Jul 01

Today’s News 1st July 2021

  • Google Mistakenly Uses Photo Of Swiss Engineer On Wikipedia Entry For Notorious Bulgarian Rapist
    Google Mistakenly Uses Photo Of Swiss Engineer On Wikipedia Entry For Notorious Bulgarian Rapist

    Today in “Skynet rewrites history” news, a Google algorithm has been responsible for mixing up an engineer based in Switzerland with a notorious serial killer online. 

    The mix up happened when algorithms mistakenly took a photograph of engineer Hristo Georgiev and placed it into a Wikipedia entry for Hristo Georgiev, who is described by the same entry as “a Bulgarian rapist and serial killer who murdered five people, mainly women, between 1974 and 1980”. 

    The software engineer seemed to take the news in stride.

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    He even wrote a blog post called “Google turned me into a serial killer”. 

    “As I was scrolling through my inbox today, I stumbled upon an e-mail from a former colleague of mine who wanted to inform me that a Google search of my name yields a picture of me linked to a Wikipedia article about a serial killer who happens to have the same name as mine,” he wrote. 

    “I quickly popped out my browser, opened Google and typed in my name. And indeed, my photo appeared over a description of a Bulgarian serial killer,” his blog says. “My first reaction was that somebody was trying to pull off some sort of an elaborate prank on me, but after opening the Wikipedia article itself, it turned out that there’s no photo of me there whatsoever.”

    Georgiev concluded:

    “It turns out that Google’s knowledge graph algorithm somehow falsely associated my photo with the Wikipedia article about the serial killer. Which is also surprisingly strange because my name isn’t special or unique at all; there are literally hundreds of other people with my name, and despite of all that, my personal photo ended up being associated with a serial killer. I can’t really explain to myself how this happened, but it’s weird.”

    Several days later, the engineer reported the that problem had been fixed.

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    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 07/01/2021 – 02:45

  • German Mayor Responds To Islamist Terror Attack By Expressing Concern About Refugees
    German Mayor Responds To Islamist Terror Attack By Expressing Concern About Refugees

    Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

    After a Somali refugee went on a stabbing rampage that left three women dead, the Mayor of Würzburg reacted by writing an open letter expressing concern about the stigmatization of refugees and migrants.

    Yes, really.

    Videos from the scene of the attack showed members of the public confronting the 24-year-old killer, who was later found to have radical Islamist propaganda on the premises of his home.

    The suspect, who arrived in Germany in 2015 as a refugee, also reportedly told staff at a local hospital that his attack had been a ‘contribution to jihad’.

    On Monday, Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria’s Interior Minister, said the incident had all the hallmarks of an Islamist terror attack.

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    While Mayor Christian Schuchardt expressed grief over the deaths of the victims, the main focus of his open letter was to complain that the attack could be used to stereotype other migrants and refugees.

    “But I also cried for our city last night. Because of this short circuit, this equating is so obvious. Refugees, immigrants, violent criminals, religious warriors and terrorists – massacres,” he said in his letter.

    “However, the crimes of individuals can never be traced back to population groups, religions or nationalities. We Germans were not condemned in general after the Second World War either. Nor does this now apply to Somalis or refugees in general. This pigeonholing must come to an end,” Schuchardt added.

    “And at the same time, there will be no end to it. This is my moral demand, my wish for the society that I know cannot be fulfilled. Because how would you feel as a foreigner in our city today?” the letter asked.

    In reality, refugees have been responsible for numerous terror attacks throughout Europe over the past six years since Angela Merkel’s disastrous decision to open the borders to them.

    The terrorist who beheaded a woman and killed two others near a church in Nice, France last October was revealed to be a Tunisian boat migrant.

    The Chechen teen who beheaded school teacher Samuel Paty in the same month had been granted a 10-year residency in France as a refugee the previous March.

    The majority of the Paris massacre terrorists also exploited the refugee wave to enter Europe.

    The three terrorists who went on a knife rampage in Lyon back in April last year were also Sudanese refugees.

    The Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salmen Abedi was also rescued from Libya as a refugee by the British Royal Navy after the fall of Colonel Gadaffi.

    These are just a few of the many examples.

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    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 07/01/2021 – 02:00

  • Decisions That Would Cause U.S. To Lose World War III
    Decisions That Would Cause U.S. To Lose World War III

    Authored by David Pyne via RealClear History,

    This month marked the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union which took place on June 22, 1941. Hitler’s witting or unwitting pre-emptive attack against the Red Army, which were massed on the borders of eastern Germany, western Poland, Hungary, and Romania poised for their own invasion, enabled the Germans to capture or destroy tens of thousands of Soviet tanks and aircraft. Some authors who have examined Soviet archives have suggested the offensive was scheduled to take place a mere two and a half weeks after Hitler’s attack.

    Despite the fact that the Soviet Union had joined with Nazi Germany in invading Poland and starting World War II as co-aggressors, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill responded to the German invasion of its former Soviet ally by pledging their unqualified support for the Soviet war effort no matter what the consequences of their unqualified political and military support might be. U.S. and U.K government war propagandists went to work to deceive their citizens into believing that the world’s greatest mass murderer, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, was, in fact, a gallant ally of democracy and freedom in the fight against Nazi Germany.

    In the four years that followed, the U.S. and Britain sent 15,000 combat aircraft and nearly 23,000 tanks and armored fighting vehicles to the Soviet Union along with even more massive quantities of strategic materials. Without these, Stalin stated he could not have produced the tanks, aircraft, and other heavy weapons needed to defeat Nazi Germany. This Allied military-industrial aid put the wartime needs of U.S. and U.K. forces as well as their own citizens behind Stalin’s needs and requisitions while also providing the Soviets with atomic bomb making plans and materials according to the new book “Stalin’s War-A New History of World War II”. This critical U.S. assistance to the Soviet atomic bomb program likely enabled the Soviets to explode their first atomic and hydrogen bombs several years earlier than they otherwise would have. 

    Lend-Lease allowed Soviets to triumph

    This massive U.S.-U.K. military aid provided the Red Army with the ability to engage in mobile counteroffensives, which succeeded many times in encircling German forces, that it otherwise would have largely lacked. The 430,000 US trucks and jeeps provided under Lend-Lease constituted the bulk of Soviet motorized capabilities of the Red Army and enabled the Red Army to overrun half of Europe and much of Asia while annexing parts or all of nine countries and conquering half a dozen more during and after the war.  

    While a reasonable argument could have been made for providing the Soviets with some military aid to help them halt the German advance in the east, by 1943, the rationale for this enormous U.S.-U.K. military-industrial assistance had largely evaporated. This is due to the fact that, after the Battle of Kursk, the German Army was never again able to mount an offensive in the east and began a rapid retreat culminating in the Soviet capture of the German capital of Berlin less than two years later along with the eastern half of Europe. 

    After the fall of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Blitzkrieg continued in the Far East in what later came to be known as Operation “August Storm” as the USSR entered the war against Imperial Japan exactly one week before it surrendered, claiming Manchuria, northern Japan and North Korea in a rapid armored advance that lasted scarcely more than two weeks. Inexplicably, the U.S. continued its Lend-Lease military-industrial assistance program to the Soviets including about sixty U.S. warships and dozens of amphibious landing ships until September 1945 — a month after Imperial Japan had surrendered. 

    U.S., U.K., helped create Iron Curtain

    Shortly after the war, Winston Churchill feigned surprise when he announced in his famous speech at Fulton, Mo. in March 1946 that an “Iron Curtain” now divided Europe and claimed that he alone had foreseen this unfortunate event. His claim was questionable given that he and FDR had authored the Yalta Agreement and previous agreements which had ceded virtually all of eastern Europe and much of Central Europe to the Soviets, thereby creating the Iron Curtain, leading to the Cold War between the Western and Soviet blocs that lasted half a century. Of course, for any educated observer of international affairs and world history at the time, the end result of the U.S.-U.K. decision to provide massive military-industrial aid to the Soviet Union was clear from the onset.  

    When the war began, the Soviet Union was the largest and most heavily armed nation in the world by far — more than 33 times larger than Nazi Germany at its greatest extent — and it spanned two continents. The decision of the U.S. and U.K. to ally themselves with the Soviet Union along with the enormous amount of direct military and military industrial aid they provided the Soviets ensured that the Soviet Union, not the Western Powers, would be the dominant power in postwar Europe. 

    Rather than merely liberating it from Nazi control and rebuilding postwar Germany as an ally of freedom against totalitarian aggression, at the Yalta Conference, the Big Three — FDR, Churchill, and Stalin decided to destroy and dismember Germany into six pieces and starve millions of its citizens as part of their implementation of the Soviet-inspired Morgenthau Plan. This decision proved to have devastating consequences for U.S. national security, let alone the hundreds of millions of captive peoples enslaved in the newly expanded Communist bloc. 

    Following Germany’s defeat, General George S. Patton was very upset with the Truman-Eisenhower continuation of FDR’s appeasement policy of the Soviet Union and their decision to unjustly hold 70 million Germans collectively responsible for the crimes of Hitler and top Nazi leaders. He resolved to resign his commission and go on a speaking tour of the United States to urge a patriotic call to support a policy designed to confront, contain and, possibly even roll back, Soviet tyrannical control of Central and Eastern Europe. Tragically, Patton was assassinated in a joint OSS-NKVD conspiracy mere days before he was able to do so, depriving the free world of one of its most visionary leaders.  

    European balance of power tilted

    One of the main results of the war was that the balance of power in Europe was destroyed and the Soviet Union became the new hegemon of continental Europe and, for a time following the Communist takeover of mainland China, Asia as well. Visionary anti-Communist statesmen such as former President Herbert Hoover, predicted this tragic and apocalyptic outcome if the Western Powers chose to ally with the Soviet Union. The U.S. and U.K. could have won the war against Nazi Germany and liberated Europe without their Unholy Alliance with what President Ronald Reagan later rightly termed “an evil empire”, let alone without providing massive military aid to it. It would have been far better for the U.S. to have simply signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union and raced them to see which of the two countries could liberate the Nazi-occupied countries first. That way, the U.S. and U.K. would not have been complicit in the many horrific Soviet war crimes including the mass murderers of millions of people who dared resist the Soviet Communist onslaught helping to extinguish the flames of freedom from nearly a dozen nations in Eastern Europe, which yearned to be liberated from their enslavement by tyrannical dictators. 

    During the Pacific war, the Chinese National Revolutionary Army, led by Chiang Kai Shek, fought gallantly against the Japanese. By tying down nearly 80 percent of Japan’s Army divisions in China enabled the U.S. to engage in a Pacific island-hopping campaign that defeated Japan in three and a half years. They were able to accomplish this great feat despite being provided with only about 1 percent of the military assistance that the U.S. had given to the Soviet Union. 

    In 1946, the year after World War II ended, America’s Chinese Nationalist allies seemed on the verge of defeating Mao’s Soviet-backed Red Army and winning the Chinese Civil War. Then, General George C. Marshall, who had been sent by President Truman to lead U.S. foreign policy with regards to China, decided to cut off all military and logistical support to Chinese Nationalist forces, depriving them of the fuel and ammunition they needed to prevent China from being taken over by murderous Communist forces.

    In the end communism prevailed

    In response to this unprecedented gift by the Truman Administration to Stalin and CCP leader Mao Zedong, the U.S. Congress voted to approve $1 billion in military aid to help the Nationalists avert total defeat. Sadly, President Truman and Secretary Marshall ordered the U.S. Pacific Fleet to dump all of the tanks, aircraft and other U.S. weapons that Congress had been earmarked for the Nationalist freedom fighters into the Pacific Ocean rather than allow them to fall into Chinese Nationalist hands. In the meantime, Stalin had, since August 1945, been arming and equipping Mao’s Red Army forces with the latest tanks and other weapons in the Manchurian sanctuary we granted to him to help Mao Communize all of mainland China. When Mao proclaimed victory in the Chinese Civil War on Oct. 1, 1949, the only surprising thing about it is that it took them so long to finalize their victory.

    While claiming to be fighting a war for democracy against totalitarian tyranny, U.S. leaders  enabled the Soviet and Chinese Communists to double the amount of territory under their control from 16 percent to 30 percent of the world’s landmass. Thanks to FDR and Truman, the number of people enslaved by godless Communism increased by nearly 430 percent from 170 million in 1939 to 730 million a mere decade later — 30 percent of the world’s people. Communist tyrants have since mass murdered nearly a billion people including forced abortions and infanticide — lives that otherwise might have been spared. 

    Did U.S. really “win” cold war?

    While the U.S. supposedly “won” the Cold War when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, World War II’s tragic aftermath has continued as Russia signed a military alliance agreement with Communist China two decades ago in July 2001, forming the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which Russian President Putin has rightly called “a reborn version of the Warsaw Pact”.  If Roosevelt and Truman had not chosen to prolong the Second World War unnecessarily for seven months after the issuance of the MacArthur Memorandum in January 1945 which documented five separate Japanese surrender attempts, Stalin would not have been able to conquer Manchuria, enabling him to provide a safe haven to Communist Chinese forces. 

    Had Truman not cut off all U.S. military support to Chinese Nationalist forces from 1946-49, Communist China and North Korea (with whom we remain technically in a state of war due to the fact no peace treaty ending the Korean War was ever signed) would not exist today. China and Korea would be united and free, having fought as allies in our Cold (and sometimes ‘hot’) War against the Soviet Union and its Communist vassal state allies.  Meanwhile, had the U.S. not provided such vast amounts of military industrial assistance to the Soviet Union helping them conquer or annex vast territories during and after the war, Russia might be considerably weaker today and might pose a significantly lower nuclear threat. 

    Certainly, the decision of U.S. leaders from President George H.W. Bush to Barack Obama to unilaterally disarm America of over 94 percent of its Cold War-era nuclear arsenal, while leaving its citizens largely defenseless against the existential threats of nuclear missile and Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) attack in the face of a massive nuclear buildup by our Sino-Russian alliance enemies, bodes ill for America’s future prospects. However, if the U.S. ends up fighting another major war against Russia and its Communist Chinese and North Korean allies in the near future, and goes down to defeat, an outcome which is more likely than not, future generations of Americans may recall that it was the decisions of two U.S. presidents — Roosevelt and Truman — over 75 years ago, that sowed the seeds of America’s demise and helped ensure we would lose the war for our very national existence.

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    David T. Pyne, Esq. is a former U.S. Army combat arms and H.Q. staff officer with a M.A. in National Security Studies from Georgetown University. He currently serves as Deputy Director of National Operations for the EMP Caucus on National and Homeland Security and as a Vice President of the Association of the United States Army’s Utah Chapter.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 23:40

  • New Video Shows Boston Dynamics' Robo-Dog Dancing To A Whole New Beat 
    New Video Shows Boston Dynamics’ Robo-Dog Dancing To A Whole New Beat 

    It comes as no surprise that after South Korean firm Hyundai finalized its acquisition of Boston Dynamics earlier this month, the internet’s favorite dancing four-legged robot, Spot, danced to a song by South Korean boy band BTS. 

    The South Korean automotive giant now owns a controlling interest in the Massachusetts-based robotics company, previously belonging to SoftBank.

    Last year, Hyundai and BTS partnered in a music video called “I’m On It” that featured an IONIQ, a new EV lineup brand of Hyundai. So it comes as no surprise that Hyundai would use BTS to pump up their new Spot robot in a video released Tuesday. 

    Seven Spot robo-dogs can be seen dancing to the BTS song. 

    Another video shows a couple of members of BTS dancing alongside Spot. 

    Eric Whitman, a Boston Dynamics roboticist who had a role in the music video, said, “There were a lot of challenges around getting the vision of our choreographer, who’s used to dealing with human dancers, into our software.” 

    Whitman said, “Everything had to be worked out in advance and scripted precisely. Robots have the advantage over humans in that they’re very repeatable: Once you get it right, it stays right. But they have the disadvantage that you have to tell them every little detail. They don’t improvise at all.”

    Whitman said it had taken years to evolve Spot’s behavior and movements, such as reliable walking and climbing. 

    “When we do these projects we always have two goals,” he said. “One is to use the video as motivation to improve the product. The secondary goal is to have fun making the video.”

    Under South Korean ownership, we wonder what new tasks Hyundai will program Spot to do in the future. 

    Meanwhile, China has released a robo-dog of their own. 

    So the question remains: Will these robots end up in a war? 

    To answer that, a top French military academy has already trained with Spot. 

    So the answer could likely be yes. 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 23:20

  • CJ Hopkins Exposes "The War On Reality"
    CJ Hopkins Exposes “The War On Reality”

    Authored (somewhat satirically) by CJ Hopkins via The Consent Factory,

    So, the War on Reality is going splendidly. Societies all across the world have been split into opposing, irreconcilable realities. Neighbors, friends, and even family members are bitterly divided into two hostile camps, each regarding the other as paranoid psychotics, delusional fanatics, dangerous idiots, and, in any event, as mortal enemies.

    In the UK, Germany, and many other countries, and in numerous states throughout the US, a “state of emergency” remains in effect. An apocalyptic virus is on the loose.

    Mutant variants are spreading like wildfire. Most of society is still shut down or subject to emergency health restrictions. People are still walking around in public with plastic face shields and medical-looking masks. The police are showing up at people’s homes to arrest them for “illegally gathering outdoors.” Any deviation from official reality is being censored by the Internet corporations. Constitutional rights are still suspended. Entire populations are being coerced into being injected with experimental “vaccines.” Pseudo-medical segregation systems are being brought online. And so on … you’re familiar with the details.

    Meanwhile, in Sweden, and a few other countries, and in various other states throughout the US, there is no apocalyptic pandemic.

    People are just going about their lives as normal. OK, sure, there is a nasty virus going around, so people are taking common sense precautions, as people typically do for any nasty virus, but there is no “state of emergency” in effect, and no reason to radically transform society into a paranoid, pathologized-totalitarian dystopia.

    This state of affairs, in which two contradictory, mutually-exclusive realities exist, is … well, it’s impossible, and so it cannot continue. Either there exists a devastating global pandemic that justifies a global “state of emergency,” the suspension of constitutional rights, and the other totalitarian “emergency measures” we have been subjected to since March of 2020 or there isn’t. It really is as simple as that.

    Except that it isn’t as simple as that. It is easy to forget, given the last 16 months, that people have been bitterly divided, and inhabiting mutually-exclusive realities, and regarding people who don’t conform to their realities as enemies for the last five years. I’m not talking about political disagreements, or even socio-cultural differences. I’m talking about contradictory realities. Things that actually happened, or didn’t happen. Things that exist, or do not exist.

    I’m not going rehash the whole War on Populism — I covered it extensively at the time — but that’s when the current global-capitalist War on Reality was officially launched. It wasn’t just the usual lies and propaganda. It was a full-scale ideological assault. By the end of it, people actually believed that (a) Donald Trump was a Russian agent, (b) that he was literally Hitler, and so was going to stage some sort of “coup,” declare himself American Führer, and launch the “Trumpian-White-Supremacist Fourth Reich,” and (c) that he had actually attempted this by sending a few hundred unarmed protesters — violent domestic extremist grandmothers, father-and-son kill squads, and bison hat loonies — to “storm the Capitol” and overthrow the government during the so-called “January 6 Insurrection.”

    So, when GloboCap rolled out the “New Normal” reality, they weren’t exactly starting from scratch.

    Millions of people — not just Americans, because the War on Populism was a global campaign — were already living in a new reality in which facts no longer mattered at all, where things that never happened officially happened, and other things that obviously happened never happened, not officially, or were “far-right extremist conspiracy theories,” “fake news,” or “disinformation,” or whatever, despite the fact that people knew that they weren’t.

    But the goal of GloboCap’s War on Reality isn’t simply to deceive the masses and divide them into opposing camps. Rulers have been deceiving the masses and dividing them into opposing camps since the dawn of human civilization. This time, it’s a bit more complicated than that.

    OK, bear with me now, because this gets kind of heady.

    The War on Reality is not an attempt to replace reality with a fake reality. Or it is that, but that is only one part of it. Its real goal is to render reality arbitrary, to strip it of its epistemological authority, to turn it into a “floating signifier,” a word that has no objective referent, which, of course, technically, it already is. You cannot take a picture of reality. It is a concept. It is not a physical object that exists somewhere in time and space.

    But let’s leave that last point for a later discussion. This is not the time to get lost in semiotics. For most people, for most practical purposes, reality is … well, reality. It’s objective. Material. It actually exists. It exists independent of our beliefs. It isn’t just an arbitrary, empty signifier that doesn’t actually refer to anything, but which we use, strategically, to assert authority, or to impose ideology on society. If that were the case, there would be no reality. Nothing would be true, everything would be permitted … which is a bunch of postmodern Marxist nonsense.

    But just imagine, for a moment, if that were the case … if what determined reality was actually just a question of power rather than facts. Imagine that reality was just a concept that we used to mark the current limits of our knowledge and ideological beliefs. Our doctors — oncologists and virologists, for example, but they could be any kind of doctors or scientists — would be not all that different from medieval alchemists, who totally believed in their reality at the time, as did the patients they were treating, but which we know now was not reality at all, because our reality is the real reality. I mean, it’s not as if people, five hundred years from now, are going to look back at our medical practices and scientific knowledge, and laugh, like we do at those medieval alchemists, right?

    Sorry, I got a little off track there. I was trying to explain the ultimate purpose of this global-capitalist War on Reality, and I wandered off into an ontological swamp, which isn’t going to get us anywhere. So, let’s get back to imagining reality, not as what we all know it is (i.e., an actual, material thing that exists), but as a construct people use to validate certain officially-sanctioned beliefs and perceptions and invalidate other beliefs and perceptions, more or less like a system of morals, except instead of dividing things into to “good” and “evil,” it divides things into “real” and “fake.”

    Now imagine that you were an immensely powerful, globally hegemonic ideological system, and you wanted to impose your ideology on as much of the entire world as possible, but you didn’t have an ideology per se, or any actual values at all, because exchange value was your only real value, and so your mission was to erase all ideologies, and values, and truths, and belief systems, and so on, and transform everything and everyone in existence into de facto commodities that you could manipulate any way you wanted, because they had no inherent value whatsoever, because their only real value was assigned by the market.

    How would you go about doing that, erasing all existing values, religious, cultural, and social values, and rendering everything a valueless commodity?

    Well, you wouldn’t want to destroy reality completely, because people wouldn’t stand for that. They would freak right out. Things would get ugly. So, instead, you might want to go the other way, and generate a lot of contradictory realities, not just contradictory ideologies, but actual mutually-exclusive realities, which could not possibly simultaneously exist … which would still freak people out pretty badly.

    Naturally, there would be one official reality that you would force everyone to rigidly conform to at any given moment in time, but you would change the official reality frequently, and force everyone to conform to the new one (and pretend that they’d never conformed to the old one), and then, once they had settled into that one, you would change the official reality again, until people’s brains just shut down completely, and they gave up trying to make sense of anything, and just tried to figure out what you wanted them to believe on any given day.

    If you repeated that process long enough, eventually, nothing would mean anything anymore, because everything could potentially mean anything … at which point, you could basically tell people anything you wanted and they would go along with it, because what the hell difference would it make? A narcissistic billionaire ass-clown could be a Russian agent and literally Hitler. A half-assed riot could be an “insurrection.” Children could be born “systemically racist.” Men could menstruate. But wait … it’s gets better.

    You could stage an apocalyptic global pandemic that only happened in certain countries, or in certain parts of certain countries, and that more or less mirrored natural mortality, and that didn’t drastically increase historical death rates, but was nonetheless totally apocalyptic.

    Perfectly healthy people could become “medical cases.” You could count anyone who died of anything as having died of your apocalyptic virus. You could tell people in no uncertain terms that medical-looking masks will not protect them from viruses, and then turn around and tell them that they will, and then, later, publicly admit you were lying in order to manipulate them, and then deny you ever said that, and tell them to wear masks.

    You could experimentally “vaccinate” millions of people whose risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from your apocalyptic virus was minuscule or non-existent, and kill tens or hundreds of thousands in the process, and the people whose brains you had methodically broken would thank you for murdering their friends and neighbors, and then rush out to their local discount drugstore to experimentally “vaccinate” their own kids and post pictures of it on the Internet.

    At that point, you wouldn’t really have to worry about “populist uprisings,” or “terrorism,” or any other type of insurgent activity, because the vast majority of the global population would be scramble-headed automatons who were totally incapable of independent thought, and who had no idea what was real and what wasn’t, so just repeated whatever new script you fed them like customer-service representatives on Haldol.

    It doesn’t get much better than that for globally hegemonic ideological systems!

    OK, sorry, I think I got lost there again. I’m not sure what I was trying to say. I’ve been a little foggy lately. I’m not sleeping so well. It’s probably Long Covid. Or maybe it’s just that time of month. Whatever. It’s not like it matters anyway. Still, I think I’ll go down to my former local bookshop and get myself tested.

    Have a nice day in … you know, reality!

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 23:00

  • 5,000 Burgers Per Day: World's First Mega Lab-Grown Meat Factory Opens 
    5,000 Burgers Per Day: World’s First Mega Lab-Grown Meat Factory Opens 

    The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) The Great Reset plan includes a complete transformation of the global food and agricultural industries and the dieting of humans. The architects behind this plan are preparing for a meatless society with the introduction of cell-based, slaughter-free meat. 

    Before this decade is over, we’re all going to be eating some form of slaughter-free meat, including chicken, pork and lamb, and beef. The point of all this is to generate fewer greenhouse emissions at cattle farms, use less land for farming, and reduce the use of freshwater and grains for the traditional process of growing livestock. 

    The aim is for a sustainable future, and already we’ve noted a few companies producing cell-based, slaughter-free meat. However, these facilities are operating at limited output as it is costly to produce fake meat. 

    That’s where Future Meat Technologies of Israel comes into play with their brand new facility able to pump out 500 kilograms (1,102 pounds) of cultured meat products per day, or the equivalence about 5,000 hamburgers per day. 

    “This facility opening marks a huge step in Future Meat Technologies’ path to market, serving as a critical enabler to bring our products to shelves by 2022,” said Rom Kshuk, CEO of Future Meat Technologies. “Having a running industrial line accelerates key processes such as regulation and product development.”

    Kshuk said the facility produces cultured chicken, pork, and lamb products, and beef production will be coming online soon.

    Here’s the company’s production facility located in Rehovot, Israel.

    The company’s platform enables fast production cycles—about 20 times shorter than traditional farming.

    Yaakov Nahmias, the company’s founder and chief scientific officer, said, “our goal is to make cultured meat affordable for everyone, while ensuring we produce delicious food that is both healthy and sustainable, helping to secure the future of coming generations.” 

    It seems as Nahmias’ roadmap for commercializing lab-grown meat plays into the “great reset” plan orchestrated by WEF. 

    So we don’t confuse readers, cultured meat products are different from plant-based imitation meat companies, such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. 

    Future Meat Technologies could end up on US store shelves in 2022, pending regulatory approval. The company is also examining several locations for future plants in the States. 

    So there you have it, one part of the great reset by global elites is to transform the food industry and ensure that everyone eats fake meat by the end of this decade to save the planet from cow burps. 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 22:40

  • Conrad Black: A Tsunami Of Crises About To Swamp Biden Administration
    Conrad Black: A Tsunami Of Crises About To Swamp Biden Administration

    Opinion authored by Conrad Black via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    The Biden-Harris administration is now in an extended levitation of credibility. Except for Donald Trump, who entered office in the midst of a public relations terror campaign against him and had no trace of a political honeymoon, all incoming presidents arrive with a favoring wind of bipartisan goodwill behind them.

    A group of Venezuelans wait to be picked up by Border Patrol after illegally crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into Del Rio, Texas, on June 3, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

    Especially as President Biden came into office promising a quieter and more genteel atmosphere and has largely done that, it is not surprising that his general popularity has been sustained at somewhat above 50 percent these first five months. But for a long time the Democrats have not had any war-cry except “We’re not Trump” and “That is racism.”

    In service to that credo, from Inauguration Day they have taken the position that they would do the reverse of anything Trump did: outright reaction unsupported by any analysis. Nothing else is conceivable as an explanation for their southern border policy.

    As Vice President Harris checked the box by going to El Paso, 800 miles away from the more agitated areas of illegal southern entry last week, she repeated the mantra that this administration inherited a mess. The polls are unanimous in indicating that the public realizes they did not inherit a mess; they inherited the almost complete end of illegal immigration and they squandered it instantly and jubilantly by effectively inviting the world to enter while having the hapless Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas repeat like a Disney World self-propelled puppet “The border is closed.”

    Television viewers can switch channels from that almost daily pronunciamento to see illegal immigrants swarming across by land and through water. Illegal immigration is now running at the rate of two million a year, which is an unsustainable level of entry of almost entirely unskilled people who will severely strain the social and educational and public security services of the southern border states.

    It is a crisis closing in upon a disaster, and the public can already see it approaching. All that can be said for the vice president’s visit to El Paso, where she was welcomed by the gushy local Democratic congresswoman to the “21st Century Ellis Island,” (where people arrived legally and some were rejected), is that it was nothing like as great a fiasco as her visit to Mexico and Guatemala three weeks ago.

    There she conspicuously failed to excite the enthusiasm of the American public to deluge more billions of dollars into those improvident areas in order to tackle “the sources of the problem”—the ancient liberal death wish of turning America’s pockets inside out to fight poverty in poor foreign countries by enriching their avaricious politicians.

    Inflation

    The tsunami of crises that are about to break over this administration do not stop at the southern border. It is no longer possible to disguise that inflation is stoking up. Awareness of this has been clouded and deferred because the composition of the index does not necessarily reflect the needs of average families.

    If the figures are broken out and averaged in traditional ways, the current rate of inflation appears to be something like eight or 9 percent and it will continue to remain high while the Sanders wing of the Democratic Party, which was solely responsible for the so-called Biden-Sanders Unity Program, is sticking to its guns.

    It demands and may force trillions more dollars to be thrown out of the windows of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve in an instant and artificial expansion of the money supply. The president’s latest wheeze for trying to satisfy Sanders while making a gesture to advocates of sane fiscal policy was his professed agreement on a bipartisan infrastructure bill, which almost everyone agrees is needed and is a good thing, followed a couple of hours later by the assertion that it would not be approved if not accompanied by a much larger “virtual infrastructure” measure.

    The Republicans who had agreed the bipartisan measure rose in revolt and the president, as is his custom, (and as is made plausible by his frequently turgid inarticulation), announced that he had been misunderstood. For the first time he is under some pressure to work himself out of one of the jams that he has blundered into, instead of just shrugging it off and relying on the docile media to ignore it.

    If he retains any of his old Senate bargaining skill, he may be able to come through it with his credibility intact. But he is trying to govern from a high wire, a very hazardous procedure for so unsteady a leader.

    Crime

    Even more urgent than the surging immigration and imminent inflation crises is the entirely predictable and much predicted crime wave. Violent crime is up everywhere and especially in Democratic-governed cities that cravenly bowed to the outrageous demands in the “peaceful protests” of last summer that injured 2000 police personnel, killed approximately 50 people, and caused over $2 billion of property damage.

    The rioters, almost none of whom would have been Republican voters, demanded that the police be defunded and “reimagined” and this was done in many cities, generating violent crime increases of from 25 to 150 percent.

    All Biden’s nonsense about shooting to hit people in the leg and enlisting social workers and psychologists to go out on 911 calls is vanishing in the vast cauldron of skyrocketing violent crime. Many formerly feasible neighborhoods are terrorized by gangs and conditions are undoubtedly aggravated by sluggish work from police forces that are tired of being the scapegoats for racist urban terrorists. The ranks of American urban police are thinning rapidly as the people in blue can easily find less hazardous and more highly appreciated work.

    The president’s address on crime on June 23 took refuge in the usual Democratic arguments about gun control. No doubt the gun laws can be better enforced, but the counter-argument that in such lawless conditions, the existence of firearms in most American homes is a factor of deterrence of crime and not an incitement to it.

    Chicago has tough gun laws but its worst areas are shooting galleries where the arrest rates are so low that it is obvious that the police are either compromised by their association with violent gangs or confining themselves to the perimeters of the most crime-ridden areas and have abandoned the core of those areas to the Darwinian masters of them, (and these desperate conditions are certainly not confined to Chicago).

    The president was correct in his plan to give greater assistance to criminals returning to civilian life and to prison reform in general, but that will work better with nonviolent people who are generally chronically over-sentenced, and who are much less likely to be repeat offenders than their violence-prone fellow inmates.

    Possible Fixes

    This is a problem that disconcerts and frightens scores of millions of Americans. When the administration comes to its collective senses, it can go back to the Trump methods of protecting the southern border while giving their policy a name that connotes reform.

    Biden can also stop being intimidated by Sanders and (Congresswoman) Ocasio Cortez and be assured of a large number of the reasonable majority with any serious gesture of fiscal restraint, at least up until the midterm elections. It might not be too late to damp down the psychology of inflation.

    But there is no quick fix to violent crime. It will soon be impossible to hide from the necessity to intervene directly to finance the recruitment and proper training of at least 100,000 more police personnel.

    The methods for reducing violent urban crime in the United States are now well known and were demonstrated by the mayoral regime of Rudolph Giuliani in New York (1993–2001), and there is no alternative but to return to them and the federal government can incentivize that.

    The embarrassment to the Democrats in such a course will be as nothing to the embarrassment they will receive at the polls next year if they do not take serious anti-crime measures.

    Conrad Black has been one of Canada’s most prominent financiers for 40 years, and was one of the leading newspaper publishers in the world. He’s the author of authoritative biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Richard Nixon, and, most recently, “Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other,” which has been republished in updated form. You can hear more of Conrad’s thoughts on his podcast “Scholars & Sense” alongside his co-hosts Bill Bennett and Victor Davis Hanson at ScholarsAndSense.buzzsprout.com.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 22:20

  • Billionaire Funds South Dakota National Guard Deployment To U.S-Mexico Border
    Billionaire Funds South Dakota National Guard Deployment To U.S-Mexico Border

    South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem tweeted Monday that she’s sending 50 of her state’s National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas and will be paid for by a private donation, according to Axios. 

    Noem said, “I’m officially announcing up to 50 National Guard troops to Texas to help secure our border.” She said President Biden has forgotten that a secured border is critical to maintaining a sovereign nation. “We shouldn’t be making our own communities vulnerable by sending police to fix Biden’s border crisis.” 

    The funding for the troop deployment is coming from a “Tennessee billionaire and high-dollar Republicans,” Axios said. 

    Noem spokesperson Ian Fury told Axios the funds are coming from a foundation run by billionaire Willis Johnson. There was no word on the size of the donation or the exact mission the troops would be conducting. 

    Johnson has spent millions of dollars to bankroll several political campaigns, including former President Trump’s reelection campaign. 

    The eventual deployment of the troops, funded by republicans, could optically tarnish Biden’s image when it comes to border security because his administration has been chipping away at law and order on the border. 

    Other Republicans, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, announced they would send state law enforcement units to Texas to secure the border to clean up Biden’s disastrous border policies that have resulted in absolute chaos. 

    Texas Gov. Abbott has frequently fought with the Biden administration on border issues. 

    America is a melting pot of cultures. The most sustainable way to blend the world’s people is through a fair and orderly immigration system—something the Biden administration has failed to do. 

    The chaos on the southern border is terrible optics for Biden as Republicans swarm in with law enforcement and privately funded troops to fix the mess. Certainly, the border will be a huge debate issue in the next presidential election cycle. 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 22:00

  • Biden Sends Federal Motor Fuels Tax Packing, Washington Insider Says
    Biden Sends Federal Motor Fuels Tax Packing, Washington Insider Says

    By Mark Solomon of FreightWaves,

    President Joe Biden has thrust a dagger into the heart of the federal motor fuels tax and, with it, the trust fund that’s long been dedicated to paying for highway projects.

    So says Randy Mullett, a multi-decade veteran of the inside-the-beltway transportation wars and head of a Virginia-based consultancy. Biden’s staunch opposition to an increase in the federal fuels tax — which hasn’t been raised since 1993 — sends a clear message to Congress that the Highway Trust Fund, which for decades has used fuel tax proceeds to funnel money to states for road infrastructure projects, has reached the end of its useful life, Mullett said. The Trust Fund was created in 1956 to fund the interstate highway system and other road projects.

    “The days of a dedicated highway trust fund are finished,” Mullett said Tuesday afternoon during a virtual session at the SMC3 annual summer meeting.

    House Democrats had been tinkering with the idea of raising the fuel tax by indexing it to inflation, Mullett said. Biden’s pronouncement quashed those efforts, he said. From now on, every infrastructure project will compete with other federal spending initiatives for the same pot of money, a prospect no one in the transport ecosystem relishes, Mullett said.

    Bereft of federal money, states will be pressured to continue hiking their fuel taxes, Mullett said. Over the past three decades, states have repeatedly raised fuel taxes and related fees to pay for necessary infrastructure improvements.

    Perhaps the oldest unresolved issue in official Washington has been how to pay for infrastructure improvements absent any increases in the federal fuels tax. The tax has sat at 22.4 cents per gallon on diesel and 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline since President Bill Clinton’s first year in office. Groups including shippers, carriers and the 3 million-strong U.S. Chamber of Commerce have repeatedly endorsed measures to raise fuel taxes. However, the Obama administration consistently rejected it as a regressive tax, a position that Biden, who served as Obama’s vice president, has adopted. The Trump administration talked early on about supporting a fuel tax hike, but nothing ever materialized.

    Adding to the cost squeeze is the administration’s refusal to support taxes or user fees on the use of electric-powered vehicles (EV), which currently escape levies because they don’t require fossil fuels. Though still a distinct minority of the nation’s truck and auto fleets, EVs will become much more commonplace on American roads over the next 20 years. Hardly anyone disputes the need to capture EV activity and tax their use. The question is how it will be done.

    The urgency behind the “how-do-we-pay-for-this” question has reached a crescendo, with the administration and a bipartisan group of senators agreeing to an eight-year, $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, and with the House and Senate dueling over how to reauthorize the 2015 FAST Act, the last federal transport-spending bill. It is expected that the legislation, if a version gets enacted, will cost an additional $500 billion to $600 billion depending on its duration.

    With costs running far ahead of revenues due to years of inaction at the federal level, the trust fund regularly runs out of money and requires periodic capital transfers from the general treasury to meet its commitments. The House’s reauthorization bill, which is set to be voted on by the full chamber later this week, contains $148 billion in transfers over the next five years. The Senate is still putting together its version.

    It is unclear whether the administration-backed initiative and the reauthorization legislation will be consolidated or will move forward on different tracks. Either way, there is more infrastructure funding on the table than at any time in recent history.

    Panelists at the session said transport and business interests need to be on guard for any form of revenue-raising coming out of both branches. The Biden administration has proposed hiking the corporate income tax rate to 28% from 21% to pay for infrastructure programs, a move that would be a “huge hit” on retailers, said Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation (NRF), the world’s largest retail industry trade group. 

    There has also been bipartisan talk of a bill-of-lading tax, which would have a direct and enormous impact on all of logistics. Mullett said the broad strokes of the measure are “ill-defined” and that it’s unlikely to go anywhere. However, anything is possible when the executive and legislative branches are “scrambling for dollars,” he said.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 21:40

  • Welcome To The "Post-COVID Luxury Spending Boom"
    Welcome To The “Post-COVID Luxury Spending Boom”

    Now that the Covid panic is starting to subside, the “boom” is beginning. Especially in the luxury goods market.

    The surge in spending is indicative of the tailwind that loosening lockdowns, combined with trillions of dollars in stimulus, has created. 

    One person experiencing the spending binge firsthand is travel agent Dottie Williford, who told The Washington Post that the company’s luxury offerings are being sold out first: “People don’t usually spend $20,000 to go to the Bahamas, but my clients are. The first things to sell out were the top category on the ship.”

    As a result, businesses are going to start catering further to the wealthy, the report notes. This is due to the fact that the wealthiest Americans will be the driving force behind a lot of the recovery in retail spending. 

    As of now, “nearly 40 percent of overall consumer spending comes from the top fifth of earners — households that earn at least $120,000 a year,” WaPo notes. The bottom 20% of households account for just 9% of spending – and that gap is set to widen. The wealthiest 10% of Americans added more than $8 trillion to their net worth in 2020, despite the entire economy essentially shutting down and most of the country being in lockdown.

    Raj Chetty, a professor of economics at Harvard University, said: “Higher-income folks are accumulating a lot of savings. They will spend more going forward and that will further create an incentive for companies to cater to higher-income folks even more.”

    High income consumer spending is now 11% higher than pre-covid levels and consumer spending could grow at the fastest pace since 1946, the report notes. As a result, names like J.Crew and Uniqlo are specifically raising their price points heading into the new season, the report notes. Names like Gucci and Louis Vuitton are also raising prices. 

    Kayla Marci, a market analyst at retail-data firm EDITED, said: “Prices are rising. We’re also seeing these mass markets aligning their prices with luxury or expanding the offering of high-end products.”

    The hospitality and travel indsutry is also feeling robust demand. Lindblad Expeditions, a cruise line that normally offers 35 day Antarctic cruises for $50,000 each, said it may expand into a “diverse high end travel aggregate” heading into 2021. 

    Its CEO, Sven Lindblad, said in April: “We are well-prepared to start up again. We have excellent financial reserves, a couple of new companies under our umbrella and a marketing machine that is vastly strengthened for growth.”

    Similarly, Oceania Cruises’ 2023 world cruise, which is called “Around the World in 180 Days,” and costs between $46,000 and $160,000 per guest, sold out in a single day.

    CEO Frank Del Rio said: “We believe this achievement, along with multiple booking records we have announced in recent months, demonstrates the pent-up demand that exists from our mature and affluent cruisers even for long and exotic voyages once the severe impact of the pandemic subsides.”

    Robertico Croes, director of the Dick Pope Sr. Institute for Tourism Studies at the University of Central Florida, echoed the bullish sentiments for the industy: “The post pandemic will see a very strong movement toward the most affluent in terms of product development and services, and so on, compared to those who don’t have the affluence needed to engage in travel. Travel is inherently a luxury item.”

    Additionally, live entertainment spending is up 60% this year, amusement park trips and recreation are up 54% this year and membership clubs are up 45% this year. Those three fastest growing categories are usually dominated by high income Americans. 

    Demand for second homes has also “more than doubled” during the pandemic and was up a scorching 178% in April and 48% in May. 

    If the post-Great Recession spending data is any indicator, the economic recovery could only be getting started:

    In the five years after spending by the top 20 percent hit bottom during that recession, their share of all spending on care services such as day care, preschool and eldercare jumped 9 percentage points to 56 percent of overall spending in that area. The story was similar in education spending, such as college and private schools, as their share jumped 5 percentage points to 54 percent overall.

    Discretionary spending by the top 20 percent on fun purchases like pets, toys and hobbies rose 3.4 percentage points to 38.5 percent of that overall category. In another category that includes hotels and vacation homes, where the top 20 percent were already dominant, they gained even more ground, reaching 59 percent of spending overall.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 21:20

  • Incremental Outrageousness Is Killing America
    Incremental Outrageousness Is Killing America

    Authored by Bruce Abramson via RealClearPolitics.com,

    Critical race theory has exploded into public consciousness. Millions of American parents are just coming to realize that our schools have become woke indoctrination centers preaching divisiveness, bigotry, discrimination, and disdain for American history. Most of them are wondering how we got here.

    The answer is simple: Slowly. Incrementally. One step after another, over the course of decades. It’s hardly just K-12 education. An incentive system of “incremental outrageousness” has taken every aspect of American culture dangerously far from reality into the orgy of radical leftist hatred known as progressivism.

    How did it happen without anyone noticing?

    Turns out, we’ve reached the endgame of a strategy the radical left put in play in the 1960s: the long march through the institutions. The onslaught began in higher education—an institution particularly well suited for a takeover because it functions without external market signals. Success in academia hinges entirely on peer approval. Faculty members make all decisions concerning the hiring, firing, and promotion of junior colleagues, curriculum design, publication in prestigious journals, the appropriate paths for research, and the availability of public and private research funding.

    The surest way to succeed as an academic is thus to flatter the senior folks charged with making decisions about your career. The best way to do that (within the bounds of legality and propriety) is to “build upon” their work—that is, by taking it one step further in the recommended direction. Senior academics select the direction. Junior academics bolster the prestige of their seniors whenever they make a new “scientific discovery” along the designated path. In one fell swoop these junior academics show how important past work has been and tie their own egos, prestige, and careers to those of their seniors.

    This process calcifies conventional wisdom while divorcing each new “discovery” from everything other than the step that immediately preceded it. Each small step in the approved direction represents a small step away from the reality that originally grounded it.

    Incremental outrageousness. Consider, for example, the well-grounded observation that it might be worthwhile to study history from the perspective of the peasants and/or the conquered rather than of royalty and/or the victorious.  Fast-forward a few decades and many incremental steps. Now, perspective implies sympathy; those who study the oppressed are compassionate, while those who study the oppressors are cruel. Fast-forward a few more decades. Critical theory reduces all human interactions into conflicts between oppressors and oppressed.

    Finally, fast-forward to present. Today, “science has proved” that the nuclear family is a tool of oppression—hence the opposition of Black Lives Matter and its ideological allies—and that the biggest problem facing America is a white supremacism so pervasive that it can boast exactly zero organizations of any size or influence.

    How did science prove such things? One day at a time, building incrementally upon the scientific frontier of the day before.

    Outrageous? Absolutely. But the path from a grounded, reasonable observation to a hateful fantasy capable of undermining the republic was so methodical, so incremental, and so organic that few noticed it happening. Millions of individuals, over the course of decades, responded rationally to the incentives they faced. Prestigious “experts” told them what they had to do, say and join to succeed. Most young people arriving on campus or beginning work in the prestige professions complied; those who did not had short, unhappy experiences and limited career success.

    Meanwhile, decent, colorblind, patriotic Americans trusted our nation’s institutions to police themselves. That trust was badly misplaced. The radical left hollowed out our institutions and took them over—first academia, then the media, then the civil service, K-12 education, the professional organizations, Silicon Valley, and Wall Street. In 2021, even corporate America is more interested in being woke than in maximizing profits.

    Social media was the final blow. Social media made incremental outrageousness the dominant incentive system driving American society. Viral posts invariably move one step beyond yesterday’s outrage—familiar enough to seem plausible, but still pushing forward in the approved direction. The conventional wisdom dominating American culture is dangerously divorced from reality.

    The organic nature of incremental outrageousness is responsible for today’s “social progressives”: The folks committed to progressivism despite having no understanding of progressive ideology. The folks who provide cover and support for anti-American radicals despite believing quite deeply that they’re supporting traditional American concepts of democracy, freedom, and equality. The folks we need to wake up if we’re to secure the support necessary to sustain the American republic.

    Those of us committed to that republic must undertake a program of strategic education and commitment. Tools and techniques for waking them and changing their incentives are available and teachable. By all appearances, however, very few of our leaders or our fighters have mastered them. That’s going to have to change—soon—if we have any hope of restoring America.

    No one said it was going to be easy.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 21:00

  • Baltimore City Police Set To Seize Twice As Many "Ghost Guns"
    Baltimore City Police Set To Seize Twice As Many “Ghost Guns”

    Months ago, we told readers “ghost guns,” which are untraceable to the federal government and can either be made from 80% percent lower kits or 3D printers were popping up all across Baltimore City. Now the number of ghost guns the Baltimore City Police Department (BCPD) expects to seize this year is set to be more than double what it was last year. 

    Baltimore police are on track to seize at least twice as many privately manufactured firearms — often called “ghost guns” — as they did in 2020, Sheree Briscoe, the city’s deputy police commissioner, said Tuesday.

    At a virtual conversation moderated by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy, Briscoe said the department has seen an increase in its recovery of privately manufactured firearms in the last few years.

    The department recovered 29 ghost guns in 2019; 126 in 2020; and 83 from January to mid-May this year.

    “We’re on pace to surpass last year’s numbers and potentially come in between 250 to 300 privately made firearms that will make their way to the streets of Baltimore in the hands of various age groups [and] communities,” she said.

    According to Briscoe, 15 ghost gun seizures were “directly linked” to homicide or shooting investigations in 2020.

    “…To some that may not be a large percentage, but any percentage that’s attributed to a gun that is not legally registered, legally manufactured with serial numbers, is a challenge because then you run the difficulty of trying to find out where did that come from, who may ever possess that gun,” said Briscoe. – Maryland Matters

    With more than 300 homicides for six consecutive years, 2021 murders are estimated to be over 300.

    BCPD Commissioner Michael Harrison has blamed the rise in violent crime on several issues, including an officer shortage. 

    Last year, liberal city officials defunded BCPD, but as violent crime soared, newly elected Mayor Brandon Scott reversed their measure to increase funding.

    The situation in the metro area is so severe that Governor Larry Hogan had a recent meeting with Mayor Scott and Police Commissioner Michael Harrison. The governor said the meeting was “productive” but attributed the lack of consequences for petty crime to the surge in violence. 

    “When crime’s being committed right in front of police officers, when the state’s attorney refuses to prosecute half the crimes, we’re not going to fix the problem, regardless of how many meetings we’re going to have,” Hogan said, referring to Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby halting the prosecution of minor traffic violations, prostitution, drug possession, and other minor offenses during the virus pandemic. In March, Mosby held a press conference to declare that rough policing doesn’t prevent more violent crimes. Months later, her policing strategies have failed. 

    Last Wednesday, Mayor Scott sat down with President Biden at a roundtable discussion on gun violence. The mayor and Biden discussed new efforts to address violent crime. 

    “Today’s conversation with Mayor Scott of Baltimore, for example, echoed what we know to be the case and hear from mayors all across the country. Mayors have the power to help shape and enforce the laws in their cities, but they can’t control the laws in neighboring cities and states even though the gun legally bought there often ends up in their streets. Mayor Scott says that 80% of the guns in Baltimore were acquired outside the city. There’s nothing he can do about that, so we have to act,” Biden said.

    The president has been an advocate for banning ghost guns and crushing the NRA. 

    When someone can create an entire 3D-printed ghost gun at their home for under $350, including the cost of the printer, it seems Biden’s ambitions for more gun control could be a losing battle. 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 20:40

  • George Orwell's 1984 Has Become A Blueprint For Our Dystopian Reality
    George Orwell’s 1984 Has Become A Blueprint For Our Dystopian Reality

    Authored by John W. Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,

    “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for ever.”

    – George Orwell, 1984

    Tread cautiously: the fiction of George Orwell (Jun. 25, 1903-Jan. 21, 1950) has become an operation manual for the omnipresent, modern-day surveillance state.

    It’s been more than 70 years since Orwell—dying, beset by fever and bloody coughing fits, and driven to warn against the rise of a society in which rampant abuse of power and mass manipulation are the norm—depicted the ominous rise of ubiquitous technology, fascism and totalitarianism in 1984.

    Who could have predicted that so many years after Orwell typed the final words to his dystopian novel, “He loved Big Brother,” we would come to love Big Brother.

    “To the future or to the past, to a time when thought is free, when men are different from one another and do not live alone— to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone: From the age of uniformity, from the age of solitude, from the age of Big Brother, from the age of doublethink — greetings!”—George Orwell

    1984 portrays a global society of total control in which people are not allowed to have thoughts that in any way disagree with the corporate state. There is no personal freedom, and advanced technology has become the driving force behind a surveillance-driven society. Snitches and cameras are everywhere. People are subject to the Thought Police, who deal with anyone guilty of thought crimes. The government, or “Party,” is headed by Big Brother who appears on posters everywhere with the words: “Big Brother is watching you.”

    We have arrived, way ahead of schedule, into the dystopian future dreamed up by not only Orwell but also such fiction writers as Aldous Huxley, Margaret Atwood and Philip K. Dick.

    “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”―George Orwell

    Much like Orwell’s Big Brother in 1984, the government and its corporate spies now watch our every move. Much like Huxley’s A Brave New World, we are churning out a society of watchers who “have their liberties taken away from them, but … rather enjoy it, because they [are] distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing.” Much like Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the populace is now taught to “know their place and their duties, to understand that they have no real rights but will be protected up to a point if they conform, and to think so poorly of themselves that they will accept their assigned fate and not rebel or run away.”

    And in keeping with Philip K. Dick’s darkly prophetic vision of a dystopian police state—which became the basis for Steven Spielberg’s futuristic thriller Minority Report—we are now trapped in a world in which the government is all-seeing, all-knowing and all-powerful, and if you dare to step out of line, dark-clad police SWAT teams and pre-crime units will crack a few skulls to bring the populace under control.

    What once seemed futuristic no longer occupies the realm of science fiction.

    Incredibly, as the various nascent technologies employed and shared by the government and corporations alike—facial recognition, iris scanners, massive databases, behavior prediction software, and so on—are incorporated into a complex, interwoven cyber network aimed at tracking our movements, predicting our thoughts and controlling our behavior, the dystopian visions of past writers is fast becoming our reality.

    Our world is characterized by widespread surveillance, behavior prediction technologies, data mining, fusion centers, driverless cars, voice-controlled homes, facial recognition systems, cybugs and drones, and predictive policing (pre-crime) aimed at capturing would-be criminals before they can do any damage.

    Surveillance cameras are everywhere. Government agents listen in on our telephone calls and read our emails. Political correctness—a philosophy that discourages diversity—has become a guiding principle of modern society.

    “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”―George Orwell

    The courts have shredded the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. In fact, SWAT teams battering down doors without search warrants and FBI agents acting as a secret police that investigate dissenting citizens are common occurrences in contemporary America. And bodily privacy and integrity have been utterly eviscerated by a prevailing view that Americans have no rights over what happens to their bodies during an encounter with government officials, who are allowed to search, seize, strip, scan, spy on, probe, pat down, taser, and arrest any individual at any time and for the slightest provocation.

    “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”―George Orwell, Animal Farm

    We are increasingly ruled by multi-corporations wedded to the police state.

    What many fail to realize is that the government is not operating alone. It cannot. The government requires an accomplice. Thus, the increasingly complex security needs of the massive federal government, especially in the areas of defense, surveillance and data management, have been met within the corporate sector, which has shown itself to be a powerful ally that both depends on and feeds the growth of governmental overreach.

    In fact, Big Tech wedded to Big Government has become Big Brother, and we are now ruled by the Corporate Elite whose tentacles have spread worldwide. The government now has at its disposal technological arsenals so sophisticated and invasive as to render any constitutional protections null and void. Spearheaded by the NSA, which has shown itself to care little to nothing for constitutional limits or privacy, the “security/industrial complex”—a marriage of government, military and corporate interests aimed at keeping Americans under constant surveillance—has come to dominate the government and our lives.

    Money, power, control. There is no shortage of motives fueling the convergence of mega-corporations and government. But who is paying the price? The American people, of course.

    Orwell understood what many Americans are still struggling to come to terms with: that there is no such thing as a government organized for the good of the people. Even the best intentions among those in government inevitably give way to the desire to maintain power and control over the citizenry at all costs.

    “The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it.” ― George Orwell

    Even our ability to speak and think freely is being regulated.

    In totalitarian regimes—a.k.a. police states—where conformity and compliance are enforced at the end of a loaded gun, the government dictates what words can and cannot be used. In countries where the police state hides behind a benevolent mask and disguises itself as tolerance, the citizens censor themselves, policing their words and thoughts to conform to the dictates of the mass mind.

    Dystopian literature shows what happens when the populace is transformed into mindless automatons.

    In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, reading is banned and books are burned in order to suppress dissenting ideas, while televised entertainment is used to anesthetize the populace and render them easily pacified, distracted and controlled.

    In Huxley’s Brave New World, serious literature, scientific thinking and experimentation are banned as subversive, while critical thinking is discouraged through the use of conditioning, social taboos and inferior education. Likewise, expressions of individuality, independence and morality are viewed as vulgar and abnormal.

    In my debut novel The Erik Blair Diaries, the dystopian future that George Orwell predicted for 1984 has finally arrived, 100 years late and ten times as brutal. In this post-apocalyptic world where everyone marches to the beat of the same drummer and words like “freedom” are taboo, Erik Blair—Orwell’s descendant and unwitting heir to his legacy—isn’t volunteering to be anyone’s hero. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always go according to plan. To save all that he loves, Orwell will have to travel between his future self and the past.

    And in Orwell’s 1984, Big Brother does away with all undesirable and unnecessary words and meanings, even going so far as to routinely rewrite history and punish “thoughtcrimes.” Orwell’s Big Brother relies on Newspeak to eliminate undesirable words, strip such words as remained of unorthodox meanings and make independent, non-government-approved thought altogether unnecessary.

    Where we stand now is at the juncture of OldSpeak (where words have meanings, and ideas can be dangerous) and Newspeak (where only that which is “safe” and “accepted” by the majority is permitted). The power elite has made their intentions clear: they will pursue and prosecute any and all words, thoughts and expressions that challenge their authority.

    This is the final link in the police state chain.

    “Until they became conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.”—George Orwell

    Having been reduced to a cowering citizenry—mute in the face of elected officials who refuse to represent us, helpless in the face of police brutality, powerless in the face of militarized tactics and technology that treat us like enemy combatants on a battlefield, and naked in the face of government surveillance that sees and hears all—we have nowhere left to go.

    We have, so to speak, gone from being a nation where privacy is king to one where nothing is safe from the prying eyes of government.

    “Big Brother is Watching You.”―George Orwell

    Wherever you go and whatever you do, you are now being watched, especially if you leave behind an electronic footprint. When you use your cell phone, you leave a record of when the call was placed, who you called, how long it lasted and even where you were at the time. When you use your ATM card, you leave a record of where and when you used the card. There is even a video camera at most locations equipped with facial recognition software. When you use a cell phone or drive a car enabled with GPS, you can be tracked by satellite. Such information is shared with government agents, including local police. And all of this once-private information about your consumer habits, your whereabouts and your activities is now being fed to the government.

    The government has nearly inexhaustible resources when it comes to tracking our movements, from electronic wiretapping devices, traffic cameras and biometrics to radio-frequency identification cards, satellites and Internet surveillance.

    In such a climate, everyone is a suspect. And you’re guilty until you can prove yourself innocent. To underscore this shift in how the government now views its citizens, the FBI uses its wide-ranging authority to investigate individuals or groups, regardless of whether they are suspected of criminal activity. 

    “Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull.” ― George Orwell

    Here’s what a lot of people fail to understand, however: it’s not just what you say or do that is being monitored, but how you think that is being tracked and targeted. We’ve already seen this play out on the state and federal level with hate crime legislation that cracks down on so-called “hateful” thoughts and expression, encourages self-censoring and reduces free debate on various subject matter. 

    Say hello to the new Thought Police.

    Total Internet surveillance by the Corporate State, as omnipresent as God, is used by the government to predict and, more importantly, control the populace, and it’s not as far-fetched as you might think. For example, the NSA has been working on an artificial intelligence system designed to anticipate your every move. Aquaint (the acronym stands for Advanced QUestion Answering for INTelligence) has been designed to detect patterns and predict behavior.

    No information is sacred or spared.

    Everything from cell phone recordings and logs, to emails, to text messages, to personal information posted on social networking sites, to credit card statements, to library circulation records, to credit card histories, etc., is collected by the NSA and shared freely with its agents in crime: the CIA, FBI and DHS.

    What we are witnessing, in the so-called name of security and efficiency, is the creation of a new class system comprised of the watched (average Americans such as you and me) and the watchers (government bureaucrats, technicians and private corporations).

    Clearly, the age of privacy in America is at an end.

    So where does that leave us?

    We now find ourselves in the unenviable position of being monitored, managed and controlled by our technology, which answers not to us but to our government and corporate rulers. This is the fact-is-stranger-than-fiction lesson that is being pounded into us on a daily basis.

    It won’t be long before we find ourselves looking back on the past with longing, back to an age where we could speak to whom we wanted, buy what we wanted, think what we wanted without those thoughts, words and activities being tracked, processed and stored by corporate giants such as Google, sold to government agencies such as the NSA and CIA, and used against us by militarized police with their army of futuristic technologies.

    To be an individual today, to not conform, to have even a shred of privacy, and to live beyond the reach of the government’s roaming eyes and technological spies, one must not only be a rebel but rebel.

    Even when you rebel and take your stand, there is rarely a happy ending awaiting you. You are rendered an outlaw. Just look at what happened to Julian Assange.

    So how do you survive in the American surveillance state?

    We’re running out of options.

    Whether you’re dealing with fact or fiction, as I make clear in Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in my new novel The Erik Blair Diaries, we’ll soon have to choose between self-indulgence (the bread-and-circus distractions offered up by the news media, politicians, sports conglomerates, entertainment industry, etc.) and self-preservation in the form of renewed vigilance about threats to our freedoms and active engagement in self-governance.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 20:20

  • Charges Filed Against Trump Org And CFO Alan Weisselberg
    Charges Filed Against Trump Org And CFO Alan Weisselberg

    Update (1900ET): A Manhattan grand jury has filed the anticipated indictments against Trump Org and longtime CFO, Alan Weisselberg, who will reportedly turn himself in tomorrow, according to the Washington Post. The indictments containing the specific charges will be unsealed on Thursday afternoon, however people familiar with the case say the charges are related to allegations of unpaid taxes on benefits enjoyed by Trump Organization executives.

    Not exactly money laundering for Russian mobsters, as the Rachel Maddows of the world have been hinting at for over four years.

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

    According to the Post, dual investigations appear to have been set in motion by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who turned on the former President in 2018 after pleading guilty to making hush-money payments to two women who claimed to have had sex with Trump over a decade before the 2016 US election.

    Vance’s office opened an investigation in 2018, responding to Cohen’s charges that Trump had directed the illegal payoffs. But Vance’s probe broadened beyond those allegations to encompass years of business transactions. Vance examined tax breaks Trump got on an estate in suburban New York, loans Trump took out on his Chicago tower, and statements Trump made to New York tax authorities about the value of his Manhattan towers, according to previous court filings.

    The investigation became bogged down for much of Trump’s term, however, because of a long legal fight over his tax returns. Vance had sought them from Trump’s accountants in 2019, but Trump sued to stop him, saying that — as president — he was immune from investigation by any state-level prosecutor. -WaPo

    And of course, timing is everything – as the lawsuit, which we suspect could have been filed months, or even years ago, will now play out right as Trump gears up to support Republicans through the 2022 midterms.

    *  *  *

    The Trump Organization and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg, is expected to be charged on Thursday with tax-related crimes, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter. Trump himself is not expected to be charged, as we noted earlier this week.

    Allen Weisselberg, behind former President Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. in 2017, is chief financial officer of the Trump Organization.
    Photo: Evan Vucci/Associated Press

    The action by the Manhattan district attorney’s office would mark the first criminal charges against the former US president’s company since prosecutors began investigating three years ago. Weisselberg reportedly refused prosecutors’ attempts to get him to cooperate against Trump, according to the report.

    The defendants are expected to appear in court Thursday afternoon.

    The Trump Organization and Mr. Weisselberg are expected to face charges related to allegedly evading taxes on fringe benefits, the people said. For months, the Manhattan district attorney’s office and New York state attorney general’s office have been investigating whether Mr. Weisselberg and other employees illegally avoided paying taxes on perks—such as cars, apartments and private-school tuition—that they received from the Trump Organization. -WSJ

    According to the report, if prosecutors can show the Trump Organization and its executives systematically avoided paying taxes, more serious charges could follow.

    Trump has denied wrongdoing and insists that the case – led by Democrats – is politically motivated, and that the case covers “things that are standard practice throughout the U.S. business community, and in no way a crime.”

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 20:05

  • Restaurants Have No Choice But To Raise Menu Prices Amid Inflationary Pressures 
    Restaurants Have No Choice But To Raise Menu Prices Amid Inflationary Pressures 

    All vaxxed up (or maybe some have the COVID antibodies), many Americans are ditching their on-demand food delivery apps this summer and are supporting local restaurants with an in-dining experience but have been sticker shocked by the rise of menu prices. 

    Restaurants, big and small, are passing along the increasing costs of basic commodities and labor. For instance, the cost of vegetable oils, cereals, dairy, meat, and sugar has been erupting since the beginning of the pandemic. Compound this with labor costs, along with the cost of everything soaring, and restaurants already suffering from a lost year in 2020, are raising menu prices at a much faster pace than historical rates, according to Bloomberg. 

    Increasing menu costs are displayed in government data showing inflation rising at its fastest clip since 2009. 

    Source: Bloomberg

    The Labor Department said this month that consumer prices in May rose .6%, pushing the annual inflation rate to 5% over the last 12 months. Other government data reveals wholesale costs for various meats jumped 20% since the start of the year. Also, producer prices for processed poultry in May soared to a record high. 

    According to more government data, restaurant food prices rose 4% in May than a year ago, with limited-service meals up 6.1%. Full-service 4.1% over the last 12 months, the biggest jump since late 2008. 

    Bloomberg spoke with Tampa, Florida, restaurateur Andrew Koumi, who increased menu items by 2% to 4%. He operates a six-location chain called Green Market Cafe and attempts to keep food and paper costs below 35% of his menu prices. His computer keeps warning him that certain items, like chicken, have doubled in the last six months. 

    Koumi isn’t worried about passing along costs to consumers because “everyone” in the industry is “doing it.” He said some restaurants are “drastically” raising menu prices.”

    “Could it go up more? It’s scary. I’m hoping that it levels,” he added

    Restaraunt chain Chipotle raised its menu price by 4% due to increasing labor costs and food prices. Another chain, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc., raised its menu prices by 3% amid persistent increases in wage and commodity expenses. 

    So far, consumer confidence remained steady in June amid warnings that inflation could sour their mood.

    The great debate today is if inflation is “transitory,” and the latest report via BofA’s Michael Hartnett concludes US inflation to remain elevated for two to four years. So much for the “transitory” narrative stuffed down our throats by the monetary wonks at the Federal Reserve. 

    Get used to paying higher prices… Or just eat at home. 

    … or perhaps some restraunts will keep prices steady but decrease the size of the meal, something known as “shrinkflation.” 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 20:00

  • Half A Million Illegals Crossed Since Harris Named Border "Czar"
    Half A Million Illegals Crossed Since Harris Named Border “Czar”

    Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

    According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection figures, around 500,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the southern border since Kamala Harris was named border ‘czar’.

    The Washington Free Beacon reported the findings, noting that only three months has passed since Harris took on the responsibility, and that the half a million figure is just those that have been apprehended.

    The CBP says around 180,000 immigrants are being caught per month. In April agents arrested 178,854 illegal immigrants, the highest monthly figure for 21 years. That figure was then surpassed in May as agents apprehended 180,034 illegals.

    By the time June’s figures are reported in the coming days, the combined number is expected to be over half a million, more than the entire population of Miami, Florida or Cleveland, Ohio.

    Harris only bothered to visit the border when President Trump announced he was making a trip. Even then Harris visited El Paso, some 1000 miles away from where the crisis is taking place.

    Previous to this, Harris lied and claimed she had been to the border, telling NBC’s Lester Holt “This whole thing about the border. We’ve been to the border. We’ve been to the border.”

    When Holt pushed back and said she had not, Harris snapped “I—and I haven’t been to Europe. And I mean, I don’t—I don’t understand the point that you’re making,” then again laughed maniacally:

    On Tuesday, Republican Senator Ron Johnson argued that Harris’ trip to El Paso was designed to distract the media and keep them away from the real crisis hit areas of the border.

    “They took her to a point in the border where she wouldn’t see the crisis and so the press wouldn’t report on the crisis,” Johnson said.

    The Senator added, “You just simply can’t understand what this administration is doing. We literally are apprehending now about 6,000 people per day. That’s I mean, that’s a large caravan every day being processed, some of them being returned, others are being dispersed. But this crisis is not going away. It’s just under everybody’s radar because the press isn’t covering it.”

    Watch:

    https://video.foxnews.com/v/embed.js?id=6261537044001&w=466&h=263Watch the latest video at foxnews.com

    *  *  *

    Brand new merch now available! Get it at https://www.pjwshop.com/

    In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. We need you to sign up for our free newsletter here. Support our sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. Also, we urgently need your financial support here.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 19:40

  • Kamala Harris Staffers Are Leaking — And Her Office Is A 'Dysfunctional' Mess
    Kamala Harris Staffers Are Leaking — And Her Office Is A ‘Dysfunctional’ Mess

    Vice President Kamala Harris’ office is a toxic, ‘abusive’ environment where “people are thrown under the bus from the very top,’ according to 22 current and former staffers, administration officials and associates of Harris and President Biden.

    In a Politico exposé reminiscent of a Feb. 2019 New York Times in which over fifty current and former staffers decried her dysfunctional campaign (h/t @mattdizwhitlock), Harris and her Chief of Staff, Tina Flournoy, are slammed for running an office with “low morale, porous lines of communication and diminished trust among aides and senior officials.”

    Vice President Kamala Harris, Chief of Staff Tina Flournoy

    “It all starts at the top,” said one administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity (as they all did).

    “People are thrown under the bus from the very top, there are short fuses and it’s an abusive environment,” said another person with direct knowledge of Harris’ office. “It’s not a healthy environment and people often feel mistreated. It’s not a place where people feel supported but a place where people feel treated like shit.”

    As Politico notes, “The dysfunction in the VP’s ranks threatens to complicate the White House’s carefully crafted image as a place staffed by a close-knit group of professionals working in concert to advance the president’s agenda. It’s pronounced enough that members of the president’s own team have taken notice and are concerned about the way Harris’ staffers are treated.”

    Harris spokeswoman Symone Sanders – a racist who mocked a white Trump supporter after he was beaten by a group of black men – and was passed over for Biden’s press secretary, pushed back against the nearly two-dozen accounts of dysfunction, saying Flournoy has an “open door policy,” and that “Black women like me would not have the opportunity to work in politics without Tina.”

    Symone Sanders

    Sanders called the anonymous sources “cowards.”

    “We are not making rainbows and bunnies all day. What I hear is that people have hard jobs and I’m like ‘welcome to the club,'” Sanders continued. “We have created a culture where people, if there is anything anyone would like to raise, there are avenues for them to do so. Whoever has something they would like to raise, they should raise it directly.”

    Harris and Flournoy’s defenders are pulling the race card – saying that “Black women in particular—are subjected to standards that men often don’t have to clear. A tough and demanding office environment may be seen as a virtue for one and a sign of disorder and lack of leadership acumen for another.”

    Staffers looking for an exit.

    According to the report, some of Harris’ aides are looking for other employment opportunities, while others have left already. In recent days, two top advance staffers, Karly Satkowiak and Gabrielle DeFranceschi, left the ‘dysfunctional’ office. And while Harris’ team said the departures were ‘long-planned’, two people familiar with the departures call bullshit.

    For DeFranceschi, the deputy director of advance, the departure came down to a “difference in opinion on how things should run,” according to another person familiar with the matter, who said that Harris’ office is run “very different” from the Obama operation, where DeFranceschi previously worked. “If you have an opinion about how things should run and it’s not listened to, that can be frustrating.”

    DeFranceschi did not respond to a request for comment.

    A third Harris aide who worked on her digital team, Rajan Kaur, left the staff after opting not to relocate to Washington from Brooklyn.

    Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to the president, defended Flournoy as well as the decision to keep news of the border trip contained among a small group of people, saying Harris’ office didn’t want it to leak or “turn it into a spectacle.”

    “It was closely held and there may be people whose feelings were a little hurt on her staff that they weren’t brought into the discussion,” Dunn said. “But any suggestion that it was mishandled or kept a secret from people who needed to know about the arrangements or needed to know about it is absolutely not true.”

    Asked if she was aware of the complaints about the VP’s office, Dunn replied that it was “not anywhere near what you are describing.” -Politico

    Flournoy, a veteran of the Clinton White House and Al Gore’s 2000 campaign, is part of an ‘informal group of Black women who’ve worked together for decades in Democratic politics, which includes Donna Brazile, Minyon Moore, Leah Daughtry and Yolanda Caraway,’ according to the report.

    “Look, [Tina’s] strong, she’s intelligent, she’s driven, and she expects strong, intelligent, driven people around her,” said Daughtry, adding “But some people may find strong, driven, smart people intimidating, but I think that’s more projection than reality because that’s just not Tina’s intent or style. And nothing in her experience would lead you to think that she’s an intimidating person.”

    So the staffers are the problem? Hilarious.

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

    Politico paints a different picture – having developed a reputation for being Kamala’s gatekeeper, often refusing to delegate while second-guessing others in Harris’ office.

    Apparently, she did the same thing as Bill Clinton’s post-presidential chief of staff.

    “People who Clinton knew for decades all of a sudden couldn’t get through to him because Tina choked off contact,” one of the people said. “Because Clinton didn’t use email,” just his blackberry, “she was able to keep many FOBs [friends of Bill] out.”

    Morale is “rough,” and in many ways ‘similar to the failed presidential campaign and her Senate office,’ according to a former Senate aide who speaks with Harris’ staffers.

    Read the rest of the report here.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 19:20

  • Majority Of Voters Reject Teaching Children That America Is "Structurally Racist": Harvard Poll
    Majority Of Voters Reject Teaching Children That America Is “Structurally Racist”: Harvard Poll

    Authored by GQ Pan via The Epoch Times,

    About two-thirds of Americans believe that children should not be taught in school the claim that the United States is a “structurally racist” nation dominated by white supremacy, a new poll revealed.

    The findings were published last week as part of an online survey (pdf) conducted by the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and The Harris Poll between June 15 and 17, among 2,006 registered voters. The survey asked participants whether they “believe that kids in elementary school should be taught that America is structurally racist and is dominated by white supremacy.”

    In response, 61 percent of participants answered children “should not be taught this,” while the remaining 39 percent said children “should be taught that America is structurally racist.”

    When it came to another question regarding the teaching of the First Amendment in schools, an overwhelming 81 percent of participants said elementary school students should learn about the First Amendment and the importance of free speech, compared to 19 percent who said they should not.

    The results of the survey echoed those of an online poll conducted by Economist and YouGov poll between June 13 and 15, among 1,500 adult U.S. citizens. Participants were asked if they had “a good idea of what critical race theory (CRT) is,” to which 54 percent responded “yes,” 23 percent said “no,” and 23 percent said they are “not sure.”

    Those who said they knew about CRT were then asked whether they have a “favorable or unfavorable” opinion of it. Of these participants, 58 percent said they at least have a “somewhat unfavorable” view of CRT, while 38 percent say they are in favor of the Marxism-rooted ideology, which deems the foundations of the American system to be inherently and irredeemably racist.

    The idea that racism remains deeply embedded in America has been popularized over the past years by left-wing activists, politicians, media publications, and the New York Times’s 1619 Project.

    The Pulitzer Prize-winning project consists of a collection of essays that argue, among many other controversial claims, that the primary reason for the American Revolution was to preserve slavery and that slavery was the source of American economic growth in the 19th century.

    A K-12 curriculum based on the 1619 Project, developed by Pulitzer Center, has made its way into many public school districts across the nation, including Chicago, Illinois; Buffalo, New York; and Newark, New Jersey.

    A new rule proposed in April by the Education Department also prioritizes funding U.S. history and civics programs that incorporate the 1619 Project and the works of prominent CRT advocate Ibram X. Kendi.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 19:00

  • Four Cali Residents Convicted Of Using $1.8 Million In PPP Funds For Luxury Homes, Gold Coins And Jewelry
    Four Cali Residents Convicted Of Using $1.8 Million In PPP Funds For Luxury Homes, Gold Coins And Jewelry

    While hundreds of billions of dollars in PPP money has (and will continue to go) unchecked as a result of arguably the government’s most wasteful and poorly planned cash grab for citizens, the dragnet has managed to pull in a couple of offenders. 

    The latest of which were four California residents that were convicted by a Federal Jury on June 25 for “scheming to submit fraudulent loan applications seeking millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) COVID-19 relief funds,” according to a DOJ press release.

    Richard Ayvazyan, his wife Marietta Terabelian and brother Artur Ayvazyan, all based out of Encino, were each found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, 11 counts of wire fraud, eight counts of bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, the release says. Additionally, Vahe Dadyan of Glendale was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, six counts of wire fraud, three counts of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and one count of money laundering.

    As a result they must forfeit “bank accounts, jewelry, watches, gold coins, three residential properties, and approximately $450,000 in cash”.

    The evidence at the trial showed that the defendants used fake, stolen or synthetic identities to submit fraudulent applications. After obtaining more than $1.8 million in relief funds, the group used the cash as “down payments on luxury homes in Tarzana, Glendale, and Palm Desert” and for “gold coins, diamonds, jewelry, luxury watches, fine imported furnishings, designer handbags, clothing, and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle”.

    As part of changing their identities, the group “submitted false and fictitious documents to lenders and the Small Business Administration (SBA), including fake identity documents, tax documents, and payroll records.”

    The charges were being brought by the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, whose job is to “marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.” 

    If this example is any indication, the Fraud Enforcement Task Force should have enough work ahead of them to be busy for the next several decades. The full DOJ release can be found here.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 18:40

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Jun 30

Today’s News 30th June 2021

  • CO2 Emissions For Vehicles In EU, Iceland And Norway Fall Most In Ten Years
    CO2 Emissions For Vehicles In EU, Iceland And Norway Fall Most In Ten Years

    The average total emissions for new passenger vehicles registered in the EU, Iceland, Norway and the U.K. fell the steepest in ten years in 2020, according to new data provided by the European Environment Agency.

    Total emissions decreased by 14.5g of CO2/km during the year, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

    The decline was attributed mostly to a “surge” in the share of plug-in hybrid and fully EV vehicle registrations, which tripled to 11% from 3.5% in 2019. The agency says that despite electric cars rising in prominence, that only “limited” progress was made in electrifying vans. 

    This followed data out in 2019 which showed that car emissions had increased for the third consecutive year. In 2019, average emissions of new passenger cars registered in the European Union, Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom (UK) were 122.3 g CO2/km, according to the European Environmental Agency. 

    The agency said that according to its provisional data, average emissions of new passenger cars registered in 2020 were 107.8 grams of CO2/km.

    Recall, we wrote back in early June that one firm, natural resource investors Goehring & Rozencwajg (G&R), a “fundamental research firm focused exclusively on contrarian natural resource investments with a team with over 30 years of dedicated resource experience,” was making the argument that EVs only offered a negligible CO2 different from ICE vehicles. 

    The firm, established in 2015, posted a blog entry entitled “Exploring Lithium-ion Electric Vehicles’ Carbon Footprint” last month, where they called into question a former ICE vs. EV comparison performed by the Wall Street Journal and, while citing work performed by Jefferies, argued that there could literally be “no reduction in CO2 output” in some EV vs. ICE comparisons. 

    The argument could be moot, however, as most auto manufacturers – like Audi, for instance, have already committed to phasing out all ICE vehicles in coming years.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 02:45

  • Escobar: A Sea Painted NATO Black
    Escobar: A Sea Painted NATO Black

    Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Asia Times,

    US seeks to revamp post-WWI concept of Baltic-Black Sea Intermarium as a Cold War 2.0 iron wall against Russia…

    Welcome to the latest NATO show: Sea Breeze starts today and goes all the way to July 23. The co-hosts are the US Sixth Fleet and the Ukrainian Navy. The main protagonist is Standing NATO Maritime Group 2.

    The show, in NATOspeak, is just an innocent display of “strenghtening deterrence and defense”. NATO spin tells us the exercise is “growing in popularity” and now features more than 30 nations “from six continents” deploying 5,000 troops, 32 ships, 40 aircraft and “18 special operations and dive teams”. All committed to implement and improve that magical NATO concept: “interoperability”.

    Now let’s clear the fog and get to the heart of the matter. NATO is projecting the impression that it’s taking over selected stretches of the Black Sea in the name of “peace”. NATO’s supreme articles of faith, reiterated in its latest summit, are “Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea” and “support for Ukraine sovereignty”.

    So for NATO, Russia is an enemy of “peace”. Everything else is hybrid war fog.

    NATO not only “does not and will not recognize Russia’s illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea” but also denounces its “temporary occupation”. This script, redacted in Washington, is recited by Kiev and virtually the whole EU.

    NATO bills itself as committed to “transatlantic unity”. Geography tells us the Black Sea has not been annexed to the Atlantic. But that’s no impediment for NATO’s goodwill – which the record shows turned Libya, in northern Africa, into a wasteland run by militias. As for the intersection of Central and South Asia, NATO’s collective behind was unceremoniously kicked by a bunch of ragged Pashtuns with counterfeit Kalashnikovs.

    Meet the Bucharest 9

    The White House defines its NATO eastern flank allies as the Bucharest 9.

    The Bucharest 9 includes the members of the Visegrad Four (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia); the Baltic trio (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania); and two Black Sea neighbors (Bulgaria and Romania). No Ukraine – at least not yet.

    When the White House refers to “strengthening transatlantic relations”, this means above all “closer cooperation with our nine Allies in Central Europe and the Baltic and Black Sea regions on the full range of challenges.” Translation: “full range of challenges” means Russia.

    So welcome to the return, in style, of the Intermarium – as in “between the seas”, mostly the Baltic and Black, with the Adriatic as a side show.

    After WWI, the drive for what would possibly become a geopolitical entente included the three Baltics, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Belarus and Ukraine. That concoction was made in Poland.

    Now, under the hegemon and its NATO weaponized arm, a revamped Baltic-Black Sea intermarium is being pushed as the new Cold War 2.0 Iron Wall against Russia. That’s why the definitive incorporation of Ukraine to NATO is so important for Washington – as it would solidify the intermarium for good.

    Double O Seven does Monty Python

    The prequel to Sea Breeze took place last week, via a farcical Britannia Rules The Waves stunt enacted like a Monty Python sketch – yet with potentially explosive overtones.

    Imagine waiting at a bus stop somewhere in Kent and finding a soggy blob – nearly 50 pages – of secret documents in a trash bin detailing Ministry of Defense elaborations on the explicitly provocative deployment of the Defender destroyer off Sebastopol, in the Crimean coast.

    Even a BBC journalist embedded with the destroyer smashed the official London spin that this was a mere “innocent passage”. Moreover, the Defender weapons were fully loaded – as it advanced two nautical miles inside Russian waters. Moscow released a video documenting the stunt.

    It gets better. The soggy blob found in Kent revealed not only discussions about the possible Russian reaction to the “innocent passage”, but also digressions about the Brits, “encouraged” by the Americans, leaving commandos behind in Afghanistan after the troop pull out next 9/11.

    That would qualify as extra evidence that the Anglo-American-NATO combo will not really “leave” Afghanistan.

    A vague “member of the public” contacted the BBC when he innocently found the geopolitically radioactive materials. No one knows whether this was a leak, a trap or a silly mistake. If the “member of the public” were a true whistleblower he would have gone the Wikileaks way, not BBC.

    The “innocent passage” happened only hours after London signed a deal with Kiev for the “enhancement of Ukrainian naval capabilities”.

    On the Russian reaction front, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova summed it all up: “London has demonstrated yet another provocative action followed by a bunch of lies to cover it up. 007 agents are not what they used to be.”

    Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean front, which NATO considers its Mare Nostrum, two Russian Mig-31k fighters – capable of carrying Khinzal hypersonic missiles – were redeployed last week to Syria. The Khinzal range encompasses the whole Mediterranean, west as well as east.

    Across the Global South, NATO promoting “global peace” in the port of Odessa, in the Black Sea, is bound to evoke shades of Libya cum Afghanistan. Austin Powers, self-billed Agent Double Oh! Behave! would perfectly fit in the Kent trash bin “secret documents” caper. “Oh. Behave!” totally applies to Sea Breeze. Otherwise, the opportunity might arise to say hello to Mr. Kinzhal.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 02:00

  • What The Pentagon Papers 50th Anniversary Means
    What The Pentagon Papers 50th Anniversary Means

    Authored by Peter van Buren via WeMeantWell.com,

    It was a humid June on the east coast 50 years ago when the New York Times began publishing the Pentagon Papers. The anniversary is worth marking, for reasons sweeping and grand, and for reasons deeply personal.

    In 1971 Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers, a secret U.S. government history of the Vietnam War, to the Times. No one had ever published such classified documents before, and reporters feared prosecution under the Espionage Act. A federal court ordered the Times to cease publication after an initial flurry of excerpts were printed, the first time in U.S. history a federal judge had invoked prior restraint and shattered the 1A.

    In a legal battle too important to have been written first as a novel, the NYT fought back. The Supreme Court on June 30, 1971 handed down a victory for the First Amendment in New York Times Company v. United States, and the Times won the Pulitzer Prize. The Papers helped convince Americans the Vietnam War was wrong, their government could not be trusted, and The People informed by a free press could still have a say in things.

    This 50 year anniversary rightfully marks all that.

    Today, journalists expect a Pulitzer for a snarky tweet that mocks Trump. In our current shameful state where the MSM serves as an organ of the Deep State, the anniversary of the Papers also serves as a reminder to millennials OnlyFansing as journalists that there were once people in their jobs who valued truth and righteousness. Perhaps this may inspire some MSM propagandist to realize he might still run with lions instead of slinking home to feed his cats.

    The 50th anniversary of the Papers is also a chance to remember how fragile the victory in 1971 was. The Supreme Court left the door open for prosecution of journalists who publish classified documents by focusing narrowly on prohibiting the government from prior restraint. Politics and public opinion, not law, have kept the feds exercising discretion in not prosecuting the press, a delicate dance around an 800-pound gorilla loose in the halls of democracy. The government, particularly under Obama, has meanwhile aggressively used the Espionage Act to prosecute whistleblowers who leak to those same journalists.

    There is also a very personal side to this anniversary.

    When my book, We Meant Well, turned me into a State Department whistleblower and set off a wall of the bad brown falling on me, Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg sent me two of his books, unannounced, in the mail.

    He wrote a personal message inside each one, explaining to me what I was doing was hard, scary, and above all, a duty. It changed me and my understanding of what was happening to me. I wasn’t arguing procedure with the State Department and grubbing for my pension, I was defending the First Amendment itself. I wrote Dan a thank you note. Here’s some of it.

    Thank you for sending me copies of your books, and thank you even more for writing “with admiration for your truth telling” inside the cover flap of one. I am humbled, because I waited my whole life to realize today I had already met you.

    In 1971 I was 10 years old, living in Ohio. The Vietnam War was a part of our town’s life, same as the Fruehauf tractor-trailer plant with its 100 percent union workforce, the A&P and the Pledge of Allegiance. Nobody in my house went to war, but neighbors had gold stars in their windows and I remember one teacher at school, the one with the longer hair and the mustache, talking about Vietnam.

    It meant little to me, involved with oncoming puberty, but I remember my mom bringing home from the supermarket a newsprint quickie paperback edition of the Pentagon Papers. There of course was no Internet and you could not buy the Times where I lived. Mom knew of politics and Vietnam maybe even less than I did, but the Papers were all over the news and it seemed the thing to do to spend the $1.95. When I tried to make sense of the names and foreign places it made no impact on me.

    I didn’t understand then what you had done. While I was trying to learn multiplication, you were making photocopies of classified documents. As you read them, you understood the government had knowledge early on the war could not be won, and that continuing would lead to many times more casualties than was ever admitted publicly.

    A lot of people inside the government had read those same Papers and understood their content, but only you decided that instead of simply going along with the lies, or privately using your new knowledge to fuel self-eating cynicism, you would try to persuade U.S. Senators Fulbright and McGovern to release the papers on the Senate floor.

    When they did not have the courage, even as they knew the lies continued to kill Americans they represented, you brought the Papers to the New York Times. The Times then echoed the courage of great journalists and published the Papers, fought off the Nixon administration by calling to the First Amendment, and brought the truth about lies to America. That’s when my mom bought a copy of the Papers at the A&P.

    You were considered an enemy of the United States because when you encountered something inside of government so egregious, so fundamentally wrong, you risked your own fortune, freedom, and honor to make it public. You almost went to jail, fighting off charges under the same draconian Espionage Act the government still uses today to silence others who stand in your shadow.

    In 2009 I volunteered to serve in Iraq for my employer of some 23 years, the Department of State. While I was there I saw such waste in our reconstruction program, such lies put out by two administrations about what we were (not) doing in Iraq, that it seemed to me that the only thing I could do — had to do — was tell people about what I saw. In my years of government service, I experienced my share of dissonance when it came to what was said in public and what the government did behind the public’s back. In most cases, the gap was filled only with scared little men and women, and what was left unsaid hid their flaws.

    What I saw in Iraq was different. There, the space between what we were doing (the waste), and what we were saying (the chant of success) was filled with numb soldiers and devastated Iraqis, not nerveless bureaucrats. It wasn’t Vietnam in scale or impact, but it was again young Americans risking their lives, believing for something greater than themselves, when instead it was just another lie. Another war started and run on lies, while again our government worked to keep the truth from the people.

    I am unsure what I accomplished with my own book, absent getting retired-by-force from the State Department for telling a truth that embarrassed them. So be it; most people at State will never understand the choice of conscience over career, the root of most of State’s problems.

    But Dan, what you accomplished was this. When I faced a crisis of conscience, to tell what I knew because it needed to be told, coming to realize I was risking at the least my job if not jail, I remembered that newsprint copy of the Papers from 1971 which you risked the same and more to release. I took my decision in the face of the Obama administration having already charged more people under the Espionage Act for alleged mishandling of classified information than all past presidencies combined, but more importantly, I took my decision in the face of your example.

    Later, whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange, and Edward Snowden would do the same. I know you have encouraged them, too, through your example and with personal messages.

    So thank you for the books you sent Dan. Thank you for your courage so that when I needed it, I had an example to assess myself against other than the limp men and women working now for a Department of State too scared of the truth to rise to claim even a whisper of the word courage for themselves.

    Fast-forward to 2021. In these last few years the term “whistleblower” has been co-opted such that a Deep State operative was able to abuse the term to backdoor impeachment against a sitting president. The use of anonymous sources has devolved from brave individuals speaking out against a government gone wrong into a way for journalists to manufacture “proof” of anything they want, from claims the president was a Russian spy to the use of the military to create a photo op in Lafayette Park.

    On this anniversary we look at individuals like Ellsberg and reporters like those at the Times and know it is possible for individuals with courage to make a difference. That is something worth remembering, and celebrating.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/30/2021 – 00:05

  • IDF Forces Deploy New Semi-Autonomous Robots To Gaza Border 
    IDF Forces Deploy New Semi-Autonomous Robots To Gaza Border 

    An armed robot equipped with optical sensors and a 7.62mm machine gun has been spotted on the Gaza border by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organization, according to The Times of Israel’s Emanuel Fabian.

    Israel Defense Forces (IDF) appear to have deployed a new semi-autonomous robotic ground tank called the Jaguar that patrols the Gaza border and removes soldiers out of harm’s way from sniper attacks by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups. 

    The Jerusalem Post said Israel Aerospace Industries’ Elta systems develop the unmanned ground vehicle in close collaboration with IDF’s Ground Forces Command. 

    The Jaguar military robot is on a six-wheeled chassis that is heavy-duty and highly maneuverable, equipped with a weapon station, communications and sensors. A turret is mounted on the front of the robot, firing a 7.62mm MAG machine gun that can be operated remotely. 

    “We have led a groundbreaking technological development – an independent robot that reduces the combat soldier’s friction with the enemy and prevents risks to human life,” Lt.-Col. Nathan Kuperstein, Head of Autonomy and Robotics at the IDF’s Land Technology Division, said. “It even knows how to charge itself – almost like an iRobot.”

    The Jaguar can be used for several types of missions including, intelligence, surveillance, and armed reconnaissance. 

    What remains a mystery is when IDF forces deployed ground robots on the border. But this isn’t the first time the country has used artificial intelligence to defend its homeland. 

    In May, during Operation Guardian of the Walls, the IDF heavily relied on robots and machine learning to intercept missiles from Gaza Strip aimed at Israeli cities. 

    Israeli appears to be shifting to automation and artificial intelligence to defend against attacks from Gaza. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 23:45

  • An Unflinching Guide To Biden's Immigration Fiasco
    An Unflinching Guide To Biden’s Immigration Fiasco

    Authored by Charles Lispon via RealClearPolitics.com,

    The crisis of illegal immigration – to give this calamity its true name – is growing increasingly grave. The reason is no mystery. The Biden administration replaced policies that staunched the illegal flow of migrants with policies that actually encourage it.

    Instead of securing the U.S. border, the administration says it wants to deal with the “root cause,” desperation in Central America. That won’t work for two reasons. First, the administration doesn’t have the tools to markedly change conditions in Central America. Second, even if the policies could stimulate economic growth, improve safety, and reduce corruption—spoiler alert, they can’t—they won’t have any significant impact for years. Under even the most optimistic scenarios, they couldn’t reduce immigration anytime soon. It’s a policy based on a mirage.

    The Biden team is certainly right that bad conditions in Mexico and Central America drive immigration. But it’s easy to show that’s the wrong explanation for our current crisis. The reason, as all social scientists know, is that “you cannot explain change with a constant.” What is constant here? Poverty, corruption, and danger in Mexico and Central America. Since those “root causes” have not changed over the past year, they cannot explain the dramatic rise in illegal immigration since Biden took office. What does explain it? The administration’s decision not to secure the southern border and to give up any serious effort at preventing illegal immigration. Migrants have gotten the message, and they are coming north in unprecedented numbers.

    The media, always eager to protect their favorite political party, never asked Vice President Kamala Harris three crucial questions after her “root causes” trip to Guatemala and Mexico.

    • Can the U.S. really do much to improve conditions there?
    • Would relatively modest improvements have much impact on migration? And, crucially,
    • How long before these policies can have a major impact, if they work at all?

    Back in the real world, the best Biden-Harris can expect is some small, slow improvements. Desirable as those are for humanitarian reasons, they would have no effect on migration for decades.

    Meanwhile, the flood continues unabated. When the administration repeats its false mantra “the border is closed,” they should add the Monty Python phrase “Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.”

    Normally, the flood of illegals would recede at least briefly during the summer because Mexico’s scorching temperatures make the trek so dangerous. This year, however, the caravans keep coming. Why? Because migrants see a window of opportunity that might close if the U.S. comes to its senses. So do “coyotes,” who profit from trafficking humans and drugs. They need not worry. The Biden administration is locked into its catastrophic policies and its lovefest with their party’s left wing, which refuses even to acknowledge the problem and would rebel at tough policies to prevent illegal crossings. They refuse even to call them “illegal.” Too harsh. Too accurate.

    It is unclear whether administration officials actually wanted more illegal immigrants or simply wanted to undo everything Donald Trump did and hope for the best. Whatever their goals, they quickly unwound all Trump’s immigration policies without checking to see what was working. They didn’t talk with border patrol agents (they are now firing the leaders) or consult with elected officials along the border—not even the Democrats. They didn’t ask anyone in Mexico City if the Trump policies were working and sustainable. They didn’t check with development experts to see if aid would have much impact. Due diligence was replaced with utter negligence.

    What immigration policies did the Biden administration change? What are the results so far?

    The Wall

    Trump’s policy: Build an impermeable wall in the most accessible locations, despite strong opposition from Democrats.

    Biden’s policy: Stop building the wall on day one. Stop building even portions that were already funded and under construction. Better to waste the money than to complete a successful project.

    The result: Gaping holes made illegal crossing easy. Ceasing construction sent a powerful signal to potential migrants that U.S. policy was now much more lax.

    The Rhetoric

    Trump’s policy: We will keep you out of the country. Migrants and coyotes believed him because he also implemented tough anti-immigration policies.

    Biden’s policy during the campaign: We are a welcoming country; Trump’s policies are inhumane. During a 2019 Democratic debate on ABC, he told Univision’s Jorge Ramos, “We’re a nation that says, ‘You want to flee, and you’re fleeing oppression, you should come.'”

    Biden’s policy two months into office: You can still come illegally, but please wait a little. As Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of Homeland Security, put it, “We are not saying, ‘Don’t come.’ We are saying, ‘Don’t come now.’”

    Biden’s policy five months into office: Please don’t come.

    The result: The Biden-Harris “don’t come” message has gone unheeded. Without concrete policies to back it up, people don’t believe it.

    Remain in Mexico While Seeking Asylum in the U.S.

    Trump’s policy: Negotiated agreement Mexico, requiring asylum seekers to stay there until their U.S. application was decided. Formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols.

    Trump’s policy: Get Mexico to guard the U.S. border. As a 2019 Reuters headline put it, “Mexico says it has deployed 15,000 forces in the north to halt-U.S.-bound migration.”

    Biden’s policy: End the agreement with Mexico, which also withdrew its troops, leaving the border essentially unguarded on both sides.

    The result: After Biden switched policies, hundreds of thousands of additional asylum seekers have crossed into the U.S. instead of waiting in Mexico. Since only a federal judge can decide their cases and since the backlog is now four-to-six years and growing, these migrants are simply released into the U.S. and told to return in a few years for a court date. Some do; some don’t. Those who do attend are mostly turned down and deported.

