additionally, interest rate increases in the US have happened in advance of the other major currencies and if that relationship continues fixed-interest financial asset values in dollars will generally decline ahead of those in other currencies. Assuming this timing relationship holds, there is a risk that the resumption of a global bear market will undermine dollar assets first relative to the euro, yen, yuan, and pound — irrespective of their individual characteristics. 

  The problem for the dollar is heightened by a further factor. When foreigners liquidate dollar investments, they end up owning additional dollars to those already reflected in correspondent bank balances. These are likely to be sold down immediately for the diminishingly small pool of US owned foreign currencies and for gold. The situation is different for US residents holding foreign investments, the vast majority of which are held in American depository receipt (ADR) form. Consequently, an American investor does not have a foreign exchange transaction when selling these assets. Therefore, selling of foreign investments cannot be offset against foreign selling of US investments with respect to the consequences for exchange rates.

  The one-sidedness of this situation is likely to become rapidly apparent when the dollar’s technical position is seen to deteriorate from current levels. The chart below shows the current position for the dollar’s trade weighted index.

  

  The technical position suggests that this breakdown is set to occur soon, and that a breach of 100.50 (currently at 101.50) is likely to be the precursor for a significant further decline in the trade-weighted index.

  If that happens, it is likely to be sudden.

  Intervention by the Fed and US Treasury

  The lack of US domestic ownership of foreign currencies makes it almost certain that a run on the dollar will be met by official intervention. The Fed is able to draw on swap lines with the other central banks to supply foreign currencies, buying dollars in their place. These arrangements were not designed for currency management purposes, but for providing liquidity in cases such as the Credit Suisse bailout. Accordingly, the swap agreements between the six major central banks (Fed, ECB, BoJ, SNB, BoE, and Bank of Canada) are far too small to stabilise the dollar given the likely scale of a run on it.

  Current swap facilities compared with the scale of the problem are the equivalent of a mouse to an elephant. Increasing them can only take the comparison from a mouse to a rat relative to an elephant. Therefore, the only way a run on the dollar can be addressed is for the Fed to raise interest rates sufficiently to protect it. This is unlikely to be an initial response, but introduced after it is feared that a falling exchange rate adds to producer price and CPI inflation, and that a reluctance by the Fed to increase interest rates would risk undermining confidence in the dollar even further.

  However, if the Fed increases dollar interest rates, it will weaken interest rate dependent asset values causing further securities liquidation by foreign holders. But that is the only solution for stabilising the dollar, even raising them high enough to discourage selling of the dollars raised from selling investments. Put simply, the Fed will then have to choose between protecting securities markets from further value deterioration and protecting the currency.

  Not only would protecting the currency go against the grain of everything the Fed has tried to achieve by maintaining confidence in US financial markets, but it also has a duty to fund the government’s deficit. Sharply higher interest rates are bound to cause an economic slump, reducing taxes, and adding to welfare costs. Funding requirements for the US Treasury will increase significantly at a time when foreign ownership of US Treasuries are being liquidated. Funding costs will also increase. Furthermore, the liquidation of foreign owned assets currently estimated at $24.5 trillion would be accelerated by any attempt to protect the dollar by raising interest rates. Additionally, the strains faced by the commercial banking network would almost certainly lead to a full-on banking crisis.

  For the Fed, it truly becomes a Morton’s fork dilemma. 

  The Asian response

  The extent to which foreign governments, typically members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the non-Asian BRICS+ membership anticipate these developments can only be guessed at. But at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum last June, President Putin explained the negatives for dollar ownership to the attendees from eighty-one foreign official delegations. Since then, declarations of intent and applications to join both SCO and BRICS+ have been made by many nations. But so far, there is little evidence of actual dollar selling by them.

  That they appear to be sitting on the fence between the western alliance and the Asian axis is a significant change from recent times when they would not have dared to question America’s monetary and military standing in the world. The explanation can only be that this crowd’s vested interests have shifted. Not only is an alliance with China and Russia holding out the prospect of a more positive future, but its members are increasingly scared of going down with a dollar-based financial system which has outlived its usefulness. It is easy to imagine why trade prospects with the Asian hegemons are relatively attractive, but to escape from one currency system to another requires a degree of confidence in the latter.

  The signals emanating from Russia and China are positive, but as yet not substantiated. Russia’s Sergey Glazyev, officially appointed to design a new trade settlement currency for the Eurasian Economic Union, was the moving light behind the beefing up of the Moscow Gold Exchange to replace the LBMA facilities withdrawn from Russian miners and refiners in the wake of last year’s sanctions against Russia. He subsequently described in some detail the benefits of a gold-based rouble relative to the dangers of a fiat dollar based monetary system in an article for Vedomosti, a Moscow based financial newspaper on 27 December last. The shift of emphasis from the proposed EAEU trade currency to adopting gold backing for the rouble was notable.

  In China, the signals are still opaque. Saudi Arabia has led an increasing number of nations willing to take payment in yuan for energy exports. Observers have pointed out that if the Saudis use the exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai, they can exchange yuan for gold. If the Saudis and others use this facility, then it amounts to swapping payments in petrodollars for payments in gold.

  The oil for gold trade is still speculation. But it appears that the major Chinese banks are now offering their citizens the facilities to run gold accounts funded by yuan. Could this deliberate act by state-controlled banks amount to preparations for the remonetisation of gold? Could this be the way forward — the way a yuan gold standard will operate?

  There are advantages for both the rouble and the yuan in such a move. For the rouble, a credible link with gold would permit interest rates over time to decline from current levels of 7%—10% to about 3% for obvious economic benefits. The pressure on the yuan is considerably less, with bond yields of most maturities already at between 2%—3%. China could easily adopt a gold standard. Furthermore, her incredibly high savings rate allows Chinese banks to expand credit without driving up consumer prices. It could be argued that China has no current need to secure the yuan to the value of gold, but to ensure rock solid international confidence in it as a currency the move makes enormous sense. Furthermore, both countries have significant quantities of bullion not declared as official reserves.

  Clearly, both Russia and China are moving very carefully. They appear to be putting in place a Plan B in case there is a collapse in the western alliance’s financial system, comprising their fiat currencies, commercial banks, and even central banks. 

  They have no illusions about the risks they face from America’s weaponization of the dollar, and the fact that it leans on its five-eyes security partners to do her will. But it is the western position on gold which is also important. Against all international law, the Bank of England refused to return Venezuela’s gold on its government’s request, plainly on instructions from the Americans. The New York Fed refused to return some of Germany’s gold when requested — eventually conceding to the request.

  We do know from research conducted long ago that the western alliance’s gold reserves are badly compromised through leases and swaps, leading to at least double ownership of much of it. With Russia and China now moving towards the reintroduction of gold backing for their currencies, there is an impending disaster for the western alliance’s decades of monetary deceit. Clearly, for the Asian hegemons to suddenly announce a return to a formal gold exchange standard for their currencies would irrevocably undermine the vanishing credibility in the dollar and its western stablemates. It would amount to a declaration of financial war of ultimate destruction.

  Besides the risk that a financial war would lead to military conflict, it is not in the Asian axis’s strategic interests to be seen to be the guilty party. China still exports large quantities of goods to America and Europe. While her interests are moving more towards trading and investing in Asia, it is nonsensical to deliberately destroy her existing export markets. But the one thing over which China has no control is the actions of America. Both Russia and China have adopted a strategy of passively allowing the Americans to make all the strategic errors, which they have been doing in abundance. Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Georgia, Ukraine, then sanctions against Russia — the best the American can claim is occasionally something pyrrhic. 

  The time for Russia and China to declare their new currency arrangements are when such a move would be obviously a protective response to a deepening crisis for the dollar and its companion currencies. Only then would accusations that returning to gold exchange standards as an aggressive act against the west be demonstrably false. But it would be the final curtain on the error of western governments and their central banks buying into Keynes’s cool-aid, ditching gold standards as a barbarous relic, winding down their gold reserves in some cases to zero, and grasping the opportunity to intervene in all things economic in defiance of Say’s law.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 05/14/2023 – 15:30

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• Food Inflation Still Soaring In Latin America
  Food Inflation Still Soaring In Latin America

  Venezuela had the highest inflation rate for food of Latin America, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

  Statista’s Anna Fleck reports that, as of September 2022 (the latest available data), the country saw an increase of 110.4 percent from the same month of 2021. Argentina had the second highest food inflation rate, at 86.6 percent.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  The three countries with the lowest food inflation rates for the same period are Bolivia (2.2 percent), Panama (5 percent) and Ecuador (7.1 percent). According to the FAO, average annual food inflation in the region was 43.9 percent in September 2022, while globally it did not exceed 23 percent.

  In addition to socio-economic factors on a national basis, the region is also still experiencing the wake of global events. The United Nations Development Programme explains:

  “More than a year into the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and more than three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the broad repercussions of these overlapping crises continue to affect societies in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

  Food inflation does not affect all citizens in the same way: according to the organization, the most vulnerable populations, including lower-income households, are affected “disproportionately due to their greater budget allocation towards spending on food.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 23:00

• Election Group With Ties To Soros, Zuckerberg Meets In Washington For Conference Closed To Public
  Election Group With Ties To Soros, Zuckerberg Meets In Washington For Conference Closed To Public

  Authored by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  An elections group with ties to Democrat mega-donor George Soros and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gathered in Washington this week for a meeting that was closed to the public.

  

  The Epoch Times was denied entry to the event, called a “Summit on American Democracy” and hosted by the Center for Election Integrity & Research (CEIR). Organizers said that the event was invite-only. Only preapproved press and other guests were permitted to attend the summit.

  Though the event was live-streamed, the closed nature of the event deprived independent media of access to the laundry list of high-ranking officials attending the summit, including a litany of Secretaries of State, who oversee elections, and other election officials. Among those attending the conference were Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Bill Gates, county supervisor for Maricopa County, Arizona.

  The group describes itself as “committed to a fiercely nonpartisan approach.” But partisan allegations against its founder, funding by Zuckerberg, and indirect ties to the left-wing Soros challenge that description.

  During the livestream of the event, the group’s founder, David Becker, set the tone for the conference in his opening remarks, repeating contested claims about the security of the 2020 election, and dismissing concerns about election fraud as unfounded.

  “The 2020 election was, simply put, the most secure, transparent, and verifiable election in American history and it’s not close,” Becker claimed.

  At least one journalist who challenged this narrative was allegedly removed from the conference.

  Laura Loomer, an outspoken ally of President Donald Trump and proponent of theories about widespread election fraud in 2020, reported that she was thrown out of the conference for confronting election officials from Arizona and Georgia. The organizers later called the police on Loomer.

  Becker founded CEIR in 2016. He has also been instrumental in several other electoral organizations and efforts across his career.

  Partisan Accusations

  During the summit, Becker sought to present himself as nonpartisan and unbiased.

  He claimed that he was one of the few election officials who was willing to acclaim Trump’s 2016 victory as legitimate, even as others considered claims that voter fraud and election tampering had deprived Hillary Clinton of a victory.

  However, Becker founded CEIR in response to concerns about “foreign interference” in elections, an oft-repeated claim that Trump won in 2016 due to widespread Russian interference. But later multimillion-dollar federal investigations into Trump’s victory turned up no evidence of these claims.

  And the founder’s track record is splotched with claims of political biases against conservatives.

  In 2005, Becker—who has worked in elections for decades—was the subject of a formal ethics complaint while working in the Civil Rights division of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

  During the Republican administration of President George W. Bush, Becker offered his expertise in election law to the city of Boston to defeat a lawsuit from the DOJ regarding election law violations.

  In the investigation into this matter, it was discovered that Becker had made a series of “nasty, disparaging remarks about Republicans,” Hans von Spakovsky said. Von Spakovsky, who now is employed by the Heritage Foundation, was a DOJ legal counsel at the time.

  “In his role with the DOJ, [Becker] was supposed to be nonpartisan,” von Spakovsky said.

  “Very unethical and unprofessional,” he added. “I would never hire or trust him.”

  Brad Schlozman, who directed the Civil Rights division at the time, was even more critical, suggesting that Becker deserved to be disbarred.

  “It was the most unethical thing I’ve ever seen,” Schlozman said. “Classic case of someone who should have been disbarred.”

  He added that Becker was “a hard-core leftist” and someone who “couldn’t stand conservatives.”

  As recently as last year, Becker portrayed Trump as a liar and a danger to democratic norms in comments to The Washington Post.

  “We have a significant percentage of the American electorate right now who have been lied to about the integrity of our elections, who believe that elections … are rigged unless their candidate wins,” Becker said. “Yet it’s nowhere close to 50 percent of America overall. But if Trump were to win a narrow victory again, I could see [election denial] ideas … infecting a larger percentage of the electorate. And if a large segment of a democracy’s electorate loses confidence in elections, that democracy probably is unsustainable.”

  CEIR did not respond to an Epoch Times request for comment about these allegations.

  However, in past comments to another media outlet, Becker addressed some of the allegations, but left others unanswered: “This complaint was made over 15 years ago, if memory serves, and was dismissed. There was no action taken against me by the Department of Justice as a result of this complaint. As you know, anyone can make a complaint for any reason, with or without basis.

  “I served faithfully at the DOJ for seven years, from 1998 to 2005, during which time I received a Special Commendation of Merit from the Attorney General in 2002, during the Bush administration,” he added.

  Almost $70 Million from Zuckerberg

  In August 2020, Becker’s organization received a staggering $69.5 million from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

  Under the appearance of COVID-19 safety precautions, this funding was used to furnish key swing states with more mail-in drop boxes.

  Zuckerberg’s donation to CEIR came as part of a series of purportedly nonpartisan donations by the Facebook creator.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 22:30

• Alarming Surge In Gun Shop Robberies As Democrats Fail To Enforce Law And Order 
  Alarming Surge In Gun Shop Robberies As Democrats Fail To Enforce Law And Order 

  Progressive district attorneys’ failure to enforce law and order has resulted in a surge of smash-and-grab thefts across American cities run by Democrats. The rise in thefts, particularly at retail stores, has become a significant problem for the retail industry, amounting to $100 billion in shrinkage in 2022. Even more concerning is that organized criminal gangs now target gun stores instead of clothing, jewelry, and pharmacy stores.

  Diving into Bloomberg data, the story count for “gun shop robbery” in all US news media stories soared to a record high in the fourth quarter of 2022, with data going back to 2013. The surge even surpassed levels during the early virus pandemic. 

  

  As of late, a series of gun store robberies in the Mid-Atlantic area have alarmed gun shop owners, local police, state police, and federal agencies. These shops are located in the Washington-Baltimore metro area, where Democrats have been in control for decades. 

  On April 30, two gun stores, one just outside the Capital Beltway in Fairfax County, Virginia, and another one in Rockville, Maryland, about an hour north, were targeted by what some in the firearm industry have described as criminal organized gangs. 

  One of the owners of Engage Armament in Rockville told FOX 5 that he believes the suspects that targeted his shop and Dominion Defense in Fairfax were part of the same gang. 

  Luckily, the thieves weren’t successful at breaking into the Engage Armament facility, but down in Fairfax, they stole 53 long rifles and handguns. 

  “Our biggest concern is that these guns don’t get into the wrong hands.

  “We try to do everything the right way – to do everything we can to keep them out of the wrong hands. Still, people have their rights, you know, to exercise their Second Amendment rights, but we do want to keep the guns out of the wrong hands,” said Engage Armament Co-owner Carlos Rabanales.

  One of the two suspects appearing in Dominion Defense’s security video was wearing a Nike mask. 

  RECOGNIZE THEM? @FairfaxCountyPD shared new VID showing 4 younger looking suspects who FCPD says stole 53 hand & long guns from Dominion Defense in Springfield, VA April 29th. A co-owner of Rockville’s Engage Armament believes some of the same guys tried to hit their shop @fox5dc pic.twitter.com/9gCKjtv9ys

  — Stephanie Ramirez (@RamirezReports) May 9, 2023

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  On Tuesday, the ATF working with Montgomery County police, announced a $15,000 reward for the arrest of suspects of a different Rockville gun shop burglary, Atlantic Guns.

  Last November, the ATF revealed at least five attempted and successful gun shop burglaries in Montgomery and Anne Arundel Counties of Maryland. These are areas where a majority of residents vote Democrat. 

  When accountability for bad behavior is removed from society, it emboldens criminals. And now these criminals are robbing gun stores and arming themselves with guns while the Biden administration is adamant about disarming law-abiding citizens. 

  Some say… We’re living in a clown world. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 22:00

• The Disinformation Governance Board Is Out; The "Foreign Malign Influence Center" Is In…
  The Disinformation Governance Board Is Out; The “Foreign Malign Influence Center” Is In…

  Authored by Didi Rankovic via ReclamTheNet.org,

  A rose by any other name…

  

  The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Disinformation Governance Board met an ignoble demise last year, when it was disbanded within months, amid public criticism and staff-related scandal.

  Despite being derisively referred to as “the Ministry of Truth” – i.e., a US government’s alleged attempt to create an Orwellian-like institution – it was a fairly safe bet that the strong backlash notwithstanding, the initiative would rear its head again at some point. Soon.

  Meet the Foreign Malign Influence Center (FMIC), located at the Office of the Director of US National Intelligence (ODNI). Some sentiment suggest that this might be a Disinformation Governance Board 2 – what with a similar declarative focus on foreign threat, which is then easy to transition, as a smokescreen, to turning the authorities’ sights onto “domestic dissenters.”

  And that would mean more censorship, in effect flying under the radar, critics fear.

  A deceptive tactic, they continue, which could easily use foreign threats simply as an excuse to influence politics at home.

  Speaking of interference – the FMIC could also “duplicate” other US efforts, such as that of a State Department’s unit that has taken it upon itself to suppress what’s seen as “populism” in other countries.

  Now, this is what the FMIC has to say for – and about itself – the threat from abroad is constant and “dynamic” – no doubt – but therefore, “informing efforts to counter it requires constant attention, a whole-of-government approach, support from the private sector, and engagement from the public.”

  

  However, the “soothing” mention of foreign threats is not the only thing the FMIC will be dealing with – there’s also “protection of US public opinion.” And this, opponents may suspect, might be a euphemism for “policing domestic narratives.”

  The existence of the Center seems to have been presented to the public in a rather low-key fashion. It was last Thursday that it came up during an address by ODNI chief Avril Haines, a full 45 minutes into the speech, during a hearing organized by the Senate Armed Services Committee.

  Matt Taibbi, who pored over Twitter’s internal documents to become one of those behind the explosive Twitter Files, doesn’t look at this kind of initiative very kindly.

  In fact, he seems to pretty much consider it a ruse whose real goal is to “slowly adjust aim to domestic targets.”

  But first – what Taibbi calls “the basic rhetorical trick of the censorship age” must “raise a fuss about a foreign threat, using it as a battering ram to get everyone from Congress to the tech companies to submit to increased regulation and surveillance.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 21:30

• Wagner Chief Clarifies That Only His Forces Making Gains In Bakhmut
  Wagner Chief Clarifies That Only His Forces Making Gains In Bakhmut

  Update(2130ET): Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin clarified late Saturday in an audio statement that despite regular Russian forces having “retreated” from parts of Bakhmut’s north (in his words), his own Wagner fighters are still advancing. So it seems his power struggle with the military chain of command and defense ministry continues, as he persists in his controversial narrative that it’s only his company that’s spearheading gains and engaged in heavy fighting (akin to the battle for Soledar). 

  Prigozhin stressed that Wagner advanced today, and that Ukraine controls only 1 square km in Bahmut and remains in control of just 29 or so tall buildings. 

  ⚡️Wagner PMCs advanced up to 550 meters in different directions — Prigozhin pic.twitter.com/3Nbb21yrl1

  — War Monitor (@WarMonitors) May 13, 2023

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  Meanwhile TASS has cited the head of an elite Russian unit to say that intensified Ukrainian engagement has only happened along some parts of the frontlines: 

  Commander of the Akhmat commando unit and Deputy Commander of the 2nd Army Corps Apty Alaudinov said on Saturday that Ukrainian troops increased their activity only in some sectors of the line of engagement.

  Earlier, Yan Gagin, an advisor to Acting DPR Head Denis Pushilin, reported that Ukrainian units had become more active along the entire line of combat engagement.

  “The Ukrainian units became active not along the entire line of combat engagement, only in certain parts and still the situation has not significantly changed,” Alaudinov told TASS.

  “The situation is completely under control in our sector,” he added.

  The day prior, the defense ministry acknowledged some degree of a pullback in limited sectors in the north of the city. Prigozhin had described the regular forces as “fleeing” – a characterization which was denied by the Kremlin. 

  * * *

  Shortly after a Russian military helicopter crash was reported early Saturday in a region near the Ukrainian border, a second crash of an aircraft has been reported, at a moment of continuing general bad news for Moscow related to the Ukraine war. Possibly a third aircraft downing has also been reported – all within a matter of hours.

  “An Su-34 fighter jet crashed in Bryansk Region, Russia near the Ukrainian border, minutes after reports that an unidentified helicopter also went down in the area, TASS news agency reported on Saturday, citing sources,” state media is reporting.

  

  Details on casualties weren’t initially revealed, but images and video circulating on social media show what appears to be a crash site, including the jet’s tail and engine on fire. 

  The jet crash reportedly happened near the village of Istrovka north of the Ukrainian border, and unofficial military channels online are saying the pilot and navigator were killed. 

  Just hours before news of the jet crash emerged, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter separately caught fire and crashed. It may have been shot down. Newsweek is meanwhile suggesting that a total of two helicopters crashed within the same time frame, reporting that— 

  A Su-34 combat jet and a Mi-8 helicopter came down on Saturday, according to Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency.

  Russian online news channel Mash posted on Telegram that another Mi-8 helicopter and a Su-35 warplane crashed in the same area on Saturday.

  There’s also growing speculation that given multiple aircraft came down in the same region, it may have been from a Ukrainian attack on the aircraft, but this is unconfirmed: 

  This was also reported by Russian media outlet Readovka, who said: “Two helicopters and fighter-bombers were shot down by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Our pilots were ambushed and we are talking about a carefully planned operation.” Newsweek has been unable to independently verify reports of the additional crashes.

  BREAKING: Ukraine claims RUSSIA LOST 4 AIRCRAFT in ONE DAY!!!

  Two Mi-8s Attack Helicopters, one Su-35 and one Su-34 were shot down/crashed in Bryansk region.#aircraft #Su34 #Su35 #Mi8 #crash #helicopter #fighterjet #Bryansk #Ukraine #Russia pic.twitter.com/uqxBNhKvD2

  — EurAsian Times (@THEEURASIATIMES) May 13, 2023

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  A Reuters national security correspondent is counting four total downed aircraft on Saturday, citing Russian state sources:

  May 13 (Reuters) – The Russian news outlet Kommersant reported that two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters had been shot down on Saturday close to the Ukrainian border, in what would be a spectacular coup for Kyiv if confirmed.

  — Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) May 13, 2023

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  The day prior, on Friday, a Mi-28 military helicopter had crashed during a training flight in Crimea, after which the defense ministry confirmed that two pilots were killed. 

  TASS cited defense officials who described, “At 3:42 p.m. (Moscow time) on May 12, 2023, a Mi-28 helicopter crashed during its scheduled training flight in the Dzhankoi district of the Republic of Crimea. The helicopter performed its flight without an ammunition load. There is no destruction on the ground. Both pilots died.”

  The military statement said the crash in Crimea was due to a “technical failure” of the attack helicopter but said a further investigation is ongoing. 

  Overall this has been a bad past week and even month so far for Russia and its war efforts.

  ⚡️#BREAKING A helicopter crash in Klintsy, Bryansk region, Russia pic.twitter.com/YQZ8hfMCAZ

  — War Monitor (@WarMonitors) May 13, 2023

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  There’s not only been a spate of these deadly aerial incidents in the past 24 hours, but Russian territory is coming under increased drone attack from Ukraine, and oil facilities in particular have been targeted and significantly damaged. In addition the defense ministry acknowledged that Russian military positions have pulled back in some areas of northern Bakhmut, following prior months of steady gains.

  Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner forces, has called it a “rout” – as the open feud between himself and the top military command has also been a likely cause of ‘low morale’ and is somewhat embarrassing on an international stage.

  At this point it remains unconfirmed and uncertain whether these Saturday jet and helicopter crashes were the result of cross-border shootdowns. If so it would mark a huge escalation and leap in Ukraine’s capabilities, including the possibility of Western advanced offensive weapons being used:

  /15. Russian media – “The aircrafts that crashed in the Bryansk region were shot down not from the territory of Russia – the Armed Forces of 🇺🇦 attacked it from the Chernihiv region, Ukraine”.
  P.S: distance from the 🇺🇦 border to geolocated crash site of one of Mi-8 is about 50 km pic.twitter.com/di9dvpuvaA

  — Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 13, 2023

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  Reuters summarized of the battlefield developments by Friday:

  Moscow acknowledged on Friday that its forces had fallen back north of Ukraine’s battlefield city of Bakhmut after a new Ukrainian offensive, in a retreat that the head of Russia’s Wagner private army called a rout.

  The setback for Russia, which follows similar reports of Ukrainian advances south of the city, suggests a coordinated push by Kyiv to encircle Russian forces in Bakhmut, Moscow’s main objective for months during the war’s bloodiest fighting.

  “In three days of counter-offensive activity, the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Bakhmut sector have liberated 17.3 sq. km (6.6 sq. miles) of territory,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for the “east” group of Ukrainian forces, said on the Telegram messaging app.

  Both sides are now reporting the biggest Ukrainian gains in six months, although Ukraine has given few details and played down suggestions a huge, long-planned counteroffensive has officially begun.

  Additionally days ago Moscow’s big Victory Day parade was widely reported as “muted” and lacking in tanks and other military hardware that is typically on display.

  Ukrainian officials have mocked all of this as showing weakness, also while Kiev’s spring counteroffensive may be imminent, or is perhaps already begun. All the while, Ukraine’s cross-border attacks are only growing bolder, and it doesn’t seem the Kremlin can do anything about it.

  Yet, despite what appear to be significant Russian military setbacks, Ukraine frontlines in many places are still getting pounded. For example, the below video is purportedly of a recent Russian strike in Western Ukraine, possibly on Friday or Saturday (with footage just emerging):

  Big hit by Russian missile or drone in Khmelnitsky this morning. pic.twitter.com/mCUsvQbyw8

  — Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) May 13, 2023

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  And here:

  Probably the clearest footage I’ve seen of the enormous hit this morning in Khmelnytsky. pic.twitter.com/6rGQMqOUgf

  — Big Serge ☦️🇺🇸🇷🇺 (@witte_sergei) May 13, 2023

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  As for the much-touted spring counteroffensive by Ukraine forces, it’s as yet unclear whether this is in full swing or not. While there have been moves on the ground, Zelensky has so far denied that it’s begun, saying his forces must “wait”. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 21:29

• American Fast-Food Chains Use Seaweed, Soy, And Even Wood To Beef Up Menu Items, Study Reveals 
  American Fast-Food Chains Use Seaweed, Soy, And Even Wood To Beef Up Menu Items, Study Reveals 

  An exclusive investigation by Daily Mail might make you reconsider your next order of fried chicken at American fast-food chains. The investigation reveals these restaurants infuse their chicken with additives, preservatives, and other proteins to keep costs low. Some of these menu items are described as “premium” or “all-white-meat,” but far from it, instead include ingredients such as seaweed and even wood pulp.

