• Circus Politics Are Intended To Distract Us. Don't Be Distracted
  Circus Politics Are Intended To Distract Us. Don’t Be Distracted

  Authored by John and Nisha Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,

  “There is nothing more dangerous than a government of the many controlled by the few.”

  – Lawrence Lessig, Harvard law professor

  It is easy to be distracted right now by the bread and circus politics that have dominated the news headlines lately, but don’t be distracted.

  Don’t be fooled, not even a little.

  We’re being subjected to the oldest con game in the books, the magician’s sleight of hand that keeps you focused on the shell game in front of you while your wallet is being picked clean by ruffians in your midst.

  

  This is how tyranny rises and freedom falls.

  What characterizes American government today is not so much dysfunctional politics as it is ruthlessly contrived governance carried out behind the entertaining, distracting and disingenuous curtain of political theater. And what political theater it is, diabolically Shakespearean at times, full of sound and fury, yet in the end, signifying nothing.

  We are being ruled by a government of scoundrels, spies, thugs, thieves, gangsters, ruffians, rapists, extortionists, bounty hunters, battle-ready warriors and cold-blooded killers who communicate using a language of force and oppression.

  The U.S. government now poses the greatest threat to our freedoms.

  More than terrorism, more than domestic extremism, more than gun violence and organized crime, even more than the perceived threat posed by any single politician, the U.S. government remains a greater menace to the life, liberty and property of its citizens than any of the so-called dangers from which the government claims to protect us.

  No matter who has occupied the White House in recent years, the Deep State has succeeded in keeping the citizenry divided and at each other’s throats.

  After all, as long as we’re busy fighting each other, we’ll never manage to present a unified front against tyranny in any form.

  Unfortunately, what we are facing is tyranny in every form.

  The facts speak for themselves.

  We’re being robbed blind by a government of thieves. Americans no longer have any real protection against government agents empowered to seize private property at will. For instance, police agencies under the guise of asset forfeiture laws are taking Americans’ personal property based on little more than a suspicion of criminal activity and keeping it for their own profit and gain. In one case, police seized more than $17,000 in cash from two sisters who were trying to start a dog breeding business. Despite finding no evidence of wrongdoing, police held onto the money for months. Homeowners are losing their homes over unpaid property taxes (as little as $2300 owed) that amount to a fraction of what they have invested in their homes. And then there’s the Drug Enforcement Agency, which has been searching train and airline passengers and pocketing their cash, without ever charging them with a crime.

  We’re being taken advantage of by a government of scoundrels, idiots and cowards. Journalist H.L. Mencken calculated that “Congress consists of one-third, more or less, scoundrels; two-thirds, more or less, idiots; and three-thirds, more or less, poltroons.” By and large, Americans seem to agree. When you’ve got government representatives who spend a large chunk of their work hours fundraising, being feted by lobbyists, shuffling through a lucrative revolving door between public service and lobbying, and making themselves available to anyone with enough money to secure access to a congressional office, you’re in the clutches of a corrupt oligarchy. Mind you, these same elected officials rarely read the legislation they’re enacting, nor do they seem capable of enacting much legislation that actually helps the plight of the American citizen. More often than not, the legislation lands the citizenry in worse straits.

  We’re being locked up by a government of greedy jailers. We have become a carceral state, spending three times more on our prisons than on our schools and imprisoning close to a quarter of the world’s prisoners, despite the fact that crime is at an all-time low and the U.S. makes up only 5% of the world’s population. The rise of overcriminalization and profit-driven private prisons provides even greater incentives for locking up American citizens for such non-violent “crimes” as having an overgrown lawn. As the Boston Review points out, “America’s contemporary system of policing, courts, imprisonment, and parole … makes money through asset forfeiture, lucrative public contracts from private service providers, and by directly extracting revenue and unpaid labor from populations of color and the poor. In states and municipalities throughout the country, the criminal justice system defrays costs by forcing prisoners and their families to pay for punishment. It also allows private service providers to charge outrageous fees for everyday needs such as telephone calls. As a result people facing even minor criminal charges can easily find themselves trapped in a self-perpetuating cycle of debt, criminalization, and incarceration.”

  We’re being spied on by a government of Peeping Toms. The government, along with its corporate partners, is watching everything you do, reading everything you write, listening to everything you say, and monitoring everything you spend. Omnipresent surveillance is paving the way for government programs that profile citizens, document their behavior and attempt to predict what they might do in the future, whether it’s what they might buy, what politician they might support, or what kinds of crimes they might commit. The impact of this far-reaching surveillance, according to Psychology Today, is “reduced trust, increased conformity, and even diminished civic participation.” As technology analyst Jillian C. York concludes, “Mass surveillance without due process—whether undertaken by the government of Bahrain, Russia, the US, or anywhere in between—threatens to stifle and smother that dissent, leaving in its wake a populace cowed by fear.”

  We’re being ravaged by a government of ruffians, rapists and killers. It’s not just the police shootings of unarmed citizens that are worrisome. It’s the SWAT team raids gone wrong—more than 80,000 annually—that are leaving innocent citizens wounded, children terrorized and family pets killed. It’s the roadside strip searches—in some cases, cavity searches of men and women alike carried out in full view of the public—in pursuit of drugs that are never found. It’s the potentially lethal—and unwarranted—use of so-called “nonlethal” weapons such as tasers on children for “mouthing off to a police officer. For trying to run from the principal’s office. For, at the age of 12, getting into a fight with another girl.”

  We’re being forced to surrender our freedoms—and those of our children—to a government of extortionists, money launderers and professional pirates. The American people have repeatedly been sold a bill of goods about how the government needs more money, more expansive powers, and more secrecy (secret courts, secret budgets, secret military campaigns, secret surveillance) in order to keep us safe. Under the guise of fighting its wars on terror, drugs and now domestic extremism, the government has spent billions in taxpayer dollars on endless wars that have not ended terrorism but merely sown the seeds of blowback, surveillance programs that have caught few terrorists while subjecting all Americans to a surveillance society, and militarized police that have done little to decrease crime while turning communities into warzones. Not surprisingly, the primary ones to benefit from these government exercises in legal money laundering have been the corporations, lobbyists and politicians who inflict them on a trusting public.

  We’re being held at gunpoint by a government of soldiers: a standing army. As if it weren’t enough that the American military empire stretches around the globe (and continues to leech much-needed resources from the American economy), the U.S. government is creating its own standing army of militarized police and teams of weaponized, federal bureaucrats. These civilian employees are being armed to the hilt with guns, ammunition and military-style equipment; authorized to make arrests; and trained in military tactics. Among the agencies being supplied with night-vision equipment, body armor, hollow-point bullets, shotguns, drones, assault rifles and LP gas cannons are the Smithsonian, U.S. Mint, Health and Human Services, IRS, FDA, Small Business Administration, Social Security Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Education Department, Energy Department, Bureau of Engraving and Printing and an assortment of public universities. There are now reportedly more bureaucratic (non-military) government civilians armed with high-tech, deadly weapons than U.S. Marines. That doesn’t even begin to touch on the government’s arsenal, the transformation of local police into extensions of the military, and the speed with which the nation could be locked down under martial law depending on the circumstances.

  Whatever else it may be—a danger, a menace, a threat—the U.S. government is certainly no friend to freedom.

  To our detriment, the criminal class that Mark Twain mockingly referred to as Congress has since expanded to include every government agency that feeds off the carcass of our once-constitutional republic.

  The government and its cohorts have conspired to ensure that the only real recourse the American people have to hold the government accountable or express their displeasure with the government is through voting, which is no real recourse at all.

  Consider it: the penalties for civil disobedience, whistleblowing and rebellion are severe. If you refuse to pay taxes for government programs you believe to be immoral or illegal, you will go to jail. If you attempt to overthrow the government—or any agency thereof—because you believe it has overstepped its reach, you will go to jail. If you attempt to blow the whistle on government misconduct, you will go to jail. In some circumstances, if you even attempt to approach your elected representative to voice your discontent, you can be arrested and jailed.

  You cannot have a republican form of government—nor a democratic one, for that matter—when the government views itself as superior to the citizenry, when it no longer operates for the benefit of the people, when the people are no longer able to peacefully reform their government, when government officials cease to act like public servants, when elected officials no longer represent the will of the people, when the government routinely violates the rights of the people and perpetrates more violence against the citizenry than the criminal class, when government spending is unaccountable and unaccounted for, when the judiciary act as courts of order rather than justice, and when the government is no longer bound by the laws of the Constitution.

  We no longer have a government “of the people, by the people and for the people.”

  Rather, what we have is a government of wolves.

  For too long, the American people have obeyed the government’s dictates, no matter now unjust.

  We have paid its taxes, penalties and fines, no matter how outrageous. We have tolerated its indignities, insults and abuses, no matter how egregious. We have turned a blind eye to its indiscretions and incompetence, no matter how imprudent. We have held our silence in the face of its lawlessness, licentiousness and corruption, no matter how illicit.

  How long we will continue to suffer depends on how much we’re willing to give up for the sake of freedom.

  For the moment, the American people seem content to sit back and watch the reality TV programming that passes for politics today. It’s the modern-day equivalent of bread and circuses, a carefully calibrated exercise in how to manipulate, polarize, propagandize and control a population.

  As French philosopher Etienne de La Boétie observed half a millennium ago:

  “Plays, farces, spectacles, gladiators, strange beasts, medals, pictures, and other such opiates, these were for ancient peoples the bait toward slavery, the price of their liberty, the instruments of tyranny. By these practices and enticements the ancient dictators so successfully lulled their subjects under the yoke, that the stupefied peoples, fascinated by the pastimes and vain pleasures flashed before their eyes, learned subservience as naively, but not so creditably, as little children learn to read by looking at bright picture books.”

  The bait towards slavery. The price of liberty. The instruments of tyranny.

  Yes, that sounds about right.

  As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, “We the people” have learned only too well how to be slaves.

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

• Why Hypersonic Weapons Change Everything
  Why Hypersonic Weapons Change Everything

  Authored by Alex Krainer via TrendCompass,

  When it comes to all matters military, I have been following a handful of analysts among whom Croatian Admiral Davorin Domazet (retired) emerged as perhaps my favorite. He has deep and detailed command of technical matters (like Andreiy Martyanov he insists that you can’t prevail in modern warfare without deep knowledge of of advanced mathematics and probability). More importantly, he has perhaps the clearest understanding of the broad historical context of today’s clash between Russia and the western powers.

  Unfortunately, Admiral Domazet does not give many interviews and none in English, but I thought that his last one was important enough to share more broadly in this article.

  

  If you happen to speak Croatian/Serbian languages, you can find the interview, published on 17 March 2023 at this link. It runs over 2 hours.

  The context is everything

  Domazet is the only military analyst that I know of, who takes into account the history of western financial oligarchy, their Venetian roots, migration to Amsterdam where they formed the Dutch Empire, and subsequent move to London which, to this day remains the ideological and spiritual headquarters of the undead British Empire.

  He has correctly labelled humanity’s enemy as the “western occult oligarchy,” and has even called the war in Ukraine as the clash between Christ and anti-Christ, underlining that the anti-Christ is in the west. Mind you Croatia is a NATO member state and is, like Poland, a catholic Slavic nation, sharing even some of its cultural Russophobia (though it may not be quite as rabid in Croatia as it is in Poland).

  About Russia’s hypersonic weapons

  However, the part of Domazet’s last interview that I found particularly worth sharing wass what he laid out about Russia’s hypersonic weapons.

  It was in 2018 that Vladimir Putin took the stage to present Russia’s new hypersonic weapons. The term “hypersonic” refers to missiles that fly at speeds of 5 mach and higher. At the time, many in the west dismissed Putin’s claims and thought it was a bluff. We now know that he wasn’t bluffing. Russia is the only country in the world that has deployment-ready hypersonic missiles – not one but three types: Zircons, Kinzhals and Avantguards. 

  Domazet explained why these weapons are radical game changers in warfare. Namely, in World War 1, tanks were the game changing military technology; since World War 2, it’s been the air-force. Aircraft carrier strike groups have been an irresistible force wherever they travelled, dominating the seas ever since. But hypersonic precision missiles have rendered that force obsolete overnight.

  The main military front in today’s global conflict, according to Domazet, are the Anti-Ballistic (ABM) batteries which the US has set up on the Poland-Romania axis, and the Russians on the North Pole-Kaliningrad-Crimea-Syria axis. These are defensive systems, conceived to intercept incoming nuclear missiles. However, today’s ABM systems are only effective against missiles flying at speeds up to mach 3.5 (3.5 x the speed of sound).

  The Kinzhal turns mighty aircraft carrier strike groups into sitting ducks

  Russia’s new Kinzhal missile flies at speeds of mach 12 to mach 15 and nothing in western defensive arsenals can stop its strike. During the war in Ukraine, Russia a stunning demonstration of its power. The first Kinzhal strike, delivered one month after the beginning of hostilities in Ukraine, was perhaps the most significant: Russian forces targeted a large weapons depot in Ukraine which had been built to withstand a nuclear strike. It was buried 170 meters (over 500 ft) underground and protected by several layers of armored concrete.

  The Kinzhal flies at altitudes of between 20 and 40 km, with a maximum range of 2,000 km. When above target, it dives perpendicularly and accelerates to 15 mach, gathering enormous kinetic energy in addition to its explosive payload. That first strike with a single Kinzhal missile destroyed Ukraine’s nuke-proof underground weapons depot. This was a message for the west. 

  Moscow calling: we can sink ALL your carriers

  The Kinzhal was developed with the express purpose of destroying aircraft carrier strike groups. If it could destroy a warehouse built to withstand a nuclear strike, it can cut through an aircraft carrier like a hot knife through butter.

  

  According to Admiral Domazet, neither the western powers nor China are anywhere near having weapons like that. He explained that the critical issue with hypersonic weapons are the extreme temperatures reached during hypersonic flights on the surface of missiles, which can cause the missiles to break apart mid-flight. Russia is the only nation that has developed special materials that enable the missiles to withstand this stress, so their flight can be controlled throughout its trajectory and delivered with pinpoint accuracy.

  Western intelligence estimated that Russia had some 50 Kinzhals at the start of the war in Ukraine, and thus far it has used only 9 of them. Last week, they fired six Kinzhals in a single salvo. That too, was a message. Here’s how Domazet explained it: United States have 11 aircraft carrier strike groups. Of these, fewer than half will be active at any one time (while others are in dock for maintenance, or in preparation). Firing six Kinzhals in one go is military-speak for, “we have the capability to sink ALL of your aircraft carriers in at once.”

  Russia will run out of ammunitions any minute now, (experts say)…

  Russia has the capacity to build about 200 of them per year and now has means of delivering them anywhere from aircraft, ships and submarines. In addition to destroying aircraft carriers, they can destroy NATOs ABM missile sites also. In a nutshell, Russia has – for now – won the arms race.

  It could take the western powers 10 years or longer to catch up and until then, the only way to avoid losing the war is to either concede defeat and accept Russia’s security demands, or to escalate the conflict to nuclear exchange.

  A conservative estimate suggests that at least a billion people would perish in such a conflict and nobody would win. Who would do such a thing? The idea of using nuclear weapons is, in fact, so repugnant that we can be assured that our leaders will never chose the path of escalation. Surely, nobody’s that evil, are they?

  Alex Krainer – @NakedHedgie is the creator of I-System Trend Following and publisher of daily TrendCompass reports. For US investors, we propose an inflation/recession resilient portfolio covering a basket of 30+ financial and commodities markets; in 2022, we significantly outperformed the S&P 500 as well as the 60/40 death trap investment model. For more information, you can drop me a comment or an email to xela.reniark@gmail.com

  Alex Krainer’s TrendCompass is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 23:00

• "Totally Exculpatory": Purported Cohen Letter To FEC Could Hobble Manhattan DA's Trump Case
  “Totally Exculpatory”: Purported Cohen Letter To FEC Could Hobble Manhattan DA’s Trump Case

  A letter purported to be from Michael Cohen’s attorney says that Cohen acted alone when he paid Stormy Daniels in 2016 – a revelation which could undercut Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s case against Donald Trump.

  

  “In a private transaction in 2016, before the U.S. presidential election, Mr. Cohen used his own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford [Stormy Daniels],” reads the 2018 letter from Cohen attorney Stephen Ryan to the Federal Election Commission, which asserts that Trump was not involved in the hush payment to the former porn star.

  🚨BREAKING: New Bombshell Document DESTROYS Manhattan DA’s Case Against Trump

  2018 Letter from Michael Cohen’s lawyer to the FEC declares Cohen used his own personal funds to pay Stormy Daniels. Trump Camp. NOT party to transaction, did NOT reimburse Cohen for payment. It’s OVER pic.twitter.com/QacsjSbZAz

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 22, 2023

  “Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed Mr. Cohen for the payment directly or indirectly.”

  Trump posted the letter on Truth Social on Wednesday evening, saying “Wow, look what was just found—A Letter from Cohen’s Lawyer to the Federal Election Commission,” adding “This is totally exculpatory, and must end the Manhattan District Attorney’s Witch Hunt, immediately.“

  “Cohen admits that he did it himself. The D.A. should get on with prosecuting violent criminals, so people can walk down the sidewalks of New York without being murdered!”

  As Just the News notes,

  If authentic, the document could indeed be exculpatory for Trump. A potential charge legal experts have floated hinges on Trump falsifying his business records to hide a potential campaign finance violation.

  Trump’s alleged falsification stems from his listing of a payment to Cohen as a legal fee, which some have suggested was a reimbursement for Cohen’s payment to Daniels. Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, denies the record’s inaccuracy and has contended that “[t]he payments were made to a lawyer, not to Stormy Daniels. The payments were made to Donald Trump’s lawyer, which would be considered legal fees.”

  In short:

  pic.twitter.com/vuOaMX2dR8

  — The Right To Bear Memes (@grandoldmemes) March 22, 2023

   

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 22:55

• Coronal Hole '30 Times Earth's Size' Hurls Solar Plasma Towards Earth
  Coronal Hole ’30 Times Earth’s Size’ Hurls Solar Plasma Towards Earth

  NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory released a photo showing a massive coronal hole forming in the sun’s atmosphere, ejecting a stream of fast-moving solar winds toward Earth. 

  “The current coronal hole, the big one right now, is about 300,000 to 400,000 kilometers across,” Alex Young, the associate director for science at NASA Goddard’s Heliophysics Science Division, told Bussiness Insider. He said, “that’s about 20-30 Earths lined up back-to-back.” 

  

  Young said coronal holes unleash solar winds that can travel between 500-800 km per second. He explained the coronal mass ejection would reach Earth by Friday. 

  “We will probably start seeing the effects of the high-speed wind on March 24.

  “When the high-speed wind reaches Earth, the particles and the magnetic field it carries will interact with Earth’s magnetic field, effectively rattling it or like ringing a bell,” he said. 

  Space Weather website SolarHam said when the solar winds hit Earth, it will produce a moderate (G2) geomagnetic storm. 

  

  Here’s a visual of the CME’s impacts on modern society. 

  

  In addition to this week’s geomagnetic storm risk, Sunspot Cycle 25 has already started and is anticipated to be active. This could spell trouble for the digital economy, as disruptions caused by solar flares may lead to economic harm.

  Last year, Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink lost 40 satellites after a geomagnetic storm knocked them out of orbit. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 22:40

• A Headline Few Saw Coming: "Barney Frank Was Right About Signature Bank"
  A Headline Few Saw Coming: “Barney Frank Was Right About Signature Bank”

  Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

  The FDIC all but confirms Signature was closed to send a message about crypto…

  

  Barney Frank Was Right About Signature Bank

  The Wall Street Journal comments Barney Frank Was Right About Signature Bank

  We never thought we’d write that headline. But on Sunday the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced that New York Community Bancorp’s Flagstar Bank will assume all of Signature Bank’s cash deposits except for those of crypto companies. This confirms Mr. Frank’s suspicions—and ours—that Signature’s seizure was motivated by regulators’ hostility toward crypto.

  Mr. Frank alleged last week that regulators seized Signature, whose board he served on, “to send a message to get people away from crypto.” 

  CoinDesk reported last week that crypto firms were looking for bank accounts off-shore such as at FV Bank in Puerto Rico, Jewel Bank in Bermuda, and Tether and FTX-tied Deltec in the Bahamas. Moving dollar deposits of U.S. crypto companies and their customers offshore will make them less safe and potentially more vulnerable to money laundering.

  In other words, regulators are undermining their ostensible goals. As usual, financial regulators shoot first, and make others pay later.

  Everything But Crypto

  PYMNTS reports Everything But the Crypto: Flagstar Scoops Up Failed Signature Bank

  While the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) denied reports that any buyer of Signature Bank would need to divest its crypto business, the buyer, New York Community Bancorp-owned Flagstar Bank, did anyway.

  This, as the FDIC noted in a press release announcing the sale, that Flagstar Bank’s bid for Signature Bank did not include around $4 billion of deposits tied to the failed institution’s digital banking business.

  “The FDIC will provide these deposits directly to customers whose accounts are associated with the digital banking business,” the agency said in a Sunday (March 19) announcement.

  The shuttering of both Silvergate Bank, which voluntarily liquidated, and Signature Bank, which failed, has made it increasingly difficult for crypto platforms and investors to transfer traditional currencies by closing two critical banking on-ramps for the digital asset industry. 

  FDIC Statement 

  Depositors of Signature Bridge Bank, N.A., other than cash depositors related to the digital-asset banking businesses, will automatically become depositors of the assuming institution. All deposits assumed by Flagstar Bank, N.A., will continue to be insured by the FDIC up to the insurance limit. 

  Flagstar Bank’s bid did not include approximately $4 billion of deposits related to the former Signature Bank’s digital-assets banking business. The FDIC will provide these deposits directly to customers whose accounts are associated with the digital-asset banking businesses. Questions may be directed to (866) 744-5463.

  The FDIC estimates the cost of the failure of Signature Bank to its Deposit Insurance Fund to be approximately $2.5 billion. The exact cost will be determined when the FDIC terminates the receivership.

  FDIC Statement Translated

  The FDI made a Statement on Signature Bank. Here is my translation: 

  To punish crypto, we are willing to lose $2.5 billion, even though our solution will require offshore funding, which in turn will make the deposits less safe and more vulnerable to money laundering.

  Zero Reserve Banking

  Meanwhile, please note Fed Policy: It’s Not Fractional Reserve Banking, It’s ZERO Reserve Banking

  If you think I am joking, I am not. 

  We are in a banking crisis precisely because of Fed actions coupled with zero reserve requirements on deposits.

  *  *  *

  Please Subscribe to MishTalk Email Alerts.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 22:20

• China Backs Russia's Draft UN Resolution On Nord Stream Probe
  China Backs Russia’s Draft UN Resolution On Nord Stream Probe

  China is backing Russian efforts to get to the bottom of the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage attacks, with state-run Xinhua on Wednesday announcing the foreign ministry’s support for a UN Security Council (UNSC) draft resolution.

  Russia has gotten more vocal about alleging that Washington was behind it, following the publication of legendary journalist Seymour Hersh’s report which detailed a CIA and US Navy covert op in coordination with Norway’s intelligence services. 

  

  Citing a foreign ministry spokesperson, Xinhua reported “Wang made the remarks at a regular press briefing in response to a media query on Russia’s draft resolution at the UNSC in February calling for an international independent investigation commission on the gas pipeline incident.”

  “Russia is said to have started the silence procedure on the draft, but the United States and some other Western members of the UNSC broke silence and objected to such a commission.”

  Moscow and Beijing have taken Washington’s resistance to its resolution as a sign of guilt, while also suggesting Western allies are obfuscating: 

  Wang said China has also noticed the attitude of some Western members of the UNSC and hopes they will truly abandon geopolitical selfish interest, earnestly fulfill the obligations and responsibilities of UNSC members, and constructively participate in the consultations of the draft to make positive efforts for an early consensus on the resolution. 

  The Kremlin has also lately highlighted that the latest mainstream media narrative out of the West is meant to distract and divert the spotlight off Washington.

  The theory that’s gained prominence is that rogue Ukrainian partisans blew up the natural gas pipelines on September 26. However, Russian officials have laughed this off, stressing that the bombing would have been of such difficulty as to require the resources of a government and military/intelligence apparatus. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 22:00

• Detransitioned Teen Girl Sues Kaiser Permanente Over Gender Transition Gone Wrong
  Detransitioned Teen Girl Sues Kaiser Permanente Over Gender Transition Gone Wrong

  Authored by Elizabeth Dowell via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  A detransitioned teen is suing Kaiser Permanente hospital because doctors removed her breasts during her transgender procedure.

  

  Layla Jane is an 18-year-old woman who began to identify as transgender at age 11. Jane, at the time, wanted to transition to a male. Initially, doctors at Kaiser denied her any transition hormones, saying she could take them after turning 16. However, doctors changed their minds, approved her request, and performed a double mastectomy when she was 13.

  Jane wrote on Twitter, “Mind boggling to me that a doctor signed off on a double mastectomy for me before I took a sex ed course. I barely started 8th grade, I was 13.”

  

  In the letter of intent to sue (pdf), her attorneys at LiMandri and Jonna LLP accused the doctors of approving the breast-removal surgery “without performing an adequate evaluation and treatment of Layla’s extensive mental health co-morbidities.”

  According to the letter, Jane suffers from anxiety, depression, pubertal struggles, body dysmorphia, and serious self-image concerns.

  “These doctors also pushed Layla and her parents down this transition path engaging in intentional, malicious, and oppressive concealment of important information and false representations,” the letter states.

  The lawsuit demands unspecified amounts of pay for damages related to her health issues during her transition period from ages 12 to 17. The case listed Jane as suffering from permanent, irreversible mutilation, an induced state of endocrine disease, an increased risk of being infertile, and the fact that she would never be able to breastfeed a child.

  During an appearance on Fox News with her attorney, Harmeet Dhillon, Jane said, “I don’t think I’m better off for the experience, and I think transition just completely added fuel to the fire that was my pre-existing conditions.”

  In a statement to DailyMail, Kaiser said that its doctors “practice compassionate, evidence-based medicine founded on sound research and best medical practices.”

  “When adolescent patients, with parental support, seek gender-affirming care, the patient’s care team carefully evaluates their treatment options,” Kaiser spokesman Marc Brown said. “The care decisions always rest with the patient and their parents, and, in every case, we respect the patients and their families’ informed decisions about their personal health.”

  The Epoch Times reached out to Kaiser for comment.

  Chloe Cole, 18, is another young woman who detransitioned and filed a lawsuit against the hospital giant.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 21:40

• "We Are Headed For Another Train Wreck": Bill Ackman Blames Janet Yellen For Restarting The Bank Run
  “We Are Headed For Another Train Wreck”: Bill Ackman Blames Janet Yellen For Restarting The Bank Run

  Yesterday morning we joked that every time Janet Yellen opens her mouth, stocks dump.

  Yellen opens mouth and stocks dump

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 21, 2023

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

  Well, it wasn’t a joke, and as we repeatedly noted today, while Jerome Powell was busting his ass to prevent a violent market reaction – in either direction – to his “most important Fed decision and presser of 2023”, the Treasury Secretary, with all the grace of a senile 76-year-old elephant in a China market, uttered the phrase…

  • YELLEN: NOT CONSIDERING BROAD INCREASE IN DEPOSIT INSURANCE

  … and the rest was silence… or rather selling.

  

  Commenting on our chart, Bloomberg’s Mark Cudmore noted it was Yellen who was “to blame for the stock slump”, pointing out that “the pessimistic turn in US stocks began within a minute of Janet Yellen starting to speak.”

  The S&P 500 rose almost 1% in the first 47 minutes after the Fed decision. Powell wasn’t the problem either: the index was 0.6% higher in the first 17 minutes after his press conference started.

  Why am I picking that exact timing of 2:47pm NY time? Because that is the minute Yellen started speaking at the Senate panel hearing. The high for the S&P 500 was 2:48pm NY time and it fell more than 2.5% over the subsequent 72 minutes. Good effort.