    Refuse Entry Because of Communicable Diseases

    Trump’s policy: Under Title 42 of the U.S. Code, customs officers were authorized to prohibit entry of adults who might have a communicable disease such as COVID. Almost three-quarters of adult migrants at the border were refused entry.

    Biden’s policy: End the use of Title 42 this summer.

    The result: The change will lead to an immediate surge in illegal immigrants. No one knows if that will lead to more communicable diseases and preventable deaths.

    Grant Non-Immigrant Visas

    Trump’s policy: Sharply limited visas because they posed “a risk of displacing and disadvantaging United States workers.” (Proclamations 10014, 10052)

    Biden’s policy: Revoked Trump’s policy a month after taking office because it prevents family reunification and “harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world.”

    The result: The numbers of visa admittees will jump sharply, returning to Obama-era levels. According to the State Department’s Visa Office: “From fiscal years 2016 through 2020, immigrant visas … declined from 617,752 to 240,526. Nonimmigrant visas declined from 10,381,491 to 4,013,210. Among specific immigrant categories, visas for immediate relatives fell from 315,352 to 108,292.” The Biden administration is moving back to the higher figures.

    Prohibition on Entry From Some Countries, aka ‘Muslim Travel Ban’

    Trump’s policy: Utter chaos shortly after inauguration when he announced Executive Order 13769, “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry.” Most countries on the banned list had majority-Muslim populations. After courts injunctions, Trump issued a replacement order, added some non-Muslim countries, and faced still more legal difficulties. The administration’s stated rationale was the countries were not banned for religious reasons (there were lots of Muslim-majority countries not on the banned list) but solely because they could not reliably vet travelers and identify terrorists, which were standard U.S. requirements. In 2018, a 5-4 vote of the Supreme Court allowed the Trump program to go into force.

    Biden’s policy: Ending the court-approved travel ban on Inauguration Day.

    Result: No problems with Biden’s policy, so far.

    Will There Be Political Consequences?

    Whatever the motives for Biden’s immigration policies, the results have been a fiasco. Nothing is halting the tsunami of illegal immigrants, dangerous drugs, and gang members from coming. Nothing is stopping the human traffickers from scaling up their despicable trade or molesting women and children en route. The effects will be felt across the U.S. as more illegal immigrants move into communities, more gang members set up operations, and more opioids and hard drugs hit the streets.

    Biden and the Democrats are likely to pay a political price, even as the media downplays the issue. You can already hear yelps from Democrats representing border districts. Among national figures, the worst hit will be Vice President Harris, who has been the hapless point person for these hapless policies.

    In Harris’ defense, she has been handed a no-win job. The administration created the problem, and there is no way they can ameliorate it without infuriating their base. To change policies dramatically would be to concede a huge, unforced error. Worse, it would force Biden to revert to some of Trump’s policies because they actually worked.

    That won’t happen.

    Instead, Biden will cling to his current, failed policies as long as he can. Polls already show voters are unhappy. What they want is a government that fulfills its primary responsibility: provide citizens with a safe environment. They believe our country—any country—has the right to decide who can enter and to demand that they come here legally. If this bunch of politicians won’t meet that responsibility, many voters are bound to think, “Maybe I should vote for somebody who will.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 23:25

  • San Francisco Homeless Camp Costs $60,000 Per Tent, Per Year
    San Francisco Homeless Camp Costs $60,000 Per Tent, Per Year

    Today in “liberals making wonderful capital allocation decisions with your tax dollar news”…

    It turns out “solving” the homelessness problem that has (along with sky high taxes) been plaguing San Francisco, driving residents out of the city (and state), is a costly endeavor.

    In fact, a homeless encampment run by San Francisco costs the city $60,000 per year, per tent, the NY Post reported this week. 

    The city has six “safe sleeping villages,” which offer up tents and three meals a day to homeless people. They also provide security and washrooms. 

    Mayor London Breed reaffirmed her commitment to find care for the homeless (and burn through tons of taxpayer cash), stating last week: “For those exhibiting harmful behavior, whether to themselves or to others, or those refusing assistance, we will use every tool we have to get them into treatment and services, to get them indoors. We won’t accept people just staying on the streets, when we have a place for them to go.”

    The news comes as San Francisco mulls renewing the program, which could cost about $57,000 per tent. There are currently about 260 tents, the report notes.

    The city is paying “about twice the median cost of a one-bedroom apartment for each tent”, the report says. And the encampment is being funded by a 2018 business tax known as Proposition C. 

    The city is expecting to spend more than $1 billion over the next two years on homelessness. Mayor Breed calls it a “historic investment,” according to the SF Chronicle. 

    Supervisor Hillary Ronen said at a budget meeting: “It is a big deal to have showers and bathrooms, and I don’t dispute that. But the cost just doesn’t make any sense.”

    Supervisor Matt Haney, chair of the board’s Budget and Finance committee, argued for the idea: “In the past, the city would spend a lot of money without a plan. Now we actually have a plan. Prop. C is the plan. Now we have to make it work and make it real, we have to track outcomes and follow the data and be transparent about successes and challenges.” 

    Good luck with that.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 23:05

  • By 2030 You'll Own Nothing And You'll Be Happy
    By 2030 You’ll Own Nothing And You’ll Be Happy

    Authored by Bruce Wilds via Advancing Time blog,

    The title of this article projects an ominous future where the masses are controlled by a few. Over the years I have written several articles covering the elite gathering in Davos. The global elites see the World Economic Forum (WEF) as an opportunity to promote their views and various causes.

    These people often fail to see that many of us have come to view Davos, as a notorious rendezvous for the world’s elite that grant us the honor of paying for their schemes in some way or form.

    Such gatherings are not for our sake but more for the benefit of plutocrats like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. The Global Reset they are pushing often reeks of their desire to “break the world” with their ruthless corporate agendas that continue to move political power into the hands of the globalist elite. To counter this attitude reassuring words are cast out over the airwaves to us, the minions of the world, to encourage faith in their wisdom. Oh, what a tangled web those in charge of our fate have woven for us as they rush to sell and bargain away our freedom for power and wealth. 

    When the WEF revealed its Davos 2021 Agenda, it confirmed the event this year would be digital and herald the public unveiling of its Great Reset Initiative. Angel Gurría and Klaus Schwab have outlined how governments and businesses can shape a new labor market that supports workers to thrive in the future. This underlines how the covid-19 pandemic has accelerated systemic changes that were apparent before its inception.

    The Covid-19 pandemic has been used as confirmation that no institution or individual alone can address the economic, environmental, social, and technological challenges of our complex, interdependent world. It is also being touted as a reason to support the “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” One hundred and ninety-three UN member states adopted this 15-year global framework and its ambitious set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015.

    With 169 targets and over 230 indicators, the 2030 Agenda envisions a secure world free of poverty and hunger, with full and productive employment, access to quality education, and universal health coverage. Thrown into the mix is the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, and an end to environmental degradation.

    The 2030 Agenda is a global framework of action for people, the planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership. It integrates social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, as well as peace, governance, and justice elements. It makes clear that developing and developed countries alike will implement the Agenda. This is important in ensuring that no one is left behind in the achievement of the SDGs.

    https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=wef+own+nothing&&view=detail&mid=31BF038609615C11271E31BF038609615C11271E&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dwef%2Bown%2Bnothing%26%26FORM%3DVDVVXX

    A great deal of attention has been given to some of the ideas and vision the WEF has floated. A powerful one became visible when WEF public relations released a video entitled: “8 Predictions for the World in 2030. Its 2030 agenda offers a telling glimpse into what the technocratic elite has in store for the rest of us. It promotes the idea that  by 2030 “You will own nothing. And you’ll be happy. The UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a comprehensive plan that outlines how we can abolish poverty and transform the world into a peaceful, sustainable environment for all. 

    When persuasive speakers cloak an agenda in flowery rhetoric, it is often difficult to determine what is noble or separate something altruistic from a sinister plot. Nor, can we be certain that events will unfold more favorably if simply left to develop on their own rather than being manipulated. Still, the ideas flowing out of the World Economic Forum and those seeking a reset and a New One World Order reek of self-serving bias. 

    Not all of what the world economic forum predicts will happen but events are being shaped to unfold in that way. Examining what is being called for, sheds a bit of light on how we might expect our future to look. The ideas and predictions of the WEF do not seem so farfetched when you consider,

    • Many people are already comfortable and busy renting things like cars, tools, apartments, so this has become a normal way to live. It is easy to argue that shared commodities save resources.  

    • Many people think the US will be unable to keep its position as the world leader. In fact, in many ways, the US has already abdicated this role.

    • When it comes to things such as organ printing we tend to jump the gun in predicting it is just around the corner but research is continuing and huge progress is being made.

    • The argument you simply can’t feed 10 billion people with meat and move these people into heavy consumer-based lifestyles has merit. At some point, the population must stop expanding or we will create a nightmare of food shortages and cause more damage to the planet. 

    • Down the road, billions of people will be displaced, especially at the shore, because of rising sea levels. Others because of droughts. This means we will have to learn how to deal better with migration or we will have huge cultural wars.   

    • Western values are already being tested because of globalization and migration. The fact that change and the future might scare us does not mean we can simply deny reality and call everything we don’t like or understand a conspiracy. Life is impermanent and nothing stays the way it is. We all die eventually and history shows even big civilizations vanish. 

    The agenda to change the world includes things such as controlling people through things such as social credit scores. Expect these to be linked to those you associate with including family members you seldom agree with. Sadly, the people that drew up this plan forgot that what they are proposing is the abolition of private property or communism a theory that has failed to ever bring prosperity to any country. 

    Another key part of this plan focuses on controlling the masses, this is also problematic and reeks of totalitarianism. While many people view big tech as the great enabler, a very dark side of it exists, surrendering to its allure gives big tech and those in charge of it the power to enslave the human race. When mankind turns its future over to technology and no longer takes responsibility for learning the most basic lessons that have brought us so far it gives up its soul. The idea we will move in the direction of creating a benevolent form of artificial intelligence that will protect and watch over us is far-fetched. It is frightening to entrust that in the future machines will value the contributions humans make to the overall scheme of things.

    Intertwined and masked within the WEF plan are a lot of factors that will negatively impact people. These include a total lack of privacy, the loss of control to move about freely, or the ability to purchase anything you want with your money and controlling how that property is used. Of course, this is all for the greater good, but is it?  History shows that in a society where private ownership is banned or not encouraged people lack skin in the game. This tends to result in people failing to shoulder responsibility for much of what happens.

    In the past, each year as the highfalutin Davos extravaganza unfolded I seem to get a pain in my stomach that some might consider envy, but having attended my share of events I consider it more of a sickening feeling related to the over the top self-importance of many attending. Much of my angst is directed at the politicians and such that have their travel expenses picked up by governments. 

    How ironic that we pay the same clowns that create so many of our problems to gather in luxury to discuss how they might further their deeds. I find it so interesting that someone flying across the globe on a private aircraft can sit down and discuss their environmental concerns and how each of us must do more to save the planet. In some ways, a person might even go so far as to describe such a gathering as downright evil.

    In his writings, George Orwell pointed out that when society has a problem rather than rely on education, the natural impulse of totalitarians is to limit the choices or speech of others.  The instinct to compel rather than to persuade is evident in many politicians across the world. As big businesses and big tech have grown to where the rival or control governments, it is not surprising to see their leaders adopt this attitude. While growing inequality makes the prediction you will own nothing more likely, it does little to guarantee we will be happy. 

    *  *  *

    The three articles below are related to this post.

    https://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2020/01/davos-where-elite-decide-our-fate.html

    https://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2020/04/government-overreach-is-taking-away.html

    https://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-spreading-feeling-this-is-happening_2.html

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 22:45

  • Best Places To Live On A $50k Salary In Every State 
    Best Places To Live On A $50k Salary In Every State 

    By now, it’s become quite clear, even to the working poor, that quantitative easing and all the easy money policies by the Federal Reserve have created some of the worst wealth inequality this nation has ever witnessed. With inflation soaring and millions of people left in the dust as the rich get richer, GOBankingRates has compiled the best places to live comfortably on a $50,000 salary.

    These days, it makes no sense for the working poor to live in big cities where living costs are skyrocketing, and their insurmountable debts continue to pile up. The best thing one can do, for the own sanity and health, is to move to an area where they can afford to live and save money.  

    GOBankingRates compiled places in each state where someone earning $50,000 a year could live comfortably. 

    The study identified towns with at least 5,000 households and a median income between $45,000 and $50,000 a year using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, then looked at the basic cost of living as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The city with the most left over from $50,000 after covering expenses in each state was selected. For Alaska, Hawaii, Maryland and North Dakota, income restrictions were relaxed.

    Here’s a partial list of cities in each state that a person making just $50,000 per year can live comfortably and save money:

    Montgomery, Alabama

    • Median income: $48,011

    • Total annual necessities: $20,775

    • Amount (from $50,000) left over after annual necessities: $29,225

    Fairbanks, Alaska

    • Median income: $62,602

    • Total annual necessities: $30,786

    • Amount (from $50,000) left over after annual necessities: $19,214

    Kingman, Arizona

    • Median income: $49,029

    • Total annual necessities: $23,723

    • Amount (from $50,000) left over after annual necessities: $26,277

    Paragould, Arkansas

    • Median income: $45,841

    • Total annual necessities: $20,140

    • Amount (from $50,000) left over after annual necessities: $29,860

    El Centro, California

    • Median income: $47,864

    • Total annual necessities: $25,803

    • Amount (from $50,000) left over after annual necessities: $24,197

    Sterling, Colorado

    • Median income: $45,647

    • Total annual necessities: $22,545

    • Amount (from $50,000) left over after annual necessities: $27,455

    New London, Connecticut

    • Median income: $46,298

    • Total annual necessities: $24,551

    • Amount (from $50,000) left over after annual necessities: $25,449

    Wilmington, Delaware

    • Median income: $45,032

    • Total annual necessities: $24,426

    • Amount (from $50,000) left over after annual necessities: $25,574

    Myrtle Grove, Florida

    • Median income: $47,941

    • Total annual necessities: $22,900

    • Amount (from $50,000) left over after annual necessities: $27,100

    For the complete list, click here. 

    In the age of remote working, making the switch to a small town or to an affordable one is easier than ever. Just hope the internet connection can support Zoom calls. Then again, there’s always Starlink… 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 22:25

  • New York City Mayor's Race "Plunges Into Chaos" As 130,000 'Test-Run' Votes Lead To Unprecedented "Discrepancy"
    New York City Mayor’s Race “Plunges Into Chaos” As 130,000 ‘Test-Run’ Votes Lead To Unprecedented “Discrepancy”

    Update (2220ET): The BOE has confirmed Hardt’s reporting:

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    Update (2220ET): Wtih the New York City Mayoral race “plunged into chaos” (as the NYT puts it), journalist Bob Hardt now reports that the Board of Elections counted 130,000 ‘test-run’ votes, which would account for most of the ‘discrepancy’ reported earlier. Hardt added that the BoE will now head ‘back to the drawing board’ to produce corrected ranked-choice numbers tomorrow. Presumably by then the outcome of the election will have been decided and things can go smoother then…

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    Hours after the New York City’s Board of Elections released an updated ranked voting tally for the Democratic Primary which showed frontrunner Eric Adams’ lead shrinking considerably, BOE officials acknowledged a ‘discrepancy’ in the ballot count.

    At issue: on the day of the primary, the BOE reported just under 800,000 votes with 96.6% of scanners reporting. On Tuesday, however, the tally was 941,832 votes – nearly 20% higher, according to PIX11.

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    The new figures narrows Adams’ lead over former sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia to just 51.9% (368,898) to 48.9% (352,990) – while there are still 100,000 absentee ballots which need to be processed, and could tip Garcia over the top.

    In response, Adams’ campaign fired off a statement questioning the count, and demanding an explanation for the “irregularities.”

    “The vote total just released by the Board of Elections is 100,000-plus more than the total announced on election night, raising serious questions,” reads the statement. “We have asked the Board of Elections to explain such a massive increase and other irregularities before we comment on the Ranked Choice Voting projection.“

    Liberals, in response, accused Adams of going ‘full Trump’ and spreading ‘the big lie’ – that the election isn’t as secure as advertised.

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    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 22:22

  • China: 100 Years Of Chaos
    China: 100 Years Of Chaos

    Authored by Bill Blain via MorningPorridge.com,

    “My little baby is all grown up and saving China.”

    The big event this week is how China celebrates 100 years of it’s Communist Party. What does it mean for markets, and where is China likely to go from here?

    Lots going on this week in terms of the data and the end of Q2 – across financial markets investors will be scrabbling to ring fence returns made this year, and figure out where they are going to come from in the remaining quarters. Just how vulnerable, or resilient markets prove to be – well, that is always the question.

    However, the really big event this week is China celebrating 100 years of the CCP on Thursday. Actually, no one knows the exact date the cadre first assembled in a Shanghai smoky room – as he grew the cult, Mao only chose July 1st as an auspicious date for the commemoration years later. He who wins writes the histories..

    More than a few market speculators fear the Chinese may decide to do something silly to mark the day – I suspect lots of very long dull speeches.

    There are lots of questions around the 100 years of Chinese Capitommunism.

    How has communism thrived and survived in China when it so spectacularly failed in Russia, Eastern Europe and Cuba? How does the cult of Xi compare to the cult of Mao? How sustainable is the party’s role and control of the state? Can China take on the west economically and win? What about the aspirations of the Chinese people?

    You will find a multitude of opinions, answers and imaginings in the press this week.

    In the words of the old Chinese curse, the CCP’s rule has been “interesting”. Chaotic recovery paralleling the Soviet Union is one reading of Chinese history post-Communist victory in 1945. Just like in Russia the initial state collectivisation/industrialisation plans following the civil war caused untold misery and deaths through starvation as it became clear the revolutionary government lacked skills and personnel – who had fled the nation.

    Famine was followed by the purges of the Cultural Revolution shoring up the Party’s status, before the spikes in the ongoing chaotic sequence dampened. From the 1980s New Economic Polices (initially straight out the Soviet playbook) moved the political sequence onto less volatile growth track incorporating a thousand flowers and capitalism with Chinese characteristics from 1980. Where Russia failed – the state effectively captured by the kleptocracy of Oligarchs – China proved more stable.

    The CCP succeeded on two levels. Its survived, and despite the unpleasantness, it delivered its side of the bargain with the people – jobs and rising prosperity. To stay on track – its demonstrated ruthlessness, clamping down hard in Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. In 1989 when the process generated just a little too much freedom and aspirations, leading to near revolution out of Tiananmen Square.

    Today we see the Chinese economy challenging the US in terms of scale – but not in terms of per capita. We see the Chinese military challenging the US hegemony. But, don’t forget; 55 years ago we though the USSR would win the race to the moon. Much is being written on how successful China will be as the challenger state to the USA – but none of it is set in the stone of history yet!

    The CCP faces far more friction and strife than we perceive from the west.

    It is no longer a revolutionary party. It is the party of state. Its longevity will depend on how it adapts to an ever changing political landscape. Its biggest threat may be its size.  Xi is merely the first among his cohort of party princelings, the children of the generation purged during the cultural revolution, to have reached the top. Like any good classical hero, his primary concern is to secure and hold his powerbase; purging rivals, dispensing with term limits on office, and launching his own Xi cult to out-shine previous emperors.

    The reality is the CCP mirrors the Dynasties that have shaped China’s. Typically they fell because they became ossified and unable to react to counter new threats – there is a danger the same is happening to the party of Xi.

    But, give Xi credit. He’s strengthened the party and yoked it successfully under his patronage. The party presents a simple choice to Chinese who want to get on in business – join the party and do our bidding in return. That’s also a recipe for corruption. Meanwhile, the core working population (in urban areas) get their jobs and rising standards of living demonstrated nightly on the Televiewer – last night it was China’s Mar’s rover, while all sources of dissent are quietly crushed by the state apparatus.

    China has one standout advantage over its rivals. Homogeneity.

    There isn’t much talk about diversity in the Chinese Congress – Han culture doesn’t have much truck with outsiders. It rejoices in how fragmented the distrusting tribes of the West have become. It’s not just race or tribe, Xi will be laughing at the increasing polarisation and fracture between Republicans and Democrats, and the way in which Western commercial and business exceptionalism is being assaulted from within by the ill-considered consequences of Wokery, ESG tomfoolery and a growing fearfulness to speak out or criticise.

    When it comes down to predicting the future I always go with the simple manta – it will not be a bad as we think, nor will it be as good as we hope. The reality is China is part of the global economy. It is exciting and full of opportunity, but it’s also repressive and breaches much of what we can accept morally – the Uyghurs and Hong Kong being the obvious abuses.

    I reckon China boils down to a number of scenarios:

    • China is brought down by the increasing bureaucracy of the Party’s attempts to control everything, or, it succeeds in finding the balance between control and economic freedom, while building the bones of its new surveillance capitalist state innovating tech and finance.

    • China’s botched human rights, and wolf-warrior diplomacy, closes doors and markets around the globe, forcing the Middle Kingdom’s economy to domesticise, or, the next generation of CCP leaders come early and steer China back onto an open trade, capitalist economic accommodation with the west.

    • Trade wars and embargos stifle Chinas efforts to invent and innovate, causing its economy to decline medium term, or China sets its own tech ecosystem that competes directly with the west in global markets.

    These are all scales. They usually find balance.

    My own guess is China will increasingly struggle to balance the bureaucracy of state vs wealth, its ageing demographics will slow growth, it will be forced to adopt a more measured diplomatic role (scaling back on geopolitical tensions), while a mature Chinese tech sector could prove a massive spur to the development of the next generation of tech advances in the West.

    On the other hand… lots of observers reckon its classic Thucydides Trap which originally posited the Peloponnesian Wars between Sparta and the rising strength of Athens became inevitable. Carthage and Rome is another example….

    Hope not…

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    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 22:05

  • 76% Of San Francisco Voters Want More Cops As Crime, Appalling Street Conditions Get "More Brazen"
    76% Of San Francisco Voters Want More Cops As Crime, Appalling Street Conditions Get “More Brazen”

    A recent poll conducted by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce found that 76% of residents want more police in high-crime neighborhoods, at a moment people are fleeing the liberal, extremely high cost of living west coast city in droves, heading for places like Austin in Texas.

    A seemingly endless amount of public funds have also been poured into “solving” the homelessness problem that has (along with sky high taxes) been plaguing San Francisco, adding to residents’ desire to get out of the city.

    Via Chicago Tribune

    Fox writes of the survey among 520 registered voters who reside in the city that “Roughly 80% of those polled said addressing homelessness is a top priority. About 76% of those polled want more cops in high-crime neighborhoods, the report said.”

    And here’s some key conclusions from the new poll, according to one local prominent online magazine:

    Well, somewhere around 40 or 50 percent of people living here — people living here who respond to polls, that is — say they plan to leave in the next few years. And many of these people have told pollsters that the city’s biggest problems these days are crime, homelessness, and “street behavior.”

    San Francisco “Poop Patrol” via AP

    Rapidly deteriorating “street conditions” – which includes everything from feces all over public sidewalks, to needles littering community areas, to vagrancy, theft, and the ever present threat of harassment – are further leading respondents to answer in the following ways, as detailed by SFist…

    • This year’s poll, like last year’s, found 70% city residents saying that quality of life in the city has declined. 80% of residents polled said that addressing homelessness needs to be a high priority for the city, and 88% said that the problem had gotten worse in the past few years.
    • 71% also said that “street behavior” has gotten worse. And 80% of San Franciscans support expanding conservatorship laws and making it easier to forcibly commit the mentally ill for treatment.
    • Also, 76% of San Franciscans said that it should be a high priority for the city to increase the number of police officers in high-crime neighborhoods, and 60% supported prioritizing funding for police academy classes and recruiting new officers.

    This also as The San Francisco Chronicle has noted that “tourists are back” after a long COVID lockdown in much of the city, but this has translated to thefts becoming “more brazen”.

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    City data shows a whopping 753% jump in car break-ins for May 2021 when compared to figures from May 2020. This might account for the surprising rise of a “bring back the police” mentality in one of America’s most progressive cities.

    …Though we doubt that those polled would actually admit to “wanting more police” publicly, or in front of their friends and neighbors.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 21:45

  • Supreme Court Leaves Eviction Moratorium Intact As Roberts And Kavanaugh Join Liberals
    Supreme Court Leaves Eviction Moratorium Intact As Roberts And Kavanaugh Join Liberals

    While it has long been known that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is a CINO (conservative in name only), it may come as a surprise that one of Trump’s own SCOTUS appointees, Brett Kavanaugh, sided with the three supreme court justices in a divided decision refusing to lift the moratorium on evictions implemented by the CDC during the covid pandemic and which is due to expire in any case at the end of July.

    The 5-4 vote had little practical value, and rejected calls by landlords and real-estate trade associations from Alabama and Georgia to block the moratorium while their challenge goes forward. They contend the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention exceeded its authority by imposing the ban.

    Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the court’s three liberals in the majority. Kavanaugh cast the pivotal vote, saying he was letting the ban stay in effect even though he thought the CDC had exceeded its power.

    “Because the CDC plans to end the moratorium in only a few weeks, on July 31, and because those few weeks will allow for additional and more orderly distribution of the congressionally appropriated rental assistance funds, I vote at this time to deny the application,” Kavanaugh wrote.

    One wonder how he would have voted if the moratorium was set to end at the end of the year, or next summer? We’ll find out after the next split vote from SCOTUS. In any case, Kavanaugh said he would require congressional authorization to extend the ban beyond July 31, something the CDC has said it doesn’t intend to do but then again the CDC also appears unaware of the full-court press from the mainstream media to elevate the panic level over the Delta variant to code red in advance of another round of global lockdowns.

    The other eight justices gave no explanation. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett said they would have blocked the moratorium. The liberals, of course, were all for letting squatters live rent free in perpetuity.

    The decision came after a federal trial judge ruled that the moratorium exceeded the CDC’s authority but then put a stay on the ruling while the government appealed. The challengers then asked the Supreme Court to lift the stay.

    The ban applies to tenants who, if evicted, would have “no other available housing options.” The CDC and President Joe Biden’s administration say the moratorium is geared toward protecting tenants who would be forced to live in close quarters elsewhere or become homeless and dependent on shelters.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 21:36

  • NSA Claims No Spying On Tucker Carlson In Broadly-Worded Denial
    NSA Claims No Spying On Tucker Carlson In Broadly-Worded Denial

    The National Security Agency (NSA) has responded to allegations by Fox News host Tucker Carlson that they’ve been monitoring the communications between members of his crew with the intention of getting the show canceled.

    In a Tuesday tweet that nobody can respond to, the agency said that the allegation is “untrue,” adding “Tucker Carlson has never been an intelligence target of the Agency and the NSA has never had any plans to try to take his program off the air.”

    “NSA has a foreign intelligence mission. We target foreign powers to generate insights on foreign activities that could harm the United States. With limited exceptions (e.g. an emergency), NSA may not target a US citizen without a court order that explicitly authorizes the targeting.

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    Really?

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    While the suggestion that the NSA wouldn’t spy on Americans (beyond undefined ’emergencies’) is beyond laughable…

    let’s let Glenn Greenwald do the heavy lifting on this one – as his journalism brought us the Snowden leaks which revealed a widespread domestic surveillance apparatus.

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    Many possibilities exist given the broad scope of their answer.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsSo Tucker is told by an NSA whistleblower that he’s being spied on, and the Pentagon just fired a pro-Trump security official for ‘unauthorized disclosure of classified information’ from the NSA. Who wants to play connect-the-dots?

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 21:22

  • Biden Plans Anti-Monopoly Executive Order Targeting Big Business
    Biden Plans Anti-Monopoly Executive Order Targeting Big Business

    Yesterday, a US district judge tossed out an anti-trust case brought against Facebook by the federal government and a coalition of states (swiftly sending the tech giant’s market cap past the $1 trillion mark). At the same time, reports emerged claiming the DoJ’s anti-trust division was preparing to revive a Trump-era anti-trust push targeting Google’s display ad business.

    With Lina Khan in charge at the FTC and Tim Wu installed as special assistant to the president on competition, increasing attention is being paid to the Biden Administration’s anti-trust plans now that breaking up Big Tech has become an issue with bipartisan support in Congress, with lawmakers of both parties supporting more scrutiny (while others said to be in the pocket of Big Tech have dutifully pushed back). As curiosity about the administration’s next steps mounts, WSJ reported Tuesday evening (following an earlier report from Reuters) that the White House is planning a sweeping executive order that would direct federal agencies to strengthen oversight of industries that they perceive to be dominated by a small number of companies.

    The order comes as House lawmakers are pushing ahead with a package of anti-trust legislation aimed at restraining Big Tech. The order reportedly builds on a 2016 report by the White House Council of Economic Advisors. A similar anti-trust order handed down by President Barack Obama in 2016 failed to “move the needle” on the competition front.

    The order will direct regulators of industries from airlines to agriculture to rethink their rule-making process to inject more competition and to give consumers, workers and suppliers more rights to challenge large producers.

    Based on what we know so far, it doesn’t look like the order will pressure regulators to push for the outright breakup of industrial conglomerates, large corporate farms or American tech giants.

    The goal is to broaden the way policy makers approach business concentration in the U.S., going beyond conventional antitrust enforcement focused on blocking big mergers. For example, companies in industries controlled by a small number of big firms might face new rules for disclosing fees to consumers or for their relationships with suppliers, the people familiar with the effort said.

    Opponents of tighter anti-trust rules are hopeful that the conservative SCOTUS will weigh in to block Biden’s attempts to override Congress and unilaterally impose new restrictions on American corporations (while at the same time working out a new global minimum corporate tax that would, if ever implemented, likely increase the tax bills of American multinationals).

    Big business groups and some Republicans will likely protest any new Biden measures. Businesses and conservative legal groups could challenge the rules in court, as they already have with administration moves to limit oil and gas drilling on federal lands and to extend a pandemic-related moratorium on evicting renters. Regulatory opponents are hopeful that conservative judges appointed by former President Donald Trump will make it easier to challenge Biden administration rules.

    “I find the way this is being framed questionable,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an economist who worked in the George W. Bush administration and who has advised GOP lawmakers and candidates. “They’ve decided the economy isn’t competitive, but when you look closer at the data, you just don’t see a radical increase in concentration.”

    However, the supposedly “conservative” SCOTUS that Democrats spend an inordinate amount of time railing against hasn’t come through for conservatives on a handful of recent rulings, including declining to strike down the CDC’s eviction moratorium while also refusing to strike down Obamacare for the third time.

    Per WSJ, the order will likely focus on pressuring companies to disclose more information, including fees, that would provide more transparency about pricing.

    While both WSJ and Reuters reported that the executive order could land as soon as next week, White House spokeswoman Emilie Simons said no final decision has been made.

    She added that the president has in the past called for giving small farmers more protection from large concentrated farms. Biden has also called for restricting the ability of employers to force workers to sign non-compete agreements limiting their ability to go work for competitors.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 21:05

  • Fear Spreads As Another Miami Beach Condo Tower Deemed "Unsafe"
    Fear Spreads As Another Miami Beach Condo Tower Deemed “Unsafe”

    Haunted by the recent tragedy in Surfside, some residents of ocean-side apartments in South Florida have been searching for information about the structural integrity of their condominiums. The residents of a Collins Avenue building with prior warnings in Miami Beach said they are horrified about what they found.

    The fear started after Champlain Towers South, at 8777 Collins Ave., turned into the epicenter of heartbreak and grief on Thursday morning. Some of the residents of the Champlain Towers North and East decided to evacuate.

    Days following the incident, two studies on the 12-story residential structure came to light. One was a field study from 2018 by an engineering firm that discovered structural issues. Another study was from 2020 when scientists analyzed satellite data to find the tower sunk in the 1990s. 

    On Monday, residents at Maison Grande Condominium, an 18-story building with 502 units, built in 1971, were worried about the safety of their building, according to WPLG Local 10.  

    Photographs show rusted steel and cracked concrete pillars and ceilings in the parking garage of the building – a similar observation that was observed at Champlain South. 

    City records show that five inspections determined the building is an “unsafe structure.” Other warnings include the two-story parking garage and pool deck “have reached the end of their useful life and require repair, replacement,” or “a combination thereof.”

    One city official wrote in late 2020, “Structure with evidence of spalling concrete. Need to submit a report signed and sealed by [an] engineer to evaluate the structure together with methods of repairs.”

    Near the building’s entrance reads a red sign that warns: “unsafe structure” building violation notice.

    Here’s a closer view of the red sign. 

    Twitter user “Billy Corben” posted a shocking video of the structural deterioration unfolding inside the parking garage of the building. 

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    After his post went viral, he said the condo building association announced a meeting to certify the building for “50-years.” 

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    So fear grips condo owners of older buildings across Miami. Will there be a point where some residents sell their units for newer ones?

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 20:56

  • Arizona's Maricopa County Will Replace All Voting Machines After Audit
    Arizona’s Maricopa County Will Replace All Voting Machines After Audit

    Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

    Authorities in Maricopa County, Arizona, announced they will replace all voting machines following a Senate-ordered audit of the county’s 2020 election results.

    The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which oversees elections in the county, issued a response to a letter sent by Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, saying the county “shares [her] concerns” that the integrity and security of the Dominion Voting Systems machines and ballots might have been compromised during the audit.

    “Accordingly, I write to notify you that Maricopa County will not use the subpoenaed election equipment in any future election,” said the letter, dated Monday.

    And in a news release, the county pledged to “never use equipment that could pose a risk to free and fair elections,” suggesting that the auditors may have compromised the machines.

    Hobbs, a Democrat, had written to the county in May that she has “grave concerns regarding the security and integrity of these machines, given that the chain of custody, a critical security tenet, has been compromised and election officials do not know what was done to the machines while under Cyber Ninjas’ control.” Cyber Ninjas is the Florida-based technology firm that helped with the audit, which was authorized earlier this year by the Republican-controlled state Senate.

    After the announcement from Maricopa County, several Republicans praised the move to do away with the machines—but not for the reasons offered by Hobbs or the county officials.

    “No more machines,” wrote Republican state Sen. Wendy Rogers on Twitter, alleging in another tweet that the machines are easily compromised.

    “Go back to the old way,” she also wrote in concurring with a tweet issued by GOP state Sen. Kelly Townsend.

    Last week, the team overseeing the audit announced that both the paper examination and counting of the ballots were finished. Senate Majority Leader Karen Fann, a Republican, told The Epoch Times over the weekend said the team will meet within the next several days and will “formulate a plan and timeline moving forward,” with other officials suggesting the audit may be completed by the end of the summer.

    Hobbs and Senate Republicans have gone back and forth in a war of words since the audit was proposed earlier this year, with the secretary of state characterizing it as a partisan operation designed to suppress voters and claimed auditors have operated with lax security.

    But Republicans have disputed Hobbs’s and other Democrats’ assertions that the audit isn’t being done securely or professionally. Fann and other GOP senators have said the audit is necessary to restore the public’s confidence in the state’s election systems.

    Alexander Kolodin, a lawyer who represents the Arizona GOP, told NTD that he believes the audit will uncover irregularities.

    “Something went wrong,” he said on June 15, “because something goes wrong in every election.”

    Meanwhile, if an audit reveals fraud, then there would be a referral to law enforcement authorities, Fann and other senators have previously said. And if fraud is revealed, according to her, they will focus on passing legislation to shore up any security flaws.

    “If the audit illuminates that there’s [sic] vulnerabilities in X, Y, and Z parts of our election system, state legislatures can target those with a laser beam and fix X, Y, and Z parts of our election system,” Kolodin also said in the interview.

    The Arizona state Senate turned over the Dominion machines to auditors to determine if any of the equipment was compromised, using a legislative subpoena issued in April to seize nine tabulating machines and 385 precinct tabulators. Dominion has categorically denied the allegations that their machines had any problems in Maricopa.

    Other than the machines, the auditors, led by Cyber Ninjas, started reviewing some 2.1 million ballots at Phoenix’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum starting several weeks ago.

    The Epoch Times has contacted the Fann’s office and Cyber Ninjas for comment.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 20:45

  • India, A Well Known Source Of Gold Demand, Is Turning A Keen Eye Toward Crypto
    India, A Well Known Source Of Gold Demand, Is Turning A Keen Eye Toward Crypto

    India has long been known for being a strong source of demand for gold – not only for wealth preservation, but also for cosmetic and jewelry purposes.

    But now it looks as though something else has caught the country’s eye: crypto.

    This could mean that the mantra that Bitcoin is equivalent to digital gold could actually be catching on, Bloomberg noted this week.

    Households in India own more than 25,000 tons of gold and, despite this, investments in crypto across the country grew from about $200 million to a stunning $40 billion over the past year, the report says. 

    The demand flies in the face of “outright hostility toward the asset class” from the country’s Central Bank, the piece notes. There are now more than 15 million Indians buying and selling cryptocurrencies, compared to 23 million in the U.S. and 2.3 million in the U.K. 

    One microcosm of the shift in demand is 32 year old Richi Sood. She put about $13,400 – some of which she borrowed from her family – into crypto instead of gold. After buying Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Ether, she cashed out part of her position to help her fund her startup company. She said: “I’d rather put my money in crypto than gold. Crypto is more transparent than gold or property and returns are more in a short period of time.”

    Sood represents where much of the growth in India is coming from: people aged 18-35. “Indian adults under age 34 have less appetite for gold than older consumers,” Bloomberg wrote, citing data from the World Gold Council.

    Sandeep Goenka, who co-founded ZebPay, said: “They find it far easier to invest in crypto than gold because the process is very simple. You go online, you can buy crypto, you don’t have to verify it, unlike gold.”

    Keneth Alvares, who is 22 years old, said: “I think over time everyone is going to adopt it in every country. Right now the whole thing is scary with regulation but it doesn’t worry me because I’m not planning to remove anything for now.”

    Part of the growth can be attributed to the country’s Supreme Court quashing a rule banning crypto trading by banking entities. This led to a trading surge, despite the fact that the country’s Central Bank shows “no signs” of embracing cryptocurrencies. 

    Other countries like the U.K. have also cracked down on crypto, with the latter banning Binance Markets from doing regulated business in the country. 

    This regulatory environment means that larger investors are less likely to talk openly about their holdings. Bloomberg spoke to one investor who owned more than $1 million in crypto; he said he is concerned about the prospect of retrospective tax raids. He has “contingency plans in place to move his trading to an offshore Singapore bank account” if a ban were to be enacted.

    The smaller investor in India seems to be taking the regulatory environment in stride, however. Sood concluded: “I am flying blind. I have a risk-taking appetite, so I’m willing to take a risk of a ban.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 20:25

  • With The Fed In Denial, Hawkish Bank Of Russia Sees Inflation "Not Transitory", Warns Of Possible Shock-And-Awe Rate-Hike
    With The Fed In Denial, Hawkish Bank Of Russia Sees Inflation “Not Transitory”, Warns Of Possible Shock-And-Awe Rate-Hike

    Authored by Wolf Richter via WolfStreet.com,

    US Inflation is almost as hot as in Russia, but the Fed is still blowing it off…

    Consumer price inflation in Russia is red-hot, having jumped 6.0% in May compared to a year ago, 2 percentage points above the Bank of Russia’s target of 4.0%.

    Polls in Russia show that food inflation is a top concern, currently running at 7.4%.

    But inflation in the US isn’t lagging far behind: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped 5.0% in May.

    Yet the central banks are on opposite tracks in their approach to inflation.

    Federal Reserve governors keep jabbering about this red-hot inflation being “temporary” or “transitory,” and likely to disappear on its own despite huge government stimulus and the Fed’s huge and ongoing monetary stimulus, though some doubts are creeping in among a couple of them. So they’ll keep interest rates at near-zero until at least next year, and they’re still buying $120 billion a month in securities to push down long-term interest rates.

    Russia has been on the opposite trajectory, “surprising” economists at every step along the way. This trajectory started on March 19 with a 25 basis point rate hike, to 4.5%, against the expectations of 27 of the 28 economists polled by Reuters, who didn’t expect a rate hike. On April 23, the Bank of Russia hiked its policy rate by 50 basis points, to 5.0%. On June 11, it hiked by another 50 basis points to 5.5%. The next policy meeting is scheduled for July 23.

    Is a shock-and-awe rate hike next? Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina is preparing the markets for this possibility – so it won’t be a shock, but just awe.

    At the July meeting, the central bank “will consider” an increase in the range from “25 basis points to 1 percentage point,” she told Bloomberg TV in an interview.

    “We see that inflation remains elevated” and that “inflation expectations are quite high,” she said.

    The initial factors in this surge of inflation were the weakening ruble last year and commodity and food price increases. They alone might not require a monetary policy intervention, she said.

    But now inflation expectations remain elevated, which creates second-round effects, she said.

    “That’s why we see that inflation acceleration is not transitory, as in many other countries, but more persistent,” she said. “That’s why we think we should act with rate hikes.”

    “We signaled to the markets [at the last meeting] that further policy rate increases can be necessary to curb inflation, and now we see it is warranted,” she said.

    The economy has recovered quite fast, she said. Demand growth has been outpacing supply growth. And this gap creates additional inflation pressures, and in combination with elevated inflation expectations provide us the need to neutralize our monetary policy, she said.

    “Now policy is still accommodative, if we compare the policy rate [5.5%] with the current inflation rate [6.0%] and with inflation expectations,” she said.

    This is the school of thought that negative real interest rates – interest rates below the rate of inflation – are accommodative, or stimulative for the economy. Under this theory for the US, a neutral monetary policy would be with the Fed’s policy rates at least at 3.4% if based on core PCE and at 5.0% if based on CPI.

    Nabiullina said that the magnitude of the rate hikes and the trajectory will depend a lot on the incoming data “because there are a lot of uncertainties now.”

    The Bank of Russia wants to “prevent the accumulation of inflationary risks,” but it also wants the moves to be “predictable” for the markets because sharp unexpected increases of rates can create some difficulties for markets to adapt, she said.

    Hence, the interview with Bloomberg TV. She’s clearly trying to prepare the markets for a hefty rate hike in July, perhaps a Brazilian-type rate hike of 75 basis points, or even a shock-and-awe full percentage point, while the Fed will continue to cling to its doctrine of the moment that this red-hot inflation in the US is just transitory and will dissipate on its own.

    There are whole generations who never experienced this type of inflation, this type of destruction of the dollar’s purchasing power.

    *  *  *

    Enjoy reading WOLF STREET and want to support it? Using ad blockers – I totally get why – but want to support the site? You can donate. I appreciate it immensely. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 20:05

  • Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen Take Equity Stake In FTX Crypto Exchange
    Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen Take Equity Stake In FTX Crypto Exchange

    It was a rough month for seven-time Superbowl champion Tom Brady, who top-ticked the recent collapse in bitcoin almost to the day with his “laser eyes” profile picture change, something he himself mocked yesterday when he tweeted “Alright the laser eyes didn’t work. Anyone have any ideas?”

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

    It retrospect, this was a rhetorical question because just one day later we learned that Tom Brady and his wife Gisele Bündchen – best known for demanding to be paid in euros top ticking the common currency ahead of its all time high in 2008 – have taken an equity stake in crypto exchange FTX (profiled most recently here) and will receive crypto as part of an endorsement deal with the crypto exchange, which includes a bonus that will be paid in crypto.

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

    West Realm Shires Services, FTX Trading Limited and Blockfolio, three companies behind major global cryptocurrency exchange business FTX, announced Tuesday a long-term partnership with Brady and Bündchen.

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

    “It’s an incredibly exciting time in the crypto-world and Sam and the revolutionary FTX team continue to open my eyes to the endless possibilities,” Brady said in a statement. “This particular opportunity showed us the importance of educating people about the power of crypto while simultaneously giving back to our communities and planet.”

    Both Brady, and Bündchen will serve as ambassadors for FTX, according to an announcement Tuesday reported Bloomberg. And while the cryptocurrency exchange declined to disclose their equity stake, but did say they will both receive an unspecified amount and type of crypto. Bündchen will also take on the role of FTX’s environmental and social-initiatives adviser, according to the release.

    “Tom and Gisele are both legends and they both reached the pinnacle of what they do,” said Sam Bankman-Fried, 29, founder and chief executive officer of FTX, said in a phone interview. “When we think about what FTX represents, we want to be the best product that is out there.”

    FTX, which unlike Coinbase operates outside the reach of US tax authorities and offers both cryptos and derivatives, has become one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges since its launch just two years ago. Bankman-Fried said he’s spoken with others in the past about possible partnerships, but something FTX always comes back to is, “How excited are they about it? How excited are we to deal with them?” When it comes to Brady and Bündchen, “they were both really into it.” Or maybe they were both just into the compensation they will receive for promoting it.

    In any case, the duo knows how to play their role well, and Brady has been an advocate for cryptocurrencies for the past few months, notably emerging as a big supporter of bitcoin in May when he changed his Twitter profile picture to show himself with so-called laser eyes.

    “This isn’t the first time that they’ve been involved in crypto, not the first time they’ve thought about it or even used it, which I think makes it a much more natural and authentic partnership,” said Bankman-Fried. “They’re examples of audiences we’d really like FTX to be the product for.”

    We can only assume this remark was off the cuff: if the target FTX audiences is really multi-millionaire Superbowl winners and Perfect 10 models, it will have a hard time growing.

    Bündchen expressed confidence that crypto adoption will continue to grow steadily, noting that the best part of the partnership for her was the technology’s environmental potential. “What attracted me most about this partnership was the potential to apply resources to help regenerate the Earth, and enable people to lead better lives, therefore generating real transformation in our society,” she said, clearly unaware of Elon Musk’s concerns about the electricity consumption of bitcoin.

    As Bloomberg further notes, as part of a conversation with Bankman-Fried during a conference earlier this year, brady said he, his coaches and teammates had been talking about cryptocurrencies and their vacillating prices on a daily basis. “It’s on all of our minds because we’re very interested, we’re learning more and more about these emerging markets,” he said. “So I’m a big believer in it, I don’t think it’s going anywhere,” though he added there will “absolutely” be volatility.

    Unlike Coinbase, FTX was founded with the goal of donating to charity and has earmarked more than $10 million so far to do so. FTX, Brady and Bündchen have all committed to annual multi-million dollar contributions for the duration of the partnership and Bündchen will play a role in choosing the charities. Her mandate will not be crypto-specific, Bankman-Fried said. She’s been “really involved in giving back basically her whole life and I think this is part of what appealed to her the most,” he said, adding that she’ll likely be working with the FTX Foundation“a fair bit.”

    Meanwhile, FTX has fully grasped that to really succeed in the world of crypto it has to constantly be in the headlines and shamelessly self-promote and has done just that, cinching a pact with Major League Baseball earlier this month and renaming the Miami Heat’s National Basketball Association stadium to FTX Arena, the first NBA stadium deal from a crypto firm.

    “A lot of what we’ve been looking at is what are the things that we can do that will really stand out and represent us well, fit our brand and really capture people’s attention,” said Bankman-Fried. “We’re going to be doing what we can to try to get news about FTX out there and get more eyeballs on it.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 19:45

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Jun 29

Today’s News 29th June 2021

  • Blinken Urges Allies To "Repatriate" & "Rehabilitate" Foreign ISIS Terrorists Held In Syria
    Blinken Urges Allies To “Repatriate” & “Rehabilitate” Foreign ISIS Terrorists Held In Syria

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday actually called for ISIS members held in prisons across Syria to essentially be let go to their home countries – often in Europe. He applied the words “repatriate” and “rehabilitate” to literal ISIS terrorists and their families. 

    What’s more is that he was addressing European allies, meaning in this context he’s also referencing primarily foreign fighters who joined the Islamic State. The foreign jihadists have long been considered to be the most extreme among the extreme. Here’s what Blinken said at a defense conference in Rome, according to ABC News:

    Kicking off the ministerial meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in Rome on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on countries to “repatriate, rehabilitate, and where applicable, prosecute their citizens” imprisoned in Syria fighting for ISIS.

    “It just can’t persist indefinitely,” he said of the problem of the cramped ISIS prisons run by the US-backed SDF in Syria’s Eastern desert. 

    One such camp is al-Hol, which has been a security nightmare. A recent report in BBC detailed: “According to figures released by al-Hol camp’s Kurdish-led authorities, almost 61,000 people are held at the site in Al Hasakah district, including more than 16,000 families. About 2,500 of those are families of foreign IS fighters.”

    It could be that Blinken primarily had in mind family members of ISIS terrorists who are held in Syria’s prisons, but regardless it’s shocking how bluntly and easily he spoke of “rehabilitating” ISIS foreign fighters…

    “We are seeing fighters of 13 and 14 years old, take up weapons to kill people, and we have to get at this from every possible angle,” he said further in the remarks.

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

    Another irony on top of Blinken lecturing allies that they must receive their foreign fighters back “home” is the fact that on Sunday night the Biden-ordered airstrikes actually targeted Iraqi and Syrian militia groups that actively fight remaining ISIS terrorists in the region. 

    SDF-administered al-Hol, via Al Jazeera

    But it remains that the US considers these groups currently fighting Sunni jihadists as “pro-Iranian” and “Iran-backed” – hence the Pentagon’s willingness to wage war on the Assad-Iran-Hezbollah axis while often willfully turning a blind eye to ISIS (and worse) and other Sunni terror groups.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 02:45

  • Former NHS Doc Exposes Six Impossible (British COVID) Things Before Breakfast
    Former NHS Doc Exposes Six Impossible (British COVID) Things Before Breakfast

    Authored by former HNS Doctor Toby Young via LockdownSkeptics.com,

    Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said. “One can’t believe impossible things.”

    “I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

    I hope the readers will forgive a little self-indulgence on my part if I relate an anecdote from the tail end of my 12 years as a junior doctor in the early years of the first Blair government. At the time, the Health Secretary Alan Milburn (advised by the youthful Simon Stevens) had issued strict waiting time targets to all hospitals.

    I was tasked with sorting out the numbers of patients on the surgical waiting lists at a large teaching hospital. It became apparent that if a patient had a date for surgery, they were no longer counted as ‘waiting’, even if that date was many months in the future. Accordingly, I issued dozens of patients dates for surgery and achieved compliance with the waiting time targets at a stroke.

    There was just one problem. Both the managers and I knew that all those patients had virtually no chance of getting into the hospital on their designated dates. Due to lack of available beds, they would all be cancelled a couple of days before admission.

    At a meeting with the CEO of the Trust, I pointed this out.

    He looked me in the eye and said, “Let me make one thing clear to you. There is no problem with beds in this hospital.”

    I briefly considered debating the assertion, but realised it was a pointless endeavour.

    The facts did not fit the Chief Executive’s preferred narrative – so the facts had to change.

    He was subsequently awarded a Knighthood for services to healthcare.

    And so, here we are twenty years later – still believing six impossible things before breakfast.

    We might call it the ‘rule of six’!

    Here is my first example where a target failed to be matched by real world data. When considering facts there are three basic components. Understanding the collection process and the inherent errors and bias within that, the interpretation process, during which there will be a range of opinion, (although currently only one viewpoint is permitted) and finally presentation of the data which is open to the greatest amount of bias.

    Graph 1 shows the actual number of patients admitted with COVID from the community in June (orange bars). The blue line indicates where SAGE predicted it would be as a consequence of easing lockdown restrictions. How annoying – the data does not correlate with the prediction. In fact, hospital admissions are stubbornly refusing to increase significantly.

    Never mind. If we simply state loudly that something nasty ‘could happen’ in the future that will cover just about every situation where the observable data do not support the required conclusion. And we can also show Graph 2 – which records the number of positive ‘cases’ in May-June 2021. The public won’t realise that most of these cases were asymptomatic and they may well think that they are the same as people being admitted to hospital.

    We should try not to show Graph 3, which puts the recent rise in ‘cases’ into its proper context. Graph 2 better supports the preferred narrative, so that is the preferred one to show at press conferences. By presenting the data in this way, we are not actually lying, just presenting to the audience the information that supports our preferred outcome and not referencing information that does not support our narrative. You may very well think this is misinformation. I could not possibly comment.

    Second on my list of six is the Vaccine Minister, Nadim Zahawi. Before entering politics, Mr Zahawi ran YouGov, the political polling company. At the Government press conference on June 23rd, Mr Zahawi claimed that delaying the final milestone of ‘unlocking’ on June 21st had saved “thousands of lives”. How did he arrive at this statement?

    A recent PHE document had this to say about the number of lives saved by the vaccines:

    PHE estimates to May 30th 2021 based on the direct effect of vaccination and vaccine coverage rates, are that that 11,800 deaths were averted in individuals aged 80 years and older, 1,800 in individuals aged 70 to 79 and 400 in individuals aged 60 to 69 years giving a total of 14,000 deaths averted in individuals aged 60 years or older in England. There is increasing evidence that vaccines prevent infection and transmission.

    Did Zahawi simply parrot the PHE estimates up to May 30th, wrongly using them as an estimate of the effect of delaying unlocking past June 21st? Is this a simple misattribution error on his part, or a deliberate attempt to mislead? I note that none of the bovine journalists in attendance at the press conference challenged him on these implausible figures. On the contrary, his assertion was obligingly retweeted by Beth Rigby from Sky.

    I also note the heavy skew in prevented deaths to the older age group. Presumably, that’s because the more vaccinations are given to younger people, the Number Needed to Treat (NNT) to prevent one death goes up substantially. Based on recently published analysis of the Israeli experience, the NNT across the whole population was 16,000. Zahawi asserted that as of June 21st there were two million people over 50 who had only had one dose – let’s be generous and assume all these two million either are or are going to be vaccinated in the period between June 21st and July 19th. Using the real-world Israeli experience, this gives a predicted prevented death number attributable to vaccination of 125 for the period June 21st-July 19th (and that may be a substantial over-estimate).

    Would Zahawi have been so cavalier with the facts if he had been giving a statement to the House of Commons? Is his carelessness with attributing statistical estimates a reflection on the practices of YouGov? The reader can decide for themselves on the second impossible thing before breakfast.

    My third impossible belief is the assumption that people working for the government or supranational bodies such as UEFA or the G7 are either not susceptible to COVID infection and are therefore excused the requirements for regular testing and quarantine, or too important to be inconvenienced by the regulations for normal people.

    Kate Andrews writing in the Spectator has helpfully outlined various ‘pilot schemes’ by which Government figures and other privileged people can move around the globe freely on the basis that their activities are more important than those of the people who elect them. Here is the official extract in relation to exemptions from the regulations.

    How plausible is it that such arbitrary exemptions to the ‘rules’ will be limited to the Euro football competition or the G7 meeting? Isn’t it more likely, that, over time, the rich, powerful and well connected will be able to obtain exemptions? Maybe held on a mobile phone app for example as a ‘super vaccine passport’ allowing them to travel freely, unhindered by the majority of the population prevented from free movement by regulatory cost and red tape.

    My fourth impossible belief relates to the data on COVID spread at mass gatherings and positive test ratios on people returning from overseas travel. Here is the link to the Events Research Programme report published on June 25th I encourage readers to explore this document in detail for themselves and discover the depth of population monitoring and control it contains. I find it deeply sinister.

    The headline figures are that out of 58,000 people attending nine events, a total of 28 positive PCR cases were recorded (0.0005%). This has been reported in the press as good news from the perspective of re-opening public mass events and indeed it is.

    But delve deeper into the actual report which heavily caveats the results and recommends ongoing and more in-depth surveillance. Against a backdrop of a population antibody positivity of 80% (ONS statistics), with 60% of the adult population having received two jabs and over 80% having had one, the idea that surveillance of this type has anything to do with protecting public health seems completely implausible to me. Mark Harper MP, chair of the COVID recovery group thinks it is implausible as well – on June 16th he tweeted: “Documents I have seen confirm that work is underway in Govt to plan for Covid restrictions this autumn and winter.”

    My fifth impossible thing happened yesterday, Saturday June 26th. An enormous crowd marched from Hyde Park to Parliament Square with only the most cursory comment from the national broadcaster – and that attributed it to multiple protesting groups, rather than anti-lockdown protestors. If I hadn’t been there, I would not have believed it. I’m not a natural demonstrator – only ever attended one previous protest in 1984. Today convinced me that if there is a route out of this crisis, it will be by direct political action. What limited coverage there has been on the mainstream media has claimed the anti-lockdowners on the march were led by Covid deniers and anti-vaxxers. There is no doubt that some people on the protest were carrying such banners, but the vast majority were normal people, similar to myself. The frustration and rage at the deceptions and propaganda practiced by our elected representatives and salaried state servants were palpable. I’m already looking forward to the next one.

    Last on my list are the actions of the recently departed Health Secretary. According to his press statement on Friday June 25th, Mr Hancock believed that his recent indiscretion captured on CCTV with his close personal assistant was a purely private matter. Much has already been written in the press and on social media about this issue and I will not add to the commentary, except to suggest that if Mr Hancock really does believe his personal conduct is a purely private matter, we really are through the looking glass.

    Anyway, he’s gone and the prurient speculation around Hancock’s sexual activities are quite irrelevant to our main dilemma, the root of which lies in the dysfunction of government in a ‘managed democracy’. We are in a position where the skills and attributes needed to get elected are totally divergent from the skills needed to govern well. Elected politicians have become PR spokespeople for their factions, while unelected and unaccountable career civil servants actually run the process. Having spent my entire career observing such characters at work in ‘our NHS’, that’s something to be very worried about.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 02:00

  • When A President Lies
    When A President Lies

    Authored by David Rosen via Counterpunch.org,

    “Did you, too, O friend,
    suppose democracy was only for
    elections, for politics, and for a party name?”

    – Walt Whitman, “Democratic Vistas” (1871)

    Joe Biden received much media praise for his meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin on June 16th. However, little attention has been paid to an issue posed by an Associate Press reporter in a press conference following the meeting: “U.S. intelligence has said that Russia tried to interfere in the last two presidential elections, and that Russia groups are behind hacks like SolarWinds and some of the ransomware attacks you just mentioned.”

    In response, Biden answered:

    Let’s get this straight: How would it be if the United States were viewed by the rest of the world as interfering with the elections directly of other countries, and everybody knew it?  What would it be like if we engaged in activities that he is engaged in?

    He concluded,

    “It diminishes the standing of a country that is desperately trying to make sure it maintains its standing as a major world power.”

    Sadly, Biden was lying, whether intentionally or out of false claim of ignorance.

    It appears that NBC News was the only mainstream media outlet that raised concern about Biden’s assertion. It noted, “the United States does interfere in foreign elections. We’ve done it for decades.” It added, “denying this basic historical reality does us no favors with the rest of the world; indeed, it hampers our ability to continue to champion democracy and human rights.” It follows outlining numerous incidents in which the U.S. intervened in the domestic electoral affairs of other countries.

    A quick search for information about U.S. backing of coups and military interventions in foreign elections is revealing. Wikipedia identifies 77 “U.S. involvement[s] in regime change” from the late-19th century through the 2010s; William Blum identifies 57 “instances of the United States overthrowing, or attempting to overthrow, a foreign government since the Second World War.” The political scientist Dov Levin notes, “between 1946 and 2000, the United States and the USSR/Russia intervened in this manner 117 times, or, put another way, in about one of every nine competitive national-level executive elections during this period.” In a 2013 study, Foreign Policy magazine detailed seven CIA orchestrated coups in the post-WW-II era.

    The follow list details some of incidents when the U.S. – to use Biden’s words — “interfering with the elections directly of other countries” since World War II.

    Syria, 1949 – as reported by Time magazine, it is “’one of the first covert actions that the CIA pulled off,’ since it had been created in 1947, according to Douglas Little, professor of history at Clark University.”

    Iran, 1953 — CIA orchestrated a coup against Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh; according to the CIA: “It was the potential … to leave Iran open to Soviet aggression — at a time when the Cold War was at its height and when the United Sates was involved in an undeclared war in Korea against forces supported by the U.S.S.R. and China — that compelled the United States [REDACTED] in planning and executing TPAJAX [the code name of the coup operation].”

    Guatemala, 1954 – the U.S. State Department moved against Guatemalan Pres. Jacobo Árbenz after he introduced land reforms that threatened the holdings of the U.S.-owned United Fruit Company; the coup forced Árbenz from power.

    Cuba, 1959-present – the U.S. government supported Fulgencio Batista, a former soldier and Cuban dictator from 1933 to 1944, who seized power for a second time in a 1952 coup. On January 1, 1959, the 26th of July Movement, led by Fidel Castro, forced Batista to flee the island. In April 1961, the U.S. launched the Bay of Pigs invasion, an unsuccessful attempt to remove Castro from power. The U.S. followed with an embargo of the island that lasted 60 years. In 1983, Pres. Ronald Reagan labeled Cuba a “terrorist state” and, in 1996, the Helms-Burton Act was adopted, further tightening the embargo. In 2009, Pres. Barack Obama eased some of the restrictions but, in 2017, Pres. Donald Trump reinstated the embargo.

    Congo, 1960 – the U.S. Senate’s 1972 Church Committee found that the CIA “continued to maintain close contact with Congolese who expressed a desire to assassinate [Patrice] Lumumba,” and that “CIA officers encouraged and offered to aid these Congolese in their efforts against Lumumba.”

    Dominican Republic, 1961 — the Church Committee found that the CIA backed the assassination of the dictator, Rafael Trujillo, through the provision of “[m]aterial support, consisting of three pistols and three carbines, was supplied to various dissidents…. United States’ officials knew that the dissidents intended to overthrow Trujillo, probably by assassination…”

    South Vietnam, 1963 – following the defeat of French forces in Dien Bien Phu in 1954 to Vietnamese nationalist forces led by Ho Chi Minh, the U.S. military sought to contain communist from the North; as detailed in the Pentagon Papers, in 1963, South Vietnamese generals — with CIA support — seized and assassinated country’s leader, Ngo Dinh Diem.

    Brazil, 1964 – U.S. Ambassador Lincoln Gordon feared that Brazilian Pres. Joao Goulart would “make Brazil the China of the 1960s” and Pres. Lyndon Johnson told CIA officials planning the coup, “I think we ought to take every step that we can, be prepared to do everything that we need to do.” President Lyndon Johnson told his advisors planning the coup,

    Chile, 1973 – the CIA backed the Chilian military’s violent overthrowing of the democratically elected leader, Salvador Allende, paving the way for the brutal — and U.S.-friendly — Augusto Pinochet

    Afghanistan, 1979-present — during the 1980s, the CIA funded military operations to frustrate the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Fighting between CIA-funded Afghans and the Russians continued through 1988 when the Russians decided to withdraw, and the CIA ended its aid in 1992. However, the attacks of September 11, 2001, led the Bush administration to conduct operations against terrorists throughout the world.  Osama bin Laden, the apparent mastermind behind the September 11th attacks, was based in Afghanistan where a U.S. military occupation will last until September 11, 2021.

    Nicaragua, 1981-1990 – in November 1981, Pres. Reagan signed National Security Directive 17, authorizing the CIA to back “democratic” leaders and take actions against the Sandinistas to stop the spread of “communism” in Nicaragua; in October 1986, Congress approved $100 million in funds for the Contras; the following year, after the discovery of private resupply efforts orchestrated by the National Security Council and Oliver North, Congress ceased all but “non-lethal” aid in 1987. The war between the Sandinistas and the Contras ended with a cease-fire in 1990.

    Russia, 1996 – as originally reported in the Los Angeles Times, “a team of American political strategists who helped Gov. Pete Wilson with his abortive presidential bid earlier this year said this week that they served as Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin’s secret campaign weapon in his comeback win over a Communist challenger.” Following the recent Biden-Putin summit, The Guardian notes,” without the chaos and deprivation of the US-backed Yeltsin era, Putinism would surely not have established itself.”

    Venezuela, 1998-present — since Hugo Chavez was elected president in 1998, the bipartisan Washington establishment has been out to put an end to what has been dubbed Latin America’s “pink tide” of socialism. As The Intercept reported, “In 2002, the Bush administration encouraged and supported a (failed) coup against Chavez. … In 2015, the Obama administration made the absurd decision to formally declare Venezuela an ‘unusual and extraordinary threat’ to U.S. national security.” In 2019, the Trump administration called Nicolás Maduro, “illegitimate” and recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the interim president.

    Presidents lie – it goes with the job. If Biden lied about the U.S.’s role in innumerable coups and regime changes, one can only wonder what else he is lying about.

    More troubling, with the exception of NBC News and The Guardian, the mainstream media chose to ignore or avoid challenging Biden, thus reinforcing their role as echo chambers of Democratic-corporate establishment agenda.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/29/2021 – 00:10

  • India May Have Failed To Count As Many As 1 Million COVID Deaths
    India May Have Failed To Count As Many As 1 Million COVID Deaths

    With nearly 400K COVID-19 deaths, India has the world’s third-highest coronavirus death toll, following the US (in first place with more than 600K+) and Brazil (coming in second with 510K+). For months now, we have been reporting on commentary from analysts and public health experts speculating that India’s total COVID deaths might be 2x the official number. Some journalists have even found evidence of deaths that weren’t included in the official tally.

    On Monday, a story published by WSJ cited modeling from the University of Washington’s IHME institute, the not-very-accurate purveyor of COVID-19 forecasting, which suggests that India’s COVID-19 death toll might be as high as 1.1MM. This would mean that the wave of infections that spread across India in April and May (largely driven by the Delta variant) may have been the deadliest outbreak yet.

    Lacking accurate data on deaths is a problem for scientists trying to determine exactly how much deadlier the “Delta” variant is when compared with earlier strains of the virus. An accurate count is “a very important part of understanding how big a threat new variants are,” said Christopher Murray, director of the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

    Dr. Murray believes the scale of under-counting of COVID-linked deaths in India is similar to the scale of under-counting seen in Africa and Latin America. But even greater than the under-counting of deaths, of course, is the under-counting of total cases, he added that the institute estimates India has detected only about 3% to 5% of all infections due to insufficient testing.

    Another academic believes COVID deaths in India might be as much as 5x higher than the current tally, which would place the death toll closer to 2MM. That’s according to Murad Banaji, a mathematician at the Middlesex University in London who has been tracking the pandemic in India, estimates the country’s real death toll could be around 5x the reported figure, based partly on mortality and serosurvey data (which purports to show the percentage of antibodies in the population, data that has been collected and relied upon by India’s public health authorities).

    Of course, as we noted above, it’s not just India. The WHO believes the true number of COVID-19 cases around the world is 2x to 3x higher than the official tally.

    But India’s undercounting of deaths is especially severe because overwhelmed hospitals started turning away patients during the April-May outbreak, leaving many to die in their homes are cars. Many of these patients weren’t counted because their deaths didn’t take place in a hospital, but at home, without them ever being tested for COVID.

    Several Indian states have set up compensation funds to help families that lost loved ones during the pandemic. However, these funds typically require proof that the death was caused by COVID-19, leaving thousands of families effectively shut out of one of the most reliable sources of government support.

    In the village of Sirondhan in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, for example, Vijay Pal Singh said his 38-year-old wife, Mithilesh Devi, fell ill last month with a fever and struggled to breathe. Mr. Singh said he took her to the village clinic and several hospitals in the district, but none had available beds or testing kits.

    “She died at home, gasping for oxygen,” Mr. Singh said. Her death wasn’t included in the official Covid-19 tally, he added.

    At least 30 people died in the village in late April and early May, many suffering from Covid-like symptoms, according to villagers and social workers. A further 47 died in two neighboring villages.

    Villager Dharamvir Singh said one or two people died almost every day during the worst weeks of the second wave. He says he believes he and four members of his family were infected. No one was tested.

    “The official numbers, at least for our village and a few others close to us, are totally wrong,” Mr. Singh said.

    Government officials in the state insist that the official numbers are correct, and that there are no plans to expand or revise the tallies. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government praises states with lower numbers while castigating states with higher numbers. While some states and cities have adjusted their tallies, the official numbers likely remain far below the true figures. A recent investigation in the state of Bihar found nearly 4,000 more Covid-19 deaths, raising its toll by over 72%.

    At the very least, more communities across India are resorting to COVID prophylactics like Ivermectin, measures that have apparently helped India to finally bring its outbreak under control.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 23:50

  • Former Intel Chief Calls For "Larger Discussion" On UFOs, Warns They Display Technology US Doesn't Have
    Former Intel Chief Calls For “Larger Discussion” On UFOs, Warns They Display Technology US Doesn’t Have

    Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

    Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said that Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP), also known as UFOs, appear to display technology that the United States does not have and could not defend against.

    Ratcliffe made the remarks in an interview on Fox News that aired Saturday, one day after the public release of a much-anticipated government report on UAPs or UFOs (pdf), which found “no clear indications that there is any non-terrestrial explanation” for the aerial phenomena, although it left open the possibility of an alien origin.

    “I’m actually glad that there’s a report out there,” Ratcliffe said in the interview, adding, “the bottom line is, unidentified aerial phenomena—many, many cases we’re able to explain it away for reasons like visual disturbances, or weather phenomenon, or foreign adversaries and their technologies, or even our own experimental technologies with certain aircraft and vehicles.”

    At the same time, he said were are a number of cases where none such explanations applied.

    “What this report really underscores … is that there are a number of instances—and the specific number remains classified—but a number of instances where we’ve ruled all of that out,” he said.

    “And there are technologies that we don’t have and frankly that we are not capable of defending against—based on those things that we’ve seen, multiple sensors, in other words, where not just people visually see it but where it’s picked up on radar, where it’s seen on satellites,” Ratcliffe said, adding that, “it’s an issue of national security.”

    Then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe is seen on the South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, on Dec. 12, 2020. (Al Drago/Getty Images)

    Ratcliffe suggested it’s unsettling that some of the aerial phenomena defy explanation.

    “It’s not good to say, ‘Gosh, we don’t have good answers.’ And so, we have to have a larger discussion to try and figure out specifically what this is all about,” he said.

    The report, which was issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in conjunction with a U.S. Navy-led UAP task force, studied 144 observations of unidentified aerial phenomena, dating back to 2004, of which 11 caused “near misses” for military pilots.

    “UAP pose a hazard to safety of flight and could pose a broader danger if some instances represent sophisticated collection against U.S. military activities by a foreign government or demonstrate a breakthrough aerospace technology by a potential adversary,” the report reads.

    The report added that defense and intelligence analysts don’t have enough data to determine the nature of UAP observed by military pilots, noting that they could fall into a number of categories, including foreign adversary systems, natural atmospheric phenomena, or “other,” a catchall category that, theoretically, could include extraterrestrial technology.

    “UAP clearly pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to U.S. national security,” the report stated, adding that the phenomena “probably lack a single explanation.”

    The Pentagon established the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force last August to explore observations of aircraft of unknown origin. The task force aimed to “detect, analyze and catalogue” such events, and to “gain insight” into the “nature and origins” of UFOs, the Pentagon said.

    In the run up to the release of the report, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said last month that members of Congress and other officials need to seriously investigate UFOs and the potential threat they pose.

    Speaking to CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” the Florida Republican described a “stigma on Capitol Hill,” in which some lawmakers “are very interested in this topic,” but some “kind of giggle when you bring it up.” However, he cautioned, “I don’t think we can allow the stigma to keep us from having an answer to a very fundamental question.”

    The senator said he wants the Pentagon to come up with a process to take UAP seriously.

    “I want us to have a process to analyze the data every time it comes in,” he said. “That there be a place where this is cataloged and constantly analyzed, until we get some answers. Maybe it has a very simple answer. Maybe it doesn’t.”

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 23:30

  • "Scared Me To Death" – 2 Earthquakes Rattle Baltimore City In Days 
    “Scared Me To Death” – 2 Earthquakes Rattle Baltimore City In Days 

    Something very odd is happening around the Baltimore Metropolitan Area, where two earthquakes have been recorded in a matter of days. The occurrence of earthquakes in the metro area is rare. 

    When we think of earthquakes in the US, they’re usually in California, the Coastal Pacific Northwest, Alaska, Hawaii, among other hotbed areas. 

    But Baltimore? 

    WBAL-TV reports that a 2.6 magnitude earthquake rattled the area on Friday, and another 1.7 magnitude hit on Sunday. 

    “These little ones like this are just a very quick jolt,” Dan Blakeman, a geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS), told The Baltimore Sun newspaper. 

    “The 1.7 — if it turns out to have been felt, and it’s possible — it’d just be by people very close to where it happened,” Blakeman said.

    “There could be a couple of others here,” Blakeman continued. “A lot of times, you’ll get small quakes like this, and we’ll have maybe three or four of them, and we just call it a swarm, basically because there’s no real big aftershock. There’s no way to predict if there will be another one or not.”

    Wanda Binns, a resident of Woodlawn, the epicenter of the first quake, told WBAL, “it scared me to death. Certainly, you would expect to see it on the West Coast. Who would think of something like this happening here?”

    “It was a little scary,” said Kim Dixon of Woodlawn. “There was shaking of the house that I never experienced before.”

    The last quake to strike the area was felt in 2011 when a 5.8 magnitude was recorded in Richmond, Virginia. 

    Is the awakening of an ancient fault on the East Coast in nearing? 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 23:10

  • Critical Race Theory Banned In 6 States (That's 44 States Too Few)
    Critical Race Theory Banned In 6 States (That’s 44 States Too Few)

    Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

    Critical Race Theory (CRT) is banned in 6 states and pending bans in at least 18 more.

    What Is Critical Race Theory?

    Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic movement of civil-rights scholars and activists in the United States who seek to critically examine U.S. law as it intersects with issues of race in the U.S. and to challenge mainstream American liberal approaches to racial justice.

    CRT views race and white supremacy as an intersectional social construction which serves to oppress people of color and marginalized communities at large (i.e gender and class).

    CRT emphasizes that merely making laws colorblind on paper may not be enough to make the application of the laws colorblind; ostensibly colorblind laws can be applied in racially discriminatory ways. 

    The above snip is from Wikipedia. The map is from NBC News on June 17, somehow missing Florida.

    CRT may seem benign at first glance, but it’s not. The third snip above holds one of the keys. 

    How activists and educators preach and teach CRT is the key to understanding how divisive the theory is in practice.

    Activists claim America is fundamentally racist, math is racist, the SAT College Entrance Exam is racist, and Whites are racists simply by being White.  

    Critical Race Theory Poll

    The above chart is from the YouGov report Just one-third of Americans have heard of critical race theory and believe they know what it means.

    The chart says the poll was January 23-June 15. The Poll Data it says the survey was June 13-June 15 a more believable date range. 

    Critical Race Theory by Gender and Race

    The above data is unweighted. The first chart reflects weighted data. Only blacks support CRT. 

    The poll lacks seriously needs a question regarding CRT as actually taught. 

    If more people actually understood what is going on, “bad for America” would soar.

    Battle Over Critical Race Theory

    With the above background set, please consider the WSJ article Battle Over Critical Race Theory

    Critical race theory is the latest battleground in the culture war. Since the murder of George Floyd last year, critical race theory’s key concepts, including “systemic racism,” “white privilege,” and “white fragility,” have become ubiquitous in America’s elite institutions. Progressive politicians have sought to implement “antiracist” policies to reduce racial disparities, such as minorities-only income programs and racially segregated vaccine distribution.

    The ideology has sparked an immense backlash. As Americans have sought to understand critical race theory, they have discovered that it has divided Americans into racial categories of “oppressor” and “oppressed” and promotes radical concepts such as “spirit murder” (what public schools supposedly do to black children) and “abolishing whiteness” (a purported precondition for social justice). In the classroom, critical race theory-inspired lessons have often devolved into race-based struggle sessions, with public schools forcing children to rank themselves according to a racial hierarchy, subjecting white teachers to “antiracist therapy,” and encouraging parents to become “white traitors.”

    According to a recent YouGov survey, of the 64% of Americans who have heard about critical race theory, 58% view it unfavorably, including 72% of political independents.

    That’s a major liability for the political left. Sensing that they are losing control of the narrative on race, left-leaning media outlets have launched a furious counterattack. Liberal pundits at the New York Times, Washington Post, MSNBC and elsewhere have begun spinning a new mythology that presents critical race theory as a benign academic concept, casts its detractors as right-wing extremists driven by racial resentment, and portrays legislation against critical race theory as an attempt to ban teaching about the history of slavery and racism. All three charges are false.

    The most successful campaigns have been led by racial minorities who oppose the manipulative and harmful practices of critical race theory in the classroom. Asian-Americans in particular have argued that critical race theory will undermine merit-based admissions, advanced learning programs and academic standards.

    Left is Losing the Debate

    The Journal notes that revolts against critical race theory training at high schools in liberal cities such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. 

    I have commented on CRT previously, not necessarily by that name. 

    Racial Profiling

    On May 16, 2019 I discussed College Entrance Exam SAT Score Racial Profiling where 964=1223.

    To compensate for the fact that Blacks score lower on average than Asians and Whites, SAT to Give Students ‘Adversity Score’ and colleges are using that score. Numerous lawsuits ensued. 

    On December 9, 2019, diversity scores were in full swing as noted in Adversity Scores: The Latest Dumbing Down of US Education

    I did not associate SAT racial profiling with CRT, but that is what’s behind it.

    Political Interviews

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

    Math is Racist

    On May 4, 2021, I noted To Promote Equality, California Proposes a Ban on Advanced Math Classes

    Actual California Board of Education Statements

    • The inequity of mathematics tracking in California can be undone through a coordinated approach in grades 6–12.

    • Middle-school students are best served in heterogeneous classes.

    • The push to calculus in grade twelve is itself misguided.

    • To encourage truly equitable and engaging mathematics classrooms we need to broaden perceptions of mathematics beyond methods and answers so that students come to view mathematics as a connected, multi-dimensional subject that is about sense making and reasoning, to which they can contribute and belong.

    The Woke Liberals Have a Bad Case of Progressophobia

    The situation is so extreme that even Leftist Bill Maher has had enough.

    In a scathing attack on CRT, Maher says The Woke Liberals Have a Bad Case of Progressophobia. 

    Please click on the link for a video and transcript.

    To stop this nonsense in it tracks, six states have banned teaching CRT. It’s a case of 6 down 44 to go.

    Whether voters understand the CRT name or not, they can see what’s happening.

    Appellate Court Strikes Down a Piece of Biden’s Race-Based America Rescue Plan

    On May 28, I noted Appellate Court Strikes Down a Piece of Biden’s Race-Based America Rescue Plan

    The Court ruled: “The Way to Stop Discrimination on the Basis of Race Is to Stop Discriminating on the Basis of Race.”

    I suspect a strong voter backlash against Biden’s radical attempts to appease Progressives and states efforts to promote race discrimination in the alleged name of justice.

    *  *  *

    Like these reports? I hope so, and if you do, please Subscribe to MishTalk Email Alerts.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 22:50

  • New Study Finds COVID-19 'Very Well Adapted' To Specifically Infect Humans
    New Study Finds COVID-19 ‘Very Well Adapted’ To Specifically Infect Humans

    An Australian team of researchers has published a new study which found that SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, appears to be specifically adapted to attack human cells, according to the Daily Telegraph.

    Flinders University professor and vaccine researcher Dr Nikolai Petrovsky was part of a team that discovered that Covid-19 is uniquely adapted to attack human cells.

    The scientists from Flinders University and La Trobe used powerful computers to model the protein receptors in a number of animal species to see how the coronavirus’s spike protein attached itself to them.

    The theory was that if the coronavirus attached itself readily to an animal like a bat or a pangolin, it would have likely been the species that the bug used to make its leap into the human population.

    However, the modelling found that the coronavirus’s spike protein was best suited to attacking protein receptors in humans.

    “The computer modelling found the virus’s ability to bind to the bat ACE2 protein was poor relative to its ability to bind human cells,” said Flinders University epidemiologist and vaccine researcher Professor Nikolai Petrovsky, adding “This argues against the virus being transmitted directly from bats to humans.”

    “Hence, if the virus has a natural source, it could only have come to humans via an intermediary species which has yet to be found.”

    Other animals found to be relative susceptible to infection include pangolins, dogs and cats – all of which have been ruled out as an intermediary species between bats and humans.

    RMSD of overlay of S protein RBD (pink = with pangolin and turquoise = with human) complex with human ACE2 (red) or pangolin ACE2 (blue) after MD simulation showing different geometry of the two complexes.

    “Overall, putting aside the intriguing pangolin ACE2 results, our study showed that the COVID-19 virus was very well adapted to infect humans,” Professor Petrovsky said.

    The findings lend more weight to the lab-origin theory, which postulates that researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology became infected with SARS-CoV-2 and inadvertently spread the disease, or that it was intentionally released.

    The Australian team’s report, In silico comparison of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-ACE2 binding affinities across species and implications for virus origin, can be found in the journal Scientific Reports.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 22:30

  • 542% Increase In Convicted Sex Offenders Arrested At Border
    542% Increase In Convicted Sex Offenders Arrested At Border

    Authored by Charlotte Cuthbertson via The Epoch Times,

    Border Patrol agents have arrested 353 illegal aliens with sex-related criminal convictions so far this fiscal year. A large number of the detainees had prior convictions for crimes involving a minor.

    In the same period in fiscal 2020, agents apprehended 55 criminal sex offenders, and 58 total in all of fiscal 2019.

    The number of criminals illegally crossing the southwest border has spiked in tandem with the border crossing surge this year. Convicted criminals are the most likely population of illegal aliens trying to avoid capture by Border Patrol.

    Border Patrol has detected more than 250,000 illegal aliens who have evaded capture so far this year, according to the newly-appointed Acting Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz on June 24. It’s impossible to estimate how many have evaded Border Patrol without detection.

    “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t read a paper or a report from my agents that talks about criminal aliens, sexual offenders that they’ve apprehended out there,” Ortiz said during an event in Del Rio, Texas.

    “Those folks aren’t getting released in these communities. Guess what happens to them? They go to jail. When they get out of jail, they go back to their country of origin.”

    According to reports by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), many of the criminals being caught have already been deported, sometimes on multiple occasions.

    On June 24, agents in Rio Grande City, Texas, arrested convicted sex offender, Benito Gomez-Lopez, from Mexico. Gomez-Lopez was arrested in May 2020 by the Burleigh County Sheriff’s Department in North Dakota for possession of certain prohibited materials and promoting a sexual performance by a minor, according to CBP.

    He pleaded guilty to both counts and was sentenced to three years confinement, but was repatriated to Mexico in July 2020.

    On June 14, a Peruvian child rapist was arrested by Border Patrol after he entered the United States illegally near Roma, Texas, according to CBP. Pedro Asuncion ORE-Quispe, 43, had been deported in 2020 after serving over five years for felony rape of a child in Idaho.

    On June 20, Mexican national Isidro Efrain Gallardo-Rangel was apprehended as part of a group of 24 illegal aliens near Laredo. Gallardo-Rangel is a registered sex offender with an extensive criminal history and a conviction for indecency with a child in 2018 in Dallas, Texas, according to CBP.

    U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz at a community meeting in Del Rio, Texas, on June 24, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

    Del Rio Sector

    Once a relatively quiet region for illegal border crossings, the Del Rio Sector in Texas is now the second busiest, after the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas.

    “We’ve seen a tremendous increase. So far this year, this fiscal year, today, we’ve caught 144,000 people in the Del Rio sector,” said sector chief Austin Skero on June 24.

    “We’ve gone through this before—we’ve seen these increases, these surges, for the last 30 or 40 years. It’s never been this bad. I’ll tell you that straight up, I’ve never seen it this bad.”

    Skero said the sector has seen a 1,400 percent increase in the number of sex offenders arrested by Border Patrol agents.

    A photo from a game camera that caught illegal aliens walking through private ranch land in Jim Hogg County, Texas, on March 25, 2021. (Courtesy of Susan Kibbe)

    A Del Rio resident said that prior to January he had seen two illegal aliens pass through his backyard.

    Now, he said, it’s hundreds a day.

    “I have four daughters—does it concern me when you say there’s a 1,400 percent increase in sex offenders? Yes, it concerns me,” the resident said during a border update on June 24.

    “I’m concerned about the single men who are running through my backyard, sneaking. And I’m about a 50 percent  success rate on whether or not I get an agent to come out to my place when I call. And when they do, it’s awesome, they bring helicopters, they bring support.

    “Otherwise, I’m sitting there unarmed and there’s a guy soaking wet in my backyard screaming at me in Spanish. I don’t know what to do with this guy.”

    The resident asked Border Patrol if they could provide some type of training to citizens to prepare them for such encounters.

    Skero suggested for residents to not engage with illegal aliens who are on their property and to call Border Patrol.

    “We’re going to come just as soon as we can. Sometimes it will be immediate, sometimes it might take us an hour.”

    But, he said, if an illegal immigrant is endangering a resident’s family, or is being assaultive, call 911.

    Del Rio Border Patrol Sector Chief Austin Skero at a press conference in Del Rio, Texas, on June 24, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

    State Response

    At the behest of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) started surging extra law enforcement resources to the border beginning in March.

    In the three months from March 4 through June 3, DPS has arrested 1,489 criminals.

    In addition, State Troopers have been involved in 340 vehicle pursuits along the border and have dealt with 630 vehicle bailouts. A bailout occurs when a vehicle being pulled by law enforcement stops and the illegal immigrant occupants scatter and flee to avoid capture.

    Abbott issued a state of disaster declaration on June 10, highlighting 34 border counties that are struggling with cross-border crime and illegal immigration.

    “We’re going to start making arrests, sending a message to anyone thinking about coming here: You’re not getting a free pass. You’re getting a straight pass to a jail cell,” Abbott said.

    Last week a prison unit in Dilley, Texas, was being emptied in preparation for illegal alien criminals.

    Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey also issued a call for help to other governors on June 10.

    “With your help, we can apprehend more of these perpetrators of state and federal crimes, before they can cause problems in your state,” Abbott and Ducey, both Republicans, wrote in a letter.

    So far, several Republican governors have pledged support by way of sending law enforcement personnel or National Guard troops.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 22:10

  • India Sends 50,000 More Troops To Disputed Chinese Border In Major Escalation
    India Sends 50,000 More Troops To Disputed Chinese Border In Major Escalation

    After a past year of continued simmering Himalayan border tensions, particularly after the deadly June 2020 incident wherein Chinese and Indian border troops were in a fierce clash, India has escalated its stance by moving 50,000 additional troops to the Chinese border. 

    While the nuclear armed nation already has an estimated 200,000 stationed there, Bloomberg is reporting the alarming “historic shift towards an offensive military posture against the world’s second-biggest economy“. 

    Times of India: ongoing troop surge to border.

    New Delhi is framing this as a necessary response to China’s own high altitude build-up, which reportedly stretches back to last summer, when there were skirmishes particularly along the India-Chinese border Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Galwan Valley. China has even of late reportedly militarized high altitude civilian airbases along it border with India.

    Chinese permanent or semi-permanent bases began to appear in that disputed region, as well as tanks and artillery units late last summer into Fall of 2020. The initial June 15 Galwan Valley incident which left 20 Indian troops dead and an untold number of PLA casualties, had been the worst incident in years.

    Here’s more on the significance of this “Goliath vs. Goliath” moment which too few among Western pundits seem to be taking enough notice off via Rabobank…

    While previous deployments were aimed at blocking Chinese intrusions, the latest reportedly allows “Indian commanders more options to attack and seize territory in China if necessary in a strategy known as an ‘offensive defense.'” This is in response to a Chinese build-up, including the construction of airfields, runway buildings, bomb-proof bunkers, fighter jets, long-range artillery, and tanks. Markets will ignore the very fat tail risks inherent in two Asian Goliaths acting like this because of the liquidity provided by the US central-bank giant – yet the latter has no real sway in this sphere.   

    So all of this means we could soon witness another deadly border conflict on par with the June 15, 2020 fight which resulted in multiple rounds of attempted military-to-military peace talks.

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

    While those talks did appear to effectively diffuse the immediate potential for the outbreak of a wider border war, they clearly didn’t do much in terms of deterring a troop build-up on either side.

    Below: map showing contested border regions with both Pakistan and China, including site of the last Galwan Valley clash, which gained international attention resulting in a series of threats and counter-threats at the time…

    On this note, one Indian former army commander pointed out to Bloomberg that “Having so many soldiers on either side is risky when border management protocols have broken down,” given that “Both sides are likely to patrol the disputed border aggressively. A small local incident could spiral out of control with unintended consequences.”

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 21:50

  • Jason Whitlock: Dear Black America, We Are Being Lied To…
    Jason Whitlock: Dear Black America, We Are Being Lied To…

    Authored by Jason Whitlock via TheBlaze.com, (emphasis ours)

    Dear Black People:

    We are being lied to and set up. The mainstream media, Democratic politicians, social justice activists, and perhaps even your church pastor have led you to believe America is in the midst of a racial conflict similar to the Civil War and the civil rights movement.

    They have pitted us against the Proud Boys, the KKK, rural militia groups, and Trump supporters in a made-for-TV race war. Just five years after Barack Obama completed two terms as president of the United States, we’re supposed to believe America has been overrun by violent white supremacists determined to reinstate segregation, Jim Crow laws, and maybe even slavery.

    Evidence of this massive wave of 1920s-style bigotry amounts to three things:

    1) Republicans want all voters to show a government-issued ID;

    2) On January 6, unarmed Trump supporters crashed the Capitol and took pictures inside Nancy Pelosi’s office;

    3) Across the nation, police kill on average 250 black men and 450 white men per year.

    Oh, I almost forgot. There’s a fourth piece of evidence. Colin Kaepernick failed to land a job as a starting quarterback after pissing off a large segment of football fans by taking a knee during the national anthem.

    Those are the main smoking guns proving that white supremacy is the most dangerous domestic threat America faces. George Floyd, a habitual criminal and drug addict, is the Crispus Attucks of this raging race war. He is our rallying cry and hero.

    It’s a setup. We’re being used as decoys and distractions in a war that has nothing to do with race.

    The real war is about global power and the future of America’s system of government. This country’s elite, global citizens, and corporations prefer communism over capitalism and democracy. They prefer China’s system over our system.

    America has been the world’s leader in racial progress and fairness. The mainstream media are not allowed to explain this to you. Advertisers, aka major corporations, will no longer support media outlets that back our current democratic and capitalistic systems of governance.

    You say, what about Fox News? Turn it on. It’s filled with a bunch of MyPillow and wounded soldier commercials. America’s big, global corporations, the ones looking to improve their market share in China, are not financially supporting Fox News. The most popular voices at Fox News dislike China.

    The faux race war the mainstream media have promoted is a tool being used to convince you and non-black Americans that our system of government has been a giant failure.

    They want you to believe that a great reset is necessary to achieve fairness.

    The reset is communism, which starts with the gateway drug of socialism and ends in full-blown Marxism. China is run by the Communist Chinese Party. Communism has no respect for individual freedom or religion of any kind. Communism has no tolerance for political dissent.

    Your religion and free speech will not survive the reset. Communism is racial oppression’s best friend. When a nation is stripped of religious faith and free speech, few people have the courage to defend the rights of minorities. The elites cozying up to China do not care about you. They are aware of how despicably China treats black people. They are aware of how China squashes dissent.

    Do your own research on communism and what it stamps out and how it oppresses. Don’t take my word.

    You might be wondering why Oprah Winfrey or LeBron James or some other super popular black celebrity isn’t telling you what I am. They’re global elites. The reset won’t hurt them or their loved ones. Communism favors wealthy elites far more than capitalism and democracy do. Oprah, LeBron, and the other uber-wealthy black tokens will thrive under socialism and communism.

    You won’t. Unless you’re a 6’6″ basketball star or some other black entertainer capable of entertaining the people in power. That’s a tiny percentage of black people.

    Why won’t your favorite white cable newsman or newswoman tell you what I’m telling you? Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper, Chris Cuomo, Joe Scarborough, aren’t they our allies? No. They’re not. They’re political lobbyists working on behalf of the corporations and politicians pushing the reset.

    OK. What about me? You might think I’m a political partisan working on behalf of conservative Republicans. That is certainly how I’ve been painted by left-leaning media outlets and social media platforms. And I’m now partnered with Blaze Media, a platform that leans right.

    Judge my career. I have been at this for more than 30 years. I have been equally despised by the left and the right. I have publicly feuded with Bill O’Reilly and Keith Olbermann. I’ve been a guest on their old Fox News and MSNBC shows. I’ve worked and/or written for ESPN, Fox Sports, the Huffington Post, Playboy Magazine, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal. I spent years bashing Sarah Palin.

    I don’t play for any political team. I’ve never voted. I go wherever I believe I can speak, follow, and write the truth. The truth I believe the most is that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.

    I believe Jesus is under attack. That’s why I’m at Blaze Media. You can’t defend Jesus at corporate media outlets. Advertisers won’t allow it. You can discuss the religion of racism every day at ESPN, CNN, MSNBC, and even Fox Sports. But it’s taboo to discuss the cure for racism — Jesus — on those platforms.

    I’m not saying any of this because there’s a big paycheck for black men espousing my views. The money for black broadcasters and journalists is connected to preaching the race-bait religion.

    Let me be clear. I’m not broke by any stretch. I’ve earned and saved a substantial sum of money. But I’ve bypassed far more money than I’ve earned with the choice I’ve made to follow the truth wherever it leads and my refusal to support the racial groupthink dictated by global elites.

    My faith won’t allow me to jump on board with the lunacy, racism, and sacrilege of Black Lives Matter, a movement founded by three lesbian self-admitted trained Marxists. BLM is an atheist movement in support of LGBTQ issues and the reshaping of America into a communist country. BLM is part of the deception.

    Black people tell me all the time: “I don’t support the BLM organization, but I support the slogan and sentiment.”

    Let me translate that. You despise the devil’s tree but love the fruit it produces. That’s some Don Lemon-Lori Lightfoot-Van Jones-Colin Kaepernick level of hypocrisy. You know, all the Malcolm X-wannabe, anti-white radicals in relationships with white partners. They hate the white tree but can’t live without the white fruit.

    We have to stop letting everyone use us. We’re being played. We’re all being played, black and white working-class people. It’s all a giant setup. Look at what they did to Trump supporters. They were manipulated into storming the Capitol, and then the corporate media portrayed it as a bloody, violent KKK rally intended to overthrow democracy. The so-called “insurrection” is an excuse for the government to seize more power and crush dissent.

    We, black people, have been convinced the crushing of working-class white people is good for us.

    It’s not. Working-class white people, Christian white people, are our true allies, not the elites. We can’t see that because of the made-for-TV hyper-focus on racial conflict.

    The defunding and demoralizing of police are tactics deployed to increase violence in major cities. Local media outlets are focusing on this rise in crime, national media outlets have followed suit, and social media platforms are generating viral videos exposing the crime wave.

    Guess who are the stars of this content. Black perpetrators.

    It’s all a massive setup. The stirring of racial animus between Obama worshippers and Trump worshippers is orchestrated by billionaire elites, executed by trained Marxists, promoted by millionaire influencers in the media, sports, and entertainment worlds, and co-signed by religious leaders pursuing popularity.

    Black America, print this letter and share it with family, friends, co-workers, and, most importantly, your pastor.

    My critics will tell you: “Oh, Jason Whitlock is a sellout. He hates black people.”

    That’s laughable. It’s part of the deception. I despise the people deceiving us, manipulating us to participate in a racial clash that will be used to destroy the religious and individual freedoms that liberated us.

    There’s a reason black and brown people across the globe fight to get into this country and excel when they do. They love the American tree and the fruit it produces.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 21:30

  • State Media Admits Kim Jong Un Looks "Emaciated", Says Population Is "Heartbroken"
    State Media Admits Kim Jong Un Looks “Emaciated”, Says Population Is “Heartbroken”

    “Everyone in North Korea is heartbroken over leader Kim Jong Un’s apparent weight loss, said an unidentified resident of Pyongyang quoted on the country’s tightly controlled state media, after watching recent video footage of Kim.” That’s according to Reuters after regional media has for a couple of weeks been consumed with speculation based on examinations of recent before and after photos.

    In mid-June, North Korean state media had issued new photos of Kim, after the strongman ruler hadn’t been seen publicly for a month. Compared to just a few months prior, he exhibited rapid weight loss. From then, side-by-side photo sets have been continuously analyzed for clues of what could be driving the new gaunter, thinner appearance: perhaps disease? or just a healthier diet and workout regimen? Extreme stress over the food and health crisis deeply impacting the country?

    Via NK News, based on a KCTV, June 22, 2021 appearance.

    What’s more unusual, strongly suggesting something serious could be happening with his health, is that his appearance is actually subject of commentary on North Korean state media itself.

    This further suggests Pyongyang wants the world to know something is going on:

    “Seeing our respected comrade General Secretary [Kim Jong Un] become emaciated like that, all the people became so heartbroken,” said a middle-aged man in an interview aired Friday evening.