  The report said there are more than 120 ingredients hidden within chicken burgers or nuggets at fast food restaurants. Those ingredients are listed below on a restaurant-by-restaurant basis:

  McDonald’s 

  The enduringly popular McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets have been the center of controversy in the past – after a now-debunked video emerged in 2010 of ‘pink slime’ supposedly going into the nuggets at a factory. 

  The brand worked hard to dispel this myth, but the treats are still not made from 100 percent chicken meat. 

  The nuggets do contain white boneless chicken, but they are also full of several types of flour, flavorings, spices, acid, yeast extract, dextrose and lemon juice solids.

  Wendy’s 

  In the patty of the Wendy’s classic chicken sandwich, only 56 percent of the meat is chicken breast.

   The other 44 percent is a mixture of water, wheat flour, starch, acids, spices and flavor powders. It also includes fully refined soybean oil, raising agent and more unusual ingredients such a dehydrated chicken powder and smoke flavoring. 

  The patty, bun and mayonnaise include over five allergens, so it’s worth checking the recipe before you tuck in if you have any allergies.

  Carl’s Jr. 

  Carl’s Jr nuggets are set apart from the other offerings on the market with their distinctive star shape. 

  They also include some more unusual ingredients – namely ‘chicken type flavor’ – according to The Daily Meal. 

  The outlet reports that the nuggets include beef flavor, which has three different types of protein in it (from hydrolyzed soy, wheat, and corn protein) and beef fat. 

  As for the spicy chicken sandwich, it reportedly contains ‘isolated oat product’ in its patty, and microcrystalline cellulose in its bun – which is a refined wood pulp.

  Subway 

  The chain has faced criticism in the past, with claims that some of its chicken products were made from non-chicken material. Subway responded to the claims, saying its ‘Oven Roasted Chicken and chicken strips are made from 100 percent all white meat chicken.’ 

  However its products certainly aren’t made from chicken alone. Its oven-roasted chicken also contains flavorings, potato starch and carrageenan. 

  This is a chemical compound which is safe to eat, but is made from parts of various red seaweeds. It is used to thicken foods, and does not have any nutritional value.

  Jack in the Box 

  Jack in the Box has various poultry-based offerings on its menu, including chicken tenders and nuggets.

   These products often contain wheat and milk, so those with allergens should check the ingredient list. 

  The meat in the popcorn chicken also contains ‘isolated oat product’ among its other ingredients of chicken breast strips with rib meat, water and potato starch.

  Whataburger 

  According to The Daily Meal, a significant proportion of the chain’s Southern-style chicken strips are not pure chicken meat, with up to 12 percent of each tender containing ingredients like water, sodium phosphate, and isolated soy protein.

   Isolated soy protein, which is derived from soy beans, is a common ingredient in processed foods as a way to bulk them out. 

  This last ingredient is a common fixture in processed foods, the outlet reports. A protein derived from soybeans, isolated soy protein is a cost-effective way to bulk out foods. 

  But those with potentially dangerous soy allergies should stay away from anything containing soy protein.

  Burger King 

  According to The Daily Meal, Burger King chicken nuggets also contain a whole host of flavorings alongside chicken breast and rib meat. 

  These include autolyzed yeast extract, a substance derived from yeast, and other flavor enhancers including disodium guanylate, a form of salt that is sometimes used in tandem with MSG, and which is also found under the name E627. 

  They are also unsuitable for anyone who can’t eat eggs, milk, wheat, gluten or celery.

  Domino’s 

  Although known for its pizza rather than the traditional chicken tender or nugget, there are also extra ingredients in the fast food giant’s poultry offerings. 

  Its grilled chicken contains tens of ingredients including modified corn starch, modified food starch and lipolyzed butter oil. 

  Modified starch is typically used as a thickening agent, stabilizer or emulsifier, and to make foods last longer.

  Dairy Queen

   Dairy Queen’s chicken strips contain a substantial percentage of ingredients other than pure meat. The uncooked tenderloin chicken fritters contain up to 18 percent of a solution of water, hydrolyzed soy protein, salt, and sodium phosphates. 

  Sodium phosphate is used to improve the chicken’s texture, and help keep it fresher for longer. 

  A Dairy Queen representative said: ‘Our chicken strips are 100% seasoned, white meat chicken. Each chicken strip is a single tenderloin that is marinated and breaded for maximum flavor. While we provide our ingredient lists to the public on DairyQueen.com, we refrain from providing the exact recipe or ingredient percentage for competitive reasons.’

  Arby’s 

  According to The Daily Meal, the Buttermilk Chicken Fillet contains a surprising ingredient to help enhance its flavor – protein concentrate. 

  Commonly consumed by athletes and bodybuilders, whey protein is frequently added to other foods to give them a textural and tasty boost and help them last longer on the shelf, it reports.

  White Castle 

  The shape of the chicken offering at this chain may be a clue that it is not 100 percent meat. 

  These rings contain an extensive list of ingredients, including preservative carrageenan – which is derived from seaweed – and powdered cooked chicken.

  This explanation may clarify things.

  And a recent study from Imperial’s School of Public Health found higher consumption of ultra-processed foods (like the ones above) might be linked to an increased risk of developing and dying from cancer. 

  One might wonder why BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager overseeing trillions of dollars, hasn’t shaken up the fast food industry that appears to be serving consumers unhealthy food, which, according to Imperial, could potentially contribute to cancer. Isn’t the ‘S’ in ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) supposed to promote the health and safety of society and enhance the quality of life? Maybe Larry Fink is preoccupied with more important concerns, like climate change and gender identity. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 21:00

• The 2024 Presidential Election Could Make Or Break Bitcoin In The US
  The 2024 Presidential Election Could Make Or Break Bitcoin In The US

  Authored by Robert Hall via BitcoinMagazine.com,

  2024 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for Bitcoin and the U.S. That’s why it’s time for a generational change in leadership…

  

  The race for the 2024 U.S. presidential election is starting to kick into gear, featuring some of the same cast of characters from the last few elections. On the Democratic side, you have Joe Biden, Robert F. Kennedy and Marianne Williamson suggesting they will run. Then, Former President Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy are on the other side of the aisle.

  If you have been following the race so far, you might know that Trump seems to be walking away with the nomination before the process even starts next year. If he ends up being the nominee, we will likely get a re-run of 2020, where we have two men over 70 years old who both think that they know what is right for the country. Who else is tired of having baby boomers running the show? I am, to be honest.

  BOOMER PRESIDENTS DON’T UNDERSTAND BITCOIN

  Baby boomers, you’ve had their time in the sun. It’s time to leave the stage and let the younger generations of leaders have a chance to lead the country. We need leaders who understand the emerging challenges facing America as we speak.

  We need leaders who thoroughly understand economic policy and the value of innovation in the financial space. For instance, the baby boomers at the top of the ticket don’t have the depth or the capacity to understand the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that Bitcoin presents to America and the American people.

  Biden and Trump have been openly hostile towards Bitcoin because they believe in the supremacy of the fiat dollar system. The time is now to elect someone with a bold vision for the future, who understands that the way that the entitlement systems are set up and the dollar’s role in the world isn’t sustainable over the long term.

  If America stays on its current path, it will only lead to chaos, lawlessness, and a lower standard of living for everyone. Is this the future that you want for your children and grandchildren? 2024 is our chance to start a new journey toward freedom, the rule of law and the opportunity to make something of yourself, regardless of your station in life.

  WHY WE NEED A BITCOINER AS PRESIDENT

  It has been reported recently that the mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, is close to a decision on whether to run for president next year. For those who don’t know him, he is one of the most pro-Bitcoin politicians in the country. He has actively courted Bitcoiners to come to Miami and help make it the Bitcoin capital of the world. So far, he has largely succeeded in doing that.

  But in addition to making the U.S. an epicenter for Bitcoin innovation, having a Bitcoiner like Suarez as president will, critically, stop the emergence of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in America dead in its tracks. If Biden or Trump is elected, it is almost certain that some form of CBDC will be activated in America. With the deployment of a CBDC, you can kiss your financial freedom goodbye. You can kiss your privacy goodbye.

  You will no longer have autonomy over what you can eat or how far you can travel. You will have a social credit score, as has been implemented in China. Is this the type of life that you want? We have to strive for a better life.

  Just recently, the rails for a CBDC were introduced to the public. FedNow, as it is called, will be operational by July 2023. It is said that it will be used to speed up payments between customers and businesses, which may be accurate at the moment. However, as with any system, it will likely evolve into something vastly different than what it was intended to be.

  Can we really trust a government that has given us the Patriot Act, PRISM and now the proposed RESTRICT Act to resist total control over what you spend your money on?

  The RESTRICT Act, for instance, put forth by none other than Bitcoin-hating Senator Elizabeth Warren, has the potential to harm Bitcoiners in the United States with its overly-broad language about digital communication tools being a threat to national security. While the overt target may be TikTok, nothing is stopping regulators from using this law against Bitcoin in the future.

  Looking past this smokescreen, you can see that they are building their case to the public: Hilary Clinton, international regulators and the U.S. Treasury have all warned about the dangers of cryptocurrency.

  Now, put this in the context of $31 trillion in U.S. national debt, unsustainable entitlement spending, a world slowly moving away from the dollar, high gas prices and uncontrollable inflation. Then it becomes clear that they will close off the exits to Bitcoin before most people learn about how to use them. They want to herd the masses into a CBDC for a “great reset” of the monetary system. This is coming if we don’t start electing people who understand that Bitcoin is our last chance to escape a sinking ship.

  Mayor Saurez gets it, and if any other politicians in America understand Bitcoin, it is time that we support them and get more Bitcoiners in office. The dollar is the Titanic, and Bitcoin is the lifeboat. Will enough people get on to be saved? Time will tell and the upcoming presidential election could be a final chance.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 20:30

• Johnstone: This Civilization Is Mentally Ill
  Johnstone: This Civilization Is Mentally Ill

  Authored by Caitlin Johnstone via Substack,

  It’s time for another US presidential race where populist factions on both sides spend a few months angrily decrying the establishment before voting for candidates in the general election who will fully serve that same establishment.

  

  I think this is just the norm now. Public discontent with the US political status quo is now so great that there’s going to be a new “Hey kids, you can vote your way into revolutionary change!” feature built into every presidential election. 2012 was the end of a political era.

  ❖

  The biggest misconception about politics is that political differences have any meaningful existence at all. Everyone’s herded into two mainstream factions who both serve the interests of the powerful, while those few who can’t be herded are marginalized into political impotence.

  And I am of course mainly talking about the English-speaking world here. The global south has real political diversity of real consequence, and has real differences from the status quo politics of the US-centralized empire. But within that empire, political differences are effectively illusory.

  ❖

  I feel like maybe we didn’t make a big enough deal about that revelation the other day that the US government now has so many institutions dedicated to “perception management” and regulating “disinformation” that it created a new agency within the ODNI to oversee all of them. 

  I mean everyone made a lot of noise about the DHS’s “disinformation governance board” last year, and rightly so, but as a whole this seems way more egregious in terms of government interference in human communication.

  ❖

  The problem with opposition to dissent-crushing measures is that it mostly only comes from those at whom such measures are directed. Mainstream journalists know they won’t be imprisoned like Assange, because they won’t do work like Assange did. Mainstream liberals know they won’t be censored online, so they’re happy to cheer for online censorship.

  Measures designed to control the narrative and suppress dissent are directed at the fringes, not the mainstream, because that’s where dissent of real consequence always first emerges. It won’t be those with mainstream political leanings seeing their speech increasingly marginalized and hidden away by algorithms and AI, it will be those who oppose the political status quo. In the future it won’t be those with a mainstream worldview being oppressed by things like tech surveillance, police robots and CBDCs, it will be those well outside the Overton window of permissible debate. The average person will be unaffected by such measures, because in our current mind-controlled dystopia the average person is compliant and innocuous.

  This is why attempts to get a large movement of opposition to these totalitarian measures typically fail to gather significant public traction: because only people on the fringes have reason to fear them. By controlling the mainstream consensus, our rulers eliminate any meaningful opposition to their tyranny toward the real dissidents whose politics generally lie well outside that consensus. And since it’s only widespread mainstream opposition that would ever give them reason to fear public backlash, they can keep ratcheting up these dissent-crushing measures.

  I don’t really have any solution to this problem; I’ve been staring at it for years and don’t see any easy answers. I’m just putting it out there in the hive mind so that awareness of the problem can grow and we can start collectively looking for solutions.

  ❖

  This civilization is so mentally ill that you’ll get treated like a gibbering lunatic for expressing the most sane and rational opinions anyone can possibly express.

  Something as basic as “The world’s most powerful government should stop ramping up nuclear brinkmanship on multiple fronts” will get you treated like a kook, when really it’s so obvious and common sense it shouldn’t even need to be said.

  That’s how crazy mass-scale brainwashing has made everyone.

  ❖

  I will never support any form of capitalism, because no form of capitalism — real or hypothetical — will ever have an answer to the problems of ecocide and the need to care for the needful.

  Every capitalism-based solution that has ever been proposed for these problems is self-evidently ridiculous; the notion that privatizing the natural world can preserve oceans and rainforests is infantile nonsense that’s refuted by all of human history, as is the notion that the needful can be cared for solely by voluntary charity. No intellectually honest person believes this is true. No ancap who’s thought hard enough about ecocide and caring for the needful sincerely believes that capitalism can address these problems. At their most honest, they’ll say that ecocide and starvation are necessary sacrifices that must be made for the freedoms and conveniences they want to have for themselves.

  I appreciate a right-libertarian who straight up admits that they’re fine with environmental destruction and the weakest members of society dying off rather than pretending the “free market” can address these issues, because at least they’re being honest about where they stand.

  And of course the current western status quo model of capitalism with a little state welfare and a few superficial environmental restrictions isn’t working either, because here we are. Every possible capitalist school of thought has failed to find a solution to these problems. You can yell “but communism bad” at me all you want, but that doesn’t address the fact that people are struggling to survive and our biosphere is hurtling toward collapse, and that literally nothing anywhere in capitalist thought has anything resembling a viable answer for this.

  We won’t ultimately have a solution to ecocide and exploitation until mass-scale human behavior ceases to be driven by the pursuit of profit altogether, because ecocide and exploitation are profitable. We’re going to have to find another organizing principle if we’re to survive on this planet.

  ❖

  Never let yourself lose sight of the reality that as bad as things are, the fact that there are things at all is vastly more significant than any of our puny human problems.

  It’s not something you can talk about all the time because people will think you’re being callous about human suffering and all the problems that we do have, but the truth of the matter is that even if things were ten times worse than they are now, it would still be vastly less significant than the fact that we get to live in a world and perceive it and think about it and share ideas about it instead of nothing existing at all.

  Yes, pay attention to our problems and do what you can to fix them, but never, ever let yourself lose sight of the fact that we are living in the middle of a continuous miracle of unfathomable beauty, and that we ourselves are inseparably unified with that vast miracle. If you only fixate on thoughts about our problems you will become bitter and ineffective in the fight against injustice, and more importantly, you will have wasted your time here failing to appreciate the wondrousness of a human life on this amazing planet.

  *  *  *

  Caitlin’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscribe.

  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 for at my website or on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish, use or translate any part of this work (or anything else I’ve written) in any way they like free of charge. 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
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 19:30

• After-School Satan Clubs Are Hot, Hot, Hot!
  After-School Satan Clubs Are Hot, Hot, Hot!

  Following a major legal victory in the free speech department, after school Satan Clubs are picking up steam.

  

  Launched in 2020 and promptly opposed by most parents, the clubs, associated with the Satanic Temple, are being pitched as an alternative to Christian after-school groups for those who identify as agnostics, atheists and religious minorities, such as pagans.

  Last Monday, the Satanic Temple and the ACLU scored a legal victory after the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled against the Northampton County school district, which banned the club from meeting on its grounds.

  “In a victory for free speech and religious freedom, a federal court has ruled that the Saucon Valley School District must allow the After School Satan Club to meet in district facilities,” the ACLU said in a statement.

  Totally not Satanic?

  The PR campaign behind the Satanic Temple is a sight to behold. Founded in 2014, the organization claims to “encourage benevolence and empathy, reject tyrannical authority,” and says that members should use “practical common sense” and stand up for justice.

  

  Congregations tell those interested that if they’re trying to “sell my soul, get rich, join the Illuminati, etc.,” that they should look elsewhere.

  “We’re definitely not interested in having children identify as satanists,” said satanist Rose Bastet, who has been involved in the Satanic Temple for four years, and is one of the After School Satan Club volunteers at B.M. Williams Primary in Chesapeake, VA. Bastet spearheaded the effort to get the club into the school in October 2020 – a process which took a long time because the school was “giving us the runaround,” she said, adding that “they were in the background looking for any way that they could prevent us from meeting.”

  Ya think?

  

  Just nature stuff!

  According to Bastet, Satan Club is just teaching kids about nature and whatnot.

  “One of our meetings a couple of months ago, we learned about Virginia native bats,” she said, adding “This last meeting, we had one of the parents in the club volunteer to bring in a bunch of bones and fossils that she and her husband have found in Virginia.”

  Neat!

  That said, the ‘curriculum’ could change this fall as the club seeks to integrate the seven tenets of the Satanic Temple, which include “compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason,” and that “beliefs should conform to one’s best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one’s beliefs.”

  “We just came out with a book that is like the children’s version — or I should say a very sweet way to interpret — the tenets in a very understanding way that children could understand. So we might start actually using this book to talk to the kids about our seven tenets,” said Everett, adding “We have a lot of big plans for next school year.“

  We bet they do…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 19:00

• California Reparations Committee Calls for Ending Cash Bail
  California Reparations Committee Calls for Ending Cash Bail

  Authored by Elizabeth Dowell via The Epoch Times,

  California’s reparations committee is calling for state officials to end cash bail and the prosecution of low-level crimes after approving a reparations payment plan to make amends for slavery and anti-black racism earlier this week.

  

  The nine-member committee, which was created by state legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020, approved its final recommendations to the California Legislature, which will decide whether to enact the measures and send them to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.

  A final report is due to the Legislature by July 1, where recommendations include several proposals related to criminal justice, including the elimination of cash bail.

  “The cash bail system is at the core of many of the class and race-based inequities in the criminal legal system,” the committee wrote in its proposal.

  “The task force accordingly recommends that the legislature take all steps necessary to definitively end cash bail.”

  

  California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs into law a bill that establishes a task force to come up with recommendations on how to give reparations in Sacramento, Calif., on Sept. 30, 2020. (Office of the Governor via AP)

  Government officials and prosecutors have argued that it’s unfair to low-income people who can’t afford it to pay cash for bail and have fought to end this requirement.

  “Pretrial detention can last months and even years, during which incarcerated individuals suffer countless harms, including deteriorating mental and physical health, risk of sexual violence and lasting trauma,” the committee wrote.

  “These harms exert significant pressure on defendants to accept plea bargains in order to be released from custody rather than fighting the charges at trial.”

  Newsom called the recommendations “a milestone in our bipartisan effort to advance justice and promote healing.”

  “Dealing with the legacy of slavery is about much more than cash payments,” Newsom said in his statement.

  “We are waiting for the process to be completed.”

  The recommendations approved by the committee outline restitution that, if approved by state lawmakers, could cost billions of dollars to address historical disparities in health care, housing, and policing.

  “Many of the recommendations put forward by the Task Force are critical action items we’ve already been hard at work addressing: breaking down barriers to vote, bolstering resources to address hate, enacting sweeping law enforcement and justice reforms to build trust and safety, strengthening economic mobility—all while investing billions in rooting out disparities and improve equity in housing, education, healthcare, and beyond. This work must continue,” Newsom said.

  Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Los Angeles-area Democrat on the committee, said in an interview that it’s too early to know whether payments could get passed in the Legislature, as the committee’s report deadline looms.

  “We have absolutely no idea right now what will or will not be approved,” he said.

  Republican Lauren Boebert criticized the reparations payments calling it “a joke.”

  “The fact that supposedly serious people in San Francisco are considering a plan that would give $5,000,000 in reparations to every black resident in their city in a state that never had slavery is a joke,” Boebert wrote on Twitter.

  California’s black population includes more than 2.5 million people.

  The committee outlines what it describes as “over-policing” of black Americans before calling for California to stop prosecuting low-level crimes.

  “Given the devastating impacts of this kind of over-policing, the task force recommends that the legislature prohibit law enforcement from criminally enforcing public disorder infractions and other low-level crimes,” the committee wrote.

  “Instead, a public health and safety institution, without criminal arrest or prosecution powers, would enforce prohibitions such as sleeping on the sidewalk, fare evasion, spitting on the train, and similar transit-related or other public disorder violations that criminalize poverty,” the committee added.

  Assemblymember Lori Wilson, who chairs the state Legislative Black Caucus, said that the caucus would champion policy proposals included in the task force’s report.

  “We look forward to working collaboratively with our Legislative colleagues and Gov. Newsom’s administration as we continue to fight for equity in our communities,” Wilson said in a statement.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 18:30

• Oregon GOP Walkout Targets Bills On Abortions For Children, Gun Control
  Oregon GOP Walkout Targets Bills On Abortions For Children, Gun Control

  By not showing up for duty, Oregon’s Republican state senators are thwarting Democrats’ attempts to pass bills on gun control, abortion and so-called “gender-affirming care.” Oregon Senate rules require that two-thirds of members be present for before votes on legislation can be held. Senators joining the no-show campaign are playing with fire, as they could find themselves disqualified from serving additional terms. 

  Outwardly, Republicans claim their boycott is aimed at forcing Democrats to comply with a long-obscure 1979 law requiring bill summaries to be written at an 8th- or 9th-grade reading level. However, that position is widely understood to be a creative pretext for blocking bills that Republicans consider extreme. Credit a GOP senate staffer who dug up the 44-year-old law that’s seemingly been ignored ever since enacted. 

  

  Hundreds of bills are now stuck, but the blockage is primarily motivated by Republican opposition to two particular Democrat proposals. The first of them is House Bill 2002, which would:

  • Let minors of any age get an abortion without parental notice, much less permission
  • Order private insurers and Medicaid to pay for more services under an umbrella of “gender-affirming care” 
  • Require student health centers to dispense abortion and emergency contraception drugs 
  • Deploy mobile “health clinics” to carry out abortions and gender transitions in rural areas

  Republicans are incensed by the package. “Oregonians do not want more of their taxpayer dollars going to something they fundamentally disagree with,” said Rep. Christine Goodwin told Oregon Public Broadcasting. “Ask them how they feel about a mobile abortion truck parked in their neighborhoods.”

  Of course, it’s not just taxpayer dollars at stake: The mandates for private insurers would mean higher premiums for all Oregonians covered by private policies, compelling them to indirectly fund gender swaps for fellow citizens. 

  

  Republicans are also trying to derail House Bill 2005, a gun control bill that would: 

  • Increase the minimum age for buying certain semiautomatic firearms from 18 to 21
  • Criminalize possession of untraceable firearms, which gun control advocates label “ghost guns”
  • Require background checks for private firearm sales

  Democrats and Republican leaders have been holding closed-door meetings, but the Democratic Senate leader says his side won’t budge on the abortion and gender-switch bill.

  The longer the boycott lasts, the closer various Republicans put themselves in jeopardy of disqualification from additional terms in office. Last year, by a resounding 68% to 32% tally, the state’s voters approved a constitutional amendment that imposes that penalty on legislators who rack up 10 unexcused absences. The measure was motivated by repeated walkouts.  

  When Democrats in Texas and Wisconsin carried out similar walkouts to block legislatures from achieving a quorum, they were celebrated as heroes. However, Republicans are being condemned for using the same tactic in Oregon. 

  “It is abundantly clear that there is a concerted effort to undermine the will of the people and bring the legislature to a halt in violation of the constitution of the state of Oregon,” said Democratic Senate President Rob Wagner.  

  ON PLANE TO DC: Texas Democratic lawmakers are leaving state to break quorum to stop Republican voting bill. Veteran Capitol observers say this is unchartered territory. Photo from Democrat on the plane. https://t.co/YOuOMb0A2m pic.twitter.com/abWoARvFIC

  — ScottGordon (@ScottGordonDFW) July 12, 2021

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  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 18:00

• Pentagon To Expand Air Defenses In Guam, Eyeing China & N.Korea Threats
  Pentagon To Expand Air Defenses In Guam, Eyeing China & N.Korea Threats

  Authored by Kyle Anzalone via The Libertarian Institute,

  A Defense Department official told Congress that the Pentagon is acting on plans to build a multi-layered air defense system in Guam, where Washington keeps several military bases. The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is requesting $1.5 billion to begin stationing new radars and interceptors on the island next year.

  Missile Defense Agency director Vice Adm. Jon Hill told a Senate panel on Tuesday that the Pentagon is currently conducting environmental impact studies at multiple sites where it hopes to deploy new systems. Local officials in Guam now have less than 30 days to review the reports and offer a response.

  

  Hill stressed that the US must defend all of its territories as if they were the American homeland, including Guam, adding that the Pentagon would install a “360-degree layered defense capability” on the island to secure it against “simultaneous cruise, ballistic, maneuvering and hypersonic” missile attacks.

  The Missile Defense Agency plans to deploy AEGIS, SM-3, SM-6 and THAAD interceptors at various points on Guam. The Pentagon previously awarded Lockheed Martin a $527 million contract to develop an upgraded AEGIS system for the island, while the MDA is hoping to receive another $1.5 billion to spend on Guam’s air defenses during FY 2024.

  The Defense Department is additionally working on new radar systems to deploy to Guam. “We are in the early stages of developing the Homeland Defense Radar-Guam (now designated as the AN/TPY-6 radar) and the Aegis Guam System to provide persistent long-range midcourse discrimination, precision tracking, missile engagements, and hit assessment to protect Guam,” Hill said in his written testimony.

  The vice admiral told the Senate panel that the systems were needed to contend with alleged threats posed by China and North Korea.

  The Joe Biden administration has adopted confrontational policies toward Beijing and Pyongyang, issuing a steady stream of threats and ultimatums to both countries. China and North Korea say the US military buildup in the region is driving a major spike in tensions, citing a flurry of live-fire drills and other operations in the Asia-Pacific in recent years.

  

  The AEGIS system in particular could further fuel the cycle of escalation, as it is capable of being converted to fire offensive missiles, including those carrying nuclear warheads, in addition to defensive interceptors

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 17:30

• San Francisco Democrat Pushes To Restrict Gun Use By Security Guards 
  San Francisco Democrat Pushes To Restrict Gun Use By Security Guards 

  San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston introduced new draft legislation earlier this week that would prevent security officers in the crime-ridden progressive metro area from using their firearms to protect property. 

  “We must amend local law to prohibit guards from drawing weapons just to protect property,” Preston tweeted on Tuesday. 

  The Democratic Socialist’s proposal follows an incident last month when a Walgreens security guard shot and killed suspected burglar Banko Brown. 