  Picking up on this, Bloomberg’s Mark Cranfield writes that banking stocks globally are set to underperform for longer after Janet Yellen pushed back against giving deposit insurance without working with lawmakers. He adds that “to an aggressive trader this sounds like an invitation to keep shorting bank stocks — at least until the tone changes into broader support and is less focused on specific bank situations.” Earlier, we addressed that too:

  *YELLEN: NOT CONSIDERING BROAD INCREASE IN DEPOSIT INSURANCE

  At least until spoos drop below 4K again

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 22, 2023

  Looking ahead, Cranfield warns that US financials are likely to be the most vulnerable as they are the epicenter of the debate. Although European or Asian banking names may outperform US peers, that won’t be much consolation for investors as most financial sector indexes may be on a downward path.

  The KBW bank index has tumbled from its highs seen in early February, but still has a way to go before it reaches the pandemic-nadir in 2020. Traders smell an opening for a big trade and that will fuel more downside. Probably until Yellen blinks.

  And if Bill Ackman is right, she will be doing a whole lot of blinking in days if not hours.

  

  While we generally make fun of Ackman’s self-serving hot takes on twitter, today he was right when he accused Yellen of effectively restarting the small bank depositor run which according to JPMorgan has already seen $1.1 trillion in assets withdrawn from “vulnerable” banks. This is what Ackman tweeted:

  Yesterday, @SecYellen  made reassuring comments that led the market and depositors to believe that all deposits were now implicitly guaranteed. That coupled with a leak suggesting that @USTreasury, @FDICgov and @SecYellen  were looking for a way to guarantee all deposits reassured the banking sector and depositors.

  This afternoon, @SecYellen walked back yesterday’s implicit support for small banks and depositors, while making it explicit that systemwide deposit guarantees were not being considered.

  We have gone from implicit support for depositors to @SecYellen explicit statement today that no guarantee is being considered with rates now being raised to 5%. 5% is a threshold that makes bank deposits that much less attractive. I would be surprised if deposit outflows don’t accelerate effective immediately.

  Ackman concluded by repeating his ask: a comprehensive deposit guarantee on America’s $18 trillion in assets…

  A temporary systemwide deposit guarantee is needed to stop the bleeding. The longer the uncertainty continues, the more permanent the damage is to the smaller banks, and the more difficult it will be to bring their customers back.

  … but as we noted previously pointing out, you know, the math…

  Math: $18 trillion in deposits, $125 billion in the deposit insurance fund. https://t.co/Zsu2RsJk41 pic.twitter.com/nb3Ypnt1gd

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 21, 2023

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

  … absent bipartisan Congressional intervention – which is very much unlikely until the bank crisis gets much, much worse – this won’t happen and instead the Fed will continue putting out bank fire after bank fire – even as it keeps hiking to overcompensate for its “transitory inflation” idiocy from 2021, until the entire system burns down, something which Ackman’s follow-up tweet was also right about:

  Consider recent events impact on the long-term cost of equity capital for non-systemically important banks where you can wake up one day as a shareholder or bondholder and your investment instantly goes to zero. When combined with the higher cost of debt and deposits due to rising rates, consider what the impact will be on lending rates and our economy.

  The longer this banking crisis is allowed to continue, the greater the damage to smaller banks and their ability to access low-cost capital.

  Trust and confidence are earned over many years, but can be wiped out in a few days. I fear we are heading for another a train wreck. Hopefully, our regulators will get this right.

  Narrator: no, they won’t.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 21:20

• How Fauci's Wife Used NIH Position To Backstop Her Husband’s Pandemic Health Directives
  How Fauci’s Wife Used NIH Position To Backstop Her Husband’s Pandemic Health Directives

  Authored by Adam Andrzejewski via OpenTheBooks,

  It’s the Washington, D.C. power couple that cost taxpayers nearly $1 million per year.

  

  While Dr. Anthony Fauci gave the nation its pandemic public policy prescriptions, his wife, Dr. Christine Grady, the Chief Bioethicist at Fauci’s employer, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provided the moral framework.

  The Faucis are important to the center-left, because they represent the pinnacle moment of the administrative state – top-down public policy run by an elite group of government scientists.

  Conversely, to the center-right, the Faucis represent “the fatal conceit of the elites.” As Noble Laureate economist Friedrich Hayek theorized, the elites are no match for billions of free people acting in their own best interests.

  MEET THE FAUCIS

  While Tony Fauci was the top paid federal bureaucrat and out-earned the U.S. President at $480,654 per year, Christine Grady, as the chief bioethicist at NIH out-earned the U.S. Vice President ($243,749). When adding 35-percent in benefits, the couple cost taxpayers an estimated nearly $1 million per year.

  

  It’s difficult to know where Anthony Fauci ends and Christine Grady begins. Here’s how Tony Fauci described Grady’s influence on his public policy decisions:

  “I’ve benefited greatly from this partnership of overlapping interest and common interest. So, a lot of the things that I do with regard to the development of vaccines, the development of therapies, being involved with outbreaks and pandemics, have ethical overtones to them. I can say that I am very blessed to be living with someone who is very likely, most people think, one of the most outstanding ethicists in the world. To have her in the house — you know, as a consultant on ethical issues—is pretty advantageous.”

  So, the Faucis lived a conflict of interest at the breakfast table, the office, and back home around the dinner table. However, NIH has never acknowledged this.

  In fact, NIH forced our organization to file two federal lawsuits with the public-interest law firm Judicial Watch as our lawyers to finally bring transparency to the Fauci/Grady job descriptions, conflict of interest documents, financial and ethics disclosures, contracts, and other documents.

  Then, NIH slow-walked thousands of pages of production. Yet, no nepotism waivers were produced, no acknowledgement of conflicting interests, and no records documenting violations of federal ethics policy.

  

  While Grady’s work during the pandemic was described as “invaluable” by then-NIH director Francis Collins, the general public knows little about her day-to-day responsibilities. 

  An open records request for Grady’s job description reveals she, too, is meant to use her position to influence policy.

  

  Advocating Lockdowns

  Dr. Fauci knew that his “draconian policies” on social isolation and economic lockdowns would have “collateral negative consequences,” and admitted Christine Grady was a driving force behind his hardline approach.

  In a November 2021 interview with the couple, Fauci said that he gained strength from his wife’s support saying, “background and her experience in really core ethical principles [helped] me to really feel much more comfortable in what I was saying.”

  In the interview, Christine Grady described how she mind-mapped national policy with her husband:

  “But we’ve had conversations about the sort of consequences of telling people to stay home and what it would do for the economy. And there were a lot of people in those days that, and still who said, it’s ruining the economy. It’s much more important to just keep things going and not worry about transmitting virus…I said, that one of the messages should be, how many lives are you willing to sacrifice? And that message would be pretty stark and pretty brutal, but that’s really what the trade-off was…And so we’ve had that kind of conversation over dinner more than once, actually.”

  Fauci replied that these conversations “sharpened [his] resolve” to move forward with lockdown policies.

  Social isolation was one of the individual sacrifices Grady and Fauci thought were necessary to make on behalf of “public health.”

  Vaccine Development & Public Safety

  Like her husband, Grady exclusively focused her attention and remarks on vaccine development rather than other potential ways to treat and combat the spread of COVID-19.

  One major paper she co-authored in 2020 advocated for vaccines to be distributed under emergency use authorization (EUA), which is how the federal government ultimately proceeded.

  In this paper, Grady’s advocacy for vaccines came with a troubling acknowledgement:

   “even with mandated safety monitoring after EUA distribution, it would be difficult or impossible to ascertain vaccine-induced adverse events.”

  However, during most of her public presentations, she asserted that vaccines were developed in a fast, but “safe and rigorous” manner. Just one of many examples can be found here.

  By November 2021, she said the risk of unknown long-term effects were “not zero” but that “there is a balance between benefiting the public health now versus waiting for all the information we might get.”

  Despite these admissions, Grady often said she was “disturbed” by vaccine hesitancy, implying that safety concerns were somehow unreasonable.

  Vaccine Mandates

  Grady’s stance on vaccine mandates changed radically throughout the pandemic.

  In June 2020, a presentation she gave suggested “immunity passports” could cause “discrimination without much overall gain.” A passport system would allow businesses to limit or deny access to those who remained unvaccinated.

  Six months later, in January 2021, Grady said, “I do believe that healthcare providers, like everyone else, should have the choice” whether to take the vaccine or not.

  But by early October 2021, Grady had decided the choice facing health care workers was a drastically different one: whether to get the vaccine or lose their jobs.

  Later that month, she also flipped her position on vaccine passports. What once was a potential source of discrimination was recast as a way to access “social benefits” like restaurants and movie theaters.

  It’s a disturbing way to describe Americans free association of movement.   

  Grady went on to co-author a March 2022 report approving of social ostracization for the vaccine-hesitant and encouraging employers to pressure their workers:

  “While some employers might understandably feel hesitant to pressure employees to get vaccinated, our analysis suggests that it is often ethically acceptable to inform, encourage, strongly encourage, incentivize, and subtly pressure unvaccinated people to benefit them, the organization, and other employees.”

  In fewer than two years, Grady had completely altered her assessment of vaccine mandates and widespread restrictions on the behavior of unvaccinated Americans. Gone were concerns about discrimination and freedom of choice.

  As Dr. Fauci pushed and pressured the public to get vaccinated for the sake of their neighbors and family members, Grady began considering it ethical to fire workers who did not comply.

  Likewise, it became a “social benefit” to get a vaccine passport that would allow people to avoid government restrictions on their free movements.

  

  Mask Mandates

  While her husband advocated masking and double masking—even when “fully vaccinated”—Dr. Grady consistently backed his position.

  In July 2020, during an InStyle interview, Grady answered questions about masking:

  Interviewer: Let me ask you, Chris, as a bioethicist, what do you make of this moment we’re in, when even a mask has become more of a divisive issue?

  Grady: Well, I would say that masks shouldn’t be divisive. It’s a relatively easy way to protect one’s self and others. And so for public health reasons, I think everybody should do it. From an ethical perspective there is always this tension between what you ask people to do that feels like a restriction of their liberty and what is required for public health. And in this case, it seems like a slam dunk. It’s not restricting liberty much, and it’s very helpful for public health.

  Grady was consistent and in November 2021 spoke to the ethical balancing test of public safety versus individual freedom and never viewed mask wearing to be much of an infringement on individual rights:

  “There’s a classic tension between public health, and individual interests and freedoms. Where there seems to be this conflict to the things that we do to protect the public health, and to protect the population for the common good. Sometimes they are perceived to be, and sometimes they do in small ways, infringe on people’s freedoms. There are principles of public health ethics that help you sort out the kinds of interventions that we should use: Things that are effective, that are proportional, where the benefits outweigh the risks that are necessary, that are least infringement possible, that are transparent, that we can publicly justify.

  …What’s striking to me is that, the kinds of burdens that we’ve asked people to undertake, like putting on a mask, don’t really infringe on one’s freedoms very much. They’re low burden and they have an effect. They do protect the person who’s wearing the mask, as well as the people that are around them.”

  A recent credible study on mask wearing during the pandemic argued there is no clear impact of masking on Covid-19 infection rates.

  Patients Dying in Isolation

  During the pandemic, Grady revealed a default preference for government control over individual rights and responsibilities. Grady was an early proponent of one of the most heinous pandemic polices: patients dying in isolation.

  For example, while uncritically accepting dying in isolation as a fact of the pandemic, Grady’s primary solution was to expand funding for health care workers to have access to therapy and other resources to heal from their “moral distress.”

  As early as April 2020 Grady said:  

  “Because of visiting policies and fear of contagion sometimes when somebody is really sick their family cannot visit them, they can’t see them…the stress and the sadness and the isolation on families is and is going to be great.” 

  In a November 2020 NIH presentation she called these “lonely” deaths “understandable:”  

  “It’s a lonely kind of death, many institutions, understandably have visitor policies which either restrict the number of visitors to one or zero so sometimes people are dying without having their family nearby and that puts an additional burden on the healthcare staff.” 

  In one co-authored paper urging healthcare workers to “temper these potentially dehumanizing scenarios with imaginative solutions that do not sacrifice compassion and equal respect on the altars of safety and efficiency.” 

  She interrogates the tension between individual freedom and community safety in a book published April 26, 2022, as a co-author proposing a radical “solidarity model” for ethics in healthcare, stating that rather than emphasizing a respect for individuals to make decisions in their own interest:  

  “We should recognize that there are times when solidarity takes precedence over individual liberties, and broadening our concept of “respect for persons” means uniting as a profession to protect all those who expect to receive care from nurses in whatever healthcare setting they find themselves.” 

  She co-edited a section in the same book arguing this extends to dying in insolation: 

  “The solidarity model may apply to restricted family visitation, which generated moral distress for nurses, particularly when patients died without loved ones present…”

  CONCLUSION – GRADY AND THE NEXT PANDEMIC

  As demonstrated by her own words, Grady’s record evinces an understanding of ethics that begs fundamental moral questions, regularly subordinates individuals beneath an amorphous “public health,” and relies on subtle but unacknowledged shifts to retain an alleged moral high ground.

  While some of her observations early in the pandemic did show an interest in providing nuance to policymaking—questioning the usefulness of immunity passports and highlighting issues with long-term vaccine effects under a EUA rollout—this quickly gave way to conformity to broader political zeitgeist, painting pushback as ignorant, uncaring, and simply wrong.

  By 2021 her public statements never suggested a limit to sacrifices the individual should ethically make on behalf of “public health,” from masking, to taking vaccines, to foregoing family gatherings even at the point of one’s own death.

  Both Fauci and Grady made clear that they wish for ethicists like Grady to have more power and more influence over political decision-making.

  As Grady remains the chief NIH bioethicist, Americans should ponder: does Grady’s philosophy advance what is “fair” and “just” in public health policy? What does her continued leadership mean for the future of American policy.

  Taxpayers compensate Grady generously, and they’re owed full transparency about her role, responsibilities and influence – during the pandemic and into the future.

  Note: We reached out to Dr. Christine Grady and NIH for comment. While acknowledging our requests, no statement or comment was received before publication.

  ADDITIONAL READING

  Dr. Anthony Fauci: The Highest Paid Employee In The Entire U.S. Federal Government Published January 21, 2021 | Forbes

  Dr. Anthony Fauci’s Little Known Biodefense Work. It’s How He Became The Highest Paid Federal Employee. Published October 20, 2021 | Forbes

  No, Fauci’s Records Aren’t Available. Why Won’t NIH Immediately Release Them? Published January 12, 2022 | Forbes

  Breaking: Fauci’s Net Worth Soared To $12.6 Million During The Pandemic – Up $5 Million (2019-2021). Published September 28, 2022 | OpenTheBooks.Substack.com

  HISTORIC RELEASE: Dr. Anthony Fauci’s Official Work Calendar (November 2019 – March 2020) | Published October 20, 2022 | OpenTheBooks.Substack.com

  ABOUT US

  OpenTheBooks.com – We believe transparency is transformational. Using forensic auditing and open records, we hold government accountable.

  In the years 2021 and 2022, we filed 100,000+ FOIA requests and successfully captured $19 trillion government expenditures: nearly all federal spending; 50 state checkbooks; and 25 million public employee salary and pension records from 50,000 public bodies across America.

  Our works have been featured at the BBC, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, C-SPAN, Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, NBC News, FOX News, Forbes, National Public Radio (NPR), Sinclair Broadcast Group, & many others.

  Our organization accepts no government funding and was founded by CEO Adam Andrzejewski. Our federal oversight work was cited twice in the President’s Budget To Congress FY2021. Andrzejewski’s presentation, The Depth of the Swamp, at the Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar 2020 in Naples, Florida posted on YouTube received 3.8+ million views.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 21:00

• Cashless Society: Panera Bread Debuts "Frictionless" Palm Payment System
  Cashless Society: Panera Bread Debuts “Frictionless” Palm Payment System

  Amazon’s palm-reading payment technology was first introduced at numerous Whole Foods locations in California, enabling customers to pay for their groceries by scanning their palms at checkout terminals rather than using cash or a card. Now Panera Bread is experimenting with Amazon’s cashless payment system as the war on cash marches on. 

  On Wednesday, Panera Bread announced plans to roll out a “contactless payment method” to several stores with additional locations in the coming months. The bakery-cafe chain has over 2,000 locations, and its loyalty program has 52 million members. 

  

  “Panera is the first national restaurant company to use Amazon One as both a way for guests to pay and access their loyalty account with their palm,” the company said. 

  “Our philosophy has been centered around leveraging best-in-class technology to create a better Panera experience and using that to deepen our relationship with our loyal guests. Introducing Amazon One, as a frictionless, personalized, and convenient service, is another way we’re redefining the loyalty experience,” Niren Chaudhary, CEO of Panera Bread and Panera Brands, stated.

  At the moment, dozens of Whole Foods locations and Amazon Go stores have integrated Amazon One contactless payment. 

  

  By summer, Panera Bread might have at least two dozen stores equipped with Amazon’s contactless payment system, as reported by Panera’s Chief Digital Officer George Hanson in an interview with CNBC.

  “We think the payment plus loyalty identification is the secret sauce that can unlock a really personalized, warm and efficient experience for our guests in our cafes,” Hanson said. 

  The adoption of contactless payment systems by corporate giants like Amazon and Panera Bread, both known for their massive loyalty programs, seems to signal a shift towards a cashless society.

  Recall the pivot toward a cashless society was clear as day. Perhaps the coin shortage during the pandemic was a pilot test. And anyone who dared mention a looming cashless society was deemed a ‘conspiracy theorist.’ 

  Just remember who is also shaping the world and influencing corporations and politicians away from a cash economy:

  Dethroning cash as king. How digital payments are enabling a shift away from the cash economy https://t.co/FUYE2KHVfn @WEFUpLink pic.twitter.com/QpRmA61JXz

  — World Economic Forum (@wef) February 22, 2022

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  … and the rollout of contactless payment comes just before the Federal Reserve is set to activate its digital dollar in July. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 20:40

• Yellen Pulls Rug Out From Powell's Dovish Promises: Gold Gains As Banks Bust
  Yellen Pulls Rug Out From Powell’s Dovish Promises: Gold Gains As Banks Bust

  Tl; dr: “Damn it, Janet!”

  

  Bill Ackman was pissed at Janet’s apparent flip-flop

  Yesterday, @SecYellen made reassuring comments that led the market and depositors to believe that all deposits were now implicitly guaranteed. That coupled with a leak suggesting that @USTreasury, @FDICgov and @SecYellen were looking for a way to guarantee all deposits reassured… https://t.co/GqaP5LYpza

  — Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) March 22, 2023

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

  Yesterday, @SecYellen made reassuring comments that led the market and depositors to believe that all deposits were now implicitly guaranteed. That coupled with a leak suggesting that @USTreasury, @FDICgov and @SecYellen were looking for a way to guarantee all deposits reassured the banking sector and depositors. 

  This afternoon, @SecYellen walked back yesterday’s implicit support for small banks and depositors, while making it explicit that systemwide deposit guarantees were not being considered. 

  We have gone from implicit support for depositors to @SecYellen explicit statement today that no guarantee is being considered with rates now being raised to 5%.

  5% is a threshold that makes bank deposits that much less attractive. I would be surprised if deposit outflows don’t accelerate effective immediately. 

  A temporary systemwide deposit guarantee is needed to stop the bleeding.

  The longer the uncertainty continues, the more permanent the damage is to the smaller banks, and the more difficult it will be to bring their customers back.

  …and so was the stock market.

  *  *  *

  Nothing sums up the ‘trapped’ Fed better than today’s price action…

  • GME soaring: a legacy of record QE and helicopter money

  • PACW crashing: a legacy of the fastest rate-hikes since Volcker

  

  Fed Chair Powell hiked rates by 25bps and maintained QT (as expected), offering a dovish tilt in the statement and his comments.

  But, he summed it all up succinctly early in his press conference: “It will be bumpy” describing the process of getting inflation back down, adding that it “has a long way to go.”

  

  But as usual, all the major price action took place as Powell spoke.

  As Guy LeBas (@lebas_janney2m) commented:

  “The choice to start the presser with a discussion of the banking system has a clear policy message: the mini-banking crisis is the most important thing in the Fed’s thinking right now. Second is the focus on the labor markets, which policymakers still seem to view as too tight.”

  Powell claimed that “deposit flows in the banking system have stabilized”, noting their strong actions, but he fails to comment on the massive rotation likely below the surface from small-banks to big-banks (since deposit flows OUT of the banking system may have stabilized but we suspect the rotation hasn’t).

  Someone forgot to tell banking system investors…

  

  Powell says FOMC considered a pause, but hike was supported by “strong consensus”.

  Powell dismissed market’s expectations: “Rate cuts are not in our base case.”

  Powell said some members recognized the impact of the financial system crisis on credit tightening – which could do the job of some rate-hikes.

  This prompted a ramp in stocks (and bonds) as the market smells fewer rate-hikes if the credit market tightens itself.

  We have our own opinion on that relative to the impact on the consumer…

  If only enough banks crash we can finally stop pushing your credit card APRs to 30% https://t.co/rHn8akXs2P

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 22, 2023

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  Not exactly something stocks should get excited about.

  Bloomberg’s model suggests Powell’s opening remarks from the post-meeting press conference were much more dovish than the recent trend, though still slightly hawkish, according to Ira Jersey. This move was driven mostly by more dovish statements, but also less hawkish ones, he said.

  “The indicator is quite close to neutral, suggesting the possibility of a pause has increased meaningfully at the May meeting compared with the recent past.”

  

  Then Janet struck:

  

  *YELLEN: NOT CONSIDERING BROAD INCREASE IN DEPOSIT INSURANCE

  It’s amazing how she does it every single day now

  YELLEN: NOT CONSIDERING BROAD INCREASE IN DEPOSIT INSURANCE https://t.co/dPOIcHBEgq

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 22, 2023

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

  And that took stocks to the lows of the day…

  Equities appeared to react to this comment from Janet Yellen during Jay Powell’s press conference. https://t.co/vRrsc2d4LN

  — Nick Timiraos (@NickTimiraos) March 22, 2023

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  Small Caps (small financial-heavy) were the ugliest horse in the glue factory while big-techs (Nasdaq) was the least bad of all…

  

  The S&P reversed around the 50DMA then plunged back below its 100DMA…

  

  Yesterday’s short squeeze was completely erased…

  

  Regional banks took a hit…

  

  With First Republic Bank getting slammed…

  

  And PacWest plunged…

  

  So, the goal of today was to stabilize banks and instead, they blew them up… “Damn it, Janet!”

  Office REITS hammered again

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Treasury yields jumped overnight and were drifting lower into The Fed statement. The dovish bias sparked a further plunge in rates with the short-end notably outperforming (2Y -20bps, 30Y -6bps). On the week, 2Y remains the laggard (+15bps) while 30Y is up just 4bps…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  …and the yield curve steepened…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  The 2Y yield dropped back below 4.00%…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Rate-hike expectations tumbled for the latter half of 2023…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  The odds of a 25bps hike in May dropped from around 70% to below 50%…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  The dollar puked to 6-week lows…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Bitcoin was clubbed like a baby seal, down from almost $29k to below $27,500…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Gold spiked on the dovish statement…

  

  Oil extended its gains from yesterday with WTI back above $70…

  

  Finally, it is worth noting that two stocks account for over 13% of the S&P 500 for the first time since the 1970s…

  

  Source: Goldman

  As goes MSFT and AAPL, so goes America.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 20:33

• China Gives US Advice On Ukraine After Xi, Putin Pledge To Shape New World Order
  China Gives US Advice On Ukraine After Xi, Putin Pledge To Shape New World Order

  China’s President Xi Jinping has arrived back in Beijing after his two-day visit with President Vladimir Putin over the China-proposed Ukraine peace plan. On the Ukraine crisis, there was nothing that can be considered a breakthrough, but the talks did prompt swift reaction from Washington.

  More important are the broader implications of the two ‘dear friends’ pledging to shape a new world order and signing multiple pacts on economic, technological, and strategic cooperation. These were the words captured in a Reuters headline Wednesday… “China’s President Xi Jinping and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin set their sights on shaping a new world order as the Chinese leader left Moscow, having made no direct support for Putin’s war in Ukraine during his two-day visit.” Arguably the most important exchange came during the sendoff before Xi’s entourage headed to the airport, and was captured by (or rather intended for) the cameras…

  Xi Jinping: “Change is coming that hasn’t happened in 100 years and we are driving this change together.”

  Putin: “I agree.”

  Xi Jinping: “Change is coming that hasn’t happened in 100 years and we are driving this change together”

  Putin: “I agree”pic.twitter.com/9myzS2BsXA

  — Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) March 22, 2023

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  Putin had told Xi that the peace plan “correlates to the point of view of the Russian Federation”; but the message out of Biden officials was “don’t be fooled” as it’s all about Moscow seeking to “freeze the war on its own terms,” in the words of Secretary of State Blinken. Also on Tuesday, NSC spokesman John Kirby said China is not an impartial mediator and that China “keeps parroting the Russian propaganda”.

  On Wednesday the Chinese foreign ministry hit back, charging that Washington is “adding fuel to the fire” of the conflict by its “continuous supply” of weapons to the battlefield. Spokesman Wang Wenbin was asked directly about Kirby and Blinken’s comments from the day prior.

  “The US side claims that China’s stance isn’t impartial. But is it impartial to continuously supply weapons to the battlefield? Is it impartial to constantly escalate the conflict? Is it impartial to allow the effects of the crisis to spill over globally?” Wang said.

  “We advise the American side to rethink its own stance on the Ukraine issue, turn away from the erroneous path of adding fuel to the fire, and stop shifting the blame to China,” he added. The spokesman further insisted Beijing has “no selfish motives on the Ukraine issue, has not stood idly by… or sought profit for itself,” but that “what China has done boils down to one thing, that is, to promote peace talks.”

  He went on to assert that contrary to popular assumptions in the West, the global community stands by China on the side of diplomatically pursuing peace. According to a transcript: 

  On the Ukraine issue, voices for peace and rationality are building. Most countries support easing tensions, stand for peace talks, and are against adding fuel to the fire. This is also China’s position. President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia is a journey of friendship, cooperation and peace. It has been warmly received internationally. We call on the US to reflect on its own role in the Ukraine issue, stop fueling the flames, and stop deflecting the blame on China.

  

  Wang spelled out that “We will continue to stand firm on the side of peace and dialogue and on the right side of history and work together with the rest of the world to play a constructive part in facilitating a political settlement of the Ukraine issue.”

  To the surprise of many, Ukraine’s President Zelensky on Tuesday invited China to start talks on a path forward based on offering a “Ukraine formula” for peace negotiations. It’s unclear what Beijing’s response will be, but it was widely seen as an unexpected and positive overture. It has also become clear that whatever peace talks might come to fruition involving China mediation, the US is not going to lead, but will likely be sidelined – despite the closeness to Kiev.

  Lord help us pic.twitter.com/OERfp4ks0A

  — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 22, 2023

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  Below, Rabobank gives hard-hitting commentary on the overall implications of the Xi-Putin meeting, and the rapidly bifurcating world driven by Russia and China increasingly uniting against their common enemy the United States.

  * * *

  For a strident view on the Putin-Xi meeting and its broader implications, @samagreene, professor at the Russia Institute at King’s College London, notes:

  “…China’s domination of Russia is complete. Xi praised Putin, touted strong relations with Russia, unity in the UNSC, and promised coordination on IT and natural resources trade. And that’s it. Putin, by contrast, was almost obscenely generous – and not just with his praise…. He pledged completion of the Strength of Siberia 2 pipeline… [which] replaces structural dependence on Europe with structural dependence on China, at a time when Russia is a price taker for hydrocarbons. That’s a strategic win for China.

  Further, Putin announced a reorientation of agricultural trade towards China and a strategic role for China in  developing Russia’s far east and high north – a move Putin’s own security apparatus has long resisted (for obvious reasons). Again, strategic wins for China… And Russia offered Chinese companies first dibs on the assets of departing Western companies – again strengthening China’s presence in Russia, with no reciprocal strengthening of Russia’s presence in China…

  While there were undoubtedly agreements we are not meant to know about, there is no indication here of a significant increase in military support for Russia – nor even of a willingness on Xi’s part to ramp up diplomatic support. A swing and a miss for Putin…

  Putin greeted Xi with a rhetorical bear hug. Xi gave Putin a pat on the head and told him to run along now and play… Putin tells his people he’s fighting for Russia’s sovereignty. In truth, he’s mortgaged the Kremlin to Beijing. The question now is one for Xi: What will he do with his newest acquisition?”