    “Everyone is talking about it. We all just started to cry,” the man added. Korean Central Television (KCTV) aired the interview in a program on reactions from around the country to new propaganda songs released this week glorifying Kim and the ruling party.

    Given there’s a rapidly worsening food scarcity crisis inside North Korea, which Kim himself has increasingly addressed with unusual bluntness in official statements, Kim’s thinness could also be an intentional effort to display a “solidarity of suffering” of sorts with the common citizenry.

    Thus his appearance itself (possibly manipulated or edited in state broadcasts?) could be part of a propaganda effort to induce greater sympathy among the populace as well as globally.

    It was just weeks ago that Kim “warned about possible food shortages and called for his people to brace for extended Covid-19 restrictions as he opened a major political conference to discuss national efforts to salvage a broken economy.”

    Recent video of Kim entering state chambers while looking gaunt…

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

    For over the past year North Korea has been even more isolated than usual, with Pyongyang having ordered a total closure of all borders in efforts to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from spreading – a drastic move which at the same time has resulted in less food and medicines making it in.

    In addition to the widespread media attention given to Kim’s health, South Korean and Western intelligence agencies routinely monitor his appearance, looking for signs of health or other issues.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 21:10

  • NSA Whistleblower Reveals To Tucker Carlson That Biden Admin Spying On His Communications
    NSA Whistleblower Reveals To Tucker Carlson That Biden Admin Spying On His Communications

    Tucker Carlson says an NSA whistleblower has stepped forward and provided evidence that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been spying on him.

    “Yesterday we heard from a whistleblower within the US government, who reached out to warn us that the NSA (National Security Agency) has been monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air,” said Carlson.

    “The whistleblower, who is in a position to know, repeated back to us information about a story that we are working on, that could have only come directly from my texts and emails. There’s no other possible source for that information, period. The NSA captured that information without our knowledge, and did it for political reasons.

    The Biden administration is spying on is. We have confirmed that. This morning we filed a FOIA request asking for all information that the NSA and other agencies have gathered about this show.”

    Watch:

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsReaders will of course be familiar with the NSA spying revelations brought to light by Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks. Now let’s review some more recent headlines:

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 20:56

  • 5 Signs That Show That The Depravity In America Has Reached An Entirely New Level
    5 Signs That Show That The Depravity In America Has Reached An Entirely New Level

    Authored by Michael Snyder via The End of The American Dream blog,

    No matter how bad things get in this country, you can rest assured that we will always find a way to sink even lower.  From the very lowest levels of society all the way to the very highest levels of society, the level of depravity that we are now witnessing all around us is absolutely stunning.  At this point, most Americans do not have any sort of a solid moral foundation, and it shows.  Everyone is just basically doing whatever seems right in their own eyes, and that has resulted in complete and utter chaos.  We are a very, very sick nation, and we are getting even sicker with each passing day. 

    Let me give you five examples of what I am talking about…

    #1 25-year-old Joel Davis was supposed to be one of the good guys.  He was nominated for a Nobel prize after founding an organization that sought to end sexual violence against children, but how he has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for doing things that are absolutely unthinkable…

    The founder of an organization dedicated to ending child sex abuse has been sentenced to 13 years in prison on child rape and child pornography charges.

    Joel Davis, 25, was convicted of ‘enticing a child to engage in illegal sexual activity,’ possession and distribution of child pornography, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Audrey Strauss announced on Tuesday.

    Of course Davis is far from alone.  There are 780,407 registered sex offenders in America today, but that number only includes those that have actually been caught.

    At this point, our society is absolutely teeming with sexual predators, and they are represented on every level of society.

    #2 Country music fans are supposed to be much better behaved than most other music fans, but even they are starting to behave like crazed mindless zombies.  During a “Redneck Rave” in Kentucky this past weekend, there were numerous acts of violence and four dozen people were charged with various crimes…

    Police said that by the end of the five-day bash, dubbed the “Redneck Rave,” one man had been impaled, one woman had been strangled to the point of unconsciousness, and one throat had been slit. In all, Edmonson authorities arrested 14 people, and charged four dozen people from five states.

    If even country music fans are starting to get this wild, I think that is a really troubling sign for our society as a whole.

    #3 Chicago has been a very violent city for a long time, but when Yasmin Perez and Gyovanni Arzuaga were dragged out of their vehicles and shot by an angry mob, it shocked the entire world…

    Disturbing video footage circulating on social-media that apparently captured the 9:15 p.m. assault shows the victims either being pulled or falling out of their car — which was flying a Puerto Rican flag — then blasted at close-range by a single gunman.

    Arzuaga, 24, was fatally shot in the head, while Perez, the 25-year-old mother of the couple’s two children, was left in critical condition from a gunshot to the neck, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

    We have now learned that Perez has died too.

    The couple had two children together, and now both of their parents are dead.

    What are those two children supposed to do now?

    #4 According to text messages obtained by the Daily Mail, it appears that Hunter Biden paid a Russian prostitute $25,000 using a financial account that was linked to his very famous father…

    Hotel bills show Hunter then moved to a $470-per-night room at The Jeremy in West Hollywood later that month, where he hired another escort while under the protection of two recently retired Secret Service agents.

    And messages saved on the laptop show Joe Biden might have inadvertently been the person actually paying the bill for the wild week, according to the messages obtained by the Post.

    In recent days, a number of extremely shocking revelations about Hunter Biden and the Biden family have come out in the British press.

    But the bigger story is that the corporate media in the United States is almost completely ignoring these revelations.  Telling the truth about the Bidens would hurt the agendas that they are trying to push, and so the Bidens are off limits for now.

    Our corporate media is deeply, deeply corrupt, and that isn’t going to change.

    #5 The week, we learned that a CDC “safety group” has acknowledged that COVID shots are causing many teens to develop a “heart inflammatory condition”…

    A CDC safety group said there’s a “likely association” between a rare heart inflammatory condition in adolescents and young adults mostly after they’ve received their second Covid-19 vaccine shot, citing the most recent data available.

    There have been more than 1,200 cases of a myocarditis or pericarditis mostly in people 30 and under who received Pfizer’s or Moderna’s Covid vaccine, according to a series of slide presentations published Wednesday for a meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

    Even though they know that this is happening, they are just going to keep giving injections to more kids.

    In the end, how many thousands upon thousands of young Americans will develop myocarditis or pericarditis as a result?

    I could make this list much longer, but I think by now you get my point.

    From the very top to the very bottom, the very fabric of our society is coming apart at the seams.

    So many of the “good guys” turn out to be quite evil, and often the wickedness in the halls of power is even worse than it is in our streets.

    Millions of Americans are working so hard to find a political solution to our problems, but the truth is that there is great depravity all across the political spectrum.  Replacing one set of depraved politicians with another set of depraved politicians is not going to accomplish much of anything.

    In the end, what we are facing is a heart problem.  The hearts of the American people need to change, but at this point much of the population is eagerly rushing toward more evil as rapidly as they can.

    Many of us will continue to call for a renewal in America, but time is running out.

    There is a little bit less sand in the hourglass with each passing day, and it won’t be too long before we reach the moment when it is entirely empty.

    *  *  *

    Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 20:50

  • Israel Sees Explosion Of Cases In Vaccinated Patients Caused By "Delta" Variant
    Israel Sees Explosion Of Cases In Vaccinated Patients Caused By “Delta” Variant

    More evidence is emerging to suggest that the Delta COVID variant poses a very real threat, even to patients who have already been fully vaccinated.

    As a reminder, the WHO’s new naming scheme has the most pervasive variants named after greek letters. Right now, the Delta variant is causing the most trouble worldwide.

    Source: SCMP

    It prompted UK PM Boris Johnson to delaying the end of the UK’s COVID-19 restrictions, which have been rolled back with agonizing slowness, as many Britons have complained. It is also now causing a wave of lockdowns and travel restrictions around the world as countries with lower vaccination rates have come to see it as a serious threat. Meanwhile, despite Israel’s efforts to try and suppress the variant, more cases of Delta have been detected across the country, forcing Israel’s public health authorities to consider more drastic measures.

    An outbreak of the Delta variant in Israel has spread to many vaccinated people, with about half of the adults infected already being fully innocualted with the Pfizer vaccine. Along with Moderna’s jab, the two mRNA-based vaccines are believed to be more than 90% effective against preventing COVID-19. Still, as more evidence of spread among the vaccinated arises, Pfizer and Moderna will have more incentive to market “booster” vaccines as they transition to protecting the vulnerable against COVID over the long term.

    Ran Balicer, the head of Israel’s COVID-19 government advisory committee, said that about 90% of new infections in the country were likely caused by the Delta variant.

    “The entrance of the Delta variant has changed the transmission dynamics,” Balicer said.

    Children under the age of 16, most of whom haven’t yet been vaccinated, accounted for roughly half of the new cases.

    Israel has seen the Delta variant drive cases higher for the first time in months, as the average daily count of new cases has risen to 200 from around 10 a day for most of June. It doesn’t look like much, but public health officials fear it might be the start of another wave of infections, undermining PM Bennett and former PM Netanyahu’s efforts to crush COVID entirely.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 20:30

  • Is China's Bitcoin Mining Ban A Benefit In Disguise?
    Is China’s Bitcoin Mining Ban A Benefit In Disguise?

    Authored by Fan Yu via The Epoch Times,

    Beijing’s broadening ban on cryptocurrency mining has – for now – crippled the industry and sent bitcoin prices collapsing. But as bitcoin miners move to other regions and countries, China’s recent action could usher a period of greater stability for the cryptocurrency.

    More diverse distribution of mining power and higher usage of renewable energy could also be in store.

    In late May, China’s State Council issued treatises to crack down on bitcoin trading and mining. The notices came after China’s central bank began implementing its own digital currency.

    The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) deems cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin a nuisance, disrupting economic order and facilitating illegal transfers of wealth. In addition, Beijing has decried the massive power consumption of bitcoin miners.

    Following the CCP’s call, several provinces and territories including Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Sichuan, have begun enforcement measures to shut down mining operations.

    And this has sent bitcoin prices tumbling. Bitcoin prices plunged below $30,000 the week of June 14 after hitting its all-time highs above $60,000 in April.

    Why the tumble? The CCP’s ban on mining has disrupted the computing power available to maintain and update the bitcoin blockchain.

    China was estimated to hold more than half of bitcoin’s mining capacity, with the majority of bitcoin miners located in the Xinjiang Autonomous region and Sichuan province. Around 65 percent of the world’s bitcoin mining was located in China as of 2020, according to an analysis by the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index. While that market share has declined somewhat more recently, China still dominates bitcoin processing power.

    Unlike mining operations of minerals such as gold and iron, bitcoin mining does not involve hulking equipment. Bitcoin miners utilize warehouses of computers to solve computational problems to verify transaction, update, and maintain the bitcoin blockchain. In effect, the miners keep the bitcoin blockchain updated and in turn, are compensated with new blocks of bitcoin for their work.

    Since China’s ban bitcoin’s hash rate—the computational power available to mine the cryptocurrency, which is a reflection of the efficiency of the bitcoin blockchain network—has dropped by nearly 50 percent over the last month, according to data from cryptocurrency firm The Block. Xinjiang and Sichuan provinces alone are thought to have contributed to 30 percent of total mining power.

    This is definitely a near-term headwind for the industry. But China’s crackdown could be a long-term net positive development for the cryptocurrency industry.

    For one, neither China’s ban nor the subsequent collapse in hash rates should be surprising. In fact, it’s shocking that so much bitcoin mining power was concentrated in China to begin with.

    The CCP has been battling cryptocurrencies for almost a decade. Back in 2013, Beijing barred all financial institutions from handling cryptocurrencies. China then banned all initial coin offerings in 2017. By mid-2019, the People’s Bank of China blocked access to all domestic and foreign cryptocurrency exchanges to snuff out trading activity. While the CCP stopped short of declaring ownership of cryptocurrencies illegal, it had in effect banned all forms of trading and exchange, including barring domestic financial institutions from exchanging digital currencies with the yuan. Those actions were mostly centered around limiting wealth transfer but the CCP’s intent has been clear since 2013.

    So what does this mean for bitcoin and bitcoin mining? In the near term, with bitcoin mining capacity decreasing due to the CCP’s crack down, bitcoin mining becomes much more lucrative.

    “As more hashrate falls off the network, difficulty will adjust downwards, and the hashrate that remains active on the network will receive more for their proportional share of the mining rewards,” Kevin Zhang, vice president of crypto mining equipment company The Foundry, said in a recent CNBC interview. In other words, the incremental “reward” for mining bitcoins is higher when there are fewer miners.

    But there are other longer term positives.

    Less geographic concentration promises to make the bitcoin blockchain less vulnerable to the whims and regulations of a single country. Many Chinese mining operations have shipped their equipment abroad, with the United States and Kazakhstan as net beneficiaries.

    For example, the Shenzhen-based and NYSE-listed BIT Mining has shipped most of its mining equipment outside China, according to statement from the company. Approximately 320 mining machines were delivered to a facility in Kazakhstan and the company said its operations should be back online by June 27.

    A large portion of mining is expected to shift to the United States. CNBC’s Eunice Yoon tweeted on June 21 that a Guangzhou-based logistics firm was transporting 6,600 lbs of bitcoin mining computers destined for Maryland.

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

    Another potential beneficiary is the state of Texas, which also happens to have some of the most pro-bitcoin politicians in the United States. Texas has some of the country’s lowest energy prices and a growing share of renewable energy sources.

    And energy diversification is key. Relocating bitcoin hash rates from China to the United States—which has a much more diversified energy supply—would improve bitcoin mining’s carbon footprint, a key criticism of the cryptocurrency.

    Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk announced that Tesla would no longer accept bitcoin until its hash rates reached 50 percent from clean energy sources. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren has also criticism bitcoin for its energy usage and resulting impact on the environment.

    While longer term viability of cryptocurrencies and bitcoin are still up in the air, moving mining capacity outside of China is at least a tangible first step in addressing those concerns and criticisms.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 20:10

  • "It's So Out Of Control": Airlines Mull Ending Alcohol Service As In-Flight Incidents Skyrocket
    “It’s So Out Of Control”: Airlines Mull Ending Alcohol Service As In-Flight Incidents Skyrocket

    Now that Covid lockdowns are ending, Americans can get back to what they do best: getting into fist fights on airplanes.

    Yes, despite the fact that travel restrictions are ending and citizens can get back to vacationing over the summer, things continue to get ornery in the “friendly skies”.

    The incidents have become so common, there has been a discussion about ending everyone’s favorite travel companion: alcohol on flights. 

    Paul Hartshorn, Jr., communications chair for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, told Yahoo: “Our flight attendants are being verbally abused—it’s safe to say on every flight. [They’re] physically abused in numbers we’ve never seen in the airline industry. It’s so out of control, it’s almost unbelievable.”

    American Airlines flight attendants filed 1,500 passenger disturbance reports in April, the report noted. Hartshorn continued: “More times than not, it is exacerbated by the use of alcohol in the terminal or sneaking it on board. So those go hand in hand.”

    This has resulted in the flight attendants union pushing for a delay to return alcohol service to flights. Many airlines paused alcohol service during the pandemic. American Airlines says service will resume after September 13, when it will also lift its mask rules. 

    Hartshorn continued: “The decision to delay the alcohol until masks are no longer required was a flight attendant union move. American didn’t want to do that, that was APFA.”

    The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA president Sara Nelson also advocated for the ban: “The incidents of violence on planes is out of control and alcohol is often a contributor. The federal government should provide guidance to airlines and airports on pausing alcohol sales for a period of time. We should do everything in our power to remove contributors to the problem.”

    One aptly named aviation expert, Christine Negroni, added: “I know going back many many years alcohol has been considered a high trigger for unruly passenger behavior. But I don’t know if you can put all the blame on alcohol.” 

    As a result, the FAA is stepping up consequences for unruly behavior, Yahoo notes:

    Federal officials are taking some additional steps to try to tamp down the issue. The Federal Aviation Administration has announced a “zero tolerance policy” against any interference with flight crews, as well as a handful of lofty civil fines—as high as $32,750—against passengers who committed some of the more egregious infractions.

    Recall, it was just two weeks ago we wrote about two men who were ejected from a flight in San Francisco over an argument about elbow room. 

    Two passengers had to be removed from the plane after an argument over elbow room on an armrest. We suggested then what we’ll say again now: Maybe airlines should take note of what these disruptions cost as they figure out new and creative ways to cram economy flyers even closer together. 

    Google product director Jack Krawczyk documented the spat on Twitter, writing: “On my first flight in 15 months, of course we were rerouted back to the gate because two passengers got into a physical altercation over elbow placement upon arm rests.”

    The flight was on its way to Las Vegas when the incident took place before takeoff, the NY Post reports. The men involved in the altercation haven’t been identified, but were detained when an officer arrived at the gate. 

    Despite neither man wanting to “pursue further police action”, they weren’t allowed back on the flight.

    One response to Krawczyk’s Tweet read: “This is fucking why I HATE traveling economy. You’re cramming a bunch of uneducated low lives into cheap seats with barely any leg and arm room and expecting them to be civil? Throw in them having to wear masks now and good LUCK.”

    And with airlines strapped and the government bailout dole looking like it’s finally drying up, it doesn’t look as though the situation is going to be getting better for air travelers anytime soon. 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 19:50

  • The Technocratic Mindset Produces Only Misery And Failure
    The Technocratic Mindset Produces Only Misery And Failure

    Authored by Mark Jeftovic via BombThrower.com,

    It has the most fundamental aspect reality backwards

    Saw this article come across, come across my news alert for “Transhumanism”. In it Dr. David Eagleman talks about how not only can we augment human senses with fantastic new abilities (like to “see” heat and electromagnetic patterns), but how we’ll even be able to build machines that think too.

    There is a line in his thinking that one can glean from the article: on one side of the line are enhancements and augmentations to the human experience which are startling and amazing and which will transform our societies: even more radical life extension will be in the cards quite soon (for those who can afford it).

    Like I told Steve Bannon when we talked Transhumanism: For all intents and purposes we already have radical life extension. In the years of the Roman Empire, average life expectancy was between 18 and 25 and most people would die before age 11, from something like diarrhea. This was just normal and nobody thought it would ever change.

    Where Eagleman crosses into technocratic thinking is when he veers into the idea of being able to build thinking machines. The logic is that because we’ll be able to increasingly bioengineer our own living bodies, it means we should also be able to bioengineer a mind into machines using the same principles.

    I think this is wrong and it’s the same theoretical mistake that leads directly to technocratically inspired catastrophes.

    Yes, we continue to build on technological advancements, but we also commit a lot of unforced errors that inflict incalculable misery on humanity. These errors may manifest as policy blunders, economic crises and worse. Most recently, for example, we seem to have gotten ourselves into a global pandemic because a bunch of technocrats funded some gain-of-function experiments in hopes of preempting the next pandemic. Do you see the dynamic here?

    Over the years a lot of thinkers have pointed out that technoractic policy tracks, devised by centralized groups of experts within an elite managerial class, often bring about the very conditions they were impaneled to obviate. Raising minimum wages increases unemployment, holding interest rates to zero creates economic instability and increases wealth inequality, forcing green energy initiatives creates systems with lower energy efficiency and higher carbon footprints

    Banning guns increases gun violence, censoring “hate” speech fosters more hatred and polarization. It’s almost as if the managerial class has no awareness of second-order effects. When they inexorably come to pass they are often blamed on the very people who were counselling against the initial policy in the first place.

    Thus, financial meltdowns are blamed on runaway free markets and capitalism gone wild. Global warming (if it truly plays out along prognosticated lines) is blamed on industries who are most rapidly transitioning toward greener energy anyway (like Bitcoin mining).

    Climate change is another theme that exemplifies the technocratic dynamic: As a society we’re going to transition off of fossil fuels no matter what anybody thinks about the environment because we’re already past peak oil, and peak demand will probably flatline around 100M bpd and start coming down from there in a secular downtrend, for a variety of reasons (prolonged economic malaise and the ascent of green energy).

    Yet the most viable pathway toward transitioning away from fossil fuels, nuclear (and in this I include Thorium), is currently relegated as problematic by technocrats and ideologues.

    It all seems backwards and for a long time I’ve been positing a fundamental root cause of this backwardation. I’ve settled on something I’ve talked about before, but now I think I didn’t fully realize how fundamental this key point is. When I sat down to resume work on my forthcoming book about Techno-Utopianism and Transhumanism I tried to write around it and avoid it. But I realized I couldn’t. It is so core to the overall technocratic mindset and it’s so controversial that I have to caveat it before I say it:

    The caveat is that I don’t identify as a Christian or even a religious person per se. But I’m not an atheist either, and I’m not even agnostic. What I’m about to say is derived from my own understanding of scientific inquiry, not theological.

    The premise is that what we have the mind/matter equation completely backwards in the way we think about how the world works.

    Conventional thought is that what we experience as consciousness is something that emanates from the brain. Like steam from a kettle. This is also the core assumption of AI. If we build something that resembles a brain, it’ll think. It’s a kind of Frankenstein approach that Eagleman alludes to in his article.

    That won’t work and AI will never be achieved as long as the mechanistic, material reductionist worldview persists. Yet, technocrats put a lot of faith in AI, and they think models derived from AI are or will be superior to anything we can figure out on our own because they were outputted by machines with a bigger/faster/hardware brains.

    It is completely… wrong.

    I think that what we experience as matter are energy patterns that emanate from an underlying, and conscious sub-strata of reality. This is basic quantum theory. Quantum theory can be problematic because it opens the door to all kinds of New Age Woo Woo, which may not even be entirely wrong at its core, but is prone to deeply flawed implementations (like anything, I guess).

    People, and probably most living things, have a sense, an intuitive awareness of this sub-strata of reality. Our mythology and sacred texts are probably the stories of sometimes being more attuned to it and sometimes less so. The late British writer Colin Wilson wrote at length on the consciousness of the Egyptians of the upper kingdom, possibly over 7500 years BC. Their consciousness and language was pictorial not linear. It may even be possible (my extrapolation, not his) that the demarcation point between conscious awareness between individuals was blurred somewhat. Almost like the canine packs of Vernor Vinge’s Tines in ‘Fire Upon The Deep’.

    Owen Barfield completely rejects the conventional idea of how our language evolved, that we started with “Ug ug” and developed from there. He thinks we had that pictorial awareness, a communications protocol unimaginable to us now, that in effect condensed downwards into linear language. This is a microcosm of the tension between how the technocratic mindset views everything as complexity arising from simple, mechanistic building blocks and a more informational / probabilistic / patternist view of reality.
    Jean Gebser mapped the evolution of consciousness itself in The Ever Present Origin and today people like Ken Wilbur talk about how these different modalities of consciousness don’t supplant each other, like a linear development, but rather layer atop each other in a progression where each layer integrates those below it. At least the one we’re at today, the integrative consciousness, does so.

    My guess is in earlier days, a type of spiritual wonderment would have arisen from these glimpses of the underlying force. What I’ve grown to call “The Great Externality” because I was trying to describe it in non-religious terms. Maybe it’s more of a Great Sub-Carrier. Think if it like “dialtone of reality”. Spiritual philosophers like Alan Watts said the entire point of all life was that the universe was physically manifesting in order to experience itself. He wasn’t the first, obviously, its a variation of a theme that has been recurrent throughout all recorded history, and possibly even before.

    So what happened?

    Into this awareness came religions. Organized structures that would begin to dictate the basis on which members of society were to comprehend and approach this Great Sub-Carrier. Priesthoods evolved – the first monopolies. Religions. Hierarchies. Rulers. Subjects.

    One of the earliest forms of social deviance was heresy: approaching the Divine Sub-Carrier from a direction outside the religious structure. Can’t have that.

    This dynamic is as old as humanity. It could even be argued that historical progress is the story of the public coming to realize that the monopoly thought structure they were in was flawed or obsolete and then society moving on to the next one. The elites of the day would endeavour halt the progression or when that failed, co-opt whatever came next.

    Then new elites would erect a new orthodoxy that placed them directly in the nexus of what was unknowable and what the rabble thought they needed to know in order to perform their primary function of ….servitude.

    Today the great sub-carrier is best described by science, not religion. But again, the priesthood is saying that all knowledge of the sub-carrier should come through them. That’s Scientism. That’s Technocracy. Management by Experts.

    The last two years of life on earth are a foretaste of a full blown technocracy. Follow The Science™, plebes.

    Only our elites can fathom how to approach and extract knowledge from The Great Externality, but this time they’ve made things even worse because they have it exactly backwards. They think the Great Externality doesn’t even exist. It’s for flakes and Bible bangers. The technocratic priesthood holds that material reality is near completely understood and that our minds are side effects of chemical reactions in our brains.

    They hold that if only we can crunch enough Big Data and calculate out all the models we’ll be, like God (who doesn’t exist), able to fix everything and eliminate all bad outcomes, for everybody, everywhere. We may even be able to eliminate death, and we could upload our consciousness (which is an illusion) into the cloud and live forever.

    Because of this backwardation, we will always be careening from one catastrophe to the next, and most of them will be of our own making. We collectively suffer from an illusion that we are in control.

    But we are not in control. We’re a pattern. A dance. A cycle. Waveforms. Vibrations. What we as humans do specifically well, which is our superpower and has led to our technological advancement which could conceivably continue on a trajectory that makes humanity an interstellar phenomenon, is adapt.

    What technocrats can’t understand, or admit is that we can’t control what is going to happen. Either on an individual scale of people thinking in ways they’re not supposed to think, or geological, cultural, geopolitical or cosmic scales. We can’t get interest rates right, we can’t get everybody to agree on whether it’s “Gif” or “jif” and somehow we’re going to change the trajectory of the climate? Achieve immortality? Crank out a Singularity?

    That is highly unlikely and in trying to preempt theoretical bad outcomes we typically bring about horrible actual outcomes. The lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, if it occurred and it is looking increasingly likely that it did, was the result of gain-of-function studies on bat coronaviruses. They didn’t do it as a bioweapon. It’s not a global conspiracy to institute a Great Reset (all that talk is opportunism more than planning).

    They were trying to figure out how to plan for a future global pandemic that may catch humanity off guard and cause incalculable damage. What did they accomplish? They unleashed a global pandemic that caught humanity off guard and caused incalculable damage. Soon to be compounded by global, de-facto compulsory inoculations with experimental vaccines that have a distinctly politicized impetus behind them.

    That same dynamic is applied to economics (its where the .COM crash and Global Financial Crisis came from), and social policy (the Woke movement), to climate is all the same technocratic mindset that doesn’t understand the order of reality (mind, then matter) but even worse thinks it knows it.

    We’re stuck with that for awhile because the technocratic mindset is incapable of introspection or entertaining the possibility of being wrong about anything. The only move it knows is to double-down on failure.

    The antidote to all this is massive decentralization on a global scale, which has the added benefit that decentralization by definition, is not something that gets decided from the top (it never is). It just happens, even in spite of the people in the centre of power who may feel something about their gravitas melting away.

    That’s what has started to happen. A global opt-out. The Great Reject. As sure as the Reformation gave way to the Enlightenment despite the protestations of the Church, we’re headed into a world of networks and the sunset of nations. All the while the propagandists of  the old order shrieking that in this direction lies certain doom.

    The Enlightenment arose from an increase in the level of abstraction, structurally the universe changed from the Ptolemaic worldview (the world as the centre of all existence) to the Heliocentric solar system.

    Now we’re experiencing a similar shift away from static top-down hierarchical structures as the natural shape of civilization and toward shifting, impermanent, overlapping networks. My guess is the beginnings of quantum mechanics, over 100 years ago was the setting the table for the wider realization that we don’t live in a ping-pong ball universe where consciousness is an epiphenomenon of the brain. Rather that reality is an intersection of probabilities and information between what David Bohm called The Implicate and Explicate orders.

    Via: The Pribram-Bohm holoflux theory of consciousness: An integral interpretation of the theories of Karl Pribram, David Bohm, and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

    When AI researchers turn their attention toward building something that more closely resembles a transceiver that taps into that sub-carrier of reality, they’ll have a shot at making something that actually thinks.

    *  *  *

    To receive future posts in your mailbox join the free Bombthrower mailing list, follow me on Twitter, or use the current weakness in cryptos to take advantage of my Crypto Capitalist Portfolio trial offer.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 19:30

  • Hong Kong Bars UK Travelers Over "Extremely High" COVID Risks As Crackdown On "Foreign Influence" Continues
    Hong Kong Bars UK Travelers Over “Extremely High” COVID Risks As Crackdown On “Foreign Influence” Continues

    After Hong Kong police arrested more journalists from the now-defunct Apple Daily over the weekend, a sign that Beijing’s crackdown on democratic freedoms under the guise of the new “national security” law isn’t letting up, health authorities on Monday announced that they would bar travelers from the UK after reintroducing the UK to HK’s list of “extremely high-risk” countries.

    Two sources confirmed the decision to the SCMP, the biggest English-language newspaper in HK (it’s also owned by Jack Ma, who is now officially under the CCP jackboot). The move comes just days after the city tightened quarantine rules for foreign visitors, and also after reports in the western press claimed Beijing plans to keep its borders closed to almost all foreign travelers until the second half of next year (with a handful of exceptions for countries with high vaccination rates).

    Before ramping up the UK’s designation to “extremely high risk”, HK had already moved the UK to “very high risk”, meaning travelers would need to quarantine for 21 days upon arrival, a quarantine term that would exclude all but the most essential business travel. Hong Kong health officials claim that over the past week, the country has recorded 14,876 new COVID-19 infections and 11 related deaths on Sunday.

    Between June 21 and 27, a total of 104,052 people tested positive for Covid-19, accounting for a 58.7 per cent increase compared to the previous week. The latest COVID cases and arrivals from the UK, Indonesia and Namibia took the city’s overall tally of confirmed cases to 11,920 infections, with 211 deaths.

    Authorities in Hong Kong are also worried about a recent domestic case: a 24-year-old employee at Uptown Mall who was found to be infected has got health authorities worried about a 5th COVID outbreak should the busy shopping center end up being a “super spreader” site.

    Health officials believe the 27-year-old man may have caught the virus at an airport testing centre, as he shared the same viral footprint as three domestic workers who recently arrived from Indonesia. The building where the 24-year-old woman lives, block 10 of Tai Po Centre, was ordered into an overnight lockdown for mandatory virus screening on Sunday evening. Compulsory testing was also required of recent visitors to the mall. But the lockdown operation, which ended at about 8.30am, uncovered no cases among the approximately 390 residents screened during the night.

    Health officials previously said their genome analysis showed the 24-year-old woman carried the more transmissible L452R strain, but without the N501Y or E484K mutations, making it likely to be a Delta variant.

    In other HK news, another editorial writer from the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper was arrested at the airport on Sunday while attempting to flee the city.

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    Beijing has denounced the UK’s meddling as yet another example of the corrosive “foreign influence” that the new national security law – imposed on the territory last year by the CCP – prohibits.

    Many pro-democracy supporters have fled to the UK, which has offered to naturalize any Hong Kongers fleeing Beijing’s crackdown on the city’s freedoms in violation of the international treaty that sets out the terms of Hong Kong’s transition back under Chinese control. The battle over Hong Kong’s fate has badly strained relations between the UK and Beijing. And now, with flights from the UK effectively eliminated, how much harder will it be for Hong Kongers to make a break for London?

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 19:10

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Jun 28

Today’s News 28th June 2021

  • Thousands Of Asteroids Whizz Past Earth
    Thousands Of Asteroids Whizz Past Earth

    NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies keeps an eye on the sky, surveying more than 26,000 asteroids and a much smaller number of comets that pass near Earth. Near Earth Asteroids, or NEAs, also include more than 2,000 potentially dangerous specimen, of which 158 have a diameter of more than one kilometer, making them 2.5 times as tall as the Empire State Building.

    As Statista’s Katharina Buchholz points out, anyone who has dabbled in paleontology – even in the science fiction realm of Jurassic Park or The Land Before Time – knows that a giant asteroid hitting Earth is not good news for life on the planet. In fact, there is evidence that this may have been one of the main causes of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction.

    But it does not take a massive asteroid to cause widespread damage. An asteroid that was only ten meters in diameter exploded 25 km above the Bering Sea in December 2019 with the force equivalent to ten Hiroshima atomic bombs. No international or national space organization had detected the small celestial object before it disintegrated above the unsuspecting Earth.

    Infographic: Thousands of Asteroids Whizz Past Earth | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    As technology has advanced throughout the decades, people have become better at seeing what is floating around us in the sky.

    According to Nasa’s CNEOS Center, only a handful of celestial objects had been detected by 1900.

    The scale of that number did not change much until the end of the century. As of 1990, only 134 Near Earth Asteroids and 42 potentially dangerous objects were detected up above.

    By comparison, 26,115 NEAs and 2,185 potentially dangerous asteroids had been identified as June 2021.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 02:45

  • Georgia & Ukraine Agree To "Commitment" Seeking NATO Membership
    Georgia & Ukraine Agree To “Commitment” Seeking NATO Membership

    Authored by Rick Rozoff via AntiWar.com,

    Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili paid a two-day visit to Ukraine earlier last week (her first) and met with her opposite number President Volodymyr Zelensky.

    Zurabishvili first came to world notice when she emerged as part of the triumvirate that took over in Georgia following the so-called Rose Revolution in late 2003 that saw incumbent head of state Eduard Shevardnadze manhandled and divested of his powers. Her colleagues were Mikheil Saakashvili, who became president, and Zurab Zhvania, whose family claims he was assassinated in 2005. That event is the prototype of what have come to be called color revolutions; after Georgia the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004, the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan and the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon in 2005, and a veritable host of others, successful and otherwise, in Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, the Maldives, Venezuela, Myanmar, Iran and elsewhere.

    Deposed president Shevardnadze accused George Soros and his “philanthropies” of funding the coup in his nation. Shortly after Saakashvili and his allies came to power Soros’ Open Society Institute partnered with the United Nations Development Program to create a Capacity Building Fund for Georgia. The initiative was announced at a joint news conference with Saakashvili, the then-United Nations Development Program administrator and Soros at the World Economic Forum that year. Over 5,000 Georgian officials were paid out of the fund.

    Later that same year the Orange Revolution occurred in Ukraine and a similar triumvirate, two men and a woman (it would be the same in Kyrgyzstan in 2005), took power.

    The West, especially NATO, has always treated the two Black Sea nations as a pair. The military bloc created a NATO-Georgia Commission and a NATO-Ukraine Commission in 2008; each has been granted an Annual National Programme in those formats.

    Last year they were among the first nations to become NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partners.

    This week Ukraine’s Zelensky praised the strategic relations between the nations, affirming they shared a joint commitment to joining NATO and the European Union. He added they “agree regarding the future development of the Eastern Partnership,” whose association agreement demand on now deposed President Viktor Yanukovych led to the coup in 2014 and the resultant war in the Donbass. The Eastern Partnership, originally devised by Poland and Sweden, has as it mission the absorption of all remaining European and Caucasian former Soviet states into the European Union (and NATO) – except Russia.

    Meanwhile, characteristically hawkish Western think tanks are clamoring for more confrontation…

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    The Ukrainian head of state also spoke of strengthening military integration in the Black Sea – against Russia, of course – particularly in regard to the Ukrainian and Georgian navies.

    President Zurabishvili stated it was disappointing that the two nations “lost some time that should have been used to deepen relations,” in reference to a two-year freeze in relations after Zelensky appointed former Georgian President Saakashvili (on the run from his homeland) the chairperson of Ukraine’s Executive Reform Committee. As often occurs in such cases, Zurabishvili and Saakashvili, once coup co-plotters, soon became bitter enemies. (If she could have his head on a platter she would gleefully live up to her name.)

    She, like her Ukrainian counterpart, hailed a common commitment to NATO, the EU and de-occupation, by which she evidently meant “liberating,” respectively, Abkhazia and South Ossetia and Crimea and the Donbass from Russia. The Georgian president also denounced “daily provocations” from Russia “along the occupation line.”

    Zelensky expressed confidence that Georgia would assist his government’s de-occupation of Crimea by appointing a representative for this year’s Crimean Platform founding summit, whose purpose is to wrest Crimea from Russia.

    It’s no wonder that some NATO members are less than enthusiastic about bringing Georgia and Ukraine into their fold and providing them with Article 5 protection. Doing so in the context of “de-occupying” territory in the Donbass, the Caucasus and especially in Crimea would almost certainly provoke a military confrontation with Russia that wouldn’t remain a conventional one for long.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/28/2021 – 02:00

  • Politics, Profit, & Poppies: How The CIA Turned Afghanistan Into A Failed Narco-State
    Politics, Profit, & Poppies: How The CIA Turned Afghanistan Into A Failed Narco-State

    Authored by Alan Macleod via MintPresNews.com,

    The COVID-19 pandemic has been a death knell to so many industries in Afghanistan. Charities and aid agencies have even warned that the economic dislocation could spark widespread famine. But one sector is still booming: the illicit opium trade. Last year saw Afghan opium poppy cultivation grow by over a third while counter-narcotics operations dropped off a cliff. The country is said to be the source of over 90% of all the world’s illicit opium, from which heroin and other opioids are made. More land is under cultivation for opium in Afghanistan than is used for coca production across all of Latin America, with the creation of the drug said to directly employ around half a million people.

    This is a far cry from the 1970s, when poppy production was minimal, and largely for domestic consumption. But this changed in 1979 when the CIA launched Operation Cyclone, the widespread funding of Afghan Mujahideen militias in an attempt to bleed dry the then-recent Soviet invasion. Over the next decade, the CIA worked closely with its Pakistani counterpart, the ISI, to funnel $2 billion worth of arms and assistance to these groups, including the now infamous Osama Bin Laden and other warlords known for such atrocities as throwing acid in the faces of unveiled women.

    “From statements by U.S. Ambassador [to Iran] Richard Helms, there was little heroin production in Central Asia by the mid 1970s,” Professor Alfred McCoy, author of “The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade,” told MintPress. But with the start of the CIA secret war, opium production along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border surged and refineries soon dotted the landscape. Trucks loaded with U.S. taxpayer-funded weapons would travel from Pakistan into its neighbor to the west, returning filled to the brim with opium for the new refineries, their deadly product ending up on streets worldwide. With the influx of Afghan opium in the 1980s — Jeffrey St. Clair, co-author of “Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press,” alleges — heroin addiction more than doubled in the United States.

    “In order to finance the resistance for a protracted period, the Mujahideen had to come up with a livelihood beyond the weapons that the CIA was providing,” McCoy said, noting that the weapons issued could not feed the fighters’ families, nor reimburse them for lost labor:

    So what the resistance fighters did was they turned to opium. Afghanistan had about 100 tons of opium produced every year in the 1970s. By 1989-1990, at the end of that 10-year CIA operation, that minimal amount of opium — 100 tons per annum — had turned into a major amount, 2,000 tons a year, and was already about 75% of the world’s illicit opium trade.”

    The CIA achieved its goal of giving the U.S.S.R. its Vietnam, the Soviets failing to quash the Mujahideen rebellion by the time they finally pulled out in 1989. But American money and weapons also turned Afghanistan into a dangerously unstable place full of warring factions that used opium to fund their battles for internal supremacy. By 1999, annual production had risen to 4,600 tons. The Taliban eventually emerged as the dominant force in the country and attempted to gain international legitimacy by stamping out the trade.

    In this, they were remarkably successful. A 2000 ban on opium cultivation by the Taliban-led government led to an almost overnight drop to just 185 tons harvested the following year, as frightened farmers chose not to risk attracting their wrath.

    The Taliban had hoped that the eradication program would win favor in Washington and entice the United States to provide humanitarian aid. But unfortunately, history had other ideas. On September 11, 2001, the U.S. experienced a massive case of blowback, as Bin Laden’s forces launched attacks on New York and Washington. The U.S. ignored the Taliban’s offer to hand him over to a third party, instead opting to invade the country. Less than a month after the planes hit the World Trade Center, U.S. troops were patrolling the fields of Afghanistan.

    The world’s first true narco-state

    The effect of the occupation was to expand drug production to unprecedented new proportions, Afghanistan becoming, in Professor McCoy’s estimation, the world’s first true narco-state. McCoy notes that by 2008, opium was responsible for well over half of the country’s gross domestic product. By comparison, even in Colombia’s darkest days, cocaine accounted for only 3% of its GDP.

    Today, the United Nations estimates that around 6,300 tons of opium (and rising) is produced yearly, with 224,000 hectares — an area almost the size of Rhode Island — planted with poppy fields.

    Source | Dyfed Loesche | Statista

    But even while it was financing a widespread and deadly aerial spraying campaign in Colombia, the United States refused to countenance the same policy in Afghanistan. “We cannot be in a situation where we remove the only source of income of people who live in the second poorest country in the world without being able to provide them with an alternative,” said NATO spokesman James Appathurai.

    Not everyone agreed, however, that a passionate commitment to defending the quality of life of the poorest was the actual reason for rejecting the policy. Matthew Hoh, a former captain in the U.S. Marine Corps is one skeptic. Hoh told MintPress that airborne fumigation was not carried out because it would be outside the control of Afghan government officials, who were deeply implicated in the drug trade, owning poppy fields and production plants themselves. “They were afraid that, if they went to aerial eradication, the U.S. pilots would just eradicate willy nilly and a lot of their own poppy fields would be hit.” In 2009, Hoh resigned in protest from his position at the State Department in Zabul Province over the government’s continued occupation of Afghanistan. He told MintPress:

    NATO forces were more or less guarding poppy fields and poppy production, under the guise of counterinsurgency. The logic was ‘we don’t want to take away the livelihoods of the people.’ But really, what we were doing at that point was protecting the wealth of our friends in power in Afghanistan. “

    According to Hoh, there was widespread disillusionment within the military among service members who had to risk their lives on a day to day basis. “What are we doing here? This is bullshit,” was a common sentiment among the rank and file.

    A US Marine stands in a poppy field during a foot patrol at Sangin, Afghanistan. Photo | DVIDS

    The heroin trade implicated virtually everyone in power, including Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s brother Ahmed Wali, among the biggest and most notorious drug kingpins in the south of the country, a man widely understood to be in the pay of the CIA.

    U.S. attempts to stymie the opium trade, such as the policy of paying domestic militias to destroy poppy fields, often backfired. Locals came up with ways of profiting, such as refraining from planting in one area, collecting large sums of money from occupying forces, and using that cash to plant elsewhere — effectively getting paid both to plant and not to plant. Even worse, local warlords and drug bosses would destroy their rivals’ crops and collect money from the U.S. for doing so, leaving themselves both enriched and in a stronger position than before, having gained NATO forces’ favor.

    One notable example of this is local strongman Gul Agha Sherzai, who eradicated his competitors’ crops in Nangarhar Province (while quietly leaving his own in Kandahar Province untouched). But all the U.S. saw was a local politician seemingly committed to stamping out an illegal drug trade. They therefore showered him with money and other privileges. “We literally gave the guy $10 million in cash for rubbing out his competition,” Hoh said. “If you were going to write a movie about this, they’d say ‘This is too far fetched. No one is going to believe this. Nothing is this insane or stupid.’ But that is the way it is.”

    McCoy noted that the Taliban was one of the prime beneficiaries of the drug trade, and used it to increase their power and vanquish the U.S.:

    That booming opium production, and the U.S. failure to curb it, provided the bulk of the financing for Taliban, who captured a significant but unknown share of the local profits from the drug traffic, which they used to fund guerrilla operations over the past 20 years, becoming a determinative factor in the U.S. defeat in Afghanistan.”

    ‘The needle and the damage done’

    It is not particularly difficult to grow opium. Opium poppies flourish in warm and dry conditions, away from the damp and the wind. Consequently, they have found a fertile home across much of central and western Asia. The plant has flourished in Afghanistan, particularly in southern provinces like Helmand, close to the tripoint where Afghanistan meets Pakistan and Iran. Much of the irrigation system in Helmand was underwritten by USAID, an organization that acts as the CIA’s public-facing front. In full bloom, the poppy fields look spectacular, with beautiful flowers of vibrant pink, red or white. Underneath the flowers, one can find a large seed pod. Farmers harvest these, draining them of a sap which dries into a resin. This is often transported out of the country through the so-called “Southern Route” via Pakistan or Iran. But, as with any pipeline, much of the product is spilled along the way, causing an epidemic of addiction across the region.

    The effect on the Afghan population has been nothing short of a disaster. Between 2005 and 2015, the number of adult drug users jumped from 900,000 to 2.4 million, according to the United Nations, which estimates that almost one in three households are directly affected by addiction. While Afghanistan also produces copious amounts of marijuana and methamphetamine, opioids are the drug of choice for most, with around 9% of the adult population (and a growing number of children) addicted to them. Added to this has been a spike in HIV cases, as users share needles, Professor Julien Mercille, author of “Cruel Harvest: U.S. Intervention in the Afghan Drug Trade,” told MintPress.

    Only contributing further to the despair has been 20 years of war and U.S. occupation. The number of Afghans living in poverty rose from 9.1 million in 2007 to 19.3 million in 2016. A recent poll conducted by Gallup found that Afghans are the saddest people on Earth, with nearly nine in ten respondents “suffering” and zero percent of the population “thriving,” in their own words. When asked to rate their lives out of a score of ten, Afghans gave an average answer of 2.7, a record low for any country studied. Worse still, when asked to predict the quality of their life in five years, the mean answer was even lower: 2.3.

    The effects of the CIA operation to bleed the Soviets dry in Afghanistan have also produced a humanitarian crisis in neighboring Pakistan. As McCoy noted, in the late 1970s, Pakistan had barely any heroin addicts. But by 1985, Pakistani government statistics reported over 1.2 million, turning the two nations into “the global epicenter of the drugs trade” almost overnight.

    The problem has only grown since. A 2013 U.N. report estimated that almost 7 million Pakistanis use drugs, with 4.25 million requiring urgent treatment for dependency issues. Nearly 2.5 million of these people were abusing heroin or other opioids. Around 700 people die every day from overdoses. The highest rate of dependency is, unsurprisingly, in provinces on the Afghan border where heroin is manufactured. The same U.N. study notes that 11% of people in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa use illicit substances — primarily heroin.

    The drug crisis, of course, is also a medical crisis, with overstretched public hospitals filled with drugs-related maladies. The social stigma of addiction has ripped families apart while the money and power illicit drugs have brought has turned many towns into hotspots of violence.

    Iran has a similar number of opioid users, generally estimated at between two and three million. In towns close to the Afghan/Pakistani border, a gram of opium can be bought with loose change — between a quarter and fifty cents. Thus, despite the extremely harsh penalties for drug possession and distribution on the official books, the country has the highest addiction rate in the world

    On a micro level, addiction tears apart families and ruins lives. On an international scale, however, the opium boom has placed an entire region under significant strain. Therefore, one consequence of U.S. policy in the Middle East — from supporting jihadists to occupying nations — has been to unleash a worldwide opium addiction that has made a few people fantastically wealthy and destroyed the lives of tens of millions.

    Domestic despair

    The boom in production has also led to a worldwide disaster. In the past decade, opioid-related deaths increased by 71% globally, according to the United Nations. Much of the product grown by Afghan warlords ends up on Western streets. “I don’t see how it can be a coincidence that you have that explosive growth in poppy production in Afghanistan and then you have the worldwide opioid epidemic,” Hoh stated, a connection that raises the question of whether users in Berlin, Boston, or Brazil should be seen as victims of the war in Afghanistan as much as fallen soldiers are. If so, the numbers would be staggering. Nearly 841,000 Americans have died of a drug overdose since the war in Afghanistan began, including more than 70,000 in 2019 alone. The majority of these have involved opioids.

    Officially, the DEA claims that essentially all illicit opioids entering the U.S. are grown in Latin America. Hoh, however, finds this unconvincing. “When you look at their own information and their reports on the illicit opioid production hectarage in Mexico and South America, it is clear that there is not enough production in the Western hemisphere to meet the demand for illicit opiates in the U.S.,” he told MintPress.

    A dirty history

    The U.S. government has a long history of directly involving itself with the worldwide narcotics trade. In Colombia, it worked with President Alvaro Uribe on a nationwide drug war, even as internal U.S. documents identified Uribe as one of the nation’s most important drug traffickers, an employee of the infamous Medellin Cartel and a “close personal friend” of drugs kingpin Pablo Escobar. Profits from drug-running funded Uribe’s election runs in 2002 and 2006.

    General Manuel Noriega was also a key ally of the U.S. For many years, the Panamanian was on the CIA payroll — despite Washington knowing he was involved in drug trafficking since at least 1972. When he became de facto dictator of Panama in 1984, little changed. But the director of the Drug Enforcement Agency initially praised him for his “vigorous anti-drug trafficking policy.” Eventually, however, the U.S. decided to invade the country and capture Noriega, sentencing him to 40 years in federal prison for drug crimes largely committed while he was still in the CIA’s pay.

    At the same time as this was going on, investigative journalist Gary Webb exposed how the CIA helped fund its dirty war against Nicaragua’s leftist government through sales of crack cocaine to black neighborhoods across the United States, linking far-right paramilitary armies with U.S. drug kingpins like Rick Ross.

    An Afghan farmer collects raw opium from poppy plants in his field in Chaparhar, Afghanistan. Nisar Ahmad | AP

    To this day, the U.S. government continues to support Honduran strongman Juan Orlando Hernandez, despite the president’s well-established connections to the cocaine trade. Earlier this year, a U.S. court sentenced Hernandez’s brother Tony to life in prison for international drug smuggling, while Juan himself was an unindicted co-conspirator in the case. Nevertheless, President Hernandez has proven himself effective at suppressing the anti-imperialist Left inside his country and cementing the U.S.-backed 2009 military coup, one reason he is unlikely to face charges in the near future.

    Using the illegal drug trade and the profits from it to fund imperial objectives has been a constant of great empires going back centuries. For instance, in the 1940s and 1950s, the French Empire utilized opium crops in the so-called “Golden Triangle” region of Indochina in order to help beat back a growing Vietnamese independence movement. Going further back, the British used its opium machine to subdue and economically conquer much of China. Britain’s insatiable thirst for Chinese tea was beginning to bankrupt the country, as the Chinese would accept only gold or silver as payment. It therefore used the power of its navy to force China to cede Hong Kong, from which Britain began flooding China with opium it grew in its possessions in South Asia.

    The humanitarian impact of the Opium War was staggering. By 1880, the British were inundating China with over 6,500 tons of opium every year — equivalent to many billions of doses, causing massive social and economic dislocation as China struggled to cope with a crippling, empire-wide addiction. Today, many Chinese still refer to the era as “the century of humiliation.” In India and Pakistan, too, the effect was no less dramatic, as colonists forced farmers into planting inedible poppy fields (and, later, tea) rather than subsistence crops, causing waves of huge famines, the frequency of which had never been seen before.

    Millions of losers

    The story is much more nuanced than some “CIA controls the world’s drugs” conspiracy theories make out. There are no U.S. soldiers loading up Afghan carts with opium. However, many commanders are knowingly enabling warlords who do. “The U.S. military and CIA bear a large responsibility for the opium production boom in Afghanistan,” Professor Mercille said, explaining:

    Post-9/11, they basically allied themselves with a lot of Afghan strongmen and warlords who happened to be involved in some way in drug production and trafficking. Those individuals were acting as local allies for the U.S. and NATO, and therefore were largely protected from retribution or arrest for drug trafficking because they were U.S. allies.”

    From the ground, the war in Afghanistan has looked a lot like the war on drugs in Latin America and previous colonial campaigns in Asia, with a rapid militarization of the area and the empowerment of pliant local elites, which immediately begin to embezzle the massive profits that quietly disappear into black holes. All the while, millions of people pay the price, suffering inside a militarized death zone and turning to drugs as a coping mechanism. In the story of the opium boom, there are few winners, but there are millions of losers.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 23:45

  • Top Chinese Nuclear Expert Jumps To His Death After Power Plant Mishap
    Top Chinese Nuclear Expert Jumps To His Death After Power Plant Mishap

    On June 14, China’s Taishan Nuclear Power Plant near Hong Kong experienced damaged fuel rods that triggered a build-up of radioactive gases. French company Framatome, a part-owner of the plant, requested the US Department of Energy for assistance as an “imminent radiological threat” seemed inevitable.

    Radioactive gasses were released, and US officials at the time said the situation at the nuclear plant did not “pose a severe safety threat to workers at the plant or Chinese public.” 

    But three days later, Zhang Zhijian, one of China’s top nuclear scientists and the Vice-President of Harbin Engineering University, allegedly committed suicide after jumping off a build. 

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

    Here’s the video in GIF format in case it’s deleted. 

    South China Morning Post (SCMP) said police in the capital of Heilongjiang ruled out homicide as the cause of death. 

    “Harbin Engineering University announces with deep grief that Professor Zhang Zhijian regrettably fell off a building and died at 9.34 am on June 17, 2021,” the university’s official account on Weibo wrote in a statement. “The university expresses deep sorrow over the passing of comrade Zhang Zhijian and deep condolences to his family.”

    Zhang was a professor at the College of Nuclear Science and Technology at the Harbin Engineering University and was also the Vice President of the Chinese Nuclear Society. 

    In China’s northern Heilongjiang province, Harbin Technical University is one of two Chinese universities that have close relations with the People’s Liberation Army. Last June, the university was banned from using a US-developed computer software amid souring relations with the West. 

    What’s notable is that western media or most media outlets did not attempt to piece together the puzzle that days after a nuclear power plant mishap occurred, a top scientist in the country allegedly committed suicide. Seems odd right? 

    Except for the blog “Jennifer’s World,” which explains the possible connection between Zhijian’s death and his relationships to the plant. 

    Now, the question is, why did Zhang Zhijian kill himself?

    Let’s show picture 6. This is a screenshot of the Harbin Engineering University’s announcement about his death. It only says that he “unfortunately dropped from the building and passed away at about 9:34 am on June 17.” And the police had ruled out the possibility of murder, and we feel very sorry about his death, etc.

    So, there was no explanation about the cause of his death.

    An interesting thing is, as early as 2005, Taishan Nuclear Power Plant’s Chinese owner, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group, signed a cooperation agreement with Harbin Engineering University. According to the agreement, Harbin Engineering University would on the one hand train more talents in nuclear power for  China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group, and on the other hand, do more research. 

    It was said that the cooperation would promote the transformation of scientific research results into productivity through the combination of industry, academia and research.

    Several months after the agreement was signed, in December 2005, Harbin Engineering University established its College of Nuclear Science and Technology, and Zhang Zhijian was the head of this college. 

    Then, two years later, in 2007, China and France signed an agreement to co-build Tashan Nuclear Power Plant. 

    The construction of Unit 1 and Unit 2 of Tashan Nuclear Power Plant started in 2009, and Unit 1 entered commercial operation on December 13, 2018. 

    Then, if you check Zhang Zhijian’s bio, you would find that he had been the head of the College of Nuclear Science and Technology for ten years, from 2005 to 2015. 

    This overlapped with Tashan Nuclear Power Plant’s design and construction period. 

    During this period of time, it is very likely that Zhang Zhijian had formed a huge network with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group and maybe other companies, institutions and officials involved in nuclear energy.

    So, Chinese commentator Zhou Xiaohui said in his article that he highly suspected that Zhang Zhijian’s suicide had something to do with the leak of Taishan Nuclear Power Plant, given he killed himself right after the CCP publicly responded to the leak, and given his close ties with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group, as well as the entire nuclear power industry in China.

    Zhou Xiaohui said, maybe Zhang Zhijian had already been questioned by the authorities, or maybe he was given some sort of pressure, or maybe he was too frightened by the incident, or maybe he was afraid that he would be held responsible, or maybe there was something he needed to cover up with his death, etc. 

    While there’s nothing conclusive, the death of the top scientist coming days after the nuclear power plant mishap is certainly suspicious. A lot of questions remained unanswered. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 23:20

  • "America Is Not America Any Longer" – Giuliani Rages After Law License Suspension
    “America Is Not America Any Longer” – Giuliani Rages After Law License Suspension

    Authored by Ivan Pentchoukov via The Epoch Times,

    Rudy Giuliani, who served as the personal attorney for former President Donald Trump, on June 24 harshly criticized the decision by the New York State Bar to revoke his law license.

    “America is not America any longer. We do not live in a free state,” Giuliani said on Newsmax TV.

    “We live in a state that’s controlled by the Democrat Party, by [Gov. Andrew] Cuomo, by [New York City Mayor Bill] de Blasio, and the Democrats.”

    “We have a double standard,” he continued.

    “There’s no doubt, if I was representing Hillary Clinton, I’d be their hero.”

    The Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court concluded on June 24 (pdf) that Giuliani knowingly made false claims about the 2020 election and suspended his law license.

    “We conclude that there is uncontroverted evidence that respondent communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump’s failed effort at reelection in 2020,” the court said.

    Giuliani told Newsmax that he loves practicing law and wasn’t happy about the decision. The former New York City mayor said he has been part of “some of the most bitter litigation imaginable” without the kinds of complaints that led to the suspension of his license.

    Giuliani had served as Trump’s lawyer and spearheaded a legal effort after the conclusion of the Nov. 3 election alleging that Trump was fraudulently denied victory in several battleground states, including Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.

    As part of that effort, Giuliani spoke to lawmakers in several states, urging them to assert their constitutional power and intervene in the certification of presidential electors. None of those states ended up taking action. The U.S. Congress certified Joe Biden as the victor of the 2020 presidential election.

    In a statement after the court’s decision, Giuliani’s lawyers told The Epoch Times:

    “We are disappointed with the Appellate Division, First Department’s decision suspending Mayor Giuliani prior to being afforded a hearing on the issues that are alleged.

    “This is unprecedented as we believe that our client does not pose a present danger to the public interest. We believe that once the issues are fully explored at a hearing Mr. Giuliani will be reinstated as a valued member of the legal profession that he has served so well in his many capacities for so many years.”

    Trump panned the court’s decision.

    “Can you believe that New York wants to strip Rudy Giuliani, a great American Patriot, of his law license because he has been fighting what has already been proven to be a Fraudulent Election?” Trump said in a statement, describing the case as a “witch hunt.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 22:55

  • Facebook Could Be Held Liable For Sex Trafficking On Its Site, Texas Court Finds
    Facebook Could Be Held Liable For Sex Trafficking On Its Site, Texas Court Finds

    In what is hopefully the first step in a long road of accountability for the big tech giants, the Texas Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Facebook can be held liable if sex traffickers use the platform to target children.

    The court said that Facebook is “not a lawless no-man’s-land” and that it could be held accountable after 3 lawsuits that involved teenage sex trafficking victims, Fox News reported.

    The victims in the lawsuits were reportedly preyed on through the social media platform, which caused prosecutors to allege that the site was negligent in not blocking sex trafficking. 

    Facebook, as it does, tried to hide behind Section 230, which says that online platforms aren’t responsible for third party content. 

    But the court disagreed, stating: “Holding internet platforms accountable for words or actions of their users is one thing, and the federal precedent uniformly dictates that section 230 does not allow it. Holding internet platforms accountable for their own misdeeds is quite another thing. This is particularly the case for human trafficking.”

    Facebook told Fox News: “We’re reviewing the decision and considering potential next steps. Sex trafficking is abhorrent and not allowed on Facebook. We will continue our fight against the spread of this content and the predators who engage in it.” 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 22:30

  • "Nike Is A Brand That Is Of China And For China" Says Company's CEO
    “Nike Is A Brand That Is Of China And For China” Says Company’s CEO

    Authored by Samuel Allgeri via The Epoch Times,

    The CEO of Nike said that the corporation is a “brand of China” earlier this week, amid recent allegations of the company being implicated with human rights violations conducted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

    John Donahoe, the new Nike CEO, while speaking to Wall Street analysts, said that “Nike is a brand that is of China and for China” when responding to a question about competition from Chinese companies during a fourth-quarter earnings meeting, BBC reported.

    “We’ve always taken a long term view. We’ve been in China for over 40 years,” Donahoe said, expressing his optimism that the brand will continue to grow quickly in the world’s most populous nation.

    Referring to the apparel brand’s co-founder and ex-CEO, he said: “Phil [Knight] invested significant time and energy in China in the early days and today we’re the largest sport brand there.”

    Nike was recently criticized by a U.S. senator for turning a blind eye to allegations of forced labor in China, arguing they are making American consumers complicit in Beijing’s repressive policies.

    Speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on China’s repression of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang region, Republican Senator Marco Rubio said many U.S. companies had not woken up to the fact that they were “profiting” from the Chinese government’s abuses.

    Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 23, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

    “For far too long companies like Nike and Apple and Amazon and Coca-Cola were using forced labor. They were benefiting from forced labor or sourcing from suppliers that were suspected of using forced labor,” Rubio said on June 10.

    “These companies, sadly, were making all of us complicit in these crimes.”

    Rights groups, researchers, former residents, and some Western lawmakers say Xinjiang authorities have facilitated forced labor by arbitrarily detaining around one million Uyghurs and other primarily Muslim minorities in a network of camps since 2016.

    Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch, told the Senate panel that Beijing’s “extreme repression and surveillance” made human rights due diligence for companies impossible.

    Nike didn’t respond immediately to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 22:05

  • How Has Trader Positioning Changed Since The FOMC Meeting
    How Has Trader Positioning Changed Since The FOMC Meeting

    As discussed previously (see “Fed Blinks: Projects 2 Rate Hikes By End Of 2023“, “What The Market’s Shocking Response Means For The Fed’s Endgame“) June’s FOMC meeting was hawkish in several dimensions and yet, after a brief initial shock, the market reaction appears to have been somewhat muted. This has raised the question of how positioning has adjusted ahead and in the aftermath of the FOMC meeting. To answer this question, JPMorgan’s Nick Panigirtzolgou updates some of his regular positioning indicators.

    Turning first to bonds, JPM’s quant makes the following observations:

    The short base in TIP ETF, proxied by the quantity on loan as a % of outstanding shares, declined sharply around the turn of the month, while short interest in the TLT ETF tracking longer dated nominal bonds declined relatively less and saw a sharp increase in the aftermath of the FOMC meeting.

    According to JPM, the effective short interest picture “is one of investors positioning for wider breakevens and this positioning if anything increased further after the FOMC meeting.”

    At the same time, US active bond mutual funds, which entered June with elevated betas, “appear to have reduced their duration exposure sharply in the aftermath of the FOMC meeting to levels closer to their longer-term averages. “

    The bond betas of risk parity funds, which were very elevated in early June, had already moderated somewhat heading into the FOMC meeting and declined further after the FOMC meeting following the burst of bond and equity volatility which spooked potential buyers. According to JPM, “the bond beta currently stands around its long-term average, suggesting risk parity funds are largely neutral on duration currently.”

    The bank also calculates that based on its estimates, of the previous cumulative addition of duration positions in 10y USTs from early 2019 to October 2020, just over half have since been unwound.

    However, at 5y maturities only just over a fifth of the previous cumulative addition of duration exposure from late 2018 to early 2021 has been unwound (as Goldman said in a note last last week “every sell-off in 5s ends up being the opportunity of the year”).

    And since there appears to have been relatively little change in the aftermath of the FOMC meeting, JPM notes that “there is still plenty of room for investors to add shorts before positions approach their late 2018 levels.”

    Next, looking at momentum-based signals that JPM uses to proxy for positons by momentum-based investors such as CTAs suggest that they were modestly long 10y UST duration and turned largely neutral after the FOMC…

    … while also adding to modest shorts in 5y. However, positions in both are relatively modest, suggesting CTAs could amplify volatility in either
    direction from here.

    What about other asset classes? Here JPM makes the following observations:

    In credit, the short interest on the LQD and HYG ETFs, the largest US HG and HY ETFs, respectively, again proxied by the quantity-on-loan as a % of outstanding shares, were already sitting at elevated levels heading into the FOMC meeting.

    Since the meeting, their short interest rose further suggesting elevated concerns among credit investors.

    Next, JPM looks at equities, where the short interest in the SPY ETF has increased markedly, suggesting investors have been adding equity downside protection.  And while momentum signals for US and non-US equities remain long, they have declined from their elevated levels earlier in the year.

    The momentum signals for US equities in particular were still at extreme levels, i.e. with a z-score above 1.5, in early April, and now stand at around 1.1. In other words, equity positions by momentum traders look less stretched.

    Elsewhere, short interest in both the EEM and EMB ETFs has if anything continued to decline (Figure 10), showing little appetite by investors to hedge EM exposures. This could suggest global investors’ EM exposures are relatively modest.

    Next, looking at commodity positions, JPM finds bullish sentiment has declined sharply: Figure 11 shows the net speculative long positions in commodity futures excluding gold from CFTC data, and shows a marked unwind in net longs. The red diamond shows a proxy for the position adjustment to the most recent days (based on the absolute change in open interest multiplied by the price change) suggesting net longs were further unwound after the FOMC meeting. This means elevated net longs that JPM had previously ssaid were a near term positioning headwind for commodities appears to have dissipated to a large extent.

    At the same time, JPM’s momentum signal for gold suggests CTAs have turned quite bearish…

    … and the magnitude of the z-score is approaching extremes seen in March 2020 and 2021, which to JPM suggest “there is a high risk that mean reversion or profit taking signals could kick in.” And since JPM prop has a habit of taking the other side of its public positions, what will most likely happen is another short squeeze sending gold sharply higher in the coming days.

    Finally, looking at FX and the all-important dollar, net spec positions have also adjusted significantly, and after starting the year with net shorts at a level last seen in 2013, these aggregate USD net shorts have largely unwound and turned close to neutral. JPM’s positioning proxy has turned modestly long USD after the FOMC meeting. Similarly, the bank’s momentum signals suggest net dollar shorts by CTAs were effectively closed after last week’s FOMC meeting.

    However, as JPM concludes, “neither the net spec positions nor our momentum signals suggest bullish dollar positions are starting to form a headwind for further dollar gains at this point, however.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 21:40

  • Labor Shortages And Inflation Plague California Businesses
    Labor Shortages And Inflation Plague California Businesses

    Authored by Jamie Joseph via The Epoch Times,

    There’s an irony to the new dining area at Chef Andrew Gruel’s Huntington Beach, Calif. restaurant. Although he’s now permitted to fill it to capacity under California’s lifted guidelines, he can’t find the staff to work it.

    Andrew Gruel, cofounder and executive chef at Slapfish restaurant, is pictured in Huntington Beach, Calif., on June 7, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

    Statewide labor shortages and inflation are among the challenges restaurateurs are now facing as they crawl back to life following the pandemic-induced restrictions that hammered California’s hospitality industry.

    “First and foremost, a lot of people are making enough on unemployment right now that they’re waiting this out,” Gruel, owner and head chef of Slapfish in Huntington Beach told The Epoch Times.

    The demand for labor is a sharp contrast to last December, when the state banned indoor and outdoor dining for the second time.

    Hospitality workers “hit rock bottom,” prompting Gruel to launch a GoFundMe page to support the embattled employees. He dispersed funds directly to restaurant workers and owners shortly after the ban went into effect, with donations exceeding $350,000.

    Now, that new empty dining area sits quietly in Gruel’s establishment, serving only as a reminder of the challenges he faces.

    “This was going to be kind of our newer… full-service oyster bar side,” he said.

    “They require so much labor that we’re only open five days a week now and only from [3 p.m.] to close, because we can’t get the servers, we can’t get the bartenders and the oyster shuckers.

    “And I’m not implying that’s laziness, a lot of people are saying, ‘Look, we were hired, fired, hired, fired, so many times since this pandemic started,’” he said, adding that many people don’t have confidence in keeping a job while California’s state of emergency (SOE) persists.

    To incentivize workers to apply, the restaurant is offering a $500 hiring bonus coupled with wages of up to $25 an hour, Gruel said.

    Restaurant Rebound

    Other efforts to help support the industry’s revival emerged earlier this in June.

    The California Restaurant Foundation, a nonprofit that invests in the state’s restaurant workforce, partnered June 14 with celebrity Chef Guy Fieri to surprise five small business owners with a $25,000 grant.

    Jennifer Lê, co-owner of Lêberry Bakery and Donut in Pasadena, was among the recipients.

    “We are so, so fortunate … the food industry has been hit hard, so badly, last year,” Lê told The Epoch Times.

    The restaurant industry in California is estimated to generate about $97 million annually with more than 76,000 eating and drinking establishments that employ 1.8 million people, according to the California Restaurant Association. In an economic Yelp report published last year, 61 percent of restaurants permanently closed, equating to 19,590 across the country.

    Lê said her bakery normally employs upward of a dozen people, but because of the labor shortage, is struggling to fill positions.

    Her partner, Raynard Ledford, is “like a chameleon,” she said, as he’s taken on several roles around the bakery to keep the business running.

    “Unfortunately … the minimum wage in Pasadena is $13.25, which is higher than much other surrounding areas. But, when you’re given government checks that are a little bit higher, we lost a few because of that; they’ve been home for a year.”

    Lê said she’s been searching two months for a skilled cake decorator, which is a central responsibility in her bakery offering custom cake designs.

    “I know of other places; they have a 50 percent shortage of staff,” she said. “They’re just doing the best they can and it’s unfortunate.”

    Beyond Eateries

    Restaurants are not the only ones struggling with a manpower deficit.

    Brad Goehring, a wine grape grower in Lodi, told The Epoch Times the labor shortage—coupled with the state’s agricultural regulations—place a burden on small farmers and ranchers.

    “We’re just heavily overregulated, the cost of labor is minimum wage keeps going up, and our costs and administrative responsibilities keep going up. It’s really become a burden to be an employer in California,” Goehring said.

    The “unemployment all by itself” isn’t the entire reason workers aren’t returning, he said, adding: “there’s too many incentives not to come back to work,” referencing the pandemic assistance as well.

    It all resulted in Goehring’s vineyard being 50 percent short of its labor needs. Before the pandemic, there were at least 500 people picking grapes. There are now about 150.

    Time is another challenge, as the vines require consistent attention.

    Cantaloupe growers and packers are also actively hiring employees.

    “Business is highly dependent on labor, trucking, paper products, and wood pallets. All of them are suffering from labor shortages,” Erik Wilson, who owns a spraying business and grows cantaloupes told The Epoch Times. “Then, enter the drought and it’s like getting hit in the face and stomach.”

    A shortage of paper products and pallets have created a new set of challenges as harvesters are unable to transport product to stores without them, resulting in demand-driven inflation.

    “Just simple wood pallets have doubled in prices there’s almost a shortage of them,” Wilson said.

    Inflation Impacts

    Some forecasts predict the inflation rate will increase to 2.9 percent, up from a previous 2.3 percent estimate.

    It’s a concern for business owners such as Gruel.

    “We’re seeing an increase in prices across the board,” he said, adding that Slapfish will soon have to reform its menu to adjust for labor and inflation cost.

    “Food distributors can’t find people to pack the trucks, they can’t find people to load the trucks, they can’t find people to drive the trucks, food processors can’t find people to process anything.”

    Slapfish cofounder and executive chef Andrew Gruel washes floors at the Huntington Beach, Calif., location on June 7, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

    Seafood restaurants such as Slapfish are facing an increase in the cost of lobster and other seafood items. Gruel said lobster went from $18 a pound up to $40 “virtually overnight,” because “a lot of the boats couldn’t go out, or because the cost of fuel made it inefficient for the boats to go out, people weren’t dropping traps in the water.

    “Our biggest item that we sell is lobster, we are very fortunate, because we’re integrated through the supply chain. So, we’ve been able to buy some future on lobster before these issues. But because the processing facilities couldn’t find anybody to pick the lobster, then it was a perfect storm,” he said.

    “I think that we’re going to see hiccups through the supply chain for a year, two years, I don’t think we’re going to see normalcy, I fear,” Gruel said.

    “In an industry like the restaurant industry, where margins are either nonexistent or incredibly thin, you rely on projections and analysis.

    Gruel said when businesses “cannot project and analyze purchases and labor based on variable conditions that you can’t control” it makes it difficult to run a business.

    Added Wilson: “I don’t know how we’re going to get that inflation under control because people don’t think about the smallest things like wooden pallets or cardboard boxes and things that are all part of the process of getting the food from the field to a fork.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 21:15

  • "What If We Are Wrong": Goldman Reruns Market Forecasts Assuming Its Key Assumptions Are All Wrong
    “What If We Are Wrong”: Goldman Reruns Market Forecasts Assuming Its Key Assumptions Are All Wrong

    Halfway through 2021, the S&P 500 closed at an all time high and stands just 1% below Goldman’s year-end price target of 4300.

    So far so good, but as the bank’s chief equity strategist David Kostin concedes, his forecasts are conditional on macro assumptions: “Inflation will diminish, interest rates will rise, and a portion of President Biden’s fiscal plan will pass into law.” And, as Kostin writes in his Weekly Kickstart note, “this future is not guaranteed” and as a result, Kostin’s recent client discussions have focused around the risks to the bank’s baseline macro forecast.

    To ease client nerves, Kostin, considers three “what if” scenarios that each focus on a key macro assumption and explore the implications of alternative outcomes for US equity returns, earnings, and valuations:

    1. “What if inflation is not transitory,”
    2. “What if interest rates fall or rise more than we expect,” and
    3. “What if tax reform does not materialize?”

    So starting at the top, here are Kostin’s thoughts first on…

    1. “What if inflation does not prove transitory?”

    Goldman economists’ – just like the Fed – forecast assumes that the recent surge in inflation will prove transitory and core CPI will decline to 2.3% next year from the most recent print of 3.8% (Bank of America here is a major outlier expecting far higher inflation for the next 2-4 years). To justify its view, Goldman’s chief equity strategist says that economists’ “trimmed core PCE” shows that outliers had an outsized effect on the recent spike in inflation, and they attribute most of the above-consensus inflation readings to temporary re-opening factors that should subside within the next 3-6 months (which is bizarre in a world where container shipping rates continue to rise at an exponential pace confirming supply chains remain hopelessly broken). In addition, they believe labor supply will rebound significantly by year-end as coronavirus concerns continue to diminish and temporary supplemental unemployment benefits expire. This should ease wage pressures and reduce investor concerns about persistently high inflation in coming years.

    Ok, but what if none of this leads to lower prices?

    As Kostin admits, “higher inflation than we expect would boost sales but weigh on corporate profit margins.Inflation has been positively correlated with sales but negatively correlated with margins.” Rising input costs, including wages, could weigh on margins if companies fail to raise prices sufficiently to offset inflation. As discussed previously, many firms had begun taking price action but also expect inflation to be transitory. Based on Goldman’s top-down model, each percentage point of core CPI inflation above our forecast would lift S&P 500 sales growth by about 1 percentage point, reduce net profit margins by about 10 bp, and, for moderate changes in inflation, on net leave S&P 500 EPS unchanged relative to our baseline.

    Persistently high inflation would also “represent a substantial headwind to valuation multiples”, Kostin admits, adding that “elevated inflation would likely lead to more Fed tightening than we now expect, raising rates and reducing equity valuations.” Currently Goldman economists believe the Fed will announce in December that tapering will begin in early 2022 and Fed funds hikes will start in 2H 2023. As a result, Kostin expects the S&P 500 P/E will be roughly flat during the next year, resulting in equity prices appreciating roughly in line with EPS growth.

    That said, it is certainly true that historically US equities have performed best in low inflation environments. Since 1960, the median annualized real S&P 500 return during periods of low inflation has been 15% vs. 9% in periods of high inflation. In periods of high inflation, stocks have performed better alongside falling inflation (15%) than alongside rising inflation (2%) (we discussed this in “Goldman’s Clients Are Asking How Various Inflation Regimes Affect Stocks: Here Is The Answer“)

    Elevated inflation would boost the relative performance of stocks with high pricing power. The performance of high (GSXUSHGM) vs. low (GSXULVGM) pricing power stocks has been volatile in recent weeks alongside shifting investor views on inflation risk. At the sector level, high inflation has historically corresponded with the outperformance of the Health Care, Energy, Real Estate, and Consumer Staples sectors.

    2.“What if interest rates fall or rise more than we anticipate?”

    Goldman’s baseline 2021 S&P 500 price target of 4300 assumes that the 10-year Treasury yield will rise to 1.9% by end-2021 and that the P/E multiple remains stable around 22x. The bank’s rates strategists expect the increase in nominal Treasury yields will be led primarily by real rates and driven in part by higher global bond yields. Kostin expects the equity risk premium (ERP) will decline in the second half of this year, offsetting some of the impact of higher rates on equity valuations and leading to a roughly flat P/E multiple through year-end.

    In other words, if – all else equal – interest rates remain roughly flat through the end of this year, Goldman’s S&P 500 dividend discount model (DDM) would suggest a fair value of 4700, or 9% above the bank’s current baseline price target of 4300. If rates fail to rise because of weakening growth, then lower earnings or a higher ERP would suggest a lower S&P 500 price despite lower interest rates. However, holding baseline ERP constant, a 10-year US Treasury yield of 1.6% (the 3-month average) would lift Goldman’s DDM-implied fair value estimate to around 4700. Using the bank’s 2022 EPS estimate of $202, this would imply an NTM P/E of 23x.

    Under a different scenario, if interest rates were to overshoot Goldman’s forecast and end the year at 2.5%, but nothing else were to change, the bank’s S&P 500 DDM would imply a fair value of just 3550, or 17% below today’s price. Goldman economists expect the Fed will begin tapering its current monthly debt purchases in early 2022. This decrease in demand will likely coincide with more deficit spending and potentially greater bond issuance following the passage of President Biden’s infrastructure bill. Holding baseline ERP and EPS growth forecasts constant, Kostin says that the bank’s DDM would imply a P/E multiple contraction to 18x.

    3.“What if tax reform does not pass?”

    Kostin’s baseline earnings forecast assume that a portion of Biden’s full tax proposal will become law by year-end and take effect in 2022, reducing S&P 500 EPS by 5% relative to the forecast under current tax law. Goldman’s political economist expects that the federal statutory corporate tax rate will be raised to 25% from 21%, rather than the 28% rate proposed by Biden. He also believes that roughly half of the proposed foreign income tax hike will become law and that the capital gains tax rate for upper income individuals will be raised to 28%. Based on these assumptions, Kostin expects the S&P 500 will generate EPS of $202 in 2022 (+5% growth vs. 2021) and half the 10% EPS growth anticipated under current tax policy which sees EPS of $212 in 2022.

    Using Goldman’s baseline year-end 2021 P/E forecast of 21.3x, a “no tax reform” scenario would lift the bank’s 2022 S&P 500 EPS estimate and our year-end 2021 S&P 500 fair value estimate by 5%, supporting a price target of 4500.

    As Kostin notes, a failure to lift corporate and capital gains tax rates would generally favor Growth stocks, an assumption few find questionable. Digging deeper, although the ultimate implications of corporate tax reform are hard to predict without knowing which parts of the proposal will be enacted and in what size, it is likely that foreign-facing sectors with low effective tax rates including Communication Services, Info Tech, and Health Care appear most vulnerable. With regards to capital gains taxes, Growth stocks such as those in the Tech sector have generated the strongest returns in recent years, suggesting the largest potential risk from tax-related investor selling ahead of a potential tax hike later this year.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 20:50

  • FDA Adds Warning About Heart Inflammation To COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines
    FDA Adds Warning About Heart Inflammation To COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines

    By Jack Phillips of The Epoch Times

    A young woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) added a warning about the risk of developing heart inflammation to information about the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines.

    The FDA announced earlier this month that it would add the warning after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had reported that more cases of heart inflammation—either myocarditis or pericarditis—were found in young adults and children after they received the vaccines, which use mRNA technology.

    On June 25, the agency said that it would add revisions to its patient and provider fact sheets about the “increased risks of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the tissue surrounding the heart) following vaccination” using the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 shots. The Pfizer or Moderna vaccines use mRNA technology and require two doses, whereas the vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson uses an adenovirus and requires a single dose.

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    Still, health officials have said that the risks of developing heart inflammation are outweighed by the vaccine’s benefits.

    “The risk of myocarditis and pericarditis appears to be very low given the number of vaccine doses that have been administered,” Janet Woodcock, the acting FDA commissioner, said in a statement last week. “The benefits of COVID-19 vaccination continue to outweigh the risks, given the risk of COVID-19 diseases and related, potentially severe, complications.”

    The warning issued by the FDA says that there may be increased risks “particularly following the second dose and with [the] onset of symptoms within a few days after vaccination.”

    “Additionally, the Fact Sheets for Recipients and Caregivers for these vaccines note that vaccine recipients should seek medical attention right away if they have chest pain, shortness of breath, or feelings of having a fast-beating, fluttering, or pounding heart after vaccination,” the agency said. “The FDA and CDC are monitoring the reports, collecting more information, and will follow-up to assess longer-term outcomes over several months.”

    COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

    There have been more than 1,200 cases of pericarditis or myocarditis in individuals who are aged 30 or younger who have received the vaccine doses, according to the latest CDC findings last week.

    The case rate, based on submissions to the FDA- and CDC-operated Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, is higher than expected in young males.

    For males between the ages of 12 and 17, the expected number of cases of heart inflammation following dose one using a 21-day window were two to 21. The observed number of cases was 32 through June 11. For males between the age of 18 and 24, the expected number of cases using the same parameters were three to 34. The observed number of cases was 47.

    Representatives for Pfizer and Moderna didn’t respond to requests for comment by press time.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 20:25

  • Biden Orders Series Of Airstrikes Along Syria-Iraq Border
    Biden Orders Series Of Airstrikes Along Syria-Iraq Border

    The Biden administration has confirmed the president ordered Sunday night airstrikes on multiple militant encampments along the Iraq-Syria border in order to “protect US personnel” – as an official Department of Defense statement in the aftermath indicated.

    “At President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces earlier this evening conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region,” the late Sunday statement reads. It was reportedly a “response” to ongoing drone attacks conducted by Iran-allied forces in both countries.

    Such airstrikes began growing common place during the last year of the Trump administration amid growing tit-for-tat attacks between Iranian-backed Iraqi militias, but has been rare for the Biden White House, only happening one prior time in February that was publicly disclosed.

    The DoD press statement added of this latest attack: “The targets were selected because these facilities are utilized by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq.”

    “Specifically, the U.S. strikes targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq, both of which lie close to the border between those countries. Several Iran-backed militia groups, including Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS), used these facilities.”

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    The US military additionally called it “necessary” – saying that “President Biden has been clear that he will act to protect US personnel.”

    So far there’s no immediate reports of casualties, which will likely be coming in throughout the night. Some local sources are suggesting multiple dead and injured…

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    Crucially, nuclear talks with Iran have already entered a very uncertain end phase in Vienna – this action will likely further complicate negotiations, particularly if Tehran perceives that Biden is bent on ramping up anti-Iranian military actions once again in both Iraq and Syria, which nearly sucked Iran and the US into direct war, especially following the January 2020 assassination of Gen. Qassem Soleimani. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 19:56

  • Iran Refuses To Grant IAEA Access To Nuclear Facilities: "Agreement Has Expired"
    Iran Refuses To Grant IAEA Access To Nuclear Facilities: “Agreement Has Expired”

    At a moment the clock is said to be winding down toward a nuclear deal in Vienna, with both sides expressing increased frustration that things are dragging on too long, Tehran is playing hardball with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 

    Once again it’s over access to the country’s nuclear sites according to prior arrangements: “The speaker of Iran’s parliament said on Sunday Tehran will never hand over images from inside of some Iranian nuclear sites to the U.N. nuclear watchdog as a monitoring agreement with the agency had expired, Iranian state media reported,” Reuters writes Sunday.

    Via Associated Press

    In February Iran had struck a deal for a three month extension which allowed IAEA inspectors access to remote cameras and images from sensitive facilities. This came after months of Tehran officials threatening to boot IAEA monitoring from the country altogether.

    “The agreement has expired… any of the information recorded will never be given to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the data and images will remain in the possession of Iran,” said Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.

    Over the weekend, just as the extension is set to expire, the IAEA demanded an “immediate response” over the “possible continued collection, recording and retention of data.”

    But Iran’s position is that it’s fulfilled its obligations and therefore is not required to comply with such a request. Iranian ambassador to the IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, made clear to the UN watchdog that the Islamic Republic is under no such obligation.

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    This is yet the latest – but perhaps most significant – obstacle which could derail talks in Vienna. Currently there’s pressure on both sides to finalize a deal before Iran’s newly elected president, Ebrahim Raisi – a hardline protégé of the Supreme Leader – takes office in early August.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 19:30

  • Rapinoe No Victim: US Women's Soccer Team Earned More Than Men's Team
    Rapinoe No Victim: US Women’s Soccer Team Earned More Than Men’s Team

    Authored by Jennifer Braceras via InsideSources.com,

    Players on the U.S. women’s national soccer team are paid more than their counterparts on the men’s team. But Megan Rapinoe isn’t letting facts stand in the way of her p.r. campaign to pressure the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) into increasing her salary.

    In March, the gold medalist and two-time World Cup Champion complained to Congress and to President Joe Biden that she is a victim of pay discrimination. Later this month, she’ll take her case to the court of public opinion in a new documentary, LFG, that will begin streaming on HBOMax.

    Unfortunately for Rapinoe, the only court of law to rule on the matter found her claims wanting.

    In 2019, Rapinoe and her teammates sued USSF in California federal court, seeking more than $66 million in damages for alleged wage discrimination and discriminatory working conditions. The court found sufficient evidence to allow the players to proceed with their claims of unequal travel and hotel accommodations, medical support, training, and other support services. But it dismissed the players’ claims of pay discrimination, finding that the women’s team earned more than the men’s team on both a cumulative and per-game basis.

    It turns out, the Women’s National Team earned approximately $24 million overall; the Men’s National Team earned only $18 million. The average take per game was $220,747 for the women’s team, compared to $212,639 for the men’s team. And while the individual female plaintiffs made an average of $11,356 to $17,416 per game, the four highest-paid male players made an average of $10,360 to $13,964 per game.

    Facts are stubborn things. And so, Rapinoe and her teammates argued that, even though they received more money than their male counterparts, they were, nevertheless, victims of discrimination. Why?  Because they would have earned even more had they been paid under the men’s pay structure, which offers higher bonuses.

    The collective bargaining agreement for the men’s team is an incentive-based, pay-to-play contract, under which only players who are selected for training camps or particular competitions have a chance to earn bonuses. The court found that the women’s team, in fact, rejected an offer to be paid under the same structure as the men, opting instead for higher base pay and greater stability in the form of yearly salaries, paid irrespective of training camps attended or games played.

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    Late last year, plaintiffs and USSF settled the unequal working conditions portion of the case, with the federation agreeing to provide the female players with travel arrangements, hotel accommodations, staffing, and venues on par with the male athletes. Good for the women’s team. They deserve it. And that should be the end of the matter.

    In America today, however, victim status is the coin of the realm. And so Rapinoe and her merry band of warriors fight on, addicted to fame, praised by celebrities such as Jamie Lee Curtis and politicians like Vice President Kamala Harris, and feted by elites in Hollywood and Washington alike.

    In April, the players appealed the trial court’s pay discrimination ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, pressuring USSF to mediate the baseless claims ahead of the summer Olympics in Japan. And earlier this month, 13 Democratic senators sponsored a bill to withhold federal funds from the 2026 FIFA World Cup unless USSF increases pay for the women’s team. If enacted, the Give Our Athletes Level Salaries (GOALS) Act would prohibit funding for USSF, FIFA, and for host cities and state or local organizations assisting with the event, which is set to be hosted jointly by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

    Will USSF capitulate to Rapinoe’s demands in order to avoid a sideshow in Tokyo next month and to prevent the loss of its World Cup funding? Quite possibly. But don’t let Megan Rapinoe fool you: A victim of sex discrimination, she is not.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 19:00

  • White House Responds To Report Saying Biden To Reverse Trump's Golan Heights Policy
    White House Responds To Report Saying Biden To Reverse Trump’s Golan Heights Policy

    On Thursday the Washington Free Beacon published a story with the headline: “Biden Admin Walks Back US Recognition of Golan Heights as Israeli Territory.” This set off a wave of rumors and follow-up reports, culminating in an official Biden administration response on Friday. 

    The initial report had stated: “The Biden administration is walking back the United States’ historic recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the contested Golan Heights region along Israel’s northern border, a significant blow to the Jewish state and one of the Trump administration’s signature foreign policy decisions.” But the State Department’s Near Eastern Affairs Department tweeted in response as the claim began to spread: “US policy regarding the Golan has not changed, and reports to the contrary are false.”

    And separately a State Department official told Middle East Eye that “Our policy on Golan has not changed.”

    Perhaps most interesting in all this is that the original report forced a statement from the Biden administration affirming that it intends to keep yet another controversial Trump policy that the former president was initially fiercely criticized for, particularly from Democratic circles. It’s increasingly apparent that when it comes to Trump’s most previously contested foreign policies, Biden is now actively upholding and defending them.

    Recall that in March 2019 Trump changed the longstanding US policy, signing a proclamation of formal US recognition over the Golan Heights. 

    Netanyahu had said at the time “Israel has never had a better friend than you.” This was also amid the big move to recognize Jerusalem and the Israeli capital, which involved moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv.

    Months ago, soon after Biden took office, among the first things that his team did was to assure the world that it would not reverse a this key Trump policy vis-a-vis Israel, as Roll Call reported at the time:

    …President Joe Biden intends to keep the U.S. Embassy to Israel in Jerusalem, where it was relocated during the Trump administration. The issue of where to locate the embassy has been a fixture of negotiations over Israeli and Palestinian territory and authority for decades.

    A White House spokesperson confirmed to CQ Roll Call the administration’s intentions, following up on a query from last Friday’s White House press briefing.

    “The U.S. position is that our embassy will remain in Jerusalem, which we recognize as Israel’s capital,” the spokesperson said. “The ultimate status of Jerusalem is a final status issue which will need to be resolved by the parties in the context of direct negotiations.”

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    The Golan issue in particular stems from a cross-administration policy which has sought to deny Syria’s Assad full control over a sovereign state. 

    The progressive wing of the Democratic party had urged Biden to reverse course on Trump’s major Israel policies; however, the White House appears to have now given its definitive answer that nothing will fundamentally change from the prior administration. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 18:30

  • Decentralized Finance (DeFi) 101
    Decentralized Finance (DeFi) 101

    Authored by Chris McCann via Race Capital,

    Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is redefining the future of finance. There is a major shift going on in the underlying infrastructure powering financial applications, and it’s changing the way we think about permission and control, transparency and risks.

    DeFi is a developing market sector within the intersection of blockchain technologies, digital assets, and financial services. According to DeFi Pulse, the value of digital assets locked into DeFi applications grew 10X from less than $1 billion in 2019, to over $10 billion in 2020, and over $80 billion at its peak thus far in 2021. Yet the DeFi applications and underlying infrastructure are still in its nascent stage of development.

    The goal of this report is to provide an introduction of the new emerging area of DeFi infrastructure powering DeFi apps today. While it’s easy to get caught up in the hype and speculation within the space, I’ll focus on the key components of DeFi applications, their key differentiation compared to traditional finance, potential risks, and longer term implications these DeFi apps are causing.

    Major Structural Commonalities Across DeFi Apps

    DeFi apps are financial applications with no central counterparties. In practice this means there is no institution (e.g. banks) you are interfacing with to access these financial applications; instead users interface directly with the programs (e.g. smart contracts) on top of the protocol itself. For more of a DeFi 101 primer I highly recommend this report.

    The major categories of DeFi apps include decentralized exchanges, lending platforms, stablecoins, synthetic assets, insurance, among others. While diverse in scope, all of these DeFi apps share a major set of commonalities including:

    1. Using underlying blockchains as the core ledger

    2. Open source and transparent by default

    3. Interoperable and programmable (composability)

    4. Open and accessible to all (permissionless)

    Using Underlying Blockchains as the Core Ledger

    Compared to traditional financial applications which use core banking systems (Fiserv, Jack Henry, FIS, etc.) as the underlying ledgers of record, DeFi apps use blockchains as their underlying core ledger.

    A few of the most prominent blockchains used to build DeFi apps include Ethereum, Solana, and Binance Chain, etc. These underlying blockchains store the ledger state of what is deposited into the DeFi apps, what is stored within the smart contracts, all of the transactions, and withdrawals.

    All of the core accounting functions to ensure matching inputs and outputs are handled by the blockchain itself, the DeFi apps don’t need to create external systems to reconcile balances, because all of the transactions are queryable across the various block explorers.

    In addition, compared to the traditional system there is no separate process of settling & clearing transactions. The transaction processing, clearing, and settling all happen at the same time when the transaction is broadcasted. Although it is advisable to wait around ~21 blocks or more to ensure finality on the blockchain itself.

    Open Source and Transparent by Default

    Compared to traditional financial applications which are all closed-source and built on top of proprietary systems, DeFi applications are typically entirely open sourced and built on top of open underlying blockchains.

    Banking “APIs”

    This causes three interesting properties:

    1. Composability — The DeFi app itself can be forked, remixed, and reused in many other applications (more on this below).

    2. Transparency — Since the DeFi app is open source, it is completely auditable to know exactly what the smart contract is doing in terms of functions, user permissions, and user data.

    3. Auditability — Since the underlying blockchain itself is open sourced, the entire flow of funds is completely auditable including collateral in the system, trading volume, defaults, etc.

    Unlike the traditional financial system (which is opaque), runs on a fractional reserve system, and is prone to market shocks — the DeFi system is completely transparent and over-collateralized — which allows DeFi companies to weather downturns much more efficiently.

    Interoperable and Programmable

    In order for developers to gain the trust of users, the majority of the DeFi apps are completely open source — including the front end and the smart contracts themselves. In addition, since DeFi apps all run on top of a common platform (the underlying blockchain) these DeFi apps are completely interoperable with each other and can be programmed to work with any other DeFi app in the ecosystem.

    This is commonly referred to as the “money legos” or “composability” aspects of DeFi. All of these DeFi apps are like individual lego pieces which can be remixed to work with other lego pieces to build something new.

    Contrast this to the traditional financial system where;

    • Infrastructure Fragmentation — Traditional financial apps are not built on top of common infrastructure.

    • Siloed Applications — Traditional financial apps are typically proprietary to one banking institution. For example, all of Wells Fargo’s “fintech apps” work together but not across different banking institutions.

    • Developer Unfriendly — Traditional financial apps are not made for other developers to build services on top of.

    The traditional financial system does have common standards; however, it’s extremely hard to reach consensus across market participants because financial institutions view their software as their competitive moat instead of using products as a differentiating factor.

    One of the biggest reasons why we have seen so much innovation within the DeFi space is because the systems are interoperable, it allows the developer ecosystem to have more creative expression on the products and services they create. On top of this, developers don’t need to waste time reinventing the wheel, but rather can build upon common frameworks and focus on the things that make their products special.

    Open and accessible to all

    With traditional financial applications, new users typically need to go through a lengthy onboarding process, income verifications, credit checks, or even in person meetings — just to be able to use a given financial product.

    Because of these arbitrary rules set by financial institutions, these onboarding processes are prone to bias including lending descrimination, denial of basic banking services, opening credit lines without consent, charging illegal fees, etc.

    With DeFi applications, all you need is a wallet address to interact with these systems. DeFi apps don’t ask for income verification, they don’t need credit checks, and in most cases they don’t even need to know who you are outside of the wallet address you are using.

    This is commonly referred to as DeFi apps being permissionless. If you have the funds inside your wallet for the transaction you want to do, you can do it. There are no institutions or intermediaries to stop or deny service to you. It doesn’t matter what your background is or what country you come from, DeFi apps do not discriminate.

    This is one of the most under-appreciated aspects of DeFi products.

    Traditional Fintech Architectures vs. DeFi Architecture

    Here is a more architectural diagram on the main technical differences between a traditional fintech app and DeFi app (simplified for brevity’s sake):

    Here is a more direct comparison chart on some of the key differences between centralized and decentralized financial applications:

    DeFi Infrastructure — Market Map

    Below is a market map of two different DeFi ecosystems, one built on the Solana ecosystem and the other built on the Ethereum ecosystem.

    The reason why I am picking these two ecosystems to focus on is to show the breadth of DeFi apps being built across two different underlying protocols. I also believe Solana is the most interesting new layer one protocol because of its high transaction throughput (50K+ transactions per second), sub second latency & transaction confirmation times, and fast growing ecosystem of developers building DeFi apps on top of the Solana protocol.

    While similar in structure, each underlying protocol has its own ecosystem built on top which is largely independent of the other. Below are some of the further explanations of each layer and the tradeoffs between them.

    Base Layer (Layer One)

    The base layer is the blockchain in which the core ledger itself sits. Ethereum is the most dominant layer one today, and Solana is the most promising new entrant with faster transaction speeds, more throughput, and cheaper transactions.

    Node Infrastructure

    A never ending amount of data needs to be queried about the underlying ledger (retrieving blocks, finding transactions, syncing data, writing transactions, etc). In the Ethereum ecosystem, a whole industry sprung up to solve this need (Infura, Alchemy, etc.).