  Today, I’m announcing legislation to limit use of guns by security guards. We must amend local law to prohibit guards from drawing weapons just to protect property. Human life is more important than property. pic.twitter.com/A3KsOp8yTd

  — Dean Preston (@DeanPreston) May 9, 2023

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  Preston’s ridiculous push to limit the ability of security guards to use firearms while on the job attracted criticism from the world’s second-richest person, Elon Musk: 

  “It’s bad enough already. If security guards can’t protect stores, offices, homes or themselves from violent criminals, who would remain in San Francisco?”

  Another tech entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale said, “SF leaders are basically openly inciting robbery. A security guard damn well can defend you and your property with a gun, in a free country.” 

  Lonsdale said he’s concerned about his “friends and colleagues” in this increasingly “lawless” city, adding, “I hope they succeed at voting out people like Preston.” 

  SF leaders are basically openly inciting robbery.

  A security guard damn well can defend you and your property with a gun, in a free country.

  I’m worried for my friends and colleagues we left behind in this lawless city. I hope they succeed at voting out people like Preston. https://t.co/qKPRQYEffe

  — Joe Lonsdale (@JTLonsdale) May 9, 2023

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  And lawlessness is right. Just look at the chaos in Oakland the other night as the progressive district attorney fails to enforce law and order. 

  Wild Video from Oakland California sideshow street Takeover last night

  (@ppv_tahoe) Video footage was filmed on the 100 block of 10th street overnight.#oakland #sideshow #california
  📸 _okpatrick pic.twitter.com/Nc6laXxTEB

  — PPV-TAHOE – News Journalist (@ppv_tahoe) May 6, 2023

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  Meanwhile, retailers like Whole Foods, Nordstrom, T-Mobile, Office Depot, and many others are closing up shops as thefts are surging out of control. 

  Similar occurrences have recently been observed in cities like Baltimore and Chicago, where groups of young people wreak havoc on city streets. This is a failure of progressive leadership nationwide to enforce law and order. The American people are infuriated by the failure of progressives, as there is no accountability for implementing failed policies. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 17:00

• Recession Odds Rise To Highest In 40 Years: Fed
  Recession Odds Rise To Highest In 40 Years: Fed

  Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

  The odds that the United States will fall into a recession at some point over the next 12 months have risen to a 40-year high, according to a probability model from the New York Federal Reserve.

  The probability that the country will enter a recession within the next year has risen to 68.2 percent, according to the New York Fed, which is the highest level since 1982.

  The Fed’s recession risk indicator is now greater than it was in November 2007, not long before the subprime crisis, when it stood at 40 percent.

  

  The recession model is based on the spread between the three-month and 10-year yields on U.S. Treasurys.

  For months, the U.S. economy had been projected to show slowing real GDP growth and labor market softening.

  Amid the banking sector turmoil sparked by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, economists at the Federal Reserve have projected a shallow recession.

  “Given their assessment of the potential economic effects of the recent banking-sector developments, the staff’s projection at the time of the March meeting included a mild recession starting later this year, with a recovery over the subsequent two years,” stated the minutes from a March meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).

  There has been a growing chorus of experts who believe that the odds of a recession are high.

  Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said he thinks the chances are “probably about 70 percent.”

  “The chance that a recession will have begun this year in the U.S. over the next 12 months is probably about 70 percent,” Summers said in a recent interview with Foreign Policy.

  “As I put together the lags associated with monetary policy, the credit crunch risks, the need for continuing action around inflation, the risk of geopolitical or other shocks affecting commodities, 70 percent would be the range that I would be in.”

  Economists at Capital Economics published their latest quarterly U.S. economic outlook report, warning that the “acute bank stress” will result in “further tightening” of credit conditions, leaving them “even more convinced that the economy will fall into recession this year.”

  ING economists are also “more convinced than ever” with their prediction of a recession, citing in a research note the financial turmoil and the Fed’s monetary policy tightening.

  A recent poll showed that most Americans believe that the country is headed for a recession—or has already fallen into an economic downturn.

  Pessimism about the economy hit a record high amid rampant price inflation, rising interest rates, and growing recession concerns, according to the latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey.

  The survey showed that 69 percent of U.S. adults have negative views about the current economic landscape, which is the highest figure since the survey began 17 years ago.

  

  The elevated recession risk comes amid a debt ceiling standoff in Washington.

  Debt Ceiling Deadlock

  The Treasury Department has warned that the United States could default as soon as June 1 if no deal is reached.

  The White House has put out an analysis that said even a “short” default could eliminate half a million jobs and that a “protracted” one could cost 8.3 million jobs.

  When the United States reached the $31.4 trillion debt cap in January, the Treasury Department started resorting to “extraordinary measures” to keep making payments on outstanding federal debt obligations and keep the government from defaulting.

  At some point, however, the scope to continue with those accounting maneuvers will run out and the government will face the prospect of being unable to meet its financial obligations—a moment known as the X-date.

  When the X-date is reached and there’s no agreement in Congress to lift the cap, the Treasury Department will be unable to issue any more bills, bonds, or notes and can only make payments on the government’s debt obligations from incoming tax revenues.

  After a three-month hiatus, negotiations on raising the debt cap resumed on May 9 between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), but they ended with no breakthrough.

  Biden has insisted on a clean bill to raise the borrowing limit, while McCarthy and House Republicans have put forward a proposal that would pair lifting the cap by $1.5 trillion with $4.5 trillion in spending cuts over a decade. The president has rejected the GOP proposal and vowed to veto it if it reaches his desk.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 16:30

• Egypt Rejects US Requests To Block Russian Military Flights
  Egypt Rejects US Requests To Block Russian Military Flights

  Washington is trying to pressure Egypt into closing its airspace for all Russian military flights, but the regional US ally isn’t having it, which also awkwardly comes following a recent Pentagon leak showing Cairo planned to supply Moscow with rockets.

  “Egypt has ignored U.S. requests to close its airspace to Russian military flights, American and Egyptian officials said, testing the limits of Washington’s ability to choke off Moscow’s supplies ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive,” The Wall Street Journal reports Friday.

  

  “The U.S. and Ukraine persuaded countries including Turkey, Jordan and Iraq to cut access for at least some Russian military planes last year after the invasion of Ukraine, forcing Moscow’s aircraft to fly 2,000 extra miles and up to five hours further to reach strategic bases in Syria,” the report continues.

  Washington’s concern is that Russia has likely been using Egyptian airspace to transport weapons from its arms depots elsewhere in the Middle East – for example in Syria where since 2015 it’s had a significant military build-up, particularly focused along the coast. 

  Flight records cited in the WSJ report showed that at least seven such military flights which utilized this Syria route, before heading to Russia’s Black Sea region. 

  Egypt over the past multiple decades has been just behind Israel as a top recipient of US foreign aid, to the tune of about $1.3 billion annually. In recent years Congress has made moves to withhold some of this if it doesn’t better servce US interests. Washington has long propped up Egypt’s military largely in order to keep the peace with Israel. 

  For example a State Department fact sheet has reviewed that “Since 1978, the United States has provided Egypt with over $50 billion in military and $30 billion in economic assistance.”

  Last month the Washington Post reported on a leaked slide which was part of the “Discord leaks” of Pentagon documents. The slide said that Sisi recently ordered production of up to 40,000 rockets to be covertly shipped to Russia.

  Marked by more than a century of diplomatic cooperation and friendship, the U.S.-Egypt partnership continues to thrive. More on our relations with Egypt and the Egyptian people 🇺🇸 🤝 🇪🇬: https://t.co/QDa9i7xRqJ pic.twitter.com/LAxizlXSwk

  — Department of State (@StateDept) January 30, 2023

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  The top secret document, dated to Feb. 17 of this year, included a summary of conversations between the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his senior military officials. “In the document, Sisi instructs the officials to keep the production and shipment of the rockets secret ‘to avoid problems with the West,'” the Washington Post wrote. Artillery rounds and gunpowder were also mentioned.

  Countries like Egypt (viewed as close American allies) caught shipping weapons into Russia would not only prove highly embarrassing for the Biden administration, but could possibly trigger US sanctions, or at least the freezing of defense aid to the country.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 16:00

• Our Two Deep States: One Public, One Private
  Our Two Deep States: One Public, One Private

  Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

  One Deep State is bad enough, but a renegade, predatory private-sector Deep State is intolerable.

  

  In 2007, well before the term Deep State entered the common lexicon, I sketched the interconnected public-private pieces of the Deep State, which I termed the elite maintaining and extending global dominance. This diagram doesn’t make all the connections or list all the consequential nodes of influence of course, but you get the idea: elected officials, i.e. “democracy,” play a modest role in the entire structure, which displays remarkable continuity regardless of which politicians and parties are currently in power.

  

  That’s the whole idea, of course: continuity that can’t be disrupted by an election.

  What’s changed is the emergence of a private-sector Deep State–a.k.a. Big Tech–that has established unprecedented power outside the control of elected officials even as it continues to play ball with the traditional public-sector dominated Deep State of the alphabet federal agencies and informal public-private sector ties.

  This private-sector Deep State is free to pursue its own agenda of information-gathering and selling, surveillance, influence and profit-maximizing monopolies while seeming to serve the traditional Deep State as information-collecting and censorship services.

  What makes Big Tech a private-sector Deep State is that nobody outside the corporations knows precisely what’s in their databases and algorithms or the extent of their capabilities. Sure, they share information with the traditional Deep State players, and censor whomever it’s “suggested” they censor / shadow-ban, but that transfer isn’t 100% of what Big Tech has in hand. All that transfer is just enough to appear to be playing ball so Big Tech can “suggest” OK, we’ve done our part, now leave us alone.

  The problem with both Deep States is there is no recourse within the system for those censored / shadow-banned, those being tracked, those whose data is being siphoned off and sold to whomever offers a hefty sum of cash, and so on. The basic idea of the US Constitution is that every citizen has some recourse via the judicial or political systems should the state (government) or private entities overstep the boundaries established by the Constitution.

  Citizens have no recourse against the predations of Big Tech or the traditional Deep State. Um, hello there, Big Tech, could you please share precisely how and when I’ve been shadow-banned, who else has copies of the data you’ve collected about me and how much you “earned” selling my data to third parties? What’s actually in your AI tools? Does any public agency have any real oversight power over all the looting, pillaging and predation you’re pursuing?

  So sorry (heh), you agreed to our terms of service which grant us all the rights and our algorithms and databases are protected proprietary corporate property. So blow chow, pal, you have no recourse. We’re a corporation, we have rights; you’re only a citizen, you have none. You currently have permission to post photos of puppies and kittens, so just enjoy the photos of puppies and kittens and be happy you haven’t yet been digitally erased entirely.

  Um, hello there, Alphabet-Soup Agency, could I please have all the files you’ve assembled on me? Yes, there is a protocol for requesting information (the Freedom of Information Act FOIA), but there are exemptions and delays, so don’t hold your breath.

  Meanwhile, the nation careens into an era of Polycrisis, defined as a cluster of related global risks with compounding effects, such that the overall impact exceeds the sum of each part. This is of course a classic description of emergent systems, which display characteristics that differ from those generated by each individual component.

  I’ve sketched out a few of these dynamics in the chart below of overlapping crises.

  

  At the same time, the global status quo, regardless of political flavor, is sliding down the backside of the S-Curve (see graph below). Everything that was considered a dependable solution is now the problem. There are no solutions within the existing status quo, and so everyone has no choice but to do more of what’s failed spectacularly.

  There are no perfect, sacrifice-free fixes to the demise of the debt-funded, waste is growth / Landfill Global Economy, but a good start would be bringing the private-sector Deep State of Big Tech to heel, stripping it of its opacity and powers, relegating everything Big Tech does or attempts to a tightly regulated utility with transparent public oversight.

  

  One Deep State is bad enough, but a renegade, predatory private-sector Deep State is intolerable. It goes almost without saying that I’ve been shadow-banned for the past 7 years (revealed by the bogus PropOrNot hit list), if not longer, but the mechanisms of this censorship are opaque, not just to me but to the elected branches of government and the shadow-realm of the traditional Deep State.

  *  *  *

  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.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 15:30

• Non-Binary Character In New Transformer Cartoon Goes Viral As People Call For "Another Brand Boycott"
  Non-Binary Character In New Transformer Cartoon Goes Viral As People Call For “Another Brand Boycott”

  Out of the ‘woke’ indoctrination ovens from studios in Hollywood is a children’s computer-animated television show called “Transformers: EarthSpark” that first aired on Paramount+ in November 2022 and has embraced the woke movement. 

  Paramount+ might be digging its grave after the show for young kids appears to have recently promoted gender ideology. 

  “I know I’m safe when I’m with my friends or other non-binary people,” a character named Sam said to Transformer Nightshade. Sam also said her pronouns are “she/they.”

  

  The 1-minute clip tweeted by Libs of TikTok has been viewed 8 million times within 24 hours. Commenting on the clip is Mostly Peaceful Memes, who said, “Really putting the trans in transformers ammiright?”

  Recent episode from the kid’s show Transformers: EarthSpark. They’re after your kids. pic.twitter.com/D7TYsP9Sb0

  — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) May 11, 2023

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  The cringe-woke cartoon isn’t the first. Disney has been pumping woke cartoons for a while, enraging parents. The proliferation of woke cartoons should be a wake-up call for parents and the need to vet kids shows as Hollywood and the left wages a culture war on the youngest generation. Twitter users were appalled by the woke cartoon. 

  Woke ruins everything.

  — Coco 🇺🇸 (@CoClarified) May 12, 2023

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  Definition of grooming

  — Joel Loua (@joelloua) May 12, 2023

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  We really went from Transformers: The Movie, where Megatron murdered Ironhide by shooting him in the face with his arm cannon, to Transformers with pronouns.

  Woke culture ruins everything.

  — Zeek Arkham 🇺🇸 (@ZeekArkham) May 12, 2023

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  Every absurdity has a champion to defend it.
  – Oliver Goldsmith

  The left have truly become champions of the absurd. Trying to normalize the absurdity has caused very real harm to out children. This needs to be stopped.

  — Belinda (@Cobeekat) May 11, 2023

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  pic.twitter.com/gq0QD3n3wa

  — APOCTOZ (@Apoctoz) May 11, 2023

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  Paramount+ might be walking a fine line as some Americans have been on a roll, boycotting products from corporate America, such as woke Bud Light. 

  Good grief, another brand to boycott.

  — Raymond P Mucha (@rpmucha23) May 12, 2023

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  My family will not be watching this series.

  — Josh’s News, Memes, Photography, & Stuff (@joshbottweet) May 12, 2023

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  I’m going to throw the whole TV away.

  — Emily Rarick (@_emilyrarick) May 11, 2023

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  Welp. Blocking that one. This is aimed at 5 year old kids.

  — JayViper (@JayViperTV) May 11, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 15:00

• Non-Profit Hospitals Made Huge Profits During Pandemic While Receiving $23 Billion In Federal COVID-19 Aid: Report
  Non-Profit Hospitals Made Huge Profits During Pandemic While Receiving $23 Billion In Federal COVID-19 Aid: Report

  Authored by Mark Tapscott via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Federal officials gave more than $23 billion COVID-19 aid to the nation’s top 20 nonprofit hospitals even as a 62 percent increase in their collective net assets led parallel surges in the institutions’ total profits and revenues during the 2018-2021 time period spanning the Coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report.

  

  Only two of the 20 institutions have repaid the government for the COVID-19 aid they received.  

  “The 20 largest nonprofit hospitals in the country continued making massive profits while their cumulative net assets soared to $324.3 billion in 2021, up from $200.6 billion in 2018. The year 2021 is the latest year available for cross-comparison purposes.

  “Those hospital systems received congressional COVID bailouts of $23 billion and only two providers partially paid their COVID bailout back,” said the report compiled by Open The Books, an Illinois-based research nonprofit that compiles and posts spending by all levels of government in America. The two institutions that have partially repaid the government were not identified.

  The biggest jump among the top 20 was 92 percent by the Mayo Clinic, based in Rochester, Minnesota, whose assets went from $9.2 billion in 2018 to $17.7 billion in 2021. The Mayo Clinic received $350,000 in federal COVID-19 aid, the lowest amount received among the top 20 institutions.

  The Cleveland Clinic Health System, based in Independence, Ohio, saw its assets go up 60 percent, from $9.8 billion to $15.7 billion, while receiving $118 million in federal COVID-19 aid. Intermountain Healthcare, based in Salt Lake City,  Utah, the 12th largest of the top 20, enjoyed a 63 percent growth in net assets from $7.1 billion to $11.6 billion. Intermountain received $518 million in aid.

  

  Seeing a 43 percent jump in net assets between 2018 and 2021 was the Northwestern Medicine system, moving from $8.3 billion to $11.9 billion, and receiving $419 million in COVID-19 aid from federal officials. The Indiana University Health System went from $7 billion in 2018 to $10.3 billion in 2021, a 47 percent increase. The Indiana facility received $726 million in COVID-19 assistance from the government.

  And as the revenues poured in for the 20 hospitals, compensation for their top executives soared, often beyond $10 million annually, according to the report.

  For example, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Ascension Healthcare, which is based in St. Louis and is the nation’s second-largest such system, received $13 million in 2021 and a total in excess of $22 million for the period covered by the study.

  The recipient among the top 20 of the most COVID-19 aid was San Francisco-based CommonSpirit Health with $3.6 billion, followed by Providence St. Joseph Center with $3 billion, Ascension Healthcare with $2.7 billion, Livonia, Michigan-based Livonia Health with $2.3 billion and Sutter Health, based in Sacramento, California, with $1.7 billion.

  But the overall health of Americans headed downward between 2018 and 2021.

  “American life expectancy during this period sharply declined by a staggering 2.5 years from 2019 through 2022. While ‘comparable country averages’ rebounded from a COVID-related drop in 2021, the United States continued declining in life expectancy,” the report found.

  “Yet, the cost of health care is still astronomically high, as the average family paid $22,463 in health insurance premiums in 2022. That does not include out-of-pocket costs like co-pays and deductibles, which can be thousands more. This has led to medical debt for about 100 million Americans,” the report continued.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 14:30

• Watch: Texas Governor Buses More Illegal Migrants To Kamala Harris' House
  Watch: Texas Governor Buses More Illegal Migrants To Kamala Harris’ House

  For decades, Democrats have ignored or applauded the mass movements of illegal immigrants across the US southern border as a grand signal of cosmopolitan virtue.  However, as soon as border states began to fight back against open border policies and started sending those same migrants to leftist cities, suddenly their tone changed and their enthusiasm disappeared. 

  The moment blue sanctuary cities were forced to deal with the direct repercussions of an invasion of low skill, welfare seeking illegal migrants, leftists became enraged. Instead of blaming their own failed ideals, they started blaming the conservative governors that are bussing the illegals to their doorstep.  Unphased by the indignant whining of Democrats, the governors of Florida and Texas have continued their effort to make a point – If leftist controlled cities can’t even handle a few thousand migrants, why should border towns be expected to handle millions?  

  With the continuance of Title 42 now in question, the ability of border patrol agents to ship migrants directly back to Mexico is about to disappear.  And, if red states aren’t allowed by the Biden Administration to send them back, they might as well send them to Biden. 

  Texas Governor Greg Abbot has sent another group of buses carrying illegals to already overwhelmed Washington DC, straight to the residence of Vice President Kamala Harris: 

  🚨BREAKING: 30 illegal migrants dropped off on Kamala Harris’ front lawn in DC after being bussed by Texas Governor Abbott pic.twitter.com/wSrGgwdIvD

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) May 12, 2023

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  As the saying goes, the beatings will continue until morale improves.  Perhaps Democrat constituents will finally start questioning the immigration policies of their leadership? 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 05/13/2023 – 14:00

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• Could The US "Lose" Australia?
  Could The US “Lose” Australia?

  By Russell Clark of the Capital Flows and Asset Markets substack

  Australia as a colony, and then after independence, operated as part of the British armed forces, sending substantial number of troops to World War I and II to fight in Europe. However during World War II, the collapse of Singapore saw Japanese forces attack the mainland Australia. Only the US was able to offer military support, and from this moment on, Australia military was reconfigured to ally with the US rather than British Armed Forces. The military bond between the US and Australia is so close, that Australia reintroduced conscription during the Vietnam war. Even today songs like “Khe Sanh” and “I was only 19” that describe the trials and tribulations of Australian soldiers in Vietnam are well known.

  

  After the Vietnam war, for years Australian defense policy was centered on a “large country to the north” aka Indonesia. Military fears were driven by the invasion and annexation of West Papua by Indonesia in 1969 that saw a number of Australian journalists perish. Papua New Guinea was ruled by Australia until 1975, meaning that Australia was already protecting a land border against Indonesia. As an Australian military map shows, only Indonesia is close enough to possibly invade the populated East Coast. A military policy focused on stopping a potential Indonesian threat was both logical and sensible.

  

  The isolation of Australia with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the rise of democracy in Indonesia has led Australia to have defense policy of “strategic warning time”, which in essence meant that Australia had 10 years to respond to any real military threat. The most recent review argues that this period is over, and Australia needs to commit to a much more rigorous defense strategy. In particular it is looking to work much more closely with other nations in the Indo-Pacific region to counteract the influence of China. The landmark agreement of AUKUS where Australia will acquire nuclear submarines from the UK. The problem is that Australia now seems to be investing heavily to protect itself from its largest trade partner (memorable parodied here).

  

  Given the distances involved, and China’s dependence on Australian raw materials, the likelihood of China invading Australia seems very low. Australia already spends around 2% of GDP on military, which is enough to make it the dominant power in Oceania.

  

  Militarily Australia looks like its spends more than enough to resist any possible invasion, and to project power near its borders. So what exactly is the aim of Australia’s more robust defence posture, and the AUKUS treaty. The most controversial feature of the AUKUS treaty was Australia cancelling the contract to buy Collins class submarines from France, and buying nuclear powered submarines from the UK. There is much debate over whether these submarines are actually better, for Australia, but it is very clear that the nuclear submarines can travel much further than conventional submarines.

  

  The conclusion I make from all of this is that Australia has decided to participate in the potential defense of Taiwan. The reunification of Taiwan to the mainland has been government policy since the foundation of the People’s Republic of China. If that is the unstated aim of this policy, then the question has to be whether this is correct strategy. If the aim is to bolster Taiwanese defences, then it would make more sense to bolster spending in areas near a potential conflict. Why not have Australia send more military equipment to Taiwan? Or why not give Japan nuclear submarines? The AUKUS plan has Australia building 8 submarines coming into service in 2030s and 2040s. Given the current mismatch between Chinese and Taiwanese navies, what is the point?

  

  Plainly Australia’s military plans are sending a political signal, but at the cost of $10bn a year for 30 years. Other problems included the lack of nuclear industry in Australia means developing the know how to deal with nuclear material from scratch, as well as making mainland Australia a legitimate target if China did invade Taiwan. While the Vietnam war is still remembered in song, the failures of British military strategy in World War I are remembered even more keenly in Australia (ANZAC day is a more important that either Australia Day or Federation day – and commemorates the loss of Australian and New Zealand soldiers lives in a badly planned military campaign in Turkey). Some historians saw the debacle in Turkey in World War I was the true beginning of Australian independence from Britain. Confused strategy regarding Taiwan could have the same effect. Former Prime Minister Paul Keating has already spoken out against this new military strategy, and he makes a valid point.

  As the parody video linked above makes clear, Australian military strategy would benefit from clearer objectives, and perhaps refraining from throwing money at projects until it can clearly state those objectives.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 23:40

• YouTuber Admits Crashing Plane Into California Mountain For Views To Lock "Sponsorship Deal"
  YouTuber Admits Crashing Plane Into California Mountain For Views To Lock “Sponsorship Deal”

  Society needs to have a national discussion regarding the lengths social media influencers go to produce outrageous and dangerous content in pursuit of more views and sponsorship deals. 

  The story of Olympic snowboarder turned YouTube influencer Trevor Jacob is a prime example of the ridiculousness on social media. He admitted to federal prosecutors that he deliberately crashed his small plane into a mountain in Southern California to boost views for a sponsorship deal.

  Jacob pleaded guilty to one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct an investigation, the US Attorney’s office for Central California wrote in a press release. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years behind bars. 

  According to his plea agreement, Jacob is an experienced pilot and skydiver who had secured a sponsorship from a company that sold various products, including a wallet. Pursuant to the sponsorship deal, Jacob agreed to promote the company’s wallet in a YouTube video that he would post. – federal prosecutors

  Jacob admitted in his plea agreement that he intended to make money through the video. 

  

  Recall the video was posted on YouTube in late 2021 titled “I Crashed My Airplane,” which shows Jacob parachuting out of the plane as the engine appeared to have stalled. 

  We noticed the video about a week after it went live and pointed out a large number of folks who believed the social media influencer staged the air emergency. 

  As of Friday afternoon, the video has more than 3 million views. The ratio on the video of likes versus dislikes is horrendous: 33k likes/207k dislikes. 

  

  Months after Jacob posted the video, the Federal Aviation Administration sent him a letter on April 11, 2022, indicating he violated the agency’s regulations and operated his small plane in a “careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another.” His pilot license was revoked shortly after. 

  Now he faces jail, all because he wanted more views. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 23:20

• Why Was EcoHealth Alliance's Grant Reinstated Despite Group's Apparent Failure To Comply With NIH Conditions?
  Why Was EcoHealth Alliance’s Grant Reinstated Despite Group’s Apparent Failure To Comply With NIH Conditions?

  Authored by Hans Mahncke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has reinstated a grant that had been terminated by President Donald Trump in April 2020. However, a document first obtained by the House Oversight Committee reveals that the NIH’s conditions for reinstatement have not been met.

  

  The grant, titled “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence,” was originally awarded in 2014 by Dr. Anthony Fauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Under the terms of the grant, EcoHealth Alliance, a government-funded nonprofit that purportedly engages in research to prevent pandemics, was awarded $3.8 million over five years to assess the spillover potential of bat viruses “using reverse genetics, pseudovirus and receptor binding assays, and virus infection experiments in cell culture and humanized mice.” Put in simple terms, NIAID was paying EcoHealth to genetically engineer and manipulate bat viruses in labs.

  In May 2016, the grant was suspended after Erik Stemmy, a NIAID program officer, noticed that federal government funds may have been used for prohibited gain-of-function experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China. At the time, the Obama administration had put in place a moratorium on gain-of-function experiments. However, for reasons that remain unclear, the suspension was lifted in July 2016. At the time, EcoHealth’s president, Peter Daszak, thanked NIAID in an email for lifting the gain-of-function funding pause.

  As part of the conditions of the grant, EcoHealth had to file regular activity reports. However, starting in 2018, EcoHealth stopped submitting these reports. EcoHealth would later blame technical difficulties for their failure to submit. The missing reports comprised the critical 2018–2019 timeframe right before the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan.

  Despite EcoHealth’s delinquency in filing the status reports, NIAID did not stop funding the project. It was only after a Freedom of Information Act request for the reports was filed in 2021 that EcoHealth was prompted by NIAID to provide the reports. The reports, which were finally submitted by EcoHealth at least two years too late, in 2021, revealed that the NIAID grant had been used by EcoHealth and the WIV in part to create laboratory-engineered bat viruses. Had this fact been reported in a timely manner, the experiments would likely have been shut down by NIAID.