  That leaves the EU facing a two-for-one in Russia and China, and as Politico notes, ‘Europe’s China policy will shape transatlantic relations’. The implication is large German firms lean on the large German government, “putting Europe’s priorities on a likely collision course with US strategic goals, which will focus on confronting China in economic, military and, increasingly, ideological domains.”

  On which, US historian Kotkin says, “So I’m in love with the Cold War. I’m in favour of the Cold War. The Cold War is not only a good thing – it’s a necessary thing, because we have to uphold…the terms of the way we share the planet…. You know, I hear a lot of people saying, “Oh my God, no Cold War with China. God forbid we should have a Cold War with China.” And I think to myself, “What world do these people live in?” First, we’re already in a Cold War with China, because China started that long before we understood that that’s what they were doing. And secondly, would you prefer a hot war? The alternative to Cold War is capitulation– which you can imagine I’m not in favour of– or hot war.”

  Yet maybe the EU is feeling Cold too. As @Schuldensuehner points out, China is losing importance as a German export destination: February exports to it were -12.4% while those to the US were +19%, making it by far the most important market, as well as supplying key LNG imports (and Fed swaplines); France is number two, far ahead of China. Moreover, Germany is considering China export restrictions similar to those of the US, according to its economy minister, who adds, “We have to prevent losing our technology leadership because we don’t look closely.”  Notably, China just threated the Netherlands over its tech export controls (“This will not be without consequences. I’m not going to speculate on countermeasures, but China won’t just swallow this.“): how long until the same message is heard in Berlin?

  A bifurcating world like this only complicates real economy investment decisions, supply chain issues, and monetary policy decisions.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 20:24

• Julie Kelly: The Death Of Dissent
  Julie Kelly: The Death Of Dissent

  Authored by Julie Kelly via AmGreatness.com,

  The lead prosecutor in charge of the January 6 investigation, the largest probe in Justice Department history, just confirmed what American Greatness has reported for months: the number of criminal cases related to the Capitol protest is expected to at least double before it’s all over.

  

  U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves, an advisor to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign who took over the powerful office in late 2021, sent a letter to the chief judge of the D.C. District court warning up to 1,200 more individuals could face charges. 

  “We expect the pace of bringing new cases will increase, in an orderly fashion, over the course of the next few months,” Graves told Beryl Howell, who ended her term as chief judge last week.

  Graves’ office just surpassed 1,000 total defendants in what he renamed the “Capitol Siege” investigation—which means the final caseload might well exceed 2,000.

  Graves also indicated his team would ramp up the number of felony indictments; the overwhelming majority of charges so far are low-level offenses, including the laughable “parading in the Capitol” misdemeanor. The Biden regime clearly wants to juice the numbers before the 2024 election season.

  And Graves isn’t wasting any time. Eight people have been charged since March 1, including a married couple from Indiana arrested on a civil disorder felony and four misdemeanors. The D.C. federal courthouse is monopolized by January 6 hearings and trials on a daily basis; one judge announced he would retire rather than deal with January 6 cases for the next several years.

  In addition to ruining the lives of thousands of Americans for mostly nonviolent participation in the events of January 6, the Justice Department is accomplishing a more sinister goal: criminalizing and silencing political dissent in America. I warned two years ago, as Attorney General Merrick Garland’s prosecutors bastardized a post-Enron law in an attempt to turn political protesters into lifelong felons, that January 6 would be used in this manner.

  News of the imminent arrest of Donald Trump demonstrated the degree of the regime’s success. After NBC News reported that law enforcement agencies were preparing for unrest following the announcement of state charges against Trump in the Stormy Daniels saga, Trump responded on Truth Social. “[THE] FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK! PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” Trump wrote on March 18.

  Trump followed up with a second post: “WE MUST SAVE AMERICA! PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!”

  Before January 6, 2021, an American political leader who called for mass protests would not be heard as calling for violence. Trump, in fact, did not encourage his followers to behave violently. He merely—and perhaps unwisely, given the current Gestapo-like conduct of the FBI and federal prosecutors—asked his supporters to protest the unprecedented act of arresting a former president and current candidate for president.

  But his social media posts were enough to cause traumatizing flashbacks among the ruling class. The easily traumatized Washington Post columnist Philip Bump weighed in immediately. “The things that made Jan. 6 dangerous were a call to action and a time and place for that action to take place [sic],” Bump tweeted on Saturday morning, conveniently omitting that Trump urged peace during his speech on January 6. “It’s not just that Trump is again demanding a response, it’s that he’s telling people when.”

  Iraq War booster David Frum, partially responsible for decades of deadly violence around the globe, insisted that Trump “and his supporters proved on January 6, 2021, their readiness to use violence to defy the law.” Vox claimed Trump’s posts were an “echo of the capitol riots of January 6, 2021.” Salon writer Areeba Shaw said Trump’s “extreme rhetoric” on Truth Social “echoed similar language he used at a Washington rally shortly before the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.”

  “It’s almost like he’s attempting to organize his domestic terrorists to show up and to resist him being arrested,” Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) warned. Waters infamously encouraged Democrats in 2018 to “create a crowd” to publicly harass Trump Administration officials.

  By Monday afternoon, in order to advance optics to support the January 6 comparison, the New York Police Department began installing steel barricades around the Manhattan criminal courthouse, the site of the expected announcement. Politico reported that Capitol Police this week planned to erect “bike-rack type fencing” around the Capitol building—because that worked so well on January 6.

  Republicans, understandably, cautioned against plans to protest, not over manufactured fears that another “insurrection” would occur but legitimate fear of how any protest will be criminalized by the Biden regime. 

  “We don’t need to protest about the Communists Democrat’s [sic] planning to arrest Pres Trump and the political weaponization of our government and election interference,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) tweeted over the weekend. She later warned of likely infiltration by undercover agents or informants. “How many Feds/Fed assets are in place to turn protest against the political arrest of Pres Trump into violence?”

  House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) also downplayed Trump’s calls for protests and appeared to help Trump walk back his own statements. “I don’t think people should protest this, no. And I think President Trump, if you talk to him, he doesn’t believe that, either,” McCarthy said during a Sunday press briefing. As if referring to January 6 himself, McCarthy urged “calmness” in response to Trump’s arrest.

  Regardless of the disparate responses from both political sides, the clear winner here is the Biden regime, and the Justice Department in particular. The ongoing manhunt for Trump supporters is yielding victories of all sizes, not the least of which is the elimination of once-cherished rights to petition the government and redress grievances without being considered a domestic terrorist.

  And if anyone thinks conditions will improve soon, just wait until this same Justice Department indicts Trump for “inciting” the events of January 6. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 20:20

• DOJ Asks SCOTUS To Quickly Restore Ban On Guns In Domestic Violence Cases
  DOJ Asks SCOTUS To Quickly Restore Ban On Guns In Domestic Violence Cases

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

  

  The Biden administration formally asked the Supreme Court to review an appeals court ruling that invalidated a federal law that bars people under domestic violence-related restraining orders from possessing firearms.

  U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar filed the new petition (pdf) in United States v. Rahimi, court file 22-915, which was docketed by the Supreme Court on March 21.

  Because the appeals court ruling has “significant disruptive consequences,” Prelogar asked the Supreme Court to expedite consideration of the government’s petition in the hope the court would “consider the petition before it recesses for the summer.”

  The appeals court “overlooked the strong historical evidence supporting the general principle that the government may disarm dangerous individuals,” Prelogar wrote.

  The request came after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in February struck down Section 922(g)(8) of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, a 1994 law that prohibits a person who is subject to a domestic restraining order from having a gun.

  The 5th Circuit determined that the law had ceased to be constitutional in light of the Supreme Court’s landmark June 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. That decision held that restrictions on guns must be deeply rooted in American history if they are to survive constitutional scrutiny.

  The ban on the possession of firearms by someone under a domestic restraining order “is an outlier that our ancestors would never have accepted,” the circuit court stated in its ruling.

  The case involves Zackey Rahimi of Texas, who previously entered a guilty plea to violating the statute. Rahimi was involved in five shooting incidents after the restraining order was entered against him in February 2020. After the Bruen decision was handed down, Rahimi asked the courts to review his conviction given the change in Second Amendment jurisprudence.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 19:40

• Science Journal Nature Admits Biden Endorsement Damaged Their Reputation
  Science Journal Nature Admits Biden Endorsement Damaged Their Reputation

  Leading science journal Nature admitted on Monday that their endorsement of Joe Biden in the 2020 US election harmed their credibility, trust in science, and made virtually no difference when it came to influencing voters one way or the other.

  In 2020, Nature endorsed Joe Biden in the US presidential election. A survey finds that viewing the endorsement did not change people’s views of the candidates, but caused some to lose confidence in Nature and in US scientists generally https://t.co/lvrgXmsrl5

  — nature (@Nature) March 20, 2023

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  According to a survey conducted in July and early August 2021, random Trump and Biden supporters were notified of Nature‘s endorsement, while a control group was given irrelevant information about the journal’s new website design.

  As James Billot writes in The Post;

  …the strength of reaction to the endorsement was particularly acute among Trump supporters, with treated participants (i.e. those who viewed the endorsement) scaling much higher on negative attitudes towards Nature‘s impartiality and knowledge. For Biden supporters, there was a marginal uptick in positive attitudes.

  Besides reducing trust in Nature among Trump supporters, the endorsement also had a cascading effect on their attitudes towards science and scientists more generally. Trump supporters were less likely to report high levels of trust towards US scientists than Biden supporters after the endorsement, and the gap is larger for treated participants.

  In addition, the shifts in trust in Nature resulted in lower demand for Covid-related information from the journal among Trump supporters. Results found that, at the height of the Delta variant surge in the US, the endorsement led to a -14.2 percentage point reduction in the frequency at which Trump supporters requested Nature articles, whereas the upswing for Biden supporters was negligible.

  These results show that Nature’s endorsement had a hugely divisive effect on its readership. Treated Trump and Biden supporters became two to four times more polarised than the control participants on these stated measures of trust in Nature. Meanwhile, treated Trump supporters were 38% less likely than control Trump supporters to request stories from the publication’s website. What’s more, the endorsement had little effect on changing participants’ opinions about the two presidential candidates, rendering it ineffective.

  *  *  *

  I’m hard pressed to think of a better way to destroy the trust of (about half or more) of the public in our scientific institutions than to have these institutions openly display their political biases. https://t.co/L7lMV07fqr

  — Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) March 21, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 19:20

• Welcome To The Era Of Warring Elites
  Welcome To The Era Of Warring Elites

  Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

  What the Warring Elites don’t want us to realize is that a system of transparent competition in which no fiefdom is allowed to become dominant best serves the interests of society at large.

  I’ve been writing about Warring Elites for a long time (since 2007). As I have often noted, historian Michael Grant identified profound political disunity in the ruling class as a key cause of the dissolution of the Roman Empire.

  More recently, I’ve observed that Our Fragmentation Accelerates (December 20, 2019).

  Eras of Warring Elites have two key dynamics. One is that the Elites’ interests diverge from those of the society as a whole. In expansive eras, the many competing interests within the Elite class find common ground in supporting the status quo, and relegate their turf squabbles to the private club rooms. On the whole, the shared interests of the Elite class align with society at large.

  Since I see the global status quo as fundamentally neofeudal, we can say the interests of the Nobility and Peasantry overlap: each class benefits from political and social stability, economic expansion and broad-based distribution of prosperity.

  In disintegrative eras, this integrative, shared dynamic breaks down and the interests of the Elite diverge from those of society at large. The competition between neofeudal camps in the Elite class breaks into open conflict, and the result is a profound political disunity of hardened camps fighting to protect their fiefdoms from any diminishment of wealth or power.

  This leads not just to political fragmentation but to social fragmentation as the Elite fiefdoms wage a propaganda battle for the hearts and minds of the Technocrat Class and the Peasantry. The propaganda war is not just to establish the traditional us and them divisions in which we are good and they are evil, it’s also about cultivating The Plantation of the Mind so that all the neat rows of thoughts and emotions serve the interests of the Plantation Owners. I’ve discussed this for many years: Colonizing the Plantation of the Mind (August 25, 2010) and Social Media’s Plantation of the Mind (May 28, 2020).

  Each neofeudal fiefdom hopes we’ve seen too many movies in which the line between Good and Evil is cartoonishly clear. Each Elite fiefdom seeks to mask its single-minded devotion to its own self-interest behind fine-sounding claims of noble ideals: a Multipolar World (in which we’re free to pillage the planet), Freedom of Speech (controlled by us, of course), Decentralized Finance (which just so happens to be owned and controlled by the few) and a vast spectrum of other cover stories for the enrichment of Elite fiefdoms at the expense of society at large.

  With the emergence of AI Chatbots, each Warring Fiefdom now has the means to overwhelm the media with billions of automated messages about the good and noble and idealistic goals of our Fiefdom and how the evil Central State is scheming to limit our powers of predation (Central State, Bad, our Fiefdom, Good!) or some rabble of Peasantry threatens our extraction of wealth and our death-grip on power (Nobility-owned Fiefdom, Good, Peasantry, Bad!).

  The core message is always the same: increasing our wealth, power, profits and control is good for you, too. You’ll all benefit if you help us secure our fiefdom from any threats.

  The propaganda is designed to not just colonize our minds but eliminate any urge to ask cui bono, to whose benefit? The single-minded self-interest of each Elite fiefdom must be hidden lest the powerless lower classes start asking if the expansion of one fiefdom’s power and control actually benefits society at large or not.

  In this no-holds-barred existential struggle for supremacy, Elite fiefdoms will tear down society to weaken any potential resistance. So national interest is cast as Evil, while Multipolar Wonderfulness is Good (now the whole world can finally sing happy songs around the campfire!), any regulatory restraints are Evil while the rigged “free market” is Good (let the “market” which we control choose winners and losers; hey, surprise, we won!). Every fiefdom should be free to pillage without restraint (“Ask your doctor about Euphorestra,” etc.).

  In the Era of Warring Elites, Everything is Staged (October 22, 2020). The Elite fiefdoms don’t care if society and the economy fragment and collapse; they welcome the dissolution of national purpose, civic virtue and shared sacrifice as obstructions to their own limitless greed for more power and control.

  In a weakened Nation-State, the fiefdoms will be free to pillage without restraint. If society is an obstruction, they will gladly tear it down with propaganda designed to fragment the Peasantry and undermine any entity which might have the power to restrain their limitless greed. (I discuss the essential roles of national purpose, civic virtue and shared sacrifice in my book Global Crisis, National Renewal.)

  Before you buy into a slickly scripted depiction of what needs to be undermined to hasten its collapse, ask to whose benefit? Exactly who benefits from promoting the collapse of this or that? We already know the answer: the Elite fiefdoms who will be free to pillage once any source of resistance has been broken into pieces.

  What the Warring Elites don’t want us to realize is that a system of transparent competition in which no fiefdom is allowed to become dominant best serves the interests of society at large. Before we tear everything down, ask who will rush to fill the power vacuum with their own self-serving agenda?

  In the meantime, “Ask your doctor about Euphorestra.”

  

  *  *  *

  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
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 19:00

• Starbucks Baristas Strike, "Demand End To Illegal Union-Busting Campaign"
  Starbucks Baristas Strike, “Demand End To Illegal Union-Busting Campaign”

  Starbucks Workers United, representing thousands of baristas, tweeted early Wednesday morning that more than 100 Starbucks stores “are striking to demand an end to Starbucks’ illegal union-busting campaign.” 

  BREAKING: Workers at over 100+
  Starbucks stores across the country are striking to demand an end to Starbucks’ illegal union-busting campaign. While the company keeps a metaphorical ’empty chair’ for us in the boardroom, we’re demanding a real seat at the table! #StarbucksStrike

  — Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) March 22, 2023

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  Bloomberg reported that the work stoppage involves stores in more than 40 US cities. The union has said Starbucks’ anti-union campaign against it violates the company’s own commitment to respect its employees’ rights. 

  The fight between the union and Starbucks has intensified, with both parties alleging that the other is not bargaining in good faith.

  The union represents about 3% of the coffee chain’s 9,300 US stores, though the unionization movement is expanding. 

  Bloomberg added:

  The work stoppage comes one day before Starbucks’s annual shareholder meeting, the first for new CEO Laxman Narasimhan, who officially took the reins from Howard Schultz this week. Investors including New York City pension funds have put forward a resolution this year urging the company to conduct a labor-rights audit, and Schultz is slated to be grilled by lawmakers at a US Senate committee hearing next week.

  The union posted images of unionized baristas striking on Wednesday morning:

  Good morning, strike morning! We are out on STRIKE with stores up and down I-71 for fair bargaining, better wages, all our tips, fair scheduling, and more!

  Join Cleveland SBWU partners at Crocker Park and/or MayLee! pic.twitter.com/bzQcCszfFX

  — cleveland starbucks organizers (@ClevelandSBWU) March 22, 2023

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  Day 2 of the #lausdstrike happens as Starbucks workers across Los Angeles County join workers on strike at over 100 locations nationwide.

  From our stores, to our schools, to the state house, and beyond, the California labor movement. Won’t. Back. Down! https://t.co/LfiL59CkSa pic.twitter.com/wLiQguP5KV

  — Fight for $15 LA (@Fightfor15LA) March 22, 2023

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  Starting the day with the @SBWorkersUnited A.M. #StarbucksStrike crew at 88 E. Broad. Store closed, no scabs! pic.twitter.com/JhLcdVPUKF

  — Jeremy Baiman (@jeremybaiman) March 22, 2023

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  Oviedo Mitchell Hammock is ON STRIKE pic.twitter.com/0Nn9M1JTYm

  — Labor Clay (@BlastOffBlastic) March 22, 2023

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  We out here! Arlington Courthouse & Merrifield, Falls Church, VA #Starbucks stores checking in! #StarbucksStrike #tobeapartner #onedaylonger #wunomatterwhat #wumarjb #sbwumarjb #1u pic.twitter.com/vkFvBzM0PP

  — Workers United MARJB (@WorkersUnitedMA) March 22, 2023

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  It’s uncertain whether coffee lovers are closely following the battle between the union and Starbucks. Customers simply desire their daily dose of a vanilla latte, white chocolate mocha, or chai latte — and nothing more. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 18:40

• Coinbase Tumbles After-Hours On Wells Notice Disclosure
  Coinbase Tumbles After-Hours On Wells Notice Disclosure

  Coinbase shares are tumbling after-hours, down almost 20% on the day, following its disclosure that it received a notice from the SEC formally declaring the securities regulator’s plans to bring an enforcement action against the largest US crypto exchange.

  

  SEC Chair Gary Gensler has repeatedly said many of the tokens and products offered by crypto companies are securities and that the trading platforms need to register with his agency, and in a filing this afternoon, Coinbase said the so-called Wells notice regards aspects of its exchange as well as the staking service Coinbase Earn and Coinbase Wallet.

  Bloomberg reports that representatives from Coinbase have met with the SEC more than 60 times over the last nine months to try to resolve the issues, but those talks haven’t been fruitful, according to a person familiar with the matter.

  “We are prepared for this disappointing outcome and confident in the legality of our assets and services,” Paul Grewal, chief legal officer of Coinbase, said in a statement.

  “If needed, we welcome a legal process to provide the clarity we have been advocating for and to demonstrate that the SEC simply has not been fair or reasonable when it comes to its engagement on digital assets.”

  This isn’t the first time Coinbase has received a Wells notice.

  The SEC warned the company in 2021 that it considered the company’s proposed “Lend” product, which would have allowed users to earn interest by lending out their crypto holdings, to be a security. The exchange later canceled the launch.

  

  Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong took to Twitter to explain:

  Today Coinbase received a Wells notice from the SEC focused on staking and asset listings.

  A Wells notice typically precedes an enforcement action.

  Two years ago the SEC reviewed our business in detail and approved Coinbase to go public. Our S1 clearly explained our asset listing process and included 57 references to staking.

  Coinbase runs a rigorous asset review process and has rejected more than 90% of assets that have applied to be listed on the platform.

  While we understand that this is all part of the journey to reforming our financial system, we are right on the law, confident in the facts, and welcome the opportunity for Coinbase (and by extension the broader crypto community) to get before a court.

  We are proud to stand up for our customers and the industry in these moments.

  Going forward the legal process will provide an open and public forum before an unbiased body where we will be able to make clear for all to see that the SEC simply has not been fair, reasonable, or even demonstrated a seriousness of purpose when it comes to its engagement on digital assets.

  In the meantime, Coinbase will continue to do what we do best: build the most trusted products and services in order to advance our purpose of updating the financial system, and creating more economic freedom in the world.

  We’re excited to work with all governments and regulators around the world who are focused on putting in place clear rules to regulate the crypto industry.

  Additionally, Decrypt reports that earlier on Wednesday, Coinbase had notified users it will suspends Algorand staking rewards on March 29.

  Last August, after the U.S. sanctioned Ethereum mixing service Tornado Cash and wallets that had used it, Armstrong said that if threatened by regulators, he would rather shut down Coinbase staking than censor transactions.

  Armstrong concluded a subsequent blog post with a clear message to the regulators:

  Tell us the rules and we will follow them. Give us an actual path to register, and we will register the parts of our business that need registering.

  In the meantime, the U.S. cannot afford for regulators to continue to threaten the good actors in the crypto industry for doing the same legal and compliant things they’ve always done.

  This unfair approach will only drive innovation, jobs, and the entire industry overseas. At our core, we are the very same company that we were on April 14, 2021 when we became a public company at the end of the lengthy process with the SEC itself. We remain confident in the legality of our assets and services, and if needed, we welcome a legal process to provide the clarity we have been advocating for and to demonstrate that the SEC simply has not been fair or reasonable when it comes to its engagement on digital assets.

  In the meantime, Coinbase will continue to do what we do best: updating the financial system by building the most trusted products and services to advance our mission of creating more economic freedom and opportunity around the world.

  The Wells Notice follows the SEC’s suing Tron founder Justin Sun (and a number of celebrities) on allegations the TRX and BT tokens are unregistered securities (among other charges).

  Does anyone else see a very recent pattern, between Silvergate, Signature Bank, and now this – did Liz Warren lay down the law to bring a dragnet against crypto?

  WAR ON CRYPTO https://t.co/Uk0r2J8tu9

  — RYAN SΞAN ADAMS – rsa.eth 🏴🦇🔊 (@RyanSAdams) March 22, 2023

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  Who knows, maybe this could go to SCOTUS? Now that crypto has clearly become the Democrats’ latest boogeyman.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 18:20

• China's Auto Industry Association Urges "Cooling" Of Price War, As Major Manufacturers Slash Prices
  China’s Auto Industry Association Urges “Cooling” Of Price War, As Major Manufacturers Slash Prices

  Just hours after we wrote about maniacal price cutting in the automotive industry in China, China’s auto industry association is urging automakers to “cool” the hype behind price cuts.

  The statement was made in order to “ensure the stable development of the industry”, Automotive News Europe reported on Tuesday. 

  The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers even went so far as to put out a message on its official WeChat account, stating that “A price war is not a long-term solution”. Instead “automakers should work harder on technology and branding,” it said. 

  The consumer disagrees…

  Recall we wrote earlier this week that most major automakers were slashing prices in China. The move is coming after lifting pandemic controls failed to spur significant demand in China, the Wall Street Journal reported this week. Ford and GM will be joined by BMW and Volkswagen in offering the discounts and promotions on EVs, the report says. 

  Retail auto sales plunged the first two months of the year and automakers are facing additional challenges in trying to transition their business models to prioritize EVs over conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. 

  

  Ford is offering $6,000 off its Mustang Mach-E, putting the standard version of its EV at just $31,000. Last month, only 84 of the vehicles were sold, compared to 1,500 sales in December. There was some pulling forward of demand due to the phasing out of subsidies heading into the new year, and Ford had also cut prices by about 9% in December. 

  A spokesperson for Ford called it a “stock clearance”. 

  Discounts at Volkswagen are ranging from around $2,200 to $7,300 a car. The cuts will affect 20 gas powered and electric models. Its electric ID series is seeing price cuts of almost $6,000. The company called the cuts “temporary promotions due to general reluctance among car buyers, the new emissions rule and discounts offered by competitors.”

  Even more shocking is Citroën-maker Dongfeng Motor Group, who is offering a 40% discount on its C6 gas-powered sedan, now priced at $18,000. 

  Kelvin Lau, an analyst at Daiwa Capital Markets, told the Journal that automakers are also trying to get rid of 500,000 vehicles collectively stored in their inventory, most of which are older vehicles that won’t meet new emissions standards.

  David Zhang, a Shanghai-based independent automobile analyst, added: “Some car makers have been seeing very few sales. At this rate, the manufacturers’ production and dealership networks will collapse.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 18:00

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• NATO Shouldn't Trust Hungary And Turkey, Claims German Newspaper Die Welt
  NATO Shouldn’t Trust Hungary And Turkey, Claims German Newspaper Die Welt

  Authored by Denes Albert and John Cody via Remix News,

  Hungary is “authoritarian” and NATO should consider withholding sensitive information from Turkey and Hungary, Die Welt foreign policy commentator Clemens Wergin writes

  

  German newspaper Die Welt claims in an opinion piece that Turkey and Hungary should not be trusted within the NATO alliance. The paper writes that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continues to block Sweden’s NATO accession, and Hungary wants EU money in exchange for approving the membership of both nations.

  The author of the piece, Clemens Wergin, also claims that both nations have developed “unseemly” ties to Russia and then asks whether NATO should even share sensitive data with both countries.

  “And in their turn toward authoritarianism, Ankara and Budapest have also distanced themselves significantly from the community of values ​​for which NATO stands. The alliance is therefore well advised to treat both as partners with reservation. This should include, for example, no longer necessarily sharing certain sensitive data with Turkey and Hungary within NATO,” Wergin writes.

  When Wergin, the chief foreign policy correspondent for Die Welt, refers to “authoritarianism,” he makes no mention of the fact that French President Emmanuel Macron is facing mass protests in his country after ramming through pension reform without even a vote in parliament, or that he then banned protests in certain areas of Paris following the decree. In Germany itself, the current government is looking to ban one of the country’s top opposition parties, Alternative for Germany (AfD), even as the party soars in popularity. Such an authoritarian move would be met with an outcry from Brussels and Berlin if Orbán were to even consider banning opposition parties in Hungary.

  Regarding the “blackmail” Wergin claims Hungary is subjecting NATO to, it should be noted that the EU first “blackmailed” Hungary, demanding the country make rule-of-law changes in order to unlock billions in EU funds. Arguably, the Hungarian government has more of a democratic mandate than the German government, with Orbán’s Fidesz party receiving such high levels of support that it resulted in yet another landslide victory last year and a two-thirds majority in parliament.

  Wergin argues that Finland is likely to join NATO soon, as Erdoğan has given up his opposition to that country’s NATO membership. That means Finland is likely to join NATO without Sweden. He posits that this is because the Turkish decision is putting considerable pressure on the Hungarian government, which is also blocking membership, to agree to at least Finnish membership as well.

  “As a result, it has now become more likely that at least Finland, which is particularly vulnerable due to its long land border with Russia, will be able to join NATO in the near future. Sweden, on the other hand, will probably have to wait at least until after the elections in Turkey. Northeastern Europe would thus become an area of divided security for the time being, with the Finns inside the NATO umbrella and the Swedes on the outside,” he argues.

  He continues by writing that both states had turned the Nordic countries’ urgent application for membership, triggered by the Russian war, into a “farce” and prevented admission for extraneous reasons. Erdoğan wanted Sweden to impose a tougher policy on Turkish opposition groups and had also been outraged by an anti-Islam action by right-wing provocateur Rasmus Paulson, who had burned a Quran in Stockholm. He claims Paulson was funded by Russia but offers no evidence in support of his claim.