    Contrast this with Solana where the underlying ledger is fast enough and in sync enough that teams can just query Solana’s RPC nodes directly (this might not last forever though).

    Layer Two

    On Ethereum, there are various layer two solutions primarily used for scaling since Etheruem itself cannot handle all of the transactions on itself. Two of the promising scaling solutions include Matic, Optimism, among others.

    On Solana, since there is only one layer to build upon (no layer 2 scaling solution needed) there are no specialized integrations needed and no mismatches with the underlying ledger which is processing settlement.

    Order Book Aggregation

    Unique to Solana, there is an additional layer occupied by a DeFi project named Serum which provides a CLOB (Central limit order book) that is used by all of the DeFi projects built on top.

    When new DeFi projects are built on top of Solana (DEX, AMM, Options, etc.), they can pull orders from Serum and push orders back into Serum, greatly reducing the cold start challenge most new financial applications face.

    The best way to think about it is to think of it as “networked liquidity” and an “order management” system which is used by the majority of projects within the Solana ecosystem.

    One of the more innovative examples of combining a CLOB (Serum) and an AMM is Raydium (very similar to Uniswap v3). The combining of these systems allows for passive LPs with active market making using Serum.

    DeFi Toolset

    There are a set of common tools needed to operate most of these DeFi apps, either from the perspective of developers or end users. These services don’t have direct traditional finance analogies but they include:

    • Wallets — The main interface people use to store assets & interface with DeFi apps.

    • Oracles — On-chain data feeds DeFi apps use to reference prices and execute transactions against (example: liquidations).

    • Block Explorers & Analytics — Tools like Block Explorers were created to allow people to query the blockchain ledger itself directly. These are used most often when verifying transactions.

    • Stablecoins — The two main assets used in DeFi ecosystems include the underlying native protocol token (ETH or SOL) and ideally on-chain stablecoins (USDC, Dai, or Pai).

    • Front-Ends — A new emerging layer which creates easy to use front-end applications to interact with multiple DeFi projects at once, or to simplify transactions. This includes both Zapper.fi within the Ethereum Ecosystem or Step Finance within the Solana ecosystem.

    DeFi Apps

    The DeFi apps themselves are composed of all of the core financial applications which can be used directly, or embedded into other various apps within the crypto ecosystem.

    Potential Missing Pieces of DeFi Infrastructure

    When comparing and contrasting DeFi infrastructure with traditional financial infrastructure, there were a few pieces that don’t exist yet in the decentralized world that could be interesting to explore.

    A few to highlight below:

    • Consumer Applications — In the traditional financial world, consumers typically act with consumer apps (ex. Robinhood, Chime, Transferwise) not the underlying protocols themselves. The front-ends of the DeFi space could be greatly improved and intermediate much more of the total consumer experience. In general, the UI/UX of most DeFi apps are still very difficult to use from a consumer perspective.

    • CRM — The DeFi space doesn’t really have a concept of customer relationship management nor typically collects any amount of consumer data. While great from a privacy perspective, there is great value in understanding the customer better.

    • Notifications — Notifications or alerts don’t really exist at all in the DeFi space at all. On a more broader level there aren’t any great methods to communicate with users either.

    • Product Analytics — There are tools to measure blockchain activity, but not to measure engagement within DeFi applications.

    • Security — DeFi products do typically conduct security audits; however, none of the security audits guarantee the most common protections consumers are accustomed to in the traditional financial world. On top of this, the demand for security auditors outstrips the supply, so it’s a big bottleneck.

    • Transaction Rollbacks — In traditional finance, if you make a mistake, a financial institution can initiate a rollback of the transaction. This does not yet exist in DeFi.

    • Custody — Right now, most DeFi projects need to be interacted with from an individual wallet perspective. None of the custodians allow you to interact with DeFi apps.

    • Developer Platforms — Most of the developers in the crypto space are building right on top of the layer one protocol itself. There are no concepts of developer platforms or middleware just yet.

    • Embeddable Wallets — Wallets are seen as these external services, there aren’t any offerings of white-label wallets to embed these directly into the DeFi apps themselves. There are several initiatives such as Torus, but these are still in its infancy.

    • Identity — One of the biggest complaints from the traditional finance world about DeFi is the pseudonymity of users. Ideally there needs to be a way to keep out the bad actors while persevering consumer privacy.

    Future of Financial Applications

    After meeting hundreds of founders and seeing progress teams are making, one thing is very clear — the pace of innovation in DeFi is 10x faster vs. that of traditional fintech apps.

    In traditional finance:

    • The underlying ledgers are not open source nor developer friendly.

    • There are a whole host of “banking as a service” applications just to wrap underlying partner banks in developer friendly platforms.

    • Fintech apps are very challenging regulatory wise and typically take years of development before releasing a single product.

    Contrast that to DeFi where:

    • Everything is open source including the ledger itself.

    • All of the transactions are public.

    • Everything is built from the perspective of developers building applications on top of protocols.

    • New DeFi apps are built and released in weeks, not years.

    We at Race Capital believe that DeFi developers will forever change how the finance world works. We are incredibly bullish about the DeFi infrastructure stack and community.

    *  *  *

    If you are building the horizontal infrastructure layers of the new open source financial stack including: trading, lending, borrowing, and/or any horizontal tools all new DeFi projects will rely upon in the future, we want to chat with you. Send me a message > chris@race.capital

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 18:00

  • FAA Denies Boeing Permission To Move Forward In Certifying 777X Due To Serious Flight Test Incident
    FAA Denies Boeing Permission To Move Forward In Certifying 777X Due To Serious Flight Test Incident

    If it’s not one Boeing jet malfunctioning, it’s another.

    With Boeing facing an uphill climb in restoring the public’s confidence in its crash-prone 737MAX, the aerospace giant is facing fresh troubles, this time involving the updated version of the long-haul 777X jet which is facing additional testing because of what U.S. regulators called a serious test-flight incident and multiple other issues with software and inadequate data.

    In a sternly worded letter dated May 13, which was reviewed by The Seattle Times, the FAA warned Boeing it may have to increase the number of test flights planned and that certification realistically is now more than two years out, probably in late 2023.

    Two 777X flight-test planes are parked at Boeing Field on June 18.

    According to the report, the FAA cited a long list of concerns, including a serious flight control incident during a test flight on Dec. 8, 2020, when the plane experienced an “uncommanded pitch event” meaning the nose of the aircraft pitched abruptly up or down without input from the pilots. During the incident, flight-control software triggered the plane to move without pilots’ input, similar to the malfunction responsible for the two 737MAX crashes.

    Boeing has yet to satisfy the FAA that it has fully understood and corrected what went wrong that day.

    An FAA official said the drag on 777X certification is now “the subject of a lot of attention” at high levels both within the agency and at Boeing.

    “The FAA anticipates a significant impact to the level of regression testing, change impact analysis, and the potential to increase the number of certification flight tests that will need to take place,” the letter said according to Bloomberg. It was written by Ian Won, the acting head of FAA’s division overseeing Boeing.

    The FAA said in the letter it now expected the certification wouldn’t occur until mid to late 2023 and the work would take “additional resources” that could hamper other projects with the company. While the FAA doesn’t set the timing of certification work, relying on companies for that, the letter suggests the program could face delays.

    The latest delay will push the jet’s entry into commercial service into early 2024, four years later than originally planned.

    Separately, the FAA also issued a statement Sunday saying it “will not approve any aircraft unless it meets our safety and certification standards.”

    “Boeing remains fully focused on safety as our highest priority throughout 777X development,” a spokesperson at the U.S. planemaker said in a statement in response to the letter. “We are working through a rigorous development process to ensure we meet all applicable requirements.”

    The harshly-worded letter by the FAA is the latest in what has been a deteriorating relationship between the giant planemaker and its U.S. regulator prompted by issues that arose during the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max after two fatal accidents. The FAA had previously begun using its own inspectors to approve newly built single-aisle planes and has taken multiple steps to increase oversight of the company.

    The FAA highlighted several concerns on the 777X, including a flight-control incident during a test flight on Dec. 8, 2020, when the plane experienced an “uncommanded pitch event.” That meant the nose of the aircraft rose or fell as a result of the control system.

    A similar issue triggered by a malfunction on the 737 Max pushed down that jet’s nose repeatedly during the two crashes that killed 346 people, prompting a sweeping review of how pilots interact with increasingly computerized flight-control systems. The Max was grounded for 18 months while it was redesigned.

    Bloomberg adds that the agency also told Boeing that a critical avionics system proposed for the airplane doesn’t meet requirements and expressed concern about proposed modifications involving late changes to both software and hardware in the electronics of the jet’s flight controls.

    Worse, in a hint of broader troubles for the 777X, the FAA said that European regulators are uneasy over parts of the plane’s design. “The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has not yet agreed on a way forward on the Model 777-9,” the FAA said in the letter. ​Which, of course, is understandable for a European regulator that would be delighted with pushing out its own competitor Airbus planes.

    ​Boeing announcement in January that it was postponing the 777X’s planned market entry to late 2023 was the latest in a string of delays for a jet originally slated to begin commercial service last year. Executives also disclosed that they were redesigning the jet’s actuator-control electronics at the behest of European regulators.

    “That’s still the plan”, Boeing’s Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun indicated in a June 3 presentation, weeks after the FAA letter.

    “That airplane, we are still confident will be certified in the fourth quarter of 2023,” Calhoun told a virtual Bernstein conference. The planemaker reset its timeline based on the 20-month review of the 737 Max and “architectural preferences” of both the FAA and EASA, he said.

    “So those are the important things with respect to how we do this,” Calhoun said. “We’ve given ourselves time to learn as we go through this.”

    Emirates President Tim Clark has repeatedly slammed Boeing for delaying the 777X program and has raised concerns over the model’s performance in desert conditions. Bloomberg reported in February that Clark’s airline could swap as many as a third of its 115 commitments for the 777-9 to the smaller Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 17:30

  • Hedge Fund CIO: "Our Growing Acceptance Of Ever Wilder Conspiracy Theories Has Numbed Us To Everything"
    Hedge Fund CIO: “Our Growing Acceptance Of Ever Wilder Conspiracy Theories Has Numbed Us To Everything”

    By Eric Peters, CIO of One River Asset Managemetn

    “In 18 incidents, described in 21 reports, observers reported unusual Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) movement patterns or flight characteristics. Some UAP appeared to remain stationary in winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without discernible means of propulsion. In a small number of cases, military aircraft systems processed radio frequency energy associated with UAP sightings.”

             – ODNI, Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena
     
    “Sociocultural stigmas and sensor limitations remain obstacles to collecting data on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP),”  wrote the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. “Narratives from aviators in the operational community and analysts from the military and Intelligence Community describe disparagement associated with observing UAP, reporting it, or attempting to discuss it with colleagues.” Nothing new there.

    Throughout human history, those comfortable in the consensus have shown utter contempt for the lonely voices who threaten to upend the prevailing worldview. And yet, without those courageous enough to speak their truth, we would live in a perpetual Dark Ages. Such is the depth of our fear of change that we persecute the brave few, even as they drag us into a better future, kicking, screaming.

    It is too early to know whether these UAP represent anomalies of earthly origin, or an extraterrestrial intelligence. But for some mysterious reason, we appear finally prepared to consider the latter.

    How we react to news is often more interesting than the events themselves. Contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence would simultaneously represent the greatest risk and opportunity in human history – far surpassing the arrival of Columbus in the Americas.

    So why are we seemingly unperturbed by today’s possibility? Perhaps collapsing faith in institutions leaves us distrustful of anything we are now told. Maybe, our growing acceptance of ever wilder conspiracy theories has numbed us to anything, everything. Or possibly, we are already processing such profound change in politics and policy – which produced successive years of 15% US federal deficits, fully funded by the central bank, even as inflation soars and we expand infrastructure spending – that we have no remaining mental space for another alien.

    But no matter, back here in our earthly existence, it is a reminder to us traders and investors that no matter how momentous the change, it only matters for markets when for some mysterious reason it starts to matter.

    Back and Forth

    In a week when the US military released its report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, it is awfully hard to find the energy to write (or read) any more about today’s fiscal/monetary singularity. So I’ll keep the boring crap short: Two weeks ago, the Fed surprised markets by pulling forward its plans to escape today’s inflationary policy vortex by a quarter or two. Over-leveraged traders puked. This past week, markets more or less realized there is no escaping such a strong gravitational policy pull. This back and forth will be with us for years.

    First Encounter

    “The universe is a dark forest. Every civilization is an armed hunter stalking through the trees like a ghost, gently pushing aside branches that block the path and trying to tread without sound,” wrote Liu Cixin in his brilliant sci-fi novel, The Three Body Problem, exploring the complex risks and rewards of first contact with alien intelligence. “Even breathing is done with care. The hunter must be careful, because everywhere in the forest are stealthy hunters like him. If he finds another life – another hunter, angel, or a demon, a delicate infant to tottering old man, a fairy or demigod – there’s only one thing he can do: open fire and eliminate them.”
     
    “The inhabitants are all unprovided with any sort of iron, and they are destitute of arms, which are entirely unknown to them, and for which they are not adapted; not on account of any bodily deformity, for they are well made, but because they are timid and full of terror,” wrote Christopher Columbus in 1492. “But when they see they are safe, and all fear is banished, they are very guileless and honest, and very liberal of all they have. No one refuses the asker anything that he possesses; on the contrary they themselves invite us to ask for it. They manifest the greatest affection towards all of us, exchanging valuable things for trifles, content with the very least thing or nothing at all.”
     
    “Thus it pleased God to vanquish their enemies and give them deliverance,” wrote William Bradford in 1630, his first-hand account of an early battle, having arrived on the Mayflower. “And by His special providence so to dispose that not any one of them was either hurt or hit, though their arrows came close by them and on every side of them; and sundry of their coats, which hung up in the barricade, were shot through and through. Afterwards they gave God solemn thanks and praise for their deliverance and gathered up a bundle of their arrows and sent them into England afterward by the master of the ship and called that place the First Encounter.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 17:00

  • US Case Against Assange Struck Major Blow As Key Witness Admits He Lied
    US Case Against Assange Struck Major Blow As Key Witness Admits He Lied

    The US government’s case against Julian Assange may be on shaky legal ground after one of their main witnesses, Icelander Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson, admitted to fabricating key accusations contained in the DOJ’s indictment, according to stunning admissions to Stundin magazine.

    Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson Mynd: Sigtryggur Ari

    Thordarson, a documented sociopath and convicted pedophile who also engaged in a “wide-ranging financial fraud,” was recruited by US authorities as a key witness against Assange after he misled them into believing he was a close associate of the WikiLeaks founder. He also lied about his position within the whistleblower organization – admitting that he established “avenues of communication with journalists and had media pay for lavish trips abroad where he mispresented himself as an official representative of WikiLeaks.”

    He also admitted to stealing documents from WikiLeaks staff by copying their hard drives, including that of WikiLeaks lawyer Renata Avila, who worked for both the organization and Assange.

    “In fact he had volunteered on a limited basis to raise money for Wikileaks in 2010 but was found to have used that opportunity to embezzle more than $50,000 from the organization.”

    Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson and Julian Assange, whose name Thordarson forged while embezzling from WikiLeaks

    What’s more, Thordarson confessed to Stundin that he “continued his crime spree whilst working with the Department of Justice and FBI and receiving a promise of immunity from prosecution.”

    The United States is currently seeking Assange’s extradition from the United Kingdom in order to try him for espionage relating to the release of leaked classified documents. If convicted, he could face up to 175 years in prison. The indictment has sparked fears for press freedoms in the United States and beyond and prompted strong statements in support of Assange from Amnesty International, Reporters without borders, the editorial staff of the Washington Post and many others. 

    US officials presented an updated version of an indictment against him to a Magistrate court in London last summer. The veracity of the information contained therein is now directly contradicted by the main witness, whose testimony it is based on. -Stundin

    The addition to Assange’s original indictment was meant to bolster the DOJ’s case by alleging illegal activity in Iceland – including attempts to hack into the computers of members of parliament and record their conversations.

    Thordarson now admits that Assange never asked him to hack or access phone recordings of MPs, and now says that he received files from a third party who claimed to have recorded the officials – offering to share them with Assange despite claiming to have no idea what they actually contained. Thordarson claims he never looked at the files and has no idea if they contained audio recordings as his third party source suggests. What’s more, Assange never instructed or asked him to access computers to try and find any such recordings, he now says.

    Meanwhile, UK Magistrate Court Judge Vanessa Baraister sided with the DOJ’s legal team – including citing the specific examples from Thordarson, despite ultimately ruling against extradition purely on humanitarian grounds related to Assange’s health, suicide risk, and the potential for mistreatment in US prisons.

    Other misleading elements can be found in the indictment, and later reflected in the Magistrate’s judgement, based on Thordarson’s now admitted lies. One is a reference to Icelandic bank documents. The Magistrate court judgement reads: “It is alleged that Mr. Assange and Teenager failed a joint attempt to decrypt a file stolen from a “NATO country 1” bank”.

    Thordarson admits to Stundin that this actually refers to a well publicised event in which an encrypted file was leaked from an Icelandic bank and assumed to contain information about defaulted loans provided by the Icelandic Landsbanki. The bank went under in the fall of 2008, along with almost all other financial institutions in Iceland, and plunged the country into a severe economic crisis. The file was at this time, in summer of 2010, shared by many online who attempted to decrypt it for the public interest purpose of revealing what precipitated the financial crisis. Nothing supports the claim that this file was even “stolen” per se, as it was assumed to have been distributed by whistleblowers from inside the failed bank.

    More deceptive language emerges in the aforementioned judgment where it states: “…he [Assange] used the unauthorized access given to him by a source, to access a government website of NATO country-1 used to track police vehicles.”

    This depiction leaves out an important element, one that Thordarson clarifies in his interview with Stundin. The login information was in fact his own and not obtained through any nefarious means. In fact, he now admits he had been given this access as a matter of routine due to his work as a first responder while volunteering for a search and rescue team. He also says Assange never asked for any such access. -Stundin

    Thordarson’s admissions to Stundin are part of a thorough report he’s compiling into his activities, which are said to include never-before-seen chat logs and new documents. The chat logs provide a comprehensive view into his communications while volunteering for Wiki”eaks in 2010 and 2011, including chats with WikiLeaks staff – as well as unauthorized communications with members of international hacking groups which he met through his role as a moderator on an open IRC WikiLeaks forum. There is no indication that the organization knew of Thordarson’s contacts with said groups, and the logs show “his clear deception,” by which he can be seen routinely inflating his position within WikiLeaks – describing himself as the #2 in command, chief of staff, and head of communications. He can be seen asking the hackers for material from Icelandic entities or to attack Icelandic websites with DDoS attacks on a regular basis.

    Sabu and the FBI

    Hector Xavier MonsegurA hacker and a member of the rather infamous  LulzSec hacker group. Mynd: afp

    Thordarson continued to step up his illicit activities in the summer of 2011 when he established communication with “Sabu”, the online moniker of Hector Xavier Monsegur, a hacker and a member of the rather infamous LulzSec hacker group. In that effort all indications are that Thordarson was acting alone without any authorization, let alone urging, from anyone inside WikiLeaks.

    What Thordarson did not know at the time was that the FBI had arrested Sabu in the beginning of June  2011 and threatened him into becoming an informant and a collaborator for the FBI. Thus, when Thordarson continued his previous pattern of requesting attacks on Icelandic interests, the FBI knew and saw an opportunity to implicate Julian Assange.

    Later that month a DDoS attack was performed against the websites of several government institutions.

    That deed was done under the watchful eyes of the FBI who must have authorized the attack or even initiated it, as Sabu was at that point their man. What followed was an episode where it seems obvious that Icelandic authorities were fooled into cooperation under false pretenses. -Stundin

    “They were trying to use things here [in Iceland] and use people in our country to spin a web, a cobweb that would catch Julian Assange,” said former Icelandic interior minister Ögmundur Jónasson, who recalled when the FBI first contacted Icelandic authorities on June 20, 2011 to warn them of an imminent and grave threat to government networks. Days later the FBI flew to Iceland and offered to formally assist in thwarting the attack – which they accepted.

    Ögmundur Jónasson, Former Iceland Minister of the Interior. Mynd: Davíð Þór

    “What I have been pondering ever since is if the spinning of the web had already started then with the acceptance of the letter rogatory establishing cooperation that they could use as a pretext for later visits,” says Jónasson.

    Iceland gets played by the FBI

    By late august 2011, Thordarson was already being pursued by WikiLeaks staff over missing proceeds from the online sales of merchandise – which he had transferred to his private bank account by forging Assange’s signature. With the staff hot on his trail, he reached out to the US Embassy in Iceland on August 23, offering to turn state’s witness. Within 48 hours, eight FBI agents took a private jet to Reykjavik, where they quickly set up meetings with their new witness as well as Icelandic state prosecutors and the State Police Commissioner.

    They were there to lay a trap…

    Mid day, Mr. Jónasson, then Minister of Interior got wind of this new visit and requested confirmation that this related to the same case as earlier in the summer. “I asked on what rogatory letter this visit was based and if this was exactly the same case”, Jónasson says in an interview with Stundin. “I then found out that this was of a totally different nature than previously discussed”. He says he put two and two together and said it was obvious that the intention was to lay a trap in Iceland for Assange and other staff members of WikiLeaks. 

    Such actions were according to Jónasson way outside the scope of the agreement and thus he ordered that all cooperation with the agents be stopped and that they would be informed they were acting in Iceland without any authority. Only days later he learned that the agents and prosecutors had not yet left the country so the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted the US embassy with the demand they halt police work in Iceland and leave the country. -Stundin

    Yet, the FBI eventually lost interest. “At about the same time charges were piling up against Thordarson with the Icelandic authorities for massive fraud, forgeries and theft on the one hand and for sexual violations against underage boys he had tricked or forced into sexual acts on the other.”

    Read the rest of the report here.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/27/2021 – 16:30

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Jun 27

Today’s News 27th June 2021

  • The Con Job Of The Century?
    The Con Job Of The Century?

    Authored by Laurie Calhoun via The Libertarian Institute,

    Over the course of the past century, a number of truly awe-inspiring heists have been carried out by con artists, whose modus operandi is to exploit human frailties such as credulity, insecurity and greed. Con is short for confidence, for the con artist must first gain the trust of his targets, after which he persuades them to hand their money over to him. A con job differs from a moral transaction between two willing, fully informed trading partners because one of the partners is deceived, and deception constitutes a form of coercion. In other words, the person being swindled is not really free. If he knew what was really going on, he would never agree to invest in the scheme.

    The “Ponzi scheme” was named after Charles Ponzi, who in the 1920s persuaded investors to believe that he was generating impressive profits by buying international reply coupons (IRCs) at low prices abroad and redeeming them in the United States at higher rates, the fluctuating currency market being the secret to his seemingly savvy success. In reality, Ponzi used his low-level investors’ money to pay off earlier investors, support himself, and expand his business by luring more and more investors in. More recently, Bernie Madoff managed to abscond with billions of dollars by posing as an investment genius who could deliver sizable, indeed exceptional, returns on his clients’ investments.

    It is plausible that at least some of the early investors in such gambits, who are paid as promised, suppress whatever doubts may creep up in their minds as they bask in the splendor of their newfound wealth. But even those who begin consciously to grasp what is going on may turn a blind eye as the scheme grows to engulf investors who will be fleeced, having been persuaded to participate not only by the smooth-talking con artist, but also by the reported profits of previous investors. Eventually, however, the house of cards collapses, revealing the incredible but undeniable truth: there never were any investments at all. No trading ever took place, and all of the company’s transactions were either deposits or withdrawals of gullible investors’ cash.

    Before a con artist is unmasked, nearly everyone involved plays along, either because they stand to gain, or because they truly believe. Sometimes the implications of having been wrong are simply too devastating to admit, and these same psychological dynamics operate in many other realms where most people would never suspect anything like a Ponzi scheme. It is arguable, for example, that the continuous siphoning of U.S. citizens’ income to pay for misguided military interventions abroad constitutes a form of Ponzi scheme. If President George H. W. Bush had never used taxpayers’ dollars to wage the First Gulf War on Iraq in 1991 and to install permanent military bases in the Middle East, then Osama bin Laden would likely never have called for jihad against the United States. If the U.S. military had not invaded Iraq in 2003, then ISIS would never have emerged and spread to Syria and beyond. Such implications are deeply unsettling, and even in the face of mounds of evidence, most people prefer to cling to the official story according to which the 1991 Gulf War was necessary and just, while the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, were completely unprovoked, and all subsequent interventions a matter of national self-defense.

    The series of bombing campaigns in the Middle East beginning in 1991 are plausibly regarded as a type of Ponzi scheme because the “investors” (taxpayers), have actually paid to make themselves worse, not better, off. Not only have the “blowback” attacks perpetrated in response to U.S. military intervention abroad killed many innocent persons, but the lives of thousands of soldiers have been and continue to be wrecked through dubious deployments abroad. Along with all of the blood spilled, much treasure has been lost. The more than $28 trillion national debt (as of June 2021) is due in part to the massive Pentagon budget, rubber-stamped annually by Congress, to say nothing of the many other “discretionary” initiatives claimed to be necessary in national defense. Afghanistan is a perfect example of how billions of taxpayer dollars continue to be tossed into the wind even as the formal U.S. military presence winds down. The reason why the War on Terror continues on is not because it is protecting the citizens who pay for it or helping the people of the Middle East but because it has proved to be profitable to persons in the position to influence U.S. foreign policy.

    One might reasonably assume that anyone who stands to enrich himself from government policies should be excluded from consequential deliberations over what ought to be done, and in certain realms, the quite rational concern with conflict of interest still operates to some degree. With regard to the military, however, there has been a general acquiescence by the populace to the idea that because only experts inside the system are capable of giving competent advice, they must be consulted, even when they will profit from the policies they promote, such as bombing, which invariably increases the value of stock in companies such as Raytheon. Throughout history, there has always been a push by war profiteers to promote military interventions, but Dick Cheney, who served as Secretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush and vice president under his son, George W. Bush, took war profiteering to an entirely new level. By privatizing many military services through the Logistics Civilian Augmentation Program (LOGCAP), Cheney effectively ushered in a period of war entrepreneurialism, beginning with Halliburton (of which he was CEO from 1995-2000), which continues on today, making it possible for a vast nexus of subcontractors to profit from the never-ending War on Terror, and to do so in good conscience. When more people have self-interested reasons for supporting military interventions, then they become more likely to take place.

    With the quelling of concerns that conflict of interest should limit the persons who advise the president on matters of foreign policy, the formal requirement that the secretary of defense be not a military officer but a civilian has been effectively dropped, with both James Mattis and Lloyd Austin easily confirmed as “exceptions” to the rule, despite the fact that, not only did both have significant financial interests in promoting war, but each also had a full career in the military before retiring and being invited to lead the DoD. Military men are inclined to seek military solutions to conflict, which is undoubtedly why high-ranking officers are invited to join the boards of military companies, making Mattis and Austin textbook examples of “revolving door” appointments.

    Arguably even more ruinous to the republic in the longterm than the rampant conflict of interest inherent to “revolving door” appointments between the for-profit military industry and the government has been the infiltration of the military into academia, with many universities receiving large grants from the Defense Department for research. Academia would be a natural place for intellectual objections to the progressive militarization of society, but when scholars and scientists themselves benefit directly from DoD funds, they have self-interested reasons to dismiss or discredit those types of critiques—whether consciously or not—in publishing, retention and promotion decisions. In addition to the institutional research support provided by DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), successful academics may receive hefty fees as consultants for the Pentagon and its many affiliates, making them far more likely to defend the hegemon than to raise moral objections to its campaigns of mass homicide euphemistically termed “national defense”.

    As a result of the tentacular spread of the military, Cui bono? as a cautionary maxim has been replaced by Who cares? People seem not at all bothered by these profound conflicts of interest, and the past year has illustrated how cooption and corruption may creep easily into other realms as well. Indeed, there is a sense in which today we have two MICs: the military-industrial-complex and, now, in the age of Covid-19, the medical-industrial-complex. This latter development can be viewed, in part, as a consequence of the former, for in recent decades the military industrial complex has sprouted tentacles to become the military-industrial-congressional-media-academic-pharmaceutical-logistics banking complex. Long before Covid-19 appeared on the scene, the Veterans Administration (VA) adopted pro-Big Pharma policies, including the prescription of a vast array of psychotropic medications in lieu of “talk therapy” to treat PTSD among veterans and to preemptively medicate soldiers who expressed anxiety at what they were asked to do in Afghanistan and Iraq. The increase in the prescription of drugs to military personnel generated hefty profits for pharmaceutical firms, allowing them to expand marketing and lobbying efforts to target not only physicians but also politicians and the populace.

    Since the initial launch of Prozac in 1986, the pharmaceutical industry has become an extremely powerful force in Western society, made all the more so in the United States when restrictions on direct-to-consumer advertising were lifted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1997. Already by 2020, about 23% of Americans (nearly 77 million out of a population of 331 million) were taking psychiatric medications, and those numbers appear to have increased significantly during the 2020 lockdowns, which took a toll on many people’s psychological well-being. As medications are prescribed more and more throughout every sector of society, drug makers exert a greater and greater influence on policy, even as the heroin/fentanyl overdose epidemic, caused directly by the aggressive marketing and rampant overprescription of opioid painkillers, continues on.

    Just as the military industry is granted the benefit of the doubt on the assumption that they are helping to protect the nation, the pharmaceutical industry accrues respectability from its association with the medical profession. Who, after all, could oppose “defense” and “health”? In reality, however, for-profit weapons and drug companies are beholden not to their compatriots, nor to humanity, but to their stockholders. War and disease are profitable, while peace and health are not. The CEOs of military and pharmaceutical companies, like all businesspersons, seek to ensure that their profits increase by all means necessary, the prescription opioid epidemic being a horrific case in point. Just as academics may enjoy Defense Department funding, many doctors and administrators of medical institutions today derive essential funding from drug companies and the government, whether directly or indirectly. These connections are immensely important because many politicians receive generous campaign contributions from Big Pharma, which by now has more lobbyists in Washington, DC, than there are congresspersons, and not without reason. Formulary decisions at the VA regarding the appropriateness of prescribing, for example, dangerous antipsychotic medications such as Astrazeneca’s Seroquel to soldiers as sleep aids are made by administrators who are political appointees, as are public health officials more generally.

    Charles Ponzi. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

    With a functional Fourth Estate, it would be possible to question if not condemn the conflicts of interest operating in the for-profit military and medical realms. Unfortunately, however, we no longer have a competent press. Throughout the Coronavirus crisis, this has become abundantly clear as alternative viewpoints on every matter of policy have been squelched, suppressed, and outright censored in the name of the truth, when there may have been ulterior motives at play. In fact, the complete quashing of any directives regarding non-vaccine therapies for mitigating the effects of Covid-19—including Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine—may be best explained by the simple fact that FDA emergency use authorization of vaccines in the United States is possible only when “there are no adequate, approved, and available alternatives,” as is stated plainly on the specification sheets for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

    Regarding the origins of the virus, early claims by some researchers that Covid-19 may have been produced in the virology lab in Wuhan and released accidentally were swiftly dismissed as “conspiracy theories.” Anyone who suggested this eminently plausible origin of the virus was immediately denounced by the media and deplatformed or censored by the big tech giants. “Gain-of-function” research, often funded by the military, involves making existent viruses deadlier to human beings and is said by its proponents to be necessary in order to be prepared for future natural pandemics or in the event that some enemy might use such a virus as a bioweapon. The latter is a familiar line of reasoning among military researchers, invoked also (mutatis mutandis) in nuclear proliferation and the military colonization of space: we must develop the latest and greatest nuclear bombs and effect total spectrum domination of the galaxy before any other government has the chance to do so! Many of the scientists involved in these endeavors may have the best of intentions, but that does nothing to detract from the propensity of human beings to commit errors.

    Read the rest of the full essay here.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 23:45

  • ​​​​​​​Virginia's First 3D-Printed Home Under Construction Amid "Hyperinflating" Housing Market
    ​​​​​​​Virginia’s First 3D-Printed Home Under Construction Amid “Hyperinflating” Housing Market

    Last month, we noted “Screw Lumber, Just 3D-Print Your Next Home,” which is precisely what one builder did in Virginia. 

    According to local news NBC12, history was made Thursday when the first house in the state, located in South Richmond, was constructed with a 3-D printer. 

    “It’s a home where your wall are made out of concrete instead of wood that’s it,” said Zachary Manngeimer, CEO of Alquist, a 3D printing construction firm from Iowa City.

    Printing walls out of concrete instead of stick building with lumber is a relief for homebuilders and homeowners. This year alone, a new single-family home cost had risen at least $36,000 because of soaring lumber prices. The good news today is lumber prices are declining but remain well above pre-COVID levels. 

    “It’s mixed in a mixing bowl and from there it goes through a tube into a printer head and that printer head is programmed to go around and print the wall system,” said Chris Thompson, Director of Virginia Housing.

    To print the 1,550-square-foot home with three bedrooms and two baths will take approximately 15 hours and requires less labor and fewer materials. The contractor on the project said the home is no different than any other average home. 

    “It’s the same plumbing, same electrical, same HVAC, and same roof structure. All of that is the same,” said Manngeimer.

    Manngeimer added: “The housing prices have been out of control for decades and the pandemic has only made it worse. We think this technology can drop the cost make it more efficient and also help families customize a home to fit their lifestyle in ways they may not have been able to do before.”

    This comes as veteran housing analyst Ivy Zelman said she saw “hyperinflation” in the US housing “ecosystem” fraught with labor and materials bottlenecks. 

    Zelman’s warning comes as investors are closely watching whether a broad surge in inflation as the economy recovers from pandemic lockdowns will prove to be transitory. At least it validates one part of a recent Bank of America warning which said that the US is facing “hyperinflation” if transitory.

    Currently, Florida and Arizona are two other states with companies printing homes. We’ve noted this phenomenon is occurring in other parts of the world. 

    While the Federal Reserve and federal government continue to allow home prices to hyperinflate to well beyond bubble levels, making homeownership unaffordable for many, companies are innovating how materials and new technologies can create cheaper homes. The only issue now is finding buildable land. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 23:15

  • Losing The Plot On COVID
    Losing The Plot On COVID

    Authored by Dan Rabil via AmericanThinker.com,

    What happens when a population of introverts, hypochondriacs, and obsessive-compulsives is continuously bombarded with messages to seclude and disinfect themselves, for fear that COVID-19 prickle-balls lurk everywhere, waiting to attack?

    What happens is that emotionally damaged people start driving bad politics and bad policy.

    “Fifteen days to flatten the curve.”  

    That phrase is surely now banned by corporate media, for it reminds us how the supposedly acute health threat of March 2020 was repeatedly re-packaged to keep populations off-balance and out of business not for 15 days, but for 15 months. 

    Never in modern times has a health issue been so flagrantly politicized, nor wielded as a club, as the Wuhan virus has been.  Outside a few rational locales, almost every nation drank the COVID Kool-Aid, competing to see who could enforce the stupidest rules.

    Naturally, academia would lead the way:

    Among Americans aged 15–24, a total of 587 died of COVID in 2020, according to the CDC, representing about 0.16%, or about 1 in 642, of COVID deaths. 

     If you are young, you have essentially no chance of dying of COVID.  The low youth mortality impact from COVID was known by April 2020.

    Yet many universities now require these low-risk young people to inject the experimental vaccine or be banished from campus.  

    Did you already catch the WuFlu and have antibodies?  

    Too bad.  The great pulsating brains of academia cannot differentiate.

    Young people who want to serve their country are also targets: the passive-aggressive command at West Point compels the unvaccinated to sacrifice a week’s vacation to quarantine and then to wear masks in the most ridiculous circumstances imaginable — to harass them and make them look like fools.  Military leaders do not care whether the experimental vaccines might do more harm than good, especially on a previously COVID-exposed youth.  Take the jab and shut up, cadet; Colonel Suckup needs to PowerPoint his 100% compliance success.

    Famed baseball pitcher Anthony Fauci claims that he is Science personified, yet anyone can make simple deductions that have eluded the doctor: there is effectively no difference in COVID rates between regions that went full Stalin on COVID rules and those areas that took a more holistic or decentralized approach to the virus. 

    Great Britain, with its multiple draconian lockdowns, has a COVID case rate of 6.76% of the population, while Sweden, which mostly left schools and businesses open and went soft-touch on mask mandates, has a case rate of 10.7%.  But Sweden’s death rate is 20% lower than the U.K.’s, so what was the point of Britain’s lockdown hysteria?

    Similarly, some U.S. schools were closed for up to a year, and kids as young as two were required to wear masks in a sickening display of fear-psychosis.  Yet in Switzerland, schools reopened permanently about 4–5 weeks after the initial virus panic in the spring of 2020, and children under 12 were never required to wear masks at any time.  Switzerland’s COVID case and death rates are both lower than the U.S.’s.  On the other hand, in Washington, D.C., where self-righteous residents wear masks even while jogging in the woods, restaurants were already open in March 2021, while in Switzerland, restaurants were closed from December until late May, in the apparent hope of destroying every last small eatery.  There’s no science in any of this posturing.

    And none of this jumping through hoops made any difference in the progression of the virus: lockdown-crazy Michigan has a higher COVID death rate than libertarian Florida (despite its large elderly population). 

    Lost in all of this seems to be the simple fact that the COVID virus is not that deadly.  True, about 12% of the 4.7-million total U.S. deaths recorded between January 2020 and June 2021 were credited to COVID.  About 1.7% of positive cases end in death.  But 80% of COVID deaths occurred in the over-65 population, which always has a much higher death rate from infectious diseases, such as pneumonia.  If you are under 65 and test positive for COVID, you have a 0.25% chance of death (1/400), which is probably about the same as if you caught a bad flu and suffered complications from it.  It’s also logical that we will see periods of below-average death rates in the next year or two, in the same way that there are bad flu years and not-bad flu years.

    Self-serving politicians locked down free citizens (and, ironically, released prisoners), destroyed businesses, marred kids’ psyches, and harassed people with mask and testing mandates, all for a coronavirus that in the end was not that novel.  And they did it with the connivance of corporate media, which censored and slandered anyone who asked the most basic questions about the virus’ origins and treatments.

    In a future sane world, people will view the orchestrated panic of the COVID era with the same bemused condescension we might view the supposed War of the Worlds radio invasion scare of 1938, or the bygone use of leeches for seemingly every ailment. 

    Yes, grandson, back in 2020, the whole world went batty.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 22:45

  • More Police Officers Have Retired Or Quit In The Past Year Than Ever Before, New Survey Shows
    More Police Officers Have Retired Or Quit In The Past Year Than Ever Before, New Survey Shows

    Anybody who wasn’t living under a rock last summer surely remembers the wave of anti-police sentiment that swept across the US. The end result, as we have reported before, is that thousands of cops from departments across the country have been quitting in droves. Now, a survey of nearly 200 police departments indicates that retirements rose 45% and resignations rose by 18% in the year between April 2020 and April 2021.

    The survey data were disclosed to the NYT, which published them as the centerpiece of a lengthy story about the trials and tribulations facing police departments across the US.

    During the period in question, the NYPD saw 2,600 officers retire, compared with 1,509 the year before. Resignations in Seattle increased to 123 from 34, and retirements have risen to 96 from 43.

    Minneapolis, the former department of Officer Derek Chauvin, had 912 uniformed officers in May 2019. They’re now down to just 699 sworn officers, and the department is struggling to find suitable recruits for its next class at the police academy.

    All of this is happening amid a backdrop of worsening violent crime in America’s cities.

    According to the NYT, one of the hardest-hit urban departments is the Asheville Police Department, a hip and deep-blue speck in mostly-red western North Carolina. Asheville is a growing community of 90K ticked into the Blue Ridge Mountains. Some have described it as the Portland of the South. Asheville became the locus of anti-police protests in the area last year. In June, the city council agreed to earmark $2.1MM to start paying reparations to the black community (about 10K of the city’s 90K residents).

    Asheville Police Chief David Zack, 58, told the NYT that the surge in contempt from the community pushed many officers to quit. “They said that we have become the bad guys, and we did not get into this to become the bad guys.” The sense that the city “did not back its police” was inescapable.

    Another issue is low pay: with a starting salary around $37K, most officers can’t even afford a house in Asheville, where prices have sharply increased in recent years as more outsiders have moved to the community.

    One sergeant who quit after a decade on the force, who did not want his name published because of the attacks online, said last summer had chipped away at his professional pride and personal health. He could not sleep and drank too much.

    In September, somebody dropped a coffin laden with dirt and manure at the front door of Police Headquarters. “The message was taking a different turn,” Chief Zack said. “The message was not about police reform, but, ‘We endorse violence against police.’”

    Of the more than 80 officers who left, about half found different professions and the other half different departments, Chief Zack said. New careers included construction, real estate and pharmaceutical sales.

    Alec N. Dohmann, 30, said he ended up leaving Asheville for another position in Greenville, SC. He was able to afford a house, and he described the relationship with the community as “night and day”. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ll be in uniform and someone comes up and shakes my hand, thanking me for what I do.”

    Meanwhile, back in Asheville, the department is worried that even more veteran officers might be heading for the exits.

    “A lot of our experience is walking out the door,” Chief Zack said.

    One of the worst betrayals offices faced, however, came from the public officials in the city who appeared to use the officers as a political punching bag.

    Mayor Esther Manheimer dropped into one daily police briefing, lauding the department’s efforts. The very next day, she publicly accused the police of mishandling events, several officers said.

    Ms. Manheimer, mayor since 2013, said in an interview that the city was facing a “clash of cultures,” and that she had “obviously not perfected” her efforts to “thread the needle of supporting law enforcement employees, but at the same time demanding and calling for needed change.”

    For Asheville, the personnel situation is getting worse. Of 7 new officers who started training in December, six have already quit. The city, meanwhile, is suffering from an increase in everything from murder to aggravated assault. A squad that investigate sexual assault and domestic violence cases have been winnowed down to a single officers.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 22:15

  • Ivermectin: Can a Drug Be "Right-Wing"?
    Ivermectin: Can a Drug Be “Right-Wing”?

    Authored by Matt Taibbi via TK News

    On December 31st of last year, an 80 year-old Buffalo-area woman named Judith Smentkiewicz fell ill with Covid-19. She was rushed by ambulance to Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital in Williamsville, New York, where she was put on a ventilator. Her son Michael and his wife flew up from Georgia, and were given grim news. Judith, doctors said, had a 20% chance at survival, and even if she made it, she’d be on a ventilator for a month.

    As December passed into the New Year, Judith’s health declined. Her family members, increasingly desperate, had been doing what people in the Internet age do, Googling in search of potential treatments. They saw stories about the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, learning among other things that a pulmonologist named Pierre Kory had just testified before the Senate that the drug had a “miraculous” impact on Covid-19 patients. The family pressured doctors at the hospital to give Judith the drug. The hospital initially complied, administering one dose on January 2nd. According to her family’s court testimony, a dramatic change in her condition ensued.

    “In less than 48 hours, my mother was taken off the ventilator, transferred out of the Intensive Care Unit, sitting up on her own and communicating,” the patient’s daughter Michelle Kulbacki told a court.

    After the reported change in Judith’s condition, the hospital backtracked and refused to administer more. Frustrated, the family turned on January 7th to a local lawyer named Ralph Lorigo. A commercial litigator and head of what he calls a “typical suburban practice,” with seven lawyers engaged in everything from matrimonial to estate work, Lorigo assigned one of his attorneys to review materials given to them by the family, which included Kory’s Senate testimony. The associate showed Lorigo himself the the material next morning.

    “I was so convinced by what Dr. Kory was saying,” Lorigo says. “I saw the passion and the belief.”

    Lorigo immediately sued the hospital, filing to State Supreme Court to force the facility to treat according to the family’s wishes. Judge Henry J. Nowak sided with the Smentkiewiczes, signing an order that Lorigo and one of his attorneys served themselves, and after a series of quasi-absurd dramas that included the hospital refusing to let the Smentkiewicz family physician phone in the prescription — “the doctor actually had to drive to the hospital,” Lorigo says — Judith went back on ivermectin.

    “She was out of that hospital in six days,” Lorigo says. After a month of rehab, his octogenarian client went back to her life, which involved working five days a week (she still cleans houses). Her story, complete with photo, was told in the Buffalo News, causing Lorigo’s phone to begin ringing off the hook. Doppleganger cases soon began dotting the map all over the country.

    One of the first was in nearby Rochester, New York, where the family of Glenna Dickinson went through an almost exactly similar narrative to the Smentkiewiczes: they read about ivermectin, got a family doctor to prescribe it, saw improvement, only to later have the hospital refuse treatment. Again Lorigo intervened, again a judge ordered the hospital to treat, again the patient recovered and was discharged.

    Hospitals fought hard, hiring expensive law firms, at times going to extraordinary lengths to refuse treatment even with dying patients who’d exhausted all other options. At Edward-Elmhurst hospital in Chicago, a 68 year-old named Nurije Fype was admitted, put on a ventilator, and again, as all other treatments failed, her family got a judge to order the use of ivermectin. Lorigo claims the hospital initially refused to obey the court order, which led to the filing of a contempt motion, which in turn led to a pair of counter-motions and another confrontation before another befuddled Judge named James Orel.

    “Why wouldn’t this be tried if she’s not improving?” the Chicago Tribune quoted Orel as saying. “Why does the hospital object to providing this medication?”

    “He basically said, ‘What do you have left?’” Lorigo recounts. “No one would administer the ivermectin. It’s as safe as aspirin, for Christ’s sake. It’s been given out 3.7 billion times. I couldn’t understand it.”

    Stories like these aren’t proof the drug works. They don’t even really rise to the level of evidence. People recover from diseases all the time, and it doesn’t mean any particular treatment was responsible. Short of the gold standard of randomized controlled trials, there’s no proof.

    However, anecdotes have a power all their own, and in the Internet age, ones like these spread quickly. Lorigo estimates he now gets “10, 15, 20” calls and emails a day. At this level, at the bedside of a single Covid-19 patient who’s already received the full official treatment protocol and is failing anyway, the decision to administer a drug like ivermectin, or fluvoxamine, or hydroxychloroquine, or any of a dozen other experimental treatments, seems like a no-brainer. Nothing else has worked, the patient is dying, why not?

    Telescope out a little further, however, and the ivermectin debate becomes more complicated, reaching into a series of thorny controversies, some ridiculous, some quite serious.

    The ridiculous side involves the front end of Lorigo’s story, the same story detailed on this site last week: the censorship of ivermectin news that, no matter what one thinks about the evidence for or against, is clearly in the public interest.

    Anyone running a basic internet search on the topic will get a jumble of confusing results. YouTube’s policies are beyond uneven. It’s been aggressive in taking down videos containing interviews with people like Kory and doling out strikes to independent media figures like Bret Weinstein, but an interview with Lorigo on TrialSite News containing basically all of the same information is still up, as are clips from a just-taped episode of the Joe Rogan Experience that feature both Weinstein and Kory. Moreover, all sorts of statements at least as provocative as Kory’s “miraculous” formulation in the Senate still litter the Internet, many in reputable research journals. Take, for instance, this passage from the March issue of the Japanese Journal of Antibiotics:

    When the effectiveness of ivermectin for the COVID-19 pandemic is confirmed with the cooperation of researchers around the world and its clinical use is achieved on a global scale, it could prove to be of great benefit to humanity. It may even turn out to be comparable to the benefits achieved from the discovery of penicillin…

    There clearly is not evidence that ivermectin is the next penicillin, at least as far as its effects on Covid-19. As is noted in nearly every mainstream story about the subject, the WHO has advised against its use pending further study, there have been randomized studies showing it to be ineffective in speeding recovery, and the drug’s original manufacturer, Merck, has said there’s no “meaningful evidence” of efficacy for Covid-19 patients. However, it’s also patently untrue, as is frequently asserted, that there’s no evidence that the drug might be effective.

    This past week, for instance, Oxford University announced it was launching a large-scale clinical trial. The study has already recruited more than 5,000 volunteers, and its announcement says what little is known to be true: that “small pilot studies show that early administration with ivermectin can reduce viral load and the duration of symptoms in some patients with mild COVID-19,” that it’s “a well-known medicine with a good safety profile,” and “because of the early promising results in some studies, it is already being widely used to treat COVID-19 in several countries.”

    The Oxford text also says “there is little evidence from large-scale randomized controlled trials to demonstrate that it can speed up recovery from the illness or reduce hospital admission.” But to a person who might have a family member suffering from the disease, just the information about “early promising results” would probably be enough to inspire demands for a prescription, which might be the problem, of course. Unless someone was looking for that information, they likely wouldn’t find it, as mainstream news even of the Oxford study has been effectively limited to a pair of Bloomberg and Forbes stories.

    Ivermectin has suffered the same fate as thousands of other news topics since Donald Trump first announced his run for the presidency nearly six years ago, cleaved in two to inhabit separate factual universes for left and right audiences. Repurposed drugs generally have had a hard time being taken seriously since Trump announced he was on hydroxychloroquine last year, and ivermectin clearly also suffers from its association with Republican Senators like Ron Johnson. Still, the drug’s publicity issues go beyond the taint of “conservative” news.

    The drug has become a test case for a controversy that’s long been building in health care, about how much input patients should have in their own treatment. Well before Covid-19, the medical profession was thrust into a revolution in patient information, inspired by a combination of Google and new patients’ rights laws.

    Should people on their deathbeds be allowed to try anything to save themselves? That seems like an easy question to answer. Should the entire world be allowed to practice self-care on a grand scale? That’s a different issue. Some would say absolutely not, while others would say the corruption of pharmaceutical companies and the medical system unfortunately make it a necessity. The world is increasingly divided along this trust/untrust axis.

    This is an excerpt from today’s subscriber-only post. To read the entire article and get full access to the archives, you can subscribe for $5 a month or $50 a year.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 21:45

  • US Threatens Sanctions On Gulf Allies If They Normalize Relations With Assad
    US Threatens Sanctions On Gulf Allies If They Normalize Relations With Assad

    For the past couple months there’s been persisting reports and rumors that Saudi Arabia is preparing to restore diplomatic ties and normalized relations with the Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad, coming off a decade of war in which the Saudis spearheaded efforts alongside the US and other allies to topple him.

    As we detailed in early May the first major step toward detente came when Saudi Arabia’s powerful intelligence chief, Gen Khalid Humaidan, traveled to Damascus to meet with his Syrian counterpart. The two sides broke off relations since near the start of the war in 2011, especially as it became clear the Saudis were a key part of the Western allied push for regime change, through covert support to anti-Assad insurgents and jihadists which included regular weapons shipments.

    Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, left, and Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus on Oct. 7, 2009, via AP.

    Starting in 2018, other Arab capitals had begun seeking to mend relations with Assad, especially after the United Arab Emirates reopened its long shuttered embassy in the Syrian capital at the end of that year. There’s even been talk of late of Assad being invited back into the Arab League.

    Essentially America’s Gulf allies are fast coming to the conclusion that Assad is here to stay, and that pragmatism means opening up relations; however, Washington doesn’t see it that way – as its prior long-running covert war has turned to an economic war of economic strangulation and choking off national resources by occupying the oil and gas rich northeast.

    On Friday, a top US official threatened regional allies with sanctions should they get too friendly with Assad. The Middle East Eye details the warning as follows:

    On a call to reporters on Friday, Joey Hood, acting assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, said Washington’s opposition to the Syrian government would not change unless there was a “major change in behavior” in Damascus.

    “With regard to others, who may be considering making moves, we are asking them to consider very carefully the atrocities committed by the regime on the Syrian people over the last decade, as well as the regime’s continuing efforts to deny much of the country access to humanitarian aid and security,” Hood said.

    Hood brought up America’s Caesar Act sanctions, which are geared toward thwarting reconstruction of the country under Assad.

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    “And I would also, of course, add that we also have the Caesar Act sanctions,” the top State Dept. official said. “This is a law that has wide bipartisan support in the Congress, and the administration is going to follow the law on that. And so governments and businesses need to be careful that their proposed or envisioned transactions don’t expose them to potential sanctions from the United States under that act,” he added.

    Egypt is also a major US Mideast which has signaled its intent to improve relations with Damascus. The Sisi government is staunchly anti-Muslim Brotherhood, and wants to see Turkish ambitions in the region thwarted. It’s likely that any major rapprochement between the region’s most influential countries and Assad would come via the Arab League, potentially making it harder for Washington to make good on its threat of sanctions. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 21:15

  • Why Gold?
    Why Gold?

    Authored by Adrian Day via InternationalMan.com,

    At a time when many investors are calling gold “a relic,” and many younger ones, in particular, are buying Bitcoin instead, it is worth going back to fundamentals and looking at gold’s role as money over thousands of years. I am not here to attack Bitcoin. Rather, I am here to defend gold.

    Gold has an advantage that Bitcoin does not have, that Bitcoin inherently cannot have, which is its age. Gold has survived and performed its job for literally thousands of years. We shall have to wait a little longer to say that Bitcoin is as good as gold.

    Nearly two-and-a-half millennia ago, Aristotle wrote his famous treatise on money. Money serves as a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account. In his treatise, Aristotle listed the characteristics of ideal money.

    Money should be divisible, which is why we do not use fine art as money. It should be fungible, which is why we do not use real estate as money. It should be rare, which is why we do not use iron ore as money, and so on. Aristotle concluded that only gold has all these attributes and is the ideal form of money.

    Long before the formal gold standard, when kings, emperors, and republics issued gold coins, gold was the backing of the monetary system. Gold has preserved its purchasing power throughout history. Roy Jastram, in his thorough book, The Golden Constant, looked at the price of gold, the cost of living, and the purchasing power of gold year-by-year back to the middle of the 16th century, and before that, though the records are less reliable, back to the Magna Carta in 1215. At the end of the First World War, when Britain, America, and other countries abandoned the pure gold standard, and there was a period of the dirty standard followed by Roosevelt’s confiscation of gold, then ultimately the closing of the gold window in 1971 and gold’s last formal link to the money system—gold’s purchasing value was within 1% of what it had been in 1560. During that long period, the maximum loss you would have endured, buying at the peak in 1620 and selling at the low in 1800, would have been less than 50%. That is a lot, of course, but vastly superior to the multi-century record of any fiat currency (in a much shorter time period). Had you continued to hold, you would have been back to par in 1900.

    Gold has maintained its purchasing power during periods of high inflation and sharp deflation when the stock market or the currency collapses. Even during periods of chaos or war, gold holds its value. During these periods, people will look for alternate places for their cash.

    Gold is thought of as an inflation hedge because it performed spectacularly during our last experience with high inflation in the U.S., the decade of the 1970s. That is a little artificial, of course, because gold started that decade at an artificial price, suppressed by the government, which outlawed private ownership. Undoubtedly, gold holds its purchasing power better than fiat currencies during inflation, but the truth is that many other assets do the same, for example, land, art, and the stock market.

    It is during periods of deflation that gold truly comes into its own. Even if the nominal price of gold does not appreciate as much during deflations as during inflations, Roy Jastram demonstrated clearly that in terms of purchasing power, gold performs better during deflations, and there are few other assets that hold up in deflations. On a relative basis, gold is a far better deflation hedge than an inflation hedge.

    Gold also shines during periods of instability and chaos, whether it is a declining stock market, civil disturbance, or war.

    People think that gold is volatile, but, in fact, over relatively short periods and far longer ones, it has been one of the least volatile of assets. One thing we know about Bitcoin with certainty: it will continue to be volatile. Bitcoin has no central authority; it was designed that way. There is a pre-determined number of new coins each year until the cap is reached. So, the supply of Bitcoin does not change with changes in demand; price absorbs these changes, up or down—not supply. The designers of Bitcoin acknowledged that they did not know how to change that without a central authority. So, Bitcoin will remain volatile. Now, volatility is a positive thing if you are a speculator, but that is not so if you are looking for a store of value or as a payment system (so long as the good is priced in dollars). You want to pay your rent with Bitcoin priced at $64,000 one day, but then what when it is priced at $30,000 two weeks later when your rent is due?

    Where the supply or demand of gold increases or declines, it is not the price that absorbs the changes but rather the opposite side of the equation changes. Thus, the largest, unexpected increase in the supply of gold in the last four centuries was with the California Gold Rush, which increased supply by a little over 6% per year. As expected, there was an increase in inflation—too much money chasing too few goods—but the increase was about 1.5% a year for the rest of the decade. That is astonishingly small and far less than one has seen under the fiat system when the money supply increases.

    One last attribute of the ideal money, according to Aristotle: It must be a thing of value in and of itself. Gold is universally recognized and valued. You can travel to Zurich or Dubai or the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Everyone will immediately recognize gold and desire it. Why, you can give some to your wife to adorn her neck. Here, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies spectacularly fail. Blockchain is a valuable invention…Satoshi Nakamoto has a brilliant mind…but ultimately, there is nothing of intrinsic worth there.

    Former BCA Research and Brandywine analyst Chen Zhao writes that “crypto was created out of thin air and will disappear like mist.” One does not have to go that far, but one can be certain that the same words could not be written about gold.

    *  *  *

    Negative interest rates are spreading like wildfire around the world. Investors have no choice but to look for other places as stores of value. That’s why many smart investors are running towards gold. It’s also why the big buyers, like China and Russia, are accumulating as much gold as possible. Here’s the bottom line… Negative interest rates and the devaluation of currencies will hurt a lot of people, particularly savers and retirees. But they will also give rocket fuel to the coming bull market in precious metals.

    That’s precisely why legendary speculator Doug Casey just released an urgent video on this topic. Doug breaks down exactly what is coming, and what you can do about it. Click here to watch it now.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 20:45

  • US Food Banks Warn Soaring Prices Will Affect Distributions 
    US Food Banks Warn Soaring Prices Will Affect Distributions 

    Soaring food prices aren’t just impacting financially strapped families and the working poor. They’re also affecting the mission of US food banks who are spending a lot more on food than ever before. 

    “We’re already spending a lot more on food than we have in years past,” said Greg Trotter, a spokesman for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, a large food bank, who spoke with VOA News. “Our food purchasing budget has doubled this year.”

    In the coming weeks and or months, food banks across the country may experience a surge in food demand from millions of folks who are set to have their stimmy checks expire. At least 25 states are ending federal unemployment benefits. 

    The perfect storm of factors (soaring food costs and unemployment benefits expiring) may stress food banks even further. 

    “The high prices are costing us more to feed a family in need,” said Alison Padget, development and outreach director at Food for Others. “We’ll have to rethink our purchasing decisions because economists say the prices are going to be high for at least a year.”

    In Phoenix, Arizona, Jerry Brown, director of public relations at St. Mary’s Food Bank, told VOA that food banks could face severe difficulty once federal money dries up. 

    It seems the problem has already begun at the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, which covers a large portion of the state. Impact leader Triada Stampas said the food bank serves more people than ever because of out-of-control prices at grocery stores. 

    According to Father English Food Pantry officials in Paterson, New Jersey, the food bank is already experiencing financial strain.  

    Kelly Mott, external affairs director at the Mississippi Food Network, said, “We already see the price changes will affect us soon, adding that “we are in the process of buying turkeys for the Thanksgiving holiday in November. And since they are so expensive, we won’t be able to purchase as many as we usually do, especially for the families with children who rely on us.”    

    And by the way, there are still 15 million Americans on some form of government dole…

    The crisis is far from over as food bank stress begins to materialize, and not everyone might be fed this year. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 20:15

  • Blackouts Loom In California As Electricity Prices Are "Absolutely Exploding"
    Blackouts Loom In California As Electricity Prices Are “Absolutely Exploding”

    Authored by Robert Bryce via RealClearEnergy.com,

    Two inexorable energy trends are underway in California: soaring electricity prices and ever-worsening reliability – and both trends bode ill for the state’s low- and middle-income consumers.

    Last week, the state’s grid operator, the California Independent System Operator, issued a “flex alert” that asked the state’s consumers to reduce their power use “to reduce stress on the grid and avoid power outages.”

    CAISO’s warning of impending electricity shortages heralds another blackout-riddled summer at the same time California’s electricity prices are skyrocketing.

    In 2020, California’s electricity prices jumped by 7.5%, making it the biggest price increase of any state in the country last year and nearly seven times the increase that was seen in the United States as a whole. According to data from the Energy Information Administration, the all-sector price of electricity in California last year jumped to 18.15 cents per kilowatt-hour, which means that Californians are now paying about 70% more for their electricity than the U.S. average all-sector rate of 10.66 cents per kWh. Even more worrisome: California’s electricity rates are expected to soar over the next decade. (More on that in a moment.)

    The surging cost of electricity will increase the energy burden being borne by low- and middle-income Californians. High energy costs have a particularly regressive effect in California, which has the highest poverty rate – and some of the highest electricity prices – in the country. In 2020, California’s all-sector electricity prices were the third-highest in the continental U.S., behind only Rhode Island (18.55 cents per kWh) and Connecticut (19.19 cents per kWh.)

    Before going further, let me state the obvious: California policymakers are providing a case study in how not to manage an electric grid. Furthermore, that case study shows what could happen if policymakers at the state and federal levels decide to follow California’s radical decarbonization mandates, which include a requirement for 100% zero-carbon electricity by 2045 and an economy-wide goal of carbon neutrality by 2045.

    Even though the state’s tattered electric grid can barely meet existing demand – and more rolling blackouts are almost certain this summer – California continues to pile bad policy on top of bad policy. The state has banned the future sale of cars powered by internal combustion engines which will result in dramatic increases in electricity demand and will require, according to a recent report by the California Energy Commission, the installation of 1.2 million new EV charging stations by 2030. Bans on natural gas will further increase electricity demand. Cheered on by the Sierra Club, which is getting tens of millions of dollars from billionaire Michael Bloomberg, about 46 California communities have banned the use of natural gas in homes and businesses. Making the whole thing even more absurd, is that California is pledging to achieve these goals while closing the state’s last remaining nuclear power plant, the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, which by itself produces nearly 10% of all the juice consumed in California.

    The state’s surging energy costs demonstrate the regressive nature of decarbonization policies and how renewable-energy mandates drive up the price of power. California’s electricity prices are “absolutely exploding,” says Mark Nelson, an energy analyst and the managing director of the Radiant Energy Fund, who used that phrase on a recent episode of the Power Hungry Podcast. He added that the electricity price hikes are happening before the state’s utilities have incurred all of the costs of the deadly wildfires that swept the state, trimming millions of trees to prevent future wildfires, and adding all the mandated renewable-energy capacity, transmission lines, and new battery storage that the state will need to meet its climate goals. Further, the costs do not include all of the costs that will be incurred after the proposed shuttering of Diablo Canyon in 2025.

    Last week’s power conservation requests are likely the first of many to come. On May 27, CAISO CEO Elliot Mainzer warned that if the state is hit with another hot summer like the one that required rolling blackouts that left more than 800,000 homes and businesses without power over two days last August, “our numbers tell us the grid will be stressed again.” That warning followed a May 12 CAISO press release which warned that “reliability risks remain” and the state will likely need “voluntary” electricity conservation this summer to avoid a repeat of last year’s blackouts.

    The specter of more blackouts is yet more bad news for California’s beleaguered consumers. Between 2010 and 2020, the state’s electricity prices jumped by 39.5%, which was, the biggest increase of any state in the U.S. Even more worrisome: California’s electricity rates will soar over the next decade.

    In a report issued in February, the California Public Utility Commission warned that the state’s energy costs are growing far faster than the rate of inflation, and that “energy bills will become less affordable over time.”

    What’s driving up prices? The report says that “electrification goals and wildlife mitigation plans are among the near-term needs…that place upward pressure on rates and bills.” The report projected that residents living in hotter regions (that is, those who can’t afford to live close to the coast) who get their electricity from San Diego Gas & Electric could see their monthly power bills increase by 47% between now and 2030. When future gasoline-price increases are included, overall energy costs for that same consumer are projected to increase by 60%. Furthermore, the CPUC expects residential ratepayers in SDG&E’s service territory will be paying close to 45 cents per kilowatt-hour by 2030.  For reference, that is more than three times the current average price of residential electricity.

    Meanwhile, the state’s renewable plans are being thwarted by rural Californians who don’t want wind and solar projects in their neighborhoods. California has added essentially no new wind capacity since 2013. The latest rejection of Big Wind happened on Tuesday when the Shasta County Planning Commission unanimously rejected a permit for Fountain Wind, a project that proposed to put 216 megawatts of wind capacity (and about 71 turbines) in a mountainous area west of the town of Burney. The project met fierce resistance. According to David Benda, a reporter for the Redding Record Searchlight, “The 5-0 vote capped a marathon meeting that went nearly 10 hours and ended just before 11 p.m. The unanimous vote was met with cheers.”

    As I have previously reported, the backlash against Big Wind goes far beyond California. It can be seen throughout Europe and from Maine to Hawaii. Since 2015, more than 300 communities in the U.S, have rejected or restricted wind projects.

    In addition to the raging land-use conflicts, California policymakers are facing a growing backlash from California’s Latino population, which is the largest in the country. As I reported last year, the state’s Latino leaders have sued the state over its housing, energy, and climate regulations. Jennifer Hernandez, the lead lawyer for The Two Hundred, a coalition of Latino leaders, told me those regulations are “incredibly regressive” and are bringing  “Appalachia economics” to California’s “non-coastal elites.”

    Robert Apodaca, the founder of United Latinos Vote, a non-profit group, told me recently that the ongoing electricity price hikes in the state “will be crippling for low- and middle- income Californians, particularly for those who live in the Central Valley and the Inland Empire. They are going to really feel the heat, in more ways than one.”

    The punchline here is clear: the blackouts and high electricity prices that are plaguing California provide a neon-lit warning sign about the electric reliability and energy affordability crises that loom if policymakers attempt to decarbonize our economy too quickly.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 19:45

  • UAW President Rory Gamble Announces His Retirement, Marking Fourth UAW Boss In Three Years
    UAW President Rory Gamble Announces His Retirement, Marking Fourth UAW Boss In Three Years

    UAW President Rory Gamble has announced he is going to be retiring on June 30, one year earlier than expected.

    The retirement comes as the union attempts to shake a sullied public image as a result of 11 former officials being convicted of Federal crimes in recent years. 

    Gamble was instrumental in helping negotiate deals to resolve criminal investigations into the union. The resultant settlements will give the Federal government “prolonged oversight and broad control” over the union. In other words, the gravy train could officially be over for top union officials. 

    He also worked to reorganize the union, “disbanding a 17-state region based in Missouri that employed leaders involved in financial wrongdoing,” according to The Detroit News.

    Negotiations with the government also led to a third party monitor being appointed to oversee the union for the next six years. As part of a consent decree reached with the DOJ, the union will also consider amending its constitution to enable the direct election of the union’s top officials. 

    Gamble, the first African American president of the United Auto Workers, will mark the fourth leaders in just three years for the UAW. 

    “I said on Day One I would hand over the keys to this treasured institution as a clean union,” Gamble said in a statement less issued less the two hours after he officially notified the UAW’s governing International Executive Board, according to the The Detroit News.

    He continued: “My original intent as a UAW Vice President was to retire at the end of June 2021, and after looking at the progress we have made and the best interests of UAW members for a stable transfer of power, this is the right time for me to turn over the reins.”

    The announcement of his retirement comes just one day before the union was set to hold a $150-per-plate gala dinner “honoring and saluting The Man, The Legend, Mr. Rory Gamble”.

    Secretary-Treasurer Ray Curry, 55, is slated to take over for Gamble.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 19:15

  • Senate Republicans Urge CDC To End Mask Mandate On Airplanes, Public Transit
    Senate Republicans Urge CDC To End Mask Mandate On Airplanes, Public Transit

    Authored by Ivan Pentchoukov via The Epoch Times,

    A group of Republican senators on June 25 introduced a resolution urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to end the mask mandate for fully vaccinated Americans using public transit and interstate travel.

    The CDC has already lifted the mask guidance for fully vaccinated people outdoors and in most other settings. But interstate rail lines, airports, and airplanes still require masks in abeyance to one of the early executive orders issued by President Joe Biden.

    “Over 150 million people in the United States are fully vaccinated and mask mandates have been lifted across the country. But the CDC inexplicably still hasn’t lifted the mask mandate for public transportation. It’s long past time for President Biden and the CDC to follow the science and end this mask mandate for fully vaccinated individuals,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said in a statement.

    “Americans should be able to travel to celebrate Independence Day with their friends and loved ones without having to follow an outdated and unnecessary mandate.”

    The text of the resolution says lifting the mandate would incentivize more people to get the CCP virus vaccine. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, causes COVID-19.

    The Republicans also argue that ending the mandate would help with the economic recovery by safely boosting travel and tourism.

    “Outside of the beltway, the country is going back to normal. Wyoming and most other states lifted their mask mandate months ago. Vaccination rates are increasing and COVID cases are decreasing. The only place most Americans are wearing masks now is in airports and on airplanes,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.).

    “Secretary Buttigieg even said that the mandate is not actually about the science, but instead about ‘respect.’ If there’s no science backing it up, it’s time for the mandate to go.”

    On April 30, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) extended the mask requirement at airports and throughout the transportation network until September 13. The resolution urges the TSA to “update its mask requirements, to be consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, to permit fully vaccinated individuals to travel on all transportation networks throughout the United States without wearing a mask.

    A group representing major airlines earlier this month urged the Department of Justice to prosecute passengers who don’t comply with the mask requirement. According to the letter, the Federal Aviation Administration has received more than 3,039 reports of unruly behavior. Many of the reports deal with passengers who refused to wear masks.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 18:45

  • Japan Trails The World In Vaccination Race As Olympics Loom
    Japan Trails The World In Vaccination Race As Olympics Loom

    As the UEFA Euros are underway across Europe, showcasing the return of spectator sports on the world stage, Japan is preparing to host an even bigger event in less than a month. With COVID cases down and the state of emergency freshly lifted in most of the country, it may look like the timing could hardly be better for the Olympics to come to Tokyo, at least under the given circumstances. However, as Statista’s Feliz Richter notes, for many people in Japan the thought of hosting thousands of athletes, trainers, and media workers from all over the world in the middle of a pandemic remains daunting, especially under the specter of the more infectious delta variant of the coronavirus.

    And while roughly 18,000 workers directly involved in the Tokyo Olympics will be vaccinated ahead of the Games, as the organizers recently announced, the same cannot be said of the Japanese population, which trails other rich countries by a wide margin in terms of vaccination progress.

    Infographic: Japan Trails in Vaccination Race as the Olympics Loom | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    According to official figures tracked by Our World in Data, less than 20 percent of the Japanese population had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by June 22, compared to 53 percent in the U.S., 48 percent in the EU and 43 percent in China. The contrast is even more startling when looking at fully vaccinated people, where Japan stands at a rate of just 8 in 100 people.

    Tokyo 2020 will kick off with the opening ceremony on July 23 and competitions will be held until August 8. The spectator limit has been set at 50 percent of venue capacity up to a maximum of 10,000 people. Masks will be mandatory at all times and other rules to limit infection risk will be implemented. The Paralympic Games will be held from August 24 to September 5. A decision on spectator limits for the Paralympics will be made on July 16.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 18:15

  • White House: Afghanistan Is "Not a Winnable War"
    White House: Afghanistan Is “Not a Winnable War”

    Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

    Ahead of talks between President Biden and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Friday said Afghanistan is “not a winnable war” in response to hawks calling for the troop drawdown to be reversed.

    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) met with Ghani and other Afghan leaders on Thursday. In a statement on the meeting, McConnell called for a “reversal” of President Biden’s withdrawal.

    Via Reuters

    When asked about McConnell’s comments, Psaki said, “The President made a decision — which is consistent with his view that this was not a winnable war — to bring the US troops home after 20 years of fighting this war.”

    Later on Friday, Biden met with Ghani and vowed continued support for the Afghan government. “The partnership between Afghanistan and the United States is not ending,” Biden said. “Our troops may be leaving, but support for Afghanistan is not ending.”

    President Biden earmarked $3.3 billion in his request for the 2022 Pentagon budget for the Afghan military, a $300 million increase from this year. NATO will also continue funding the Afghan military, and is looking to train Afghan soldiers outside of the country.

    While Biden and Psaki say the US is leaving Afghanistan, a US official told The Associated Press on Thursday that Washington wants to leave about 650 troops to guard the US embassy in Kabul. The troops could also support Turkish forces that are expected to stay to secure the Kabul airport.

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

    The issue with Biden’s post-withdrawal plans is that the Taliban are against them, and it could put US troops at risk of being attacked.

    On Friday, a Taliban spokesman said the group would view a continued US presence after Biden’s September 11th withdrawal deadline as a violation of the Doha agreement.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 17:45

  • 'You Were Wrong About A Lot Of Sh*t': Maher Blasts Big Tech, CDC Over Lab-Leak Censorship
    ‘You Were Wrong About A Lot Of Sh*t’: Maher Blasts Big Tech, CDC Over Lab-Leak Censorship

    Bill Maher slammed Big Tech on Friday’s episode of his show, “Real Time with Bill Maher,” criticizing Facebook and Google for censoring content discussing the COVID-19 lab-leak theory.

    “I find this outrageous. Facebook banned any post for four months about COVID coming from a lab,” said Maher, adding “Now, even the Biden administration is looking into it.”

    As the Daily Caller‘s Andrew Jose notes:

    Facebook revised its ban on such posts in late May, stating, “In light of ongoing investigations into the origin of COVID-19 and in consultation with public health experts, we will no longer remove the claim that COVID-19 is man-made or manufactured from our apps.”

    The ban put into effect Apr. 16, 2020, deemed allegations of lab leak or deliberate development of the COVID-19 as misinformation alongside claims of “vaccines are not effective at preventing the disease they are meant to protect against,” “it’s safer to get the disease than to get the vaccine,” and, “vaccines are toxic, dangerous, or cause autism.”

    Last month, social media giants were similarly slammed over lab-leak theory censorship, after Dr. Anthony Fauci admitted that it’s a possibility.

    Fauci was also asked by Katie Sanders of Politifact if he thought COVID-19 had developed naturally. Fauci responded by suggesting other causes are a possibility.

    “I am not convinced about that, I think we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we continue to find out to the best of our ability what happened,” replied the ‘good’ doctor.

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

    Fauci’s comments came after a report by the Wall Street Journal that

    that three researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology became so sick in November 2019 that they required hospital treatment. Two months later and China was still telling the WHO that there was zero human to human transmission of the virus.

    Politifact, meanwhile, was forced to retract a ‘fact check’ that claimed it had “debunked” the lab leak origin theory of COVID-19.

    All of this, because the left hates Donald Trump.

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    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 17:15

  • "Enough Is Enough": Los Angeles Sheriff Urges State Of Emergency On Homelessness
    “Enough Is Enough”: Los Angeles Sheriff Urges State Of Emergency On Homelessness

    Authored by Jamie Joseph via The Epoch Times,

    In an unusual move, Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva has sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors urging them to declare a local state of emergency to address the spiraling homelessness crisis in the county, citing an increase in crime, lack of sanitation, and struggling businesses.

    “We’ve been inundated with calls, with concerns, with images from the news, from people picking up the phone, emailing, sending us letters, about what’s going on in Venice,” Villanueva told reporters during a press conference inside the Justice Hall on June 23. “And that is a microcosm of what’s going on throughout the entire county of Los Angeles.”

    “Enough is enough, we need to kick this into high gear,” he said.

    There’s an estimated 200 homeless people on the Venice Beach Boardwalk and 2,000 throughout the neighborhood, making it the second largest concentration of homeless people after Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. The area has been getting primary attention recently from Villanueva and the sheriffs’ Homeless Outreach and Services Team (HOST).

    Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies speak with Venice Beach, Calif., homeless individuals on June 8, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

    With the state of emergency, the county will be eligible for FEMA funds, since county resources are limited, he said.

    “With the homeless, you have two choices if you’re an elected official: You can get busy helping [or] you get busy hindering, it’s your choice,” he said.

    A few Venice community residents who’ve been sounding the alarm for months were also part of the press conference. Chie Lunn, a teacher and member of the Venice Public Health & Safety Committee told The Epoch Times “there was a huge problem that was growing around us” and that her “children were becoming more and more enclosed.”

    “And it wasn’t just because of COVID, I felt like I needed to do something for not only them, but for other children in the neighborhood, as I witnessed more people going inward within their safety and feeling like they couldn’t just walk outside their front doors,” she said.

    She said the Venice Beach Park was labeled by Councilmember Mike Bonin, whose district includes Venice, “as a place for kids to go during COVID to feel safe and to get internet access.”

    “But yet at that very park we had three RVs exploding, we had drug use, we had RVs staying on the streets. So, when we talk about sanitation, our police have been doing an amazing job, our sanitation has been doing a great job, but they cannot keep up with the amount of things and people dropping off stuff and using our streets as a dumping ground for their trash,” she said.

    Billions in Funding Spent

    “It is a national disgrace,” Villanueva said.

    “All those 501 C-3 organizations … we’re going to talk about money; there is a homeless industrial complex, and they’re raking in money, not by the millions, not by the hundreds of millions, by the billions.”

    Villanueva shared salary data equating to over $2.8 million of the top earning employees compensated by the Venice Family Clinic revenue, a nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive healthcare services to low-income residents in Venice.

    “But what actually gets out to the actual service provided by individuals is just not there,” he said.

    Villanueva slammed the state’s “housing first” policy, a theory officials have adopted that building permanent and supportive housing units immediately will solve the homelessness crisis. However, Measure HHH, a $1.2 billion bond obligation passed in 2016 by Angeleno voters to build 10,000 supportive housing units, has only constructed a total of three buildings.

    A photo of Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

    “You cannot build your way out of homelessness,” Villanueva said.

    “It was the Los Angeles Homeless Authority themselves that said for every 100 that we house, they’re replaced by 120 on the street–that math seems to elude these people … our elected officials.”

    On average, Los Angeles spends close to $1 billion annually on homeless services, according to data the sheriff provided.

    “In fact, we’re way past $2 billion this year because this is just half of one year, so the true numbers are way up here, as the problem grows, like clockwork, year after year. So, you tell me, you think it’s time to regulate public space?” he said.

    In response to the press conference, Councilmember Bonin released a statement: “Sheriff Villanueva and I are very different. I believe in treating people humanely and with dignity, whether they are housed or unhoused. I believe everyone has a right to housing, food, and health care, and I applaud those who provide it. And I believe (and evidence shows) that the best, most effective, least expensive way to end homelessness is with housing, not with handcuffs.”

    Enforcing the Law

    The famed beach town of Venice has been inundated with tents, trash, needles, drugs, and an increased number of homeless people since the pandemic rolled back city codes that previously prohibited encampments on the beach.

    Homeless individuals in Venice Beach, Calif., roam around their encampments on June 8, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

    Bob Carlson, owner of a local skate shop called Arbor Venice, has been victimized several times by homeless people outside his shop. Two weeks ago, his beloved security guard “T” was brutally attacked by a homeless person who was high on drugs.

    “He stabbed him multiple times in the head tearing up pieces of his scalp,” Carlson told reporters. He paused.

    “Sorry, this is this is tough … these are people who work for me, and I feel responsible for,” he said.

    “He tore open his wrist and sliced his finger to the bone and cut him in several other places across his arms and torso.”

    Carlson, who’s lived in Venice Beach for the last 25 years, said as a skateboarder he’s had multiple interactions with police officers in his life that were less than perfect.

    “It takes a lot for me to stand up here, and give that man my thanks very publicly, but that’s what I’m here to do,” Carlson said pointing to Villanueva.

    “The people of Venice are scared and walk around in fear of being attacked, our tourists are gone, our restaurants and businesses are struggling. And one of the cultural hearts, the arts community of Los Angeles is being decimated, and something has to be done about it,” he said.

    A homeless man looks for food in a trashcan in Venice Beach, Calif., on Jan. 27, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

    Bonin was granted $5 million by the Budget & Finance Committee to ramp up the homeless efforts specifically in Venice. The councilmember has been staunchly opposed to law enforcement’s involvement in the effort.

    “The ‘Venice Beach Encampment to Home’ program will not be led by law enforcement, nor driven by threats of arrest or incarceration. We will offer what works: housing, with counseling, or mental health services, substance abuse recovery services, and anything else needed to successfully transition people into housing,” Bonin wrote in an email to recipients on June 22.

    Bonin plans to reach every person on the boardwalk by deploying outreach workers from St. Joseph Center for six weeks under the new plan. Residents are thankful for the help, but say it comes on the heels of ignored cries for help.

    A month before the pandemic, Bonin championed A Bridge Housing just a few blocks away from the boardwalk. It’s unclear how many homeless people on the boardwalk are being connected to that supportive housing unit. Encampments, trash, and RVs line the sidewalks surrounding the unit and neighbors say they fear for their safety.

    LAPD Capt. Steve Embrich told the Venice Neighborhood Council earlier this month that felony arrests are up 68 percent and misdemeanor arrests are up 355 percent, but it doesn’t make much of a difference when they’re released the same day.

    According to the Sheriff’s Department, there have been zero arrests made during the HOST efforts.

    Lt. Geff Deedrick, who leads the HOST team, told The Epoch Times “we do what we do regardless of the other issues surrounding this topic, in a political effort, in a sense that politics doesn’t factor into the human condition.”

    He said so far, they’ve done seven outreaches and connected 15 people to housing, and four people have been reunified with their families through West Coast Care.

    “We’ve talked to roughly 140, we’re at 10 percent right there, but it’s a preliminary conversation,” he said.

    As Independence Day draws near, Villanueva and his team have been in Venice for the last two weeks talking to business owners and homeless individuals to better understand their concerns. The goal is to have all the encampments cleared by that date, with every homeless person connected to housing or rehabilitation resources.

    And for the “nomadic travelers” who don’t want to move? Villanueva said they will once again enforce the “laws that exist already.”

    “You don’t have a right to negatively impact the community and claim public space as your own,” he said.

    Villanueva cited California Gov. Code 26.600 as reason for the department’s authority to act. The code says that the sheriff “shall preserve peace, and to accomplish this object may sponsor, supervise, or participate in any project of crime prevention, rehabilitation of persons previously convicted of crime, or the suppression of delinquency.”

    “The assumption is that every single subdivision of L.A. County has a police force and they’re doing their job, or better yet they’re permitted to do their job by the political oversight,” he said.

    “In this case, we have an absolute failure of political oversight, who has handcuffed the LAPD [who] was more than capable to get the job done and regulate public space.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 16:45

  • Larry Summers Sees 5% Inflation At The End Of 2021
    Larry Summers Sees 5% Inflation At The End Of 2021

    It may not be quite hyperinflation – loosely defined as pricing rising at a double-digit clip or higher – but if former Treasury Secretary and erstwhile democrat Larry Summers is right, it will be halfway there in about six months.

    One day after Bank of America warned that the coming “hyperinflation” will last at least 2 and as much as 4 years – whether or not one defines that as transitory depends on whether one has a Federal Reserve charge card to fund all purchases in the next 4 years – Larry Summers, who is this close from being excommunicated from the Democrat party, predicted inflation will be running “pretty close” to 5% at the end of this year and that bond yields will rise as a result over the rest of 2021.

    Considering that consumer prices already jumped 5% in May from the previous year, his forecast is not much of a shock.

    Speaking on Bloomberg TV, Summers said that “my guess is that at the end of the year inflation will, for this year, come out pretty close to 5%,” adding that “it would surprise me if we had 5% inflation with no effect on inflation expectations.” If he is right, the recent reversal in one-year inflation expectations which dipped from 4.6% to 4.2% according to the latest UMich consumer sentiment survey, is about to surge to new secular highs.

    This is not the first time Summers has predicted that the firehose of fiscal and monetary stimulus will unleash soaring inflation. While career economists at the White House and Fed – who have peasants doing their purchases for them – urge Americans to ignore the current hyperinflation episode, saying that the recent inflation surge will soon pass, Summers has been unique among his fellow Democrats in predicting that massive monetary and fiscal stimulus alongside the reopening of the economy would spark considerable price pressures.

    Asked how financial markets may behave in the rest of 2021, Summers said “there will probably be more turbulence” as traders react to faster inflation by pushing up bond yields. “We’ve got a lot of processing ahead of us in markets,” he said.

    Ironically, Summers – who now teaches at Harvard University whose president he was not too long ago when he hung out with his buddy Jeffrey Epstein…

    … also praised President Joe Biden’s tentative deal with a bipartisan group senators on a $579 billion infrastructure plan (which has virutally no chance of passing) and echoed the White House’s call for even more to be spent on “human infrastructure.”

    “There is a lot that is left to do that should be supported,” Summers said. “The investment will strengthen our economy.”

    Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told lawmakers this week that she expected annual inflation to be below that level by the end of this year.

    Putting the stimulus tsunami in context, on Friday Bank of America’s Michael Hartnett calculated that with the latest $600BN Biden  infrastructure plan, the running tally of global monetary & fiscal stimulus rises to $30.5 trillion in the past 15 months, an amount equivalent to entire Chinese & European GDP’s.

     

     

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 16:15

  • "Blow Up Republicans": UNC (Wilmington) Professor Triggers Firestorm With Call For Killing Conservatives
    “Blow Up Republicans”: UNC (Wilmington) Professor Triggers Firestorm With Call For Killing Conservatives

    Authored by Jonathan Turley,

    Dan Johnson is an associate professor at the School of Health and Applied Human Sciences at University of North Carolina Wilmington with apparently equal interest in politics and polytechnics. He posted a short but clear message on Facebook: “Blow Up Republicans.” 

    The detonation of people seems to be in vogue with professors this year.

    As will come as little surprise to many on this blog, I do not believe Johnson should face discipline for his violent political ideations.

    Campus Reform reports objections to the handling of the controversy by the school, which only stated that “[t]he university was made aware of the post and has appropriately addressed it.”  Johnson took down the posting.

    Haylie Davis, a former student of Johnson’s, is quoted as objecting to the lack of more serious action and notes that the school would not be so circumspect “if the word ‘Republican’ was replaced with any other word. If the post stated ‘Blow up women,’ ‘Blow up homosexuals,’ ‘Blow up Catholics,’ etc.”

    That is a good point. 

    We have discussed the sharply different treatment given statements by faculty depending on their political or social perspectives.

    I have defended faculty who have made similarly disturbing comments denouncing police, calling for Republicans to suffer,  strangling police officers, celebrating the death of conservatives, calling for the killing of Trump supporters, supporting the murder of conservative protesters and other outrageous statements. These comments were not protested as creating an “unsafe environment” and were largely ignored by universities. However, professors and students are routinely investigated, suspended, and sanctioned for countervailing views. There were also controversies at the University of California and Boston University, where there have been criticism of such a double standard, even in the face of criminal conduct. There was also such an incident at the University of London involving Bahar Mustafa as well as one involving a University of Pennsylvania professor. Some intolerant statements against students are deemed free speech while others are deemed hate speech or the basis for university action. There is a lack of consistency or uniformity in these actions which turn on the specific groups left aggrieved by out-of-school comments.  There is also a tolerance of faculty and students tearing down fliers and stopping the speech of conservatives.  Indeed, even faculty who assaulted pro-life advocates was supported by faculty and lionized for her activism.

    As we have previously discussed (with an Oregon professor and a Rutgers professor), there remains an uncertain line in what language is protected for teachers in their private lives. A conservative North Carolina professor  faced calls for termination over controversial tweets and was pushed to retire. Dr. Mike Adams, a professor of sociology and criminology, had long been a lightning rod of controversy. In 2014, we discussed his prevailing in a lawsuit that alleged discrimination due to his conservative views.  He was then targeted again after an inflammatory tweet calling North Carolina a “slave state.”  That led to his being pressured to resign with a settlement. He then committed suicide

    The efforts to fire professors who voice dissenting views on various issues including an effort to oust a leading economist from the University of Chicago as well as a leading linguistics professor at Harvard and a literature professor at Penn. Sites like Lawyers, Guns, and Money feature writers like Colorado Law Professor Paul Campus who call for the firing of those with opposing views (including myself).  Such campaigns have targeted teachers and students who contest the evidence of systemic racism in the use of lethal force by police or offer other opposing views in current debates over the pandemic, reparations, electoral fraud, or other issues.

    It is not just universities. Almost on the one-year anniversary of its condemning its own publication of a column by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. (and forcing out its own editor), the New York Times published an academic columnist who previously defended the killing of conservative protesters. Over at the Washington Post this week, the newspaper promoted a columnist, Karen Attiah, who last summer caused an outrage after she tweeted “White women are lucky that we are just calling them Karens. And not calling for revenge.”

    Despite the bias and hypocrisy shown by universities, I still would defend Johnson and his right to express such views on social media. Unfortunately, such hyperbolic and violent language is common today. While academics should be examples of greater tolerance and civility, the danger of such regulation is greater than the cost of such speech. Indeed, this week, the free speech community secured a significant victory in the ruling in Mahonoy on out-of-school speech by a high school student.

    The failure of many on the left to support diversity of viewpoints does not mean that the rest of us are relieved of our own obligation to support free speech. While many of us are repulsed by Professor Johnson’s dreams of blowing up Republicans, sanctions on such speech could easily become a nightmare for free speech.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 15:45

  • 'No Substantial Outbreaks' After Researchers Track Sports, Music And Clubbing
    ‘No Substantial Outbreaks’ After Researchers Track Sports, Music And Clubbing

    A new report out of the UK which studied several types of gatherings with large groups of people in close proximity found ‘no substantial outbreaks‘ of COVID-19 following the events, according to Sky News.

    A club night in Liverpool was one of the test events (via Sky News)

    The combined events were attended by 58,000 people, resulting in just 28 known cases, according to the Events Research Programme (ERP). Of the 28 cases, 11 were identified as “potentially infectious at an event,” while another 17 were marked as “potentially infected at or around the time of the event.”

    The Brit Awards, which had an audience of 3,500 people, had zero linked cases of COVID-19. No word on vaccination status.

    No cases were detected at the Brits, despite its audience of 3,500 people (via Sky News)

    Breakdown of events and COVID cases (via Sky News):

    • Circus Nightclub in Liverpool hosted almost 7,000 people over two nights and recorded 10 cases
    • The World Snooker Championship, which welcomed more than 10,000 over 17 days, recorded six cases
    • The Brit Awards, which hosted 3,500 music fans at London’s O2 arena, found zero cases
    • The FA Cup semi-final and final, and the Carabao Cup final, recorded a combined total of eight cases out of almost 30,000 attendees
    • An outdoor festival pilot at Sefton Park in Liverpool, attended by more than 6,000 people, recorded two cases.
    • The Reunion 5k run at Kempton Park, Surrey, recorded two cases out of 2,000 people present.

     The events were monitored via cameras and using Wi-Fi data, while participants were also asked to take a series of tests.

    The FA Cup Final was another of the pilot events

    The program’s chief advisers, Nicholas Hytner and David Ross, were careful to warn the report “does not make conclusive public health recommendations on the reopening of events at this stage,” and added that the studies took place when COVID-19 outbreaks were low.

    “Future public health measures need to adapt to prevailing levels and patterns of the virus,” they said.

    “Mitigation measures” – such as wearing face coverings, ventilation, testing, social distancing and food and drink restrictions – could help to manage risks at events.

    Large crowd events do have the potential for “increased pressure on pinch points”, such as toilets and food and drink outlets, the report said.

    Areas which have an “increased density of people”, including half time at a football match, have been identified as higher risk.

    The report found compliance with wearing masks and social distancing was “mostly high”, with an average of 96.2% of people in test areas wearing face coverings correctly while seated.

    The ERP will continue to gather evidence from future events.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 15:15

  • UK Lockdown Architect Quits After Breaking Own COVID Rules During Secret Affair With Aide
    UK Lockdown Architect Quits After Breaking Own COVID Rules During Secret Affair With Aide

    And just like that, one day after claiming he won’t quit, he is out.

    Matt Hanock, the minister charged with eradicating Britain’s biggest postwar health crisis, quit on Saturday night in the face of an avalanche of fierce criticism of his secret affair with an adviser whom he put on the public payroll.

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

    “We have worked so hard as a country to fight the pandemic,” Hancock, 42, said in his letter of resignation to Johnson one day after pictures of him kissing and groping his top aide – a friend hired last year – at a time he forced everyone else into mandatory lockdowns were splashed on the front page of the Sun newspaper.

    “The last thing I want is for my private life to distract from the single-minded approach that is leading us out of this crisis.”

    Hancock’s resignation came after The Sun published photos of Hancock and Gina Coladangelo, whom he’d appointed to his team, apparently embracing in his Whitehall offices last month. Initially Hancock tried to keep his job and Johnson backed him on Friday, saying the matter was closed.Initially Hancock tried to keep his job and Johnson backed him on Friday, saying the matter was closed.

    Matt Hancock was pictured in a passionate embrace with close aide Gina Coladangelo (Picture: Getty/Nigel Howard/The Sun)

    But pressure continued to mount on Saturday after senior officials in Johnson’s Conservative Party said the minister’s behavior was beyond the pale, with one highlighting the hypocrisy of Hancock flouting the same rules that he helped create.

    Hancock’s departure is a fresh blow for Johnson’s humiliated administration and puts a renewed focus on “sleaze” allegations – a British media shorthand for dubious actions ranging from corruption to secretive financial arrangements to sex scandals – in his party. It also means that another major offshore distraction – like sending US warships in Russian territory may be imminent.

    The controversy has also destroyed any hope the UK health department has of tackling the pandemic as the affair has terminally undermined its messaging about the importance of maintaining social distancing. The latest official figures show new coronavirus cases in the U.K. have climbed to their highest level since early February, with 18,270 new infections, although at this point nobody believes any “scientific” data. And this episode surely won’t help.

    The prime minister will now need to hire a new health secretary and has the option of conducting a broader reshuffle of his cabinet. He will be hoping Hancock’s relatively quick exit will draw a line under the episode, minimizing the damage to his government’s reputation.
    In his resignation letter, Hancock said he owed it to all the health workers, volunteers and military personnel who had worked on the U.K.’s pandemic response to resign.

    He also publicly apologized to his own family. “I want to reiterate my apology for breaking the guidance, and apologise to my family and loved ones for putting them through this,” Hancock wrote. “I also need to be with my children at this time.”

    It was unclear if either his wife or children wanted him to be with them at this time.

    Hancock, who ran against Johnson for the Tory leadership in 2019, had already been under pressure over his handling of the crisis.  Johnson’s former aide, Dominic Cummings, earlier this month published text messages he said showed the premier regarded Hancock as “hopeless.” For once, BoJo may have been right. Cummings also accused Hancock of lying and incompetence at the height of the Covid outbreak last year.

    As Bloomberg notes, Hancock and Coladangelo had been friends since their time together at Oxford University and both are married with children. At the time the photos were taken, pandemic rules advised against meeting people from different households indoors.

    Coladangelo, a former director at lobbying firm Luther Pendragon and current shareholder, was appointed by Hancock as an unpaid adviser to the Department of Health last year. She was later made a non-executive director at the department. Hancock chairs the departmental board.

    Johnson’s administration has battled various “sleaze” accusations during the pandemic, including over whether lucrative government contracts were awarded to people with connections to the Conservative Party, and whether Johnson used underhand methods to fund a refurbishment of his Downing Street flat.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/26/2021 – 14:36

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  • Escobar: A Sovereign Iran Will Move Closer To Russia-China
    Escobar: A Sovereign Iran Will Move Closer To Russia-China

    Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Asia Times,

    Iran’s president-elect will ‘Look East’ while seeking to exit ‘strategic patience’ when dealing with the US…

    In his first press conference as President-Elect with 62% of the votes, Ebrahim Raesi, facing a forest of microphones, came out swinging and leaving nothing to the imagination.

    On the JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal, the dossier that completely obsesses the West, Raeisi was clear:

    • the US must immediately return to the JCPOA that Washington unilaterally violated, and lift all sanctions.

    • The JCPOA negotiations in Vienna will proceed, but they do not condition anything in terms of Iran’s future.

    • The Iranian ballistic missile program is absolutely non-negotiable in the framework of the JCPOA, and will not be curbed.

    Asked by a Russian journalist whether he would meet President Biden if a deal was struck in Vienna and all sanctions lifted – a major “if” – Raeisi’s answer was a straight “No”.

    It’s crucial to stress that Raeisi, in principle, favors the restoration of the JCPOA as its was signed in 2015 – following the guidelines of Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. But if the Vienna charade goes on forever and the Americans keep insisting on rewriting the deal towards other areas of Iranian national security, that’s a definitive red line.

    Raeisi acknowledged the immense internal challenges he faces, in terms of putting the Iranian economy back on track, getting rid of the neoliberal drive of outgoing Team Rouhani, and fighting widespread corruption. The fact that election turnout was only 48.7%, compared to the average 70% in the prior three presidential contests will make it even more difficult.