  When the connections between the WIV and NIAID’s grant became known in April 2020, Trump terminated the grant. Trump’s decision caused an outcry among the media and his critics. However, the NIH, which is NIAID’s parent body, appears to have been well aware that Trump’s actions were merited.

  On July 8, 2020, Michael Lauer, the NIH’s deputy director for extramural research who was in charge of “ensuring scientific integrity, public accountability, and effective stewardship of the NIH extramural research portfolio,” wrote a letter to EcoHealth, listing seven demands that needed to be fulfilled as a condition for reinstatement of the grant.

  NIH Issued 7 Demands

  First, EcoHealth needed to provide a sample of the COVID-19 virus which it used to determine the virus’ genetic sequence. The ostensible purpose of this demand was to compare this original sample with other samples in order to assess when it first emerged.

  Second, EcoHealth was required to “explain the apparent disappearance of Huang Yanling, a scientist / technician who worked in the WIV lab but whose lab web presence has been deleted.” Huang Yanling has long been thought to be patient zero. Her profile was scrubbed from the WIV’s website shortly after the outbreak of the pandemic in 2019 and she has not been seen since.

  

  Third, EcoHealth was asked to share the “WIV’s responses to the 2018 U.S. Department of State cables regarding safety concerns.” These cables had warned of a “serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate” the WIV’s high-level containment laboratories. They also warned that the National Health and Family Planning Commission, a state agency of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), had denied a request to conduct coronavirus experiments at biosafety level 4. The actual experiments were carried out in low biosafety level 2 facilities.

  Fourth, EcoHealth was required to “disclose and explain out-of-ordinary restrictions on laboratory facilities, as suggested, for example, by diminished cell-phone traffic in October 2019, and the evidence that there may have been roadblocks surrounding the facility from October 14-19, 2019.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 23:00

• Judge Finds Federal Age-21 Rule For Handgun Purchases Unconstitutional
  Judge Finds Federal Age-21 Rule For Handgun Purchases Unconstitutional

  A 54-year-old federal prohibition on the sale of guns to Americans between 18 and 20 years old has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge in Richmond, Virginia. The Justice Department is expected to appeal and ask for the ruling to be put on hold as the case is further adjudicated. 

  The case has three plaintiffs, all between 18 and 20 years old. One, John “Corey” Fraser, was refused when he attempted to buy a Glock 19x from a Federal Firearm Licensed Dealer (FFL). The other two want to buy a handgun but haven’t tried, in light of Fraser’s experience.

  The challenged provision of the Gun Control Act of 1968 didn’t prohibit possession by 18- to 20-year-olds, it only made it illegal for FFL’s to sell handguns to them. Rifles and shotguns have no such federal restriction. 

  

  The ruling is the latest in a string of defeats for gun-control measures. The trend is driven by the application of a new constitutionality test prescribed in the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision.

  This week’s ruling is particularly significant because it’s one of the first that uses Bruen to kill a federal law, as opposed to a state one. In February, a federal court applying the Bruen test shot down a 30-year-old law banning gun ownership by people subject to domestic-violence restraining orders

  Using the Bruen test, a gun-control law can only be upheld if the government demonstrates that it’s “consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.” Further, when examining the record, judges are compelled to give the most weight to historical sources from the era of the Second Amendment’s 1791 ratification. 

  In Thursday’s ruling, Judge Robert E. Payne of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia concluded the government’s defense of the age-21 law failed the Bruen test: 

  “The government has not presented any evidence of age-based restrictions on the purchase or sale of firearms from the colonial era, Founding or Early Republic,” wrote Payne in a 71-page decision. 

  While the Supreme Court’s 2008 Heller decision found that the right to ‘keep arms’ isn’t exclusively tied to militia service, Payne scrutinized the history of militia laws — and particularly, age stipulations in those laws — as part of his review of the historical tradition of gun regulation relative to the challenged law.

  

  Those laws blew holes in the government’s case. “At the time surrounding ratification of the Second Amendment, 16 or 18 was the age of majority for militia service throughout the nation,” wrote Payne, who was nominated by President George H.W. Bush.  

  Elsewhere, he noted that, “if the Court were to exclude 18-to-20-year-olds from the Second Amendment’s protection, it would impose limitations on the Second Amendment that do not exist with other constitutional guarantees.” 

  Gun control advocates railed against the decision. “Research shows us that 18- to 20-year-olds commit gun homicides at triple the rate of adults 21 years and older,” said Janet Carter, senior director of issues and appeals at Everytown Law. She added that the age-21 handgun-purchase law “is not just an essential tool for preventing gun violence, it is also entirely constitutional.” 

  

  This decision is very important, but it doesn’t yet settle the issue nationally, as judges have been ruling in both directions where age restrictions are concerned:

  • In December, a federal judge in the Western District of Louisiana upheld the same federal restriction that Payne found constitutional this week.
  • Florida’s age-21 law for any gun purchase was upheld in March by an Eleventh Circuit panel.
  • A federal judge ruled in March against a Minnesota law establishing a minimum age of 21 to qualify for a handgun-carry permit.
  • Last year, the Ninth Circuit ruled against California’s age-21 rule for buying centerfire semiautomatic rifles.

  The patchwork of decisions could make the issue ripe for Supreme Court consideration. In the meantime, amid all that judicial inconsistency, state legislatures have been actively installing or considering new age-21 restrictions. For example: 

  • In April, Colorado set age 21 as the minimum for buying any firearm. 
  • Earlier this month, the Oregon House passed a bill that would raise the minimum age for buying semiautomatic weapons to 21.
  • This week, a Texas legislative committee advanced a bill setting 21 as the minimum for buying semiautomatic rifles.  

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 22:40

• Migrants Reveal Plans To Sneak Into US Since Title 42 Has Expired
  Migrants Reveal Plans To Sneak Into US Since Title 42 Has Expired

  Authored by Joe Gomez via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The COVID-19 pandemic-era immigration policy Title 42 came to an end just before midnight on May 11 and thousands of illegal immigrants are anticipated to surge to the U.S. border when that happens, according to migrants and Mexican charity workers who spoke with The Epoch Times.

  “We all want to reach the United States as quickly as we can,” Anna Maria Estrada told The Epoch Times in Mexico City. Estrada traveled from Guatemala into Mexico illegally with a group of dozens of other migrants.

  

  They’ve been given visas by the Mexican government called Forma Migratoria Multiple, which translates as Multiple Immigration Forms, so they can travel freely through the country.

  Estrada said that she and others are trying to get to the United States while there is still “time” to possibly take advantage of the chaos in the change of immigration regulations.

  This idea has been spread widely by transnational criminal organizations to induce migrants to pay to smuggle them into the United States.

  “DHS expects that encounters at the Southwest Border will increase as smugglers spread disinformation, which will place a strain on our immigration system, our communities, and our dedicated workforce,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement in early May.

  Estrada says her group and others are willing to risk everything to get to the United States even if it means taking the dangerous train called “la bestia,” which translates as “the beast” or the “train of death.” The train travels from Guatemala to the outskirts of Mexico City and then up to various parts of the U.S.–Mexico border. Hundreds die every day by falling off the train onto the rails below, with the hope of making it to the border.

  “We are going to the train to see if we can make it if there is still time,” Estrada said.

  

  Mexico City has provided shelter and aid to migrants traveling through, as have local churches like the Basilica of Guadalupe.

  “Mainly the migrants are devoted to the Virgin of Guadalupe so they will come here to pray for them and their families,” Arturo Duran, who works at the church, told The Epoch Times. “They have always gathered here as their safe place.”

  Duran said the migrants are mostly peaceful as they head to the border, wanting only to seek a better life, but some have other intentions.

  “Some brothers are very angry about what happened in the Juarez prison [a migration center that burned to the ground, killing at least 40 people in March] and are seeking revenge.”

  Estrada’s group is part of thousands of other migrants trying to cross into the United States illegally.

  10,000 illegal immigrants have been captured daily on Monday and Tuesday of this week, according to Reuters.

  End of Title 42

  Title 42 allowed border authorities to quickly expel certain immigrants who illegally crossed into the United States seeking asylum, but it did not prevent them from doing so again.

  Now that it has ended, a stricter rule entitled Title 8 will be enforced, which would ban illegal immigrants who are captured crossing the border for up to five years.

  The new rule would encourage illegal immigrants who are traveling to the United States from Central America to first seek asylum in other countries.

  “We’ve gotten overwhelming cooperation from Mexico. We also are in the process of setting up offices in Colombia and other places where someone seeking asylum can go first,” President Joe Biden said at a White House press conference on May 9. “But it remains to be seen. It’s going to be chaotic for a while.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 22:20

• Pentagon Officials Acknowledge Uncertainty In Defending Against Hypersonic Missiles
  Pentagon Officials Acknowledge Uncertainty In Defending Against Hypersonic Missiles

  Authored by John Haughey via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The United States Department of Defense (DOD) is seeking nearly $30 billion in its $680 billion Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) budget request for missile defeat and defense programs across all branches of the military.

  

  Right now, the DOD is in a race to develop its own hypersonic missiles and engineer effective defenses against the high-velocity, maneuverable missiles being developed by Russia and, particularly, by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC).

  During questioning by Senate Armed Services Committee’s Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chair Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) in a May 9 budget hearing, four flag officers said some existing systems have “capabilities” against hypersonic weapons but did not know for sure until they are tested against the evolving missile systems.

  King was not happy. “It seems to me that we are spending a lot more money to developing hypersonic missiles than we are developing capabilities to defend against them,” he said.

  King asked Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm. Jon A. Hill if an aircraft carrier could be defended against a hypersonic missile attack.

  “We have the capability to stop it in two places, in the boost-glide phase” and when the missile re-enters the atmosphere, Hill said, noting the Navy’s SM-6 missiles are “cruise missile killers” designed to track and kill fast-moving, maneuverable targets that can fly high and skim the surface. “It would be defeated by a destroyer defending a carrier.”

  Noting Ukrainians claim they shot down a Russian hypersonic weapon last week with a Patriot anti-air missile provided by the U.S., Hill said the Patriot systems, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missiles (THAAD), and Aegis ballistic defense system all have “capability” demonstrated in tests against hypersonics.

  “THAAD operates on the edge of the atmosphere,” he said. “We haven’t tested it against hypersonic, but I’m willing to bet there are capacities that we can leverage there.”

  Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John F. Plumb said the budget request “makes substantial investments in regional ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missile defense capabilities,” including $1.2 billion for PAC-3 Patriot missile “interceptors,” $1 billion for Aegis and THAAD interceptors, and $259 million for regional hypersonic and ballistic missile defense space sensors and the development of a G

  

  21st Century Missiles vs. 1980s Technology

  King said these ant-missile systems are based on technologies from the 1980-90s and asked why DOD is not experimenting with using direct energy weapons to knock down missiles.

  At $4 to $10 million each, using missiles in a “bullet on bullet approach is an expensive proposition” in defending against other missiles.

  Developing a “directed energy” weapon for missile defense has been “a target for a period of time,” Hill said with prototypes being tested in the fleet. “It is scaling its way there. That work is being done today.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 21:40

• Thai Rice Crop In Crosshairs Of El Nino As Farmers Are Warned About Water Shortages
  Thai Rice Crop In Crosshairs Of El Nino As Farmers Are Warned About Water Shortages

  A disruptive El Nino pattern might impact rice production in Thailand, the world’s second-biggest exporter of the grain that feeds half the world’s population. 

  Bangkok Post reported farmers are being asked by the Office of the National Water Resources “to grow only one rice crop this coming season as rainfall will be below average because of the El Nino weather pattern.” 

  Surasee Kittimonthon, the ONWR secretary-general, said the rainy season, which usually begins in late May, will be delayed with periods of intermittent rain in June. 

  Kittimonthon said ONWR had devised a plan for increased water preservation within the country’s reservoir system. 

  “We can provide water to farmers for the first rice crop, starting in the rainy season.

  “But for the second or third crops, we would like farmers’ cooperation to grow other plants that need less water to help limit the water shortage,” he said.

  Rice production requires substantial amounts of water and relies heavily on irrigation systems and sufficient rainfall. It’s an early warning sign of how El Nino is set to wreak havoc on the global food system this year. 

  

  We told readers last month the weather-altering phenomenon had a high probability of forming. We said, “If El Niño does form, it could result in heavy rainfall and heatwaves in specific regions across the globe, potentially causing disruptions in the agricultural industry.” 

  And days ago, we informed readers about record-breaking heatwaves in Asia and Europe in a note titled “Is El Nino Supercharging Heatwave Across Asia?” 

  Separately, earlier this month, Fitch Solutions published a report that forecasts this year’s global rice production will log its biggest shortfall in two decades. 

  “At the global level, the most evident impact of the global rice deficit has been, and still is, decade-high rice prices,” Fitch Solutions’ commodities analyst Charles Hart told CNBC. 

  Sliding rice production causes grain prices to increase for 3.5 billion people, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region — this region of the world accounts for 90% of the world’s rice consumption. 

  “Given that rice is the staple food commodity across multiple markets in Asia, prices are a major determinant of food price inflation and food security, particularly for the poorest households,” Hart said.

  He said this year’s global shortfall would be around 8.7 million tons, the largest global rice deficit since 2003/2004 of 18.6 million. 

  As a result of tightening global supplies, rough rice futures trading on the CBoT have soared above $18 per cwt, the highest level since September 2008. Cwt is a unit of measurement for certain commodities such as rice.

  

  Recall in the late summer of 2022. We told readers:

  • The Stage Is Being Set For A Massive Global Rice Shortage
  • “Situation Is Really Precarious”: World’s Largest Rice Exporter Faces Output Decline Amid Heatwave

  … and just recently. 

  • Thai Rice Prices Jump As Global Food Crisis Reignites

  El Nino appears set to decrease precipitation levels, potentially causing disruptions in the global food industry. Persistently high food inflation could increase the likelihood of societal unrest in developing economies. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 21:20

• Biden EPA Announces Toughest-Ever Rules For Power Plant Emissions
  Biden EPA Announces Toughest-Ever Rules For Power Plant Emissions

  Authored by Nathan Worcester via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  After weeks of buildup, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled its strictest-ever rules for power produced using natural gas, coal, and oil that could spur the use of carbon capture technologies.

  

  The standards released on May 11 would impact new and old power infrastructure, including new natural gas turbines and the country’s existing coal fleet. Though the United States still has hundreds of coal plants, the number of such installations has fallen sharply during the past decade.

  “We will see some coal retirements,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan told reporters on May 10.

  

  He added that individual states and companies would have significant discretion in terms of implementation.

  U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry in 2021 said America simply “won’t have coal” on its grid by 2030.

  The EPA thinks its proposals will induce American power plants to boost their use of certain technologies, including the co-firing of fossil fuels with what it calls low-greenhouse gas (GHG) hydrogen and, in particular, the capture, sequestration, and storage of carbon.

  More Details from EPA

  Regan told reporters that the standards are about “clean air to breathe,” claiming they would yield “substantial health benefits” as well as “regulatory certainty” for the energy sector.

  The agency projects that the standards will help America avoid thousands of premature deaths, tens of thousands of lost workdays, and over 300,000 asthma attacks just in the year 2030.

  Regan and others with the EPA repeatedly stressed that they do not believe their vision runs afoul of West Virginia v. EPA.

  That landmark Supreme Court decision, decided 6 to 3, concerned a carbon emissions plan for existing power plants put forth by the EPA under former President Barack Obama.

  

  The court found that Congress hadn’t given the agency the authority to issue such emissions caps, referencing the plan’s “generation shifting approach” from coal to natural gas and other sources.

  “The proposed limits and guidelines follow EPA’s traditional approach under the Clean Air Act to control pollution from stationary sources by relying on control technologies that are cost-effective and can be applied directly to power plants to reduce CO2,” an EPA spokesperson told The Epoch Times in a May 10 email.

  In its 681-page notice, the agency argued that co-firing hydrogen as a substitute for natural gas can qualify as a “system of emission reduction” under the Clean Air Act. It specified that hydrogen would have to be low-GHG, “the availability of which is expected to increase significantly and the cost of which is expected to decline significantly in the near future.”

  “The EPA recognizes that even though the combustion of hydrogen is zero-GHG emitting, its production entails a range of GHG emissions, from low to high, depending on the method,” the proposal reads.

  The agency claims that technologies to capture 90 percent of carbon dioxide have become “adequately demonstrated” and “cost reasonable” while realizing “substantial emissions reductions.”

  2035 Target for Carbon-Free Electricity Still Viable: Officials

  The EPA said their proposal offers “ample lead time and substantial compliance flexibilities.” That might appear to conflict with President Joe Biden’s aim of achieving “a carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035,” as expressed in a 2021 executive order.

  EPA officials and staff told reporters on May 10 that the ambition was still within reach.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 21:00

• The Supreme Court Might Curb The 'Deep State' By Overruling The Chevron Case
  The Supreme Court Might Curb The ‘Deep State’ By Overruling The Chevron Case

  Authored by Rob Natelson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The Supreme Court will not be announcing its decisions in most of this year’s big cases until June or early July. But the court recently agreed to consider a case that could trim the power of the “deep state.”

  The “deep state” is a web of federal administrative agencies, career politicians, lobbyists, and compliant mass media. It acts as a shadow government that largely sets the nation’s political agenda.

  The deep state has been around for decades, but is more powerful than ever because the federal government is larger and more intrusive than ever. Most Americans witnessed deep state power for the first time during the Trump administration, when it publicly resisted the authority of an elected president.

  One prop of the deep state’s power is the 1984 Supreme Court’s ruling in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council (pdf). That ruling is called the “Chevron doctrine.” On May 1, the justices granted certiorari in (that is, agreed to review) a new case in which they may overrule the Chevron case and its “Chevron doctrine.”

  

  The ‘Deep’ Background

  The Constitution created a democratic federal republic. It instituted an elected Congress to make laws, an elected president to enforce laws, and an appointed judiciary to resolve disputes under those laws.

  In addition to empowering the new government, the Constitution also limited it. The Constitution included some specific exceptions to federal authority, such as the first eight amendments in the Bill of Rights. It also reserved most governmental functions to the states, a reservation encapsulated in the Ninth and Tenth Amendments.

  People who wield power are seldom happy with limits on their power. Federal officials and those who cater to them always pushed back against the Constitution’s limits. Those limits began to fall in earnest during the late 1930s and early 1940s. Instead of resisting the assault, liberal majorities on the Supreme Court “reinterpreted” the Constitution to accommodate the assaulters. I described the court’s decisions during that era in my Epoch Times series, “How the Supreme Court Re-Wrote the Constitution.”

  This process of constitutional distortion slowed after 1944, but it didn’t end. It continued for the entire six decades that liberal justices comprised a majority—that is, until late in the 20th century.

  In Epoch Times essays published in 2021 and 2022, I described the major themes of the liberal jurisprudence that prevailed throughout most of the 20th century. That jurisprudence is now embedded in the court’s case precedent.

  Liberal justices enormously increased the authority of Congress. For example, they transformed Congress’s power to regulate Commerce (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) into authority to oversee the entire national economy. They changed Congress’s power to tax (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1) into a license to spend for almost any purpose. These and other changes rendered the federal government supreme in American life.

  Not only did liberal justices permit Congress to exercise almost unlimited power, they also permitted Congress to delegate it to unelected administrative agencies. Congress may (and frequently does) pass a statute creating an agency and telling it to regulate some broad swathe of activities, and—voilá!—Americans are saddled with a new set of bureaucratic masters.

  It’s true that the court has stated restrictions on Congress’s ability to delegate, but those statements are mostly empty words. The justices readily approve vague and undefined delegations such as “this agency may regulate the airwaves in the public interest.”

  Liberal Supreme Court majorities also stacked the rules heavily against any citizen challenging federal power. Outside of a few areas (such as freedom of speech) a citizen claiming a federal law is unconstitutional must prove that there’s no possible constitutional reason for the law. (This was why Obamacare’s insurance mandate was upheld on the silly (pdf) theory that it was a “tax.”)

  How Chevron Fits In

  Just as the court imposed an almost impossible burden of proof on citizens challenging a law’s constitutionality, the Chevron doctrine imposes a similar burden on citizens challenging the power of federal agencies. The doctrine says that an agency almost always has the final word on whether federal law gives it the powers it claims. Courts must defer to these self-interested agency decisions unless they are “unreasonable.” In constitutional law, it’s exceedingly difficult to prove that a government decision is “unreasonable.”

  The Un-Conservative Supreme Court

  As I have explained in several Epoch Times essays, contrary to the mainstream media narrative, the current Supreme Court doesn’t have a 6–3 conservative majority. Rather, the bench is highly fragmented: It contains three liberal activists, one nearly pure originalist, one justice who usually defers to government decisions (liberal or conservative), and four others in between.

  As a result, the current court has left almost all the liberal case precedents in place. (The principal exception, Roe v. Wade, was an unusually weak decision but even so it was overruled by only a bare 5–4 majority.) When the media characterize a ruling as “conservative,” it’s often because the court has applied a liberal precedent that liberals no longer find convenient.

  Thus, the current composition of the court suggests that, just as it has preserved other liberal precedents, it may well preserve Chevron.

  Criticisms of the Chevron Doctrine

  On the other hand, there’s some evidence the justices may overrule Chevron. Several justices have been critical of the Chevron doctrine. They and other commentators point out that:

  • The doctrine makes an agency a judge in its own cause, thereby violating the Constitution’s guarantee of due process of law;

  • it encourages agencies to expand their power;

  • administrative agencies are part of the executive branch, so allowing them to make legislative or judicial decisions violates separation of powers; and

  • the Chevron decision was not well considered, and over time the Supreme Court has had to carve out exceptions.

  Another reason for believing that Chevron’s days are numbered is that the court didn’t refer to it when adjudicating recent cases on the limits of agency authority.

  The Present Case

  The case the court agreed to hear is Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (pdf). Loper Bright Enterprises is the plaintiff. It operates fishing vessels in the Atlantic Ocean.

  The defendant, Gina Raimondo, is the Secretary of Commerce. Part of her department is the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which Congress created to regulate fishermen.

  Federal law allows NMFS to require fishing boats to carry official observers to ensure compliance with federal regulations. That much is undisputed. But the NMFS also claims federal law allows it to force fishermen to bear the cost of paying the observers. Loper Bright disputes that.

  The appeals court held that under the Chevron doctrine, the fishermen lose because the agency’s interpretation isn’t completely “out-to-lunch.” But if the Supreme Court overrules Chevron, the fishermen will have a chance to persuade a judge that the NMFS exceeded its power.

  The case probably will be argued in the fall and decided before June 30, 2024.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 20:20

• South Africa Lashes Out At US 'Megaphone Diplomacy, Bullying' After Arms For Russia Allegations
  South Africa Lashes Out At US ‘Megaphone Diplomacy, Bullying’ After Arms For Russia Allegations

  The South African government has rejected US allegations that it approved of an arms sale to Russia, with President Cyril Ramaphosa having ordered an official inquiry. The presidency’s office said Friday there was “no evidence” currently of such an arms sale, also with the foreign ministry saying there was “no record of an approved arms sale by the state to Russia related to the period/incident in question.”

  Further, one of Ramaphosa’s cabinet ministers, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, has blasted Washington’s “megaphone diplomacy” and vowed that South Africa will not be “bullied by the US”.

  

  “It is the US which has sanctions against Russia… they must not drag us into their issues with Russia,” Ntshavheni, told a public broadcaster. South Africa’s foreign ministry on Friday summoned the US Ambassador in order to lodge complaints and demand answers.

  The Kremlin for its part confirmed Friday that President Vladmir Putin had spoken to his South African counterpart by phone. The two pledged “mutually beneficial ties” after the massive Thursday allegation sent shockwaves across South Africa. 

  It was only on Thursday that the US ambassador to Pretoria accused South Africa of transferring arms to Russia in a covert naval operation, which further spotlighted President Ramaphosa and his country’s ties to the Kremlin and its position on the Ukraine war. Ambassador Reuben Brigety had told local media on Thursday the US believed that weapons and ammunition was loaded onto the Lady R, a sanctioned Russian vessel that docked in the Simon’s Town naval dockyard near Cape Town in December.

  “Among the things we noted was the docking of the cargo ship… which we are confident uploaded weapons and ammunition onto that vessel in Simon’s Town as it made its way back to Russia,” he said, in comments reported by South Africa’s News24. “The arming of the Russians is extremely serious, and we do not consider this issue to be resolved,” he added.

  Meanwhile, an unexpected foreign ministry statement was issued later in the day following the US ambassador being summoned. The claim is that the US has “apologized”: 

  South Africa’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, had “admitted that he crossed a line” and “apologized unreservedly” after he said a Russian ship had picked up weapons in South Africa last year, causing a diplomatic uproar. 

  But so far there’s been no official confirmation of this exchange from the US side. Interestingly, the whole episode may in the end push South Africa further into the Kremlin’s corner, given rising public anger over what may be seen as Washington interference in South African affairs, and as part of attempts to humiliate the Ramaphosa government.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 20:00

• US Bill Seeks To Combat Syria Normalization As King Salman Extends Assad Invitation
  US Bill Seeks To Combat Syria Normalization As King Salman Extends Assad Invitation

  Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

  A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House have introduced a bill aimed to combat Syria’s normalization with regional countries that would expand sanctions and prohibit the US from establishing diplomatic ties with the government of Bashar al-Assad.

  The bill was introduced by Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Steve Cohen (D-TN), and several other members of the House. The legislation comes as a response to Syria being readmitted to the Arab League, which has enraged US officials who want to keep Syria isolated.

  

  “The United States must use all of our leverage to stop normalization with Assad. I am proud to join my colleagues in mandating further sanctions against any form of investment in territory under the control of the Assad regime, as we remain committed to ensuring the Syrian people receive justice,” McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement on the bill.

  The bill seeks to expand the Caesar Act, which the US used to impose crippling economic sanctions on Syria in 2020 that are designed to prevent the country’s reconstruction. The sanctions have had a devastating impact on Syria’s civilian population, and the House recently voted overwhelmingly to keep enforcing them following an earthquake that killed thousands of Syrians.

  According to a summary of the bill, the legislation would “expand the Caesar Act by plugging loopholes in the original bill which made it hard to enforce.”

  The bill would “clarify the applicability of current sanctions to Syrian regime airlines, and to energy transactions – sending a clear sign to countries normalizing with Assad which are considering allowing Syrian regime airlines to land in their airports.”

  The legislation would require “an annual strategy for five years to counter normalization with the Assad regime by countries which have taken steps to normalize with the Assad regime.” It would prohibit any US federal agencies from “recognizing or normalizing with any government in Syria led by Bashar al-Assad.”

  Arab League readmits Syria

  What Next?
  1. Refugee return / jump-starting the Syrian economy
  2. Captagon drug trade
  3. Reducing foreign occupation & influence in Syria

  Immediate effects will be few b/c of US & EU sanctionshttps://t.co/Ml6JbhfWwy via @AlMonitor

  — Joshua Landis (@joshua_landis) May 7, 2023

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

  Despite Washington’s hardline position on normalization, regional countries are still following through with their plans. On Tuesday, Syria and Saudi Arabia said they were resuming diplomatic ties for the first time in over 10 years. The following day, Saudi King Salman invited Assad to attend an Arab League summit in Jeddah later this month.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 19:40

• California's Deficit Deepens To $32 Billion (14-Year-High)… And That's Before Reparations
  California’s Deficit Deepens To $32 Billion (14-Year-High)… And That’s Before Reparations

  California is now facing a $32 billion budget deficit, as the state faces a much deeper hole than previously projected, Bloomberg reports.