  On his recent trip to Turkey, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán repeated his country’s stance for immediate peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, saying that Europe was suffering from “war psychosis,” with the continent drifting further into war day by day.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 02:00

• The People Vs. The Fed: What Political Movement Will Silicon Valley Bank’s Failure Spark?
  The People Vs. The Fed: What Political Movement Will Silicon Valley Bank’s Failure Spark?

  Authored by  Athan Koutsiouroumbas via RealClear Wire,

  In bucolic Indiana, Pennsylvania, residents have started an “It’s a Wonderful Life Festival.”

  The town’s Christmas celebration commemorates both favorite son Jimmy Stewart, who starred in the iconic movie, and the story’s message of redemption and hope.

  In the film, a bank run threatens to devastate an affordable-housing business run by George Bailey, Stewart’s character. The Great Depression has come to Bedford Falls. With over 9,000 banks failing during that period, bank runs were common.

  For nearly 100 years since that fictional Beaver Falls bank run, the federal government has insured bank depositors for the purpose of stopping bank runs, which have historically triggered economic depressions. That decision was part of a sweeping political movement in response to the financial crisis of the 1930s: the New Deal.

  Could a political movement arise from the recent failure of Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed in mere hours? That question may be best answered by looking to the distant past.

  

  In what came to be known as the “Bank War,” President Andrew Jackson made it his mission to dismantle the U.S. National Bank, which many blamed for triggering the Panic of 1819. Elected in 1828, just forty years after George Washington was inaugurated, the nation’s first populist president consolidated a political base against federal overreach. He succeeded by stopping the bank from being rechartered.

  Near the end of the nineteenth century, the Panic of 1893 catapulted an unknown congressman from Nebraska to the Democratic Party’s 1896 presidential nomination. Comparing the economic plight of common Americans to a crucifixion, William Jennings Bryan heralded the arrival of the Progressive Era, which would legislate against the excesses of the Gilded Age.

  A decade and a half later, the Panic of 1907 gave Democrats momentum to seize unified control of Congress and the White House. Signed into law in 1913 by President Woodrow Wilson, the Federal Reserve Bank created a nationalized system to regulate banking. Wilson’s presidency would be the pinnacle of the Progressive Era.

  In 1929, the stock market’s Black Tuesday triggered a series of bank runs that cratered the American economy. The ensuing destitution deeply scarred a generation of Americans and realigned the electorate, which chose Franklin D. Roosevelt to implement the New Deal – the largest expansion of the federal government in American history.  

  A half-century later, stagflation – inflation without economic growth – during the Carter administration culminated with a run on First Pennsylvania Bank in 1980, resulting in the third-largest bank bailout in American history. Voters’ response was to launch the Reagan Revolution, which would attempt to pare back some of the New Deal. A former New Dealer himself, Reagan advocated for the restoration of federalism as the key to economic stability and growth.

  The Great Recession of 2008 was triggered by a banking failure totaling trillions of dollars. The federal response, the Troubled Assets Relief Program, sought to backstop the failing financial system – but its massiveness also helped give rise to the Tea Party, which preached a small-government ethos. In 2016, that conservative political movement would help elect Donald Trump, who campaigned against the excesses of a federal government in which millions of Americans had lost faith.

  Each of these six major financial panics launched a political movement. Americans were evenly split on choosing conservative and liberal solutions to the financial challenges they faced. The response to the Panic of 2023 will be the tiebreaker.

  One thing is clear. At $319 billion and counting, the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank alone in the last two weeks are already on par with the entire 2008 financial crisis, which saw 25 banks failing, with $373 billion in combined assets. And with $620 billion of unrealized losses that triggered this crisis still pending, we may be just getting started.

  What path policymakers will choose this time around is unclear. The country has never been more evenly split politically. Meanwhile, the regulatory system has attempted to stem the tide without the involvement of Congress or the White House. A political reconciliation, in other words, has been deferred.

  Political issues come and go, but financial panics create political movements because they hit Americans directly, in their bank accounts. Voters pay attention.

  The movement that results from this panic will depend ultimately on whom voters blame for it. That scapegoat, whether real or imagined, will determine where on the political spectrum the movement leans.

  Many Americans continue to identify government itself as the top non-economic issue they face. Inflation, a problem created by government, is their top economic problem. Most Americans believe the federal government is too big and doing too much. In places like real-life Indiana, Pennsylvania or fictional Beaver Falls, it is abundantly clear that Americans have lost faith in their leading institutions.

  “You sit around here and you spin your little webs and you think the whole world revolves around you and your money,” George Bailey tells his antagonist in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

  Bailey was referring to the machinations of a powerful banker, but his words are fitting in an unintended sense, too: in American politics, realignments begin because the world revolves around voters and their money.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/22/2023 – 00:05

• Bill Gates Says "The Age Of AI Has Begun"
  Bill Gates Says “The Age Of AI Has Begun”

  In an op-ed titled “The Age of AI has begun” on “The Blog of Bill Gates,” Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates discussed the upcoming paradigm shift in technology. Having been instrumental in developing personal computers several decades ago, the billionaire seems to know a thing or two about technological innovation. He believes that OpenAI’s language generation artificial intelligence tools will be at the forefront of the next technological revolution. 

  Gates wrote, “I’ve seen two demonstrations of technology that struck me as revolutionary.” 

  “The first time was in 1980, when I was introduced to a graphical user interface—the forerunner of every modern operating system, including Windows,” he said. 

  Gates said the second big surprise came last year with the impressive advancement in OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

  “The development of AI is as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the Internet, and the mobile phone,” he said. “It will change the way people work, learn, travel, get health care, and communicate with each other.”

  Gates said he’s been in contact with OpenAI since 2016 and last year challenged the team to train the chatbot to pass the Advanced Placement biology exam. A few months later, he said the bot could pass a college-level biology course. 

  After seeing the results, Gates began to contemplate the future and how AI will be intertwined with humans on a day-to-day basis, just like computers and smartphones.

  “This inspired me to think about all the things that AI can achieve in the next five to 10 years.”

  Gates has emerged as a significant player in the AI arms race, as Microsoft, the company he founded, has pledged over $10 billion in funding to OpenAI.

  

  However, like any new technology, there’s always a concern. Gates addressed some of those issues:

  “Any new technology that’s so disruptive is bound to make people uneasy, and that’s certainly true with artificial intelligence. I understand why—it raises hard questions about the workforce, the legal system, privacy, bias, and more.”

  On the bias issue, there have been numerous complaints about AI trainers skewing ChatGPT toward answering questions with a left-leaning spin. This has been such a significant problem that Elon Musk is allegedly taking on — in a new project to develop a ‘non-woke’ alternative chatbot. 

  Even the co-creator of ChatGPT warned that the world might not be “that far away from potentially scary” AI. 

  … and what’s disturbing — is if AI is programmed to enforce the truths determined by figures like Gates, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, and the federal government. 

  While Gates expresses enthusiasm about the potential of AI to be game-changing for humans, there is a flip side to it. The technology could become a tool for extreme censorship, which could make the Twitter censorship program seem trivial in comparison.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 23:45

• Deficit Hawk Hypocrites And Warmongers Unite, Apparently Hoping To Start WWIII
  Deficit Hawk Hypocrites And Warmongers Unite, Apparently Hoping To Start WWIII

  Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

  The WSJ wants to send long-range missiles to Ukraine, Lindsey Graham discusses WWIII, and Republicans want defense spending to rise 5 percent more than inflation…

  

  Long-Range Missiles 

  The WSJ editorial board says the best response Russian drones is to Send Long-Range Missiles to Ukraine.

  The Pentagon on Thursday released footage of a Russian fighter jet that harassed, dumped fuel on and then collided this week with an American reconnaissance drone. The provocation warrants a U.S. response, and the right one is giving the Ukrainians the sophisticated and long-range weapons they need to defeat Vladimir Putin’s military.

  President Biden now has more reason to do what he could have done long ago: Give Ukraine the weapons needed to win. Priority No. 1 is the Army tactical missile system, which would allow strikes deeper into Russian positions in Ukraine to gain momentum on the ground.

  Question One: Oh, I suppose Russia will sit back and let that happen in its backyard just like the US allowed Russian missiles in Cuba. Right? 

  Lindsey Graham: The Only Way to Avoid World War III Is to Start It

  The American Conservative reports Lindsey Graham: The Only Way to Avoid World War III Is to Start It

  It’s not atypical for Russian jets to intercept U.S. aircraft flying so close to its airspace. Russian aircraft have intercepted U.S. and allied aircraft over the Black Sea and off the coast of Alaska in years past. These interceptions have become more common as the U.S. and its allies continue to provide Ukraine with military and security assistance in the war against Russia, according to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. Kirby said that almost all of these common interceptions have occurred without incident. The Tuesday incident, however, is drawing the eyes of the Biden administration and others in Washington not only because it resulted in the downing of an unmanned drone but because of the bizarre tactics employed by the Russian pilots, which Kirby called “unsafe and unprofessional.”

  Russia’s Ministry of Defense has denied any wrongdoing on the part of its pilots. In a statement, the Ministry said the Russian Air Force scrambled fighter jets to identify the drone, which allegedly had its identifying transponder off. 

  South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show last night and said the U.S. should shoot down Russian jets that intercept U.S. aircraft, manned or not.

  “We should hold them accountable and say that, ‘If you ever get near another U.S. asset flying in international waters, your airplane will be shot down,’” Graham claimed. Graham went on to employ the tactic that every Republican uses when trying to make a bad idea sound like a good idea: invoking the name of Ronald Reagan. “What would Ronald Reagan do right now? He would start shooting Russian planes down if they were threatening our assets.” Later, addressing Biden, Graham said, “If you don’t change your game and up your game, we’re going to have World War III.”

  Graham’s big-brained idea is that the only way to avoid World War III is to start it? To state the obvious, killing Russian pilots would bring the U.S. into direct confrontation with Russia. The United States would effectively be at war with Russia, and when Russia responds, the U.S. will feign surprise and drag the rest of NATO into the conflict. Entangling alliances are back, and so would the great war that follows them.

  Graham, the neocons, and the liberal interventionists may claim the foreign policy mantle of Reagan, but their knowledge only goes so far as “peace through strength” and the USSR is an “evil empire.” In reality, Reagan responded to acts much more reckless and violent than the downing of an unmanned drone with restraint. When the Soviet Union shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 on September 1, 1983, killing all 269 people, including sixty-one Americans and one member of Congress, Reagan did not start striking Russian assets or shooting down Russian military planes. Rather, Reagan’s first instinct was, in his own words from a National Security Meeting, “to protect against overreaction. Vengeance isn’t the name of the game.”

   “If you don’t change your game and up your game, we’re going to have World War III,” graham said addressing Biden.

  Question Two: Would shooting down manned Russian aircraft near the Russian border stop WWIII or help start it?

  Deficit Hawk Hypocrites 

  If you think Republicans really want fiscal constraint, you aren’t thinking. 

  Biden proposes a defense department increase of 3.2 percent, but the Budget Draws GOP Criticism, Sets Up Spending Clash.

  “The president’s defense budget is woefully inadequate and disappointing,” said Sen. Roger Wicker (R., Miss.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He and other Republican leaders are advocating for military spending to increase at a minimum rate of 5% above inflation.

  Fancy that. Republicans want spending 5% above inflation. 

  Of course, Democrats are ready, willing and able to go along.

  Democratic leaders welcomed Mr. Biden’s proposal Thursday as a good starting point, but they said they would insist that any military-budget boost require a corresponding bump in domestic spending.

  Question Three: Has everyone gone mad?

  *  *  *

  Please Subscribe to MishTalk Email Alerts.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 23:25

• Where Biden Stands Vs. Trump, Obama On 6 Major Issues: Gallup
  Where Biden Stands Vs. Trump, Obama On 6 Major Issues: Gallup

  The latest Gallup poll reveals that President Biden’s standing on six major issues vs. his two predecessors is not great. See below for his Biden scores when it comes to; the economy, immigration, foreign affairs in general, and relations with Russia and China. A sixth chart compares Biden and Trump on the pandemic response.

  

  Via Gallup:

  1. The Economy: Not Biden’s Strongest Suit

  

  Biden’s latest job approval rating on the economy is about halfway between the worst ratings Trump and Obama each received. Both of his predecessors’ low points on the economy came toward the beginning of their presidencies, after which they saw strong improvement. This holds out some hope for Biden that he could follow a similar trajectory. Indeed, his 34% rating in February is slightly improved from his own low point of 31% in August 2022.

  2. Foreign Affairs: A Quick Decline

  

  Like Obama, Biden began his term in office with a majority of Americans approving of the job he was doing on foreign affairs in general. Yet, Biden’s approval ratings for handling foreign affairs have been 43% or lower since late 2021, including 41% now. However, Biden remains above the lowest points for both of his predecessors on the issue — 31% for Obama and 33% for Trump.

  3. Immigration: Lower Than Trump

  

  As recently highlighted in our weekly newsletter, Biden has mostly fared worse than his recent predecessors on the issue of immigration. Fewer Americans approve of the job he is doing on immigration than ever did for Trump. Obama received low approval on immigration at points in his first and second terms but saw some improvement by the end of his presidency.

  4. Handling Russia: Similar to Obama and Trump

  

  With the Russia-Ukraine war, which started over a year ago, being a major foreign policy focus of his presidency, Biden has spent a lot of time communicating to the American public about Russia. Today, Biden stands virtually tied with Trump’s last reading on handling U.S.-Russia relations, and his 37% approval rating on Russia matches Gallup’s only rating of Obama on the matter, from 2014.

  5. Relations With China: Room for Improvement

  

  For the third year in a row, Americans see China, more than any other country, as the United States’ greatest enemy in the world. As relations with China have soured, Biden’s marks on how he is handling it have worsened. Rising tensions between the nations in the past two years may also be a factor in the decline of Biden’s marks.

  Gallup measured Obama’s approval on relations with China (39%) just once, in 2012, while it did so on three occasions for Trump, ranging from 40% to 47%.

  6. Response to COVID: A Strong Point

  

  COVID-19 emerged as a global pandemic in 2020 and thus has only been an issue of concern for Biden and Trump. This is one area Biden has generally outperformed his predecessor, with approval ratings ranging between 47% and 67%. After an initial high of 60% for Trump at the beginning of the pandemic, his ratings were between 36% and 44% in the summer and fall of 2020.

  To stay up to date with the latest Gallup News insights and updates, follow us on Twitter.

  Explore President Trump’s approval ratings and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.

  Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 23:05

• Alan Dershowitz: Trump Can Serve As President "From Prison"
  Alan Dershowitz: Trump Can Serve As President “From Prison”

  Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Retired Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz suggested that former President Donald Trump could run for office or even serve as president if he is convicted in connection to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office investigation.

  

  Trump announced on social media this past weekend saying he believes he’ll be arrested soon in connection to District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s probe into whether he was involved in allegedly making hush money payments to during the 2016 campaign. Unnamed sources have also told news outlets that the former president may be indicted, but Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

  Dershowitz, an attorney who has represented controversial clients including O.J. Simpson and Jim Bakker, told Newsmax that he believes Trump will be indicted in New York City because of what he described as an unfair legal system in the Democrat-dominated city. But if Trump is convicted and sentenced to a prison term, the U.S. Constitution will allow him to serve in that capacity.

  “He will be indicted,” Dershowitz, who also provided legal counsel to Trump during his first impeachment trial, told Newsmax. “In New York, you can indict a ham sandwich. In New York City, you can convict a ham sandwich because the jury pool is so unfair. Even if he’s convicted, he can run for president. He can run for president from prison; he can even serve as president from prison.”

  The U.S. Constitution doesn’t bar felons from holding elected office, including the presidency. The Constitution’s text only lists three criteria to run for president: a candidate has to be age 35 or older, be a natural born citizen, and they must have lived in the United States for at least 14 years.

  In a separate interview with Chris Cuomo, Dershowitz asserted that “Trump can run from prison, the way [Boston] Mayor [James] Curley did, and he could win, and he can govern from prison.” Curley, a Democrat who served as mayor of Boston four times in the early part of the 20th century, was convicted twice and notably served time in prison during his fourth term in office.

  

  Trump has previously stated that he will continue to run for president in 2024 even if he is charged. Later this month, Trump is slated to hold his first 2024 rally in Waco, Texas.

  There has been no public announcement of any time frame for the Manhattan grand jury’s secret work in the case. At least one additional witness is expected to testify, further indicating that no vote to indict has yet been taken, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to publicly discuss the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.

  A Trump-affiliated lawyer, Robert Castello, told media outlets on Monday that he testified in front of a Manhattan grand jury and sought to denigrate testimony put forth by Michael Cohen, a former Trump attorney who has been described as a key witness in the case. Castello said that Cohen, who was sentenced to federal prison on a range of charges, is an unreliable witness.

  Meanwhile, Bragg’s office has issued few public statements in connection to the investigation. A spokesperson for the district attorney issued a response to the Washington Post regarding a House Republican demand for information and testimony in connection to the Trump probe, merely saying that claims that New York City is dealing with a surge in violent crime is not true.

  A Trump lawyer, Susan Necheles, told The Associated Press that Trump’s weekend Truth Social post was “based on the media reports,” and another Trump spokesperson said there had been “no notification” from Bragg’s office, though the origin of Trump’s Tuesday reference was unclear. The Epoch Times has contacted Bragg’s office for comment.

  Trump’s aides and legal team have been reportedly preparing for the possibility of an indictment. Should that happen, he would be arrested only if he refused to surrender. Trump’s lawyers have previously said he would follow normal procedure, meaning he would likely agree to surrender at a New York Police Department precinct or directly to Bragg’s office.

  The indictment of Trump, 76, would be an extraordinary development after years of investigations that yielded essentially nothing. It would also be the first time a current or former president was indicted.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 22:45

• SCOTUS Overturns Appeals Court Upholding Abortion Without Parental Consent
  SCOTUS Overturns Appeals Court Upholding Abortion Without Parental Consent

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

  The Supreme Court threw out a federal appeals court decision on March 20 that upheld the right of a minor to go to court for permission to pursue an abortion without notifying her parents.

  

  Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole member of the Supreme Court to file a dissenting opinion in the case, Chapman v. Doe, court file 22-312.

  In the case, the court vacated the ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit and remanded the case to that court with instructions to dismiss the proceeding as moot. Jackson objected to the specific manner in which this was done because it erased any precedential value the circuit court ruling may have had.

  In the case, a pregnant minor, Jane Doe, visited her local courthouse to apply for a dispensation allowing her to bypass parental consent for the planned abortion. The office of the petitioner, Michelle Chapman, circuit clerk for Randolph County, Missouri, told her she couldn’t file a bypass petition without notifying a parent.

  Doe got an abortion in Illinois after a court there authorized it, absent parental notification.

  Doe filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal district court for damages, claiming that Chapman violated her 14th Amendment rights. Chapman took the position that she was immune to lawsuits because she followed a Missouri statute and a judge’s directions.

  Chapman also claimed that Doe’s right to a bypass hearing wasn’t clearly established and that she therefore couldn’t have violated Doe’s rights.

  In what was perceived as a victory for the pro-abortion movement, the district court ruled against Chapman, finding that the statute didn’t require prehearing notification of the minor’s parents to obtain judicial authorization for an abortion.

  The 8th Circuit later determined that Doe’s claim must be allowed to proceed, finding that the right to bypass the parents was clearly established under the 14th Amendment.

  But in September 2022, Chapman asked the Supreme Court to review the case after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, finding there was no right to abortion in the U.S. Constitution and returning the regulation of abortion to the states.

  In its June 24, 2022, ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the high court also reversed a related 1992 precedent, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, which affirmed Roe and declared that a woman had a right to obtain an abortion before fetal viability without undue interference from the state.

  “Doe’s claims rely on the proposition” that requiring parental notification of a judicial bypass proceeding must satisfy the undue burden test announced in Casey, Chapman said.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 21:25

• Rent Inflation Approaches Two-Year Low Amid Cooling Market
  Rent Inflation Approaches Two-Year Low Amid Cooling Market

  Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his entire team should be cognizant of the fact that rents have been declining for many months. Despite this, Powell has been examining laggard data that persistently appears inflated. 

  The latest CoreLogic report adds to the mounting evidence of leading rental market indicators showing rent inflation has been cooling for the ninth consecutive month in January, as the yearly growth rate slid to the lowest point since 2021. 

  Single-family homes across the US experienced a 5.7% increase in value compared to the previous year. Each of the 20 major metropolitan regions monitored by CoreLogic saw annual rent growth in the single-digit range for the first time since the end of 2020.

  

  Despite the high-frequency rent data from CoreLogic and other research firms indicating a clear deceleration, this slowdown has not yet been reflected in the Fed’s consumer-price data due to delays in the calculation process. 

  Back in September, when looking at various leading rental market indicators, we reported that “Manhattan Apartment Rents Finally “Plateau” After Red-Hot Summer” a trend reversal that was also observed at the national level as we observed in “Nationwide Rents Drop For First Time In Two Years.” With rents peaking in August, two months later, the rental drop accelerated, as we discussed in “Just Tumbled The Most On Record As Economy Craters.” 

  Last month we penned a note, “Apartment Rents Slide Across All US Cities Amid “Crush” Of New Supply,” but outlined the Fed’s shelter inflation data is well behind the curve (as usual). 

  

  The good news is that with a long delay, the coming supply of new apartments – especially in places where housing inventory remains unusually low to the benefit of home sellers – will give renters more choices, making it not only more difficult for landlords to hike rents at rates seen last year. 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 21:05

• Gasoline Prices Buck The Trend Ahead Of Driving Season
  Gasoline Prices Buck The Trend Ahead Of Driving Season

  By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

  With U.S. gasoline prices trending about 3 cents lower than the same time last week, analysts are now speculating that the banking crisis and broader financial markets concerns may prevent prices at the pump from ticking upwards as they would normally do ahead of the summer driving season.

  “The broad concern over recent failures of the U.S. and global banking system has put enough downward pressure on oil prices that we saw a reprieve in rising gasoline prices in the national average last week,” said Patrick DeHaan, the senior petroleum analyst for Chicago-based GasBuddy.

  

  DeHaan said that while markets are volatile, and we will see some differentiation in prices as certain states switch to the more expensive summer blend of gasoline, much going forward in the immediate future depends on how the banking crisis plays out.

  “Should the outlook for the banking sector improve, we could again see gasoline prices race higher, while continued or additional distress could raise the possibility of a broader economic slowdown, keeping gasoline prices in check,” he said. “Overall, there are a lot of possibilities.”

  Shares of Credit Suisse plunged some 60% early on Monday after its rival, UBS, announced it would take over the bank for $3 billion to shore up global markets. The plunge in Credit Suisse shares last week followed the failures of U.S regional banks Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank.

  

  According to AAA, Monday’s natural average per gallon of gasoline is $3.443, compared to $3.446 on Sunday, and $3.473 a week ago. Monday was the first time in two weeks that gasoline prices in the U.S. had declined.

  Last week, gasoline inventories fell 2.1 million barrels amid maintenance and the usual transition to summer gasoline began to replace less expensive winter fuel. Implied gasoline demand rose by 32,000 bpd. 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 20:45

• Zelensky Invites China To Discuss Peace After 'No Breakthrough' In Xi-Putin Meeting
  Zelensky Invites China To Discuss Peace After ‘No Breakthrough’ In Xi-Putin Meeting

  Ukraine appears willing to engage China in mediation efforts to end the war, at a moment China’s Xi Jinping is in Moscow discussing Beijing’s own 12-point peace plan. With the main part of talks with Putin having been concluded as of Tuesday night, there’s been no breakthrough among the “friends” to come of it thus far.

  “We believe that many of the provisions of the peace plan put forward by China are consonant with Russian approaches and can be taken as the basis for a peaceful settlement when they are ready for that in the West and in Kyiv. However, so far we see no such readiness from their side,” Putin said, laying blame on the Ukrainians.

  

  But Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday his government has reached out to Beijing. Zelensky said he has invited China to engage in talks on implementation of Kyiv’s own peace formula, and that he’s waiting for an answer.

  “We offered China to become a partner in the implementation of the peace formula. We passed over our formula across all channels. We invite you to dialogue. We are waiting for your answer,” Zelensky announced at a Tuesday a press conference. He added: “We are receiving some signals, but there are no specifics yet”.

  This comes after last month Zelensky issued an unexpectedly positive response to Xi’s offering China’s 12-point peace plan, in an effort to jumpstart negotiations. “I think the fact that China started talking about Ukraine is not bad. But the question is what follows the words,” Zelensky said at the time. “I think some of the Chinese proposals respect international law, and I think we can work on it with China. Why not? Our goal is to gather many around us to isolate one [Russia],” he had added.

  “It is clear that in Beijing’s view the conflict in Ukraine will continue, that the West has no plan to solve it, and that China expects its role as mediator will only grow.”https://t.co/TL5FX8QsyG

  — Trita Parsi (@tparsi) March 21, 2023

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

  The reality is that since China first unveiled the broad peace plan weeks ago, its role as a mediator does appear to be taking shape.

  But all the while this has resulted in cynicism and condemnation from Washington as the US watches helplessly while Beijing and Moscow embark on an unprecedented level of cooperation.

  Xi Jinping: Change is coming that hasn’t happened in 100 years. And we are driving this change together.

  Putin: I agree.

  Xi Jinping: Please, take care, dear friend.

  Putin: Have a safe journey! pic.twitter.com/eYdKFkl2PL

  — Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) March 21, 2023

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

  Likely pressure is also growing on Zelensky to reject any Chinese hand of friendship and mediation – seeing in it a ploy to keep Russia strong and on the offensive in Ukraine. If China-Ukraine talks do come together with an eye toward bringing in Moscow, the US certainly won’t be happy.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 20:25

• …And Just Like That, The 'Tight Money' Era Is Over
  …And Just Like That, The ‘Tight Money’ Era Is Over

  Authored by John Rubino via Substack,

  At the beginning of last week, everyone expected central banks to “tighten until something breaks”. By the end of the week it was clear that they’d already broken everything.

  Two middling US banks imploded, European mega-bank Credit Suisse finally died a well-justified death, and “who’s next?” speculation ran wild. And just like that, the era of tight money ended.

  Now the world’s monetary authorities have broadened the definition of “systemic risk” to cover pretty much anything. FDIC insurance has been extended to every bank account of any size. Credit Suisse is being bought for pennies on the dollar by rival Swiss giant UBS. And according to Bloomberg,

  The Federal Reserve and five other central banks announced coordinated action on Sunday to boost liquidity in U.S. dollar swap arrangements, the latest effort by policymakers to ease growing strains in the global financial system.

  Central banks involved in the dollar swaps will “increase the frequency of seven-day maturity operations from weekly to daily,” the Fed said in a statement coordinated with the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, and the Swiss National Bank. 

  The Fed’s balance sheet — a measure of how much currency it creates and dumps into the economy — had been shrinking, which is to say the US money supply had been contracting. Now it’s soaring, up $300 billion in a matter of days.

  

  The piecemeal, fingers-in-the-dike character of this response can be explained in one of two ways: Either the morons running the global financial system were completely blindsided because they actually thought rising interest rates and a falling money supply would slow inflation without unintended consequences, despite a century of contrary experience. Or the evil geniuses running the global financial system have engineered a multi-faceted crisis as an excuse to assume total control.

  I’m agnostic on the above, but in either case, it seems clear that the world’s governments won’t be able to stop conditions from deteriorating. Consider:

  Lenders were already scared. Now they’re terrified

  Banks were already tightening credit standards before last week’s flash crisis. Now virtually all of them will stop lending to any but their strongest clients. A year from now the updated version of this chart will show a spike to record high tightening levels.

  

  Autos are a bursting bubble

  The number of underwater car loans, where the loan balance exceeds the value of the car, has been rising for months. Interest rates on used car loans had jumped from an average of 8% to over 10% in the past year. And auto loan delinquency rates have climbed to their highest levels in over 15 years, with an especially big jump among subprime borrowers. Now panicked banks will make car loans even harder to get while a growing number of borrowers will default on their existing loans. Typical recession behavior, but this time against a crisis backdrop.