    Yet in foreign policy Iran’s path ahead is unmistakable, centered on the “Look East” strategy, which means closer cooperation with China and Russia, with Iran developing as a key node of Eurasian integration or, according to the Russian vision, the Greater Eurasia Partnership.

    As Professor Mohammad Marandi of the University of Tehran told me “there’s going to the a tilt eastward, and to the Global South. Iran will improve relations with China and Russia, also because of US pressure and sanctions. President-elect Raeisi will be better positioned to strengthen these ties than the outgoing administration.”

    Marandi added, “Iran won’t intentionally hurt the nuclear deal if the Americans – and the Europeans – move towards full implementation. The Iranians will reciprocate. Neighbors and regional countries will also be a priority. So Iran will no longer be waiting for the West.”

    Marandi also made a quite nuanced distinction that the current policy was “a major mistake” by Team Rouhani, yet “not the fault of Dr. Zarif or the Foreign Ministry, but the government as a whole.” That implies the Rouhani administration placed all its bets on the JCPOA and was completely unprepared for Trump’s “maximum pressure” offensive, which de facto decimated the reformist-minded Iranian middle class.

    In a nutshell: in the Raeisi era, exit “strategic patience” when dealing with the US. Enter “active deterrence”.

    A key node of BRI and EAEU

    Raeisi was met by those who control the “international community” narrative with proverbially derisive and/or demonizing epithets: loyal to the “repressive machinery” of the Islamic Republic, “hardliner”, violator of human rights, mass executioner, anti-Western fanatic, or simply “killer”. Amnesty International even called for him to be investigated as perpetrator of crimes against humanity.

    Facts are more prosaic. Raesi, born in Mashhad, has a PhD in jurisprudence and fundamentals of Islamic law and a further jurisprudence degree from the Qom seminary. His previous positions include member of the Assembly of Experts and chief of the Judiciary.

    He may not have been exposed to the Western way of life, but he’s not “anti-Western” – as he believes Iran must interact with all nations. Yet foreign policy must follow Khamenei’s guidelines, which are very clear. Without understanding Khamenei’s worldview, any analysis of Iranian complexities is an idle sport. For essential background, please refer to my Asia Times e-book Persian Miniatures.

    It all starts with Ayatollah Khomeini’s founding concept of an Islamic Republic, which was indeed influenced by Plato’s Republic as well as Muslim political philosopher al-Farabi’s Virtuous City (also Plato-influenced).

    On the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, Khamenei updated his concept of foreign policy, as part of a clear map for the future. This is absolutely required reading to understand what Iran is all about. An excellent analysis by Mansoureh Tajik emphasizes the ways the system strives for balance and justice. Khamenei could not be more straightforward when he writes,

    “Today, the challenge for the US is Iran’s presence at the borders surrounding the Zionist regime and dismantling the illegitimate influence and presence of America from West Asia, Islamic Republic’s defense of Palestinian fighters at the heart of the occupied territories, and defense of holy flag of Hizbullah and the Resistance in the entire region. If in those days, the West’s problem was preventing Iran from buying even the most primitive forms of arms for its defense, today, its challenge is to prevent the Iranian arms, military equipment, and drones reaching Hizbullah and the Resistance everywhere in the region. If in those days, America imagined it can overcome the Islamic System and the Iranian nation with the help of a few self-selling Iranian traitors, today, it is finding itself in need of a large coalition of tens of hostile yet impotent governments to fight Iran. Yet, it fails.”

    In terms of Big Power politics, Iran’s “Look East” policy was devised by Khamenei – who fully vetted the $400 billion-worth Iran-China comprehensive strategic partnership, which is directly linked to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and also supports Iran joining the Russia-led Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU).

    So it’s Iran as a key Eurasian connectivity hub that is going to shape its geopolitical and geoeconomic future. And not the West, as Marandi stressed.

    China will be investing in Iranian banking, telecom, ports, railways, public health and information technology – not to mention striking bilateral deals in weapons development and intel sharing.

    On the Russian front, the impetus will come from the development of the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC), which directly competes with an East to West overland corridor that can be hit anytime with extra-territorial American sanctions.

    Iran has already struck an interim free trade agreement with the EAEU, active since October 2019. A full fledged deal – with Iran as a full member – may be struck in the first few months of the Raeisi era, with important consequences for trade from the South Caucasus to wider Southwest Asia and even Southeast Asia: Vietnam and Singapore already have free trade zones with the EAEU.

    The American rhetoric about Iran’s “isolation” does not fool anyone in Southwest Asia – as the developing interaction with China-Russia attests. Add to it Moscow’s reading of the “mood for deepening dialogue and developing contacts in the defense sphere”.

    So this is what the Raeisi era is leading to: a more solid union of Iranian Shi’ism, socialism with Chinese characteristics and the Greater Eurasia Partnership. And it doesn’t hurt that state of the art Russian military technology is quietly surveying the evolving chessboard.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 23:40

  • Visualizing 150 Years Of US National Debt
    Visualizing 150 Years Of US National Debt

    The total U.S. national debt reached an all-time high of $28 trillion* in March 2021, the largest amount ever recorded.

    Recent increases to the debt have been fueled by massive fiscal stimulus bills like the CARES Act ($2.2 trillion in March 2020), the Consolidated Appropriations Act ($2.3 trillion in December 2020), and most recently, the American Rescue Plan ($1.9 trillion in March 2021).

    To see how America’s debt has gotten to its current point, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu and Christina Kostandi created an interactive timeline using data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). It’s crucial to note that the data set uses U.S. national debt held by the public, which excludes intergovernmental holdings.

    Dashboard

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    *Editor’s note: This top level figure includes intragovernmental holdings, or the roughly $6 trillion of debt owed within the government to itself.

    What Influences U.S. Debt?

    It’s worth pointing out that the national debt hasn’t always been this large.

    Looking back 150 years, we can see that its size relative to GDP has fluctuated greatly, hitting multiple peaks and troughs. These movements generally correspond with events such as wars and recessions.

    To gain further insight into the history of the U.S. national debt, let’s review some key economic events in America’s history.

    The Great Depression

    After its WWI victory, the U.S. enjoyed a period of post-war prosperity commonly referred to as the Roaring Twenties.

    This led to the creation of a stock market bubble which would eventually burst in 1929, causing massive damage to the U.S. economy. The country’s GDP was cut in half (partially due to deflation), while the unemployment rate rose to 25%.

    Government revenues dipped as a result, pushing debt held by the public as a % of GDP from its low of 15% in 1929, to a high of 44% in 1934.

    World War II

    WWII quickly brought the U.S. back to full employment, but it was an incredibly expensive endeavor. The total cost of the war is estimated to be over $4 trillion in today’s dollars.

    To finance its efforts, the U.S. relied heavily on war bonds, a type of bond that is marketed to citizens during armed conflicts. These bonds were sold in various denominations ranging from $25-$10,000 and had a 2.9% interest rate compounded semiannually.

    Over 85 million Americans purchased these bonds, helping the U.S. government to raise $186 billion (not adjusted for inflation). This pushed debt above 100% of GDP for the first time ever, but was also enough to cover 63% of the war’s total cost.

    The Postwar Period

    Following World War II, the U.S. experienced robust economic growth.

    Despite involvement in the Korea and Vietnam wars, debt-to-GDP declined to a low of 23% in 1974—largely because these wars were financed by raising taxes rather than borrowing.

    The economy eventually slowed in the early 1980s, prompting President Reagan to slash taxes on corporations and high earning individuals. Income taxes on the top bracket, for example, fell from 70% to 50%.

    2008 Global Financial Crisis

    The Global Financial Crisis served as a precursor for today’s debt landscape.

    Interest rates were reduced to near-zero levels to speed up the economic recovery, enabling the government to borrow with relative ease. Rates remained at these suppressed levels from 2008 to 2015, and debt-to-GDP grew from 39% to 73%.

    It’s important to note that even before 2008, the U.S. government had been consistently running annual budget deficits. This means that the government spends more than it earns each year through taxes.

    The National Debt Today

    The COVID-19 pandemic damaged many areas of the global economy, forcing governments to drastically increase their spending. At the same time, many central banks once again reduced interest rates to zero.

    This has resulted in a growing snowball of government debt that shows little signs of shrinking, even though the worst of the pandemic is already behind us.

    In the U.S., federal debt has reached or surpassed WWII levels. When excluding intragovernmental holdings, it now sits at 104% of GDP—and including those holdings, it sits at 128% of GDP. But while the debt is expected to grow even further, the cost of servicing this debt has actually decreased in recent years.

    This is because existing government bonds, which were originally issued at higher rates, are now maturing and being refinanced to take advantage of today’s lower borrowing costs.

    The key takeaway from this is that the U.S. national debt will remain manageable for the foreseeable future. Longer term, however, interest expenses are expected to grow significantly—especially if interest rates begin to rise again.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 23:20

  • The Woke Business Complex
    The Woke Business Complex

    Authored by Robert E Wright via The American Institute for Economic Research,

    As he left office in early 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned Americans about the biggest domestic threats to their liberty, the military-industrial and scientific-technological complexes.

    Ostensibly, those two aspects of what was later sometimes termed The Deep State or The Swamp defeated the Union of Soviet Social Republics (USSR) circa 1990 and then went in search of other threats, including Islamic extremism.

    But those threats were never threatening enough to justify the billions sought by defense contractors, Big Pharma, Big Tech, and so forth, so reality often got stretched into outright lies. Remember Colin Powell’s yellow cake speech?

    Former president Donald J. Trump tried to turn the power of the two complexes against China, or at least the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but the complexes resisted. The USSR had been a poor trading partner so helping to bring it down was good business.

    Ditto with Islamic extremism. But China is too lucrative a market to make trade war upon!

    Instead, in 2020, under the mantras of “public health” and “social justice,” the complexes merged into what might be termed The Woke Business Complex.

    Rather than thwarting communism, its goal is to “make America equitable again” and frankly that looks a whole lot like communism.

    “Woke” is indeed a “complex” in Eisenhower’s sense, a network of individuals and institutions able to tap the U.S. federal budget to enlarge the network’s profit and power. Money flows, for example, from the government to universities in exchange for Victim Studies graduates, some of whom become higher education consultants and deans of diversity who push for more Victim Studies programs. Others find their way into the administration of corporations, which understand that their access to federal money, or at least less rigorous regulatory and tax scrutiny, depends on how many Victim Studies graduates they hire.

    Were that all, the Woke fleecing of America would be no worse than the rents earned by the military-industrial and academic-medical-scientific-technology complexes, which at least produced aircraft carriers, vaccines, and other ostensibly valuable, if excessively costly, goods. The Woke Business Complex, though, produces only dismisinfoganda. Consider this viral meme, which defines “equity” as equal outcomes, i.e., a sort of communism:

    The meme is of course extremely weak because it posits the existence of the capital goods displayed, i.e., the baseball stadium, the teams, and the crates. It also misses the fact that the “equity solution” would arise spontaneously out of the incentives of the people involved. Specifically, the tallest person would not want to stand on a crate as it would make him more conspicuous to stadium security. Presumably, the little guy isn’t on his father’s shoulders for the same reason, though of course that solution also would violate social distancing guidelines as well as the Woke desire to displace the nuclear family to make more room for the State.

    Critiques of the meme abound and some are pretty funny, like one that points out that all three are free riding on baseball by poaching a view. If the family is too poor to be able to afford tickets, the meme seems to suggest that “equity” doesn’t include getting all three a more comfortable view of the game.

    But we know how to get all three a more comfortable view of the game because it happens every day all summer long. It’s called free markets, which explains not only how and why the capital pictured in the meme was created, it also explains why few people free ride on baseball games anymore. It isn’t in the interest of baseball teams to allow it, so they gave up such chincy fencing a century ago and invited even the poorest of the poor into their games with a menu of inexpensive options.

    My favorite, as a yute, was the Knothole Gang, a throwback to the days when fans would peek through holes in pine fences to catch glimpses of games for free. By the 1970s, it was just a cheap ticket promotion. If memory serves, the Rochester Red Wings of the AAA International League in the old Silver Stadium sold Knothole memberships for $5, which entitled the punch ticket holder to attend up to 10 games, albeit only in the bleachers during “big games.” That’s only 50 cents a ticket, not much money even half a century ago, in the midst of the Great Inflation. Today, one can see the Billings Mustangs play 38 times for $12 or the Wichita Wranglers play 10 times for $10.

    Bleacher seats suck but they are better than standing on any combination of crates. Moreover, once in the park one was free after the third inning to take any seat in the house until (usually if) the ticket holder appeared. For fiddy cents, I watched the last two thirds of many a game from the comfort of a lower level box seat.

    For those who live near teams that do not offer such low prices or free seat upgrades, though, other options are available. I used to listen to Yankee games back in the Chambliss, Jackson, Munson, Guidry days on AM radio from western New York. We had what passed for a television but few Yankee games were broadcast locally as we were technically in the market of the Toronto Blue Jays, and that expansion team, itself a product of free markets, needed all the help it could get. Today, of course, one can subscribe to a month of MLB.TV for peanuts, literally for what it would cost for peanuts for a family of three in some major league parks, and monitor simulcasts or listen to play-by-play or stream games to one’s content.

    None of those offer the same experience as being in-park, like paying to park or being around drunkards, so many people who could afford to go to games choose the substitutes instead. It’s all good! Fans have choices because it is in the interest of the teams to provide choices for everyone, from catered, enclosed, private corporate boxes to bleachers. And that, not the ultimately unequal equity panel in the meme, is something we can all cheer.

    Just think, though, of the uproarious applause that would occur if governments would stop over-regulating and over-taxing economic agents and allow every human to thrive instead of diverting resources to the Woke Business Complex! Then the poor meme man and his family would be able to attend more games, in proper seats, and not worry about the added expense of transportation and stadium peanuts. But curbing government overreach would require a more “equitable” distribution of political and soft power. Where’s the meme for that?

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 23:00

  • US Navy's Most Advanced Nuclear-Powered Sub Plagued With Problems
    US Navy’s Most Advanced Nuclear-Powered Sub Plagued With Problems

    America’s nuclear-powered fast-attack submarines are experiencing maintenance bottlenecks as specific components are wearing out decades earlier due to faulty manufacturing. The lack of spare parts has resulted in the Navy cannibalizing submarines in construction so its Virginia-class subs can remain in a state of readiness. 

    Bloomberg, citing a new Naval Sea Systems Command and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, says spare parts for the Virginia class, also known as the SSN-774 class, are lacking and has forced shipyards to “borrow or “cannibalize” parts from newly built subs.

    The good news is that Congress has pushed the Navy to increase construction rates for Virginia class subs from two per year to three. The service declined to define which parts are affected but noted they’re for non-propulsion electronic systems. 

    The number of swapped parts has increased over the years – many of the parts are for the submarines which entered service in 2004. By 2013, at least 100 parts were swapped from new subs to older ones. By 2013 that number grew to 171, then 201 in 2018, 452 in 2019, and then declined to 218 in 2020. Expectations this year are around 82. 

    Bryan Clark, a former special assistant to the chief of naval operations, said the parts problem is a significant readiness issue “that goes with the overall concern that the Navy is not investing enough in maintenance, supply chains, and shipyard infrastructure.” 

    Clark, who is now a naval analyst with the Hudson Institute, said, “the Navy may have been too slow to act on indications that some components were wearing out faster.”

    Part swapping has led to delays in the delivery of new subs. The CBO said cannibalizing parts from newly built subs for an older one creates an extra workload for shipyards. Another problem is the parts being swapped could be damaged during transition. 

    Naval officials are “not satisfied with any material cannibalization that limits our submarine fleet’s ability to respond to national tasking and is taking all steps necessary to avoid these scenarios,” the Naval Sea Systems Command said in a statement. To mitigate part swapping, the service has ramped up ordering parts earlier to “reduce material work stoppages and maintenance delays awaiting components.”

    About 70% of the part swaps were for subs that entered service in 2004 and 2008. 

    The Navy blames contractors who manufactured parts that were out of specification “contribute to a small percentage” of premature parts wear.

    The subs are designed by Virginia-based General Dynamics, who told Bloomberg:

    “We work closely with the Navy to help it address any unanticipated issues with parts, to include initiatives to design improvements that can be applied to future boats.”

    Brent Sadler, a naval fellow at the Heritage Foundation and also served multiple tours on nuclear-powered subs, said his “assessment is that operational assumptions were off in the design.” He added, “suppliers may have made modifications to the materials after design without considering” potential corrosion that “resulted in rapid failure of specific parts.”

    It’s “not clear what steps Navy has taken to address the root cause of this situation, which to me is the most important aspect of this,” said Sadler.

    Virginia-class submarines will remain in service until 2060, but in the first 17 years since the first sub went into service, design flaws have already resulted in significant headaches for the Navy. 

    We reported last year the stealth coating of at least one Virginia-class submarine has a “stealth problem.” 

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 22:40

  • The Road To Dystopia
    The Road To Dystopia

    Authored by David Hancock via AmericanThinker.com,

    George Santayana: 

    “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

    But those who do not read dystopian literature will be unaware of possible futures.

    It has become passé to quote Orwell’s 1984 in any context, especially that it was not intended as a “how to” manual.  

    For those who have shunned this genre as unworthy from a sense of intellectual superiority, I would first suggest Robert A. Heinlein.

    Hanlon’s razor dates back to “Doc” in “Logic of Empire.”  The character Doc in Heinlein’s story described the “devil theory” fallacy, explaining, “You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity.”

    In Starship Troopers, Heinlein advances the concept of only military veterans having the right to vote — a concept that will trigger much angst but probably not much rational debate.  I would translate his idea into the fact that he believed that you have to have skin in the game.  Does something have value if you do not have to do anything to get it?

    Let us take a look at Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, where citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarchy.  Dr. S. Matthew Liao, a professor of philosophy and bioethics at New York University, during a 2016 panel discussion, proposed the potential use of genetic engineering and hormone therapy that could result in birthing smaller, less resource-needy children.  If we make them 15% smaller, they will need 15% less resources from the planet and thus save us from extinction.

    Now let us look at a favorite from my lost youth, John Christopher, The Death of Grass (No Blade of Grass) in 1956.  A virus that starts in the Far East…wipes out rice.  It then mutates — where have you heard this — and takes on the rest of the grass family — wheat, barley etc.  It is the story of one man trying to reach his brother’s potato farm in an isolated valley in the north of England.  There is a very biblical ending for the brothers as this tale devolves into the savagery that can occur so easily in our complex society.

    In my limited intellectual way, I found that these novels are about good and evil.  

    Assessing the situation today with respect to COVID, I must ask, is there a villain?  

    Recently, little tidbits have dribbled out about altered gene sequencing in viruses.  The term “gain of function” is creeping into the lexicon.  We have learned that gain-of-function research, although banned in the continental U.S., has been carried out in China, funded by the U.S. government.

    Why and for what purpose?  Is it villainy or stupidity, with a dash of arrogance?

    How does this fit into their business model?  Check their net worth change versus yours.

    Who knew, and what is their goal?  They are the philosopher-kings of Plato’s Republic, not the republic envisioned in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

    Life is not a dystopian novel…yet.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 22:20

  • How An Obscure App Turned Millions Into Unwitting Spies For The US Military
    How An Obscure App Turned Millions Into Unwitting Spies For The US Military

    There’s a growing cottage industry at the nexus of consumer research and government surveillance.

    In a report published Friday, the Wall Street Journal explored the world of Premise Data Corp., an innocently-named firm that uses a network of users, many in the developing world, who complete basic tasks for small commissions. Assignments can range from snapping photos of competitors’ stores, to counting the number of ATMs in a given area, to reporting on the price of consumer goods on the shelf.

    Roughly half of the firm’s clients are private businesses seeking “commercial information” (mostly reporting on competitors’ operations), both the US government and foreign governments have hired the firm to do more advanced reconnaissance work while gauging public opinion.

    According to WSJ, Premise is one of a growing number of companies that are straddling “the divide between consumer services and government surveillance and rely on the proliferation of mobile phones as a way to turn billions of devices into sensors that gather open-source information useful to government security services.”

    Premise’s CEO even hinted that the company had been tapped by foreign governments to help with setting policy about how to deal with “vaccine hesitancy”.

    “Data gained from our contributors helped inform government policy makers on how to best deal with vaccine hesitancy, susceptibility to foreign interference and misinformation in elections, as well as the location and nature of gang activity in Honduras,” Premise Chief Executive Officer Maury Blackman said. The company declined to name its clients, citing confidentiality.

    Premise launched in 2013 as a tool meant to gather data for use in international development work by governments and non-governmental organizations. In recent years, it has also forged ties to the American national-security establishment and highlighted its capability to serve as a surveillance tool, according to documents and interviews with former employees. As of 2019, the company’s marketing materials said it has 600K contributors operating in 43 countries, including global hot spots such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen.

    Federal records show Premise has received at least $5MM in payouts from the government since 2017 on military projects—including from contracts with the Air Force and the Army and as a subcontractor to other defense entities. The company’s key utility was, again, gathering information: It would use civilian users in Afghanistan and elsewhere to map out “key social structures such as mosques, banks and internet cafes; and covertly monitoring cell-tower and Wi-Fi signals in a 100-square kilometer area.”

    In a presentation prepared last year for the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Aghanistan, Premise shared some details about its global operation which showed that it’s mostly active outside the US.

     

    It also showed how its “users” stationed around Kabul helped it collect data that are valuable to the US and Afghan military.

    As the WSJ explained, data from Wi-Fi networks, cell towers and mobile devices could be valuable to the military for “situational awareness, target tracking and other intelligence purposes.”

    There is also tracking potential in having a distributed network of phones acting as sensors, and knowing the signal strength of nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi access points can be useful when trying to jam communications during military operations.

    Users of Premise’s data-collection app typically aren’t told for whom they are truly working. This is all laid out in its privacy policy, of course. The app currently assigns about five “tasks” per day to its active users in Afghanistan.

    When WSJ caught up with Afghani users of the app, they were told that the users were typically paid about 25 cents per task (about 20 Afghani). And that lately, some of the tasks had struck him as “potentially concerning.” Premises claims that none of its users have ever been harmed while completing tasks.

    In this way, many of the app’s users are effectively being used as unwitting spies for the military.

    But it’s just one more thing to look out for. Next time you’re traveling abroad and you see somebody taking a photo of a mosque or a bank, just remember, it might be part of an officially sanctioned intelligence operation.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 22:00

  • China's Disturbing Nuclear Buildup
    China’s Disturbing Nuclear Buildup

    Authored by Richard Bitzinger via The Epoch Times,

    In recent summits of Western nations, two shots were fired over the bow of China.

    At the Group of Seven (G-7) forum held in Cornwall, England, in early June, the leading Western economic powers announced a new international infrastructure initiative, intended to draw lower-income nations away from China’s burgeoning Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

    This action was quickly followed up by the NATO summit held in Brussels a few days later, which in its official communiqué issued a dark warning about China’s military modernization. For the first time, NATO singled out China for its “assertive behavior,” which it said presented “systemic challenges to the rules-based international order and to areas relevant to Alliance security.”

    In particular, NATO noted China’s nuclear arsenal, which it said was “rapidly expanding,” with “more warheads and a larger number of sophisticated delivery systems,” intended “to establish a nuclear triad” comprising land-, sea-, and air-based systems.

    So what is behind China’s current nuclear modernization efforts? In fact, it is more than just a quantitative and qualitative buildup; it has grave implications for how China is changing its fundamental attitude toward the role of nuclear weapons and under what circumstances it might “go nuclear.” More critically, it is likely that even the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has not fully thought this out, which could be disastrous for all involved.

    For China, “going nuclear” was a major political, as well as technological and military, achievement. Beijing detonated its first atomic (fission-type) bomb in 1964, followed by the test of a thermonuclear (fusion-type) device three years later. Given the relatively backwards state of China’s defense science and technology base at the time, these feats, along with the launching of China’s first satellite in 1970, were a source of considerable national pride.

    A security guard stands next to models of Chinese rockets on display Beijing on Sept. 24, 2013. The Chinese regime is testing weapons that could soon endanger satellites in all orbits. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)

    Despite the success of its “two bombs and one satellite,” Beijing faced the problem of what to do with its new-found nuclear capacity. It could never hope to match the nuclear might of the United States or the USSR. Nevertheless, there had to be a strong strategic rationale for possessing—and possibly using—nuclear weapons.

    The answer was “minimum deterrence.” According to the doctrine of minimum deterrence, China need only possess a nuclear force capable of surviving and retaliating to an enemy’s first strike. This meant a limited but durable second-strike nuclear force that would deter nuclear blackmail and also be compatible with the defensive-oriented doctrine of People’s War.

    Consequently, for decades China’s nuclear force was small, typically on low alert, and based on a “no first use” (NFU) strategy. From the 1980s to the early 2000s, various Western estimates put China’s atomic arsenal at no more than 160 nuclear warheads, which placed it last among the declared “nuclear club,” which included the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, and France. Moreover, this was not really a strategic nuclear force: China still lacked long-range bombers or ballistic-missile-carrying submarines (save for one clunky Xia-class SSBN, which was so unusable it reportedly made only one deterrence patrol before being permanently docked). The bulk of China’s strategic deterrence consisted of just 20 or so DF-5A intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)—large, liquid-fueled behemoths that would take hours (if not days) to prep for launch, thus reducing chances for surprise attack or retaliation.

    Starting in the 1990s, the CCP refined its nuclear policy, putting greater stress on sufficiency and effectiveness in order to ensure that China would still be able to inflict a damaging retaliatory second strike. Nuclear forces were still limited in size, but increased emphasis was on the survivability and reliability of these forces.

    This new “dynamic minimum deterrence” initially meant an increase in the number of nuclear weapons, to perhaps 400 warheads. This strategy also entailed a significant expansion in the types of new delivery systems. In the first place, the number of ICBMs grew to around 55 to 65 missiles, most of them advanced, road-mobile and solid-fueled systems capable of hiding from enemy attacks as well as firing on short notice. The best of these are the DF-31A and DF-41, both of which are capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.

    To this arsenal must be included dozens, if not hundreds, of nuclear-armed short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, which could target Japan, Taiwan, and Guam.

    In addition, China finally acquired a reliable sea-based nuclear deterrent, with the acquisition of the Type-094 SSBN. Each Type-094 is armed with a dozen 4,600-mile-range JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). At least six Type-094 SSBNs have been launched, and Western observers expect the PLA Navy (PLAN) to eventually acquire 12 SSBNs in all.

    Finally, the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) operates several aging but upgraded H-6 bombers, capable of dropping nuclear bombs or firing air-launched nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. The PLAAF is currently developing a new long-range strategic bomber, which would almost certainly be stealthy and nuclear-capable.

    As China continues to build more and better strategic weapons—including multiple independently targetable (MIRVed) warheads and even hypersonic weapons—Beijing is close to perfecting an air-sea-land nuclear triad like that of the United States or Russia.

    China has demonstrated the ability to develop and build better and more nuclear weapons, along with an expanded array of delivery systems (SLBMs, road-mobile ICBMs, MIRVing, etc.). The question, therefore, is what does the CCP plan to do with this growing and increasingly sophisticated nuclear arsenal? In many respects, it goes far beyond “minimum deterrence” (and even “dynamic minimum deterrence”) and is instead beginning to look a lot like a first-strike capability.

    A Russian Kilo-class conventional submarine belonging to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) at the naval headquarters of the China North Sea Fleet in the eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao on Aug. 2, 2000. The Chinese military may have made significant progress on its new submarine fleet, given recent media reports. (Goh Chai Hin/AFP/Getty Images)

    This is critical given potential changes in China’s traditional NFU policy. Philip Saunders of the U.S. National Defense University has recently noted that China could shift to a “launch-on-warning” posture that would put Chinese nuclear forces on a more unstable “first-strike” setting. In addition, China’s NFU policy has always been ill-defined. Paul Bracken of Yale University recently noted that even the CCP has not really thought through its nuclear strategy, arguing that “China’s declared nuclear doctrine doesn’t cover a wide range of possibilities beyond what it was narrowly written for.” This includes, he infers, the possibility of a war over Taiwan.

    This uncertainty about what Beijing actually wants to do with its nuclear forces, combined with the general atmosphere of either opacity or outright hostility on the part of Beijing and the CCP, is not a good recipe for stability. It makes it even more difficult to trust China regarding its overall strategic goals.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 21:40

  • "I'm Totally Screwed": Western Digital Tells Customers To Unplug Web-Connected Hard Drives After Data Mysteriously Deleted
    “I’m Totally Screwed”: Western Digital Tells Customers To Unplug Web-Connected Hard Drives After Data Mysteriously Deleted

    Hard drive manufacturer Western Digital recommended that My Disk external hard drive owners unplug them from the internet until further notice, after a flood of customers complained in a support forum that all their data had been mysteriously deleted, according to Ars Technica.

    “I have a WD mybook live connected to my home LAN and worked fine for years,” wrote the person who started the thread. “I have just found that somehow all the data on it is gone today, while the directories seems there but empty. Previously the 2T volume was almost full but now it shows full capacity.”

    “All my data is gone too,” another user responded. “I am totally screwed without that data… years of it.“

    Multiple users reported that the data loss coincided with a factory reset that was performed on their devices. One person posted a log that showed unexplained behavior occurring on Wednesday:

    Jun 23 15:14:05 MyBookLive factoryRestore.sh: begin script:
    Jun 23 15:14:05 MyBookLive shutdown[24582]: shutting down for system reboot
    Jun 23 16:02:26 MyBookLive S15mountDataVolume.sh: begin script: start
    Jun 23 16:02:29 MyBookLive _: pkg: wd-nas
    Jun 23 16:02:30 MyBookLive _: pkg: networking-general
    Jun 23 16:02:30 MyBookLive _: pkg: apache-php-webdav
    Jun 23 16:02:31 MyBookLive _: pkg: date-time
    Jun 23 16:02:31 MyBookLive _: pkg: alerts
    Jun 23 16:02:31 MyBookLive logger: hostname=MyBookLive
    Jun 23 16:02:32 MyBookLive _: pkg: admin-rest-api

    “I believe this is the culprit of why this happens,” the person wrote. “No one was even home to use this drive at this time.” -Ars Technica

    While the standard My Book storage device connects to computers via USB, the My Book Live uses an ethernet cable to access the local network, from which owners can access their files remotely and make configuration changes through the Western Digital cloud. The company stopped supporting the product in 2015.

    In response to the forum thread, Western Digital advised customers to disconnect their My Book Live devices while the company investigates.

    The incident is under active investigation from Western Digital. We do not have any indications of a breach or compromise of Western Digital cloud services or systems.

    We have determined that some My Book Live devices have been compromised by a threat actor. In some cases, this compromise has led to a factory reset that appears to erase all data on the device. The My Book Live device received its final firmware update in 2015.

    At this time, we are recommending that customers disconnect their My Book Live devices from the Internet to protect their data on the device.

    We have issued the following statement to our customers and will provide updates to this thread when they are available: https://community.wd.com/t/action-required-on-my-book-live-and-my-book-live-duo/268147

     Ars Technica suggests that “Reading between the lines, Western Digital’s statement seems to be saying that customer accounts were individually compromised. The advice to unplug devices while the investigation continues is warranted, and users should follow it as soon as possible.”

    “It is very scary and devastating that someone can do factory restore on my drive without any permission granted from the end user,” wrote one user. “I need a remedy to this issue immediately as this is already incurring a great cost to me.”

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 21:20

  • Are We Overdosing On "Hopium"?
    Are We Overdosing On “Hopium”?

    Authored by ‘Kratos’ via The Organic Prepper blog,

    I am a prepper. I became a prepper in large part because I am a “dangerous conspiracy extremist.” Why? Because I am one of those people who listens to what the power elite tell us they’re going to do, then take them at their word and prepare for it. Many people have been exposing this longer than I. However, I still put 13-plus years of my life into researching and exposing the globalist agenda. 

    Almost none of what happens today is a surprise to me because it’s been bragged about for generations. After many years of learning about their agendas and conspiracies, this is the world as I see it. So take it with as many grains of salt as you wish.

    But, it will all end soon, won’t it?

    As a prepper, a stoic view of reality is necessary to see reality for what it is at present. And it is essential to learn how it got to this point and predict what direction it will take in the future. We can then be adequately reactive and proactive in adapting and overcoming what is and what will happen.

    Overdosing on “hopium” or succumbing to normalcy bias can be detrimental to the point of suicide.

    Naturally, it would benefit us if rosy assessments of the current reality were accurate or confirmed in the end. No one, least of all me, wants to live on a giant slave planet where the masses of humanity are so inured, so helplessly dependent on the system, that they willfully submit to enslavement. Nor passively stand by while the population is culled by elites who believe they have the right to determine we are unworthy of life itself and all the inherent rights that come with it.

    Social media’s echo chambers magnify a statistically insignificant portion of the population speaking up and resisting. We comfort ourselves that this will all end soon if we expose the agenda to enough people.

    Strike now, while the iron is hot

    Many, such as the ordinarily great Larken Rose, claim the warp speed advancement of the globalist agenda signifies their panicking that humanity is awakening. Quite frankly, those claims are delusional and indicative of too much time spent inside social media’s echo chambers. Or, a cynical desire to make as much money as possible while the gettin’s still good.

    Those claims are also indicative of a steadfast refusal to believe the Establishment can carry out such conspiracies even though they’ve had a monopoly on creating and distributing fiat currency for over 100 years. And have, during that time, literally bought the entirety of society. If you want an ironclad example of that fact, consider how they just stole a general election. The Establishment (the courts, Congress, state legislatures, media, and everything in between) destroyed any attempt to expose the fraud or prosecute those responsible.

    The fact of the matter is, they’re moving quickly now because they’ve previously underestimated how firm their grasp is on the minds of humanity.

    All across America and the developed world, businesses were ordered to close

    I’m not sure if anyone can say what percentage or how many tens or even hundreds of thousands of small businesses shuttered under government orders and never opened again. Anyone who had to work, who didn’t have the luxury of sitting on their couch soaking up 24/7 news coverage while raking in far more in unemployment than they earned working, saw the hypocrisy of being forced to shut down. At the same time, Walmart and the big corporations were declared “essential” and remained open, yet they closed down anyway.

    We all knew if they and their customers had each others’ backs and said “NO” en masse, there would be nothing the government could do except pound sand.

    The heroes who did say no were quickly singled out to be viciously harassed, fined, and often destroyed. Whether the people believe the current scam du jour, their belief in authority, their identity as a “law-abiding citizen” is a yoke that will cripple them every time. Disobeying even the most vicious and unlawful edict is unthinkable to them.

    People will say no…until they don’t

    Government officials are coming under increased scrutiny for continuously moving the goalposts.

    • Just two weeks to flatten the curve.

    • We can go back to normal when we get the vaccine.

    • The vaccine is safe and effective, but you must remain locked down, social distance, and wear three masks.

    When does this end? Why must this go on? They cannot and will not answer because this is not about a virus. Yet when we are told we must lockdown again, especially when the triple mutant variants arise (which they’ve repeatedly bragged is coming – they’re such sages!), people will bend the knee. Again.

    As for the vaccine, it’s coming out in the mainstream that vaccine resistance is rampant. That would be good news on its face if not for what’s coming down the pipeline – vaccine passports and tracking. It is part of the agenda that you’ll be completely locked out of the Great Reset if you refuse the vaccine.

    They won’t be “mandatory” in that SWAT teams will accompany a doctor to your house to force you at gunpoint. You won’t have access to the new digital currency that is being developed. And, like a social security number, birth certificate, or driver’s license, employers will not hire you without up-to-date proof of vaccination.

    People will say no to the vaccine right up until they look around at everything they own, at their children, and see no alternative but to take the shots. At that point, it will be too late for counter-economic solutions like agorism and prepping.

    Your thoughts are not your own

    I’ve learned over these past 13 years that globalists have mastered the psychology of the human mind. They know us better than we know ourselves. Because not only do we not know ourselves, we don’t know we are being manipulated. We don’t know we are victims of generations of cumulative trauma-based mind control.

    Let me assure you: if you think you’re not mind-controlled, you definitely are.

    The globalists are not moving forward because they’re scared. They’re moving forward because the initial reaction to the scam was perfect. I believe COVID-19 was a test run. But it went so flawlessly, so swimmingly for them, that they decided to fast-track their plans. For example, the pandemic wargame known as SPARS 25-28 mirrors the present situation perfectly in all aspects. And, as its title suggests has been moved up five years (watch 2023!) Because why put off for tomorrow what you can accomplish today?

    Now is not the time to give up or give in

    What I witnessed in my hometown gave me no reason to hope that there is an awakening. On my social media accounts? Sure. Lots of people refusing masks, refusing vaccines, opposing the scam. But in the real world, mind control, as epitomized by Hitler’s maxim, repeat a lie often enough, and it becomes the truth, eventually broke them down. The peer pressure got to them. Even today, several weeks after the mask mandate was lifted in my state, probably two-thirds of people still voluntarily wear masks. They’re a fashion statement, after all, found on the end-shelves of every aisle of every store.

    The lesson here, as I see it, is this: do not give in to hope.

    There isn’t time. This is the endgame, the finish line, and many are acting as if the starting gun just went off. Fall on your sword for your friends and family if you wish. But you are almost certainly doomed to get sucked into the same black hole.

    The Reset button has been pushed, hell on earth has been unleashed

    And no one can un-push the button. 

    Even if they are aware of the scam, most people think they’ll say “no” and carry on with their lives. Those people have not been paying attention to what globalists have been saying for many decades now, much less this last year. (Follow the World Economic Forum’s tweets, and you can predict the future – they have that kind of control). Their words are now a reality – here, now.

    We had one final chance to stop it last year. But the mass closure of small businesses for months on end, which, again, we could have prevented if we all refused, along with one-third of all the money created by the Federal Reserve in its 108 year history made in the last year, was a crippling, deadly blow.

    As preppers, what must we do?

    If we do not succumb to delusion, we must adapt ourselves to the agenda. We must create our own Reset. The old world, that old life we knew, is gone. It’s been stolen from us. We miss the opportunity to “build back better” in our own lives if we cling to that which is dead and gone. If we are steadfast and resist the globalist reset, we must understand our actions’ consequences if we are ready to die on that hill. 

    Those who refuse and resist face two choices: be forced off-grid when the new currency becomes unavailable because we will need vaccines to work, bank, and shop. You will not be able to pay your mortgage and will lose your home. Not all of us are lucky in our family and friends. Especially post-Reset, when they may be facing the same struggles you are, or, worse, buy into the Reset and disavow you.

    Or we unplug from the technocratic slave matrix on our terms. I don’t know about you, but being at the mercy of others is not a place I want to be, and so obviously, I have chosen the latter. That is a subject for another time.

    As Eomer tells Aragorn in The Two Towers, “Look for your friends, but do not trust to hope. It has forsaken these lands.” It is a dark place to be, for sure. But many of us as preppers have long predicted these days, and they are here.

    They are here. Act accordingly.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 21:00

  • Kyle Bass Slams Fed, Sees Inflation Everywhere He Looks
    Kyle Bass Slams Fed, Sees Inflation Everywhere He Looks

    With US stocks back at all-time highs as the market seemingly shrugged off the FOMC’s reaction to the latest inflation numbers, Hayman Capital’s Kyle Bass returned to CNBC for an interview with the “Closing Bell” crew on Thursday, where he offered a dramatically different vision of the present economic scenario vis-a-vis inflation.

    In an interview where he expounded upon his claim that the US is already grappling with real inflation rates above 10%, the billionaire investor proclaimed that “in every single aspect of life, I see inflation.”

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

    Why? Because during the past year and a half, the Fed has introduced more broad money into the American economy in the shortest time than we have seen at any point in American history.

    “I think look we’re going to see a short-term turn-down in inflation because the initial inflationary burst was enormous…this transitory comment may play out to be true for a short period of time but I hink Sarah when you look at the the money supply the broad money in the US system from 1980 to 2010 it it vacillated between 50% and 60% of GDP and post the global financial crisis it moved up from roughly 60% to 68% 69% of GDP now that we’re approaching 90 so in the one year period one and a half year period since COVID started we have introduced 34% more broad money in our system in the shortest time period in the history United States so we’re going to see prices stay high and move higher over time if the fed continues to expand its balance sheet,” Bass said.

    Even as the financial press prattles on about the significance of the Fed finally starting to consider tapering its asset purchases, Bass believes that the central bank won’t be able to shrink its balance sheet so easily.

    “We’re going to see prices stay high and move higher over time if the Fed continues to expand its balance sheet which I think it will,” Bass said.

    So, what can investors do to fight this “inflation monster”, as Bass colorfully described it. Well, he suggested they focus on hard assets like commodities and real estate, which BlackRock is already buying up in droves.

    Equities should “do fine”, Bass said, citing data purporting to show that equity prices keep up with between 95% and 88% of inflation over the long term (though that certainly doesn’t seem to fit the last decade).

    As for his assessment of inflation and its dramatic difference with the Fed’s view, Bass quipped: “Your bank account is the final determinant whether there is inflation or not,” he concluded, highlighting the higher prices consumers have seen for things like food and cars.”

    “If you’re in the market place you want to own commodities if you’re in the real world you want to own productive real estate you even want to buy rural land in front of major demographic moves in the US…I’d rather own hard assets than equities today because I think we’re only seeing just the beginning of population moves in the US.”

    Watch a clip from the interview below:

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 20:44

  • 650 Troops To Stay In Afghanistan As US Intelligence Warns Of Taliban Takeover Within 6 Months
    650 Troops To Stay In Afghanistan As US Intelligence Warns Of Taliban Takeover Within 6 Months

    Anyone that’s been following US pronouncements on Afghanistan over the last many years should know what to expect by now: when Washington touts its latest “full exit” strategy, it’s likely to end in anything but. From the start of both Trump’s prior pullout efforts (which had during his last year in office been set for May 1st, now come and gone) as well as Biden’s current “out by Sept.11” final timetable, the Pentagon has simultaneously pronounced it will keep some level of sizeable security and ‘counterterror’ force on the ground. 

    For example in May defense officials were predicting that it might take a contingency of 600 Marines to permanently secure the sprawling US embassy complex in Kabul – which hardly seems like the full withdrawal being promised. The various “options” and their intense discussion have only increased, given this month Western media reports are full of predictions of just how fast Kabul is likely to fall to the Taliban after the US finally exits. According the The Wall Street Journal this week, US intelligence is now giving it six months – which many pundits say itself is an overly optimistic estimate. 

    “The U.S. intelligence community concluded last week that the government of Afghanistan could collapse as soon as six months after the American military withdrawal from the country is completed, according to officials with knowledge of the new assessment,” the report says.

    A handover ceremony from the US army to the Afghan army in Helmand province: AP

    “American intelligence agencies revised their previously more optimistic estimates as the Taliban swept through northern Afghanistan last week, seizing dozens of districts and surrounding major cities,” WSJ continues. 

    This has further intensified debates surrounding whether the US will provide air support to Afghan national forces from neighboring countries – a scenario looking less and less likely after Biden last week ordered a significant drawdown of US military equipment from nearby Gulf countries in reflection of a major shift of US defense priorities, which will reportedly place greater emphasis on countering China and Russia. 

    It now looks like the US will go with the initial plan to keep a large security presence focused on the embassy and diplomatic compounds in Kabul, as The Associated Press reports Friday US officials are confirming that roughly 650 troops will stay in the Afghan capital.

    “In addition, several hundred additional American forces will remain at the Kabul airport, potentially until September, to assist Turkish troops providing security, as a temporary move until a more formal Turkey-led security operation is in place, the officials said,” according to the report. “Overall, officials said the U.S. expects to have American and coalition military command, its leadership and most troops out by July Fourth, or shortly after that, meeting an aspirational deadline that commanders developed months ago.”

    650 troops is a sizeable enough military footprint in the country to likely convince the Taliban and other insurgents that the occupation is only continuing, not ending. It’s also a big enough force that should this remnant US presence come under direct threat (and the latest US intelligence suggestion that Kabul will be overrun within six months of US exit is a clear indicator of that likelihood), the Pentagon wouldn’t hesitate to send additional security support and firepower, which would in the end perpetuate the very problem (of how to finally and fully exit) that the Sept.11 draw down date is meant to solve. 

    Via Shutterstock

    Meanwhile, at the start of this week Pentagon spokesman John Kirby suggested the US still has the option of slowing the pace of its Afghan draw down, amid recent heavy fighting and Taliban advances against the national army.

    “The situation in Afghanistan changes as the Taliban continue to conduct these attacks and to raid district centers as well as the violence, which is still too high,”” Kirby told a Monday press briefing. “If there needs to be changes made to the pace, or to the scope and scale of the retrograde, on any given day or in any given week, we want to maintain the flexibility to do that.”

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 20:40

  • Surgeon Fired From College Of Medicine For Voicing Concerns About COVID Shots For Kids
    Surgeon Fired From College Of Medicine For Voicing Concerns About COVID Shots For Kids

    Via The Justice Center For Constitutional Freedom,

    The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms represents Dr. Francis Christian, Clinical Professor of General Surgery at the University of Saskatchewan and a practising surgeon in Saskatoon.

    Dr. Christian was called into a meeting today, suspended from all teaching responsibilities effective immediately, and fired from his position with the University of Saskatchewan as of September 2021.

    There is a recording of Dr. Christian’s meeting today between Dr. Christian and Dr. Preston Smith, the Dean of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine, Dr. Susan Shaw, the Chief Medical Officer of the Saskatchewan Health Authority, and Dr. Brian Ulmer, Head of the Department of Surgery at the Saskatchewan College of Medicine.

    In addition, the Justice Centre will represent Dr. Christian in his defence of a complaint that was made against him and an investigation by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan. The complaint objects to Dr. Christian having advocated for the informed consent of Covid vaccines for children.

    Dr. Christian has been a surgeon for more than 20 years and began working in Saskatoon in 2007. He was appointed Director of the Surgical Humanities Program and Director of Quality and Patient Safety in 2018 and co-founded the Surgical Humanities Program. Dr. Christian is also the Editor of the Journal of The Surgical Humanities.

    On June 17, Dr. Christian released a statement to over 200 doctors which contained his concerns regarding giving the Covid shots to children. In it he noted that he is pro-vaccine, and that he did not represent any group, the Saskatchewan Health Authority, or the University of Saskatchewan.

    “I speak to you directly as a physician, a surgeon, and a fellow human being.”

    Dr. Christian noted that the principle of informed consent was sacrosanct and noted that a patient should always be “fully aware of the risks of the medical intervention, the benefits of the intervention, and if any alternatives exist to the intervention.”

    “This should apply particularly to a new vaccine that has never before been tried in humans… before the vaccine is rolled out to children, both children and parents must know the risks of m-RNA vaccines,” he wrote.

    Dr. Christian expressed concern that he had not come across “a single vaccinated child or parent who has been adequately informed” about Covid vaccines for children.

    Among his points, he stated that:

    1. The m-RNA vaccine, is a new, experimental vaccine never used by humans before.

    2. The m-RNA vaccines have not been fully authorized by Health Canada or the US CDC, and are in fact under “interim authorization” in Canada and “emergency use authorization” in the US. He noted that “full vaccine approval takes several years and multiple safety considerations – this has not happened.”

    3. That in order to qualify for “emergency use authorization” there must be an emergency. While he said there is a strong case for vaccinating the elderly, the vulnerable and health care workers, he said, “Covid does not pose a threat to our kids. The risk of them dying of Covid is less than 0.003% – this is even less than the risk of them dying of the flu. There is no emergency in children.”

    4. Children do not readily transmit the Covid virus to adults.

    5. M-RNA vaccines have been “associated with several thousand deaths” in the Vaccine Adverse Reporting System in the US. “These appear to be unusual, compared to the total number of vaccines administered.” He called it a “strong signal that should not be ignored.”

    6. He noted that vaccines have already caused “serious medical problems for kids” worldwide, including “a real and significantly increased risk” of myocarditis, inflammation of the heart. Dr. Christian notes the German national vaccine agency and the UK vaccine agency are not recommending the vaccine for healthy children and teenagers.

    The Saskatchewan Health Authority/College of Medicine wrote a letter to Dr. Christian on June 21, 2021, alleging that they had “received information that you are engaging in activities designed to discourage and prevent children and adolescents from receiving Covid-19 vaccination contrary to the recommendations and pandemic-response efforts of Saskatchewan and Canadian public health authorities.”

    Dr. Christian’s concerns regarding underage Covid vaccinations are not isolated to him.  The US Centre for Disease Control had an “emergency meeting” today to discuss the growing cases of myocarditis (heart inflammation) in younger males after receiving the Covid-19 vaccines.

    The CDC released new data today that the risk of myocarditis after the Pfizer vaccine is at least 10 times the expected rate in 12 – 17 year old males and females. The German government has issued public guidance against vaccinating those under the age of 18.

    The World Health Organization posted an update to its website on Monday, June 21, which contained the statement in respect of advice for Covid-19 vaccination that “Children should not be vaccinated for the moment.” Within 24 hours, this guidance was withdrawn and new guidance was posted which stated that “Covid vaccines are safe for those over 18 years of age.”

    Dr. Christian says there is a large, growing “network of ethical, moral physicians and scientists” who are urging caution in recommending vaccines for all children without informed consent. He said, physicians must “always put their patients and humanity first.”

    Dr. Byram Bridle, a prominent immunologist at the University of Guelph with a sub-speciality in vaccinology, recently participated in a Press Conference on Parliament Hill on CPAC organized by MP Derek Sloan, where he discussed the censorship of scientists and physicians. Dr. Bridle expressed his safety concerns with vaccinating children with experimental MRNA vaccines.

    Justice Centre Litigation Director Jay Cameron also has concern over the growing censorship of medical professionals when it comes to questioning the government narrative on Covid.

    “We are seeing a clear pattern of highly competent and skilled medical doctors in very esteemed positions being taken down and censored or even fired, for practicing proper science and medicine,” says Mr. Cameron.

    The Justice Centre represented Dr. Chris Milburn in Nova Scotia, who faced professional disciplinary proceedings last year after a group of activists took exception to an opinion column he wrote in a local paper. The Justice Centre provided submissions to the College on Dr. Milburn’s behalf, defending the right of physicians to express their opinions on matters of policy in the public square and arguing that everyone is entitled to freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, as guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms – including doctors. The Justice Centre noted that attempting to have a doctor professionally disciplined for his opinions and commentary on matters of public interest amounts to bullying and intimidation for speaking out against the government.

    Last week, Dr. Milburn also faced punishment for speaking out with his concerns about public health policies, as he was removed from his position as the Head of Emergency for the eastern zone with the Nova Scotia Health Authority. In an unusual twist, a petition has been started to have Dr. Milburn replace Dr. Strang as the province’s Chief Medical Officer.

    “Censoring and punishing scientists and doctors for freely voicing their concerns is arrogant, oppressive and profoundly unscientific”, states Mr. Cameron.

    “Both the western world and the idea of scientific inquiry itself is built to a large extent on the principles of freedom of thought and speech. Medicine and patient safety can only regress when dogma and an elitist orthodoxy, such as that imposed by the Saskatchewan College of Medicine, punishes doctors for voicing concerns,” Mr. Cameron concludes.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 20:20

  • Bank Guard In India Shoots Patron For Entering Without Face Mask
    Bank Guard In India Shoots Patron For Entering Without Face Mask

    If after the first year of pandemic lockdowns and examples of social distancing extremes across the globe didn’t provide enough levels of COVID-induced crazy and bizarre incidents, here’s a new one out of India which appears truly unprecedented: a bank customer was reportedly shot by a security guard for not wearing a face mask in accord with the bank’s rules and a nationwide mandate.

    The disturbing incident happened Friday according to the widespread emerging reports in Indian media, which details that a “security guard fired at a customer for not wearing a mask and entering a bank during the lunch hour.” One news anchor for the popular English-language Times Now broadcast reacted by calling it “absolutely shocking” during a live show…

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

    Local reports further say the victim was initially stopped by the security guard for either not having a mask or not wearing it properly which led to the confrontation. It reportedly happened in Bareilly, located in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. India has strictly mandated masks in public places throughout the pandemic.

    Police describe that the guard may have reacted in a “fit of anger” after the customer refused his orders.

    Authorities further confirmed the guard has been placed under arrest, while the wounded customer – who was shot in the leg and seriously injured – was taken to the hospital. 

    Footage of the aftermath showed the victim in a pool of blood on the ground while the guard stood over him berating him, handgun still clasped to his side. 

    More Indian news coverage of the incident (warning: graphic)…

    Local police later announced: “The injured who is a railway employee was taken to hospital and is out of danger. The guard has been taken into custody and a probe is underway,” according to a statement.

    While since the start of the global pandemic there have been some violent encounters between police and people resisting attempts to impose social distancing or other COVID-related measures in various places, including confrontations that actually ended in gunfire, this is the first such example we can recall of a security guard coldly using deadly force on a bank patron for simply entering without a mask.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 20:00

  • Macleod: The Fed Is Trapped Between A 'Keep Inflating' Rock & A 'Collapsing Dollar Confidence' Hard Place
    Macleod: The Fed Is Trapped Between A ‘Keep Inflating’ Rock & A ‘Collapsing Dollar Confidence’ Hard Place

    Authored by Alasdair Macleod via GoldMoney.com,

    “The Fed finds itself between a rock and a hard place: either it keeps inflating or the whole confidence-based valuation of financial assets collapses. Either it raises interest rates or the dollar collapses.”

    There has been occasional speculation about what happens to asset values in a hyperinflationary collapse. The basis of the question has recently become suddenly relevant, because consumption in America and Britain has been stimulated with unprecedented monetary inflation aimed at consumers, and been met with limited supply, leading to strongly rising prices across the board.

    In short, unless urgent action is taken, a hyperinflationary outcome has become a possibility. The only alternative is to stop monetary inflation and thereby deliberately crash the global economy.

    Along with other central banks, the Fed is trapped. We will assume that rather than face this reality, governments and central banks will continue with their money printing until both their fiat currencies and financial systems face collapse. All precedent points to this choice.

    That being the case, an examination of how a collapse in the purchasing powers of fiat currencies is likely to affect asset and consumer prices is timely. This article draws on theories of money as well as empirical evidence in search of some answers. The answers will surprise and discomfort many of its readers.

    Introduction

    It is a common perception that in inflationary times financial and tangible assets afford protection from monetary debasement. Instead of rapidly escalating, so long as the consequences of inflation are contained as they have been since the early 1980s, non-fixed interest investments have been good inflation hedges. But what happens to asset prices if inflation is not contained and escalates?

    To answer this question, we must first define what we mean by contained inflation. Interest rates normally put a brake on the loss of a currency’s purchasing power, limiting inflation to a cycle of credit. In other words, the market must be prepared to operate and allow interest rates to function as compensation for the consequences of monetary and credit inflation. Clearly, this condition does not apply today because central banks supress interest and bond rates as well as any evidence of the bank credit cycle. Furthermore, both foreign holders of a currency and its domestic users must be satisfied with monetary conditions to broadly retain their exposure to it. In the case of the dollar, which is the currency that really matters to us all, that has been undoubtedly true so far. But in these times of rising monetary inflation, there will come a point when the lack of interest compensation for currency debasement will begin to overtly undermine the dollar’s purchasing power, and in the first instance this matters particularly to foreign holders.

    It is in this context that a deeper examination of the relationship between assets and the accelerated rate of issuance of state currencies is pertinent. That the rate of monetary expansion has accelerated is no secret; but so far, the probable effects on the purchasing power of the dollar, and also for other currencies aligned with it, have been ignored by investors. Central bankers have been coy on the subject, and by fiddling with the price inflation averages statisticians have buried the evidence. The suppression of the evidence on prices has been an important factor in what is effectively a concerted campaign of disinformation about inflation.

    While these conditions have built up for decades, so far, non-fixed interest asset values have still afforded protection for investors’ capital. For the middle classes, the values of their homes, often geared through mortgage borrowing, have risen substantially. The values of their portfolios and pension plans have also benefited hugely. For them, these conditions have been extremely beneficial, which is why central banks have latched onto the wealth effect and are now directing new money into stock markets at unprecedented rates through quantitative easing.

    The current state of play for both financial and non-financial assets has led not only to rising asset values but is now fundamental to the economic confidence upon which central bank policies entirely depend. But the problem with confidence as a policy is that it assumes that the crowd must be permanently bullish and that reality must never intervene. Policies backed on little more than perpetual hope must fail.

    By admitting for the first time that it might lose tight control of interest rates because of rising consumer prices, last week’s FOMC statement has raised fundamental questions about bullish assumptions. For investors, the smoky clouds of hopium began to clear, revealing an FOMC that might lose control over markets. The initial reaction, which is all we have seen so far, is that short term dollar interest rates rose slightly, discounting a possible rise in interest rates being brought forward. Longer-term rates declined slightly, reflecting the anticipated deflationary effect. And the dollar rallied against other currencies, whose central banks are yet to admit that prices in their bailiwicks are likely to rise more than previously expected.

    The initial effect on equity, commodity and precious metal prices was to drive them all lower. We will come on to commodities and precious metals later in this article, but equities will hold our attention for now. They have risen to current levels mainly on the back of the Fed’s $120bn monthly QE, targeted at pension funds and insurance corporations. QE encourages these institutions to increase their investment risk profiles from holding US Treasury and agency debt, substituting them with corporate debt and equities.

    Part of the investment chatter is about the need for the Fed to taper QE to address monetary inflation, which oversimplifies the situation. If equities are declining into a new bear market, the Fed will stand ready to increase QE to support equities and cap bond yields, because that is the policy: the planners cannot afford to see investor confidence decline and evaporate. We saw this in mid-March 2020, when in response to a decline in the S&P 500 index of fully one third from mid-February, the Fed cut interest rates to zero and increased QE to $120bn monthly.

    If the S&P is on the verge of another move downwards, the rescue starts with interest rates at zero and QE at $120bn monthly. Interest rates cannot be reduced from here. We can rule out negative rates on the basis that that would collapse the $4.5 trillion money market fund business, as well as put the whole commodity complex into permanent backwardation from the money side. If anything, interest rates should rise because of the rapidly escalating threat of a fall in the dollar’s purchasing power. That leaves QE. The Fed can do one or both of two things. It can buy directly into index-tracking ETFs, bypassing pension and insurance funds following the policy of the Bank of Japan, and it can increase the monthly quantities from $120bn.

    The obvious flaw in this solution is that the way to stop inflation is to cease inflating the quantity of money, not increase it, which is what QE amounts to. But the Fed finds itself between a rock and a hard place: either it keeps inflating or the whole confidence-based valuation of financial assets collapses. Either it raises interest rates or the dollar collapses.

    We are at a critical point for equities, illustrated by peak investment sentiment, and there is no better indicator for sentiment than the extent to which investors are prepared to borrow to increase their profits on the bull tack. This is the message from Figure 1, which is clearly shouting extreme greed and a total absence of fear of losses, always associated with an extreme top and an inevitable collapse to follow.

    Bullish sentiment is probably higher than we have ever known in our lifetimes, and surely, is similar to the time when bellhops, shoeshine and lift boys were the source of investment inspiration for our grandparents. Perhaps unwittingly, the Fed chose this moment to thow a scintilla of doubt into investors’ minds.

    Monetary and market policies from here

    The lessons from the past have taught us that central bankers only notice a bear market threat belatedly, so that if the stock market is topping out, it will have to fall significantly before the Fed acts to support it.

    Last time was just over a year ago, when from 20 February 2021 the S&P 500 index fell by one third in a month, since when it has almost doubled to recent highs, following the Fed’s intervention. Figure 1 above illustrates how this rescue has provoked an extraordinary madness of the investing classes, and consequently any loss of bullish momentum threatens to collapse the market. On this basis alone and putting aside subjective valuation factors, equities appear to have significant downside. That being the case, foreigners’ holdings of US equities of $11.2 trillion which are only there for the profits will almost certainly be reduced both by valuation and liquidation, adding fuel to the bear’s bonfire. Some of the selling will also flee the currency, putting pressure on the dollar as well, because with foreign ownership of dollars estimated at $31 trillion ($24.7 trillion long term securities plus $6.3 trillion short-term investments and bank deposits), this is a record level of exposure for foreigners, amounting fully to 150% of US GDP. US holdings of foreign securities offsetting foreign interests in the dollar are less than half this figure, with the majority invested in equities.

    If the Fed decides to intervene and bolster confidence in the equity market it will face conflicts in its task. With interest rates anchored at the zero bound, they cannot be further reduced. The only substantive option is to increase the scale and effectiveness of QE. Put crudely, support for bond and equity markets will have to be more blatant. But printing money to support financial assets is more inflationary, adding fuel to the inflationary fire. For the Fed to get away with it will require it to persuade the least Keynesian of crowds, foreigners overloaded with dollars, that it can ramp securities markets without undermining the currency. And there is a further problem not being foreseen or given sufficient credence to by monetary planners: the state of the economy itself.

    For decades monetary authorities have turned a blind eye to the impoverishing effects on the non-financial private sector of the transfer of wealth through currency debasement. Since the Lehman crisis, independent statistical analysis by John Williams at Shadowstats.com has estimated the dollar to have lost purchasing power at anything between seven and ten per cent annually —now running at over 11%. The biannual analysis by the Chapwood Index (before covid made it impractical to gather data) put the post-Lehman figures closer to 10%. Deflating nominal GDP by these realistic numbers instead of a goal-sought 2% informs us that the US economy has been in a continual slump at least since the Lehman crisis — if not before.

    By only seeing the excess money being spent by the government and not accounting for its source — the debasement of the currency — an illusion of prosperity has been created. While the man in the street has only been able to make ends meet by supplementing his income with debt, governments, their agencies, and the investing establishment seem blissfully unaware of the accumulating consequences of continual currency debasement.

    An upward kick to the general level of prices now comes from the breaking of the link between consumption and production, the consequence of monetary and economic policies which turned a blind eye to the workings of the division of labour, commonly expressed as Say’s law. By subsidising unemployment and making employment less efficient from an employer’s point of view, production has been removed from the domestic market progressively, and imports have replaced domestic production. And with massive increases in the US Government’s budget deficits in prospect, the US trade deficit will also increase substantially from current levels. Unless, as seems very unlikely, American consumers collectively decide to increase their savings to help finance the budget deficit, rather than continue spending.

    Therefore, a looming bear market for US equities will be accompanied by a further and sharply deteriorating balance of payments, against a background of the dollar already being over-owned by foreigners. The only short-term offset would be a sharp deterioration of the dollar’s exchange rate. And what should concern us as much as anything is the position of the Fed, which has ignored the consequences of tying the futures of the stock market and the dollar together, supporting the former by inflating the latter.

    The outlook for fiat currencies

    The current situation for the dollar is the conclusion of decades of monetary inflation. The dollar’s purchasing power was already falling when it was driven off all remaining connection to gold in 1971. Since then, when the $35 per ounce link was broken, the dollar has lost over 98% of its purchasing power — measured in gold. This elision of values has not become a public issue so far. But clearly, the acceleration in the expansion of the quantity of money in circulation since the Lehman failure, and the further acceleration of it in March 2020 and the abandonment of all monetary discipline in order to support financial markets will almost certainly, eventually, call into question the dollar’s role as a medium of exchange. Unless something is done, the loss of all its purchasing power is becoming a credible outcome.

    That “something” is a question to be answered. Clearly, the inflation threat can only be removed if money-printing is stopped. But how do monetary policy planners make this assessment, when they appear to not even understand the link between the quantity of money and prices? How can they pursue an anti-inflation policy if they are not prepared to relinquish control over interest rates, and hand it back to the general public for their collective assessment? We are asking monetary ignorance to be rapidly re-educated to embrace common sense logic and act against the mandate the state has sought and obtained from its electorate.

    It will not require a mathematical link between the quantity of money and its purchasing power to reach this unhappy state. With nothing other than fragile confidence in it as backing, foreign actors who do not require to own it in more than nominal quantities can simply reject it. But alternative fiat currencies are also unattractive because they are all linked to the dollar through its reserve status, and the major currencies are also being inflated by their central banks. Figure 2 illustrates the degree to which they have inflated since the position before the Lehman crisis.

    In broad terms, the expansion of central bank balance sheets can be taken as a measure of currency debasement. But the alternatives to the Fed and the Bank of England probably have limited appeal to international capital.

    For all the reasons stated above, the relative attractions of tangible property, commodities and precious metals as stores of value may be beginning to increase relative to financial assets, even though the values of the former non-financial categories have already increased in the last year. And for those who suspect that fiat currencies are on course for an accelerated rate of debasement, some of them could be emerging as better stores of value than non-fixed interest financial assets.

    But by selling down the dollar, foreigners are likely to undermine the entire fiat complex. The links between all fiat currencies and their financial markets will ensure that a substantial fall for the dollar’s purchasing power coupled with a collapse in US equities will infect all currencies and all markets. Precious metal and commodity prices are set to rise in all currencies, and bond yields rise while stock markets decline. It is both fiat currencies and financial asset values that are under jointly under threat.

    Asset values in a currency collapse

    History, as well as logic, tells us that the best performing asset in a currency collapse is sound money, because that is what eventually replaces state-issued currencies. The basic qualifications for sound money are that it is a medium of exchange commonly accepted by its users, and that its quantity and use are decided by them and not their governments. For millennia, the sound money to which the transacting public always returns is metallic, principally gold, silver and copper. Trusted substitutes are not only acceptable but make for greater convenience. If a government is to operate an effective gold standard, it must issue a currency which can be substituted for coins at the public’s option and for it to hold sufficient gold reserves for its gold substitutes to be credible.

    A fuller description of a functioning gold standard is beyond the scope of this article. What concerns us here is the relative purchasing power of precious metals to fiat currencies during a fiat currency collapse. It is initially conditioned by the fact that fiat currencies are widely held while physical gold, silver or their credible substitutes are not. And when it comes to substitutes, not one central bank offers gold conversion terms for its currency. Gold and silver backed ETFs do not constitute ownership of the relevant metal and being priced in fiat their shares should be viewed as fiat investments.

    For these reasons of relatively limited ownership of metallic money, a collapse of fiat currencies leads directly to an increase in purchasing power for gold and silver in terms of exchangeable goods and assets —virtually everything falls in price against them. This is confirmed by empirical evidence. Stefan Zweig, the Austrian author who lived through the European inflations in the early 1920s, recounted how $100 could buy six-story family homes in a fashionable street in Berlin — at the prevailing gold standard of $20.67 to the dollar, this was the equivalent of less than five ounces of gold.

    There is a crucial difference between Berlin in 1922-23 and the situation that is evolving today. Foreign currencies acting as credible gold substitutes existed. And partly due to Germany’s booming export trade and partly due to capital inflows taking advantage of the currency collapse, dollars and other currencies were imported in large quantities. None of this is available today, which in a currency collapse is bound to raise the purchasing power of scarce sound money —gold and silver — even more than experienced in Germany nearly a century ago.

    There is the further disadvantage of investing in physical property to escape currency debasement, and that is the cost of maintenance and the impossibility of rents keeping pace with a currency decline. Under these circumstances, residential property becomes a liability, and not an asset.

    Earlier in this article, it was stated that the conditions of contained monetary inflations have fuelled property prices sufficiently to offer some recompense for a currency’s debasement. That benefit disappears under hyperinflationary conditions.

    But measured in depreciating currency, there is still a value for a home’s utility. The factor setting it is the desire for it relative to other goods and the availability of property finance. In the conditions of a currency collapse, the increase of the quantity in circulation is likely to be small relative to loss of purchasing power (this phenomenon is further explained below). A million-dollar house might not increase in its exchangeable value by much measured in declining currency because of this limitation. Furthermore, what small monetary resources that exist are likely to be redirected to human subsistence, the acquisition of food and energy vital to life, whose price potentials are also commented on below.

    While initially acting as a source of funds, financial assets are likely to become valueless dying with fiat. Unlike the world at the time of the European inflations of the 1920s, the ubiquity of the currency collapse means that the foreign interests that bought assets on the cheap with sound and pseudo-sound money, thereby giving them value, will be almost entirely absent.

    The rise in interest rates that accompanies a fiat currency collapse will only stop with a Volker-style increase to 20% if the currency is stabilised. While we all desperately wish for such a backstop to work again, the conditions today appear to rule it out. Having tied their currencies to financial asset values, the Fed and other central banks would be required to free them from this obligation and take responsibility for deliberately triggering a market and economic crash that would make the 1930s look like a teddy-bear’s picnic.

    We must accept that allowing interest rates to rise without limitation is a de facto acceptance of market economics, which was just possible in 1980, but 40 years of intervention and ever tightening regulation since then makes it inconceivable today. And as a marker of political will —or rather lack of it — social and moral conditions have deteriorated to the point where politicians, institutions and even businesses are unable to challenge “wokeness”. As an economic indicator, humanity has fallen into a similar gutter of behavioural economics as seen in Germany in the great inflation. Stefan Zweig again:

    “Even the Rome of Suetonius had never known such orgies as the pervert balls of Berlin, where hundreds of men costumed as women and hundreds of women costumed as men danced under the benevolent eyes of the police. In the collapse of all values a kind of madness gained hold particularly in the bourgeois circles which until then had been unshakable in their probity.”

    For sure, things are different today. But the loss of moral compass is a little observed indication of the true state of monetary and economic affairs.

    Consumer prices

    A collapse in its purchasing power will not be accompanied by an offsetting increase in the quantity of money. This unexpected state of affairs stems from a rejection by the public of fiat currency as a medium of exchange in the later stages of its collapse. It was for this reason that between April 1923 and the following November, Germany’s paper marks in circulation increased from 6,546 X 1012 to 400.3 X 1018, an increase of 61,152 times. At the same time, prices measured in paper marks increased from 5,825 to the gold mark, to 522.3 X 1012, or by 90 billion times.[v] Therefore, the limitation of an increase in the quantity of money will not stop prices rising far faster, or described for greater comprehension, the purchasing power of a fiat currency falling.

    Admittedly, the example above taken from Germany in 1923 covers the time when the paper mark finally collapsed, having been rejected by the public as money. It is hoped that the US Treasury will stabilise the situation for the dollar before it finally collapses by deploying its gold reserves, said to be over 8,000 tonnes. Assuming its gold exists, the US Treasury can introduce a credible gold standard before the dollar’s purchasing power disappears entirely. However, as its purchasing power accelerates in its fall, it is sensible to assume that dollar prices of consumer essentials will rise more quickly than the expansion of the quantity of dollars available would suggest. This will lead to significant hardship for almost everyone living in America. And to the extent that other currencies will suffer a similar fate, to their users in other jurisdictions as well.

    Under these conditions, consumer demand will be restricted to the essentials to sustain life. Businesses producing non-essentials, particularly services, will cease trading, and if fiat currencies sink to nothing, even producers of essential goods will cease trading as well, at least until a means of exchange returns. Not only will the lack of supplies of goods drive the purchasing power of the dollar even lower, but economic production will collapse entirely.

    Summary and conclusion

    This article commenced its thesis by pointing to the evidence of the overvaluation of financial assets, stoked by central banks issuing currency for the explicit purpose of ensuring they continue to rise in value. And it later pointed out the similarities between today’s wokeness with the deterioration of public morality in the Germany of 1923 as a social indicator of the state of monetary and economic conditions. Measured in these terms, we are not yet in the state of debauchery recorded in Berlin at the time the paper mark collapsed, but undoubtedly, we are edging closer to it.

    Much has yet to transpire on our hyperinflationary journey. Foreign disinvestment from an over-owned dollar has yet to begin. But we can now sense that price inflation is going to be the destabilising factor. Central banks have chosen to downplay the effect, but the combination of a global logistical foul-up, sharply higher commodity and raw material prices and a lack of available and employable labour is leading to a lack of product supply to satisfy post-covid consumer demand.

    And while the authorities and mainstream media have trumpeted the restoration of economic growth —more accurately it is merely a reflection of the inflation of money supply — the destruction of small and medium-sized businesses away from financial centres has gone unreported. Covid was the coup de grace for small businesses, which had managed to live through a rolling slump, the true annual deflator being several times greater than that of the CPI, dating back at least to the Lehman failure.

    Central banks have covered up their failures by inflating financial markets, in the manner of John Law in France 301 years ago. Law printed unbacked livres to keep the shares in his Mississippi venture rising. His bubble collapsed, driving the livre into worthlessness in only six months. The lesson forgotten, central banks, led by the Fed, are repeating John Law’s experiment on a global scale.

    It matters not whether markets are at their peak and the bubble is about to burst. There are strong indications, particularly the $900bn of debt leverage behind financial markets, that we are within a gnat’s whisker of the market’s peak. The bubble will burst that is for sure. And when it does, $11 trillion of foreign owned equities will seek an panicked exit, not just from the deflating investment bubble, but from the dollar as well. Interest rates will then be forced to rise as markets take control of everything away from the Fed.

    The moment the bubble begins to deflate, investors will awaken from their hopium-induced slumber and events are likely to develop with unexpected rapidity. We must hope that governments back their currencies credibly with gold before they become completely worthless.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 19:40

  • Senators Tell Biden Hong Kong Newspaper's Forced Closure Requires Mandatory Sanctions
    Senators Tell Biden Hong Kong Newspaper’s Forced Closure Requires Mandatory Sanctions

    Following Wednesday’s unprecedented crackdown against Hong Kong media, specifically the forced permanent closure of Hong Kong’s 26-year long running Apple Daily newspaper under the far-reaching China-backed ‘national security law’, two leading US senators are urging the White House to unleash more sanctions in response to the crackdown.

    In a letter to President Biden on Thursday Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa), ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, (D-Md), a committee member, wrote that the recently passed Hong Kong Autonomy Act requires the US secretary of state to identify and take action against any foreign person or foreign businesses “materially contributing” to the “inability of the people of Hong Kong to enjoy the freedom of assembly, speech, press, or independent rule of law.”

    Apple Daily’s now shuttered headquarters in Hong Kong, via Reuters

    The legislation in effect since it was passed last year requires mandatory sanctions on those identified to Congress as suppressing these freedoms in Hong Kong.

    The pro-democracy tabloid, owned by incarcerated media tycoon Jimmy Lai, will close because its assets have  been frozen and many of its staff arrested after some 500 police raided their offices, making it impossible for the paper to continue publishing.

    The paper’s owner, Lai, is facing charges of violating the new Beijing-imposed national security law. He has remained in custody even as the US and UK have protested that they are “deeply concerned” about his condition.

    “It seems very likely that the breathtaking crackdown on Jimmy Lai and Apple Daily involves numerous foreign persons to whom Section 5 of the Hong Kong Autonomy Act applies,” the Senators’ letter stated.

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    “We urge your administration to comprehensively enforce the Hong Kong Autonomy Act in the immediate wake of the injustice imposed upon Jimmy Lai and the forced closure of Apple Daily,” it said.

    The Senators wrote further: “These orders solidify the impression of many that the rule of law is no more in Hong Kong.”

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    Indeed as we reported earlier in the week, police went so far as to declare the paper’s newsroom a “crime scene”, barring workers from entering, in the first case of the new national security law being used against journalists. And likely more such hugely alarming instances are on the horizon. 

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 19:20

  • Parents Sue LA School District Over COVID Mandates For Children
    Parents Sue LA School District Over COVID Mandates For Children

    Authored by Drew Van Voorhis via The Epoch Times,

    The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is being sued by parents concerned about mask mandates and obligatory COVID-19 testing for the coming school year.

    The lawsuit, filed June 22 by Southern California law firm Tyler and Bursch LLP and Children’s Health Defense California, seeks to prohibit the LAUSD and county officials from imposing COVID-19 related mandates on healthy children wishing to return to in-person instruction.

    The lawsuit is the first of its kind filed in California federal court related to students being targeted with “illegal and unnecessary COVID mandates,” the law firm said.

    Defendants named in the suit include LAUSD superintendent Austin Beutner, all seven LAUSD board members, and Los Angeles County public health officers Dr. Muntu Davis and Dr. Barbara Ferrer.

    The lawsuit contends that healthy school children are being forced to submit to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, and are required to download Microsoft’s “Daily Pass” which it said collects and disseminates private health data. Students will also be required to wear masks on campus.

    “[The] right to a public education guaranteed to [the] plaintiffs’ minor children by the California Constitution cannot be made contingent upon plaintiffs’ consent to defendants violating other rights of their children,” the lawsuit said, adding that the parents are seeking an injunction to allow the children to attend physical schooling again immediately.

    “[LAUSD] instituted the Daily Pass, which was basically a mandate to have a [PCR] test before you could come on campus, and a bunch of other invasive stuff that we feel should only be done by a medical doctor and interpreted by a medical doctor,” Alix Mayer, president of Children’s Health Defense California, told The Epoch Times.

    “Otherwise, who is practicing medicine without a license? The school is, because they can’t interpret that test, and a medical doctor has to interpret the test in the context of the symptoms.

    “There’s also the issue with a huge rate of false positives on those tests. And so a lot of children have to stay home rather than going to school based on the false positives and the false positives are happening at a very high rate.”

    According to LAUSD’s website, the Daily Pass was released Feb. 22, with the district calling it “the first comprehensive system in the nation that coordinates health checks, COVID tests and vaccinations all in one simple, easy-to-use tool.”

    Each day, students will be asked to log into the app to answer daily health questions such as whether they’re experiencing a fever, dry cough, shortness of breath, or loss of taste or smell.

    Students will be required to get a COVID-19 test within seven days before returning to campus and submit the negative result to the app. In announcing the Daily Pass, superintendent Beutner praised the technology.

    “The Daily Pass sets the highest standard possible for school safety,” Beutner said in a press release.

    “MERV-13 upgraded air filters in every school, COVID testing for all students and staff at least every week and now the Daily Pass—Los Angeles Unified is proud to lead the nation in creating the safest possible school environment.”

    After the required steps are completed, the Daily Pass will generate a unique QR code for each student and staff member that will authorize entry to a specific LAUSD location for that day only. When an individual arrives on campus, they will have their QR code scanned by a faculty member and their temperature taken, which must be less than 100 degrees.

    In addition, LAUSD said anonymized data from the Daily Pass will be used in the district’s research and health care collaborators to provide insights to create safe school environments.

    “Microsoft and its unknown partners, agents, and assigns will be privy to students’ private health information, including genetic information gathered through the mandatory PCR testing,” the lawsuit said.

    “Parents, therefore, have legitimate concerns that their children’s personal health data, genetic material, and other private information will be circulated to other corporate and government entities without their explicit consent since they are being coerced into giving up their rights under federal and state law … to be able to send their children to school.”

    It continues, “Simply put, they are being forced to choose between their children’s right to an education and their children’s right to medical privacy and bodily autonomy. This is no choice at all.”

    Mayer said that many of the effects of the protocols are borne most on traditionally disadvantaged communities.

    “If [children] don’t want to get tested, then they have to learn from home,” she said. 

    “But kids who grew up in families without a ton of money, don’t necessarily have a good computer, they don’t necessarily have good bandwidth, and they might not even have a quiet room in the house where they can learn, and so it’s really putting them at a major disadvantage.”

    Asked for comment, an LAUSD spokesperson told The Epoch Times, “We have not been served with the suit, and we do not comment on pending litigation. However, the safety and well-being of our students remains our top priority.”

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 19:00

  • Nevada Sheriff's Group Says NSA Sitting On 'Every Call, Text, Chat And Banking Transaction' For 'Elite Pedos And Wall Street Criminals'
    Nevada Sheriff’s Group Says NSA Sitting On ‘Every Call, Text, Chat And Banking Transaction’ For ‘Elite Pedos And Wall Street Criminals’

    Residents and local law enforcement from two rural Nevada counties have decided to become members of a growing movement that believes sheriffs have the final say on the constitutionality of any given law.

    From left, Lander County Sheriff Ron Unger, Eureka County Sheriff Jesse Watts and Elko County Sheriff Aitor Narvaiza are recognized by Richard Mack, founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association

    On Sunday, hundreds gathered in Elko City Park, where the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) presented a plaque to county commissioners to mark their membership with the group, according to the Elko Daily Free Press.

    Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association founder Richard Mack was the main speaker at the event. The group says “law enforcement powers held by the sheriff supersede those of any agent, officer, elected official or employee from any level of government when in the jurisdiction of the county.”

    Lander County Manager Bartolo “Bert” Ramos emceed the event, which was also expected to feature Joey Gilbert, a former professional boxer from Reno who plans to run for governor as a Republican. Ramos said Gilbert was unable to attend due to a family obligation.

    Dressed in Minuteman garb and sitting on a horse that traveled to Washington, D.C., for the Grass March in support of ranchers, Elko attorney Travis Gerber held a 13-star flag and asked the crowd if they knew how many democracies existed in the world in 1776.

    “There were zero democracies,” he said. “And today, because of this flag and what it stands for, most of the world is free.” –Elko Daily Free Press

    According to Steele, the biggest threats facing America include Wall Street criminals and elite pedophiles.

    “The National Security Agency has every single email, cell call, text, game chat and banking transaction for every traitor, every elite pedophile and every Wall Street criminal and every corrupt government official at the local, state and federal levels,” he said to applause. “And I remind you that no army of lawyers are going to be able to stand up to an Army Ranger battalion with fixed bayonets. We’re coming.“

    “I will tell you with absolute certainty that the thing that Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff fear most is not jail, but us releasing their 10 most treasonous phone calls to their own public,” he continued. “They will be torn limb from limb on their own streets.”

    ‘White Supremacy has no place‘

    Founder Richard Mack – who successfully sued the US Government over background check provisions in the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act condemned racism and the IRS during his speech.

    “White Supremacy has no place in a free society,” he said, adding “There is no exception. You cannot say ‘freedom for me but not for thee.”

    Mack added that the IRS is “the most criminal organization in American history – the Gestapo of America,” adding “You know what I train sheriffs to do? [referring to IRS agents] Kick ‘em the hell out of your county.”

    Next, Mack called the sheriffs of Lander, Eureka and Elko counties to speak, where Elko’s Sheriff Aitor Narvaiza described meeting Mack in Battle Mountain, after which he took the proposal to join the CSPOA to his county’s commissioners.

    “Sheriff Mack said here just a minute ago that we’re gonna take some heat,” said Narvaiza. “Well, ladies and gentlemen, I’ve already been taking some heat but I don’t really care. I fight for you guys, I fight for the people of Elko County and the people who elected me to fight for them.”

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 18:40

  • Biden's Real Crime Against The Economy
    Biden’s Real Crime Against The Economy

    Authored by James Rickards via DailyReckoning.com,

    I try to keep politics out of my economic analyses, and my approach is non-partisan. But sometimes I can’t avoid it because political policies can have significant economic impacts. Today is one of those times.

    One of Joe Biden’s first acts as President was to kill construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. This is a pipeline that would bring oil from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada to the Midwest United States. From there it would be moved through other pipelines or refined and distributed to gas stations and industrial users in America.

    Biden’s decision was destructive for a long list of reasons.

    The immediate impact was to kill about 10,000 high-paying union jobs with benefits in construction, transportation and expert services. The ripple effects were even greater. Once a pipe delivery operation is killed, the trucking company and pipe manufacturer lay off more personnel and those workers stop spending at local restaurants and so on.

    But killing the pipeline accomplishes nothing from an environmental standpoint. The decision to end the pipeline is pointless because the oil still moves out of Alberta. In the absence of a pipeline, the oil moves by railroad tanker cars on rail lines owned by Warren Buffett.

    Pipelines Are Better for the Environment

    It’s just that the railroad uses more energy and has higher CO2 emissions than a pipeline. If you cared about the environment, you’d favor a pipeline over railroads. But opponents don’t really care about the environment, they just want to shut down the oil and gas industries completely.

    Shutting the pipeline is a step in that direction. Claims about local environmental damage and crossing Native American tribal areas were just feel-good red herrings. The goal was always just to kill the pipeline. Mission accomplished. Now, the Biden administration may have done more damage than thought at first.

    Construction on the pipeline had been halted in the past by the Obama administration only to be started-up again by President Trump. The worksites and equipment were mothballed until the green light was turned on again. Not this time. The primary company backing the pipeline has announced they are throwing in the towel and terminating the project for good.

    The science of climate change is highly uncertain. There’s some evidence that the world is cooling, not warming. There’s no conclusive evidence that man-made CO2 emissions are the primary cause of warming if there is any. CO2 is a trace gas of little impact except as plant food.

    Climate change is real, but it happens over hundreds, sometimes thousands of years for reasons that science does not completely understand.

    Real Climate Change

    I lived for ten years on Long Island Sound, a beautiful body of water where locals enjoy fishing, sailing, swimming and other water sports. It has a rocky coast because 10,000 years ago it was a glacier (A glacier pushes rocks out of its way and they accumulate along the edges in a formation called a moraine).

    Going from a glacier to a waterway is the result of real climate change, but the process took ten millennia, not ten years. The idea that cities will be inundated by rising oceans in ten years, a stock claim of climate alarmists, is nonsense. (By the way, the alarmists made the same claim twenty years ago, fifteen years ago, and ten years ago and they’ve been dead wrong every time; they’re still wrong).

    Climate changes due to sunspot cycles, shifting ocean currents, volcanic activity and extreme geological events. Still, the climate change narrative persists because it provides political cover for global government, global taxation, open borders and other facets of the globalist agenda.

    That might sound conspiratorial to some, but it isn’t. It’s just the way these globalist elites operate. I’ve been watching them closely for years and know how the game is played.

    Propaganda

    They know they can’t impose global solutions unless they concoct a global “problem” and climate change as the alarmists define it fills the bill perfectly.

    This hidden agenda is revealed in their writings, which discuss the need to “frame” the issue, for example. But why do you have to “frame” anything if the story is true?

    Framing is a form of propaganda, the climate alarmist’s favorite tool. You don’t need to frame a narrative if you have good science on your side. The facts will speak for themselves. So, you can be sure you’re being fed propaganda, which is.

    The best advice is to ignore propaganda, stick to real science (when you can find it) and make long-term investment decisions that don’t rely on false predictions of climate doom.

    But, there’s money to be made from climate alarmism.

    ExxonMobil recently had their annual meeting. A small hedge fund named Engine No. 1, with only 0.02% of the ExxonMobil stock, proposed four new directors of whom each has a “green” background with experience in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.

    Normally, a dissident slate like that would have no chance. But, Engine No. 1 managed to recruit major institutions such as BlackRock to join their cause. With other major investors joining in, the green directors won three board seats outright. Eight sitting directors and the CEO retained their seats.

    Three incumbent directors got the boot, something practically unprecedented in major corporations absent a hostile takeover. What’s the impetus behind this?

    Follow the Money

    The public story is that ExxonMobil was too slow in adapting its business plans to a world of solar and wind power and electric vehicles. The reality is more complicated.

    There’s good reason to believe that solar and wind will never provide more than a small percentage of the power needed to run America. ExxonMobil is an oil and gas exploration and distribution company. They should stick to what they do best and let others build windmills. Oil and gas, nuclear and hydro-electric will power the country for decades to come or longer.

    So, why did Larry Fink of BlackRock climb on the green train?

    It turns out he’s promoting so-called ESG funds (for Environmental, Social and Governance) with higher fees to customers. Fink and others are just promoters using the green banner to make more money at investor expense.

    What happened in the board room at ExxonMobil is an example of how private corporate resources are being hijacked by activists and do-gooder institutional investors to pursue social policy goals with little or no scientific evidence to back them up.

    Research shows ESG funds and related ETFs do not outperform major index funds.

    Fink just needed to bolster his ESG credentials and he did so at ExxonMobil’s expense. Concern about the environment is minimal or incidental. It turns out that Fink and the others are only in it for the money.

    That’s the kind of green they really care about.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 18:20

  • Japanese Lawmaker Scolds Toshiba Investors, Says Activists "Only Think About Selling High"
    Japanese Lawmaker Scolds Toshiba Investors, Says Activists “Only Think About Selling High”

    It appears as though Japanese government officials are interested in trying their hand in activist investing.

    At least, that’s the conclusion we drew after one senior member of Japan’s ruling party spoke out against activist investors in Toshiba, accusing them of looking for short-term profits. The lawmaker, Akira Amari, also called for more regulation to protect investors’ “economic security” in the case of activists, Reuters reported.

    It’s certainly an interesting target for Amari to defend, as Toshiba has been under fire due to numerous accounting scandals dating all the way back to 2015. The company has also faced “massive writedowns” for its U.S. nuclear business and the sale of its semiconductor unit, the report notes.

    Amari is a former economy minister and an influential lawmaker in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Amari’s criticism follows an investigation this month which revealed that “Toshiba’s management colluded with the government to put pressure on foreign activist investors to support the management.”

    The investigation was commissioned by Toshiba shareholders. 

    “There should be strict monitoring. We need to watch carefully so that Japan’s security is not threatened,” Amari told Reuters, calling it “not right” that Toshiba was reliant on short-term activist investors. 

    Amari commented: “Activist investors only think about selling high.”

    Yeah, come to think of it, investors should really think about driving the price of stock they own lower, and then selling, from now on.

    Meanwhile, Toshiba has said that it would change its board director nominees and that two of its audit committee members would step down. The investigation “alleged [the board] failed to take action even when it became aware of Toshiba’s attempt to prevent shareholders from exercising their rights.”

    Japan put forth new foreign ownership rules in 2020 with the specific aim of protecting companies that are critical to the country’s national security. Amari has said that Japanese investors, not foreign activists, should have stepped up to invest in Toshiba and save the company. 

    Perhaps someone should inform Amari that there very likely may have been no appetite for shares of the scandal-ridden company from within its home country.

    But that would require explaining reality to a politician, which is too tall of a task to even contemplate. As such, we digress…

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 18:00

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Jun 25

Today’s News 25th June 2021

  • These Are The Nationalities Supporting Britain's HNS The Most
    These Are The Nationalities Supporting Britain’s HNS The Most

    Like the country it serves, the strength of the NHS is closely linked to its diversity.

    Statista’s Martin Armstrong notes that the most recent figures for NHS England show large numbers of its staff are not UK/British nationals, and have their roots all around the world.

    The most common non-UK nationality is Indian, with almost 26 thousand as of 2020. Filipinos make the second largest group, with over 22 thousand, while staff from Ireland are the third most represented at more than 13 thousand.

    Infographic: The nationalities supporting the NHS the most | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    Looking at the whole picture, 13.8 percent of all staff for which the nationality is known are non-UK nationals, representing around 170,000 of the 1.28 million strong workforce. People from the EU play an important role, with 9.1 percent of doctors and 6.0 percent of nurses coming from a country in the Union.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 02:45

  • UK Would Send Warships Though Crimea Waters Again, Minister Says
    UK Would Send Warships Though Crimea Waters Again, Minister Says

    Authored by Lily Zhou via The Epoch Times,

    British Warships would go through disputed waters around Crimea again, a UK cabinet minister said after Russia accused a British destroyer of breaching Russian waters.

    Russia said on June 23 that it fired shots and dropped bombs in the path of the UK’s HMS Defender near Cape Fiolent, a landmark on the southern coast of Crimea near the port of Sevastopol, headquarters of the Russian Navy’s Black Sea fleet.

    Russian media quoted the defense ministry as saying the ship ventured as much as three kilometers (two miles) inside Russian waters before leaving.

    The UK has denied Russia’s claim, saying that the Russians were undertaking a gunnery exercise and that no shots had been fired at the British Warship, which was “conducting innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters.”

    Russia seized and annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, and it considers areas around the peninsula’s coast to be Russian waters. Western countries consider the peninsula to be part of Ukraine and have rejected Russia’s claim to the seas around it.

    The UK’s Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs George Eustice said on June 24 that the British warship was taking a “logical route.”

    “Under international law, you can take the closest, fastest route from one point to another. HMS Defender was passing through Ukrainian waters, I think on the way to Georgia, and that was the logical route for it to take,” he told Sky News.

    Eustice said the practice is “very normal” and “quite common.”

    “What was actually going on is the Russians were doing a gunnery exercise. They had given prior notice of that. They often do in that area,” he said, adding that it’s important that people don’t get carried away.

    Asked if the government would do it again, Eustice replied: “Of course, yes.

    “We never accepted the annexation of Crimea, these were Ukrainian territorial waters.”

    HMS Defender on March 20, 2020. (Ben Mitchell/PA)

    Speaking to ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” program, Eustice said that he doesn’t know if the gunnery exercise was the “official reason” given for the Russian activities.

    “Whether that was cover for them to try and make some point, we don’t know,” he said. “Perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn’t.”

    Former Royal Navy Chief Admiral Lord Alan West told the London Broadcasting Company that “there’s no doubt the Defender was asserting her right of innocent passage from one port to another.”

    He said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “an expert at disinformation,” and that his “appalling” behavior was to show his toughness to his “home audience.”

    Former head of the Army, Gen. Lord Richard Dannatt, said that Putin is “testing the will of the West.”

    “I’m a little bit surprised that the Ministry of Defence is playing it down,” he told Sky News.

    “It was unreasonable of the Russians to challenge HMS Defender in the way that they did.

    “The underlying point is that there are international laws that must be upheld by everyone, and HMS Defender had the absolute right to be where she was yesterday.”

    Earlier on June 24, the UK’s Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said that the Russian characterization of the event is “predictably inaccurate,” and Russia summoned the British ambassador in Moscow, Deborah Bronnert, over the row.

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on June 24 that the incident was “a deliberate and premeditated provocation” and threatened that “no options can be ruled out.”

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 02:00

  • The "Conspiracy Theory" Charade
    The “Conspiracy Theory” Charade

    Authored by James Bovard via JimBovard.com,

    How government and media use the phrase to suppress opposition…

    Biden’s “National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism” report last week declared that “enhancing faith in American democracy” requires “finding ways to counter the influence and impact of dangerous conspiracy theories.” In recent decades, conspiracy theories have multiplied almost as fast as government lies and cover-ups. While many allegations have been ludicrously far-fetched, the political establishment and media routinely attach the “conspiracy theory” label to any challenge to their dominance.

    According to Cass Sunstein, Harvard Law professor and Obama’s regulatory czar, a conspiracy theory is “an effort to explain some event or practice by reference to the machinations of powerful people, who have also managed to conceal their role.” Reasonable citizens are supposed to presume that government creates trillions of pages of new secrets each year for their own good, not to hide anything from the public.  

    In the early 1960s, conspiracy theories were practically a non-issue because 75 percent of Americans trusted the federal government. Such credulity did not survive the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Seven days after Kennedy was shot on November 22, 1963, President Lyndon Johnson created a commission (later known as the Warren Commission) to suppress controversy about the killing. Johnson and FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover browbeat the commission members into speedily issuing a report rubberstamping the “crazed lone gunman” version of the assassination. House Minority Leader Gerald Ford, a member of the commission, revised the final staff report to change the location of where the bullet entered Kennedy’s body, thereby salvaging Hoover’s so-called “magic bullet” theory. After the Warren Commission findings were ridiculed as a whitewash, Johnson ordered the FBI to conduct wiretaps on the report’s critics. To protect the official story, the commission sealed key records for 75 years. Truth would out only after all the people involved in any coverup had gotten their pensions and died.

    The controversy surrounding the Warren Commission spurred the CIA to formally attack the notion of conspiracy theories. In a 1967 alert to its overseas stations and bases, the CIA declared that the fact that almost half of Americans did not believe Oswald acted alone “is a matter of concern to the U.S. government, including our organization” and endangers “the whole reputation of the American government.” The memo instructed recipients to “employ propaganda assets” and exploit “friendly elite contacts (especially politicians and editors), pointing out… parts of the conspiracy talk appear to be deliberately generated by Communist propagandists.” The ultimate proof of the government’s innocence: “Conspiracy on the large scale often suggested would be impossible to conceal in the United States.”

    However, the CIA did conceal a wide range of assassinations and foreign coups it conducted until congressional investigations in the mid-1970s blew the whistle. The New York Times, which exposed the CIA memo in 1977, noted that the CIA “mustered its propaganda machinery to support an issue of far more concern to Americans, and to the C.I.A. itself, than to citizens of other countries.” According to historian Lance deHaven-Smith, author of Conspiracy Theory in America, “The CIA’s campaign to popularize the term ‘conspiracy theory’ and make conspiracy belief a target of ridicule and hostility must be credited…with being one of the most successful propaganda initiatives of all time.” (In 2014, the CIA released a heavily-redacted report admitting that it had been “complicit” in a JFK “cover-up” by withholding “incendiary” information from the Warren Commission.)

