• The Digital 'Iron Curtain' Descends
  The Digital ‘Iron Curtain’ Descends
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 12/02/2020 – 00:05

  Authored by Alastair Crooke via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

  What is a ‘digital Iron Curtain’?

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  It is when Big Digital, as Professor Michael Rectenwald terms these western Tech Goliaths, become ‘governmentalities’, using a word originally coined by Michel Foucault to refer to the means by which the ‘governed’ (i.e. ‘we the people’) assimilate, and reflect outwardly, a mental attitude desired by the élites: “One might point to masking and social distancing as instances of what Foucault meant by his notion of governmentality”, Rectenwald suggests.

  And what is that desired ‘mentality’?

  It is to embrace the transfiguration of American and European identity and way-of-life. The presumptive U.S. President Elect, the European élites, and top ‘woke’ élites moreover, are publicly committed to such “transformation”: “Now we take Georgia, then we change the world,” (Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader, declared, celebrating Joe Biden’s ‘victory’); “Trump’s defeat can be the beginning of the end of the triumph of far-right populisms also in Europe”, claimed Donald Tusk, former president of the European Council.

  In short, the ‘Iron Curtain’ descends when supposedly private enterprises (Big Digital) mutually inter-penetrate with – and then claim – the State: No longer the non-believer facing this coming metamorphosis is to be persuaded – he can be compelled. Regressive values held on identity, race and gender quickly slipped into a ‘heresy’ labelling. And as the BLM activists endlessly repeat: “Silence is no option: Silence is complicity”.

  With the advent of Silicon Valley ideology’s ubiquitous ‘reach’, the diktat can be achieved through weaponising ‘Truth’ via AI, to achieve a ‘machine learning fairness’ that reflects only the values of the coming revolution – and through AI ‘learning’ mounting that version of binary ‘truth’, up and against an adversarial ‘non-truth’ (its polar opposite). How this inter-penetration came about is through a mix of early CIA start-up funding; connections and contracts with state agencies, particularly relating to defence; and in support for propaganda campaigns in service to ‘governmentalist’ narratives.

  These U.S. Tech platforms have, for some time, become effectively fused into the ‘Blue State’ – particularly in the realms of intelligence and defence – to the extent that these CEOs no longer see themselves as state ‘partners’ or contractors, but rather, as some higher élite leadership, precisely shaping and directing the future of the U.S. Their objective however, is to advance beyond the American ‘sphere’, to a notion that such an élite oligarchy eventually would be directing a future ‘planetary governance’. One, in which their tech tools of AI, analytics, robotics and machine-learning, would become the mathematical and digital scaffold around whose structure, the globe in all its dimensions is administered. There would be no polity – only analytics.

  The blatant attempt by Big Tech platforms and MSM to write the narrative of the 2020 Facebook and Twitter U.S. Election – coupled with their campaign to insist that dissent is either the intrusion of enemy disinformation, ‘lies’ coming from the U.S. President, or plain bullsh*t – is but the first step to re-defining ‘dissenters’ as security risks and enemies of the good.

  The mention of ‘heresy and disinformation’ additionally plays the role of pushing attention away from the gulf of inequality between smug élites and skeptical swathes of ordinary citizenry. Party élites might be notoriously well-known for unfairly enriching themselves, but as fearless knights leading the faithful to battle, élites can become again objects of public and media veneration – heroes who can call believers ‘once more unto the breach!’.

  The next step is already being prepared – as Whitney Webb notes:

  A new cyber offensive was launched on Monday by the UK’s signal intelligence agency, GCHQ, which seeks to target websites that publish content deemed to be “propaganda”, [and that] raise concerns regarding state-sponsored Covid-19 vaccine development – and the multi-national pharmaceutical corporations involved.

  Similar efforts are underway in the U.S., with the military recently funding a CIA-backed firm … to develop an AI algorithm aimed specifically at new websites promoting “suspected” disinformation related to the Covid-19 crisis, and the U.S. military–led Covid-19 vaccination effort known as Operation Warp Speed …

  The Times reported that GCHQ “has begun an offensive cyber-operation to disrupt anti-vaccine propaganda being spread by hostile states” and “is using a toolkit developed to tackle disinformation and recruitment material peddled by Islamic State” to do so … The GCHQ cyber war will not only take down “anti-vaccine propaganda”, but will also seek to “disrupt the operations of the cyberactors responsible for it, including encrypting their data so they cannot access it and blocking their communications with each other.”

  The Times stated that “the government regards tackling false information about inoculation as a rising priority as the prospect of a reliable vaccine against the coronavirus draws closer,” suggesting that efforts will continue to ramp up as a vaccine candidate gets closer to approval.

  This larger pivot toward treating alleged “anti-vaxxers” as “national security threats” has been ongoing for much of this year, spearheaded in part by Imran Ahmed, the CEO of the UK-based Center for Countering Digital Hate, a member of the UK government’s Steering Committee on Countering Extremism Pilot Task Force, which is part of the UK government’s Commission for Countering Extremism.

  Ahmed told the UK newspaper The Independent in July that “I would go beyond calling anti-vaxxers conspiracy theorists to say they are an extremist group that pose a national security risk.” He then stated that “once someone has been exposed to one type of conspiracy it’s easy to lead them down a path where they embrace more radical world views that can lead to violent extremism … Similarly, a think tank tied to U.S. intelligence argued in a research paper published just months before the onset of the Covid-19 crisis that “the U.S. ‘anti-vaxxer’ movement would pose a threat to national security in the event of a ‘pandemic with a novel organism.’”

  Just to be clear, it is not just the ‘Five Eyes’ Intelligence Community at work – YouTube, the dominant video platform owned by Google, decided this week to remove a Ludwig von Mises Institute video, with more than 1.5 million views, for challenging aspects of U.S. policy on the Coronavirus.

  What on earth is going on? The Mises Institute as ‘extremist’, or purveyor of enemy disinformation? (Of course, there are countless other examples.)

  Well, in a word, it is ‘China’. Maybe it is about fears that China will surpass the U.S. economically and in Tech quite shortly. It is no secret that the U.S., the UK and Europe, more generally, have botched their handling of Covid, and may stand at the brink of recession and financial crisis.

  China, and Asia more generally, has Covid under much better control. Indeed, China may prove to be the one state likely to grow economically over the year ahead.

  Here’s the rub: The pandemic persists. Western governments largely have eschewed full lockdowns, whilst hoping to toggle between partial social-distancing, and keeping the economy open – oscillating between turning the dials up or down on both. But they are achieving neither the one (pandemic under control), nor the other (saving themselves from looming economic breakdown). The only exit from this conundrum that the élites can see is to vaccinate everyone as soon as possible, so that they can go full-steam on the economy – and thus stop China stealing a march on the West.

  But 40%-50% of Americans say they would refuse vaccination. They are concerned about the long term safety for humans of the new mRNA technique – concerns, it seems, that are destined to be rigorously de-platformed to make way for the “required” saturation of pro-vaccine messaging across the English-speaking media landscape.

  There is no evidence, yet, that either the Moderna or the Pfizer experimental vaccine prevented any hospitalizations or any deaths. If there were, the public has not been told. There is no information about how long any protective benefit from the vaccine would persist. There is no information about safety. Not surprisingly there is public caution, which GCHQ and Big Digital intend to squash.

  The digital Iron Curtain is not just about America. U.S. algorithms, and social media, saturate Europe too. And Europe has its ‘populists’ and state ‘deplorables’ (currently Hungary and Poland), on which Brussels would like to see the digital ‘Curtain’ of denigration and political ostracism descend.

  This month, Hungary and Poland vetoed the EU bloc’s €1.8 trillion budget and recovery package in retaliation for Brussel’s plan effectively to fine them for violating the EU’s ‘rule of law’ principles. As the Telegraph notes, “Many European businesses are depending on the cash and, given the ‘second wave’ of coronavirus hitting the continent, Brussels fears that the Visegrád Group allies” could hold a recovery hostage to their objections to the EU ‘rule-of-law’ ‘fines’).

  What’s this all about? Well, Orbán’s justice minister has introduced a series of constitutional changes. Each of them triggering ‘rule-of-law’ disputes with the EU. The most contentious amendment is an anti-LGBT one, stating explicitly that the mother is a woman, the father is a man. It will add further restrictions for singles and gay couples adopting children, and it will confine gender transition to adults.

  Orbán’s veto is yet more evidence of a new Iron Curtain descending down the spine of – this time – Europe. The ‘Curtain’ again is cultural, and has nothing to do with ‘law’. Brussels makes no secret of its displeasure that many Central and Eastern European member-states will not sign up to ‘progressive’ (i.e. woke) values. At its root lies the tension that “whilst Western Europe is de-Christianising, Europe’s central and eastern states are re-Christianising – the faith having been earlier a rallying point against communism”, and now serving as the well-spring to these states’ post-Cold War emerging identity. (It is not so dissimilar to some ‘Red’ American conservative constituencies that also are reaching back to their Christian roots, in the face of America’s political polarisation.)

  These combined events point to a key point of inflection occurring in the western polity: A constellation of state and state-extended apparatuses has openly declared war on dissent (‘untruths’), foreign ‘disinformation’ and opinion unsupported by their own ‘fact-checking’.

  It takes concrete form through Big Digital’s quiet sanctioning and punitive policing of online platforms, under the guise of tackling abuse; through nation-wide mandatory re-education and training programmes in anti-racism and critical social theory in schools and places of work; by embedding passive obedience and acquiescence amongst the public through casting anti-vaxxers as extremists, or as security risks; and finally, by mounting a series of public spectacles and theatre by ‘calling out’ and shaming sovereigntists and cultural ‘regressives’, who merit being ‘cancelled’.

  In turn, it advances an entire canon of progressivism rooted in critical social theory, anti-racism and gender studies. It has too its own revisionist history (narratives such as the 1619 Project) and progressive jurisprudence for translation into concrete law.

  But what if half of America rejects the next President? What if Brussels persists with imposing its separate progressive cannon? Then the Iron Curtain will descend with the ring of metal falling onto stone. Why? Precisely because those adhering to their transformative mission see ‘calling out’ transgressors as their path to power – a state in which dissent and cultural heresy can be met with enforcement (euphemistically called the ‘rule of law’ in Brussels). Its’ intent is to permanently keep dissenters passive, and on the defensive, fearing being labelled ‘extremist’, and through panicking fence-sitters into acquiescence.

  Maintaining a unified western polity may no longer be possible under such conditions. Should the losers in this struggle (whomsoever that may be), come to fear being culturally overwhelmed by forces that see their way-of-being as a heresy which must be purged, we may witness a powerful turn towards political self-determination.

  When political differences become irreconcilable, the only (non-violent) alternative might come to be seen to lie with the fissuring of political union.

  

• New NATO Strategy Deems China #2 Enemy Behind Russia Over Next Decade
  New NATO Strategy Deems China #2 Enemy Behind Russia Over Next Decade
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 23:45

  NATO has previewed a new study that calls for major reform and provides a proposed outline for its future long term strategy entitled “NATO 2030 – United for a New Era”. The report is raising eyebrows given its focus on the rise of China, which it says should be considered the Atlantic military alliance’s number two enemy and rival over the next decade. 

  The report compiled by a committee of NATO exports advances 138 proposals to reform NATO along these lines. According to one NATO diplomat cited in Reuters, “China is no longer the benign trading partner that the West had hoped for. It is the rising power of our century and NATO must adapt.”

  Specifically it calls for NATO maintaining a decisive technological edge over China, which itself has been undergoing a major reform of its military and intelligence capabilities, rapidly modernizing both under a long term plan of President Xi Jinping. 

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  NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said just ahead of the report’s publication, “China is investing massively in new weapons. It is coming closer to us, from the Arctic to Africa. China does not share our values… and tries to intimidate other countries,” according to statements at a Monday news conference. 

  Yet Stoltenberg also tried to temper what Beijing will no doubt see as a hostile posture, also saying at the briefing, “China is not our adversary. Its rise presents an important opportunity for our economies and trade. We need to engage with China on issues such as arms control and climate change. But there are also important challenges to our security.”

  An unnamed official source in Brussels was further cited in Russia’s TASS as saying, “The report recommends establishing special structures, which must guarantee NATO’s technical dominance over China and protect the member states from China establishing an economic control over their strategic sectors of economy.”

  The report also “notes the necessity to prevent China from establishing control over the key commodity sources, including new-generation ones, in the third countries, in Africa in particular,” according to the TASS source. Lithium was offered was one prime example as essential to development of advanced electronics and communications in the future.

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  Meanwhile on Tuesday China responded preemptively to the much anticipated report, with the Foreign Ministry saying Europe and America’s “coercive diplomacy” are damaging good relations. The statement underscored that China’s defense spending per capita is actually lower than many countries within NATO.

  “The common values of all mankind that China advocates and adheres to are peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom. I don’t know if these six words can also be recognized by NATO member states. Is this a value that we should hold together?” FM spokesperson Hua Chunying asserted.

  

• Politics, Positivism, & The Science Of Tyranny
  Politics, Positivism, & The Science Of Tyranny
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 23:25

  Authored by Tom Luongo via Gold, Goats, ‘n Guns blog,

  “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”

  – Philip K. Dick

  There is nothing worse than the politicization of science. If there is one thing that 2020 has taught us it is that we live within this basic framework.

  Science is nothing today if not political.

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  But it’s beyond even that. This is a framework of experts in all major intellectual arenas, be it economics, psychology, diet or health. And they have all been tied in some basic way to public safety and the role of government in administering that goal, supposedly for the betterment of all of us.

  Now, the use of science and the scientific method is perfectly applicable when illuminating underlying physical laws of the universe. But it is a means to an end, not an end unto itself.

  And politics is nothing if not obsessed with ends rather than means.

  The problem, however, is that positivism, of which the scientific method is the implementation of said philosophy, ultimately has limited application in the real world.

  This is because it rejects the illumination of truth through the use of intellect and logic, relying solely on experience.

  Because positivism cannot create hypotheses, only test them. The process of generating hypotheses is known as a priori — the deriving of knowledge from that which has come before, some but not all of which derived from the results of positivist methodology, i.e. experiment and experience.

  A priori arguments rely on intellectual rigor and logic to produce hypotheses based on what is known. Experimentation, via positivism, i.e. the scientific method, is then used to ‘prove’ or ‘disprove’ said hypothesis.

  From Theory to Theorem

  To give an example. The Gibbs Free Energy equation was derived from an a priori set of postulates built on the proven theorems through which mathematics were derived.

  In short, we built math through logic and reason, a priori, and men like Gibbs used those mathematical tools to derive their equations which govern the way matter interacts.

  Where positivism comes in is in testing Gibbs’ equation to see if it, indeed, holds up to scrutiny. And under very specific boundary conditions it does.

  Theory? A priori. Practice and application? Positivism.

  This distinction is truly the most important thing that needs to be interjected back into our political discourse. Hell, I’d like it to come back into our scientific discourse, c.f. the nonsense about dark matter, global warming etc.

  The problem we have today with modern liberalism, especially those in the sciences, is this misapplication of positivism to subjects where variables are explicitly beyond its ability to control for.

  This is why appeals to ‘believe all scientists’ and ‘science has spoken’ are, at best, specious, even if they have the veneer of truth to them. Because when you set up an experiment without proper controls none of the conclusions you draw from it are defensible.

  They may point you to inquire further, certainly, and that is an unqualified good thing in the search for truth. But it cannot be a bludgeon by which that search for truth ends simply because someone got their intellectual cookie either.

  In the down and dirty world of politics hastily drawn conclusions from poorly-controlled ‘science’ can be used to write really provocative headlines capable of swaying public opinion.

  Again, I point you to both theories about dark matter and global warming.

  Because we live in an age of experts it is easy to do this and create both mass hysteria as well as arm marginally if not wholly untrained people with bad arguments about how to craft policy.

  Worse, now we’ve unleashed them on Twitter to ensure no real conversation is possible.

  Manufacturing Consent

  Listen very carefully to most political arguments that start with, “the data suggests” or “experts say” and what you most likely will hear is someone talking out of their ass but appearing to have facts on their side.

  Because using positivism in the social sciences is just inappropriate. In medicine it’s the great frontier and by definition is difficult to get any kind of definitive answer from.

  Once you’ve done real science, like I have, and have had your ass kicked by simple systems like an electroplating bath or a groundwater sample you realize that our knowledge of the subtle chemistry of human beings is at best, hubris.

  So, undergirding any policy discussion with “what the science says” isn’t just dishonest it’s dangerous.

  Because, in essence, it’s all a giant appeal to authority logical fallacy. My argument is right because He said so. The whole of ‘science as policy’ industry is nothing more than that.

  And when you factor in the corrupting nature of government funding of science picking winners and losers for grant money, you really have to question what it is you think you know about just about everything you’ve ever been told.

  Now, I’m not being reductionist here in saying we shouldn’t use ‘science’ no matter how specious to inform policy.

  Quite the contrary. I accept that politics has to deal with time pressures after all, certainly in a fluid situation like a pandemic. But, at the same time, we have to be cognizant of its limitations and use it only to support basic human rights principles.

  Conversely, that means we explicitly don’t use them as an excuse to trample human rights out of fear, ignorance or good ol’ fashioned opportunity.

  Politics is where the philosophy and science meet and, at times, explode.

  For more than 100 years Progressives and ‘leftists’ of various stripes have appealed to science to engineer a better society through the misapplication of the scientific method to build their arguments.

  They have pursued this to the exclusion of all other considerations to ‘prove’ to the world that the community as a whole is always bettered by the suppression of the individual through shared policy goals and ill-defined/ever expanding definitions of human rights.

  And because they are driven ideologically and not intellectually they ignore any and all failures of the policies adopted in the name of their stated goals.

  Black Communist Swans

  The former U.S.S.R. was the original ‘technocracy’ built on these ideas. Today’s leftists still think it got a bad rap. It’s pathetic.

  But they can’t give it up because they just know that if they run just one more experiment with slightly different rules, controlling these variables this time, the outcome will be different.

  Welcome to the arguments of the Great Reset and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It’s no different than the Cultural one or the Bolshevik one or the French one.

  This is a fundamental misapplication of positivist thinking: asserting your hypothesis is correct when the ‘data’ tells you it’s wrong. You don’t get to keep back-fitting the data to fit the hypothesis and call that proof.

  That’s the absolute antithesis of ‘science.’

  And even then, the data is clear. Communism doesn’t work.

  But I know that because Mises rigorously deconstructed all forms of collectivism a priori in his seminal work, Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis published in 1922.

  The 20th century experiments in communism and other flavors of socialism all support Mises’ conclusions, again derived a priori from first principles of human behavior. Do we really need another one?

  Communism — and all forms of collectivism — destroys capital, wastes time and its adherents kill millions in their quest to find the perfect system. But they are chasing their own tails begging a question that was already answered a priori.

  There really was a black swan on the horizon.

  If not for the vast mineral wealth in the form of oil and gas the U.S.S.R. wouldn’t have lasted half as long as it did. And even then all it took was an oil price war in the 1980’s to bring it down.

  FYI, there’s a lesson in there for other nakedly tyrannical petrostates, including those enlightened ones in Scandinavia. When the oil runs out Norwegians I hope you have something else to export other than lutefisk.

  While here in the U.S. a similar technocracy was built slowly through the corruption of the institutions of education, politics and culture, all using the same positivist arguments.

  But ‘Science’ Says…

  Modern leftists pride themselves on believing in the rationality of science. Many going so far as to discount all religion and culture as nothing more than quaint customs of the mouth-breathing rubes in flyover country.

  And with COVID-19 we’ve reached the height of this practice of imbuing scientists with a god-like knowledge of what we should do given any thorny political problem.

  That’s why pseudo-intellectuals and midwits in white suburbia bought into the lies of Anthony Fauci, while ignoring the flip-flopping of him, the CDC, the WHO, and every other ‘expert.’

  This science worship neatly bypasses politicians you don’t like to support whatever argument you want to believe. It doesn’t matter that it’s now just as much a religion as Christianity or Islam.

  If the high priest of ‘science’ says masks are necessary on Tuesdays but not Thursdays then they simply go along with it because the alternative is admitting that your priests are just hucksters with fancy government titles.

  It also absolves people of the responsibility of making the hard decisions. The experts have all that worked out.

  Which brings me to what actually started this blog post.

  One of these true high priests of ‘scientism,’ the straight-out-of-central-casting Neil Degrasse Tyson opined recently on RT about how disappointed he was with humanity over not coming together over COVID-19.

  “I thought that when the coronavirus landed that we would’ve all banded together and say: ‘We’re all human and that’s a common enemy, like an alien invasion. We’ve all seen it in the movies. We got to be together on this one.’ But it didn’t happen to my great disappointment in our species.”

  At this late date for a guy like Mr. Tyson to go on thinking COVID-19 was such an existential threat to humanity as an alien invasion is really stunning.

  I thought this guy was supposed to be smart? Like really smart?

  It’s like he’s forgotten that Alan Moore’s Watchmen, which I’m sure he read, wasn’t an operating manual for society but rather a warning of where this fetishization of official smart people leads.

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  I may just be some ‘deplorable’ boob living in the sticks of N. Florida, but last I checked more people are alive today than there were at the beginning of this pandemic.

  Or maybe my understanding of math isn’t sufficient to handle a number as big as 7.7 billion.

  Or that, according to the U.S. government’s population clock, a baby is born every 8 seconds on this planet and a person dies every 10. Now, with my admittedly only 3 years of college level calculus, I may not be as qualified as Mr. Tyson to judge the validity of 10 being greater than 8, so forgive my arrogance in thinking this.

  But this seems like pretty strong evidence that COVID-19 isn’t a threat to humanity as a whole.

  Further, I’m just a lowly degreed chemist and not an ‘astrophysicist’ like Mr. Tyson so maybe there’s something else I’m missing here.

  The Reality Bomb

  This false equivalence of an alien invasion we would all willingly fight is not the same as a virus with a slightly elevated risk of death versus the annual flu. This is the very definition of ‘not intellectually rigorous.’

  In fact it’s the opposite. It is purposefully deceptive and manipulative emotional blackmail that should be beneath the contempt of a ‘scientist’ of Mr. Tyson’s stature.

  He goes on further:

  “I don’t mind political fights. Political fights are fine when you’re talking about policy and legislation. But you should never have a political fight about…scientific research that has been objectively shown to be true in peer-reviewed journals,” Tyson said, adding that doing so is a “recipe for disaster.”

  Now this I agree somewhat with, which is why I consider this more like Coronapocalypse: The Movie and not a true existential threat to humanity which required any kind of policy decision which sparked this political fight he’s crying crocodile tears over.

  Because, and I’m sure Mr. Tyson would agree with this if he were a scientist, there is little “…scientific research that has been objectively shown to be true in peer-reviewed journals…” about COVID-19 which has been properly discussed in the public sphere.

  And yet very polarizing policies are in place depriving people of not only their rights, which he seems cavalier to, but also their future prosperity.

  Since the ‘science’ has been used by governments assume a level of control over our movements and activities far beyond the scope of what the ‘science’ has shown. And since when the science isn’t settled shouldn’t we settle back on first principles to minimize human suffering along all vectors, not just the one variable, virus transmission, we think we’re controlling, especially for most people the survival rate is greater than 99.9%?

  And even this position undermines the basic framework of human rights by placing some cost/benefit analytic overlay on society giving the social engineers more credit than they deserve.

  On the best of days in the simplest physical systems, getting objectively true data from any experiment is a painstakingly difficult work. Reviewing it and assessing its validity in relation to known physical laws of the universe is even harder work. Thinking that somehow we can use this to craft global policy is frankly, prima facia evidence of psychosis devoid of empathy.

  At best, this is the role commentators like Mr. Tyson are supposed to fill to keep us grounded in the humility of our ignorance.

  But it’s clear from his positions Mr. Tyson has forgotten that basic point.

  But what should I have expected from someone who continues to support scientifically unproven junk like dark matter, which we’ve never found any evidence of, and CO2-induced global warming, which openly denies the magnetic and electrical interplay between the earth and the sun on our climate.

  And these are his chosen fields of study.

  But this is what comes when one school of thought, positivism, corrupts both the science and the politics in a feedback loop of granted favors and the open suppression of a priori arguments.

  Because that’s where we are today and it will get worse before it improves. Our society has become post-rational.

  By that line of reasoning I was wrong in my opening thesis statement. There is something worse than the politicization of science, the denial that it’s even possible.

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• Bill Gross' Neighbor Calls Him "Angry Billionaire With Short Fuse", Says Friends Offered "Condolences" When 'Bond King' Moved In
  Bill Gross’ Neighbor Calls Him “Angry Billionaire With Short Fuse”, Says Friends Offered “Condolences” When ‘Bond King’ Moved In
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 23:05

  Bill Gross’s civil court battle with his neighbor, tech entrepreneur Mark Towfiq – the two men are suing one another for alleged harassment after a feud over a garden sculpture spiraled out of control – continued this week, with Towfiq telling the jury (since that’s what this has come to) that he feared he was in for trouble as soon as he learned that Gross was interested in the home next door.

  Describing Gross as an “angry billionaire with a short fuse,” Towfiq testified that an acquaintance working at Pimco had offered his “condolences” when Towfiq told him Gross might be his new neighbor, before regaling him with stories about Gross’s antics at PIMCO.

  Gross’s lawyers cross-examined Towfiq as well as Patrick Boyd, identified in the Bloomberg report on the hearing only as the former owner of the home.

  For those who haven’t been following the story, the two Laguna Beach neighbors are embroiled in a nasty feud with Towfiq suing Gross for harassment for allegedly blasting ear-splitting music from his state of the art sound system that reportedly drowned out the sound of the ocean and the Pacific Coast Highway.

  Since being forced out of PIMCO, a firm he co-founded back in the 1970s, Gross has cultivated a reputation as a loose cannon who won’t hesitate to terrorize those whom he believes have wronged him. Court filings in his divorce told of the billionaire using fart spray and rotting fish to make a home he had shared with his ex-wife unlivable.

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  When Towfiq texted Gross to ask him to turn the music down, Gross reportedly replied that Towfiq must ‘drop the complaint’ about a yard sculpture Gross had installed, or else the nightly “concerts” would continue.

  Gross’s lawyer, Jill Basinger, told Orange County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Knill that she aimed to prove Towfiq was “obsessed” with Gross and his girlfriend, Amy Schwartz, a former professional tennis player, “and has been stalking him at all hours.”

  Basinger drew attention to the fact that Towfiq appeared to be ‘concerned’ about Gross moving in even before the billionaire had bought the property.

  “I’d seen the news of how he’d treated his family, his employees,” Towfiq said, referring to the many reports about Gross (some of which were originally published by the Wall Street Journal). Basinger also brought up a lawsuit where another former neighbor had allegedly sued Towfiq, though apparently the neighbor had actually sued the city for granting Towfiq certain building permits. Towfig said when he notified Patrick Boyd, the previous owner of Gross’s home, about some construction related debris left behind, Boyd had warned him to clean it up because he didn’t want to piss off Gross.

  “I had told him that he had left a bunch of pipes in the side yard and he said, ‘I don’t want an angry billionaire with a short fuse to be upset with me,’ or something like that,” Towfiq said.

  In an affidavit filed with the court, Boyd said he was “alarmed” to learn that Towfiq had security cameras pointed at his backyard, which allowed him to spot Gross as he toured the property, long before he bought the house. “It was also a bit unsettling to learn Mr. Towfiq was keeping track of my guests in the backyard,” Boyd said in the filing. Towfiq insisted he only began taping Gross’s property after police suggested he “document” the loud music Gross allegedly played to terrorize him.

  “Taking videos and pictures on my own property seems like a fundamental right,” he said.

  Towfiq also revealed that he had been a PIMCO client for a few years before Gross left the firm, between 2008 and 2012. Testimony is set to continue tomorrow, but the fact that this case is still going on is almost as shocking as anything that’s been revealed so far. Gross is notorious for his puckishness and pigheadedness in legal disputes. It’s almost hard to believe this all started because of a garden statue.

  

• Iran Suspects Exiled Cult Was Involved In Assassination Of Top Scientist
  Iran Suspects Exiled Cult Was Involved In Assassination Of Top Scientist
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 22:45

  Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

  Iran continues to release details surrounding the killing of its top scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. On Monday, a senior Iranian official said a controversial group of Iranian exiles based in Albania could have been involved in the assassination.

  “We have some clues but surely the ‘Monafeghin’ group was involved and the criminal element behind it is the Zionist regime and Mossad,” Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, told state TV.

  The “Monafeghin” refers to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a coalition led by the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, or MEK (Mujahedin-e Khalq). The MEK is a controversial group widely considered to be a cult, and up until 2012, was designated as a terrorist group by the US government.

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  For their part, the MEK denied any role in Fakhrizadeh’s death. The MEK released a statement and rejected Iran’s claim as “rancor and lies.” The group said the accusation was “nothing new” since they’ve been implicated in previous assassinations of Iranian scientists.

  Between 2007 and 2012, five scientists were killed inside Iran. Although never officially acknowledged, the attacks have been attributed to Israel. In February 2012, anonymous US officials told NBC News that the MEK carried out these attacks.

  The NBC story said the MEK is “financed, trained and armed” by Israel’s secret service. Later that year, in September 2012, then-Secretary of State Hilary Clinton ordered the MEK to be removed from the US terror list after giving heaps of money to US officials.

  The MEK started as a Marxist-Islamist group that was founded in the 1960s and opposed the US-backed Shah. Throughout the 1970s, the MEK killed scores of the Shah’s police force, and the group played a role in the 1979 revolution. After the revolution, the MEK was at odds with the Ayatollah and opposed the new Islamist government, staging attacks against the Mullahs.

  Trump may only have seven weeks left in office, but he’s given his top advisers the green light to batter the Iranian regime—anything that doesn’t hazard a full-on war before Joe Biden is inauguratedhttps://t.co/zZnjbEPVIZ

  — The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) December 1, 2020

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  After being forced out of Iran in the 1980s, the MEK was welcomed in Iraq by Saddam Hussein, who gave the group refuge at a military base known as Camp Ashraf. From the base, the MEK staged terrorist attacks inside Iran and sided with Hussein in the brutal eight-year Iran-Iraq war. For these reasons, it is believed the MEK has little to no support inside Iran today.

  After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the US government commissioned a report on the MEK from inside their former headquarters at Camp Ashraf. The report concluded that the MEK has “many of the typical characteristics of a cult, such as authoritarian control, confiscation of assets, sexual control (including mandatory divorce and celibacy), emotional isolation, forced labor, sleep deprivation, physical abuse and limited exit options.”

  The MEK is now based in Albania and has a presence in France. In July, the group’s leader Maryam Rajavi held the MEK’s annual Free Iran conference virtually from her compound known as Ashraf 3 in Tirana, Albania. The event featured speeches from several former and current US officials, including President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani, a MEK favorite. Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) were the only sitting members of Congress to speak at the conference.

  US officials are paid well for attending MEK events. President Trump’s Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao collected $50,000 from the MEK for a five-minute speech in 2015. Although he was missing from the latest conference, Trump’s former National Security Advisor John Bolton has collected hefty sums from the MEK. Records show the MEK has paid Bolton at least $180,000 for speeches over the years.

  

• D.C. Metro Faces Massive Cuts To Rail, Bus Service; A Third Of All Workers To Be Terminated
  D.C. Metro Faces Massive Cuts To Rail, Bus Service; A Third Of All Workers To Be Terminated
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 22:25

  It’s not just New York that is facing draconian cuts to its mass transit infrastructure and workforce as the city slides into financial ruin: the country’s capital is doing everything it can to catch up. Facing a hole in the budget of nearly a half-billion dollars, the general manager of Washington D.C’s Metro is proposing massive budget cuts to rail and bus service that would take effect this summer.

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  General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said in September that without more federal help, big cuts would be needed. Since then things have only gone from bard to worse and as WJLA reports, overall rail ridership is down more than 85% most weekdays, while bus ridership is less than half what it was in 2019.

  Among the things Wiedefeld is proposing for Metrorail:

  • Closing 19 stations – Archives, Arlington Cemetery, Cheverly, Clarendon, Cleveland Park, College Park, East Falls Church, Eisenhower Avenue, Federal Center SW, Federal Triangle, Greensboro, Grosvenor-Strathmore, Judiciary Square, McLean, Morgan Boulevard, Mount Vernon Square, Smithsonian, Van Dorn Street, Virginia Square-GMU
  • Eliminating rail service on Saturday and Sunday
  • Having trains run only every half hour on each line. Stations served by two lines would have trains every 15 minutes as would Red Line stations between Silver Spring and Medical Center
  • Closing rail stations early at 9 p.m. weekdays
  • Reintroducing “turnbacks” where not all Red and Yellow line trains go to the end of the line, and only having Silver Line service run between Ashburn (when it opens) and Ballston

  In addition, Metrobus would also face big cuts. Wiedefeld is proposing only having a total of 41 bus routes. Those routes would be longer, covering the same territory that 60 bus lines currently cover.

  Wiedefeld said overall bus service would be about 45% of pre-COVID-19 levels, adding that bus service would actually be added on weekends to try to make up for having no weekend rail service. And although Wiedefeld has been trying to minimize the number through buyouts and negotiations with the union to not give salary increases next year, he says thousands of jobs would be cut under his proposal.

  “We’re looking at roughly 2400 hundred positions that we have to eliminate on top of the 1400 that we’re eliminating right now in [current] budget,” he said. “So that’s roughly 3800 positions, almost a third of our entire workforce. So that’s extremely difficult.”

  Metro has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in fare money from riders after the pandemic caused ridership numbers to plummet. Although Wiedefeld expects some riders to come back next year, he doesn’t think it will be nearly enough to avoid big cuts. He expects rail and bus ridership combined in the fiscal year 2022 — which runs from July 1, 2021, until June 30, 2022 – to be about 34 percent of what it was pre-pandemic.

  Most of Metro’s fare revenue money comes from rail ridership, which is also the ridership that has been hurt the most by the pandemic. A higher percentage of bus riders have continued riding than rail riders.

  Wiedefeld says there are potential ways the need for such severe cuts would be minimized. They include if a vaccine is successful and if Congress passes a bill to provide relief money as it did much earlier in the pandemic.

  If passed the cuts would take effect July 1.

  Wiedefeld is also proposing using $250 million in money that Metro had planned to use on maintenance for capital budget costs instead.

  Mayor Bowser provided the following statement in a tweet:

  WMATA’s deeply troubling proposal is another reminder of the critical need for federal stimulus to revive our economy and to preserve our way of life. Not too long ago with our partners in the region and our federal government, we put Metro on the right track to meet the needs of residents and visitors alike. Regardless of party or ideology, we must once again come together to save Metro.

  Mayor Bowser Statement on WMATA FY2022 Budget Proposal pic.twitter.com/62OTG0B5og

  — Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) December 1, 2020

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• One-World Currency Included In The "Endgame" Reset
  One-World Currency Included In The “Endgame” Reset
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 22:05

  Authored by Bruce Wilds via Advancing Time blog,

  The idea the world would be better served with a single “World Currency” has been growing and looms as a real possibility in the near future. Many people see this as a major part of the “endgame” or something that will constitute a needed reset to a global economy and financial system that has gone off track. Throughout history, before an economic collapse, the masses and society tend to believe things are financially stable. Only after the economy goes over the edge of an abyss and is in free-fall does reality set in. It is not by accident that blinders have been placed upon us but it is the result of distractions being thrown in our path by those wishing to hold onto their power over us. It is wise to remember that when things do become critical, those in power will not be kind to us but that we will be thrown under the bus without a thought.

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  Over the last one hundred years, equity markets have been a primary tool used by the public to measure the economy. In some ways, the stock markets have become a kind of switch the elites can push at any given time to energize the masses distracting them from the dangers lurking in their economic future. When markets rise despite warnings from negative fiscal indicators, the masses become optimistic. During every upswing of stocks the elites claim they see the “green shoots” of prosperity, however, these shoots seem to always turn brown and die. We have been leaping from one recession to another even though central banks claim they now hold the key to generating true and honest growth. The truth is the current stock market bolstered by easy money and stock buybacks is a poor reflection of the real economy and what is happening in many areas across a broad swath of the world.

  History indicates that establishment economists trained and educated in the ivory towers of academia are perhaps the most useless of all analysts and perpetually wrong. Only independent analysts have ever been able to predict anything of value when it comes to our economic future and that is because they have the advantage of not being blinded by the propaganda and brainwashed by lies flowing from those in control. Time and time again it has been proven the appearance of prosperity means nothing if the fundamentals do not support the optimism. A bullish stock market, a high dollar index, and low unemployment mean nothing and are unsustainable if generated by false methods and fiat money. We have seen time and time again throughout history that fundamentals matter. 

  The markets cannot hide from true price discovery forever. The stock market with its boom and bust cycles has proven to be a false indicator of what is really unfolding. Manipulation by the central banks has rendered this indicator of economic health useless. The problem we face is the horrible options in fiat money, massive debt, and the growth of international businesses have all come together in an explosive way. The banking elites are positioning themselves to avoid blame for this disaster while the rest of us are being sold on the most elaborate recovery con-game ever conceived and perpetuated by those with the most to gain.

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  Magazine Cover Touting Worry Currency

  Those in charge of our financial machinery have indicated to the public their desire for more power. This means creating a truly global centralized economic system and a highly controlled world currency framework dominated by a select cult of banking oligarchs. This would, in effect makes the rest of the human race their slaves.

  Over the years, many articles have  referred to a 1988 write-up in the financial magazine ‘The Economist’ titled “Get ready for a world currency by 2018.” It outlined the framework for a global currency system administered by the International Monetary Fund. This new system was and is floated on the premise that only by erasing all national economic sovereignty can true stability be obtained. It requires governments to borrow from the world central banking authority, rather than printing currency to finance their infrastructure programs.

  This dovetails with efforts to create such a system under the total control of the IMF which should raise the concern of every American. We are hearing more warnings and witnessing a push to destabilize the dollar as the reserve currency by China and several other countries. It is also occurring as Orwellian governments float the idea of going cashless as a way to gain further control over our lives.

  For years the IMF has been openly discussing the ascension of the SDR to replace the dollar as the world reserve currency. Many developing nations that are deep in debt are already asking for help from the IMF due to volatility across the world and the BRICS are pushing hard to remove the dollar as the world reserve. This makes it a question of when such a currency reset will occur and in its wake bury the majority of the middle-class and poor throughout America. There is no way around it, the elites are positioned and merely waiting for a geopolitical disaster or catastrophe so overwhelming that when the time arrives they can portray themselves as our saviors during the chaos.

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  American Dollar Constitutes Bulk Of Reserves

  The demise of the dollar harkens back to when President Nixon severed its tie to gold. First, it’s crucial to understand that at the very core of our global economy is a financial system dominated by the U.S. dollar which has been deemed the reserve currency.  The USD is unique in that it grants the U.S. the privilege of having a national currency which at the same time serves as the global reserve currency. This was solidified toward the end of World War II with the Bretton Woods agreement, which was accepted because the U.S. agreed to offer sovereign nations holding dollars a right to exchange these dollars for gold at a fixed price, however, with Nixon’s action in 1971, the USD became a fiat currency backed by nothing, the supply of which can be arbitrarily altered and manipulated by a group of unelected bureaucrats in charge of the Federal Reserve. This money system represents the most powerful tool on the planet.

  The new world order and globalization pushed by many world leaders and the rich elite that tout “larger, more cooperative governments under one financial unit will benefit us all” feeds into the world currency scenario. Many Americans are oblivious to the fact we gain a great deal by our status of the dollar being the reserve currency by which all others tend to be measured. This means we have a great deal to lose if it is dethroned and stand to suffer the most if the dollar declines in value. Those who will be crucified are the middle-class Americans whose wealth is locked into or are holding long-term USD bonds thinking they are a safe investment.

  Currently, a huge mismatch exists between the use of the dollar in the global financial system and the U.S. share of the world economy. This is why China, Russia, and several other countries that are acutely aware of this have been taking major steps to transition to a more multi-polar currency world. This is also why we should prepare and expect that in coming years the world will adopt a completely different global financial system from the one chaotically birthed in the 1970s and when this occurs the USD will lose its total dominance on the world stage, resulting in major implications for America. While many people see this coming, several opinions exist as to how it will unfold and while we engage in speculation, nobody really knows what the world financial system will look like ten or twenty years down the road.

  Few of us who continue to cherish freedom can get excited about transitioning away from the USD and being placed under the thumb of the IMF or an oppressive nation-state currency controlled by a country like China. That is why many of us think the dollar will be ripped from us during a time of crisis when Americans are open to accepting any solution offered to them as a way to ease their woes. While people point to cryptocurrencies as an option we should remember politics plays a massive role in how this all unfolds. To Americans, the fate of dollar-dominated assets and their value when the dust finally settles should be a huge concern but most Americans fail to grasp the implications.

  It is my contention the transition to a world currency will take a far greater toll on paper assets than tangible goods. While recognizing the flaws of the dollar and our current system I have come to believe the other fiat currencies such as the euro and yen hold even less merit. This includes cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. Regardless, in the end, we should expect to be told and not given an option as to what is coming.

  

• Not Just Newsom: San Francisco, San Jose Mayors Busted Violating Own COVID Guidelines
  Not Just Newsom: San Francisco, San Jose Mayors Busted Violating Own COVID Guidelines
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 21:45

  The mayors of San Francisco and San Jose both attended gatherings in violation of their own COVID-19 health protocols – and San Jose’s Sam Liccardo initially lied about it.

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  On Nov. 7, the day after California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) was busted dining at the French Laundry, a three-star Michelin restaurant in Yountville, San Francisco Mayor London Breed dined there the very next night with seven other people to celebrate socialite Gorretti Lo Lui’s 60th birthday.

  It’s unclear how many households attended, but state guidelines at the time “strongly discouraged” social gatherings and capped them at three housholds.

  “I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that everyone act responsibly to reduce the spread of the virus,” Breed said three days later, adding “Every San Franciscan needs to do their part so that we can start moving in the right direction again.”

  Meanwhile, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo apologized on Tuesday for attending a thanksgiving dinner in violation of California health protocols.

  “Eight of us representing five households sat around three distanced tables in our own family groups on the back patio,” Liccardo said in a statement, adding “We wore masks when not eating.”

  Just one day prior to attending his family Thanksgiving celebration, Liccardo urged his more than 33,000 Twitter followers to cancel “big gatherings this year” and noted the importance of following safety protocols, even with friends and family.

  “Cases are spiking,” he wrote. “We’re letting our guard (and masks) down with family and friends.” –NBC Bay Area

  Cases are spiking, in part because we’re letting our guard (and masks) down with family & friends. Let’s cancel the big gatherings this year and focus on keeping each other safe https://t.co/oHFXb6DZ82

  — Sam Liccardo (@sliccardo) November 25, 2020

  When a journalist from NBC Bay Area first asked Liccardo about his plans, a spokesperson for the mayor said on Thanksgiving that he was spending the holiday at home. The next day, the Mayor’s office reached out to correct the information.

  “I understand my obligation as a public official to provide exemplary compliance with the public health orders, and certainly not to ignore them,” wrote Liccardo, adding “I commit to do better.”

  Leading by example apparently isn’t in California Democrats’ wheelhouse.

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• "That's A Dire Warning": Dalio's Chart Hints At What Beijing Is Really Up To
  “That’s A Dire Warning”: Dalio’s Chart Hints At What Beijing Is Really Up To
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 21:25

  By Ye Xie, Bloomberg macro commentator

  Another day, another stock record. The S&P 500 soared to a fresh all-time high on Tuesday, while the yield curve steepened on optimism about more fiscal stimulus and the imminent deployment of vaccines. The seeming disconnect between financial markets and the economy is kind of surreal, considering that 11 million people remain unemployed and the virus is spiraling out of control.

  The fact that U.S. policy makers are still pedal-to-the-metal with monetary stimulus stands in sharp contrast to China, where officials have set their sights on an exit from loose policy. Consider recent events:

  • Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, described China’s property market as the biggest “gray rhino” – an obvious yet ignored financial risk.

  • Guo also pledged to impose “special and innovative regulatory measures” on financial technology behemoths such as Jack Ma’s Ant Group. The recent regulation changes have essentially put these fin-tech companies under the similar supervision umbrella as traditional banks to avoid excessive leverage.

  • Beijing has allowed a number of SOEs to default, breaking the implicit government guarantee.

  • PBOC Governor Yi Gang vowed to avoid monetizing government debt. In addition, officials have said low interest rates contributed to social inequality.

  Clearly, there’s a sense of urgency to address financial risks and close the gap between markets and the economy. In the meantime, the buzz in Beijing is that the financial industry should serve the real economy and people.

  What China is doing makes perfect sense in the context of the big economic cycle described by Ray Dalio. In his latest essay published Tuesday, Bridgewater’s founder showed that China is in the midst of a debt bubble and the beginning of widening wealth gap. Apparently, China wants to tackle both before it’s too late.

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  In contrast, the U.S. has passed the peak of its economic power, settling into the stage of money printing after the burst of the debt bubble, according to Dalio.

  “It is in this stage when there are bad financial conditions and intensifying conflict,” wrote Dalio. “Classically this stage comes after periods of great excesses in spending and debt and the widening of wealth and political gaps and before there are revolutions and civil wars. United States is at a tipping point in which it could go from manageable internal tension to revolution and/or civil war.”

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  That’s a dire warning. Apparently, President Xi Jinping is trying to avoid the same path.

  

• Watch: Obama Casually Admits His Drone Strikes Killed "Inordinate Amount" Of Innocent Civilians
  Watch: Obama Casually Admits His Drone Strikes Killed “Inordinate Amount” Of Innocent Civilians
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 21:05

  Barack Obama is on his book tour for A Promised Land now four years after leaving office. During his latest interview days ago on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert he was asked about his vastly expanded drone strikes (setting a record far and above that of the prior Bush administration) as a preferred method of taking out America’s ‘enemies’. But it’s very well-documented that drone strikes actually killed just as many or more civilians than terrorists in the process.

  The former Democratic president still can’t shake his legacy as the “drone president” given he still holds the record for number of ordered kill missions. Now it appears he’s simply embracing the label. This latest interview may have sealed this legacy – indeed it could be his own Madeleine Albright “we think the price is worth it” moment.

  Obama defends his drone strikes, which killed hundreds of civilians: “The problem with the drone program was not that it caused an inordinate amount of civilian casualties, although even 1 civilian casualty is tragic. But the drones probably had less collateral damage.” pic.twitter.com/6SwXj7b52C

  — Ibrahim (@Ibrahimpols) December 1, 2020

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  In the interview Obama admits that saying “collateral damage” is basically the nicer sanitized way of saying “it killed people who were innocent and not just targets”.

  So he basically casually acknowledged on national TV that he killed a lot of innocent people. And then this incredibly awkward line: 

  “The problem with the drone program was not that it caused an inordinate amount of civilian casualties, although even 1 civilian casualty is tragic. But the drones probably had less collateral damage.”

  As journalist Eoin Higgins noted there was “Zero pushback from Colbert here as Obama defends his drone war in pretty revolting terms.”

  And Glenn Greenwald, who spent years covering Obama’s drone killings when he was at The Guardian had this to say…

  2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner explains his preferences for how to kill people, falsely asserts that — after some unspecified number of years of the bombs falling on weddings and schools — that his conscience was activated and he imposed greater controls. https://t.co/DMfxoEPwjG

  — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 1, 2020

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  Here’s the section his book, where the former president actually attempts to present himself as the well-intentioned ‘savior’ of those victims he ordered killed:

  In places like Yemen and Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, the lives of millions of young men like those three dead Somalis (some of them boys, really, since the oldest pirate was believed to be nineteen) had been warped and stunted by desperation, ignorance, dreams of religious glory, the violence of their surroundings, or the schemes of older men. I wanted somehow to save them—send them to school, give them a trade, drain them of the hate that had been filling their heads. And yet the world they were a part of, and the machinery I commanded, more often had me killing them instead.

  Further into the interview he said that killing by “machinery” was becoming “too easy”. He says he had to impose what he called internal controls to remind the military and drone operators “this is isn’t target practice”.

  Meanwhile, NatSec insider architects of Obama’s drone policies and secretive ‘kill list’ are baaaaaack…

  No, I’m being completely genuine. Avril Haines was the architect behind Obama’s disastrous drone policy, which killed civilians and then dehumanized them as “collateral damage.” https://t.co/AwpkCezu5Y

  — Ana Kasparian (@AnaKasparian) December 1, 2020

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  In the end Obama’s book and interview remarks on drone strikes are full of cringeworthy levels of self-justification and rationalization for killing what many human rights studies have estimated to be multiple hundreds.

  

• 109 "1 Percent" Days So Far This Year: What 2020's Equity Vol Says About December
  109 “1 Percent” Days So Far This Year: What 2020’s Equity Vol Says About December
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 20:45

  By Jessica Rabe of DataTrek

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  The S&P 500 has moved more than 1 percent up or down on 108 trading days so far this year (109 with Tuesday’s 1.1% move), or almost half the time. That’s our fundamental benchmark of how much investors “feel” volatility, as any one-day move greater than 1 pct to the upside or downside is +1 standard deviation from the S&P’s mean daily return back to 1958. For reference, there is typically one +/-1 pct day/week in normal times. Here is an update for 2020’s count on a quarterly and annual basis:

  • Q1 2020: 30 one percent days versus the Q1 average of 13 since 1958 (first full year of data).
  • Q2 2020: 38 one percent days compared to the Q2 average of 13.
  • Q3 2020: 21 one percent days versus the Q3 average of 13.
  • Q4 2020 QTD through today: 19 one percent days versus the Q4 average of 14.
  • 2020 YTD: 108 one percent days, more than double the whole-year average of 53 over the last 6 decades.

  Bottom line: the S&P has only registered 100 or more “plus-one percent days” seven times including this year over the past +6 decades, or just 11 percent of the time. Therefore, we looked at what happens in December relative to returns and volatility amid these rare years of elevated equity market churn. Here are the results, clustered into 3 periods:

  Period #1:

  1974 (115 one percent days total, -25.9 pct total return):

  • December: 10 one percent days, down -2.0 pct on a price basis

  Comment: This disappointing performance came after another painful year (1973, S&P down 14.3 pct) amid the Saudi Oil Embargo and resultant energy crisis. Despite the Federal Reserve cutting rates in Q4 1974, the S&P still had elevated volatility (should be about 4 one percent days a month) and a negative performance that December. It was not until 1975 that volatility abated (80 one percent days) and the index rebounded 37 pct.

  Period #2:

  2000 (103 one percent days, -9.0 pct total return):

  • December: 10 one percent days, up 0.4 pct

  2001 (107 one percent days, -11.9 pct total return):

  • December: 6 one percent days, up 0.8 pct

  2002 (126 one percent days, -22.0 pct total return):

  • December: 9 one percent days, down -6.0 pct

  Comment: a slew of shocks that were both economic (Dot Com Bubble Burst) and geopolitical (domestic terror attack and international oil shock) created sharply negative returns and magnified volatility for three consecutive years in the early 2000s. While the S&P managed to end higher slightly in December 2000 and 2001, it had a rough December 2002 amid growing tensions with Iraq and a slow economic recovery from the 2001 recession. It took until 2003 (+28.4 pct total return and 83 one percent days) for volatility to trend lower and performance to start snapping back.

  Period #3:

  2008 (134 one percent days, -36.6 pct total return):

  • December: 15 one percent days, up 0.8 pct

  2009 (118 one percent days, +25.9 pct total return):

  • December: 5 one percent days, up 1.8 pct

  Comment: that unusually high number of one percent days in December 2008 contributed to the quarterly record of 50 in Q4 2008. That’s because the Federal government did not pass the landmark recovery bill for the Financial Crisis until February 2009, or one month before the market bottomed. Nevertheless, the S&P still had a positive return that December ahead of the change in power to end gridlock the next month in January 2009. The S&P also had a positive return in December 2009 after an especially volatile year as the Fed cut rates.

  Bottom line: 4 out of the 6 years with especially volatile returns (+100 one percent days) saw the S&P have a positive performance in December with still mostly above average number of one percent days for the month. That’s a small sample size, however, so the greater message is that a series of both economic and geopolitical shocks usually lead to weak performance in December during these types of years (i.e. 1974 and 2002). While we recognize valuations – like in the early 2000s – are lofty, we think the current dynamic most mirrors the 2008/2009 experience. Yes, there was no pandemic back then, but there are finally highly effective vaccines on the way. Additionally, the Fed remains accommodative, and even if lawmakers can’t come to an agreement on a CARES Act II as they return to Congress, President-elect Joe Biden has the opportunity after he is Inaugurated in January.

  That said, with the S&P already up double digits for the year (+12.1 pct), we understand why some investors want to lighten up. History shows that even if the S&P is usually positive during December in particularly volatile years like 2020, returns are mostly mild (+0.4 pct to +1.8 pct). But for those still bullish, the data is in your favor for a little more upside to end the year.

  

• Dalio: The United States Is At A Tipping Point That Could Lead To Revolution Or Civil War
  Dalio: The United States Is At A Tipping Point That Could Lead To Revolution Or Civil War
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 20:28

  It was almost exactly ten years ago that we first predicted that the Fed’s “moronic” QE which has sparked an unprecedented class, income and wealth divide, “positions US society one step closer to civil war if not worse.” This prompted Time magazine to mock our forecast, although we doubt the author, currently at Bloomberg where pretty much every financial op-ed writer eventually ends up, is laughing today after an almost identical assessment of the current situation, if ten years delayed, was published by a far more “respected” by the likes of Time commentator, Ray Dalio.

  In the latest installment of his ongoing series on the changing world order published on his LinkedIn page, Dalio finally turned to ground zero in what will be the conflict of the 21st century – class and power struggles – and mused if the U.S. is at a tipping point that could move it from what he says is “manageable” tension to a full-blown revolution.

  “People and politicians are now at each other’s throats to a degree greater than at any time in my 71 years,” Dalio wrote noting that disorder is rising in a number of countries. “How the U.S. handles its disorder will have profound implications for Americans, others around the world, and most economies and markets.”

  “It is in this stage when there are bad financial conditions and intensifying conflict,” wrote Dalio. “Classically this stage comes after periods of great excesses in spending and debt and the widening of wealth and political gaps and before there are revolutions and civil wars. United States is at a tipping point in which it could go from manageable internal tension to revolution and/or civil war.”

  The founder of Bridgewater urged his readers to think about class issues that can become inflamed during stressful periods, as the struggle over wealth and power tends to be the “biggest thing affecting most people in most countries through time”, Bloomberg recapped. 

  “One timeless and universal truth that I saw went back as far as I studied history, since before Confucius around 500 BC, is that those societies that draw on the widest range of people and give them responsibilities based on their merits rather than privileges are the most sustainably successful because they find the best talent to do their jobs well, they have diversity of perspectives, and they are perceived as the most fair, which fosters social stability,” Dalio wrote.

  We doubt that the pervasive cancel cultures that permeates US society today, or the ubiquitous central planning by the Federal Reserve coupled with manipulated central markets to promote a socialist agenda and to allocated capital and talent as the government sees fit, in the process bypassing capitalism, will allow US society to every again claim to be fair or merit-based.

  Below are some of the key quotes from Dalio’s essay:

  • “How people are with each other is the primary driver of the outcomes they get.”
  • “The United States is at a tipping point in which it could go from manageable internal tension to revolution and/or civil war.”
  • “To be clear, I am not saying that the United States or other countries are inevitably headed that way; however, I am saying that now is an especially important time to know and watch the markers in order to understand the full range of possibilities for the period ahead.”
  • “The lessons and warnings of history are clear if one looks for them, most people don’t look for them because most people learn from their experiences and a single lifetime is too short to give them those lessons and warnings that they need.”
  • “I cannot overstate the importance of class struggles relative to individual struggles. We, especially those in the United States, which is a “melting pot,” tend to think more of individual struggles and not give adequate attention to class struggles. I didn’t fully realize its importance until I did my extensive study of history.”
  • “While I love that the United States is the country where these class distinctions matter least, people’s classes still matter in the U.S. and they matter a lot more during stressful times when class conflicts intensify.”
  • “When wars—civil or external—happen you will have to decide whether you want to be in them or get out of them. When in doubt get out. You can always get back in, but you might not be able to get out.”
  • “You individually, and those who are leading, need to have a realistic understanding of the circumstances you are in, the range of possibilities that exist given these circumstances, and how to make decisions to produce the best possible outcomes given these circumstances.”
  • “You also need to be very adaptable in order to do the things you might need to do that are outside your current range of possibilities.”
  • “You can have a better future if you put deferred gratification ahead of immediate gratification”

  His full essay “The Archetypical Cycle of Internal Order and Disorder“, can be found here.