  

  Commercial real estate was toast in any event, but now it’s burnt toast

  Office buildings, warehouses and such never fully recovered from the pandemic lockdowns, and by the 4th quarter of 2022 delinquencies on commercial real estate loans were rising sharply. Building prices were beginning to fall, and the specter of a commercial real estate crash was looming. And that was before banks and regulators went into their current panic mode.

  

  Now just try refinancing an underperforming office complex and see how it goes.

  And there’s more…

  Stephanie Pomboy, an analyst whose work has been spot-on lately, tweeted this 12 hours ago:

  ya know what’s keeping me up at night? Thinking about the unseen exposure by NONbank finl institutions to things far riskier than the stuff bringing down the banks. Esp, the prospect that some insurer (&counterparty in the giant mkt of credit derivatives) is about to go toes up

  And don’t even get me started on pensions. I’ve ranted breathlessly on that. They will be the subject of a bailout the likes of which we have never before witnessed. If you think the bank bailout is gonna be massive…stay tuned. You ain’t seen nothing.

  In other words, a lot can still go wrong, because excessive leverage is hidden all over the place. A pension bust would mean a multi-trillion dollar bailout, for instance, and that was probably coming even in “normal” times. As for derivatives, well, they’ll destroy the world eventually, so why not now?

  The take-away? In the midst of all the various credit crises, controlling inflation will be moved to the back burner. And the world will realize that the central banks are out of ammo, with no choice but to let their currencies burn.

  *  *  *

  Subscribe to John Rubino

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 20:05

• First Signs Of A Notable Low-Income Slowdown
  First Signs Of A Notable Low-Income Slowdown

  The bank crisis, Fed and macro continue to lead the market in a daily rollercoaster, and while that won’t change for at least a few days, Goldman’s consumer retail trader Scott Feiler notes in his trading note today, there are some notable things to highlight in consumer…

  1. First signs of a notable low-income slowdown?:

  Feiler notes that investors have been bearish consumers for much of the year, even before the issues with the banks: he writes that “we had heard COST and VISA talk to modest deceleration in February (100-200 bps), but nothing precipitous. The big question has been whether anyone has seen a more worrisome slowdown with tax refunds (down double-digits y/y) and SNAP reductions (end of February) more front and center.”

  

  Well, according to the Goldman trader, we got that answer this morning from CTRN (Citi trends): it is an apparel store that caters to the low-income consumer. They guided 1Q sales to be down low double-digits vs Consensus +2%. This does not seem like conservatism like some other below consensus 1Q guides, as they explicitly said 1Q is off to a slow start. They said that given the macro-economic environment, they expect low income families, the bulk of their customer base, to remain under pressure in 1H.

  2. Is this a read-across though or idiosyncratic?

  CTRN is not getting a pass on that guide/commentary, with the stock -14%. The Goldman trader notes that “some of the feedback this morning from investors was that many consumer companies were at competitor conferences last week and the majority of companies continued to sound “fine” still.” While some of the other low-income names are underperforming, including WMT/BIG/DG/DLTR/FIVE/MCD, it’s still not clear that is just due to their low-income exposure, but potentially also from the rotation into beta today (IWM > SPY by over 100 bps today).

  

  Bottom line: “investors are taking the comments from CTRN at least somewhat seriously, but are skeptical it’s a true read-across.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 19:45

• Victor Davis Hanson: What Happened To Stanford?
  Victor Davis Hanson: What Happened To Stanford?

  Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via AmGreatness.com,

  The list of serial embarrassments at Stanford reads like the suicides of Greek tragedy, where divine nemesis follows hubris…

  

  Stanford was once one of the world’s great universities.

  It birthed Silicon Valley in its prime. And along with its nearby twin and rival, UC Berkeley, its brilliant researchers, and teachers helped fuel the mid-20th-century California miracle.

  That was then.

  But like the descent of California, now something has gone terribly wrong with the university.

  Students at Stanford Law School recently shouted down visiting Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kyle Duncan. He had been invited to give a lecture by the school’s Federalist Society. 

  The judge never even got the chance. The law school students drowned him out. They flashed obscene placards. They screamed that he was “scum.” One yelled he hoped the judge’s own daughters would be raped.

  Others bellowed, “You’re not welcome here, we hate you!” “Leave and never come back!” “We hate FedSoc [Federal Society] students, f–k them, they don’t belong here either!” and “We do not respect you and you have no right to speak here! This is our jurisdiction!”

  When the judge tried to reply, they drowned him out with “liar” and “scumbag.” Then, mission accomplished, they smugly stomped out.

  Note these were ostensibly not teenaged undergraduates. Instead, they were wannabe adult professionals, in law school to learn jurisprudence and to enter the elite American legal system that is supposed to have protocols separating it from the mobocracies prevailing abroad.

  One of those foundational principles is to honor the Constitution’s protection of free speech and expression—not to mention the ancient idea of respecting an invited guest, or the custom to treat with deference a federal judge, to say nothing of the duty to honor the codes and laws of the institution that they have chosen to join which prohibit disruption of lectures and any effort to drive out public speakers.

  When an exasperated Justice Duncan called out for a university administrator to restore calm, his podium was instead hijacked by Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Tirien Steinbach. She then gave her own preplanned, scripted lecture that sided with the disruptive protesters! Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

  The diversity dean then turned on the speaker. She asked the startled judge whether it was even worth supporting his free speech rights, given he and his views were deemed abhorrent to the new absolutist Stanford.

  Note well: DEI Deans normally do not attend law school lectures. She showed up because she apparently knew in advance that the law students would violate their own university’s codes of conduct and disrupt a speaker.

  So she had planned, again in advance, to do nothing to stop them. Instead, she would prepare a performance-art speech for such a certainty, to chastise the speaker and defend the disrupters. She assumed correctly that none of the other administrators, who also strangely attended, would admonish her or the students for violating the laws of their own university. She apparently assumed, once more rightly, that her own leftist fides on campus would be enhanced.

  So far neither the diversity dean nor the students have been disciplined by the university. When the dean of the law school, Jenny Martinez, offered an apology (but did not punish the students), most of her own class walked out on her. And dozens of Stanford’s law school students lined the corridor in attempts to intimidate her as if she was some sort of toxic pariah.

  In a Soviet-style finale, the Acting Associate Dean of Students Jeanne Merino advised the Federalist Society students who were targeted by fellow law students that there were “resources that you can use right now to support your safety and mental health.” Then Merino directed them, inter alia, to none other than Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Dean Tirien Steinbach herself, the very dean who had taken over the podium to lecture Judge Duncan!

  The debacle revealed three disturbing characteristics about the Stanford law students:

  One, they acted as if they were bullies and cowards. Videos of the mess showed how they turned mob-like in their chanting, flashing creepy placards, and, like Maoists, walking out on cue. Yet, when the judge fired back at their rudeness, like wounded fawns they took offense and pouted. And later, when there was mention that the names or photos of the protestors might be published, tit-for-tat, in the manner they themselves had put up posters of the Federalist Society members, they screamed that such exposure was unfair.

  Two, they seem incompetent. To the degree there were any questions and answers, few knew how or even attempted to engage the judge on matters of the law and judicial theory. In other words, any grammar-school students could have matched their performance since it required no knowledge of the law, just an ability to chant and—in groupthink style—cry, scream, and mimic the majority.

  Three, they were arrogant. One protestor blurted out that Justice Duncan probably could not have gotten into Stanford, as if their own puerile performance was proof of the school’s high standards of admission. That was obnoxious in addition to the fact that, as of recently, it may have become not so true. In July 2022, Stanford Law School announced that an uncharacteristic 14 percent of its graduates had flunked the California bar exam on their first attempt, a radical increase from past years. Four other California law schools—UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Irvine, and USC—had a higher bar pass rate.

  After watching the sad performance, one wonders who taught such rude and unimpressive people.

  Ethics complaints were lodged last year against Stanford Law Professor Michele Dauber for tweeting a series of gross attacks on Camille Vasquez (“some Pick Me Girl lawyer”), the widely regarded attorney of Johnny Depp. Law professor Dauber also tweeted sick fantasies about Depp’s death—and imagined the actor’s corpse would “end up in a trash can eaten by rats.” Was she the sort of model that the law students had emulated?

  Then there was Professor Pamela Karlan’s 2019 testimony before the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing on the impeachment of President Trump. Off-topic and gratuitously, Karlan weirdly attacked the name of the president’s youngest son, Barron Trump: “While the president can name his son Barron, he can’t make him a baron.” Was that the sort of puerility that the law students sought to embrace?

  In 2021, a graduating Stanford law student sent the law school student body a bogus call to violence as if it was authored by the school’s small conservative Federalist Society. The fake call to arms read in part: “The Stanford Federalist Society presents: The Originalist Case for Inciting Insurrection . . . Riot information will be emailed the morning of the event . . . ” Was that the sort of smear that the law students learned?

  

  TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images

  Sam Bankman-Fried, the architect of the $26 billion FTX cryptocurrency meltdown that destroyed the livelihoods of thousands, is the son of two other Stanford Law School professors. Somehow they were involved in the Bankman-Fried family’s acquisition of a $16.4 million vacation home gifted to them from FTX shortly before it imploded.

  According to the New York Times, both parent professors were intimately involved in their son’s multibillion-dollar business, either directly or through gifts to one parent’s political donor network:

  He [Professor Bankman] and his wife, the Stanford Law professor Barbara Fried, were more than just supportive parents backing their child’s business. Mr. Bankman was a paid FTX employee who traveled frequently to the Bahamas, where the exchange was based. Ms. Fried did not work for the company, but her son was among the donors in a political advocacy network that she orchestrated.

  Were these the ethical models that had influenced the law students?

  Bankman-Fried is currently out on a $250 million bond and living under bond on the Stanford campus. He is out, in part, because two Stanfordites, former law school dean Larry Kramer and Andreas Paepcke, a Stanford senior research scientist, put up a $500,000 guarantee. Former Stanford student Caroline Ellison, a partner with Sam Bankman-Fried in his various financial collapses, has pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, and is now working with prosecutors. 

  Perhaps the law school should not be singled out since it simply reflects what appears to be symptomatic of a once-great university’s freefall.

  

  Philip Pacheco/Getty Images

  A former Stanford student Elizabeth Holmes was recently sentenced to a long prison term for defrauding investors in connection with her company Theranos. She had fraudulently claimed to have invented a “revolutionary” miniaturized blood testing device. Many of her corporation’s oversight board members were drawn from the Stanford community.

  The Wall Street Journal recently ridiculed a Stanford university group’s publication of a taboo vocabulary list (“Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative”). “Harmful” words supposedly unwelcome at Stanford included inflammatory expressions such as “American” and “immigrant.”

  The Journal also noted that perhaps the cause of such Orwellianism was too many idle administrators chasing too few students: “For 16,937 students, Stanford lists 2,288 faculty and 15,750 administrative staff.”

  More disturbing was the revelation of a “snitch list.” The harmful language initiative apparently is tangential to another new idea of rewarding Stanford snitches who feel offended by hurtful expression. Or, as the so-called “The Protected Identity Harm (PIH) Reporting” system put it, software will monitor campus speech and even offer “financial rewards for finding/reporting” any who supposedly violate approved language usage.

  Was this the sort of campus experience that the parents of Stanford students pay for at about $90,000 per year?

  Stanford was also plagued by a recent admissions scandal when a former head sailing coach accepted donations to his Stanford sailing program in exchange for trying to help two students’ admission applications. 

  

  Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

  Then there were campus attacks on a pair of eminent Stanford public health experts, Drs. Scott Atlas and Jay Bhattacharya. Both were pilloried mercilessly by some of the Stanford faculty and administration for daring to doubt the efficacy of what has proved to be disastrous government-enforced COVID quarantines and school shutdowns.

  Yet the arguments of Atlas and Bhattacharya—the science does not support the mandatory use of masks to halt the pandemic, natural immunity was as efficacious as or superior to vaccine-induced immunity, the vaccinations would not offer lasting protection against either being infected or infecting someone else, and the quarantine lockdowns would cause more damage and death (familial abuse, suicides, substance abuse, mental depression, uneducated children, economic catastrophe, millions of missed surgeries, screenings, tests, and doctor’s appointments) than the virus itself—were all eventually substantiated.

  Neither doctor received apologies from the administrators, faculty, or students who attacked them.

  Currently Stanford’s long-serving president Marc Tessier-Lavigne—an accomplished neuroscientist—has been attacked serially by the Stanford Daily campus newspaper, which has called for his resignation. It alleges the president was culpable of scholarly misconduct concerning the publication of a joint research paper decades ago. The charges are not proven and remain under investigation. But they make it difficult for a president to weigh in on the above controversies when some faculty and the student newspaper are serially calling for him to step down for ethics violations. 

  In July 2020, a Stanford visiting neurology researcher, Chen Song, was arrested for not disclosing that she had apparently been an agent of China’s People’s Liberation Army. Stanford had also been investigated by the Department of Education for some $64 million in alleged Chinese-affiliated donations over a decade, all from previously unnamed, unidentified, and anonymous Chinese donors, most of them believed to be government associated.

  The list of serial embarrassments reads like the suicides of Greek tragedy, where divine nemesis follows hubris. In this case, overweening intolerant ideology has sabotaged disinterested inquiry and meritocracy. Arrogance and sanctimoniousness lead Stanford to continue down this spiral—rather than pause, reflect, and redirect—and thereby only compound the public ridicule.

  Stanford’s once-justified reputation for civility, transparency, tolerance, and professional ethics has been shredded before a global audience.

  Given its hallowed history, and the university’s vital global role in cutting-edge research, medicine, and professional training, something has to change—before it is too late.

  The university requires an array of compulsory workshops that faculty and many students must undergo. But given these recent debacles, perhaps two additional new training sessions are needed: required ethics instruction and a mandatory anger-management seminar.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 19:25

• US Secretary Of State Rebuffs China – No Diplomatic Solution Without Total Russian Pullback
  US Secretary Of State Rebuffs China – No Diplomatic Solution Without Total Russian Pullback

  Is the Ukraine war meant to go on forever?  For NATO officials and the Biden Administration, it seems as if this is the intention.  Secretary of State Antony Blinken made statements directed specifically to China during a press conference on the 2022 Human Rights Report, citing President Xi’s recent four hour meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow and China’s calls for diplomacy.  Blinken, not surprisingly, rebuffed China’s proposal because it does not include a total retreat of Russian forces from the Donbas regions of Ukraine.  He went on to accuse China of giving “diplomatic cover” to Putin. 

  .@SecBlinken on Chinese President Xi visit to Moscow: “The world should not be fooled by any tactical move by Russia supported by China, or any other country, to freeze the war on its own terms…” pic.twitter.com/vOWxBawsRz

  — CSPAN (@cspan) March 20, 2023

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

  Four areas making up Eastern Ukraine passed referendums to join Russia in September of last year, though NATO claims the votes were “rigged” in favor of the Kremlin.  Donbas citizens have been engaged in a rebellion against the Ukrainian government ever since the 2014 Maidan Revolution. 

  NATO leadership continues to argue that peace talks with Russia would only be a stalling tactic and that Russia cannot be allowed to keep hold of Eastern Ukraine because of the “domino effect” – The belief that Russia intends to invade other nations if it succeeds in Ukraine.  There is no evidence so far to support this theory.     

  With a Russian pullback highly unlikely and Ukraine with limited means to take back the Donbas, Blinken’s comments merely reaffirm what everyone already knew: NATO intends for the war to continue perpetually.  Take note that Blinken, like other Biden Administration officials, acts as if NATO is the arbiter of when and how diplomatic solutions might be pursued.  He does not suggest asking the Ukrainian people if they are open to China’s proposal.  This is because NATO, according to the evidence available, is in fact running the war.  Ukraine might be the ground on which the battles are fought, but the conflict is actually between the US, Europe and Russia.  

  Given this reality, one has to wonder what will happen if Ukraine fails to generate any forward momentum, or if Russia engages in another offensive?  How long before the situation escalates?  

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 19:05

• First Republic Shares Plunge After-Hours As Restructuring Plans Fizzle
  First Republic Shares Plunge After-Hours As Restructuring Plans Fizzle

  At one point today, First Republic Bank (FRC) shares were up over 50% (based on the narrative that Yellen said the Biden admin was prepared to offer more support to banks).

  That is no longer the case as most of those gains have been erased following a number of reports late in the day on the state of the bank’s restructuring efforts, as no buyer has emerged.

  

  While investors have reportedly expressed interest in helping, the firm’s unrealized losses have been a sticking point, and The Wall Street Journal reports that FRC is adding Lazard and McKinsey to help review strategic options alongside JPMorgan, which had already been hired to advise on moves the bank could make to regain its footing.

  The addition of Lazard and McKinsey underscores what a complicated situation First Republic is in – one that defies an easy fix.

  Finding a willing buyer for the bank, whose customers had withdrawn some $70 billion since Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse (and has been downgraded deeper into junk), selling stock at these depressed levels and other alternatives all face their own substantial hurdles.

  Additionally, Bloomberg reports that US officials are exploring the possibility of government backing to encourage a deal that would shore up the lender, people with knowledge of the situation said.

  Among options being discussed, the government could play a role in lifting assets out of First Republic that have eroded its balance sheet.

  Additional ideas have included offering liability protection, applying capital rules more flexibly or easing limits on ownership stakes, the people said.

  

  Finally, we note that the bank itself issued a statement to its clients late in the day:

  To Our Valued Clients,

  The events of the past two weeks have been unprecedented, and we want to take a moment to provide an update.

  Our commitment to client service is unchanged, and we remain well-positioned to continue to manage deposit activity. Today, as every day, we are processing transactions, opening accounts, funding loans, answering questions, and serving clients’ overall banking and wealth management needs.

  We are grateful for your ongoing advocacy for the value of our relationship-based, exceptional service. We keep hearing from you, and the overwhelming theme is this: “We love our bank.” We want to extend our sincerest thanks for your continued and unwavering support.

  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your banker or wealth manager.

  “processing transactions” and “opening accounts”?

  As S&P Global warned on Sunday, last week’s deposit infusion may not be enough to overcome the bank’s “substantial business, liquidity, funding, and profitability challenges.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 19:02

• Judge OKs Lawsuits Against JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank For Epstein Connections
  Judge OKs Lawsuits Against JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank For Epstein Connections

  Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Deutsche Bank will face lawsuits over claims they enabled disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to traffic his victims, a New York federal judge ruled on March 20.

  

  Two women referred to as “Jane Doe” filed federal class-action lawsuits against the banks in November last year, and the U.S. Virgin Islands filed its lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase & Co. in December.

  In his four-page order (pdf), U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said the women can try to make a case on claims that the defendants “knowingly benefited from participating in a sex-trafficking venture,” “obstructed enforcement of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act,” and “negligently failed to exercise reasonable care to prevent physical harm.”

  They can also pursue a claim that the banks “negligently failed to exercise reasonable care as a banking institution providing non-routine banking,” the judge said. However, all other claims are dismissed from the lawsuits.

  With regard to the lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase & Co. by the U.S. Virgin Islands, the judge ruled that the defendants can pursue the claim that the bank “knowingly benefited from participating in a sex-trafficking venture.”

  Some of the other claims were dismissed.

  

  The judge’s opinion explaining the reasons for his rulings is set to be published soon.

  In their lawsuits, the two women had claimed that Epstein sexually abused them, and also accused the banks of aiding his sex trafficking operation by maintaining a financial relationship with him because he was a high-profile client.

  They also claim that multiple cash payments came from the banks to pay Epstein’s victims.

  Virgin Islands Accuses Bank of Enabling

  The lawsuit brought by the U.S. Virgin Islands accused JPMorgan of enabling Epstein’s sex trafficking by providing banking services to the financier after he had been convicted of sex charges and concealing suspicious wire and cash transactions, despite the fact that employees at the bank had raised concerns over the institution’s relationship with Epstein.

  It also suggests that JPMorgan senior officials at the bank were aware of Epstein’s crimes on the private and secluded island of Little St. James in the territory, and of the bank’s role in advancing them.

  The banks denied being aware of Epstein’s abuses and sought to have the lawsuits dismissed.

  Rakoff’s decision means the banks may be held financially liable for their relationships with Epstein if the plaintiffs succeed with their lawsuits in court.

  Epstein, 66, died in a New York City jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He had been a client of JPMorgan from 2000 to 2013 and Deutsche Bank from 2013 to 2018.

  Following Rakoff’s ruling, Carol Thomas-Jacobs, the acting attorney general for the U.S. Virgin Islands, said the government looked forward to “ultimately proving our case in court.”

  ‘This Case Is Critically Important’

  “We are pleased that the U.S. Virgin Islands will continue to work alongside survivors to hold JPMorgan Chase accountable for enabling Jeffrey Epstein’s heinous sex-trafficking venture,” Thomas-Jacobs said in a statement.

  “This case is critically important to ensuring that financial institutions do their jobs, with the detailed, real-time information available to them, as a first line of defense in identifying and reporting potential human trafficking, as the law expects.”

  

  Elsewhere, Brad Edwards, the attorney representing Epstein’s accusers, called the rulings Monday “a monumental victory for the hundreds of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking scheme and survivors of sexual abuse in general, all of whom can rest easier knowing no individual or institution is above accountability.”

  “Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation was impossible without the assistance of JPMorgan Chase, and later Deutsche Bank,” Edwards said, according to CNBC. “And we assure the public that we will leave no stone unturned in our quest for justice for the many victims who deserved better from one of America’s largest financial institutions.”

  The Epoch Times has contacted JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank for comment.

  Monday’s ruling comes after JPMorgan filed a lawsuit against its former investment banking chief Jes Staley earlier this month, alleging that Staley protected Epstein and demanding that he return all of his compensation from 2006 through 2013 while employed at the bank, totaling more than $80 million.

  Staley has claimed that he was unaware of Epstein’s sex crimes despite maintaining a friendly relationship with him while he worked as a top executive for the bank.

  “I thought I knew him well, and I didn’t,” he told The Wall Street Journal in early 2020. “For sure, with hindsight, with what we all know now, I deeply regret having had any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 18:45

• Auto-Loan Denials Hit Six-Year High As Distress Cycle Shifts Into Gear
  Auto-Loan Denials Hit Six-Year High As Distress Cycle Shifts Into Gear

  The Federal Reserve has managed to aggressively raise interest rates and tighten financial conditions so much that it sparked a regional banking crisis and unleashed contagion in European banks. Even before the banking meltdown, financial conditions were tight, pressuring subprime consumers the most. 

  A new Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey shows the auto loan denial rate rose to 9.1%, a six-year high in February — and up from 5.8% in October. 

  

  “The findings show how higher interest rates are squeezing consumer credit in some key areas, in line with the Fed’s goal of cooling inflation. But in recent days, the collapse of three US banks has spurred fears of a sharper credit crunch that risks tipping the economy into a recession,” Bloomberg said. 

  We suspect denial rates will continue increasing as banks lose faith in subprime consumers. Earlier this year, when discussing the “perfect storm” hitting the US auto market, we showed that according to Fitch, “More Americans Can’t Afford Their Car Payments Than During The Peak Of Financial Crisis“…

  

  Since 1H21, the average rate on a new-car loan has nearly doubled, making vehicles much less affordable. 

  

  And the number of folks with $1,000 monthly car payments has soared in recent years, with the average loan amount financed hitting a record high of $40,000 — a disaster in the making… 

  

  The good news for the auto market is that tighter financial conditions have reduced the number of people buying new cars. However, that could only shift more consumers to the used car market in search of deals. As we noted in recent weeks, used car prices are reaccelerating. 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 18:35

• SVB's Loans To 'Insiders' Exploded Ahead Of Its Collapse
  SVB’s Loans To ‘Insiders’ Exploded Ahead Of Its Collapse

  By now, we’ve all seen the losses that SVB faced on its unhedged book of Treasuries and MBS. We’ve all read about the gargantuan deposit run that occurred on the eve of its demise. We’ve all scratched the back of our heads at the percentage (and size) of uninsured depositors that were bailed out by the Biden administration.

  We have also all seen the relatively huge amount of share-selling by insiders in the month leading up to the bank’s inevitable collapse.

  But, this next chart is a doozy…

  Courtesy of Bloomberg’s reporting, it appears that not only were insiders dumping their shares faster than syphilitic hooker, there were loading up on loans from the bank at a scale that makes a mockery of any regulatory oversight…

  

  Yes, that’s real.

  Loans to officers, directors and principal shareholders, and their related interests, more than tripled from the third quarter last year to $219 million in the final three months of 2022 – a record dollar amount of loans going back over 20 years.

  Many questions come to mind – what were the terms, who were the recipients, what was the collateral?

  But, sadly, we will likely never know.

  However, we do note that the banking execs may be facing a serious shortfall (like their bank): if the loans were collateralized by SVB shares for example, those shares are now worthless, leaving the loan-heavy C-suite left to come up with the cash to repay the loans (and no, these loans don’t disappear with the bank’s liquidation).

  While there is no evidence of wrongdoing, and no personal details of the loans (names, purposes, collateral) are disclosed in the government filings, this headline dollar data is part of the regulatory oversight panel demanded to guard against banking executives getting preferential treatment.

  “Our loan portfolio has a credit profile different from that of most other banking companies,” the banks aid in its 2022 annual report.

  The firm added that “a significant portion of our loan portfolio is comprised of larger loans, which could increase the impact on us of any single borrower default.”

  With DOJ and SEC eyes already probing the stock-sales ahead of the collapse, we can only imagine what this chart will do to stoke some more WTF-isms from Washington’s elites.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 18:25

• Three Years To Slow The Spread: COVID Hysteria & The Creation Of A Never-Ending Crisis
  Three Years To Slow The Spread: COVID Hysteria & The Creation Of A Never-Ending Crisis

  Authored by Jordan Schachtel via ‘The Dossier’ Substack,

  Last Thursday marked the three year anniversary of the infamous “15 Days To Slow The Spread” campaign.

  

  By March 16, yours truly was already pretty fed up with both the governmental and societal “response” to what was being baselessly categorized as the worst pandemic in 100 years, despite zero statistical data supporting such a serious claim.

  The Moment That Shook the World: “15 Days to Slow the Spread” (March 16, 2020)

  Fauci: “In states with evidence of community transmission, bars, restaurants, food courts, gyms, and other indoor and outdoor venues where groups of people congregate should be https://t.co/T9CGrYFNjv… https://t.co/SwDYBgN438 pic.twitter.com/k5oaU36YAR

  — The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) March 16, 2023

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  I was living in the Washington, D.C. Beltway at the time, and it was pretty much impossible to find a like-minded person within 50 miles who also wasn’t taking the bait. After I read about the news coming out of Wuhan in January, I spent much of the next couple weeks catching up to speed and reading about what a modern pandemic response was supposed to look like.

  What surprised me most was that none of “the measures” were mentioned, and that these designated “experts” were nothing more than failed mathematicians, government doctors, and college professors who were more interested in policy via shoddy academic forecasting than observing reality.

  Within days of continually hearing their yapping at White House pressers, It quickly became clear that the Deborah Birx’s and Anthony Fauci’s of the world were engaging in nothing more than a giant experiment. There was no an evidence-based approach to managing Covid whatsoever. These figures were leaning into the collective hysteria, and brandishing their credentials as Public Health Experts to demand top-down approaches to stamping out the WuFlu.

  DeSantis on Covid lockdowns: “So I call and say, ‘Deborah [Birx], tell me: when in American history has this been done?’ And she says, ‘It’s kind of our own science experiment that we’re doing in real time.’”

  Lockdowns were Fauci’s “science experiment”🤯pic.twitter.com/K7H8NIBPaV

  — Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) March 14, 2023

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  To put it bluntly, these longtime government bureaucrats had no idea what the f—k they were doing. Fauci and his cohorts were not established or reputable scientists, but authoritarians, charlatans, who had a decades-long track record of hackery and corruption. This Coronavirus Task Force did not have the collective intellect nor the wisdom to be making these broad brush decisions.