  

  “We are walking into a budget where we need to maintain our prudence,” said Governor Gavin Newsom (D) on Friday, warning that a recession could worsen the financial situation in the years to come.

  “That is an uncertainty that we must take very soberly and seriously as it relates to macro economic headwinds,” he added.

  The expected shortfall is $9.5 billion worse than a $22.5 billion January estimate, according to figures released today, and will be the biggest deficit since 2010…

  

  Newsom proposed a $224.1 billion general-fund budget for the fiscal year starting on the 1st of July, according to the report.

  Revenue has been hurt by the sinking fortunes of California’s wealthiest residents, who shoulder a disproportionate share of the tax burden. Roughly half of the state’s personal income taxes coming from the top 1% of earners.

  Thousands of workers have been laid off from California-based tech giants including Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Twitter. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which mainly catered to the tech and venture capital sectors, along with two other California-based regional lenders earlier this year adds to the economic turbulence. -Bloomberg

  That said, the deficit is comparatively small vs. the cash crunch faced by the state during the last session, but this time Newsom will need to persuade Democrat lawmakers to make deep cuts – something which doesn’t come naturally to tax-and-spend liberals.

  Meanwhile, deadlines to file and pay taxes were extended by six months to October 16 in most counties in the state due to the severe winter storms earlier this year.

  State legislators – who must now negotiate over potential cuts to the budget – have until June 15 to pass one or they forfeit their pay for each day they are late.

  Earlier this year Newsom touted ‘transformative investments’ in housing, education, childcare, health care and climate programs as part of his preliminary spending plan.

  “This was not an easy budget, but I hope you see we will try to do our best to hold the line and take care of the most vulnerable and most needy, but still maintain prudence,” said Newsom.

  Is it any wonder, Newsom is quickly (and carefully) sidestepping the $800 billion in reparations costs that he has implicitly promised California’s black residents, preferriung instead to remind citizens that “its about more than just cash payments.”

  We suspect, there may well be a few (million) disillusioned voters who feel like they were promised cash for being black.

  As one minister declared at the hearing last week, “Tell Governor Newsom we’re coming. He knows me.”

  Did the virtue-signaling golden-boy just hit a reality wall?

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 19:20

• The Voter Registration Machine Flipping The States Blue
  The Voter Registration Machine Flipping The States Blue

  Authored by Hayden Ludwig via American Greatness,

  New documents reveal the Center for Election Innovation and Research’s true purpose: Juicing Democrat registration in the states, thanks to data provided by ERIC.

  

  In modern elections, the candidate who can turn out the bigger base is usually the winner. Put differently, the campaign with better voter data holds the trump card.

  For more than a decade now, Democrats unquestionably have owned that trump card and used it to carve deep inroads into once solidly red states such as Arizona, North Carolina, and Georgia, while Republicans have looked on in bafflement. It’s no secret why the Left is winning elections despite shrinking in the polls: They register new voters in droves, and conservatives do not.

  More than 160 million people cast a ballot in the 2020 election. Yet there may be as many as 60 million more eligible-but-unregistered individuals (EBUs) out there—people who could lawfully vote but may not until they register in their state. They’re typically hard to reach and politically disinterested. Yet the party that can tap into this electoral goldmine—that is, identify and reach these potential voters—would be unbeatable.

  For years, that party has been the Democrats. It may soon be the Republicans. Here’s why.

  Permanent Democratic Power

  In 2010, the Supreme Court ushered in a torrent of new political spending through its Citizens United v. FEC decision. “Progressives” who were convinced that big business would back Republicans to the hilt saw doom written on the wall. To counter this Republican tide, groups such as the Brennan Center proposed adding “millions of new voters onto the rolls through a modernized registration system—starting in 2010.”

  In short, they needed to balloon the Democratic Party’s ranks to survive a GOP onslaught—an onslaught that never came.

  “Voter registration modernization” proved a euphemism for inserting operatives into state election machinery. But EBU data is protected behind layers of federal privacy laws and across multiple state agencies (e.g. motor vehicle departments) and thus not available to political groups. It was Pew Charitable Trusts, a powerful left-of-center funder, that discovered the back door.

  Between 2010 and 2012, Pew incubated the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that billed itself as the solution to an entirely different problem presented to the states: Maintaining their voter rolls, which are notoriously inaccurate and constantly in flux. For a fee, ERIC would graciously warehouse states’ voter roll data and identify potential double voters using sophisticated data-matching software.

  That’s the sales pitch, anyway. In truth, ERIC makes the removal of ineligible voters entirely optional and tedious, while mandating member states spend hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars to register new voters. Far from streamlining voter rolls, ERIC expands them, which is why non-ERIC states have cleaner rolls than their ERIC counterparts.

  More furtively, ERIC would also gain access to invaluable data on tens of millions of EBUs—a database that no other group in the world has access to. But how to use it?

  Project Get-Out-The-Vote

  We know from public records requests that ERIC soon established a data-sharing agreement with a heretofore obscure nonprofit, the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR). Amazingly, the corporate leftist media continues to claim this inconvenient fact is “without evidence.”

  ERIC and CEIR share a founder: David Becker, a partisan elections lawyer who previously worked for the far-left People for the American Way and the Justice Department’s voting rights arm. Becker is well known as a “hardcore leftist” who can’t “stand conservatives.” Yet Pew presented him as the nonpartisan face of its ERIC project.

  Becker spent four years persuading nearly two-thirds of the states to join ERIC before departing to found CEIR in 2016. Yet until recently, Becker remained a nonvoting member of ERIC’s board, courtesy of a carve-out in ERIC’s bylaws made specifically for him to ensure continued oversight of the ostensibly “neutral” and state-led organization.

  If ERIC is the face presentable to election officials, CEIR is Becker’s policy shop. The group was founded with seed capital from the Hewlett Foundation and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, who routed the cash through Arabella Advisors’ massive “dark money” network.

  More funding may have come from Pew, which continued to fund CEIR’s “sister” group, ERIC, for years. We know that CEIR’s other co-founder, Amy Cohen, led Pew’s Google-funded Voting Information Project, part of the “voter registration modernization” push. Yet strangely, Cohen never appears in CEIR’s disclosures as a paid employee, perhaps because her salary was paid by Pew.

  CEIR supports vote-by-mail expansion and ever-earlier voting. It also pushes the lie that conservatives and Trump supporters are a threat to election workers while barring center-right reporters from its press conferences. Becker himself dismisses critics as “fueled by disinformation” because we “want our democracy to fail.”

  CEIR received $70 million from Mark Zuckerberg in 2020, funds that drove Democratic turnout in Maryland and helped subsidize ERIC’s voter registration mandate in other states. Pennsylvania received $13 million, Michigan $12 million, New York $5 million, Georgia $5.6 million, and Arizona $4.8 million. How each grant was spent remains largely unknown, despite watchdog groups’ best efforts.

  But CEIR’s founding documents reveal the truth about its origins. It was created to encourage ERIC membership and “work closely with ERIC” to register millions of new voters using exclusive EBU data in order to “turn non-voters into active participants” in future elections.

  Imagine having a picture-perfect map of everyone—both registered and unregistered—living within your state’s borders. A campaign knows that an individual’s age, race, county of residence, and marital status are enough to strongly indicate how that person will vote. How difficult would it be to only target your own party’s likely voters?

  Armed with this near-perfect picture of every person living in ERIC’s 32 member states—more than 200 million Americans—there is nothing stopping CEIR from doing it exactly that: registering only its preferred voters.

  If that sounds far-fetched, consider that in 2020 alone, the left-wing groups funneled $434 million through a vast array of tax-exempt nonprofits, such as Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight in Georgia, that do nothing but register new Democrats. Virtually all of that money came from the Tides, Ford, Open Society, Wyss, and Buffett Foundations, among other donors supposedly engaged in charity.

  These organizations would be near-worthless without EBU data, which is only available through ERIC. So where do they acquire it? The smart money would pin it on Becker’s CEIR.

  CEIR operates virtually in the dark with little scrutiny from the “progressive” press, who are less interested in covering CEIR’s misdeeds than covering for them. Contrast that with the work of investigative reporters like Todd Shepherd of the right-leaning outlet Broad + Liberty. He recently reported that Pennsylvania transferred partial data profiles of hundreds of thousands of EBUs to CEIR in 2020. That information would have proved invaluable to partisan groups active in Pennsylvania that year. Yet CEIR refuses to say what it did with the trove of voter data.

  But CEIR’s founding documents give us every reason to believe this is precisely what it’s doing. It’s up to Becker and Co. to convince the public that it isn’t misusing this priceless data, despite having the means, motive, and opportunity to do so.

  A Right-Wing Wrecking Ball

  So what can conservatives do to level the playing field?

  A good axiom in warfare applies here: Turn your enemy’s strength into his greatest weakness. 

  Japan famously turned many Pacific islands into impenetrable fortresses in World War II and dared U.S. forces to attack them. Instead, we sailed around them to take weaker targets and let the garrisons starve. After Rome’s devastating defeat at the hands of Hannibal’s mighty army in the Second Punic War, Rome divided its legions into smaller forces to cover more ground. Like wolves wearing out a bear, they could be everywhere while the Carthaginians could not. Hannibal lost. 

  Likewise, we won’t defeat this powerful cabal in a single battle, but by nibbling it to death. The House should demand to know why the IRS refuses to strip these groups of their tax exemption for trespassing the law on biased voter registration campaigns. Conservative legislatures ought to hold hearings on out-of-state nonprofits running partisan registration drives in their jurisdiction. The states can tighten rules about who gets to register voters the same way they restrict ballot harvesting—either restricting it to family members or banning it altogether. Where there’s room for abuse, the Left will abuse the law.

  Watchdogs and citizens can and should file complaints with the IRS and FEC against these groups. Conservatives are used to being attacked for their political views; very few leftists have ever faced the same kind of scrutiny. They can also demand 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) groups’ annual Form 990 disclosures, which reveal how much they took in and spent. (Here is a template and some guidelines.)

  To date, nine states—Ohio, Florida, Missouri, West Virginia, Louisiana, Texas, Iowa, Alabama, and Alaska—have left or are about to leave ERIC. Their leaders know that they don’t need ERIC to maintain good voter rolls because they already have the tools necessary for the job.

  That leaves Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin for election integrity advocates to address.

  The good news? In almost all cases, the decision to leave ERIC is entirely within the purview of the governor and secretary of state. Red states with a blue governor can look to the others on this list for legislation to leave ERIC without the governor’s consent.

  Every one of these states to depart is one less state transmitting EBU data to the Left’s registration machine.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 19:00

• Shaq Argues He Was Never Properly Served, Asks Judge To Throw Out FTX-Related Lawsuit Against Him
  Shaq Argues He Was Never Properly Served, Asks Judge To Throw Out FTX-Related Lawsuit Against Him

  On today’s edition of “You Got Served: Shaq Style”, we present the curious case of NBA great Shaquille O’Neal and investors suing him, alleging that he “duped” them into the FTX collapse. 

  The legendary basketball player is arguing that lawyers who tried to serve him with the lawsuit instead “tossed” the document in front of his car while he was driving out of the gates of his home, according to Bloomberg. 

  Plaintiffs lawyers have now said that there have been “dozens of attempts” to try and serve him with the suit, including tracking him down at residences that he has in both Georgia and Texas, the report says. 

  Those attorneys were told that Shaq lives in the Bahamas a month ago, so they instead tried to serve Shaq digitally, sending him a link via his social media and arguing “that should be good enough given his status as an active user of Instagram and Twitter”. The lawyers argued that he was “clearly aware of the suit”, Bloomberg wrote. 

  

  Then on April 17, The Moskowitz Law Firm declared success, posting publicly on Twitter that they had served O’Neal: “UPDATE: Plaintiffs in the billion $ FTX class action case just served SHAQ outside his house. His home video cameras recorded our service and we made it very clear that he is not to destroy or erase any of these security tapes, because they must be preserved for our lawsuit.”

  But Shaq’s lawyers saw things otherwise, asking the judge to dismiss the suit against O’Neal because lawyers missed their deadline to serve him. 

  “Mr. O’Neal has not evaded service by failing to be at the residences where plaintiffs belatedly attempted service or by driving past strangers who approached his car,” his lawyers wrote. 

  Moskowitz responded: “The video will show Mr. O’Neal finally being served, after many months of hiding, as he attempts to possibly injure the process server. We expected better from an officer of the law. Mr. O’Neal and his lawyers need to stop running and finally deal with these serious allegations.”

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 18:40

• DeSantis Allies: Nominating Trump Hands Biden Control Of Congress
  DeSantis Allies: Nominating Trump Hands Biden Control Of Congress

  Authored by Philip Wegmann via RealClear Wire,

  Allies of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis want Republicans watching Donald Trump from home tonight to remember that the former president is a loser. Ahead of his return to CNN, they warn that nominating Trump a third time won’t just cost the GOP the White House. It could hand Congress to Democrats.

  

  That is the argument from Never Back Down, the pro-DeSantis super PAC launched by former senior administration official Ken Cuccinelli and chaired by former Trump ally Adam Laxalt. In a polling memo shared exclusively with RealClearPolitics ahead of the Trump CNN townhall, they point to the last three election cycles to make the case that Trump is a net drag on the ticket.

  The topline from WPA pollster Chris Wilson: “The data suggest that if Trump were to become the 2024 nominee, he will likely cost the GOP control of the House and multiple winnable seats in the Senate.”

  It is a somber warning to the right ahead of a what promises to be an entertaining, no-holds barred brawl on the cable network the former president publicly says he hates the most. Trump knows how to make good television, Cuccinelli told RCP, predicting that there would be “plenty of entertainment value” when his former boss sits down with CNN in prime time, “but it comes with losses across the board. And he talks about coattails, he has negative coattails.”

  Controversy has always been a feature of the Trump show. For the right, the entertainment value is unmistakable when he “owns the libs,” castigating Democrats and liberal journalists alike. But Cuccinelli likens that to an unhealthy binge, warning that while “it is fun to have the buzz, the hangover isn’t so great.” Viral moments in prime time, he warned, won’t comfort conservatives after an election that hands Democrats unified control of government: “The potential for more harm here is enormous.”

  Jason Miller, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, dismissed that argument and suggested that the governor, who hasn’t yet declared a presidential bid, was too scared to make his own case in prime time. “Is this what candidates who are too chicken to do nationally broadcast town halls do with their time?” Miller asked before pointing RCP to a recent Washington Post-ABC News survey that showed Trump leading Biden, 44% to 38%, compared to DeSantis leading Biden, 42% to 27%.

  Primary voters will hear plenty about electability once the race begins in earnest, and many are likely already familiar with warnings about the down ballot detriment of Trump. In the memo, Wilson points to analysis of the 2018 and 2022 midterms that shows how the former president’s endorsement had “a meaningful negative effect” in both of those contests by mobilizing “Democratic donors and voters” and reducing “general support for Republican congressional candidates.”

  But the pollster and pro-DeSantis super PAC go farther. Never Back Down identifies 18 incumbent House Republicans in the memo who would likely lose, according to their analysis, if they run for reelection alongside Trump in 2024.

  Wilson points to April studies by Public Opinions Strategies that showed a Trump nomination reducing the standing of a generic Republican congressional nominee by 10 points in Arizona and 8 points in Georgia. If that trend holds, applying those numbers to the Cook Political Report’s Partisan Voting Index yields significant GOP losses that are enough to set Biden up with healthy majorities in the House and Senate going into a second term.

  The list of Republican incumbents “likely to lose if Trump is on the ballot” includes Michigan Rep. John James, who narrowly won a congressional district that has been solidly Republican for at least two decades, and Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, who served as the former president’s interior secretary.

  With Trump at the head of the Republican party again, Wilson reports that control of the Senate could be out of reach, with GOP candidates having to overcome an estimated 10-point swing for Democrats in battleground states like Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

  Some conservatives have blamed Trump for focusing on himself and his grievances at the expense of Republicans. He was still litigating the last general election, for instance, rather than rallying the base to support former Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in the Georgia runoff. Had Democrat Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona not balked at changing the filibuster rules in the Senate, Cuccinelli said Biden would’ve had a free hand to implement even more of his agenda.

  “But for those Democrats, Trump’s damage would have been permanent and far-reaching to a degree that it hasn’t even reached yet,” he said, arguing that Trump made possible Biden’s legislative success. “This was all self-inflicted by one person.”

  Deny Trump the nomination for a third time, Cuccinelli insisted, make DeSantis the face of the Republican party instead, and the GOP has a banner year.

  “No one else running, or looking at running, for president has a performance like DeSantis in supporting his team. No one can demonstrate that, or even make a case that they can perform that well,” Cuccinelli said of the governor’s reelection and Florida Republicans’ dominance in Florida. “He went from narrow legislative control to blow-out control.”

  “If he even came close to replicating that at the national level,” he concluded, “it is a blow-out year in 2024 for Republicans at every level of government.”

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 18:20

• Terra Luna Founder Do Kwon Released After Montenegro Court Accepts $436k Bail
  Terra Luna Founder Do Kwon Released After Montenegro Court Accepts $436k Bail

  Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon is set to be freed from jail pending trial after a court agreed to a €400,000 ($436,000) bail, according to a report in Montenegro news site Pobjeda. 

  “…and like that, he’s gone”…

  As CoinTelegraph’s Savannah Fortis reports, Montenegro has granted approval to the bail terms proposed by lawyers for Terra founder Do Kwon, who was charged with the criminal offense of document forgery under Montenegrin law.

  

  According to the official document released by local authorities on May 12, the court has accepted the proposed bail offer for Kwon and Han Chang-Joon – Terraform Labs’ chief financial officer – of 400,000 euros ($436,000) each.

  This is in addition to being put under house arrest instead of being taken into custody.

  According to the documents, if the house arrest is compromised, the bail will be entered into a “special section” of the court’s working budget.

  Additionally, the notice said it would be necessary to verify the authenticity of travel documents and identity cards, which were “allegedly” issued by the competent authorities of Belgium.

  This update comes only one day after Kwon’s lawyers filed their request for such conditions to the Montenegrin authorities.

  If the party is “unsatisfied” with the court decision, they have three days to repeal it.

  Kwon and Chang-Joon were arrested by Montenegrin authorities in March 2023 at Podgorica airport for allegedly using false documents. The two had their passports confiscated in South Korea, their country of origin, in October 2022.

  Interpol has wanted the Terraform Labs co-founder for his part in the Terra ecosystem’s $40 billion collapse in May 2022 that rocked the crypto industry.

  The current criminal trial in Montenegro is anticipated to start on June 16.

  Reports from May 10 revealed that South Korean authorities had frozen $176 million of Kwon’s personal assets as part of the ongoing criminal proceedings.

  In the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission has also brought civil charges against Kwon, accusing the executive of failing to “provide the public with full, fair and truthful disclosure as required for a host of crypto asset securities.”

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 18:00

• Why The Economic War Against Russia Has Failed
  Why The Economic War Against Russia Has Failed

  Via The Spectator,

  There was much mirth in the West this week when Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day parade through Red Square included just one tank, itself a relic from a museum. The inference was that Russia has lost so much military kit in Ukraine that it is a shadow of the military superpower the Soviet Union used to be.

  

  Russia has certainly borne heavy losses (although any country conducting a foreign war would presumably have its military hardware on active duty rather than on ceremonial parade). But we should avoid being smug. The truth is that the war is not going well for the West either – at least in one respect.

  When Putin sent tanks into Ukraine on 24 February last year, western countries rapidly adopted a two-pronged strategy.

  One prong was that they would not engage in direct military conflict, but would support Ukraine with weapons and other military equipment. Some countries were quicker than others, but this part of the strategy has been a remarkable success. Ukraine has managed to resist Russian forces, and to push them back from many areas, even if the outcome is still far from certain.

  The other prong, though, has turned out to be blunt: the plan to wage economic war with Moscow, unleashing financial shock and awe on a scale never seen before. Russia was to be cut off almost entirely, with sanctions and boycotts on all imports and exports save for humanitarian ones such as medicines. Putin’s Russia, went the theory, would be impoverished into surrender.

  Few people in the West are aware of how badly this aspect of the war is going. Europe has itself paid a high price to effect a partial boycott of Russian oil and gas. UK fossil fuel imports from Russia totalled £4.5 billion in 2021; in the year to January 2023 that was – officially – down to £1.3 billion. In 2020 the EU sourced 39 per cent of its gas and 23 per cent of its oil from Russia; in the third quarter of last year this was down to 15 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.

  But these figures do not explain the scale of the failure to damage the Russian economy. It soon became clear that while the West was keen on an economic war, the rest of the world was not. As its oil and gas exports to Europe fell, Russia quickly upped its exports to China and India – both of which preferred to buy oil at a discount than to make a stand against the invasion of Ukraine. Worse, some of the Russian oil exported to India appears to have been siphoned back to Europe, with a rise in the number of ships taking refined oil from India through the Suez Canal.

  There seems to be some siphoning in the other direction, too. An investigation by the German newspaper Bild has uncovered a disturbing growth in exports to countries bordering Russia. The importing of German motor vehicles to Kazakhstan, for example, rose by 507 per cent between 2021 and 2022 and to Armenia by 761 per cent. Exports of chemical products to Armenia increased by 110 per cent and to Kazakhstan by 129 per cent. Sales of electrical and computer equipment to Armenia are up 343 per cent. What happens to these goods once they reach these former Soviet republics is not easy to establish, but one likely explanation is that they end up in Russia as diverted trade flows. And even if such commodities are not formally being re-exported, many Russian citizens retain visa-free access to those countries and are able to take goods across the border.

  The West has had a policy of trying to target wealthy Russians in particular with economic sanctions. But ironically they are the people who can most easily access western goods through diverted trade. It is they who have dual passports; they who can afford to travel abroad in order to shop for their luxury goods. Short of a wholesale global boycott against Russia, it is very hard to prevent western-made goods reaching the hands of wealthy Russians.

  The West embarked on its sanctions war with an exaggerated sense of its own influence around the world. As we have discovered, non-western countries lack the will to impose sanctions on either Russia or on Russian oligarchs. The results of the miscalculation are there for all to see. In April last year, the IMF forecast that the Russian economy would contract by 8.5 per cent in 2022 and by a further 2.3 per cent this year. As it turned out, GDP fell by just 2.1 per cent last year, and this year the IMF is forecasting a small rise of 0.7 per cent. And that is all in spite of the war in Ukraine going much more badly than many imagined it would in February of last year. The Russian economy has not been destroyed; it has merely been reconfigured, reorientated to look eastwards and southwards rather than westwards.

  It was not necessarily wrong to declare economic war on Russia. The country has suffered harm from western sanctions, even if nothing like on the scale that we imagined we could inflict. But if the West is thinking that in future it can fight wars purely by economic means, without bombs or bullets, it is badly mistaken.

  Western military equipment has allowed Ukraine to mount a David vs Goliath battle which it may yet win – and certainly to avoid annexation by Putin. As for economic sanctions, however, we will have to think again.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 17:40

• Anderson Cooper: 'You Have Every Right Never To Watch CNN Again' After Trump Town Hall
  Anderson Cooper: ‘You Have Every Right Never To Watch CNN Again’ After Trump Town Hall

  The chaos going on at CNN after Wednesday night’s town hall featuring former President Trump is the gift that keeps on giving.

  

  “It was a total debacle and I’ve never been more ashamed to work at CNN,” one prominent on-air talent told The Hill on Thursday. “I don’t think anybody came out looking good. This is entirely a corporate and management failure. They should have anticipated how out of control Trump would be … to think he was going to act more presidential in that kind of setting is just naivety on a galactic scale.”

  According to CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy, CEO Chris Licht was “facing a fury of criticism — both internally and externally over the event.”

  “And CNN aired it all. On and on it went. It felt like 2016 all over again. It was Trump’s unhinged social media feed brought to life on stage,” Darcy ranted. “And Collins was put in an uncomfortable position, given the town hall was conducted in front of a Republican audience that applauded Trump, giving a sense of unintended endorsement to his shameful antics.”

  Plenty of attention was being paid Thursday to the audience at the town hall, which was highly supportive of Trump.  

  “It felt like we got some of these people from a MAGA rally,” the on-air talent said.  

  CNN on Thursday clarified it had curated the audience through community, student politics and government, faith groups, as well as agriculture and education organizations. The school and campaign also invited guests, the network said.  

  Trump, a day before the event, said CNN had made his campaign “an offer [he] couldn’t refuse,” so he agreed to participate in the town hall. -The Hill

  Following the event, hosts Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper were absolutely beside themselves – with Tapper seemingly on the verge of tears.

  CNN talking heads VERY triggered over Trump tonight. pic.twitter.com/W7AAku8AyQ

  — The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) May 11, 2023

  And on Thursday, Cooper apologized to the network’s audience, telling viewers they have “every right to be outraged.” 

  “You have every right to be outraged today and angry and never watch this network again,” said Cooper. “But do you think staying in your silo and only listening to people you agree with is going to make that person go away? If we all only listen to those we agree with, it may actually do the opposite. If lies are allowed to go unchecked as imperfect as our ability to check them is on a stage in real time, those lies continue, and those lies spread. If you’re angry or upset, I understand, but you have the power to do something about it. You can actually get involved. You can make a difference, whatever side of the aisle you’re on. After last night, none of us can say I didn’t know what’s out there. I didn’t know what’s coming. We asked Republican Senators for their thoughts about last night. Some preferred not to say anything. Others did.”

  JUST IN: Anderson Cooper gives wild opening monologue, telling his audience he understands if they never watch CNN ever again.

  “You have every right to be outraged today and angry and never watch this network again. But do you think staying in your silo and only listening to… pic.twitter.com/xZXYSwtAoF

  — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 12, 2023

  On MSNBC, host Joe Scarborough called the town hall “disgraceful on every level.”

  “I wouldn’t say it’s dangerous for democracy because we passed that a long time ago, but it showed the corrosive effects of Trumpism over eight years. And I’ve got to say the most shocking part was an audience that cheered on a president who tried to overturn American democracy. An audience that mocked and ridiculed a woman who a jury of Donald Trump’s peers found had been sexually assaulted. Those Americans there last night turned that into a punchline. Laughed and dismissed cops getting the s*** kicked out of them on January 6th, getting beaten up over and over again. Calling a cop a thug who was actually trying to stop people on the House floor from being killed. I could just go on and on.” -Joe Scarborough

  Watch:

  Amazing how threatened they are by free speech, eh?

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 17:20

• It's Official: Top NBCUni Ad Exec And World Economic Forum Taskforce Chair Is Twitter's New CEO
  It’s Official: Top NBCUni Ad Exec And World Economic Forum Taskforce Chair Is Twitter’s New CEO

  Update: It’s official – moments ago NBC confirmed that its head of advertising is leaving the company…

  NBCUniversal today announced that Linda Yaccarino is leaving the company, effective immediately. Mark Marshall, currently President, Advertising Sales and Client Partnerships, will become interim Chairman of NBCUniversal’s Advertising and Partnerships group, reporting to Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming.