  

• "Superforecasters" Now See 90% Odds 200 Million Americans Will Be Vaccinated By October
  “Superforecasters” Now See 90% Odds 200 Million Americans Will Be Vaccinated By October
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 20:05

  With Moderna officially filing for expedited approval from the FDA yesterday, and Pfizer following up by announcing early Tuesday in the New York morning, With vaccine newsflow driving trading activity for yet another week, the team of analysts at Goldman Sachs has produced another handy guide to new developments in the race for a global vaccine.

  Like the last update, Goldman’s latest piece focuses on where the top performers are in the process, and which countries and regions have a step up in the race to ‘reserve’ precious resources.

  One interesting addition to this week’s chartbook is a summary of the ‘outlook’ for achieving ‘widespread vaccination’ in different parts of the world, featuring notable quotes from Dr. Fauci and Matt Hancock (the secretary of health in the UK).

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  The team started with an update on the status of the three leading western projects, along with the vaccine from Russia’s Gamaleya Institute.

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  Before continuing on to some of the other top-tier projects that have released new data or information about trial enrollment etc.

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  Here’s where things stand in the US, UK and EU as far as vaccine makers and their projections are concerned.

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  The researchers also broke down the various supply agreements between governments and manufacturers.

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  In the west, the deals have primarily been structured in the form of purchase options.

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  For at least the second week in a row, Goldman analysts say, public opinion polling has shown rising “demand” for a vaccine – that is, more people are allegedly willing to take the vaccine as soon as it’s available than a month ago, as authorities attempts to shore up the “credibility” of COVID vaccines appear to be bearing some fruit.

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  Finally, a team of superforecasters consulted by Goldman see a 71% chance that 25 million Americans – presumably mostly health-care workers, cops and other stuff – will be vaccinated by Jan. 21.

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  The odds that these vaccination milestones will be delayed until Q2 2021 are seen as pretty small, in the low-single-digits, percentage-wise. Meanwhile, the odds that 200 million Americans will be vaccinated by the start of Q4 are supposedly as high as 90%.

  With so much still unknown, and companies like Pfizer and UPS scrambling to build special packages to ship the dry ice necessary to preserve and transport the Pfizer vaccine.

  We’ll need to revisit these predictions a year from now and see how they worked out.

   

  

• A "Titanic Taper Tantrum"? JPMorgan Expects Bond Demand To Tumble By $600BN In 2021
  A “Titanic Taper Tantrum”? JPMorgan Expects Bond Demand To Tumble By $600BN In 2021
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 19:45

  Two weeks we showed a concerning chart from Bank of America according to which after monetizing virtually all net Treasury issuance in 2020, the Fed’s monetization of debt in 2021 would shrink drastically, and as a result, “Treasury supply will significantly outstrip Fed purchases”, and this is even without factoring in the possibility of another major fiscal stimulus.

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  This prompted us to ask whether another “crisis” would spontaneously emerge in the coming months to greenlight another massive expansion in the Fed’s QE; and why not – after all we are now well past the point where there is even a trace of monetary prudence with global central banks set to double their balance sheets in just two years :

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  But let’s (naively) assume there are no major changes to the Fed’s current monetization of $80BN in Treasurys every month. What does that mean for supply and demand for both Treasurys and the broader bond universe, and by extension, equilibrium bond prices?

  To answer that question, JPMorgan quant Nick Panigirtzoglou looked at bond supply and demand in 2021 and projected that while there will be a substantial decline in global bond supply next year, he anticipates an even more dramatic drop in bond demand, largely driven by a reduction in G4 central bank purchases.

  Starting with supply, in 2021 JPMorgan sees bond supply declining by just over $1 trillion “largely due to a decline in spread product supply where our credit strategists see an effective halving of net issuance in US HG corporate bonds from nearly $1tr in 2020 to around $450bn in 2021. By contrast, government supply looks set to decline only marginally, as a decline in government bond issuance outside the US is largely offset by an increase in US Treasury issuance. This in turn arises from the fact that this year’s funding of the deficit came largely in the form of T-bills in 1H20, with the Treasury gradually increasing bond issuance from May onward.” However, in 2021, JPM expects a $670bn contraction in T-bills outstanding which together with the deficit are set to be absorbed by $2.8tr of bond supply, vs. $2.29tr T-bill supply and $1.75tr of bond supply in 2020.

  Meanwhile, on the demand side, “the biggest shift this year has been the central bank QE response.” Among the G4 (US, Euro area, Japan, UK) central banks, bond purchases look set to reach $5.1tr in 2020, driven by the aggressive expansion in Fed QE in late March to provide liquidity coupled with the expansion of ECB purchases in early April. However, for 2021, JPM sees central bank QE impulse declining to around $3.6tr, largely as a continuation of the Fed’s current pace in 2021 will still see a reduction in overall purchases given the aggressive nature of the initial response. And while the largest US bank expects the Fed to provide some further stimulus at the December meeting, it expects this to come in the form of an extension of the average maturity of its Treasury purchases rather than an increase in the pace. As for the ECB, JPM sees a modest increase overall relative to 2020, expecting a €500bn expansion in the PEPP programme in Dec20 and another €250bn expansion in 2H21. Elsewhere, the BoE has already announced a £150bn expansion for 2021, while net buying by the BoJ should be around ¥30tr in JGBs. “Overall, this means we see a deterioration in bond demand from G4 central banks of around $1.5tr in 2021 relative to this year”, according to the Panigirtzoglou.

  To be sure, other sources will also be a major supply/demand wildcard as follows:

  • G4 commercial banks were the second largest source of bond demand in 2020 after central banks, with purchases of around $1.5tr. For 2021, JPM pencils in a 1/3rd decline in commercial bank demand in 2021, or a deterioration in bond demand of around $500bn to $1 trillion.
  • Foreign official demand (i.e., reserve managers), as measured by the IMF’s COFER data, suggest that FX reserves contracted by around $310bn in 1Q20 as many central banks responded to the pandemic by supporting their currencies. Two thirds of this decline, or around $200bn, was reversed in 2Q20. JPM calculations suggest a continuation of gradual reserve accumulation in 2H20, bringing overall bond demand from FX reserve managers to around $20bn for this year. For 2021, a continuation of a modest dollar depreciation centred could see a gradual accumulation of reserves and the bank pencils in an $80bn increase in bond demand vs. 2020.
  • G4 pension funds and insurance companies bought around $270b of bonds in 1H20, broadly consistent with an annualized pace of around $540bn and in-line with the previous year’s pace. In principle, the strong gains in equities in 2H20 could arguably have seen an increase in the pace of bond purchases. However, while the recovery of equities has helped reduce funding deficits of US defined benefit pension funds to a level where they are little changed YTD. Looking ahead, JPM pencils in a modest increase in pension fund bond demand of around $100bn in 2021 vs. this year.
  • Finally, retail investors are currently tracking an annualized demand pace of around $340bn, which however masks significant outlaws in 1Q20 of $180bn, after which bond fund inflows reached nearly $500bn, broadly consistent with its average over the past decade. JPM pencils in a similar $500bn bond fund demand backdrop for 2021, which would imply an increase in bond demand of around $160bn.

  Putting it all together, JPMorgan  now sees a nearly $1.7 trillion deterioration in global bond demand and a $1 trillion decline in global bond supply, or around $600bn deterioration in the supply/demand balance for 2021.

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  Of course, less demand can quickly turn into more demand if the price is lower (yield higher), and according to JPM this deterioration in the supply/demand imbalance “implies upward pressure on bond yields next year of just over 20bp based on the relationship between annual changes in excess supply and global agg yields over the past decade, effectively reversing a third of this year’s decline.”

  Obviously this begs the question of how much of the above is already priced in; alternatively one can also ask a market which has habituated to Fed intervention how much excess QE (or maturity extension, or yield curve control) is priced into today’s 10Y yield of 0.93%. Because while JPM’s sanguine conclusion that a $600 billion shortfall in demand can be offset with a simple 20bps increase in yields would surely be taken advantage of by the Fed which is certainly eager to steepen the yield curve to give struggling domestic banks some more bang for the NIM buck. And yet we doubt it because the moment the Fed’s unveils new forward guidance indicating that not only is more QE not coming but the current $80BN/monthly is set to shrink, we expect surge in bond yields.

  Why? Because that’s precisely what happened in May 2013 when Bernanke unleashed the infamous taper tantrum. That’s when yields soared by 150 bps, sparking a cascade of VaR shocks as the market freaked out. Well, back then it was just QE3 that was being tapered: considering that the size and scope of the current QE is far, far greater, we can only imagine just how dire the “titanic taper tantrum of 2021” will be.

  

• GOP Plaintiffs Ask SCOTUS To Block Pennsylvania Certification
  GOP Plaintiffs Ask SCOTUS To Block Pennsylvania Certification
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 19:25

  Authored by Simon Veazey via The Epoch Times,

  The Republican plaintiffs who are challenging legislation that allowed mail-in ballots from all comers in Pennsylvania, today filed a request to the Supreme Court to block the state from certifying the election.

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  The state Supreme Court had dismissed the case on Nov. 28, overturning a temporary block on election certification issued by a lower court.

  Challenging that ruling, the emergency application for injunction, dated Dec. 1, asks the Supreme Court to prohibit the Pennsylvania governor and secretary of state from “taking official action to tabulate, compute, canvass, certify, or otherwise finalize the results of the election.”

  “To the extent that the above-prohibited actions have already taken place, petitioners seek an injunction to restore the status quo ante, compelling respondents to nullify any such actions already taken, until further order of this court,” says the petition.

  The emergency application essentially asks the court to put a temporary hold on certifying the state election pending the filing of a full writ of certiorari – asking the court to review the lower court decisions.

  The case was filed by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and others. They claim that an act passed last year by the state legislature that allows voting by mail without excuse violated the state constitution.

  The state Supreme Court dismissed the case with prejudice, saying that the lawsuit had not been filed in a “timely manner,” since the act in question was signed into law on Oct. 31, 2019.

  That ruling, however, appears to leave open the broader merits of the case – that the law, Act 77, requires an amendment to the state constitution.

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  In this screenshot from the RNC’s livestream of the 2020 Republican National Convention, Pennsylvania congressional nominee Sean Parnell addresses the virtual convention on Aug. 24, 2020. (Courtesy of the Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee via Getty Images)

  One of the plaintiffs, Republican congressional candidate Sean Parnell, told KDKA on Nov. 30:

  “While we believe that Act 77 is certainly a state issue, we also believe that there are very important federal questions nested within it. So what we’re doing is we’re looking to appeal to the Supreme Court on those federal questions.”

  The petition, filed with Judge Samuel A. Alito, poses two questions for the Supreme Court to answer:

  1. Can a state violate its own constitutional restrictions without violating the U.S. constitutional clauses relating to elections and due process?

  2. And did the Pennsylvania Supreme Court violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution “by dismissing with prejudice the case below, on the basis of laches, thereby foreclosing any opportunity for petitioners to seek retrospective and prospective relief for ongoing constitutional violations?”

  The state Supreme Court said on Nov. 28 that the petitioners waited until days before the county of boards of election were required to certify the election results, which could “result in the disenfranchisement of millions of Pennsylvania voters” who voted by mail.

  “It is beyond cavil that petitioners failed to act with due diligence in presenting the instant claim,” the court wrote.

  Parnell told KDKA that it was a “Catch-22” situation.

   “Had I filed it earlier, I would have probably not been able to bring the case into court because I wouldn’t have had legal standing,” he said.

  “So they would have probably said, ‘Well, the harm that you’re alleging is speculative.’”

  Parnell said that the case was not about whether mail-in ballots are good or bad per se, but about state constitutional procedure.

  “Democrat or Republican, if the citizen learns that his law is unconstitutional, it’s our duty and responsibility as citizens to challenge that law,” he said, noting that he was being criticized by some Republicans for his actions.

  The lawsuit is filed against the state, the majority Republican general assembly, Gov. Tom Wolf, and Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar.

  In the state Supreme Court ruling, Chief Justice Thomas Saylor issued a separate opinion agreeing to reverse the preliminary injunction. However, Saylor said he believes the Republican petitioners should still be able to argue their case about the constitutional validity of Act 77.

  “I find that the relevant substantive challenge raised by appellees presents troublesome questions about the constitutional validity of the new mail-in voting scheme,” Saylor wrote.

  Shortly after the appeal was filed, Senator Ted Cruz issued a statement in support:

  #SCOTUS should hear the emergency appeal on the Pennsylvania election challenge. pic.twitter.com/mzwr4eaHR8

  — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 1, 2020

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• Facebook Says It Will Provide The "Authoritative Information" On COVID Vaccines
  Facebook Says It Will Provide The “Authoritative Information” On COVID Vaccines
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 19:05

  No sooner did we just get finishing penning a piece about how the British Army is being used to fight “anti-vaccine” protests and vaccine “disinformation” – including by “work[ing] closely with social media companies” – than Mark Zuckerberg has also thrown his hat into the fray.

  The Facebook CEO has said he wants to provide platform users with “authoritative information about Covid-19 vaccines,” according to CNBC. The company has “already reached out to the Biden administration,” Zuckerberg has said. We don’t know about you, but we already feel safer and more informed…

  Meanwhile, “authoritative” is a great word choice. 

  On a livestream with Dr. Anthony Fauci this week, Zuckerberg said: “There’ll be a few important things that we can do together. We’re already planning a push around authoritative information about the vaccines.”

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  He did not clarify on how he planned on distributing the information, but if it’s anything like how Facebook informed its users on how to vote, it will be a non-stop bludgeoning of banners, alerts and messages that will completely override what little true “user experience” is left on Facebook, between the ads. 

  Recall, we also wrote hours ago that the British Army’s Information Warfare Unit is being deployed to deal with “anti-vaccine propaganda” heading into the rollout of the vaccine overseas. Some in the country have said they will refuse the vaccine and will do the same for the children. Others have called it a “mass sterilization program”. Other Brits simply “feel the Government is wielding too much power,” the Daily Mail noted. 

  The U.K. is also launching a probe into “vaccine disinformation”, including an investigation into (of course) Russia. 

  A U.K. Cabinet Office spokesman said late last week:  “As we edge closer to a vaccine we continue to work closely with social media companies and other organizations to anticipate and mitigate any emerging anti-vax narratives and promote authoritative sources of information.”

  We’re sure the Biden administration will do the same and anoint Facebook as its official Covid press secretary. 

  

• Texas, California See Record COVID Numbers, SF Mayor Hints At Another Lockdown: Live Updates
  Texas, California See Record COVID Numbers, SF Mayor Hints At Another Lockdown: Live Updates
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 18:51

  Summary:

  • Texas, California see record numbers
  • Cuomo says hospital capacity expansion a “top priority”
  • France to prioritize vaccinating nursing home residents
  • San Francisco warns new measures coming as soon as this week
  • Denmark announces new restrictions
  • The Netherlands sees decline in new cases
  • US hospitalizations hit new record
  • Vietnam halts international flights
  • Ireland begins reopening Tuesday
  • CureVac chairman says vaccine will be ready in Q1

  * * *

  Update (1820ET): We’re getting some more dire numbers out of the US, as cases look set to surge in today’s nationwide tally following a new record in daily cases in Texas, and a record hospitalization tally in California.

  California has a record 9,049 patients hospitalized with the virus after only recently exceeding levels from July. Now that California’s hospitalizations are back in record territory, the state is already acting, moving more counties into its most dire ‘purple’ designation, while Gov Gavin Newsom hints at another lockdown. In San Francisco, Mayor London Breed hinted at another lockdown, warning that more-stringent measures may be coming as soon as this week.

  In Texas, officials reported 15,182 new cases, and 170 new deaths, raising the tally to 21,549 deaths.

  New Jersey reported 90 deaths, by far the most in more than six months. The state now has 15,254 lab-confirmed virus fatalities and 1,829 with an untested but probable link.

  Meanwhile, the CDC has voted on a protocol for prioritizing the distribution of the first batches of COVID-19 vaccines.

  * * *

  Update (1310ET): As coronavirus hospitalizations in the US hit new highs, virus-related hospitalizations in New York jumped by 242 in one day, the most since early April. There were 3,774 hospitalizations on Monday, and 66 virus-related deaths, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday during a briefing via conference call.

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  Cuomo reminded New Yorkers that hospital capacity is a “top priority” and that orders have already been given to increase the number of available beds as hospitalizations in the state surge. These include a backup facility on Staten Island.

  New York City is urging older adults and those with underlying health conditions to stay home and refuse any guests in order to moderate the spread of the virus. City hospitalizations have doubled in recent weeks and are now 1,100, the highest since June. The seven-day average of daily reported cases has climbed to 1,685, the highest since May. A month ago, the daily case average was 621. The percentage of people testing positive continues to climb, to a seven-day average of 4.14%.

  It’s evening in Western Europe, and Denmark has become the latest country to impose new restrictions that will hit the greater Copenhagen area and take effect next week. Denmark is struggling to contain the latest surge in cases, while in the Netherlands, right next door, authorities revealed that new cases dropped 8% over the past week, attributing their success to the COVID-19 measures.

  * * *

  As warnings about a “long dark winter” ahead intensify, with the NYT once again quoting scientists projecting death tolls and case tallies several times larger than what we have seen already, hospitalizations in the US have hit a new record high with more than 96k patients admitted to hospitals around the country.

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  However, even as daily tests now top 2 million, the number of new cases in the US is still falling, continuing an incipient trend that started just before the Thanksgiving holiday.

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  Source: COVID Tracking Project

  Still, the alarming surge in hospitalizations over the past month would suggest that higher death tolls might be in store, as rural hospitals are overwhelmed by the crush of severely ill patients.

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  Meanwhile, the biggest news on the vaccine front has to do with Pfizer’s latest vaccine development: the company has officially filed for emergency use approval in the EU on Tuesday – after making the same request of authorities in the US last week.

  Outside the US, Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered the country’s aviation authority to halt international commercial flights after health authorities reported the country’s first local cases in almost three months, according to a posting on the government’s website. The premier – who added that  “rescue” flights bringing Vietnamese home from abroad should continue – instructed the Ho Chi Minh City government to quickly trace and isolate everyone who came in contact with those who tested positive this week.

  Here’s a roundup of COVID news from around the world and in the US:

  Ireland, one of the first countries in western Europe to return to lockdown in late October, began reopening its economy on Tuesday. Non-essential stores welcomed shoppers back. Restaurants will reopen later this week, as well as bars serving food. Bars that only serve drinks will remain closed (Source: Bloomberg).

  Jean Stephenne, chairman of German biotech company CureVac NV, said he is confident the company’s Covid vaccine will be ready in the first quarter of 2021, and there is no reason to suggest its efficiency won’t match that of rivals. “We’re running a few months behind Pfizer, but confident on prospect for February-March,” he said (Source: Bloomberg).

  

• SpaceX Starlink User TOS Declares Mars As 'Free Planet'
  SpaceX Starlink User TOS Declares Mars As ‘Free Planet’
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 18:45

  Authored by Mike Brown via Inverse.com

  Starlink’s beta test is requiring participants to recognize Mars as a “free planet.”

  It’s an unusual bit of fine print, and the implications go far beyond securing good internet on Earth.

  SpaceX’s internet connectivity constellation Starlink, which began forming in May 2019, has started inviting interested fans to the “Better Than Nothing” beta test. While the final version aims to offer gigabit download speeds at low latency to anyone with a view of the sky, the beta is offering more like 50 to 150 megabits per second – hence the humble-brag test name.

  But the Starlink terms of service, as spotted by Twitter account “WholeMarsBlog” and confirmed by Reddit moderator “Smoke-away,” require users to agree that “no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities.”

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  Under section nine of the terms, SpaceX explains how services provided around the Earth or Moon will follow the law as governed by the state of California in the United States. But for Mars, the story changes a bit:

  “For Services provided on Mars, or in transit to Mars via Starship or other colonization spacecraft, the parties recognize Mars as a free planet and that no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities. Accordingly, Disputes will be settled through self-governing principles, established in good faith, at the time of Martian settlement.”

  The comments highlight one of SpaceX’s biggest ambitions for the coming decades: to send the first humans to Mars and ultimately establish a city by 2050.

  To achieve that goal, the firm is developing the Starship, a fully-reusable rocket measuring around 400 feet tall when paired with the booster. SpaceX wants to send the first cargo ships to the Red Planet in the next few years.

  Elon Musk, SpaceX’s CEO, has commented before about the sort of government he’d like to see emerge on the planet. In a March 2018 interview, he predicted the city would operate on some sort of direct democracy. He compared it to the early United States, where representative democracy was most logical due to the sheer size of the nascent state.

  “Everyone votes on every issue and that’s how it goes,” Musk explained. “There’s a few things I’d recommend. Keep laws short. […] Something suspicious is going on if there’s long laws.”

  Not everyone follows Musk’s logic. Jim Pass, CEO of the Astrosociology Research Institute, told Inverse in April 2019 that he believed the determiner will be who is sponsoring the settlement. A religious organization could lead to a theocracy, whereas military types may lead to a more autocratic structure.

  Like other features of the “Better Than Nothing” beta, it’s possible that Starlink’s terms right now don’t make it to the final version. The company is expected to start offering services in the United States and Canada by 2020, before moving to a larger breadth of the populated world by 2021.

  The Inverse analysis – As with many of Musk’s projects, it seems Starlink includes some tongue-in-cheek references, too.

  Another joke was spotted in the new Android app by Reddit user “joehalfrack.” In the app, an animated character called Dishy attempts to help. The easter egg, seemingly a reference to Microsoft Office’s much-hated “Clippy” assistant, is an example of the sort of references Musk likes to make, whether in his company’s products or on his personal Twitter account.

  It’s difficult to imagine Starlink’s terms trumping international laws and treaties, but if the clause was designed to draw attention to the service it worked — how many other satellite broadband providers do you know that have people sharing their terms of service on Twitter?

  

• How Many COVID-19 Vaccines Has Trump's Operation Warpspeed Secured?
  How Many COVID-19 Vaccines Has Trump’s Operation Warpspeed Secured?
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Tue, 12/01/2020 – 18:25

  Moderna has reported some more good news from its trials, stating that its Covid-19 vaccine candidate has a final efficacy of just over 94 percent with nobody who received it during trials falling severely ill. That has paved the way for the company to apply for emergency usage authorization in the U.S. and Europe. That puts Moderna around a week behind Pfizer and BioNTech who already took that step with their own vaccine that emerged from trials with an efficacy of 95 percent.

  With the pandemic worsening and the race to roll out the first vaccine heating up, Statista’s Niall McCarthy notes that governments around the world have already reserved close to 10 billion doses before a single candidate has even reached the market. 2.6 billion further doses are under negotiation or reserved as optional expansions of existing deals. The findings come from Duke University who have been aggregating and analyzing publicly available data on vaccine procurement and manufacturing.

  The research shows that the U.S. had secured 1.01 billion doses from six different companies up to November 20 which represents the highest quantity of any government apart from India which has made agreements for 1.6 billion.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna both account for 100 million U.S. doses each while the U.S. is also set for 500 million doses of the vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.

  It offers 70 percent protection according to trials, though it is believed this can be increased to 90 percent by tweaking the dose. The rest of the U.S. supply is made up of candidates that have not reported detailed testing results and it includes vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson, Novavax and Sanofi-GSK.

  

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• America's Future Is Liberal Fascism Sporting A Smiley Shirt And Armed With A Syringe
  America’s Future Is Liberal Fascism Sporting A Smiley Shirt And Armed With A Syringe
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 23:50

  Authored by Robert Bridge via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

  The globalists responsible for engineering a medical tyranny across much of the Western world have something valuable to teach right-wing nationalists and would-be fascists, and that is you don’t sell your damaged product out of the barrel of a machine gun, but rather dripping from the end of a syringe that promises to end all pain and misery.

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  Patrick Henry, one of America’s more outspoken Founding Fathers, famously remarked “give me liberty or give me death” when the life of his nation was on the line.

  Today, America’s famous battle cry has been replaced by a masked and muffled gasp that advises, without hope of a second opinion, “give me lockdowns and keep me safe.”

  So terrified is the American public of catching a virus that comes with a 99 percent survival rate that they are willing to forego Thanksgiving, the great national holiday commemorating – with no loss of irony – their Pilgrim ancestors’ collective courage to overcome the wild, hostile conditions of their new land.

  It must be said that no fascist party has ever been so adept when it came to sealing the collective fate of their people to a common enemy. That’s because the threat facing mankind today, or so we are told, is not some nefarious ideology, like communism, or even a terrorist organization that the masses can be rallied to fight. Rather, the threat is a microscopic contagion that is capable of invading every nook and cranny of our lives. Already the age of manly handshakes is over, replaced by an emasculated majority, while an entire generation of youth now looks at their fellow human beings as infernal germ factories.

  And unlike a traditional enemy that can be seen, attacked and eventually defeated, the coronavirus – we have been oddly forewarned – will make landfall again and again, while regularly morphing with comic book abilities into an increasingly deadlier villain. In this landless battle, only the medical authorities are decorated as heroes, while the people, lacking the professional credentials, are forced to be passive and helpless onlookers, their freedom of movement severely constrained. More importantly, the forces of nationalism have become irrelevant; only a globalist, one-world-order response can defeat this pandemic.

  There is very good reason to suspect, however, that either the science on all of this is half-baked, or we the people are being intentionally duped on a grand scale. In fact, it’s probably a little bit of both. First, relying on nothing more than empirical evidence, it does not seem unreasonable to suggest that there is no existential emergency confronting mankind. If there were, we would expect to see decomposing bodies piling up in the streets, like in the medieval times during the Black Plague. This would be especially the case among the homeless population, which is certainly not practicing social distancing etiquette as they pass around open containers on street corners.

  Nor does there seem to be any massive queuing up at hospitals for emergency treatment. In fact, as early as April, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told President Trump that the Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort deployed to New York City by the federal government to help fight the coronavirus outbreak was “no longer needed”. Cuomo said the need for the support vessel “didn’t reach the levels that had been projected.” And I am certainly not the only one who has noticed that Covid cases seem to fluctuate curiously with the political climate.

  Plenty of hospital rooms. You’ve got that right! https://t.co/lg0Bb2Ai9j

  — Richard Hillbilly Chad (@DPotcner) October 28, 2020

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  Let’s not forget that the overwhelming majority of Covid ‘victims’ recover nicely at home, according to no less of an authority than Anthony Fauci. At the same time, many people who acquire the disease are asymptomatic and never even knew they were infected. Children, meanwhile, seem amazingly impervious to the virus. That is not to say that there has been no sign of a virus this winter season. Of course there has been, just like every year. But while Covid cases may be on the rise in some places, and invisible in others, the death rate from this illness remains low and tumbling, predominantly hitting elderly people already suffering from comorbidities.

  There are other reasons to be suspicious that what we are dealing with is not a first-class medical emergency, but rather something much more sinister. Like maybe an excuse for rolling out a Western-made vaccine that carries a microchip implant with tracking technology? Such a claim will sound less fantastic when it is realized that it has already been developed.

  It is no secret that just one month before Covid-19 made its dramatic landfall in the United States, purportedly from Wuhan, China, MIT researchers announced a new method for recording a patient’s vaccination history: storing the smartphone-readable data under the skin at the same time a vaccine is administered.

  “By selectively loading microparticles into microneedles, the patches deliver a pattern in the skin that is invisible to the naked eye but can be scanned with a smartphone that has the infrared filter removed,” MIT News reported.

  “The patch can be customized to imprint different patterns that correspond to the type of vaccine delivered.”

  Would it surprise anyone to know that the research was funded largely by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the same family venture that now provides the bulk of funding to the World Health Organization?

  In a new interview, Bill Gates authoritatively states that mass public gatherings will not come back “at all” until we have mass vaccination. Who made him king of the world? https://t.co/siW7bZ9yGc … https://t.co/ivaCI8eAEl

  — Alternative News (@NewsAlternative) April 4, 2020

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  Then, in September 2019, ID2020, a San Francisco-based biometric company that counts Microsoft as one of its founding members, announced a new project that involves the “exploration of multiple biometric identification technologies for infants” that is based on “infant immunization.”

  We could continue here with a long list of other disturbing technologies that would effectively turn people into walking antennae for the rest of their lives, but the point is hopefully clear: although many people might be willing to accept a vaccine against Covid-19, they probably do not want the extra technological add-ons that people like Bill Gates, a man with zero medical qualifications, seem extremely anxious to include.

  “The food supply chain is breaking,” Tyson Foods warns in a full page ad in NYT today pic.twitter.com/5cyusH6L9V

  — Ana Swanson (@AnaSwanson) April 26, 2020

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  So what can Americans expect next? How about ‘Freedom Passes’ that Britons may need before they are able to return to some semblance of normalcy?

  According to the Daily Mail, “Britons are set to be given Covid ‘freedom passes’ as long as they test negative for the virus twice in a week, it has been suggested…To earn the freedom pass, people will need to be tested regularly and, provided the results come back negative, they will then be given a letter, card or document they can show to people as they move around.”

  And this is what they call a “return to normalcy.”

  Personally, I call those plans the approach of fascism. And for those who doubt that it could not happen in America should heed the words of the late sagacious comedian George Carlin, who once quipped that “when fascism comes to America, it will not be in brown and black shirts. It will not be with jackboots. It will be Nike sneakers and smiley shirts.” Had Carlin been alive today to see the tremendous mess we’ve inherited, he would most likely have included a syringe in the neo-fascist’s toolkit.

  

• South Korean Duck Farm Suffers Outbreak Of "Highly Pathogenic" H5N8 Bird Flu
  South Korean Duck Farm Suffers Outbreak Of “Highly Pathogenic” H5N8 Bird Flu
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 23:30

  As COVID-19 cases slow after reaching a worldwide peak, eliciting a warning from WHO chief Dr. Tedros that people living in hard-hit areas shouldn’t get too complacent, a strain of “highly contagious” Avian bird flu has apparently traveled from Europe to South Korea.

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  A few days after an outbreak of bird flu led to a culling of more than 10,000 birds in northern England – though authorities were quick to reassure the public that there was no risk to the food supply – South Korean authorities have discovered an outbreak of a “highly contagious” H5N8 bird flu on a duck farm in the southwestern part of the country.

  The outbreak, which occurred in the town of Girin-ri, roughly 300 kilometers from Seoul, killed 19,000 ducks.

  There are six other poultry farms within a radius of three kilometers (1.9 miles) from the farm where the infected ducks were found, and all are being inspected.

  Nearly 20k ducks died, and some 392k chickens and ducks at a total of six farms were killed, to prevent the spread of the disease, the ministry also said.

  Authorities have already issued an order to stop any activities at poultry and livestock facilities, while freezing the movement of poultry products across the country for 48 hours. The blockage will last seven days for poultry farms in Jeongeup, as well as for farms within a radius of 10 kilometers from the site of the outbreak 30 days. The national alert level over the spread of bird flu has been raised to a “serious hazard.”.

  The same strain of bird flu emerged in populations in Germany early this year.  It hit several of Europe’s largest poultry producers located in Germany and elsewhere. While scientists believe the pathogen – while highly contagious – isn’t contagious to humans, at one point scientists in China said the same thing about COVID-19.

  

• Iranian Nuclear Program Gains Steam Following Assassination Of "Nuclear Soleimani" Near Tehran
  Iranian Nuclear Program Gains Steam Following Assassination Of “Nuclear Soleimani” Near Tehran
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 23:10

  Submitted by SouthFront,

  US President Donald Trump is apparently set to slam the door and go to great lengths to show love to his friends in Tel Aviv before withdrawing from the White House.

  On November 27, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a prominent Iranian professor of physics and quantum field theorist, was assassinated near the Iranian capital of Tehran. Formally, Fakhrizadeh was the head of its Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, while Israel and the U.S. insist that he headed the Iranian nuclear weapons program.

  Israeli media even called Fakhrizadeh “the Nuclear Soleimani” referring to the commander of the Iranian Qods Force, who was assassinated by a US drone strike in Iraq on January 3, 2020. That assassination almost led to a US-Iranian war and the White House even swallowed a ballistic missile strike on its bases in Iraq, while Iranian air defense forces accidentally shot down an airliner near Tehran. Fortunately, a larger war was avoided, but the region entered into a new spiral of tensions between the Israeli-US bloc and Iranian-led forces. The November assassination did not trigger an immediate military response from Tehran, but there are little doubts that it will also have negative consequences for regional stability.

  According to US and Israeli media, the development of the Iranian nuclear program requires the following factors: time, money and specialists.

  1. Iran has already had a lot of time.

  2. Trump’s “maximum pressure campaign” was intended to target the ‘money’ factor, but Iran’s so-called resistance economy survived despite the pressure.

  3. Now, the US and Israel once again turned to the ‘specialists’ factor of this formula and they have capabilities to conduct politically-motivated assassinations as a part of what they call the ‘deterrence campaign’ against Iran.

  Initial reports say that the car of Fakhrizadeh was targeted by a car bomb explosion and then was subjected to gunmen fire at Absard city. According to the Iranian Defense Ministry, Fakhrizadeh “was severely wounded in the course of the clashes between his security team and terrorists and was transferred to a hospital,” where he later succumbed to his wounds. Later it appeared in the unofficial version of events, claims that the attackers used a remotely-controlled machine gun that was installed in the trunk of a Nisan pickup. Then, the pickup and the gun were detonated. The Iranian Fars News report insists that the entire attack lasted for only 3 minutes and that no gunmen were involved.

  The assassination demonstrates the particular gaps in the security of such prominent and high-ranking persons. It is no secret that the life of Fakhrizadeh was under threat for years, but he still moved around the country with a small security team with only two cars, and his car was not even armored. This posture may be partly explained by the cult of martyrdom on the all levels of Iranian society and the fact that Iranian officials are pretty close to ordinary people, especially in comparison with other Middle Eastern states. These factors allow the current political regime in Iran to resist unprecedented sanctions, political and even military pressure from its opponents, but at the same time creates additional security difficulties.

  Immediately after the assassination, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Army were put on high alert and top Iranian officials vowed to take revenge for the attack. Also, on November 29, the Iranian Parliament decided to speed up the consideration of the bill that supposes to increase the level of uranium enrichment. As a “double urgency”, it was ratified with 232 votes from a total of 246 MPs attending the session. The final vote on the adoption of the law may take place on December 2. The bill states that Iran would now produce at least 120kg of uranium enriched to 20% per year. In comparison, the Iranian nuclear deal, from which the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew, allowed Iran to enrich uranium to a maximum of 3.67%. In addition, under the bill in consideration, the government will have to put in operation one thousand additional centrifuges at the Natanz and Fordo nuclear facilities within a year. The bill also supposes an immediate return to the project for the reconstruction of the Arak nuclear reactor, which existed before the signing of the nuclear deal. Therefore, instead of slowing down the Iranian nuclear program, the assassination of Fakhrizadeh led to a public increase of the Iranian activity in the field. The United States and Israel will likely call these actions a great threat to global security and state that they are obliged to respond to the growing Iranian threat.

  The only question is what do the Israeli and US leadership expect? Did they really believe that after the years of resistance and regional standoffs, that the Iranians would surrender after an assassination of one of their scientists?

  

• Sun Ejects Biggest Solar Flare In Years Ahead Of Active Cycle  
  Sun Ejects Biggest Solar Flare In Years Ahead Of Active Cycle  
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 22:50

  On Sunday, SpaceWeather said the sun’s solar explosion was measured as an M4.4-category eruption, which produced a shortwave radio blackout over some parts of Earth and a bright coronal mass ejection (CME). 

  “Remarkably, the flare was even bigger than it seemed. The blast site is located just behind the sun’s southeastern limb, so the explosion was partially eclipsed by the body of the sun. 

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  “X-rays and UV radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth’s atmosphere, producing a shortwave radio blackout over the South Atlantic… Ham radio operators and mariners may have noticed strange propagation effects at frequencies below 20 MHz, with some transmissions below 10 MHz completely extinguished,” SpaceWeather said on its website.

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  A coronagraph video via the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) shows the massive burst of electromagnetic radiation ejecting from the sun. 

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  SpaceWeather said the flare and an associated CME were not Earth-facing but erupted behind the sun’s southeastern limb. This is good news because the explosion was partially eclipsed by the body of the sun. If the flare were Earth-facing, it would’ve likely been an X-class event, meaning it could’ve resulted in widespread radio blackouts, downed power grids, and disrupted communication networks. 

  The last decade of solar activity has been on the decline, though the latest flare-up in activity could suggest a new busy cycle is about to start. 

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  In 2017, we noted that FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Administration) planned for a massive solar event that would be strong enough to take down the power grids.

  There has also been a couple of notable solar flare events in the last three years:

  • Huge Solar Flare Sparks Widespread Blackouts, May Deter Korean Missile Launch This Weekend
  • NASA: “Sun Erupts With Significant Flare”

  With the Earth entering what appears to be an active solar period that could last through 2025 – this would present many challenges for the new digital economy as remote working has been kicked into hyperdrive because of the virus pandemic. Solar flares can disrupt satellite-based communications networks, as show below:

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  SpaceWeather warns that from Dec. 1-2, Sunday’s M4.4-class solar flare might sideswipe Earth’s magnetic field. 

  “The hidden sunspot that produced this major event will rotate onto the Earthside of the sun during the next day or two,” according to SpaceWeather. “Then its ability to spark geomagnetic storms will be greatly increased.” 

  An active solar cycle could be bad news for the digital economy as disruptions sparked by solar flares could create massive economic damage. 

  

• After AZN Hack Accusation, Kim Jong Un Given COVID Vaccine By China
  After AZN Hack Accusation, Kim Jong Un Given COVID Vaccine By China
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 22:30

  Authored by Harry Kazianis via 19fortyfive.com

  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and “multiple other high-ranking officials within the Kim family and leadership network” have been vaccinated for Coronavirus “within the last two to three weeks” thanks to a vaccine candidate supplied by the Chinese government, according to two Japanese intelligence sources. Both officials spoke to 19FortyFive under the condition that their names not be identified.

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  The news comes on the heels of reports in Reuters that North Korea is suspected to have tried to hack into the computer networks of drugmaker AstraZeneca, part of what appears to be a wide-ranging campaign to secure any and all COVID-19 vaccine data it can through illegal cyberattacks.

  North Korea’s COVID-19 Crisis Intensifies

  While the leadership of North Korea may have found a way to try and protect themselves from the dangers of Coronavirus, many parts of the country are being impacted dramatically, compounding ongoing economic challenges brought on through international sanctions, decades-long food insecurity issues, and the landing of three typhoons several months ago.

  With an antiquated and poorly resourced healthcare system that is in no shape to tackle a pandemic, North Korea has resorted to cutting itself off from the outside world since January when the so-called “hermit kingdom” sealed its borders in an attempt to keep out the virus. To this day, Pyongyang claims to not have any “confirmed” cases of COVID-19 in the country, although, has admitted to “suspected” cases.

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  Kim Jong Un Meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

  In recent days, multiple outlets have reported that various cities in North Korea—including Pyongyang, the capital—have been placed on lockdown due to COVID-19 concerns. The Kim regime has also instituted a ban on fishing and salt production in North Korean waters, executed an official for breaking anti-virus regulations, and instituted a shoot to kill order if anyone attempts to enter the country illegally.

  Is the Vaccine Safe?

  While neither source would confirm which company in China was the manufacturer of the Coronavirus vaccine given to the North Korean leadership, there are “at least 3-4 different Chinese vaccines in play including a whole inactivated virus vaccine from Sinovac and an adenovirus 5 vectored vaccine from CanSinoBio,” explained Dr. Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine.

  Of special note is a vaccine being crafted by Sinophram Group, which according to the chair of the company, has been used by nearly one million people within China.

  While clearly the number of vaccine candidates and vaccinations point to tremendous progress in what is surely a record-setting pace, questions remain over the effectiveness and safety of these vaccines, as no phase three trial data has been published on any Chinese vaccines as of now.

  “So far, it’s looking as though the COVID-19 virus spike protein is a pretty soft target so it’s quite possible some of those vaccines may work,” noted Dr. Hotez. “The problem is we don’t have much if any insight on their quality control and assurance and fidelity of clinical testing, which is the truly hard part of vaccines. Given that China is probably the world’s largest producer of vaccines—some estimates say 5 billion doses annually of different vaccines—and likely the supplier of North Korea historically, the fact that they are providing COVID vaccines for DPRK is not a surprise.”

  Kim’s Dilemma: What if the Vaccine Isn’t Effective?

  With the speed at which China and many drug manufacturers around the world are developing, testing, and deploying COVID-19 vaccines, there is a chance a vaccine candidate may not have the intended effectiveness vaccines vetted for much longer time frames have. What happens if Kim, eager to protect himself, his family, and top aides, are vaccinated with a Chinese version that ultimately is not effective? Can they be revaccinated with something provided by another vendor? At least for now, according to various experts I spoke to, there is no clear answer.

  “There is no data I’m aware of looking at boosting with different vaccines. That needs to be studied,” explained Dr. Hotez.  “My guess is that it will likely be ok depending on which vaccine was the prime and which one was the boost, but it needs to be studied.”

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  Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2: This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow)—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19—isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (blue/pink) cultured in the lab.

  “The short answer is that we do not know whether revaccination with a more effective vaccine would be protective,” explained William John Moss, a Professor in the Departments of Epidemiology, International Health and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “However, I think it is likely that individuals could be revaccinated and derive protection from a more effective vaccine. The worst-case scenario would be that an initial vaccine could result in a less than ideal immune response that does not confer protection against Covid-19 but interferes with the response to a second vaccine. This will depend on the nature and magnitude of the immune responses elicited by the partially effective vaccine.”

  One More Way North Korea Is Dependent on China

  With North Korea’s existence as a country owed in large part due to massive subsidies in food and fuel thanks to China, it would seem Pyongyang is now indebted to Beijing even more, especially if China were to provide Coronavirus vaccine to the entire population, a situation that seems very possible. Such a move would be in Beijing’s interest, as it would want to avoid any large Coronavirus outbreaks that could lead to massive refugee flows coming into China or any internal instability in North Korea. And while the Kim regime may not feel comfortable relying even more heavily on China, they simply may have no choice—and be forced to follow Beijing’s lead more closely—at least for now.

  “North Korea’s total population is a tiny drop in the Chinese bucket. Xi’s government could take care of the entire country if it desires. A decision to do so also would affirm a new closeness to the bilateral relationship,” explained Doug Bandow, a Senior Fellow at the CATO Institute, based in Washington, D.C.

  “Looking after Kim’s health should gain Beijing extra attention in Pyongyang for its views, though Kim still isn’t going to surrender anything unnecessarily.”

  “Even though Kim’s government has sought to reduce the DPRK’s economic and political dependence on China, that dependence and acquiescence still applies in high-priority situations. In other words, on crucial matters Pyongyang will do what Beijing wants,” noted Ted Galen Carpenter, a Senior Fellow also at the CATO Institute and longtime North Korea watcher.

  

• 'The Wuhan Files': CNN Publishes Leaked Report Showing China Downplayed COVID-19 Outbreak
  ‘The Wuhan Files’: CNN Publishes Leaked Report Showing China Downplayed COVID-19 Outbreak
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 22:10

  CNN has just published the first of what might be a series of reports on a cache of new documents purporting to prove that the information disseminated by Chinese government officials was markedly different from the numbers, assessments and projections being shared with top-level officials. While that doesn’t prove China lied to the public, it’s definitely not a good look (not that any rational person takes China’s COVID numbers at face value).

  Reports dating from early February show that the number of cases reported in the province was at times 3x larger than what the public was being told.

  A whistleblower who worked in the Chinese health care system provided 117 pages of internal documents from Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention to CNN. The report analyzes data collected between Oct. 2019 and April 2020.

  For example, on Feb. 10, Chinese officials reported 2,478 new confirmed cases, making the total worldwide number reach beyond 40,000. But in a file labeled “internal document, please keep confidential,” the Hubei Provincial CDC recorded 5,918 new cases on that date, with 2,345 “confirmed cases,” 1,772 “clinically diagnosed cases” and 1,796 “suspected cases.”

  The documents also “reveal what appears to be an inflexible health care system constrained by top-down bureaucracy and rigid procedures that were ill-equipped to deal with the emerging crisis,” according to CNN.

  According to data from early March, the average time between symptom onset and confirmed diagnosis was 23.3 days. Three months later, China’s State Council released a White Paper saying the Chinese government had always published information related to the epidemic in a “timely, open and transparent fashion.”

  The leak comes Monday evening, just hours before clocks pass midnight on Dec. 1: “It was clear they did make mistakes – and not just mistakes that happen when you’re dealing with a novel virus – also bureaucratic and politically-motivated errors in how they handled it.”

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  But perhaps the most intriguing finding from the report is the fact that influenza cases mysteriously spiked in Hubei Province right around this time last year. The outbreak wasn’t centered around Wuhan, but it emerged in the neighboring cities of Yichang and Xianning. The outbreak wasn’t widely reported before now, even though the instance of cases was 20x higher than the prior year, according to the documents.

  At the same time that the virus is believed to have first emerged, the documents show another health crisis was unfolding: Hubei was dealing with a significant influenza outbreak. It caused cases to rise to 20 times the level recorded the previous year, the documents show, placing enormous levels of additional stress on an already stretched health care system.

  The influenza “epidemic,” as officials noted in the document, was not only present in Wuhan in December, but was greatest in the neighboring cities of Yichang and Xianning. It remains unclear what impact or connection the influenza spike had on the Covid-19 outbreak. And while there is no suggestion in the documents the two parallel crises are linked, information regarding the magnitude of Hubei’s influenza spike has still yet to be made public.

  As an important caveat, we most note: While this information wasn’t noted in the mainstream press, outlets like the Epoch Times – which has been widely derided as a purveyor of COVID ‘conspiracies’ – reported on a surge in “COVID-like” infections happening around the same time months ago.

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  CNN also noted that the revelations are coming as the US and EU are pushing China to cooperate fully with a WHO investigation, and indeed the agency just announced the other day that it’s sending another team comprising scientists of various nationalities on a more detailed fact-finding mission to investigate the “origins” of the pandemic.

  Still, we can’t help but wonder how a low-level bureaucrat would not only manage to abscond with such a highly classified report, but then manage to leak it to CNN, a news organization staffed primarily by English-speaking reporters (though to be sure there are undoubtedly Chinese language experts in its employ) – all without China’s all-seeing surveillance state catching wind of what’s happening. The origins of the leak, and the lack of detail devoted to explaining how CNN got this information, suggest that there’s something more at work here. Could this be another Intel leak to favored reporters trying to turn the public’s ire back on China – they lied to us! – as the long, dark winter Biden has promised finally begins?

  Or perhaps something more sinister?

  

• The Next Decade Could Be Even Worse
  The Next Decade Could Be Even Worse
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 21:50

  Authored by Graeme Wood via The Atlantic,

  A historian believes he has discovered iron laws that predict the rise and fall of societies. He has bad news…

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  Peter Turchin, one of the world’s experts on pine beetles and possibly also on human beings, met me reluctantly this summer on the campus of the University of Connecticut at Storrs, where he teaches. Like many people during the pandemic, he preferred to limit his human contact. He also doubted whether human contact would have much value anyway, when his mathematical models could already tell me everything I needed to know.

  But he had to leave his office sometime. (“One way you know I am Russian is that I cannot think sitting down,” he told me. “I have to go for a walk.”) Neither of us had seen much of anyone since the pandemic had closed the country several months before. The campus was quiet. “A week ago, it was even more like a neutron bomb hit,” Turchin said. Animals were timidly reclaiming the campus, he said: squirrels, woodchucks, deer, even an occasional red-tailed hawk. During our walk, groundskeepers and a few kids on skateboards were the only other representatives of the human population in sight.

  The year 2020 has been kind to Turchin, for many of the same reasons it has been hell for the rest of us. Cities on fire, elected leaders endorsing violence, homicides surging—­­to a normal American, these are apocalyptic signs. To Turchin, they indicate that his models, which incorporate thousands of years of data about human history, are working.

  (“Not all of human history,” he corrected me once. “Just the last 10,000 years.”) He has been warning for a decade that a few key social and political trends portend an “age of discord,” civil unrest and carnage worse than most Americans have experienced.

  In 2010, he predicted that the unrest would get serious around 2020, and that it wouldn’t let up until those social and political trends reversed. Havoc at the level of the late 1960s and early ’70s is the best-case scenario; all-out civil war is the worst.

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  The fundamental problems, he says, are a dark triad of social maladies: a bloated elite class, with too few elite jobs to go around; declining living standards among the general population; and a government that can’t cover its financial positions. His models, which track these factors in other societies across history, are too complicated to explain in a nontechnical publication. But they’ve succeeded in impressing writers for nontechnical publications, and have won him comparisons to other authors of “megahistories,” such as Jared Diamond and Yuval Noah Harari. The New York Times columnist Ross Douthat had once found Turchin’s historical model­ing unpersuasive, but 2020 made him a believer: “At this point,” Douthat recently admitted on a podcast, “I feel like you have to pay a little more attention to him.”

  Diamond and Harari aimed to describe the history of humanity. Turchin looks into a distant, science-fiction future for peers. In War and Peace and War (2006), his most accessible book, he likens himself to Hari Seldon, the “maverick mathematician” of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, who can foretell the rise and fall of empires. In those 10,000 years’ worth of data, Turchin believes he has found iron laws that dictate the fates of human societies.

  The fate of our own society, he says, is not going to be pretty, at least in the near term. “It’s too late,” he told me as we passed Mirror Lake, which UConn’s website describes as a favorite place for students to “read, relax, or ride on the wooden swing.” The problems are deep and structural—not the type that the tedious process of demo­cratic change can fix in time to forestall mayhem. Turchin likens America to a huge ship headed directly for an iceberg: “If you have a discussion among the crew about which way to turn, you will not turn in time, and you hit the iceberg directly.”

  The past 10 years or so have been discussion. That sickening crunch you now hear—steel twisting, rivets popping—­­is the sound of the ship hitting the iceberg.

  “We are almost guaranteed” five hellish years, Turchin predicts, and likely a decade or more. The problem, he says, is that there are too many people like me. “You are ruling class,” he said, with no more rancor than if he had informed me that I had brown hair, or a slightly newer iPhone than his. Of the three factors driving social violence, Turchin stresses most heavily “elite overproduction”—­the tendency of a society’s ruling classes to grow faster than the number of positions for their members to fill. One way for a ruling class to grow is biologically—think of Saudi Arabia, where princes and princesses are born faster than royal roles can be created for them. In the United States, elites over­produce themselves through economic and educational upward mobility: More and more people get rich, and more and more get educated. Neither of these sounds bad on its own. Don’t we want everyone to be rich and educated? The problems begin when money and Harvard degrees become like royal titles in Saudi Arabia. If lots of people have them, but only some have real power, the ones who don’t have power eventually turn on the ones who do.

  In the United States, Turchin told me, you can see more and more aspirants fighting for a single job at, say, a prestigious law firm, or in an influential government sinecure, or (here it got personal) at a national magazine. Perhaps seeing the holes in my T-shirt, Turchin noted that a person can be part of an ideological elite rather than an economic one. (He doesn’t view himself as a member of either. A professor reaches at most a few hundred students, he told me. “You reach hundreds of thousands.”) Elite jobs do not multiply as fast as elites do. There are still only 100 Senate seats, but more people than ever have enough money or degrees to think they should be running the country. “You have a situation now where there are many more elites fighting for the same position, and some portion of them will convert to counter-elites,” Turchin said.

  Donald Trump, for example, may appear elite (rich father, Wharton degree, gilded commodes), but Trumpism is a counter-elite movement. His government is packed with credentialed nobodies who were shut out of previous administrations, sometimes for good reasons and sometimes because the Groton-­Yale establishment simply didn’t have any vacancies. Trump’s former adviser and chief strategist Steve Bannon, Turchin said, is a “paradigmatic example” of a counter-elite. He grew up working-class, went to Harvard Business School, and got rich as an investment banker and by owning a small stake in the syndication rights to Seinfeld. None of that translated to political power until he allied himself with the common people. “He was a counter-elite who used Trump to break through, to put the white working males back in charge,” Turchin said.

  Elite overproduction creates counter-elites, and counter-elites look for allies among the commoners. If commoners’ living standards slip—not relative to the elites, but relative to what they had before—they accept the overtures of the counter-elites and start oiling the axles of their tumbrels. Commoners’ lives grow worse, and the few who try to pull themselves onto the elite lifeboat are pushed back into the water by those already aboard. The final trigger of impending collapse, Turchin says, tends to be state insolvency. At some point rising in­security becomes expensive. The elites have to pacify unhappy citizens with handouts and freebies—and when these run out, they have to police dissent and oppress people. Eventually the state exhausts all short-term solutions, and what was heretofore a coherent civilization disintegrates.

  Turchin’s prognostications would be easier to dismiss as barstool theorizing if the disintegration were not happening now, roughly as the Seer of Storrs foretold 10 years ago. If the next 10 years are as seismic as he says they will be, his insights will have to be accounted for by historians and social scientists—assuming, of course, that there are still universities left to employ such people.

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  Peter Turchin, photographed in Connecticut’s Natchaug State Forest in October. The former ecologist seeks to apply mathematical rigor to the study of human history. (Malike Sidibe)

  Turchin was born in 1957 in Obninsk, Russia, a city built by the Soviet state as a kind of nerd heaven, where scientists could collaborate and live together. His father, Valen­tin, was a physicist and political dissident, and his mother, Tatiana, had trained as a geologist. They moved to Moscow when he was 7 and in 1978 fled to New York as political refugees. There they quickly found a community that spoke the household language, which was science. Valen­tin taught at the City University of New York, and Peter studied biology at NYU and earned a zoology doctorate from Duke.

  Turchin wrote a dissertation on the Mexican bean beetle, a cute, ladybug­like pest that feasts on legumes in areas between the United States and Guatemala. When Turchin began his research, in the early 1980s, ecology was evolving in a way that some fields already had. The old way to study bugs was to collect them and describe them: count their legs, measure their bellies, and pin them to pieces of particle­board for future reference. (Go to the Natural History Museum in London, and in the old storerooms you can still see the shelves of bell jars and cases of specimens.) In the ’70s, the Australian physicist Robert May had turned his attention to ecology and helped transform it into a mathematical science whose tools included supercomputers along with butterfly nets and bottle traps. Yet in the early days of his career, Turchin told me, “the majority of ecologists were still quite math-phobic.”

  Turchin did, in fact, do fieldwork, but he contributed to ecology primarily by collecting and using data to model the dynamics of populations—for example, determining why a pine-beetle population might take over a forest, or why that same population might decline. (He also worked on moths, voles, and lemmings.)

  In the late ’90s, disaster struck: Turchin realized that he knew everything he ever wanted to know about beetles. He compares himself to Thomasina Coverly, the girl genius in the Tom Stoppard play Arcadia, who obsessed about the life cycles of grouse and other creatures around her Derbyshire country house. Stoppard’s character had the disadvantage of living a century and a half before the development of chaos theory. “She gave up because it was just too complicated,” Turchin said. “I gave up because I solved the problem.”

  Turchin published one final monograph, Complex Population Dynamics: A Theoretical / Empirical Synthesis (2003), then broke the news to his UConn colleagues that he would be saying a permanent sayonara to the field, although he would continue to draw a salary as a tenured professor in their department. (He no longer gets raises, but he told me he was already “at a comfortable level, and, you know, you don’t need so much money.”) “Usually a midlife crisis means you divorce your old wife and marry a graduate student,” Turchin said. “I divorced an old science and married a new one.”

  Turchin’s prognostications would be easier to dismiss as barstool theorizing if they weren’t playing out now, roughly as he foretold 10 years ago.

  One of his last papers appeared in the journal Oikos. “Does population ecology have general laws?” Turchin asked. Most ecologists said no: Populations have their own dynamics, and each situation is different. Pine beetles reproduce, run amok, and ravage a forest for pine-beetle reasons, but that does not mean mosquito or tick populations will rise and fall according to the same rhythms. Turchin suggested that “there are several very general law-like propositions” that could be applied to ecology. After its long adolescence of collecting and cataloging, ecology had enough data to describe these universal laws—and to stop pretending that every species had its own idiosyncrasies. “Ecologists know these laws and should call them laws,” he said. Turchin proposed, for example, that populations of organisms grow or decline exponentially, not linearly. This is why if you buy two guinea pigs, you will soon have not just a few more guinea pigs but a home—and then a neighborhood—full of the damn things (as long as you keep feeding them). This law is simple enough to be understood by a high-school math student, and it describes the fortunes of everything from ticks to starlings to camels. The laws Turchin applied to ecology—and his insistence on calling them laws—­generated respectful controversy at the time. Now they are cited in textbooks.