  Back then, there were only literally a handful of people who attempted to raise awareness about the wave of tyranny, hysteria, and anti-science policies that were coming our way. There were so few of us back in March in 2020 that it was impossible to form any kind of significant structured resistance to the madness that was unfolding before us. These structures would later form, but not until the infrastructure for the highway to Covid hysteria hell had already been cemented.

  Making matters worse was the reality that the vast majority of the population — friends, colleagues, peers and family included — agreed that dissenters were nothing more than reckless extremists, bioterrorists, Covid deniers, anti-science rabble rousers, and the like.

  Yet we were right, and we had the evidence and data to prove it. There was no evidence to ever support such a heavy-handed series of government initiatives to “slow the spread.”

  By March 16, 2020, data had already accumulated indicating that this contagion would be no more lethal than an influenza outbreak.

  The February, 2020 outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship provided a clear signal that the hysteria models provided by Bill Gates-funded and managed organizations were incredibly off base. Of the 3,711 people aboard the Diamond Princess, about 20% tested positive with Covid. The majority of those who tested positive had zero symptoms. By the time all passengers had disembarked from the vessel, there were 7 reported deaths on the ship, with the average age of this cohort being in the mid 80s, and it wasn’t even clear if these passengers died from or with Covid.

  Despite the strange photos and videos coming out of Wuhan, China, there was no objective evidence of a once in a century disease approaching America’s shores, and the Diamond Princess outbreak made that clear.

  Of course, it wasn’t the viral contagion that became the problem.

  It was the hysteria contagion that brought out the worst qualities of much of the global ruling class, letting world leaders take off their proverbial masks in unison and reveal their true nature as power drunk madmen.

  And even the more decent world leaders were swept up in the fear and mayhem, turning over the keys of government control to the supposed all-knowing Public Health Experts.

  They quickly shuttered billions of lives and livelihoods, wreaking exponentially more havoc than a novel coronavirus ever could.

  In the United States, 15 Days to Slow The Spread quickly became 30 Days To Slow The Spread. Somewhere along the way, the end date for “the measures” was removed from the equation entirely.

  

  3 years later, there still isn’t an end date…

  Anthony Fauci appeared on MSNBC Thursday morning and declared that Americans would need annual Covid boosters to compliment their Flu shots.

  NEW – Fauci: Americans will likely need “a booster shot once a year.”pic.twitter.com/Ec0zSWhV2b

  — Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) March 16, 2023

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  So much of the Covid hysteria era was driven by pseudoscience and outright nonsense, and yet, very few if any world leaders took it upon themselves to restore sanity in their domains. Now, unsurprisingly, so many elected officials who were complicit in this multi-billion person human tragedy won’t dare to reflect upon it.

  In a 1775 letter from John Adams to his wife, Abigail, the American Founding Father wrote:

  “Liberty once lost is lost forever. When the People once surrender their share in the Legislature, and their Right of defending the Limitations upon the Government, and of resisting every Encroachment upon them, they can never regain it.”

  Covid hysteria and the 3 year anniversary of 15 Days To Slow The Spread serves as the beginning period of a permanent scar resulting from government power grabs and federal overreach.

  While life is back to normal in most of the country, the Overton window of acceptable policy has slid even further in the direction of push-button tyranny. Hopefully, much of the world has awakened to the reality that most of the people in charge aren’t actually doing what’s best for their respective populations.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 03/21/2023 – 18:05

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• The Lords Of Chaos: Iraq Invasion 20 Years Later
  The Lords Of Chaos: Iraq Invasion 20 Years Later

  Authored by Chris Hedges via Consortium News/ScheerPost.com,

  Two decades ago, I sabotaged my career at The New York Times. It was a conscious choice. I had spent seven years in the Middle East, four of them as the Middle East Bureau Chief. I was an Arabic speaker. I believed, like nearly all Arabists, including most of those in the State Department and the C.I.A., that a “preemptive” war against Iraq would be the most costly strategic blunder in American history.

  It would also constitute what the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg called the “supreme international crime.” While Arabists in official circles were muzzled, I was not. I was invited by them to speak at The State Department, The United States Military Academy at West Point and to senior Marine Corps officers scheduled to be deployed to Kuwait to prepare for the invasion.

  

  Mine was not a popular view nor one a reporter, rather than an opinion columnist, was permitted to express publicly according to the rules laid down by the newspaper. But I had experience that gave me credibility and a platform. I had reported extensively from Iraq. I had covered numerous armed conflicts, including the first Gulf War and the Shi’ite uprising in southern Iraq where I was taken prisoner by The Iraqi Republican Guard.

  I easily dismantled the lunacy and lies used to promote the war, especially as I had reported on the destruction of Iraq’s chemical weapons stockpiles and facilities by the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) inspection teams. I had detailed knowledge of how degraded the Iraqi military had become under U.S. sanctions. Besides, even if Iraq did possess “weapons of mass destruction” that would not have been a legal justification for war.

  The death threats towards me exploded when my stance became public in numerous interviews and talks I gave across the country. They were either mailed in by anonymous writers or expressed by irate callers who would daily fill up the message bank on my phone with rage-filled tirades. Right-wing talk shows, including Fox News, pilloried me, especially after I was heckled and booed off a commencement stage at Rockford College for denouncing the war.

  The Wall Street Journal wrote an editorial attacking me. Bomb threats were called into venues where I was scheduled to speak. I became a pariah in the newsroom. Reporters and editors I had known for years would lower their heads as I passed, fearful of any career-killing contagion. I was issued a written reprimand by The New York Times to cease speaking publicly against the war. I refused. My tenure was over.

  No Accountability

  What is disturbing is not the cost to me personally. I was aware of the potential consequences. What is disturbing is that the architects of these debacles have never been held accountable and remain ensconced in power. They continue to promote permanent war, including the ongoing proxy war in Ukraine against Russia, as well as a future war against China.

  The politicians who lied to us — George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden to name but a few — extinguished millions of lives, including thousands of American lives, and left Iraq along with Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Libya and Yemen in chaos. They exaggerated or fabricated conclusions from intelligence reports to mislead the public. The big lie is taken from the playbook of totalitarian regimes. 

  The cheerleaders in the media for war — Thomas Friedman, David Remnick, Richard Cohen, George Packer, William Kristol, Peter Beinart, Bill Keller, Robert Kaplan, Anne Applebaum, Nicholas Kristof, Jonathan Chait, Fareed Zakaria, David Frum, Jeffrey Goldberg, David Brooks and Michael Ignatieff — were used to amplify the lies and discredit the handful of us, including Michael Moore, Robert Scheer and Phil Donahue, who opposed the war.

  The US has engaged in over eight major conflicts since it declared its War on Terror 19 years ago.

  Since then, more than 37 million people have been displaced in US-related wars.

  We take a look at the impact of the global war against terrorism ⤵️https://t.co/W4j4iyRPfy

  — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) March 20, 2023

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  These courtiers were often motivated more by careerism than idealism. They did not lose their megaphones or lucrative speaking fees and book contracts once the lies were exposed, as if their crazed diatribes did not matter. They served the centers of power and were rewarded for it.

  Many of these same pundits are pushing further escalation of the war in Ukraine, although most know as little about Ukraine or NATO’s provocative and unnecessary expansion to the borders of Russia as they did about Iraq. 

  “I told myself and others that Ukraine is the most important story of our time, that everything we should care about is on the line there,” George Packer writes in The Atlantic magazine. “I believed it then, and I believe it now, but all of this talk put a nice gloss on the simple, unjustifiable desire to be there and see.”

  Packer views war as a purgative, a force that will jolt a country, including the U.S., back to the core moral values he supposedly found amongst American volunteers in Ukraine. “I didn’t know what these men thought of American politics, and I didn’t want to know,” he writes of two U.S. volunteers. 

  “Back home we might have argued; we might have detested each other. Here, we were joined by a common belief in what the Ukrainians were trying to do and admiration for how they were doing it. Here, all the complex infighting and chronic disappointments and sheer lethargy of any democratic society, but especially ours, dissolved, and the essential things — to be free and live with dignity — became clear. It almost seemed as if the U.S. would have to be attacked or undergo some other catastrophe for Americans to remember what Ukrainians have known from the start.”

  The Iraq war cost at least $3 trillion and the 20 years of warfare in the Middle East cost a total of some $8 trillion. The occupation created Shi’ite and Sunni death squads, fueled horrific sectarian violence, gangs of kidnappers, mass killings and torture.

  It gave rise to al-Qaeda cells and spawned ISIS which at one point controlled a third of Iraq and Syria. ISIS carried out rape, enslavement and mass executions of Iraqi ethnic and religious minorities such as the Yazidis. It persecuted Chaldean Catholics and other Christians. This mayhem was accompanied by an orgy of killing by U.S. occupation forces, such as as the gang rape and murder of Abeer al-Janabi, a 14-year-old girl and her family by members of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne. The U.S. routinely engaged in the torture and execution of detained civilians, including at Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca. 

  There is no accurate count of lives lost, estimates in Iraq alone range from hundreds of thousands to over a million. Some 7,000 U.S. service members died in our post 9/11 wars, with over 30,000 later committing suicide, according to Brown University’s Costs of War project. 

  Yes, Saddam Hussein was brutal and murderous, but in terms of a body count, we far outstripped his killings, including his genocidal campaigns against the Kurds. We destroyed Iraq as a unified country, devastated its modern infrastructure, wiped out its thriving and educated middle class, gave birth to rogue militias and installed a kleptocracy that uses the country’s oil revenues to enrich itself.

  Ordinary Iraqis are impoverished. Hundreds of Iraqis protesting in the streets against the kleptocracy have been gunned down by police. There are frequent power outages. The Shi’ite majority, closely allied with Iran, dominates the country. 

  The occupation of Iraq, beginning 20 years ago today, turned the Muslim world and the Global South against us. The enduring images we left behind from two decades of war include President Bush standing under a “Mission Accomplished” banner onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier barely one month after he invaded Iraq, the bodies of Iraqis in Fallujah that were burned with white phosphorus and the photos of torture by U.S. soldiers. 

  To The Hague

  The U.S. is desperately attempting to use Ukraine to repair its image. But the rank hypocrisy of calling for “a rules-based international order” to justify the $113 billion in arms and other aid that the U.S. has committed to send to Ukraine, won’t work. It ignores what we did. We might forget, but the victims do not.

  The only redemptive path is charging Bush, Cheney and the other architects of the wars in the Middle East, including Joe Biden, as war criminals in the International Criminal Court. Haul Russian President Vladimir Putin off to The Hague, but only if Bush is in the cell next to him. 

  Many of the apologists for the war in Iraq seek to justify their support by arguing that “mistakes” were made, that if, for example, the Iraqi civil service and army were not disbanded after the U.S. invaded, the occupation would have worked. They insist that our intentions were honorable. They ignore the hubris and lies that led to the war, the misguided belief that the U.S. could be the sole major power in a unipolar world. They ignore the massive military expenditures spent annually to achieve this fantasy.

  They ignore that the war in Iraq was only an episode in this demented quest. 

  A national reckoning with the military fiascos in the Middle East would expose the self-delusion of the ruling class. But this reckoning is not taking place. We are trying to wish the nightmares we perpetuated in the Middle East away, burying them in a collective amnesia. “World War III Begins With Forgetting,” warns Stephen Wertheim.

  The celebration of our national “virtue” by pumping weapons into Ukraine, by sustaining at least 750 military bases in more than 70 countries and by expanding our naval presence in the South China Sea, is meant to fuel this dream of global dominance.

  What the mandarins in Washington fail to grasp is that most of the globe does not believe the lie of American benevolence or support its justifications for U.S. interventions. China and Russia, rather than passively accepting U.S. hegemony, are building up their militaries and strategic alliances.

  China Brokers Deal

  China, last week, brokered an agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to re-establish relations after seven years of hostility, something once expected of U.S. diplomats. The rising influence of China creates a self-fulfilling prophecy for those who call for war with Russia and China, one that will have consequences far more catastrophic than those in the Middle East.

  There is a national weariness with permanent war, especially with inflation ravaging family incomes and 57 percent of Americans unable to afford a $1,000 emergency expense. The Democratic Party and the establishment wing of the Republican Party, who peddled the lies about Iraq, are war parties.

  Donald Trump’s call to end the war in Ukraine, like his lambasting of the war in Iraq as the “worst decision” in American history, are attractive political stances to Americans struggling to stay afloat. The working poor, even those whose options for education and employment are limited, are no longer as inclined to fill the ranks. They have far more pressing concerns than a unipolar world or war with Russia or China. The isolationism of the far right is a potent political weapon.

  The pimps of war, leaping from fiasco to fiasco, cling to the chimera of U.S. global supremacy. The dance macabre will not stop until we publicly hold them accountable for their crimes, ask those we have wronged for forgiveness and give up our lust for uncontested global power.

  The day of reckoning, vital if we are to protect what is left of our anemic democracy and curb the appetites of the war machine, will only come when we build mass anti-war organizations that demand an end to the imperial folly threatening to extinguish life on the planet.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 23:40

• North Korea Claims 1.4 Million People Just Enlisted To Fight 'Imperialist' US
  North Korea Claims 1.4 Million People Just Enlisted To Fight ‘Imperialist’ US

  North Korean state media has been touting new claims of mass enlistments amid “an atmosphere of war” and urgent defense preparedness in response to ongoing joint US-South Korea drills, which are the largest in five years.

  The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) initially over the weekend cited a figure of 800,000 citizens having newly signed up for military service, most of them young people, while other state-linked sources are saying it’s well over one million enlistees. By Monday the number jumped significantly to claims of around 1.4 million people enlisting. 

  

  “Amidst soaring anger and hostility toward the US imperialists and the South Korean puppet traitors going mad over the reckless nuclear war provocation targeting the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the ranks of hot-blooded youths bravely and vigorously set out to defend the homeland are growing day by day is growing,” a Pyongyang statement said.

  The reports follow the North Korean government holding a major new recruiting drive, hosting events across the country while conducting near daily test launches of projectiles – including the latest on Sunday which included a ‘mock nuclear warhead’ as a warning to Seoul and Washington.

  State media described that “youth college students from universities in various places as well as high-end middle school students from all over the country” expressed their determination “to join forces in the fight…”

  The KCNA report additionally cited citizens’ willingness “mercilessly wipe out the war maniacs” – in what’s also clearly a propaganda blitz and bit of signaling aimed at the south and at the west. Kim Jung Un had promised a fierce response to the major US-South Korean drills which have lately included American B1 bombers and stealth jets joining the drills, dubbed Freedom Shield joint exercise.

  North Korea’s state-run television aired a video of citizens signing up to enlist or reenlist in the military to counter the ‘imperialist Americans’ and that about 1.4 million people have expressed a desire to join the army as of March 19th https://t.co/VfGfWHBlBF pic.twitter.com/Y3nArTKI7N

  — Reuters (@Reuters) March 20, 2023

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  But it seems Kim hasn’t gotten the reaction or attention from Washington that he hoped for, and thus could be daily ramping up the threatening missile launches and rhetoric.

  The South Korean military, for its part, promised to continue undeterred with the US drills: “The South Korea-US alliance maintains the best-combined defense posture in the face of North Korea’s continued regional instability,” a press release said. “Going forward, we will realize ‘Peace through Strength’ and enhance the credibility of the US extended deterrence based on the solid capabilities and posture of the alliance,” it added.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 23:20

• Too Wrong To Fail
  Too Wrong To Fail

  Authored by Thomas McArdle via The Epoch Times,

  As the old saw goes, a banker is someone who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and then wants it back as soon as the first drops of rain fall.

  

  Hostility toward money lenders goes way back. In the Middle Ages in Europe, to deposit your money with one was unlawful, “even as it would be unlawful to deposit one’s sword with a madman, a maiden with a libertine, or food with a glutton.”

  Loans may no longer be against the law, but bankers have been, and still are, convenient villains in popular culture.

  In the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” for example, old man Henry Potter mocked George Bailey’s just-deceased father by remarking that “ideals without common sense can ruin this town.” And he said of George issuing a loan to his friend Ernie, Bedford Falls’s cabby, “You see, if you shoot pool with some employee here, you can come and borrow money.”

  Were the now-failed Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank acting sensibly or madly? And did they shoot pool with powerful Washington figures in hopes that they could avoid ruin despite their lack of sense?

  How much common sense is there in the “ideals” associated with SVB not having a chief risk officer for most of last year as it hurtled toward collapse, but at the same time employing a chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer and making a point of focusing on climate change, and social and corporate governance policies? “Issues of inequity in the innovation sector” apparently mattered more to SVB president and CEO Greg Becker than the soundness of his bank’s loans in an environment of rising interest rates amid high inflation.

  It’s no shock to find that Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and political action committees were bestowed with at least $11,900 from SVB executives, with SVB managing director Gerald Brady giving $5,600 to Biden’s 2020 campaign, according to the Federal Election Commission. The Democratic National Committee and various party politicians are announcing the return or the money or donating funds received to charities.

  Congress early this month moved against a Biden administration rule forcing pension funds holding $12 trillion of 150 million Americans’ savings to include environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) in their investment decisions—in other words, make your retirement finances dependent on the same kind of thinking that led SVB to collapse. ESG equities distinctly underperform the market.

  Who can forget Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey scrambling to hand out cash meant for his honeymoon to beleaguered depositors during the run on the Bailey Savings & Loan? But the tone-deaf sixteenth largest bank in the country was handing out company-wide bonuses to its employees for their 2022 work just hours before the government had to take it over.

  In the case of Signature Bank, it wasn’t George Bailey shooting pool, it was superstar bankers poached from competitors in at least one case spending “most of his week golfing with prospective clients.” Big Signature Bank customers ultimately included rap superstars. And speaking of Ernie the Bedford Falls cabby, among Signature’s peculiar banking practices was to encourage taking out loans to buy New York City’s infamously expensive taxi medallions—in itself a regulatory shell game—in expectation of Uber and Lyft upending the passenger transport landscape.

  Of far more import, however, was Signature’s over-exposure in cryptocurrency, where it placed over a quarter of its $109 billion in deposits before the FTX debacle last year that sent crypto spiraling to earth.

  The bailing out of these two boutique, politically fashionable institutions by the “wokest” of woke presidents is for the benefit of the well-to-do; most of the tens of billions of dollars in deposits exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) $250,000 ceiling. Would a bank in deep trouble in, say, Roberts County in the Texas panhandle, where the median average family income is $50,400, have received such exceptional treatment from Uncle Sam?

  And don’t swallow Treasury Secretary and former Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen’s claims that the “bank fees”-funded rescues will leave no taxpayers on the hook. Like any other business, banks ultimately pass the taxes and fees imposed upon them by the government down to their customers, whether it happens individually or collectively, conspicuously or in hidden manner. As Fordham University law school professor and bank bailout expert Richard Squire points out, while management at SVB and Signature may be being allowed to save face, “the venture capital firms and the startups are being bailed out. There is no doubt about that.”

  The Biden administration’s nearly $5 trillion in spending is the engine behind the inflation that forced the Federal Reserve to embark on an extended policy of raising the interest rates under its direct control—which in turn has put the squeeze on banks, especially those conducting fast and loose financial practices. But as scary as that chain reaction may be, the FDIC’s guarantee to reimburse all the rich uninsured depositors at the two failed institutions, making an exception to its $250,000 cap, and no matter how big the depositors’ accounts, is more alarming.

  Such measures take the United States down a road toward total nationalization of the banking system and removes the indispensable elements of accountability and discipline all businesses need: certainty that misjudgment and irresponsibility must come with a cost.

  When Washington bails that out, America turns into Potterville.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 23:00

• A "Stock Clearance": Most Major Automakers Slash Prices In China As Demand Stalls
  A “Stock Clearance”: Most Major Automakers Slash Prices In China As Demand Stalls

  Move over Tesla: both Ford and GM are also trying to take a page out of the ‘price cut’ playbook that the EV manufacturer has been (successfully) running in China over the last couple months. 

  The move is coming after lifting pandemic controls failed to spur significant demand in China, the Wall Street Journal reported this week. Ford and GM will be joined by BMW and Volkswagen in offering the discounts and promotions on EVs, the report says. 

  Retail auto sales plunged the first two months of the year and automakers are facing additional challenges in trying to transition their business models to prioritize EVs over conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. 

  Ford is offering $6,000 off its Mustang Mach-E, putting the standard version of its EV at just $31,000. Last month, only 84 of the vehicles were sold, compared to 1,500 sales in December. There was some pulling forward of demand due to the phasing out of subsidies heading into the new year, and Ford had also cut prices by about 9% in December. 

  A spokesperson for Ford called it a “stock clearance”. 

  

  Discounts at Volkswagen are ranging from around $2,200 to $7,300 a car. The cuts will affect 20 gas powered and electric models. Its electric ID series is seeing price cuts of almost $6,000. The company called the cuts “temporary promotions due to general reluctance among car buyers, the new emissions rule and discounts offered by competitors.”

  Even more shocking is Citroën-maker Dongfeng Motor Group, who is offering a 40% discount on its C6 gas-powered sedan, now priced at $18,000. 

  Kelvin Lau, an analyst at Daiwa Capital Markets, told the Journal that automakers are also trying to get rid of 500,000 vehicles collectively stored in their inventory, most of which are older vehicles that won’t meet new emissions standards.

  David Zhang, a Shanghai-based independent automobile analyst, added: “Some car makers have been seeing very few sales. At this rate, the manufacturers’ production and dealership networks will collapse.”

  Hopefully Tesla is paying close attention to the cuts – but perhaps even moreso to their mainland China competition. Domestic-based market leader BYD has only cut prices “a single percentage point”. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 22:40

• Americans To Bear Burden Of Monetary System's Gradual Deterioration, Economist Says
  Americans To Bear Burden Of Monetary System’s Gradual Deterioration, Economist Says

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

  Ordinary Americans can expect their wealth to get repeatedly chipped away as the monetary system degrades and requires progressively more intervention by authorities to perpetuate itself, according to an influential author and economist. It may take “a very long time,” however, for the system to actually break, he told The Epoch Times.

  

  The recent downfall of two sizable American banks, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and First Republic Bank, rattled the financial markets. Investors are now looking to the Federal Reserve to provide relief and within months reverse its policy of raising interest rates. That’s after the central bank, together with the Treasury and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), already shored up the banking sector, offering special loans and guaranteeing uninsured deposits for the failed banks.

  The failures, however, represent a symptom of a broader problem—one the central bank can’t fix, according to Daniel Lacalle, fund manager, economist, and prolific author.

  “The problem here is the concept of ‘what can be done?’” he said, arguing central bank market interventions intended to smooth over market perturbations tend to simply redistribute the risk and losses—and at the added cost of making the system more fragile in the long run.

  “Every time they try to solve a bubble with more liquidity injections, they create another bubble,” he said. “What you have to do first is not implement crazy monetary policies.”

  He was referring to the policy of extremely low interest rates that the Fed maintained for most of the past decade.

  Free Money

  Lacalle alluded to the Austrian economic theory, which posits that central banks can’t set interest rates correctly. When the economy is not doing well, central banks set the rates artificially low in order to “stimulate” the economy. That allows companies to loosen fiscal discipline and makes credit available to projects that would be otherwise too risky to attract capital. When the economy “overheats”—the availability of credit outstrips the production capacity of the economy, resulting in inflation—the central bank raises rates, tightens credit, and the poorly performing risky projects go under. Because rate hikes take more than a year to fully manifest in the economy, central bankers tend to continue hiking for too long. Excessively high rates then cause the destruction of even viable businesses. Recession ensues. The central bank then tries to cushion the recession blow by dramatically cutting rates, thereby repeating the cycle.

  “After a decade of excess, of course, there are going to be episodes like SVB and these other regional banks,” Lacalle said.

  SVB was the banker of choice for many Silicon Valley tech startups and their venture capital funders that have benefited from the protracted period of loose credit. In just a few years, it grew into one of the 20 largest banks in the country, with some $200 billion in assets. When its investments started to underperform and its stock dropped, clients got cold feet and many moved their money elsewhere, triggering a bank run.

  Regulation

  Some economists have argued that the SVB crash was the fault of regulators. The Federal Reserve of San Francisco should have stepped in when it saw warning signs of SVB’s instability, argued the Brookings Institution’s Aaron Klein in a recent commentary.

  Lacalle wasn’t convinced. He pointed out that on paper, SVB was following the regulatory mantras.

  “You’re hedging your volatile positions in technology and risky ventures, which obviously is your core business—that’s nothing we can do about—and you’re hedging it with long-term treasuries and mortgage-backed securities,” he said.

  But it was exactly the large treasuries portfolio, which dropped in value due to the Fed’s rate hikes last year, that pushed SVB over the edge.

  Klein also pointed to SVB’s unhedged $100 billion position in mortgage-backed securities. But Lacalle noted that the Fed itself has designated those as low-risk, sitting on $2.6 trillion of them. If the Fed, as a regulator, was to declare mortgage-backed securities as risky, how could the Fed, as a monetary policy setter, declare them low-risk?

  Intervention

  The Fed’s response to the SVB crisis is a typical example, Klein suggested, of the system’s underlying flaw—a short-term solution with long-term negative implications.

  Shortly after regulators took over SVB, the Fed, the Treasury, and the FDIC announced that no depositors in the failed banks will lose money, despite most of the deposits being above the FDIC insurance limit of $250,000 per account. Furthermore, to ensure no other banks hit a liquidity crunch because of the value drop in their treasury holdings, the Fed will allow them one year to borrow against those holdings at “par value”—the Fed will de facto pretend the treasuries are worth more than they currently are.

  The Fed’s apparent motivation was to forestall runs on other smaller banks. Yet its actions created “an incentive to take even more risk by the next bank,” Lacalle said.

  “The example of SVB is telling everyone that what they should do is exactly what SVB did because nothing’s going to happen. If things go well, you will make a lot of money and if things go badly, bad luck, but nothing’s going to happen. So what is the incentive to be prudent and to have a prudent level of risk management? Zero.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 22:20

• New York Most Expensive State To Retire In, New Study Finds
  New York Most Expensive State To Retire In, New Study Finds

  Surprisingly, out of the 10 most expensive states to retire in the United States, California is conspicuously absent from the list. 

  That is according to a new WalletHub piece that dove into the most affordable places for U.S. citizens to settle down in once their work lives are over – which, nowadays, is somewhere between age 90 and 120. 

  The study “used data from various agencies such as the U.S. Census Bureau and the Council for Community and Economic Research” and its rankings “looked at adjusted cost of living, general tax-friendliness and annual cost of in-home services, as well as other factors,” CNBC wrote. 

  

  Topping the list, likely without much surprise, was New York, which ranked dead last in affordability, despite coming in 10th in quality of life and 16th in healthcare. It has the 3rd highest tax rate, the article noted. 

  $1 million in savings would only cover living costs for about 14 years in New York, the article wrote. Retirement is generally thought to last about 25 years. 

  Not in the top 10 most expensive was California, which came in 32nd in affordability.

  

  Alan Castel, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of “Better with Age: The Psychology of Successful Aging,” is quoted in the report as saying: “Sometimes our spending habits need to be re-evaluated, and many senior discounts can be utilized to lower bills. It may also be useful to consider downsizing or minimizing certain costs that are no longer needed.”

  Or, you can work until you’re 95. 

  The full list of the 10 most expensive states to retire in is:

  1. New York
  2. New Jersey
  3. Vermont
  4. Massachusetts
  5. Maryland
  6. Washington
  7. Connecticut
  8. Maine
  9. Illinois
  10. Oregon

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 22:00

• Kolanovic Sees Growing Odds Of A "Minsky Moment In Markets"
  Kolanovic Sees Growing Odds Of A “Minsky Moment In Markets”

  It seems like it was a lifetime ago when, frazzled with the market’s rangebound trade, Wall Street’s biggest bears were coming up with fictitious narratives seeing bogeymen anywhere and everywhere, if it meant convincing their clients to sell. A distant one month ago – because during bank crises time moves in Inception terms – JPMorgan’s permabull-turned-permabear Marko Kolanovic was warning that Wall Street’s trading black box du jour, 0DTE or Zero Days to Expiration options, would somehow lead to “$30 billion in intraday selling” and crash the market. Such fearmongering was, of course, ridiculous – after all if 0DTE didn’t spark a liquidity cascade in the past week when we have seen the worst banking crisis since Lehman it never will – but it highlights a familiar trope among Wall Street strategists: take the latest market-moving bogeyman and make it into a monster, then goalseek the narrative for the highest employer benefit (almost as if the deposit-sucking JPMorgan has had an agenda to freak everyone out in recent weeks… and certainly small bank depositors).