    The Johnson administration also sought to portray critics of its Vietnam War policies as conspiracy nuts, at least when they were not portraying them as communist stooges. During 1968 Senate hearings on the Gulf of Tonkin incident, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara denounced the “monstrous insinuations” that the U.S. had sought to provoke a North Vietnamese attack and declared that it is “inconceivable that anyone even remotely familiar with our society and system of government could suspect the existence of a conspiracy” to take the nation to war on false pretenses. Three years later, the disclosure of the Pentagon Papers demolished the credibility of McNamara and other top Johnson administration officials who indeed dragged America into the Vietnam War on false pretenses.

    Condemnations of conspiracy theories became a hallmark of the Clinton administration. In 1995, President Bill Clinton claimed that people who believed government threatened their constitutional right were deranged ingrates: “If you say that Government is in a conspiracy to take your freedom away, you are just plain wrong…. How dare you call yourselves patriots and heroes!” The same year, the White House compiled a fevered 331-page report entitled “Communication Stream of Conspiracy Commerce,” attacking magazines, think tanks, and others that had criticized President Clinton. In the following years, many of the organizations condemned in the White House report were targeted for IRS audits, including the Heritage Foundation and the American Spectator magazine and almost a dozen individual high-profile Clinton accusers, including Paula Jones and Gennifer Flowers. Despite Clinton’s protestations that he posed no threat to freedom, even the ACLU admitted in 1998 that the Clinton administration had “engaged in surreptitious surveillance, such as wiretapping, on a far greater scale than ever before… The Administration is using scare tactics to acquire vast new powers to spy on all Americans.”

    Some “conspiracy theory” allegations comically expose the naivete of official scorekeepers. In April 2016, Chapman University surveyed Americans and announced that “the most prevalent conspiracy theory in the United States is that the government is concealing information about the 9/11 attacks with slightly over half of Americans holding that belief.”  That survey did not ask whether people believed the World Trade Centers were blown up by an inside job or whether President George W. Bush secretly masterminded the attacks. Instead, folks were simply asked whether “government is concealing information” about the attacks. Only a village idiot, college professor, or editorial writer would presume the government had come clean. Three months after the Chapman University survey was conducted, the Obama administration finally released 28 pages of a 2003 congressional report that revealed that Saudi government officials had directly financed some of the 9/11 hijackers in America. That disclosure shattered the storyline carefully constructed by the Bush administration, the 9/11 Commission, and legions of media accomplices. (Lawsuits continue in federal court seeking to force the U.S. government to disclose more information regarding the Saudi government role in the attacks.)

    “Conspiracy theory” is often a flag of convenience for the media. In 2018, the New York Times asserted that Trump’s use of the term “Deep State” and similar rhetoric “fanned fears that he is eroding public trust in institutions, undermining the idea of objective truth and sowing widespread suspicions about the government and news media.” However, after allegations by anonymous government officials spurred Trump’s first impeachment in 2019, New York Times columnist James Stewart cheered, “There is a Deep State, there is a bureaucracy in our country who has pledged to respect the Constitution, respect the rule of law… They work for the American people.” New York Times editorial writer Michelle Cottle proclaimed, “The deep state is alive and well” and hailed it as “a collection of patriotic public servants.” Almost immediately after its existence was no longer denied, the Deep State became the incarnation of virtue in Washington.

    The media elite can fabricate “conspiracy theory” designations almost with the flip of a headline. A week after Election Day 2020, the New York Times ran a banner headline across the top of the front page: “Election Officials Nationwide Find No Fraud.” How did the Times know? Their reporters effectively called each state and asked, “Did y’all see any fraud?” Election officials answered “no,” thus proving that anyone who subsequently questioned Biden’s victory was promoting a groundless conspiracy. While top liberal politicians denounced electronic voting companies as unaccountable and dishonest in 2019, any doubts about such companies became “conspiracies” after that headline in the Times. The Times helped spur a media cacophony drowning out anyone complaining about ballot harvesting, illegal mass mailing of absentee ballots, or widespread failures to verify voter identification.

    Actually, “conspiracy theory” accusations helped Biden win the 2020 presidential election. As Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) recently noted, if Americans believed that the COVID-19 virus was created in a Chinese government lab, Trump would have likely won the election because voters would have sought a leader who could be tough on China. But the lab origin explanation was quickly labeled a pro-Trump heresy. The Washington Post denounced Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR,) for suggesting the virus originated in the lab, which supposedly was a “conspiracy theory that was already debunked.” Twenty-seven prominent scientists signed a letter in the Lancet: “We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin… Conspiracy theories do nothing but create fear, rumours, and prejudice that jeopardise our global collaboration in the fight against this virus.” The Lancet did not reveal until last week that one of the signers and the person who organized the letter signing campaign ran an organization that received U.S. government subsidies for its work at the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab. President Biden has ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to take another look to seek to determine the origin of COVID-19.

    Will “conspiracy theory” charges provide a “get out of jail free” card for the FBI and other federal agencies regarding the January 6 clash at the Capitol? After Fox News’s Tucker Carlson featured allegations that FBI informants or agents may have instigated the ruckus, the Washington Post speedily denounced his “wild, baseless theory” while Huffington Post denounced his “laughable conspiracy theory.” It doesn’t matter how often the FBI instigated terrorist plots or political violence in the past 60 years (including the plot to kidnap the Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer last November). Instead, decent people must do nothing to endanger the official narrative of Jan. 6 as a horrific private terrorist event on par with the War of 1812, Pearl Harbor, and the 9/11 attacks.

    “Conspiracy theory” is a magic phrase that expunges all previous federal abuses. Many liberals who invoke the phrase also ritually quote a 1965 book by former communist Richard Hofstadter, The Paranoid Style in American Politics. Hofstadter portrayed distrust of government as a proxy for mental illness, a paradigm that makes the character of critics more important than the conduct of government agencies. For Hofstadter, it was a self-evident truth that government was trustworthy because American politics had “a kind of professional code… embodying the practical wisdom of generations of politicians.”

     Much of the establishment rage at “conspiracy theories” has been driven by the notion that rulers are entitled intellectual passive obedience. The same lese-majeste mindset has been widely adopted to make a muddle of American history. Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., the court historian for President John F. Kennedy and a revered liberal intellectual, declared in a 2004 article in Playboy, “Historians today conclude that the colonists were driven to revolt in 1776 because of a false conviction that they faced a British conspiracy to destroy their freedom.” Was the British imposition of martial law, confiscation of firearms, military blockades, suspension of habeas corpus, and censorship simply a deranged fantasy of Thomas Jefferson? The notion that the British would never conspire to destroy freedom would play poorly in Dublin. Why would anyone trust academics who were blind to British threats in the 1770s to accurately judge contemporary perils to liberty?

    How does the Biden administration intend to fight “conspiracy theories”? The Biden terrorism report called for “enhancing faith in government” by “accelerating work to contend with an information environment that challenges healthy democratic discourse.” Will Biden’s team rely on the “solution” suggested by Cass Sunstein: “cognitive infiltration of extremist groups” by government agents and informants to “undermine” them from within? A 1976 Senate report on the FBI COINTELPRO program demanded assurances that a federal agency would never again “be permitted to conduct a secret war against those citizens it considers threats to the established order.” Actually, the FBI and other agencies have continued secretly warring against “threats” and legions of informants are likely busy “cognitively infiltrating” at this moment.

    “Conspiracy theory” will remain a favorite sneer of the political-media elite. There is no substitute for Americans developing better B.S radars for government claims as well as wild-eyed private balderdash. In the meantime, there’s always the remedy a Washington Post health article touted late last year: “Try guided imagery. Visualizing positive outcomes can help clamp down on the intense emotions that might make you more vulnerable to harmful conspiracy theories.”

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 06/25/2021 – 00:05

  • Visualizing US Droughts Over The Last 20 Years
    Visualizing US Droughts Over The Last 20 Years

    The Western U.S. is experiencing one of the worst recorded droughts in the last 20 years.

    Temperatures from California to the Dakotas are currently hovering around 9-12°F above average – but, as Visual Capitalist’s Carmen Ang asks (and answers below), how bad is the situation compared to past years?

    This animated map by reddit user /NothingAbnormalHere provides a historical look at droughts in the U.S. since 1999, using data and graphics from the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM).

    What is the U.S. Drought Monitor?

    Over the last two decades, the USDM has been tracking, measuring, and comparing droughts across America.

    While droughts can be difficult to classify and standardize, there are various factors that can be used to gauge when a region is experiencing drought. These include measurements of snowpack levels, soil moisture, and recent precipitation.

    To track these conditions (and make sense of them), the USDM synthesizes data from a plethora of meteorological sources, including the Palmer Drought Severity Index and the Standardized Precipitation Index.

    From there, conditions are broken down into categories, ranging from D0 (abnormally dry) to D4 (Exceptional Drought). A map is released each week that shows which states are experiencing drought, and to what degree.

    Where Are The Most Drought-Prone Areas?

    According to a map created by climatologist Becky Bolinger (which is published on Drought.gov), Arizona and Nevada are the most historically drought-prone states—the two have experienced drought more than 50% of the time tracked by the USDM.

    California is high on the list as well, with the state experiencing drought at least 40% of the time.

    As the historical data shows, the West is no stranger to droughts. However, this year’s drought has become particularly worrisome because of its intensity and breadth.

    Right now, more than a quarter of the West is experiencing a D4 level drought—a new record. To help put things into perspective, here’s a look at how much overall land area in the West has been in drought, since 2000:

    When a region is experiencing a D4 drought, possible impacts include:

    • Water Scarcity
      Lower reservoirs, combined with decreased snowpack lead to water shortages.

    • Crop losses
      Water shortages mean less water for fields, which can lead to acres of fallow (unused) farmland.

    • Wildfires
      Dry conditions and lack of moisture increase the risk of wildfires.

    Is This the New Norm?

    This record-breaking drought is wreaking havoc across the West. In California, reservoirs have about half as much water as they usually do, and crop failures are happening across Colorado.

    The worst part? Some experts believe that this could be the new normal if human-driven climate change continues to increase average temperatures across the globe.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 23:45

  • Footage Of Bats Kept In Wuhan Lab Fuels Scrutiny Over Its Research
    Footage Of Bats Kept In Wuhan Lab Fuels Scrutiny Over Its Research

    By Eva Fu and Frank Yue of Epoch Times

    Official Chinese state-approved footage from years ago showing bats being kept at the Wuhan Institute of Virology has further fueled scrutiny of the research being conducted at the secretive facility.

    Security personnel gather near the entrance of the Wuhan Institute of Virology during a visit by the World Health Organization team in Wuhan in China’s Hubei province, China, on Feb. 3, 2021. (Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

    A 2017 promotional video featured on the website of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), a top Chinese state-run research institute that administers the Wuhan lab, showed live bats held in cages inside the lab. In it, a researcher who wears blue surgical gloves was holding a bat and feeding it with a worm.

    The video, made after the research institute obtained the nation’s first P4 designation—the highest bio-security classification—in spring 2017, also showed bats in a cage inside the lab. It said that the Wuhan lab researchers had collected more than 15,000 bat samples from various parts of China and Africa.

    A researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei Province feeds a bat with a worm in a 2017 video. (Screenshot)

    While some overseas Chinese-language media had cited the video last year in reports that raised concerns about the lab, it has attracted more attention lately as the possibility that the virus may have escaped from a Chinese laboratory has gained traction.

    The WIV has filed at least two patents related to bat breeding. The first, filed in June 2018 and granted about half a year later, describes a bat rearing cage with a glass front door, hanger, feed opening, and water drinking tube, designed to enable bats “healthy growth and breeding under artificial condition.”

    Bats in a cage at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei Province in a 2017 video. (Screenshot)

    The second, filed last October, instructs researchers on how to raise wild bats to improve breeding and survival rate.

    A description of the WIV on a CAS-affiliated webpage said the institute has three “barrier facilities” that enclose lab animals totaling nearly 13,100 square feet, in which there are 12 bat cages.

    The evidence of live bats being raised at WIV contradicted statements made by U.S. zoologist Peter Daszak, one of the World Health Organization-led experts who went to Wuhan City to study the origin of the virus earlier this year.

    Daszak, in a tweet last December that he has since deleted, took issue with an article from The Independent that stated that “samples from the bats were sent to the Wuhan laboratory for genetic analyses of the viruses collected in the field.”

    “Important error in this piece. No BATS were ‘sent to Wuhan lab for genetic analyses of viruses collected in the field,’” he wrote. “That’s not how this science works. We collect bat samples, send them to the lab. We RELEASE bats where we catch them!”

    He further stated that the article “describes work I’m the lead on & labs I’ve collaborated w/ for 15 yrs.”

    “They DO NOT have live or dead bats in them. There is no evidence anywhere that this happened. It’s an error that I hope will be corrected,” he said.

    Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance, a New York-based nonprofit that conducts global health-related research, helped channel more than $800,000 in U.S. federal grants to the Wuhan lab to study bat coronaviruses, according to newly released internal documents.

    Daszak admitted on June 1—a week after leaked intelligence noted that three WIV researchers were hospitalized a month before China’s reported “patient zero”—that questions of whether the WIV had bats were never raised during the WHO investigation. Changing his stance, he added: “I wouldn’t be surprised if, like many other virology labs, they were trying to set up a bat colony.”

    Safety Lapses

    A scene from the same video of a bat dangling off the hat of a researcher, who wore only a pair of glasses and a regular surgical mask while collecting bat samples in the wild, has raised further questions about the security measures at the lab.

    A bat hangs on the hat of a researcher from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in a 2017 video. (Screenshot) 

    Screenshots from a 2017 report on state-run broadcaster CCTV have also showed a WIV researcher’s arm blistering from a bat bite during their study of the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus.

    The bats “could bite your hands through the glove,” WIV researcher Cui Jie told CCTV. He described the feeling as similar to “being jabbed by a needle.” In other footage, marked with the date Dec. 28 but no year, another WIV researcher was holding a bat outdoors with both hands exposed.

    A researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology shows the blisters after being bitten by a bat. (Screenshot via CCTV)

    In 2018, U.S. officials who who visited the research facility sent cables back to Washington warning about weak safety standards at the lab.

    Two U.S. Embassy officials said the lab had a “serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory,” according to the cable seen by The Washington Post.

    Transparency Issues

    The Wuhan lab began as a collaborative project between China and France in 2004 to study emerging infectious diseases following the SARS outbreak, which spread from China to more than two dozen countries.

    The construction of the P4 lab was finalized in 2015. In 2017, former French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve made the lab his first stop in Wuhan and attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The plan at the time was to have 50 French researchers go to the lab over the next five years. It never happened.

    The French scientists were quickly sidelined. The Franco-Chinese Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases, a group created for cooperation between the two sides, stopped holding meetings from 2016, according to France Bleu, part of the national public broadcasting group Radio France.

    The 2017 Wuhan lab video mentioned briefly the Sino-French collaboration, noting that the two sides had “more than a decade of intense clashes due to differences in cultural backgrounds and ideology.” It added that the P4 lab “will definitely contribute to the physical health of the public and the world peace” and serve as a “large scale world-class technology sharing hub.”

    The WIV’s raw data remains closed off to the WHO and other international experts. In September 2019, the facility made its main database of samples and viral sequences offline. The data bank was Asia’s largest as of 2018, according to a news release on the WIV website.

    Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli is seen inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, capital of China’s Hubei Province, on Feb. 23, 2017. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images)

    Shi Zhengli, the director of the WIV’s research center for emerging infectious diseases who is now at the center of the virus controversy, maintained that the institute has been open to outside probes. Speaking recently with The New York Times, she called accusations of the lab withholding data “speculation rooted in utter distrust.”

    A January fact sheet from the State Department under the Trump administration said that WIV researchers had begun conducting experiments involving RaTG13, identified to have the closest genetic similarity to the COVID-19 virus, from as early as 2016.

    Besides engaging in “’gain of function’ research to engineer chimeric viruses,” the WIV has engaged in laboratory animal experiments on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017, according to the fact sheet. Gain-of-function research involves creating artificial viruses by adding new or enhanced capabilities for the purpose of studying what new pathogens could emerge and how to guard against them.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 23:25

  • COVID Baby Bust Accelerates Nine Months After Lockdowns
    COVID Baby Bust Accelerates Nine Months After Lockdowns

    In a previous note last month, we said one of the biggest deflationary threats looms over the U.S. economy, that is, birth rates have fallen to their lowest level in a generation. Diving deeper into the baby bust, new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows nine months after the virus pandemic was first declared a national emergency, U.S. births plunged 8% in December, according to Bloomberg. 

    CDC data showed an acceleration in birth declines for the second half of 2020. Full-year data shows that the number of babies born countrywide fell 4% to 3.6 million, the most significant decline since 1973, the start of the stagflation of the 1970s. 

    The latest CDC data disproves the mainstream media’s narrative of a “COVID Baby Boom” as much of the nation was cooped up in their homes during lockdowns. 

    The data appears to show millennials were not in the ‘mood’ to have a child during the global health catastrophe. The declines in births have been occurring for several years as the younger generation, trapped in insurmountable debts, can barely afford rent and groceries, nevertheless raise a child. 

    On a state-by-state basis, California in December led the declines, which plummeted 19%. For the second half of the year, New Mexico, New York, Hawaii, and West Virginia saw decreases ranging from 8% to 11%.

    We noted California’s population continues to drop as a mass exodus of residents escapes the liberal hell hole of high taxes, unaffordable homes, and violent crime. The younger generation in the state appears to be having fewer children, exacerbated by the pandemic. 

    Bloomberg shows a shocking chart that when factoring all the deaths in 2020 and into 1Q21, including virus-related deaths, U.S. births only exceeded deaths by 45,000 in February and March. 

    Source: Bloomberg 

    In terms of race, births in December had the most significant reduction among Asians, plunging 19% from the same period in 2019.

    What this shows are some early signs of a COVID baby bust. But most of this is a continuation of a trend that’s been happening for more than a decade. With birthrates faltering and debts soaring. We believe the primary secular economic trend is, and has been for at least a decade is deflation – as we’ve said before, Japan is a microcosm of what America is facing as the “3-D’s” of debt, deflation, and the inevitability of demographics implosion continues to widen the wealth gap. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 23:05

  • Why Are Large Numbers Of Birds Suddenly Dropping Dead In Multiple US States?
    Why Are Large Numbers Of Birds Suddenly Dropping Dead In Multiple US States?

    Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

    As if we didn’t have enough weird things going on, now birds are suddenly dropping dead in large numbers all across the eastern half of the country.  Before they die, a lot of these birds are exhibiting very strange symptoms.  Experts are telling us that in many cases birds are developing “crusty or puffy eyes”, and often they appear to go completely blind.  In addition, quite a few of these dying birds lose their ability to stay balanced, and we are being told that some even seem to be having “seizures”.  If scientists understood what was causing this to happen, that would be one thing.  But at this point they have no idea why this is taking place, and that is quite alarming.

    So far, confirmed incidents of this strange phenomenon have been documented in Washington D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.

    Could it be possible that we are dealing with a “mystery disease” that started in one state and that has now spread to other surrounding states?

    Or is something else going on here?

    We are being told that “blue jays, common grackles and European starlings” are the most common birds that are being affected.

    But whatever is happening is not just limited to one species of birds, and I think that should be a red flag.

    If our best experts even had a decent working theory about why so many birds are dying, I probably would not have written this article.  But at this point they are openly admitting that they have absolutely no idea why so many birds are suddenly dropping dead…

    “We’re experiencing an unusual amount of bird mortality this year,” said Kate Slankard, an avian biologist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “We have yet to figure out what the problem is. The condition seems to be pretty deadly.”

    In Kentucky, the bird deaths seem to have begun in late May.  The following comes directly from the official website of the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources…

    In late May, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources began receiving reports of sick and dying birds with eye swelling and crusty discharge, as well as neurological signs. Wildlife agencies in Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and West Virginia have reported similar problems.

    State wildlife agencies are working with diagnostic laboratories to investigate the cause of mortality. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife has sent more than 20 samples for lab testing to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia. More results are pending, but no definitive cause of death has been identified at this time.

    After testing 20 samples, they still have no idea what is going on.

    According to Slankard, “hundreds of birds” in her state have now become victims…

    “They’ll just sit still, often kind of shaking,” Slankard said. “It’s pretty safe to say that hundreds of birds in the state have had this problem.”

    But of course the truth is that we have no way of knowing how many birds have actually been affected.

    It could be thousands of birds in the state.

    It could be hundreds of thousands.

    We just don’t know, and Kentucky is just one of the states that has been hit.

    In Indiana, authorities tested for avian flu and West Nile virus, but those tests came back negative…

    Indiana wildlife officials said there have been suspicious deaths of blue jays, robins, northern cardinals and brown-headed cowbirds in five counties. James Brindle, spokesman for the state’s Department of Natural Resources, said birds there have tested negative for avian influenza and West Nile virus.

    One theory that is floating around is that these birds are ingesting large amounts of pesticides because of all the cicadas that they are eating.

    Some experts are flatly dismissing that theory because “the disease has also appeared in states where cicadas are not present”.

    But how can they be so sure that it is a disease if they have absolutely no idea why this is happening?

    I don’t think that we should jump to any conclusions that are not backed up by science.

    Obviously a lot more testing needs to be done.  If it does turn out to be a disease that is causing this, is it a disease that can also spread to humans?  Moving forward, that could be one of the most important questions that needs to be answered.

    Hopefully we can get some solid answers, because this is not the first time something like this has happened.  Back in September, one expert said that it appeared that “hundreds of thousands” of birds were dropping dead in New Mexico…

    Wildlife experts in New Mexico say birds in the region are dropping dead in alarming numbers, potentially in the “hundreds of thousands.”

    “It appears to be an unprecedented and a very large number,” Martha Desmond, a professor at New Mexico State University’s department of fish, wildlife, and conservation ecology, told NBC’s Albuquerque affiliate KOB.

    But whatever was causing those deaths to happen in New Mexico seems to have stopped.

    Is there any connection between that event and the deaths that are happening in the eastern half of the country now?

    I wish that I had the answer to that question.

    We live at a time when pesticides, high technology and other forms of human activity are having a greater impact on birds and animals than ever before.  But we have also entered an era when I believe that great pestilences are going to become very common.

    Obviously something is killing all those birds, and hopefully scientists will have something solid to tell us very soon.

    With each passing day, our world is getting crazier, and so much is going wrong all around us.

    Many are hoping that 2020 and 2021 will just turn out to be anomalies, but I am entirely convinced that they are just the very small tip of a very large iceberg.

    *  *  *

    Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 22:45

  • "Defund The Police" Movement 'Coincided' With Biggest Surge In US Violence Since The '60s, FBI Data Confirms
    “Defund The Police” Movement ‘Coincided’ With Biggest Surge In US Violence Since The ’60s, FBI Data Confirms

    Based on preliminary FBI data, America experienced one of its most murderous years in decades. Of course, let’s not forget this all happened during a socio-economic collapse thanks to the virus pandemic and resulting public officials who closed the economy, leaving tens of millions of people struggling to put food on the table. At the same time, millions of others raced to their local gun store to purchase guns and ammo as liberal-run cities were transformed into a violent mess. 

    Vox reports US’ murder rate likely increased by 25% or more in 2020, but official FBI data won’t be published until later this year. The numbers are likely to be historic. “That amounts to more than 20,000 murders in a year for the first time since 1995, up from about 16,000 in 2019,” according to crime analyst Jeff Asher. 

    John Roman, a criminal justice expert at NORC at the University of Chicago, told Vox that the 2020 murder surge “is the largest increase in violence we’ve seen since the 1960s when we started collecting formal crime statistics.” 

    Many experts, or at least the ones Vox sourced or interviewed, “still don’t know why murders surged last year.” 

    For starters, perhaps liberal-run cities defunding the police and deciding not to prosecute petty crime could be some of the triggers for the increased violent crime. 

    After all, Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison this week blamed the surge in violent crime on a “number of issues,” including a shortage in staff. This comes after Baltimore City Council defunded the police last year. The new mayor, Brandon Scott, reversed the policy and increased the city’s policing budget this year to get a handle on crime. 

    Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has also spoken up and blamed “defund the police” and progressive policies for the spike in crime across Los Angeles County. 

    Oregon’s largest newspaper, The Oregonian, admitted not too long ago that their previous endorsement of defunding was the wrong decision as crime surged across Portland. 

    We could go on and on about linking defunding the police to surging violent crime, but we’ll stop it at that. 

    Until law and order are restored, something former President Trump used to say daily, chaos will continue across major metro areas, and 2021 could become an even more violent year than last. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 22:25

  • Does First Transgender Olympian Signal The Death Knell Of Female Sport?
    Does First Transgender Olympian Signal The Death Knell Of Female Sport?

    Authored by Robert Bridge via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

    It seems ridiculous to have to remind anyone of the obvious anatomical differences between males and females, but such is the state of the current world we live in.

    Laurel Hubbard will go down in the history books at the Tokyo Olympics as the first transgender athlete to compete at the Games.

    But the consequences of this decision for female athletes and women in general will be devastating and long-lasting.

    The day may be imminent when natural-born females are no longer represented on the Olympic medal podium as biological males start to make serious inroads into their sports.

    Laurel Hubbard, 43, is among five weightlifters chosen to represent New Zealand in the Tokyo Olympics to compete in the women’s 87-kilogram category. As an aside, he is also the progeny of Dick Hubbard, the former liberal mayor of Auckland. The criticism and controversy that has greeted the news of the first transgender athlete to participate in the Games does not seem misplaced. First, Hubbard, whose inclusion won the approval of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, will enjoy a competitive advantage over his contenders that has been scientifically proven to come with inborn male attributes.

    It seems ridiculous to have to remind anyone of the obvious anatomical differences between males and females, but such is the state of the current world we live in.

    According to one study, published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine, “trans women still had a 9% faster mean run speed after the 1 year period of testosterone suppression that is recommended by World Athletics for inclusion in women’s events.”

    The developmental biologist Dr. Emma Hilton seconded this opinion.

    “Males can run faster, jump longer, throw further and lift heavier than females,” Hilton confirmed in a 2019 discussion.

    “They outperform females by 10% on the running track to 30% when throwing various balls.”

    Hilton went on to produce some sports trivia to support her claim:

    • there are 9,000 males between 100m world record holders Usain Bolt and Florence Griffith Joyner, the fastest woman of all time;

    • the current female 100m Olympic champion, Elaine Thompson, is slower than the 14 year old schoolboy record holder;

    • under-15 boys squad beat the U.S. Women’s National Team in a scrimmage.

    And so on.

    Those raw statistics are not meant to diminish, of course, the tremendous achievements made by female athletes. Rather, they are meant to demonstrate the very definite boundary that exists – or should exist – between male and female contenders. In fact, the physical differences between the sexes could actually come down to a matter of life and death. Already blood has been spilt.

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    Consider, for example, the 2014 Mixed Martial Arts contest between Fallon Fox and Tamikka Brents. Fox, the first transgender fighter in MMA history, subjected Brents to a violent beating that resulted in a fractured skull and concussion. How long before a female athlete suffers serious injury – possibly even death – at the hands of a transgender woman on the field of dreams?

    As worrisome as that possibility may be, the real issue for female athletes is that these biological males are simply seen as interlopers trespassing on their territory, disqualifying them from the right to perform. Just ask Kuinini ‘Nini’ Manumua, 21, the woman who was deprived of making the Kiwi team due to the inclusion of Hubbard, who lived 35 years as a male before transitioning. As for Manumua, it would have been her first Olympics.

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    Criticism on the decision to include Hubbard on the New Zealand team has been fierce.

    Belgian weightlifter Anna Vanbellinghen said that allowing Hubbard to compete at Tokyo was unfair to female athletes, calling it “a bad joke.”

    New Zealander Daniel Leo, a former professional rugby player turned CEO, remarked in a tweet that the decision to include Hubbard “tarnishes [New Zealand’s] reputation BIG TIME.”

    Meanwhile, the British advocacy group, Fair Play for Women, slammed the IOC’s policy as “blatantly unfair.”

    “The IOC stated in its 2015 transgender guidelines that the overriding sporting objective is, and remains, the guarantee of fair competition,” remarked Nicola Williams, FPFW director.

    “But its current rules are blatantly unfair to women, and to trans gender women, who both want to play by rules which are fair to everybody.”

    In the United States, meanwhile, resistance to the madness has taken root. A number of state legislatures are opposed to the idea of permitting transgender women to play sports alongside women. Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa and Kentucky, for example, are just some of the states that have passed legislation strictly forbidding the participation of biological males in female sports unless they have undergone full reassessment surgery and taken the relative hormones.

    Louisiana law, by way of example, states that the student-athlete is eligible to compete in the reassigned gender when, among other procedures, “surgical anatomical changes have been completed, including external genitalia changes and gonadectomy.” They even demand that “legal recognition of the sex reassignment has been conferred with all the proper governmental agencies (Driver’s license, voter registration, etc.).”

    Meanwhile, in ultra-liberal states, like California, Connecticut and Colorado, public schools are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of gender identity and gender expression. Now with Biden’s executive order on gender identity and sexual orientation in effect, schools are even legally required to let transgender females use the bathroom and changing facilities that match their gender identity, thereby invading the privacy of female students both on the field and in the locker room.

    ​Clearly, what needs to happen in order to ensure fairness and safety on the playing field (and in the locker room) is for more professional athletes to speak out on this alarming trend. One such brave woman is Czech-born American tennis star, Martina Navratilova, who is among a group of female athletes that launched the Women’s Sports Policy Working Group, which operates according to the idea that “if sports were not sex-segregated, female athletes would rarely be seen in finals or on victory podiums.”

    The 18-time winner of the Grand Slam title opposed a situation where “trans men and women, just based on their self-id, would be able to compete with no mitigation … that clearly would not be a level playing field.”

    Unfortunately, it appears that the IOC, by permitting Laurel Hubbard the right to compete alongside biological females, has taken a radically different view and approach on the matter, and this decision has all the potential to set back women sports by decades, if not make it altogether redundant.

    Speak up now, ladies, or forever forfeit your rightful place on the Olympic podium.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 22:05

  • How Many Cups Of Coffee Do Americans Drink Each Day?
    How Many Cups Of Coffee Do Americans Drink Each Day?

    According to the Statista Global Consumer Survey, drinking two to three cups each day is the most common coffee consumption pattern among Americans.

    44 percent of U.S. adults said that they drank this many 7 oz. cups per day on average.

    The second most common answer – which will make many coffee lovers shake their heads in disbelief – was one cup or no coffee at all. 26 percent said they fell into that category.

    In fact, as Katharina Buchholz notes in the latest installment of the Statista survey, only 65 percent of Americans listed coffee as a beverage they regularly consumed.

    Infographic: How Many Cups of Coffee Do Americans Drink Each Day? | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    The most popular type of coffee in the U.S. is good old drip coffee, with 63 percent saying they consumed it. 22 percent of Americans said they drank iced coffee, followed by instant coffee (18 percent) in third place. 50 percent of American adults agreed with the statement “coffee is pure pleasure to me”.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 21:45

  • How Fiat Money Changes Culture
    How Fiat Money Changes Culture

    Authored by Stephan Livera via The Mises Institute,

    Can the type of money used change the culture of a society?

    This might seem like an absurd proposition, but it is supported by the arguments of proponents of the Austrian school of economics. 

    First, let’s contextualize the importance of sound money as opposed to fiat money. Mises notes in The Theory of Money and Credit: “It is impossible to grasp the meaning of the idea of sound money if one does not realize that it was devised as an instrument for the protection of civil liberties against despotic inroads on the part of governments.“

    Fiat money has never arisen through purely voluntary market actions. It has always been coercively imposed via interventions such as legal tender laws, capital gains tax laws, central banking, laws permitting fractional reserve banking, government bailout guarantees, etc. This causes a degeneration in the quality of money used by society. But are there cultural consequences of this?

    To see the cultural consequences, we must first understand the pivotal role money and prices play in coordinating production across society. Entrepreneurs must act under uncertainty to gather the required resources to offer their goods and services. And yet money, their unit of account, for measuring profit and loss, is being manipulated by the government. Money is created as new loans are issued by commercial and retail banks, and the first recipients of that money benefit at the expense of late recipients. 

    Using money with continual inflation encourages short termism and haste. We live more like animals in the wild. Animals in the wild care mostly about their next meal, rather than thinking, planning, and building for the long term as humans can do when we’re at our best.

    Consider the counterfactual world of living under sound money, chosen by the market.

    In this world, how does the state fund large programs? It must openly tax citizens, and for this, politicians pay a high price in lost popularity, and risk losing their next election. Instead of explicit taxation, politicians inside the government will prefer to use more hidden forms of funding for their programs. In order to do this, they must first remove the check of sound money. 

    Going one step further, the creation and enforcement of fiat money enables larger and more centralized government. Large government programs become possible that were not possible or sustainable under a market-chosen, sound money standard. 

    Consider the impact of profligate spending under a market-chosen monetary standard. In the past, this meant that governments spending big and living large were subject to net gold outflows to other countries. 

    While many like to think of government programs and welfare statism as a “safety net” for society, consider that these programs fundamentally drive the wrong behaviors. Where historically, non-government-based mutual-aid societies promoted a culture of self-reliance and thrift, government welfare states promote the opposite, the end result being that government programs remove the safeguards that a market society would have. In this way, fiat money frees people from the prior “restraints” of polite society, with expectations for productive and civil behavior broken. 

    Freed of prior constraints that families, religion, and communities used to impose, people often turn to more short-term gratification. They may engage in more reckless behavior that previously would have had economic consequences, such as the cost of raising children.

    Fiat inflation forces people to invest in just about anything rather than save in fiat cash, driving more money and debt as leverage through the financial services sector than otherwise would be the case. With cheap fiat debt, governments may more cheaply engage in warfare or sustain warfare for longer than they otherwise could have. Cheap fiat debt essentially provides the government with command over more of society’s resources than it otherwise would have had. 

    For readers interested in learning more, I highly recommend reading Jörg Guido Hülsmann’s The Ethics of Money Production, and watching his lecture here on the Mises Institute YouTube channel.

    How could this situation be rectified?

    If the world were to transition back to market-chosen money, such as gold or bitcoin, we would see the discipline of the free market reassert itself. Until then, let’s recognize the ways that society and culture have been greatly influenced by government fiat money. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 21:25

  • SEC Slows Robinhood IPO With Detailed Review Of Crypto-Trading Business
    SEC Slows Robinhood IPO With Detailed Review Of Crypto-Trading Business

    It looks like the SEC is creating some problems for Robinhood as the company seeks to side-step the fallout from January’s meme-stock trading frenzy (and its decision to shut down trading in GME, AMC and other meme stocks, supposedly to meet requirements stipulated by its clearing house) on its way to a multibillion-dollar IPO.

    Robinhood, which had hoped to go public this month, has seen its plans for a listing stymied by nosey regulators asking detailed questions about the company’s prospectus, specifically its plans regarding the expansion of its cryptocurrency-trading business.

    Over the past month, reports of an intensifying crackdown in China and fears about further ransomware attacks and other use-cases for organized criminal activity have prompted American regulators to reconsider their relatively liberal stance toward crypto.

    Already, the deluge of SPAC deals has created a backlog at the SEC which is taking longer to review prospective deals. Agency staff have warned corporate lawyers that it may take up to 30 days to review paperwork for SPACs, with an additional two weeks tacked on for any changes or amendments.

    For traditional IPOs, the wait could be even longer.

    A listing for Robinhood could still arrive this summer, Bloomberg said. The timeline has already slipped to July.

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been asking Robinhood about its growing cryptocurrency business, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.

    While a listing might come this summer, the popular trading app’s plans could also slip into the fall, one of the people said. The company aims to reveal its financials as soon as possible and to go public as soon as the SEC finishes its review, they said.

    Robinhood first rolled out cryptocurrency trading in 2018, but the service has been plagued by objections from regulators and occasional crashes (not unlike its equity and equity derivatives trading). Crypto prices have been on a wild ride so far this year, with bitcoin recently rebounding above $35K after tumbling below $30K for the first time in…two weeks.

    The firm first filed its S-1 in March, with a target of going public in June, which isn’t going to happen, the company says.

    As the SEC breaks Robinhood’s stones while allowing dozens of shady SPAC deals pass with nary a peep, one can’t help but wonder whether this headline is a weak attempt at CYA for the regulator, which has become notoriously behold to the corporate interests it’s supposed to police (just look at the astounding leniency granted to Elon Musk).

    A few days ago, we reported that the retail trading boom that revolutionized markets last year shows no signs of slowing.

    At this point, it seems unlikely that some lowly regulator will come forward and try to stop Vlad Tenev from cementing his multibillionaire status.

    In other news, Robinhood said Thursday that it wants the SEC to allow sub-penny pricing on exchanges. The new rule would help create tighter spreads (marginally, to be sure) for Robinhood’s clients (and the clients of other firms), the company argued, while also helping close a gap between the exchanges and private market-makers. The firm also just rolled out its IPO Access program in the US, which it claims will allow retail traders to get in on new offerings at the listing price.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 21:05

  • How Energy Transition Models Go Wrong
    How Energy Transition Models Go Wrong

    Authored by Gail Tverberg via Our Finite World blog,

    I have written many posts relating to the fact that we live in a finite world. At some point, our ability to extract resources becomes constrained. At the same time, population keeps increasing. The usual outcome when population is too high for resources is “overshoot and collapse.” But this is not a topic that the politicians or central bankers or oligarchs who attend the World Economic Forum dare to talk about.

    Instead, world leaders find a different problem, namely climate change, to emphasize above other problems. Conveniently, climate change seems to have some of the same solutions as “running out of fossil fuels.” So, a person might think that an energy transition designed to try to fix climate change would work equally well to try to fix running out of fossil fuels. Unfortunately, this isn’t really the way it works.

    In this post, I will lay out some of the issues involved.

    [1] There are many different constraints that new energy sources need to conform to.

    These are a few of the constraints I see:

    • Should be inexpensive to produce

    • Should work with the current portfolio of existing devices

    • Should be available in the quantities required, in the timeframe needed

    • Should not pollute the environment, either when created or at the end of their lifetimes

    • Should not add CO2 to the atmosphere

    • Should not distort ecosystems

    • Should be easily stored, or should be easily ramped up and down to precisely match energy timing needs

    • Cannot overuse fresh water or scarce minerals

    • Cannot require a new infrastructure of its own, unless the huge cost in terms of delayed timing and greater materials use is considered.

    If an energy type is simply a small add-on to the existing system, perhaps a little deviation from the above list can be tolerated, but if there is any intent of scaling up the new energy type, all of these requirements must be met.

    It is really the overall cost of the system that is important. Historically, the use of coal has helped keep the overall cost of the system down. Substitutes need to be developed considering the overall needs and cost of the system.

    The reason why the overall cost of the system is important is because countries with high-cost energy systems will have a difficult time competing in a world market since energy costs are an important part of the cost of producing goods and services. For example, the cost of operating a cruise ship depends, to a significant extent, on the cost of the fuel it uses.

    In theory, energy types that work with different devices (say, electric cars and trucks instead of those operated by internal combustion engines) can be used, but a long delay can be expected before a material shift in overall energy usage occurs. Furthermore, a huge ramp up in the total use of materials for production may be required. The system cannot work if the total cost is too high, or if the materials are not really available, or if the timing is too slow.

    [2] The major thing that makes an economy grow is an ever increasing supply of inexpensive-to-produce energy products.

    Food is an energy product. Let’s think of what happens when agriculture is mechanized, typically using devices that are made and operated using coal and oil. The cost of producing food drops substantially. Instead of spending, for example, 50% of a person’s wages on food, the percentage can gradually drop down to 20% of wages, and then to 10% of wages for food, and eventually even, say, to 2% of wages for food.

    As spending on food falls, opportunity for other spending arises, even with wages remaining relatively level. With lower food expenditures, a person can spend more on books (made with energy products), or personal transportation (such as a vehicle), or entertainment (also made possible by energy products). Strangely enough, in order for an economy to grow, essential items need to become an ever decreasing share of everyone’s budget, so that citizens have sufficient left-over income available for more optional items.

    It is the use of tools, made and operated with inexpensive energy products of the right types, that leverages human labor so that workers can produce more food in a given period of time. This same approach also makes many other goods and services available.

    In general, the less expensive an energy product is, the more helpful it will be to an economy. A country operating with an inexpensive mix of energy products will tend to be more competitive in the world market than one with a high-cost mix of energy products. Oil tends to be expensive; coal tends to be inexpensive. This is a major reason why, in recent years, countries using a lot of coal in their energy mix (such as China and India) have been able to grow their economies much more rapidly than those countries relying heavily on oil in their energy mixes.

    [3] If energy products are becoming more expensive to produce, or their production is not growing very rapidly, there are temporary workarounds that can hide this problem for quite a number of years.

    Back in the 1950s and 1960s, world coal and oil consumption were growing rapidly. Natural gas, hydroelectric and (a little) nuclear were added, as well. Cost of production remained low. For example, the price of oil, converted to today’s dollar value, was less than $20 per barrel.

    Once the idyllic 1950s and 1960s passed, it was necessary to hide the problems associated with the rising cost of production using several approaches:

    • Increasing use of debt – really a promise of future goods and services made with energy

    • Lower interest rates – permits increasing debt to be less of a financial burden

    • Increasing use of technology – to improve efficiency in energy usage

    • Growing use of globalization – to make use of other countries’ cheaper energy mix and lower cost of labor

    After 50+ years, we seem to be reaching limits with respect to all of these techniques:

    • Debt levels are excessive

    • Interest rates are very low, even below zero

    • Increasing use of technology as well as globalization have led to greater and greater wage disparity; many low level jobs have been eliminated completely

    • Globalization has reached its limits; China has reached a situation in which its coal supply is no longer growing

    [4] The issue that most people fail to grasp is the fact that with depletion, the cost of producing energy products tends to rise, but the selling prices of these energy products do not rise enough to keep up with the rising cost of depletion.

    As a result, production of energy products tends to fall because production becomes unprofitable.

    As we get further and further away from the ideal situation (oil less than $20 per barrel and rising in quantity each year), an increasing number of problems crop up:

    • Both oil/gas companies and coal companies become less profitable.

    • With lower energy company profits, governments can collect less taxes from these companies.

    • As old wells and mines deplete, the cost of reinvestment becomes more of a burden. Eventually, new investment is cut back to the point that production begins to fall.

    • With less growth in energy consumption, productivity growth tends to lag. This happens because energy is required to mechanize or computerize processes.

    • Wage disparity tends to grow; workers become increasingly unhappy with their governments.

    [5] Authorities with an incorrect understanding of why and how energy supplies fall have assumed that far more fossil fuels would be available than is actually the case. They have also assumed that relatively high prices for alternatives would be acceptable.

    In 2012, Jorgen Randers prepared a forecast for the next 40 years for The Club of Rome, in the form of a book, 2052, with associated data. Looking at the data, we see that Randers forecast that world coal consumption would grow by 28% between 2010 and 2020. In fact, world coal consumption grew by 0% in that period. (This latter forecast is based on BP coal consumption estimates for 2010 and 2019 from BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy 2020, adjusted for the 2019 to 2020 period change using IEA’s estimate from its Global Energy Review 2021.)

    It is very easy to assume that high estimates of coal resources in the ground will lead to high quantities of actual coal extracted and burned. The world’s experience between 2010 and 2020 shows that it doesn’t necessarily work out that way in practice. In order for coal consumption to grow, the delivered price of coal needs to stay low enough for customers to be able to afford its use in the end products it provides. Much of the supposed coal that is available is far from population centers. Some of it is even under the North Sea. The extraction and delivery costs become far too high, but this is not taken into account in resource estimates.

    Forecasts of future natural gas availability suffer from the same tendency towards over-estimation. Randers estimated that world gas consumption would grow by 40% between 2010 and 2020, when the actual increase was 22%. Other authorities make similar overestimates of future fuel use, assuming that “of course,” prices will stay high enough to enable extraction. Most energy consumption is well-buried in goods and services we buy, such as the cost of a vehicle or the cost of heating a home. If we cannot afford the vehicle, we don’t buy it; if the cost of heating a family’s home rises too high, thrifty families will turn down the thermostat.

    Oil prices, even with the recent run-up in prices, are under $75 per barrel. I have estimated that for profitable oil production (including adequate funds for high-cost reinvestment and sufficient taxes for governments), oil prices need to be over $120 per barrel. It is the lack of profitability that has caused the recent drop in production. These profitability problems can be expected to lead to more production declines in the future.

    With this low-price problem, fossil fuel estimates used in climate model scenarios are almost certainly overstated. This bias would be expected to lead to overstated estimates of future climate change.

    The misbelief that energy prices will always rise to cover higher costs of production also leads to the belief that relatively high-cost alternatives to fossil fuels would be acceptable.

    [6] Our need for additional energy supplies of the right kinds is extremely high right now. We cannot wait for a long transition. Even 30 years is too long.

    We saw in section [3] that the workarounds for a lack of growing energy supply, such as higher debt and lower interest rates, are reaching limits. Furthermore, prices have been unacceptably low for oil producers for several years. Not too surprisingly, oil production has started to decline:

    Figure 1 – World production of crude oil and condensate, based on data of the US Energy Information Administration

    What is really needed is sufficient energy of the right types for the world’s growing population. Thus, it is important to look at energy consumption on a per capita basis. Figure 2 shows energy production per capita for three groupings:

    • Tier 1: Oil and Coal

    • Tier 2: Natural Gas, Nuclear, and Hydroelectric

    • Tier 3: Other Renewables, including Intermittent Wind and Solar

    Figure 2 World per capita energy consumption by Tier. Amounts through 2019 based on BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2020. Changes for 2020 based on estimates provided by IEA Global Energy Review 2021.

    Figure 2 shows that the biggest drop is in Tier 1: Coal and Oil. In many ways, coal and oil are foundational types of energy for the economy because they are relatively easy to transport and store. Oil is important because it is used in operating agricultural machinery, road repair machinery, and vehicles of all types, including ships and airplanes. Coal is important partly because of its low cost, helping paychecks to stretch further for finished goods and services. Coal is used in many ways, including electricity production and making steel and concrete. We use coal and oil to keep electricity transmission lines repaired.

    Figure 2 shows that Tier 2 energy consumption per capita was growing rapidly in the 1965 to 1990 period, but its growth has slowed in recent years.

    The Green Energy sources in Tier 3 have been growing rapidly from a low base, but their output is still tiny compared to the overall output that would be required if they were to substitute for energy from both Tier 1 and Tier 2 sources. They clearly cannot by themselves power today’s economy.

    It is very difficult to imagine any of the Tier 2 and Tier 3 energy sources being able to grow without substantial assistance from coal and oil. All of today’s Tier 2 and Tier 3 energy sources depend on coal and oil at many points in the chain of their production, distribution, operation, and eventual recycling. If we ever get to Tier 4 energy sources (such as fusion or space solar), I would expect that they too will need oil and/or coal in their production, transport and distribution, unless there is an incredibly long transition, and a huge change in energy infrastructure.

    [7] It is easy for energy researchers to set their sights too low.

    [a] We need to be looking at the extremely low energy cost structure of the 1950s and 1960s as a model, not some far higher cost structure.

    We have been hiding the world’s energy problems for years behind rising debt and falling interest rates. With very high debt levels and very low interest rates, it is becoming less feasible to stimulate the economy using these approaches. We really need very inexpensive energy products. These energy products need to provide a full range of services required by the economy, not simply intermittent electricity.

    Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the ratio of Energy Earned to Energy Investment was likely in the 50:1 range for many energy products. Energy products were very profitable; they could be highly taxed. The alternative energy products we develop today need to have similar characteristics if they truly are to play an important role in the economy.

    [ b] A recent study says that greenhouse gas emissions related to the food system account for one-third of the anthropogenic global warming gas total. A way to grow sufficient food is clearly needed.

    We clearly cannot grow food using intermittent electricity. Farming is not an easily electrified endeavor. If we do not have an alternative, the coal and oil that we are using now in agriculture really needs to continue, even if it requires subsidies.

    [c] Hydroelectric electricity looks like a good energy source, but in practice it has many deficiencies.

    Some of the hydroelectric dams now in place are over 100 years old. This is nearing the lifetime of the concrete in the dams. Considerable maintenance and repair (indirectly using coal and oil) are likely to be needed if these dams are to continue to be used.

    The water available to provide hydroelectric power tends to vary greatly over time. Figure 3 shows California’s hydro electricity generation by month.

    Figure 3. California hydroelectric energy production by month, based on data of the US Energy Information Administration.

    Thus, as a practical matter, hydroelectric energy needs to be balanced with fossil fuels to provide energy which can be used to power a factory or heat a home in winter. Battery storage would never be sufficient. There are too many gaps, lasting months at a time.

    If hydroelectric energy is used in a tropical area with dry and wet seasons, the result would be even more extreme. A poor country with a new hydroelectric power plant may find the output of the plant difficult to use. The electricity can only be used for very optional activities, such as bitcoin mining, or charging up small batteries for lights and phones.

    Any new hydroelectric dam runs the risk of taking away the water someone else was depending upon for irrigation or for their own electricity generation. A war could result.

    [d] Current approaches for preventing deforestation mostly seem to be shifting deforestation from high income countries to low income countries. In total, deforestation is getting worse rather than better.

    Figure 4. Forest area percentage of land area, by income group, based on data of the World Bank.

    Figure 4 shows that deforestation is getting rapidly worse in Low Income countries with today’s policies. There is also a less pronounced trend toward deforestation in Middle Income countries. It is only in High Income countries that land areas are becoming more forested. In total (not shown), the forested area for the world as a whole falls, year after year.

    Also, even when replanting is done, the new forests do not have the same characteristics as those made by natural ecosystems. They cannot house as many different species as natural ecosystems. They are likely to be less resistant to problems like insect infestations and forest fires. They are not true substitutes for the forest ecosystems that nature creates.

    [e] The way intermittent wind and solar have been added to the electric grid vastly overpays these providers, relative to the value they add to the system. Furthermore, the subsidies for intermittent renewables tend to drive out more stable producers, degrading the overall condition of the grid.

    If wind and solar are to be used, payments for the electricity they provide need to be scaled back to reflect the true value that they add to the overall system. In general, this corresponds to the savings in fossil fuel purchases that electricity providers need to make. This will be a small amount, perhaps 2 cents per kilowatt hour. Even this small amount, in theory, might be reduced to reflect the greater electricity transmission costs associated with these intermittent sources.

    We note that China is making a major step in the direction of reducing subsidies for wind and solar. It has already dramatically cut its subsidies for wind energy; new subsidy cuts for solar energy will become effective August 1, 2021.

    A major concern is the distorting impact that current pricing approaches for wind and solar have on the overall electrical system. Often, these approaches produce very low, or negative, wholesale prices for other providers. Nuclear providers are especially harmed by such practices. Nuclear is, of course, a low CO2 electricity provider.

    It seems to me that in each part of the world, some utility-type provider needs to be analyzing what the overall funding of the electrical system needs to be. Bills to individuals and businesses need to reflect these actual expected costs. This approach might avoid the artificially low rates that the current pricing system often generates. If adequate funding can be achieved, perhaps some of the corner cutting that leads to electrical outages, such as recently encountered in California and Texas, might be avoided.

    [8] When I look at the requirements for a successful energy transition and the obstacles we are up against, it is hard for me to see that any of the current approaches can be successful.

    Unfortunately, it is hard for me to see how intermittent electricity can save the world economy, or even make a dent in our problems. We have searched for a very long time, but haven’t yet found solutions truly worth ramping up. Perhaps a new “Tier 4 approach” might be helpful, but such solutions seem likely to come too late.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 20:45

  • Canadian Housing Market "Gone Berserk" As Investors Stir Bubble Fears  
    Canadian Housing Market “Gone Berserk” As Investors Stir Bubble Fears  

    Housing market activity in Canada has become a speculative bubble that is further detached from fundamentals than ever before. Investors are piling into the market, building portfolios of homes as the Central Bank of Canada (BOC) keeps interest rates pinned to the floor since the beginning of the pandemic. 

    Brady McDonald, a real investor with more than 100 homes, told Bloomberg that his “net worth has obviously gone up a lot, just based on what’s happened this year, because the market’s gone berserk.” 

    McDonald began acquiring single-family homes in a small town called Barrie, located in Ontario, in 2015. Now his net worth is “in the millions” as the country’s real estate market is overheating. 

    Bloomberg data has ranked Canada as one of the bubbliest housing markets on the planet. 

    Source: Bloomberg 

    “We have a housing crisis here,” the investor said, where prices are up 40% in just the last year. “The demand for housing is not going down. So there’s always opportunity.”

    Investors have been on a buying spree, owning approximately a fifth of new mortgages in Canada. The same rate prompted a crackdown in the UK.

    Academics have begun the debate that investors have driven housing prices into bubble territory, making affordability to new homeowners impossible. 

    “The moment we want houses to be good investments is the moment we want prices to grow faster than local economies and local earnings,” said Paul Kershaw, a professor at the University of British Columbia and founder of Generation Squeeze, a group that supports issues important to young people, including cheap housing. “That’s a recipe for unaffordability.”

    The unaffordability issue has disrupted Canadians who have been told in life that owning a home is the best way to become financially sound. Many believe that a single-family detached house is the best place to start a family. 

    One of the most common problems is that investors are outbidding first-time homebuyers. This is because investors have cheap access to capital and are willing to pay well over the list price.

    The BOC told Bloomberg in an emailed statement that “determining the precise level at which investor activity should be a cause for concern is difficult and requires further study.” 

    Perhaps that level is now as runaway home price growth is observed in Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Montreal. 

    A very similar story is playing out in the US, where institutional investors have purchased homes by the thousands. 

    Even smaller investors complain about large institutions dabbling in real estate markets who say, “it’s hard to compete” with companies who are “prepared to pay ridiculous money over asking.” 

    What ultimately needs to happen to control this speculative mania is that the BOC should transition into a tightening cycle next year. Rate increases from the zero lower bound will give the central bank more firepower to fight the next downturn. Canadians have borrowed heavily to speculate in the housing market. The next rate hike cycle could pop the bubble. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 20:25

  • Von Greyerz: The Icarus Wax Of The Everything Bubble Is Melting
    Von Greyerz: The Icarus Wax Of The Everything Bubble Is Melting

    Authored by Egon von Greyerz via GoldSwitzerland.com,

    When will the wax melt that holds up the global economy? Hubris is driving humans and markets ever higher and closer to the sun. The higher everything goes, the greater the risk that the wax melts and the wings that are supporting the global economy just fall off and everything crashes to the ground.

    Investing successfully is primarily about managing risk rather than maximising profits. As we reach the end of the biggest bull market in history, investors feel so secure that risk has become an irrelevance.

    HOCUS POCUS SYSTEM – THE SAVIOUR OF STOCKS

    The Hocus Pocus system of finance has offered total downside protection for investors for 1/2 a century. The last big crash that affected a whole generation was the 1929 crash. After a 90% fall in the Dow, it took 1/4 of a century to recover to the 1929 high.

    But since Nixon caused the Hocus Pocus system to thrive from 1971, all major crashes have quickly retraced to new highs. The Dow has fallen 40-60% in 1973, 1987, 2000, 2008 and 2020. But instead of taking 25 years to recover like after the 1929 crash, no retracement since 1971 has taken more than 2 years.

    This is the beauty of Hocus Pocus finance. Through printing and credit expansion you create unlimited access to liquidity for the big investors. Virtually no funds reach ordinary people who need it but instead the Hocus Focus system rewards the Croesus investors which means the haves get more and the have nots become relatively much poorer.

    As the graphs below show, the bottom 50% hold 0.6% of corporate equities and Mutual Funds whilst the top 1% hold over 52%.

    Income inequality is also expanding with the top 10% of earners getting just below 50% of income. As the graph shows, Europe is more egalitarian.

    REVOLUTION, WIPEOUT OR BOTH

    The inequality of wealth and income can correct itself in two distinct ways.

    Either a revolution like in France in the late 1700s or Russia in the early 1900s. This would lead to a general fall in economic activity and redistribution of wealth in a new Marxist system. Asset markets would crash leading to everyone being worse off until Marxism is rejected by the people. In Russia that process took around 70 years last time.

    The other way is a collapse of asset markets leading to a massive wipeout of the wealth of the rich. The poor would also be worse off due to the general deterioration in the economy.

    THE WAX OF THE EVERYTHING BUBBLE IS MELTING

    So coming back to when the wax holding the world economy precariously together actually melts, let’s return to the Greek mythology.

    Daedalus and his son Icarus were imprisoned by King Minos in the Labyrinth that Daedalus had built. The only way out was to fly and Daedalus came up with the idea to make bird wings that were attached to their bodies with wax. They managed to flee from the labyrinth using their wings. Icarus had been warned by his father not to fly too close to the sun as the wax would melt and he would crash. But carelessness and hubris couldn’t stop Icarus from reaching ever higher until the wax melted and he crashed to his death.

    As the Everything Bubble is flying closer to the sun, the risk of the wax melting is growing exponentially.

    The wax holding it all together needs a number of ingredients, to stick such as:

    • Confidence – even if false,

    • Hubris

    • Propaganda

    • Fake promises,

    • Zero or negative interest rates

    • Fake news

    • Manipulation

    • Corrupt financial system

    • Debasement of money and purchasing power

    • Fiscal deficits

    • Ever increasing debt & credit

    •  Unlimited money printing

    Take away one or two of these ingredients and the wax will start melting and the whole global economy crash to the ground.

    But who really cares about the wax that holds the world economy together. I and a few others have written about the problems we see and the risks we perceive. Also we discuss the consequences that will affect most people.

    But whilst some of us believe that our message is of vital importance to everyone, we are sadly only reaching a minuscule minority of people.  As the  income and wealth graphs show above, even in the Western world, most people have no assets to protect and an income that barely covers their daily outgoings.

    HOCUS POCUS SYSTEM CANNOT STOP MELTING OF WAX

    As I often stress normal people without major savings can still buy gold and silver for wealth preservation. With 1 gram of gold costing $60 and an ounce of silver $30 virtually everyone can put some savings into precious metals. If the Venezuelans had done that 20 years ago with very small money, that would have saved them from total destitution.

    I sometimes hear from people who are poor investors and even worse traders. These are people who are victims and never take responsibility for their own actions.

    Even worse, they buy at the top and sell at the bottom. And then they are experts in the most exact of all sciences, namely HINDSIGHT!

    “I should have bought Bitcoin at $10 or $100 instead of buying gold in 2011”.

    Sadly these are people who will never make money consistently on anything since they can’t take responsibility for their own actions.

    Also, they don’t comprehend that the primary purpose of holding gold or silver is to protect your wealth against the wax melting i.e. the massive risks of the everything bubble crashing to the ground

    Precious metals principal role is wealth preservation or insurance against a rotten financial system and a constant debasement of currencies until they reach ZERO as the table below shows.

    GOLD AND SILVER UPTREND IN TACT

    Technically, the precious metals are going through a minor correction which probably will not last much longer. The next move will be to $1,950 for gold on the way to $3,000 initially. Silver is likely to soon reach $30 on the way to $50 and beyond.

    These prices are probable medium term targets on the way to much higher levels as the currency system collapses.

    Holding gold and silver is imperative to protect against the next currency debasement which will be ruinous.

    Long term, gold looks extremely strong technically as the chart in this article shows. But I must stress again that investors should not focus on price but on long term insurance and wealth protection.

    INSTITUTIONAL GOLD DEMAND WILL DRIVE THE GOLD PRICE

    Another factor which will drive the gold price is institutional gold investing for primarily inflation protection purposes. The latest pension fund to buy physical gold and store it in private vaults outside the banking system is CPEV for the canton of Vaud. They have switched out of hedge funds and into $600 million of physical gold.

    Swiss institutions understand the importance of holding gold in physical form  outside the banking system rather than holding futures or gold ETFs.

    I have explained the dangers of holding gold ETFs in this article from last year.

    We are also advising clients not to hold gold in any bank, not even a Swiss Bank.

    GOLD OFFERS INSTANT LIQUIDITY

    What institutions appreciate with physical gold is that it represents instant liquidity.

    Over $180 billion of gold (mostly paper gold) is traded every day. Gold can be bought and sold around the clock at the quoted spot price plus a small margin for physical delivery.

    SWITZERLAND – A STRATEGIC GOLD HUB

    Switzerland is the primary gold hub of the world. Over 70% of all the gold bars in the world are refined in Switzerland. Gold is 29% 0f Swiss exports and thus strategically important.

    It is critical that investors have direct access to their own gold bars in the vault without passing through an intermediary as this would represent an undesirable counterparty risk.

    Also, any intermediary organising the purchase and storage of the gold should be a Swiss company. Holding gold in Switzerland organised by for example a US or UK company adds a layer of jurisdictional risk.

    All gold held in Swiss private vaults are subject to Swiss regulatory control and compliance. Gold which does not comply with the fiscal laws of the beneficial holder is not accepted by any vault.

    Swiss private gold vaults have no reporting requirements to any country. This protects the confidentiality of the holder.

    WORLD’S BIGGEST PRIVATE GOLD VAULT IN SWISS ALPS

    The vault in the video below is a Swiss owned private vault in the Swiss Alps. It is the biggest private gold vault in the world and the safest.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 20:05

  • Natgas Futures Hit 29-Month High Amid Heat Wave
    Natgas Futures Hit 29-Month High Amid Heat Wave

    Natural gas futures climbed higher Thursday on track for a 29-month high as warmer weather and a rise in exports continue to drive demand. 

    Front-month gas futures NGc1 rose 9.9 cents, or 2.97%, to $3.432 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) by late afternoon Thursday, its highest level since January 2019. 

    The U.S. Energy Information Administration released its report on the state of the natgas inventories and said utilities added 55 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas into storage last week. This is a much lower figure than the 66-bcf build analysts forecasted on Reuters polls. The primary reason for the low storage build among utilities is that power generators burned a tremendous amount of gas to keep Americans air conditioners on as a heat wave and megadrought transformed the western half of the U.S. into a furnace. 

    Last week, U.S. liquefied natural gas exports fell 9.9 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) primarily due to short-term maintenance outages at Gulf Coast ports. However, exports have been soaring in the last couple of months, with averages of 10.8 bcfd in May and a record 11.5 bcfd in April. 

    Data provider Refinitiv projected gas demand, including exports would increase from 88.2 bcfd this week to 93.1 bcfd next week

    Turning to our note on Jan. 13, titled “Goldman Flips On NatGas, Warns Of Bullish “Perfect Storm,”” it seems as Goldman Sachs’ Samantha Dart was right about “significant upside to NYMEX gas prices this summer” as prices hit 29-month highs. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 19:45

  • The Forgotten History Of Banking (And What Happens Next)
    The Forgotten History Of Banking (And What Happens Next)

    Authored by Tuomas Malinen via GnSEconomics.com,

    Banking is at the heart of modern economic systems. The history of banking is also very long. The first banks appeared around 2,500 years ago, according to the latest historical research.

    As we have explained previously, banks generate most of the new money in circulation. They have also enabled major economic and societal upheavals, including the Industrial Revolution. Now, banks are central to the approaching change, or ‘battle’, within our economic systems.

    In this second blog of our financial history series, we go through the development of banking from that of early money exchangers to the rise of the ‘shadow banking’ sector, and we explain how the modern banking system operates.

    Photo by Brock Wegner on Unsplash

    The origins

    As we explained in the previous blog, banking practices developed in Ancient Greece, more precisely in the harbor city of Piraeus, where the local bankers, or trapezitai, took deposits and provided loans at the end of the fifth century BCE.

    Still, the first known banks that truly resembled modern banks operated in Imperial Rome. The argentarii, who appear in the Roman history in mid-fourth century BCE, took deposits, advanced money to clients, lent to bidders at auction and transferred money via bills of exchange. Due to the sophistication of this banking system, it is no surprise that Rome also experienced the first banking crises. More on this later.

    Simple merchant banks, usually in the service of the rulers, appeared to Europe in the 14th century. They were concentrated in financing the production of and trade in commodities. While the Chinese had invented bookkeeping, it only appeared at the center of western development and civilization through Italian banks and the scholastic work of Lucca Pacioli in 1494.  The first modern banks and payment systems arose from merchant fairs where commodity trades were settled.

    At the merchant fairs of Lyons, in the mid-1500s, merchants realized that the trustworthiness of well-known international merchants made it possible to pass their promissory notes (a promise to reimburse at a later date) to lesser-known local merchants to create a credit system, where bilateral promises between local and international merchants were paid out as liquid liabilities. These could then easily be assigned from creditor to creditor and, in essence, create money and credit.

    There, basically, the fractional reserve banking system was born.

    Fractional reserve banking

    In a fractional banking system only a small portion—or “fraction”—of the liabilities, like deposits, and assets, like loans, are covered by the reserves or the capital of a bank.

    A bank is an exceptional entity in the sense that while, for example, the output of a tractor company is tractors, the output of a bank is debt. This debt is given out as an IOU or, more precisely, as a bank deposit. Basically, the bank promises that whatever sum you may deposit there, you can get it back whenever you want; a contractual warranty of a sort.  

    The problem in fractional reserve banking system is that only a fractional share of this bank debt is covered at any point in time. So, a banking crisis will develop when the holders of bank debt—also known as “depositors”—demand to convert their claims to cash or other liquid forms of assets in excess of the reserves of the bank. In addition to deposits, this bank debt can be bonds, derivatives or interbank funding obtained from interbank markets.

    Reserves and central banks

    Before the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1914, banks in the U.S. established reserves by themselves through clearinghouses. Because banks wanted to earn interest on their reserves, they lent reserves to other banks. Reserves were re-lent and re-lent between banks until they eventually were lent out to earn enough to cover the interest promised on the reserves. These became known as “fictitious reserves”.  The Banking Act of 1933 prohibited interest payments on all demand deposits in the U.S.

    The inputs used to create bank debt include the capital of the bank, assets, and the regulatory environment, which dictates, for instance, what “reserve ratio” banks must meet.  Due to technological and financial innovations, the proportion of bank capital required as a factor for determining bank debt levels has declined, basically, ever since the creation of modern banks. So, the capital banks are required to hold against liabilities has declined similarly throughout the development of modern banking.

    As banking officials often consider strong capital levels as a source of stability, boosting the trustworthiness of a bank, it has been regulated since the 1980s. However, because banking crises are essentially about capital flight—either in physical or digital form—against bank liabilities, they cannot be stopped by high capital or reserve requirements.  This is something history shows very clearly.

    ‘Shadow banking’

    Since the birth of banking, banks have been at the forefront of risk distribution through diversification and hedging. In the U.S., banks started to sell mortgage-backed debt obligations to investors in the 1960s.  The idea was to distribute risk outside the balance sheet of banks, which would make more funds available for lending. This is essentially the point, when ‘shadow banking’ was born.

    In the 1990s, diversification and hedging took a big leap forward when the credit default swap, CDS, was developed. In it, the risk of a loan is offset by a third party to which the bank—or, more generally, the issuer of a loan—pays a fee for the insurance.

    This new system of risk distribution through diversification and hedging was elevated to a new level after the derivatives team at J.P. Morgan invented a sort of shell-company, or SPV (“Special Purpose Vehicle”), to carry certain bank loans off the bank’s balance sheet. An SPV bundled risky loans and sold them on to investors according to calculated risk tranches, which investors then received interest income based on the riskiness of each tranche in their possession. The construct was called Bistro (“Broad index secured trust offering”).

    Further innovations included the synthetic collateralized debt obligation, or CDO. It was standardized, a more general version of the Bistro, and it could be constructed from not just CDS and other derivatives, but also from different debt securities, such as mortgages.

    The shadow banking sector can be said to consist of all financial entities that provide loans, but are not regulated under the standard banking regulatory framework.

    These include investment banks, SPVs, structured investment vehicles (SIVs), hedge funds, conduits and money market funds.

    The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 was caused by the cascading failures of ‘shadow banks’.

    Banks and liberty

    So, banks and banking have been around since the early days of human civilization.  

    Athenian banks decoupled finance from other enterprises making it easier to support distant maritime trade. Egypt set up state banks as early as the third century BCE, under Macedonian rule.  The Roman Empire developed the principles of modern banking, which were finalized in Europe in the Middle-Ages.

    Central banks, fairly new creations, started to dominate the banking system in the 1920s. Since then, their grip on the banking and financial systems has intensified. Through the issuance of central bank digital currencies, CBDCs, they could rise to rule the whole banking system and thus the economy. Alas, CBDCs are likely to become the single biggest threat to banking industry since its inception.

    Those who champion centralized control over the economy naturally applaud the idea of CBDCs. They may even see the banking industry as “evil” and welcome the “relief” brought by such centralized control. However, they also should acknowledge that modern commercial banks, and their ancestors, have been crucial in building our current standards of living. They should also remember the historical lessons, the horrors and the poverty of centrally-controlled economic systems, such as under communism.

    Thus, everyone should also ask themselves what the world would look like if a government entity, like a central bank, dictates who gets funding for what project? This is the road we are heading down with the issuance of CBDCs—and we fear the answer.

    Historical accounts are based on: William Goetzmann: Money Changes Everything: How Finance Made Civilization Possible; Gary B. Gorton: Misunderstanding Financial Crises: Why We Don’t See Them Coming; and Felix Martin: Money: The Unauthorized Biography. Gillian Tett: Fool’s Gold.

    *  *  *

    We provide in-depth analysis and forecasts on the risks haunting the global economy and the financial markets in our Q-Review reports and Deprcon Service. They are are available at our Store. See our Crisis Preparation -reports for guidelines how to prepare for the coming financial crash.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 19:25

  • State Of Emergency Declared After Miami Condo Building Collapse; 99 Still Missing
    State Of Emergency Declared After Miami Condo Building Collapse; 99 Still Missing

    Update (1910ET): Search and rescue teams comb through tons of rubble of a collapsed condo building in Surfside, Florida, according to the NYTimes. 

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

    The hunt for survivors has been ongoing for more than 12 hours since the Champlain Towers, a 12-story condo building, collapsed in the early morning hours. 

    “This process is slow and methodical,” Ray Jadallah, a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue assistant fire chief, said Thursday afternoon. “Anytime we started breaching parts of the structure, we get rubble falling on us.”

    Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade County said officials accounted for 102 people who lived in the building, but 99 people remained missing. 

    So far, at least one person was killed in the collapse. Officials warned there could be more fatalities. 

    “Fire and rescue are in there with their search team, with their dogs. It’s a very dangerous site right now. Very unstable,” Miami-Dade Police Director Freddy Ramirez told reporters. “They’re in search-and-rescue mode, and they will be in that mode for a while. They are not quitting. They’re going to work through the night. They are not stopping.”

    Ramirez said the number of casualties and people missing is still not entirely known at the moment. 

    “I don’t want to set false expectations,” he said. “This is a very tragic situation for those families and for the community.”

    The Champlain Towers South had 130 units, approximately 80 of which were occupied. The building, which was constructed in 1981, was in the process of being recertified, with several repairs being done. Every forty years, a recertification process for condo buildings in the area is performed to see if it satisfies structural standards. 

    When news broke of the collapse, Shimon Wdowinski, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University, remembered a study he completed on the condo building in the 1990s. He found the tower was sinking 2 millimeters a year in the 1990s. 

    “I looked at it this morning and said, ‘Oh my god.’ We did detect that,” he said.

    Wdowinski said his research is more than two decades old, and the sinking may have decreased or accelerated. 

    By late Thursday evening, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state emergency declaration after the building collapse. 

    Earlier, DeSantis said, “brace for some bad news.” 

    Meanwhile, former President Trump has released a statement:

    My thoughts and prayers are with all of those impacted by the building collapse in Surfside, Florida. Thank you to the incredible First Responders and Law Enforcement for arriving so quickly on the job, as always. We wish Governor Ron DeSantis, and all of those representing the Great State of Florida concerning this tragic event, Good Luck and God Speed. I am with you all the way!

    With a third or more of the condo building completely pancaked, search and rescue teams will work through the night. 

    * * * 

    Update (1448ET): NBC6 Miami’s Ari Odzer said, “Director of @MiamiDadePD says 53 people have been accounted for, 99 are missing.” 

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    * * * 

    Update (1424ET): Reporters on the ground of the collapsed condo building in Surfside say a fire has broken out. 

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    * * * 

    Update (1321ET): Even after the partial collapse of Champlain Towers, where dozens of people are unaccounted for, some condo listings remain available. 

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    “This was built way back in 1981. Wonder what the shelf-life will be for all the recent “new urbanist” high rise constructions will be, with their cheap, flimsy materials and quirky designs,” Twitter account “Brandon Adamson” said. 

    On another note, we wonder if condo listings around the collapsed building will flood the market? 

    * * * 

    Update (1035ET): Bad news is beginning to trickle out from this morning’s condo building collapse in Surfside. Earlier, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said, “brace for some bad news.” 

    Now Miami-Dade County Commissioner Sally Heyman told CNN that at least 50 people are unaccounted for in the building collapse. 

    Axios reports 51 people are unaccounted for. Still, the numbers remain loose. 

    * * * 

    Update (1010ET):  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has told the press to “brace for some bad news” following the condo building collapse in Surfside early Thursday morning. 

    * * * 

    Update (0950ET): Absolutely stunning video of the condo collapse in Surfside, Florida, has been posted on Twitter via “Andy Slater.” 

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    Here’s a GIF of the video, just in case the post is taken down. 

    * * * 

    Update (0810ET): Mayor of Surfside, Florida, the location of the condo collapse, spoke with CBS News, he said: 

    “We’re all just scratching our heads trying to imagine what in the world could have happened… It looks like an earthquake.”

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    Twitter user “John Cardillo,” says he spoke with “one of the first responders at the building collapse on Miami Beach/Surfside and initial working theory is a sinkhole.”

    Cardillo added: “Having lived down here 17 years I’ve heard more than a few architects and engineers express concern about this exact thing.”

    * * * 

    Update (0714ET): An update on the beachfront condo tower collapse in the Miami-area town of Surfside via AP News says there is no word on “casualties or details of how many people lived in the building.”

    Authorities have said, “the entire backside of the building has collapsed.” 

    * * * 

    A shocking report from Miami, Florida, early Thursday, of a condo building collapse, where at least nine people were taken to various local hospitals, according to CBS Miami. 

    Miami-Dade Rescue Fire tweeted that an 80 unit condo building in a 12-story tower in the town of Surfside, part of Champlain Towers, experienced a “partial collapse.” 

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    Reasons for the building’s collapse are not yet known. 

    Here’s a skycam footage of the collapse. 

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    Scenes on the ground are stunning. 

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    Here’s the video from within the building. 

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    … and this all plays into aging private and public buildings and infrastructure across the country are in need of serious repair. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 19:08

  • Gun Sanctuary Movement Erupts, 61% of US Counties Now Protect Second Amendment
    Gun Sanctuary Movement Erupts, 61% of US Counties Now Protect Second Amendment

    One of the most important stories of the year, so far, is the massive surge in Second Amendment sanctuaries at the state, county, and local levels, entirely ignored by liberal media. 

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    According to Noah Davis of sanctuarycounties.com, “1,930 counties that are protected by Second Amendment Sanctuary legislation at either the state or county level… this represents 61.39% of all of the counties in the United States of America.” 

    The mainstream media seems to be ignoring the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement because they’re only focused on Biden’s administration war on the National Rifle Association and the eventual banning or at least limitations of certain types of weapons. 

    As the movement grows and more and more counties become Second Amendment sanctuaries, President Biden’s war on guns might have hit a roadblock. 

    Days ago, we reported all 29 sheriffs in Utah have “pledged to do everything within their power to steadfastly protect the Second Amendment and all other individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution.” 

    White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in April that Biden might issue executive orders concerning gun control. 

    If Biden moves forward with his gun control dreams, people who are gun owners on both sides of the political aisle will be frustrated with the administration at a time when the country is descending into socio-economic chaos.  

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 19:05

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Jun 24

Today’s News 24th June 2021

  • How Powerful Is Your Passport In A Post-Pandemic World?
    How Powerful Is Your Passport In A Post-Pandemic World?

    With COVID-19 cases falling in many parts of the world and vaccination programs ramping up at warp speed, international travel no longer seems like a distant dream.

    The Henley Passport Index, which has been regularly monitoring the world’s most travel-friendly passports since 2006, has released its latest rankings and analysis.

    Visual Capitalist’s Anshool Deshmukh details below that the most recent data provides insight into what travel freedom will look like in a post-pandemic world as countries selectively begin to open their borders to international visitors.

    Prominent Countries Still Holding Strong

    The rankings are based on the visa-free score of a particular country. A visa-free score refers to the number of countries that a passport holder can visit without a visa, with a visa on arrival, or by obtaining an electronic travel authorization (ETA).

    Without considering the constantly changing COVID-19 restrictions, Japan firmly holds its position as the country with the strongest passport for the 4th year in a row.

    This positioning is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA)—with Japanese passport holders theoretically able to access a record 193 destinations from around the world visa-free.

    The last time Japan didn’t hold the number one position was back in 2017, when it shared the 5th spot with countries like the United States, New Zealand, and Switzerland.

    Singapore remains in 2nd place, with a visa-free score of 192, while Germany and South Korea again share joint-3rd place, each with access to 191 destinations.

    Throughout the 16-year history of the Henley Index, EU countries have maintained a dominant position in the passport strength reports. Finland, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain all hold the 4th position while Austria and Denmark round up the top 5 with a visa-free score of 189.

    The United States and the United Kingdom jointly share the 7th position with a visa-free score of 187 destinations. Canada, Mexico and Brazil hold the 9th, 23rd and 17th positions respectively, with Brazil experiencing a significant jump of eight places over the last 10 years.

    Editor’s note: Visit the Henley Passport Index site for a full list and ranking of all countries around the world.

    The Countries With The Least Travel Freedom

    Afghanistan continues to be the country with the least amount of travel freedom, coming in last place (110th rank) with a visa-free score of 26 destinations. Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and Yemen have access to slightly more visa-free travel, but still linger at the bottom of the overall ranking.

    The latest report indicates that the gap in travel freedom is now at its largest since the index began in 2006. Japanese passport holders can access 167 more destinations than citizens of Afghanistan, who can visit only 26.

    The Biggest Gainers In a Decade

    Over time, small annual moves in the Henley Passport Index can make a big impact—and in the last decade, countries like China and the UAE have been the biggest movers:

    China has risen by 22 places in the ranking since 2011 by going from a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 40 destinations to now 77.

    The most remarkable turnaround story on the index by far, however, is the UAE. In 2011, the UAE was ranked 65th with a visa-free score of 67 destinations. Today, thanks to the Emirates’ ongoing efforts to strengthen diplomatic ties with countries across the globe, it is now ranked 15th with a remarkable visa-free score of 174 destinations.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 02:45

  • England Set To Drop Face Mask Rules After Huge Economic Impact Revealed
    England Set To Drop Face Mask Rules After Huge Economic Impact Revealed

    Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

    England is set to drop all face mask rules on July 19th after it was revealed that keeping such restrictions in place is costing the economy billions and will force many businesses to close.

    “The requirement to wear facemasks on public transport and in shops will be replaced with guidance advising people to wear masks in certain circumstances, rather than compelling them,” reports the Times.

    The decision follows the findings of an internal economic impact assessment produced by the government’s Events Research Programme which detailed the massive impact social distancing measures are having on businesses.

    Politico Playbook reveals that, “keeping any measures would cost the economy billions and see many businesses close.”

    Specifically, indoor seated venues such as the arts, cinemas and business events would achieve just 59 per cent of their 2019 turnover if restrictions remain, costing them a whopping £4.88 billion over the next year.

    Even if the only remaining restriction kept in place is face masks, “The entire events industry would reach just 82 percent of its 2019 turnover. Indoor seated venues would get just 72 percent. Indoor non-seated just 65 percent. Outdoor non-seated venues would manage just 82 percent of their 2019 figure.”

    The events industry as a whole is bringing in only 60 per cent of normal revenue under the current restrictions, which will likely continue until July 19th.

    However, with some government advisers (namely a former Communist) pushing for restrictions to continue literally forever, don’t be surprised to see some of them reintroduced in the winter.

    But with vaccine passports for pubs still being considered, any return of restrictions will likely only impact those who haven’t taken a vaccine.

    This will then create a two tier society where those who for whatever reason haven’t had the jab will face discrimination and de facto lockdown for years to come.

    *  *  *

    Brand new merch now available! Get it at https://www.pjwshop.com/

    In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. I need you to sign up for my free newsletter here. Support my sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. Also, I urgently need your financial support here.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 02:00

  • One Nation Under Greed: The Profit Incentives Driving The American Police State
    One Nation Under Greed: The Profit Incentives Driving The American Police State

    Authored by John W. Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,

    “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” 

    – Frédéric Bastiat, French economist

    If there is an absolute maxim by which the American government seems to operate, it is that the taxpayer always gets ripped off.

    Not only are Americans forced to “spend more on state, municipal, and federal taxes than the annual financial burdens of food, clothing, and housing combined,” but we’re also being played as easy marks by hustlers bearing the imprimatur of the government.

    With every new tax, fine, fee and law adopted by our so-called representatives, the yoke around the neck of the average American seems to tighten just a little bit more.

    Everywhere you go, everything you do, and every which way you look, we’re getting swindled, cheated, conned, robbed, raided, pickpocketed, mugged, deceived, defrauded, double-crossed and fleeced by governmental and corporate shareholders of the American police state out to make a profit at taxpayer expense.

    The overt and costly signs of the despotism exercised by the increasingly authoritarian regime that passes itself off as the United States government are all around us: warrantless surveillance of Americans’ private phone and email conversations by the FBI, NSA, etc.; SWAT team raids of Americans’ homes; shootings of unarmed citizens by police; harsh punishments meted out to schoolchildren in the name of zero tolerance; drones taking to the skies domestically; endless wars; out-of-control spending; militarized police; roadside strip searches; privatized prisons with a profit incentive for jailing Americans; fusion centers that collect and disseminate data on Americans’ private transactions; and militarized agencies with stockpiles of ammunition, to name some of the most appalling.

    Meanwhile, the three branches of government (Executive, Legislative and Judicial) and the agencies under their command—Defense, Commerce, Education, Homeland Security, Justice, Treasury, etc.—have switched their allegiance to the Corporate State with its unassailable pursuit of profit at all costs and by any means possible.

    By the time you factor in the financial blowback from the COVID-19 pandemic with its politicized mandates, lockdowns, and payouts, it becomes quickly apparent that we are now ruled by a government consumed with squeezing every last penny out of the population and seemingly unconcerned if essential freedoms are trampled in the process.

    As with most things, if you want to know the real motives behind any government program, follow the money trail.

    When you dig down far enough, you quickly find that those who profit from Americans being surveilled, fined, scanned, searched, probed, tasered, arrested and imprisoned are none other than the police who arrest them, the courts which try them, the prisons which incarcerate them, and the corporations, which manufacture the weapons, equipment and prisons used by the American police state.

    Examples of this legalized, profits-over-people, government-sanctioned extortion abound.

    On the roads: Not satisfied with merely padding their budgets by issuing speeding tickets, police departments have turned to asset forfeiture and red light camera schemes as a means of growing their profits. Despite revelations of corruption, collusion and fraud, these money-making scams have been being inflicted on unsuspecting drivers by revenue-hungry municipalities. Now legislators are hoping to get in on the profit sharing by imposing a vehicle miles-traveled tax, which would charge drivers for each mile behind the wheel.

    In the prisons: States now have quotas to meet for how many Americans go to jail. Increasing numbers of states have contracted to keep their prisons at 90% to 100% capacity. This profit-driven form of mass punishment has, in turn, given rise to a $70 billion private prison industry that relies on the complicity of state governments to keep the money flowing and their privately run prisons full, “regardless of whether crime was rising or falling.” As Mother Jones reports, “private prison companies have supported and helped write … laws that drive up prison populations. Their livelihoods depend on towns, cities, and states sending more people to prison and keeping them there.” Private prisons are also doling out harsher punishments for infractions by inmates in order to keep them locked up longer in order to “boost profits” at taxpayer expense. All the while, prisoners are being forced to provide cheap labor for private corporations. No wonder the United States has the largest prison population in the world.

    In the schools: The security industrial complex with its tracking, spying, and identification devices has set its sights on the schools as “a vast, rich market”—a $20 billion market, no less—just waiting to be conquered. In fact, the public schools have become a microcosm of the total surveillance state which currently dominates America, adopting a host of surveillance technologies, including video cameras, finger and palm scanners, iris scanners, as well as RFID and GPS tracking devices, to keep constant watch over their student bodies. Likewise, the military industrial complex with its military weapons, metal detectors, and weapons of compliance such as tasers has succeeded in transforming the schools—at great taxpayer expense and personal profit—into quasi-prisons. Rounding things out are school truancy laws, which come disguised as well-meaning attempts to resolve attendance issues in the schools but in truth are nothing less than stealth maneuvers aimed at enriching school districts and court systems alike through excessive fines and jail sentences for “unauthorized” absences. Curiously, none of these efforts seem to have succeeded in making the schools any safer.

    In the endless wars abroad: Fueled by the profit-driven military industrial complex, the government’s endless wars are wreaking havoc on our communities, our budget and our police forces. Having been co-opted by greedy defense contractors, corrupt politicians and incompetent government officials, America’s expanding military empire is bleeding the country dry at a rate of more than $32 million per hour. Future wars and military exercises waged around the globe are expected to push the total bill upwards of $12 trillion by 2053.  Talk about fiscally irresponsible: the U.S. government is spending money it doesn’t have on a military empire it can’t afford. War spending is bankrupting America.

    In the form of militarized police: The Department of Homeland Security routinely hands out six-figure grants to enable local municipalities to purchase military-style vehicles, as well as a veritable war chest of weaponry, ranging from tactical vests, bomb-disarming robots, assault weapons and combat uniforms. This rise in military equipment purchases funded by the DHS has, according to analysts Andrew Becker and G.W. Schulz, “paralleled an apparent increase in local SWAT teams.” The end result? An explosive growth in the use of SWAT teams for otherwise routine police matters, an increased tendency on the part of police to shoot first and ask questions later, and an overall mindset within police forces that they are at war—and the citizenry are the enemy combatants. Over 80,000 SWAT team raids are conducted on American homes and businesses each year. Moreover, government-funded military-style training drills continue to take place in cities across the country.

    In profit-driven schemes such as asset forfeiture: Under the guise of fighting the war on drugs, government agents (usually the police) have been given broad leeway to seize billions of dollars’ worth of private property (money, cars, TVs, etc.) they “suspect” may be connected to criminal activity. Then—and here’s the kicker—whether or not any crime is actually proven to have taken place, the government keeps the citizen’s property, often divvying it up with the local police who did the initial seizure. The police are actually being trained in seminars on how to seize the “goodies” that are on police departments’ wish lists. According to the New York Times, seized monies have been used by police to “pay for sports tickets, office parties, a home security system and a $90,000 sports car.”

    Among government contractors: We have been saddled with a government that is outsourcing much of its work to high-paid contractors at great expense to the taxpayer and with no competition, little transparency and dubious savings. According to the Washington Post, “By some estimates, there are twice as many people doing government work under contract than there are government workers.” These open-ended contracts, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, “now account for anywhere between one quarter and one half of all federal service contracting.” Moreover, any attempt to reform the system is “bitterly opposed by federal employee unions, who take it as their mission to prevent good employees from being rewarded and bad employees from being fired.”

    By the security industrial complex: We’re being spied on by a domestic army of government snitches, spies and techno-warriors. In the so-called name of “precrime,” this government of Peeping Toms is watching everything we do, reading everything we write, listening to everything we say, and monitoring everything we spend. Beware of what you say, what you read, what you write, where you go, and with whom you communicate, because it is all being recorded, stored, and catalogued, and will be used against you eventually, at a time and place of the government’s choosing. This far-reaching surveillance, carried out with the complicity of the Corporate State, has paved the way for an omnipresent, militarized fourth branch of government—the Surveillance State—that came into being without any electoral mandate or constitutional referendum. That doesn’t even touch on the government’s bold forays into biometric surveillance as a means of identifying and tracking the American people from birth to death.

    By a government addicted to power: It’s a given that you can always count on the government to take advantage of a crisis, legitimate or manufactured. Emboldened by the citizenry’s inattention and willingness to tolerate its abuses, the government has weaponized one national crisis after another in order to expand its powers. The war on terror, the war on drugs, the war on illegal immigration, asset forfeiture schemes, road safety schemes, school safety schemes, eminent domain: all of these programs started out as legitimate responses to pressing concerns and have since become weapons of compliance and control in the police state’s hands. Now that the government has gotten a taste for flexing its police state powers by way of a bevy of COVID-19 lockdowns, mandates, restrictions, contact tracing programs, heightened surveillance, censorship, overcriminalization, etc., “we the people” may well find ourselves burdened with a Nanny State inclined to use its draconian pandemic powers to protect us from ourselves.

    These injustices, petty tyrannies and overt acts of hostility are being carried out in the name of the national good—against the interests of individuals, society and ultimately our freedoms—by an elite class of government officials working in partnership with megacorporations that are largely insulated from the ill effects of their actions.

    This perverse mixture of government authoritarianism and corporate profits has increased the reach of the state into our private lives while also adding a profit motive into the mix. And, as always, it’s we the people, we the taxpayers, we the gullible voters who keep getting taken for a ride by politicians eager to promise us the world on a plate.

    This is a far cry from how a representative government is supposed to operate.

    Indeed, it has been a long time since we could claim to be the masters of our own lives. Rather, we are now the subjects of a militarized, corporate empire in which the vast majority of the citizenry work their hands to the bone for the benefit of a privileged few

    Adding injury to the ongoing insult of having our tax dollars misused and our so-called representatives bought and paid for by the moneyed elite, the government then turns around and uses the money we earn with our blood, sweat and tears to target, imprison and entrap us, in the form of militarized police, surveillance cameras, private prisons, license plate readers, drones, and cell phone tracking technology.

    All of those nefarious deeds by government officials that you hear about every day: those are your tax dollars at work.

    It’s your money that allows for government agents to spy on your emails, your phone calls, your text messages, and your movements. It’s your money that allows out-of-control police officers to burst into innocent people’s homes, or probe and strip search motorists on the side of the road. And it’s your money that leads to Americans across the country being prosecuted for innocuous activities such as growing vegetable gardens in their front yards or daring to speak their truth to their elected officials.

    Just remember the next time you see a news story that makes your blood boil, whether it’s a police officer arresting someone for filming them in public, or a child being kicked out of school for attending a virtual class while playing with a toy gun, remember that it is your tax dollars that are paying for these injustices.

    There was a time in our history when our forebears said “enough is enough” and stopped paying their taxes to what they considered an illegitimate government. They stood their ground and refused to support a system that was slowly choking out any attempts at self-governance, and which refused to be held accountable for its crimes against the people.

    Their resistance sowed the seeds for the revolution that would follow.

    Unfortunately, in the 200-plus years since we established our own government, we’ve let bankers, turncoats and number-crunching bureaucrats muddy the waters and pilfer the accounts to such an extent that we’re back where we started.

    Once again, we’ve got a despotic regime with an imperial ruler doing as they please.

    Once again, we’ve got a judicial system insisting we have no rights under a government which demands that the people march in lockstep with its dictates.

    And once again, we’ve got to decide whether we’ll keep marching or break stride and make a turn toward freedom.

    But what if we didn’t just pull out our pocketbooks and pony up to the federal government’s outrageous demands for more money?

    What if we didn’t just dutifully line up to drop our hard-earned dollars into the collection bucket, no questions asked about how it will be spent?

    What if, instead of quietly sending in our checks, hoping vainly for some meager return, we did a little calculating of our own and started deducting from our taxes those programs that we refuse to support?

    As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, if the government and its emissaries can just take from you what they want, when they want, and then use it however they want, you can’t claim to be anything more than a serf in a land they think of as theirs.

    This is not freedom, America.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 06/24/2021 – 00:00

  • Visualizing The World's Population By Age Group
    Visualizing The World’s Population By Age Group

    An aging population can have far-reaching consequences on a country’s economy.

    With this in mind, Visual Capitalist’s Carmen Ang looks at the age composition of the global population in 2020 in the infographic below, based on the latest figures from the United Nations.

    The Global Age Composition

    Our global population is getting older, largely because of increasing life expectancies and declining birth rates.

    In 2020, more than 147 million people around the world were between the ages of 80-99, accounting for 1.9% of the global population.

    While that percentage may seem small, that particular demographic accounted for merely 0.05% of the population in 1950, meaning our world has a notably higher percentage of older people than it did 70 years ago.

    Why is this significant? An aging population typically means a declining workforce and an increase of people looking to cash in their pensions. This can put pressure on the working class if taxes are raised.

    Of course, an aging population can have positive impacts on society as well. For instance, elderly citizens tend to volunteer more than other age groups. And research has shown that older communities have lower crime rates. By 2050, the crime rate in Australia expected to drop by 16% as the country’s population gets older.

    To mitigate some of the risks associated with a rapidly aging population, certain countries are working towards more sustainable pension systems, to support aging citizens while taking the stress off the working population.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 23:40

  • New Law Requires Florida Students To Be Taught About "The Evils Of Communism"
    New Law Requires Florida Students To Be Taught About “The Evils Of Communism”

    By Mimi Nguyen Ly of Epoch Times,

    High school students in Florida will be required to learn about “the evils of communism” under one of three bills Gov. Ron DeSantis signed on Tuesday.

    DeSantis signed the bills at a news conference at Three Oaks Middle School in Fort Myers. Two of the bills—HB 5 and SB 1108—focus on civics education, and the third—HB 233—requires freedom of expression at state colleges and universities. Specifically, HB 5 requires the Florida Department of Education to develop an integrated K-12 civic education curriculum that includes teaching students about citizens’ shared rights under the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

    The measure also adds a requirement for public high schools to “include a comparative discussion of political ideologies, such as communism and totalitarianism, that conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy essential to the founding principles of the United States.”

    In short, high schools must provide “instruction on the evils of communism and totalitarian ideology,” DeSantis said, noting that there are Florida residents who have escaped totalitarian regimes and communist dictatorships, such as from Cuba and Vietnam, to live in America.

    “We want all students to understand the difference,” he said.

    “Why would somebody flee across shark-infested waters … why would people leave these countries and risk their lives to be able to come here? It’s important that students understand that.”

    HB 5 will also provide a “Portraits in Patriotism” library with resources that include personal stories of “real patriots who came to this country after seeing the horrors of these communist regimes,” DeSantis said.

    The Republican governor also signed SB 1108, which requires state college and university students to undergo both a civic literacy course and a civic literacy assessment in order to graduate. Prior to this bill, students were only required to do one—either the course or the assessment.

    High school students will also be required to take a civic literacy assessment. If they pass the test, they will be exempted from taking a civics test in college or university.

    The bill also expands a “character development curriculum” for high school juniors and seniors to include instructions on how to register to vote.

    In a statement, DeSantis said he was proud to sign the bills to prioritize civics education.

    “The sad reality is that only two in five Americans can correctly name the three branches of government, and more than a third of Americans cannot name any of the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment,” he said.

    “It is abundantly clear that we need to do a much better job of educating our students in civics to prepare them for the rest of their lives.”

    The third bill DeSantis signed, HB 233, seeks to protect “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” in postsecondary education.

    It requires state colleges and universities to carry out annual assessments on intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity at these institutions. The bill defines “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” as “the exposure of students to, and the encouragement of students’ exploration of, a variety of ideological and political perspectives.”

    The new law will also prohibit postsecondary schools from limiting students and staff members from accessing or observing “ideas and opinions that they may find uncomfortable, unwelcome, disagreeable, or offensive.”

    “We obviously want our universities to be focused on critical thinking, academic rigor,” DeSantis told the press conference.

    “We do not want them as basically hotbeds for stale ideology—that’s not worth tax dollars, and that’s not something we’re going to be supporting going forward.”

    He noted, “It used to be thought that a university campus was a place where you’d be exposed to these sorts of ideas. Unfortunately, now the norm is really these are more intellectually repressive environments. You have orthodoxies that are promoted, and other viewpoints are shunned or even suppressed. We don’t want that in Florida. You need to have a true contest of ideas.”

    “Students should not be shielded from ideas, and we want robust First Amendment speech on our college and university campuses.”

    The trio of bills are the latest efforts by DeSantis’s administration focused on education in Florida.

    In 2019, DeSantis signed an executive order that involved completely eliminating Common Core in Florida, a set of education standards for reading, writing, and maths in the majority of states since 2010.

    The same order directed Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran to develop recommendations for the state legislature, including ideas to improve testing, and to “identify ways to really make civics education a priority in Florida,” DeSantis said back in 2019.

    More recently, the Floridian governor supported the Florida Board of Education’s decision to ban the teaching of critical race theory in public schools.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 23:20

  • Is HAARP Firing Up? FAA Issues Warning About "Electromagnetic Radiation"
    Is HAARP Firing Up? FAA Issues Warning About “Electromagnetic Radiation”

    A longstanding topic of great speculation among curious minds is HAARP, a controversial Alaska-based research facility that studies the outermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere: the ionosphere. 