  Having left ecology, Turchin began similar research that attempted to formulate general laws for a different animal species: human beings. He’d long had a hobby­ist’s interest in history. But he also had a predator’s instinct to survey the savanna of human knowledge and pounce on the weakest prey. “All sciences go through this transition to mathematization,” Turchin told me. “When I had my midlife crisis, I was looking for a subject where I could help with this transition to a mathematized science. There was only one left, and that was history.”

  Historians read books, letters, and other texts. Occasionally, if they are archaeologically inclined, they dig up potsherds and coins. But to Turchin, relying solely on these methods was the equivalent of studying bugs by pinning them to particleboard and counting their antennae. If the historians weren’t going to usher in a mathematical revolution themselves, he would storm their departments and do it for them.

  “There is a longstanding debate among scientists and philosophers as to whether history has general laws,” he and a co-author wrote in Secular Cycles (2009). “A basic premise of our study is that historical societies can be studied with the same methods physicists and biologists used to study natural systems.” Turchin founded a journal, Cliodynamics, dedicated to “the search for general principles explaining the functioning and dynamics of historical societies.” (The term is his coinage; Clio is the muse of history.) He had already announced the discipline’s arrival in an article in Nature, where he likened historians reluctant to build general principles to his colleagues in biology “who care most for the private life of warblers.” “Let history continue to focus on the particular,” he wrote. Cliodynamics would be a new science. While historians dusted bell jars in the basement of the university, Turchin and his followers would be upstairs, answering the big questions.

  To seed the journal’s research, Turchin masterminded a digital archive of historical and archaeological data. The coding of its records requires finesse, he told me, because (for example) the method of determining the size of the elite-aspirant class of medieval France might differ from the measure of the same class in the present-day United States. (For medieval France, a proxy is the membership in its noble class, which became glutted with second and third sons who had no castles or manors to rule over. One American proxy, Turchin says, is the number of lawyers.) But once the data are entered, after vetting by Turchin and specialists in the historical period under review, they offer quick and powerful suggestions about historical phenomena.

  Historians of religion have long pondered the relationship between the rise of complex civilization and the belief in gods—especially “moralizing gods,” the kind who scold you for sinning. Last year, Turchin and a dozen co-authors mined the database (“records from 414 societies that span the past 10,000 years from 30 regions around the world, using 51 measures of social complexity and 4 measures of supernatural enforcement of morality”) to answer the question conclusively. They found that complex societies are more likely to have moralizing gods, but the gods tend to start their scolding after the societies get complex, not before. As the database expands, it will attempt to remove more questions from the realm of humanistic speculation and sock them away in a drawer marked answered.

  One of Turchin’s most unwelcome conclusions is that complex societies arise through war. The effect of war is to reward communities that organize themselves to fight and survive, and it tends to wipe out ones that are simple and small-scale. “No one wants to accept that we live in the societies we do”—rich, complex ones with universities and museums and philosophy and art—“because of an ugly thing like war,” he said. But the data are clear: Darwinian processes select for complex socie­ties because they kill off simpler ones. The notion that democracy finds its strength in its essential goodness and moral improvement over its rival systems is likewise fanciful. Instead, democratic societies flourish because they have a memory of being nearly obliterated by an external enemy. They avoided extinction only through collective action, and the memory of that collective action makes democratic politics easier to conduct in the present, Turchin said. “There is a very close correlation between adopting democratic institutions and having to fight a war for survival.”

  Also unwelcome: the conclusion that civil unrest might soon be upon us, and might reach the point of shattering the country. In 2012, Turchin published an analysis of political violence in the United States, again starting with a database. He classified 1,590 incidents—riots, lynchings, any political event that killed at least one person—from 1780 to 2010. Some periods were placid and others bloody, with peaks of brutality in 1870, 1920, and 1970, a 50-year cycle. Turchin excludes the ultimate violent incident, the Civil War, as a “sui generis event.” The exclusion may seem suspicious, but to a statistician, “trimming outliers” is standard practice. Historians and journalists, by contrast, tend to focus on outliers—­because they are interesting—and sometimes miss grander trends.

  Certain aspects of this cyclical view require relearning portions of American history, with special attention paid to the numbers of elites. The industrialization of the North, starting in the mid-19th century, Turchin says, made huge numbers of people rich. The elite herd was culled during the Civil War, which killed off or impoverished the southern slaveholding class, and during Reconstruction, when America experienced a wave of assassinations of Republican politicians. (The most famous of these was the assassination of James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, by a lawyer who had demanded but not received a political appointment.) It wasn’t until the Progressive reforms of the 1920s, and later the New Deal, that elite overproduction actually slowed, at least for a time.

  This oscillation between violence and peace, with elite over­production as the first horseman of the recurring American apocalypse, inspired Turchin’s 2020 prediction. In 2010, when Nature surveyed scientists about their predictions for the coming decade, most took the survey as an invitation to self-promote and rhapsodize, dreamily, about coming advances in their fields. Turchin retorted with his prophecy of doom and said that nothing short of fundamental change would stop another violent turn.

  Turchin’s prescriptions are, as a whole, vague and unclassifiable. Some sound like ideas that might have come from Senator Elizabeth Warren—tax the elites until there are fewer of them—while others, such as a call to reduce immigration to keep wages high for American workers, resemble Trumpian protectionism. Other policies are simply heretical. He opposes credential-­oriented higher education, for example, which he says is a way of mass-producing elites without also mass-­producing elite jobs for them to occupy. Architects of such policies, he told me, are “creating surplus elites, and some become counter-elites.” A smarter approach would be to keep the elite numbers small, and the real wages of the general population on a constant rise.

  How to do that? Turchin says he doesn’t really know, and it isn’t his job to know. “I don’t really think in terms of specific policy,” he told me. “We need to stop the runaway process of elite overproduction, but I don’t know what will work to do that, and nobody else does. Do you increase taxation? Raise the minimum wage? Universal basic income?” He conceded that each of these possibilities would have unpredictable effects. He recalled a story he’d heard back when he was still an ecologist: The Forest Service had once implemented a plan to reduce the population of bark beetles with pesticide—only to find that the pesticide killed off the beetles’ predators even more effectively than it killed the beetles. The intervention resulted in more beetles than before. The lesson, he said, was to practice “adaptive management,” changing and modulating your approach as you go.

  Eventually, Turchin hopes, our understanding of historical dynamics will mature to the point that no government will make policy without reflecting on whether it is hurtling toward a mathematically pre­ordained disaster. He says he could imagine an Asimovian agency that keeps tabs on leading indicators and advises accordingly. It would be like the Federal Reserve, but instead of monitoring inflation and controlling monetary supply, it would be tasked with averting total civilizational collapse.

  Historians have not, as a whole, accepted Turchin’s terms of surrender graciously. Since at least the 19th century, the discipline has embraced the idea that history is irreducibly complex, and by now most historians believe that the diversity of human activity will foil any attempt to come up with general laws, especially predictive ones. (As Jo Guldi, a historian at Southern Methodist University, put it to me, “Some historians regard Turchin the way astronomers regard Nostradamus.”) Instead, each historical event must be lovingly described, and its idiosyncrasies understood to be limited in relevance to other events. The idea that one thing causes another, and that the causal pattern can tell you about sequences of events in another place or century, is foreign territory.

  One might even say that what defines history as a humanistic enterprise is the belief that it is not governed by scientific laws—that the working parts of human societies are not like billiard balls, which, if arranged at certain angles and struck with a certain amount of force, will invariably crack just so and roll toward a corner pocket of war, or a side pocket of peace. Turchin counters that he has heard claims of irreducible complexity before, and that steady application of the scientific method has succeeded in managing that complexity. Consider, he says, the concept of temperature—­something so obviously quantifiable now that we laugh at the idea that it’s too vague to measure. “Back before people knew what temperature was, the best thing you could do is to say you’re hot or cold,” Turchin told me. The concept depended on many factors: wind, humidity, ordinary human differences in perception. Now we have thermometers. Turchin wants to invent a thermometer for human societies that will measure when they are likely to boil over into war.

  Eventually, Turchin hopes, no government will make policy without reflecting on whether it is hurtling toward a mathematically preordained disaster.

  One social scientist who can speak to Turchin in his own mathematical argot is Dingxin Zhao, a sociology professor at the University of Chicago who is—incredibly—­also a former mathematical ecologist. (He earned a doctorate modeling carrot-weevil population dynamics before earning a second doctorate in Chinese political sociology.) “I came from a natural-science background,” Zhao told me, “and in a way I am sympathetic to Turchin. If you come to social science from natural sciences, you have a powerful way of looking at the world. But you may also make big mistakes.”

  Zhao said that human beings are just much more complicated than bugs. “Biological species don’t strategize in a very flexible way,” he told me. After millennia of evolutionary R&D, a woodpecker will come up with ingenious ways to stick its beak into a tree in search of food. It might even have social characteristics—an alpha woodpecker might strong-wing beta woodpeckers into giving it first dibs on the tastiest termites. But humans are much wilier social creatures, Zhao said. A woodpecker will eat a termite, but it “will not explain that he is doing so because it is his divine right.” Humans pull ideological power moves like this all the time, Zhao said, and to understand “the decisions of a Donald Trump, or a Xi Jinping,” a natural scientist has to incorporate the myriad complexities of human strategy, emotion, and belief. “I made that change,” Zhao told me, “and Peter Turchin has not.”

  Turchin is nonetheless filling a historiographical niche left empty by academic historians with allergies not just to science but to a wide-angle view of the past. He places himself in a Russian tradition prone to thinking sweeping, Tolstoyan thoughts about the path of history. By comparison, American historians mostly look like micro-historians. Few would dare to write a history of the United States, let alone one of human civilization. Turchin’s approach is also Russian, or post-Soviet, in its rejection of the Marxist theory of historical progress that had been the official ideology of the Soviet state. When the U.S.S.R. collapsed, so too did the requirement that historical writing acknowledge international communism as the condition toward which the arc of history was bending. Turchin dropped ideology altogether, he says: Rather than bending toward progress, the arc in his view bends all the way back on itself, in a never-­ending loop of boom and bust. This puts him at odds with American historians, many of whom harbor an unspoken faith that liberal democracy is the end state of all history.

  Writing history in this sweeping, cyclical way is easier if you are trained outside the field. “If you look at who is doing these megahistories, more often than not, it’s not actual historians,” Walter Scheidel, an actual historian at Stanford, told me. (Scheidel, whose books span millennia, takes Turchin’s work seriously and has even co-written a paper with him.) Instead they come from scientific fields where these taboos do not dominate. The genre’s most famous book, Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997), beheld 13,000 years of human history in a single volume. Its author, Jared Diamond, spent the first half of his career as one of the world’s foremost experts on the physiology of the gall­bladder. Steven Pinker, a cognitive psychologist who studies how children acquire parts of speech, has written a megahistory about the decline of violence across thousands of years, and about human flourishing since the Enlightenment. Most historians I asked about these men—and for some reason megahistory is nearly always a male pursuit—used terms like laughingstock and patently tendentious to describe them.

  Pinker retorts that historians are resentful of the attention “disciplinary carpet­baggers” like himself have received for applying scientific methods to the humanities and coming up with conclusions that had eluded the old methods. He is skeptical of Turchin’s claims about historical cycles, but he believes in data-driven historical inquiry. “Given the noisiness of human behavior and the prevalence of cognitive biases, it’s easy to delude oneself about a historical period or trend by picking whichever event suits one’s narrative,” he says. The only answer is to use large data sets. Pinker thanks traditional historians for their work collating these data sets; he told me in an email that they “deserve extraordinary admiration for their original research (‘brushing the mouse shit off moldy court records in the basement of town halls,’ as one historian put it to me).” He calls not for surrender but for a truce. “There’s no reason that traditional history and data science can’t merge into a cooperative enterprise,” Pinker wrote. “Knowing stuff is hard; we need to use every available tool.”

  Guldi, the Southern Methodist University professor, is one scholar who has embraced tools previously scorned by historians. She is a pioneer of data-driven history that considers timescales beyond a human lifetime. Her primary technique is the mining of texts—for example, sifting through the millions and millions of words captured in parliamentary debate in order to understand the history of land use in the final century of the British empire. Guldi may seem a potential recruit to cliodynamics, but her approach to data sets is grounded in the traditional methods of the humanities. She counts the frequency of words, rather than trying to find ways to compare big, fuzzy categories among civilizations. Turchin’s conclusions are only as good as his databases, she told me, and any database that tries to code something as complex as who constitutes a society’s elites—then tries to make like-to-like comparisons across millennia and oceans—will meet with skepticism from traditional historians, who deny that the subject to which they have devoted their lives can be expressed in Excel format. Turchin’s data are also limited to big-­picture characteristics observed over 10,000 years, or about 200 lifetimes. By scientific standards, a sample size of 200 is small, even if it is all humanity has.

  Yet 200 lifetimes is at least more ambitious than the average historical purview of only one. And the reward for that ambition—­­in addition to the bragging rights for having potentially explained everything that has ever happened to human beings—includes something every writer wants: an audience. Thinking small rarely gets you quoted in The New York Times. Turchin has not yet attracted the mass audiences of a Diamond, Pinker, or Harari. But he has lured connoisseurs of political catastrophe, journalists and pundits looking for big answers to pressing questions, and true believers in the power of science to conquer uncertainty and improve the world. He has certainly outsold most beetle experts.

  If he is right, it is hard to see how history will avoid assimilating his insights—if it can avoid being abolished by them. Privately, some historians have told me they consider the tools he uses powerful, if a little crude. Clio­dynamics is now on a long list of methods that arrived on the scene promising to revolutionize history. Many were fads, but some survived that stage to take their rightful place in an expanding historiographical tool kit. Turchin’s methods have already shown their power. Cliodynamics offers scientific hypotheses, and human history will give us more and more opportunities to check its predictions—­revealing whether Peter Turchin is a Hari Seldon or a mere Nostradamus. For my own sake, there are few thinkers whom I am more eager to see proved wrong.

  

• Islamists On Motorcycles Mount 'Most Violent Attack On Civilians This Year' In Nigeria
  Islamists On Motorcycles Mount ‘Most Violent Attack On Civilians This Year’ In Nigeria
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 21:30

  The United Nations has called the horrific terrorist attack in Nigeria over the weekend the “most violent direct” assault on civilians this year.

  Farmers that were working their fields in remote villages near Maiduguri, which is the capital of Nigeria’s Borno state – where Islamist militant faction Boko Haram has long been at war with the Nigerian government – when a large group of armed men on motorcycles swept through the area and killed everyone in sight. 

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  It happened Saturday afternoon and began hitting international press on Sunday, when the death toll steadily climbed throughout the day as investigators went through the appalling crime scene. The death toll now stands at over 110 civilians killed.

  Though there weren’t immediate claims of responsibility, Boko Haram and a related splinter group the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), are being widely blamed by authorities. 

  France24 and the AP described summary executions of rice farmers:

  The attack was staged Saturday in a rice field in Garin Kwashebe, a Borno community known for rice farming, on the day residents of the state were casting votes for the first time in 13 years to elect local government councils, though many didn’t go to cast their ballots. 

  The farmers were reportedly rounded up and summarily killed by armed insurgents. 

  Malam Zabarmari, a leader of a rice farmers association in Borno state, confirmed the massacre to The Associated Press. 

  “Armed men on motorcycles led a brutal attack on civilian men and women who were harvesting their fields,” a statement from the local UN humanitarian office said.

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  “At least 110 civilians were ruthlessly killed and many others were wounded in this attack,” it added. There are also reports that woman were kidnapped from the village during the raid.

  “The incident is the most violent direct attack against innocent civilians this year. I call for the perpetrators of this heinous and senseless act to be brought to justice,” UN representative Edward Kallon said.

  Boko Haram has in recent years been known to use motorcycles to gain quick entry to cities and villages to carry out terror attacks. The Nigerian Army has responded with their own motorcycle units to more swiftly and effectively hunt down the terrorists, especially in remote country roads.

  

• "A Good Start" – Ron Paul Praises Flynn Pardon, Urges Trump To "Right Obama's Terrible Wrongs"
  “A Good Start” – Ron Paul Praises Flynn Pardon, Urges Trump To “Right Obama’s Terrible Wrongs”
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 21:10

  Authored by Ron Paul via The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity,

  Last week President Trump granted a “full pardon” to Gen. Michael Flynn, his first National Security Advisor. In a White House statement announcing the pardon, the Administration pointed out that the relentless pursuit of Flynn was a partisan effort to overturn the results of the 2016 election.

  The pursuit of Flynn was spearheaded by people who refused to accept the results of the 2016 election and worked to undermine the peaceful transfer of power, said the White House. These same people are the ones accusing Trump of undermining the election by challenging what appears to be serious voting irregularities in the 2020 presidential election.

  That is called “projection.”

  The White House statement also cites partisans in politics, the media, and the Deep State which sought to prevent Trump from being elected, to prevent him from taking office once elected, and to remove him on false pretenses once in office.

  In order to push the false narrative that Trump was somehow elected due to the intervention of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the coup-masters had to make it appear that a high-ranking official was involved in monkey business with the Russians. Flynn was the unlucky victim of their smear machine, accused of “Russia collusion” over an innocent telephone call with the then-Russian Ambassador in Washington during the transition to a Trump Administration.

  Yet when Joe Biden’s transition people bragged recently that Biden was connecting with foreign officials before inaugurated, the media praised it as a welcome return of the “experts” to foreign policy.

  While it is very good news that President Trump is in the mood to pardon those victims of the warmongering Deep State, I very much hope that he is only warming up. It would be a great tragedy if other Deep State victims are left to suffer for their non-crimes.

  Tweeting about her legislation that calls for charges against Edward Snowden and Julian Assange to be dropped and the Espionage Act reformed, US Rep. Tulsi Gabbard told President Trump, “since you’re giving pardons to people, please consider pardoning those who, at great personal sacrifice, exposed the deception and criminality of those in the deep state.”

  My good friend Rep. Thomas Massie, a Ron Paul Institute Board Member, is a co-sponsor of Rep. Gabbard’s legislation, making it a real bipartisan effort to restore the rule of law in the United States and to rein in the Beltway warmongers.

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  Edward Snowden and Julian Assange are not criminals. They are heroes for telling us the truth about what criminals in government were doing in our name and with our money.

  The fact is we were lied into war over and over again. While those wars were profitable for the military-industrial-Congressional-media complex, they snuffed out the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent people overseas and robbed our own children and grandchildren of trillions of dollars wasted on neocon lies. And meanwhile, as Ed Snowden showed us, the intelligence community declared us the enemy and set up an elaborate internal spy network that would make the East German Stasi green with envy.

  President Trump: you have the incredible opportunity to right the terrible wrongs perpetrated by the Obama/Biden Administration. History will smile kindly upon you if you also grant full pardon to Julian Assange and Edward Snowden – and any other truth-teller who faces persecution for exposing the Deep State warmongers.

  

• "It's Really Bad" – Almost One-Third Of Small Businesses In NY, NJ Have Closed 
  “It’s Really Bad” – Almost One-Third Of Small Businesses In NY, NJ Have Closed 
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 20:50

  Here comes the next recession as nearly one-third of small businesses in New York and New Jersey remain closed since the virus pandemic began earlier this year. 

  The NYPost outlines small business data from Opportunity Insights and New Jersey Business & Industry Association paint a troubling outlook for the rest of 2020 into 2021. 

  Opportunity Insights’ TrackingTheRecovery.Org, a Harvard database that monitors economic activity for the US, currently says 27.8% of small businesses in New York remain closed. The same goes for New Jersey, where 31.2% of small businesses had not reopened. 

  The New Jersey Business & Industry Association reports similar figures with 28% of New Jersey’s small businesses have closed up shop this year.

  With top federal health officials on Sunday warning about a post-Thanksgiving spike in COVID-19, the reemergence of the virus in New York and New Jersey, along with stricter social distancing measures, means that more small businesses may be decimated in the months ahead. 

  “It’s really bad,” Eileen Kean, New Jersey state director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, told the Star-Ledger.

  “And without federal dollars coming into New Jersey, the Main Street stores and other establishments are not gonna make it through the winter,” Kean said. 

  “It’s devastating how many restaurants have shuttered and jobs have been lost,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of NYC Hospitality Alliances. 

  “And with the infection rate rising and the looming threat of indoor dining closing again, many more will close unless the government provides adequate support to these small businesses,” Rigie said.

  On top of the small business closures in both states, 300,000 New Yorkers have filed a formal change of address notices with the U.S. Postal Service from March 1 to October 31. The rapid population decline suggests consumption at small businesses will continue to suffer well into 2021. 

  This all means that New York City’s economic recovery will lag the rest of the country. As explained by Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, the city’s recovery might not be seen until 2025:

  “This is an event that struck right at the heart of New York’s comparative advantages,” Zandi said. “Being globally oriented, being stacked up in skyscrapers and packed together in stadiums: the very thing that made New York the pandemic undermined New York, was upended by it.”

  

• Killing The Future: COVID Madness Will Lead To Half A Million Fewer US Births In 2021
  Killing The Future: COVID Madness Will Lead To Half A Million Fewer US Births In 2021
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 20:30

  Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

  Research has concluded that the US will experience 500,000 fewer births in 2021, as couples choose not to have children because of the coronavirus fallout.

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  The findings by the Brookings Institute were published last week in the Wall Street Journal, which noted that there will be “between 300,000 to 500,000 fewer births in the U.S. next year, compared with a drop of 44,172 last year.”

  The numbers equate to a 13% drop from the 3.8 million babies born in 2019.

  The “analysis, partly based on what happened following the 2007-2009 recession, is that weaker job prospects equate to fewer births,” the report further notes.

  “Women will have many fewer babies in the short term, and for some of them, a lower total number of children over their lifetimes,” the research, previously previewed in the Summer, noted.

  The US birthrate is already at its lowest level on record, and according to clinics, there has been a 50% jump in requests for birth control since the beginning of the pandemic, and a 40% increase in requests for Plan B.

  CDC research notes that the birth rate in the US has been below replacement level since 1971. It is now a problem across all major racial groups including Hispanics, non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, and non-Hispanic Asians. All have below replacement birth levels.

  A recent survey from the Guttmacher Institute discovered that 34% of women able to have babies in the US have made a decision to either delay having a child, or to just have fewer children because of COVID.

  Analysts say this will have a long and profound impact on the economy for many years to come, as the US could be falling into a so called ‘Fertility trap’ where there are fewer women around to have babies, resulting in smaller families, and low population growth reducing economic growth.

  All of this results in increased pessimism and a downward spiral that is difficult to break.

  It will also mean that in the near future there will be a huge mismatch between the amounts of younger and older people in the country.

  Indeed, by 2034 Americans over age 65 are expected to outnumber those under 18 for the first time in the history of the nation.

  Unless it is stopped now, the COVID madness, the lockdowns, the panic, the social engineering will not only causing irrevocable damage to our collective psyche, societal morale, and cultural richness, it will also destroy future prosperity and literally deny life to millions along the way.

  But perhaps that was the endgame all along?

  

• US Billionaires Have Gained $1 Trillion Since The Pandemic Started
  US Billionaires Have Gained $1 Trillion Since The Pandemic Started
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 20:10

  American billionaires haven’t been just immune to the pandemic, they have been thriving in it, drastically increasing their collective wealth. An analysis by Chuck Collins at the Institute for Policy Studies found that American billionaires have been their wealth grow by $1 trillion since March of this year – more than 34 percent. That was not the case during the 2008 financial crisis when it took Forbes’ 400 richest people three years to recoup their losses from the Great Recession. Collins’ findings highlight a wealth gain by a mere 650 individuals that, as Statista’s Niall McCarthy notes, seems obscene at a time when nearly 7 million Americans are at risk of eviction when moratoriums expire at the end of the year.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  There are 650 billionaires on the list, out of which 47 are new arrivals with 11 dropping out due to death or financial decline. There were numerous impressive financial gains among notable billionaires on the lit with Jeff Bezos growing his fortune by $69.4 billion between March 17 and November 24. The Amazon boss and richest man on the planet is now with $182.4 billion. The most impressive gain on the list was recorded by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk who has seen his fortune experience a meteoric rise. In the above period, his weath surged a whopping 414 percent, climbing from “just” $24.6 billion to $126.2 billion, making him the world’s second richest man after Bezos.

  Illustrating the gulf in financial inequality in the U.S. today, the analysis states that U.S. billionaires own $4 trillion, 3.5 percent of all privately held wealth in the country. Billionaire wealth is now twice the amount of wealth held by the bottom 50 percent of all American households combined, approximately 160 million people.

  

• Pennsylvania Lawmakers Formally Introduce Resolution To Dispute 2020 Elections Results
  Pennsylvania Lawmakers Formally Introduce Resolution To Dispute 2020 Elections Results
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 19:50

  Just as we previewed over the weekend, Republican state lawmakers in Pennsylvania on Monday introduced a resolution to dispute the results of the 2020 election.

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  As The Epoch Times’ Ivan Pentchoukov reports, the text of the resolution, first previewed in a memo on Nov. 27, states that the executive and judicial branches of the Keystone State’s government usurped the legislature’s constitutional power to set the rules of the election.

  “Officials in the Executive and Judicial Branches of the Commonwealth infringed upon the General Assembly’s authority under the Constitution of the United States by unlawfully changing the rules governing the November 3, 2020, election in the Commonwealth,” the resolution (pdf) states.

  The resolution calls on the secretary of the Commonwealth to withdraw the “premature certification” of the presidential election and delay certifying other races, declares the 2020 election to be in dispute, and urges the U.S. Congress “to declare the selection of presidential electors in this Commonwealth to be in dispute.”

  Members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly said in a statement, “A number of compromises of Pennsylvania’s election laws took place during the 2020 General Election. The documented irregularities and improprieties associated with mail-in balloting, pre-canvassing, and canvassing have undermined our elector process and, as a result, we cannot accept certification of the results in statewide races.”

  They added, “We believe this moment is pivotal and important enough that the General Assembly needs to take extraordinary measures to answer these extraordinary questions. We also believe our representative oversight duty as Pennsylvania’s legislative branch of government demands us to re-assume our constitutional authority and take immediate action.”

  The proposed text lists three steps taken by the judicial and executive branches to change the rules of the election.

  First, on Sept. 17, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court “unlawfully and unilaterally” extended the deadline by which mail ballots could be received, mandated that ballots without a postmark would be treated as timely, and allowed for ballots without a verified voter signature to be accepted, the resolution says.

  Second, on Oct. 23, upon a petition from the secretary of the commonwealth, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that signatures on mail-in ballots need not be authenticated.

  And third, on Nov. 2, the secretary of the commonwealth “encouraged certain counties to notify party and candidate representatives of mail-in voters whose ballots contained defects,” the resolution says.

  All of the changes are contrary to the Pennsylvania Election Code, which requires mail-in ballots to be received at 8 p.m. on Election Day, mandates that signatures on the mail-in ballots be authenticated, and forbids the counting of defective mail-in ballots.

  The resolution also lists a variety of election irregularities and potential fraud, including the issues brought up by witnesses during the hearing before the Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee on Nov. 25.

  “On November 24, 2020, the Secretary of the Commonwealth unilaterally and prematurely certified results of the November 3, 2020 election regarding presidential electors despite ongoing litigation,” the resolution states.

  “The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has the duty to ensure that no citizen of this Commonwealth is disenfranchised, to insist that all elections are conducted according to the law, and to satisfy the general public that every legal vote is counted accurately.”

  Pennsylvania State Sen. Doug Mastriano, a Republican, said Friday that the GOP-controlled state legislature will make a bid to reclaim its power to appoint the state’s electors to the Electoral College, saying they could start the process on Nov. 30.

  “So, we’re gonna do a resolution between the House and Senate, hopefully today,” he told Steve Bannon’s War Room on Friday.

  

• Beijing "Unexpectedly" Injects $30 Billion Into Financial System, Sparking Doubts About True State Of China's Economy
  Beijing “Unexpectedly” Injects $30 Billion Into Financial System, Sparking Doubts About True State Of China’s Economy
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 19:30

  Back in late 2019, we were frequently greeted by headlines such as this, indicating that PBOC was periodically making “unexpected” liquidity injections, which made sense in light of China’s ongoing economic slowdown:

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  … and:

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  Fast forward one year, when China’s economy is supposedly growing at a blistering pace thanks the massive credit injections following the covid pandemic – or so Beijing and various PMI surveys would would indicate, with the November NBS manufacturing PMI overnight rising to 52.1 from 51.4 in October (all sub-indexes in the NBS manufacturing PMI survey implied stronger growth momentum in November) while the NBS non-manufacturing PMI rising further to 56.4 from 56.2 in October on the back of stronger services and construction PMIs….

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  … and yet the same telltale signs that not all is well with China’s economy are back, with Bloomberg posting a deja vu report this morning that China “unexpectedly” – there’s that word again – added yet another injection in the form of medium-term funding to the financial system on Monday “as the central bank sought to ease liquidity tightness in the final weeks of the year.” Perhaps China’s economy is not nearly as strong as the “pristine” indicators would make us believe?

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  Specifically, the People’s Bank of China offered 200 billion yuan ($30 billion) of the medium-term lending facility at an unchanged rate of 2.95%, according to a statement Monday at the same time that Beijing reported the latest blistering PMI numbers.

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  The latest injection came just two weeks after the central bank offered 800 billion yuan of the funds, which were already more than enough to offset the 600 billion yuan that were due this month.

  “The MLF injection is a surprise,” said Zhaopeng Xing, a markets economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group. “It shows the central bank aims to ensure liquidity without using broader easing measures like a reserve-ratio cut, when the demand for medium-term cash surged.”

  Curiously, even as Chinese post-pandemic economic recovery is blowing away expectations, widespread concerns over tighter cash supply have sent China’s benchmark sovereign yield to its highest level since May 2019 earlier in November… <!–[if IE 9]><![endif]–>

  … resulting in record wide spreads between US and Chinese 10Y yields.

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  The latest MLF injection came as the PBOC also added 150 billion yuan of 7-day reverse repurchase agreements on Monday.

  Even more curious is the consensus explanation for the sharp rise in Chinese yields: according to Bloomberg, “the central bank’s drip-feed approach to offering funding has compounded” the lack of liquidity “indicating Beijing wouldn’t want to loosen monetary policy much more amid a growth rebound.”

  But if the economy is so strong, which does China even need more liquidity: after all, the 10Y yield is – in theory – rising because of higher inflation expectations over the horizon, and yet the PBOC feels compelled to enter the market “unexpectedly” every other week to prevent sentiment from turning sour.

  Maybe what’s going on is that the liquidity squeeze is the real story, and the so-called economic recovery is the latest goalseeked lie out of Beijing.

  Recall that China is already facing a major funding squeeze, with the nation’s banks grappling with a $900 billion funding gap this month and next because of a need to repay at least 3.7 trillion yuan of short-term interbank debt and purchase 1 trillion yuan of newly issued government bonds. Also, 600 billion yuan of previously offered MLF loans will mature in December. The recent “unexpected” default of several SOE companies has added to the stress, with non-bank financial institutions finding it hard to fund themselves in the interbank market.

  Rabobank’s Michael Every put it best when discussing the quantum states of the global newslow (China’s economy surging in one collapse of the wave function; China’s economy desperate for liquidity in the other), writing the following:

  China’s economy continues to power ahead, with bumper net exports and capital inflows and industrial profits all being recorded: and yet the PBOC just had to inject CNY200bn (USD30bn) in MLF a month ahead of the end of the year to ease liquidity tightness, and that on the back of CNY800bn two weeks ago. Yes, this is gross not net: but why the need for so much PBOC help when everything is going so well? Perhaps because Chinese banks are still trying to repay CNY3.7 trillion of short-term interbank debt and purchase CNY1 trillion of government bonds and repay maturing MLF injections,…and are worrying about SOE bond defaults.

  As Every rhetorically summarizes “everything is going so well though: there just isn’t any cash as a result” and concludes with a bad quantum physics pun: “Isn’t the most dangerous part of the Heisenberg below the water?“

  How much longer can Beijing pretend that the economy is remarkably strong… if only there was a few hundred billion more in liquidity sloshing around. Probably at least until the January inauguration event. After that, non-quantum reality may finally have to reassert itself.

  

• Trump COVID Advisor Dr. Scott Atlas Resigns From White House
  Trump COVID Advisor Dr. Scott Atlas Resigns From White House
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 19:23

  With Joe Biden and Kamala Harris having already assembled their own parallel White House coronavirus task force staffed almost entirely with Obama Administration vets, Dr. Scott Atlas, the so-called “anti-Fauci” who has reportedly become President Trump’s go-to advisor on all coronavirus-related topics, has decided to resign.

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  According to Fox News, Dr. Atlas has resigned from his post Monday evening. The move comes as Gov Gavin Newsom warns of “dramatic, arguably drastic” new lockdown-like restrictions coming to the Golden State (which represents one-fifth of the American economy, and roughly 1/8th of the US population).

  Fox News exclusively obtained a copy of Dr. Atlas’s resignation letter, which was dated Dec. 1. In the letter, Dr. Atlas touted the Trump administration’s work on the coronavirus pandemic, while wishing “all the best” to Biden and his team.

  “I am writing to resign from my position as Special Advisor to the President of the United States,” Atlas said, thanking him for “the honor and privilege to serve on behalf of the American people.” “I worked hard with a singular focus—to save lives and help Americans through this pandemic,” Atlas wrote, adding that he “always relied on the latest science and evidence, without any political consideration or influence.”

  “As time went on, like all scientists and health policy scholars, I learned new information and synthesized the latest data from around the world, all in an effort to provide you with the best information to serve the greater public good,” Atlas wrote. “But, perhaps more than anything, my advice was always focused on minimizing all the harms from both the pandemic and the structural policies themselves, especially to the working class and the poor.”

  Atlas, who had been criticized for opposing lockdowns in defiance of “science” (Dr. Robert Redfield once warned that “everything he says is false”), warned in his letter that “although some may disagree with those recommendations, it is the free exchange of ideas that lead to scientific truths, which are the very foundation of a civilized society.” “Indeed, I cannot think of a time where safeguarding science and the scientific debate is more urgent,” he said.

  Before his arrival, “that expertise had not been present”, Dr. Atlas added.

  Atlas, who spoke with the president on Monday, joined the administration in August, and was considered a Special Government Employee serving on a 130-day detail. That detail is set to expire this week, and it’s probably safe to say that Biden hasn’t invited Dr. Atlas back to serve in his administration.

  

• America's New Normal – Silent, Obedient Consent
  America’s New Normal – Silent, Obedient Consent
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 19:10

  Authored by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,

  Yesterday we took advantage of another beautiful Fall day in Cape May. We decided to check out the Cape May Lighthouse State Park. It is at the very end of Cape May. It is an example of what the government can do right – Preserve a natural habitat without glitz or commercialization. It is just miles of wetlands and walking trails. The lighthouse, built in 1859 by the U.S. Army is still functioning today. Two previous lighthouses succumbed to the sea. It is a majestic structure, reaching 157 feet into the sky

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  On the beach, not far from the lighthouse, is Battery 223. It is a crumbling concrete structure from World War II which was designed to protect against invasion by German forces. The structure was built with six-foot thick reinforced concrete walls and a thick blast proof roof; the entire building was covered with earth. The 6-inch guns had a nine-mile range. It is an interesting relic from our past. The dilapidated condition struck me as symbolic of our crumbling empire.

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  Once you walked into the nature preserve, a feeling of calm and peacefulness overwhelms you. Swans and ducks glide across the salt water ponds enjoying a feast of minnows. It’s nature at its most pristine. Just quiet and beauty.

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  The walking trails wind throughout the nature preserve. They are well maintained and pristine. No trash. No beer bottles strewn about. Visitors are respectful of this place. A feeling of calm engulfs you as you venture along the trails.

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  But, alas, I couldn’t write a post without acknowledging the human reality I witnessed walking along these trails on a stunningly beautiful sunny 58 degree day in late November. The four of us were unmasked, because masks don’t work and certainly aren’t necessary outside while walking.

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  As we were driving to the park, I noticed a few bike riders on the side of the road wearing masks while biking. I thought to myself – WTF. That is completely idiotic. Then we began walking along the miles of trails. The park was moderately busy, but you passed someone every few minutes.

  Sadly, I would estimate that 80% of the people we passed on the trails were masked and fearful of us unmasked hooligans. I can only imagine their thoughts as they wondered why we were risking their lives by being so careless.

  I was disgusted by the lack of critical thought exhibited by these people. I might have understood if it was only people over 70 years old wearing the masks, but most of these people were young. They have virtually a zero risk of dying from this flu. They have virtually a zero risk of catching it on a walking trail at a State park. But, they obediently and silently do as they are told by their overlords.

  I am saddened by how easily the totalitarians have been able to use fear, propaganda, lies and misinformation to turn the vast majority of Americans into compliant sheep. It is so clear to me that this engineered flu panic is nothing more than another chapter in the scheme to enslave global populations under the thumb of global elitist billionaires who want to control us and enrich themselves.

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  V’s speech to the citizens of London captures the essence of what is happening and will happen unless the masses come to their senses.

  “Well certainly there are those who are more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable. But again, truth be told…if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.

  I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War. Terror. Disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you and in your panic, you turned to the now High Chancellor Adam Sutler. He promised you order. He promised you peace. And all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.”

  – V speech to London, V for Vendetta

  These thoughts did not ruin my day, but they are constantly bubbling below the surface as I observe the downward spiral of this country. Hopefully, the Cape May Lighthouse beacon will represent the shining light of truth that will help us avert a historical shipwreck of epic proportions.

  

• UAE Condemns "Heinous" Killing Of Iran Scientist In Rare Break From Israel-Gulf Axis
  UAE Condemns “Heinous” Killing Of Iran Scientist In Rare Break From Israel-Gulf Axis
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 18:50

  Last Friday’s assassination of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh is putting immense strain on the newly ‘normalized’ ties between the United Arab Emirates and Israel. 

  The UAE late on Sunday issued a statement strongly denouncing the attack that it called a “crime” that could destabilize the region. This after Tehran has vowed to retaliate, yet without giving details of what form this might take.

  The UAE “condemns the heinous assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, which could further fuel conflict in the region,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said, as cited in Bloomberg.

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  “The state of instability our region is currently going through, and the security challenges it faces, drive us all to work towards averting acts that could lead to escalation and eventually threaten the stability of the entire region,” it added.

  Signed on September 15, the ‘Abraham Accords’ opened up formal diplomatic relations and economic dealings between Israel and the tiny oil-rich Gulf country for the first time in history.

  Bahrain was also involved, and Sudan is said to be the next Arab League member to normalize ties, with the State Department now urging Saudi Arabia to follow.

  1 \ Amazing new details of the Fakhrizadeh assassination emerge in the Iranian press: IRGC affiliated Fars news reports the assassination was done using an automatic machine gun operated with a remote control and not with gunmen who were on the groundhttps://t.co/CLSaCuHp2J

  — Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) November 29, 2020

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  As Bloomberg notes of the significance of the UAE condemning this latest attack:

  “The denunciation late Sunday was significant both because of the historically strained relations between Sunni Gulf Arab states and Shiite Iran, and the fact that Tehran has blamed the attack on Israel, which recently signed a normalization deal with the UAE.”

  Jordan is also the latest regional voice to condemn the brazen assassination which occurred east of Tehran last week.

  Some current and former diplomats in the West have also condemned the killing, widely suspected to have Israeli or even US intelligence involvement, as it sets a precedented that could open tit-for-tat illegal assassinations as a modus operandi for score settling among rival powers in the region.

  

• Georgia's Raffensperger Suddenly Concerned About "Illegal" Out Of State Votes
  Georgia’s Raffensperger Suddenly Concerned About “Illegal” Out Of State Votes
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 18:30

  Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) – who President Trump last Thursday called an “enemy of the people” for allegedly making some type of “deal” with Democratic operative Stacey Abrams over ballot harvesting – said on Monday that he’s suddenly concerned with progressive groups trying to sign up new voters in advance of a Jan. 5 Senate runoff which could flip the GOP-controlled chamber blue.

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  “These third-party groups have a responsibility to not encourage illegal voting. If they do so, they will be held responsible,” said Raffensperger, who added that his office is allegedly investigating efforts by America Votes, Vote Forward and the New Georgia Project to encourage people living outside Georgia to register to vote in the state.

  Raffensperger also said his office has launched several investigations into accusations of fraud committed during the November election.

  On Thursday, President Trump slammed Raffensperger – telling reporters: “You’re not allowed to harvest, but I understand the secretary of state, who is really an enemy of the people, the secretary of state, and whether he’s Republican or not, this man, what he’s done, supposedly he made a deal and you’ll have to check this, where she is allowed to harvest but in other areas they’re not allowed.”

  JUST IN: President Trump calls GOP Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger the “enemy of the people” as he makes repeated false claims about the 2020 election. pic.twitter.com/1gjvZ4lMq3

  — The Hill (@thehill) November 26, 2020

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  Stacey Abrams – the failed GA gubernatorial candidate who failed to concede – has been credited with helping to register 800,000 people to vote in Georgia for the 2020 election, though she claims it wasn’t done through ballot harvesting, a process by which an individual will collect ballots from voters and turn them in.

  Biden ‘won’ Georgia by 12,670 votes.

  Meanwhile, the odds of Democrats gaining control of the Senate are currently at 29% according to PredictIt.

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• Liquidity Reversal: The Rotation Trade Speed Bump
  Liquidity Reversal: The Rotation Trade Speed Bump

  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Mon, 11/30/2020 – 18:25

  Real Vision managing editor Ed Harrison is joined by editor Jack Farley to evaluate the value rotation trade and the challenges it will face in the coming months. As November comes to a close – a month that saw record-breaking appreciation in value stocks, cyclicals, and small-caps – Ed and Jack analyzes how rising COVID-19 hospitalizations will impact economic behavior. They then look at liquidity going forward, and how monetary conditions will affect markets over the next few months, incorporating Ed’s interview with Michael Howell and Jack’s upcoming interview with Teddy Vallee. Ed and Jack close by discussing the Government Accountability Office’s report on incorrect jobless claims data, as well as GM’s partial back-pedaling out of its deal with controversial electric vehicle manufacturer Nikola.

  

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• The Nuremberg Tribunal: 75 Years Later And Still The Basis For Humanity's Survival
  The Nuremberg Tribunal: 75 Years Later And Still The Basis For Humanity’s Survival
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 23:30

  Authored by Matthew Ehret via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

  “The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating, that Civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated. That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury, stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captives to the judgement of law, is one of the most significant tributes that Power ever paid to reason.”

  -Justice Robert Jackson, Nov. 21, 1945

  It is often forgotten what sort of a battle occurred after WWII to establish the Nuremberg Trials which gave the world a revolutionary code of law which even today offers many of the remedies to the Gordian Knots blocking our way to a peaceful future. By the end of the war, many European leaders of the allied nations wished to simply put leading Nazis against a wall to face a firing squad and return to “business as usual”.

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  As I’ve outlined in many recent writings, it was only through the intensive efforts of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, and his leading allies in both the USA and Russia that a different course of action was decided upon and an official international tribunal was sanctioned that generated a total legal paradigm shift in international law that has been too easily taken for granted (due largely to the lack of effect these laws have had on post-WWII practice).

  Among those revolutionary reforms included the unprecedented mandate that wars of aggression would henceforth be illegal in the eyes of the law. The tendency for those higher officials carrying out inhuman orders to escape responsibility for their actions or omissions of correct action were deemed insufficient defenses under the higher moral principle of “known or should have known”.

  The underlying assumption of these Nuremberg laws are:

  1) “might does not make right” despite what generations of Hobbesians and Niescheans have chosen to believe and

  2) that every individual is responsible for their decisions based not on the arbitrary standards of whatever degenerate society they live in but rather upon the belief in the intrinsic powers of reason and conscience which all humans have access to and are obliged to guide our actions in life.

  Nazi philosophers and crown jurists like Martin Heidegger and Carl Schmidt whose thoughts have penetrated the western zeitgeist over the past 70 years would obviously find such concepts repugnant and deplorable.

  The fact that the “free world” has ignored these foundations of international law has not changed the fact that they are still true.

  Today, many of those powerful unipolar ideologues who managed the disastrous Cold War and post-Cold War geopolitical environment have attempted to erase the precedents of Nuremburg with such atrocities as Soros’ International Criminal Court, and the “Responsibility to Protect” doctrine (R2P) in defense of “humanitarian wars” as seen in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria in recent years. The disturbing rise of unipolar R2P advocacy rampant among the British ruling class like Lord Mark Malloch Brown, Tony Blair and all of the Obama-era globalists surrounding Biden make Vladimir Putin and Sergey Lavrov’s recent remarks at the 75 Anniversary Moscow conference celebrating the commencement of the Nuremberg Trials that much more important.

  Putin and Lavrov Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Nuremberg Trials

  At this event, Putin reminded the attendees of the importance of the historic tribunals which ran from November 21, 1945 to October – 1946, saying:

  “We constantly refer to the lessons of the Nuremberg Trials; we understand their importance for defending the truths of historical memory, for making a well-founded and solid case against deliberate distortions and falsifications of World War II events, especially the shameless and deceitful attempts to rehabilitate and even glorify Nazi criminals and their accessories… It is the duty of the entire international community to safeguard the Nuremberg Trials’ decisions, because they concern the principles that underlie the values of the post-war world order and the norms of international law.”

  Putin’s remarks were amplified by Sergey Lavrov who elaborated on the new legal paradigm created at Nuremberg which provides an obvious cure for the rise of WWII revisionism, sanitation of Nazism in Ukraine and beyond as well as the revival of many of the practices that made Nazism a viral threat to mankind.

  “The Nuremberg Trials—an example of international criminal justice—proved that justice can be achieved with a professional approach based on broad interstate cooperation, consent and mutual respect. Clearly, the Nuremberg Tribunal’s legacy is not limited to law, but has enormous political, moral and educational value. A strong vaccination against the revival of Nazism in all its forms and manifestations was made 75 years ago. Unfortunately, the immunity to the brown plague that was developed in Nuremberg has seriously worn off in some European countries. Russia will continue to vigorously and consistently oppose any attempts to falsify history, to glorify Nazi criminals and their henchmen, and to oppose the revision of the internationally recognized outcomes of World War II, including the Nuremberg rulings.”

  So What Happened at Nuremberg?

  Amidst the ashes of WWII, a major battle was waged between those deep state forces that had funded fascism as a “solution to the woes of the great depression” vs those genuine patriots who understood that the very fabric of empire and its associated financial, cultural and legal paradigm had to be destroyed and replaced with a paradigm more befitting human civilization.

  Among the leading representative of the patriotic forces loyal to FDR’s anti-colonial vision was a man who has been nearly lost to history named Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954). Jackson would serve as Franklin Roosevelt’s most trusted legal advisor who first made a name for himself working closely with Ferdinand Pecora in prosecuting dozens of high level Wall Street financiers and pro-fascist industrialists who orchestrated the depression of 1929 and the later coup and assassination attempts against FDR in 1933-1934. After proving himself in combat, Jackson arose to become U.S. Solicitor General (1938-1940), Attorney General (1940-41) and leading member of the Supreme Court from 1941 until his death in 1954.

  Knowing that the deep state coup that ousted Vice-President Henry Wallace and imposed Anglophile tool Harry Truman onto the USA might destroy the hopes for a post-WWII order of peaceful cooperation as outlined by the United Nations Charter, Judge Jackson took the lead and organized the Nuremberg Tribunals delivering the opening speech on November 21, 1945:

  One of the prime motives behind the hearings was the intention to give legal meaning and action to the universal ideals conveyed in the United Nations’ Charter. This charter encapsulated the principles that FDR and Henry Wallace outlined repeatedly in the Four Freedoms. These freedoms asserted that all humankind regardless of race, sex, creed, or nationality would: 1) have the freedom from want, 2) freedom to worship as one’s conscience dictated, 3) freedom from fear, and 4) freedom of speech. If international law could tolerate wars of aggression, or if abdication of responsibility for ones’ criminal deeds could be tolerated on the basis of “I was just following orders”, then the UN Charter could carry little weight indeed.

  As Jackson wrote in his Summer 1945 report to the President justifying the creation of the Nuremberg Tribunal:

  “We therefore propose to charge that a war of aggression is a crime, and that modern international law has abolished the defense that those who incite or wage it are engaged in legitimate business. Thus, may the forces of law be mobilized on the side of peace.”

  During the course of the 11 month proceedings, not only were leading cabinet members, generals, lawyers and other high officials put on trial, but the deepest facets of natural law vs Nietschean “law of the strongest” was investigated with Platonic rigor as laid out in the brilliant award-winning film Judgement at Nuremberg (1960).

  Due to the leadership of Justice Jackson, the treatment of INTENTION and conspiracy was made the primary focus in the pursuit of justice and cause of criminal guilt. This was not a popular approach then or today for the simple fact that our world is shaped by many top down forces that want their victims’ minds to be forever trapped in the material bottom up world of deductive/inductive logic where immaterial causal intentions and ideas can never be found. For anyone wishing to pursue this fruitful line of thinking further, I suggest reading Edgar Allan Poe’s Eureka.

  When one adopts the view that intentions and conspiracies (i.e.: the effect of intentions + ideas when put into action) ARE NOT a driving force of politics and life, then we forever loose our ability to judge truthfulness in any serious manner. This was the philosophical premise of leading Nazi financier Hjalmar Schacht, whose moral relativism and cold calculating principles of economics directly justified the cheap labor camps that worked millions to death in the German war production effort. This same philosophy again found fertile soil in the post-1971 consumer society that revived the logic of cheap labor production under the age of “cheapest price is the law” globalization.

  Quoting Schacht who said “Truth is any story that succeeds”, Justice Jackson quipped “I think you can score many more successes, when you want to lead someone, if you don’t tell them the truth- than if you do tell them the truth”.

  Laying out the principled intention of the trial to the American people, Jackson said:

  “The common sense of mankind demands that law shall not stop with the punishment of petty crimes by little people. It must also reach men who possess themselves of great power and make deliberate and concerted use of it to set in motion evils which leave no home in the world untouched….

  “The case as presented by the United States will be concerned with the brains and authority in back of all the crimes. These defendants were men of a station and rank which does not soil its own hands with blood. They were men who knew how to use lesser folk as tools. We want to reach the planners and designers, the inciters and leaders….

  “It is not the purpose in my part of this case to deal with the individual crimes. I am dealing with the common plan or design for crime and will not dwell upon individual offenses. My task is only to show the scale on which these crimes occurred, and to show that these are the men who were in the responsible positions and who conceived the plan and design which renders them answerable, regardless of the fact that the plan was actually executed by others….

  “The Charter recognizes that one who has committed criminal acts may not take refuge in superior orders nor in the doctrine that his crimes were acts of state….

  “The real complaining party at your bar is Civilization…. The refuge of the defendants can only be their hope that International Law will lag so far behind the moral sense of mankind that conduct which is crime in the moral sense must be regarded as innocent in law. Civilization asks whether law is so laggard as to be utterly helpless to deal with crimes of this magnitude by criminals of this order of importance.”

  Today, the world sits once more on the brink of a new world order, and the emergence of a governing system that is shaped entirely on the same social Darwinistic/Nietschean operating system that gave rise to fascism in WWII. The same denial of universal truth that animated the minds of a Schacht, Goebbels, Heidegger or Schmidt has become hegemonic among western academia as well.

  Very few statesmen have had the courage and insight to resist this unipolar anti-nation state system, but among those who have we are fortunate to have found the current leader of Russia and his allies who in many ways are playing the same historic role as the one played 75 years earlier by Justice Robert Jackson, Henry Wallace and President Roosevelt. Whether the rest of the world wakes up in time to recognize the superiority of the multipolar alliance over the regressive order of the unipolarists carrying us ominously towards World War 3 remains to be seen.

  

• Whole Foods CEO Warns: 'Capitalism Cannot Be Replaced With Disastrous Socialism' 
  Whole Foods CEO Warns: ‘Capitalism Cannot Be Replaced With Disastrous Socialism’ 
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 23:00

  Global leaders are using the virus pandemic to exert control over the world’s population under the guise of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The pandemic has provided elites with an opportunity to reset the global economy and abandon capitalism for socialism. 

  In the US, business leaders and politicians are fretting over a socialist system under a Biden presidency. 

  Whole Foods founder and CEO John Mackey recently spoke with America Enterprise Institute’s President Robert Doar about what socialism would mean for the country. Mackey called it a “failed system that “impoverishes everything,” according to Just The News. 

  While referring to the criticism of “trickle-down economics,” Mackey told Doar that socialism means “trickle up poverty.”

  “We have to recognize that some of the progressive insights are important and they shouldn’t go away, but we can’t throw out capitalism and replace it with socialism, that will be a disaster,” he said. “Socialism has been tried 42 times in the last 100 years, and 42 failures, it doesn’t work, it’s the wrong way. We have to keep capitalism, I would argue, we need conscious capitalism.”

  Mackey said one of the biggest problems plaguing the capitalism versus socialism debate is that businesses and corporations’ motivations are often misunderstood by the working-class.  

  “Until we get this corrected, capitalism is always going to be disdained and criticized and attacked,” he said. “It’ll be attacked for its motivations, because its motivations are seen as somehow impure. Yes, of course, business has to make money. If a business doesn’t make money, it will fail, but that doesn’t mean that its purpose is to make money.”

  He said the business community must convey the benefits of capitalism to the livelihoods of Americans, otherwise, the implementation of socialism will mean a path to poverty for all. 

  “It needs to evolve, otherwise the socialists are going to take over — that’s how I see it, and that’s the path of poverty,” he said. “They talk about trickle down wealth, but socialism is trickle up poverty. It just impoverishes everything, that’s my fear, that the Marxists and socialists, the academic community is generally hostile to business. It always has been. This is not new.”

  Mackey explained that the US’ university system is “anti-capitalist.” He said it starts with the lack of “business people” teaching in college business programs. 

  “Intellectuals teach, mostly intellectuals, who’ve never actually been in business at all, right? It’s very interesting,” he said. “And who don’t actually understand business, who don’t particularly understand entrepreneurship, and actually can oftentimes be hostile towards the very thing they’re teaching. So that’s a particular challenge.”

  Watch Full Interview:

  Despite Mackey’s strong dislike for socialism, Whole Foods has been described as a fairly liberal company. In the past, he has identified as a self-proclaimed libertarian.

  And it wasn’t just Mackey last week with a warning about socialism – Republican Senator Tim Scott from South Caroline told Fox News that if Democrats win the two Senate seats in the Georgia runoffs in January, the left will transform America into a socialist state, adding that it would be ‘game over for our nation’. 

  “There’s no doubt when you think of the elections in Georgia, it’s not simply controlling the Senate, it’s controlling the legislative agenda for America,” said Scott.

  An elitist attempt to push socialism could spell disaster for the country and mean more control over society. 

  

• "If Only Cranks Find The Election Tabulations Strange, Put Me Down As A Crank…"
  “If Only Cranks Find The Election Tabulations Strange, Put Me Down As A Crank…”
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 22:30

  Authored by Patrick Basham via The Spectator,

  Reasons why the 2020 presidential election is deeply puzzling

  To say out-loud that you find the results of the 2020 presidential election odd is to invite derision. You must be a crank or a conspiracy theorist. Mark me down as a crank, then.

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  I am a pollster and I find this election to be deeply puzzling. I also think that the Trump campaign is still well within its rights to contest the tabulations. Something very strange happened in America’s democracy in the early hours of Wednesday November 4 and the days that followed. It’s reasonable for a lot of Americans to want to find out exactly what.

  First, consider some facts.

  President Trump received more votes than any previous incumbent seeking reelection. He got 11 million more votes than in 2016, the third largest rise in support ever for an incumbent. By way of comparison, President Obama was comfortably reelected in 2012 with 3.5 million fewer votes than he received in 2008.

  Trump’s vote increased so much because, according to exit polls, he performed far better with many key demographic groups. Ninety-five percent of Republicans voted for him. He did extraordinarily well with rural male working-class whites.