  Mike Cavanagh, President of Comcast Corporation said, “We are grateful for Linda Yaccarino’s leadership of NBCUniversal’s Advertising Sales business, and for the innovative team and platform she has built. Linda has made countless contributions to the company during her twelve year tenure, and we wish her the best.”

  Linda Yaccarino said, “It has been an absolute honor to be part of Comcast NBCUniversal and lead the most incredible team. We’ve transformed our company and the entire industry—and I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished together, and grateful to my colleagues and mentors, especially Brian Roberts, Mike Cavanagh and the entire NBCU leadership team.”

  Mark Lazarus was named Chairman, NBCUniversal Telvision and Streaming in May

  Musk has finally tweeted to confirm her position, noting that Yaccarino will focus primarily on business operations, while he will focus on product design & new technology

  I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!@LindaYacc will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology.

  Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app. https://t.co/TiSJtTWuky

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2023

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

  Paul Joseph Watson breaks down the two sides’ view on this hire…

  * * *

  Are Twitter’s days of encouraging free speech and independent thought numbered… or is Musk, just days after unveiling that Tucker is joining, playing 4D chess?

  Just hours after Elon Musk announced he had picked a new female Twitter CEO candidate, the WSJ revealed the identity of the person in talks to become the next CEO of the world’s most important social network: it is Linda Yaccarino, who is currently NBCUniversal’s influential head of advertising.

  

  Yaccarino, who is chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCU, has been with NBCU for more than a decade, where she has been an industry advocate for finding better ways to measure the effectiveness of advertising. As head of NBCU’s advertising sales, she was key in the launch of the company’s ad-supported Peacock streaming service.

  Elon Musk, Twitter’s owner, said in a tweet Thursday that he had hired a new CEO, but didn’t say who it was. “She will be starting in ~6 weeks!” Mr. Musk said in the tweet.

  In some ways, Musk’s pick of Yaccarino is not a surprise: as Chair of the Advertising Council’s Board of Directors and arguably NBCU’s top advertising exec, she is meant to fill a critical void at the new Twitter: that of advertising. After all, despite having massive traffic, Musk’s social network – which as a reminder cost him $44 billion – has been hemorhaging ad revenue as woke brands have abandoned the website.

  Of the top 100 advertisers on Twitter before Mr. Musk bought the company, 37 spent nothing on Twitter advertising during the first quarter of this year, according to market-intelligence firm Sensor Tower, while an additional 24 brands reduced their average monthly Twitter ad spending by 80% or more.

  As such, it will be Yaccarino’s job to convince advertisers to return: Yaccarino, who oversees roughly $13 billion in annual ad revenue, is well-known for her tight relationship with marketers and ad agencies. Yaccarino has a reputation for hard-nosed negotiating tactics, and media buyers have described her as the “velvet hammer.”

  Musk’s announcement of the new CEO came days before one of the biggest events of the year for NBCU, the company’s annual pitch event for advertisers, known as the upfront, which is scheduled for Monday in New York. And according to the WSJ, an NBCU spokesman said Ms. Yaccarino is in back-to-back rehearsals for NBCU’s upfront.

  On the other hand, the hiring of Yaccarino to head the social network which in recent months has become the bane of liberals and progressives through its encouragement of free speech and independent thought, both of which are despised and suppressed by the left, could be a problem.

  For one, according to her LInkedIn profile, Yaccarino is the “Chairman of the WEF’s Taskforce on Future of Work and sits on the WEF’s Media, Entertainment and Culture Industry Governors Steering Committee. She is also highly engaged with the Value in Media initiative.” Most recently, she delivered the following speech in Jan 2020: ‘World Economic Forum: Creating the Workplace of the Future by Focusing on People.”

  

  Additionally, in 2014 Yaccarino joined the Ad Council Board of Directors and became a member of the Executive Committee in 2015. She first served as Vice Chair before her appointment to Board Chair from 2021-2022.

  And then there’s this: in 2021-2022, as Ad Council Chair, “Yaccarino partnered with the business community, the White House, and government agencies to create a COVID-19 vaccination campaign, featuring Pope Francis and reaching over 200 million Americans.”

  Know the facts! The @AdCouncil is working to inform Americans on why we must embrace an FDA-approved #Covid vaccine and how to go about it. We’re almost there, let’s cross the finish line. @lisaesherman https://t.co/AUv9tf9IFb

  — Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) November 24, 2020

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

  And finally:

  As an industry advocate, Yaccarino has called for a return to values-based, trusted partnerships, spotlighting the most important issues facing her colleagues and peers. As 2021-2022 Ad Council Chair, Yaccarino partnered with the business community, the White House, and government agencies to create a COVID-19 vaccination campaign, featuring Pope Francis and reaching over 200 million Americans. At NBCU, she uses the power of media to advance equity and helps to launch DEI-focused initiatives, including BOLD, a program for employing veterans; #ShesMy, a campaign to uplift women and girls; Scene in Color, a collaboration with Target to elevate emerging BIPOC film creatives; and a partnership with Telemundo to release a Latina-centric storytelling guide. 

  Yes! It’s time for action and working towards a more inclusive society. https://t.co/IMQreJ1K9P

  I nominate @laura_molen @MarkMarshallNBC @joefbenarroch @OsAnsari @kknorring

  — Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) October 21, 2020

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

  Things get a little more complicated however, when one considers that in May 2018 Trump Named Yaccarino (alongside Bill Belichick and a bunch of other folks) to a two-year term on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. It wasn’t immediately clear how long she lasted in this particular role.

  Bottom line: despite that last rather odd detour, which can be attributed to Trump’s habitual lack of due diligence, Yaccarino appears to be the perfect establishment hire, one who will help Twitter recover most of its lost ad revenue… the trade-off may very well be that in the process twitter may just become the same company it was before its acqusition by Trump.

  In response to the news of her hiring, the outcry has been – as one would imagine – extremely polarized.

  The ostensible new Twitter CEO is a literal Cathedral propagandist who is an executive at NBC, the WEF, and the Ad Council creating vaccine propaganda pic.twitter.com/cngnBxSufO

  — America’s Conscience (@saveusculture) May 11, 2023

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

  Please, @elonmusk, tell me you’re trolling us, Linda Yaccarino!
  You may as well put Rachel Maddow in charge of Twitter pic.twitter.com/jy5jNS08sq

  — Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) May 12, 2023

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

  This is reportedly the new Twitter CEO.

  Pro- mask, pro-vaxx, and a participant in The World Economic Forum.

  Under her Twitter, The #DiedSuddenly film would have never been allowed to see the light of day. @elonmusk if this is true- please reconsider this decision. pic.twitter.com/H9qqjdxH0f

  — DiedSuddenly (@DiedSuddenly_) May 12, 2023

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

  In Linda Yaccarino, Elon Musk gets a CEO who is a seasoned ad executive who generally shares his political leanings.

  But she’s also the Chairman of a World Economic Forum task force so she can comfortably liaise with Twitter’s current investors and advertisers around the world.

  — Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) May 11, 2023

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

  Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc), the woman who is reportedly the new CEO of Twitter, follows:

  – Chaya Raichik
  – Jesse Watters
  – Michael Shellenberger
  – Ron DeSantis
  – The Babylon Bee
  – Giorgia Meloni
  – Maye Musk
  – Catturd
  – Vivek Ramaswamy
  – Tulsi Gabbard
  – Bari Weiss

  — Max Berger (@maxberger) May 11, 2023

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

  BREAKING: It appears that the new CEO of Twitter will be Linda Yaccarino, if the Wall Street Journal’s reporting is correct.

  People are already unfairly attacking her for her ties to different organizations and because she follows certain accounts here on Twitter.

  The new CEO… pic.twitter.com/Cm6WKRAqEy

  — Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) May 12, 2023

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

  JUST KIDDING!!

  It looks like Trump ally Linda Yaccarino will be taking over.

  So don’t expect the trolling, hate speech, disinformation or criminal acts committed on this site to stop anytime soon! https://t.co/B40PDiOtzW

  — Whistleblower Rebekah Jones (@GeoRebekah) May 12, 2023

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

  If true, Linda Yaccarino would be a great CEO of Twitter. She gets the ad business and understands the needs of advertisers, can talk their language (ROI/brand safety) and will speak her mind while being deferential. $TSLA @elonmusk https://t.co/qIh2ktrc4r

  — Gary Black (@garyblack00) May 11, 2023

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

  Elon Musk is reportedly in talks to bring Linda Yaccarino, “Top World Economic Forum Official,” on board as his new CEO of Twitter.

  Anyone else getting major Twitter 1.0 vibes or is it just me? pic.twitter.com/yTDrUWhNPr

  — Jason Jones (@jonesville) May 12, 2023

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

  @elonmusk don’t Bud Light yourself

  — Dom (@brutusbrandy) May 12, 2023

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

  Finally, the boss himself:

  The commitment to open source transparency and accepting a wide range of viewpoints remains unchanged

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2023

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

  In conclusion, while it is certainly possible that Musk is playing 4D chess here, a prevailing sentiment among the replies is that “Twitter was fun for a few months. See you guys in the gulag.” One can only hope that it is wrong.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 17:05

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• UK Universities Face Investigations Over Grade Inflation: Watchdog
  UK Universities Face Investigations Over Grade Inflation: Watchdog

  Authored by Alexander Zhang via The Epoch Times,

  Universities and colleges could face investigations over grade inflation, the head of England’s higher education watchdog has warned.

  

  Lord Wharton, chairman of the Office for Students (OfS), said on Tuesday that the regulator is considering taking action over the “significant” grade inflation, which he said could devalue the degrees.

  A report, released by the OfS in May last year, suggests that the proportion of first-class degrees handed out in England has more than doubled in the last decade—from 15.7 percent in 2010–2011 to 37.9 percent in 2020–2021.

  Highlighting the figures, Lord Wharton told the Industry and Regulators Committee in the House of Lords: “This is a significant amount of grade inflation and more and more people are getting firsts.

  “There may be very good reasons for that. We may have cohorts of much brighter students but there is also a risk that if everyone gets a first, no one gets a first. It could be seen to devalue the award in itself.

  “Students quite like getting firsts, so in the short term individual students who are studying now might quite like their chances being enhanced. But it may well not be in their interest in the long term if it undermines the value of the thing they have earned and worked so hard for.”

  The Conservative peer acknowledged that the OfS has “not taken sufficient action over a very long period of time,” but said the regulator is now looking at what actions can be taken to address the issue, including investigations.

  Universities could be required to retain an “appropriate selection” of graded work from students as evidence for investigators to consider, he added.

  The COVID Effect

  There has been a rise in degree grade inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic following the introduction of measures to mitigate the impact of lockdown disruptions on students’ studies.

  Universities in 2019–2020—the first year of the pandemic—adopted “no detriment” or safety net assessment policies, which tended to ensure students would not receive a final grade that was lower than the university’s most recent assessment of their work.

  While “blanket ‘no detriment’” policies were not in place in 2020–2021, other assessment changes such as open-book exams remained.

  

  Graduates queue on campus at the University of Bolton as they wait to receive their degree certificates in Bolton, northwest England, on July 9, 2021. (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

  In July 2022, Universities UK (UUK) and GuildHE—which represent 197 UK universities—pledged to return the proportion of top degrees to pre-pandemic levels.

  The two leading industry bodies said they recognised that grade inflation, which could not be explained by improvements in teaching and learning or more effort from students, risked undermining employers’ confidence in the degree grading process.

  Universities said they will use 2019 as a benchmark for the proportion of upper second and first-class degrees awarded.

  The UUK and GuildHE said in a joint statement: “In recent years, universities have been proactive and taken collective action to strengthen internal processes that impact on degree classification. The result was a levelling off by 2018–19 in the percentage of students achieving upper degree awards.”

  “However, we cannot lose sight of the need to maintain the value of a degree and so must redouble our efforts to identify and address unexplained increases in firsts and 2.1s,” they added.

  “As a sector, we commit to reviewing our classification levels against the pre-pandemic progress that had seen trends stabilising.”

  Michelle Donelan, then higher and further education minister, welcomed the promise, saying, “Hardworking students deserve to know that earning a first or upper second really counts and that it carries weight with employers—who in turn should be able to trust in the high value and rigorous assessment of university courses.”

  Regulator Calls for ‘Credible’ Grades

  In September 2022, the OfS said it had launched an investigation into grade inflation after a “sharp increase” in the awarding of first and upper-second-class degrees at several universities.

  It said the rates of students with top degrees at three universities and colleges, which were not named, raised “potential concerns that require further scrutiny.”

  The regulator requires institutions to award qualifications that are “credible” compared with previous years, and based on “the knowledge and skills of students.”

  Grade inflation, the practice of rewarding the same level of student achievement with increasingly higher degree classifications, is explicitly banned.

  If the universities or colleges are found to have broken OfS rules, they could be fined up to £500,000 or 2 percent of their income.

  In January, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) recorded a fall in the number of first-class degrees awarded for the first time since records began in 1993.

  Nearly a third (32 percent) of undergraduate degrees were awarded a first-class honours classification in 2021–2022, a fall from 36 percent the year before, the agency said.

  However, 46 percent of students were awarded upper second-class degrees in 2021–2022, the same proportion as in 2020–2021.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 05/12/2023 – 02:00

• Escobar: Bold Gambits On The West Asian Chessboard
  Escobar: Bold Gambits On The West Asian Chessboard

  Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Cradle,

  In the Great Power competition, everything is connected: Uncertain negotiations between Russia and NATO over Ukraine may be impacted by Turkiye’s post-election pivot and Syria’s return to the Arab League…

  

  West Asia is a region that is currently experiencing a great deal of geopolitical activity. Recent diplomatic efforts, initiated by Russia and overseen by China, secured a long-elusive Iranian and Saudi Arabian rapprochement, while Syria’s return to the Arab League has been welcomed with great fanfare. The diplomatic flurry signals a shift away from the Imperial “Divide and Rule” tactics that have been used for decades to create national, tribal, and sectarian rifts throughout this strategic region.

  The proxy war in Syria, backed by the Empire and its terror outfits – including the occupation of resource-rich territories and mass theft of Syrian oil – continues to rage on despite Damascus having gained the upper hand. That advantage, weakened in recent years by a barrage of western economic killer sanctions, is now growing exponentially: the Syrian state was further bolstered by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s recent official visit – pledging to expand bilateral ties – on the eve of Syria’s return to the Arab League.

  “Assad must go” – a meme straight out of collective western hubris – in the end, did not go. Imperial threats notwithstanding, those Arab states that had sought to isolate the Syrian president came back to praise him all over again, led by Moscow and Tehran.

  Syria is extensively discussed in informed circles in Moscow. There’s a sort of consensus that Russia, now concentrated in the “all or nothing” proxy war against NATO, will not currently be able to impose a Syrian peace solution, but that doesn’t preclude the Saudis, Iranians, and Turks fronting a Russian-led deal.

  Had it not been for the aggressive behavior of Straussian neo-cons in the Washington Beltway, a comprehensive multi-territorial peace could have been achieved, including everything from Syria’s sovereignty, to a demilitarized zone in the Russian western borderlands, stability in the Caucasus, and a degree of respect for international law.

  However, such a deal is unlikely to materialize, and instead, the situation in West Asia is likely to worsen. This is due in part to the fact that the North Atlantic has already shifted its focus to the South China Sea.

  An impossible ‘peace’

  The collective west appears to lack a decisive leader, with the Hegemon currently being “led” by a senile president who is remote-controlled by a pack of polished-faced warmongers. The situation has devolved to the point where the much-hyped “Ukrainian counter-offensive” may actually be the prelude to a NATO humiliation that will make Afghanistan look like Disneyland in the Hindu Kush.

  Arguably there may be some similarities between Russia-NATO now and Turkiye-Russia before March 2020: both sides are betting on some crucial military breakthrough on the battlefield before sitting at the negotiating table. The US is desperate for it: even the 20th century ‘Oracle’ Henry Kissinger is now saying that with China involved, there will be negotiations before the end of 2023.

  Despite the urgency of the situation, Moscow does not appear to be in a hurry. Its key military strategy, as seen in Bakhmut/Artemyovsk, is to use a combination of the snail technique and the mincing machine. The ultimate goal is to demilitarize NATO as a whole rather than just Ukraine, and so far, it appears to be working brilliantly.

  Russia is in it for the long haul, anticipating that one day the collective west will have an “Eureka!” moment and realize it is time to abandon the race.

  Now let’s assume, by some divine intervention, that negotiations would start in a few months, with China involved. Moscow – and Beijing – both know they simply cannot trust anything the Hegemon says or signs.

  Moreover, the crucial US tactical victory has already been conclusive: Russia sanctioned, demonized and separated from Europe, and the EU cemented as a de-industrialized, inconsequential lowly vassal.

  Presupposing there is a negotiated peace, it will arguably resemble a Syria 2.0, with a massive “Idlib” equivalent right on Russia’s door, which is something entirely unacceptable to Moscow.

  In practice, we will have Banderista terror outfits – the Slav version of ISIS – free to roam across the Russian Federation in car bombing and kamikaze drone sprees. The Hegemon will be able to switch the proxy war on and off at will, just as it continues to do in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan with its terror cells.

  The Security Council in Moscow knows very well, based on the Minsk farce acknowledged even by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, that this will be Minsk on steroids: the Kiev regime, or rather the post-Zelensky regime will continue to be weaponized to death with brand new NATO gimmicks.

  But then the other option – where there is nothing to negotiate – is equally ominous: a Forever War.

  Indivisibility of Security

  The real deal to be negotiated is not “pawn in their game” Ukraine: it’s the indivisibility of security. Exactly what Moscow was sensibly trying to convince Washington via those letters sent in December 2021.

  In practice, what Moscow is currently doing is realpolitik: pounding NATO on the battlefield until they are weakened enough to accept a Strategic Military Operation (SMO). The SMO would necessarily include a demilitarized zone between NATO and Russia, a neutral Ukraine, and no nuclear weapons stationed in Poland, the Baltics, or Finland.

  However, given that the Hegemon is a declining superpower and “non-agreement capable,” it is uncertain whether any of this would hold, especially considering the Hegemon’s obsession with infinite NATO expansion. “Non-agreement capable” (недоговороспособны), incidentally, is a term Russian diplomats coined to describe their American counterparts’ inability to stick to any deal they sign – from Minsk to the Iran nuclear agreement.

  This incandescent mix gets even more complex with the introduction of the Turkish vector.

  Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu has already made it plain that if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan retains power in the 14 May presidential elections, Ankara will neither impose sanctions on Russia nor violate the Montreux Convention, which forbids the passage of warships to and from the Black Sea in wartime.

  Risks of Ankara’s geopolitical shift

  Erdogan’s chief security and foreign policy adviser, Ibrahim Kalyn, has aptly pointed out that there is no war between Russia and Ukraine; rather, it’s a war between Russia and the west with Ukraine serving as the proxy.

  This is why the collective west is heavily invested in an “Erdogan must go” campaign, which is lavishly funded to propel an oddly-matched coalition into the presidential seat. In case the Turkish opposition wins – and their payment to the Hegemon begins – sanctions and violations of Montreux may be on the cards again.

  Yet Washington may be in for a surprise. Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has implied there will be a more or less continued balanced posturing of Ankara’s foreign policy tilt, while some observers believe that even if Erdogan is ousted, there will be limits to Turkiye’s pivot back to the west.

  Erdogan, profiting from the state apparatus and his immense network of patronage, is going no-holds-barred to secure re-election. Only then might he shift from hedging his bets continuously toward making a move to become a real player in Eurasian integration.

  Ankara under Erdogan, as it stands, is not pro-Russian; essentially, it tries to profit from both sides. The Turks sell Bayraktar drones to Kiev, have clinched military deals, and at the same time, under the “Turkic States” mantle, invest in separatist tendencies in Crimea and in Kherson.

  At the same time, Erdogan badly needs Russian military and energy cooperation. There are no illusions in Moscow about “the Sultan,” or about where Turkiye is leading. If Ankara’s geopolitical turn is hostile, it’s the Turks that will end up losing prime seats in the Eurasian high-speed train – from BRICS+ to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and all spaces in between.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/11/2023 – 23:40

• NY Mayor Adams Booted From Biden Surrogate Squad After Immigration Criticism
  NY Mayor Adams Booted From Biden Surrogate Squad After Immigration Criticism

  After dishing out pointed criticism of the White House’s handling of the immigration crisis, New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been given the heave-ho from Team Biden 2024, as he’s been dropped from the campaign’s list of official media and event surrogates.  

  Overwhelmed by the number of migrants pouring into the city, Adams recently said New York City “is being destroyed by the migrant crisis.”

  Mayor Eric Adams says NYC is being destroyed by illegal aliens pic.twitter.com/3nTcv0P9SV

  — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 21, 2023

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

  He also singled out Biden as having “failed” the city. In a subsequent scolding crafted to achieve bipartisan balance, Adams said, “It is the irresponsibility of the Republican Party in Washington for refusing to do real immigration reform, and it’s the irresponsibility of the White House for not addressing this problem.“

  In March, Adams appeared on a list of more than 20 Democrats tapped to serve on a Biden campaign national advisory board. When the campaign posted an updated list on Wednesday, the roster had grown to 50 — but Adams had vanished.  

  “The message is: Don’t criticize an incumbent Democratic president and don’t criticize the first black female vice president,” Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf told the New York Post. “Any criticism from a Democrat heading into re-election is seen as a betrayal.”

  On Wednesday, the Biden campaign posted a YouTube video featuring many of its updated roster of surrogates. As we draft this article, it’s only managed to rack up 13 likes. That rock-bottom enthusiasm is consistent with the latest ABC/Washington Post poll showing only 36% of Democrats want Biden nominated again.  

  The Biden campaign isn’t commenting on the Adams disappearance. However, a Democratic aide to another member of the surrogate team told Politico that Adams’ departure was “almost certainly” due to his immigration criticism: “[He] made somewhere between in-artful to stupid comments that were kind of out of bounds.” 

  “As the mayor has previously stated, he stands ready to help the president with reelection however he can,” said an Adams spokesman.  

  

  As his bridges to Biden smolder, Adams isn’t winning friends in the New York suburbs either. Leaders of Rockland and Orange counties are fuming after the Adams administration tried an under-the-radar, Friday news-drop of a scheme to store the city’s excess migrants in hotels in the two Hudson Valley suburban counties. Both jurisdictions have declared states of emergency as they maneuver to block New York City from exporting its problems. 

  Speaking bluntly in an interview with Politico, Republican Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus, said, “I think we’re going to have a standoff in the next 24 to 48 hours because I just got word that the city said, ‘screw Rockland and Orange, we’re sending these people up’.”  

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/11/2023 – 23:20

• The Extinction Event Hitting Corporate Media…
  The Extinction Event Hitting Corporate Media…

  Authored by Mark Jeftovic via BombThrower.com,

  MSM went “all-in” on a discredited COVID narrative.

  Since the pandemic I’ve been saying that confidence in the mainstream, corporate press has been irreparably damaged. After four years of non-stop Trump Derangement Syndrome so intense that even some liberals were wondering if the press had gone overboard on editorializing – Covid hit, and a lot of normies now see the MSM for what it really is: agitprop and brainwashing.

  Cancel culture and censorship reached such absurd levels that we started to see an exodus of high profile reporters (Matt Taibbi, Glenn Greenwald, et al) exiting corporate news outlets and setting up on their own, after they committed the sin of colouring outside the lines of establishment precepts.

  The MSM went all-in in Covid, but every core tenet of the Covid narrative has since fallen apart:

  • This thing came out of a lab

  • Ecohealth and Fauci are up to their asses in it

  • The lockdowns did more damage than anything else, and

  • Everybody was forced to take a vaccine that not only doesn’t work but also seems to be the common denominator in an excess fatality rate that exceeds the pandemic itself.

  Not good.

  

  With the tempo being set by numerous media collapses, especially by overtly “woke” ones: Buzzfeed’s bankruptcy, Vice circling the drain – and television viewership plummeting, the stage was set for a few key moments that will be remembered as defining the extinction level event rolling through corporate media:

  #1) The Rise of Dark Carlson

  After Fox News fired Tucker Carlson, the number 1 pundit on television with the highest viewership today, he didn’t go to a rival network (Newsmax offered him $25 million), he decided to take his own show out on Twitter.

  This is a defining moment in the extinction event hitting the corporate media these days. https://t.co/jyly9WROKp

  — Mark Jeftovic, The ₿itcoin Capitalist (@StuntPope) May 9, 2023

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

  Apparently, on his own, not part of any deal with Elon Musk, Carlson is just letting it all hang out. In one of his first installments, he called into question the 9/11 narrative (Why did Building 7 just fall into its own footprint for no reason?). It prompted one observer to coin the term “Dark Carlson” for what is transpiring via this channel.

  #2) The Schism of RFK Jr. coverage

  RFK Jr, having thrown his hat into the ring to challenge Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination, immediately drew fire from the MSM, having unilaterally decided that anything RFK says is automatically “misinformation” (see the closing remarks on “rhetorical circularity”, below).

  RFK Jr, for his part, created an account on Nostr.  

  Nothing epitomizes the Industrial
  Age vs Network Era like these two images – screen capped back to back… pic.twitter.com/7q10zEST7z

  — Mark Jeftovic, The ₿itcoin Capitalist (@StuntPope) May 11, 2023

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

  Nostr is a fast growing decentralized social media network, contrast with Twitter – which is governed by the vagaries and whims of whomever owns it – Nostr is decentralized at the server level to relays (which anybody can run) at the the account level to individual users. This protocol is spreading like wildfire and it’s beyond censorship.

  The juxtoposition between a sclerotic,  industrial era, mediocre network clutching their pearls over RFK’s “misinformation” and RFK showing up on Nostr tells us a lot.

  While this is not seen as much of a big deal yet, this is a signal worth paying attention to.

  #3) CNN’s disastrous town-hall with Trump

  I didn’t watch it, and when you look at the reporting on it, both left and right traditional outlets are declaring victory – but the reality is that CNN pulled the plug on it 20 minutes earlier than scheduled (ten key moments here).

  Love him or hate him, Trump draws attention and viewers unlike any other personality – and the fact that CNN drew the curtain early signals one thing: it was a disaster for the network and probably didn’t hurt Trump. After deftly manipulating a hostile media and leveraging social media cunning to win the presidency in 2016, it doesn’t look like the MSM has learned much.

  When the media falls, so does the system it supports

  When the Soviet Empire fell in 1989 – 1990, anybody predicting it even months earlier would have been ridiculed. When it happened it took everybody by surprise (even the CIA) and unfolded at astonishing speed (Victor Sebestyen’s Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire covers it brilliantly).

  Things move even quicker today – where we are in the early innings of what will possibly be the final financial crisis of the fiat money system.

  In another great book about Late Stage Communism,  “Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More“, Alexey Yurchak chronicles the hyper-normality that saturated the zeitgeist during “the last Soviet Generation”. The “Dead Irony” chapter outlines the ingenious forms of unauthorized humour.

  A contemporary parallel is when you come across a Twitter account that exhibits such over-the-top support for All The Latest Things™ that you can’t tell if its satire or not. That is a type of performative dissidence called “Stiob” (unless it’s real).