  And sure enough, one month later everyone has forgotten about 0DTE (which “shockingly” did not lead to a massive selloff) and instead attention is now occupied with what is a far bigger crisis – the collapse of small and medium regional US banks, and not so small Swiss banks… and until the Fed pivots, cuts rates and reintroduces QE, the contagion will continue because once lost, depositors confidence needs a reboot to the system, one which only a Fed capitulation can provide (the Fed came close by announcing USD swap lines yesterday but much more will be needed to safeguard $18 trillion in US deposits, and the latest step – a proposed guarantee of all US deposits is slowly but surely getting us there).

  Enter Marko Kolanovic again, who in his latest note not only quotes Lenin (the infamous “There are-decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen” which pops out like clockwork every time the FRA-OIS spread hits 50bps), but – having completely forgotten about his 0DTE doomsday thesis from just 4 weeks back – has now escalated the doom and gloom rhetoric to conclude that virtually everything that is now happening is bearish and that “the possibility of a Minsky moment in markets and geopolitics has increased.”

  

  Translation: having tried to pinpoint the market’s weakest link one month ago – and failing – and having had nothing at all to say about what would have a fare more devastating impact on market psychology and the economy, the cascading failure of major banks (as described here weeks ago), Marko is now just shotgunning it and hoping that something sticks to the wall, so that he can then point to it and say: “look, I was right.” Here is the choice excerpt from his latest note:

  A lot has happened in the past week. The bailout of several US banks did not manage to calm markets, which consumed another large bank in Europe. In a Trichet-like moment, the ECB increased rates by 50bps. The Fed is facing a difficult task on Wednesday, but it is likely already past the point of no return – a soft landing now looks unlikely, with the airplane in a tailspin (lack of market confidence) and engines about to turn off (bank lending). China brokered a Middle East deal, and there is a presidential visit to Russia this week. “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen”— Lenin.

  The possibility of a Minsky moment in markets and geopolitics has increased. Even if central bankers successfully contain contagion, credit conditions look set to tighten more rapidly because of pressure from both markets and regulators. We stay neutral duration in the US and Europe amid cross-winds, favoring 10s/30s steepeners as an asymmetric way to position for an eventual Fed pause.

  Cracks are beginning to emerge in US credit fundamentals, and Euro credit spreads will likely continue to widen unless we see meaningful policy intervention. The historical template for FX during widening credit spreads is for USD strength, coupled with relative safe-FX (USD, CHF, JPY) strength vs. highbeta. We see little change in oil fundamentals and keep our price forecasts unchanged for now, while financial stress and macro uncertainty have boosted safe haven demand for gold and silver.

  There is a famous saying about a broken clock that is right twice a day… and yet, when it comes to Marko’s track record the past two years don’t even show that: starting in January for all of 2022, the JPM strategist was telling clients to buy the dip, yet every time a new and bigger dip emerged. Marko then flip-flopped in late September, and turned bullish which as we said at the time, marked the market bottom…

  Kolanovic turned bearish. Bottom https://t.co/bXVFOHDoRS

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 30, 2022

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  … which it has been to this day. Meanwhile, stocks have continued to grind upward, reaching as high as 4,200 all the while Kolanovic kept invoking the latest and greatest bogeyman du jour in hopes of convincing JPM’s remaining clients to sell… to JPM of course.

  And speaking of clocks, broken or otherwise, JPM is one of the banks that still expects the Fed to hike 25bps even though moments ago Bloomberg reported that the Treasury is now studying how to backstop all $18 trillion in US deposits. Needless to say, trying to destroy your banking system with one hand (small banks can’t match anywhere near 4.75% in deposit rates, surely 5.00% will be a slam dunk) while saving it with the other (and $18 trillion in deposits) is something the US government will excel at… unless of course the Fed isn’t actually advised by Hunter Biden and the Fed does not hike 25bps on Wednesday. Then again, if Powell does go ahead and tighten financial conditions further, the only thing that will follow is an even bigger and faster rate cut, just as Elon Musk suggested on Monday evening.

  Fed needs to drop the rate by at least 50bps on Wednesday

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2023

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  What is remarkable is that instead of discounting the future, one where the Fed is about to unleash all liquidity spigots and making it rain sending risk assets to the moon, Marko is doubling down on what has been a wrong call for the past 6 months.

  “Use relief bounces to reduce beta and Value factors further. We stick to our call that Q1 will likely end up the high point for stocks this year. This call is predicated on the view that bond yields will move lower along with a likely end of PMI rebound soon, as the impact of past policy tightening starts to take full effect, and the positive offsets (e.g. the cushion of COVID savings and pricing power for corporates) erode,” he said.

  Translation: Marko believes that even though the Fed is about to unleash a liquidity bazooka at the relentless bank crisis, the S&P has already seen its highs for the year and will soon take out 2022 lows. We’ll take the other side of that bet.

  More in the full JPM note available to pro subs.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 21:45

• Socialism Isn't About Creating Economies. It Is About Amassing Political Power
  Socialism Isn’t About Creating Economies. It Is About Amassing Political Power

  Authored by Ovidiu Tanjala via The Mises Institute,

  Ludwig von Mises wrote Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis, a small book published in 1922, which demonstrated that economic calculation in a socialist commonwealth is impossible. Of course, Mises assumed that the purpose of an economy, even a socialist one, was supposed to produce goods and services, which determined its success or failure.

  Alain Besançon wasn’t an Austrian or a Misesian, but he wrote Anatomie d’un spectre: l’Économie politique du socialisme réel, also a small book the size of Mises’s own Socialism, in which he also observed that the Soviet economy couldn’t perform economic calculation; thus, the Soviet economy performed poorly, very poorly by Western standards.

  The Soviet economy was wasteful and chaotic.

  Besançon believed that economic planning induced irrationality in the system.

  Terrified managers couldn’t report failing the plan, and consequently any subsequent economic planning would be even more divorced from reality than previous planning had been.

  Both Besançon and Mises knew that socialism could not discover market prices. Both knew that this would lead to widespread corruption. However, Besançon realized that the state not only tolerated but also used the black market for price discovery in economic sectors critical to the regime, like defense and certain prestigious cultural and sport endeavors (Bolshoi Theatre, gymnastics, eventually hockey, etc.).

  However, there is a critical difference between Mises and Besançon. While Mises believed that the goal of the Soviet economy was to produce usable goods and services, Besançon believed otherwise. The Soviet economy, he posited, was never about producing goods and services for consumers, but rather had other goals.

  

  The Soviet economy existed to keep the Communist Party in power, and that was the sole criteria party leaders used to evaluate its performance. The “production” of political power was supreme, and anything else was secondary, subordinated to the main goal for the Soviet economy.

  Soviet political leaders did not want an economy that produced goods abundantly because abundance separates the citizen from the state. The state would lose its power over its subjects if they became wealthier. Homo sovieticus—the Soviet man—had to be dependent on the state, barely living from one day to the next on state-issued ration cards.

  If a Soviet manager managed by some miracle to produce well-being, despite absurd planning orders and a lack of market prices, he might well have been punished for failing to produce what he really needed to produce: state power over simple people. Abundance and well-being always were and still are the true enemies of socialism; people cannot be able to ignore or to forget the power of the state.

  While the Soviet economy is not something people wish to revisit, nonetheless, influential elites are calling for governments to assert power over individuals to restrict consumer choice to achieve political goals benefitting those in power. For example, the World Economic Forum declares that people should start eating insects in the name of “sustainability.” Likewise, in the name of fighting climate change, progressive elites in government and business are attempting to force people to buy electric cars despite their serious drawbacks. While social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter are private companies, they have done the bidding of governments in the name of “fighting disinformation” or trying to preserve a narrative that reflects the governmental message, something especially seen during the government-imposed covid restrictions, by restricting online speech.

  For decades Western governments have been spending more than 45 percent of the gross domestic product. Rothbard warned us that every government-owned entity is an island of calculational chaos in the economy. In countries like Finland, France, Germany, Austria, and Belgium the government represents the majority of the economy. In the United States, government spending is nearly 40 percent of GDP and in 2020, it was almost half of GDP.

  Hence, we cannot any longer speak of islands of calculational chaos induced by the government. In our day the rule of Western economies is chaos, the exception being the continued existence of market prices. The presence and influence of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) movement in US corporations and especially financial and capital markets enables socialists to have a huge influence over the US economy, and ordinary people are helpless to stop it. Many economic sectors are enabling socialists to gain political power, and the production of real goods and services has become secondary to the promotion of leftist ideology.

  Alain Besançon was right about the real goals of socialists, and while both he and Mises understood the inherent dysfunctionality of a socialist economy, Besançon went one step further in realizing that the chaos the socialism produces worked to the advantage of those in power. The goal of socialists is not a better economy through socialism, but rather the full establishment of socialist power.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 21:20

• US Studies How To Guarantee All $18 Trillion In US Bank Deposits
  US Studies How To Guarantee All $18 Trillion In US Bank Deposits

  After repeated laments by the likes of Bill Ackman, who most recently said that “I continue to believe that the best course of action is a temporary @FDICgov deposit guarantee until an updated insurance regime is introduced” (and who just flip-flopped on his “Fed must hike with shock and awe“ call from 2022 and is now urging for a Fed hiking pause), and following a Bloomberg weekend report that US mid-sized banks demanded a two-year total deposit insurance scheme from the FDIC, and warned if it doesn’t arrive, there may lots more shotgun weddings (or shotguns), moments ago Bloomberg reported that “US officials are studying ways they might temporarily expand Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. coverage to all deposits, a move sought by a coalition of banks arguing that it’s needed to head off a potential financial crisis.” Guess our March 12 tweet was ahead of its time yet again.

  FDIC unveils new sign pic.twitter.com/PbYESPaji5

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 12, 2023

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  The BBG report explains that “Treasury Department staff are reviewing whether federal regulators have enough emergency authority to temporarily insure deposits greater than the current $250,000 cap on most accounts” without formal consent from a deeply divided Congress, and goes on to note that “authorities don’t yet view such a move as necessary, especially after regulators took steps this month to help banks keep up with any demands for withdrawals” which is an important caveat, and is the same one that hawks are using to justify why a Fed pause would be self-defeating (“why is the Fed blowing up their last bit of inflation-fighting credibility; what do they know that we don’t): the same question can be applied to the Treasury: “what does the Treasury know that we don’t.”

  Most likely nothing – after all bank crises are non-linear, but as Bloomberg notes, “still, they are developing a strategy out of due diligence in case the situation worsens.”

  “We will use the tools we have to support community banks,” White House spokesman Michael Kikukawa said, without directly addressing whether the measure is being studied. “Since our administration and the regulators took decisive action last weekend, we have seen deposits stabilize at regional banks throughout the country and, in some cases, outflows have modestly reversed.”

  Still, the report notes, the behind-the-scenes deliberations show there are concerns in Washington’s corridors of power as midsize banks call for broader government intervention after three lenders collapsed this month when uninsured depositors pulled their money, and as a fourth firm strives to avoid a similar fate. Shares of that one, First Republic Bank, tumbled an additional 47% on Monday as industry leaders tried to find a way to bolster the company’s finances.

  Ok, that’s the theory. What about the practice? After all, as regular readers know there are $18 trillion in total deposits, all of which will have to be insured…

  

  … and just $125 billion in the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund, which makes an outright guarantee of all deposits just a small mathematical impossibility.

  

  Well, there’s always printing. According to Bloomberg, one legal framework under discussion for expanding FDIC insurance would use the Treasury Department’s authority to take emergency action and lean on the Exchange Stabilization Fund. The same magical Exchange Stabilization Fund which the Treasury is already using to backstop its latest bank bailout facility, the Bank Term Funding Program, or BTFP.

  Here too there is a small problem: that ESF pot of money is used to buy or sell currencies and to provide financing to foreign governments. A bigger problem: the ESF only has $25 billion currently in it as parts of its BTFP backstop…. but it has to do, as it is the only pot of money under the full authority of Janet Yellen, with other spending and financing under the jurisdiction of Congress.

  Any mechanism using the ESF as a bailout mechanism uses the cash from the fund as a first-loss equity tranche to which the Fed then applies leverage. LOTS of leverage, because if authorities plan on backstopping the $18 trillion in total US deposits, the Fed will need to cover the difference… of some $17.975 trillion (unless Congress reaches a bipartisan deal to infuse more capital in the ESF, the same way the ESF was expanded to $500BN during the covid crisis

  Meanwhile, in keeping with the tradition of saying the polar opposite of what it is doing, a Treasury spokeswoman said in a statement that “due to decisive recent actions, the situation has stabilized, deposit flows are improving and Americans can have confidence in the safety of their deposits”

  Which of course explains why First Republic is about to join the collapse contagion and why Treasury is planning a full deposit backstop.

  Finally, such a program will likely have to also be the result of an executive order since it has little hope of passing in Congress where members of both the left and right will be vehemently against it. 

  “Any universal guarantee on all bank deposits, whether implicit or explicit, enshrines a dangerous precedent that simply encourages future irresponsible behavior to be paid for by those not involved who followed the rules,” the House Freedom Caucus said in a statement, and we are confident most of the progressive wing will not be too excited about bailing out billionaires and corporations with orders of magnitude more in the bank than the FDIC limit.

  As The Chicago Fed wrote in a paper in 1986 – after the deposit runs at Penn Square National Bank and Continental Illinois Bank – uninsured deposits are a source of market discipline for banks. Herbert Baer and Elijah Brewer go further, warning that doing away with insured deposits (i.e. by insuring every deposit as is being considered currently) would actually increase risk in the banking system.

  “While such proposals might reduce the likelihood of bank runs, they would at the same time reduce banks’ incentives to control risk.”

  Will US bank regulators learn from the mistakes of the past?

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 21:00

• Biden Signs Bill To Declassify COVID Origins Intel
  Biden Signs Bill To Declassify COVID Origins Intel

  Having earlier issued his first veto since taking office, rejecting a bill that would have reversed a Labor Department rule on ESG investing, President Biden signed a bipartisan bill late on Monday that directs the federal government to declassify as much intelligence as possible about the origins of COVID-19.

  

  His signature follows both the House and Senate unanimously approving of the measure, a rare moment of overwhelming bipartisan consensus.

  The vote tallies meant that the measure would likely have survived a presidential veto had Biden opted to withhold his signature.

  Biden, in a statement, said he was pleased to sign the legislation.

  “My Administration will continue to review all classified information relating to COVID–19’s origins, including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” he said.

  “In implementing this legislation, my administration will declassify and share as much of that information as possible, consistent with my constitutional authority to protect against the disclosure of information that would harm national security.”

  Of particular interest to freedom-loving Americans who were tyrannized, censored, banned, and deplatformed for even daring to mention it, is the small matter of whether the virus leaked from the Level 4 Virus Lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (or instead, as The Atlantic proclaimed recently, a sick pangolin fucked a raccoon dog and coughed in someone’s bat soup in a wet market.

  The Department of Energy and other federal agents such as the FBI have increasingly backed a lab leak as the likely origin of the virus, while some lawmakers have even suggested Beijing may have deliberately allowed it to spread.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 20:41

• Putin Tells Xi He's "Open To Negotiating Process" On Ukraine As US Says Ceasefire "Unacceptable"
  Putin Tells Xi He’s “Open To Negotiating Process” On Ukraine As US Says Ceasefire “Unacceptable”

  Update(1017ET): What’s being described as an initial, informal meeting between Presidents Xi and Putin is underway at the Kremlin. While the expected cordialities and expressions of closer relations were exchange, among the most notable early statements came from Putin, who said he’s “open” to peace talks with Ukraine and China’s mediation efforts.

  “We have a lot of joint tasks, goals,” Putin told his Chinese counterpart while also congratulating him on re-election as the head of the Chinese state for a third 5-year term. Xi in return said “Russia succeeded in promoting prosperity under Putin’s leadership.” Putin further expressed that “we will discuss your initiative [on Ukraine] which we view with respect.”

  “We are open for a negotiating process on Ukraine,” the Russian leader added. He noted to Xi that “we have looked at your proposals for the resolution of the Ukraine conflict” and previewed that “we will discuss this question.”

  🇨🇳🤝🇷🇺”Welcome to Russia” — Xi Jinping has arrived in the Kremlin, an informal meeting with Vladimir Putin has started pic.twitter.com/BQ4rzfmynT

  — AZ 🛰🌏🌍🌎 (@AZgeopolitics) March 20, 2023

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  The day prior in media interviews, White House NSC spokesperson John Kirby declared that any “call for a ceasefire” in Ukraine is “unacceptable.”

  Likely Moscow will only be satisfied with nothing short of a full Kiev recognition of the Donbass being under Russia; however, this is the very thing Washington will condemn and seek to induce the Zelensky administration to resist.

  According to state media commentary (RT), “Moscow has said that it would consider the proposal but has pointed to several factors that stand in the way of a peaceful resolution in Ukraine.” And more of Moscow’s perspective headed into more Xi meetings: “Those include the insistence of Kiev and its Western backers on inflicting a military defeat of Russia, their firm opposition to any sort of ceasefire, as well as a law enacted by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky that forbids holding negotiations with Russia as long as Putin remains in office.”

  Kirby on Xi meeting Putin: “If there’s some sort of call for a ceasefire well that’s just going to be unacceptable.”
  -> Only US mediated ceasefires are good! pic.twitter.com/4SrnKLBu3o

  — Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) March 20, 2023

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  * * *

  Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Moscow on Monday for what Beijing is calling a “trip for peace” – but at a moment the White House is emphasizing “We don’t support calls for a ceasefire right now,” according to the words of White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. “We certainly don’t support calls for a ceasefire that would be called for by the PRC in a meeting in Moscow that would simply benefit Russia,” Kirby said.

  The three-day trip was kicked off as Xi’s plane touched down at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, where Russia’s deputy prime minister for tourism, sport, culture and communications, Dmitri N. Chernyshenko, greeted him a red carpet ceremony and military brass band. His first stop was the Kremlin for an initial and informal meeting with President Putin.

  

  “I am very glad, at the invitation of President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, to come back to the land of our close neighbor on a state visit,” Mr. Xi said upon arrival. He added: “China and Russia are good neighbors and reliable partners connected by mountains and rivers.”

  Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that China’s 12-point peace plan in Ukraine will top the agenda. “One way or another, issues raised in (Beijing’s) plan for Ukraine will be touched upon during the negotiations,” he said. “Comprehensive explanations will be given by President Putin” of the Russian position.”

  Just hours ahead of the Chinese presidential plane being en route, both Xi and Putin published separate articles previewing the bilateral summit, with Xi emphasizing China’s push to end the Ukraine crisis reflects global support. Putin for his part wrote that he has “high expectations for the upcoming talks” with his “good old friend”.

  Putin said he enjoys the “warmest relationship” with Xi, in a partnership between countries which is “consistently growing stronger” and has reached “the highest level in their history”. Speaking of the talks, the first in-person summit with the Chinese leader since the start of the Ukraine war, Putin stressed, “We have no doubt that they will give a new powerful impetus to our bilateral cooperation in its entirety.” According to more from Putin’s letter, published also in English on state websites:

  Yet the main thing has remained unchanged: I am talking of the firm friendship between Russia and China, which is consistently growing stronger for the benefit and in the interest of our countries and peoples. The progress made in the development of bilateral ties is impressive. The Russia-China relations have reached the highest level in their history and are gaining even more strength; they surpass Cold War-time military-political alliances in their quality, with no one to constantly order and no one to constantly obey, without limitations or taboos. We have reached an unprecedented level of trust in our political dialogue, our strategic cooperation has become truly comprehensive in nature and is standing on the brink of a new era.

  Putin also at one point took a swipe directly at the United States:

  Sticking more stubbornly than ever to its obsolete dogmata and vanishing dominance, the “Collective West” is gambling on the fates of entire states and peoples. The US’s policy of simultaneously deterring Russia and China, as well as all those who do not bend to the American dictation, is getting ever more fierce and aggressive. The international security and cooperation architecture is being dismantled. Russia has been labelled an “immediate threat” and China a “strategic competitor.”

  Meanwhile, Washington is watching the Xi trip very closely, also as the Chinese leader is at some point soon expected to hold a phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky….

  Ahead of a meeting between Putin and Xi, White House NSC spokesperson John Kirby declares that any “call for a ceasefire” in Ukraine is “unacceptable.” pic.twitter.com/Z1MUvdlTwS

  — Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) March 20, 2023

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  And on China’s mediation efforts in the Ukraine crisis in particular, Putin vowed that efforts to split the major Eurasian allies “won’t work”…

  “The crisis in Ukraine, which was provoked and is being diligently fuelled by the West, is the most striking, yet not the only, manifestation of its desire to retain its international dominance and preserve the unipolar world order,” the Russian leader wrote. “It is crystal clear that NATO is striving for a global reach of activities and seeking to penetrate the Asia-Pacific.” He continued:

  It obvious that there are forces persistently working to split the common Eurasian space into a network of “exclusive clubs” and military blocs that would serve to contain our countries’ development and harm their interests. This won’t work.

  Chinese President Xi arrives in Moscow to meet with the Russian President Putin. pic.twitter.com/4GLcnf3nkt

  — Clash Report (@clashreport) March 20, 2023

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  Putin concluded near the end of his letter, “We appreciate the well-balanced stance on the events in Ukraine adopted by the PRC, as well as its understanding of their historical background and root causes.” He emphasized: “We welcome China’s readiness to make a meaningful contribution to the settlement of the crisis.”

  The NY Times notes based on Chinese state media that Xi as accompanied to Moscow by “senior officials including Wang Yi, China’s highest ranking diplomat; Foreign Minister Qin Gang; and Cai Qi, director of the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee.” Ukraine at the same time issued a call for Russia to remove all of its troops, saying this is the proper formula for the successful implementation of China’s ‘Peace Plan’.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 20:35

• US Cattle Inventory Forecast Falls To Lowest Level In Nearly A Decade: USDA
  US Cattle Inventory Forecast Falls To Lowest Level In Nearly A Decade: USDA

  Authored by Allan Stein via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Declining cattle production and drought contributed to a sizable drop in beef supplies last year, the lowest in nearly a decade, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

  

  As of Jan. 1, there were 89.3 million head of cattle, down 3 percent from a year ago; and 29 million beef cows bred for slaughter in the United States, down 4 percent from last year.

  “Total red meat and poultry production in 2023 is forecast to decrease for the first time in nearly a decade,” the USDA said in its bi-annual livestock, dairy, and poultry outlook released in early March.

  “This is due to the 6-percent decline in beef production that more than offsets forecast increases in pork (2 percent), broiler meat (1 percent), and turkey (7 percent) production.”

  The report said dwindling cattle production would likely cause a “significant year-over-year decrease in beef production, the first decline since 2015.”

  However, the USDA expects pork supplies to increase in 2023 after two consecutive years of decline due to higher carcass weights.

  “Broiler meat production is forecast to continue its longstanding upward trends into 2023, increasing marginally over last year’s record production,” the report added.

  “Turkey production is expected to increase throughout 2023, under the assumption that the sector recovers from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreaks.”

  Of the 89.3 million head inventory, about 38 million cows and heifers produced calves in 2022, the report said.

  According to the USDA, drought conditions contributed to the yearly decline in the beef cow inventory last year.

  “While 2019 was the second-wettest year on record for the continental United States, after 1973, dry conditions began to persist in 2020, mostly in the West and Plains farm production regions,” the report noted.

  “Overall, drought has contributed to reduced pasture and range conditions, and increased beef and cow slaughter. Any changes to the current drought conditions will likely impact inventory numbers in the coming year.”

  The U.S. Drought Monitor reported that 41.5 percent of the continental United States experienced moderate to exceptional drought during the third week of February.

  However, the agency’s three-month outlook in February said those conditions could persist in more than 34 percent of the lower 48 states, “with drought development likely in 8.9 percent of the country.

  Other report findings showed that the number of milk cows had increased to 9.4 million in 2022, while the calf crop had decreased by 2 percent from 2021 to about 35 million head.

  A higher forecast for beef cattle slaughter “more than offsets a decline in expected dressed weights, resulting in projected beef production being raised 165 million pounds to 26.7 billion pounds,” the USDA reported. “Fed cattle prices in 2023 are raised to $162 per hundredweight on firm demand. The trade forecast for 2023 is unchanged.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 20:20

• LIV Golf "Strips" TV Crews Of Benefits As Ratings Sour
  LIV Golf “Strips” TV Crews Of Benefits As Ratings Sour

  Saudi-backed LIV Golf “stripped” broadcast workers of healthcare and other benefits by shifting to a non-union production company and circumventing the need to provide employee benefits. The move is an ominous sign the second season of the golf league, stacked with ex-PGA stars, struggles to garner enough viewership to even compete with the PGA Tour. 

  According to a statement from The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), a labor union representing workers in the entertainment and TV production industries, LIV Golf “shocked” broadcast workers by “pulling the rug out from under them by shifting to a non-union production company and circumventing the need to provide important employee benefits.” 

  “As it stands, the technicians behind LIV Golf’s telecasts are some of the few in major sports who do not receive health and retirement benefits when providing world-class coverage,” IATSE wrote. 

  The sudden change comes as LIV Golf’s TV ratings cratered for the second time at its latest event in Tucson, Arizona. 

  

  Golf blog No Laying Up’s Kevin Van Valkenburg tweeted that LIV’s Tucson event over the weekend scored a .14 rating in the 18-49 demographic across 33 markets from their event on Saturday. That’s a worse rating than last month’s event which the “World’s Funniest Animals” show had more viewers. 

  Have an update on LIV Golf ratings for the Tucson event. According to a source, it scored a 0.14 overnight rating in 33 markets from Saturday. https://t.co/cyFNrDBDIj

  — Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) March 19, 2023

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  LIV suffers not just from dismal viewership but enormous overhead as the season is expected to cost the Saudi Arabian Government’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) a whopping billion dollars.

  Even though PIF has tremendous wealth, there’s no telling how long they will continue with this shaky venture. 

  Some broadcaster workers told IATSE they gave up stable jobs with good benefits — now LIV’s future is uncertain. 

  “I gave up other work last year to commit to LIV because I knew I would receive much-needed healthcare contributions to keep my family in coverage,” said one crewmember. “But now that’s all changed, there seems to be plenty of money to spend on extravagant excess but not to guarantee the crew that puts their product on the air access to healthcare. These are industry standards, and the LIV executives could care less.”

  Another broadcast worker said:

  “I’m in the twilight of my 30+ plus year career broadcasting golf, and I am losing much-needed retirement contributions, that I was counting on to keep me on track to reach my retirement goals,” said a veteran broadcast technician. “At this phase of my life, I must continue to save as much as possible to retire at an appropriate age.”

  One Twitter user said the IATSE statement “sounds like a human rights violation. I’m sure no one expected this from the Saudis.” 

  Sounds like a human rights violation. I’m sure no one expected this from the Saudis.

  — SportsFanNoypi (@DeyAlcalde) March 20, 2023

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  Will LIV make it to a third season? 

  Ominous signs after this second tournament; enormous overheads, no one watching and biggest players down the leaderboard.

  LIV showing signs it’s going to die – and maybe by end of this season. Second album syndrome may be so bad there isn’t a third.

  — Arthur MacMillan (@arthurmacmillan) March 20, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 20:00

• Home Surveillance Cameras Pose Privacy Risks, Data Leakage By Hacking
  Home Surveillance Cameras Pose Privacy Risks, Data Leakage By Hacking

  Authored by Rita Huang, Danny Tang and Nathan Amery via The Epoch Times,

  The Hong Kong Consumer Council tested the cyber security of ten home surveillance cameras on the market and found that only one model complied with the European cyber security standard. At the same time, the other nine posed various cyber security concerns, including the transmission of videos and data without encryption and failure to defend against “brute-force attacks” by hackers to crack passwords.