    HAARP (short for High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) has been at the center of wild speculation that its high-power radio frequency transmitter facility can control the weather. Though those claims have yet to be confirmed, conspiracy theorists say otherwise. 

    HAARP has fallen out of the news cycle in recent years for inactivity, but there’s reason to believe that it’s being fired back up for “scientific research.” 

    A notice to airmen (known as a NOTAM) was issued by the Federal Aviation Administration on June 17 with the beginning date of June 21 through June 25.

    The NOTAM places “temporary flight restrictions” around Gulkana, Alaska, where the HAARP facility is located. It reads that planes are restricted from flying in the Gulkana airspace due to “electromagnetic radiation for scientific research.”

    FDC 1/6022 ZAN AK..AIRSPACE GULKANA, AK..TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS WI AN AREA DEFINED AS 2.5NM RADIUS OF 622333N1450902W (GKN007016.6) SFC-FL250 FOR ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION FR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. PURSUANT TO 14 CFR SECTION 91.137 (A)(1) TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT. TRANSIT THRU THE AIRSPACE MAY BE AUTH BY HAARP COMMAND CENTER, TEL 907-822-5497 OR FREQ 123.3. ANCHORAGE /ZAN/ ARTCC TEL 907-269-1103 IS THE FAA CDN FACILITY. DLY 0400-1730 2106210400-2106251730.

    If concerned citizens are correct and HAARP can, in fact, control weather or even weaponize weather – what could the government be up to? 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 23:00

  • Bovard: The Deep State Defeat Of Donald Trump
    Bovard: The Deep State Defeat Of Donald Trump

    Authored by James Bovard via The Future of Freedom Foundation,

    “The Trump–Deep State clash is a showdown between a presidency that is far too powerful versus federal agencies that have become fiefdoms with immunity for almost any and all abuses,” I wrote in an FFF article a year ago.

    Since then, Donald Trump lost the 2020 election by fewer than 50,000 votes in a handful of swing states that determined the Electoral College result.  There were numerous issues that could drive that relatively small number of votes. But machinations by the Deep State probably cost Trump far more votes than it took to seal his loss.

    “The Deep State” commonly refers to officials who secretly wield power permanently in Washington, often in federal agencies with vast sway and little accountability. During Trump’s first impeachment, the establishment media exalted the Deep State. New York Times columnist James Stewart assured readers that the secretive agencies “work for the American people,” New York Times editorial writer Michelle Cottle hailed the Deep State as “a collection of patriotic public servants,” and Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson captured the Beltway’s verdict:

    “God bless the Deep State!”

    The first three years of Trump’s presidency were haunted by constant accusations that he had colluded with Russians to win the 2016 election. The FBI launched its investigation on the basis of ludicrous allegations from a dossier financed by the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. FBI officials deceived the FISA Court to authorize surveilling the Trump campaign. A FISA warrant is the nuclear bomb of searches, authorizing the FBI “to conduct simultaneous telephone, microphone, cell phone, e-mail and computer surveillance of the U.S. person target’s home, workplace and vehicles,” as well as “physical searches of the target’s residence, office, vehicles, computer, safe deposit box and U.S. mails,” as a FISA court decision noted. The FISA court is extremely deferential, approving 99 percent of all search warrant requests.

    Leaks from federal officials spurred media hysteria that put Trump on the defensive even before he took his oath of office in January 2017. A 2018 Inspector General (IG) report revealed that one FBI agent labeled Trump supporters as “retarded” and declared, “I’m with her” (Clinton). Another FBI employee texted that “Trump’s supporters are all poor to middle class, uneducated, lazy POS.” One FBI lawyer texted that he was “devastated” by Trump’s election and declared, “Viva la Resistance!” and “I never really liked the Republic anyway.” The same person became the “primary FBI attorney assigned to [the Russian election-interference] investigation beginning in early 2017,” the IG noted.

    FBI chief James Comey leaked official memos to friendly reporters, thereby spurring the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Trump. A 2019 Inspector General report noted that top FBI officials told the IG that they were “shocked,” “stunned,” and “surprised’ that Comey would leak the contents of one of the memos to a reporter. The IG concluded, “The unauthorized disclosure of this information — information that Comey knew only by virtue of his position as FBI Director — violated the terms of his FBI Employment Agreement and the FBI’s Prepublication Review Policy.” The IG concluded that by using sensitive information “to create public pressure for official action, Comey set a dangerous example for the over 35,000 current FBI employees — and the many thousands more former FBI employees — who similarly have access to or knowledge of non-public information.” The IG report warned that “the civil liberties of every individual who may fall within the scope of the FBI’s investigative authorities depend on FBI’s ability to protect sensitive information from unauthorized disclosure.”

    But the only penalty that Comey suffered was to collect multimillion-dollar advances for his book deals.

    The Steele dossier

    In December 2019, another Inspector General report confirmed that the FBI made “fundamental errors” to justify surveilling the Trump campaign. The FBI refrained from launching a FISA warrant request until it came into possession of a dossier from Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence agent. The Steele dossier played “a central and essential role in the decision by FBI [Office of General Counsel] to support the request for FISA surveillance targeting Carter Page, as well as the FBI’s ultimate decision to seek the FISA order,” the IG report concluded. The FBI “drew almost entirely” from the Steele dossier to prove a “well-developed conspiracy” between Russians and the Trump campaign. The IG found that FBI agents were “unable to corroborate any of the specific substantive allegations against Carter Page” in the Steele dossier but the FBI relied on Steele’s allegations regardless.

    The FBI withheld from the FISA court key details that obliterated the dossier’s credibility, including a warning from a top Justice Department official that “Steele may have been hired by someone associated with presidential candidate Clinton or the DNC [Democratic National Committee].” The CIA disdained the Steele dossier as “an internet rumor,” one FBI official told IG investigators.

    Many if not most of the damning details involving Russiagate have still not been disclosed. But the occasional disclosures are doing nothing to burnish the credibility of the key players. On January 12, 2017, Comey attested to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court that the Steele dossier used to hound the Trump campaign had been “verified.” But on the same day, he emailed the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, “We are not able to sufficiently corroborate the reporting.” That email was revealed this past February, thanks to a multi-year fight for disclosure by the Southeastern Legal Foundation.

    If the FBI’s deceit and political biases had been exposed in real time, there would have been far less national outrage when Trump fired Comey. Instead, that firing was quickly followed by the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate the Russian charges. In April 2019, Mueller admitted there was no evidence of collusion. Conniving by FBI officials and the veil of secrecy that hid their abuses had roiled national politics for years.

    Not one FBI official has spent a single day in jail for the abuses. In January, former FBI assistant general counsel Kevin Clinesmith was sentenced after he admitted falsifying key evidence used to secure the FISA warrant to spy on the Trump campaign. A federal prosecutor declared that the “resulting harm is immeasurable” from Clinesmith’s action. But a federal judge believed that a wrist slap was sufficient punishment — 400 hours of community service and 12 months of probation.

    The Deep State defeated Trump in part because the president appointed agency chiefs who were more devoted to secrecy than to truth. Bureaucratic barricades were reinforced by judges who repeatedly defied common sense to perpetuate iron curtains around federal agencies.

    Syria

    Trump’s failure to extract the United States from the Syrian civil war was one of his biggest foreign policy pratfalls. Each time he sought to exit that quagmire, the Washington establishment and Deep State agencies pushed back.

    When Trump tried to end CIA assistance to Syrian terrorist groups in July 2017, a Washington Post article portrayed his reversal in apocalyptic terms. Trump responded with an angry tweet: “The Amazon Washington Post fabricated the facts on my ending massive, dangerous, and wasteful payments to Syrian rebels fighting Assad.” That disclosure spurred a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the New York Times for CIA records on payments to Syrian rebel groups. The CIA denied the request and the case ended up in court.

    CIA officer Antoinette Shiner warned the court that forcing the CIA to admit that it possessed any records of aiding Syrian rebels would “confirm the existence and the focus of sensitive Agency activity that is by definition kept hidden to protect U.S. government policy objectives.” Of course, “kept hidden” doesn’t apply to the CIA when it was engaged in “not for attribution” bragging to reporters. Washington Post columnist David Ignatius proudly cited an estimate from a “knowledgeable official” that “CIA-backed fighters may have killed or wounded 100,000 Syrian soldiers and their allies over the past four years.”

    Federal judges, unlike Syrian civilians slaughtered by U.S.-funded terrorist groups, had the luxury of pretending the program didn’t exist. In a decision last July, the federal appeals court of the Second Circuit stressed that affidavits from CIA officials are “accorded a presumption of good faith” and stressed “the appropriate deference owed” to the CIA. The judges omitted quoting former CIA chief Mike Pompeo’s description of his agency’s modus operandi: “We lied, we cheated, we stole. It’s like we had entire training courses.”

    Since Trump’s tweet did not specifically state that the program he was seeking to terminate actually existed, the judges entitled the CIA to pretend it was still top secret. The judges concluded with another kowtow, stressing that they were “mindful of the requisite deference courts traditionally owe to the executive in the area of classification.” Judge Robert Katzmann dissented, declaring that the court’s decision put its “imprimatur to a fiction of deniability that no reasonable person would regard as plausible.”

    On February 9, another federal appeals court shot down a FOIA request from BuzzFeed journalist Jason Leopold who had sought the same records on the basis of Trump’s tweet. But the federal appeals court for the District of Columbia unanimously blocked Leopold’s request: “Did President Trump’s tweet officially acknowledge the existence of a program? Perhaps. Or perhaps not. And therein lies a problem.” The judges proffered no evidence that Trump had tweeted about a program that didn’t exist. The judges reached into an “Alice in Wonderland” bag of legal tricks and plucked out this pretext: “Even if the President’s tweet revealed some program, it did not reveal the existence of Agency records about that alleged program.” Since Trump failed to specify the exact room number where the records were located at CIA headquarters, the judges entitled the CIA to pretend the records didn’t exist.

    Only a federal judge could shovel that kind of hokum. Well, also members of Congress and editorial writers, but that’s a story for another month.

    *  *  *

    In his final months in office, Trump repeatedly promised massive declassification which never came.

    Was the president stymied by persons he had unwisely appointed, such as CIA chief Gina Haspel and FBI chief Christopher Wray? Or was that simply another series of empty Twitter eruptions that Trump failed to follow up? Instead, his legacy is another grim reminder of how government secrecy can determine political history.

    Have Deep State federal agencies become a Godzilla with the prerogative to undermine elections? Unfortunately, there’s no chance that federal judges would permit disclosure of the answer to that question.

    Former CIA and NSA boss Michael Hayden proudly proclaimed,

    ““Espionage is not just compatible with democracy; it’s essential for democracy.”

    And how can we know if the Deep State’s espionage is actually pro-democracy or subversive of democracy? Again, don’t expect judges to permit any truths to escape on that score.

    Secrecy is the ultimate entitlement program for the Deep State. The federal government is creating trillions of pages of new secrets every year. The more documents bureaucrats classify, the more lies politicians and government officials can tell. Federal judge Amy Berman Jackson warned in 2019, “If people don’t have the facts, democracy doesn’t work.”

    Actually, it is working very well for the FBI, CIA, and other Deep State agencies.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 22:40

  • "It's Gotten So Bad" – Violence In Baltimore City Outpaces 2020 Numbers, Gov. Hogan Reacts
    “It’s Gotten So Bad” – Violence In Baltimore City Outpaces 2020 Numbers, Gov. Hogan Reacts

    Baltimore City continues to slide into a socio-economic disaster under liberal control. The latest murders and non-fatal shootings outpace 2020 numbers, according to new crime statistics. 

    Crime and statistics data from the Baltimore City Police Department (BCPD) show the current 160 homicides is 6% above last year’s figures for this time last year. Non-fatal shootings are up 18% year-to-date.

    A Southwest Baltimore resident who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of retribution by local crime gangs told local news WJZ13 that “it’s just gotten so bad. You got to be scared to walk up and down the street, especially in the evening. Now, it’s broad daylight, too.” 

    “[Police] make their presence well-known, so it’s not like they are not here. I see police officers on every corner just about every night,” the person continued. 

    The situation in the city is so severe that Governor Larry Hogan had a recent meeting with newly elected Mayor Brandon Scott and Police Commissioner Michael Harrison. The governor said the meeting was “productive” but attributed the lack of consequences for petty crime to the surge in violence. 

    “When crime’s being committed right in front of police officers, when the state’s attorney refuses to prosecute half the crimes, we’re not going to fix the problem, regardless of how many meetings we’re going to have,” Hogan said.

    This all comes as Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby halted prosecuting minor traffic violations, prostitution, drug possession, and other minor offenses during the virus pandemic. In March, she held a press conference to declare that rough policing doesn’t prevent more violent crimes. 

    But months later, as summer begins, Mosby’s grand experiment is failing as Baltimore’s spending board approved more police funding. 

    If the pace of homicides continues, the metro area will experience more than 300 homicides by the end of the year. Shooting deaths have been elevated since the police killing of Freddie Gray in 2015. 

    The spillover in violent crime has reached the city’s most affluent areas, including Fells Point, located in the Inner Harbor district. 

    Readers may recall, earlier this month, 37 businesses in Fells threatened the mayor with not paying their taxes because they’re “fed up and frustrated” with the outburst of violence. 

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    As we’ve noted, BCPD has stepped up patrols, closed-off streets, and set up a mobile crime command center in the bar and restaurant district to get a handle on the crime overflow. 

    One of the 37 concerned business owners is Bill Packo, who owns Barley’s Backyard and has been operating in Fells for three decades. He spoke with WJZ13 about the out of control violence and public drunkenness:

    “It’s a shame. What they’re letting happen to Fells Point is what they let happen in the Inner Harbor, and now it has made its way here,” Packo said. “There’s alcohol being sold by individuals out there, drugs, and clearly we all know about the shootings that took place last weekend. But there needs to be some control out there. There is none whatsoever.”

    If violent crime continues to spiral out of control in the city, affecting local commerce, businesses will start moving out to suburbia where life is pleasant and calm. 

    Former President Trump actively spoke about Baltimore. Why is the Biden administration choosing to ignore?  

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 22:20

  • Buzzfeed Nears Deal To Finally Go Public Via SPAC
    Buzzfeed Nears Deal To Finally Go Public Via SPAC

    After years of speculation about a public offering, Buzzfeed, the digital media company that revealed recently that much of its most popular content is produced by unpaid teenagers, is nearing a deal to go public via SPAC.

    The deal, reported Wednesday evening by WSJ, will give the company enough of a bankroll to buy up other rival media firms, including Complex, a fashion- and media-based outlet. Buzzfeed hopes that it will come out on top in a wave of consolidation that will see it buy up several of its main rivals.

    The SPAC deal is being struck by Buzzfeed CEO and founder Jonah Peretti and the company 890 5th Avenue Partners, a blank-check company named after the headquarters of Marvel’s Avengers superheroes and founded by investor Adam Rothstein, and it may be officially announced as early as this week.

    Buzzfeed and a handful of digital media upstarts managed to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital via a series of funding rounds back in 2015 and 2016. Buzzfeed achieved a peak valuation of $1.5 billion after receiving $200MM from NBCUniversal. But by now, that money has probably mostly run out.

    In the intervening years, investors have been forced to write down the value of some of these investments (like Disney writing down the entirety of its investment in Vice) as the media firms have mostly underperformed. Some, like Vox, have achieved modest success via scale by buying up rival brands left and right. But Buzzfeed’s attempts at consolidation haven’t worked out so well: the firm recently laid off a huge chunk of the HuffPo staffers who migrated to Buzzfeed following the deal.

    Financial pressure has intensified for Buzzfeed, forcing it to trawl around for potential suitors. But even in the SPAC boom, which has slowed since the start of the new year, it appears many are approaching digital media with great trepidation.

    In 2017, BuzzFeed missed its revenue target of about $350MM by some 15% to 20% and laid off about 100 employees in advertising sales and business operations. The company’s finances improved over the years as Peretti managed to keep expenses down. In 2020, BuzzFeed turned a profit for the first time since 2014, in part by cutting about $30MM in expenses.

    Buzzfeed isn’t the only digital media player pursuing a SPAC. Whether this will be enough to win over investors remains to be seen. The biggest obstacle for Buzzfeed is that the digital advertising business is controlled by Google, Facebook and Amazon – the “Big three” – and independent media businesses have found it difficult to compete without selling paid subscriptions to subsidize their operations. Will Buzzfeed, a pioneer of the ‘free-to-all’ digital model, finally be forced to experiment with a paywall? And more importantly, would anybody actually pay?

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 22:00

  • Ant Group Forced To Spearhead China's New National Credit-Scoring System
    Ant Group Forced To Spearhead China’s New National Credit-Scoring System

    Beijing has apparently figured out a way for Alibaba’s Ant Group to help compensate for founder Jack Ma’s public criticisms: the firm is being forced to partner with a bevy of state-controlled enterprises to develop China’s first credit-scoring system (apparently, Beijing prioritized the rollout of its “social credit” system over the more traditional version).

    For decades now, Chinese financial institutions have been pining for a national system of credit scoring like the FICO system used in the US, despite the fact that Chinese consumers almost exclusively rely on mobile and electronic payments.

    According to WSJ, the new entity, which could be established as soon as Q3 of this year, could result in Ant ceding some control over the voluminous data it has on the financial habits of Chinese citizens. More than one billion Chinese use Ant’s Alipay app to spend, borrow or invest their money. All this data collected by Ant is the company’s secret weapon. But instead of Ant hoarding the data for itself, talks are ongoing in which the Jack Ma-controlled Ant will is launching a joint venture with a state-owned company. The resulting firm would be licensed as a credit-scoring company.

    Discussions about how these credit scores would fit into China’s national database of consumer information have continued.

    The new venture with state-backed investors would override Ant’s previous attempts to spearhead a national credit-scoring system under its own brand, Zhima Credit. Ant started the brand six years ago, and once had ambitious plans of using Zhima to provide credit scores for Chinese citizens – but those hopes were dashed, and the division was instead relegated to being a loyalty program for Alipay customers.

    While the PBOC already runs a Credit Reference Center that collects credit information about individuals and companies from banks and other financial institutions, it lacks data on many consumers who either don’t qualify for traditional bank loans or are “unbanked” for whatever reason. Fortunately, Ant, whose Alipay platform handled the equivalent of more than $17 trillion worth of transactions and originated loans to more than one-third of China’s population in the year to June 2020, has collected troves of consumer data for years.

    Back in 2016, Alibaba was investing heavily in Zhima to try and make the division China’s premier credit-scoring database. The firm had been invited by the PBOC (along with a handful of rival firms) to try and create its own credit bureau. Ant hired people from Equifax to build the risk assessment and scoring system.

    The company expected the PBOC to grant it a license to run the credit-scoring system after it had finished building out the system connecting lenders across the country to pool data on potential borrowers. But that never happened.

    Instead, regulators cracked down on peer-to-peer lending platforms after some turned out to lack proper risk controls, or be outright scams. The PBOC also decided it no longer wanted a nationwide credit-scoring system run. The PBOC later tried to revive the credit scoring system, but found private firms to be less-than-willing partners.

    With its ambitions curtailed, Zhima soon began to fade. Ant instead used the “Zhima scores” as the basis for a loyalty program for Alipay users. People with high scores could enjoy perks such as deposit-free hotel bookings and rentals of cars, bicycles and mobile power banks.

    While Zhima likely won’t be a part of the new state-controlled credit-scoring system, WSJ said the state-controlled enterprises that are partnering with Ant to create the new system will likely benefit from all Zhima’s data.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 21:40

  • Baltimore Police Chief Links Recent Crime Wave To Staff Shortages, Gang Violence
    Baltimore Police Chief Links Recent Crime Wave To Staff Shortages, Gang Violence

    Authored by Lorenz Duchamps via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison blamed a rise in violent crime and homicides in the most populous city in Maryland on “a number of issues,” including a shortage in staff.

    A Baltimore police officer at a fundraising event in Baltimore, Maryland on Sept. 12, 2019. (Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images)

    Harrison noted during an interview with CNN on Tuesday that just like New York and all the other big cities across the nation, Baltimore is seeing a spike in violence, with 18 homicides recorded in just the past ten days alone.

    “It’s a number of issues, it’s grouping gang violence, it’s retaliation from previous bad acts,” the commissioner explained.

    “But we are seeing an increase in close acquaintance shootings and domestic violence shootings where people just have absolutely poor or no conflict resolution skills and are using guns to solve their conflicts.”

    Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison, center, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, second from right, confer at the scene of a deadly shooting in Baltimore, Maryland on June 16, 2021. (Kim Hairston/The Baltimore Sun via AP)

    Harrison also noted that he hopes the police force in the city, which is seeing roughly 230 officers short of its current budget, will see more “boots on the ground” to fight the crime spike and homicides.

    “We are hiring, we are recruiting,” Harrison said. “We are using every resource available, we’re using all the time to force up and plus up the number, so we can have more officers.”

    While stressing the departments’ dire need for more officers, the chief also said additional personnel is not just good for improving law enforcement in the city, but also needed to “build those relationships” within the community, noting that the department needs the community’s help in solving these murders so these bad actors can be held accountable for “terrorizing our community.”

    The comments came as President Joe Biden plans to lay out new steps to stem a rising national tide of violent crime, with a particular focus on shootings, as administration officials brace for what they fear could be an especially turbulent summer.

    President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and Homeland Security Adviser and Deputy National Security Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on June 22, 2021. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)

    In a speech on Wednesday, Biden is to unveil a series of executive orders aimed at reducing violence, and he will renew his calls for Congress to pass gun legislation, aides said. Ahead of the speech, the Justice Department announced new strike forces aimed at tackling gun trafficking in five cities.

    “Yes, there need to be reforms of police systems across the country. The president is a firm believer in that,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.

    “But there are also steps he can take as president of the United States to help address and hopefully reduce that crime. A big part of that, in his view, is putting in place gun safety measures … using the bully pulpit but also using levers at his disposal as president.”

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    From NTD News

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 21:20

  • Is The Worst Finally Over: Automotive Chip Supply Expected To Ramp Up In Second Half Of 2021
    Is The Worst Finally Over: Automotive Chip Supply Expected To Ramp Up In Second Half Of 2021

    It looks like the ongoing semiconductor pain for the auto industry could finally be on the track to subsiding.

    That’s because car chip vendors are now able to “ramp up output” thanks to more foundry house support coming online, Digitimes Asia reported overnight. 

    The report notes that some international automotive IC vendors have “notified their clients that they can expect more supplies in second-half 2021” as foundries expand production capacity. 

    For example, the report notes that “Globalfoundries has just broken ground for a 12-inch fab construction project in Singapore”. 

    Additionally, industry sources in Taiwan told Digitimes that delivery lead times are set to be shortened substantially from the over 50 weeks they were previously at.

    It’s the first sliver of good news for the automotive industry since the semi shortage began as a result of the pandemic. Up until this report, projections for “returns to normal” looked pessimistic and gloomy not only from the automotive industry, but also from consumer electronics companies.

    Recall, just two weeks ago, we noted that Flex, the world’s third-biggest electronics contract manufacturer, offered up the “gloomiest” forecast for the crisis yet. The company has more than 100 sites in 30 countries and works with major names like Dyson and HP. 

    Lynn Torrel, Flex’s chief procurement and supply chain officer, told FT: “With such strong demand, the expectation is mid to late-2022 depending on the commodity. Some are expecting [shortages to continue] into 2023.”

    Revathi Advaithi, chief executive of Flex added that the shortage has prompted the company’s multinational customers to “take a far more serious look at restructuring their supply chains than the trade war between the US and China ever did”.

    Adavaithi commented: “Most companies won’t make a decision to regionalize just on tariffs. They know it could be a short-term thing but things like the pandemic and escalation of shipping costs that impact the total cost of ownership drives regionalization.”

    Flex’s pessimistic forecast follows that of Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger weeks ago, who we pointed out said that the shortage could last “a couple years”. 

    We noted in mid-May that Taiwan Semiconductor had plans of “doubling down” and vastly increasing its investment for production in Arizona. The chipmaking giant said at the time it was “weighing plans to pump tens of billions of dollars more into cutting-edge chip factories in the U.S. state of Arizona than it had previously disclosed”.

    The company had already said it was going to invest $10 billion to $12 billion in Arizona. It now appears to be mulling a more advanced 3 nanometer plant that could cost between $23 billion and $25 billion. The changes would come over the next 10 to 15 years, as the company builds out its Phoenix campus.

    In May we noted how automakers were being forced to leave some high tech features out of new vehicles as a result of the semi shortage. Days before that, we pointed out “thousands” of Ford trucks sitting along the highway in Kentucky, awaiting semi chips for completion of assembly. 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 21:00

  • WHO Official Says Mask Mandates & Social Distancing Should Continue Indefinitely
    WHO Official Says Mask Mandates & Social Distancing Should Continue Indefinitely

    Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

    A top WHO official says that mask mandates and social distancing should continue indefinitely in order to protect against new variants of COVID-19.

    The comments were made on Sky News by Special Envoy on Covid for the World Health Organisation (WHO). Dr David Nabarro.

    Nabarro suggested that there would be a long list of mutations of the Indian variant which would in some cases evade the protection offered by vaccines.

    “We will go from Delta to Lambda and then on to the other Greek letters, that’s inevitable, and some of these variants will be troublesome,” he said.

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    “I’m basically saying variants are going to go on coming. That’s part of life, we need to pick them up fast, we need to move quickly if we see them in a certain location, we need to build the management of variants into what we call our Covid-ready strategy, which is going to be the pattern for the foreseeable future,” he added.

    According to Nabarro, mask mandates and social distancing need to remain in place for the foreseeable future “as part of our defence” against COVID, particularly in regions which have high infection rates.

    As we highlighted earlier, England is set to drop all face mask rules on July 19 after it was revealed that they were having a massive negative impact on businesses and wiping billions off the economy.

    Several government advisers have called for coronavirus restrictions to continue forever, not just to defend against COVID, but also to fight influenza.

    Former Communist Party member and SAGE adviser Susan Michie said earlier this month that mask mandates and social distancing should continue “forever” and that people should adopt such behaviour just as they did with wearing seatbelts.

    It never ends.

    *  *  *

    Brand new merch now available! Get it at https://www.pjwshop.com/

    In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. I need you to sign up for my free newsletter here. Support my sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. Also, I urgently need your financial support here.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 20:40

  • Insurers, Owners Of Stuck Container Ship Reach Deal With Suez Canal Authority
    Insurers, Owners Of Stuck Container Ship Reach Deal With Suez Canal Authority

    The Ever Given container ship could soon be released from Egyptian authority’s control after nearly three months following the vessel’s accident in the Suez Canal in March that closed the world’s most important shipping lane for six days. The Suez Canal Authority (S.C.A.) and the vessel’s owners have been bickering over settlement figures for canal disruptions. However, it appears an “agreement in principle” between the vessel’s owners and the S.C.A. has finally been reached.

    On Wednesday, the container ship’s insurers released a statement confirming “an agreement in principle between the parties has been reached.” The vessel has been moored in Great Bitter Lake, a large saltwater lake in Egypt that is part of the Suez Canal, seized under Egyptian law until the vessel’s owners paid a settlement that was once nearly $1 billion. 

    “Following extensive discussions with the Suez Canal Authority’s negotiating committee over the past few weeks, an agreement in principle between the parties has been reached,” the UK P&I Club, a protection and indemnity insurance company wrote in a Wednesday press release. “Together with the owner and the ship’s other insurers we are now working with the S.C.A. to finalize a signed settlement agreement as soon as possible.”

    UK P&I Club did not discuss exact details about the agreement. Over the last few months, Egypt demanded compensation of $916 million for the six-day disruption when Ever Given was stuck in the lower end of the canal. More recently, the insurer opposed a $600 million settlement. 

    According to the Egyptian newspaper Ahram Online, Egypt requested $550 million on the requirement that $200 million would be paid immediately. It’s still unclear what the current agreement in principle details. 

    After nearly three months and plenty of negotiations, it appears the Ever Given could soon be released from Egyptian control. 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 20:20

  • Escape From Woke Metropolises
    Escape From Woke Metropolises

    Authored by Rob Dreher via TheAmericanConservative.com,

    Last weekend in Chicago, there were 54 shootings, five of them fatal. This was one of the fatal shootings. Warning: it’s graphic:

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    Look at these two dirtbags, just standing there filming it:

    Last week, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who is black, declared that racism is a “public health emergency” in her city, and diverted $10 million in federal Covid funds to fight racism.

    Clearly, Chicago’s mayor has things well in hand, and has no problem at all facing reality. The Chicago Bears are thinking of relocating to a suburb for a bigger stadium, and Mayor Lightfoot seems more concerned about that than mass murders.Two years ago, she blamed Texas gun laws for Chicago’s killing sprees. But Chicago’s police superintendent said that same summer that the problem was that the cops keep re-arresting the same thugs, whom the criminal justice system recycle back onto the street.

    This is what happens when you elect Woke Democrats to run your city.

    By the way, Chicago’s DA Kim Foxx was backed by leftist billionaire George Soros, who has been pouring his money into electing progressive DAs in big cities. San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin is a Soros acolyte, as is Baltimore DA Marilyn Mosby.

    All those cities are overrun by crime.

    Reader Jonah R., who lives in suburban Maryland, left this comment:

    On Thursday four young black men drove to a public elementary school in the mostly white, affluent DC neighborhood of Cleveland Park, where they fired more than 40 shots at the school in front of nearly 150 witnesses, hitting two construction workers who were renovating the building and fortunately not hitting any children only because they were in nearby trailer classrooms because of the renovation. The police chased them and caught them when they crashed their car. So far there appears to be no explanation for it other than four black dudes wanted to go randomly shoot up a white school. Let me know if this makes the national news where you live. I’m sure it won’t.

    But this is what happens when criminals feel emboldened by anti-policing rhetoric.

    In Baltimore, where the DA has implemented a policy of not prosecuting misdemeanors and low-level crimes, criminals are starting to enjoy a free-for-all environment. The tourist/bar/restaurant neighborhood of Fells Point has seen multiple shootings in the past couple weeks, with one triple shooting occurring just 25 feet from a group of police officers. Some local businesses are refusing to pay their taxes and are putting the money in escrow instead. The neighborhood, already a place for a fun night out at the bars, has been looking like Mardi Gras in recent weeks, but without the cops enforcing laws like they do in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. There’s footage of drunks jumping on police cars while the cops just watch. About a week ago, someone went into Fells Point late at night and just randomly shot a bunch of cars. Some restaurants whose owners had been desperate to reopen are closing at 9 p.m. so their employees can get home safely. Some businesses are hiring private security. Police are not enforcing open container laws, parking and traffic regulations, or laws against people openly selling drugs and liquor on the streets. Only in the past few days have the cops come in, but in pointlessly massive numbers, and they’ve closed streets and manned checkpoints, going to the opposite extreme, as if to spite the neighborhood peons who complained.

    I haven’t checked the news from Minneapolis lately. Is the community of activist hobos that formed around the site of George Floyd’s death still illegally “occupying” the site and inviting anarchy? There were three fatal shootings there in their “autonomous zone” in 2020 and one fatal shooting so far this year.

    How about a year of activists trying to burn down federal buildings in Portland? Plus, staffing of the Portland police is at its lowest in decades, and there’s been a huge surge of brazen gang violence. According to the AP, Portland disbanded its special unit dedicated to curbing gun violence because activists believed it disproportionately harmed black people.

    This is what happens when the “defund the police” chant–which is, yes, a fringe activist fantasy–becomes policy because people are too afraid to stand up to aggressive activists. I live in a safe multicultural suburb, so I’m fine, but my friends and relatives in cities like DC, Baltimore, and New York are freaking out. You can’t for a minute pretend that the rhetoric of the past year didn’t play a role in this surge of violence in our cities.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 20:00

  • GOP Sees CRT Battle As Potent Weapon In Midterms
    GOP Sees CRT Battle As Potent Weapon In Midterms

    As viral videos continue to emerge of pissed off parents putting school boards in their place over Critical Race Theory (CRT) – which charges an entire demographic with a collective crime, uses it as grounds to frame individuals within that demographic as perpetrators of that crime, and then seeks to strip condemned individuals of rights, dignity and equal protection based on that charge (via @AurelianofRome) – Republican lawmakers see an opportunity heading into midterms.

    In one blistering speech last week during a crowded district school board meeting in Illinois, parent Ty Smith, who is black, blasted CRT as an ideology that flies in the face of what Dr. Martin Luther King taught – instilling a fundamental tension and division between Americans.

    “Critical Race Theory is pretty much going to be teaching kids to hate each other, how to dislike each other…,” he said.

    More recently, parents in Loudoun County, Virginia – now “ground zero” in the fight against CRT, called out the “wokest and worst school board in America” this week, leading to arrests.

    Now, according to The Hill, “some Republican candidates — like Glenn Youngkin, the party’s nominee for governor in Virginia and a former chief executive of the Carlyle Group — are using their opposition to critical race theory to paint themselves as defenders of traditional American values and patriotism.“

    “Critical race theory is not an academic curriculum. It is a political agenda to divide people and actually put people into different buckets and then pit them against one another,” said Youngkin in a recent Fox News appearance. “Critical race theory will not be in Virginia’s schools when I serve Virginians as the next governor.”

    Other Virginia Republicans are similarly jumping on the CRT bandwagon.

    “A lot of parents have overheard their kids’ lessons during virtual school and they didn’t like what they heard. America has had to work through problems but is not a country full of racists, and we shouldn’t be teaching our kids that our nation is fundamentally racist,” said state delegate Jason Miyares (R), a GOP nominee for attorney general. “We can’t survive as a nation if we are raising an entire generation of children to learn to hate their country.”

    Opponents of critical race theory have protested in several other Virginia school districts — Frederick County, Virginia Beach, Hanover County and Amherst County — all of which do not use the theory in their own curricula. 

    Youngkin’s opponent, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), has dismissed the debate as a political fabrication that is not on the top of voters’ minds. 

    “That’s another right-wing conspiracy,” McAuliffe said in audio apparently recorded by a tracker and reported by Fox News. “This is totally made up by Donald Trump and Glenn Youngkin. This is who they are. It’s a conspiracy theory.”  -The Hill

    “Critical race theory is an absolute disaster for the Democrats,” said Sen. Rick Scott (R-RL), Chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). “Parents want their schools to teach what I got taught: Reading, writing and arithmetic.”

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 19:40

  • The "Great Reset" Is Here, Part 1: The New Blueprint For Worldwide Inflation
    The “Great Reset” Is Here, Part 1: The New Blueprint For Worldwide Inflation

    Authored by James Rickards via DailyReckoning.com,

    For years, currency analysts (myself included) have looked for signs of an international monetary “reset” that would diminish the dollar’s role as the leading reserve currency and replace it with a substitute, which would be agreed upon at some Bretton Woods-style monetary conference.

    Now, it looks like the move towards the long-expected Great Reset is accelerating.

    At the recent G7 summit in the UK, G7 leaders gave their blessings to a $100 billion allocation of IMF special drawing rights (SDRs) to help lower-income countries address the COVID-19 crisis.

    President Biden fully supports the idea. The White House issued the following statement:

    The United States and our G7 partners are actively considering a global effort to multiply the impact of the proposed Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation to the countries most in need…

    At potentially up to $100 billion in size, the proposed effort would further support health needs – including vaccinations…

    A separate press release from the same day continued the same sentiment, stating, “We strongly support the effort to recycle SDRs to further support health needs.”

    In another development, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said last Wednesday that she expected the fund’s governors to approve a $650 billion allocation of SDRs in mid-August.

    What exactly are SDRs?

    Basically, they’re world money.

    In 1969, the IMF created the SDR, possibly to serve as a source of liquidity and alternative to the dollar.

    In 1971, the dollar did devalue relative to gold and other major currencies. SDRs were issued by the IMF from 1970 to 1981. None were issued after 1981 until 2009 during the global financial crisis.

    The 2009 issuance was a case of the IMF “testing the plumbing” of the system to make sure it worked properly. Because zero SDRs were issued from 1981–2009, the IMF wanted to rehearse the governance, computational, and legal processes for issuing SDRs.

    The purpose was partly to alleviate liquidity concerns at the time, but it was also to make sure the system works in case a large, new issuance was needed on short notice. The 2009 experiment showed the system worked fine.

    Since 2009, the IMF has proceeded in slow steps to create a platform for massive new issuances of SDRs and establish a deep liquid pool of SDR-denominated assets.

    On January 7, 2011, the IMF issued a master plan for replacing the dollar with SDRs.

    This included creating an SDR bond market, SDR dealers, and ancillary facilities such as repos, derivatives, settlement and clearance channels, and the entire apparatus of a liquid bond market.

    A liquid bond market is critical. U.S. Treasury bonds are among the world’s most liquid securities, which makes the dollar a legitimate reserve currency.

    The IMF study recommended that the SDR bond market replicate the infrastructure of the U.S. Treasury market, with hedging, financing, settlement and clearance mechanisms substantially similar to those used to support trading in Treasury securities today.

    In August 2016, the World Bank announced that it would issue SDR-denominated bonds to private purchasers. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the largest bank in China, will be the lead underwriter on the deal.

    In September 2016, the IMF included the Chinese yuan in the SDR basket, giving China a seat at the monetary table.

    So, the framework has been created to expand the SDR’s scope.

    The SDR can be issued in abundance to IMF members and used in the future for a select list of the most important transactions in the world, including balance-of-payments settlements, oil pricing, and the financial accounts of the world’s largest corporations, such as Exxon Mobil, Toyota, and Royal Dutch Shell.

    The basic idea behind the SDR is that the global monetary system centered around the dollar is inherently unstable and needs to be reformed.

    Part of the problem is due to a process called Triffin’s Dilemma, named after economist Robert Triffin. Triffin said that the issuer of a dominant reserve currency had to run trade deficits so that the rest of the world could have enough of the currency to buy goods from the issuer and expand world trade.

    But, if you run deficits long enough, you would eventually go broke. This was said about the dollar in the early 1960s. The SDR would solve Triffin’s Dilemma.

    I wrote about SDRs and the global elite plans for them in the second chapter of my 2016 book, The Road to Ruin.

    Over the next several years, we will see the issuance of SDRs to transnational organizations, such as the U.N. and World Bank, for spending on climate change infrastructure and other elite pet projects outside the supervision of any democratically elected bodies.

    I call this the New Blueprint for Worldwide Inflation.

    But Triffin’s Dilemma is not the only dynamic that’s pushing the world away from the dollar.

    In Part 2, we show you why the weaponization of the dollar by the U.S. government is pushing the world to seek alternatives.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 19:20

  • Fully Vaccinated Israelis May Be Forced To Quarantine After Exposure To "Delta" Variant
    Fully Vaccinated Israelis May Be Forced To Quarantine After Exposure To “Delta” Variant

    As concerns about the threat posed by the “Delta” variant, a mutant strain of COVID-19 first discovered in India that’s believed to be much more dangerous than rival strains, intensify, Israeli health officials have just been given the authority to quarantine pretty much anybody who is exposed to “Delta”, even if the individual is already fully vaccinated, Reuters reports.

    The heavy-handed decision comes after a warning by new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday over new outbreaks caused by “Delta” . Bennett complained that daily infections have been rising again in Israel after weeks of a low plateau credited to the country’s record mass-vaccination drive.

    Under the updated Health Ministry directive, vaccinated or formerly infected people can be ordered to self-isolate for up to 14 days if authorities suspect they may have passed in “close contact with a carrier of a dangerous virus variant.”

    This could include having been passengers on the same plane, the ministry said, a possible dampener on Israel’s gradual opening of its borders to vaccinated summer tourists.

    Addressing the Knesset (Israel’s parliament), Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said fines of “thousands of shekels” might be levied against Israeli citizens or residents who travel to countries blacklisted as high COVID-19 risks.

    On June 16, the Health Ministry listed Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, India, Mexico and Russia as off-limits to Israeli citizens or residents unless they receive special permission.

    Some 55% of Israel’s 9.3MM population have received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and a steep drop in cases had prompted most economic restrictions to be lifted. But just days earlier, Israel announced plans to start vaccinating teenagers between the ages of 12 and 15.

    Offering an example of how different countries are handling the potential threat posed by the “Delta” variant, analysts at Rabobank pointed out that the UK has a far larger presence of the Delta variant, but that hasn’t stopped it from allowing everyone to travel internationally from August; and Thailand, where COVID variants are also spreading, is opening up to tourism starting July 1 (in Phuket) and nationally beginning in October.

    Meanwhile, Israel, which became the first developed nation in the world to vaccinate its population using mostly Pfizer doses, has already reinstated its mask rules after briefly removing them last week.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 19:00

  • Leading US Scientist Finds China Scrubbed Early COVID Data That Could Help Explain Origins
    Leading US Scientist Finds China Scrubbed Early COVID Data That Could Help Explain Origins

    A leading US expert in influenza viruses has discovered that early sequences of the coronavirus genome from a global database at the request of Chinese researchers.

    Professor Jesse Bloom, who works at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, found a project by Wuhan University which sequenced 34 positive COVID-19 cases from January 2020, as well as 16 cases in early February in which researchers looked into diagnosing a SARS-CoV-2 infection using a technique known as nanopore sequencing.

    While the results of their researcher were published in March as a pre-print, and in June following peer review, the genomic sequences obtained during the course of their research – and uploaded to the US-maintained Sequence Read Archive (SRA) within the National Institutes of Health – were removed by a process that could have only taken place if the SRA staff were asked to do so, according to The Telegraph.

    The sequences, which have been recovered from cloud storage and published in a pre-print, have been described by experts as “the most important data” on the origins of Covid-19 in more than a year. 

    The recovered data does not support either the “natural origins” or “lab leak” theory over the pandemic’s source, scientists say. However, it suggests the virus was circulating in Wuhan earlier than previously thought, and could perhaps point toward answers on the origins of Sars-CoV-2 – answers that could not only help end this pandemic but prevent the next one. 

    The emergence of the sequences also suggests there is more data from the early days of the epidemic that China is sitting on, and which may be recoverable by investigators. 

    Bloom writes in a lengthy Twitter thread: “Although events that led to emergence of #SARSCoV2 in Wuhan are unclear (zoonosis vs lab accident), everyone agrees deep ancestors are coronaviruses from bats. Therefore, we’d expect the first #SARSCoV2 sequences would be more similar to bat coronaviruses, and as #SARSCoV2 continued to evolve it would become more divergent from these ancestors. But that is *not* the case! Instead, early Huanan Seafood Market #SARSCoV2 viruses are more different from bat coronaviruses than #SARSCoV2 viruses collected later in China and even other countries. @lpipes @ras_nielsen give nice technical analysis at https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/38/4/1537/6028993.”

    The NIH confirmed that the removal of the data, telling the Telegraph that they had “reviewed the submitting investigator’s request to withdraw the data,” and removed it.

    “The requestor indicated the sequence information had been updated, was being submitted to another database, and wanted the data removed from SRA to avoid version control issues,” said a spokesperson, adding “Submitting investigators hold the rights to their data and can request withdrawal of the data.”

    Bloom published his findings on the preprint server bioRxiv.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 18:44

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Jun 23

Today’s News 23rd June 2021

  • Glencore CEO Says Commodity Prices Will Stay Elevated For Longer
    Glencore CEO Says Commodity Prices Will Stay Elevated For Longer

    Some commodities have taken a beating over the last week after the Federal Reserve signaled for interest-rate increases, a rising dollar, and China’s efforts to slow inflation. The question readers should ask is what happens next? 

    Well, either Ark’s Cathie Wood, who has predicted a ‘serious correction’ in commodities and a return to deflation will be correct, or Ivan Glasenberg, the CEO of commodities trading giant Glencore, who told Bloomberg Tuesday on the second day of the Qatar Economic Forum 2021 that the overall rally in commodities will continue. 

    Only one person can be right. 

    Focusing on Glasenberg’s latest comments, he believes massive infrastructure spending in China, various commodities tangled in disruption due to COVID, which tighten up supplies, along with other infrastructure spending projects worldwide, including the prospects of one in the US, will continue to elevate commodity prices. 

    He said the Chinese have been trying to push commodity prices lower but believes that “is a short-term game because the underlying fundamentals of supply and demand will keep prices higher.” 

    Glasenberg said the Chinese are taking commodities from their strategic stockpile and flooding the market to push prices lower, but that can only happen for so long until they need to restock. 

    He was hesitant to call the post-COVID move in commodities a “supercycle,” adding that “commodity prices will stay strong for a long while longer.” 

    The next catalyst that moves commodity prices higher is the once-in-a-generation investment in America’s infrastructure via the Biden administration. Glasenberg said once the infrastructure package is passed, it’ll take the shovel-ready projects about 18 months to get going, adding to further demand for commodities. 

    Important to note a bullish yearly hammer was confirmed in 2020 on the Bloomberg Commodity Index. 

    He then said, “both parts of the world,” including China and the US, will be pushing infrastructure projects simultaneously. 

    Glasenberg questions how long will it take for new mining projects to come online to meet this new demand, warning that new mines may take longer than previous cycles. 

    He added that the mining industry would struggle to keep pace with the new “demand” coming from the green new economy. 

    One person can only be correct. It’s either Wood with her suggestion of commodity price slump or Glencore’s Glasenberg that elevated commodity prices will continue. 

    For Glencore’s Glasenberg full interview, fast forward to the one-hour eleven minute mark. 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 02:45

  • Ukraine And UK To Build Warships, Establish Naval Bases Together
    Ukraine And UK To Build Warships, Establish Naval Bases Together

    Via SouthFront.org,

    Ukraine and Great Britain have agreed on the joint construction of warships and bases for the domestic Navy, the press service of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine announced.

    On June 21 in Odesa aboard the HMS DEFENDER missile destroyer of the Royal Navy, Defence Procurement Minister of Great Britain Jeremy Quin and Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Myroniuk signed “a memorandum on maritime partnership projects between the UK industry consortium and the Ukrainian Navy,” the ministry said.

    In particular, the memorandum provides for the joint design and construction of warships in Ukraine and Great Britain, the reconstruction of Ukrainian shipbuilding enterprises and the construction of two bases of the Ukrainian Naval Forces.

    The signing ceremony took place aboard one of the most modern ships of the Royal Navy, HMS Defender, and was witnessed by the Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov, the First Sea Lord Admiral Tony Radakin and the British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons.

    They also observed joint training activity of Ukrainian, UK and US Special forces.

    HMS Defender arrived in Odesa on Friday. This magnificent warship is the second Royal Navy ship to visit Odesa in the last couple of weeks after HMS TRENT.

    Joint naval projects and regular warships visits are important examples of the close ties between the UK and Ukraine, as partners and friendly nations.

    The HMS DEFENDER destroyer arrived in Odesa last Friday, June 18. This is the second Royal Navy warship to visit Odesa in the last few weeks, after HMS TRENT.

    “This is another step in the development of bilateral cooperation between Ukraine and the UK, which is aimed at strengthening the Ukrainian fleet as it continues to face danger in the Black and Azov seas,” the Ukrainian defense ministry said.

    The UK will help Ukraine revive its shipbuilding industry, the Ukrainian defense ministry said. The two countries will design and build warships in Ukraine and in the UK and set up two bases for the Ukrainian navy.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 02:00

  • Who Is A "Terrorist" In Biden's America?
    Who Is A “Terrorist” In Biden’s America?

    Authored by Whitney Webb via TheLastAmericanVagabond.com,

    Far from being a war against “white supremacy,” the Biden administration’s new “domestic terror” strategy clearly targets primarily those who oppose US government overreach and those who oppose capitalism and/or globalization.

    In the latest sign that the US government’s War on Domestic Terror is growing in scope and scale, the White House on Tuesday revealed the nation’s first ever government-wide strategy for confronting domestic terrorism. While cloaked in language about stemming racially motivated violence, the strategy places those deemed “anti-government” or “anti-authority” on a par with racist extremists and charts out policies that could easily be abused to silence or even criminalize online criticism of the government.

    Even more disturbing is the call to essentially fuse intelligence agencies, law enforcement, Silicon Valley, and “community” and “faith-based” organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, as well as unspecified foreign governments, as partners in this “war,” which the strategy makes clear will rely heavily on a pre-crime orientation focused largely on what is said on social media and encrypted platforms. Though the strategy claims that the government will “shield free speech and civil liberties” in implementing this policy, its contents reveal that it is poised to gut both.

    Indeed, while framed publicly as chiefly targeting “right-wing white supremacists,” the strategy itself makes it clear that the government does not plan to focus on the Right but instead will pursue “domestic terrorists” in “an ideologically neutral, threat-driven manner,” as the law “makes no distinction based on political view—left, right or center.” It also states that a key goal of this strategic framework is to ensure “that there is simply no governmental tolerance . . . of violence as an acceptable mode of seeking political or social change,” regardless of a perpetrator’s political affiliation. 

    Considering that the main cheerleaders for the War on Domestic Terror exist mainly in establishment left circles, such individuals should rethink their support for this new policy given that the above statements could easily come to encompass Black Lives Matter–related protests, such as those that transpired last summer, depending on which political party is in power. 

    Once the new infrastructure is in place, it will remain there and will be open to the same abuses perpetrated by both political parties in the US during the lengthy War on Terror following September 11, 2001. The history of this new “domestic terror” policy, including its origins in the Trump administration, makes this clear.

    It’s Never Been Easier to Be a “Terrorist”

    In introducing the strategy, the Biden administration cites “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists” as a key reason for the new policy and a main justification for the War on Domestic Terror in general. This was most recently demonstrated Tuesday in Attorney General Merrick Garland’s statement announcing this new strategy. However, the document itself puts “anti-government” or “anti-authority” “extremists” in the same category as violent white supremacists in terms of being a threat to the homeland. The strategy’s characterization of such individuals is unsettling.

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    For instance, those who “violently oppose” “all forms of capitalism” or “corporate globalization” are listed under this less-discussed category of “domestic terrorist.” This highlights how people on the left, many of whom have called for capitalism to be dismantled or replaced in the US in recent years, could easily be targeted in this new “war” that many self-proclaimed leftists are currently supporting. Similarly, “environmentally-motivated extremists,” a category in which groups such as Extinction Rebellion could easily fall, are also included. 

    In addition, the phrasing indicates that it could easily include as “terrorists” those who oppose the World Economic Forum’s vision for global “stakeholder capitalism,” as that form of “capitalism” involves corporations and their main “stakeholders” creating a new global economic and governance system. The WEF’s stakeholder capitalism thus involves both “capitalism” and “corporate globalization.” 

    The strategy also includes those who “take steps to violently resist government authority . . . based on perceived overreach.” This, of course, creates a dangerous situation in which the government could, purposely or otherwise, implement a policy that is an obvious overreach and/or blatantly unconstitutional and then label those who resist it “domestic terrorists” and deal with them as such—well before the overreach can be challenged in court.

    Another telling addition to this group of potential “terrorists” is “any other individual or group who engages in violence—or incites imminent violence—in opposition to legislative, regulatory or other actions taken by the government.” Thus, if the government implements a policy that a large swath of the population finds abhorrent, such as launching a new, unpopular war abroad, those deemed to be “inciting” resistance to the action online could be considered domestic terrorists. 

    Such scenarios are not unrealistic, given the loose way in which the government and the media have defined things like “incitement” and even “violence” (e. g., “hate speech” is a form of violence) in the recent past. The situation is ripe for manipulation and abuse. To think the federal government (including the Biden administration and subsequent administrations) would not abuse such power reflects an ignorance of US political history, particularly when the main forces behind most terrorist incidents in the nation are actually US government institutions like the FBI (more FBI examples here, here, here, and here).

    Furthermore, the original plans for the detention of American dissidents in the event of a national emergency, drawn up during the Reagan era as part of its “continuity of government” contingency, cited popular nonviolent opposition to US intervention in Latin America as a potential “emergency” that could trigger the activation of those plans. Many of those “continuity of government” protocols remain on the books today and can be triggered, depending on the whims of those in power. It is unlikely that this new domestic terror framework will be any different regarding nonviolent protest and demonstrations.

    Yet another passage in this section of the strategy states that “domestic terrorists” can, “in some instances, connect and intersect with conspiracy theories and other forms of disinformation and misinformation.” It adds that the proliferation of such “dangerous” information “on Internet-based communications platforms such as social media, file-upload sites and end-to-end encrypted platforms, all of these elements can combine and amplify threats to public safety.” 

    Thus, the presence of “conspiracy theories” and information deemed by the government to be “misinformation” online is itself framed as threatening public safety, a claim made more than once in this policy document. Given that a major “pillar” of the strategy involves eliminating online material that promotes “domestic terrorist” ideologies, it seems inevitable that such efforts will also “connect and intersect” with the censorship of “conspiracy theories” and narratives that the establishment finds inconvenient or threatening for any reason. 

    Pillars of Tyranny

    The strategy notes in several places that this new domestic-terror policy will involve a variety of public-private partnerships in order to “build a community to address domestic terrorism that extends not only across the Federal Government but also to critical partners.” It adds, “That includes state, local, tribal and territorial governments, as well as foreign allies and partners, civil society, the technology sector, academic, and more.” 

    The mention of foreign allies and partners is important as it suggests a multinational approach to what is supposedly a US “domestic” issue and is yet another step toward a transnational security-state apparatus. A similar multinational approach was used to devastating effect during the CIA-developed Operation Condor, which was used to target and “disappear” domestic dissidents in South America in the 1970s and 1980s. The foreign allies mentioned in the Biden administration’s strategy are left unspecified, but it seems likely that such allies would include the rest of the Five Eyes alliance (the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand) and Israel, all of which already have well-established information-sharing agreements with the US for signals intelligence.

    The new domestic-terror strategy has four main “pillars,” which can be summarized as (1) understanding and sharing domestic terrorism-related information, including with foreign governments and private tech companies; (2) preventing domestic terrorism recruitment and mobilization to violence; (3) disrupting and deterring domestic terrorism activity; and (4) confronting long-term contributors to domestic terrorism.

    The first pillar involves the mass accumulation of data through new information-sharing partnerships and the deepening of existing ones. Much of this information sharing will involve increased data mining and analysis of statements made openly on the internet, particularly on social media, something already done by US intelligence contractors such as Palantir. While the gathering of such information has been ongoing for years, this policy allows even more to be shared and legally used to make cases against individuals deemed to have made threats or expressed “dangerous” opinions online. 

    Included in the first pillar is the need to increase engagement with financial institutions concerning the financing of “domestic terrorists.” US banks, such as Bank of America, have already gone quite far in this regard, leading to accusations that it has begun acting like an intelligence agency. Such claims were made after it was revealed that the BofA had passed to the government the private banking information of over two hundred people that the bank deemed as pointing to involvement in the events of January 6, 2021. It seems likely, given this passage in the strategy, that such behavior by banks will soon become the norm, rather than an outlier, in the United States. 

    The second pillar is ostensibly focused on preventing the online recruitment of domestic terrorists and online content that leads to the “mobilization of violence.” The strategy notes that this pillar “means reducing both supply and demand of recruitment materials by limiting widespread availability online and bolstering resilience to it by those who nonetheless encounter it.“ The strategy states that such government efforts in the past have a “mixed record,” but it goes on to claim that trampling on civil liberties will be avoided because the government is “consulting extensively” with unspecified “stakeholders” nationwide.

    Regarding recruitment, the strategy states that “these activities are increasingly happening on Internet-based communications platforms, including social media, online gaming platforms, file-upload sites and end-to-end encrypted platforms, even as those products and services frequently offer other important benefits.” It adds that “the widespread availability of domestic terrorist recruitment material online is a national security threat whose front lines are overwhelmingly private-sector online platforms.” 

    The US government plans to provide “information to assist online platforms with their own initiatives to enforce their own terms of service that prohibits the use of their platforms for domestic terrorist activities” as well as to “facilitate more robust efforts outside the government to counter terrorists’ abuse of Internet-based communications platforms.” 

    Given the wider definition of “domestic terrorist” that now includes those who oppose capitalism and corporate globalization as well as those who resist government overreach, online content discussing these and other “anti-government” and “anti-authority” ideas could soon be treated in the same way as online Al Qaeda or ISIS propaganda. Efforts, however, are unlikely to remain focused on these topics. As Unlimited Hangout reported last November, both UK intelligence and the US national-security state were developing plans to treat critical reporting on the COVID-19 vaccines as “extremist” propaganda.

    Another key part of this pillar is the need to “increase digital literacy” among the American public, while censoring “harmful content” disseminated by “terrorists” as well as by “hostile foreign powers seeking to undermine American democracy.” The latter is a clear reference to the claim that critical reporting of US government policy, particularly its military and intelligence activities abroad, was the product of “Russian disinformation,” a now discredited claim that was used to heavily censor independent media. This new government strategy appears to promise more of this sort of thing. 

    It also notes that “digital literacy” education for a domestic audience is being developed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Such a policy would have previously violated US law until the Obama administration worked with Congress to repeal the Smith-Mundt Act, thus lifting the ban on the government directing propaganda at domestic audiences. 

    The third pillar of the strategy seeks to increase the number of federal prosecutors investigating and trying domestic-terror cases. Their numbers are likely to jump as the definition of “domestic terrorist” is expanded. It also seeks to explore whether “legislative reforms could meaningfully and materially increase our ability to protect Americans from acts of domestic terrorism while simultaneously guarding against potential abuse of overreach.” In contrast to past public statements on police reform by those in the Biden administration, the strategy calls to “empower” state and local law enforcement to tackle domestic terrorism, including with increased access to “intelligence” on citizens deemed dangerous or subversive for any number of reasons.

    To that effect, the strategy states the following (p. 24):

    “The Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Department of Homeland Security, with support from the National Counterterrorism Center [part of the intelligence community], are incorporating an increased focus on domestic terrorism into current intelligence products and leveraging current mechanisms of information and intelligence sharing to improve the sharing of domestic terrorism-related content and indicators with non-Federal partners. These agencies are also improving the usability of their existing information-sharing platforms, including through the development of mobile applications designed to provide a broader reach to non-Federal law enforcement partners, while simultaneously refining that support based on partner feedback.”

    Such an intelligence tool could easily be, for example, Palantir, which is already used by the intelligence agencies, the DHS, and several US police departments for “predictive policing,” that is, pre-crime actions. Notably, Palantir has long included a “subversive” label for individuals included on government and law enforcement databases, a parallel with the controversial and highly secretive Main Core database of US dissidents. 

    DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas made the “pre-crime” element of the new domestic terror strategy explicit on Tuesday when he said in a statement that DHS would continue “developing key partnerships with local stakeholders through the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) to identify potential threats and prevent terrorism.” CP3, which replaced DHS’ Office for Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention this past May, officially “supports communities across the United States to prevent individuals from radicalizing to violence and intervene when individuals have already radicalized to violence.” 

    The fourth pillar of the strategy is by far the most opaque and cryptic, while also the most far-reaching. It aims to address the sources that cause “terrorists” to mobilize “towards violence.” This requires “tackling racism in America,” a lofty goal for an administration headed by the man who controversially eulogized Congress’ most ardent segregationist and who was a key architect of the 1994 crime bill. As well, it provides for “early intervention and appropriate care for those who pose a danger to themselves or others.”

    In regard to the latter proposal, the Trump administration, in a bid to “stop mass shootings before they occur,” considered a proposal to create a “health DARPA” or “HARPA” that would monitor the online communications of everyday Americans for “neuropsychiatric” warning signs that someone might be “mobilizing towards violence.” While the Trump administration did not create HARPA or adopt this policy, the Biden administration has recently announced plans to do so.

    Finally, the strategy indicates that this fourth pillar is part of a “broader priority”: “enhancing faith in government and addressing the extreme polarization, fueled by a crisis of disinformation and misinformation often channeled through social media platforms, which can tear Americans apart and lead some to violence.” In other words, fostering trust in government while simultaneously censoring “polarizing” voices who distrust or criticize the government is a key policy goal behind the Biden administration’s new domestic-terror strategy. 

    Calling Their Shots?

    While this is a new strategy, its origins lie in the Trump administration. In October 2019, Trump’s attorney general William Barr formally announced in a memorandum that a new “national disruption and early engagement program” aimed at detecting those “mobilizing towards violence” before they commit any crime would launch in the coming months. That program, known as DEEP (Disruption and Early Engagement Program), is now active and has involved the Department of Justice, the FBI, and “private sector partners” since its creation.

    Barr’s announcement of DEEP followed his unsettling “prediction” in July 2019 that “a major incident may occur at any time that will galvanize public opinion on these issues.” Not long after that speech, a spate of mass shootings occurred, including the El Paso Walmart shooting, which killed twenty-three and about which many questions remain unanswered regarding the FBI’s apparent foreknowledge of the event. After these events took place in 2019, Trump called for the creation of a government backdoor into encryption and the very pre-crime system that Barr announced shortly thereafter in October 2019. The Biden administration, in publishing this strategy, is merely finishing what Barr started.

    Indeed, a “prediction” like Barr’s in 2019 was offered by the DHS’ Elizabeth Neumann during a Congressional hearing in late February 2020. That hearing was largely ignored by the media as it coincided with an international rise of concern regarding COVID-19. At the hearing, Neumann, who previously coordinated the development of the government’s post-9/11 terrorism information sharing strategies and policies and worked closely with the intelligence community, gave the following warning about an imminent “domestic terror” event in the United States:

    “And every counterterrorism professional I speak to in the federal government and overseas feels like we are at the doorstep of another 9/11, maybe not something that catastrophic in terms of the visual or the numbers, but that we can see it building and we don’t quite know how to stop it.”

    This “another 9/11” emerged on January 6, 2021, as the events of that day in the Capitol were quickly labeled as such by both the media and prominent politicians, while also inspiring calls from the White House and the Democrats for a “9/11-style commission” to investigate the incident. This event, of course, figures prominently in the justification for the new domestic-terror strategy, despite the considerable video and other evidence that shows that Capitol law enforcement, and potentially the FBI, were directly involved in facilitating the breach of the Capitol. In addition, when one considers that the QAnon movement, which had a clear role in the events of January 6, was itself likely a government-orchestrated psyop, the government hand in creating this situation seems clear. 

    It goes without saying that the official reasons offered for these militaristic “domestic terror” policies, which the US has already implemented abroad—causing much more terror than it has prevented—does not justify the creation of a massive new national-security infrastructure that aims to criminalize and censor online speech. Yet the admission that this new strategy, as part of a broader effort to “enhance faith in government,” combines domestic propaganda campaigns with the censorship and pursuit of those who distrust government heralds the end of even the illusion of democracy in the United States.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/23/2021 – 00:05

  • China Seizes "Large Cache Of Drugs" Hidden In Soy Ship From Brazil
    China Seizes “Large Cache Of Drugs” Hidden In Soy Ship From Brazil

    China’s Brazilian soybean imports have skyrocketed in May after previously delayed cargo arrived. In one of the shipments, Chinese customs agents found hundreds of pounds of cocaine. 

    Qingdao Customs in east China’s Shandong Province seized 474 pounds of cocaine, the largest bust this year by the customs office. 

    According to state-run media Xinhua, “authorities swung into action after receiving a tip-off that a foreign ship with a large cache of drugs was heading for Qingdao Port.” The ship originated from Brazil, hauling 67,000 tons of soybeans, and had 21 crew on board. 

    Upon arriving at Qingdao, customs agents searched the vessel and found nine suspicious packages in seven cargo holds filled with soybean. Further laboratory tests confirmed the suspicious packages have a total of 474 pounds of cocaine. 

    The last major cocaine shipment seized at Qingdao was 794 pounds in 2017. 

    Brazil is the largest supplier of soybeans, and China has been on a buying spree. So there’s no telling how many cocaine shipments hidden within soy cargos have slipped through Qingdao. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 23:45

  • Fact-Checker Poynter Demands Local News Reduce Crime Story Coverage Because It Fuels "Systemic Racism"
    Fact-Checker Poynter Demands Local News Reduce Crime Story Coverage Because It Fuels “Systemic Racism”

    Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

    Fact-checking institute Poynter is demanding that local news stations reduce coverage of stories that connect “Black and brown communities” to violent crime because it is fueling “systemic racism.”

    Yes, really.

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    The institute, which oversees the International Fact-Checking Network which operates Politifact, put out a statement urging journalists to “break the cycle of crime reporting.”

    Arrests for misdemeanors disproportionately affect people of color. Systemic racism compounds the injustice as reviews have shown that prosecutors are more likely to exclude Black jurors from trials.

    The crime and courts beat exists because it’s constantly churning out stories. Much of that content is directly related to public safety. Journalists can be smarter about who we cover and the follow-up stories we provide. Kelly McBride, who chairs the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership at Poynter, said, “Local news reporters have amplified narratives that connect Black and brown communities to crime. As a result, we have fostered systemic racism through our crime coverage.”

    It’s within our power as journalists to break that cycle. We don’t need to publicize the crime blotter simply because it fills airtime or generates clicks.

    The announcement was made at the same time that Politifact asserted that a claim the Austin-American Statesman deliberately omitted a mass shooting suspect’s description because he was black is “false.”

    However, the original report stated the reason for not including a description of the suspect was because it “could be harmful in perpetuating stereotypes,” meaning that Politifact is outright lying.

    With the addition of Politifact’s “false” rating (which itself is false), the story will now receive less circulation on social media networks.

    “Poynter president Neil Brown hates the fact people can still see what’s really happening in our streets despite their massive censorship regime and their blacklists,” writes Chris Menahan.

    Indeed, it appears as though Poynter thinks that by obfuscating the true perpetrators of violent crime, then it will cease to exist.

    The victims may have a different opinion.

    This also once again underscores how ‘fact-checking’ organizations exist to censor information and hide narratives that are inconvenient for the establishment.

    *  *  *

    Brand new merch now available! Get it at https://www.pjwshop.com/

    In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. I need you to sign up for my free newsletter here. Support my sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. Also, I urgently need your financial support here.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 23:25

  • Another Starlink Issue? Redditor Reports Lightning-Strike Blows Apart Dish 
    Another Starlink Issue? Redditor Reports Lightning-Strike Blows Apart Dish 

    During last week’s massive heat wave that scorched much of the US, some “r/Starlink” Redditors complained their satellite internet dishes were knocked offline because of overheating issues. A different week, a new problem for beta users of SpaceX’s broadband service called Starlink as it appears no match for lighting strikes. 

    On Monday, Redditor “Coryhero” posted a picture of what seems to be the remaining bits of a Starlink system after a lightning strike on Sunday blew it to pieces. He wrote in the post, “House was struck by lightning last night. RIP Starlink.”

    In a continuation post, Coryhero said the entire Starlink system “exploded,” and it also took out his “DSL internet modem” and “gaming desktop.” 

    He said, “we’re completely without internet right now.” 

    Coryhero contacted Starlink support, who said he would have to fork over “$375 for a replacement refurbished dish,” adding, “not quite what I was hoping for, with all of the other costs I’m going to have to deal with. I might have to just go back to DSL for now, unfortunately.” 

    Last week, in a completely separate issue, dishes were overheating in the hot weather, producing an error message that read, “Offline Thermal Shutdown.” The dish “overheated” and “Starlink will reconnect after cooling down,” the error message continued. 

    Some Redditors have found a workaround to operate the satellite internet dish in the summer: build a tent.

    The list of issues continues to pile up for Starlink as Redditors report the dish is no match for Mother Nature. 

    Since Starlink is in “initial beta service,” hopefully, engineers can resolve these problems. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 23:05

  • So Much Of What The CIA Used To Do Covertly It Now Does Overtly
    So Much Of What The CIA Used To Do Covertly It Now Does Overtly

    Authored by Caitlin Johnstone via Medium.com,

    In the later years of an abusive relationship I was in, my abuser had become so confident in how mentally caged he had me that he’d start overtly telling me what he is and what he was doing. He flat-out told me he was a sociopath and a manipulator, trusting that I was so submitted to his will by that point that I’d gaslight myself into reframing those statements in a sympathetic light. Toward the end one time he told me “I am going to rape you,” and then he did, and then he talked about it to some friends trusting that I’d run perception management on it for him.

    The better he got at psychologically twisting me up in knots and the more submitted I became, the more open he’d be about it. He seemed to enjoy doing this, taking a kind of exhibitionistic delight in showing off his accomplishments at crushing me as a person, both to others and to me. Like it was his art, and he wanted it to have an audience to appreciate it.

    I was reminded of this while watching a recent Fox News appearance by Glenn Greenwald where he made an observation we’ve discussed here previously about the way the CIA used to have to infiltrate the media, but now just openly has US intelligence veterans in mainstream media punditry positions managing public perception.

    “If you go and Google, and I hope your viewers do, Operation Mockingbird, what you will find is that during the Cold War these agencies used to plot how to clandestinely manipulate the news media to disseminate propaganda to the American population,” Greenwald said.

    “They used to try to do it secretly. They don’t even do it secretly anymore. They don’t need Operation Mockingbird. They literally put John Brennan who works for NBC and James Clapper who works for CNN and tons of FBI agents right on the payroll of these news organizations. They now shape the news openly to manipulate and to deceive the American population.”

    In 1977 Carl Bernstein published an article titled “The CIA and the Media” reporting that the CIA had covertly infiltrated America’s most influential news outlets and had over 400 reporters who it considered assets in a program known as Operation Mockingbird. It was a major scandal, and rightly so. The news media are meant to report truthfully about what happens in the world, not manipulate public perception to suit the agendas of spooks and warmongers.

    Nowadays the CIA collaboration happens right out in the open, and the public is too brainwashed and gaslit to even recognize this as scandalous. Immensely influential outlets like The New York Times uncritically pass on CIA disinfo which is then spun as fact by cable news pundits. The sole owner of The Washington Post is a CIA contractor, and WaPo has never once disclosed this conflict of interest when reporting on US intelligence agencies per standard journalistic protocol. Mass media outlets now openly employ intelligence agency veterans like John Brennan, James Clapper, Chuck Rosenberg, Michael Hayden, Frank Figliuzzi, Fran Townsend, Stephen Hall, Samantha Vinograd, Andrew McCabe, Josh Campbell, Asha Rangappa, Phil Mudd, James Gagliano, Jeremy Bash, Susan Hennessey, Ned Price and Rick Francona, as are known CIA assets like NBC’s Ken Dilanian, as are CIA interns like Anderson Cooper and CIA applicants like Tucker Carlson.

    They’re just rubbing it in our faces now. Like they’re showing off.

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    And that’s just the media. We also see this flaunting behavior exhibited in the US government-funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a propaganda operation geared at sabotaging foreign governments not aligned with the US which according to its own founding officials was set up to do overtly what the CIA used to do covertly. The late author and commentator William Blum makes this clear:

    [I]n 1983, the National Endowment for Democracy was set up to “support democratic institutions throughout the world through private, nongovernmental efforts”. Notice the “nongovernmental” — part of the image, part of the myth. In actuality, virtually every penny of its funding comes from the federal government, as is clearly indicated in the financial statement in each issue of its annual report. NED likes to refer to itself as an NGO (Non-governmental organization) because this helps to maintain a certain credibility abroad that an official US government agency might not have. But NGO is the wrong category. NED is a GO.

    “We should not have to do this kind of work covertly,” said Carl Gershman in 1986, while he was president of the Endowment. “It would be terrible for democratic groups around the world to be seen as subsidized by the C.I.A. We saw that in the 60’s, and that’s why it has been discontinued. We have not had the capability of doing this, and that’s why the endowment was created.”

    And Allen Weinstein, who helped draft the legislation establishing NED, declared in 1991: “A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.”

    In effect, the CIA has been laundering money through NED.

    We see NED’s fingerprints all over pretty much any situation where the western power alliance needs to manage public perception about a CIA-targeted government, from Russia to Hong Kong to Xinjiang to the imperial propaganda operation known as Bellingcat.

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    Hell, intelligence insiders are just openly running for office now. In an article titled “The CIA Democrats in the 2020 elections”, World Socialist Website documented the many veterans of the US intelligence cartel who ran in elections across America in 2018 and 2020:

    “In the course of the 2018 elections, a large group of former military-intelligence operatives entered capitalist politics as candidates seeking the Democratic Party nomination in 50 congressional seats — nearly half the seats where the Democrats were targeting Republican incumbents or open seats created by Republican retirements. Some 30 of these candidates won primary contests and became the Democratic candidates in the November 2018 election, and 11 of them won the general election, more than one quarter of the 40 previously Republican-held seats captured by the Democrats as they took control of the House of Representatives. In 2020, the intervention of the CIA Democrats continues on what is arguably an equally significant scale.”

    So they’re just getting more and more brazen the more confident they feel about how propaganda-addled and submissive the population has become. They’re laying more and more of their cards on the table. Soon the CIA will just be openly selling narcotics door to door like Girl Scout cookies.

    Or maybe not. I said my ex got more and more overt about his abuses in the later years of our relationship because those were the later years. I did eventually expand my own consciousness of my own inner workings enough to clear the fears and unexamined beliefs I had that he was using as hooks to manipulate me. Maybe, as humanity’s consciousness continues to expand, the same will happen for the people and their abusive relationship with the CIA.

    *  *  *

    The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for at my website or on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, following me on Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud or YouTube, or throwing some money into my tip jar on Ko-fi, Patreon or Paypal. If you want to read more you can buy my books. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish, use or translate any part of this work (or anything else I’ve written) in any way they like free of charge. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I’m trying to do with this platform, click here.

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    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 22:45

  • "It's A Sovereignty Issue" – Bermuda Pushes Back Against G-7 Minimum Corporate Tax Proposal
    “It’s A Sovereignty Issue” – Bermuda Pushes Back Against G-7 Minimum Corporate Tax Proposal

    Members of the G-7 may have agreed to a minimum global corporate tax framework that would set the minimum rate at 15%, which is higher than reputed “tax havens” like Ireland and Singapore. But the deal that President Biden has tasked Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen with striking is still facing opposition from a coterie of low-tax countries that have taken umbrage at what they see as Washington’s attempt to meddle in their domestic affairs.

    As dozens of OECD members hold meetings to work on a framework that would be more palatable for all the NGO’s members, the FT sat down for an interview with the financial minister of Bermuda, the island nation best known as a low-tax haven for financial institutions like insurers and reinsurers.

    The former banker, Curtis Dickinson, said he was loath to impose a minimum corporate tax on the island of 64K people, arguing that the small nation’s popilation was still struggling to recover from both the pandemic and the 2008 financial crisis. It all feels like a violation of Bermuda’s “sovereignty”.

    “Bermuda has a right to determine for itself what it thinks is an appropriate tax system for its jurisdiction,” he said. “We have a system in place for 200 years. It’s not perfect. It does require some adjustment. But we would like to do that on our own and not have someone tell us to change our system to fit some global initiative…I would say it’s a sovereignty issue.”

    Dickinson added that taxing corporate profits would make Bermuda more bureaucratic and create complexity for businesss, Dickinson said, threatening the country’s role as a global hub for reinsurance. Bermuda collects revenue via taxes on payrolls and property, customs duties and fees charged to international businesses.

    Working class Bermudians struggle with the high cost of the island’s mostly imported goods, which are also heavily taxed. A bartender who spoke to the FT reporter quipped that Bermuda’s reputation as a “tax haven” is a misnomer: “It’s not a tax haven, it’s a tax hidden.”

    Still, the island’s “consumption-based” system makes life easier for corporations and businesses.

    “Bermuda’s current tax system…is consumption based – it is a function of seeking to be simple to administer, simple to file,” he said. “That is the system we have had in place…It has not been changed to encourage people to move here. It has been what it has been. The system works for us.”

    “Bermuda has already been weighing whether to change up its tax regime. A review carried out by the island’s government in 2018 determined that the tax code wasn’t neither “fair nor equitable.”

    To be sure, while other island tax havens known for having more corporate P.O. boxes than people (think the Caymans), Bermuda’s system of taxation has helped transform the island into a legitimate financial center, complete with the armies of actuaries who populate much of the island.

    Dickinson’s argument is that it is unfair to group Bermuda with tax havens that have more corporate mailboxes than people. He said it was an “anomaly” when Google last decade shifted tens of billions of dollars through its Dutch holding company to Bermuda under an intellectual property licensing scheme called the “double Irish Dutch sandwich.” Google has scrapped the arrangement, which enabled it to delay paying US taxes.

    Thanks to its tax system and streamlined regulatory regime, Dickinson said, Bermuda has become a proper financial centre. The big buildings of the leading insurers – AIG, Chubb and BF&M, among them – loom over the capital. More recent arrivals include Conduit Re, which raised $1.1bn last year through a London Stock Exchange listing, and Vantage, a reinsurer launched in 2020 with $1bn in equity capital from Carlyle, Hellman & Friedman and its management.

    […]

    “We want companies here that have boots on the ground,” Dickinson said.

    As of now, financial services companies (mostly insurance) generate more than half of Bermuda’s GDP.

    That’s not to say the island’s leadership is completely opposed to reform. In 2018, Bermuda’s own Tax Reform Commission highlighted the need for change after meeting with more than 50 stakeholder groups including local and international businesses.

    A recurring theme was that Bermuda’s tax structure was “neither fair nor equitable,” the report said. “There was a consensus…that Bermuda’s tax structure placed a disproportionate burden of tax on those least able to pay,” Dickinson said.

    But that doesn’t mean that re-jiggering the island’s tax policy to better suit Washington’s needs will make much of a difference.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 22:25

  • "Educate Yourself" – Seattle Human Rights Commission Dismisses Complaints About 'Whites & Accomplices' Paying "Reparations Fee" For Black Pride Parade
    “Educate Yourself” – Seattle Human Rights Commission Dismisses Complaints About ‘Whites & Accomplices’ Paying “Reparations Fee” For Black Pride Parade

    Authored by Jonathan Turley,

    There is a controversy in Seattle over plans for a pride event to charge people more based on their race. The Seattle Human Rights Commission is under fire this week after sending a letter dismissing a complaint over the announcement that the Taking B(l)ack Pride on June 26th would charge White entrants a “reparations” fee. The Commission told Charlette LeFevre and Philip Lipson of Capitol Hill Pride that they needed to “educate” themselves and consider the harm that they would cause by being participants in the event.

    Promotional material for Taking B(l)ack Pride was posted on Facebook as a “BLACK AND BROWN QUEER TRANS CENTERED, PRIORITIZED, VALUED, EVENT.” The Facebook page adds: “White allies and accomplices are welcome to attend but will be charged a $10 to $50 reparations fee that will be used to keep this event free of cost for BLACK AND BROWN Trans and Queer COMMUNITY.”

    Capitol Hill Pride organizers Philip Lipson and Charlette LeFevre  took offense and wrote to the Commission that “We consider this reverse discrimination in its worse (sic) form and we feel we are being attacked for not supporting due to disparaging and hostile e-mails. Please review this event’s stated admission policy as we feel this event is violating Seattle, King County, State and Federal equality laws.”

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    It would seem a fair complaint since the event was engaging in open racial discrimination.

    After all, the Seattle Human Rights Commission advises the city “in order to educate them on methods to prevent and eliminate discrimination city-wide.” 

    Lipson and LeFevre however received a letter that shamed them for even raising a racially discriminatory practice.

    The Commission not only shamed them but posted the response so others could read. 

    The Commission advised them if possible, to “educate yourself on the harm it may cause Seattle’s BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) in your pursuit of a free ticket to an event that is not expressly meant for you and your entertainment.”

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    The Commission stressed that charging people more based on race “does not in fact violate any of your human rights as stated in the UN Declaration of Human Rights.” The Commission justified the discriminatory policy on the basis of past discrimination against these groups:

    “They often face shame not only from the cis-heteronormative community, but within the queer community at large as well. In making the event free for the Black Queer Community, the organizers of this event are extending a courtesy so rarely extended; by providing a free and safe space to express joy, share story, and be in community.

    …Furthermore, we would urge you to examine the very real social dynamics and ramifications of this issue.”

    We recently discussed how the Biden Administration has been held to be discriminating in different programs giving preferences based on race and gender. What is interesting is that the Commission only considers itself as operating under the United Nations Declaration and makes no reference to the United States Constitution which prohibits such discrimination. Indeed, racist organizations once justified excluding minorities from lunch counters and events based on the claim that such spaces are not set aside for such individual or their entertainment.

    Nevertheless, such “justice pricing” is in vogue. Groups are now increasing asserting that they should be allowed to engage in raw discrimination as victims of past discrimination.

    This is a private group but it appears to be selling tickets and may require a city permit. The city anti-discrimination laws cover all public accommodations and prohibit discrimination based on race.  The Seattle Office for Civil Rights enforces Seattle’s civil rights laws which include protections against discrimination in employment, public places, housing, and contracting.

    Notably, this sensitive subject has led to some sharp words even on the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Roberts famously wrote in 2007 that “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”  In 2014, the Court ruled 6-2 in Schuette v. Bamn, that Michigan’s constitutional amendment banning affirmative action was constitutional.  Justice Sotomayor chided Roberts with a reframing of his famous line by saying: “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race, and to apply the Constitution with eyes open to the unfortunate effects of centuries of racial discrimination.” She went on to write in dissent:

    “Race matters. Race matters in part because of the long history of racial minorities being denied access to the political process. … Race also matters because of persistent racial inequality in society — inequality that cannot be ignored and that has produced stark socioeconomic disparities.

    And race matters for reasons that really are only skin deep, that cannot be discussed any other way, and that cannot be wished away…Race matters because of the slights, the snickers, the silent judgments that reinforce that most crippling of thoughts: ‘I do not belong here.’”

    Roberts responded by rebutting the implied criticism for raising discriminatory practices even in the name of fighting discrimination:

    “The dissent states that ‘[t]he way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race.’ And it urges that ‘[r]ace matters because of the slights, the snickers, the silent judgments that reinforce that most crippling of thoughts: ‘I do not belong here.’

    But it is not ‘out of touch with reality’ to conclude that racial preferences may themselves have the debilitating effect of reinforcing precisely that doubt, and — if so — that the preferences do more harm than good. To disagree with the dissent’s views on the costs and benefits of racial preferences is not to ‘wish away, rather than confront’ racial inequality. People can disagree in good faith on this issue, but it similarly does more harm than good to question the openness and candor of those on either side of the debate.”

    What is disconcerting is not just the dismissive attitude of the Commission but how it views discriminatory policies as secondary or irrelevant to human rights if it favors particular groups.  It does not matter that people are treated differently solely on the basis of their race. Indeed, it does not even warrant a consideration of countervailing constitutional and legal authorities. It is done in the name of equity and thus it is treated as not just correct but beyond question. Indeed, an objection to the policy is treated as a lack of understanding and sensitivity, requiring further education.

    The question is now what the City of Seattle will do and whether a court will give this matter more thought than the Seattle Human Rights Commission.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 22:05

  • Amazon Is Getting Into The Autonomous Trucking Business
    Amazon Is Getting Into The Autonomous Trucking Business

    While Jeff Bezos may be out at Amazon, his plans for conquering every single industry on Earth while maintaining Amazon’s unholy dominance in e-commerce seem to be firmly in tact. 

    Along those lines, Amazon announced this week that it had placed an order for 1,000 autonomous driving systems from self-driving truck technology startup Plus – and that it had also acquired an option to as much as a 20% stake in the company, according to Bloomberg. 

    Amazon will now have “the right to buy preferred shares of Plus via a warrant at a price of $0.46647 per share”, equating to about a 20% stake based on Plus’s pre-SPAC-merger share count, the report notes.

    The move could have obvious implications for both the autonomous vehicle industry, where other key players like Tesla and Workhorse will take note of Amazon’s entrance into the area – and in logistics, where Amazon is pushing the envelope forward for all e-commerce companies to consider how they handle their own logistics internally. 

    Plus is headquartered in Cupertino, California and backed by Sequoia Capital China. It is developing autonomous technology for long-haul trucking, the report says. It currently is set to have a valuation of $3.3 billion and it raised $150 million in a recent PIPE deal with names like BlackRock and D.E. Shaw. 

    Among its other investors are Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., GSR Ventures Management and a Chinese long-haul company known in English as Full Truck Alliance.

    Plus has also worked with Chinese delivery company SF Holding Co., which uses Plus-enabled trucks that can cover about 932 miles per day. State owned entity China FAW Group Co. has plans of “mass production” for jointly developed trucks with Plus beginning as soon as this quarter, Bloomberg noted.

    The potential investment from Amazon isn’t all that surprising, as Plus recently hired Chuck Joseph, formerly of Amazon, to help the company scale up production and promote its technology. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 21:45

  • Georgia Conducting Secret 2020 Election Review Over Suspicious Mail-In Ballots
    Georgia Conducting Secret 2020 Election Review Over Suspicious Mail-In Ballots

    Authored by Paul Sperry via RealClearInvestigations.com,

    After several Fulton County, Ga., poll monitors testified last year that boxes of mail-in ballots for Joe Biden looked liked they’d been run through a photocopy machine, state investigators quietly broke the seal on one suspicious box and inspected the hundreds of votes it contained for signs of fraud, RealClearInvestigations has learned exclusively.

    At the same time, a key whistleblower told RCI that state investigators pressured her to recant her story about what she and other poll monitors had observed — what they called unusually “pristine” mail-in ballots while sorting through them during last November’s hand recount.

    “I felt I was under investigation,” said Suzi Voyles, a longtime Fulton County poll manager whose sworn affidavits have been used by election watchdogs to sue the county for access to the ballots in question.

    Although the ballots are at the center of disputes about the Georgia presidential race, which Joe Biden won by just 12,000 votes, the state never disclosed its probe to the public or to election watchdogs suing to inspect the ballots.

    State officials also neglected to inform the judge hearing the lawsuit that they were conducting such an inspection, even though the judge had issued a protective order over the ballots in January. In a nine-page amicus brief recently filed in the case, attorneys for the office of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger urged Superior Court Judge Brian Amero to deny petitioners’ requests to inspect the ballots, calling them a “fishing expedition.”

    Frances Watson, chief investigator for the secretary of state’s office, confirmed in a statement to RCI that she sent investigators to Fulton County earlier this year to inspect the batches of sealed ballots. Poll monitors involved in last November’s hand recount had described the mail-in ballots in sworn affidavits as devoid of creases and folds and featuring identically bubbled-in marks for Biden. But the state said it could not find any ballots matching that description.

    “Our investigators looked into it and didn’t find anything,” she said, while adding the investigation is “still ongoing.”

    The watchdogs question why state officials did not disclose their activities to the court and fear they may have “tampered” with the sealed ballots, which are at the center of their lawsuit seeking access to all 147,000 absentee ballots cast during the 2020 election in Fulton County, which includes much of Atlanta.

    Led by longtime Georgia poll watcher Garland Favorito, founder of VoterGA.org, the court petitioners say the state has failed to inform the judge overseeing their case that they broke the chain of custody over the pallets of shrink-wrapped absentee ballots warehoused in a locked county facility in Atlanta.

    “If the secretary of state’s office did that, they tampered with the ballots and violated Georgia state law,” which restricts the handling of ballots to authorized elections officials involved in the tabulation and care of the ballots, Favorito said.

    He also noted that Judge Amero had placed the ballots under a protective order in January. “They would have had to ask for a court order to unseal and inspect those ballots and they never did that.”

    Raffensperger’s office seemed to acknowledge the ballots were still under seal when it urged Amero to prevent the watchdogs from inspecting the ballots.

    “The security and confidentiality of ballots is to be strictly maintained,” attorneys for Raffensperger argued in the brief they filed with Amero in April, “and the court should be cautious in granting petitioners’ access to ballots that Georgia law requires to remain under seal, which makes it a felony as soon as petitioners were to lay hands on them.”

    Raffensperger’s office did not respond to questions about why it did not inform the court about its probe, although it acknowledged that this is the first time its inspection of the ballots – which began in early January – has been publicly disclosed. Judge Amero did not respond to requests for comment.

    Biden narrowly won Georgia thanks to a late-night tally of absentee ballots in Fulton and other Democratic strongholds. The revelation that state authorities have already unsealed and investigated the ballots in question is a new twist in a case that has seen the firing of poll managers who blew the whistle on the suspicious ballots; a recent breach of security at the warehouse that Fulton County officials were supposed to be guarding around the clock; and an 11th-hour attempt by county officials to dismiss the court-ordered inspection of those ballots – many of which came from Atlanta area drop boxes whose chain of custody documentation has mysteriously turned up missing.

    Last month Amero ordered Fulton County to unseal its 147,000 absentee ballots and allow the petitioners to inspect them under certain restrictions, but the county filed a motion to dismiss the case. Amero is expected to rule on the motion later this month.

    The issue is further muddied by Suzi Voyles’ allegation, never previously reported, that she was pressured to recant her testimony about the pristine ballots. In sworn affidavits last November, Suzi Voyles said she observed that a large batch of mail-in ballots for Biden did not appear to have been folded or handled like she would have expected from her two decades of working elections in the county. She also said that the marks for Biden were identical, as though they had been filled in by a copying machine rather than a pen or pencil.

    In a Jan. 7 interview, which took place at a secretary of state’s office in Atlanta, Voyles told RCI that an investigator identifying himself as Paul Braun “grilled me for over two hours” about her testimony. She said he was joined by another official whom she said was from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. She added that the investigators did not have a copy of her affidavit and did not know the box number and batch numbers of the ballots in question.

    “I smelled a rat when they didn’t know the batch numbers when they were clearly denoted in my affidavit,” Voyles said.

    She added the investigators “gave no indication” they had gone to the warehouse to find the suspicious ballots or were conducting any kind of forensic investigation. Voyles said the investigators kept trying to convince her she might have been mistaken about her observations.

    “I did not recant,” she asserted.

    The ballots that I saw had been pre-printed. It’s a very serious thing in my opinion. That’s what I swore to under penalty of perjury. Recanting would be perjuring myself.”

    Watson told RCI that Voyles “stated that she may have been mistaken about the batch number and provided a different batch number.”

    “I never said that,” Voyles insisted.

    “The second batch number provided by Ms. Voyles did not exist,” Watson added.

    Voyles contended she never provided any other batch numbers. Watson also revealed that “investigators went to Fulton County and reviewed the batches identified by Ms. Voyles, but found no ballots that looked as Ms. Voyles described.” Favorito said his group’s attorney plans to file a motion to depose Watson and Braun to understand exactly what investigators have done regarding the boxes of absentee ballots in question.

    Favorito said he does not doubt Voyles’ testimony and said the ballot images his group has reviewed support her account of anomalies.

    “At no time has Susan Voyles claimed she was mistaken,” Favorito said.

    “She has consistently stood by her affidavit since she submitted it almost seven months ago.”

    Asked if Voyles is under criminal investigation, Georgia Secretary of State Communications Director Ari Schaffer said, “I have no reason to believe she’s under investigation for perjury.” Last December, Raffensperger “condemned” the unexplained firing of Voyles by Fulton County elections officials and called on them to rehire her.

    As RCI previously reported, Voyles is one of four Fulton County poll monitors who signed affidavits swearing they observed the same pattern of irregularities in stacks of mail-in ballots for Biden. All of them suggested the ballots had been photocopied.

    Favorito, who did not vote for Trump, said the state has also tried to interview one other witness – poll monitor Robin Hall – and said he himself is under investigation. He suggested state investigators are trying to intimidate witnesses into backing off their testimony, and are more interested in investigating whistleblowers than finding evidence of ballot fraud.

    Schaffer said he was unsure whether the other affiants have been interviewed. “I’ll have to check on the other three” witnesses, he said.

    Favorito added that the discovery of hard evidence of fraud in Georgia’s largest county would be embarrassing for Raffensperger, who is running for reelection with little support from the Georgia GOP, which recently censured him for creating “opportunities for fraud” by agreeing to the relaxation of voting rules during the 2020 election.

    “He is worried that we will uncover serious wrongdoing on the part of the secretary of state, not just Fulton County,” Favorito said.

    Voyles pointed out that Raffensperger has been too quick to declare the 2020 Georgia election free of fraud. Most recently, he was blindsided by revelations that Fulton County election officials had “misplaced” the required chain-of-custody forms documenting the collection of almost 20,000 mail-in ballots from 36 largely unsupervised drop-off boxes Raffensperger agreed to let Democrat-controlled Fulton County distribute across the Atlanta area ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.

    “New revelations that Fulton County is unable to produce all ballot drop-box transfer documents will be investigated thoroughly,” Raffensperger tweeted June 14, adding that Fulton officials failed to follow state rules regarding the boxes.

    “This cannot continue.”

    Voyles said Raffensperger’s office is increasingly concerned about its pre-election decision to mollify demands by Democratic voter-rights group to make it easier to vote by absentee ballot.

    “They are investigating us to divert attention from their consent agreement with [Democratic activist] Stacey Abrams,” she said.

    “We never should have had any drop boxes. We wouldn’t have had chain-of-custody problems and the other problems with absentee ballots if they hadn’t put in those drop boxes,” Voyles added. “It was negligence.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 21:25

  • At Least Three Fed Members Don't Think Inflation Is Just "Transitory"
    At Least Three Fed Members Don’t Think Inflation Is Just “Transitory”

    Even though Fed Chair Powell was quick to disabuse the Congressional kangaroo court today that the current bout of runaway inflation is anything but permanent, at least three FOMC members disagree, as Curvature’s repo guru Scott Skyrm observes today.

    Writing in his daily repo market commentary, Skyrm notes that two Fed governors saw the fed funds peak at 3.00% and one at 2.75% in the “dot plot” of the FOMC statement in the next tightening cycle.

    Conceding that he may be reading the “tea leaves” too much, Skyrm the notes that “that’s 50 basis points above the peak of 2.25% to 2.50% during the last cycle.” And while everyone knows that the “dot plot” is historically inaccurate and it’s a better indication of what the Fed governors are thinking at the time, Skyrm said that a peak fed funds rate at 3.00% does not corresponds with the current surge in inflation as being “temporary”… or corresponds with keeping rates are zero right now.

    The repo experts concludes that “if some Fed governors believe there will be more tightening than that last cycle, it either means they expect more inflation in the near future or there’s too much stimulus in the economy right now.”

    Translation: a mutiny is building within Powell’s “Transitory Inflation” Fed, and while just three uber-hawks have emerged so far, there is plenty of time until 2023 for Powell to experience a real insurrection, not the straight-to-CNN January 6 special produced by the FBI in and around the Capitol building.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 21:05

  • Watch: US Patrol In Syria Blocked By Line Of Russian Commandos
    Watch: US Patrol In Syria Blocked By Line Of Russian Commandos

    Authored by Jason Ditz via AntiWar.com,

    Over the weekend, a US military patrol in northeastern Syria was blocked by the Russian military and forced to turn back to where they came from. The US reportedly violated existing security deals with Russia.

    Video of the brief encounter published by the Russian side shows the tense moment that Russian troops physically blocked the road while clutching their rifles:

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    The US and Russia both have troops in reasonably close proximity in Syria, and the US tends to hype confrontations heavily. To try to reduce the number of issues, they’ve made several deals to coordinate their patrols and avoid running into one another.

    That works well, as far as it goes, but in this case the US didn’t inform Russia ahead of time, so when the Russian forces ran into them, they complained about the US ignoring protocol on prior notice.

    The US has not commented on why they ignored the protocol, but it’s not clear why they bother to patrol anyhow, since the US presence is very limited, a hold-over from President Trump’s plan to take Syria’s oil.

    Patrolling into adjoining Kurdish areas means the US retains some ties to the Kurds, but with Russia and Turkey also in the area, it’s a potentially complicated matter, especially if the US considers previous deals to be optional.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 20:45

  • Russian Warships Practice Sinking Aircraft Carrier 35 Miles Off Hawaii Coast As US Places F22s On Standby
    Russian Warships Practice Sinking Aircraft Carrier 35 Miles Off Hawaii Coast As US Places F22s On Standby

    For weeks Russia has mustered a large fleet and aerial assets in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii in what’s been widely recognized as Russia’s largest Pacific military drills since the end of the Cold War. The Pentagon has closely monitored the somewhat unprecedented exercises which have seen at least 20 warships, submarines, fighter jets, and long-range bombers operating a mere 300 miles off Hawaii’s coast.

    But in a new alarming statement the US Navy is confirming that at one point Russian vessels and aircraft came a mere 35 miles off Hawaii’s coast as the massive war games were underway. While stressing that the foreign military assets stayed within international waters, spokesman for US Indo-Pacific Command Navy Capt. Mike Kafka, said, “At the closest point, some ships operated approximately 20 to 30 nautical miles (23 to 34 statute miles) off the coast of Hawaii,” he said. “We closely tracked all vessels.”

    New details of Russian maneuvers during the course of the exercises suggest there were multiple “close calls” – also as days ago the Pentagon scrambled F-22 stealth fighters, which remain on standby.