  He earned the highest share of all minority votes for a Republican since 1960. Trump grew his support among black voters by 50 percent over 2016. Nationally, Joe Biden’s black support fell well below 90 percent, the level below which Democratic presidential candidates usually lose.

  Trump increased his share of the national Hispanic vote to 35 percent. With 60 percent or less of the national Hispanic vote, it is arithmetically impossible for a Democratic presidential candidate to win Florida, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. Bellwether states swung further in Trump’s direction than in 2016. Florida, Ohio and Iowa each defied America’s media polls with huge wins for Trump. Since 1852, only Richard Nixon has lost the electoral college after winning this trio, and that 1960 defeat to John F. Kennedy is still the subject of great suspicion.

  Midwestern states Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin always swing in the same direction as Ohio and Iowa, their regional peers. Ohio likewise swings with Florida. Current tallies show that, outside of a few cities, the Rust Belt swung in Trump’s direction. Yet, Biden leads in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin because of an apparent avalanche of black votes in Detroit, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee. Biden’s ‘winning’ margin was derived almost entirely from such voters in these cities, as coincidentally his black vote spiked only in exactly the locations necessary to secure victory. He did not receive comparable levels of support among comparable demographic groups in comparable states, which is highly unusual for the presidential victor.

  We are told that Biden won more votes nationally than any presidential candidate in history. But he won a record low of 17 percent of counties; he only won 524 counties, as opposed to the 873 counties Obama won in 2008. Yet, Biden somehow outdid Obama in total votes.

  Victorious presidential candidates, especially challengers, usually have down-ballot coattails; Biden did not.

  The Republicans held the Senate and enjoyed a ‘red wave’ in the House, where they gained a large number of seats while winning all 27 toss-up contests. Trump’s party did not lose a single state legislature and actually made gains at the state level.

  Another anomaly is found in the comparison between the polls and non-polling metrics. The latter include: party registrations trends; the candidates’ respective primary votes; candidate enthusiasm; social media followings; broadcast and digital media ratings; online searches; the number of (especially small) donors; and the number of individuals betting on each candidate.

  Despite poor recent performances, media and academic polls have an impressive 80 percent record predicting the winner during the modern era. But, when the polls err, non-polling metrics do not; the latter have a 100 percent record. Every non-polling metric forecast Trump’s reelection. For Trump to lose this election, the mainstream polls needed to be correct, which they were not. Furthermore, for Trump to lose, not only did one or more of these metrics have to be wrong for the first time ever, but every single one had to be wrong, and at the very same time; not an impossible outcome, but extremely unlikely nonetheless.

  Atypical voting patterns married with misses by polling and non-polling metrics should give observers pause for thought. Adding to the mystery is a cascade of information about the bizarre manner in which so many ballots were accumulated and counted.

  The following peculiarities also lack compelling explanations:

  1. Late on election night, with Trump comfortably ahead, many swing states stopped counting ballots. In most cases, observers were removed from the counting facilities. Counting generally continued without the observers

  2. Statistically abnormal vote counts were the new normal when counting resumed. They were unusually large in size (hundreds of thousands) and had an unusually high (90 percent and above) Biden-to-Trump ratio

  3. Late arriving ballots were counted. In Pennsylvania, 23,000 absentee ballots have impossible postal return dates and another 86,000 have such extraordinary return dates they raise serious questions

  4. The failure to match signatures on mail-in ballots. The destruction of mail in ballot envelopes, which must contain signatures

  5. Historically low absentee ballot rejection rates despite the massive expansion of mail voting. Such is Biden’s narrow margin that, as political analyst Robert Barnes observes, ‘If the states simply imposed the same absentee ballot rejection rate as recent cycles, then Trump wins the election’

  6. Missing votes. In Delaware County, Pennsylvania, 50,000 votes held on 47 USB cards are missing

  7. Non-resident voters. Matt Braynard’s Voter Integrity Project estimates that 20,312 people who no longer met residency requirements cast ballots in Georgia. Biden’s margin is 12,670 votes

  8. Serious ‘chain of custody’ breakdowns. Invalid residential addresses. Record numbers of dead people voting. Ballots in pristine condition without creases, that is, they had not been mailed in envelopes as required by law

  9. Statistical anomalies. In Georgia, Biden overtook Trump with 89 percent of the votes counted. For the next 53 batches of votes counted, Biden led Trump by the same exact 50.05 to 49.95 percent margin in every single batch. It is particularly perplexing that all statistical anomalies and tabulation abnormalities were in Biden’s favor. Whether the cause was simple human error or nefarious activity, or a combination, clearly something peculiar happened.

  If you think that only weirdos have legitimate concerns about these findings and claims, maybe the weirdness lies in you.

  

• Tesla Now Building Third Gen Superchargers In China
  Tesla Now Building Third Gen Superchargers In China
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 22:00

  In what appears to us to be a continuing push to eventually become a Chinese company, Tesla will soon be producing its third generation electric Superchargers in China, in addition to vehicles it already manufactures there. 

  The company said it’ll start producing the chargers in 2021, according to Reuters. It plans on investing $6.4 million in a new factory to help make its third generation of chargers, called the Supercharger V3.

  It’s no surprise Musk is eager to expand in China, having called the country “smart” and “hard working” back in August of this year. The Tesla CEO – who has made himself billions off the back of U.S. government subsidies and the U.S. taxpayer – took to the “Daily Drive” podcast over the summer to make it clear exactly what country his allegiances lie with.

  On the podcast, reported by CNBC, he called the people of China “smart” and “hard working” while at the same time calling U.S. citizens “entitled” and “complacent”. He specifically called out both New York and California, states whose taxpayers have literally funded Tesla’s business with massive tax breaks amounting to billions. 

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  When asked about China as an EV strategy leader worldwide, Musk responded:  “China rocks in my opinion. The energy in China is great. People there – there’s like a lot of smart, hard working people. And they’re really — they’re not entitled, they’re not complacent, whereas I see in the United States increasingly much more complacency and entitlement especially in places like the Bay Area, and L.A. and New York.”

   

  He then compared the U.S. to losing sports teams: “When you’ve been winning for too long you sort of take things for granted. The United States, and especially like California and New York, you’ve been winning for too long. When you’ve been winning too long you take things for granted. So, just like some pro sports team they win a championship you know a bunch of times in a row, they get complacent and they start losing.”

  Recall, Tesla secured $1.6 billion in loans from the Chinese government to help build its Shanghai factory, which helped the company resume normal operations post-Covid this year. 

  Musk – apparently completely devoid of any humility to the amount of money he has received from the U.S. taxpayer – defended his company by saying over the summer it hadn’t received as much government support from the Chinese government as most competitors: “They have been supportive. But it would be weird if they were more supportive to a non-Chinese company. They’re not.”

  Tesla’s total government assistance in the U.S. has surpassed $4.9 billion, according to CNBC. 

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  Recall, just weeks ago we also reported that Tesla’s Supercharger network in Australia now officially costed more than gas. The news came as a result of a “recent price increase” to use the Superchargers and – stop us if you’ve heard this one – “incorrect fuel figures on the Tesla website”. 

  This, of course, puts an end to Tesla’s years long claims that recharging its vehicles offered savings versus traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. 

  “According to Tesla the cost of charging a Tesla Model 3 is $7 per 100km compared with $12 for a rival petrol car,” WhichCar notes, before revealing the estimate uses “at least three incorrect figures”. The report disputes “how much electricity a Tesla Model 3 uses, the cost of electricity at a Tesla Supercharger and the price of petrol.”

  It also notes Tesla’s increase for its Supercharger to 52 cents per kilowatt-hour. The article calculates this recharging “even the most efficient” Model 3 Standard Range would cost $9.78 per 100km using a Supercharger.

  

• What No One Is Saying About The Lockdowns
  What No One Is Saying About The Lockdowns
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 21:30

  Via The Corbett Report,

  If you are advocating for lockdowns, you are complicit in tearing families apart. You are complicit in inflicting untold suffering on millions of people around the world. You are complicit in casting the poorest and most vulnerable in our societies into even further grinding poverty. You are complicit in murder.

  TRANSCRIPT

  This is James Corbett of corbettreport.com.

  In 2006, a 15-year-old high school student from Albuquerque, New Mexico won third place in the Intel science and engineering fair for her project on slowing the spread of an infectious pathogen during a pandemic emergency. Using a computer simulation that she developed with the help of her father, she argued that in order to slow the spread of the disease, governments should implement school shutdowns, keep kids at home and enforce social distancing.

  Incredibly, that third place high school science fair project can be tied directly to the lockdown policies being implemented by governments around the world today. You see, that father that she developed her computer simulation with was no average doting dad, but a senior researcher at Sandia National Laboratories who at that time was working on pandemic emergency response plans for the US Department of Homeland Security. His proposal to implement school shutdowns and, if need be, workplace shutdowns in the event of a pandemic emergency was developed at least in part in response to his daughter’s high school project.

  Now those advocating for lockdowns have seen the destruction and death that those policies have wrought this year and we are living through that right now. Not only are people being deprived of their livelihoods and forced into grinding poverty as a direct result of these shutdowns, but now the undeniable truth is that if you are advocating for lockdowns, you are advocating for some portion of the population to be consigned to death.

  This is no longer debatable. It is even openly admitted—although months too late by the World Health Organization.

  DAVID NABARRO: I want to say it again: we in the World Health Organization do not advocate lockdowns as a primary means of control of this virus. [. . .] We may well have a doubling of world poverty by early next year. We may well have at least a doubling of child malnutrition because children are not getting meals at school and their parents and poor families are not able to afford it.

  This is a terrible, ghastly global catastrophe, actually. And so we really do appeal to all world leaders: stop using lockdown as your primary control method. Develop better systems for doing it. Work together and learn from each other. But remember, lockdowns just have one consequence that you must never, ever belittle, and that is making poor people an awful lot poorer.

  SOURCE: The Week in 60 Minutes #6

  This is the point at which, no doubt, I’ll be expected to produce the data to back up the non-controversial observation that lockdowns kill, even though that data will do precisely nothing to penetrate the consciousness of those who have already decided that they occupy the moral high ground for advocating locking billions of people around the globe as prisoners inside their own homes. But persevere I will.

  I’ll point, for example, to the letter signed by hundreds of doctors calling the lockdowns themselves a “mass casualty incident” and exhorting politicians to end the shutdowns.

  I’ll point to the research that shows that thousands of people will die because of delays to cancer surgery treatments as a result of the medical shutdowns.

  I’ll point to the research of the Well-Being Trust showing that 75,000 Americans are expected to die deaths of despair—including alcohol and drug misuse and suicide—this year alone as a result of the lockdowns.

  I will point to the research of The Lancet showing that 265 million people are expected to be thrown into severe food insecurity as a result of these lockdowns.

  I will even point to the research showing 125,000 children are expected to die from malnutrition as a result of these lockdowns.

  But, as I say, none of these deaths will matter to those who have already decided that they are right and virtuous for advocating locking vast swathes of the human population inside their own homes to starve to death in the name of slowing the spread of a disease that even the epidemiologists who have been wrong about everything this year tell us will kill less than one percent of the infected.

  Yes, slowing the spread, not stopping the spread. This was never about stopping a pandemic. Even the lockdown advocates never advocated that. But somehow that has been forgotten and “15 days to flatten the curve” has turned into a never-ending carte blanche for the biosecurity state to implement any number of draconian policies on its population, any number of policies on the checklist of the would-be dictator. Not only locking people inside their own homes, but constant surveillance of the population through the contact tracing and tracking apps that are increasingly being implemented around the globe, and, inevitably, the proposals for mandating the experimental vaccines which agents of the state will forcibly inject into people against their will.

  This is not acceptable.

  We cannot allow this to stand.

  If we forsake this, our most basic right—the right to step foot outside of our own homes—then we forsake our humanity itself. An important part of what makes us human is being taken away from us in the name of stopping the spread of COVID-19.

  But there is good news for those who have managed to retain their sanity in the time of insanity. We do not need a complicated plan in order to subvert this agenda. We do not need special deputization or to ask permission from the government. We do not need to join any particular political party or even any particular protest movement.

  All we have to do is disobey these unlawful “orders.”

  CASSIE ZERVOS: The persistent anti-lockdown protesters said they will not forget Melbourne’s strict 112 day measures as they took to the steps of Parliament. They carried signs saying “Don’t trust the government” and chanted for police to join them in their rally.

  SOURCE: Melbourne anti-COVID lockdown protest turns ugly outside Parliament House

  BUSINESS OWNER: I’ve lost friends who’ve killed themselves. I’ve seen clients die because they’ve lost their livelihood.

  HEALTH INSPECTOR: I’m sorry to hear that.

  BUSINESS OWNER: I know you are and i’m just a—I’m asking for you to guys have some compassion.

  SOURCE: Buffalo, New York Business Owners Stand Up to Cuomo Lockdown Orders

  ASHLEY DRIEMEYER: Can he arrest us all? Because, from what I am gathering, in this area we are all banding together and going against our governor.

  SOURCE: Illinois restaurant owner will defy new state restrictions

  [CROWD BANGS POTS AND PANS DURING PROTEST]

  SOURCE: Protests in Denmark – Epidemic law and mandatory vaccines – EPIDEMILOV

  BUSINESS OWNERS: Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out!

  SOURCE: Buffalo, New York Business Owners Stand Up to Cuomo Lockdown Orders

  If you have managed to retain your sanity during this time of widespread insanity, I applaud you and wish to assure you that you are not alone. Many, many people all around the world are defying orders. They are protesting against these lockdowns. They are standing up. They are disobeying.

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  But of course the corporate controlled press don’t want you to know that disobedience is an option on the table and they will not report on this. But disobedience is an option.

  Open your business. Leave your home. Do not ask for permission. Disobey.

  To those who are still advocating for lockdowns, I encourage you to do so to the face of those parents who have lost their teenage children due to suicide as a direct result of the shutdowns and tell them that their child’s death doesn’t matter because it wasn’t listed as being due to COVID-19. Or do so to the face of the tens of thousands of others who have already lost loved ones as a direct result of these shutdown or the hundreds of thousands more who will die as long as these lockdowns endure.

  If you are advocating for lockdowns, you are complicit in tearing families apart. You are complicit in inflicting untold suffering on millions of people around the world. You are complicit in casting the poorest and most vulnerable in our societies into even further grinding poverty. You are complicit in murder.

  A line is being crossed right now. Which side of history are you on? Make your decision now and make it wisely, because your actions during these times will not be forgotten.

  You have been warned.

  

• China's Xi Continues To Urge Troops Toward 'War Readiness' Over Taiwan Issue
  China’s Xi Continues To Urge Troops Toward ‘War Readiness’ Over Taiwan Issue
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 21:00

  China’s President Xi Jinping has continued to tell his armed forces that they should prepare for potential war amid heightened hostilities with America, particularly over the Taiwan issue.

  Speaking to a room full of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leaders and officers at the Jingxi Hotel in Beijing this past week, Xi hailed the “new era” of a highly modernized fighting force which has transformed the PLA into a world-class fighting force. 

  The address to the Central Military Commission featured him ordering all officers and soldiers to focus on preparing for war “under real combat conditions,” according to quotes in state Xinhua News Agency.

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  He further stressed that the national soldiers must not “fear hardship and do not fear death” while committing further to deepening training. 

  “Military training is the regular and central task of the army. It is the basic way to generate and improve combat effectiveness. It is the most direct preparation for military battles,” said Xinhua, citing the chairman. 

  Over the past month Xi has toured various military bases while urging war preparations and readiness. This also comes as naval and air forces step up drills off China’s coast, particularly near the Taiwan Strait and in the South China Sea. 

  Western analysts and media have tended to interpret this latest jingoistic rhetoric as something more than just the usual military orders of ‘readiness’ common to all national militaries:

  Earlier this month, China‘s state broadcaster released footage of the country’s soldiers launching multiple missiles to take down enemy targets during a live-fire drill. 

  In a clip released by Beijing in September, nuclear-capable bombers are seen carrying out a simulated attack on what appears to be the US Andersen Air Force Base on the Pacific island of Guam. 

  China has been flexing its military muscles since tensions heightened between China and the United States over Taiwan.

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  The outgoing Trump administration has vowed to keep up its pressure on Beijing, the latest actions which has included sanctioning PLA-linked China-based companies, even down to the final weeks leading to Biden’s inauguration on January 20.

  The PLA consists of some two million active troops with a half million in reserve.

  

• Global Inflation Watch – The Case For Gold As Future Money
  Global Inflation Watch – The Case For Gold As Future Money
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 20:30

  Authored by Alasdair Macleod via Goldmoney.com,

  This article posits that fiat currencies are on the path to hyperinflation and looks at the evidence in the prices of financial assets and commodities. So far, gold has notably underperformed, which indicates that the early signals of hyperinflation are confined to the cryptocurrencies, whose participants broadly understand fiat debasement, to equities reflecting the desire not to maintain cash and deposit balances, and in international trade, where commodity prices of all stripes have risen in price.

  Given that the early warnings of hyperinflation of money supply are here, the article then looks at the qualities required of a sound money to replace fiat currencies.

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  Introduction

  Figure 1 shows how prices have moved from the Friday before the Fed’s announcement on 23 March that it would go all-in on its support for the US economy with unlimited quantitative easing. It amounted to a commitment to hyperinflate the money supply if needed. Before the Fed cut its funds rate to zero on 16 March nearly all these prices were falling.

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  Since late-March every category has seen increases in prices. Sector and specialist analysts will always claim that there are identifiable reasons why prices for an individual category or commodity have risen. But the fact is that with the exception of the dollar and the other fiat currencies listed in the table all prices have risen. This cannot happen without the dollar and these currencies losing purchasing power.

  While being far from exhaustive in its representation, Figure 1 shows that on the back of existing and perhaps anticipated expansion of money supply, cryptocurrencies have seen the most substantial rises. Putting to one side the debate as to whether cryptocurrencies can be a replacement for fiat currencies, in the general population it is their followers who are most aware of fiat currency debasement. In a monetary inflation, the fact that a significant minority of economic actors understand what governments are doing to money early in the hyperinflationary process does not appear to have happened before. It invalidates the old saying that not one person in a million understands what is happening to their money.

  More people are flocking to cryptocurrencies, and while they appear to be predominantly driven by the prospect of profit rather than seeking an insurance against the demise of their local currencies, we cannot doubt that most of them have learned the lessons about money that evaded their forebears.

  That being the case, we can assume that far from being just a speculative bubble, the rise in prices for bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrencies anticipates further falls in purchasing power for government currencies, yet to be reflected in the other categories.

  The rise in commodity prices varies considerably, but at a time of global economic slump, they are all higher not just in dollars, but measured in the other currencies represented in the table, which can only be a reflection of monetary debasement. Equities have also been strong with the more volatile NASDAQ 100 outpacing the S&P 500 index. And as if to ram the point home commodities and equity prices fell heavily on deflationary fears before the Fed’s unending stimulus was announced in March, only recovering and rising subsequently. The divide between deflationary and inflationary expectations could not be more marked.

  Not all items in Figure 1 turned higher precisely on 20—23 March. Gold bottomed at $1452 earlier on 16 March, the day when the Fed cut its funds rate to zero. It rallied before falling to test $1456 on 20 March before closing at $1498.7. Nevertheless, a rise of 20.8% puts it between the increase in M1 money supply and M2. The WTI Oil price went negative on 20 April due to delivery problems on Comex before recovering strongly to rise over 90% on balance from late-March.

  In the currencies, only the euro and sterling rose more than the dollar’s trade weighted index fell. And priced in all these currencies, the other items in Figure 1 increased.

  The relationship between money and prices

  There is usually a time lag between an expansion of the money quantity and its effect on prices, depending on the route it takes to full circulation. The lack of any distinction between existing and new circulating currency conceals its existence. And while every economic actor knows that government money loses purchasing power over time, it is still regarded by transacting parties as having the objective value while variations in price are reflected entirely in the goods or services being exchanged.

  If the distribution of new money is channelled through increased government spending targeted at one part of the total economy, then the price effect is initially confined to a few corporations and locations in the sectors concerned, before it spreads to the wider economy before being disseminated by employees, contractors and subsidiary businesses. Alternatively, if money is distributed widely by a representational helicopter, the price effect is more instantaneous because it is more immediately spent mainly on consumer goods.

  Even if the additional distribution of new money is made obvious to a population, it fails to grasp the consequences for the dilution of the existing stock of money. Like most analysts in the commodity markets, they initially think that prices are simply rising, and they fail to consider monetary debasement as the cause.

  While the simple mathematical relationship between the quantity of money and the effect over time on prices is widely understood, other effects are less so. Changing the amount of money in circulation fatally corrupts statistical comparisons, yet financial analysts appear unaware of the profound differences between today’s money and that of the past. Furthermore, in more normal times the expansion and contraction of bank credit is usually a far larger variation of total money than its expansion by a central bank to fund a government deficit.

  But the most profound effect on a money’s purchasing power comes when foreign owners of it domestic users gradually realise that the debasement will continue and even accelerate. Since 23 March, when the Fed told the world it would inflate limitlessly, there were two important categories of actors who immediately understood the inflation message. The first was the cryptocurrency community, as discussed above, and the second was the Chinese government, which accelerated its purchase of commodities, including iron ore, copper and oil. Wheat, cooking oil, and soybeans have followed. Predictably, commentators have seen the ramping up of commodity stockpiles, but not the unseen winding down of dollars. That is the point the Chinese appear to have understood, confirmed by the timing of accelerated commodity purchases. And their currency has also risen by nearly 8% against a weakening dollar, a marked change in official exchange policy.

  Hyperinflation of the dollar is here

  It is now impossible to envisage the US Government and the Fed limiting further monetary expansions. Their Keynesian creed tells them that to do so would be disastrous for the economy. By relying on macroeconomic beliefs upon which they base their policy decisions they cannot come up with an answer that ultimately saves the currency and the economy. They do not appear to realise that by transferring wealth to a generally non-productive government sector, monetary inflation impoverishes the productive capacity of the economy.

  It is against this background that having seen one enormous budget-busting stimulus package from the US Government, we shall shortly see another. Apart from the unconventional cryptocurrency sector and perhaps equity markets, there is little evidence that markets are discounting the inflationary effects of a second package yet — they are awaiting the shape of the next inflationary stimulus. The gold price, having risen by about a fifth since 20 March, is certainly not yet reflecting hyperinflation.

  But it is worth looking at US Government finances since March, when the covid response commenced, leading to a fall in tax revenue and an increase in government spending. This is shown in Figure 2.

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  The numbers in the table reflect the US Government’s financing of federal expenditure following the Fed’s decision to implement limitless QE, and so covers the period of the first wave of coronavirus. From it, we can see that government spending rocketed to 2.12 times tax revenue. This is not so obvious in the annualised CBO figures, where the additional expenditure is spread over the whole fiscal year to September 2020. But with a second half deficit over twice government spending, government financing is roughly one-third by tax revenue and two-thirds by money printing. And this is not going to be a one-off event.

  Along with the rest of the world, America has entered a second wave of infections, which will oblige the government to deploy a second similar, or even greater stimulus. The second covid wave is likely to lead to a further fall in tax revenues, as a result of bankruptcies from the initial coronavirus wave combining with the effects of the second. There is also a growing realisation that the economic problems from the virus alone will continue beyond the second wave. This fear is beginning to be reflected in the US Treasury bond market, with yields threatening to rise significantly, as illustrated in Figure 3.

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  The evidence from technical analysis strongly suggests the low point for the 10-year US Treasury bond yield has now passed and yields are set to rise significantly. That being the case, the Fed will find itself isolated as the only significant buyer as investors increasingly abandon Treasuries as a safe haven investment. And that is before we consider the position of foreign holders of US Treasuries and agency debt, with some of these key players having begun to reduce their holdings.

  A further consideration concerning the purchasing power of the next tranche of monetary expansion will come into play. While it is yet to be reflected in consumer prices, with the dollar already diluted by over 30% of additional M1 money between March and September, for the government to obtain the same effect from debasing the currency the expansion of M1 money supply will have to increase by roughly 40% on the expanded base. An aphorism that states for every debasement, a larger one for the same effect will follow, applies. It is the other side of the transfer of wealth from the productive economy to the government which is consistently ignored by macroeconomists. And the more wealth is transferred from the productive private sector to a generally unproductive government, the less there is to transfer. And far from serving to stimulate the economy, these monetary transfers are impoverishing the economy and reducing the government’s tax base at an accelerating pace. The ratio of tax income to inflationary financing illustrated in Figure 2 then rapidly deteriorates from three of inflation to one of tax revenue.

  The US Government’s dependency on inflationary financing is already a commitment with no palatable escape. Politicians are trapped by their earlier electoral promises. Assuming Biden is confirmed as the next US President, his left-leaning socialistic policies can only accelerate the debasement process.

  As has been the case in many other advanced economies, the US financial system has predominantly supported zombie companies since the Lehman crisis. The increase in unproductive debt has been widely noted. A final collapse of the hampered economy simply cannot be avoided, only deferred. But assuming attempts will continue to be made to defer this outcome, the Fed and the Treasury between them will have to underwrite commercial bank loans and the bank credit extended to businesses that would otherwise collapse. Instead of an understanding of the consequences for hyperinflation of the money supply from covid-19 lockdowns, it will be the realisation that currency debasement must continue to prevent widespread bankruptcies of unproductive, labour intensive businesses that finally awakens the general public to the likely collapse of its government’s money.

  The fallacy of the deflation argument

  Keynesian economists who see global economic activity badly undermined by covid lockdowns will be confused by the tendency for prices of commodities to rise, because demand for them must be falling. They are almost certain to argue that price rises are probably a short-term aberration, and that lack of consumer demand and oversupply of products will begin to deflate prices. This is reflected in statements from leading central bankers. They envisage that without the support of increasing money supply, the failure of businesses in a deflationary environment will lead to the thirties-type deflation, which fed into multiple bank failures and record levels of unemployment. In other words, they believe there is a growing danger of a self-feeding deflationary slump.

  The underlying mistake in the deflation argument was made long ago by dismissing Say’s law. Say’s law points out that we produce through the division of our labour in order to consume. Therefore, in approximate terms an increase in unemployment is matched by loss of production, so the supply and demand of consumer goods broadly remain in balance, but at a lower level of economic activity. The Keynesians only account for falling consumer demand without realising production also declines.

  Instead of linking production and consumption through Say’s law, Keynesians imagine a decline in consumer demand due to rising unemployment releases unused production capacity. Understanding this error explains another phenomenon: in a contracting economy people will not increase their cash and deposit balances at a rate to match the expansion of the money supply. Being poorer from the wealth transfer to government through monetary inflation, people tend to reduce their money balances. This alters their money to goods preferences to the detriment of the money’s purchasing power, while more money from the central banks floods the markets.

  The reason asset prices rise, followed by those of consumer goods, is a reflection of this desire not to increase money balances, and inevitably, then a tendency to begin reducing them takes hold. Today, this explains the rise in cryptocurrency and equity prices relative to fiat money, driven by the cohorts that are first to ditch a currency which is depreciating relative to their perceptions of financial security.

  The Keynesians’ reference point was the appalling depression of the 1930s, which they blamed on gold. With gold, prices fell bankrupting farmers, other businesses and the banks. But farmers with their new tractors increased grain output around the world, the glut driving prices lower for nearly all foodstuffs. At the same time the banks ended a period of credit expansion, withdrawing loans from businesses, creating the usual cyclical slump. The difference from previous slumps was intervention, first by President Herbert Hoover and then by Franklin Roosevelt. It was the prototype Keynesian intervention that prolonged the slump, not the gold standard.

  The misunderstanding of inflation-supporting economists and subsequent distortions of the historical truth about the depression have led the economic establishment to fully embrace inflationism, while condemning the deflation of prices as an evil. Again, this flies in the face of historical fact, because prices fell throughout the nineteenth century, improving the living standards of everyone and allowing the purchasing power of their savings to grow. Hard work and innovation were rewarded, while by permitting free markets the government let it all happen under a working gold standard.

  One can only suppose that the unadmitted purpose of inflationism is not to improve the prospects for the ordinary individual but to enhance government revenue. That is certainly the outcome of macroeconomic beliefs which condemn deflation.

  The case for gold as future money

  Some of the reasons commonly put forward denying an inflation problem are notably fiat-centric. For example, a claim that the rise in cryptocurrencies and equity markets are speculative bubbles and not indicative of monetary instability. There is almost certainly truth in this, with a large element of investment always dedicated to trend-chasing rather than founded on reason. But those that take the view it is only speculation fail to get the signal, that what they might describe as unwarranted speculation is an early warning of the consequences of monetary inflation. These are the financial commentators who fail to realise that of any form of money, only sound money can truly reflect a sustainable objective value.

  This brings us to metallic money, the gold and silver to which people have always defaulted when kings, emperors and governments fail to sustain their unbacked alternatives. In Figure 1 silver has been included in the commodity category, because with the gold/silver ratio at roughly 77 times it is not being priced for its monetary qualities. That may change. Until it does, we should consider the position of gold as the ultimate money while silver remains priced as an industrial metal, a situation that must nevertheless be kept under review. Furthermore, if governments are to stop the collapse of their currencies, that can only be done by mobilising central bank gold reserves to back them, or alternatively by linking their currencies to another which is fully convertible into gold at every holders’ option.

  Apart from other significant hurdles, those who believe that cryptocurrencies will replace gold when fiat dies have the problem of explaining how bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will be sanctioned as money by governments which have none in their monetary reserves. Instead, they are currently designing their own central bank digital currencies, through which, they hope, they can control economic activity and ultimately prices. If anything, in the face of technological innovation they are spurred on by a determination to keep control of all forms of currency for themselves.

  The best hope for cryptocurrencies appears to be that fiat continues to exist and like the Argentine peso, never quite die. If and when they do elapse, or at least when the planners realise their battle is lost and that to prevent a complete monetary breakdown they must introduce proper backing for their currency, then states have the power and the means to ensure sound money is available within a matter of weeks. The only sound medium of exchange they can use is what they have to hand, and that is their gold reserves. Of course, if governments fail to back their currencies convincingly or rein in their spending — necessary to sustain gold backing credibly — cryptocurrencies might have a brief extension as stores of value.

  Putting the cryptocurrency issue aside, the history of collapses in the purchasing power of fiat money allows us to rank stores of wealth. The best has always been gold, or other reputable currencies backed by gold and fully accepted by the public as gold substitutes. This time, there are none, so it must be physical gold. As noted above, the debauchment of fiat money impoverishes the private sector until there is no wealth left to be transferred by this means. In consequence, the purchasing power of gold rises to reflect its relative scarcity compared with the capital and consumer goods in the hands of distressed sellers who at the same time reject the government’s currency. Only then can we rank the capital goods relative to each other. Residential property and country estates which produce food come high on the list, as do equities of companies that manage to survive the currency collapse.

  But these assets only rise measured in rapidly depreciating government currency. When the paper mark in Germany began its final collapse in 1923 a large house in a fashionable part of Berlin could be had for $100, at $20.67 to the ounce of gold, the equivalent of just under five ounces. Similarly, country estates could be had for ridiculously small amounts of gold-backed foreign currency.

  The requirements for monetary flexibility

  The argument promoted by bitcoin hodlers is that its future issuance is firmly capped at 21 million, and that with about 18.5 million already issued, of these many have been irretrievably lost. It is simply a supply argument, and if bitcoin replaces failing fiat the price will be sky-high.

  This reasoning ignores the fact that a rigid quantity of money in circulation is an unworkable proposition. Prices of consumer items will lack the stability that sound money contributes to transactions. It would become impossible to do the business calculations required for capital investment, because assumptions about future values for both the repayment of debt and the eventual value of the business investment cannot be reasonably assessed. And we must remember that we are moving from a fiat world where through inflation value is transferred from saver to borrower. A significant value-transfer to the saver from the borrower, which would be the inevitable outcome of using bitcoin as the money, would therefore severely restrict entrepreneurial activity and hamper economic progress.

  Gold is far more flexible, which is why it has always returned to be the peoples’ money when government money fails. In general terms, mine supply has always increase the level of above ground stocks at a rate similar to the world’s population growth, leading to long-term stability in the general level of prices. Furthermore, a large quantity of gold is not mobilised as money, but for other purposes, mainly jewellery. If the free market demand for monetary gold increases, scrap supply is there to augment gold used for monetary purposes, and if monetary demand diminishes relative to other uses, then scrap supply simply declines.

  With gold, there is minimal transfer of value over time from savers to borrowers or vice-versa. The increase in purchasing power that gold-backed savings have enjoyed in the past has come not because of supply constraints of gold, but through competition and innovation of production methods and technology. This certainty always led to savings being protected and available for personal emergencies, retirement, and to pass on to families. And as well as funding personal and family welfare, therefore rendering state welfare provision virtually unnecessary, personal savings provided the monetary capital for businesses and entrepreneurs, who could reasonably calculate the profits from their investment, the money being sound.

  Society under a gold standard enables its users to accumulate wealth, because its government, being generally unproductive by virtue of its bureaucracy and monopoly, would have to radically alter its expenditure commitments in order to discard inflationism. In the absence of this source of funding, the cost of government becomes fully exposed, and the tax burden cannot be increased sufficiently to replace it. With sound money, the state has no option but to cut its spending, and to reduce its interventionist roles.

  Properly understood by the state authorities, the route to maximising their own power is to let free markets flourish with sound money. This was the wisdom of Britain’s leaders in the nineteenth century, which made this small nation the most powerful on earth. It was also understood by America’s Founding Fathers and America similarly became the most powerful nation after Britain’s decline.

  But after decades of fiat money inflation, it is difficult for those steeped in macroeconomics to envisage a world where gold and fully backed gold substitutes are the only money. Much of the paraphernalia of risk management, derivatives and forward markets will no longer be needed and will disappear. Debt can only be taken out on the basis it is repaid when due, and assumptions that it can always be rolled over, or perhaps that the state will come to the rescue must be banished.

  Other than the residual role of issuing gold substitutes, of maintaining gold reserves and overseeing the production and free circulation of gold coins, there will be no role for central banks and their planners. Stemming from the UK’s Bank Charter Act of 1844, the laws and regulations that permit the creation of unbacked bank credit should be revised either to make it a criminal offence in line with natural law, or to permit free banking with the removal of limited liability for the managers and shareholders. Only then can the expansion of unbacked money, the origin of which is credit expansion, be reined in. Crony capitalism, whereby an entity gains government support for its operations or to the disadvantage of its competitors, must also cease.

  It must be admitted that politicians are unlike to benefit from a sudden Damascene conversion. The only thing that will be clear to them is the need to stabilise the currency, which they will probably have to fight against their own establishments to achieve. There will remain the considerable risk of political anarchy if wise leaders fail to take the public and their administrations with them, raising the prospect of Hayek’s Road to Serfdom.

  All that is for the future — perhaps not so distant as we might think — for which cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies are not equipped. But today, while there is incontrovertible evidence that some economic actors are beginning to understand that hyperinflation of the money supply is taking hold, the modest performance of the gold price tells us that for the broader public this realisation is still in its early stages.

  

• House To Vote On Bill That Would Delist China-Based Companies If They Fail U.S. Audit Standards
  House To Vote On Bill That Would Delist China-Based Companies If They Fail U.S. Audit Standards
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 20:00

  As we have already reported, U.S. lawmakers appear as though they are finally going to hold Chinese companies’ feet to the fire: they are going to require China based companies comply with audit oversight rules that U.S. companies must also abide by. 

  This voids a years long loophole that literally everyone on Wall Street knew about and led to numerous U.S. listed China based frauds totaling well into the billions of dollars. 

  On Wednesday, house leaders will hold another measure that would require shares to be removed from trading in the U.S. if the transition to an annual U.S. reviewed audit isn’t undertaken. The law would still give Chinese companies a generous three years to comply with new rules, the Wall Street Journal notes.

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  Beijing has been critical of the bill, as it will obviously allow them to commit far less fraud on U.S. capital markets. But the legislation has bipartisan support in the U.S. and could be signed by Trump – who is rumored to be looking at new crackdowns on China before leaving office – if it passes the House.

  The Senate bill was sponsored by Sens. John Kennedy and Chris Van Hollen. Kennedy said: “The current policy that allows Chinese firms to flout the rules that American companies follow is toxic. I hope the House joins the Senate this week in unanimously passing this bill so it can start helping hardworking Americans.”

  As we reported about 2 weeks ago, the proposal will be issued for public comment in December, and will address a problem that has plagued Chinese companies on U.S. capital markets for more than a decade: China hasn’t let the work of Chinese auditors be inspected.

   

  This has been the key factor in a number of Chinese firms being halted and delisted from U.S. exchanges over the last decade, as short sellers like Citron Research and Muddy Waters Research have collectively worked, among others, to help expose innumerable frauds and misstatements from companies based in China. A movie, “The China Hustle“, was even made about the widespread fraud.

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  The PCAOB has been unable to get cooperation from China on a broad scale. The PCAOB has often had to sue Chinese audit firms and negotiate with Chinese regulators for more information. Now, new regulations could put the responsibility on the listing exchanges, like NASDAQ and NYSE, who choose to give credibility to China-based entities by accepting their listing fees and putting them on their well known exchanges.

  In other words, it appears to us that U.S. exchanges seem to have no problem making people like Jack Ma into billionaires with U.S. capital, without even understanding the intricacies of the opaque businesses they choose to list.

  The SEC is trying to get the plan in order before Chairman Jay Clayton leaves at the end of the year, as we noted  earlier this month. The regulation could then be “tweaked” by an incoming Biden administration. 

  China has come up with the laughable excuse that it “is worried about auditors revealing strategic secrets held by domestic firms, some of which are majority-owned by the Chinese government”. In fact, the country signed into law this year a rule stating that its citizens can’t comply with overseas regulators without the government’s permission.

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• This Company Wants To Put A Human-Size Hologram Booth In Your Living Room
  This Company Wants To Put A Human-Size Hologram Booth In Your Living Room
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 19:30

  Authored by Vanessa Bates Ramirez via SingularityHub.com,

  Over the last several months we’ve gotten very used to communicating via video chat. Zoom, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, and the like have not only replaced most in-person business meetings, they’ve acted as a stand-in for gatherings between friends and reunions between relatives. Just a few short years ago, many of us would have found it strange to think we’d be spending so much time talking to people “face-to-face” while sitting right in our own homes.

  Now there’s a new technology looming on the horizon that may one day replace video calls with an even stranger-to-contemplate, more futuristic tool: real-time, full-body holograms.

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  Picture this: you’re sitting in your living room having a cup of coffee when the phone-booth-size box in the corner dings, alerting you that you have an incoming call. You accept it, and within seconds your best friend (or your partner, your grandmother, your boss) appears in the box – in the form of millions of points of light engineered to look and sound exactly like the real person. And the real person is on the other end of the line, talking to you in real time as their holographic likeness moves around the box – you can see their gestures, body language, and facial expression just as if they were really there with you.

  The closest approximation to this that you may have heard about was when a holographic version of the late Tupac Shakur performed at Coachella in 2012. The hologram was simultaneously highly detailed—the lines of Tupac’s washboard abs were clearly defined and visible—and somewhat blurry; after the opening “scene,” in which the hologram stood still, it was hard to see any of Tupac’s facial features.

  The Tupac hologram was created by events tech company AV Concepts and Hollywood special effects studio Digital Domain, and reportedly cost at least $100,000. It seems holograms don’t come cheap; the afore-mentioned hologram box is currently going for $60,000.

  The box is called an Epic HoloPortl, and it’s made by PORTL, a company whose founder was inspired by Tupac’s hologram; after seeing the 2012 performance, David Nussbaum quickly bought the patents for the technology that made it possible, and has been working on turning the tech into something useful, fun, and scalable ever since.

  The Epic has high-resolution transparent LCD screens embedded into its interior walls. The person on the other end—the one appearing as a hologram, that is—just needs to have a camera and be standing against a white background. A camera on the Epic shows the sender the room and people he or she is being beamed to, essentially just like a Zoom call.

  Last month PORTL raised $3 million in funding, led by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper. Nussbaum says he’s sold a hundred Epics, has pre-orders “in excess of a thousand,” and dozens of the devices have already been delivered, with clients including malls, airports, and movie theaters (all places that aren’t very frequented today—but here’s hoping they’ll make a comeback when the pandemic subsides).

  In fact, PORTL may not have gotten this funding if it weren’t for the pandemic; Nussbaum told TechCrunch that Draper pushed him to expand his vision for the company and its technology when the virus hit, likely anticipating that people will want new ways to communicate from a distance.

  Few can afford to shell out $60k for a hologram booth, though (not to mention having space for a 7-foot-tall by 5-foot-wide by 2-foot-deep box), and Nussbaum knows it; his next project is to build a smaller, cheaper version of the Epic.

  Even at a tenth of the current cost, the tech likely wouldn’t see widespread adoption by people wanting their own personal hologram portal at home. But there are many possible use cases beyond person-to-person communication.

  Any venue or event that would typically hire famous people to appear in person—be they celebrities, academics, religious figures, or business leaders—could beam a hologram of those people in instead. The implications may be most significant for education and business; Nussbaum believes the CEOs of the not-too-distant future will conduct their meetings via hologram. “You can now make that very important personal emotional contact with people that you need to talk to without actually having to leave your office,” he said.

  Whether this is true remains to be seen. Many of us have experienced Zoom fatigue over the course of the pandemic, becoming acutely aware that while it’s better than nothing, it’s also nothing like being in a room with someone in person; there’s only so much you can get from a face and voice on a screen.

  Will a face and voice on a three-dimensional, life-sized hologram be better? Stay tuned to find out.

  

• Here's How Central Banks Will Finally Unleash Inflation: The Shenzhen Case Study
  Here’s How Central Banks Will Finally Unleash Inflation: The Shenzhen Case Study
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 19:05

  Back in 2009, when the Fed first launched QE, a majority of traders and strategists were convinced that the Fed would spark an inflationary inferno as a result of the hundreds of billions of dollars (back then, that was a big number) of liquidity injected into markets and which – using the Weimar Republic as an example – consensus expected would find their way to the broader economy triggering sharply higher prices as a result of global currency devaluation.

  And while one part of this forecast turned out to be true, with asset prices indeed hyperinflating in the subsequent decade, the flood of central bank reserves did little to boost benign broader economy inflation, i.e., wages.

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  It’s also why a decade later, with central banks now injecting a berserk $300BN each month, the 10Y continues to trade well below 1% – the simple reason is that having failed to spark broader inflation, the market is convinced that nothing the Fed and its central bank peers do can change this default dynamic.

  But if consensus was dead wrong about the economic outcome of the first QE back in 2009, could consensus be just as wrong now, and with most expecting deflation no matter how big the QE, could central banks finally “succeed” in sparking runaway inflation?

  The answer is yes and it will come in the form of digital currencies which we – and DoubleLine – have discussed extensively in the past year, which while the biggest economic and financial story of the year by far, has been successfully drowned in the noise surrounding covid and the US presidential election.

  But before we get into the specifics of how, here is another take on why, courtesy of BofA Chief Investment Officer Michael Hartnett, who believes that the key theme of the next decade will be “Dollar Debasement & Digital Currencies”, to wit:

  2020 saw $21tn of global fiscal and monetary stimulus. The US federal deficit skyrocketed to 25% of GDP, second only to WWII (27%). Global debt is expected to hit $277tn or 365% of GDP by year end, an all-time high while global interest rates are at their lowest level in 5,000 years. In the coming decade, loss of central bank independence, shift towards digital currencies as conduits for policy (UBI, “helicopter drops”, student debt forgiveness), introduction of Yield Curve Control & stealth Modern Monetary Theory, the end of era of “financial engineering” and considerable public sector deficits are all reasons we think the US will find it tougher to finance current account surpluses in coming years…the dollar likely will decline, bullish for commodities & EM.

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  But while all that sounds great in theory, the real question as always is how does it work in practice.

  The answer, as so often happens when it comes to financial experimentation, comes from China which is the most advanced nation in the development and rollout of digital currencies. Culminating a monetary revolution process that has been 6 years in the making, China started ramping up trials with the digital yuan last April, when it ran a pilot program that reportedly included US companies like McDonald’s and Subway…

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  … and then in October, China launched one of the biggest real-world trials for its digital currency, when the government in Shenzhen carried out a lottery to give away a total of 10 million yuan (about $1.5 million) worth of the digital currency. Nearly 2 million people applied and 50,000 people actually won.

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  The winners are required to download a digital Renminbi app in order to receive a “red packet” worth 200 digital yuan ($30), which they can then spend at over 3,000 designated retailers in Shenzhen’s Luohu district, according to China Daily. After that, they’ll be able to buy goods from local pharmacies, supermarkets and even Walmart.

  The idea was to not only test the technology involved, but boost consumer spending in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In short, China is not only subsidizing the centrally-planned economy by manipulating the supply-side of the question- it now can prop up demand by handing out digital currency to anyone (or everyone).

  Of course, unlike traditional central bank account-based currencies such as reserves, or decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, China’s digital currency would be controlled by the country’s central bank and will be instantly made available at a moment’s notice to anyone who can receive it.

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  China’s adoption of digital central bank tokens is expected to be seamless as most of the nation’s digital payments already pass through companies like TenCent and AliPay and are already very popular in the country.

  The successful Shenzhen test means that a broad rollout is just a matter of time.

  As we have discussed repeatedly in recent months, central banks around the world are rushing to roll out the idea of issuing digital currencies. In October, the Bank for International Settlements and seven central banks published a framework for central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs.

  Needless to say, without any consumer-facing liability – it’s not a loan or a debt – the propensity to spend the digital currency is virtually instant and without limitation. After all, it’s money that the central bank (in this case PBOC) created out of thin air and has handed out to whoever it so chooses – a form of massive universal basic income or unprecedented population subsidy – in hopes of sparking higher prices.

  Consider it a way for central banks to atone for the fact that their policies were unable to boost wages in the past decade; instead, they will now simply hand out money with little regard for the consequences, as long as the consequences are sufficiently reflationary they allow some of the global massive debt tsunami which is now at $277 trillion, or 365% of GDP, to be inflated away.

  <!–[if IE 9]><![endif]–>

  Finally timing: according to tentative estimates for the rollout of ISO 20022, which is the required universal transaction standard which will make payment in digital currencies possible, we are looking at a 2022 launch date.

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• Newt Gingrich: 2020 Election May Be Biggest Presidential Theft Since 1824
  Newt Gingrich: 2020 Election May Be Biggest Presidential Theft Since 1824
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 18:40

  Authored by Ivan Pentchoukov via The Epoch Times,

  Former Republican House Speaker New Gingrich said on Friday that the 2020 election may have been subject to the biggest theft in nearly two centuries.

  “The more data comes out on vote anomalies that clearly are not legitimate the more it looks like 2020 may be the biggest Presidential theft since Adams and Clay robbed Andrew Jackson in 1824. State legislatures should demand recounts,” Gingrich wrote on Twitter.

  President Donald Trump and his allies are waging legal battles in several states in a bid to identify and disqualify potential illegal votes or to invalidate the election results there entirely. The lawsuits have served as vehicles for the release of sworn affidavits from witnesses who detailed widespread malpractice and alleged fraud in the 2020 election.

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  In an op-ed for The Epoch Times written earlier the same week, Gingrich said that the “thieves” who stole the 2020 election “got sloppy.”

  “Stealing the 2020 election was a mammoth undertaking, involving widespread lawlessness and illicit partnerships between private actors and public officials. They’ve been working to cover their tracks since Election Day, but they didn’t work fast enough,” Gingrich said.

  “Now, the courts need to stop them from destroying any more evidence so that the people of Pennsylvania—and the rest of the country—can accurately assess the ramifications of their wrongdoing.”

  Recounts were ongoing on Sunday in Georgia and Wisconsin.

  Rudy Giuliani, the attorney leading Trump’s post-election legal effort, testified in a special session held by Pennsylvania state lawmakers last week. The lawmakers also heard from a number of witnesses who alleged fraudulent activity taking place during the processing, counting, and reporting of the votes.

  “This voter fraud that took place, which as you will see from the witnesses that we call, had several dimensions to it, several different ways in which it was done. The most dangerous thing is, it is very, very similar in at least six states that we’ve been able to study,” Giuliani said.

  Following the hearing, Pennsylvania’s Republican state lawmakers said they were gathering support for a resolution to decertify the state’s election results and appoint presidential electors through the legislature.

  Trump’s legal team said a hearing similar to the one in Pennsylvania will take place in Arizona on Monday.

  

• Former Overstock CEO Paying 'Team Of Hackers And Cybersleuths' To Prove Trump Won Election
  Former Overstock CEO Paying ‘Team Of Hackers And Cybersleuths’ To Prove Trump Won Election
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 18:15

  Patrick Byrne, former CEO of Overstock.com, says he’s funding a group of ‘hackers, cybersleuths, and other people with odd skills’ to prove that Democrats cheated in the 2020 election, and that President Trump rightfully won.

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  “I’ve funded a team of hackers and cybersleuths, other people with odd skills,” Byrne told One America News.

  The 57-year-old multimillionaire also appeared on several podcasts, including a November 23 appearance in which he said: “I’m a free agent, and I’m self-funded, and I’m funding this army of various odd people,” according to the Daily Beast.

  “It’s really going to make a great movie someday,” he added.

  Byrne claims he’s funding teams of “hackers and crackers” who realized all the way back in August that Dominion voting machines could be used to steal the election from Trump. Since the election, those voting machines have figured prominently in Trump supporters’ allegations of fraud, despite the company’s repeated denials and any actual proof the voting tallies were changed. –Daily Beast

  Byrne says he’s been communicating with former Trump attorney Sidney Powell for weeks – who last week filed two lawsuits in Michigan and Georgia alleging massive schemes to rig the election for Joe Biden.

  According to Powell’s Georgia lawsuit: “Old-fashioned ballot-stuffing” has been “amplified and rendered virtually invisible by computer software created and run by domestic and foreign actors for that very purpose,” adding that “Mathematical and statistical anomalies rising to the level of impossibilities, as shown by affidavits of multiple witnesses, documentation, and expert testimony evince this scheme across the state of Georgia.”

  In Michigan, Powell claims that “hundreds of thousands of illegal, ineligible, duplicate, or purely fictitious ballots” enabled by “massive election fraud” facilitated Biden’s win in the state.

  The suit claimed that election software and hardware from Dominion Voting Systems used by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers helped facilitate the fraud.

  More via Natural News:

  Speaking to Christopher McDonald of The McFiles in a recent interview, the former head of a $200 billion e-commerce company that has never once gotten hacked revealed that Dominion Voting Systems were used to perform a “Drop and Roll” technique of voter fraud that slyly padded the vote for Biden in at least five key swing areas of the country.

  Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Maricopa County, Arizona (Phoenix) were all rigged prior to election day to strip President Trump of his rightful win in each of these states. Byrne also mentioned Clark County, Nevada (Las Vegas) as another election fraud locale, though this one was more secondary.

  According to Byrne, who is not a supporter of President Trump but rather a “small l” libertarian, these five (or six if you include Clark County) areas are where a bulk of the election fraud took place. It did not have to be widespread because these were the key swing areas that Biden needed to “win” in order to steal the election.

  “By cheating those five counties, you flip five key states, you flip the electoral college,” Byrne says. “In places where Trump lost by 10,000, there may be 300,000 fake, illegal votes for Biden. So this isn’t even close.”

  He further contends that the election systems that govern elections in America “are a joke,” especially those run by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic software.

  *  *  *

  Is Byrne’s ‘army’ Sidney Powell’s research team?

  

• Biden's Economic, Communications Team Is Full Of Women
  Biden’s Economic, Communications Team Is Full Of Women
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 18:08

  Following his recent decision to appoint Janet Yellen as new Treasury Secretary, Joe Biden has decided to fill many of the key economic advisory spots with female staffers, all close to either Obama or Hillary Clinton.

  Biden is turning to longtime Hillary Clinton ally and Democratic policy staffer Neera Tanden to lead his Office of Management and Budget, while Cecilia Rouse will be head the Council of Economic Advisers, according to Bloomberg.

  .@neeratanden, Biden’s pick to head the Budget office, has a proven track record of creative budget solutions. My favorite is when she told @fshakir that the US should steal Libya’s oil: “We have a giant deficit. They have a lot of oil.”
  🏆https://t.co/d2ItRoIBnJ pic.twitter.com/xvk2p4ZNoU

  — Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) November 29, 2020

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  Tanden, who currently leads the the liberal think-tank Center for American Progress, worked on the Obama administration’s health-care reform and was a close adviser to Hillary Clinton on her failed 2016 campaign. 

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  Rouse also worked in the Obama administration as a member of the CEA and is currently dean of Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs.

  Biden will also nominate Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo to be deputy treasury secretary. Previously Wally worked as President of the Obama Foundation.

  Biden isn’t stopping there, and according to a separate Bloomberg report Biden’s senior communications team is composed entirely of women, including Jen Psaki as White House press secretary. Psaki, a former Obama White House communications director and State Department spokeswoman, has been an on-camera spokeswoman for Biden’s transition office. 

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  Other women who will be tasked with interpreting Biden’s “communications” include:

  • Kate Bedingfield, deputy campaign manager and communications director during the 2020 campaign, who will be Biden’s White House communications director.
  • Karine Jean-Pierre will be principal deputy press secretary after serving as a senior adviser during the campaign. She also worked on Barack Obama’s two presidential campaigns and in his White House as a regional political director.
  • Pili Tobar, the Biden campaign’s communications director for coalitions, will be deputy communications director.
  • Liz Alexander, whose work with Biden dates back to his time in the Senate, will be communications director for Jill Biden.

  President-in-waiting Kamala Harris is also betting heavily on women:

  • Ashley Etienne, a former communications director and senior adviser to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will be Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s communications director.
  • Symone Sanders, one of Biden’s most visible campaign aides, will be senior adviser and chief spokesperson for Harris. Sanders advised Harris and traveled with her during the final weeks of the campaign, a task she’s continued in during the transition.

  

• Judge Blocks, Then Unblocks Georgia From Wiping Or Resetting Election Machines
  Judge Blocks, Then Unblocks Georgia From Wiping Or Resetting Election Machines
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 17:48

  Authored by Ivan Pentchoukov and Petr Svab via The Epoch Times,

  A federal judge presiding over a major election lawsuit in Georgia on Sunday issued and then reversed an order directing the state to cease and desist wiping or resetting election machines.

  “Defendants are ordered to maintain the status quo & are temporarily enjoined from wiping or resetting any voting machines in the State of Georgia until further order of the court,” Judge Timothy Batten wrote in an emergency order issued Nov. 29.

  NEWS: Judge orders Georgia to cease and desist wiping or resetting any election machines.https://t.co/sn2D4IgUDM pic.twitter.com/ru2b0cuSqB

  — Ivan Pentchoukov (@IvanPentchoukov) November 29, 2020

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

  The judge reversed the order not long after, explaining that the defendants are not in possession of the machines.

  “Plaintiffs’ request fails because the voting equipment that they seek to impound is in the possession of county election officials. Any injunction the Court issues would extend only to Defendants and those within their control, and Plaintiffs have not demonstrated that county election officials are within Defendants’ control. Defendants cannot serve as a proxy for local election officials against whom the relief should be sought,” the judge wrote.

  The judge has now reversed the order. PDF via @themarketswork : https://t.co/7DZfgeUYZ1

  — Ivan Pentchoukov (@IvanPentchoukov) November 29, 2020

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  The change of course by the judge drew a flabbergasted response from Lin Wood, an attorney associated with the Trump campaign.

  “What??? Judge reversed order based on Defendants’ claim that GA Counties control voting machines,” Wood wrote on Twitter, adding that the machines are owned by the state and that the Georgia secretary of state administers elections.

  “Why are GA officials determined to wipe these machines clean [by] resetting them?”

  What??? Judge reversed order based on Defendants’ claim that GA Counties control voting machines.

  Machines are owned by State & @GaSecofState administers state laws on elections.

  Why are GA officials determined to wipe these machines clean be resetting them? https://t.co/Oq0edTGfsl

  — Lin Wood (@LLinWood) November 29, 2020

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  The plaintiffs in the lawsuit on Sunday filed an emergency motion which included an affidavit featuring a Nov. 25 message from an election official stating that the ballot-counting machines would be reset to zero on Monday, Nov. 30, before performing a recount.