  

  (It’s parody)

  Yurchak’s examination of “the hegemony over meta-discourse” and it’s disintegration ring eerily familiar to those keeping score today. One example is what he called “rhetorical circularity”: in our case it means that anything the MSM refuses to cover is “misinformation”, because there are no MSM citations to support it.

  As I frequently comment, we’re in Late Stage Globalism. While many view Covid as the gateway to a “Great Reset” technocracy – it looks to me like it was instead, the a-c-c-e-l-e-r-a-t-i-o-n event of the millennia.

  I’m not an accelerationist and the elites are certainly still pushing hard for that WEF-style authoritarianism.

  But I’m just an observer and I’m here to tell you, that is what’s happening. Given the nature of technological compounding (“Future Shock”, as Alvin Toffler called way back in 1970), accelerationism is somewhat baked in and we just have to watch the implosion of corporate media (not to mention the self-destruction of Woke capitalism) to know it is happening.

  *  *  *

  My next ebook is The CBDC Survival Guide and I’m sending it free to Bombthrower subscribers when it’s done (early June). In the meantime, subscribe now and get The Crypto Capitalist Manifesto while you wait. Follow me on Nostr, or Twitter. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/11/2023 – 23:00

• "Penetrated The Roof": Meteorite Crashes Into New Jersey Bedroom
  “Penetrated The Roof”: Meteorite Crashes Into New Jersey Bedroom

  The operations manager for the American Meteor Society, Mike Hankey, believes a metallic object that crashed through the roof of a Hopewell Township, New Jersey, home on Monday is a meteorite.

  “This is most certainly a meteorite, and there are likely more meteorite fragments now scattered around the town,” Hankey said in a statement on the Hopewell Township’s Facebook page. 

  Hopewell Township announced in a press release that the metallic object is 4 inches by 6 inches. 

  

  “It penetrated the roof, the ceiling, and then impacted the hardwood floor before coming to a rest,” the town said. 

  Hankey, the meteorite expert, said: 

  “We still do not have a firm estimate for the time of the fall. If we can exactly identify the time of the fall we can more effectively find evidence of it on weather radars and also video camera systems recording the sky. Any residents with door bell cameras should check for events between 12-3 PM on May 8th. There could have been a flash in the sky and/or a boom sound recorded.”

  Local law enforcement believes the object was part of a “current Meteor shower called the Eta Aquariids,” the town said, adding an investigation is ongoing. 

  

  This isn’t the first occurrence of a possible meteorite causing damage to a residential structure within the US. About six months ago in November, a California man said, “I heard a big bang,” and then watched his home erupt in flames. He alleges a meteorite destroyed his home. 

  

  And, in case you were wondering, the Insurance Information Institute noted on its website, “Falling objects—including satellites, asteroids, meteors and space debris—are covered under standard homeowners and business insurance policies.” 

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

• Manhattan DA Bragg Strikes Again: Charges Marine Over Subway Chokehold Death
  Manhattan DA Bragg Strikes Again: Charges Marine Over Subway Chokehold Death

  Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old former Marine, will be charged for the death of 30-year-old homeless man Jordan Neely.

  “We can confirm that Daniel Penny will be arrested on a charge of manslaughter in the second degree. We cannot provide any additional information until he has been arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court, which we expect to take place tomorrow,” a spokesperson for Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg told Politico.

  

  As a brief reminder, in case you only watch NBC or CNN or have been hiding under a rock; on May 1, at the Broadway-Lafayette station, witnesses reported that Jordan Neely was acting aggressively toward other passengers on a train.

  Neely allegedly screamed “in an aggressive manner” and told passengers he does not care if he goes to jail, before allegedly taking off his jacket and throwing it on the ground.

  Multiple witnesses came forward to state that Neely had made repeated attempts to push people onto subway tracks.

  Penny allegedly held Neely in a 15-minute chokehold on May 1 to protect himself and other passengers from Neely (along with two other individuals who attempted to restrain the deranged passenger).

  

  Neely is a career criminal with over 40 prior arrests for various offenses, including drug-related charges, disorderly conduct, and fare evasion.

  At the time of his death, Neely had an outstanding warrant for assaulting a 67-year-old woman.

  The Marine was then taken into custody, questioned by detectives and released, according to ABC News.

  NBC4 New York reports that Penny’s attorneys have said previously there was no way he “could have foreseen” that his bid to subdue an alleged perceived threat would turn deadly.

  “Mr. Neely had a documented history of violent and erratic behavior, the apparent result of ongoing and untreated mental illness,” said the statement from law firm of Raiser and Kenniff.

  “When Mr. Neely began aggressively threatening Daniel Penny and the other passengers, Daniel, with the help of others, acted to protect themselves, until help arrived. Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death.”

  Neely’s family says that amounts to a confession.

  

  After word of the impending charge came out, Penny’s attorneys released a statement saying their client “stepped in to protect himself and his fellow New Yorkers” even though “his well-being was not assured.”

  “He risked his own life and safety, for the good of his fellow passengers. The unfortunate result was the unintended and unforeseen death of Mr. Neely,” the statement from Steven Raiser read.

  “We are confident that once all the facts and circumstances surrounding this tragic incident are brought to bear, Mr. Penny will be fully absolved of any wrongdoing.”

  Finally, we ask – Who could have seen that coming?

  Well, pretty much everyone after violent protests started erupting across New York City.

  

  The politicization of the justice system (or rather the inevitable denouement to the mob’s rule) is being increasingly exposed to the daylight at so many levels… and yet nothing changes.

  As Matt Margolis poignantly notes, under Bragg’s leadership, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office routinely downgrades felonies to misdemeanors. Yet sometimes, his decisions to pursue charges have seemingly been influenced by social or political factors. Earlier this year, Bragg also sought murder charges against Moussa Diarra, a parking garage attendant in Manhattan who had shot a thief in an act of self-defense. However, in response to public outrage, Bragg later decided not to pursue charges against Diarra.

   It is expected that Penny will turn himself in on Friday to face criminal charges.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/11/2023 – 22:22

• Chicago Residents Throw Fit Over New Migrants As Dem Cities Clash With Biden Admin Over Finances
  Chicago Residents Throw Fit Over New Migrants As Dem Cities Clash With Biden Admin Over Finances

  Much like New York and DC, Chicago residents our in an uproar over the arrival of thousands of migrants arrive in their city after being bused north from Texas, a surge which is expected to accelerate as a pandemic-era measure, Title 42, is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday.

  

  According to city officials, there has been a 10-fold increase in migrant arrivals – putting a strain on Chicago’s financial resources, and leading concerned residents of the Democratic stronghold to voice their opposition at during a Thursday evening meeting with city leaders in South Shore.

  “All of a sudden we have deep pockets for people who don’t pay taxes,” said one attendee. “I understand helping people, but you start with your own home.”

  Photos captured from the event pic.twitter.com/mp3946xI3L

  — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 11, 2023

  “I think it would be fair for every homeless immigrant that you bring in, that you scoop up a homeless here,” said another attendee, ABC7 Chicago reports.

  A plan is also in place to move some of them into Park District fieldhouses, like one at Brands Park in the 3200-block of North Elston Avenue.

  The problem is that the families that use fieldhouse services, like for daycare and summer programs, were not informed.

  And what’s the first stop for new arrivals? Police stations and school buildings.

  “The staff here was given virtually no notice. They were told at like 1 o’clock to clear your stuff, we are sending migrants to your facility,” said one pissed off parent, Michael Busking.

  Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has taken the emergency measures to respond to a “surge of new arrivals since last month.”

  Trouble all around

  As Bloomberg notes, while El Paso, Texas has declared a state of emergency to open temporary shelters as hundreds of migrants sleep on the sidewalks, New York Mayor Eric Adams has slammed the Biden administration amid the arrival of migrants to the Big Apple – “putting pressure on his city’s already-strained budget.”

  The New York mayor has urged the administration to better coordinate response efforts and speed up federal financial assistance and work permissions for migrants. He’s said the city is receiving around 500 migrants per day from border states, and his office expects those numbers could double with the end of Title 42. 

  Adams was not included on a list of Biden campaign surrogates released Wednesday, even though the Washington Post reported in March he would be included. The omission was reported earlier by Politico. -Bloomberg

  

  According to the report, the tensions with fellow Democrats come at a difficult time for President Biden, as he embarks on his reelection campaign.

  “The Biden administration had two years to prepare for this and did not do so. And our state is going to bear the brunt,” said Dem-turned-independent Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema.

  Late Wednesday, the Biden administration attempted to turn the tide with a set of new rules that would quickly reject asylum claims for most people crossing the border who hadn’t previously applied for asylum in another country first. What’s more, nearly 1,500 military personnel are being sent to the Southwest border to help local authorities deal with an expected influx of migrants.

  Well this is interesting
  Footage from the San Ysidro Port of Entry (located on the border San Diego/Mexico border) shows officers from the Department of Homeland Security in riot gear conducting a training exercise before
  Title 42 is set to expire.

  This comes as US officials in… pic.twitter.com/0rK3aY4W2M

  — BowTiedPassport (@BowTiedPassport) May 11, 2023

  The Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, says it will award $290 million to communities taking in migrants, on top of $135 million already allotted, Bloomberg reports.

  On Wednesday afternoon, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that the administration has been hamstrung by “outdated” and “broken” immigration laws (and totally not the open-door invitation virtually extended to migrants since Biden took office).

  “I cannot overstate how much of a challenge it is going to be and how we all have to deal with it as one administration and one country. Fundamentally, we need Congress to act,” Mayorkas said on Thursday, effectively blaming Congress.

  [A] fresh wave of migrants at the southern border could also renew pressure on small towns in the region. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs this week announced her own “preparedness plan” to help shelter and transport migrants. -Bloomberg

  “Without much more robust action from the federal government, the current situation will only get worse,” said Hobbs. “As of today, we have not received an adequate response.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/11/2023 – 22:00

• Top NBCUniversal Ad Exec And World Economic Forum Taskforce Chair In Talks To Become Twitter CEO: WSJ
  Top NBCUniversal Ad Exec And World Economic Forum Taskforce Chair In Talks To Become Twitter CEO: WSJ

  Are Twitter’s days of encouraging free speech and independent thought numbered… or is Musk, just days after unveiling that Tucker is joining, playing 4D chess?

  Just hours after Elon Musk announced he had picked a new female Twitter CEO candidate, the WSJ revealed the identity of the person in talks to become the next CEO of the world’s most important social network: it is Linda Yaccarino, who is currently NBCUniversal’s influential head of advertising.

  

  Yaccarino, who is chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCU, has been with NBCU for more than a decade, where she has been an industry advocate for finding better ways to measure the effectiveness of advertising. As head of NBCU’s advertising sales, she was key in the launch of the company’s ad-supported Peacock streaming service.

  Elon Musk, Twitter’s owner, said in a tweet Thursday that he had hired a new CEO, but didn’t say who it was. “She will be starting in ~6 weeks!” Mr. Musk said in the tweet.

  In some ways, Musk’s pick of Yaccarino is not a surprise: as Chair of the Advertising Council’s Board of Directors and arguably NBCU’s top advertising exec, she is meant to fill a critical void at the new Twitter: that of advertising. After all, despite having massive traffic, Musk’s social network – which as a reminder cost him $44 billion – has been hemorhaging ad revenue as woke brands have abandoned the website.

  Of the top 100 advertisers on Twitter before Mr. Musk bought the company, 37 spent nothing on Twitter advertising during the first quarter of this year, according to market-intelligence firm Sensor Tower, while an additional 24 brands reduced their average monthly Twitter ad spending by 80% or more.

  As such, it will be Yaccarino’s job to convince advertisers to return: Yaccarino, who oversees roughly $13 billion in annual ad revenue, is well-known for her tight relationship with marketers and ad agencies. Yaccarino has a reputation for hard-nosed negotiating tactics, and media buyers have described her as the “velvet hammer.”

  Musk’s announcement of the new CEO came days before one of the biggest events of the year for NBCU, the company’s annual pitch event for advertisers, known as the upfront, which is scheduled for Monday in New York. And according to the WSJ, an NBCU spokesman said Ms. Yaccarino is in back-to-back rehearsals for NBCU’s upfront.

  On the other hand, the hiring of Yaccarino to head the social network which in recent months has become the bane of liberals and progressives through its encouragement of free speech and independent thought, both of which are despised and suppressed by the left, could be a problem.

  For one, according to her LInkedIn profile, Yaccarino is the “Chairman of the WEF’s Taskforce on Future of Work and sits on the WEF’s Media, Entertainment and Culture Industry Governors Steering Committee. She is also highly engaged with the Value in Media initiative.” Most recently, she delivered the following speech in Jan 2020: ‘World Economic Forum: Creating the Workplace of the Future by Focusing on People.”

  

  Additionally, in 2014 Yaccarino joined the Ad Council Board of Directors and became a member of the Executive Committee in 2015. She first served as Vice Chair before her appointment to Board Chair from 2021-2022.

  And then there’s this: in 2021-2022, as Ad Council Chair, “Yaccarino partnered with the business community, the White House, and government agencies to create a COVID-19 vaccination campaign, featuring Pope Francis and reaching over 200 million Americans.”

  Know the facts! The @AdCouncil is working to inform Americans on why we must embrace an FDA-approved #Covid vaccine and how to go about it. We’re almost there, let’s cross the finish line. @lisaesherman https://t.co/AUv9tf9IFb

  — Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) November 24, 2020

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

  And finally:

  As an industry advocate, Yaccarino has called for a return to values-based, trusted partnerships, spotlighting the most important issues facing her colleagues and peers. As 2021-2022 Ad Council Chair, Yaccarino partnered with the business community, the White House, and government agencies to create a COVID-19 vaccination campaign, featuring Pope Francis and reaching over 200 million Americans. At NBCU, she uses the power of media to advance equity and helps to launch DEI-focused initiatives, including BOLD, a program for employing veterans; #ShesMy, a campaign to uplift women and girls; Scene in Color, a collaboration with Target to elevate emerging BIPOC film creatives; and a partnership with Telemundo to release a Latina-centric storytelling guide. 

  Yes! It’s time for action and working towards a more inclusive society. https://t.co/IMQreJ1K9P

  I nominate @laura_molen @MarkMarshallNBC @joefbenarroch @OsAnsari @kknorring

  — Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) October 21, 2020

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

  Things get a little more complicated however, when one considers that in May 2018 Trump Named Yaccarino (alongside Bill Belichick and a bunch of other folks) to a two-year term on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. It wasn’t immediately clear how long she lasted in this particular role.

  Bottom line: despite that last rather odd detour, which can be attributed to Trump’s habitual lack of due diligence, Yaccarino appears to be the perfect establishment hire, one who will help Twitter recover most of its lost ad revenue… the trade-off may very well be that in the process twitter may just become the same company it was before its acqusition by Trump.

  In response to the news of her hiring, the outcry has been – as one would imagine – extremely polarized.

  The ostensible new Twitter CEO is a literal Cathedral propagandist who is an executive at NBC, the WEF, and the Ad Council creating vaccine propaganda pic.twitter.com/cngnBxSufO

  — America’s Conscience (@saveusculture) May 11, 2023

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

  Please, @elonmusk, tell me you’re trolling us, Linda Yaccarino!
  You may as well put Rachel Maddow in charge of Twitter pic.twitter.com/jy5jNS08sq

  — Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) May 12, 2023

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

  This is reportedly the new Twitter CEO.

  Pro- mask, pro-vaxx, and a participant in The World Economic Forum.

  Under her Twitter, The #DiedSuddenly film would have never been allowed to see the light of day. @elonmusk if this is true- please reconsider this decision. pic.twitter.com/H9qqjdxH0f

  — DiedSuddenly (@DiedSuddenly_) May 12, 2023

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

  In Linda Yaccarino, Elon Musk gets a CEO who is a seasoned ad executive who generally shares his political leanings.

  But she’s also the Chairman of a World Economic Forum task force so she can comfortably liaise with Twitter’s current investors and advertisers around the world.

  — Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) May 11, 2023

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

  Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc), the woman who is reportedly the new CEO of Twitter, follows:

  – Chaya Raichik
  – Jesse Watters
  – Michael Shellenberger
  – Ron DeSantis
  – The Babylon Bee
  – Giorgia Meloni
  – Maye Musk
  – Catturd
  – Vivek Ramaswamy
  – Tulsi Gabbard
  – Bari Weiss

  — Max Berger (@maxberger) May 11, 2023

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

  BREAKING: It appears that the new CEO of Twitter will be Linda Yaccarino, if the Wall Street Journal’s reporting is correct.

  People are already unfairly attacking her for her ties to different organizations and because she follows certain accounts here on Twitter.

  The new CEO… pic.twitter.com/Cm6WKRAqEy

  — Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) May 12, 2023

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

  JUST KIDDING!!

  It looks like Trump ally Linda Yaccarino will be taking over.

  So don’t expect the trolling, hate speech, disinformation or criminal acts committed on this site to stop anytime soon! https://t.co/B40PDiOtzW

  — Whistleblower Rebekah Jones (@GeoRebekah) May 12, 2023

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

  If true, Linda Yaccarino would be a great CEO of Twitter. She gets the ad business and understands the needs of advertisers, can talk their language (ROI/brand safety) and will speak her mind while being deferential. $TSLA @elonmusk https://t.co/qIh2ktrc4r

  — Gary Black (@garyblack00) May 11, 2023

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

  Elon Musk is reportedly in talks to bring Linda Yaccarino, “Top World Economic Forum Official,” on board as his new CEO of Twitter.

  Anyone else getting major Twitter 1.0 vibes or is it just me? pic.twitter.com/yTDrUWhNPr

  — Jason Jones (@jonesville) May 12, 2023

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

  @elonmusk don’t Bud Light yourself

  — Dom (@brutusbrandy) May 12, 2023

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

  Finally, the boss himself:

  The commitment to open source transparency and accepting a wide range of viewpoints remains unchanged

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2023

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

  In conclusion, while it is certainly possible that Musk is playing 4D chess here, a prevailing sentiment among the replies is that “Twitter was fun for a few months. See you guys in the gulag.” One can only hope that it is wrong.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/11/2023 – 21:40

• Pakistan May Lose Support From IMF – Risks Debt Default As Civil Unrest Continues
  Pakistan May Lose Support From IMF – Risks Debt Default As Civil Unrest Continues

  Almost exactly a year ago we covered Pakistan’s efforts to secure economic aid through the IMF in order to defuse its growing inflationary crisis.  In May 2022, Pakistan’s core inflation rate was around 13% – Today, their core inflation rate is at 19.5%.  The situation keeps getting uglier.

  Pakistan has sought relief from foreign debt obligations and an IMF bailout deal. Initial arrangements for a three year deal with the IMF began in 2019, but Pakistan said that deal, originally for $6 billion USD, was ‘outdated due to the pandemic’ and new global financial pressures. The nation is in ‘dire need’ of at least $36 billion in order to stay afloat.  However, it appears that any chance of an agreement with the IMF is about to falter.

  A spokesperson for the International Monetary Fund in an interview with Bloomberg states that they are in talks with Pakistan on a multi-billion loan program, which is going to conclude in June.  But, the spokesperson also said that the IMF “wants an assurance on a coordinated mechanism for debt recovery from Pakistan” as well as an assurance on implementation of the economic policy.  The IMF has reportedly rejected a recent Pakistan government claim that it has met all the conditions to reach an agreement with the global financial body to release funds.

  Without IMF support Pakistan risks default in the near term, according to Moodys Investor Service.

  “We consider that Pakistan will meet its external payments for the remainder of this fiscal year ending in June,” says Grace Lim, a sovereign analyst with Moodys in Singapore.  “However, Pakistan’s financing options beyond June are highly uncertain.  Without an IMF program, Pakistan could default given its very weak reserves.” 

  The reason for the IMF pullback is obvious – Mass civil unrest has exploded in response to the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan on corruption charges.  Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled that Khan’s dramatic arrest this week was illegal and has ordered his immediate release. His lawyers had argued that his detention from court premises in Islamabad on Tuesday was unlawful.

  

  Mr. Khan stood surrounded by his lawyers in front of the three Supreme Court judges as they told him that because of the way he had been arrested on Tuesday – inside a court complex, conducting biometric tests – the arrest was invalid.  This does not necessarily end the instability within Pakistan, though.  Charges are still being brought against Khan and the likelihood of continued riots is high.  

  What does this mean?

  Pakistan is a nuclear armed nation with over 165 warheads from short to medium range.  The country also has ongoing border disputes with India and strong military ties to China.  A destabilization of the region could lead to a much larger geopolitical crisis as well as send shockwaves through the global economy.  An IMF refusal at this time could trigger chaos that reverberates through the east and the west.     

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/11/2023 – 21:20

• After 20 Years As A Prosecutor In Illinois, I Quit
  After 20 Years As A Prosecutor In Illinois, I Quit

  The following is an email written by Cook County prosecutor Jason Poje, circulated to colleagues last week. Via RealClear Wire,

  

  To my colleagues:

  After 20 years, I always kind of figured an email like this would start with “It is with a heavy heart that I leave…” The truth is, I can’t get out of here fast enough.

  Let me start with the positive. There is not a single day that has gone by that I have not felt truly honored to work with such an incredible group of people who spent every waking hour on behalf of victims. This opportunity has been a gift for which I have no words to explain the extent of my gratitude.

  My partners, our Victim/Witness advocates, our Investigators, our support staff, the police officers and detectives, time after time I see each of you putting everything you have into helping people we encounter on the worst days of their lives. So often I see our personal lives, and indeed at times our own well-being, set aside just to do a little bit more on that last case for that last victim. It’s been nothing short of inspiring not as a lawyer, but as a person.

  And yet, I’m leaving. Why could that be? The simple fact is that this State and County have set themselves on a course to disaster. And the worst part is that the agency for whom I work has backed literally every policy change that had the predictable, and predicted, outcome of more crime and more people getting hurt.

  Bond reform designed to make sure no one stays in jail while their cases are pending with no safety net to handle more criminals on the streets, shorter parole periods, lower sentences for repeat offenders, the malicious and unnecessary prosecution of law enforcement officers, overuse of diversion programs, intentionally not pursuing prosecutions for crimes lawfully on the books after being passed by our legislature and signed by a governor, all of these so-called reforms have had a direct negative impact, with consequences that will last for a generation.

  Many years ago my family found a nice quiet corner of the suburbs. Now my son, who is only 5, hears gunfire while playing at our neighborhood park, and a drug dealer is open-air selling behind my house (the second one in two years). If it were just me to consider, I’d stick it out. I’ve been through stupid State’s Attorney policies before. But this Office’s complete failure to even think for a moment before rushing into one popular political agenda after another has put my family directly in harm’s way.

  The current people in charge of this state, including the [State’s Attorney’s Office] suffer from a fundamental misunderstanding…we live in a society with adversarial court and criminal justice processes. Defense attorneys, legal aid clinics, Public Defenders, defendant advocate groups…they fight like hell to protect the rights of criminal defendants. And they should. Their work is as noble as ours. But we have an obligation to fight like hell on behalf of the People. It should go without saying that this must be done ethically and evenhandedly. When both sides vigorously defend their positions, a balance is reached between protecting rights while preserving some sort of order and safety. Once we start doing too much of the defense’s job, once we pull our punches, once we decide that it’s worth risking citizens’ lives to have a little social experiment, that balance is lost. The unavoidable consequences are what we are witnessing in real time, an increase in crime of all kinds, businesses and families pulling up stakes, and the bodies piling up; the whole time with a State’s Attorney who insists that there is nothing to see here, and if there is it must be someone else’s fault. And then they wonder why they cannot retain experienced prosecutors or even hire new ones…it’s because any true prosecutor recognizes the importance of this balance, and that they will not be permitted to be a prosecutor under this administration.

  I will not raise my son here. I am fortunate enough to have the means to escape, so my entire family is leaving the State of Illinois. I grew up here, my family and friends are here, and yet my own employer has turned it into a place from which I am no longer proud to be, and in which my son is not safe.

  To everyone in the trenches in the State’s Attorney’s Office and in law enforcement, my one regret is that I cannot be at your side anymore as you continue to fight the good fight. I do not envy the task you have before you, but you have my utmost respect for carrying on. I hope one day you are successful at returning some kind of common sense and security to our communities.

  Thank you all so much for this opportunity to serve. I will treasure every moment of this chapter in my life. Be safe, be well, fight hard.

  Jason F. Poje
  Assistant State’s Attorney

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/11/2023 – 21:00

• On The Verge Of Deflation: China CPI, PPI Surprise To The Downside, Confirm Two-Speed Recovery
  On The Verge Of Deflation: China CPI, PPI Surprise To The Downside, Confirm Two-Speed Recovery

  Two days ago we looked at how China’s diverging export (faster) and import (slower) growth rates signaled a two-speed recovery, with strong consumption (especially services), also evident in the Labor Day holiday data, but not-so-robust industrial activity, which still faces headwinds from external demand and a slow recovery in property investment.

  

  Overnight we got another confirmation, this time in the form of China’s latest CPI and PPI when April inflation surprised the market to the downside.

  China’s CPI eased notably from 0.7% in March to 0.1% in April, the lowest print since March 2021 and one tick away from deflation.

  

  According to SocGen, the decline was mainly driven by food inflation (-0.4%) and energy inflation (-0.2%), while core CPI remained unchanged at 0.7%. The decline in food inflation was due to pork prices amid abundant supply, and vegetable prices thanks to the warm weather. Fuel inflation dropped from -6.4% to -10.4% due to weak international prices and base effects.

  In contrast, services CPI picked up from 0.8% to 1.0%, supported by prices of air fares, hotels and tour packages, as the sector is the main beneficiary of reopening. Rental inflation also recovered from -0.5% to 0.3% with the mom rate stabilizing at 0%. However, core goods CPI declined. While clothing inflation rebounded slightly from 0.8% to 0.9%, that of transportation facilities dropped from -3.3% to -4.0% due to ongoing discounting, and that of household appliances eased from -0.2% to -1.2%, reflecting more tepid demand relative to services.

  

  Moving to factory gate prices, PPI slipped further into deflation, from -2.5% to -3.6% due to base effects and weaker momentum, with a 0.5% mom decline. The main culprit was upstream prices, as the key commodities saw a broad-based decline in prices, reflecting weak demand for commodities (also evident in the latest imports data). That raises concerns over the strength of industrial activity, which likely lost momentum due to softer global demand, still subdued property investments and still high inventories. PPI of consumer goods also remained tepid, with a mom decline seen in durable goods.

  In short, it is clear that the service sector is normalizing quickly since the beginning of the year, but at this stage the broadening of the reopening recovery remains to be seen with risks from slowing exports, a sluggish property recovery, still weak confidence. The service-driven nature of this recovery also means there are less inflation spillovers to the rest of the world this year

  While it is true that inflation momentum has been modest, today’s numbers also overstate the weakness as they were mainly driven by food and upstream prices and base effects. The data points to more room for the PBoC to keep policy accommodative, especially coupled with today’s surprising plunge in new credit creation, but given its lagging nature, there is still a high bar for more headline easing.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/11/2023 – 20:40

• US Failure To Recognize Natural Immunity Negatively Affected Pandemic Response: NIH Scientist
  US Failure To Recognize Natural Immunity Negatively Affected Pandemic Response: NIH Scientist

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

  The failure to recognize how post-infection immunity is similar or superior to that bestowed by vaccination led to prolonged school closures and other problems, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientist told Congress on May 11.