    The Russian side is now divulging that its military undertook mock attacks on a simulated aircraft carrier strike group.

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    First, as the Honolulu Star Advertiser has detailed, armed US fighters twice responded to the area amid a heightened state of alert over the Russian war games:

    The deployment of Russian “Bear” bombers as part of the exercise twice resulted in missile-armed Hawaii Air National Guard F-22 fighters scrambling to possibly intercept the turboprop planes — which headed in the direction of Hawaii but never came close, officials said.

    The report continues: “The Hawaii Air Guard stealth jets launched June 13 and again on Friday, but no intercepts were conducted with the Russian planes likely turning away from the path toward the state, according to an account of the launch.”

    Russian military, Varyag cruiser

    And the hugely provocative details of the simulated carrier sinking put out by Russia’s defense ministry were detailed in The Drive as follows:

    The Russian Ministry of Defense today published an account about the Pacific Fleet maneuvers, which are described as having practiced “the tasks of destroying an aircraft carrier strike group of a mock enemy.” 

    A simulated cruise missile strike was carried out by the Pacific Fleet flagship, the Slava class cruiser Varyag (pictured above), as well as the Udaloy class destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov, and the Steregushchiy class corvettes Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov, Gromky, and Sovershenniy.

    Russia’s defense ministry has lately issued multiple short official videos of its large force in action near Hawaii…

    Again, since the formal end of the exercises it’s emerging based on independent satellite image analysis that some of the Russian military assets were engaged in operations much closer to the United States’ sovereign territory than previously thought. 

    “Russia says that they are 300 miles off the coast of Hawaii, yet unconfirmed satellite images from June 19 appear to show them much closer – within 35 miles of the U.S. state,” The Daily Mail observes. The newest US Pacific-Command statement has since confirmed this proximity of at least some of the Russian assets.

    Russian MoD

    A number of Western pundits underscored that the large-scale Russian games were meant as a serious muscle-flexing “message” to President Biden just as he met with Vladimir Putin in Geneva last Wednesday. 

    Despite the US fighters being scrambled off Hawaii’s coast and remaining on stanby, Biden never publicly addressed the threat, though it’s unknown if he broached the issue with Putin directly in the closed-door talks.

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    What’s more is that a Russian spy ship has remained in the regional waters near the US islands, according to Hawaiian news sources which detailed its presence Monday. 

    No doubt, US Pacific-Command forces are still on a high state of alert, monitoring for any remaining Russian military maneuvers in the area.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 20:45

  • China-Backed Media Highly Critical Of Texas' New Permitless Carry Law
    China-Backed Media Highly Critical Of Texas’ New Permitless Carry Law

    Nearly a week after Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1927 that eliminates the requirement for Texas residents to obtain a license to carry a handgun, the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda news outlet, Xinhua, published a highly critical piece on how the permitless carry law (beginning on Sept.1) could return the Lone Star State to its “Wild West past, or even worse.”  

    The U.S. state of Texas may return to its Wild West past, or even worse, predicts an advocate for responsible gun ownership and opponent of the so-called permitless carry law signed by Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday, which allows Texans to carry handguns without a license or training starting Sept. 1.

    “There weren’t automatic weapons or 100-round magazine capacities in the guns 100 years ago,” said Gyl Switzer, director of Texas Gun Sense, a nonprofit group of more than 7,000 mostly gun owners who lobby for improved methods of gun control.

    The permitless carry law isn’t within Switzer’s ideas of ensuring responsible firearm safety, as indicated by Texas Gun Sense’s press release Wednesday within an hour of Abbott’s fulfillment of his promise to sign the Republican-backed legislation.

    “We are very concerned and disgusted that Governor Abbott has signed HB (House Bill) 1927 today while Texans are still fighting for their lives in Austin area hospitals from the most recent of Texas mass shootings,” the release stated. “(The bill) allows the permitless carry of handguns in public by people with no background check, no training in laws and safety and no demonstrated proficiency in shooting.” –Xinhua

    The Chinese government’s propaganda machine lashing out against the permitless carry law and siding with anti-gun Democrats is worrisome. 

    Xinhua didn’t even take the time to balance the article with what pro-gun groups had to say. The Chinese government and the communist party fear armed citizens. 

    Luckily, who cares what the Chinese government has to say because none of it matters as mainstream media fails to report the gun sanctuary moment is erupting across the country. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 20:25

  • Late Stage Globalism: When Anything That Is Not Censored Is A Lie
    Late Stage Globalism: When Anything That Is Not Censored Is A Lie

    Authored by Mark Jeftovic via BombThrower.com,

    Late Stage Globalism Is A Tale of Narratives vs Networks

    Over the past few weeks in my weekly #AxisOfEasy newsletter I’ve been covering how Big Tech and the corporate media tried, unsuccessfully, to keep a lid on the Wuhan Lab origin narrative. At one point I half-joked “I’ll shut up about this when it’s safe to talk about Ivermectin”. This week, I did end up writing a piece about Ivermectin, namely how doctors can’t even mention it in their videos or podcast appearances without being penalized by social media platforms.

    Bret Weinstein, an evolutionary biologist who has studied bats (from which COVID-19 purportedly originated) was recently on Triggernometry, the UK based podcast that my company, easyDNS, has been sponsoring since mid-2020. It turns out that neither Weinstein nor Triggernometry can say the word “Ivermectin” in their shows. If they do they’ll get an automatic takedown by YouTube and a strike on Facebook for violating community standards.

    Matt Taibbi recently posed the question “Why has ‘Ivermectin’ become a dirty word?” He cites Dr. Pierre Kory in his testimony to a US Senate Committee hearing on medical responses to COVID-19 in December 2020. Kory was referring to an existing medicine that was already FDA approved that he was describing as a “wonder drug” in treating COVID-19, that drug was Ivermectin.

    This Senate testimony was televised and viewed by approximately 8 million people. YouTube removed the video of this exchange. They later suspended the account of the United States senator who invited Dr. Kory to speak. (Kory also appeared on Brett Weinstein’s show and they took down that as well).

    Associated Press for their part “fact checked” the senate testimony, and because, in their words “there is no evidence that Ivermectin is a ‘miracle drug’ against COVID”, they labeled it as false:

    CLAIM: The antiparasitic drug ivermectin “has a miraculous effectiveness that obliterates” the transmission of COVID-19 and will prevent people from getting sick.

    AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. There’s no evidence ivermectin has been proven a safe or effective treatment against COVID-19.

    First, I find it a little presumptuous for a wire service to be fact checking senate testimony. Isn’t the job of the committee holding the hearing largely that of fact-finding? Isn’t that the entire point? The ostensible role of the press should have been to simply report on what happened. What we got instead was an editorial wrapped in a logical fallacy (appeal to ignorance) that was passed off as some sort of objective truth.

    The coronavirus has accelerated the timelines on a lot of tectonic shifts that were already in motion. It’s pulled forward effects that would otherwise would have taken years or possibly even decades to play out. One of those dynamics is that the mainstream corporate press has self-immolated their own credibility in the eyes of their rapidly dwindling audience.

    Until now the masses seemed to be inculcated with the slow burn of endless propaganda and sermonizing from as far back as the days of Edward Bernays (who coined the word “propaganda”). Now with the pandemic and all this talk about a Great Reset and the New Normal because of a virus that was made more infectious in a Chinese lab funded by US technocrats, this is all beginning to look (in the immortal words of The New York Dolls) like “too much, too soon”.

    It may turn out that there is a saturation level of manufactured narrative that the public can be led to believe or tolerate and beyond that point it all begins to look like hyperreality. Not only do fewer people believe it anymore, more of them are done with even pretending to believe it.

    With too many things that were presented to us as truthful information over the last year turning out to be wrong, or a lie and almost everything that was dismissed as “already debunked conspiracy theory” turning out to have more substance, we may be crossing that point now.

    Mainstream media audiences are in secular decline.

    The biggest audiences to be found aren’t on CNN or MSNBC anymore, but most of the people still watching TV are watching FOX, mainly because Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham are calling b/s on nearly every establishment talking point.

    Via The Hill

    But I’m looking beyond that, outside of network TV. The hottest news outlets are fast becoming independent journalists like Matt Taibbi and Glenn Greenwald, self-publishing via their Substack. That’s mainly email.

    Joe Rogan has a larger audience than Rachel Maddow and Don Lemon combined. So too does Steve Bannon, btw. The few times I’ve been on his Warroom I was astounded at the reach of his audience. According to company sources he’s doing between 2.5 and 3.5 million downloads per day. The last people I would ever expect to be tuning into Bannon are telling me “I saw you on Warroom”. (It’s mind-blowing).

    Zerohedge has more traffic than Huffington Post, Vox, Vice, The Atlantic and pretty well any of the other bluecheck day camps for aspiring establishment shills.

    It’s because of independent, renegade journalists and people writing outside of major outlets that these stories are starting go mainstream despite the best efforts of Big Tech, enforcing whatever canon the corporate press deems to be truth, or the establishment anointed “fact checkers” who try to step in whenever something looks to gain traction:

    The Wuhan lab origin was suspected for over a year (and the Fauci emails prove it). Zerohedge was on it almost immediately and got deplatformed for their troubles. It was finally pushed over the line in a Medium post by Nicholas Wade over a year later.

    Ivermectin may be next round and it looks like if it gets anywhere it will be thanks to people like Matt Taibbi and Bret Weinstein.

    What is the common thread here? It’s the power of decentralized networks and open source protocols vs narrative control that is promulgated from global governments, amplified by the corporate media, and enforced by technocratic platforms.

    This is why crypto currencies won’t die. This is why things like Signal, Telegram, Mastodon, Keybase are spreading like wildfire. This is why the best way to build an audience in this day and age is still email. Everything I wrote in my book on defending from cancel-culture and deplatform attacks is even more relevant today than when I released it last year (I made it available for free a few months later).

    It may seem like the censorship is absolute and that the narrative and the spin is overwhelming. But take solace that it only appears that way because the facade is breaking.

    As more people realize that the centralized technocratic system is failing, those who’s privilege and position are premised on it have to double down, triple down. They have to burn the boats.

    They’re fully committed now and because they have no other choice they have to overstep and overreach. Too much, too soon. Too late.

    *  *  *

    To receive future posts in your mailbox join the free Bombthrower mailing list, follow me on Twitter, or use the current weakness in cryptos to take advantage of my Crypto Capitalist Portfolio trial offer.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 20:05

  • Here Are America's Top Ten Vacation Home Counties
    Here Are America’s Top Ten Vacation Home Counties

    A new report from the National Association of Realtors said the housing market is “hot in vacation home counties than nonvacation home counties.” 

    NAR’s 2021Vacation Home Counties Report examined more than 1,000 counties across the US using Multiple Listing Service data and found the top % vacation home counties in 2020. These counties are scattered across 16 states and met the criteria for being in the top 1%, including higher price, higher sales growth, and faster days on the market. 

    “North Carolina had four vacation counties (Swain, Alleghany, Macon, Watauga); there were three each in New York (Greene, Sullivan, Hamilton), Vermont (Windham, Bennington, Windsor), Massachusetts (Dukes, Barnstable, Nantucket), and Michigan (Oscoda, Alcona, Clare); there were two each in Florida (Lee, Collier), Missouri (Hickory, Camden), Maryland (Garrett, Worcester). Oklahoma, Maine, Arizona, New Jersey, Georgia, New Mexico, Delaware, and Minnesota each had one vacation home county that landed in the top 1% list,” NAR said. 

    “Vacation homes are a hot commodity at the moment,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “With many businesses and employers still extending an option to work remotely to workers, vacation housing and second homes will remain a popular choice among buyers.”

    Much of the boom has been fueled by the pandemic, as city-dwellers panic left cities for rural areas with scenic views or natural wonders. Also, mortgage rates at record lows unleashed a flurry of buyers while these homes were in short supply. 

    However, the monetary wizards at the Federal Reserve suggested last week that interest rate rises and tapering their massive balance sheet could occur sometime next year. This could derail not just the vacation home boom but the overall housing market.  

    Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Robert Kaplan played bad cop Monday morning as he suggested: “whether the housing market really needs the Fed’s support of $40 billion a month.” 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 19:45

  • Trump Organization Sues New York City for Cancelling Golf Course Contract
    Trump Organization Sues New York City for Cancelling Golf Course Contract

    Authored by Ivan Pentchoukov via The Epoch Times,

    The Trump Organization filed a lawsuit against New York City on June 21, alleging that its contract to run a Bronx golf course was cancelled for political reasons.

    The lawsuit, filed in state court, argues that the contract between the city and the organization did not give New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio grounds to terminate it due to the actions of some of the president’s supporters during the Jan. 6 riot earlier this year.

    The lawsuit asks the court to let the Trump organization continue operating the course or pay millions to exit the deal.

    “Mayor de Blasio’s actions are purely politically motivated, have no legal merit, and are yet another example of the mayor’s efforts to advance his own partisan agenda and interfere with free enterprise,” the Trump Organization said in a statement.

    New York City said the company breached the terms of the contract and that it will “vigorously defend” its decision to terminate the deal.

    De Blasio announced the contract’s termination in January in the wake of the Capitol riot. He accused Trump of the “criminal action” of inciting the rioters. The U.S. Senate exonerated Trump of a similar charge during its second impeachment trial for the president.

    A number of banks and other businesses have refused to do future business with the Trump organization after the unrest on Jan. 6.

    New York has also pointed to a decision by the PGA of America to cancel a tournament that had been scheduled to be held at a Trump golf course in New Jersey.

    The city said that Trump could no longer argue that he can attract prestigious tournaments to Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point in the Bronx as is required in the contract.

    The Trump Organization argued in the lawsuit that the contract doesn’t require it to attract tournaments, only obliging it maintain a course that is “first-class, tournament quality.”

    It attached letters from course designers, golf organizations, and famous golfers, including top-ranked players Dustin Johnson and U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, saying that the course met that standard.

    The city has previously argued that the Trump Organization was being “overly restrictive” in its interpretation of the phrase “first-class, tournament quality,” saying it need only show that Trump is incapable of attracting tournaments for whatever reason.

    Under the contract terms, New York City can terminate its deal with the Trump Organization at any time without cause but would be obligated to compensate the company for the money it invested in building a clubhouse on the course.

    Trump’s son Eric, who lashed out at the city decision as a part of “cancel culture” earlier this year, has said the city and rate payers would be obligated to pay more than $30 million if the city withdraws, a figure cited again in the lawsuit.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 19:25

  • US Losing 1.2 Million Workers To Early Retirement
    US Losing 1.2 Million Workers To Early Retirement

    According to a brand new analysis from Goldman’s economists, the US is on pace to experience a permanent loss of about 1.2 million workers from early retirement and reduced immigration. That’s the bad news; the good news – according to Goldman – is that younger workers who have been reluctant to return to the workforce are still likely to do so once temporary disincentives to work disappear (most later this year).  As a result, Goldman is looking for the labor force participation rate to rise by 100bps over the next year-plus to 62.6% (if still 0.8% below the 63.4% pre-pandemic rate).

    Why does this matter? Because while the labor market currently is a total shitshow due to Democrat policies that pay potential workers more to do nothing than to work, leading to a record 9.3 million job openings…

    … and as a result there is a historic labor shortage, this is expected to change in September when extended unemployment benefits run out. That’s why, consensus generally expects that the recovery in labor force participation will accelerate in the coming months as generous unemployment insurance benefits expire and other pandemic-related labor supply disincentives like school closures and health risk exposure fade away.

    But looking beyond the near term – 6 or so months from now – should we expect a full recovery in the labor supply? That’s what Goldman tries to answer in its latest economic note.

    The vampire squid starts off by reminding us that in December, it warned about a surge in early retirements that was likely to be a lingering drag on the labor force participation rate (LFPR). Since then, the number of excess retirees – defined as the difference between the actual number of retirees and the number of retirees implied by the age-specific retirement rates observed in 2019 – has soared to 1.2 million, a 0.5% hit to the labor force participation rate in addition to the roughly 0.2% structural drag from population aging since the pandemic began.

    Because most early retirements reflect permanent labor force exits, the labor force drag from early retirements will persist until it unwinds through fewer new retirements.

    Some more details:

    First, of the 2.7 million non-retiring workers who have left the labor force since the start of the pandemic (reflecting a 1.0% drag on the LFPR), 1.4 million say they don’t want a job now. However, many of these workers are aged 55+ (600k; a 0.2% drag) and are likely not working due to health concerns. In contrast, the share of prime-age and younger people who say they don’t want a job (a 0.3% drag) has increased only modestly and currently stands at mid-2019 levels (bottom chart, left).

    Second, among those workers who have left the labor force but still want a job (1.2 million; a 0.5% drag), most haven’t searched recently (over 900k; a 0.4pp drag), suggesting that they are postponing their job search until UI benefits expire and pandemic-related disincentives fall away (right chart, below). This, just in case there are still idiots who think that Biden’s generous claims aren’t behind the collapse in labor supply. The good news – for now – is that very few fall into the discouraged worker category that might indicate more persistent scarring and pose a threat to a full labor market recovery. This is of course intuitive: it is hard to imagine large numbers of workers dropping out in despair over a lack of job opportunities, as happened after the financial crisis, in an environment in which jobs are so abundant. Then again, this unstable equilibrium will flip soon enough once benefits run out and there is surge in labor supply and a sharp drop in wages.

    Looking beyond pandemic-driven changes in the labor force, Goldman sees scope for two tax policy changes to affect the labor supply of parents.

    • First, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) increased the Child Tax Credit (CTC), made it fully refundable, and removed its earned income-requirements for 2021 (chart below, left), and the upcoming fiscal package is expected to extend these changes through 2025. Prior academic research finds that the earned-income requirements of the CTC have had a significant impact on maternal labor supply, so removing these incentives could put downward pressure on female labor force participation. Although this effect will partially be offset by increased work incentives from the increased Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), earned income incentives will likely be reduced on net.
    • Second, the ARP also made the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) much more generous by allowing households to claim 50% of child care expenses up to $8k for one child and $16k for two or more children as a refundable tax credit (chart below, right). These changes could have large positive effects on maternal labor supply if they are extended beyond 2021.

    Here, Goldman says that its best guess is that the labor supply incentives from the CTC and CDCTC roughly offset each other, with some potential for a rotation in female labor supply from lower-income households (who should be most affected by the changes to the CTC) to middle-income households (who should benefit most from the changes to the CDCTC). However, there are some risks in both directions, depending on the details and permanence of each potential tax change.

    Overall, Goldman economists expect the Labor force participation rate to eventually rise from 61.6% now to a peak of 62.6% by the end of 2022, which however will still be 0.8% below the 63.4% pre-pandemic trend, with the gap in participation primarily reflecting early retirements and demographic shifts and other negative consequences resulting from Biden’s fiscal policies. It may also explain why there has been a concerted push to cut the work week from 5 to 4 days.

    In an amusing twist, Goldman “goes there” and writes that although immigration has only a small effect on the labor force participation rate (since it affects both the labor force and population), the bank expects the collapse in visa issuance during the pandemic (Exhibit 4) will reduce the labor force for the next few years. Quantified, GS economists expect that the drop in temporary worker visas currently is creating an effective labor force drag of 450k workers, although this hit will unwind through fewer expiring visas going forward. They also estimate that the drop in immigration visas has reduced the labor force by 300k through May, and since the loss in immigration in 2020 won’t be offset by higher immigration going forward, most of this drag will persist

    Finally, the next chart shows Goldman’s labor force forecast relative to the US demographic trend: here, Goldman continues to expect that most of the pandemic-driven exits will reverse in the coming months as pandemic- and policy-related obstacles to participation fade but that drags from early retirements and slower migration will keep the labor force over 1.2 million workers below trend by the end of 2022.

    How and when that transitions to a full-blown socialist state – which is the aim of most progressive democrats – where the government pays tens of millions not to work with the funding coming courtesy of the intellectual fraud that is MMT (Magic Money Tree), remains unclear although it will likely require an even bigger shock than the covid pandemic. War with China may just suffice.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 19:05

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Jun 22

Today’s News 22nd June 2021

  • Macron, Le Pen Suffer Setbacks In French Regional Elections Amid Lowest Turnout On Record
    Macron, Le Pen Suffer Setbacks In French Regional Elections Amid Lowest Turnout On Record

    French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen both suffered setbacks as their parties performed poorly in regional elections that saw a historically low turnout rate with more than two out of three note cast a vote.

    Macron’s La République En Marche won a paltry 10.9% of votes while the far-right National Rally, led by Le Pen, won 19.1% – both lower than expected – according to exit polls. The right-wing party Les Republicains fared better and won 29.3% of the vote. An unprecedentedly high rate, 68%, of the population didn’t vote. This is the highest abstention rate under the Fifth Republic.

    As Goldman economist notes Sven Jari Stehn writes, in line with expectations President Macron’s party posted another round of very disappointing results, often barely reaching the second round. The week until the second round on June 27 will now see parties negotiate to form the Front Républicain in an effort to block the far-right from reaching office. Polling suggests that this will be enough to defeat Le Pen’s party everywhere but in the Southern region of Provence-Alpes-Cote-d’Azur, although her weak first round results will likely weigh on her momentum. Xavier Bertrand—who is trailing behind President Macron in polls for the presidential elections—looks set to win re-election in the Northern region of the Hauts-de-France with a comfortable margin, thus likely providing momentum to his presidential bid.

    Key Highlights via Goldman:

    According to preliminary results, incumbent parties and the far-right were in the lead after the regional elections’ first round. In the widely-watched race in the Southern region of Provence-Alpes-Cote-d’Azur, far-right candidate Mariani was leading against the alliance between the centre-right and Macron’s presidential party by 2.5%. In the Northern region of the Hauts-de-France, 2022 presidential hopeful Xavier Bertrand (independent) won 42.1% of the vote, setting a 17.6% lead on far-right contender Sébastien Chenu. In other regions, incumbent parties – the center-right party Les Républicains and the Socialist party – looked broadly set for re-election.

    The voting method — two rounds, proportional with lists and majority bonus — requires parties’ lists to gather 10% of the votes in order to qualify to the second round (with lists having won between 5% and 10% of votes can merge with the qualified lists). Successful lists then contend for a simple majority in the second round, where the first list benefits from a 25% seat bonus in the regional council. This system allows for the so-called Front Républicain to operate, whereby mainstream parties either support or drop-out of the race to block the far-right from reaching office. The Southern region of Provence-Alpes-Cote-d’Azur is the only region where polls give the far-right within polling error of beating a range of potential Front Républicains. Another key parameter of the second round will be voter turnout, which reached a record low at 33.9% in this first round. Although covid and reopening likely weighed on the participation rate this particular weekend, the downward trend of the past decades could also be reflected in the second round through a weakened Front Républicain.

    It is difficult to map these results into the race for the 2022 presidential elections. In that respect, the presidential party’s disappointing results can be traced back to his party’s lack of local rooting. Meanwhile, the far-right’s performance looks especially mixed, as Le Pen’s party both got closer to office than ever in the South, but lost ground almost uniformally in other regions.

    As a result, Goldman concludes that the center-right – Les Républicains, currently third in polls for 2022 – looks to emerge as the winner of these elections, with three of its leaders winning large victories.

    The race to the 2022 presidential election could thus slightly narrow once the dust settles on this regional ballot.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 02:45

  • Turkey's Secret Plan To Invade Greece And Armenia
    Turkey’s Secret Plan To Invade Greece And Armenia

    Via SouthFront.org,

    A plan for a simultaneous Turkish invasion of both Greece and Armenia was prepared by Turkey, according to the secret documents of the Turkish General Staff.

    According to these documents, the plan called “CERBE” was prepared in 2014 and updated in 2016.

    According to the Nordic Monitor, “Turkey was inspired by the name of its secret war plans for the eastern Mediterranean, from a significant victory Ottoman naval machine against a fleet of Christian alliance that strengthened Turkish rule in the Mediterranean.”

    According to a PowerPoint presentation prepared by the General Staff for a review of interior design, Turkey has drawn up a plan for a secret military operation called “TSK [Turkish Armed Forces] Cerbe Operation Planning Directive”. The plan was dated January 7, 2014, which means that it was probably updated amid increased tension between Turkey and Greece / Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, the report also states. Cerbe is the name of an island in southern Tunisia near the border with Libya.

    It was there that the Battle of Djerba took place in May 1560 between the Ottoman forces and the fleet of the Christian Alliance, which consisted mainly of Spanish, Papal, Genoese, Maltese and Neapolitan forces.

    “The Turks won the battle, which gave them dominance in the Mediterranean Sea,” the report said, adding that “the name of Turkey’s comprehensive war game plan in the eastern Mediterranean fits in with the narrative promoted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan” and his associates, who often place Turkey’s problems with its Western allies as part of a renewed conflict between Christian Europe and Muslim Turkey. A slide from the powerpoint from the secret document lists the military plans of Turkey against Greece, Armenia and Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean with corresponding dates that show when they were drawn up“.

    “The existence of Turkey’s war plan for the east was discovered in a court file in the Turkish capital, with prosecutor Serdar Coşkun, loyal to the Turkish president, apparently forgetting to remove the classified documents before submitting them to the court,” the statement said, which continues: “They were collected from the headquarters of the General Staff during an investigation into the failed coup on 15 July 2016. The documents, including the plan to invade Greece and Armenia, were found to have been sent among the top commanders to the General Staff through a secure internal email.

    Koskun ordered the army to forward copies of all emails for the previous two months, including the encrypted ones, on August 1, 2016. Ten days later, on August 11, 2016, the prosecutor instructed his trusted assistant, a police officer named Yüksel Var, collect emails from the General Staff’s internal servers and report to him. A panel set up by military technicians under Var completed its work on 14 February 2017. Finally, the indictment filed by prosecutors Necip Cem İşçimen, Kemal Aksakal and İstiklal Akkaya in March 2017 at the 17th Supreme Criminal Court of the All of Ankara the e-mails collected from the computers of the General Staff“.

    The Nordic Monitor concludes: “No communication was found in the e-mails indicating any  coup attempt, which many believe was a disorientation operation organized by Erdogan and his intelligence and military leaders to trap the opposition to persecution and mass purges.

    The document does not contain details about the specifics of the program other than its name and updated date. The details of the war plan must have been labeled “confidential” and therefore could not be communicated through the intranet system running on the Turkish army’s email exchange servers. A review of the documents also shows that the General Staff, which notified the emails at the outset, panicked eight months later about the possible impact of the disclosure of sensitive documents and began sounding the alarm. The first warning letter was written on March 8, 2017 by the Chief of General Staff Unur Tarçın, Head of the Communication, Electronic and Information Services System of the General Staff (Muhabere, Elektronik ve Bilgi Sistemleri, or MEBS).

    He warned the General Staff Legal Service that the documents contained secret documents related to Turkey’s national security, classified intelligence reports and operations in Syria and the eastern Mediterranean. He said the documents should be kept secret and not disclosed to unauthorized persons. The Deputy Chief Legal Adviser of the General Staff, Colonel Aydın Seviş, then wrote to the 17th Ankara High Criminal Court on 24 August 2017, reiterating the same concerns about the secret documents and urging the establishment of a committee to review them. However, the Turkish prosecutors did not seem to pay attention to their concerns and included all the emails with the attached secret documents in the case file, revealing the highly classified information including the name of the invasion plan for Greece”.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/22/2021 – 02:00

  • When the FBI Framed Four Innocent Men
    When the FBI Framed Four Innocent Men

    Authored by Techno Fog via The Reactionary,

    This is the story of how the FBI framed four innocent men for murder, destroyed families, and tried to cover it up. It’s also the story of the convergence of John Durham and Robert Mueller: how Durham uncovered the FBI’s crimes and how Robert Mueller’s FBI disputed the innocence of the men the FBI framed.

    The FBI knocked and Mike Albano opened the door. It was 1983. As a member of the Massachusetts State Parole Board, Albano thought he had been doing his job when he looked into voting to commute the sentence of Peter Limone, who along with Joseph Salvati, Henry Tameleo, and Louis Greco, had been convicted for the murder of Teddy Deegan in 1965.

    Those convictions never sat right with Albano – he was savvy to Massachusetts and the convergence of the Mob and law enforcement. His suspicions of the convictions, and sympathy to the four men, only grew when he met with Greco, who proclaimed his innocence and said “he wanted to live one day as a free man, just one day.”1

    FBI special agents John Morris and John Connolly weren’t there just say hello or to discuss the details of the case (a state case, not a federal case). There was a darker purpose: straight-up intimidation. Threats that it wouldn’t be good for Albano’s career if he voted for commutation.

    To Albano’s credit, he voted to commute the sentence of Limone. This particular petition for commutation (Limone filed six in total that were all rejected) was denied by Governor Michael Dukakis after the FBI and then-U.S. Attorney Bill Weld put on the pressure, alleging that Limone was guilty of the Deegan murder, had been involved in commissioning the murder of Joseph “The Animal” Barboza, and would return with seniority to Boston’s organized crime structure if he was freed.

    The Parole Board also voted in favor of two commutation petitions by Greco. The first was denied by Governor Michael Dukakis, the second denied by Governor Bill Weld. There was no ruling on the third commutation petition filed by Greco in 1995. He died soon after it was filed. Greco’s plea to Albano, that he live “just one day” as a free man, was never granted.

    To understand this case and the FBI’s efforts to intimidate Albano, you have to go back to the 1960s. J. Edgar Hoover was the FBI Director and made it a focus of his to take down La Cosa Nostra – the Italian Mob – by any means necessary. To achieve this goal the FBI used criminal informants.

    The Teddy Deegan Murder

    Teddy Deegan was murdered on the night of March 12, 1965 in Chelsea, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. His body was found in an alley behind the Lincoln National Bank. He had on gloves and a screwdriver was found near his left hand. A tool of his trade. The lieutenant who arrived at the scene described a fresh pool of blood near his left knee and blood “still oozing from the rear of his head.” In all, Deegan was shot 6 times with three different guns.

    The officers who recognized Deegan there lying in the alley wouldn’t have been surprised. Deegan didn’t hang around the best people and didn’t exactly behave himself. They didn’t expect Deegan’s murder, but they wouldn’t have been surprised.

    Arrests are made.

    Four men – Limone, Greco, Salvati, and Tameleo – were accused of Deegan’s murder.

    Peter Limone was arrested on October 27, 1967. It was his tenth wedding anniversary and it was spent in jail away from his wife, Olympia, with whom he had four young children. He was supposed to meet Olymia that evening for a meeting at their sons’ school. He never showed up.

    Louis Greco surrendered to the FBI in Miami, having been in Florida at the time of the murder, and was extradited to Massachusetts in 1968. He too was married and had a couple young children. He was a war hero, having served in the South Pacific in the Army during World War II. For his service he had been awarded a Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars. He returned from the war “disabled for life with a shattered ankle.”

    Joseph Salvati was 34 when he was arrested. Like Limone, he also had four young children. Henry Tameleo was the oldest of the four men. He was born in 1901 and had been married to his wife since 1919.

    The Trial and Convictions

    The state murder trial started on May 27, 1968. Joseph Barboza, an FBI informant, testified that Limone and Tameleo approved the “hit” on Deegan, that Salvati was there with them, and that Greco helped plan the killing.

    Not that Barboza was innocent – he was indicted for a misdemeanor relating to the murder and was serving time for possessing an illegal firearm. This was supposedly part of a deal the FBI gave Barboza: testify for the Massachusetts government in the murder trial and they’d let the judge know the extent and materiality of his assistance.

    Anthony Stathopoulos, Jr. had also been at the scene and testified Greco – or a man who looked like Greco – wanted to get him as well. Other witnesses testified to guilt-indicating conduct by the defendants. For example, it was alleged that Tameleo and Greco tried to bribe Barboza and Stathopoulos to change their testimony.

    The defense had an uphill battle. Their lawyers suspected that the FBI might have information or documents relating to the witnesses or Deegan’s murder. But the FBI produced nothing.

    The jury reached its verdict on July 31, 1968. The four men were found guilty: Greco for murder in the first degree, Limone and Tameleo for accessories before the fact, Salvati for being an accessory after the fact, and all them for conspiracy to murder Deegan and Stathopoulos.

    Limone, Tameleo, and Greco received the death penalty. Salvati was sentenced to life.2 The convictions were brought to the attention of Director Hoover, with the Boston office sending memos citing the Suffolk County District Attorney’s comments that the prosecution was a “direct result of FBI investigation” and witness development.

    The FBI agents involved in the case (and who testified in support of their witness) were recommended awards and letters of commendation. They later received large bonuses and were praised by Director Hoover.

    The Families

    The families of the four men were devastated by the news. They had been distraught since the arrests – but at least with a trial they had hope things would work out in their favor. Now hope was gone and their husbands, their fathers, were facing execution.

    It was hard for the wives but the children had it worse. The taunts at school that their father was a murderer. Going through cold prison gates and being frisked just to spend their birthdays with their father. An empty seat at sporting events and recitals. A boy’s nightmares of his father’s electrocution. A girl’s anxiety of missing her dad.

    Henry Tameleo was the oldest of the four (aged 66 at the time of imprisonment) and his health was rapidly failing. The prison board and his doctors recommended he be transferred due to his health – these requests were ignored for years. He remained in prison a “sick, lonely old man” struggling with depression. His wife died in 1979. They had been married approximately 60 years; the last 10 years spent apart. He wasn’t there to hold her hand as she passed.

    As bad as all of that is – and it is bad – the Greco family took it the worst. I’m not sure there are words to describe the trauma they endured. Greco and his wife Roberta had two sons (Eddie and Louis Jr.) who were 10 and 12, respectively, when their father was taken away. After Greco’s conviction, his son Eddie – at just 10 years old – contemplated suicide. In his own words, he wanted to “take a plastic bag and kill myself. . . I was putting plastic bags around my head.”

    The boys’ mother Roberta stopped cooking and cleaning, and took up drinking and beating the kids. Eddie would go to school hungry. One day in 1970 Eddie came home to find their mother had abandoned them. They lived with family until they were thrown out of that home. Eddie was 13 and Louis Jr. was 15 when they were put out on their own.

    Greco’s health suffered the same fate as his family on the outside: deterioration. While Greco (and the other two defendants put on death row) was spared execution due to the termination of the death penalty in Massachusetts, he had always been sentenced to death – it was just a matter of time. His health began failing and he was ultimately unable to do most anything without assistance. He lost control of his bowels and Salvati helped clean up after him. Greco’s right leg was amputated below the knee in 1995 de to gangrene. He died in prison on December 30, 1995.

    Approximately two years later his son and namesake, Louis Jr., committed suicide by drinking a can of Drano. His other son Eddie struggled with cocaine and heroin addiction. He would eventually die from a likely overdose.

    What the FBI knew.

    There were FBI secrets about these convictions for 30+ years. These secrets went all the way up to FBI Director Hoover, and were uncovered in late 2000 by then-Assistant US Attorney John Durham: that the FBI had framed four innocent men for murder. This set-up was “known to, supported by, encouraged, and facilitated by the FBI hierarchy all the way up to the FBI Director.”3

    To understand the FBI conspiracy, we have to go back to the 1960s and FBI Director Hoover’s efforts to take down La Cosa Nostra- the Italian Mob – by any means necessary.

    Part of that task involved focusing on Raymond Patriarca, a powerful New England organized crime boss. In 1962, the FBI installed a wire in Patriarca’s Providence, New England office without a warrant. The conversations were monitored and forwarded to agents in the FBI’s Boston office. This was kept secret even within the FBI. Per Judge Gertner, “FBI reports describing conversations on the wire referred to it as if it were a human source, an informant just like any other.”

    The FBI also made use of informants, with whom their agents were have a secret and long-term relationship. Enter Jimmy Flemmi, a career criminal and top FBI informant. The FBI had known of Flemmi’s criminal history – and knew that Flemmi had been involved in a number of murders. Condon, one of the agents handling Flemmi, had been informed in 1964 and early 1965 that Flemmi had committed several murders. This didn’t matter to FBI Agent Dennis Condon, his Boston FBI supervisor, or even to Director Hoover. He could get close to Patriarca and other mob figures and, therefore, had potential.

    Jimmy Flemmi was eventually closed as an informant in the fall of 1965. His brother, Stephen Flemmi, began informing for the FBI not long after. Like Jimmy, Stephen was a career criminal, gangster, and killer.

    The FBI’s Knowledge of the Plot to Kill Deegan

    The wires and informants against Patricia were well underway by 1965. In October 1964, the FBI learned on two occasions that Jimmy Flemmi wanted to kill Deegan. Director Hoover had been updated on these developments.4

    Five months later, in early March 1965, Jimmy Flemmi met with Patriarca and asked for permission to execute Deegan. A couple days later Flemmi returned with Joseph Barboza and asked for the “OK” to kill him. Flemmi thought Deegan was “an arrogant, nasty sneak and should be killed.”5

    Two days prior to Deegan’s murder, on March 10, 1965, an informant advised the FBI that Raymond Patriarca, a powerful New England organized crime boss, had ordered a “hit” on Deegan. They had already completed a dry run and “a close associate of Deegan’s has agreed to set him up.” The FBI knew it was coming.

    Deegan was executed on March 12, 1965. This was the same day that one of his killers, Jimmy Flemmi, was assigned to be developed as an informant.6

    The FBI’s Knowledge

    The FBI never doubted who killed Teddy Deegan. The day after the murder, an FBI informant reported that Jimmy Flemmi confessed to the killing along with Roy French, Joseph Romeo Martin, Ronnie Cassesso, and Joseph Barboza. Approximately three months later, Director Hoover was informed that Flemmi had participated in the murder. 

    The FBI was able to put together exactly how the murder was supposed to go down. After the hit was approved by Patriarca, the men planned to kill Deegan when he and an associate (who was also to be killed) were robbing a place in Chelsea. French was to tip the killers off to the time and location.

    Deegan’s death had the criminal world talking. On March 13, 1965 (the day after the murder), a top FBI informant reported that Jimmy Flemmi confessed to murder along with French, Romeo, Martin, Cassesso, and Barboza.

    “That account would be repeated over and over with minor variations in every single document the FBI had” before Barboza started cooperating.7 Other accounts supported that theory of the Deegan murder. For example, the Chelsea police had information that the men had been seen leaving a restaurant together at approximately 9 p.m. and returning 45 minutes later.  Other informants came forward. Eleven days after Deegan’s murder, on March 23, 1965, it was reported to the FBI that Barboza admitted to the killing. The memo below shows that Director Hoover was informed that the FBI’s own informants had murdered Deegan.

    This information wasn’t shared with state authorities or the defense counsel of the accused. As a result, this really became a criminal conspiracy by the FBI hierarchy – all the way up to Director Hoover.

    Durham Starts the Bulger Review

    In 1995, information of Whitey Bulger’s relationship with corrupt FBI agents became public, leading to an investigation of the FBI’s Boston field office. This included a review of documents relating to Limone’s case.

    In late 2000, then-Assistant U.S. Attorney John Durham uncovered FBI memos from the 1960s detailing FBI misconduct in this case, providing them to the DOJ, US Attorney’s Office, the defendants and state prosecutors, and the FBI. As a result, “the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office immediately filed a motion to vacate Limone’s conviction, to grant Limone a new trial, and admit him to bail.

    Judge Margaret Hinkle of Suffolk Superior Court ruled that the Durham documents were material, exculpatory, and cast ‘real doubt’ on the justice of Limone’s convictions.”8 The state cases against Salvati and Limone – the only two still alive – were dropped. (Greco and Tameleo had died in prison; their cases were posthumously dropped.)

    Mueller

    Once Durham uncovered these documents, the Massachusetts Pardon Board reached out to FBI Director Mueller, asking about the FBI’s official response to the exculpatory evidence. The Boston Field Office provided a shameful response that the new evidence of an FBI set-up did not mean that the men were “innocent – it merely means that they are entitled to a new trial.”

    The Lawsuit and Aftermath

    Eventually, the surviving men and their families, along with the families of the deceased Greco and Tameleo, filed suit against the FBI. Not only did the FBI refuse to admit the truth – that these men were innocent – but the FBI also obstructed their civil rights trial. It turned out that the FBI had been hiding evidence from their own lawyers. This caused Judge Gertner to order that “this matter be brought to the personal attention of the Director of the FBI [Robert Mueller].”

    After a bench trial, Judge Gertner concluded this case was “about intentional misconduct, subornation of perjury, conspiracy, the framing of four innocent men.” She awarded the men and their families over $100 million in damages.

    For the wrongly convicted and their families, this would never be enough.

    Meanwhile, the FBI headquarters is still called the J. Edgar Hoover F.B.I. Building. Mueller enjoys, at least with some, a good reputation despite his small but significant part in this saga. And Durham – now Special Counsel – still quietly looks for the truth.

    *  *  *

    1. In this essay, the Author relies in large part on Judge Nancy Gertner’s July 26, 2007 Memorandum and Order in civil action no. 02cv10890, Peter J. Limone, et al., v. United States of America, in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

    2. Barboza pled guilty to conspiracy and had his unrelated charges dismissed. He was sentenced to a year and a day to be served concurrently with the other time he was doing.

    3. Gertner Memo.

    4. https://fas.org/irp/congress/2003_rpt/fbi2.pdf

    5. https://fas.org/irp/congress/2003_rpt/fbi2.pdf

    6. https://fas.org/irp/congress/2003_rpt/fbi2.pdf

    7. Gertner Memo at 49.

    8. Gertner Memo at 12.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 23:40

  • Thermostats In Texas Homes Are Being Accessed Remotely And Turned Up Due To An Energy Shortage
    Thermostats In Texas Homes Are Being Accessed Remotely And Turned Up Due To An Energy Shortage

    Have a smart thermostat at home? Better keep an eye on it – especially if you live in Texas.

    That’s because some residents of the Lone Star state have been claiming that someone has been turning up the temperatures at their homes, remotely, at the same time the state is undergoing an energy shortage. 

    And while the Electric Reliability Council of Texas has asked Texans to turn up the temperatures at their homes to help deal with the shortage, some residents are claiming it’s being done for them. 

    Deer Park resident Brandon English told KHOU: “(My wife) had it cranked it down at 2:30. It takes a long time for this house to get cool when it gets that hot. They’d been asleep long enough that the house had already gotten to 78 degrees. So they woke up sweating.”

    His wife received an alert on her phone shortly thereafter saying their thermostat had been changed remotely due to an “energy saving event”. 

    “Was my daughter at the point of overheating? She’s 3 months old. They dehydrate very quickly,” English said. And according to KHOU, the English’s house isn’t the only place where such “adjustments” can take place:

    The family’s smart thermostat was installed a few years ago as part of a new home security package. Many smart thermostats can be enrolled in a program called “Smart Savers Texas.” It’s operated by a company called EnergyHub.

    The agreement states that in exchange for an entry into sweepstakes, electric customers allow them to control their thermostats during periods of high energy demand. EnergyHub’s list of its clients include TXU Energy, CenterPoint and ERCOT.

    “I wouldn’t want anybody else controlling my things for me,” English said. He said he unenrolled the home’s thermostat as soon as he found out. “If somebody else can manipulate this, I’m not for it,” he said.

    Similar complaints on a Houston Reddit board showed that English wasn’t the only person who had the issue. “Several others” said their thermostats were also accessed and turned up. 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 23:20

  • Biden Urged To Replace Harris On Border Assignment In Letter Signed by 56 Republicans
    Biden Urged To Replace Harris On Border Assignment In Letter Signed by 56 Republicans

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

    More than 50 House GOP lawmakers called on President Joe Biden to relieve Vice President Kamala Harris of her duties in handling the U.S.–Mexico border crisis.

    President Joe Biden delivers remarks as Vice President Kamala Harris stands by in the East Room at the White House on May 10, 2021. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

    The Republicans, as they have done for months, noted that Harris hasn’t yet visited the border amid a surge in illegal immigration. Some Democratic lawmakers who represent areas along the border have also called on the vice president to take more action, including a visit to the area.

    Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) and 55 other Republicans in the House demanded Harris’s removal from her border assignment, citing recent Customs and Border Protection data that shows that 180,000 people were apprehended last month after crossing the border illegally.

    “Despite being in the midst of a border crisis this country has not seen in two decades, Vice President Harris has not yet shown adequate interest in observing this crisis first-hand,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter. “In the 85 days since the Vice President has been tasked with solving this crisis, she has yet to visit the border and meet with Border Patrol agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, and local law enforcement officials.”

    Harris has defended not going to the border and said she will visit the border sometime in the future.

    When she visited Mexico and Guatemala this month, Harris said that the “root causes” of the illegal immigration problem should be addressed. However, her explanation to reporters in Mexico about why she hasn’t visited the border yet overshadowed her trip, saying that the White House is aiming to boost economic development in the region.

    She told reporters: “It would be very easy to say, ‘We’ll travel to one place, and therefore it’s solved.’ I don’t think anybody thinks that that would be the solution.” When pressed about visiting the border again, Harris said she did so when she was a senator from California.

    Harris has also said that their mission primarily is diplomatic work focused on the “Northern Triangle” countries of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, as well as Mexico.

    During a testy exchange last week between Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Mayorkas said that questions about Harris not having visited the border are “quite unfair and disrespectful.” Norman was one of the signatories of the letter asking Biden to relieve Harris of her duties.

    Mayorkas said, “Let me be very clear, the president and the vice president have requested and directed me to visit the border, which I have done on multiple occasions.”

    Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) has become possibly the most vocal Democrat in the House about the border crisis. Last week, he wrote a letter to the vice president requesting she meet with him and visit the border, but he later told Fox News that he hasn’t heard back from her office.

    “I encourage you to join me and other Members of Congress, while we visit with the people on the ground who deal with these issues every day,” Cuellar wrote. “I believe it is critical that you meet with local stakeholders and residents, consider their concerns, and use their lived experiences to implement more effective policies.”

    Meanwhile, as Tom Ozimek also notes:

    A dozen Republican senators have demanded the immediate release of a Biden administration blueprint for expanding and overhauling the immigration system, according to a draft document obtained by selected media but not yet disclosed to Congress or the general public.

    In a joint letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (pdf), the senators demand the release of a 46-page draft called the “DHS Plan to Restore Trust in Our Legal Immigration System,” which was first reported by The New York Times and which reportedly maps out the Biden administration’s plans for significant expansion of the immigration system.

    According to The New York Times, the blueprint “lists scores of initiatives intended to reopen the country to more immigrants,” while not just rolling back some Trump-era policies but also “addressing backlogs and delays that plagued prior presidents.” Most of the document’s policy proposals could not be implemented by executive authority, but would require a broader overhaul of U.S. immigration laws, according to the report.

    In the letter, the GOP lawmakers allege that the blueprint “is being withheld from Congress and the American people,” which they find “particularly troubling given the ongoing crisis at the southern border.”

    Kinney County Constable Steve Gallegos and Kinney County Sheriff’s deputies arrest a smuggler and seven illegal aliens from Guatemala near Brackettville, Texas, on May 25, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

    Since Biden took office, there has been a historic surge in illegal immigration, a situation Republicans have characterized as a “crisis” fueled by the the president’s policies. Biden administration officials have disputed that characterization, including Mayorkas, who in recent Senate testimony insisted on using the term “challenge” to describe the problem while insisting that the administration has a strategy to cope with it.

    But the senators expressed concern that some of the policies the blueprint reportedly contains would serve to exacerbate the problem by accelerating the flow of illegal immigration into the United States.

    “We are deeply concerned that these policies will act as a pull factor to continue drawing illegal immigrants to the country—much like the policies already being implemented by the Biden Administration,” they wrote.

    The Epoch Times has reached out to the DHS with a request for comment on the GOP letter and seeking clarification on the timeline for the document’s release to the public.

    The lawmakers also objected to what they characterized as President Joe Biden’s plans to “use and abuse executive authority to reshape our immigration system.”

    “In addition, the policies allegedly proposed in this document would open up new ways for immigrants to enter the country legally that extend well beyond the plain text and meaning of the law,” they wrote. “While there are many rational suggestions for reform in this document, these are decisions that must be made by Congress, and Congress alone, and not by the stroke of the President’s pen,” they added.

    “A decision with such serious public safety consequences should be open and accessible, but instead, DHS has kept this information from everyone except a media ally,” the senators wrote.

    The letter was signed by Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).

    Follow Tom on Twitter: @OZImekTOM

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 23:00

  • Pakistan PM Slams Door On Allowing CIA Bases For Afghan Operations
    Pakistan PM Slams Door On Allowing CIA Bases For Afghan Operations

    In a new high level interview given to Axios’ Jonathan Swan, Pakistani Premier Imran Khan issued a blunt message to Washington as it struggles with the deteriorating security situation amid the Afghan draw down, which Biden has vowed to accomplish before Sept.11. 

    Khan has definitively ruled out allowing the United States to set up CIA bases on Pakistani soil to conduct cross-border operations. “Will you allow the American government to have CIA here in Pakistan to conduct cross-border counterterrorism missions against Al-Qaeda, ISIS or the Taliban?” Swan asked the longtime Pakistani leader in the interview first published days ago.

    “Absolutely not. There’s no way we’re going to allow it,” Khan said, before repeating resolutely, “Absolutely not.”

    Earlier this month, US intelligence and defense officials acknowledged they are in a “last-minute” scramble to find regional bases to operate from – for example to conduct drone operations – after the Pentagon fully exits by the upcoming Fall per the White House’s timeline.

    Driving these efforts are not only fears that the Taliban could quickly take Kabul in the days and weeks after Western forces exit the country, but according to Axios, it’s to prevent increased Russian influence in Central Asia: “The Biden administration also is exploring options in Central Asia to maintain intelligence on terrorist networks inside Afghanistan, but that is complicated for a different reason: Those countries are in Vladimir Putin’s sphere of influence,” the report states.

    Throughout much of the two decade long US war in Afghanistan, Pakistan has served as a crucial base of US counterterror operations; however during Khan’s 2018 election as prime minister, he vowed to “never again” allow US intelligence or special forces such a role on Pakistani soil.

    Swan writes that, “Close observers say it would be political suicide for Khan to embrace the presence of the CIA or special forces on Pakistani soil.”

    US Air National Guard photo

    Assuming that any kind of near future deal with US intelligence is ever actually reached, for the above reasons the public will certainly never know about it.

    Historically, especially into the 1980’s, Pakistan has been host of major and far-reaching US intelligence campaigns in Central Asia – so despite Khan’s public denials of entertaining the possibility of an agreement for covert ops being reach – it always remains a a distinct possibility. 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 22:40

  • New Study Links Ivermectin To "Large Reductions" In COVID-19 Deaths
    New Study Links Ivermectin To “Large Reductions” In COVID-19 Deaths

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

    A recent pre-print review based on peer-reviewed studies has found that using antiparasitic drug ivermectin could lead to “large reductions” in COVID-19 deaths and its use could have a “significant impact” on the pandemic globally.

    A health worker shows a bottle of Ivermectin as part of a study of the Center for Paediatric Infectious Diseases Studies, in Cali, Colombia, on July 21, 2020. (Luis Robayo/AFP via Getty Images)

    For the study (pdf), published on June 17 in the American Journal of Therapeutics, a group of scientists reviewed the clinical trial use of ivermectin, which has antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties, in 24 randomized controlled trials involving just over 3,400 participants. The researchers sought to assess the efficacy of ivermectin in reducing infection or mortality in people with COVID-19 or at high risk of getting it.

    Using multiple methods of sequential analysis, the researchers concluded with a moderate level of confidence that the drug reduced the risk of death in COVID-19 patients by an average of 62 percent, at a 95 percent confidence interval of 0.19-0.79, in a sample of 2438 patients.

    Among hospitalized COVID-19 patients, the risk of death was found to be 2.3 percent among those treated with the drug, compared to 7.8 percent for those who were not, according to the review.

    “Moderate-certainty evidence finds that large reductions in COVID-19 deaths are possible using ivermectin. Using ivermectin early in the clinical course may reduce numbers progressing to severe disease,” the authors wrote.

    A health worker shows a box containing a bottle of Ivermectin as part of a study of the Center for Pediatric Infectious Diseases Studies, in Cali, Colombia, on July 21, 2020. (Luis Robayo/AFP via Getty Images)

    Since the start of the pandemic, both observational and randomized studies have evaluated ivermectin as a treatment for, and as prevention against, COVID-19 infection.

    “A review by the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance summarized findings from 27 studies on the effects of ivermectin for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection, concluding that ivermectin ‘demonstrates a strong signal of therapeutic efficacy’ against COVID-19” the researchers wrote, referring to one recent review, which was based on data from both peer-reviewed studies and preprint manuscripts.

    They cited another recent review that concluded that ivermectin reduced deaths by as much as 75 percent, while noting that neither the National Institutes of Health in the United States nor the World Health Organization (WHO) have recommended the use of ivermectin outside clinical trials for use in the fight against COVID-19.

    [ZH: Meanwhile in India]

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in a note on “Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19,” warns that it has received “multiple reports of patients who have required medical support and been hospitalized after self-medicating with ivermectin intended for horses.”

    “Using any treatment for COVID-19 that’s not approved or authorized by the FDA, unless part of a clinical trial, can cause serious harm,” the FDA said in the note, adding that it has not reviewed data to support the use of ivermectin in COVID-19 patients.

    The WHO said in March that “the current evidence on the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 patients is inconclusive” and that, until more data becomes available, the agency recommends that “the drug only be used within clinical trials.”

    The authors of the ivermectin efficacy study argued, however, that the drug has an “established safety profile through decades of use” and “could play a critical role in suppressing or even ending the SARS-CoV2 pandemic.”

    “The apparent safety and low cost suggest that ivermectin is likely to have a significant impact on the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic globally,” they argued in the study abstract.

    The authors noted in their publication that all the studies on which they based their conclusions have been peer-reviewed.

    Follow Tom on Twitter: @OZImekTOM

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 22:20

  • China Crackdown On Bitcoin Sends Retail Graphics-Card Prices Lower Despite Ongoing Scalping
    China Crackdown On Bitcoin Sends Retail Graphics-Card Prices Lower Despite Ongoing Scalping

    Bitcoin, Ether, and most other crypto tokens tumbled to their lowest levels in more than a week Monday morning amid a continued crackdown on cryptocurrency miners by China, as the PBOC, China’s central bank, requested a meeting with Alipay and several local banks over providing services to crypto traders.

    As of 1400 ET, BTC was trading around $32,292, a plunge of more than 9% over the past 24 hours and a halving since its all-time high of nearly $65,000 in mid-April.

    The continuing crackdown on crypto and mining in China has sent shockwaves worldwide – most of them are bad for the crypto community as miners may have to relocate. But there may be a near-term silver lining, as the most critical component in mining operations, graphics cards, saw prices plunge from record highs – at least for those fortunate enough to score one from retailers at MSRP.

    According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), retail prices for various Nvidia cards used by miners have been falling. For example, Nvidia Quadro P1000 model graphics cards were going for 2,429 yuan (US$376), down from 3,000 yuan ($464) in early May, before China started cracking down on crypto mining. 

    A more popular card for miners, the Asus RTX3060, was down 4,699 yuan ($726) from its peak of 13,499 yuan ($2087) on JD.com. 

    All price changes above were tracked by e-commerce firm Manmanbuy. 

    That said, whether the current dip in retail prices will translate to actual availability – particularly in the US, where scalpers use automated scrapers to identify and snap up cards as they become available and flip them on Ebay and other forums for huge premiums – has yet to be seen. Meanwhile, NVidia CEO Jensen Huang has warned that RTX 3XXX series cards will be difficult to buy through the end of the year. So until the silicon shortage is remedied, and Ethereum jumps from POW (mining with GPUs) to POS (not mining with GPUs), demand for Nvidia GPUs is unlikely to abate – allowing scalpers to keep doing their thing.

    A graphics card mining rig is a special computer put together for the sole purpose of mining cryptocurrencies. 

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

    We noted earlier that authorities in the Chinese city of Ya’an had promised to root out all bitcoin and ether mining operations in the area – known for its cheap hydroelectric power – in the coming months.

     … and couple this with PBOC’s statements about Alipay, ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Postal Savings Bank of China, and Industrial Bank over providing services to virtual currency trading – the makings of a reversal in graphics card prices seems to be underway. 

    But keep in mind, prices are still sky-high from a pre-COVID level as the ability to procure high-end graphics cards has become more challenging due to supply chain disruptions.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 22:00

  • The Biden 'No-Go' Zones
    The Biden ‘No-Go’ Zones

    Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via AmGreatness.com,

    The Democratic Party won the long march through journalism, but this Pyrrhic victory has meant the destruction of every principle of journalistic integrity liberals ever claimed to champion…

    In American journalism, there are supposed to be some clear, nonnegotiable third-rails. 

    One is zero tolerance for overtly racist language and comportment among our movers and shakers. Reporters, for example, for four years damned Donald Trump for his neutralizing summation that there were both “fine people” and extremists mingled among the hordes of protestors during their occasionally violent encounters in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

    It mattered little to the media that Trump added qualifiers of “many” and “both” sides of the protests: 

    We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides . . . And I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally—but you had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists, OK? . . . Now, in the other group also, you had some fine people, but you also had troublemakers and you see them come with the black outfits and with the helmets and with the baseball bats—you had a lot of bad people in the other group, too.

    Selected words from the above quote were recycled ad nauseam as proof Trump was a racist. 

    Another no-go zone is any hint of contextualizing sexual harassment or assault.

    No statute of limitations can provide exemption, much less a “she said/he said” defense in the age of “women must be believed.” The Brett Kavanaugh circus of September 2018 was a reminder that a lack of evidence, credible witnesses, or basic logic is no defense against the 30-year-old charges of alleged teenage sexual misbehavior. Bill Clinton managed to use his progressive credentials as an insurance policy to avoid for months any condemnation that he was a callous womanizer, but finally the press corps found his exploitative appetites too egregious to ignore.

    A third zero-tolerance zone is any hint of presidential debility.

    We were told in the dark days of 1973 that Nixon was non compos mentis, nursing his wounds with drink as his legendary constitution finally cracked under the pressure, making him supposedly unable physically to withstand the impending impeachment. “Saturday Night Live” made an industry out of Chevy Chase replaying Gerald Ford’s stumbles. Ronald Reagan was all but declared senile by the press for using index cards in some of his summits and speeches, or putting his hand to his ear and claiming he could not fathom reporters’ gottcha questions amid the din of swirling helicopter blades on the White House lawn. 

    Finally, lying, fibbing, and even presidential exaggeration are deemed intolerable—or so we are told by the media.

    It does not matter that the newsroom is currently one of the great purveyors of untruth, as we saw in the Russian collusion hoax, the dubious Wuhan wet-market narrative, or the yarn about the Lafayette Square militarization to green-light a Trump photo-op. 

    Reporters never let Richard Nixon live down his “tricky Dick” reputation for his purported bouts of misinformation. Lyndon Johnson’s lies about the supposed impending victory in Vietnam doomed him. 

    George H. W. Bush never got free of his “Read my lips: No new taxes” pledge. Bill Clinton was impeached because what he said about his sexual misadventures, sometimes under oath, could not be squared with the facts. 

    There is no need to rehash the media’s echo chamber of “Bush lied, people died” in connection with the flawed CIA intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. One reason why the media’s canonization of Barack Obama ultimately failed was the latter’s blatant lies. (Who can forget “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor”?) The Washington Post and an epidemic of “fact-checkers” tallied up all of Trump’s exaggerations and contradictions to convince the public that he was an inveterate liar. 

    Americans may disagree with these journalistic rules, but to quote Hyman Roth about the state of our media, “This is the business we’ve chosen.”

    Yet it is arguable that while no other president in modern memory has trespassed more egregiously on these no-go areas than Joe Biden, he has received no criticism for his transgressions. 

    Joe Biden (never mind his son, Hunter) has compiled the most glaring rap sheet of racist quotes of any current modern political leader.

    He characterized Barack Obama as the first “clean and articulate” black presidential candidate. He told a group of accomplished black professionals that Romney would put “y’all back in chains,” as if they were helpless laborers. 

    Biden’s rants about Indians and donut shops, the Corn Pop fables, his dismissals of black journalists with put-downs such as “you ain’t black” and invectives such as “junkie” would have disqualified any other candidate.

    His earlier treatment of Clarence Thomas during his Supreme Court nomination confirmation hearing, his idolization of fossilized racist kingpins in the Senate, his rhetoric on busing and black career criminals, were all couched in racial condescension. 

    At a time when the current incarnation of Biden is siccing the federal government—and the Pentagon in particular—on a mythical, nationwide white supremacist conspiracy, the president’s own son is revealed to have habitually used the N-word and emulated what he thought was a backward black patois. Was Joe warning America about Hunter, when he charged that white supremacy reigned and must be dethroned?


     

    While Joe Biden is also pointing fingers at white America with despicable false accusations of anti-Asian hate crimes (in truth, these attacks disproportionately are committed by black males), the press is quiet about Hunter Biden’s exchanges with his cousin Caroline Biden over set-up “dates.” In one, Caroline warns Hunter “I can’t give you f—ing Asian sorry. I’m not doing it.”

    Hunter trumps her racist slurs with his own agreement: “No yellow.” 

    That story was buried by mainstream journalists who have long ago fused with the progressive cause.

    As senator, vice president, and presidential candidate Joe Biden was often caught—and occasionally even apologized for—habitually touching, smooching, squeezing, hugging, and breathing on women, some of them preteens, in a manner that can only be called creepy, with all of the females recoiling at his advances. When the intrusions became too great to ignore, the would-be president said only he would be “mindful” of invading the private space of women. 

    Tara Reade, a former assistant in Senator Biden’s office, replayed the role of Christine Blasey Ford with charges of sexual assault—but with far greater credibility and detail (“There was no exchange, really, he just had me up against the wall . . . I remember it happened all at once . . . his hands were on me and underneath my clothes.”). Reade provided corroborating evidence, and explicit details of assault, yet the same journalists and politicians—again so often joined at the hip—who had sought to destroy Brett Kavanaugh gave Biden a pass, absurdly citing the statute of limitations, and even questioning the sanity and stability of Reade herself.

    As far as presidential health goes, even Donald Trump’s enemies have remarked on his almost unnatural stamina and energy, characterized by 20-hour work days and near inexplicable rapid recovery from COVID-19. No matter. By mid-2017 there was a nonstop journalist mantra that Trump was “crazy” and “unhinged,” and too “sick” to remain president. The clamor continued until Trump himself took the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and aced the exam’s questions. A Yale psychiatrist achieved mini-celebrity status by unprofessionally diagnosing Trump in absentia as mentally challenged and in need of a forced intervention—unhinged charges that nonetheless enhanced reporters’ frenzied calls for invocation of the 25th Amendment. 

    Contrast this with Joe Biden. He has trouble walking up the steps of the Air Force One. He forgets names and events. His days are short and his attention span shorter, his press conferences rare—and scripted. At the recent G-7 summit he displayed a mishmash of bizarre interruptions, “get off my lawn” temper tantrums at reporters, slurred words, incomplete thoughts and sentences, cognitive freezes, and general fragilities. His own administration, or more likely those around Vice President Kamala Harris, habitually leak to their lackeys in the media portentous “worries” that Biden’s infirmities are such that they can longer be successfully hidden. And yet the ruse continues.

    Finally, Biden says things that are just flat out lies. He declared that no Americans had been vaccinated until he took office, despite a presidential photo-op of him greeting the vaccination on December 21, 2020, and the fact 1 million people had been vaccinated by the day he took office, including him. At the G-7 meeting Biden offered his most egregious untruth—that Trump supporters had killed officer Brian Sicknick—although the autopsy report, now several weeks old, found Sicknick had died of natural causes a day after the riot. While the border is wide open, Biden ignores the chaos and asserts the border is secure and closed. Hunter Biden’s laptop, Joe insists, was a result of “Russian disinformation.” Almost everything Biden has said on illegal immigration, the effects of his proposed tax hikes, and the January 6 Capitol assault is untrue. 

    Reporters ignore the mounting lies, ironically winking and in acknowledgement that most are the result of Biden’s own cognitive deterioration—as if it is more reassuring that a president does not know what he is saying rather than is saying something untrue.

    How can we explain this utter dereliction of American journalism? 

    The media was always left-leaning. But after 2016, it openly announced that it could no longer remain unbiased given the existential threats supposedly posed by President Trump. CNN transmogrified from a leftist airport news aggregator into a purveyor of whoppers, open threats against the president, and outright obscenities. 

    Remember the blasé reporting about presidential decapitation and poisoning? On-air discussion of defecation? The forced retractions of fake news? The retirements and firings for fabricating stories? All that characterized CNN after 2015. 

    But aside from Trump, another reason why journalism died was the rise of Silicon Valley and related left-wing billionaires, enriched from monopolies of social media and Internet communications, buying up media companies. Abetted by the subversion of higher education that turned journalism schools into ideological factories, the tech oligarchs made war on the First Amendment, which they hate almost as much as the Second.  Reporters were rewarded handsomely for upholding woke orthodoxy, knowing that while an accurate story offering a positive view of a conservative could stall a career, any inaccurate negative take on conservatism was likely to be job enhancing.

    Finally, there is no longer a Democratic Party—at least not of the kind that Joe Manchin and earlier incarnations of Joe Biden and Bill Clinton used to represent. The Left talks of Representative Liz Cheney’s (R-Wyo.) psychodramas and fissures in the Republican Party, but only because civil war for control of the Democratic Party is long over, and was won by the hardcore neosocialist left. Now it is only a matter of mopping up stragglers and relics. 

    Translated into presidential coverage, reporters know that any tough question or honest reporting on Joe Biden will not be praised for disinterested journalism or personal courage, but damned as apostasy and disloyalty. In truth, Democratic politicians treat the media now as if they were obedient poodles. They consider any who timidly bark when not so instructed to be in need of neutering.

    The final ironies? The Democratic Party won the long march through journalism, but this Pyrrhic victory has meant the destruction of every principle of journalistic integrity liberals ever claimed to champion. Now its most progressive leaders—Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi—have grown so accustomed to fawning Soviet-style reportage that they no longer have the ability to answer any real journalist’s questions. 

    Stranger still, the beneficiaries of media obsequiousness have nothing but contempt for the helots who now serve them. Remember Ben Rhodes’ haughty putdown of slavish journalists who “know nothing” and were unknowingly drowning in the swampy echo chambers he had so cynically created?

    Once politicians lose all fear of the press, they will say and do anything in their hubris, as we now see with the completely unmoored Joe Biden. And having lost not just the respect of the public but also the regard of the very progressives they idolize, America’s journalists are routinely slapped down as the fawning toadies they have become.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 21:40

  • "Avocados Are Green Gold" As Thieves Target Farms  
    “Avocados Are Green Gold” As Thieves Target Farms  

    Avocado farmers in South Africa are combating thieves who have found that money grows on trees. 

    The Wall Street Journal interviewed avocado farmer Mark Alcock who has a 170-acre farm in South Africa, the world’s sixth-largest avocado exporter. He said his farm has a motion-activated infrared camera system operated by an ex-military soldier and protects the property from criminals. 

    Alcock is not alone. As prices increase due to cyclical factors, other farms have installed security systems to monitor their crops. 

    “As the value of the product rises, the accessibility of it rises because more orchards are being planted,” said Howard Blight, who farms avocados on a 350-acre farm. He said his farm is guarded by an electric fence and guards. 

    “It seems a bit drastic,” Blight said. “But avocados are the green gold.”

    Avocado theft used to be minimal but is now rampant because criminal gangs are getting involved and raiding farms, then pushing the fruit into legitimate markets, according to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, an NGO. 

    The latest raids have disrupted the supply and the price of avocados across South Africa. Much of the fruit is destined for Europe, where wholesalers pay up to $2 per pound. 

    Perhaps the reason why criminal gangs are stealing avocado is that the financial legacy of the virus pandemic has doomed the country and will likely result in longer-term structural effects. This includes high levels of debt and soaring wealth inequality, pushing those who are jobless into criminal gangs. 

    Francisco Díaz, co-owner of Oh My Avo, Cape Town’s first avocado bar, said the crime wave is producing headaches for his business. 

    “This year it was a little bit crazy. Plenty of people are stealing them, so there was a big shortage,” Díaz said.

    Craig Coppen, co-director of Canine Security, provides security services to more than 30 commercial growers across the country, monitoring 3,700 acres. 

    On the other side of the world, drug cartels in Mexico have diversified from pumping cocaine and fentanyl into the US to more legitimate operations, including developing avocado farms or seizing them from local farmers. This lucrative business is feeding the West’s craze for avocado toast, popularized by millennials. 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 21:20

  • Alan Dershowitz: "Radical Left" Campaign To Get Justice Breyer To Retire Will "Backfire"
    Alan Dershowitz: “Radical Left” Campaign To Get Justice Breyer To Retire Will “Backfire”

    Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

    The left-wing campaign to pressure Justice Stephen Breyer to quit the Supreme Court will backfire, said Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz.

    Over the past several months, progressives in Congress and left-wing opinion piece writers have increasingly called on Breyer—who is part of the Supreme Court’s liberal wing—to step down due to his age after the justice publicly rebuffed proposals to “pack,” or expand, the Supreme Court.

    “They’re saying to him, ‘Look, quit, quit,’” Dershowitz said during an interview with WABC 770 on Sunday, “even though you’re healthy and well, and your appointment is for life because we want to make sure that President Biden gets to appoint your successor while there is still a majority of Democrats in the United States Senate.”

    Dershowitz argued that Democrats “want to make the Supreme Court a kind of political institution” packed with individuals who share the same ideological viewpoint.

    “Justices should sit as long as they are healthy,” Dershowitz said.

    “Oliver Wendell Holmes sat until he was over 90. [Louis] Brandeis sat until he was in his 80s. Some of our greatest decisions were written by octogenarians. And I don’t like the fact that there are people who want to pressure Justice Breyer to leave the court and make it even more political than it now is.”

    Attorney Alan Dershowitz, a member of President Donald Trump’s legal team, speaks to the press in the Senate Reception Room during the Senate impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 29, 2020. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

    The pressure campaign to get him to retire started months ago. In April, near the Supreme Court, a truck with the banner “Breyer, retire,” was seen driving around the building, according to photos and video uploaded at the time. In Congress, members of the “Squad,” including its de facto leader Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in June, have made similar requests of the justice.

    “It’s something that I’d think about, but I would probably lean towards yes,” the self-described Democratic socialist congresswoman told CNN earlier this month in response to a question about Breyer’s possible retirement. “But yes, you’re asking me this question, so I’ve just—I would give more thought to it but, but I’m inclined to say yes.”

    Progressives have cited Breyer’s relatively advanced age in arguing that he should step down. After Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in 2020, President Donald Trump and the then-Republican-led Senate appointed Amy Coney Barrett, considered by some to be a conservative jurist, to the vacant Supreme Court spot.

    During Barrett’s Senate hearings, several top Democrats publicly suggested expanding the Supreme Court. However, without undoing the 60-vote filibuster in the equally divided Senate, it seems unlikely for such a measure to make it through Congress.

    Breyer himself in April spoke out about “packing” the court during a speech at Harvard, suggesting that such a measure would backfire and create an impression that the institution is politicized. Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) several days later then told news outlets that he believes the justice should step down.

    But, according to Dershowitz, the public pressure campaign likely “will backfire,” and Breyer is “not going to want to be perceived as having given in to pressure. I know him.”

    “He’s not the kind of guy who’s going to say, ‘I’m going to leave office as a result of pressure from some academics who want me to leave in order to serve their own political interests,’” the longtime former professor said. “So, A – It’s going to backfire. B – It’s age discrimination. C – It politicizes the Supreme Court. And it tells us what’s wrong with the hard left today. They see everything politically.”

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 21:00

  • Exxon To Fire Up To 10% Of White Collar Workers For The Next 3 To 5 Years
    Exxon To Fire Up To 10% Of White Collar Workers For The Next 3 To 5 Years

    Late last year, when the fate of the reflation trade and the price of oil was still unclear, Exxon made the only decision that it could in order to preserve its dividend: it announced that it would cut 14,000 jobs worldwide by 2022, or about 20% of its workforce, and it would extend reductions well beyond that original time frame. The cost savings would go to fund the one thing the once world’s largest corporation was best known for – its generous dividend, which at one point last year yielded about 10% (it has since shrunk to 5.6%).

    Fast forward to today when the price of oil is at a three year high, the Exxon dividend is not only safe but according to BofA will be hiked, and the company is the target of multiple activist campaigns, with many pressing for it to refocus away from its long-term strategy of “dividend at any cost” and instead to embrace the virtue signaling ESG insanity that has gripped so many on Wall Street. And yet, despite all these favorable factors, Exxon is now unleashing another major reduction in force (i.e. mass layoff), with Bloomberg reporting that the oil giant is preparing to reduce headcount at its U.S. offices by between 5% and 10% annually for the next three to five years by using its performance-evaluation system to eliminate low performers.

    In a novel spin on mass layoffs, the cuts will target the lowest-rated employees relative to peers, and for that reason will not be characterized as layoffs. While such workers are typically put on a so-called performance improvement plan, many are expected to eventually leave on their own. This year’s evaluation is happening now but affected employees have not yet been notified, the people said.

    Bloomberg emphasizes that this latest plan is separate from last year’s announcement of 14,000 job cuts – meaning that in the near future the company may cut up to 30% of its existing workforce – and comes at a tumultuous time for Exxon, which is still grappling with the fallout from last month’s annual meeting, when shareholders rebuffed top management and replaced a quarter of the company’s board over climate and financial concerns.

    Sensing that the hammer is about to fall, several high-profile traders have also left in the last few weeks although these appear to be voluntary resignations and “there’s no suggestion the trading departures were related to the review program” which will mostly affect white-collar jobs in areas such as engineering, finance and project management,

    In order to preserve the dividend, Exxon has gone to great lengths to trim cash burn, and in addition to mass layoffs, other cost-cutting initiatives have included suspending bonuses and halting employee-contribution matches to 401k savings plans as the pandemic crushed demand for crude, saddling the company with a record annual loss.

    Needless to say, with oil at $75 a barrel, or where it was in late 2018, Exxon’s financial position has been substantially improved, even so the supermajor has some way to go to pay down debts accumulated during 2020’s market collapse, with Bloomberg noting that “a smaller and more efficient workforce is key to further improvements.”

    Exxon achieved $3 billion of annual “structural cost reductions” in 2020 and will continue to make savings through 2023, Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said at the annual meeting in May. 

    “We’ve got additional work to continue to take advantage of the new organization and find opportunities to reduce our costs,” Woods said.

    Translation: many more layoffs are coming.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 20:40

  • The State Convinced People It Was Dangerous For Them Not To Be Watched, Now Many Believe Surveillance Tech Is "For Our Own Good"
    The State Convinced People It Was Dangerous For Them Not To Be Watched, Now Many Believe Surveillance Tech Is “For Our Own Good”

    Authored by Aden Tate via The Organic Prepper blog,

    Yet another consequence of 2020 was the growth of public surveillance (aka Big Brother state) disguised under the umbrella of COVID. When you can convince a populace it is dangerous for them to be unobserved, you create the mindset that public surveillance is for the good of all. 

    Big Brother is bigger than ever

    I work within the security industry.

    One newer piece of technology that we can now install is AI fever monitoring cameras. Many buildings throughout the US now have a camera with thermal capabilities monitoring your every move when you walk in.

    Should you be deemed somebody with a temperature outside of the preset bounds, the system will use facial recognition to lock onto you. As you travel throughout the facility, security staff/management is notified. 

    How is this any different from giving a polygraph to every person without their knowledge or consent? 

    Is this information the world at large needs to know?

    Must you tell every business owner from here on all your recent health history to be admitted into the building? In the future, do I have to reveal every medical procedure I’ve had? Do I also have to report my sexual history, what foods I eat, and other private information before being allowed inside?

    Consider the invasions of privacy that come from the utilization of thermal technology. The front desk staff now knows who has a problem with armpit sweat, how hot your crotch is, and whose butt is sweating.

    Do HIPPA requirements apply here at all?

    What happens if it’s discovered that heart rate is linked with an infectious disease? Will we then incorporate heart rate monitors throughout our facility? I hope you don’t get nervous speaking to that person you find attractive. What if an employee who doesn’t like you works the cameras? Isn’t that a violation of privacy?

    What if it’s determined that abnormal sweating patterns are associated with an infectious disease? In this case, let’s say that it’s a sweaty butt. Are thermal cameras going to monitor everybody’s backsides in such an event?

    Do you see how this can quickly grow into a terrifying experience?

    Privacy is foundational to freedom

    The Founding Fathers of America fully understood the importance of privacy when it came to freedom. It’s for this reason that the Fourth Amendment was written.

    “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…”

    Is it not a violation of the Fourth Amendment for someone to use a camera to collect your biometrics without your consent? Are you secure in your person and effects in such a case? Are we now subject to rights violations each time we enter a grocery store, doctor’s office, or gas station? Does modern American society demand that our rights be violated so that we can live within that society?

    Surveillance of US citizens and sensitive data collection reached epic proportions

    COVID tech used to monitor the American people during the past year and a half collected more sensitive data than ever before.

    Want proof?

    • Alabama State University purchased thermal imaging and facial recognition-equipped drones to enforce social distancing and masking in public. 
    • Some US school districts required their students and staff to wear a Bluetooth armband to monitor their temperature.

    The end result of these types of policies is to have authorities dictating your oxygen intake and whether or not you’re allowed to hug your friends. 

    Want more proof?

    Online classrooms – intended to protect students against COVID – were turned into the ever-present TV cameras from 1984.

    • Twelve-year-old Isaiah Elliot of Colorado flashed a toy gun across his screen during one of his lectures and was then suspended. Police were then sent to his house for a welfare check.
    • Things were no different in Maryland. An 11-year-old boy had the police called on him by his teacher. The teacher saw a BB gun hanging on his bedroom wall during a Google Meet class.

    When government employees get to decide which toys your children play with and what they decorate their bedrooms with, you have a public surveillance problem. 

    The end result of policies such as these is authorities demanding to violate your right to health privacy, then threatening your child with potential kidnapping (via Social Services) if you refuse to send your child to school. 

    Is the abolition of cash for your health or control?

    The push for the abolition of cash was heavy throughout 2020. For example, the CNN article “Dirty money: the case against using cash during the coronavirus outbreak.” wrote: 

    The ongoing spread of coronavirus is forcing institutions around the world to rethink one particularly germy surface that most consumers touch every day: cash.

    What’s the end result of this movement? A cashless society, and therefore, the monitoring and controlling of every purchase you make. 

    And now we have the vaccine passport

    Now Americans must “state your name and race” before using certain transportation services, entering certain buildings, or going to certain churches. And it’s only going to continue to grow in use.

    What does a vaccine passport do? First, it gives people the ability to know everywhere you’ve ever been. And, should it become digitally uploaded, to see where you are right now. Also, it lets them know whether or not you’re willing to comply with tyranny or not. Those who don’t – those who haven’t been placed on the list – are easier to find.

    And when you’re easier to find – well, you end up in a situation very akin to Soviet Russia, do you not?

    “These are the people who have not pledged loyalty to Stalin! Do with this list as you will!”

    Public health is the perfect guise for tyranny

    It’s based on fear, and fear is a potent motivator. If you can get most people to seek security rather than freedom, slavery is not far behind. As FA Hayek said regarding security in his masterpiece The Road to Serfdom, “the general striving for it, far from increasing the chances of freedom, becomes the gravest threat to it.”

    Do you enjoy your freedom? Do you enjoy your right to privacy – not having a peeping Tom invading every aspect of your life? Then pay attention to what is being done with COVID tech. Watch both where and how it is being used.

    Because I think you’ll agree with me: it’s not in your best interest.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 20:20

  • Vaccines Exhibit "Reduced Efficacy" Against "Delta" Variant, WHO Doctor Warns
    Vaccines Exhibit “Reduced Efficacy” Against “Delta” Variant, WHO Doctor Warns

    As the mutant COVID-19 strain known as “Delta” picks up steam across Europe and the US, one of the WHO’s leading doctors has just expressed concern about recent research published in the Lancet showing that the first generation of COVID-19 vaccines aren’t as effective at protecting against “Delta”.

    Answering a question from a reporter during the organization’s regular Monday briefing in Geneva, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove said that there is data “showing a reduction in neutralization” for the Delta variant, but not as much as the “Beta” variant – better known as the mutant strain that was first discovered in South Africa.

    She continued on, noting that the first generation of vaccines are still highly effective: “Having said that, these vaccines are still highly effective, they produce enough antibodies to protect against serious disease and death. While we are seeing some reduced efficacy, they are still effective at preventing severe disease and death including against the delta variant.”

    Ultimately, the WHO needs to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible – which is the goal of Covax, the WHO’s program to vaccinate the world – to give dangerous variants less opportunity to take root and spread.

    “The goal of Covax is that we need those who are most at risk to severe disease, and those who are most exposed, to receive those vaccines and to be protected,” Dr. Kerkhove said.

    To learn more about vaccine efficacy, the WHO has been “working with a global network…to get these studies under way…and to look at real-world efficacy data as well.” New research is coming in “fast and furious” and WHO is doing everything it can to determine what’s relevant and what’s not. The agency remains vigilant, however, because they fear that over time a growing number of “double” or “triple” mutants could further erode the efficacy of the first generation of vaccines. What’s more, “there may be a time where we have a constellation of mutations that arise in a variant” that will cause vaccines to lose potency entirely.

    Readers can watch the entire briefing below. Dr. Kerkhove is asked about the threat posed by mutant strains just before the 1-hour mark:

    Recent evidence suggests that the Delta variant, which has prompted concern worldwide, has also led to new surges of COVID in under-vaccinated parts of the US. According to BBG, even as the number of fully vaccinated Americans reaches 150MM, the genomics firm Helix has analyzed about 20K samples from COVID tests across more than 700 American counties and found that cases of the Delta variant appear to be spreading much more quickly in areas with lower vaccination rates than in areas that have higher rates.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 20:00

  • Professors Call For Hate Speech Protections To Be Extended To Animals
    Professors Call For Hate Speech Protections To Be Extended To Animals

    Authored by Jonathan Turley,

    Two professors at the University of Sheffield have published a piece in the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies to extend hate speech protections to animals to deal with hateful “speciesist” remarks. Drs. Josh Milburn and Alasdair Cochrane insist that such protections will help achieve a “more benign human–animal relations within society.”  The need for speech criminalization is based on the view that “some animals do seem to have their social confidence eroded because of their awareness of the risk of violence.”

    We previously discussed the campaign by PETA to end the use of animal references in pejorative comments. It called for the end of the use of pig, chicken, pig, rat, snake and other references to “stand up for justice by rejecting supremacist language.”

    These two academics go further to demand actual speech crimes and controls to protect animals:

    “Laws against hate speech protect members of certain human groups. However, they do not offer protection to nonhuman animals. Using racist hate speech as our primary example, we explore the discrepancy between the legal response to hate speech targeting human groups and what might be called anti-animal or speciesist hate speech….We thus conclude that, absent a compelling alternative argument, there is no in-principle reason to support the censure of racist hate speech but not the censure of speciesist hate speech.”

     What was striking to me in the work is the reliance on the writings of NYU Professor Jeremy Waldron who I debated a couple years ago at Rice University over his work in establishing speech codes and crimes. Despite my respect for him as an academic, I have long objected to Waldron’s work as inimical to free speech and creating a slippery slope of ever-expanding censorship.  That danger is evident in this latest work.  The professors embrace Waldron’s concept of “group defamation” and the harm it causes to individuals in society. They then extend that concept to animals:

    “the best reading of Waldron’s theory must include certain animals within its protective remit…some states have enacted constitutional provisions for the sake of animals, some of which explicitly recognise the ‘dignity’ of animals.But, again, none of these provisions acknowledges that animals possess the Waldronian sense of civic dignity: none views animals as possessing equal social standing, membership, status, and rights. No community truly regards its animal residents as members of society, and none recognises them as equals.”

    The argument illustrates how speech controls and crimes develop into an insatiable appetite for more and more regulation in maintaining what Waldron calls a better society. More and more speech is pulled into this vortex of criminalization and regulation.

    As many know on this blog, I have long called for greater protections for animals and the recognition broader of animal rights. This includes greater standing to argue for relief in court on behalf of such animal interests. However, I am also a free speech advocate. Indeed, academics like Waldron probably view me as something of an extremist in my own right. I admit that I oppose most regulation and criminalization of speech. I may be a free speech dinosaur in that sense. Traditional free speech values are certainly out of vogue among academics.  I believe in largely unfettered free speech, particularly for statements made off campus or outside of a classroom. I seriously do not believe that these animals are harmed by such comments but I know that free speech will be further harmed by their criminalization.

    The danger is really not a line of woke Weimaraners because this really protects the sensibilities of humans.  Indeed, it may be an odd form of anthropomorphism in assuming hurt feelings that humans would have. Animals can clearly sense anger and disapproval. However, few leave the room when you complain of living a “dog’s life” or “eating like a pig.”

    There is a point about such phraseology but I prefer Dr. Doolittle’s version:

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    You can read the study here.

    *  *  *

    Update: Soon after this column was posted, I received a thoughtful and clarifying response from Professor Milburn.  With his approval, I can including that response to this posting so that readers understand the position of the authors. I appreciate his reaching out and I encourage readers to consider the more nuanced view that he is suggesting:

    Thank you for blogging about the article I wrote with Alasdair Cochrane on animals and hate speech. We, of course, welcome engagement and analysis from legal scholars.

    I am emailing to clarify that, in the article, we do not say that animals should be protected from hate speech. We argue for a conditional: given that we have found — in existing scholarly discourse about the foundations of hate speech law — no compelling reason to draw a line, we conclude that if humans should be protected by hate-speech laws, then (in principle) animals should be protected by hate-speech laws.

    I believe that this is a conclusion that could be endorsed by people who support the existence of hate-speech laws and those who do not. Indeed, I have previously spoken with a colleague who is, like you, very sceptical of hate-speech laws, and he suggested that Alasdair and I frame the paper explicitly as a reductio-style argument against hate-speech laws. We do not do this in the paper — indeed, we do not take a side in the question of whether hate-speech laws are justified at all. But we welcome engagement with our arguments from people who are generally supportive of hate-speech laws and those who are generally opposed.

    Anyways; thank you, again, for taking the time to write about our paper.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 19:40

  • "This Is Not A Temporary Situation": The Global Chip Shortage Will Continue To Push Prices Higher
    “This Is Not A Temporary Situation”: The Global Chip Shortage Will Continue To Push Prices Higher

    The ongoing global semiconductor shortage is causing prices of electronics to rise while at the same time pressuring suppliers and material providers to continue raising prices. In the midst of the shortage, demand for consumer electronics has continued to rocket higher. 

    Ergo, industry officials believe that the increases are likely to continue, according to a new Wall Street Journal report. The effects can be easily seen in consumer electronics. 

    The report notes that items like one ASUS laptop that formerly cost $900 now costs $950. An HP Chromebook laptop that used to cost $220 has seen its price rise to $250. In fact, HP has raised consumer PC prices by 8% and printer prices by more than 20% in just the short span of a year. the company’s CEO blames the rise in prices on “component shortages”.

    Dell Technologies Inc. Chief Financial Officer Thomas Sweet recently said: “As we think about component cost increases, we’ll adjust our pricing as appropriate.”

    Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi made excuses for HP explained the price hikes by saying they reflected an absence of usual discounts, instead of all-out price increases. 

    Vincent Roche, the CEO of chip maker Analog Devices Inc., commented: “We’re not taking advantage of this cycle to do anything on pricing, other than where we are paying more for the additional supply that we’ve got to get on board. We’re passing that on.”

    Hock Tan, CEO of Broadcom Inc., simply noted: “We see cost inflation.”

    Digi-Key Electronics has also raised prices of semiconductor-related components by roughly 15% this year. They blame it on “pressures from the supply crunch”. Certain components now cost 40% more than they used to, according to David Stein, the company’s vice president of global supplier management.

    “Contract prices for computer memory have risen about 34% since the beginning of last year,” the Journal notes, calling the rising prices “part of broader uptick in inflation in the U.S. economy”.

    The median price of the top 20 bestselling microcontrollers is up by more than 12% since the middle of last year, according to Supplyframe Inc.

    Dale Ford, the chief analyst at the Electronic Components Industry Association, concluded: “Raw-material costs have gone up more recently, and I think people are now saying this is not a temporary situation. Price increases are going to be durable.”

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 19:20

  • Coca-Cola Diversity Policy Risks Violating Anti-Discrimination Laws, Shareholders Warn
    Coca-Cola Diversity Policy Risks Violating Anti-Discrimination Laws, Shareholders Warn

    Authored by GQ Pan via The Epoch Times,

    A group of Coca-Cola shareholders are warning that the company’s recent diversity policy would actually require contracted law firms to violate anti-discrimination laws.

    In a letter dated June 11, the American Civil Rights Project (ACRP) noted that on Jan. 28, the general counsel of Coca-Cola demanded law firms seeking to keep the company as a client must commit that at least 30 percent of billed time would be from “diverse attorneys,” and at least half of that time would be from black attorneys.

    The ACRP, speaking on behalf of “a set of concerned Coca-Cola Company shareholders,” demanded that the soft drink company either “publicly retract the discriminatory outside-counsel policies” or otherwise “provide access to the corporate records related to the decision of Coca-Cola’s officers and directors to adopt and retain those illegal policies.”

    Coca-Cola’s race-specific contracting policy, according to the ACRP, has exposed the corporation and its shareholders to “material risk of liability” for potentially violating anti-discrimination laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

    The letter further alleged that all of Coca-Cola’s decision makers knew, or should have known, that the policy was potentially illegal. It said those who were not so aware of the legal risks either have failed their responsibility or “relied on the inexcusably flawed advice of counsel.”

    The diversity plan was shelved following the resignation of Bradley Gayton as Coca-Cola’s general counsel, after less than a year on the leadership position.

    Gayton wrote in January that it is a “crisis” that the legal profession is not “treating the issue of diversity and inclusion as a business imperative.”

    “The Stockholders therefore demand that you immediately publicly retract the policies in their entirety,” the letter concluded, adding that they will be “forced to seek judicial relief” to protect their interests in the company if they do not receive a response to their demands within 30 business days.

    Coca-Cola, one of the largest food and beverage companies in the world, came under fire in February, when its employees were allegedly instructed to be “less white” as part of a “Confronting Racism” training course featuring interviews with sociologist Robin DiAngelo, the author of a 2018 book called “White Fragility.”

    “In the U.S. and other Western nations, white people are socialized to feel that they are inherently superior because they are white,” reads one of the slides, allegedly sent from an “internal whistleblower” and posted on Twitter by YouTube commentator Karlyn Borysenko. The post went viral.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 19:00

  • How Crowds Of Partiers Transformed NYC's Washington Square Park Into A "No Go Zone"
    How Crowds Of Partiers Transformed NYC’s Washington Square Park Into A “No Go Zone”

    Though it hasn’t garnered nearly as much attention as the occupation of Lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park, which was widely recognized as the genesis of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement that exploded in the years after the financial crisis, the occupation of Washington Square Park has shown no signs of slowing down, even with the Big Apple’s crowded mayoral primary just one day away.

    Some have even likened the park to a “no go zone”, a reference to areas (typically outside the US) where high rates of violent crime prompt outsiders to avoid the area.

    Late last week, the NYT published a lengthy piece chronicling the situation at WSP, which has long had a reputation as a haven for the homeless and for drug dealers. Since the city imposed a curfew a few weeks back, the park has become a rallying point for activists and partygoers alike who are trying to make a point about reclaiming public space. The bougie residents who live in the area surrounding the park told the NYT that the situation “felt like war”.

    After the NYPD first clashed with revelers in the park on June 5, the city ordered the police to stand down, prompting homeowners and renters who live near the park to brace for “a summer of chaos and sleepless nights.”

    Edith Molina, 19, came down from the Bronx. “This is the park you come to chill out,” she said. “In the Bronx, you have gang violence, and police run you out of parks. Here, police don’t do anything.”

    On recent weeks, the NYT reported that the number of visitors in the park sometimes balloons to more than 1K people, packed into a 9.74-acre piece of land in the heart of Greenwich Village. With the homeless and the crowd of young revelers has come drug dealers, who have created an influx of crack and heroin dealing in the park. The Daily Mail added, in a story published Sunday night, that residents have also complained about “prostitution and public sexual acts” being carried out in the park.

    Speaking on Monday, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said he believes the situation will resolve itself “naturally”.

    The park is subject to a midnight curfew, but the NYPD has taken a lax approach in recent weeks to enforcing the midnight curfew, allowing revelers to party on long into the night.

    While the noise has drawn most of the complaints from residents, many have also complained to police about the surge in police. Last Saturday alone, two people were stabbed, a man was beaten and mugged of his phone and a 77-year-old cook at a nearby diner was attacked after a young man drawn to the area by the park threw a tantrum after being refused access to the diner’s bathroom. A handful of overdoses have also been reported in the park seemingly every day.

    Violent crime has been climbing across the Big Apple since the start of the pandemic. Felony assaults are up 8% for the first six months of 2021 vs. the same period last year, while rapes are up by 3%. Shootings in the Big Apple have increased by 64% year-on-year, while murders are up 13%.

    While many of the residents who live nearby see themselves as liberals, many fear speaking out because they worry about being labeled a “NIMBY” – an acronym for “not in my backyard”. The phrase is a reference to supposedly “liberal” individuals who oppose development like multi-family housing, rehab facilities and halfway houses in their neighborhoods. Still, a growing number say they’re in favor of more aggressive police tactics as violence in the park has escalated.

    Carmen Gonzalez, a dog photographer in the neighborhood, said: “Once the sun comes down, the park changes drastically. It’s time to draw the line.” Others articulated similar complaints.

    Christa Shaub, who has lived in the area for 15 years, and Amy Heinemams, who has lived in there for six years, said the partying in the park is nothing new especially during the summer months, but ‘it’s exaggerated post-pandemic.’

    ‘This is an open park, but you need to have respect for people,’ Shaub said. ‘There needs to be regulations.’

    The mostly young tourists who complain the loudest about the park being “public space” apparently haven’t put much thought into the fact that some people are now too afraid to use the space.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 18:40

  • Ron Paul: The Road To Authoritarianism Is Paved With Fiat Currency
    Ron Paul: The Road To Authoritarianism Is Paved With Fiat Currency

    Authored by Ron Paul via The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity,

    Last week, the Federal Reserve announced it will maintain an interest rate target of zero to 0.25 percent for the rest of 2021. The Fed said it will also continue its monthly purchase of 120 billion dollars of Treasury and mortgage-backed securities.

    Some Fed board members are forecasting a rate increase by late 2022 or 2023, though with the rate still not reaching one percent.

    The Fed will neither allow interest rates to rise to market levels nor reduce its purchase of Treasury securities. A significant increase in interest rates would make the government’s borrowing costs unsustainable.

    The Fed also raised its projected rate of inflation to three percent, although it still insists the rise in prices is a transitory effect of the end of the lockdowns.

    There is some truth to this, as it will take some time for businesses to get back to full capacity.

    However, the Fed began taking extraordinary measures to prop up the economy in September of 2019, when it started pumping billions of dollars a day into the repo market that banks use to make short-term loans to each other.

    The lockdowns only postponed and deepened the forthcoming Fed-caused meltdown.

    Germany’s Deutsche Bank recently released a paper warning about the Federal Reserve continuing to disregard the inflation risk caused by easy money policies designed to “stimulate” the economy and facilitate massive government spending.

    Germans have reason to be sensitive to the consequences of inflation, including hyperinflation.

    Out-of-control inflation played a major role in the collapse of the German economy in the 1920s, which led to the rise of the National Socialists.

    This pattern could repeat itself in America where we have already witnessed the rise of authoritarian movements. Last summer, groups exploited legitimate concerns about police misconduct to ferment violence across the country. Can anyone doubt that an economic crisis that leads to mass unemployment, foreclosures, and maybe even shortages will result in large-scale violence? Or that the violence will be exploited by power-hungry politicians? Or that many people will once again fall for the big lie that preserving safety requires giving up their liberty?

    The apparatus of repression already exists in the form of a surveillance state, police militarization, and big tech’s cooperation with big government to stamp out dissent. Now, President Biden and his congressional allies want to use the January 6 US Capitol turmoil to justify expanding government powers in the name of stopping “domestic terrorists.” Part of this new campaign is expanding censorship of “extremism,” defined as any views that threaten the status quo. The Biden administration has taken a page from the Communist playbook in suggesting people report their friends and family who are becoming “radicalized.”

    We may still have time to prevent collapse in America, or at least to make sure the collapse leads to a transition to a free society. The key to success is spreading the ideas of liberty until we have the ability to force the politicians to dismantle the welfare-warfare state and the fiat money system that is the lifeblood of authoritarian government.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/21/2021 – 18:20

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