  “The process will begin with an L & A – resetting the machine to ‘zero’ to begin the recount,” the text of the message stated before describing the specifics of the recount process.

  The affidavit was written by a GOP poll worker who says he or she addressed concerns about wiping the machines to the election manager.

  “Because the plan on Monday is to wipe the voting machines clean, and start from 0 so that we can recount using those machines, I’m concerned by what I am reading online,” the poll worker wrote, according to the affidavit.

  “I am seeing lots of notices from lawyers about possibly impounding the machines. Lawyers are now saying that the machines should be confiscated immediately before this happens to protect forensic data. They are saying those machines need to be impounded ASAP. Yikes. Maybe I’m being overly paranoid but let’s be sure this is what we’re supposed to be doing.”

  The supervisor responded, “It’s what we are supposed to do. It will take a court order to stop this process—so I guess we need to keep watching the news. If we get a court order to stop, we will see it in our SOS information. The issue is, the Atlanta area has already started,” the elections manager wrote.

  When the poll worker asked if the reset will wipe the forensic info from the machines, the manager said that “Atlanta already did it.”

  The lawsuit in question is being litigated by Sidney Powell, an attorney who defended former national security adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. President Donald Trump pardoned Flynn earlier this week. The Trump campaign has said that Powell is not part of its legal team.

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  Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer wrote on Twitter after the judge issued the order that election officials in Fulton County were updating the software on voting systems earlier the same day.

  “Our Republican recount monitors at the World Congress Center waited today for four hours while Fulton County elections officials ‘updated the software.’ The explanation given to me—‘just the usual Fulton County incompetence’—is completely unacceptable,” Shafer wrote on Twitter.

  “It is outrageous that we cannot rely on Fulton County elections officials to do their jobs without unexplained four hour delays, interventions by private attorneys and federal court orders.”

  Voting Systems

  The lawsuit makes a number of allegations regarding the voting machines and software supplied by Dominion Voting Systems, which is used in Georgia and many other states.

  The lawsuit cites an affidavit written by a former electronic intelligence analyst under 305th Military Intelligence Battalion, who testified that the software used by the Dominion machines was accessed by agents of malicious actors, such as China and Iran, “in order to monitor and manipulate elections,” including the 2020 election.

  The suit further alleges that the machines are connected to the internet, even though they aren’t supposed to be, and are easily hacked, based on multiple expert declarations. The machines have built-in functions that allow operators to manipulate the results, several experts cited in the lawsuit said.

  Dominion has vehemently denied that its machines were used to manipulate vote counts.

  “Servers that run Dominion software are located in local election offices, and data never leaves the control of local election officials,” the company’s website states.

  “All U.S. voting systems must provide assurance that they work accurately and reliably as intended under federal U.S. EAC and state certifications and testing requirements. Dominion’s voting systems are certified for the 2020 elections.”

  

• FBI Asks Pro-Trump Statistician To Share Findings Into Illegal Ballots
  FBI Asks Pro-Trump Statistician To Share Findings Into Illegal Ballots
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 17:35

  The FBI – which President Trump on Sunday suggested may be ‘involved’ in election fraud – has asked former Trump data chief Matt Braynard to share his findings on possible illegal ballots cast in the 2020 election.

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  According to Braynard, who runs the Voter Integrity Project, “The @FBI has proactively and directly requested from me the VIP findings that indicates illegal ballots,” adding “By Tuesday, we will have delivered to the agency all of our data, including names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.”

  – While there has been legit criticism of the actions of leaders of the agency over the last several years, I can personally attest to the many patriots within the rank-and-file who are fighting on the side of the Constitution and Law and Order.

  — Matt Braynard (@MattBraynard) November 29, 2020

  Braynard added that “everything I pass on to local/state/fed law enforcement, litigants, legislatures, journalists, etc, is always a copy,” and noted “despite sharing it with individuals from all of those groups, there’s never guarantee of a productive result.”

  According to Braynard, his team has found multiple irregularities in the 2020 – including voters who never requested absentee ballots, potentially uncounted votes, and people registering their addresses at postal annex-type businesses in violation of state laws.

  “I estimate that the number of ballots that were either requested by someone other than the registered Republican or requested and returned but not counted range from 89,397 to 98,801,” said Steven Miller – a Williams College professor who analyzed Braynard’s data, according to Just The News.

  Meanwhile, former Kansas Attorney General Phillip Kline – current director of the Amistad Project of the Thomas More Society and Braynard’s partner in the project, tweeted on Sunday: “After learning that hundreds of thousands of ballots are potentially fraudulent- The FBI has now requested to look at our data.”

  Kline noted that Braynard was contacted by “FBI Special Agent Young Oh of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office,” and that they were fully cooperating.

  After learning that hundreds of thousands of ballots are potentially fraudulent- The FBI has now requested to look at our data.

  See statement below: pic.twitter.com/4CZKITK5cz

  — Phillip Kline (@PhillDKline) November 29, 2020

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  The notion of Branyard handing over data to the same agency which performed espionage on the 2016 Trump campaign, led by a director which sat on the Hunter Biden laptop evidence of Biden corruption in Ukraine – sitting by while Democrats impeached Trump over asking Ukrainians to investigate exactly that, has many wondering if the agency’s request is intelligence gathering on an opponent, or related to a legitimate investigation into voter fraud.

  Why, to seize it then make it disappear? https://t.co/d5Mc6eUNLp

  — John Cardillo (@johncardillo) November 29, 2020

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  President Trump on Sunday suggested to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that the FBI and Justice Department ‘may be involved.’

  President @realDonaldTrump: “There are a lot of dead people that so-called voted in this election… This is total fraud— and how the FBI and [DOJ], I don’t know, maybe they’re involved — but how people are allowed to get away with this stuff is unbelievable.” pic.twitter.com/C8VgkuqRNn

  — TV News HQ (@TVNewsHQ) November 29, 2020

  Wouldn’t be the first time…

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• NYC Pub Declares Itself "Autonomous Zone" After Government Tries To Shut It Down
  NYC Pub Declares Itself “Autonomous Zone” After Government Tries To Shut It Down
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 17:25

  In what is a hilarious bit of irony for Democrat politicians in New York, a pub that had its liquor license yanked due to Covid rules has now declared itself an “Autonomous Zone” and is continuing to do business.

  The bar, called Mac’s Public House in Staten Island, said publicly: “We refuse to abide by any rules and regulations put forth by the Mayor of NYC and Governor of NY State.”

  They also painted “AUTONOMOUS ZONE” on the sidewalk outside the bar and put signs in the windows claiming “As of November 20, 2020, we hereby declare this establishment an AUTONOMOUS ZONE”.

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  The pub had its liquor license revoked by the state and was slapped with thousands of dollars in fines after defying New York’s latest move to “orange zone status” (whatever that means) thanks to the very huge brain of “Emmy nominated” Governor Andrew Cuomo. 

  Co-owner Danny Presti told The Post: “At this point, we’re OK with it, because we’re not paying it. [The Sheriff’s Department] is issuing us $1,000 fines, so they keep coming back. We’re still here. We’re not letting them in.”

  Co-owner Keith McAlarney said in a recent YouTube video: “We’re not backing down. You think you scared me by . . . saying I don’t have a license now to serve liquor now? Well guess what? That liquor license is on the wall. If that liquor license is gonna come off the wall, it’s gonna be done by Cuomo. You wanna come down here and pull that license off the wall?” 

  <!–[if IE 9]><![endif]–>

  

  He continued: “De Bozo – you want to come down here and pull the license off the wall? Feel free to end up comin’ down, and we’ll end up having a conversation before you even think about stepping foot on my property. I will not back down.”

  On Saturday, the bar was operating without a license, offering booze for free to a small group of customers. The move is try and exploit a loophole in Cuomo’s bill by not actually charging customers. 

  One customer said: “He’s alright, he’s doing the right thing.”

  Another customer – who didn’t pay for his drink and left a $100 tip on a glass of water – said: “I totally support what he is doing. I don’t support the tyrannical nonsense they have in place.” 

  Here is a video update on the bar from the weekend: 

  

• If CPI Measured Actual House Prices, Inflation Would Be 3% Right Now
  If CPI Measured Actual House Prices, Inflation Would Be 3% Right Now
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 17:00

  Submitted by Joseph Carson, formerly chief economist at AllianceBernstein

  “Actual” consumer price inflation is rising during the recession. That runs counter to the normal recessionary pattern when the combination of weak demand and excess capacity works to lessen inflationary pressures.

  The main source of faster consumer price inflation is centered in the housing market. The Case-Shiller Home Price Index posted a 7% increase the last year, more than twice the gain of one-year ago.

  The sharp acceleration in house price inflation represents the fastest increase since 2014 and runs counter to the patterns of the past two recessions. During the 2001 recession house price inflation slowed by one-third, while in the Great Financial Recession housing prices posted their largest decline in the post-war period, falling over 12% nationwide.

  The consumer price index (CPI) does not show in house price inflation because it uses a non-market rent index to capture the trends in housing inflation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that the non-market rent index has increased 2.5% in the past 12 months, or 450 basis points below the rise in house prices.

  If actual house prices were used in place of rents core CPI would have registered a 3% gain in the past year, nearly twice the reported gain of 1.6%.

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  If aggregate price measures did not exist house prices would be one of the most important measures to gauge inflation and the proper setting of official interest rates. That’s because house price cycles include easy credit/financial conditions, excess demand, and inflation expectations, three key ingredients of inflation cycles.

  Rising consumer price inflation is added to the list of unique features of the 2020 recession. Others include an increase in corporate debt levels instead of debt-liquidation and rising equity prices instead of share price declines.

  If the 2020 recession has economic and financial features that normally appear during economic recovery what does that imply for the next growth cycle? The debt overhang at the corporate and federal debt should impede the next growth cycle. And if the cyclical rise in housing demand is occurring in recession it can’t be repeated during recovery.

  The next economic cycle will be filled with unique tipping points, and no one should assume that policymakers can control or offset them.

  

• The 'Smartest Man In The Room' Just Joined Sidney Powell's Team
  The ‘Smartest Man In The Room’ Just Joined Sidney Powell’s Team
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 16:55

  Authored by Andrea Widburg via AmericanThinker.com,

  In her Georgia complaint, Sidney Powell included the declaration of Navid Keshavarz-Nia, an expert witness who stated under oath that there was massive computer fraud in the 2020 election, all of it intended to secure a victory for Joe Biden.  Dr. Kershavarz-Nia’s name may not mean a lot to you, but it’s one of the weightiest names in the world when it comes to sniffing out cyber-security problems.

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  We know how important Dr. Kershavarz-Nia is because, just two and a half months ago, the New York Times ran one of its Sunday long-form articles about a massive, multi-million-dollar fraud that a talented grifter ran against the American intelligence and military communities.  Dr. Kershavarz-Nia is one of the few people who comes off looking good:

  Navid Keshavarz-Nia, those who worked with him said, “was always the smartest person in the room.” In doing cybersecurity and technical counterintelligence work for the C.I.A., N.S.A. and F.B.I., he had spent decades connecting top-secret dots. After several months of working with Mr. Courtney, he began connecting those dots too. He did not like where they led.

  Not only does Dr. Kershavarz-Nia have an innate intelligence, but he’s also got extraordinary academic and practical skills in cyber-fraud detection and analysis.  The reason we know about his qualifications is that it takes seven paragraphs for him to list them in the declaration he signed to support the Georgia complaint.

  His qualifications include a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in various areas of electrical and computer engineering.  In addition, “I have advanced trained from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), DHS office of Intelligence & Analysis (I&A) and Massachusetts Institution of Technology (MIT).”

  Professionally, Dr. Kershavarz-Nia has spent his career as a cyber-security engineer.  

  “My experience,” he attests,” spans 35 years performing technical assessment, mathematical modeling, cyber-attack pattern analysis, and security intelligence[.]”  

  I will not belabor the point.  Take it as given that Dr. Kershavarz-Nia may know more about cyber-security than anyone else in America.

  So what does the brilliant Dr. Kershavarz-Nia have to say?  This:

  1. Hammer and Scorecard is real, not a hoax (as Democrats allege), and both are used to manipulate election outcomes.

  2. Dominion, ES&S, Scytl, and Smartmatic are all vulnerable to fraud and vote manipulation — and the mainstream media reported on these vulnerabilities in the past.

  3. Dominion has been used in other countries to “forge election results.”

  4. Dominion’s corporate structure is deliberately confusing to hide relationships with Venezuela, China, and Cuba.

  5. Dominion machines are easily hackable.

  6. Dominion memory cards with cryptographic key access to the systems were stolen in 2019.

  Although he had no access to the machines, Dr. Kershavarz has looked at available data about the election and the vote results.  Based on that information, he concluded

  1. The counts in the disputed states (Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia) show electronic manipulation.

  2. The simultaneous decision in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia to pretend to halt counting votes was unprecedented and demonstrated a coordinated effort to collude toward desired results.

  3. One to two percent of votes were forged in Biden’s favor.

  4. Optical scanners were set to accept unverified, un-validated ballots.

  5. The scanners failed to keep records for audits, an outcome that must have been deliberately programmed.

  6. The stolen cryptographic key, which applied to all voting systems, was used to alter vote counts.

  7. The favorable votes pouring in after hours for Biden could not be accounted for by a Democrat preference for mailed in ballots.  They demonstrated manipulation.  For example, in Pennsylvania, it was physically impossible to feed 400,000 ballots into the machines within 2–3 hours.

  8. Dominion used Chinese parts, and there’s reason to believe that China, Venezuela, Cuba interfered in the election.

  9. There was a Hammer and Scorecard cyber-attack that altered votes in the battleground states, and then forwarded the results to Scytl servers in Frankfurt, Germany, to avoid detection.

  10. The systems failed to produce any auditable results.

  Based on the above findings, Dr. Keshavarz-Nia concluded with “high confidence that the election 2020 data were altered in all battleground states resulting in a [sic] hundreds of thousands of votes that were cast for President Trump to be transferred [sic] to Vice President Biden.”

  This is going to be tough evidence for Democrats to counter.  Back when the naïve Democrats thought Trump would be the one to commit fraud, they held congressional hearings and wrote articles about the voting machines’ vulnerability.  And with the New York Times touting Dr. Keshavarz-Nia’s brilliance and his ability to sniff out fraud, they’ll struggle to that he’s not a reliable expert.  Things are getting fun.

  

• Biden Twists Ankle While Playing With Psychic Dog
  Biden Twists Ankle While Playing With Psychic Dog
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 16:10

  Presumptive President-Elect Joe Biden slipped and twisted his ankle on Saturday while playing with his dog – which, coincidentally, telepathically told a British psychic that the 78-year-old former Vice President would make a “great president.”

  Per Biden’s office, “On Saturday Nov. 28, President-elect Biden slipped while playing with his dog Major, and twisted his ankle.  Out of an abundance of caution, he will be examined this afternoon by an orthopedist.”

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  Biden’s alleged mishap sparked a lively debate on Twitter:

  pic.twitter.com/xuC8xYExaa

  — AusTexGent (@AusTexGent) November 29, 2020

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  pic.twitter.com/rOtDWl7NyD

  — Political Sock (@PoliticalSock) November 29, 2020

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  “Lets go with ‘playing with dog’, people will find it charming and relatable”

  — Johann Bark (@johannbark) November 29, 2020

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  Was this Major’s revenge after Biden went a sniff too far?

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Digest powered by RSS Digest

• Fragile And Unsustainable Lies
  Fragile And Unsustainable Lies
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sun, 11/29/2020 – 00:00

  Authored by Robert Wright via The American Institute,

  Many times throughout history, policymakers have doubled down on their own mistakes, refusing to believe that they were wrong or hoping that somehow doing the wrong thing twice or thrice would somehow make things right. Then it all came crashing down at once and the rulers lost their minds, and sometimes their necks or heads.

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  Economic, governance, and social systems often rely on each other in ways not readily discerned by narrow technocrats. When one crumbles, the others fall in rapid succession while all the putative experts express surprise. Look at the way that the U.S.S.R, one of the world’s two “super” powers, fell apart in the late 1980s when it lost enough feathers from its peacock tail in Afghanistan that its lies about the superiority of its command economy became obvious even to its own systematically deluded subjects.

  When NPR proved inadequate to prevent Americans from seeing the few feathers left in America’s peacock tail, as evidenced by the surprise victory of Trump and his MAGA messaging in 2016, mass media joined forces with various “progressive” elements to create a propaganda machine that puts the old clunky Soviet state media to shame. 

  Precisely because it is ostensibly private and domestic, America’s mass media, tarnished as its reputation is becoming, retains more credibility than any state-run media ever possessed. Many pundits have noted how 2020 resembles 1984, except the propaganda so far has come from a political resistance movement backed by parts of the government (FBI, CDC) rather than “the” state per se. 

  The phalanx of private media and sundry have convinced tens of millions of Americans that: 

  • we are better off imposing lockdowns that cause far more harm than the virus itself (and sundry cognates, like the virus is super serious and novel, spreads easily via asymptomatic people, yet is stopped by irrational policies like curfews, as if people won’t simply start drinking earlier!); 

  • the current president is somehow illegitimate (Russian election interference, Ukrainian quid pro quo); 

  • nation-altering Constitutional reforms are necessary (de facto elimination of the electoral college, creation of additional states, SCOTUS enlargement); 

  • calling all people of Euroamerican descent racist isn’t itself racist;

  • a virus can differentiate between good protests (pro-BLM and pro-Biden) and bad ones (anti-lockdown and pro-Trump);

  • the American people chose a candidate who essentially did not campaign or set forth a coherent policy platform over one who, for all his faults, was president when the economy finally palpably improved and made enough progress in the Middle East to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

  Most impressive of all has been the way the mass media censored or downplayed Biden’s many weaknesses, his deplorable record on race, his almost half-century of self-serving political machinations, and his family’s dealings with Ukraine and China.

  Thankfully, the Truth always prevails, it is just a matter of when and how. When the real world is heavily involved, Lies quickly die. So many a hubristic tyrant from ancient times to Hitler has fallen in war; many a fiat currency, including confederal Continentals and Confederate graybacks, has evaporated when their nominal value in circulation rapidly outstripped the real value of goods brought to market. 

  The most robust, sustainable Lies cannot even be properly called such because they make no real world predictions at all but instead appeal to emotion and faith, to Revealed Truth. Some have lasted for millennia and though less popular than previously in many places they will surely outlast 2020’s Lies, even though some of those have appealed to faith, oddly in the name of “science,” as in phrases like “follow the science” reminiscent of Sunday sermons beseeching congregants to “follow Scripture.”

  But religion appeals to people’s inner worlds so it can get by on dodgy slogans like “God works in mysterious ways.” The Lies of 2020, by contrast, make real world predictions and no amount of media censorship, irrational analysis, or outright obfuscation can permanently hide the fact that lockdowns impose large net burdens, Trump is no more incompetent or flawed than previous presidents, Constitutional checks and balances need to be strengthened and not dismantled, and Americans/America are no more racist than any other people/country.

  Just as a fiat currency can quickly lose value through the self-interested actions of market participants, so too can lockdowns dissolve. In fact, in both cases governmental attempts to bolster its Lie (that its monetary policies or lockdowns work) will serve to speed the inevitable. If policymakers do not take the “Thanksgiving Rebellion” as a serious warning, they are dumber or more hubristic than even the most pessimistic have claimed. 

  In fact, Americans should use social media, a tool like all tools that can be used for good as well as evil, to pick a time to sing some vintage Twisted Sister in unison to underscore the point: “Oh, we’re not gonna take it anymore! … This is our life … oh You’re so condescending/Your gall is never ending … If that’s your best, your best won’t do. … We’re right … We’re free … We’ll Fight … You’ll see.”

  I practice what I preach and drove 12 hours from Georgia to New Jersey to spend time with my family this Thanksgiving, which as usual is gathering near one of the branches of the Atilis Gym, the owners of which gained fame earlier this year by proving the state’s restrictions on places of exercise was not just wrong but wrongheaded. To this day, not a single case of coronavirus has been linked to the establishment and, in fact, its regular patrons stand (and run, bike, squat, and row) as bulwarks against the spread of the coronavirus.

  What kind of public health system bemoans the fact that 40 percent of the population is so unhealthy that they are at higher risk of developing complications from the coronavirus and then shutters workout facilities (and even at points boardwalks, parks, etc.)? A coercive state that truly cared about its people would have forced them to exercise instead of shuttering gyms, walking paths, and bike trails!

  The longer policymakers allow the pandemic to play out through forced restrictions on natural interaction, the more Americans who will conclude that the public health system and Big Medicine have formed a “complex” akin to the military-industrial and scientific-technical-research complexes that Dwight D. Eisenhower warned Americans about when he left office in 1961, in the wake of another election apparently won with the aid of dead Democrats. 

  This third complex is not interested in Americans’ health but rather their debility. Its goal is to make people dependent on pills and fancy vaccines (the kind now being tested, not the much easier and cheaper live vaccines that might have provided safe, voluntary herd immunity in a month or two, without lockdowns) and to charge through the nose for them, indirectly through taxes or insurance premia. Indirect billing renders the exorbitant costs easier to hide, but like all Lies with real world implications its effects are fragile and unsustainable as even indirect healthcare expenses become unbearable. That led to dropout (most uninsured Americans rationally opted out of insurance that was too costly relative to the expected benefit) and calls for “reforms,” all of which attempt to force everyone to pay tribute to the healthcare complex.

  The big risk that I see is that some Americans are coming to understand 2020’s Lies much more quickly and clearly than others. There is a chance, therefore, that instead of The People rising up against feckless government tyrants a la Twisted Sister, tensions between the Still Masked and the Unmaskers, which started in March and intensified over the summer, may boil over into violence. That would be lamentable and counterproductive and could cause the deaths of more Americans in a single day than have perished thus far during the entire pandemic. Violence is a contagion to which nobody can become immune.

  

• CCP Imposes Tough New 'Social Credit Score' Rules
  CCP Imposes Tough New ‘Social Credit Score’ Rules
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 23:30

  China will consider individuals who seriously endanger people’s health and safety, or disrupt markets’ fair competition and normal social order, as threats to society under its new social credit guidelines.

  State broadcaster CCTV reported that the measures were discussed during a recent meeting of the state council citing a state council meeting led by Premier Li Keqiang, President Xi’s point man for handling the fallout for the coronavirus.

  Among these new punitive measures, China will promote quality development of the credit reporting industry, while encouraging the  sharing of credit information related to finance, government administration and public utilities Speed up orderly use of government-related data Strengthen information security and privacy protection.

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  The meeting, chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday, decided on measures to refine the bad-faith deterrent mechanism to promote the orderly and healthy development of the social credit system.

  The principles include adhering to laws and regulations, protecting rights and interests, taking a prudent and appropriate approach and implementing list-based managemen The scope and procedures of credit information shall be formulated in a science-based way, while those for sharing credit information shall be standardized, the meeting said.

  For those who aren’t familiar with it, Fox News explains that China’s social credit system is a government program being implemented the People’s Republic of China regulate its citizens’ behavior based on a point system.

  Citizens with higher scores have had an easier time getting bank loans, free medical checkups and discounts on heating. Points have been deducted for traffic violations, selling faulty products or defaulting on loan payments. In some cases, people with bad social credit scores have been barred from buying airline or train tickets.

  Other infractions including smoking in non-smoking areas, along with buying – or playing – too many video games, according to various media reports.

  

• Inequality And The Gold Standard
  Inequality And The Gold Standard
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 23:00

  Authored by David Howden via The Mises Institute,

  [First published by Mises Canada, December 2013.]

  Imagine that you earn $40,000 a year and your boss doubles you at $80,000 a year. Business was good to you both in 2013, and you received a 25% raise for your efforts. Not bad, and your boss gets to share in this good fortune too with an extra $25,000 (about 30%). You’re going to make $50,000 in 2014 and your boss will pull in $105,000.

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  Are you happy with this deal? Probably. But wait, income inequality just increased! Your boss originally outpaced you by 100%, but now his salary is 110% higher than yours.

  To read the brouhaha going around right now, this situation is cause for alarm. Income inequality has increased and despite the fact that everyone is doing better than they once were, one group is doing relatively better.

  What about if we reverse the example, starting from the original salaries? Instead of having a great year, imagine things were very bad and salary cuts are going around. You get a 25% pay cut so that you will now be earning $30,000 a year, and because he has more responsibility about the direction of the business and its lack of success, your boss gets a larger pay cut of $25,000. (This situation is the mirror image of the first example.)

  You are making much less than you did last year. Are you upset about this? Probably. But wait, apparently there is a silver lining. Your boss now “only” makes about 80% more money than you, versus the 100% salary differential that existed last year. Income inequality decreased!

  Apparently you can take solace in knowing that the playing field has been levelled, even if your kids are going to have a tough Christmas morning one year from now.

  This is admittedly a very simple example. What I am trying to show is that the income inequality debate is not as straight forward as it is commonly framed. It is not just a question of one group getting a larger piece of the pie, but of increasing the size of the pie so that everyone can benefit.

  John Cassidy recently entered the melee with a very digestible look at American income inequality over time. In his “six charts” there is some of the same (the top 1% of earners have seen their share of the pie rise rapidly over the past decades) and also some surprises.

  Relying on data from Berkeley economist Emmanuel Saez, Cassidy shares the following graph showing changes in real income growth over the past century.

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  First let’s look at the top 1%. There seem to be about three distinct periods their incomes have gone through. The first from 1913 to roughly 1973 is more or less flat. Real incomes for the top 1% were no higher in 1973 than they were around 1930. After 1973 however there is a sharp and mostly uninterrupted spike upwards which seems to stop around the year 2000. After 2000 their real incomes have ebbed and flowed, primarily in response to capital gains and losses on their stock portfolios. Even though the volatility of their income has increased, it still remains quite high relative to any time over the past 100 years.

  Compare this with the bottom 99%. There seem to be about four distinct periods of real income growth. From 1913 until the end of the Great Depression, real income remained more or less constant. The 1940s, 50s and 60s saw a rapid increase in real income growth, far more rapid than what the 1% experienced. This came to a sudden end around 1973 and a stagnation until the early 1990s. Then from 1993 onwards we see the same final stage as the 1%. Increasing real incomes (though much slower than the 1%) but more volatility as well.

  There are many things which are the same in these two trends, but the one year that probably pops out for people who think income inequality is a bad thing is 1973.

  This year marked the end of the steady advance for the 99%’s real income gains and set in motion the rapid advance of the 1%. In other words, the marked income inequality we see today is a product of the post-1973 world.

  So what happened in 1973? Many things as it turns out. Decreased unionization was getting underway in the U.S. economy around this time, as was the spike in the price of oil.

  Russ Roberts over at Café Hayek has a different explanation. He thinks it has to do with changes to the family unit. Large increases in the divorce rate and a steady increase in the number of households headed by women could be to blame for the sudden jump in income inequality.

  Maybe, but although this could be a reason why, I doubt it is the primary reason.

  Let’s try an informal test. What was the biggest event to occur in 1973?

  Americans probably will answer Roe v. Wade, the completion of the World Trade Center as the world’s tallest building or the beginnings of the Watergate hearings. Maybe the start of withdrawal of troops from Vietnam or Britain joining the European Economic Community. Or for sports fans it could be Secretariat winning the Triple Crown and getting immortalized on the cover of Time.

  Actually the most important thing to happen in 1973 actually happened in 1971, August 15th to be exact.

  On that date Richard Nixon closed the gold window. The U.S. dollar was convertible by foreign governments into gold under the then-existing Bretton Woods system at the great price of $35 per ounce. Continued redemption demands by some belligerent countries (primarily France) drained the U.S. of its gold reserves until the breaking point when it became questionable how much longer this could continue for. In what could have been the most important day of the 20th century, Richard Nixon decided to renege on the U.S.’s promises to foreign governments and essentially default on its currency. No longer was the U.S. dollar tied to gold and the U.S. no longer had to worry about spending beyond its means.

  Well, almost no longer. While there was no convertibility into gold after 1971 there was still that old bugaboo of fixity in the exchange rate. The U.S. dollar still functioned on a fixed exchange rate standard relative to gold until 1973, even if there was no convertibility. This meant that the U.S. was still not free to expand its money supply or incur ever increasing budget deficits at will. It had to target a dollar price of gold, which was reset a little higher in 1971 to $38/oz. Even though there was no redeemability, the U.S. was legally obliged to target this gold price, something which tied its hands concerning the extent to which deficits could be run and expansionary of the money supply policies could be pursued.

  The effect on the deficit is easy to understand in light of this.

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  Since the late 1880s (and before) the U.S. government ran a somewhat balanced budget. Minor blips appeared during the two World Wars, but by-and-large the deficit hovered very close to the zero line. In the late 1960s we can witness the a growing deficit, partly in response to the cost of the Vietnam War but even that is relatively mild to what would come later. Likewise, 1971 also witnessed a growing deficit but the year which defines the point of no return is clearly 1973. At that point the U.S. deficit went into freefall and besides a few surplus years in the late 1990s it has never recovered.

  The effect was also pronounced on prices.

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  Prices were indeed climbing throughout the 1960s, but 1973 was also the year that set off the most inflationary episode in America´s history. Being unhinged from that relic of gold, the Federal Reserve could increase the money supply and monetize the Federal government’s budget as it wanted. This culminated with 15% annual inflation in 1980 something which took a very strong-minded Federal Reserve chairman by the name of Paul Volker to tame by putting the breaks on money supply growth.

  Inflation looks tame today, though the experience following the 1973 decoupling showed what happens when you let the government spend at will without any restraint. Gold provided restraint, just as political gridlock should today. But in the period of the mid to late 1970s there was no such luck.

  All this takes us back to the original question: why did income inequality increase so much after 1973? We can look to two factors both related to the loss of the gold exchange standard in 1971 and the arrival of flexible exchange rates two years later.

  • First, as the U.S. government no longer had to worry about redeeming U.S. debt held overseas in gold, it was able to spend without restraint. Of course, this created a large budget deficit quickly, something which needed a solution.

  • This brings us to the second point. By monetizing the U.S. budget deficits, the Federal Reserve set off a period of high price inflation.

  The reason why there is growing income inequality since 1973 is a direct result of this monetary mayhem. All this new money needs an entry point into the economy. Someone has to get it first and spend it. When they spend this newly created money they do so at the existing set of prices, but in the course of making these expenditures prices will rise. Those who get the money first “win” in the sense that they get a free lunch – they have a greater income and can spend it before prices rise. Those who get the money last are the “losers” – they get access to this money eventually as it is spent (trickles down?) but by the time that occurs, prices have already risen. They are no better off.

  The 99% that have become relatively poorer over the past 40 years are those who get access to this new money last. (Remember however that these people are still, thankfully, wealthier than they were 40 years ago.)

  Who are the remaining 1%, then? Well, who gets the money first?

  Government officials and contractors, to the extent that they gets the proceeds of all the newly created money are the first and primary beneficiaries. Big banks and financial institutions also win as they are the enablers who help this newly created money enter the economy. Incidentally, 99 times out of 100, when we think of someone in the 1% who is getting ahead of the rest of us, they probably either work for the higher echelons of the government or are involved in the financial industry.

  Coincidence? I doubt it, and you just have to go back in time to 1973 to understand why.

  

• Visualizing 50 Years Of Gaming History, By Revenue Stream (1970-2020)
  Visualizing 50 Years Of Gaming History, By Revenue Stream (1970-2020)
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 22:30

  Every year it feels like the gaming industry sees the same stories—record sales, unfathomable market reach, and questions of how much higher the market can go.

  We’re already far past the point of gaming being the biggest earning media sector, with an estimated $165 billion revenue generated in 2020.

  But as Visual Capitalist’s Omri Wallach illustrates in the infographic below, it’s important to break down shifting growth within the market.

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  Research from Pelham Smithers shows that while the tidal wave of gaming has only continued to swell, the driving factors have shifted over the course of gaming history.

  1970–1983: The Pre-Crash Era

  At first, there was Atari.

  Early prototypes of video games were developed in labs in the 1960s, but it was Atari’s release of Pong in 1972 that helped to kickstart the industry.

  The arcade table-tennis game was a sensation, drawing in consumers eager to play and companies that started to produce their own knock-off versions. Likewise, it was Atari that sold a home console version of Pong in 1975, and eventually its own Atari 2600 home console in 1977, which would become the first console to sell more than a million units.

  In short order, the arcade market began to plateau. After dwindling due to a glut of Pong clones, the release of Space Invaders in 1978 reinvigorated the market.

  Arcade machines started to be installed everywhere, and new franchises like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong drove further growth. By 1982, arcades were already generating more money than both the pop music industry and the box office.

  1985–2000: The Tech Advancement Race

  Unfortunately, the gaming industry grew too quickly to maintain.

  Eager to capitalize on a growing home console market, Atari licensed extremely high budget ports of Pac-Man and a game adaptation of E.T. the Extra Terrestrial. They were rushed to market, released in poor quality, and cost the company millions in returns and more in brand damage.

  As other companies also looked to capitalize on the market, many other poor attempts at games and consoles caused a downturn across the industry. At the same time, personal computers were becoming the new flavor of gaming, especially with the release of the Commodore 64 in 1982.

  It was a sign of what was to define this era of gaming history: a technological race. In the coming years, Nintendo would release the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) home console in 1985 (released in Japan as the Famicom), prioritizing high quality games and consistent marketing to recapture the wary market.

  On the backs of games like Duck Hunt, Excitebike, and the introduction of Mario in Super Mario Bros, the massive success of the NES revived the console market.

  Estimated Total Console Sales by Manufacturer (1970-2020)

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  Nintendo looked to continue its dominance in the field, with the release of the Game Boy handheld and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. At the same time, other competitors stepped in to beat them at their own game.

  In 1988, arcade company Sega entered the fray with the Sega Mega Drive console (released as the Genesis in North America) and then later the Game Gear handheld, putting its marketing emphasis on processing power.

  Electronics maker Sony released the PlayStation in 1994, which used CD-ROMs instead of cartridges to enhance storage capacity for individual games. It became the first console in history to sell more than 100 million units, and the focus on software formats would carry on with the PlayStation 2 (DVDs) and PlayStation 3 (Blu-rays).

  Even Microsoft recognized the importance of gaming on PCs and developed the DirectX API to assist in game programming. That “X” branding would make its way to the company’s entry into the console market, the Xbox.

  2001–Present: The Online Boom

  It was the rise of the internet and mobile, however, that grew the gaming industry from tens of billions to hundreds of billions in revenue.

  A primer was the viability of subscription and freemium services. In 2001, Microsoft launched the Xbox Live online gaming platform for a monthly subscription fee, giving players access to multiplayer matchmaking and voice chat services, quickly becoming a must-have for consumers.

  Meanwhile on PCs, Blizzard was tapping into the Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) subscription market with the 2004 release of World of Warcraft, which saw a peak of more than 14 million monthly paying subscribers.

  All the while, companies saw a future in mobile gaming that they were struggling to tap into. Nintendo continued to hold onto the handheld market with updated Game Boy consoles, and Nokia and BlackBerry tried their hands at integrating game apps into their phones.

  But it was Apple’s iPhone that solidified the transition of gaming to a mobile platform. The company’s release of the App Store for its smartphones (followed closely by Google’s own store for Android devices) paved the way for app developers to create free, paid, and pay-per-feature games catered to a mass market.

  Now, everyone has their eyes on that growing $85 billion mobile slice of the gaming market, and game companies are starting to heavily consolidate.

  Major Gaming Acquisitions Since 2014

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  Console makers like Microsoft and Sony are launching cloud-based subscription services even while they continue to develop new consoles. Meanwhile, Amazon and Google are launching their own services that work on multiple devices, mobile included.

  After seeing the success that games like Pokémon Go had on smartphones—reaching more than $1 billion in yearly revenue—and Grand Theft Auto V’s record breaking haul of $1 billion in just three days, companies are targeting as much of the market as they can.

  And with the proliferation of smartphones, social media games, and streaming services, they’re on the right track. There are more than 2.7 billion gamers worldwide in 2020, and how they choose to spend their money will continue to shape gaming history as we know it.

  

• 2021 Would Be A Great Time To Audit The Fed
  2021 Would Be A Great Time To Audit The Fed
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 22:00

  Authored by Nick Hankoff via The Mises Institute,

  Gone are the days of the Federal Reserve hiding in the shadows. Now it’s a woke central bank fighting for climate and racial justice. Progressives must not fall for this but instead team up with the populist right to audit the Fed and demand transparency.

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  Let the healing begin! If it is going to be President Joe Biden a couple months from now, then there will be all the more incentive for antiestablishment Democrats to join forces with populist Republicans. What better issue than auditing the Federal Reserve System?

  There is strong precedent for progressives and the populist right to unite around an “Audit the Fed” movement. In early 2009, Congressman Ron Paul introduced the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, which garnered 320 House cosponsors by the summer of 2010.

  Since then, the antiestablishment factions of both parties have grown and at least one of the 2009 House cosponsors now holds a Senate seat. Audit the Fed has passed the House on three occasions, so it could see as much or more success this coming session.

  Another development over the last eleven years is the Fed’s evolving public image. Before Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential run, the central bank lurked in near-total darkness. Two thousand nine was a breakout year for its public relations campaign, and the Fed has failed to return to its prior obscurity. 

  Now the secretive power center larps as a super–social justice warrior, fighting for climate and racial justice, the top pet issues of the progressive left. Many grassroots progressives expressed their distaste for Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, but even those who held their noses to vote for them shouldn’t feel at all obliged to apologize for the Fed’s virtue signaling.

  Meanwhile, inflationary monetary policy most harms those people and communities whom the progressive left claims to champion. Saving becomes more difficult or impossible, while prices of goods rise.

  All the more reason for the Fed to adopt the likeness of a woke institution. Just as it has blamed “irrational exuberance” for boom-bust cycles, it can now blame systemic racism or climate change for poor economic growth that’s actually fueled by its own monetary policy.

  This week, the Fed officially sought membership in the Network for Greening the Financial System, an assemblage of central banks and other international forces that “support the transition toward a sustainable economy” for the sake of the climate.

  This past summer, Fed chairman Jerome Powell promised to improve “diversity” within the Fed’s structure. Will the new friendlier, kinder, and woker Federal Reserve System win the trust of progressives or irk them for stealing their thunder and undermining their vision?

  Most Americans already don’t trust the Fed, especially Democrats, people forty-nine and under, and those making less than $50,000 a year. Those would be natural progressive constituencies.

  Republicans in the House and Senate, especially if the president is unable to secure a second term, will be in a strong position to take on the Fed. Trump has long criticized the bank and its chairman, whom he picked. Although more recent frustration expressed was over interest rates not being low enough, Trump also supported auditing the Fed during his 2016 campaign.

  Republicans will also likely control the Senate, so any other Fed-related bills that Democrats might propose would have more trouble finding enough votes for passage. Take for instance the Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act recently introduced by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand and cosponsored by Bernie Sanders.

  This FRREE Act seeks to “minimize and eliminate racial disparities in employment, wages, wealth, and access to affordable credit.” That amounts to overhauling the Congress’s instructions for the Fed, which have focused the bank’s duties on job creation and price stabilization since 1977.

  Unfortunately, its champions Warren and Sanders have opposed auditing the Fed in the past. It will take a groundswell of grassroots pressure to turn them around, but it can be done.

  Any hope for real political unity that actually benefits the American people depends on the success of projects like Audit the Fed. If populist movements from the left and right can coalesce on this one thing, they will find their time well spent. 

  Even if a President Biden or Trump vetoed the legislation, it would amount to progress in the pursuit of transparency at the Fed. Both the left and right side of grassroots politics could claim a piece of the same victory. That would be a nice turnaround from 2020.

  

• Cali Mansion Once Listed For $100 Million Sells For "Only" $48.4 Million
  Cali Mansion Once Listed For $100 Million Sells For “Only” $48.4 Million
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 21:30

  Today in “a look into a luxury real estate market you will never likely participate in” news…

  A famous L.A. mansion called “Opus” that was once listed for $100 million and has been on the market for over three years has finally sold – at a more than 50% haircut.

  The 20,000 square foot mansion sold for $48.4 million this week, furniture included, according to Bloomberg. It is also the latest canary in the luxury real estate coal mine, selling for a large discount during a pandemic which has seen foreign buyers dry up and an exodus from city areas.

  Additionally, as we have noted this year, California is seeing an outflow of residents as poor state management, higher taxes and more government are driving citizens to tax havens like Florida and Texas. 

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  Jonathan Miller, president of appraiser Miller Samuel told Bloomberg of the original price tag: “It was never worth that to begin with. High-end properties are moving, but they’re not moving for prices that are disconnected from the market.”

  The house sports 7 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms, and was custom built by movie producer turned real estate developer (of course) Nile Niami. He first tried to sell the house “with a PR campaign involving a hyper-sexualized video of mostly-naked women in different parts of the house, including one shot of four women slathered in gold paint posing around a golden Lamborghini”.

  When that didn’t work, we guess he ran out of ideas and simply decided to start cutting the price 3 years ago. 

  Niami is currently developing a $500 million private residence called “The One” that has 4 swimming pools, a nightclub and a bowling alley. We can’t prove it, but we’re sure this insanity is somehow Neel Kashkari’s fault. Niami says he won’t budge on the $500 million price tag. 

  Umansky said of the project: “He just won’t listen to the market. If he would just sell and not try to hit a grand slam on every deal, he would be great.”

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  The lack of a bid in general is isolated to speculative luxury homes over $100 million, the article notes (we can’t imagine why). The rest of the real estate market has been showing signs of lack of supply, mirroring demand nationally in places like South Florida, the Hamptons and Greenwich, Connecticut.

  Mauricio Umansky, chief executive officer of the Agency, said: “There’s a big gap between what the owners are willing to sell for and buyers are willing to pay. They didn’t underwrite correctly.”

  While the bid/ask spread on real estate has narrowed, some celebrity real estate sales have seen their prices drop. Lori Loughlin, before heading to jail, sold her Bel Air mansion for almost 50% less than the $35 million she was asking. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi also recently sold their home for $33.3 million after it was originally listed at $40 million.

  

• The Strangely Unscientific Masking Of America
  The Strangely Unscientific Masking Of America
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 21:00

  Authored by Jenin Younes via The American Institute for Economic Research,

  I remember vividly the day, at the tail end of March, when facemasks suddenly became synonymous with morality: either one cared about the lives of others and donned a mask, or one was selfish and refused to do so. The shift occurred virtually overnight. 

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  Only a day or two before, I had associated this attire solely with surgeons and people living in heavily polluted regions. Now, my friends’ favorite pastime during our weekly Zoom sessions was excoriating people for running or socializing without masks in Prospect Park. I was mystified by their certitude that bits of cloth were the only thing standing between us and mass death, particularly when mere weeks prior, the message from medical experts contradicted this new doctrine.

  On February 29, the U.S. surgeon general infamously tweeted:

  “Seriously people – STOP BUYING MASKS. . . They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus.”

  Anthony Fauci, the best-known member of the coronavirus task force, advised Americans not to wear masks around this time. 

  Similarly, in the earliest weeks of the pandemic, the CDC maintained that masks should be worn only by individuals who were symptomatic or caring for a sick person, a position that the WHO stood by even longer.

  As rapidly as mask use became a matter of ethics, the issue transformed into a political one, exemplified by an article printed on March 27 in the New York Times, entitled “More Americans Should Probably Wear Masks for Protection.” The piece was heavy on fear-mongering and light on evidence.  While acknowledging that “[t]here is very little data showing that flat surgical masks, in particular, have a protective effect for the general public,” the author went on to argue that they “may be better than nothing,” and cited a couple of studies in which surgical masks ostensibly reduced influenza transmission rates.  

  One report reached its conclusion based on observations of a “dummy head attached to a breathing simulator.”  Another analyzed use of surgical masks on people experiencing at least two symptoms of acute respiratory illness. Incidentally, not one of these studies involved cloth masks or accounted for real-world mask usage (or misusage) among lay people, and none established efficacy of widespread mask-wearing by people not exhibiting symptoms.  There was simply no evidence whatsoever that healthy people ought to wear masks when going about their lives, especially outdoors.  Yet by April, to walk the streets of Brooklyn with one’s nose and mouth exposed evoked the sort of reaction that in February would have been reserved for the appearance of a machine gun.

  In short order, the politicization intensified. President Trump refused to wear a mask relatively early on, so resistance to them was equated with support for him. By the same token, Democratic politicians across the board eagerly adopted the garb; accordingly, all good liberals were wearing masks religiously by the beginning of April. Likewise, left-leaning newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post unequivocally promoted mask-wearing after that March 27 article, with no real analysis or consideration of opposing views and evidence.

  The speed with which mask-wearing among the general public transitioned from unheard of to a moral necessity struck me as suspicious. After all, if the science was as airtight as those around me claimed, surely masks would have been recommended by January or February, not to mention during prior infectious disease outbreaks such as the 2009 swine flu. It seemed unlikely that the scientific proof became incontrovertible sometime between late February and late March, particularly in the absence of any new evidence surfacing during that time period. 

  Perhaps none of this is particularly surprising in this hyper-political era. What is shocking is the scientific community’s participation in subverting evidence that does not comport with the consensus. A prime example is the Institute of Health Metrics Evaluation’s (“IHME”) rather astounding claim, published in the journal Nature-Medicine and echoed in countless articles afterward, that the lives of 130,000 people could be saved with a nationwide mask mandate.  

  As my colleague Phil Magness pointed out in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, the IHME model was predicated upon faulty data:  it assumed that 49% of Americans were wearing masks based on a survey conducted between April and June, while claiming that statistic represented the number of Americans wearing masks as of September 21.  In fact, by the summer, around 80% of Americans were regularly wearing them.  (Ironically, had Dr. Fauci and the Surgeon General not bungled the message in March, mask use probably would have reached much higher rates much earlier on).

  This called into question the accuracy of the 130,000 figure, since many more people habitually used masks than the study presumed. 

  Although Magness contacted Nature-Medicine to point out the problem, after stalling for nearly two weeks, the journal declined to address it.  Needless to say, the damage had been done:  newspapers such as the New York Times undoubtedly would fail to correct the error and any retractions certainly would be placed far from the front page, where the initial article touting the IHME figure appeared. Thus, as expected, the unfounded claim that 130,000 lives could be saved with a nationwide mask-mandate continues to be repeated, including by president-elect Joe Biden and National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins. 

  That the science behind mask-wearing is questionable at best is further exemplified by a letter to the editor written in response to Magness’s article. Dr. Christopher Murray acknowledged that rates of mask-wearing have steadily increased, but then concluded that masks should be used because they are “our first line of defense against the pandemic” and current IHME modeling indicates that “if 95% of U.S. residents were to wear masks when leaving home, we could prevent the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans” because “masks work,” and “much deeper pain is ahead if we refuse to wear them.”  

  None of this accounts for the failure of either Nature-Medicine or the IHME modelers to recognize and correct the error.  Moreover, neither the IHME modelers nor Dr. Murray provide any evidence that masks work. They assume masks are extremely effective at preventing spread of the coronavirus, and then claim that the model is correct for that reason. This sort of circular reasoning is all-too typical of those who so vociferously insist that masks are effective without going to the trouble of substantiating that contention – or differentiating what is likely a modest benefit from mask-wearing in specific indoor locations and around high-risk individuals from the media-driven tendency to depict masks as a silver bullet for stopping the virus in all circumstances. 

  Coverage of a recent mask study conducted in Denmark likewise epitomizes the failure of the scientific community to rigorously engage with results that do not fit the prevailing masks-as-a-panacea narrative. The first randomized and controlled study of its kind, it found an absence of empirical evidence that masks provide protection to people wearing them, although it apparently did not assess whether they prevent infection of those who encounter the wearer.  The report was covered in a New York Times article bearing the patronizing headline, “A New Study Questions Whether Masks Protect Wearers. You Need to Wear Them Anyway.”  

  Noting that the results “conflict with those from a number of other studies,” primarily “laboratory examinations of the particles blocked by materials of various types,” the author remarked that, therefore, this research “is not likely to alter public health recommendations in the United States.” Notably, laboratory examinations, as opposed to the Danish study, do not account for the realities of everyday mask usage by non-medical professionals. 

  The author then quotes Susan Ellenberg, a biostatistician at the University of Pennsylvania, who claims that the study indicates a trend: “‘in the direction of benefit’ even if the results were not statistically significant. ‘Nothing in this study suggests . . . that it is useless to wear a mask,’” according to Dr. Ellenberg. 

  Nor does anything in this study suggest that it is useful to wear a mask, a fact that Dr. Ellenberg (and the headline) conveniently ignores. Furthermore, if a result is statistically insignificant, it should not be used to make the case for any proposition — as even I, a layperson, know.  

  Scientists ought to dispassionately analyze data that contradicts their biases and assumptions, and be open to changing their beliefs accordingly. That the results of the only randomized, controlled study were and continue to be automatically discounted demonstrates that, when it comes to the subject of masks, anything approximating the scientific method has gone out the window. That is all the more evident given the lack of interest that mask proponents have shown in conducting a randomized, controlled study themselves.

  An article in the Los Angeles Times went even further: it twisted the findings of the Danish study to argue, incomprehensibly, that the research demonstrated more mask-wearing is warranted.  The author cited, as supposedly compelling evidence that masks work, the low Covid-19 death rates in Singapore, Vietnam, and Taiwan.  Indeed, according to the latest YouGov poll, administered in mid-November, 83% of Americans now wear masks in public, higher rates than Vietnam (77%) and Taiwan (82%).

  Furthermore, there are other explanations, apart from widespread mask usage, for the remarkably low death rates in these countries.   Some scientists believe that previous exposure to other coronaviruses in these regions may confer partial or total immunity to SARS-CoV-2. Others have speculated that obesity, environment or genetics could be the reason that Europe and the United States have substantially higher death rates than many Asian and African countries; after all, obesity is one of the most significant risk factors for severe illness. 

  To conclude on the basis of low death rates in several countries that masks prevent coronavirus transmission is patently absurd, illogical, and unscientific. A casual observer might also note that coronavirus cases (albeit not necessarily deaths) are rising in many parts of the world, regardless of mask mandates or rates of implementation. While not a controlled experiment, this fact at least ought to be addressed when making such sweeping claims. 

  Ultimately, I do not have the credentials to determine whether or not –or to what extent — masks work. But it is obvious that the issue has become so politicized that mainstream media outlets, politicians, and even scientists seize upon the slightest bit of favorable evidence, dismiss out of hand anything that conflicts with their theory, and most egregiously of all misrepresent the data, to support the conclusion that masks worn by asymptomatic people prevent coronavirus transmission.  

  And masks are only one part of this story: school closures, lockdowns, and social distancing all have been dogmatically embraced as a means of controlling infection. The substantial evidence that these mechanisms are not effective, particularly beyond their duration, has been automatically rejected for too long. This is not science: it is politics, and those within the profession who have refused to examine their confirmation biases, or manipulated the evidence to score political points, are utterly unqualified for the job. 

  

• The 2021 Liquidity Supernova: Step Aside Fed – US Treasury Will Unleash $1.3 Trillion In Liquidity
  The 2021 Liquidity Supernova: Step Aside Fed – US Treasury Will Unleash $1.3 Trillion In Liquidity
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 20:30

  One of the most poignant (and painful to some) lessons of the past decade – especially to contrarian, bearish investors such as Odey and Horseman – is that the Fed can keep print money far longer than any short can remain solvent. And while it was considered in poor taste until earlier this year to admit that the market levitation is entirely due to the Fed’s manipulation of markets- a task best left to fringe, tinfoil wearing blogs – all pretense disappeared after Jerome Powell nationalized the bond market in March, and just last week Morgan Stanley’s chief rates strategist, Matthew Hornbach, admitted that central bank liquidity is the most critical component of rising macro markets: “It both greases the wheels of transactional finance and changes the opportunity set available to investors.”

  It’s also why Morgan Stanley has been especially bullish on markets in 2021: as Hornbach summarized it simply: “When it comes to liquidity, our focus is on both “narrow” and “broad” measures… We expect both types of liquidity to expand in 2021.“

  Last Monday we discussed the expansion of the first type of liquidity, namely that provided by central banks. The math was, in a word, staggering: combined, the 8 DM central banks are expected to purchase US$304 billion of securities ($238 billion of which will be government bonds), on average, from private markets every month in 2021 (with the Fed and the ECB naturally doing most of the buying).

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  Putting this number in context, in total these 8 central banks are expected to add liquidity worth 0.7% of annual nominal GDP, on average, every month in 2021. “That is a rapid pace of global liquidity injection, the likes of which we haven’t seen outside of 2020” Hornbach casually inserts.

  What is even more striking is that this may not be enough: as we showed two weeks ago, after the Fed monetized virtually every dollar of net Treasury issuance in 2020, in 2021 Treasury supply will significantly outstrip Fed purchases (and this is even without factoring in the possibility of another major fiscal stimulus).

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  Said otherwise, while the Treasury faces net Treasury issuance of roughly $2.4 trillion, the Fed is expected to monetize less than half of this total, or $960 billion. Considering that in 2020 under the auspices of “helicopter money” (from which we remind readers there is simply no coming back) the Fed will have monetized virtually every dollar of net issuance, this is a huge cliff and one which could lead to a shock drop in Treasury prices if the market reprices (lower) its expectations for Fed monetizations.

  In other words, the Fed needs to more than double its scheduled monthly QE in 2021 just to catch up to where it was in 2020; and the Fed is hardly alone – in just the past month, the RBA, the BOE and most recently, the Riksbank, all announced expansions to their current QE.

  And here comes the twist, because in what may come as a surprise to some, in 2021 liquidity injections won’t be limited to QE.

  As traders who lived through the reserve squeeze of Sept 2019 recall all too vividly, central bank purchases of securities via QE aren’t the only way liquidity can find its way into markets. In the US, the Treasury can increase liquidity by allowing its cash balance – held at the Federal Reserve – to decline. When Treasury issues debt, it can either spend the money on government mandates or it can keep the money in its checking account at the Fed, known as the Treasury General Account (TGA).

  To be sure, from a liquidity perspective Treasury debt issuance and the subsequent spending does not impact liquidity on net, in general. When Treasury issues debt, banking system reserves decrease. And when Treasury spends the money, banking system reserves increase.

  However, as Hornbach reminds us, 2020 was unique in that Treasury issued lots of debt without spending the money, resulting in over $1.6 trillion in Treasury cash available for deployment at a moment’s notice, yet due to Congress’ inability to reach agreement on a fiscal stimulus, this money was never spent (and may have cost Trump a victory in the election).

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  As a result, the cash balance in the TGA increased dramatically, resulting in a massive liquidity drain; in fact were it not for other sources of liquidity injection – such as the Fed injecting hundreds of billions with monthly periodicity – that may have been a huge problem for markets. In any event, as the chart below shows, despite the Treasury’s liquidity drain reserves increased in 2020 regardless, surpassing a record $5 trillion.

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  So what happens in 2021 with all this cash already sloshing around?

  Well, as Hornbach writes, in 2021 the Treasury General Account will experience more volatility due to the debt ceiling deadline, but will initially result in a very large injection of liquidity. The debt ceiling deadline is August 1, 2021. On this date, the US Treasury will not be able to issue any additional debt above and beyond what it needs to cover existing debt obligations. However, what few may be aware of, is that there is a clause written into the law that prohibits the TGA from rising above levels prior to the debt ceiling deadline, which was in 2019.

  This means that based on the 2019 debt ceiling, the Treasury cash will need to be at $200 billion by August 1, 2021. As such, there will be significant T-bill paydowns in 2021 through August in order for Treasury to reduce its cash balance – leading to a massive increase in reserves which is entirely apart from those injected via Fed QE, which continues at a pace of $120 billion per month. With the TGA cash currently at just under $1.5 trillion, it means that the US Treasury will unlock $1.3 trillion in liquidity over the next 8 months, more than doubling the liquidity coming from the Fed over the same time period which will be roughly $1 trillion ($120 x 8 months)!

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  We hope this massive liquidity injection explains why Biden was so interested in getting a former Fed chair – Janet Yellen – in charge of the Treasury. After all, the amount of liquidity to be injected by the Treasury Department will match, almost dollar for dollar, what Jerome Powell will do in 2021.

  So when will this liquidity impact markets?

  The Fed first announced its QE-driven foray into liquidity provision on Sunday, March 15, and as Morgan Stanley notes, “it took a couple weeks for the liquidity to flow to where it was needed most: the S&P 500 bottomed and the Fed’s broad trade-weighted US dollar index topped on March 23.”