  

  U.S. health agencies “chose to disregard natural immunity,” leading to “lost jobs, staffing shortages, children kept out of school, and wasted vaccines,” said Margery Smelkinson, a research scientist at the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

  Smelkinson was one of three experts testifying to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in Washington on Capitol Hill, in a hearing on immunity during the pandemic.

  Smelkinson, who said she was testifying in her personal capacity, is employed by the same agency headed for decades by Dr. Anthony Fauci, who repeatedly downplayed natural immunity along with other top public health officials.

  Fauci and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), were among the officials to meet secretly in 2021 to decide whether post-infection immunity should count as one or more vaccine doses in the recommended COVID-19 vaccination schedule, according to documents obtained by The Epoch Times. The meeting resulted in no changes to the recommendations, which advise virtually all Americans to get a vaccine even if they’ve recovered from COVID-19.

  The government’s position on natural immunity meant that COVID-19 vaccine mandates across the country featured no exceptions for the naturally immune, in contrast to some other countries.

  The CDC has said that there is post-infection protection but that it varies by person, that it’s unclear how long it lasts, and that recovered people should still get vaccinated.

  But evidence from before the vaccines were even available signaled natural immunity was robust, and later studies provided evidence that natural immunity was similar to or even better than vaccination, Smelkinson noted.

  One study in July 2020, for instance, found a strong immune response in people who had recovered from COVID-19. Another in October 2020 provided similar findings. And a paper in November 2020 found that mild infections also triggered strong responses.

  As early as April 2021, research suggested protection on par with that from vaccines. A CDC study found natural immunity was better than vaccination against the Delta variant, and a more recent CDC paper provided the same conclusions for the Omicron strain. An analysis of dozens of studies found that post-infection protection was similar to or better than vaccination, depending on the strain.

  Smelkinson said the government’s position resulted in staffing shortages, including in the health care sector, and “caused needless loss of life as vaccines were given to essential workers with natural immunity instead of being prioritized for the elderly.”

  “Additionally, the daily quarantine of thousands of students could have been significantly reduced if districts had, at least, made exceptions for students with natural immunity. At least,” she said. “Disregarding the wealth of evidence of natural immunity led to missed opportunities to implement policies that could have been more effective and efficient in controlling the pandemic and limiting collateral damage.”

  Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), chairman of the panel, said that the government should not have mandated vaccination for the naturally immune.

  Other Experts

  Dr. Marty Makary, a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told the panel that the stance against natural immunity adopted by Fauci and others didn’t make sense, pointing in part to Fauci saying previously that people who recovered from influenza didn’t need vaccination “because the most potent vaccination is getting infected yourself.”

  Read more here…

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

• "We Have Reached Our Limit": NYC Suspends Shelter Rules Ahead Of Title 42 Expiration
  “We Have Reached Our Limit”: NYC Suspends Shelter Rules Ahead Of Title 42 Expiration

  The Biden administration is expected to repeal Title 42, a policy from the Trump era that makes it easier to reject migrants at the US-Mexico border. This change, expected to take effect at midnight on Thursday, could potentially lead to a massive influx of undocumented immigrants flooding the US. Far away from the chaotic southern border is New York City, which is experiencing its own migrant crisis. 

  

  On Wednesday, NYC Mayor Eric Adams signed an executive order that eases shelter requirements for homeless families. The order suspends city laws that regulate how, when, and where homeless families can be sheltered. It comes just one day before Title 42 ends. 

  “With over 130 emergency sites and eight humanitarian relief centers already opened, we have reached our limit, and this last week we had to resort to temporarily housing recent arrivals in gyms.

  “We will make every effort to get asylum seekers into shelter as quickly as possible as we have done since day one,” Fabien Levy, a spokesman for the Democratic mayor, said in a statement. 

  Levy said the effort is to ensure asylum seekers find “shelter as quickly as possible” as Democrat-run metro areas across the country prepare for a surge in migrants in the coming days and weeks upon Title 42 expiration. 

  Bloomberg said NYC is spending $8 million per day to house 40,000 asylum seekers. The spokesperson said more than 500 migrants per day have been entering the city in the last week. 

  

  NYC’s migrant crisis has been so severe that the mayor plans to ship several hundred adult male migrants to hotels in Orange Lake and Orangeburg, in upstate Rockland County. In recent months, migrants from Texas and other border states have been bussed in, making Adams and fellow Democrats furious. 

  Let’s not forget Biden administration officials largely ignored the border and began dismantling border security and immigration enforcement in the first two years of office. It was only until recently, after a flood of migrants could no longer be ignored, overrunning Democrat cities, as well as the imminent expiration of Title 42, and what could be an invasion of up to 150,000 migrants in the coming days, have Biden officials sent reinforcements to border states.

  TX: Happening now: @GovAbbott orders deployment of #OperationLonestar @TXMilitary “Quick Reaction Force” made up of military police to close the gap migrants are currently coming through in Brownsville.

  They are part of the 545 soldiers deployed this week under #OLS — They will… pic.twitter.com/15aIcrU8gT

  — Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) May 10, 2023

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  🚨 BREAKING: Texas National Guard in full riot gear have arrived in Brownsville, TX near a major illegal crossing point.

  This seems to be part of @GregAbbott_TX’s plan to repel an influx of illegal migrants in this area.
  pic.twitter.com/6h6MC3Mxt9

  — Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 10, 2023

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  A little too late, we might say, and wonder if the Biden administration is intentionally sparking a border crisis. 

  Are you sick and tired of the lies yet?

  This needs to be treated like the invasion it is. The MINORITY of these migrants are families. The MAJORITY are military aged men.

  Credit: ‘James Woods’ pic.twitter.com/rqBnR2VmjJ

  — Lido Key Dude (@LidoDude) May 7, 2023

  Ah yes… 

  

  . . . 

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  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/11/2023 – 20:00

• Senator Ron Johnson: 'We Have Evidence Hunter Biden Paid Sex-Trafficked Prostitutes And The Media Isn't Even Looking Into It'
  Senator Ron Johnson: ‘We Have Evidence Hunter Biden Paid Sex-Trafficked Prostitutes And The Media Isn’t Even Looking Into It’

  Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

  During a Tuesday interview, Senator Ron Johnson asserted that Congressional Republicans have unequivocal proof that Hunter Biden paid tens of thousands of dollars to an international sex trafficking ring for prostitutes with money given to him by his father.

  

  “Senator Grassley and I, in our September 2020 report, laid out as much evidence as anybody would need to lay out that the Biden family is corrupt,” Johnson told Fox News, adding that it was well known “that President Biden would be highly compromised, but the corrupt media ignored it and censored it.”

  Johnson continued, “One thing we don’t talk enough about. I know President Biden is so proud of his son. We have the evidence that Hunter Biden paid for — paid tens of thousands of dollars for prostitutes that were sex trafficked through an international sex trafficking ring. Yes, ick.”

  “And President Biden during a four or five month period offered to pay for $100,000 of Hunter Biden’s bills when he was spending tens of thousands of dollars on these women who are sex trafficked,” the Senator further asserted.

  “Now, that is at a minimum morally reprehensible and wrong. And the president is defending that and the media isn’t even looking into it?” an exasperated Johnson urged.

  “It is grotesque but the media doesn’t concentrate on it. We had that in our report. We had the financial transactions proving it. James Comer does the same thing. But it is so icky and reprehensible that people don’t want to talk about it,” Johnson emphasised.

  “It is galling to hear the president talk about how proud he is of Hunter. He enables this. He enables it by propping up his son both in term of those types of words as well as financially. It is really pretty sick,” the Senator concluded.

  Watch:

  Everything Sen. Johnson is saying here is beyond dispute.

  Hunter filmed his interactions with these prostitutes. Hunter filmed himself discussing payments with these prostitutes, just hours after receiving $$ from his father. https://t.co/hYpmikY6sh

  — Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) May 9, 2023

  In a further interview on Fox Business, Johnson predicted the media will continue to ignore the overwhelming evidence of shady criminal dealings with foreign nationals.

  Criminals try not to leave a paper trail of their crimes.

  Investigations take time and often only find the tip of an iceberg of evidence. But that tip can be quite incriminating.

  When criminals do email each other, they talk cryptically.

  For example: 10% for the “Big Guy.” pic.twitter.com/wFaecWpewK

  — Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) May 10, 2023

  In an interview with The Washington Examiner, Johnson said that he fears the Department of Justice will allow Hunter Biden to engage in a plea agreement and have his case records sealed.

  “The Justice Department will do whatever it can get away with doing in terms of covering up for Hunter Biden or minimizing any charges,” the Wisconsin senator said, adding “I’ve been concerned about this, almost predicting it, for quite some time.”

  “Part of that plea agreement would be a seal of all records so that the American public will never know the full extent of what Hunter Biden and possibly Joe Biden did,” Johnson added.

  On Wednesday, during a press conference by House GOP lawmakers, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan announced that GOP lawmakers have reviewed 170 suspicious activity reports linked to the Biden Family’s dealings.

  Republicans revealed that they believe the Biden family attempted to conceal more than $10 Million in foreign payments, and that “Biden family members and business associates created a web of over 20 companies—most were limited liability companies formed during Joe Biden’s vice presidency.”

  Biden Family Tried To Hide Over $10 Million In Foreign Payments: House GOP

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  In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. We need you to sign up for our free newsletter here. Support our sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown.

  Also, we urgently need your financial support here.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/11/2023 – 19:40

• FBI Stonewalls On Smoking Gun Document Alleging Biden Family 'Criminal Scheme'
  FBI Stonewalls On Smoking Gun Document Alleging Biden Family ‘Criminal Scheme’

  The FBI is stonewalling Congressional investigators over an informant file (form FD-1023) which allegedly contains evidence that President Biden took bribes while he was Vice President, the NY Post reports.

  

  After House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) hit the FBI with a subpoena last week demanding the document by noon Wednesday, the bureau responded with a six-page letter full of objections.

  “Information from confidential human sources is unverified and, by definition, incomplete,” wrote FBI acting assistant director for congressional affairs Christopher Dunham.

  “As is clear from the name itself, confidentiality is definitional to the FBI’s Confidential Human Source program,” wrote Dunham, adding “Confidential human sources often provide information to the FBI at great risk to themselves and their loved ones. The information they provide also can create significant risks to others who may be referenced in their reporting.”

  The FBI official concluded: “We … hope this helps you understand that keeping this kind of source information free from the perception or reality of improper influence — and preventing the redirection of this information for non-law enforcement or non-intelligence uses — is necessary for the FBI’s effective execution of our law enforcement and national security responsibilities.”

  Comer slammed the FBI’s stonewalling, but he did not immediately announce further steps to acquire the document. Congress has the power to apply financial pressure to agencies and can also use litigation to enforce its orders or attempt to shame officials through contempt votes. -NY Post

  “It’s clear from the FBI’s response that the unclassified record the Oversight Committee subpoenaed exists, but they are refusing to provide it to the Committee,” said Comer, adding “We’ve asked the FBI to not only provide this record, but to also inform us what it did to investigate these allegations.”

  “The FBI has failed to do both. The FBI’s position is ‘trust, but you aren’t allowed to verify.’ That is unacceptable. We plan to follow up with the FBI and expect compliance with the subpoena.”

  Grinding Grassley’s gears…

  Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) who passed the whistleblower to Comer, was livid at the FBI’s refusal to hand over the document.

  “They didn’t give us the unclassified document. They sent us a five or six-page letter that I haven’t studied thoroughly yet,” he told the post. “They didn’t dispute that it exists — that the document exists or that it is unclassified … why they haven’t given it, I don’t know.”

  

  “We have received legally protected and highly credible unclassified whistleblower disclosures,” Grassley wrote last week in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray. “Based on those disclosures … “it has come to our attention that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) possess an unclassified FD-1023 form that describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.”

  On Wednesday, House Republicans laid out evidence of a vast network of Biden family corruption, including;

  • The Biden family received, and tried to hide, over $10 million in payments from foreign nationals
  • A previously undisclosed $1 million in Romanian-linked payments
  • Ties to Romanian ‘influence peddling’
  • A ‘web’ of 20 LLCs created while Joe Biden was Vice President with a ‘complicated corporate structure’
  • ‘At least 15’ of the LLCs were formed after Biden became VP in 2009 – several of which were owned or co-owned by Hunter
  • These LLCs accepted payments ranging from $5,000 to $3 million
  • The committee wants to know what legitimate business the Biden family was in

  Read the FBI’s response below:

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/11/2023 – 19:20

• Two Youths Commit Suicide In Taxpayer-Funded Cross-Sex Hormone Study
  Two Youths Commit Suicide In Taxpayer-Funded Cross-Sex Hormone Study

  Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Lawmakers are demanding answers after the suicide deaths of two young people involved in a transgender hormone study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

  

  Additionally, 11 participants reported suicidal thoughts during the study, according to a January article by researchers published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

  In a letter to Dr. Lawrence Tabak, acting director at NIH, 15 Republican lawmakers question why the study wasn’t halted after participants died or reported adverse effects.

  “It is alarming that vulnerable young people died by suicide while participating in a taxpayer-funded study that will almost certainly inflict devastating physical harm on those who participated,” the lawmakers’ letter stated.

  

  “Rather than shutting the study down after such serious adverse events, the researchers published their paper, concluding that the study was a success because cross-sex hormones had altered subjects’ physical appearance and improved psychosocial functioning,” lawmakers added.

  The study “Psychosocial Functioning in Transgender Youth after 2 Years of Hormones” attempted to analyze the psychosocial state of participants.

  Researchers evaluated the impact of cross-sex hormones on “transgender and nonbinary youth” between the ages of 12 and 20, according to the study.

  NIH awarded $477,444 in a five-year grant to the Boston Children’s Hospital, the University of California at San Francisco, and the Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago for the study, according to a report in The Daily Signal. Dr. Diane Chen at the Lurie Children’s Hospital led the study.

  Lawmakers have blasted the study for subjecting children to “radical gender ideology.” Of 315 study subjects, 240 were minors.

  After the study was published, the medical watchdog group “Do No Harm,” called the research “fatally flawed and borderline unscientific” because it muddled instead of clarified questions about the medical transition of children.

  Twenty-four participants in the study received cross-sex hormones after puberty suppression—when they’re “in early puberty”—and are “likely sterile as a result,” according to the lawmakers.

  Lawmakers said that other risks to participants include an increased chance of cardiovascular disease and blood clotting. They also questioned the value of a study that didn’t include a “control group.”

  The letter stated the taxpayer-funded research was already being used to further the “fallacy” that chemically transitioning children was safe and effective despite “glaring shortfalls.”

  

  The study didn’t dwell on the suicides. Instead, it reported “positive” effects of cross-sex hormones, such as “life satisfaction” and decreases in depression and anxiety—at least for the duration of the study.

  Republicans charged that some involved in the study were known transgender activists focused on gender modification for children.

  In a video later removed from Boston Children’s Hospital’s YouTube channel, the hospital claimed “that children can know their gender identity ‘from the womb,’” lawmakers said.

  According to the letter, Johanna Olson, a co-author of the NEJM article, received a federal grant for a study in which she altered protocol to allow children as young as 8 years old to receive cross-sex hormones.

  The lawmakers noted in their objection that research shows gender dysphoria in minors often resolves by itself as struggling teenagers progress through puberty, “completely undermining the idea that children should have their bodies permanently altered to match their changing identities.”

  They added that the NIH plans to give more than $10.6 million to “experiment on children and adolescents through 2026.”

  Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.) and Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) led the letter demanding responses to questions by June 9.

  Questions included the age of the suicide victims, the clinic that administered the hormones, and what steps may have been taken to halt and review the study when the deaths occurred.

  Lawmakers also want to know if any steps were taken to provide ongoing monitoring of other children participating in the study to ensure that they are not at risk for suicide.

  They also asked if participants had been evaluated for sterility or impaired fertility as a result of receiving cross-sex hormones and the results.

  In a press release, Brecheen said lawmakers are committed to holding those responsible for the loss of life accountable.

  “It is sickening that the federal government is preying on young people and using our taxpayer dollars to advance its radical gender ideology,” Brecheen said.

  

  Budd called the NIH-funded study “highly questionable experiments.”

  “Taxpayer dollars should not be used to fund studies that encourage gender transition interventions on young people,” Budd said.

  Others signing the letter included Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Reps. Mary Miller (R-Ill.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), Randy Weber (R-Texas), Chip Roy (R-Texas), Ronny Jackson(R-Texas), and Michael Cloud (R-Texas).

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/11/2023 – 19:00

• Russian Media Says Ukraine's Counteroffensive Has Begun Amid Conflicting Reports
  Russian Media Says Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Has Begun Amid Conflicting Reports

  Russian media as well as some Western reports are saying the Ukrainian counteroffensive has begun. This comes the day after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s Wagner Group, blasted regular Russian forces for retreating from parts of the Bakhmut front. 

  Prigozhin also claimed that Russia’s 72nd Separate Motor-rifle Brigade has given up its positions along the town’s southwest edge, also while pleading for more ammunition to go to Wagner fighters. Importantly, in a late Thursday report Russian state media is citing a prominent war correspondent to say the much-touted spring offensive has arrived, even though Ukrainian leaders on the same day said it is still stalled and they are “waiting” – also for more weapons from the West.

  

  Russia’s RT cites the war journalist as follows: “Ukrainian forces have breached Russian defenses northwest of the city of Artyomovsk in Donbass, Russian war correspondent Evgeny Poddubny reported on Thursday evening. He believes it’s the beginning of Kiev’s much-touted spring offensive.”

  “The attackers appear to have launched a series of simultaneous strikes north and south of Artyomovsk, also known as Bakhmut, several other Russian war reporters added,” the report continues. “The city has been the scene of intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops for months.”

  And more from the state media report: 

  In addition, Kiev’s troops have reportedly used tanks to strike the city of Soledar. Located northeast of Artyomovosk, it was captured by Russian troops after heavy fighting in January.

  Meanwhile, in Zaporozhye Region, Kiev’s troops have reportedly attacked Russian positions near the city of Guliay-Pole. They are seeking to break through the Russian forces’ first defensive line, Poddubny explained.

  However, the defense ministry was quick to contradict some of these claims, also downplaying the severity of fighting in these locales:

  ⚡️#BREAKING The statements about the “defense breakthroughs” that took place in various parts of the contact line do not correspond to reality — Russian Defense Ministry

  — War Monitor (@WarMonitors) May 11, 2023

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  The Kremlin had previously expressed hoped it would have Bakhmut operations complete by Victory Day (May 9), but this proved illusive even after Russian forces captured some 90-95% of the largely destroyed city. 

  Conflicting reports persist, and it does appear some heavy frontline fighting has erupted from the Ukrainian side…

  A # of Russian telegram channels believe Ukraine’s counteroffensive has begun with successful advances NW and SW of Bakhmut and Soledar. They warn of fighting/movements near Maiorsk, Kupyansk, and Hulyaipole.https://t.co/6QZR6rmVWZhttps://t.co/Se1hcjFdedhttps://t.co/6ilAJ9pqCx https://t.co/PULrXOzgKk pic.twitter.com/PIy0NEoCzy

  — Rob Lee (@RALee85) May 11, 2023

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  On Wednesday Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov struck a rare pessimistic tone in connection with the situation in Donetsk region. “The special military operation continues. It is a very, very difficult operation and of course certain goals have been achieved in a year,” he said.

  Pro-Ukraine accounts are claiming Russian troops are in a “panic”…

  BREAKING:

  The Ukrainian Army has launched a local counteroffensive in Bakhmut.

  The Ukrainian forces have broken through in the direction of Berkhovka & Yagodnoye.

  They are also pushing toward Soledad & have retaken the Industrial College in S-W Bakhmut

  Russians are panicking pic.twitter.com/KjrMHiRXp2

  — Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 11, 2023

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  President Zelensky had also earlier in the day previewed a “surprise”…

  “We are expecting appropriate armoured equipment. It comes in parts, and with that amount, you can move forward… But we will lose a lot of people. I believe that this is impossible. We need to wait. We need some more time” he said.

  I am not ready to communicate with you, to say when we will be advancing, because I think you understand me. Because to some extent, this prepares the enemy. And therefore, I would like it to be an unpleasant surprise, not the other way around.

  Meanwhile a CNBC headline has also highlighted these emerging reports of the counteroffensive being underway.

  Are we about to witness Russian forces get beat back at a moment frontline forces could be exhausted from months of heavy battles and costly advances? Or will the counteroffensive falter before it even gets off the ground? 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/11/2023 – 18:40

• Biden's Ex-Disinfo Queen Slaps Fox With Defamation Suit
  Biden’s Ex-Disinfo Queen Slaps Fox With Defamation Suit

  Nina Jankowicz, the Biden administration’s short-lived disinfo czar, is suing Fox News for defamation, claiming that the network promoted lies about her that generated ‘serious threats to her safety’ and harmed her job prospects, according to the NY Times.

  

  To review:

  • Watch: Biden’s New ‘Disinfo’ Queen Goes Full ‘Libs Of TikTok’
  • Jim Jordan Slaps Former White House ‘Disinformation Czar’ With Subpoena After Requests Ignored
  • Biden’s ‘Disinfo’ Board Paused As ‘Scary Poppins’ Resigns
  • Clinton Supporter Who Led Disinformation Board Until Resignation Says She Wasn’t A Partisan Actor

  According to the lawsuit, Fox mentioned Jankowicz 300 times in eight months, where she claims she was demeaned and defamed in highly personal language by hosts Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo and Sean Hannity – who said her job was to “to silence anyone who criticizes the Biden administration,” and possibly “get men with guns to tell you to shut up.”

  She also came under fire for her batshit fake British accent while singing Orwellian censorship songs.

  🤡🌎 Biden’s head of the new “Disinformation Governance Board” pic.twitter.com/RZqILqT18c

  — Clown World Today 🤡🌎 (@cwt_news) April 29, 2022

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  More via the Times:

  The suit was filed on behalf of Nina Jankowicz, the former executive director of a short-lived Department of Homeland Security division assigned with coordinating efforts to monitor and address disinformation threats to national security. Right-wing pundits and politicians falsely portrayed her group as part of an Orwellian bid to control the speech and thought of ordinary Americans. -NY Times

  Falsely portrayed? Guess we’ll find out.

  “Even after achieving their stated goal of driving me out of government and ending the board, they kept using me as a punching bag,” Jankowicz said in a Wednesday interview. “It shouldn’t be something we just accept — that the most powerful cable network in the world can attack individuals willy-nilly and not face any consequences after they ruin their lives.”

  Hilariously, the Times also describes her as a “prominent specialist in Russian disinformation” despite her promoting the discredited Steele dossier and the Hunter Biden laptop Russiagate theory.

  A “specialist in Russian disinformation” who touted the phony Steele dossier and discredited Hunter Biden laptop theory. https://t.co/jPrmSMonmF

  — Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) May 11, 2023

  The lawsuit was filed in the same Delaware state court where Dominion Voting Systems lodged a $1.6 billion defamation suit against the network, which was settled last month for $787.5 million.

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

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

• Musk Launches Twitter's New Encrypted Messaging, But With Big Caveat: "Don't Trust It Yet"
  Musk Launches Twitter’s New Encrypted Messaging, But With Big Caveat: “Don’t Trust It Yet”

  Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Elon Musk on Thursday announced the official launch of Twitter’s new encrypted direct messaging (DM) function, urging users to give it a try, but warning that the encryption feature in the early version should not be trusted.

  

  “Early version of encrypted direct messages just launched,” Musk stated in a Thursday tweet. “Try it, but don’t trust it yet.”

  Direct messages sent on Twitter will be encrypted end-to-end, meaning that private messages can only be read by the sender and recipient.

  Musk stated in an earlier post on Wednesday that the sophistication of the encryption feature will grow “rapidly” following the launch of the preliminary version. “The acid test is that I could not see your DMs even if there was a gun to my head,” he said.

  With the rollout now official, Twitter joins other platforms like Signal and WhatsApp in providing users with an encrypted messaging service, though not all Twitter users will have access to it—at least for now.

  Twitter stated in a post on its support site that the encryption feature is only available to people who pay for Twitter Blue or are affiliated with a verified Twitter account. Only messages containing text and links are encrypted, while media and other attachments are not yet supported.

  Early version of encrypted direct messages just launched.

  Try it, but don’t trust it yet.

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2023

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

  Reactions to encrypted messages are also encrypted, but metadata—which includes the recipient as well as the creation time—are not. While links themselves are encrypted, the linked content isn’t.

  Eligible users who want to send encrypted messages on Twitter will see a toggle after clicking on the message icon, allowing them to activate “encrypted” mode. They can then select another eligible recipient, and clicking “send” will dispatch an encrypted message.

  Alternatively, eligible Twitter users can send encrypted messages though the conversation settings page of an unencrypted conversation in their inbox. After tapping the information icon, they can select the “start an encrypted message” option. Encrypted conversations will be differentiated from unencrypted ones through a lock icon badge.

  “As Elon Musk said, when it comes to direct messages, the standard should be, if someone puts a gun to our heads, we still can’t access your messages. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re working on it,” Twitter said on the support page, reinforcing Musk’s warning not to trust the encryption feature to protect sensitive information—yet.

  “Twitter seeks to be the most trusted platform on the internet, and encrypted direct messages are an important part of that,” the support page states.

  Musk revealed last year that he has plans to roll out a “Twitter 2.0 The Everything App,” which he said would combine encrypted direct messages, long-form tweets, and payments.

  In March, Musk merged Twitter with a shell firm called X Corp., which he owns.

  WhatsApp ‘Cannot Be Trusted’

  In a Twitter post on Tuesday, Musk took aim at WhatsApp, telling Twitter users that the service “cannot be trusted.”

  Musk was responding to a post from Twitter engineer Foad Dabiri, who claimed that his WhatsApp application was constantly switching on the microphone, even while he was sleeping.

  Dabiri shared a screenshot of his device’s microphone usage, which showed that it had been switched on nine times between 4:20 a.m. and 6:53 a.m. while he was asleep, at one point appearing to record him for nearly 30 minutes.

  Replying to Dabiri’s post, Gannon Breslin, CEO of The Drop NFT Media Inc., wrote, “It’s incredible how many people don’t realize that WhatsApp is owned by Meta/Facebook.”

  Facebook purchased WhatsApp in 2014 for $16 billion.

  Musk replied: “Yeah. Or that WhatsApp founders left Meta/Facebook in disgust, started #deletefacebook campaign and made major contributions to building Signal. What they learned about Facebook and changes to WhatsApp obviously disturbed them greatly.”

  WhatsApp swiftly dismissed Dabiri’s claim, stating that users of the messaging service “have full control over their mic settings.”

  “Over the last 24 hours, we’ve been in touch with a Twitter engineer who posted an issue with his Pixel phone and WhatsApp,” WhatsApp said on its official Twitter account.

  “We believe this is a bug on Android that mis-attributes information in their Privacy Dashboard and have asked Google to investigate and remediate.”

  “Users have full control over their mic settings. Once granted permission, WhatsApp only accesses the mic when a user is making a call or recording a voice note or video—and even then, these communications are protected by end-to-end encryption so WhatsApp cannot hear them,” it added.

  Katabella Roberts contributed to this report. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/11/2023 – 17:40