  

  In addition, the security of user data storage could have been improved in many apps, with half of the tested models able to access the user files stored in intelligent devices through Android apps. Some apps even requested excessive permission.

  

  The Council urges manufacturers to improve the cyber security of products, such as introducing anti-brute-force attack designs and data encryption of video and data.

  Consumers should also set strong passwords for their surveillance cameras and change them regularly and make good use of firewalls and network monitoring functions.

  The ten models of home surveillance cameras tested were priced between $269 and $1,888, all providing two-way audio, motion detection, night vision, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant voice control. The models tested were from Arlo, Xiaomi, Imou, TP-Link, BotsLab, Eufy, EZVIZ, SpotCam, D-Link, and Reolink.

  In addition, the Council commissioned an independent laboratory to test the cyber security and hardware design of these ten models with reference to the European Standards ETSI EN 303 645 and the industry-standard OWASP MASVS.

  Among the ten surveillance cameras, Arlo has the highest total score of four out of five, with five marks for protection against attack, security of data transmission and apps, and hardware design, but three marks for the security of data storage and the highest price of $1,888 in the sample.

  The other nine models have a micro-SD memory card slot, which can be inserted to save videos.

  5 Models Do Not Have Encrypted Data Transmission

  The Council said that live video streaming to mobile devices through the app allows users to keep track of the real-time status.

  Four models tested did not use Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP) in live streaming, which could provide data encryption and message authentication. Instead, they used the less secure and unencrypted Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP).

  The four models are Imou (Model: IPC-F88FIP-V2), TP-Link (Model: Tapo C210), EZVIZ (Model: CS-C6), and D-Link (Model: DCS-8350LH).

  In addition, the Reolink (model: Argus 3 Pro) uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to transmit data when connecting to the user’s Wi-Fi network without encrypting sensitive data so that hackers can find the router’s account information from ordinary text files.

  The Consumer Council recommends manufacturers switch to the more secure Hypertext Transfer Security Protocol (HTTPS) to provide excellent user protection.

  4 Failed to Defend Against Brute-force Attacks

  The test found that three samples could be cracked using automated tools and programs that repeatedly (Brute Force attacks) tested all possible password combinations during live motion picture streaming.

  The default passwords of EZVIZ and D-Link are only six digits or letters, which are very low in strength and are easily cracked. The Eufy (model: T8441X) could also be cracked.

  The Council mentioned that the sample of SpotCam (model: Solo 2) has no limit on how many times a hacker can log in with a mobile phone application to obtain account information.

  The Council recommends that the manufacturers of these four products incorporate anti-brute-force designs, such as multi-factor authentication and limiting the number of password attempts.

  Temporary Passwords are Valid When Logging Back Into the Account on 3 Models

  Each time the user logged in to connect to the camera, a conversation key equivalent to a temporary password would be used. The conversation key should expire after disconnection, and the user would use a new conversation key when logging in again.

  However, the test results showed that when the samples of BootsLab (model: P4 Pro), SpotCam, and Reolink were logged in to connect to the camera again, the conversation key used for the previous connection was still valid. If the hacker steals the old conversation key, he can connect to the camera and see the image.

  After logging out of an account or logging in to another account in the same mobile phone application, live images of the surveillance camera can still be seen on Reolink when connecting to the logged-out account, a security vulnerability.

  Insufficient Data Security for All Sample Applications Storage

  Sensitive information such as email addresses, account names, or passwords was stored in ordinary text files without encryption. The relevant information would only be removed after a certain time, posing risks.

  In addition, the embedded browser of the Android version of five samples did not block access to files, including Imou, TP-Link, Eufy, EZVIZ, and D-Link, which allowed hackers to access files in the device by implanting the code. In addition, there are five samples of mobile phone applications with excessive access rights, and the data inside the device may be leaked, including Xiaomi Mi (model: MJSXJ09CM), Imou, BotsLab, Eufy, and EZVIZ.

  The Council also pointed out that the Android version of BootsLab uses the obsolete Data Encryption Standard (DES) with a shorter key length of 56 bits.

  City University Scholar: Only Rely on Manufacturers to Improve Product Quality

  Mr. Tsang Kim Fung, Associate Professor of the Department of Electronic Engineering City the University of Hong Kong, believes that some samples have greater network security issues, such as unauthorized server access, insecure data transmission, and insecure data encryption, which may pose risks such as privacy leakage and mobile phone data leakage.

  However, the product design and application of the home surveillance cameras are the manufacturer’s responsibility, and consumers can only rely on the manufacturer to improve the quality of the product.

  The Council reminds consumers to be vigilant of the following when choosing and using home surveillance cameras.

  Consumers should avoid purchasing products without a brand name or from unknown sources. They should open the app and activate the camera only when monitoring is needed. Also, they should set a strong password with no fewer than eight characters. The password should also contain a combination of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special symbols.

  The password should be changed regularly, and if the surveillance camera is installed and set up by someone providing door-to-door service, change the password immediately after installation.

  In addition, consumers should never use public devices and those without administrator permission to log into an account and avoid using public Wi-Fi networks for monitoring to prevent account data from being recorded and stolen.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 19:40

• Kim Jong Un Oversees 'Simulated Nuclear Attack' On South Korea
  Kim Jong Un Oversees ‘Simulated Nuclear Attack’ On South Korea

  After days of repeat smaller missile tests aimed at sending a message to Washington amid joint US-South Korea military drills, which are the largest in years, North Korea on Monday said it launched a ballistic missile over the weekend as part of a simulated nuclear attack on the south.

  State media indicated that Kim Jong Un oversaw the drill which sought to push back “aggression” from enemies. Notably it came the same day that US B-1B strategic bombers joined the aerial exercises with the south’s military.

  

  Pyongyang said of Sunday launch that it was “carried out under the tense situation in which a large-scale war drill is being frantically scaled up by the U.S.-South Korean allied forces to invade the DPRK and U.S. nuclear strategic assets are massively brought to South Korea.”

  This appears a reference to the US strategic bombers joining the drills. While there were reports that the north’s provocative Sunday launch involved a projectile tipped with a mock nuclear warhead, Pyongyang still claimed it had “no adverse effect on the security of the neighboring countries.”

  It reportedly exploded about 800 meters above targeted waters. According to further details of the launch:

  The suspected ballistic missile launched by North Korea on Sunday reached a maximum altitude of approximately 50km (31 miles) and flew a distance of approximately 800km (497 miles), according to Japan’s defense ministry. It was fired from the Dongchang-ri area of North Pyongan province in North Korea and landed in the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, according to the South Korean military.

  South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) has meanwhile emphasized is remaining vigilant and prepared for more launches coming out of the north, “while maintaining a full readiness posture through close cooperation with the US.”

  

  Other regional powers are closely monitoring too, especially Japan. Its defense ministry said in a statement that these launches “threaten the peace and security of Japan, the region and the international community.”

  The ongoing 11-day Freedom Shield exercises between the United States and South Korea are being widely described as the largest war games among the allies in a half-decade. North Korea earlier warned it is ready to initiate the “toughest counteraction against the most vicious plots of the US and its followers.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 19:20

• "I Couldn't Remain Silent": Physician Assistant Fired For Reporting COVID-19 Vaccine Adverse Events To VAERS
  “I Couldn’t Remain Silent”: Physician Assistant Fired For Reporting COVID-19 Vaccine Adverse Events To VAERS

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

  For her efforts to report injuries to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) and to educate others in her hospital system on doing the same, Physician Assistant Deborah Conrad said she was labeled an anti-vaxxer and fired from her job.

  

  Today, the New York-based Conrad tells her story at medical freedom conferences throughout the country, the most recent being one in Mississippi where physicians, scientists, and the vaccine injured warned state lawmakers to pull the COVID-19 vaccines from the market.

  Conrad told The Epoch Times she began to see early danger signals in 2021 upon the vaccine rollout, and with that, resistance among her colleagues to report on them.

  “After the vaccines came out, there was this uptick in unusual symptoms, some of which I had never seen in my 20-year career,” Conrad said. “In every case, it was in somebody who had received the COVID-19 vaccine.”

  Conrad said she had never admitted an adult patient with RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) until the COVID-19 vaccines.

  “And every patient who came in with RSV was vaccinated for COVID,” Conrad said. “It wasn’t normal.”

  Then, there were the adolescents with no previous medical conditions who had gotten the COVID-19 vaccine a week prior and, suddenly, they were struck with pneumonia and not able to function, she said.

  “They weren’t able to walk or eat, and they were completely and totally fatigued,” Conrad said.

  This was in 2021 before myocarditis was being discussed, so many of those early cases that were probably myocarditis were diagnosed as pneumonia, she said.

  “A lot of these myocarditis cases came in with fevers because of this massive inflammatory response that was taking place in the body, so they would be labeled as septic, treated as if we were treating pneumonia or fevers of unknown origin,” Conrad said. “We’d treat them with antibiotics and all sorts of other things, not realizing that they were having heart failure.”

  Conrad began reporting to VAERS, which she said was an overwhelming task not made easy by its multiple user-interface complications.

  “My entire life had been taken over by doing these VAERS reports by myself,” she said.

  In meetings with leadership, she would propose implementing a reporting system and hiring someone to manage the reports, she said.

  ‘A Hostile Environment’

  “They kept telling me we’re looking into it and we’ll get back to you,” Conrad said. “Around April 2021, leadership came back and said no one else is reporting injuries—implying that I was crazy and there was nothing really going on with the vaccines.”

  Leadership then audited her reports, she said and concluded that she was overreporting.

  “I was then told that by doing VAERS reports and even discussing VAERS that it was an admission that the vaccines were unsafe, so it’s contributing to vaccine hesitancy,” Conrad said.

  From there, it became a “very hostile environment” that compelled her to seek legal counsel, who wrote letters to the Department of Health, the CDC, and the FDA.

  “No one cared,” Conrad said. “Finally, I had had it. It was so unethical; I couldn’t take it anymore. These VAERS reports are critical to assuring these vaccines are safe for us all. I could no longer be a part of a system that is lying to the American people.”

  Conrad decided to become a whistleblower, telling her story on Del Bigtree’s The Highwire, knowing, she said, that it would cost her job.

  “I couldn’t remain silent, even if it meant losing my career and everything I worked for,” she said. “I was fired a few weeks later and walked out like a criminal in front of all my peers.”

  The initiative and education she had brought forth to report to VAERS were squashed that day, she said.

  

  National Vaccine Injury Act of 1986

  According to Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), under the National Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, it’s a federal requirement for health care workers to report vaccine-related adverse events to VAERS.

  Fisher, whose son was harmed by the DTP vaccine in 1980, worked with other parents of vaccine-injured children in establishing the NVIC in 1982.

  “The 1986 Act was driven by parents of DPT vaccine injured children asking the government to pass legislation to secure vaccine safety informing, recording, reporting, and research provisions in the vaccination system to make it safer, and to create a federal compensation system alternative to a lawsuit against manufacturers of vaccines that injure or kill children,” Fisher told The Epoch Times.

  In addition to NVIC arguing that physicians and vaccine manufacturers should be giving informed consent and report injuries, the organization maintained they should also continue to be held accountable in a civil court to serve as an incentive for physicians to administer vaccines responsibly, for manufacturers to produce safer vaccines, and for adequate federal compensation to vaccine-injured children.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 19:00

• US Unveils $350M More Defense Aid For Ukraine, Condemns Xi-Putin Meeting
  US Unveils $350M More Defense Aid For Ukraine, Condemns Xi-Putin Meeting

  On Monday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken once again emphasized that the Biden administration remains ready to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes.”

  He also unveiled the latest defense aid package – at $350 million including more missiles and air defense missiles, listed among these more High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and howitzers, ammo for Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, high-speed anti-radiation missiles, anti-tank weapons as well as and riverine boats, according to The Hill. 

  

  “This week, as Russia’s unconscionable war of aggression against Ukraine continues at great human cost, we are again reminded of the boundless courage and steadfast resolve of the Ukrainian people, and the strong support for Ukraine across the international community,” Blinken said.  

  The Hill reviews concerning total defense aid pledged thus far, “With Monday’s announcement, the United States has now committed more than $32 billion in lethal aid to Ukraine through presidential drawdown since Russia first attacked the country more than a year ago.”

  Blinken also on Monday condemned the visit of China’s President Xi to Putin to talk Ukraine peace…

  “That President Xi is traveling to Russia days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Putin suggests that China feels no responsibility to hold the Kremlin accountable for the atrocities committed in Ukraine, and instead of even condemning them, it would rather provide diplomatic cover for Russia to continue to commit those very crimes,” Blinken said.

  Xi Jinping’s visit “suggests that China feels no responsibility to hold the president accountable for the atrocities committed in Ukraine,” the US top diplomat stated.

  #China may not deliver weapons to #Russia but is committed to supporting the Russian economy, which is all that Moscow needs to face US-led (40) nations in #Ukraine.
  Today, President Xi Jinping began a 3-day state visit to Russia to meet his “old friend” President Vladimir Putin. pic.twitter.com/Wr2xMWoVcc

  — Elijah J. Magnier 🇪🇺 (@ejmalrai) March 20, 2023

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  Blinken described China’s 12-point Ukraine peace plan as essentially nothing but a scheme to provide diplomatic cover to Russia’s war crimes. Despite all of this, Zelensky himself has maintained some degree of openness, and is likely to hold a phone call with Xi in the coming days to explore potential ceasefire options.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 18:40

• California Hospital Refuses Transplant Surgery For Unvaccinated Woman With End-Stage Kidney Disease
  California Hospital Refuses Transplant Surgery For Unvaccinated Woman With End-Stage Kidney Disease

  Authored by Allan Stein via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Even on a good day, Linda Garinger of Ramona, California, thinks about dying.

  

  Since she went on kidney dialysis two years ago, she’s had a heart attack and a cardiac episode associated with her thrice-weekly treatments.

  Her energy is low as her other vital organs slowly fail. Her blood pressure is out of control—hovering at around 200 systolic over “100-something”diastolic whenever she undergoes dialysis.

  Garinger feels it’s only a matter of time before her next heart attack, which could prove fatal unless she gets a new kidney.

  

  “The dialysis is very stressful on me. My vision is going. My hair is falling out. I’ve got skin cancer,” said Garinger, 68. “They said it’s from the dialysis not filtering out all the bad stuff.

  “My biggest fear is I’ll have a heart attack during dialysis. I’m just going downhill right now.”

  In 2022, Garinger was eagerly waiting for a kidney transplant at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, having found a good organ match in her daughter, the doctors told her.

  But, “I needed [the transplant] like two years ago,” Garinger said.

  Early last May, Garinger received an unexpected letter from the hospital saying she was no longer on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) waitlist for a kidney transplant.

  “The reason for this status change is you have not had your COVID vaccines,” read the May 6, 2022, letter Garinger shared with The Epoch Times.

  “Once this situation is remedied, you will be evaluated for re-activation on the transplant waitlist.”

  Garinger did not appeal the hospital’s decision. She knew “in her gut” her unvaccinated status would always be a problem.

  Still, she put her faith in Sharp Memorial, only to be put through tests, medical procedures, and consultations at a substantial cost to Medicare.

  “The whole time, they knew I wasn’t vaccinated and that [my daughter] wasn’t vaccinated. They would always ask me, ‘Why don’t you want to get a vaccine?’”

  “I was pretty adamant,” said Garinger. “I didn’t want to take anything that was still experimental.”

  She remembered her good friend who died two weeks after receiving a COVID shot. “She lived right over here, on the other side [of the street],” Garinger said.

  Garinger said she was fortunate to find another hospital nearby that would operate without her taking the vaccine.

  Starting All Over

  The challenge now is the time it will take to complete all the required paperwork and preliminary procedures, the time it will take to get on a waitlist for a kidney donor, and the time it will take to find a donor.

  She fears her time will run out before then.

  One sympathetic doctor said, ‘Linda, you could drop over dead. Your heart could stop.’ So, I have to watch what I eat, and on the days I don’t do dialysis, I take this powder that tastes like gritty sand” to remove the excess potassium from her body.

  Garinger finds herself among many people who need an organ transplant but are up against a medical system still adhering to vaccine protocols in many facilities.

  In a 2021 Healio transplantation survey, 60 percent of the 141 transplant centers that responded did not require a COVID-19 injection before surgery. The survey sample represented just over 56 percent of the transplant centers in the United States.

  Jeffrey Childers, a commercial attorney based in Gainesville, Florida, served clients facing COVID-19 mandates at hospitals and medical clinics during the pandemic.

  He said Garinger’s case reflects the “COVID mania” that permeated the medical establishment beginning in 2020.

  “This was an ugly manifestation of the COVID management regime that popped up,” Childers said. “All the cases get a lot of attention because people are horrified. But the transplant people will say they have limited resources, only get so many organs each year, and we have to give them to people with the best survival chances. They’ll hide behind that forever.”

  Life-and-Death Decisions

  Childers said health care facilities still have tremendous discretionary power to make critical decisions concerning COVID-19 vaccines.

  “To see these kinds of life-and-death bureaucratic powers wielded by people who are not motivated by the science but—something else—is horrifying,” Childers said.

  “I’ve run into it a handful of times in Florida. The law that applies is state dependent. The folks who manage those donor lists and the assignments have a lot of discretion.

  “It’s even more appalling it’s happening now so late in the pandemic when the mandates are gone. You can’t find a single person who says they regret not taking the vaccine. But you can find tons going the other way.”

  Childers said pro-vaccine advocates argue that an unvaccinated recipient is much more likely to die from COVID-19 following transplant surgery than a vaccinated patient.

  “I don’t know the official line anymore,” he told The Epoch Times. “[The vaccine] doesn’t stop you from dying. It doesn’t stop you from getting sick.”

  One study in the November 2022 MDPI, a Switzerland-based publisher of open-access scientific journals, claimed that over 60 days, the death rate among unvaccinated kidney transplant patients was 11.2 percent at the time of COVID-19 infection.

  The study found the death rate among the vaccinated was 2.2 percent. More than two-thirds of the 144 patients in the study received a kidney transplant.

  By contrast, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine in September 2022 found that some cornea transplant patients rejected the grafts after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

  In some cases, the rejection took place 20 years after the procedure.

  Childers believes the science generally does not support the notion that unvaccinated transplant recipients are at an increased risk of dying from COVID-19.

  “The argument is always don’t give an organ to a person who is living some kind of lifestyle that is risky or increases the risk of dying from something else,” Childers told The Epoch Times.

  “That’s the logic they’re applying to this. They’re essentially saying by not taking the vaccine, [transplant patients] are at higher risk of dying from COVID. So they don’t want to give an organ to somebody at high risk voluntarily.”

  Ohio attorney Warner Mendenhall, representing clients in vaccine mandate cases, said he knows at least 60 organ transplant denial suits working through the medical freedom group Liberty Counsel.

  Each case involves a client refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine required for transplant surgery.

  “We’re seeing [transplant denials] at many hospitals across the country,” Mendenhall said.

  And while the medical establishment remains split on the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 injections, some “medical people are concerned about clotting and other issues that occur with the vaccinated.”

  “Especially if you’ve got liver and kidney problems and need that type of transfer, you don’t want to be vaccinated before the transplant. That’s my understanding,” Mendenhall said.

  A ‘Fiduciary Responsibility’ to Patients

  Often, the unvaccinated transplant patient has maintained a longstanding medical relationship with the hospital or clinic without issue before the COVID-19 vaccine rollouts.

  For this reason, Mendenhall believes there is a “fiduciary relationship that the hospitals engage in with a transplant patient.” To break that obligation would be “a real breach of that fiduciary responsibility to them.”

  According to the Chronic Disease Research Group, an estimated 37 million people in the United States have kidney disease in varying stages.

  About 1 million Americans are in the end stages of the disease. At the same time, 550,000 undergo kidney dialysis to remove excess toxins from the blood because their kidneys cannot perform this function.

  The average wait time for a kidney transplant in the United States is three to five years at most health facilities, but it’s longer in some parts of the country, according to kidney.org.

  “It is best to explore transplant before you need to start dialysis. This way, you might be able to get a transplant ‘preemptively,’ before you need dialysis,” the organization’s website states.

  “It takes time to find the right transplant center for you, to complete the transplant evaluation, to get on the transplant waitlist for a deceased donor, or to find a living kidney donor if you can.”

  Garinger said she is in terminal Stage 5 of her kidney disease and needs dialysis almost every other day to stay alive.

  “I’m pissed off,” said Garinger, who gets short of breath just walking to the kitchen.

  “I can’t walk to Costco or a grocery store now. My muscles—I get out of wind so easily. I can’t walk down to my chickens anymore.”

  Her daughter Emily Lewis, 35, is a recent medical assistant program graduate and is now her mother’s live-in caretaker as she waits for a kidney transplant.

  “I put my life on hold because [of my mother],” Lewis said, although she has no regrets.

  With her career in limbo, Lewis said she is angry at the injustice of the COVID-19 mandates while doubting the shots even work.

  

  “Everyone I know who’s COVID vaccinated has had it four or five times. I’ve had it zero,” Lewis told The Epoch Times.

  Denied access to the kidney wait list at Sharp Memorial, Garinger found that the University of California San Diego Medical Center was willing to perform the kidney transplant surgery.

  But the longer it takes to find a kidney donor, the more likely it is that she won’t make it back to a more normal life.

  She characterized her relationship with her doctors at Sharp Memorial as adversarial since she opposed taking the COVID-19 vaccine under any circumstances.

  She remembered one doctor in Ramona who kept “pressuring me” about the vaccine.

  He said, “What will you do if you get COVID? What if you catch COVID and you have to go to the hospital?’

  “Well,” she told him. “I have this protocol on my fridge—vitamins C and D. I have ivermectin. Number one: I won’t go to the hospital. It’s a death sentence there.”

  “I guess you know more than me,’” the doctor said as he stood up and left the room.

  “I didn’t know I had an adversary” or that “I was an evil person. I just had a gut feeling they would deny me [a kidney] because they kept pressuring me about the shot.”

  “They did the same thing with me,” Emily said.

  ‘Why Aren’t You Vaccinated?’

  At one point, Garinger demanded data showing the vaccine’s side effects.

  “There was none,” she said. “It came down to the last final interview with the surgeon. All he could ask me was, ‘Why aren’t you vaccinated? Why don’t you want to get vaccinated?’”

  “I don’t have COVID,” Garinger said. “[Emily] doesn’t have COVID. Another thing they told me was we were a [donor] match. And then I got to UCSD, and the bloodwork showed she was not a match.”

  Sharp Memorial did not respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times. UCSD Medical Center did not return an email seeking comment.

  New Orleans attorney David Dalia said Garinger’s case seems to be medical “discrimination.”

  “They are discriminating against her based on her vaccination status,” he said.

  During the pandemic, Dalia worked on vaccine mandate cases with Frontline doctors, filing amicus briefs on behalf of 1.5 million federal employees who refused to take a COVID-19 vaccine by order of President Joe Biden.

  “The truth is [Garinger] has a lot better chance of living than a vaccinated person. We can back that up. They’re viewing it as sort of a disability.

  “Well, that’s a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. And federal law specifically says all experimental use authorization drugs are strictly voluntary and subject to informed consent.”

  Dalia said informed consent is “never coerced.”

  As Garinger works through the intake process at UCSD Medical Center, she has good, bad, and “hell” days.

  “I sit in a chair all day,” said Garinger, who ran a successful foreclosure business before she retired due to her illness. “[Emily] helps me do cooking. She does all the chopping and stuff. I have a chair in the kitchen. I walk to the kitchen and start cooking. I don’t do much. My gardening is on hold—everything is on hold. My muscles are gone. I use electric carts to go to Costco. I can’t do anything. I’m out of breath. It sucks.”

  “Every part of my body is deteriorating. So, I’m on hold until I get a kidney.”

  Just as painful are the times people call her “evil ” because she refuses to take an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19.

  “You’re going to give [COVID] to everybody,” they tell her. “You’re evil for not getting vaccinated.”

  “That’s how I felt,” Garinger told The Epoch Times.

  She said another fear is receiving a kidney from a vaccinated donor, with unknown health effects, since there is no way to determine which donor is vaccinated and which one is not.

  Feeling her time is growing short, Garinger said she is still determined to keep fighting in the time she has left.

  “I’ve got to get this done. Every day there’s something else going wrong with me because my kidneys are gone,” Garinger said.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 18:20

• 16 Terrorists On FBI Watchlist Crossed Southern Border In February Alone; CBP Data Shows
  16 Terrorists On FBI Watchlist Crossed Southern Border In February Alone; CBP Data Shows

  Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

  Fresh data from Customs and Border Protection has revealed that sixteen people matched to the FBI’s terrorist watchlist were apprehended by Border Patrol agents in February alone.

  

  As reported by Fox News, the total number of individuals on the watchlist found to be attempting to enter the country so far this fiscal year is now 69.

  CBP expects the trend to continue, and to smash last fiscal year’s record 98 encounters.

  Between FY17 and FY20 there were only 8 of these terror watchlist arrests, and in 2021 only 15.

  NEW: CBP data reveals Border Patrol arrested 16 people on the FBI’s terror watchlist who crossed illegally at the southern border in February, bringing total terror watchlist arrests for FY’23 (so far) to 69.

  FY’23 is on pace to beat FY’22, which had 98, an all time record.… https://t.co/k80jfpo2xi

  — Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) March 16, 2023

  Federal Data Quietly Reveals 100 Terror Suspects Caught At Southern Border

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  When border the Southern and Northern borders are taken into account, FY23 has seen 214 people in the Terrorist Screening Database stopped by CBP agents to date. Last year, the total was 380, yet the year before that there were only 157 encounters.

  Last year, the FBI arrested an Iraqi man who was plotting to smuggle ISIS operatives into the U.S. through the southern border in a plan to assassinate George Bush. He also claimed to have just successfully smuggled two Hezbollah fighters into the U.S. https://t.co/vPPdsYOdrS https://t.co/XiDVCMpbIl

  — Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) March 17, 2023

  The Department of Homeland Security says the border is secure and claims that the biggest terror threat the U.S. faces is ‘domestic extremists’ radicalised by “false narratives propagated on online platforms.”

  DHS Chief Says Biggest Terror Threat is Americans Radicalized by ‘Online Narratives’

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  The latest data shows that on the whole, CBP apprehended 128,877 people who crossed the border illegally in January and another 128,913 in February.

  Those figures are down from December when a record amount of illegal crossings were recorded, as 251,487 illegal immigrants crossed, marking the highest monthly total in history. A total of 17 individuals on the terrorism watchlist were apprehended.

  CBP Figures Show Highest Monthly Total Of Illegal Crossings EVER Recorded

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  Last week, during testimony before the House, Border Patrol chief Raúl Ortiz contradicted Biden administration officials by stating that there is a full on crisis on the southern border, urging that it is not secure, and calling for a wall to be built.

  Video: Border Patrol Chief Testifies Border Is Not Secure, Wall Needed

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  Ortiz noted that there have already been approximately 385,000 known gotaways at the border since fiscal year 2023 began on Oct 1. That is in addition to 600,000 in FY’22, and 390,000 in FY’21. There have been approximately 1.4 million gotaways since start of FY’21.

  Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz says there have been 385,000 known “gotaways” who escaped past Border Patrol into the country already this fiscal year — and he says that number is likely “between 10% and 20%” higher. pic.twitter.com/2na49tH9di

  — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 15, 2023

  Meanwhile:

  EXCLUSIVE: Defense Department spending nearly $50 million a year to store unused border wall materials, drawing GOP backlash https://t.co/KNck0lt5CE

  — Kyle Morris (@RealKyleMorris) March 16, 2023

  “At present, over 20,000 border wall sections, otherwise known as bollard panels, lie unused at 20 project sites across southern Arizona and New Mexico,” the senators wrote. “Every day, the Department of Defense pays $130,000 to store, maintain, and secure these materials.”

  — Kyle Morris (@RealKyleMorris) March 16, 2023

  *  *  *

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  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/20/2023 – 17:40