  Since then, the US dollar index has lost 9.4% and the S&P 500 index is up 60%. In addition, US 10y real yields have fallen 100bp while 10y breakeven inflation rates have risen 100bp. In that sense, the injection of liquidity in 2020 has already had an immense impact on markets.

  So how do we know markets will feel the impact again in 2021? In the end, liquidity doesn’t have to find its way around markets if it doesn’t have an incentive. And it certainly doesn’t have to find its way into risky assets.

  As we saw ahead of the US election, US$ 1 trillion found its way into money market funds (MMFs), given the uncertainty of a well-telegraphed risk event. However, according to Hornbach, in 2021, the sheer size of liquidity entering markets will make it hard for investors to keep it sitting in cash accounts, earning next to nothing. And, given virtual guarantees that most central bank policy rates will remain at effective lower bounds (ELBs) in 2021, and many will remain there in 2022 as well, Hornbach concludes that “investors will have a (performance) incentive to move cash into higher yielding assets.”

  In the end, it’s not possible for us to say exactly when the liquidity will impact market prices throughout the year. Still, once the race for returns begins as we enter the new calendar year (the new fiscal year for many investors), we expect liquidity to venture out of its safe-haven cash-cave – just as long as new, unforeseen uncertainties aren’t mounting at the same time.

  Translation: buy everything ahead of an unprecedented dollar devaluation orgy.

  

• Watch: CNN Admits There Are "Legal & Constitutional" Ways For Trump To Stay In Office
  Watch: CNN Admits There Are “Legal & Constitutional” Ways For Trump To Stay In Office
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 20:00

  Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

  In a video released before the election but attracting fresh attention, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria explained the “legal and constitutional” case by which President Trump could stay in office even if he loses the election.

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  In a moment of actual journalistic integrity, which is incredibly rare these days for CNN, Zakaria outlined how Trump could retain the presidency “without actually winning the vote.”

  Explaining how the system worked, Zakaria said electors are determined by that state’s popular vote, but that this is “not a constitutional obligation.”

  The host then outlined the exact scenario that happened on election day, with Trump leading on November 3rd but then mail-in ballots swinging the result for Biden, prompting a flurry of challenges and lawsuits.

  “Taking account of the confusion, legislatures decide to choose the electors themselves,” said Zakaria before pointing out that eight out of nine key swing states have Republican legislatures.

  CNN: “So, the outcome would be to re-elect Donald Trump. Trump doesn’t need to do anything other than to simply accept this outcome, which is Constitutional.”

  Biden voters, here’s your chance to *scream internally.*🔻 pic.twitter.com/2ZDKa4NwKr

  — Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 28, 2020

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

  “If one or more decide that balloting is chaotic and marked by irregularities, they could send what they regard as the legitimate slate of electors, which would be Republican.”

  Adding to the confusion, Democrats from the same states would also send their electors to Washington, which Zakaria suggested could be “part of the Republican plan.”

  “Because you see when Congress convenes on January 6 to tally the electors’ votes, there would be challenges to the legitimacy of some electors,” explained Zakaria.

  This would prompt Congressional Republicans to argue that disputed states should not be counted, which would ensure Biden’s could not reach 270 electoral college votes.

  CNN.🚨

  Straightforward from here:
  ▶️GOP controls state legislatures in key swing states
  ▶️Legislatures convinced of fraud; send own/no electors
  ▶️Biden deprived of 270
  ▶️State delegations in House re-elect Trump 26-23

  “So the outcome would be to re-elect Donald Trump.” 🔻 pic.twitter.com/vZAnvtgNBz

  — Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 28, 2020

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

  “At that point, the constitution clearly directs that the House of Representatives vote to determine the presidential election, but it does so with each state casting a single ballot,” said Zakaria, noting that this process would result in the re-election of Donald Trump.

  “Trump doesn’t have to do anything other than accept this outcome, which is constitutional,” concluded Zakaria.

  The video has caused consternation amongst some Biden supporters, who are eagerly pointing out that it was released before the election.

  However, this makes no difference whatsoever. Zakaria’s explanation of how Trump could still win is still in play.

  *  *  *

  New limited edition merch now available! Click here. 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.

  

• "I Want To Build A World Where Someone Like Me Is Impossible" – Meet The Trust Fund Brats Trying To Destroy Capitalism
  “I Want To Build A World Where Someone Like Me Is Impossible” – Meet The Trust Fund Brats Trying To Destroy Capitalism
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 19:30

  Roughly 18 months have passed since New York Magazine published a cover story declaring that, in the age of President Trump, all the new “it” kids in Brooklyn (we use the term “kids” loosely; most are well into their 30s) are avowed socialists.

  As the reporter explains, the new generation of Brooklyn cool kids have blue check marks on twitter and low-paying editorial jobs at digital magazines like the (now defunct) Outline, Deadspin (a media outlet ostensibly dedicated to sports but realistically covered whatever its reporters and editors felt like writing about on any given day) or Jacobin, a magazine that has been described by some as “straight up Marxist” in its editorial slant. Almost all of them were white women, the most oppressed class.

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  One year later, a staff uprising at the NYT exposed just how deeply embedded these new crypto-marxist values have become in the modern American media environment. Staffers successfully ousted Opinion Page editor James Bennett over his decision to curate an essay from Republican Sen. Tom Cotton despite the fact that the opinion page is supposed to be an entirely separate editorial entity from the NYT’s newsgathering operation.

  This week, the NYT has published a story about a handful of wealthy heirs who have embraced the socialist credo, and who see their massive piles of inherited wealth as a symbol of shame, not a blessing for which they should be extremely grateful.

  Take 25-year-old Sam Jacobs, for example. Described as “a socialist since college”, he reportedly sees his family’s “‘extreme plutocratic wealth’ as both a moral and economic failure”.

  “I want to build a world where someone like me, a young person who controls tens of millions of dollars, is impossible,” he said.

  Fortunately for Jacobs, his grandfather was one of the founders of Qualcomm, the ubiquitous chipmaker. And even if he gives $30 million away, he’ll still have another $70 million or so coming to him over the course of his lifetime. And what’s more, he’s not alone. As the NYT reports, for all their kvetching about student loans, American millennials will soon become the beneficiaries of what social scientists are calling “the great wealth transfer”: tens of trillions of dollars are expected to pass from the hands of baby boomers to their millennial and Gen X spawn over the coming decade.

  However, most American millennials won’t inherit anything, except for “debt, dim job prospects” and a “figment” of the social safety net (that seems like an exaggeration, especially considering that literally every single American citizen who reaches the required age will receive a monthly check from the federal government, part of a program called “social security”, not to mention medicare/medicaid).

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  But as both a “trust-fund kid and an anticapitalist”, Jacobs “is in a rare position among leftists fighting against economic inequality”. And he’s hardly along in trying to navigate “what it means to be with the 99%, when you’re the 1%” – embracing the type of reductive, us-vs.-them thinking promoted by Bernie Sanders and his allies.

  30-year-old Rachel Gelman is another example. Her wealthy family gave generously to liberal causes growing up. Now, as a 30-year-old preparing to inherit millions from her parents, Gelman is trying to find a way to give back since most of her family’s money “comes from stocks…which means it comes from underpaying and undervaluing working-class people, and that’s impossible to disconnect from the economic legacies of Indigenous genocide and slavery.”

  Of course, no story about modern day socialism would be complete without a quote from professor Richard Wolff, an “economist” who currently teaches at the New School in Manhattan (an overpriced university dedicated to serving the overprivileged elite who could score high enough on their SATs to get into NYU).

  As Wolff, known to millions of millennials for his guest appearances on the left wing podcast “Chapo Trap House”, explains, all the money being inherited by today’s millennials came from “a mammoth redistribution away from the working masses, creating a super-rich tiny minority at the expense of a fleeting American dream.”

  Later on in the story, one of the heirs whose wealth comes from a chain of strip malls, said the business model just reeks of “intersectional oppression”.

  Heirs whose wealth has come from a specific source sometimes use that history to guide their giving. Pierce Delahunt, a 32-year-old “socialist, anarchist, Marxist, communist or all of the above,” has a trust fund that was financed by their former stepfather’s outlet mall empire. (Mx. Delahunt takes nongendered pronouns.)

  “When I think about outlet malls, I think about intersectional oppression,” Mx. Delahunt said. There’s the originally Indigenous land each mall was built on, plus the low wages paid to retail and food service workers, who are disproportionately people of color, and the carbon emissions of manufacturing and transporting the goods. With that on their mind, Mx. Delahunt gives away $10,000 a month, divided between 50 small organizations, most of which have an anticapitalist mission and in some way tackle the externalities of discount shopping.

  In reality, most of the wealth held by baby boomers wasn’t redistributed, but was in fact created during the 20th century during the post-war economic boom – an economic movement that generated more prosperity, and dragged more people out of poverty, than any earlier period in human history.

  

• Glenn Greenwald Opines On Ilhan Omar's Misguided Defense Of John Brennan
  Glenn Greenwald Opines On Ilhan Omar’s Misguided Defense Of John Brennan
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 19:00

  Authored by Glenn Greenwald via greenwald.substack.com

  The right to dissent from, and to work against, the official foreign policy of the U.S. Government is vital: foundational to Constitutional liberties. There is very little such dissent in the U.S. Congress, where many of the core tenets of the Foreign Policy Community (from CIA drone warfare and clandestine coups to steadfast support for Gulf State and Middle East tyrannies as well as Israel) enjoy overwhelming, at times virtually unanimous, bipartisan support.

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  That is one of the reasons that — as I’ve said repeatedly — I am glad that there are now members of Congress such as Congresswomen Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan who so vocally and unflinchingly dissent from this general foreign policy orientation and especially from those policies which most members of Congress either cannot or do not want to denounce.

  Whether or not one agrees with these two lawmakers on every issue, having members of Congress questioning and objecting to highly consequential foreign policies is inherently healthier than full-scale agreement or fear-driven acquiescence. Dissent strengthens all democracies. That is why I have relentlessly defended Congresswoman Omar, even in the face of less-than-ideally-phrased proclamations, from what I regard as bad faith accusations of bigotry and a lack of patriotism (just as I denounced moronic claims that Trump was a “traitor”): bad faith accusations of bigotry or treason are often designed to demonize attempts to question pieties and ostracize those who do it.

  For that very reason, I was quite surprised to see that late Friday night, Congresswoman Omar, in response to something I wrote, defended not only former CIA Director John Brennan — who as Obama’s CIA Director presided over the bombing of numerous countries including Somalia — but also The Logan Act. The Logan Act is nothing more than an unconstitutional attempt to criminalize foreign policy dissidents, like her, and is so dangerous in the hands of the CIA, FBI and federal prosecutors precisely because it lacks any clear definition or meaning.

  Despite this, Congresswoman Omar depicted that ancient statute not as what it is — an impossibly vague and overly broad attempt to criminalize the core Constitutional right to dissent — but instead as some kind of specific, precisely defined, and well-established precedent, the contours of which are clearly established and easily applied. None of that is true.

  This 219-year-old statute is one of the most unconstitutional and dangerous laws in the U.S. Code. Because it has never been used to prosecute anyone, and was only used to obtain an indictment one time in its entire history — back in 1803, against someone who wrote an op-ed criticizing U.S. foreign policy toward France — nobody knows what it actually prescribes or allows because there is no binding judicial precedent interpreting what it means. It is precisely because it has never been used to prosecute anyone that there is no judicial clarity about what it means, and that’s how the U.S. Government wants it (for the same exact reason, the DOJ has never made good on its threats to prosecute any journalist who publishes classified information under the Espionage Act of 1917: they prefer to weaponize the fear of uncertainty regarding the law’s scope and application rather than prosecute journalists under it and thus risk a judicial ruling declaring it unconstitutional or inapplicable to journalists).

  The wildly broad vagueness and lack of clarity is what makes it so dangerous to leave the Logan Act on the books. These are exactly the kinds of ambiguous laws that can serve as an abusive pretext in the hands of the FBI, empowering it to investigate anyone it wants under the rubric of this archaic, ambiguous law. A law can be so vague that it can be unconstitutional for that reason alone: a failure to clearly advise citizens of what is and is not legal violates the right of due process.

  But while all such vague laws are dangerous, the Logan Act is particularly menacing to those who dissent from core U.S. foreign policy and are thus often accused of disloyalty, such as Congresswoman Omar. All members of Congress, but particularly foreign policy dissidents, should be working to repeal this ancient and repressive law, not wielding it as a weapon against adversaries and pretending that it is some highly specific, clear and valid criminal constraint on the conduct and speech of U.S. citizens.

  *  *  *

  The context of the exchange with Congresswoman Omar, and the key role played in it by former Obama CIA Director John Brennan, is necessary to understand Rep. Omar’s point. Far more importantly, this context illustrates the severe, ongoing dangers of allowing this dangerous law to fester on the books.

  On Friday, reports emerged that, just days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a key Iranian nuclear scientist was ambushed and murdered by gunmen. U.S. officials told The New York Times that Israel was behind the assassination — which should be unsurprising given that Israel assassinated several senior Iranian nuclear scientists during the Obama years.

  This news provoked indignation from MSNBC’s John Brennan, formerly Obama’s Director of the CIA, an agency heralded worldwide for its righteous opposition to assassinations. Along with condemning the assassination of this Iranian scientist as “a criminal act and highly reckless,” Brennan also used his tweet to send an explicit message to Iranian officials: urging them not to retaliate but instead to wait for the Biden administration to take over, promising the new U.S. administration would “respond against perceived culprits.”

  In other words, Brennan, like many people (including myself), is concerned that the Trump administration and Israel are seeking to escalate tensions with Iran during the transition — either because they seek war with Tehran or, more likely, because they want to provoke a cycle of retaliation that would prevent the incoming Biden administration from re-implementing the Iran Deal which Trump nullified and which Israel vehemently opposes.

  Thus, Brennan sought to subvert what he perceives as the current foreign policy of the U.S. Government — to provoke and punish Iran — by encouraging Iranian officials to ignore the provocation and therefore not derail efforts by the incoming U.S. administration to establish better relations once Biden is inaugurated:

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  There are so many amazing ironies to this Brennan statement. To begin with, it’s just stunning to watch Obama’s Chief Assassin — who presided over a global, years-long, due-process-free campaign of targeted assassinations, under which the official “kill list” of who was to live and who was to die was decreed by Judge, Jury and Executioner Brennan in a secret White House meeting that bore the creepy designation “Terror Tuesdays” — now suddenly posture as some kind of moral crusader against assassinations. I have denounced these Israeli assassinations as terrorism — both in the past and yesterday — but I have also denounced with equal vigor the Obama/Brennan global assassination program.

  The audacity of Brennan’s moral posturing became even more evident as he tried to explain why his and Obama’s assassination program was noble and legal, while the one that resulted in Friday’s killing in Iran was immoral and criminal. After all, this is the same John Brennan who got caught red-handed lying about how many innocent civilians were killed by Obama’s global assassination program, and who even claimed the right to target American citizens for execution by drone without any transparency let alone due process: a right they not only claimed but exercised.

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  When you’re reduced to sitting on Twitter trying to distinguish your own global assassination program from the one you’re condemning, that is rather potent evidence that you are among the absolute last persons on earth with the moral credibility to denounce anything. That’s particularly true when you directed your unilateral assassination powers onto your own citizens, ending several of their lives.

  But that’s the Trump era in a nutshell: the most bloodthirsty monsters and murderers successfully whitewash their own history of atrocities by deceiving people into believing that none of this was done prior to Trump, and that their flamboyant opposition to Trump — based far more in stylistic distaste for him and loss of their own access than substantive policy objections — absolves them of their own prior, often-worse monstrosities. Call it the David Frum Syndrome.

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  But to me the most glaring irony — as I pointed out — is how similar is the transition message sent by Brennan on Friday to the Iranians when compared to the one sent by Gen. Michael Flynn to the Russians during the 2016 transition after the Obama administration sanctioned Moscow. The message of both Flynn and Brennan was virtually identical: don’t over-react or excessively retaliate: a new administration will soon take power and wants to work with you, so don’t do anything rash now that could prevent that from happening.

  But the difference is that while Brennan was predictably celebrated for his message to the Iranians, with viral likes and re-tweets, Flynn was criminally investigated by Jim Comey’s FBI for his. After Comey, then the FBI Director, ordered the investigation into Flynn’s ties to Moscow closed at the start of 2017 due to lack of evidence, FBI agents deeply hostile to Trump seized on Flynn’s December, 2016, intercepted phone call with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak — when Flynn was a national security transition official just weeks away from taking over — to continue the criminal investigation on the ground that he may have violated the Logan Act by attempting to subvert current U.S. foreign policy with his message to Moscow not to overreact and instead to wait for the new administration.

  Read the rest of the report here.

  

• "Washington Is Exhausted": Swamp Gears Up For Post-Trump Power Orgy
  “Washington Is Exhausted”: Swamp Gears Up For Post-Trump Power Orgy
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 18:30

  Washington elites are breathing a sigh of relief, as power players on both sides of the aisle gear up for ‘business as usual’ following a four-year disruption in swamp-activities – thanks to one Donald J. Trump, whose perhaps prematurely anticipated departure from the Oval Office has the DC establishment licking their chops.

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  “The classic friendly-rivals dinner party will be back, likely bigger than ever, with VIP guests from the Biden administration, a few formers from the Obama crowd, a senator or two seated next to a Supreme Court justice,” according to the Washington Post‘s Roxanne Roberts

  Shoving the Uniparty’s collective excitement in our plebeian faces, Roberts writes in. full. stops. “Washington is exhausted. Washington is optimistic. Washington is desperate for change. The aristocracy of this city is ready to move on, daring to hope that the last four years was a fever that finally broke and life can get back to normal.”

  Poor Washington.

  “Normal, as in a respect for experience and expertise. Normal, as in civility and bipartisan cooperation. Normal, as in not wanting to punch someone in the face,” Roxanne continues.

  And who’s about to usher in this period of ‘bipartisan cooperation’ and controlling one’s violent delights? Joe Biden, of course!

  Biden and wife Jill Biden “know how to get around Washington, how to be a part of the establishment, how to make it work for them in their everyday lives,” says an influential Republican hostess who, like many of the city’s social leaders, spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak frankly without retribution. “People who have always enjoyed the Washington scene are yearning to get back to that, have some semblance of what they enjoyed so much before. There are a lot of Republicans who sat out the Trump years and bit their tongues for four years who are thrilled to have Biden.” At the heart of this optimism is the belief that politicians on both sides of the aisle get more accomplished when they like each other. -WaPo

  And of course, no self-respecting DC power-player can survive without attending establishment soirées, fundraisers, diplomatic corps and ‘historical traditions’ underpinning the ‘business of Washington’ – which Roxanne says needs ‘bipartisanship to really thrive’ after the Trump administration made everything a ‘test of loyalty.’

  “Washington’s elite social world can pivot faster than a prima ballerina,” Roxanne continues – noting that a COVID-19 vaccine and a ‘call for comity’ will allow them to ‘press the reset button and start fresh.‘

  According to the report, the ‘permanent establishment’ was polarized by a White House that referred to them as the ‘swamp’ or ‘deep state.’ Not anymore, writes Roxanne – who looks forward to DC’s return to its ‘former glory.’

  For the last four years, the tone from the White House was contemptuous of Washington, dismissing the permanent establishment — the longtime politicians and former administration officials who call it home — as the “swamp” or “deep state.” The social arbiters, traditionally respectful of a new administration, quickly found themselves between a Trump and a hard place: To invite or not to invite?

  …

  Back to normal will mean more state dinners, a prestigious and glamorous way of reestablishing global ties. And it means that Washington events traditionally attended by the president and first lady for the better part of five decades — the Honors, the Alfalfa dinner, the Gridiron, the Ford’s Theatre gala and the correspondents’ dinner — will likely return to their former glory. -WaPo

  “The president-elect has a great number of friends who are Republicans that he served with,” says Clinton and Obama administration veteran, Ambassador Capricia Marshall. “And he will be inviting them into the White House because that’s how you get work done: creating those relationships in these social atmospheres, making people feel invited and welcomed.“

  Bipartisanship equals money

  Perhaps the biggest relief to Washington insiders from a lack of Trumpian politics will be the restoration of bipartisan fundraising – as “The quickest way to attract money is to have support from both sides of aisle: a Republican and a Democrat prominently displayed at the head table, with the corporate support and underwriting that greases all those wheels.”

  “This idea that we are a democracy, we disagree on a lot, but we come together around certain moments. You may not be happy with who wins, but you understand and recognize the power of it,” says event planner Philip Dufour.

  Capricia Marshall fondly recalls a textbook scene from every movie about corrupt Washington officials, which DC elites have been unable to recreate in Trumpian times:

  I fondly remember Senator [Daniel] Inouye and Senator McCain all getting into these wonderful debates about various issues on the environment and on the economy,” says Marshall. “It was very entertaining to watch. And in the end, they would lift their glass, give each other a toast, a smile, a great laugh and carry on.”

  

• A Key Time For Gold
  A Key Time For Gold
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 18:00

  Authored by Sven Henrich via NorthmanTrader.com,

  I wanted to offer some thoughts on Gold on this Thanksgiving weekend as Gold has reached a key price pivot and has seen sizable selling in recent weeks as the rest of the market continues to melt into the stratosphere and speculative bubbles are spreading across asset classes.

  So why not Gold?

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  There are multiple factors at play: The more obvious is that market participants thought Gold to be a safety hedge in an uncertain world and with Covid vaccines being announced weekly that uncertainty is being presumable priced out of the market and the safety hedges unwound.

  Yet Gold has also been presumed to be a central bank currency printing trade as the dollar is being pounded into the ground. That correlation worked all year but has stopped working as both dollar and Gold have been dropping together lately and that has to be concern for Gold longs. If Gold can’t rally with the dollar dropping then when can it rally?

  This is where technicals are coming in and they suggest a key time for Gold.

  Now those that are following our market videos know I’ve been cautious Gold ever since the target got hit in the summer:

  $GLD target reached pic.twitter.com/5p5D3Dib48

  — Sven Henrich (@NorthmanTrader) July 28, 2020

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  The main reason being technical, once targets are reached and charts show negative divergences I’m of the mindset to sit back and wait for new chart patterns to evolve.

  As market video subscribers know I’ve been watching key patterns that could suggest Gold to be buying opportunity here.

  Firstly, the most obvious chart aspect is the support of the 200MA which probably most people are watching, also in context of bullish falling wedge/bull flag that has formed:

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  Note this pattern was challenged late last week, but also note Gold has been following one bullish pattern after another which we identified ahead of time in 2019 ( Gold Going Bull, Gold Bull Part II ).

  So Gold continues to follow bullish patterns, also note Gold is getting oversold, but has room to become more oversold.

  What’s more interesting to me here is how Gold has precisely reached the retrace target zone I’ve been outlining in the market videos since the summer, the .382 fib along with the 2012 bounce highs as support:

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  That is confluence support and holding this confluence zone would support the notion of this corrective move in Gold off of the weekly negative divergence having the opportunity to build a larger cup and handle pattern which would be tremendously bullish Gold long term for a target north of $3,000.

  I need to outline two caveats here.

  First, note how similar the rip rally in 2020 is to the one of 2011. That period was followed by a steep correction similar to the current one. Gold then chopped up and down in price for 2 years before finally dropping to the 2015 lows. The similarity of the structure certainly leaves room for a similar outcome. One argument to support such a price development is to say that incremental central bank intervention will be diminishing in the years to come. They went all in this year and there are frankly less assets for them to buy, certainly in comparison to the magnitude they bought in the short time period in 2020.

  Second, and this goes to my earlier point: Watch the US dollar:

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  Gold should’ve been able to take advantage of the recent dollar weakness, but hasn’t been able to. That’s a concern. Note Gold peaked in the summer near the time when the dollar bottomed. Now the dollar is retesting these lows with a potential falling wedge which could play as bullish pattern and firm as a potential double bottom.

  If Gold can’t rally with a falling dollar how will it cope with a potential rising dollar? As the dollar has yet to show strength it is an academic question at the moment, but it’s something to keep a watchful eye on it as correlations are to be viewed with extreme caution at the moment.

  Let’s not forget: We are inside the largest asset bubble of all time:

  179.9% market cap vs. GDP.
  The widest market disconnect from the economy ever.#documentingreality pic.twitter.com/YLCpEEYD6U

  — Sven Henrich (@NorthmanTrader) November 28, 2020

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  Distortions having been created that central bankers are fully aware of, but rarely admit. But when they do one best pay attention:

  Thanks @CNBCJou for asking the question.

  Rosengren: “It does distort markets but that’s what monetary policy does”.

  Finally a key admission of the obvious. Central banks and their policies distort markets and hence we find ourselves in a historic asset bubble. https://t.co/B9f4l8Y4pd

  — Sven Henrich (@NorthmanTrader) November 11, 2020

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  Distortions brought about by the loosest financial conditions in history:

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  Pedal to the metal risk on. Except in Gold in recent months.

  Bottomline: Gold has continued to follow technicals beautifully and the recent weakness is no surprise to those that have followed the technical chart structures. Now Gold has reached key confluence support and has the opportunity to rally from this support. But the caveats need to be watched and risk managed as we live in times of broad market correlations having been mercilessly raped by central bankers and their policies.

  *  *  *

  For the latest public analysis please visit NorthmanTrader. To subscribe to our market products please visit Services.

  

• COVID Antibody Drugs From Regeneron, Eli Lilly Raise Concerns About Supply Shortages
  COVID Antibody Drugs From Regeneron, Eli Lilly Raise Concerns About Supply Shortages
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 17:30

  Powerful drugs recently authorized by the FDA are expected to help patients suffering from the earliest stages of COVID-19 avoid the most severe symptoms. President Donald Trump even once referred to Regeneron’s antibody treatment as a “cure” for the virus.

  But there are still some issues that have yet to be resolved.

  The US, like several other developed nations, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to secure supplies of Eli Lilly and supplies of the Regeneron.

  Officials are working to establish sites to infuse the medications to patients with mild to moderate disease who had until recently been advised to stay home.

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  Both the Eli Lilly and Regeneron monoclonal antibodies mimic proteins the body normally makes to block the virus from entering cells; they were cleared by the FDA earlier this month. They’re the first drugs authorized specifically for non-hospitalized patients, and are targeted at those at risk of severe symptoms because of older age, obesity and other chronic conditions.

  Experts told Bloomberg that while Trump touted Regeneron’s therapy after receiving it in October, infectious disease doctors noted that the evidence supporting the drugs’ use in Covid-19 is not yet definitive. Yet there’s hope they could help the country battle its worst-ever coronavirus surge, as average daily infections soared to almost 170,000 over the last week. About 90,500 Americans were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday.

  Coronavirus-beset hospitals around the US are grappling with more infected staff, said Allison Suttle, chief medical officer at Sanford Health, a nonprofit health system based in South Dakota. Treatment that keeps patients from being admitted to overcrowded hospital wards is offering a tantalizing reprieve, she said.

  The US has paid Eli Lilly $375 million to lock in supplies of its antibody medication – the amusingly-named “bamlanivimav”, equivalent to 300,000 vials of the antibody, bamlanivimab, over the next two months. The government has also awarded Regeneron $450 million to make and supply enough doses of its antibody cocktail for another 300,000 patients through the end of January. Both companies intend to scale up supply for the U.S. next year.

  

• NY Gym Owner Rips Up $15,000 Lockdown Fine On Live TV: "We Will Not Comply"
  NY Gym Owner Rips Up $15,000 Lockdown Fine On Live TV: “We Will Not Comply”
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 17:00

  Submitted by Rusty Weiss of The Mental Recession,

  Robby Dinero, the owner of Athletes Unleashed gym located in Orchard Park, New York, tore up a $15,000 fine from the Erie County Health Department during a live Fox News interview.

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  Dinero got hit with the extraordinarily hefty fine following a confrontation in which roughly 50 business owners attending a meeting inside the gym refused to allow a pair of sheriffs and a health inspector entry to the building without a warrant.

  “They picked a fight with a Marine and a whole bunch of patriots,” the gym owner said in a separate interview with WBEN, before pointing out that “The Constitution protects those rights.”

  The moment tonight when Athletes Unleashed gym owner Robby Dinero ripped up the $15k fine he received today from @ECDOH LIVE on @FoxNews. The fine was for holding a rally inside his gym Friday night. @NewsRadio930 pic.twitter.com/FUk6sOSCX4

  — Tim Wenger (@TimWBEN) November 25, 2020

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  New York Gym Owner Rips Up His Fine, Says He Will Not Comply

  Dinero, speaking with Fox anchor Sandra Smith, reiterated that Governor Andrew Cuomo’s lockdown edicts infringe upon his rights.

  The veteran, having pointed out Cuomo’s and Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz six-figure taxpayer-funded salaries, challenged them to look their constituents’ children in the eyes and tell them their parents’ work is not “essential.”

  The lockdown rules, he believes, deny citizens their Constitutional right to earn a living.

  Dinero then ripped up the fine on camera while supporters behind waved American flags and shouted, “We will not comply.”

  Robby Dinero, the owner of Athletes Unleashed, tells WBEN that this protest today is about one thing: Freedom. They’re protesting the continued lockdown and he said they’re not able to get customers and because of the shutdown, they can’t replace them. pic.twitter.com/zf1wHgcloy

  — WBEN NewsRadio 930AM (@NewsRadio930) November 23, 2020

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  Confrontation With Business Owners and Authorities Goes Viral

  Last week, Dinero held a meeting with business owners inside his gym. He explained that the meeting was a protest of New York’s regulations that have closed gyms, salons, and other businesses deemed nonessential.

  Oddly enough, despite the state’s blind eye to riots under the guise of ‘protests’ over the summer, authorities took issue with this particular peaceful protest. Sheriffs and the health inspector showed up and things escalated as the business owners refused to let them on the property without a proper warrant.

  “Get out! Get out!” they repeatedly yelled.

  As the authorities leave, one protester can be heard shouting, “Take your Commie s*** elsewhere!”

  Cuomo has been regulating everything in his state during the pandemic, from what time New Yorkers can eat in restaurants to what they can eat in restaurants, and on to what people can do in their own home. His constitutional overreach has prompted several sheriffs to refuse to enforce his orders. 

  Cuomo responded by calling any sheriff who refuses to enforce his edicts a “dictator.” He said that without a hint of irony.

  

• Saudi King Was Not Informed Of Netanyahu's Visit & Meeting With MbS
  Saudi King Was Not Informed Of Netanyahu’s Visit & Meeting With MbS
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 16:30

  Some fascinating new details have emerged regarding last Sunday’s (11/22) unprecedented visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Saudi Arabia.

  First to recap, amid widespread reports that the Saudis will be the next Arab country to normalize ties with the Jewish state, after the UAE and Bahrain were the first to do so, Netanyahu met with crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MbS) the Saudi city of Neom. It was also in the presence of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

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  This was reported as a “covert meeting” – also given Riyadh officially denies it took place while it was widely acknowledged in Israeli and international press. The two leaders reportedly discussed joint efforts to counter Iran, an issue which already saw intelligence and operations sharing in places like Syria.

  Reuters on Friday released new bombshell information alleging the whole meeting with Netanyahu was done without the approval or even knowledge of the Saudi head of state, King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

  The Times of Israel also underscored that “Saudi Arabia’s King Salman was reportedly kept out of the loop about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s secretive trip to the kingdom this week for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.” And further:

  Quoting a Saudi source and a foreign diplomat in Riyadh, Reuters reported Friday that normalization with Israel appeared off the table as long as the Saudi monarch is alive — an analysis also made Thursday by a senior Israeli source cited by Israeli TV.

  Given the king’s age and increased reported senility, MbS has in recent years acted as de facto head of the kingdom, but it remains an incredibly bold move (the meeting with Israel’s leader) especially given King Salman is said to be against any ‘normalization’ with Israel. 

  And then there’s this incident from thie G-20 the prior week… the video was said to have been intentionally leaked:

  #Saudi King Salman does not remember where was the last #G20 summit and he doesn’t remember if he participated in that summit.
  Saudi CP #MBS tells him that he (MBS) went instead of the King for the Japan summit. https://t.co/Zk43ChU69b

  — Nabeel Nowairah (@NabeelNowairah) November 21, 2020

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  “A video was leaked during the G20 summit which showed MbS correcting the confused king’s recollection, a leak which sources said was intentional,” according to Reuters.

  It appears MbS plans to further sideline his father especially when it comes to foreign policy, relying on the ‘poor health’ angle to argue Salman is incapable of making crucial decisions as official head of state.

  

• Rare Video Games Are Attracting Top Dollar
  Rare Video Games Are Attracting Top Dollar
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 16:00

  Submitted by Market Crumbs,

  Last month we wrote about the strength in the sports card market and how blue chip sports cards may actually be a better investment than blue chip stocks, at least over the last decade.

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  The Daily Mail says data from PWCC—which manages the largest trading card auction venue in the world, shows the index of the top-performing 500 cards had a return on investment of 216% since 2008 compared to 135% for the S&P 500.

  “The market’s just on fire,” PWCC director of business development Jesse Craig told the DailyMail.com.

  Another corner of the collectors world that is on fire is the market for rare video games. Driven by nostalgia and a flood of money, the last few months has seen record prices paid for video games.

  In July, a copy of Super Mario Bros. brought a winning bid of $114,000 and set a new record for the most ever paid for a video game. The video game, which is the first in the popular Super Mario Bros. series, was one of the first variants produced after Nintendo began sealing the games in shrink-wrap in 1985.

  “The demand for this game was extremely high, and if any lot in the sale could hit a number like that, it was going to be this one,” Heritage Auctions’ Director of Video Games Valarie McLeckie said.

  With just over four months having passed since the copy of Super Mario Bros. set a new record, it was easily topped by a $156,000 winning bid last Friday for a sealed copy of 1990’s Super Mario Bros. 3. Heritage Auctions said 20 bidders were trying to acquire the video game following an opening bid of $62,500.

  This particular game is a rarity for the way the word “Bros.” is printed on the front cover, slightly covering Mario’s famous white glove. This particular cover indicates it’s the earliest version of Super Mario Bros. 3 that was produced.

  “We couldn’t be more pleased about breaking the world record for the second time in the same year,” McLeckie said. “That said, it’s no surprise that another Mario game, which so many of us grew up with, would set the new bar.

  It’s not just Super Mario Bros. games attracting top dollar. A Pokémon “Red Version” for Nintendo’s GameBoy auctioned for $84,000 last week, marking a record price for a Pokémon title and more than four times the pre-sale estimate. At July’s auction, 27 bidders attempted to acquire a copy of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! before it ended up selling for $50,400.

  With virtually every asset soaring in price, who knows which nostalgic item from your childhood will be the next hot collectors item.

  

• "This Is No Free Country": Anti-Lockdown Protests Rage In London, Dozens Arrested
  “This Is No Free Country”: Anti-Lockdown Protests Rage In London, Dozens Arrested
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 15:30

  Over 60 protesters were arrested in anti-lockdown demonstrations on Saturday, as activists clashed with police who sought to break it up.

  If only it was a BLM demonstration.

  Nobody can answer the question sufficiently.

  Why is there a 2 tier policing system in the UK that treats lockdown protesters like criminals while literally kneeling and bowing for Black Lives Matter? https://t.co/yTkabMfVEa

  — Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) November 28, 2020

  According to The Guardian, “officers were attempting to disperse the protesters after the Metropolitan police argued the demonstration was unlawful under coronavirus bans on gatherings after the removal of the specific protest exemption.”

  Rights groups, however, believe the protests should be permitted under the “reasonable excuse” law, and called the de-facto ban as “alarming.”

  First arrest at antilockdown protest taking place at King’s Cross Station, London. Police cited covid restrictions before the arrest. #kingscross #antilockdown pic.twitter.com/AuqMKk2h0P

  — Urban Pictures (@Urban_Pictures) November 28, 2020

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  Officers faced jeers from demonstrators and chants of “shame on you” and “choose your side” as they sought to end the protest and enter crowds to make arrests, some forcibly. They were also pelted with missiles on at least one occasion, video footage showed.

  The Metropolitan police tweeted: “Officers have made over 60 arrests following groups gathering in London today. These were for a number of different offences, including breaching coronavirus restrictions. We expect this number to rise. We continue to urge people to go home.” –The Guardian

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

  “Please ensure you have access to social media throughout the day, as the rally will need to be reactive to circumstances,” wrote anti-lockdown group StandUpX in a Telegram post. “Bring pots, pans, whistles, party horns and anything you can to be heard,” the post continues.

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  “I got pushed about by police for no reason earlier, just cause they’re squashing up anybody that wants to complain. This is no free country,” one protester told Sky News, while another held a sign saying “Your fear leads to losing our liberty.”

  The protest comes weeks after 190 people were arrested on Nov. 5 during another lockdown demonstration.

  According to police spokesman Stuart Bell, “This type of behaviour not only breaks the law, it also risks spreading the virus between multiple areas of the country. It is for this reason that we urge people not to travel into London and this is also why we will be taking appropriate enforcement action if this happens.”

  We assume he’s OK with BLM protests.

  Here we go again. Why do the Met #TakeTheKnee to #BlackLivesMatter & soft-soap #ExtinctionRebellion – yet send in the bovver-boys to an anti-lockdown protest, or when somebody they don’t like speaks at Speaker’s Corner?

  It’s blatant two-tiered policing #londonprotest pic.twitter.com/jq2Pn5fRpL

  — Martin Daubney (@MartinDaubney) November 28, 2020

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  “In practice, police are increasingly treating protests as banned,” said Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo, who has campaigned for civil liberties during the lockdown. “The incompetence and casual authoritarianism demonstrated by the Met police here is breathtaking. The right to protest is the bedrock of any democracy. It’s clear to me that there’s a deliberate attempt to chill that right and misrepresent the law,” she added.

  “As the government takes unprecedented steps to interfere with our rights, sidelines parliament and attacks the rule of law, undermining protest is another threat to our ability to hold it to account and stand up to power. Protest and dissent are the lifeblood of a healthy democracy, and even more so important in a public emergency,” said Gracie Bradley, interim director of rights group “Liberty.”

  

• Moral Decay Leads To Collapse
  Moral Decay Leads To Collapse
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 15:05

  Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

  Our national claim of moral superiority is no longer plausible.

  A very strong case can be made that America is now a moral cesspool. Consider just three cases: Jeffrey Epstein, the CEO of Pfizer and JPMorgan Chase.

  Sadly, Epstein is the epitome of America’s elite: getting away with abusing children for years, if not decades; when finally caught a few years ago, escaping with a legal wrist-slap; acquiring a fortune of $200 million without creating any jobs, innovations or value; buying his way into the good graces of Harvard, MIT and a seemingly endless parade of celebrities, politicians, scientists, etc.

  And very par for the course in America’s elite: Epstein’s crimes were known by America’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies, but rather than indict him, they made him an “intelligence asset” that had to protected from exposure to the consequences of the rule of law.

  When some tiny sliver of light was shed on his decades of blatant corruption and exploitation, a sliver that implicated the wealthy and powerful, then Epstein was dispatched in classic Deep State fashion, in a manner that speaks volumes about the banana “republic” nature of America.

  Pfizer’s CEO arranged a massive sale of Pfizer stock and then timed the release of overhyped vaccine data to maximize his private gains.

  Nothing illegal here, just another example of what I call legalized looting.

  JPMorgan Chase manipulated markets to maximize its gains, and its $1 billion fine is just the cost of doing business in a pervasively corrupt society and economy. Nobody ever goes to prison for these billion-dollar skims, scams, frauds amd embezzlements; financial criminals get a get out of jail free card with every crime.

  These three examples are just a few of thousands of examples of insider skimming and gaming the system, abuse of power, fraud, pay-to-play, embezzlement, racketeering and other forms of corruption that enrich the few at the expense of the many.

  Whenever I mention America’s moral decay, somebody is always quick to discount the decay with cliches such as “there’s always been corruption” or “it’s human nature, you’ll never get rid of it.”

  These pathetically flimsy excuses mask the reality that America’s moral decay has reached extremes that eventually trigger collapse in the financial, social and political realms.

  The decay of civic virtue and the social contract is so gradual that only the few who recall specific set-points from previous generations even notice the advancing rot.

  A third of the Roman Senate was killed in combat during the disastrous defeat at Cannae; can we imagine a third of the U.S. Senate putting their own lives at risk? No, we cannot; that level of sacrifice is unthinkable in America today. The protected elites have no real skin in the game. The consequences of their mismanagement fall on the unprotected many.

  Can we imagine the two eldest sons of a present-day political scion volunteering for combat overseas, with one killed in combat and the other severely wounded? (Joe Kennedy, Jr. and John F. Kennedy in World War II.) Such elite sacrifice is unimaginable in today’s America.

  As for the social contract: to saddle young people with highly uncertain prospects with $1.7 trillion in student loan debt would have been unimaginable, If not criminal, two generations ago. Now this ruthless exploitation of students–in essence, punitive debt-serfdom that enriches the wealthiest few who own the student loans–is now the norm. Parasitic elites sucking the powerless dry is now the status quo in America.

  This academic paper (via A.P.) sheds light on the severe consequences of moral decay: Moral Collapse and State Failure: A View From the Past.

  In summary, the authors examined premodern states / empires with an eye on socio-economic systems that generated a social environment which provided real benefits to citizens via a moral code and good government practices.

  (I would include the early Tang and Song dynasties in China of examples of such systems that were not democratic but which offered a judiciary of recourse, investment in infrastructure and other forms of public good, rule of law and social mobility.)

  Yes, elite corruption is ever-present, but good governance requires limiting elite corruption as part of the social contract in which citizens support the state (paying taxes, etc.) because the state provides for the common good.

  The authors point out that citizens expect relatively little of autocracies in the way of public good because the citizenry know the autocracy is a self-serving, corrupt elite. But governments that earned the consent of the governed by providing for the common good are held to a higher standard.

  When the moral code that requires service to the public good decays, the legitimacy of the state collapses. Here is a quote from the paper:

  “Moral failure of the leadership in this social setting brings calamity because the state’s lifeblood–its citizen-produced resource-base–is threatened when there is loss of confidence in the state, which brings in its wake social division, strife, flight, and a reduced motivation to comply with tax obligations.

  In the resulting weakened fiscal economy, services that citizens have come to depend on fail, including public goods and administrative control of corruption.

  To realize and sustain good government is especially difficult owing in large part to the importance of shared moral obligations between citizens and the state.”

  In other words, a strict moral code that requires elites to devote resources and leadership for the public good is the critical foundation of the entire social, economic and political order. When this moral code decays, the state and its elites both lose legitimacy and the consent of the governed.

  Put another way: once the elites have decayed to exploitive, self-serving, profiteering parasites, the public has no interest in supporting the state or its elites. Rather, they will cheer the collapse and ruin of the parasitic elites.

  The explosive rise of elites’ wealth and power in the past few decades has been documented and charted, and I’ve repeatedly posted charts showing that virtually all the real income gains of the past 20 years have flowed to the top 0.1%. This RAND study found that America’s elites siphoned $50 trillion into their own pockets in the past two generations: Trends in Income From 1975 to 2018.

  <!–[if IE 9]><![endif]–>

  This is the chilling summation of America’s terminal moral decay from Moral Collapse and State Failure: A View From the Past:

  “Many citizens perceive that they have little stake in what should be a democratic society.

  Decline in citizen confidence is compounded by a great economic transition in the US, a U-turn over the last five decades in wealth and income inequalities.

  These economic shifts are undergirded by a new ethos and practices that enshrine shareholder value, personal freedom, nepotism, cronyism, the comingling of state and personal resources, and narcissistic aggrandizement in ways rarely seen in the early history of our Republic.”

  Our national claim of moral superiority is no longer plausible: America is a moral cesspool that cannot be drained.

  *  *  *

  My recent books:

  A Hacker’s Teleology: Sharing the Wealth of Our Shrinking Planet (Kindle $8.95, print $20, audiobook coming soon) Read the first section for free (PDF).

  Will You Be Richer or Poorer?: Profit, Power, and AI in a Traumatized World
  (Kindle $5, print $10, audiobook) Read the first section for free (PDF).

  Pathfinding our Destiny: Preventing the Final Fall of Our Democratic Republic ($5 (Kindle), $10 (print), ( audiobook): Read the first section for free (PDF).

  The Adventures of the Consulting Philosopher: The Disappearance of Drake $1.29 (Kindle), $8.95 (print); read the first chapters for free (PDF).

  Money and Work Unchained $6.95 (Kindle), $15 (print) Read the first section for free (PDF).

  *  *  *

  Become a $1/month patron of my work via patreon.com.

  

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• What A Biden Administration Means For Border Security
  What A Biden Administration Means For Border Security
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Sat, 11/28/2020 – 00:00

  Authored by Chris Farrell via The Gatestone Institute,

  A Biden administration means two dramatic and dangerous reversals on Trump policies that will endanger the American public: 1. Termination of President Trump’s signature 2016 campaign issue — The Wall; and 2. Loosening of immigration restrictions.

  “There will not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration, No. 1,” Biden told National Public Radio earlier this year.

  “I’m going to make sure that we have border protection, but it’s going to be based on making sure that we use high-tech capacity to deal with it.”

  Biden is not really promising any border protection at all. It sounds good, but it is a hollow falsehood. Most of the American public does not know about or has forgotten the $30 billion dollar disaster known as “SBInet.” We have been down this “high-tech virtual wall” road before. The only winners were defense contractors. The virtual wall does nothing to deter or prevent unlawful entry across the border. It merely provides surveillance and recording of the illegal activity. Thousands of hours of video recordings of such crossings are available on the internet right now. Technology contractors are encouraged that a Biden administration would like to continue watching and recording millions of people entering the country illegally.

  The Americans paying the very high price for Biden/Harris reckless open borders policy are in border communities. Biden’s reversals spell doom for overloaded (and closed) hospitals, schools, public housing, and courts. Remember: Biden (and the rest of the Democratic presidential field) promised free healthcare to all illegal aliens.

  Biden will reverse Trump policies and rules governing legal immigration. He will — no doubt — cancel Trump’s so-called “Muslim ban” that barred immigrants from certain countries and curtailed legal immigration, including restrictions on asylum claims.

  Biden has a long public record, so you will not be surprised to learn that a few years ago he was proudly in favor of building 700 miles of border fence. Biden had a border hawk position back on November 27, 2006 at a Q&A with a Columbia, SC Rotary Club meeting. Notably, Biden has faced criticism for his past track record on immigration issues. Obama/Biden deported 3 million illegal aliens. The Trump administration deported fewer than 1 million over the last 3+ years.

  Court battles will continue, of course. Some Trump administration initiatives are still working their way through the judicial process. Biden has committed to restoring the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which gives deportation relief and work permits to those brought illegally to the U.S. as children. Please remember, many of those “children” are now in their early 30s. The Trump administration tried to end the program, but that effort was blocked by the Supreme Court.

  Biden has also glommed onto the “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” mantra, and vowed to initiate a complete system overhaul not accomplished since Reagan’s well-intentioned error of 1986. While making that pledge, Biden disavowed workplace enforcement raids and sees no reason why illegal aliens cannot immediately begin receiving public assistance from taxpaying Americans.

  Setting aside big national policy considerations, let us focus again on the border communities and the Americans directly at risk. Almost seven years into a Judicial Watch investigation dealing with Mexican Cartel penetration of federal, state and municipal law enforcement organizations in the El Paso, Texas region, we uncovered facts that resulted in the Department of Justice Inspector General taking direct action. Corrupt law enforcement officials at the federal, state and municipal level were removed. Other corrupt officials were effectively “neutralized” through exposure and pressure, even if they were not publicly acted against criminally or administratively. We also uncovered and exposed an El Paso-based narco-terror ring headed by Al Qaeda’s director of operations for North America, Adnan El Shukrijuma (deceased), targeting Chicago landmarks. A 48-minute documentary explaining the plot, “The Sun City Cell,” can be found on YouTube.

  What are Americans in El Paso, Texas, Nogales, Arizona, and San Diego, California concerned about with respect to Biden administration border security? Over the past two weeks, in emails and phone interviews, border residents provided the following observations:

  • “Whenever Obama was in there, drug cartels were so bad that it didn’t seem like anybody was fighting the drug cartels… the cartels ruled everything. They ran the dope, they trafficked the young girls, and there were so many more killings.”

  • “Trump had more Customs and Border Patrol agents at the border. Cattle crossings from Mexico were checked, inspected and limited. The cartels have used cattle to move dope for years. Now they’ll go back to moving cattle and laundering money back through the crossing here [Santa Teresa, NM] with less law enforcement. It will be a serious step backwards.”

  • “What happens when the next ‘caravan’ from Honduras and Guatemala shows up? Does everyone gain immediate access to the country and get free healthcare, no questions asked? That’s what they promised. They show crying women and children on the news, but that is a tiny percentage of the people in the ‘caravans’ — they are almost all young men — but the media lies about that and doesn’t show the real story. God, help us!”

  U.S. Customs Service Officer Patricia Cramer, president of the Arizona chapter of the National Treasury Employees Union, revealed in an interview that persons crossing into the United States from Mexico are not health-screened in any way. No temperature taken, no cursory visual exam, nothing. The “locked-down border” under President Trump is a lie. Now, imagine the health and safety conditions under a Biden administration. Remember: In “COVID-world,” you cannot go to the gym, and you must “social distance” in absurd ways — but the border is open, and no one is screened.

  <!–[if IE 9]><![endif]–>

  The (purportedly incoming) Biden administration is promoting a 4 to 6 week national lockdown. The country is in the midst of an “Alice in Wonderland” public health crisis — and the Biden administration is promoting border security and immigration policies that are completely contradictory to what American citizens are enduring.

  Is this what we all have to look forward to over the next four years?

  

• How US Presidents Rank For Clemency
  How US Presidents Rank For Clemency
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 23:30

  President Trump has granted a pardon to his former national security advisor Michael Flynn in a rare act of clemency. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about contacts with Russian officials and he was fired after just 23 days on the job.

  <!–[if IE 9]><![endif]–>

  However, despite the media uproar over Trump’s actions with Flynn, Statista’s Niall McCarthy notes that throughout his time in the White House, Trump has used pardons, commutations and other forms of leniency less frequently than other presidents, particularly his direct predecessor.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  As one of the final acts of his eight years in office, President Obama announced that he was commuting the sentences of 330 prisoners, most of whom had been serving time for minor drug offences. Just before his second term ended, the White House announced that Obama had granted more commutations than any president in U.S. history.

  In terms of total executive clemency actions, Obama granted the most since Harry S. Truman, according to Department of Justice data published by the Pew Research Center. He primarily focused on commutations, orders that cut somebody’s prison sentence short. These are different to pardons, which are usually granted after a person has served their time, a forgiveness gesture which also restores somebody’s rights (which a commutation does not do).

  

• 10 Hypocritical Dems Who Prattle On About Masks & Lockdowns But Personally Act Like They're All BS
  10 Hypocritical Dems Who Prattle On About Masks & Lockdowns But Personally Act Like They're All BS
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 23:00

  Authored by Victoria Taft via PJMedia.com,

  There are our betters who ignore the COVID rules and then there are the rest of us.

  We’re the people like the Georgia shopper in the tweet below who got hassled at Costco because his son wasn’t wearing a mask. To be clear, the Costco member was wearing a mask but grew upset when store management threatened to toss him out over his kid. The next thing you know, two unmasked police officers were handcuffing the masked father and taking him into custody.

  Yeah, we’re that guy.

  This man wearing a mask is being arrested by cops not wearing masks because his son wasn’t wearing a mask in Costco.🤦🏻‍♀️pic.twitter.com/nsDK3gd1ty

  — No One 🇺🇸 (@tweettruth2me) November 24, 2020

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

  Two standards, no waiting. Unless it’s for toilet paper, Postmates deliveries, or for schools to finally open.

  Democrats publicly applaud mask mandates (U.S. Senate Democrats), losses of freedom (Gretchen Whitmer, Gavin Newsom, Chris Cuomo), and cutting off power to your house for having a party (Eric Garcetti). They take pleasure in virtue-signaling to the public about wearing masks, distancing, and not commingling for meals, yet don’t actually follow their own advice when they believe the cameras are off.

  Stay separated, they say. Don’t sing or “exert” yourself with others!  But these scolds give away the game when they do nothing and say nothing about antifa and Black Lives Matter screaming, chanting, rioting, looting, and burning things down.

  Rules for thee but not for me.

  With this in mind, we begin our list of Ten Hypocrite Democrats Who Prattle on About Masks and Lockdowns But Personally Think They’re BS with:

  1. NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio

  My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.

  — Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 29, 2020

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  The New York City dictator has presided over the hollowing out of the City That Never Sleeps with his onerous, hypocritical rules. He ordered people not to take anything but essential walks, whatever that means, and closed down the gyms to deny his lockdown victims convenient places to stay strong and healthy. He’s closed schools and sports parks. Yet, and you know where this is going, he took walks with his wife and ordered his own gym to let him in. This while he’s used police to stop large gatherings – not of rioters and protesters – of Jewish children and families. He’s done little to curb violent protests. He has encouraged unrest, in fact, by directing protesters to his hand-painted target. He’s stoked riots at which his daughter has been arrested.

  In this rogue’s gallery, Bill de Blasio is the absolute worst.

  2. California Governor Gavin Newsom

  EXCLUSIVE: We’ve obtained photos of Governor Gavin Newsom at the Napa dinner party he’s in hot water over. The photos call into question just how outdoors the dinner was. A witness who took photos tells us his group was so loud, the sliding doors had to be closed. 10pm on @FOXLA pic.twitter.com/gtOVEwa864

  — Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) November 18, 2020

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  The dinner party photos above gave away the game for California Governor Mask-Between-Bites.

  Stay distant, mask between bites, masks inside and outside, no more than three households at the table, stay six feet apart, eat outside, went Gavin Newsom’s ceaseless Thanksgiving and other coronavirus diktats. He even had rules for your outdoor tents. The governor, who sits by idly while petulant teachers’ union bosses keep kids at home on Zoom classes, has his own children in in-person classes in private school. His own business remains open, despite his closure of other wineries for a time.

  His hypocrisies are almost as long as his list of Dolores Umbrage-like Hogwarts ‘decrees.” There’s little to no criticism of his rules and no demand for the underlying science that supposedly supports them. The Santa Anas blow, but Governor Hair Gel demands you wear a mask outside. Reporters, who want to date him, nod their agreement like the bobbleheads they are.

  3. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

  @RudyGiuliani I hear @SpeakerPelosi has a hair dresser you can go to for your hair dye issues and bonus…you don’t have to wear a mask!!! pic.twitter.com/LUbRBYkc6O

  — Dan Whisnant (@danwhisnant) November 19, 2020

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  San Francisco’s hair salons were closed, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi got herself a private, black-market blow-out in San Francisco and it was all done without a mask. Later, the stiletto-wearing octogenarian blamed the salon owner for setting her up

  The Democrat House Leader, who went to Chinatown to record a video urging everyone to come on down when the Wuhan virus was taking hold, now has professionally handmade and coordinated face masks for her designer suits. And you should too.

  4. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot

  Chicago Mayor @LoriLightfoot defends celebrating with a large crowd when the media called the race for Biden despite her own rules about mass gatherings:

  “That crowd was gathered whether I was there or not.”
  pic.twitter.com/uq4o4yCoDc

  — Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 13, 2020

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  The Beetlejuice doppelgänger pulled a Pelosi and got her hair done during her imposed salon shutdown because, she sniffed, she’s too important to look bad. She is so important, as a matter of fact, that she symbolically repealed her own ban on large gatherings to go to a Joe Biden rally, which, it is widely believed, dwarfed any gathering he had during his actual basement campaign.

  5. CNN Host Chris Cuomo

  Coronavirus-spreader Chris Cuomo got a lecture for breaking quarantine, and he’s upset about it https://t.co/veoG6XTOHt

  — Peter Palumbo (@PeterPalumbo1) November 26, 2020

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  It’s likely that most of what you know about Governor Andrew Cuomo’s kid brother, Fredo, is what you see on Fox News. Chris Cuomo is the whole hypocritical package. Like many New Yorkers, he got coronavirus. CNN made a literal show of his quarantine.  Cuomo hosted his program from the basement of his estate and held forth with withering criticism of people who didn’t quarantine, wear masks or conduct their lives to his exacting standards. Then we found out that in his off time, he was out looking for houses with his wife. And at his other abode in Manhattan, he wasn’t wearing a mask.

  This Cuomo doesn’t hand down diktats like his brother, Governor Nipple Ring, but picks targets, such as people who act as he does, on live TV giving his viewers the green light to go after them.

  6. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer

  Articles of impeachment filed against Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer | Just The News https://t.co/3Meh5gWqqJ

  — John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) November 20, 2020

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  The Michigan governor has been so dictatorial in her response to coronavirus that an impeachment effort has been launched against her. Her diktats included banning the sale of garden seeds and ordering people not to get in their boats and escape to their second homes, which is exactly what her husband understandably tried to do to escape his dictator-wife’s rules. Whitmer brushed off her husband’s planned Memorial Day escape in their boat as him simply joking around. No one was amused.

  7. Oregon Governor Kate Brown

  Making sacrifices today is hard, but it will help ensure no one is missing at the dinner table next year. As we remember all we are grateful for in this year of grim milestones, please take a moment for the 882 Oregon families who have lost someone during this pandemic. https://t.co/HtH6bTNDqs

  — Governor Kate Brown (@OregonGovBrown) November 26, 2020

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  Oregon’s machine politician has at one point of the coronavirus shutdown pulled every political lever to keep the state locked down. She’s closed struggling stores, sicced the cops on Thanksgiving revelers, closed every house of worship, and called every Trump supporter racist and a white supremacist (no, it doesn’t matter if you’re a person of color, you’re a white supremacist). And at the same time she dictated there be no large gatherings for the law-abiding, she not only failed to even attempt to stop weeks-long widespread rioting by her antifa and Black Lives Matter allies in Portland, but filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to try to stop the president from doing it. She is the poster child of hypocrisy.

  For her Thanksgiving messages, she urged people to “uninvite” loved ones and on Thanksgiving Day posted a list of elderly people who died with coronavirus.

  8. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo

  Gov. Andrew Cuomo hugged Georgia mayor — and didn’t wear a mask. Now he won’t self-quarantine. https://t.co/p9OnNjNDER

  — TheBlaze (@theblaze) July 28, 2020

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  Behold Governor Andrew Cuomo. Though he’s not the biggest hypocrite in the bunch, he is the most rewarded hypocrite in the bunch. The New York governor is the author of a book about his noble and near-single-handed crusade to close schools and put grannies in coronavirus-infected nursing homes. Fortunately for him, Cuomo’s self-adulating COVID news conferences, featuring his unhinged rants and crazed bravado, have been noticed by the International Emmy awards people, who rewarded Governor Nipple Ring with one of the ersatz metal statues.

  As the New York Post notes, Cuomo sure talks a lot about masks! masks! masks! but doesn’t actually wear them much, except in his Twitter avatar and photo ops.

  9. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser

  D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser defends attending Biden-Harris party in Delaware as ‘essential travel’ https://t.co/nq9giea0qf

  — The Washington Times (@WashTimes) November 10, 2020

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  Where to start. The woman who holds news conferences in a mask so you can barely understand what she’s saying has undertaken coronavirus diktats with the seriousness of an East German guard. She lets her pet protesters and rioters loot, terrorize, intimidate and burn things down. She recently broke her own rules and took a trip to Delaware for a Joe Biden rally. The woman who wants to put Bobby Beltway in quarantine for going to Grandma’s called her trip “essential.” But yours isn’t.

  10. Tie Governor Ralph Northam, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock

  #BREAKING @GovernorVA Northam apologizes for not wearing a mask on Virginia Beach boardwalk. “I was not prepared.” @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/XuZlQdPymn

  — Bruce Leshan (@BruceLeshan) May 26, 2020

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  Governor Sheets Blackface issued forth a directive to the masses to wear their masks and then “forgot to bring” his to the Virginia coast. He did selfies with constituents without a mask. Of all the people to forget a mask, it was the man who notoriously donned one in medical school photos and dressed in blackface.

  And 30 minutes before he boarded a plane to see his family for Thanksgiving, Mayor Michael Hancock urged Denver residents not to travel because, you know, COVID and stuff.

  Denver Mayor Said ‘Avoid Travel’ 30 Minutes Before He Boarded Plane To Visit Family https://t.co/Lleq43DE62

  — Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 25, 2020

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  Hypocrisy is what’s for dinner this Thanksgiving. Eat up, there’s plenty to go around.

  *  *  *

  Victoria Taft is the host of “The Adult in the Room Podcast With Victoria Taft” where you can hear her series on “Antifa Versus Mike Strickland.” Find it  here.  Follow her on Facebook,  Twitter, Parler, MeWe, Minds @VictoriaTaft 

  

• This Is How Much Space $300,000 Buys In Cities Around The World
  This Is How Much Space $300,000 Buys In Cities Around The World
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 22:30

  The bull market in hot urban retail and commercial real estate markets lasted for pretty much the entire post-crisis recovery period. But COVID has turned things around, and as people flee to the suburbs, it’s worth taking a look at how valuations have declined.

  While urban real-estate markets have taken a hit as people flee to the suburbs and more space, it’s worth taking a look at how much space costs in different cities around the world. While foreign cities are of course cheaper than the top American metropolises, the numbers in some cases might surprise you.

   

  The median American home price, which is roughly $300,000, can buy a whopping 2,100 square feet in Houston, and nearly 1.5x that in Johannesburg. But in San Francisco and Singapore, that number buys just 300 square feet.

  • The median U.S. home price, $300,000, buys almost 5,000 square feet in Delhi, but only 144 square feet in Hong Kong.
  • Looking at the two extremes in America, homebuyers in Houston could get seven times more space compared to their fellow house-hunters in San Francisco.
  • In Canada, Ottawa offers the most space for $300,000, while Lisbon, Portugal would be a buyer’s best bet of all the European cities included in the analysis.

  Hong Kong’s infamously tiny apartments are probably not the ideal place for riding out a pandemic. But that’s why the city’s real estate market has taken such a hit (well, at least that’s one reason).

  In the US, Houston appears to be the city that offers the best value, as buyers get the highest ratio of square footage per dollar. With the added bonus of living in one of America’s largest and most economically vital cities.

   

  As the formerly city-loving millennial generation sets its sights on the suburbs, and young adults who have fallen on hard times move back in with their middle-class parents, is it possible that cities like NYC could see the economic progress of the last 30 years slip away? Crime is already rising at an alarming rate, and not only in New York.

  

• We Haven't Seen This Much Suffering On Thanksgiving Since The Great Depression
  We Haven't Seen This Much Suffering On Thanksgiving Since The Great Depression
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 22:00

  Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

  In my entire lifetime, there has never been a Thanksgiving like this.  39 million Americans don’t have enough to eat right now, more than 70 million claims for unemployment benefits have been filed so far during this calendar year, and people are waiting in line for hours at food banks all over the nation just for some Thanksgiving handouts.  If you and your family have plenty of turkey to eat, you should be very thankful, because many Americans can no longer even take Thanksgiving dinner for granted these days. 

  <!–[if IE 9]><![endif]–>

  On Tuesday, vehicles were lined up for hours in New Jersey as people waited to receive prepackaged Thanksgiving meals at a local food bank…

  Video obtained by CNN on Tuesday from the Meadowlands entertainment complex in New Jersey showed residents waiting for several hours to obtain prepackaged boxes of meals for the Thanksgiving holiday.

  “If it wasn’t for this place, we wouldn’t know where we would get our food,” one distraught woman told CNN of the food bank in East Rutherford, N.J.

  Of course we have been seeing similar wait times all over the nation.  At one food bank in Texas, demand for Thanksgiving meals was more than eight times higher than normal…

  Food bank officials in Dallas, Texas, have also noticed a staggering increase in demand for food assistance. North Texas Food Bank representatives told the Dallas Morning News that they handed out roughly 8,500 meals to local families during a giveaway on Saturday that in years past has seen fewer than 1,000 show up for donations.

  You can see a stunning photograph of vehicles lined up for that food distribution event right here.

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  There are a lot of really nice vehicles in that picture.  Many of those individuals are probably accustomed to living comfortable middle class lifestyles, but just like I warned in my new book they are “suddenly” in need of food because this economic downturn has turned their worlds completely upside down.

  Yes, there have always been hungry people in America, but what we are witnessing now is hard to fathom.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 12 percent of all Americans did not have enough food to eat between October 28th and November 9th…

  As the coronavirus pandemic continues to surge, more Americans are reporting going hungry, a Washington Post analysis found.

  In data collected by the Census Bureau between Oct. 28 and Nov. 9, around 12 percent of all American adults reported not having enough food to eat, a figure higher than at any other point since the pandemic began earlier this year.

  It is estimated that the current population of the United States is 328 million.

  If you take 12 percent of 328 million, you get more than 39 million Americans that are going hungry right now.

  And this is just the beginning.  Thanks to the new lockdowns that are being instituted all over the country, the number of Americans that are filing for unemployment benefits is starting to rise again…

  The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week to 778,000, evidence that the U.S. economy and job market remain under strain as coronavirus cases surge and colder weather heighten the risks.

  The Labor Department’s report Wednesday said jobless claims climbed from 748,000 the week before. Before the virus struck hard in mid-March, weekly claims typically amounted to roughly 225,000.

  Overall, more than 70 million new claims for unemployment benefits have been filed in 2020.

  As I discussed yesterday, we have never seen anything like this before in all of U.S. history.

  At this point, even Hollywood is conducting mass layoffs.  More job loss announcements just keep rolling in with each passing day, and I expect that to continue all throughout the very dark winter ahead.

  Other economic numbers also tell us that the U.S. economy is definitely heading in the wrong direction…

  The data firm Womply says that 21% of small businesses were shuttered at the start of this month, reflecting a steady increase from June’s 16% rate. Consumer spending at local businesses is down 27% this month from a year ago, marking a deterioration from a 20% year-over-year drop in October, Womply found.

  If you think that anyone is going to be able to wave a magic wand and fix this mess, you are just being delusional.

  There are millions upon millions of Americans that have already been pushed to the breaking point by this pandemic.  One of those individuals is a 38-year-old California resident named Andrew Lee…

  “I’ve exhausted all of my unemployment benefits. I’ve had to resort to food stamps and [California’s Medicaid program] for the first time in my life. I’m backdated on my rent and my credit has been ruined,” said 38-year-old Andrew Lee, who lives in a suburb of Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

  Lee lost his job as a business development director several months before the pandemic. But once it hit, it became that much harder to find work. And he didn’t initially qualify for any pandemic-related unemployment benefits.

  His car has been repossessed and his wife’s car has also been repossessed.

  So even if they could find jobs, how are they supposed to get to work?

  Lee is just like so many other hurting Americans.  First he ran through all of his savings, and then he started relying on his credit cards.

  Now that his unemployment benefits have been exhausted, he is out of options, and his family is a step or two from becoming homeless.

  In the months ahead, tens of millions of others will find themselves facing similar scenarios.

  This is what an economic collapse looks like.  The United States hasn’t had to face anything like this since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and what we have experienced so far is just the start.

  In 2019, I received quite a bit of criticism because the economy was relatively stable and to many people it seemed like an “economic collapse” was not even remotely a possibility.

  But now an economic collapse has officially arrived, and all of the things that I have been warning about are starting to happen one right after the other.

  The “perfect storm” is upon us, and most Americans still do not understand the horrors that lie ahead.

  *  *  *

  Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.

  

• Russia Warns US It Will "Respond" To Future Border Violations In Sea Of Japan
  Russia Warns US It Will "Respond" To Future Border Violations In Sea Of Japan
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 21:30

  Russia’s foreign ministry said Friday that it’s lodged a formal protest with the United States over this week’s incident in the Sea of Japan, calling it a “provocation designed to disturb the peace”. 

  Russia further said Friday it’s military won’t hesitate to “respond” the next time the US Navy brazenly violates its maritime borders. During the Tuesday encounter a Russian warship was described as chasing the US destroyer out of the area.

  “We warn the US not to repeat the violation. We reserve the right to respond in the future,” a foreign ministry statement said.

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  The incident happened Tuesday and involved a Russian destroyer threatening to ram the USS John S McCain warship which the Kremlin alleged violated sovereign Russian waters by up to 2km:

  According to the Russian defense ministry, its Pacific Fleet destroyer the Admiral Vinogradov used an international communications channel to warn the US ship about “the possibility of using ramming to get the intruder out of the territorial waters”.

  “The Russian Federation’s statement about this mission is false,” said a spokesman for the US Navy’s 7th Fleet, Lt Joe Keiley. “USS John S McCain was not ‘expelled’ from any nation’s territory.”

  It’s essentially a matter of the border not being recognized by the United States.

  The US Navy early this week had responded bluntly: “By conducting this operation, the United States demonstrated that these waters are not Russia’s territorial sea and that the United States does not acquiesce in Russia’s claim that Peter the Great is a ‘historic bay’ under international law.”

  The US 7th Fleet confirmed it was “approached aggressively” by the Russian ship and condemned the provocative behavior.

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  Here’s how the US 7th Fleet framed the question of the maritime border dispute in its formal response to the Russian charge:

  In 1984, the U.S.S.R declared a system of straight baselines along its coasts, including a straight baseline enclosing Peter the Great Bay as claimed internal waters. This 106-nautical mile (nm) closing line is inconsistent with the rules of international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention to enclose the waters of a bay. By drawing this closing line, the U.S.S.R. attempted to claim more internal waters – and territorial sea farther from shore – than it is entitled to claim under international law. Russia has continued the U.S.S.R. claim.

  While it’s not the first time an intercept incident has occurred in disputed waters in the Sea of Japan, this latest certainly marks a severe escalation given the rare Russian direct threat of ramming.

  

• Are Students Liberal? Yes – But Not Everywhere
  Are Students Liberal? Yes – But Not Everywhere
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 21:00

  Submitted by RealClearEducation, authored by Samuel Abrams, professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

  This article is part of a series of opinion essays on the topic of free speech on campus, coinciding with the launch of the 2020 College Free Speech Rankings…

  When it comes to making news about protests and action for liberal causes, schools in New England seem to dominate the news. We’ve seen violence and protests surrounding visits from Charles Murray and Ryszard Legutko at Middlebury College. Brown University spent hundreds of millions of dollars in response to student protests related to questions of diversity and inclusion. Yale has seen numerous protests and student arrests and students there attacked and harassed a faculty couple who headed a residential college in 2015 claiming that they felt unsafe because of an email message about Halloween costumes.

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  While protests in other parts of the county do make news, such as the recent troubles relating to the police at Northwestern, it appears that students in New England are far more likely to engage in such actions.

  Thanks to new data behind the 2020 College Free Speech Rankings from RealClearEducation, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), and survey firm College Pulse – representing the largest study of student attitudes toward speech to date – we know that students enrolled in the higher education institutions in New England are appreciably more liberal and open to shutting down speech and expression than the overwhelming majority of college students.

  With almost 20,000 students in FIRE survey sample, it is possible to break the national sample down into regional groups and the data makes it abundantly clear that those enrolled in New England are notably different.

  The General Social Survey shows that political ideology in the United States has been remarkably consistent since the 1970s and that liberals are not dominant. In the most recent sample, the survey found that 28% of Americans identify as liberal, 31% as conservative, and the balance of 37% are in the middle as moderates. In contrast, 50% of college students are liberal, 26% are conservative and the minority – 23% – are moderates. College students demonstrate a significant liberal lean.

  But this lean is not uniform. In New England, the data reveal that college students live in a huge bubble where there are 5 liberals for every 1 conservative. 71% of New England college students identify as liberal and just 15% conservative and 14% moderate. This is by far the most lopsided region in the nation.

  The most similar regions to New England, ideologically, are the West Coast and Mid-Atlantic regions. 59% of students in both regions identify as liberal with just a fifth of their students holding conservative views, meaning there are three liberal undergraduates for every conservative student in those regions. This breakdown is far off the national average.

  Looking at other regions in the United States, the liberal student dominance disappears. Take the Mountain region – 8 states that are mixed ideologically with rural areas and big and growing cities such as Denver and Phoenix – and the ideological balance is far less extreme. Here about a quarter of students are moderate and in the middle with a little more than a third identifying as conservative and 41% stating that they are liberal. In fact, if one excludes the three extreme liberal regions, the remaining 6 divisions are far more diverse with 46% of students being liberal, a quarter moderate, and about a third (30%) conservative.

  The differences between some schools are striking. At the University of Arizona in Tempe there are 1.5 liberals for every conservative. But Brown in Rhode Island has 12 liberal students for every conservative.

  Ideological imbalance is problematic in and of itself if you value viewpoint diversity in the classroom, but it is also the case that students in New England are far more likely to believe that actions to shut down speech are acceptable.

  When asked whether it is ever appropriate to shout down or try to prevent someone from speaking on campus, 61% of students found that this was acceptable, nationally. But in New England 70% of students thought preventing a speaker was talking was justified in at least some circumstances. This is in stark comparison to regions like East South Central, home to the Universities of Tennessee and Alabama, where just half of the students found such behavior acceptable.

  Similarly, when asked about the acceptability of blocking other students from entering a campus event, almost half (48%) of New England students thought this tactic would be an acceptable way to protest a campus speaker. About 30% of students in the East South Central, the Mountain, West North Central, and West South Central – a nearly 20-point difference – felt that blocking an entrance was acceptable.

  Put somewhat differently, 51% of Yale students would approve of tactics which would prevent students from hearing an opinion on their campus, but just 35% at the Universities of Missouri – which itself made national attention when a faculty member and students tried to forcibly block the press from covering a demonstration – would be willing to block others from attending an event.

  New England schools are collectively an outlier in terms of both student liberalism and their willingness to shut down speech. And the perception that protests against speakers are more common in New England is born out in the data. This lopsided liberal trend matches earlier work, which revealed a similar imbalance, where liberal professors outnumber conservative professors 28 to 1 for New England colleges and universities. And while finding a conservative professor in New England is exceedingly rare and far out of step with the national ratio of 6 to 1, many regions in the country are not as homogenous.

  Ideological imbalance among students is a problem, especially in New England. It is crucial that students of all ideological backgrounds encounter a multitude of ideas in college.

  But it’s important to note that the student imbalance in New England is far less one-sided than the faculty imbalance there. And faculty imbalance may be a far more pressing problem if one values viewpoint diversity. It’s more readily fixable too, if schools would only prioritize the hiring of a more ideologically diverse faculty and work to ensure that all faculty strive to present a multitude of views and intellectual traditions in their classrooms.

  

• "Dark Winter" – Millions Of Americans Are Expected To Lose Their Homes
  "Dark Winter" – Millions Of Americans Are Expected To Lose Their Homes
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 20:30

  A dark covid winter is descending on the working-poor of America as millions of adults face eviction or foreclosure in the next few months. Bloomberg, citing a survey that was conducted on Nov. 9 by the U.S. Census Bureau, shows 5.8 million adults face eviction or foreclosure come Jan. 1. That accounts for 32.5% of the 17.8 million adults currently behind rent or mortgage payments. 

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  On Monday, we noted that on Dec. 31 many of the key provisions in the CARES Act are set to expire if there is no action from Congress. This could be catastrophic for 12 million America who will lose access to their Emergency unemployment benefits activated in the aftermath of the covid pandemic, which alone could be a drag of up to 1.5% to growth in 1Q, according to a recent Bank of America report. 

  Additionally, the expiration of eviction moratorium, mortgage forbearance programs, and suspension of student loan payments could compound the working poors’ financial stresses, many of whom, about 21 million of them, are unemployed and receiving benefits from the government.  

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  The survey points out at least half of households in Arkansas, Florida and Nevada are not current on rent and mortgage payments – equating to 750,000 could face an eviction come early 2021. 

  On a city by city basis, New York City, Houston, and Atlanta had the greatest threat of evictions come early next year. 

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  The most concerning part about the expiration of various CARES programs starting on Jan. 1 is that it removes safety nets for the working poor. A lapse from when expirations hit to Congress and the new Biden administration expected to strike a stimulus deal is expected be short-lived. 

  

• Shots Fired: China Slaps "Distressing" Tariffs Up To 212% On Australian Wine
  Shots Fired: China Slaps "Distressing" Tariffs Up To 212% On Australian Wine
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 20:30

  China has drastically ramped up its trade conflict with Australia, on Friday slapping a whopping 200% tax on all Australian wine, in a move being widely described as the first shot fired in what went from behind-the-scenes bureaucratic punitive actions to now an open trade war.

  “The Ministry of Commerce imposed import taxes of up to 212.1%, effective Saturday, which Australia’s trade minister said make Australian wine unsellable in China, his country’s biggest export market,” the AP reports. The lead industry body Wine Australia, said the country’s total shipments to China in the first nine months of 2020 accounted for 39% of all Australian wines.

  Australia has been among those countries, foremost among them the United States under Trump, leading the charge of criticism aimed at Beijing over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, lately calling for a formal international probe into the deadly virus’ origins there. 

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  “This is a very distressing time for many hundreds of Australian wine producers, who have built, in good faith, a sound market in China,” Australia trade minister Simon Birmingham responded on Friday.

  The growing tensions between the two trade partners has also included tit-for-tat travel restrictions and in a couple notable cases the detention of journalists with dual nationality by Chinese security services. This amid China taking measures early this month to block a wide array of key Australian exports from lobsters to coal.

  But as one analyst cited by AP has observed of what’s increasingly obvious, Australia has become a “one-trick pony export-wise to China” and thus Beijing holds all the cards, with Canberra scrambling to play on the defensive while China extracts political concessions by threatening to torpedo Australia’s commodities exports.

  China’s Ministry of Commerce justified the wine tariffs as a necessary response after rampant complaints that Chinese producers were hurt by improperly low-priced Australian imports.

  Of all the Australian wines hit w/ huge Chinese tariffs today, one – Auswan – was singled out for the softest tariff of 107%. Much lower than all the others. It just happens to be the label of former ambassador Geoff Raby, a consistent critic of Aus gov’t’s handling of China ties pic.twitter.com/nAJNV0ZZ9w

  — Bill Birtles (@billbirtles) November 27, 2020

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

  Prime Minister Scott Morrison has lately slammed Beijing practicing blatant “economic coercion” with regard to an increasing array of its exports being held up at port for what are seen as contrived inspections procedures, which sometimes end in large shipments going bad, such as lobster. 

  Beijing has also recently began taking aim at Australia’s tourism industry by discouraging tourists and students from visiting the country.

  Via Trading Economics: Australia exports to China was US$103 Billion during 2019, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. 

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  On news of this latest 200% wine tax Australia’s main stock market index fell by 0.5%. China’s foreign ministry was quick to capitalize by demanding Australia “do something conductive” to change course and improve relations but without diving into details:

  “Some people in Australia adhering to the Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice have repeatedly taken wrong words and deeds on issues concerning China’s core interests,” said the spokesman, Zhao Lijian.

  Australia should “take China’s concerns seriously, instead of harming China’s national interests under the banner of safeguarding their own national interests,” Zhao said.

  Further fueling China’s dramatic actions is Australia’s impending mutual defense treaty with Japan which is still being deeply negotiated.

  Japan is of course a prime strategic rival to China heavily involved in pressing anti-China rhetoric on its expansion of militarized artificial islands in the South China Sea. 

  

• Suicides In Japan Jumped 39% In October…
  Suicides In Japan Jumped 39% In October…
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 20:00

  Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

  Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, risks to your prosperity… and on occasion, inspiring poetic justice.

  *  *  *

  And the Emmy Goes to the Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo

  Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York, recently released a book he allegedly wrote called, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic,” congratulating himself for being an amazing leader.

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  So the first time I saw the headline that Cuomo had won an Emmy, I thought it was a joke, poking fun at the Governor for his self-aggrandizing book.

  But this is not The Onion: Cuomo, will receive an Emmy award for his 111 televised COVID-19 briefings this spring.

  The academy, which typically awards Emmys to actors in TV series, said Cuomo’s leadership had people around the world tuning in– “New York tough became a symbol of the determination to fight back.”

  The fact that New York has the second highest per-capita COVID-19 death rate of any state hasn’t stopped the praise for this Dear Leader.

  That is why Cuomo clearly deserves the Emmy. He must be a good actor to convince so many people that his utter failure in leadership should be celebrated.

  Click here to read the full story.

  *  *  *

  Just One Liar Triggered a Lockdown for Millions

  Authorities in South Australia don’t think you should blame them for a sudden, strict, six day lockdown that affected 1.7 million Australians.

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  Blame the pizza guy!

  A new Covid patient claimed he contracted COVID-19 from a pizza box.

  This led authorities to fear that the virus had mutated to become more easily transmissible, which prompted their draconian response to lock everyone down again.

  It turns out the man was an employee of the pizza shop, and picked up the virus while working alongside an infected coworker.

  The state’s senior officials blamed the pizza guy, claiming he lied to them, and this is why the lockdown took place.

  Yep. Blame it on the pizza guy. Clearly we can’t hold government officials responsible for the decisions they make, the hysteria they create, or the freedoms they destroy.

  Obey.

  Click here to read the full story.

  *  *  *

  Suicides in Japan Jumped 39% in October

  More Japanese people died by suicide in October alone than have died from COVID-19 throughout the entire pandemic.

  In 2019, Japan saw its lowest suicide rate ever recorded during the 40 years it has kept track.

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  Then suddenly in July 2020, the suicide rate began to skyrocket again. Gee I wonder why.

  October 2020 saw a 39% spike in suicides compared to October 2019.

  17,000 people have died by suicide this year in Japan, while fewer than 2,000 have died from COVID-19.

  Click here to read the full story.

  *  *  *

  Katy Perry Gets a Big Bowl of Hate for Urging Political Tolerance

  Pop singer Katy Perry was delighted with how the Presidential Election has shaped up so far.

  But rather than stoke more division, she Tweeted, “The first thing I did when the presidency was called is text and call my family members who do not agree, and tell them I love them and am here for them.”

  In other words, she reached out with kindness to people who have different opinions than she has. And that seems like a perfectly mature and tolerant thing to do.

  But not to the Twitter Mob!

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  Twitter jumped on the singer immediately for refusing to hate people with opposing political views.

  Apparently she doesn’t realize that 70+ million Americans are guilty of thought crimes and need to be ridiculed, shamed, and exiled.

  Click here to read the full story.

  *  *  *

  Solomon Islands Considers Banning Facebook

  In the name of national unity, the Solomon Islands is looking to ban Facebook.

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  The Prime Minister announced that “Cyberbullying on Facebook is widespread, people have been defamed by users who use fake names, and people’s reputations that have been built up over the years [are destroyed] in a matter of minutes.”

  “We have [a] duty to cultivate national unity and the happy coexistence of our people … [Facebook] is undermining efforts to unite this country.”

  Personally I think Facebook is atrocious. But it’s up to individual people to decide whether or not to use it.

  And surely it must be a total coincidence that a few weeks ago, Facebook was instrumental in spreading leaked documents that showed how COVID-19 economic relief funds had been misspent by the Solomon Islands government.

  Click here to read the full story.

  *  *  *

  On another note… We think gold could DOUBLE and silver could increase by up to 5 TIMES in the next few years. That’s why we published a new, 50-page long Ultimate Guide on Gold & Silver that you can download here.

  

• Airport Deploys 'Virus-Killing Robots' During Holidays As Mall Santas Turn To Plexiglass Barriers And 'Sanitation Elves'
  Airport Deploys 'Virus-Killing Robots' During Holidays As Mall Santas Turn To Plexiglass Barriers And 'Sanitation Elves'
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 19:30

  Holidays during the pandemic were always going to be interesting, as fears over a second wave have been met with a flood of lockdowns and restrictions on gatherings.

  Yet, many Americans aren’t buying it, or don’t care about a virus that kills less than 1% of those it infects – as over 1 million travelers flew through US domestic airports last Friday, the 2nd highest daily total since the pandemic hit last spring.

  Airlines, meanwhile, are jumping through all sorts of hoops to keep regulators and worried passengers happy – mandating that passengers wear masks throughout their flights, while airports employ measures of their own such as thermal imaging to scan for fevers (which has ‘accuracy issues‘ per experts). Airports are also employing touchless kiosks and attempting to enforce social distancing recommendations.

  San Antonio International Airport in Texas has gone one step further – deploying a virus-fighting robot that shoots powerful bursts of UV light onto surfaces, according to the Washington Post.

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  It’s called LightStrike, and other airports are considering whether to invest in the $125,000 device that has been shown to be effective against the coronavirus. Some airports are watching to see whether travel improves over the coming weeks, according to officials at Xenex, the company behind the device.

  …

  Xenex says that its robot business has increased 600 percent amid the pandemic. Most of the increase is related to the health-care industry, but the robot also has entered new markets such as hotels, professional sports facilities and police stations. –Washington Post

  “When you bring something like SARS-CoV-2 into focus, institutions like hotels, airlines, professional sports teams, they’re looking for what’s best-in-class to kill it,” according to Xenex CEO, Morris Miller.

  The 43″ tall UV-producing robots with a seven-foot effective radius were initially developed for hospitals as a method of eliminating viruses and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and was recently picked up by a local school district in Texas, according to the report.

  It’s been known for decades that UV radiation can destroy viruses by chemically altering their genetic material. However, different pathogens are susceptible to UV light at varying wavelengths. Many traditional UV devices use low-intensity mercury bulbs, which means they may take longer to kill organic material such as viruses. By contrast, LightStrike robots have a powerful xenon UV-C light source capable of damaging the DNA and RNA of viruses in a matter of minutes. –Washington Post

  In a test conducted by the Texas Biomedical Research Instituted in San Antonio, the LightStrike robot destroyed COVID-19 in two minutes, and has shown to be effective at killing certain superbugs such as C. diff. 

  Meanwhile, mall santas have also been forced to adapt to Christmas with COVID – with some now appearing for photos from inside ‘acrylic snow globes’ and other barriers.

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  Old Saint Nick will pose for photos from inside an acrylic snow globe in Richmond. He’ll be barricaded behind a eight-foot picture frame in Lakewood, Colo. And in Gruene, Tex., Cowboy Kringle, who wears red leather chaps and a cowboy hat, will keep socially distant by asking visitors to sit on a saddle positioned six feet away.

  This year’s holiday photos will have a decidedly pandemic feel: No more sitting on Kriss Kringle’s lap or whispering in his ear. Instead, venues are increasingly requiring reservations, masks and temperature checks. Santa is hosting drive-through events, attaching face shields to his hat and trading in his white cloth gloves for disposable ones to protect himself — and others — as coronavirus cases skyrocket to new highs around the country. –Washington Post

  “Everything is different this year, but people are finding a way to keep that traditional Santa experience,” said Mitchell Allen, owner of the Hire Santa staffing firm – where ‘virtual bookings have grown tenfold,’ yet only constitute a fraction of the company’s total revenue according to the report.

  “It’s unexpected, to be honest.”

  At Bass Pro Shops, which also owns Cabela’s, Saint Nick is stuck behind an acrylic shield, while elves serve as “Santa’s sanitization squad,” as some 95,000 families stopped by for photos during Santa’s first week at 176 stores.

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  With struggling retailers being sent into bankruptcy thanks to a sharp dropoff in foot traffic during the pandemic, mall santas have been a longstanding reason for families to set foot in malls. And with Santa-booking companies reporting a 40% dropoff in appointments, and many Santas dropping out of the workforce over health concerns.

  Santas are also nervous. Many are in their 70s and 80s and have health conditions such as diabetes that put them at particularly high risk of coronavirus complications. Brenneman, who owns the booking firm Santa Claus and Co. in Phoenix, said about half of the 30 white-bearded men he employs are sitting the season out, and a few are doing only outdoor events. -WaPo

  In trying to adjust to the ‘new normal,’ mall owners “have spent months — and tens of thousands of dollars — trying to reimagine Santa’s Wonderland for the coronavirus era. The goal, they say, is to spread holiday cheer (but not the virus),” according to the report.

  “Santa can’t give out hugs or candy canes this year, but people still want to see him,” said 70-year-old Mark Brenneman, who has been playing Santa for nearly 50 years. “They want hope. They want normal.“

  

• Infographic: The 4-Year-Long Campaign Against Trump
  Infographic: The 4-Year-Long Campaign Against Trump
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 19:00

  Via The Epoch Times,

  The post-election push to pressure President Donald Trump to concede, despite numerous credible allegations of voter fraud and ongoing legal challenges, is not an isolated incident.

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  It is the culmination of a four-year-long campaign against him, which started during his first run for president in 2016 when the FBI launched a politically motivated investigation of his campaign. During his subsequent four years in office, there have been consistent efforts to remove him from office, first through the Russia-collusion narrative and then through impeachment.

  The Epoch Times here provides an overview of some of the main efforts made against the sitting president of the United States.

  This is an issue that transcends party lines, as it is not only an assault on Trump, but an assault on the office of the presidency, and with it, an assault on the foundation of America.

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  Click on infographic to enlarge.

  Politically Motivated Investigation

  The FBI under the Obama administration in 2016 launched a politically motivated investigation of the Trump campaign. Based on publicly available information, we know the investigation was initiated based on the thinnest of evidence: remarks made by a junior Trump campaign adviser to the Australian ambassador in London. In reality, the investigation primarily relied on the discredited “Steele dossier,” produced by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

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  President Donald Trump boards Air Force One in Butler, Pa., on Oct. 31, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

  The Trump–Russia Shadow

  While the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation itself would not find any evidence of Trump–Russia collusion, the ongoing investigations, including selective leaks to the media, would create the public narrative that Trump had colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election. This cast a shadow over the first few years of his presidency and constrained his actions both domestically and internationally. Some members of Congress had gone so far as to call for Trump’s impeachment over the false allegations.

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  Former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James Comey, speaks via a TV monitor during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 30, 2020. (Stefani Reynolds/Pool/Getty Images)

  FBI Under Comey and McCabe

  The FBI under Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe pro-actively worked against Trump. McCabe was directly involved in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, working with FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page. After Comey was fired by Trump in May 2017, McCabe actively pushed the agency to further investigate Trump. McCabe’s FBI went as far as suggesting Department of Justice official Bruce Ohr reach back out to Steele, despite that many of the claims in his dossier had been disproven by that time and the FBI had cut ties with him over his leaks to the media.

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  The New York Times building is seen in New York City on Feb. 7, 2013. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

  Media

  Perhaps one of the most powerful forces working against Trump during his presidency has been the news media. Over the past five years, they have relentlessly published skewed and inaccurate information about Trump while minimizing or ignoring his accomplishments, seeking to portray him publicly as an illegitimate president. This type of reporting has created a climate of anger, hate, and instability in America. It has resulted in threats made to the president’s life and acts of violence against his supporters.

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  The White House stands at dusk in Washington on Feb. 5, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

  Impeachment

  The House of Representatives on Dec. 18, 2019, impeached Trump along partisan lines. Though the Senate would later dismiss the charge, it left a mark on his presidency and dragged the country through months of public attacks in the media. At the center of the impeachment was a phone call Trump made on July 25, 2019, to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which Trump expressed his hope that allegations of potential corruption involving former Vice President Joe Biden would be investigated. Given even the publicly available information at the time, there were legitimate concerns that American political influence and taxpayers’ funds were misused in Ukraine. At the time, it was publicly known that Biden’s son Hunter had received tens of thousands of dollars a month from a Ukrainian energy giant, while then-Vice President Biden—in his own words—had pressured the Ukrainian president to fire a prosecutor as a prerequisite for receiving $1 billion in foreign aid. That same prosecutor had been investigating the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, as well its board, which included Hunter Biden.

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  A medical worker in protective suit conducts nucleic acid testings for residents at a residential compound in Wuhan, the Chinese city hit hardest by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, Hubei province, China, on May 15, 2020. (Aly Song/Reuters)

  CCP Virus

  Trump’s opponents have accused the president of mishandling the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly referred to as the novel coronavirus, by acting too late. This, however, is contrary to the events of early 2020. The Trump administration on Feb. 2, 2020, banned all foreign travel from China, the source of the CCP virus. This decision was made by the president against the advice of some of his top advisers and exceeded actions taken by most other nations at the time. Meanwhile, his opponents in politics and media described it as xenophobic and an overreaction. In hindsight, the decision proved immensely valuable in helping to slow the spread of the virus. As the virus spread in the United States, the Trump administration increased testing capacity, coordinated with state governments to provide them with the federal assistance they needed, used the defense production act to compel companies to produce critical health equipment such as ventilators, and provided billions in federal funding and eased federal regulations for major drug companies to push for the development of a vaccine.

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  Chinese troops march during a military parade in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, on Oct. 1, 2019. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)

  Foreign Interference

  It would be accurate to say that Trump is communist China’s biggest adversary. The president broke a decades-long U.S. policy toward China that was based on the belief that, through engagement and economic development, the People’s Republic would evolve from a totalitarian regime toward a more democratic country. In reality, this strategy of appeasement merely resulted in trillions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs going to China. And instead of becoming more democratic, the Chinese regime used this wealth to advance its dictatorship, creating the most technologically advanced tyranny the world has ever witnessed. The CCP has consistently worked against Trump during his presidency, both publicly and behind the scenes. Beijing has used its domestic and overseas propaganda channels—often by relying on the United States’ own media—to vilify Trump, going as far as to suggest that the outbreak of the CCP virus in Wuhan was because of the American military.

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  A police armored vehicle patrols an intersection while a building set afire by rioters burns in Kenosha, Wis., on Aug. 24, 2020. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

  Black Lives Matter

  Black Lives Matter (BLM) has been behind the riots that have plagued American cities for much of this year. The group has hijacked the concerns people have over racism and used them to justify its advance of a Marxist agenda. In a 2015 video, BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors described herself and her fellow founders as “trained Marxists.” Just like in Russia, China, Cuba, and Venezuela, trained Marxists have hijacked righteous causes to advance the communist agenda. Many of those who lived through the Cultural Revolution in China in the 1960s have commented that the riots in the United States over the summer, which included the toppling of historical statues, were eerily similar. The result is a climate of chaos and insecurity that affects the entire country.

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  Antifa extremists in Berkeley, Calif., on Aug. 27, 2017. (Amy Osborne/AFP via Getty Images)

  Antifa

  Dressed in full black gear including armor, helmets, and masks, and trained in agitation and basic combat, Antifa extremists have been involved in numerous acts of violence during Trump’s presidency. In many cases, these acts of violence, which include the use of weapons, rocks, and Molotov cocktails, were directed at law enforcement and government property. But Antifa members have also directly targeted unarmed common citizens for simply supporting Trump. We saw this happen twice in Washington, where those who had gathered to support Trump were later attacked when alone in the city at night. Antifa’s use of a militia-style force to intimidate and physically attack citizens for their political beliefs creates a powerful climate of fear and stands against the most basic American values.

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  Aerial photo of the Washington Memorial with the Capitol in the background in Washington D.C. in this file photo. (Andy Dunaway/USAF via Getty Images)

  The Permanent Government

  Though Trump as president is the leader of the executive branch, when he came to office he inherited a federal government staffed with hundreds of thousands of employees. It’s no secret that many career officials in the U.S. government have actively sought to undermine or even openly work against Trump. Many in government have been led by false information published by media organizations to believe that they are doing the right thing, and that by working against Trump, they are putting the interests of the country first. In fact, they have done the country a disservice by blocking a rightfully elected president from executing the will of the people.

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  Robert Mueller in Washington, on May 29, 2019. (Reuters/Jim Bourg)

  Mueller Special Counsel Investigation

  Following the firing of FBI Director Comey, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein assigned former FBI Director Robert Mueller to continue the FBI’s investigation of alleged Trump–Russia collusion. Mueller would conclude in a final report that there was no evidence of such collusion. But this only came after a nearly two-year-long investigation, giving the media and Trump’s political opponents leeway to portray Trump as an illegitimate president because of his supposed affiliation with Russia.

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  President Donald Trump speaks on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 28, 2017. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

  Illegal Leaks

  Throughout the past four years, the Trump administration has been plagued by selective leaks aimed at damaging Trump’s presidency. Some of these leaks have been criminal in nature, such as the leak of the transcripts of Trump’s conversations with foreign leaders—a felony offense. Treasury official Natalie Edwards was found guilty of illegally leaking suspicious activity reports (SARs) on financial transactions by former Trump campaign associate Paul Manafort, among others.

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  Poll workers board up windows so ballot challengers can’t see into the ballot counting area at the TCF Center where ballots are being counted in downtown Detroit on Nov. 4,2020. (Seth Herald/AFP via Getty Images)

  2020 Election Fraud

  Following the Nov. 3 elections, dozens of credible allegations of voter fraud or other illegal acts connected to the counting of ballots have emerged. Dozens of poll workers across multiple states have given testimony in sworn statements—under penalty of perjury—detailing irregularities in how ballots were counted, as well as how the workers were instructed to make otherwise illegal changes to ballots, how they were unable to properly observe ballot counting, and how they witnessed new ballots mysteriously appear out of nowhere. The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee launched a number of lawsuits to challenge the process. They’ve argued that in Pennsylvania alone, 600,000 ballots should be invalidated, as Republican election observers weren’t allowed to witness the ballot processing.

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  President Donald Trump speaks at Trump Tower, fielding questions from reporters about Charlottesville, in New York City, on Aug. 15, 2017. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

  Manufactured Narratives

  The use of manufactured narratives to attack Trump has been pervasive since he assumed the presidency. Perhaps the most notable is the claim that he defended neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, when in fact he said that that there were “very fine people on both sides,” referring to people who “were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name.” Trump specifically added, “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.” Yet despite this being on public record, Trump would continue to be asked throughout his presidency, especially during the election season, whether he was ready to “denounce white supremacy,” despite having done so on many occasions, even before becoming president

  

• New Study Exposes Alleged Accounting Error Regarding COVID Deaths
  New Study Exposes Alleged Accounting Error Regarding COVID Deaths
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 18:00

  Authored by Ethan Yang via The American Institute for Economic Research,

  At the time of this writing, the United States currently maintains the highest number of Covid-19 deaths and ranks 11th for the highest deaths per capita. There have been approximately 262,000 recorded Covid-19 deaths in the United States, which is certainly a concerning number. 

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  However, a new study (link removed but now available at Archive.org) published by Dr. Genevieve Briand at Johns Hopkins University notes some critical accounting errors done at the national level.

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  The study – which is still being vetted – simply examines the raw data that should have been questioned months ago.

  The overall conclusion is that Covid-19, at least according to collected data, is not the killer disease that it is currently hyped up to be. AIER is not endorsing the study as is without further study, but we are interested in the argument being examined and discussed.

  Viewing Covid-19 Deaths in Context

  It is already well established that Covid-19 is a disease that is most dangerous to those over the age of 65 and who have preexisting conditions. In the United States, there has been an observed 2.1% mortality rate, with elderly individuals making up over half that number. 

  Young and healthy people are not by any significant capacity threatened by Covid-19. 

  One of the most important factors when it comes to Covid-19 is preventing excess death. According to the CDC, 

  “Estimates of excess deaths can provide information about the burden of mortality potentially related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including deaths that are directly or indirectly attributed to COVID-19. Excess deaths are typically defined as the difference between the observed numbers of deaths in specific time periods and expected numbers of deaths in the same time periods.”

  Essentially, there is an average number of deaths every year due to a variety of causes that for the most part have remained constant through the years. This includes morbidities such as heart disease, which has long been the leading cause of death, and cancer, which has long plagued our existence. For Covid-19 to be a serious cause of alarm, it would need to significantly increase the number of average deaths. 

  However, according to the study,

  “These data analyses suggest that in contrast to most people’s assumptions, the number of deaths by COVID-19 is not alarming. In fact, it has relatively no effect on deaths in the United States.”

  Total deaths in the United States show no significant change and even mirror past trends of seasonal illness. 

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  Source: CDC Data, Methodology Included in this Video

  According to this graph constructed using data provided by the CDC from the last 6 years, total deaths have remained relatively constant and increases can be explained by various factors such as a larger population. The spikes in deaths in 2020 are consistent with historical trends, only topping 2018 by 11,292 deaths. There have been over 262,000 deaths attributed to Covid-19 in the United States, yet total deaths have not increased in any alarming capacity; they have only mirrored existing trends. In short, according to 6 years of data collected by the CDC, Covid-19 has not led to any significant increase in deaths.

  Diving Deeper 

  What is even more interesting if not more alarming is that the spike in recorded Covid-19 deaths seen in 2020 has coincided with a proportional decrease in death from other diseases. 

  Yanni Gu writes

  “This suggests, according to Briand, that the COVID-19 death toll is misleading. Briand believes that deaths due to heart diseases, respiratory diseases, influenza and pneumonia may instead be recategorized as being due to COVID-19.” 

  Deaths have remained relatively constant, yet reported deaths due to deadly conditions such as heart disease have fallen while reported Covid deaths have risen. This suggests that the current Covid death count is in some capacity relabeled deaths due to other ailments. According to the graph, reported Covid deaths even overtook heart disease as the main cause of death at one point, which should raise suspicion.

  This aligns with many other well-established facts about the virus, such as those with comorbidities are the most at risk. According to the CDC, about 94% of Covid deaths occur with comorbidities. This suggests that it could be possible that a large number of deaths could have been mainly due to more serious ailments such as heart disease but categorized as a Covid-19 death, a far less lethal disease.

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  Source: John Hopkins News-Letter, provided by Genevieve Briand

  According to this graph provided by the study, deaths labeled under Covid-19 increased while deaths labeled under others decreased. It is important to note that this sample only applies to the month of April as the author notes these were the weeks with the highest reported deaths. Gu writes 

  “The CDC classified all deaths that are related to COVID-19 simply as COVID-19 deaths. Even patients dying from other underlying diseases but are infected with COVID-19 count as COVID-19 deaths. This is likely the main explanation as to why COVID-19 deaths drastically increased while deaths by all other diseases experienced a significant decrease…

  “If [the COVID-19 death toll] was not misleading at all, what we should have observed is an increased number of heart attacks and increased COVID-19 numbers. But a decreased number of heart attacks and all the other death causes doesn’t give us a choice but to point to some misclassification,” Briand replied.”

  Furthermore, Briand’s research notes that the percentage of death has remained relatively constant through all age groups. Covid death statistics seem to mirror the normal distribution of death amongst age groups, further lending credence to the argument that many Covid deaths are recategorized deaths.

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  Briand provides this graph constructed from CDC data that shows that deaths amongst various age groups have remained relatively constant. 

  By simply looking at the raw data presented by the CDC Gu writes that

  “All of this points to no evidence that COVID-19 created any excess deaths. Total death numbers are not above normal death numbers. We found no evidence to the contrary,” Briand concluded.

  What Do We Do With This Information?

  Briand and likely many others suppose that the extreme emphasis on Covid-19 has led to the unintended classification of the disease as the cause of death. She further stresses that although this data challenges the idea that Covid is an unprecedented and lethal disease, we should still be concerned with mitigating death in general. 

  However, it is clear that this significant accounting error regarding Covid deaths, if true, is not productive. It has caused mass hysteria and misinformed public policy. Closing down communities to fight a virus that according to the data, has had no significant contribution to total deaths, reduces our overall capacity to build a healthy society. 

  [ZH: Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) noted on Twitter: “Folks: I know a lot of you are referencing this Johns Hopkins paper that’s been pulled. Unfortunately it is wrong. The excess deaths are real. Yes, they’re very, very skewed by age, but they’re real. Pretending otherwise doesn’t help.”]

  Lockdowns have resulted in severe damage to our capacity to improve the general health of society. From the catastrophic economic damage that lowers the standard of living for everyone to surgeries being deemed “unessential,” our current policies are not helping in preventing deaths in general; they are likely leading to more. Suicides and substance abuse are up, mental and physical health are down, all due to lockdowns. 

  The late Dr. Donald Henderson, who led the eradication of smallpox, noted in 2006 that 

  “Experience has shown that communities faced with epidemics or other adverse events respond best and with the least anxiety when the normal social functioning of the community is least disrupted.”

  The hysteria over Covid-19 has likely led to the alleged accounting error noted in Briand’s study, the reclassification of expected deaths from all causes into Covid deaths.

  That accounting error has likely led to a number of policy decisions that have drastically crippled our ability to support the general welfare of society, economically, socially, and spiritually. Going forward these findings should give us pause and reconsideration over the threat Covid-19 actually poses and realize how much avoidable damage we have done to ourselves as a result.

  

• The Background for Black Friday's All-Time Highs
  The Background for Black Friday's All-Time Highs

  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 17:55

  Real Vision managing editor Ed Harrison and senior editor Ash Bennington discuss the all-time highs set on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite on this holiday-shortened trading day in U.S. equity markets. Harrison and Bennington also take a step back to evaluate the broader context for rising stock prices during the month of November. Specifically, the pair explores the apparent recent decrease of political risk in the U.S., the impact of increasing case counts and virus fatalities, the potential effects of a Covid-19 vaccine on the global economic climate, and the risk of future lockdowns and growing geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East.

  

• Carter Page Sues Comey, DOJ And Others For $75 Million Over Crossfire Hurricane Abuse
  Carter Page Sues Comey, DOJ And Others For $75 Million Over Crossfire Hurricane Abuse
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 17:30

  Former 2016 Trump Campaign aide Carter Page has filed an eight-count complaint against the Department of Justice, the FBI, former FBI Director James Comey and others.

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  Filed in the DC District Court, Page seeks at least $75 million in damages over, amongst other things, obtaining four illegal Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants against him.

  More via The Federalist‘s Margot Cleveland:

  Page’s 59-page complaint lists as defendants a veritable “Who’s Who” of the SpyGate scandal, including former FBI Director James Comey, Assistant Director Andrew McCabe, and the disgraced team of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. Also singled out were Kevin Clinessmith, who earlier this year pleaded guilty to falsifying an email to hide Page’s past service as a source to the CIA, and FBI Agents Joe Pientka, Stephen Somma, and Brian Auten, with additional defendants identified merely as John Doe 1 – 10 and Jane Doe 1 – 10.

  ­The first four counts of his complaint allege claims under FISA, with one count seeking damages for each of the four FISA court orders the defendants obtained against Page. FISA provides a private right of action to allow “an aggrieved person. . . who has been subjected to an electronic surveillance or about whom information obtained by electronic surveillance of such person has been disclosed,” to sue those responsible.

  While Page’s attorneys are filing a civil claim under FISA, the filing notes that the same act makes it a criminal offense to illegally “engage in electronic surveillance under color of law.”

  Page also claims that the United States government is responsible for civil wrongs “in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances,” a Federal tort claim which allows Page to sue the government for wrongful conduct, as if it were a private person.

  Meanwhile (thanks to expert analysis by Cleveland – a lawyer and CPA), Page alleges a Bivens claim, named after a Supreme Court case in which a plaintiff was determined to be entitled to damages from the individual government actors responsible for violating their Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure – “which describes precisely what the Crossfire Hurricane team did in submitting the four false and misleading FISA applications to the FISA court.”

  Lastly, Page seeks justice in a pair of complaints under the federal Privacy Act – the first of which seeks to force the DOJ to update his “individual records,” and the second which seeks an injunction to force the government to do so – as he says “he was falsely portrayed as a traitor to his country.”

  

• Was Wednesday A Super Spreader Event, One Bank Asks
  Was Wednesday A Super Spreader Event, One Bank Asks
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 17:14

  From DB’s Jim Reid

  Wednesday was the busiest day at US airports since the pandemic began. The Transportation Security Administration screened  more than 1.07 million people at US airports on Thanksgiving eve. For context this number was still down 41% on the same Wednesday last year.

  We are very positive about the chance of a return to normal life in 2021, especially from Q2 onwards. However it is quite clear that Thanksgiving and Christmas pose Covid super spreader event risk in various countries. Canada held Thanksgiving on October 12th and many public health officials there have blamed this for the recent spike in cases.

  If the US follows this pattern, tighter restrictions and weaker activity could still dominate in the near term before the positive trends of vaccines and mass testing kick in across the globe as we go through Q1.

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• Here Is Who Will Get The COVID Vaccine First According To Goldman
  Here Is Who Will Get The COVID Vaccine First According To Goldman
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 17:00

  Last week, Moncef Slaoui, the head of Washington’s “Operation Warp Speed”, laid out the ‘official’ timeline for vaccinating the American population, culminating in the extremely optimistic projection that the American population would reach 70% vaccination threshold – supposedly enough to achieve ‘herd immunity’ in May. The first doses, on the other hand, are expected to be administered on Dec. 11 and Dec. 12, Slaoui said.

  Now, according to a team of analysts at Goldman Sachs, most major developed-market economies aren’t expecting to make meaningful progress in inoculating their populations until later into the second half of Q2.

  Looking ahead, the FDA has already set up Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines to receive emergency-use approval perhaps as soon as next week, while based on comments from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is likely to authorize the three leading vaccines by year’s end.

  With investors already shifting their focus to actual distribution, Goldman’s team has published projections for six major advanced economies in five steps:

  1. Global vaccine production: We use monthly global production projections from our health care equity analysts for Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Novavax, and Johnson & Johnson. The projections assume that production gradually rises in early 2021 and achieves the announced targets.

  2. Country vaccine supply: To allocate production across countries, we use data on agreements of purchases and purchase options, shown in the left panel of Exhibit 1, and data on initial deliveries. We assume the production share a country receives from a developer rises in the country’s initial deliveries, confirmed purchases, optional purchases, and population but falls to zero when contracted and optional purchases are delivered or when cumulative deliveries across the five developers exceed 90% of the population.2

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  3. Country vaccine demand: We use responses to the global Ipsos survey question of “From when a vaccine is available, when would you become vaccinated?” (Exhibit 1, right). This survey suggests that most people expect to wait some time before taking it, consistent with wanting to learn more about safety, side effects, and effectiveness. We also assume that demand will be more elevated and front-loaded than reported in the October Ipsos survey, which preceded recent trial results and upcoming public vaccination campaigns. Based on the expected timing of trials for children, we assume vaccinations for children under age 12 start globally in October 2021.

  4. Vaccine distribution capacity: We assume a speed limit on distribution that rises from 10% of the population in December to 20% of the population from February 2021 onwards based on the peak speed of the flu vaccine US distribution this year, corresponding to 20% of the population per month.

  5. Country vaccinations: We estimate monthly vaccination as the minimum of supply, demand, and distribution capacity Exhibit 2 illustrates the estimates of supply (light blue), demand (dark blue), and actual vaccinations (dotted green line) for the US and Canada. In both countries, vaccination is initially significantly limited by scarce supply, until additional capacity allows supply to exceed slowing demand in April. In Canada, the speed limit on distribution binds briefly in April. Demand drives vaccination from April in the US and May in Canada, rises gradually over the summer based on survey estimates, increases significantly with child vaccinations in the fall, and jumps past 70% in October in both countries.

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  Exhibit 3 shows our expected timeline for actual US vaccinations by tiering phase. High-risk groups, mostly health care workers and individuals with comorbid conditions, will likely receive the first available doses from mid-December, likely leading to significant public health benefits from Q1 onwards, followed by widespread vaccination from early April.

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  Looking more broadly, our baseline forecast is that large shares of the population are vaccinated by the end of Q2 in all major DMs (Exhibit 4). The UK is expected to vaccinate 50% of its population in March with the US and Canada following in April. We forecast that the EU, Japan, and Australia reach this 50% threshold in May. As production becomes abundant by mid-Q2, vaccination rises gradually with demand and surpasses 70% across all DMs in the fall when children become eligible.

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  We next explore a downside scenario. This scenario assumes that (1) the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, which are both viral vector vaccines, do not succeed (perhaps reflecting safety events), and (2) vaccine demand measures fall back to October 2020 Ipsos survey levels. In this scenario, supply rises much more slowly in the EU, reflecting a larger reliance on both developers. In the medium run, vaccination levels are the lowest in the EU (assuming no new contracts are signed) but also the US and Japan, where the decline in demand leaves vaccination at relatively low long-term levels. In contrast, Australia and Canada are more resilient, benefiting from diversified supply contracts and relatively strong vaccine demand measures.

  * * *

  Source: Goldman Sachs

  While various governments have released comprehensive and detailed timelines for when their populations will have achieved ‘herd immunity’, Goldman’s analysts warned that European countries are skewed toward “the later timeline” since AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson are lagging behind Pfizer and Moderna.

  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a press briefing on Friday to explain the official Canadian vaccination timeline. The PM said he expects most Canadians will be vaccinated by September. The announcement follows Trudeau’s remarks from earlier this week that Canada “won’t be first in line” for a vaccine since it hadn’t struck any major deals with suppliers.

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  But Canada is in much better shape than the vast majority of countries, which have no deals at all. They will need to rely on the kindness of strangers – either the WHO and Bill Gates’s (who are trying via their “Covax” project to raise enough money to vaccinate the whole world) or President Xi and Beijing

  

• Pope Francis Criticizes Anti-Lockdown Protesters In New Book 
  Pope Francis Criticizes Anti-Lockdown Protesters In New Book 
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 16:30

  While coronavirus lockdowns triggered widespread social unrest and resulted in the worst socio-economic implosion the world has ever seen – Pope Francis is set to reveal his thoughts on what transpired this year in a new book expected to be released next month, according to AP News. 

  In “Let Us Dream: The Path to A Better Future,” ghostwritten by biographer Austen Ivereigh, Francis champions anti-racism protesters while demonizing anti-lockdown demonstrators. He said those around the world who demonstrated against lockdown restrictions reacted “as if measures that governments must impose for the good of their people constitute some political assault on autonomy or personal freedom!”

  “You’ll never find such people protesting the death of George Floyd, or joining a demonstration because there are shantytowns where children lack water or education,” Francis wrote in the new 150-page book. “They turned into a cultural battle what was in truth an effort to ensure the protection of life.”

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  Francis touched on Floyd’s police killing that ignited social unrest across almost every US metro area for months. Francis said: “Abuse is a gross violation of human dignity that we cannot allow and which we must continue to struggle against.”

  However, Francis condemned anti-racism protesters’ attempt to erase history by dismantling statues of Confederate leaders. He said there are better ways to create dialogue.

  “Amputating history can make us lose our memory, which is one of the few remedies we have against repeating the mistakes of the past,” he wrote.

  Francis criticized populist leaders who’ve created buzz among supporters at massive rallies and scapegoats others for their countries’ problems. He compared the populist movement of today to the ones from the 1930s. 

  “Today, listening to some of the populist leaders we now have, I am reminded of the 1930s, when some democracies collapsed into dictatorships seemingly overnight,” he wrote. “We see it happening again now in rallies where populist leaders excite and harangue crowds, channeling their resentments and hatreds against imagined enemies to distract from the real problems.”

  He also said the virus pandemic had become an opportunity for the world to reset. Not too long ago, Archibishop Carlo Maria Vigano warned about a global reset intended to undermine “God and humanity”.

  Earlier this month, Francis’ latest Encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” (“Brothers All”) was published and seemed more of a political document than a spiritual guide to the catholic faith. He spoke for a more globalist political system and denounced the global capitalist free market economy.

  In the most recent monthly prayer intention, he called all the good Catholics of the world to “pray that the progress of robotics and artificial intelligence may always serve humankind.”

  

• Controversy Intensifies Over Danish 'Zombie Minks' As Company Behind Botched Covid-Culling Identified
  Controversy Intensifies Over Danish 'Zombie Minks' As Company Behind Botched Covid-Culling Identified
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Fri, 11/27/2020 – 16:00

  A Danish company behind a botched culling of 17 million minks which appeared to ‘rise from the dead’ has been identified.

  Copenhagen-based International Service System (ISS) was tasked with the mass burial of the culled minks, which were infected with a mutated form of COVID-19. Controversy erupted however after the minks appeared to rise from the dead – as locals reported mink-movement within the three-foot deep mass graves.

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  According to Bloomberg, ISS says it was contacted by the government to handle two specific mass graves located in Western Denmark – following instructions provided by the military and the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration.

  “When the relevant authorities contacted us, we mobilized a full emergency response within 24 hours,” according to Senior ISS VP Simon Kaiser.
   

  Due to the ‘zombie mink’ controversy, a majority of parties in Danish parliament want the minks exhumed because they believe they were buried too close to a lake which Danes occasionally use for swimming.

  Dead mink were tipped into trenches at a military area in western Denmark and covered with two metres of soil. But hundreds have begun resurfacing, pushed out of the ground by what authorities say is gas from their decomposition. Newspapers have referred to them as the “zombie mink”.

  Jensen’s replacement, Rasmus Prehn, said on Friday he supported the idea of digging up the animals and incinerating them. He said he had asked the environmental protection agency look into whether it could be done, and parliament would be briefed on the issue on Monday. –Reuters

  ​

  Due to the ‘zombie mink’ controversy, a majority of parties in Danish parliament want the minks exhumed because they believe they were buried too close to a lake which Danes occasionally use for swimming.

  After public outrage over the zombified members of the weasel family, Danish police spokesman Thomas Kristensen urged locals to remain calm – explaining that gasses in the decay process can cause the bodies to move.

  “As the bodies decay, gases can be formed. This causes the whole thing to expand a little. In this way, in the worst cases, the mink get pushed out of the ground,” Kristensen said, according to the Guardian.

  ​

  And as The Mind Unleashed notes: “another issue is the fact that the animals were placed in shallow graves because the process was rushed. The graves were just over three feet deep, which allowed some witnesses to see the movement. Now officials are planning to order the graves to be dug twice as deep.

  “This is a natural process. Unfortunately, one metre of soil is not just one metre of soil –it depends on what type of soil it is. The problem is that the sandy soil in West Jutland is too light. So we have had to lay more soil on top,” Kristensen said.”

  

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• Power Is An Illusion, Control Is A Facade
  Power Is An Illusion, Control Is A Facade
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 23:15

  Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

  This past year in numerous countries the public is being bombarded with lessons in power and control that have been forgotten for generations. I think the majority of westerners in particular have long believed themselves “safe” from totalitarian government, from collectivist micro-management and from communistic cultism. They thought we had moved beyond the nightmares of the 20th century. They thought that the “new world” was going to be more Utopian, and that freedom would grace us naturally along with technological progress.

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  Sure, in the back of everyone’s subconscious there is the fear that the good times are an illusion and that dystopia is just behind a thin veneer of economic stability and false optimism, but most people do not really think such catastrophes will happen in their lifetime. We are now in the midst of a deliberately over-hyped pandemic, strict national lockdowns, civil unrest, riots, aggressive tech censorship, intrusive government censorship, unprecedented corporate and treasury debt, stagflationary central bank stimulus and the collapse of massive financial bubbles. Yet, I still don’t get the impression that many in the public really grasp the extent of the danger; they still believe that the situation is going to heal itself without any effort or much sacrifice on their part.

  This is the first lesson of power: Entire societies can be easily influenced when they suffer from delusions that the bad times will be fleeting, and that governments will keep them safe no matter what.

  It is a historically proven pattern that governments tend to CREATE problems instead of solving them, and this is because the power dynamic of government never changes. The politicians we “vote” for are not in control, rather, the elites who fund their campaigns and who permeate their cabinets are in control. Political representatives come and go, but the establishment elites never leave. Therefore, the problems our society faces will remain; they are a direct result of the subversive and perpetual power structure that serves the interest of a select minority rather than the public. The decline of our society into tyranny will not stop until this power structure and the people behind it are erased.

  This would actually be a simple thing to achieve if enough people were to accept the truth and take action. The elites, the globalists, the establishment, the “new world order”, whatever you want to call this organization of power mongers, is but a collection of mostly weak and feeble psychopaths and parasites. They are completely out in the open; they proudly proclaim their affiliations and intentions on a regular basis through their host institutions, from the Council on Foreign Relations to Tavistock to Bilderberg to the World Economic Forum, the IMF, the Bank for International Settlements, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Open Society Foundation, etc. There is very little that is hidden about these people anymore.

  But, it is also a sad reality that most people have to hit rock bottom before they embrace the idea that they cannot rely on the corrupt system to save them from harm. And as long as they continue to have blind faith that the system will self correct, they will never act. The elites operate in the open with impunity because they know that human beings are more likely to seek out help from the system than they are to fix a problem for themselves. If someone was to switch off that single mass fantasy, the elites would be gone tomorrow.

  The second lesson of power is that perception of consent creates legitimate consent. To put it another way – When people believe that their peers and neighbors have accepted a certain level of tyranny, they too will often accept it so that they don’t stand out or draw attention to themselves as “aberrant”. People seeking power only need to create the illusion of mass consent. Even when the majority of people are against them, the perception of compliance can sometimes overwhelm logic.

  Control is usually achieved passively without force. Sometimes you don’t even need the threat of force; sometimes you only need to inspire a fear of standing out among the crowd.

  For example, the pandemic has been used the past six months as a tool for creating such a narrative. Mask wearing “rules” are particularly insidious as they conjure illusions of compliance and submission. “Everyone” is wearing a mask, therefore everyone must support medical tyranny. Mask wearing is a complete farce when it comes to the actual science of virology and viral spread. The CDC still does not recommend cloth masks to their own employees and only allows them to use N95 filtered masks. A recent and censored Danish study confirms the reality that masks are mostly useless.

  Strictly enforced cloth mask rules have done nothing to stop renewed spikes in infections in multiple countries and US states. The fact that in many places masks are required OUTDOORS despite endless scientific evidence showing that UV light and open air kills microorganisms including viruses shows that the lockdown response has nothing to do with science or saving lives. It is about control.

  We can take all logical factors into account, but, for a lot of people, if they see others wearing masks they too will wear a mask simply because they are afraid to be judged by what they perceive to be the majority. The reality is that a majority of people are wearing the masks grudgingly, and they would take them off tomorrow if they knew other people would do the same.

  This is why the mainstream media pushes mask wearing propaganda everyday, 24/7. News journalists stand on street corners or in open air parks and wear masks on camera. Politicians wear masks even when on camera in their own homes. Celebrities and companies try to sell the idea that mask wearing is “cool”. Hey, if you don’t wear a mask you could be putting hundreds or thousands of other people at risk and killing their grandmas, right?

  The masks do nothing. They achieve nothing in terms of stopping the virus spread or saving lives. This is a fact made obvious by the very infection numbers the establishment holds up as a rationale for the masks. But if the establishment elites through propaganda can convince you to wear a mask everyday, then this opens the door to them dictating many other aspects of your life. The masks are just a gateway into more destructive mandates.

  The solution to this type of tyranny is to stop caring what other people think, especially when the facts are on your side. In the town where I live, the vast majority of people have said no to the mask restrictions. If someone wants to wear a mask because they believe it will protect them, that’s fine. But, no one is going to tell us we have to wear them “for our own good”. That said, even if I was the ONLY person not wearing a mask around town, I would not care if it bothered others. Your credo has to be “try and force me to wear a mask, and watch what happens…”

  The third lesson of power is that force only leads to control if you respond with submission. A group of people can beat you or even kill you, but they can’t force you to comply if you do not fear for your own life.

  I find that the use of force by tyrants is predicated on the assumption that the people they are seeking to control will not fight back effectively. As soon as people do fight back effectively, the tyrant is shocked. Most tyrants rise to power, not because they have won multiple battles and subdued their opponents, but because they never had to fight in the first place. Or, they win a handful of easy battles, often staged to look more victorious than they really were, and then use those mediocre wins as a means to terrify all future opposition into not fighting. The tyrants start to believe their own lies and presume their own invincibility.

  Predators do not seek out hard targets, they seek out weak targets. The solution to tyrants is for the hard targets to seek them out and strike them in the midst of their confidence. When predators get hit back they have a habit of running away.

  But, this requires people who do not live in fear of what might happen when they fight back. The concept of sacrificing comfort (or much worse) can’t be an issue. Fear fades away when a person fights for something more than himself. It’s not always about personal survival, sometimes it’s about the survival of future generations, or the survival of a set of principles. As that fear disappears, so does the illusion of control that tyrants rely on.

  The fourth lesson of power is that ideals either stem from human conscience, or they do not. And if they do not, then they are not ideals worth adopting or fighting over. The conscience of the average person is not as ambiguous and changeable as the establishment would like you to believe. A lion’s share of human beings operate on a certain set of inherent morals and principles that are universally shared; they do not need to be taught these principles, they are born knowing them. If these rules were not ingrained into our psyches our species would have self destructed thousands of years ago.

  Establishment elites would like you to believe that all ideals are a product of environment, and that those who control the environment control the morals of the people by extension. This is a lie. Values such as freedom exist even in the most oppressive environments, and people seek it out even when the risk is overwhelming. Empathy is also inherent for most of us, but a certain percentage of people are born without the capacity for it. The REAL fight in the middle of any power struggle is the fight between those who are born with conscience, values and empathy, and those who are born without these grounding characteristics.

  Psychopathic tyrants desperately want to prove that all other people are just as devoid of humanity and soul as they are. They want to prove that the voice of conscience that guides us is a mask we wear to pretend that we are not evil at our core. Control comes from the fallacy that we are dependent on our environments to tell us who we are as individuals. Control comes from the notion that morals are relative, and that principles are social constructs.

  Conscience is inherent, but it is also a choice. You have the free will to listen to it, or ignore it. If a tyrant can convince you to ignore the voice of your own conscience then the only other guide in life is your environment. And, if that tyrant dominates every aspect of your environment, then he now has the power to rewrite your moral code, at least temporarily. You can be made to do terrible things you would not otherwise do, or support destructive causes and ideologies you would not otherwise support.

  The ultimate totalitarian power is the power to make people forget their own inner voice. The ultimate tool against evil is to listen to that voice and to not be afraid of the supposed consequences.

  The question of the facade of power is about to become the defining question of our epoch as the elitist establishment accelerates their agenda for greater centralized control of our lives. The truth they do not want you to understand is that they have no power. They have nothing. We could defy their mandates anytime we wish. We could do away with them tomorrow if we wanted. They are of no use to humanity, they serve no valuable purpose. They only seek to feed like vampires on the masses and fulfill their deranged fantasies of conquest. Sooner or later they will have to be dealt with – The sooner the better.

  *  *  *

  If you would like to support the work that Alt-Market does while also receiving content on advanced tactics for defeating the globalist agenda, subscribe to our exclusive newsletter The Wild Bunch Dispatch.  Learn more about it HERE.

  

• Solomon Islands PM Defends Temporary Facebook Ban 
  Solomon Islands PM Defends Temporary Facebook Ban 
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 22:40

  Last week, the Solomon Islands government approved a temporary block of social media website Facebook across the tiny island nation of 650,000, a move that top government officials said would protect people from cyberbullying and online defamation, according to Australian ABC.

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  By Monday, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare doubled-down on his government’s temporary measure to block the social media website, “as it was a necessity to preserve national unity.” He said Facebook undermines social cohesion. 

  “Cyberbullying on Facebook is widespread, people have been defamed by users who use fake names, and people’s reputations that have been built up over the years [are destroyed] in a matter of minutes.

  “We have [a] duty to cultivate national unity and the happy coexistence of our people … [Facebook] is undermining efforts to unite this country,” he said. 

  Australian ABC notes the ban has yet to go into effect, though the prospect of the ban has caused an uproar among younger people. Sogavare stands by the new measure, saying it was aimed at protecting the youth from “vile abusive language” and not a way to silence them. 

  It’s still unclear how the temporary ban will be enforced. The government still needs to determine whether it will use a firewall or utilize some other technique to block Facebook. 

  The move to ban the social media website comes as reports began to spread on the platform, accusing the government of misappropriating virus pandemic funds for social programs – prompting calls for an audit of the virus pandemic relief program.  

  This isn’t the first time a Pacific government has mulled over the idea of blocking Facebook – leaders in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Samoa have all considered similar options. 

  Besides Facebook, governments in Asia are also blocking Pornhub. Thailand’s government banned more than 190 porn sites, including Pornhub, earlier this month, prompting outrage among the younger generation. 

  

• Joe Biden: Return Of The CFR
  Joe Biden: Return Of The CFR
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 22:05

  Submitted by Swiss Policy Research,

  A Joe Biden presidency means a “return to normality” simply because it means a return of the US Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

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  In 2008, Barack Obama received the names of his entire future cabinet already one month prior to his election by CFR Senior Fellow (and Citigroup banker) Michael Froman, as a Wikileaks email later revealed. Consequently, the key posts in Obama’s cabinet were filled almost exclusively by CFR members, as was the case in most cabinets since World War II. To be sure, Obama’s 2008 Republican opponent, the late John McCain, was a CFR member, too. Michael Froman later negotiated the TPP and TTIP international trade agreements, before returning to the CFR as a Distinguished Fellow.

  In 2017, CFR nightmare President Donald Trump immediately canceled these trade agreements – because he viewed them as detrimental to US domestic industry – which allowed China to conclude its own, recently announced RCEP free-trade area, encompassing 14 countries and a third of global trade. Trump also canceled other CFR achievements, like the multinational Iran nuclear deal and the UN climate and migration agreements, and he tried, but largely failed, to withdraw US troops from East Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa, thus seriously endangering the global US empire built over decades by the CFR and its 5000 elite members.

  Unsurprisingly, most of the US media, whose owners and editors are themselves members of the CFR, didn’t like President Trump. This was also true for most of the European media, whose owners and editors are members of international CFR affiliates like the Bilderberg Group and the Trilateral Commission, founded by CFR directors after the conquest of Europe during World War II. Moreover, it was none other than the CFR which in 1996 advocated a closer cooperation between the CIA and the media, i.e. a restart of the famous CIA Operation Mockingbird. Historically, OSS and CIA directors since William Donovan and Allen Dulles have always been CFR members.

  Joe Biden promised that he would form “the most diverse cabinet” in US history. This may be true in terms of skin color and gender, but almost all of his key future cabinet members have one thing in common: they are, indeed, members of the US Council on Foreign Relations.

  This is the case for Anthony Blinken (State), Alejandro Mayorkas (Homeland Security), Janet Yellen (Treasury), Michele Flournoy and Jeh Johnson (candidates for Defense), Linda Thomas-Greenfield (Ambassador to the UN), Richard Stengel (US Agency for Global Media; Stengel famously called propaganda “a good thing” at a 2018 CFR session), John Kerry (Special Envoy for Climate), Nelson Cunningham (candidate for Trade), and Thomas Donilon (candidate for CIA Director).

  Jake Sullivan, Biden’s National Security Advisor, is not (yet) a CFR member, but Sullivan has been a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (a think tank “promoting active international engagement by the United States”) and a member of the US German Marshall Fund’s “Alliance For Securing Democracy” (a major promoter of the “Russiagate” disinformation campaign to restrain the Trump presidency), both of which are run by senior CFR members.

  Most of Biden’s CFR-vetted nominees supported recent US wars against Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen as well as the 2014 regime change in Ukraine. Unsurprisingly, neoconservative Max Boot, the CFR Senior Fellow in National Security Studies and one of the most vocal opponents of the Trump administration, has called Biden’s future cabinet “America’s A-Team”.

  Thus, after four years of “populism” and “isolationism”, a Biden presidency will mean the return of the Council on Foreign Relations and the continuation of a tradition of more than 70 years. Indeed, the CFR was founded in 1921 in response to the “trauma of 1920”, when US President Warren Harding and the US Senate turned isolationist and renounced US global leadership after World War I. In 2016, Donald Trump’s “America First” campaign reactivated this 100 year old foreign policy trauma.

  Was the 2020 presidential election “stolen”, as some allege? There are certainly indications of significant statistical anomalies in key Democrat-run swing states. Whether these were decisive for the election outcome may be up to courts to decide. At any rate, Joe Biden may well be the first US President known to be involved in international corruption before even entering office.

  Why are most US and international media hardly interested in this? Well, why should they?

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• Boston Dynamics' Robot Dog Builds "Radiation Map" Of Chernobyl Reactor
  Boston Dynamics' Robot Dog Builds "Radiation Map" Of Chernobyl Reactor
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 21:30

  Spot, the autonomous robot dog, from Boston Dynamics, was equipped with radiation sensors to create a map of the radiation coming out of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, according to news agency Ukrinform.  

  Researchers at the University of Bristol and nuclear experts from the State Specialized Enterprise “Central Enterprise for Radioactive Waste Management” recently deployed the four-legged robot to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone that has been abandoned since the catastrophic meltdown in 1986. The site has since been covered up with layers of steel and concrete to keep nuclear material from escaping into the atmosphere. 

  Weekly measurements around the Chernobyl site are mainly done by humans, which puts them at risk, unlike Spot, a robot who could do so without putting humans in grave danger of radiation poisoning. 

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  Dr. Dave Megson-Smith, a researcher at the University of Bristol, was one of the scientists aiding Spot on its nuclear power plant adventure. Megson-Smith specializes in sensor development and equipped Spot with a collimated radiation sensor. 

  “We built a map of the radiation coming out of the front wall of Chernobyl power plant as we were in there with it,” Megson-Smith told IEEE Spectrum. 

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  Spot was able to wander around the Chernobyl nuclear site, as well as into the New Safe Confinement structure, which is a steel dome that contains hazardous radioactivity. The robot surveyed radiation levels in the area, creating a 3D map of the distribution. 

  According to Megson-Smith, there’s a lot of uncertainty on how much radiation Spot is capable of handling. He said Spot is a “system that we can send into places where humans already can go, but where we just don’t want to send humans.”

  Video: Spot’s Chernobyl Adventure 

  Engineering a completely radiation-proof robot is challenging – as was seen after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011 when robots were sent to die as they surveyed the damaged nuclear power plant. 

  The future purpose of Spot at Chernobyl could be autonomous radiation mapping to detect radiation leaks. 

  Not too long ago, a different Spot was assigned to a BP Plc oil rig to “read gauges, look for corrosion, map out the facility, and even sniff out methane.” 

  While Spot conveniently completes tasks that may endanger humans – the most important takeaway is that robots will displace millions of jobs over this decade. 

  

• This Thanksgiving, The Government Gifts Us COVID-19 Sex Advice
  This Thanksgiving, The Government Gifts Us COVID-19 Sex Advice
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 21:00

  Authored by Jim Bovard via The Libertarian Institute,

  Politicians and petty czars have canceled Thanksgiving across the nation.  What have government health departments offered in lieu of a family gathering? Endless idiotic advice for “safe sex” during COVID.

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  The Vermont Department of Health captured the ethos of many health departments across the nation: “Decisions about sex and sexuality need to be balanced with personal and public health.” COVID Federal Superstar Anthony Fauci reflected that judgment when he declared in April that those who meet strangers for sex via Tinder or other dating apps are entitled to make their “choice regarding a risk.” Many government officials have been far more tolerant or even encouraging of risky sexual relations during the pandemic while mercilessly suppressing other social and economic relations.

  New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is an Emmy-award winning hero of the COVID pandemic, regardless of the ten thousand elderly New Yorkers who died after he ordered nursing homes to admit COVID patients. Cuomo’s endless restrictions have been spurred by his view that “government can be a force for good,” as a New Yorker profile recently noted.

  While Cuomo has vehemently condemned synagogues that disobeyed his orders to disperse, other officials in New York give their blessings to behavior which is reckless even by “woke” standards. The New York City Health Department recommended that people who organize orgies should “Limit the size of your guest list. Keep it intimate.” The guidance does not quite specify “rooftop” but it is clearly implied: “Pick larger, more open, and well-ventilated spaces.”

  Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, New York City’s deputy health commissioner, boasts, “Our health department has a really strong record of being very sex positive.” At the same time that New York cops have violently assaulted people for not wearing face masks, the city government officially sanctioned “glory holes.” The Big Apple’s health department urged people to “be creative with… physical barriers, like walls, that allow sexual contact while preventing close face-to-face contact.”

  California Governor Gavin Newsom has become infamous for his bizarre list of Thanksgiving prohibitions to fight COVID. But the pandemic has uncorked other official weirdness in the Golden State.

  The San Francisco Department of Public Health took preemptive action to re-define “premature” out of existence. The local bureaucrats advised: “Quicker can be better. The longer we are within 6 feet of someone, the greater the risk.” Will health departments take the next step, promoting Revolutionary Era imagery celebrating the return of the “Minute Man”?

  As part of its recommendations for “navigating the landscape of love,” San Francisco bureaucrats urged to “embrace dirty thoughts. And clean surfaces.” The guidance stresses the importance of cleaning “shared toys,” especially when switching “collars” and similar items from one body to another. The department also noted: “When it comes to COVID-19 risk, outdoors is better than indoors.” Considering that the local government already permits homeless people to perform any other bodily function on Market Street, adding copulation might not be that much of a change in the local scenery.

  The Fenway Health Center, a “Federally Qualified Community Health Center,” served up bad news to spatially-challenged Bostonians: “Using the social distancing recommendation of 6 feet, oral sex may still put you at risk of COVID.” Bizarrely, the Fenway Center urges people NOT to wear masks during hook-ups: “Leave the protective gear to the medical professionals and those who have the virus.”

  The Austin, Texas Health Department alerted local residents: “COVID-19 has been found in fecal matter. Avoid activity that could allow virus from feces to enter your mouth.” In the COVID era, “Eat shit and die” has gone from being a juvenile taunt to being an ominous government health warning. Similar warnings on the dangers of “rimming” occurred in other health department recommendations.

  The City of Milwaukee Health Department advises, “Masturbation will not spread COVID-19, especially if you wash your hands (and any sex toys) with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before and after sex.” But if you wash your hands for only 15 seconds afterwards, then ‘Rona wins. Actually, if people need to be told to wash their hands after taking their pleasure, they are probably beyond redemption. Besides, do post-game prophylactics make any sense after a solo performance?

  Many other government agencies have become cheerleaders for self-reliance, as if there was a dire need for officialdom to specify how hundreds of millions of Americans should let off steam. At last report, the World Health Organization had not yet added masturbation to its Five Heroic Act list though it may soon qualify for a #ThanksHealthHeroes honorable mention.

  In the same way that politicians focused myopically on COVID transmission risks to justify inflicting vast collateral damage on the economy, health departments offer recommendations that might avoid COVID transmission but could be otherwise ruinous.  Instead of meeting sex partners online, the New York City Health Department recommends, “Video dates, sexting, subscription-based fan platforms, sexy ‘Zoom parties’ or chat rooms may be options for you.” Other health departments made similar recommendations.

  So maybe invite Jeffrey Toobin to your Zoom party? (Toobin was fired after masturbating during a New Yorker zoom call.)  Many of the “chat rooms” that bureaucrats recommend are stockful of jailbait, police and FBI agents masquerading and looking to entrap people for underage sex or other offenses.  Maybe someone should ask Jeff Bezos about his billion dollar emailed pictures of his private parts? The National Security Agency and foreign governments vacuum up a huge amount of online activity; anything that people reveal to a group of people online could easily turn up in their dossier.

  Since the pandemic began, politicians have claimed a prerogative to micro-manage citizens’ lives with one harebrained edict after another. For instance, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf decreed on November 17 that people must wear masks in their own homes whenever someone visits who does not live in that household. On Monday, Gov. Wolf banned all alcohol sales in bars and restaurants on Thanksgiving Eve – a completely arbitrary edict that sows havoc and will do nothing to make COVID vanish.

  Wolf would never dare to outlaw sex outside of wedlock but somehow politicians captured the right to throttle almost every other aspect of people’s lives. But a “copulation exemption” to the de facto COVID cancellation of the Bill of Rights makes no sense. People deserve as much freedom to drink rancid Rolling Rock beer on Thanksgiving Eve as they do to throw the Philly dice for a Tinder Thanksgiving treat. When politicians are permitted to selectively nullify freedom, the injustices will be exceeded only by the absurdities.

  

• Thanksgiving "Ask Me Anything" with Ed and Jack
  Thanksgiving "Ask Me Anything" with Ed and Jack

  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 20:55

  Real Vision managing editor Ed Harrison welcomes Jack Farley for a Thanksgiving “Ask Me Anything” special edition of the Daily Briefing. Sourcing questions from the Real Vision Exchange, Jack asks Ed questions about whether the U.S. will enter a second round of lockdowns, and whether the equity market could once again undergo a major crash. Ed shares his views on the future of debt, deflation, and commodities, over the next 30 years, as well as his technique learning new languages. Jack and Ed share the ways in which they follow market news, as well as their views on the difference between accounting antics and downright fraud. Lastly, Jack and Ed give an inside look at Real Vision’s ongoing mission to democratize finance.

  

• These Are The Best (And Worst) Places To Live During The Coronavirus Era
  These Are The Best (And Worst) Places To Live During The Coronavirus Era
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 20:30

  The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the shortcomings of the global health-care system, while also exposing how developed and developing world economies could demonstrate such unexpected responses. Tiny South Korea has managed to suppress the virus with mass testing and tracing. The US, meanwhile, has recorded the most deaths, while China has already vaccinated more than 1 million people before its leading vaccine effort has even been approved.

  With so many variables at play, Bloomberg has tried to develop a ranking for which countries fared the best during the coronavirus outbreak. While crunching the numbers, reporters asked questions like ‘where were the best places to be during the coronavirus pandemic’? and ‘where was the virus handled most effectively?’

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  The rankings were based on two broad categories, COVID status and quality of life.  Additionally, Bloomberg introduced what it called the “Covid Resilience Ranking scores” for the economies, which purported to measure how resistant a given economy was to the disruptions caused by the coronavirus. There were 10 key metrics: from growth in virus cases to the overall mortality rate, testing capabilities and – importantly – whether the country had managed to secure any supply agreements for the COVID-19 vaccines that are about to hit the market in the west.

  Unsurprisingly (this is Bloomberg, after all), the top three finishers were New Zealand in first place (the country used a massively costly economic lockdown to quash a few mild flareups), Japan in second (the country has seen remarkably few cases and deaths despite Japan’s perceived slowness in implementing measures to prevent the virus from spreading, and finally Taiwan, which has been hailed as having one of the most successful approaches to combating the virus.

  To try and simplify things, Bloomberg kept the ranking to economies with a GDP of at least $200 billion. According to Bloomberg, the three top performers all took early concrete steps to stanch the spread of the virus.

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  Ironically, Bloomberg noted that border control was a critical component of the most successful countries’ strategies, beginning with Beijing’s decision to cordon off Hubei Province and the city of Wuhan.

  Here are the complete rankings, courtesy of Bloomberg:

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  Finally, Bloomberg pointed out that authoritarian countries generally outperformed democracies like the US and UK. And while lockdowns have been deployed around the world with mixed results, Bloomberg claimed that there’s nothing more effective than when citizens have faith in the authorities and their guidance. When that happens – and Bloomberg cites Japan and Sweden as examples – lockdowns aren’t necessary to stanch the surge in cases.

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  But while the US has lagged in several aspects of its response to the virus, it holds the lead in the number of vaccine agreements it has forged.

  In the end, whoever has the vaccines will likely be in the best position moving forward.

  

• Watch: Obama Blames Trump For His Own Border "Cages"
  Watch: Obama Blames Trump For His Own Border "Cages"
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 20:00

  Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

  Barack Obama took a shot at President Trump in an interview Wednesday, blaming him for border ‘cages’ that were actually instituted and used under the former President’s administration.

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  Obama was decrying the level of support that Trump received from hispanic voters during the election campaign.

  “But there’s a lot of evangelical Hispanics who, you know, the fact that Trump says racist things about Mexicans,” Obama said during the interview with with The Breakfast Club radio show.

  “Or puts detainees, you know, undocumented workers, in cages — they think that’s less important than the fact that, you know, he supports their views on gay marriage or abortion, right?” Obama claimed.

  It is more than a tad ironic that Obama begins by talking about how metropolitan elites can be out of touch with the rest of America, and then immediately goes on to pigeon hole Hispanic voters as only caring about abortion.

  Are hispanic voters incapable of caring about economic issues or crime? Just because they are brown?

  That isn’t the most egregious aspect of his comments, however, given that he completely ignores the fact that for many years the so called ‘cages’ were used by the Department of Homeland Security under the Obama administration.

  It was in 2014, two years before Trump was elected, that the ‘cages’ story reached its peak, with overcrowded and squalid conditions at holding facilities making headlines.

  While leftists pretty much ignored the story while Obama was in the White House, it suddenly became a major issue when Trump took office.

  Indeed, the very same photos from 2014 were recycled and presented as if they were taken during Trump’s tenure.

  Democrats mistakenly tweet 2014 pictures from Obama’s term showing children from the Border in steel cages. They thought it was recent pictures in order to make us look bad, but backfires. Dems must agree to Wall and new Border Protection for good of country…Bipartisan Bill!

  — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2018

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  Democrats and leftist celebrities hammered Trump, using the footage and photos that were taken under Obama and Biden’s regime.

  “The photos, taken by The Associated Press, were from 2014, during the Obama administration, but were presented by liberal activists as if they showed the effects of Trump’s immigration policy now.”https://t.co/9x3F7VYUTz

  — Oversight Committee Republicans (@GOPoversight) July 9, 2019

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  House Democrats are promoting their “civil rights” hearing on “kids in cages” and “inhumane treatment” with a photo from 2014, when Joe Biden was Vice President. So dishonest! pic.twitter.com/Exuj1eudrr

  — Trump War Room – Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) July 9, 2019

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  This continued right up until the election.

  When the conditions at the border facilities again made headlines in 2018 and 2019, particularly because children were being separated from their families, Trump asked that pressure be put on House Democrats to pass a law to end the practice:

  Put pressure on the Democrats to end the horrible law that separates children from there parents once they cross the Border into the U.S. Catch and Release, Lottery and Chain must also go with it and we MUST continue building the WALL! DEMOCRATS ARE PROTECTING MS-13 THUGS.

  — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2018

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  When Democrats failed to do so, Trump signed an executive order demanding that the practice of separating children be immediately halted:

  Democrats then complained that the EO wouldn’t fix the issue, while still doing nothing themselves:

  This Executive Order doesn’t fix the crisis. Indefinitely detaining children with their families in camps is inhumane and will not make us safe.

  — Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) June 20, 2018

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  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez even used the story as a photo-op, fake crying while wearing designer clothing and an expensive watch.

  I’ll never forget this, because it was the moment I saw with my own eyes that the America I love was becoming a nation that steals refugee children from their parents,& caged them.

  More kids died after this. To date, no one has been held accountable.

  We need to save these kids. https://t.co/HhdMqc5zML

  — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 25, 2019

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  It was later revealed that the “cage” AOC was behind concealed nothing but a parking lot.

  I try to stay outta politics on twitter and in general honestly. We all have opinions and voices that we want to express, I get it. But that inept Cortez lady was pandering photos of herself crying over immigrants behind chain link fences was a facade. pic.twitter.com/kHPmNV0yms

  — Faider Adam (@01lowbird) June 27, 2019

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  When news organisations, including Infowars, attempted to highlight this, the photographer who took the images claimed copyright and demanded they be removed from the story.

  If Joe Biden takes office in January, expect photos of kids in cages to return. He has repeatedly promised to rapidly send an amnesty deal to the Senate within the first 100 days of his presidency that would give amnesty to 11 million immigrants who currently reside in the US without documentation.

  Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Chief Mark Morgan has warned that if President Trump’s enforcement priorities on illegal immigration are abandoned, the US will see a huge “invasion” at the border.

  If the current network of tools and policies we have, which ended catch and release, are stopped – we won’t just have another illegal immigration crisis – we’ll have an invasion. pic.twitter.com/oDJneEkd23

  — CBP Mark Morgan (@CBPMarkMorgan) October 28, 2020

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  Indeed, reports suggest that the Biden border rush has already begun.

  

• Black Friday Shoppers Expected To Spend More Online Than In Stores For First Time
  Black Friday Shoppers Expected To Spend More Online Than In Stores For First Time
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 19:35

  The coronavirus has accelerated a trend in American holiday-season consumption: the shift away from packing malls on Black Friday, and toward shopping online, placing some orders as early as “Prime Day” (which Amazon held in October this year). Instead of braving the elements and the lines, a growing number of Americans instead place most, or all, of their holiday gift orders via Amazon.

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  In recent years, the trend was attributed to  bitterly cold weather and other impediments. But old habits die hard, and up until last year, millions of Americans continued to pack into stores on Black Friday, with many big box stores opening earlier and earlier (eliciting public backlash over pulling workers and shoppers away from their families).

  But as COVID-19 infections peak and governors tighten restrictions on ‘non-essential’ businesses like retailers, analysts are bracing for e-commerce sales to finally eclipse brick-and-mortar sales for the first time.

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  Why? Because according to a survey from Deloitte, for the first time ever, more American holiday shoppers are planning to spend a total of $189 billion, which would be a staggering 33% from last year. That’s equal to two years’ growth in one season. “This year is unlike anything else,” said Ken Perkins, president and founder of Retail Metrics. “People are going to be really adverse to come into stores on Black Friday, so traffic will be relatively more modest. Curbside pick will be extremely important this holiday season. Impulse buying will also fall off as online shopping tends to be very targeted.”

  Retailers (including specifically department stores) that rely on mall traffic have been particularly hard-hit this year. Just the other day, we reported that America’s brick-and-mortar stores owe a staggering $52 billion in rents.

  What’s even more worrisome: department stores even reported steep declines in online traffic ahead of Thanksgiving, according to CFRA Research analyst Camilla Yanushevsky. That could be a sign that consumers are focusing on proven e-commerce platforms like Amazon and a select few others, while the laggards are doomed.

  However, there are exceptions, as with every trend. Bloomberg points out that Williams-Sonoma and TJX Corp – owner of HomeGoods and TJ Maxx – could outperform as the rush to the suburbs has led to heightened demand for furnishings, while TJ Maxx’s everyday bargains typically attract more shoppers in hard economic times (though according to the economic wizards on the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board, the Dow’s latest milestone has NOTHING to do with central bank liquidity injections and EVERYTHING to do with the “wonderful engine of prosperity” that is the American economy).

  “Even with the vaccine coming, people are moving out of the city, into the burbs, and they need to fill their homes,” one analyst at RetailMetrics said.

  Other potential beneficiaries, according to Bloomberg, include Best Buy, Conn’s Inc and Acco Brands, as demand for hot gadgets like the PS5 and new phones from Samsung and Apple leads to a surge in sales. Bloomberg also cited Mattel, Hasbro, Amazon and Walmart as other potential holiday season outperformers.

  According to Bloomberg and CNBC, COVID has helped to separate the wheat from the chaff in the retail space, compounding the problems of retailers who neglected their digital business, while rewarding companies that did, via increased opportunities for synergies (like order online, pickup in store functionality).

  This holiday season should put all that to the test.

  As the start of the holiday shopping season arrives, some analysts are getting worried. JPMorgan Chase’s Matthew Boss recently cut his estimate for Q4 same-store sales – one key metric for retailers that’s closely watched by analysts – to below-consensus levels. If the shift to ecommerce is as dramatic as the Deloitte survey suggests it might be, then that might prove to have been a prescient move.

  

• Illinois Senators Durbin and Duckworth Are Among The Book Burners Happy With Big Tech Censorship
  Illinois Senators Durbin and Duckworth Are Among The Book Burners Happy With Big Tech Censorship
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 19:10

  Submitted by Mark Glennon of Wirepoints

  Democracy is subverted when the free exchange of information and opinion is suppressed.

  That subversion is now reality in America and much of the world thanks primarily to censorship by big technology platforms and our unapologetically dishonest and biased national media.

  Last week, the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate held hearings on one of those causes, big tech censorship. If you are unaware of how pernicious and common that censorship has become, particularly by Twitter and Facebook, you are dangerously uninformed. Comedian Bill Maher, hardly a right-winger, said it right: The censorship is “evil” and “f—ed up.”

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  This is not about Trump. He and censorship of him are now in mostly in the rear view mirror. Though censorship was blatantly targeted at him, it’s the future that matters now,  — whether the marketplace of ideas can survive in a world where big tech’s authoritarianism is broad and growing.

  For example, Twitter and Facebook last week censored Oxford University scientists who posted an article about a recent study questioning the effectiveness of face masks to stop COVID-19. One of the censored authors said such censorship is “one of the reasons we face a global meltdown of free thinking and science.” His name, sadly ironic, is Thomas Jefferson.

  Question big tech censorship and even prominent liberals face retribution. For example, Glenn Greenwald, a respected liberal journalist, dared to question big tech’s brazen suppression of stories about Hunter Biden’s emails and foreign influence peddling. His story on it was killed by The Intercept. Commendably, Greenwald then resigned from that publication.

  With hundreds of other examples readily available, it was therefore entirely appropriate and urgent for the Judiciary Committee to take up the matter. Aside from the meltdown of free thinking and science that Prof. Jefferson described, many of America’s razor-thin elections beyond the presidential race could easily have been turned by false narratives rigged by big tech. Easily.

  But how did Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, a Judiciary Committee member, preface his comments?

  It’s a big waste of time and a political stunt, he told us. “I think there are more important and timely questions…but we are trying to determine whether or not the social media instruments of America are fair to the Republican Party.”

  What’s more important? Oh, national security, the pandemic and the possibility that Trump would refuse to leave when the election is certified, Durbin said.

  No, Senator Durbin. The Judiciary Committee is the top legislative oversight body on the rule of law in what is supposed to be the world’s leading democracy. National security and coronavirus are not within the committee’s charge. And a speculative case on presidential transition is premature for a hearing. What is within its jurisdiction, and should be top priorities, are freedom of expression and the hotly debated Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which gives big tech immunity and central the censorship issue.

  As for the censorship, bring it on. Durbin wants more.

  He wants more censorship to combat hate crimes, he said. That means stifling hate speech. Citing numbers on hate crimes, he said, “It’s clear to me that it’s more important that social media combat this more than ever.  “Are you looking the other way on that?” he asked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

  We’ve seen repeatedly that hate speech, to many on the left, is pretty much everything said by anybody on the right.  Would Durbin include among his concerns the endless labeling of some 72 million Republican voters as white supremacists and fascists or violence by radical leftists who are encouraged by that kind of labeling? No, Durbin made it clear he didn’t mean that. “This is not Antifa. These are documented hate crimes from the FBI…”

  Under the First Amendment, hate speech is permitted as long as it doesn’t rise to the level of provoking violence. That’s as it should be. Everybody should be free to express hatred towards, for example, those they regard as fascists or communists, provided they don’t incite violence. But the First Amendment does not cover private entities like big tech and Durbin, like many on the left, showed no interest in letting First Amendment be the precedent for big tech censorship, provided it is targeted selectively at the right.

  Some of Durbin’s colleagues on the Judiciary Committee joined him with calls for more censorship by big tech. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), for example, asked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey why Twitter doesn’t have a standalone climate change misinformation policy. “Helping to disseminate climate denialism in my view, further facilitates and accelerates one of the greatest existential threats to our world.”

  Illinois’ other senator, Tammy Duckworth, earlier had a particularly stupefying response to concerns about big tech censorship. Regarding a previous hearing on the topic by a different Senate committee, she said it was Repubicans “aiding Trump’s and Russia’s efforts to use social media for misinformation campaigns” and “undermine confidence in our democracy.”

  Got that? You’re helping Russia if you’re against censorship.

  Despite such attitudes, the Judiciary Committee hearing uncovered a major turn for the worse on tech censorship: They collude on who and what to censor. Facebook, Twitter and Google use a software communication tool called Centra to communicate on who and what they want to stifle, which magnifies the impact of any decision by any one of them. What’s clear, however, is that a solution must be found because a keystone of open society is shattered.

  A telling postscript to the hearing is that NBC, ABC and CBS all refused any coverage of it.

  How to address the problem of big tech censorship is challenging and reasonable minds differ. Their platforms are more powerful than any other public forum in history, yet their censors make no pretense of selectively enforcing their dictates or applying any of the time-honored principles our courts have developed under the First Amendment. And Section 230 is a complicated matter.

  Pending a solution, here is where we are:

  First, what tens of millions of people read for news is determined by the two people shown here.

  Second, the subversion of democracy by suppression of the free exchange of information and opinion is no longer just a threat. It’s here.

  

• Massive Armada Of IRGC Boats Mobilize In Gulf Amid Rumors Israeli Strike Imminent
  Massive Armada Of IRGC Boats Mobilize In Gulf Amid Rumors Israeli Strike Imminent
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 18:45

  The naval forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday conducted large-scale exercises in the Strait of Hormuz at a moment Tehran believes Israel will launch a preemptive strike aimed at drawing Trump into ordering US military action in the region before he leaves office in January.

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  According to state-run English language PressTV, “The event saw sailors, enlisted with the popular volunteer Basij force, taking to the waters aboard more than 1,000 light and semi-heavy-lift vessels.”

  Photos showed an impressive number of small but fast military boats that are typically used by the IRGC Navy (which is separate from the much larger national navy of the Islamic Republic) to harass and encircle larger ships, whether tankers or foreign warships.

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   IRGC Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri, who oversaw the maneuvers, called it a display of strength and a showcasing of Iran’s “maritime power” which provides security in the Arabian and Oman Seas. 

  Crucially the ‘show of force’ comes amid widespread reports that Trump is mulling some of kind of preemptive action against either Iran or its regional allies, such as the powerful Shia militias in Iraq.

  Earlier this month The New York Times reported that Trump’s advisers talked him down from ordering a strike, which they argued would certainly spiral into a larger war. 

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  Included in the “strike options” were most likely plans to hit the Natanz enrichment facility, according to the report, which suffered sabotage and damage last summer in a likely Israeli covert operation but which is being repaired and rebuilt.

  Israel too is said to be preparing for such a scenario, with its armed forces said to be in a high state of readiness. Iran is apparently taking these reports very seriously. 

  America’s “stability promotion” works in mysterious ways…

  (The US – and the region – would be better off it the US simply didn’t…)

  In threat to Iran, US sends heavy bombers to Middle East via Israel https://t.co/YrxXDwBdL8 via @timesofisrael

  — Trita Parsi (@tparsi) November 26, 2020

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  Axios reported Wednesday based on unnamed senior Israeli sources: 

  The Israel Defense Forces have in recent weeks been instructed to prepare for the possibility that the U.S. will conduct a military strike against Iran before President Trump leaves office.

  SCOOP: Israeli military prepares for possibility Trump will strike Iran https://t.co/uwtCDmRKxW

  — Axios (@axios) November 25, 2020

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  Middle East war correspondent for Al Rai Media, Elijah Magnier has cited unnamed Iranian military sources who say they believe Israeli leaders are planning to create a “pretext” designed to trigger US intervention just weeks before the inauguration of Joe Biden:

  In an unprecedentedly high level of military readiness, the “Axis of the Resistance” led by Iran has declared a maximum alert on all fronts, as a preparation for a possible battle or war breaking out in the Middle East prior to the arrival in office of President-elect Joe Biden.

  Sources within the “Axis of the Resistance” say that “the US may not be planning for a war against Iran with President Donald Trump leaving office soon. However, it is not excluded that the “bully of the neighborhood”, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, would like to carry out a swift hit on the Iranian nuclear facilities in order to sabotage the nuclear deal ready for when Biden takes over. In the case of an Israeli bombing followed by an Iranian retaliation, the Trump administration can then intervene with the pretext of “defending” Israel.

  This means that it’s more than likely we’ll see Iran ramp up its military exercises and shows of strength as the weeks wind down on the Trump presidency. 

  

• YouTube Attempts To Silence The Mises Institute
  YouTube Attempts To Silence The Mises Institute
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 18:20

  By Jeff Diest of the Mises Institute

  YouTube, the dominant video platform owned by Google, decided yesterday to remove a Mises Institute video. This decision apparently lasts for all eternity, cannot be appealed to an actual human, and comes with this friendly admonition: “Because it’s the first time, this is just a warning. If it happens again, your channel will get a strike and you won’t be able to do things like upload, post, or live stream for 1 week.” 

  The video, a talk by Tom Woods titled “The Covid Cult” with more than 1.5 million views, was recorded at our live event in Texas two weeks ago. It offered challenges to the official narrative surrounding the coronavirus, particularly with respect to mask mandates. Woods’s talk featured several charts showing rises in Covid “cases” across multiple cities and countries not long after imposing mask rules, demonstrating how such rules apparently have little effect on slowing transmission of the virus.

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  The speech was nothing less than a heartfelt tour de force against the terrible lockdowns and pseudoscience plaguing the debate over Covid, and a call to reexamine tradeoffs and priorities. It was, as you might imagine, a mix of unassailable data combined with our friend Tom’s strong prescription for liberty and personal choice rather than centralized state edicts.

  In other words, YouTube had no earthly business removing it. This kind of discourse seems to me the best and highest use for YouTube, its most important function.  

  “Big Digital,” as Professor Michael Rectenwald terms tech companies, have become “governmentalities”: supposedly private enterprises turned into instruments of state power and state narratives. This sordid process is different for each company, (some are more complicit than others, a few are heroically non-compliant) but it involves a mix of early start-up funding; connections and contracts with state agencies, particularly relating to defense and surveillance; and propaganda campaigns in service of state narratives. Rectenwald explains this phenomenon in his own recent talk titled “The Google Election“:

  In short, Google, Facebook and others are not strictly private sector entities; they are governmentalities in the sense that I have given to the term. They are extensions and apparatuses of the state. Furthermore, these platforms are governmentalities with a particular interest in the growth and extension of governmentality itself. This includes championing every kind of “subordinated” and newly created identity class that they can find or create, because such “endangered” categories require state acknowledgement and protection. Thus, the state’s circumference continues to expand. Big Digital is partial to the interests and growth of the state. It not only does business with statists but also shares their values. This helps makes sense of its leftist bent and their preference for the deep state Democrats. Leftism is statism.

  We encourage readers to consider the entirety of Rectenwald’s talk, and his sobering book Google Archipelago for his thorough treatment of the facts and realities behind tech companies and the US state. This is not alarmism or conspiracies, but documented examples of how Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and others actively participate—including financially—in a melding of corporate and state power. 

  This, then, is real fascism. Big Digital—what writer Ilana Mercer calls “Deep Tech”— is not a collection of private companies in the sense we think of such. They are partners of the federal government, committed to ideological service as part and parcel of their own bottom line.

  Thankfully, the sneering call to “build your own platforms” is being answered. Companies like Bitchute and LBRY (its video platform is Odysee) continue to host Mises Institute content, and promise to continue doing so. In fact, you can view Dr. Woods’s forbidden talk at those respective source here and here.

  Truth tellers matter more than ever. It’s time for our own institutions and platforms, which is precisely why the Mises Institute exists.

  

• Vornado Pulls $5 Billion Office Sale Plans On Buildings It Co-Owns With The Trump Organization
  Vornado Pulls $5 Billion Office Sale Plans On Buildings It Co-Owns With The Trump Organization
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 17:55

  The Trump Organization’s real estate partner, Vornado Realty Trust, reportedly had to shelve its plans to try and sell off office buildings that would have helped the Trumps pay off $400 million in upcoming debt. 

  Vornado co-owns an office tower in San Francisco and another in Manhattan and “couldn’t attract a buyer” at the price it was seeking, according to an exclusive by The Wall Street Journal. It had hoped to raise $5 billion from the deleveraging in total, of which $1.5 billion would have made its way to The Trump Organization. 

  Vornado Chief Executive Steven Roth had said this month there was “active interest from investors” for the deals. It looks as though the “active interest” may not have been at the right price, however. 

  The news comes as no surprise since both San Francisco and New York have been disproportionately clobbered due to the pandemic. At the beginning of the year, they were the most expensive markets in the U.S. 

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  Trump’s organization was hoping to use the windfall to pay off more than $400 million in debt it owes over the next few years. The refinancing picture for the organization seems hazy, especially due to the commercial real estate climate. Some banks have been reluctant to do business with Trump given his political activities, as well, the Journal notes. 

  The Trump Organization attests that its business is financially sound, stating: “The Trump Organization is an incredible company with tremendous cash flow. We have never been stronger.”

  Since Trump’s Organization holds a minority stake in the buildings, it has “no control over the sales decision making”. 

  Vornado says it is now focused on refinancing the assets. Doug Harmon, an investment adviser at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “We are now focusing more on refinancing both assets. When international investors can travel with less restrictions, and the path back to normal is under way.”

  With the pandemic looking more likely than ever to “end” now with a President Biden in office and vaccines on the way, perhaps Trump will find his first foray back to the private sector met with a stroke of luck. 

  

• A Thanksgiving Worthy Of America
  A Thanksgiving Worthy Of America
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 17:30

  Authored by Michael Warren via RealClearPublicAffairs.com,

  Turkey and stuffing. Detroit Lions Football. Turkey trots. Parades and the arrival of Santa followed by frenzied shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Maybe a bit of charity on Giving Tuesday. Thanksgiving is the ultimate American holiday. What more could you need?

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  How about this: gratitude, blessings, and humility. Unfortunately, the annual celebration has been overshadowed by consumerism and entertainment culture.

  Let’s explore the origins of Thanksgiving in colonial America, which centered around the virtues that are crucial to sustaining our way of life.

  The Pilgrims were English religious dissenters who settled in Plymouth in 1620. They made history by seeking asylum and signing the Mayflower Compact – quite possibly the first written agreement among men that founded a new government. They were quickly struck with a great sickness and began to starve; in the first year, nearly half died.

  In 1621, with the help of Wampanoag tribe – especially Samoset and Squanto – the Pilgrims survived and even flourished. They held a huge three day feast. But that multicourse meal is not the precursor to the Thanksgiving that we will celebrate later this week. That would come two years later when the Pilgrims faced a brutal drought.

  Then, Governor William Bradford led the people in fervent prayer to the Almighty for relief, and in a few hours, the heavens opened with torrents of rain. To commemorate that event, Bradford declared a day of Thanksgiving, which included a large feast and regular homage to God for His blessings.

  Afterwards, colonial governors periodically proclaimed days of Thanksgiving in response to favorable events and conditions. The first continent-wide celebration was in 1777 when the Continental Congress declared a Thanksgiving in light of the colonists’ victory at the Battle of Saratoga.

  When George Washington became President, Congress asked him to declare a Thanksgiving to honor the first Congress’s many accomplishments, which included the Bill of Rights and setting up a functioning federal government.

  Washington declared a Thanksgiving for the fourth Thursday in November. His proclamation recommended that the people devote the day “to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all that good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may all unite in rendering Him our sincere and humble thanks for his Kind care and protection . . . for the signal and manifold mercies and favorable interpositions of His providence” during the American Revolution, in creating the Constitution, and protecting the “civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed.”

  Presidents Adams and Madison followed suit – but presidential encouragements of Thanksgiving soon stopped. 

  Thanksgiving’s resurrection occurred when Sarah Josepha Hale convinced President Lincoln to declare Thanksgiving during the Civil War. Despite the carnage, Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation explained several reasons why the nation should be thankful, remarking, “No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.”

  Lincoln recommended that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience . . . fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

  Since Lincoln, Thanksgiving has become an annual tradition. But like so much of our civic calendar, it has been gutted of its original meaning. Perhaps now, in the wake of the most contentious election in modern times and in the grips of the worst pandemic in a century, we can return to the foundations of this magnificent holiday.

  This Thanksgiving, take stock of our great blessings, including our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and prosperity. Give thanks, express humility, and pray for your family and us all. That would be a Thanksgiving worthy of America.

  

• 'Kraken' Lawsuit Accuses Iran Of 'Monitoring And Manipulating' 2020 Election, Stoking Deep Dive By Journalist
  'Kraken' Lawsuit Accuses Iran Of 'Monitoring And Manipulating' 2020 Election, Stoking Deep Dive By Journalist
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 17:05

  An interesting thread has popped up on Twitter in the wake of attorney Sidney Powell’s recently filed lawsuits alleging widespread election fraud in Michigan and Georgia (‘the Kraken’) – which claims in part that China and Iran monitored and manipulated elections, “including the most recent US general election in 2020.”

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  Journalist and Iran expert Heshmat Alavi, who describes himself as a “political activist and supporter for regime change in Iran,” has compiled a lengthy exposé in response to this claim, and brings readers down the rabbit hole regarding Iran’s penetration into US politics.

  The thread is heavy on media, so it will be embedded in its entirety:

  2)
  For those unfamiliar with the Dominion voting system:

  Dominion Executive: “Trump is not going to win. I made f***ing sure of that.”pic.twitter.com/2n1J0OCAty

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  4)
  In this thread, I will be presenting how Iran:

  -has infiltrated Congressional offices through its lobbyists

  -using its clout to provide Tehran’s regime access to U.S. citizens’ information

  -spreading pro-Iran misinformation & undermining the U.S. democratic process

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  6)@tparsi is the official founder of NIAC in the U.S.

  Listen to how Trita Parsi parrots Zarif’s talking points.pic.twitter.com/jLu7pjTS97

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

  8)
  Here is proof that Mortazavi & Taeb are former members of Iran’s lobby arm NIAC.

  Mortazavi is also very fond of Iran’s chief apologist Zarif.

  Note: Iran’s officials only allow pictures with Iranians who are their utmost loyalists. pic.twitter.com/0UalLrm5z9

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  10)
  Listen to how Mortazavi justifies the crimes of #Iran‘s regime.

  This is the hallmark of Iran’s network of apologists & lobbyists in the West.pic.twitter.com/QGoWz8iNf0

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  12)
  NIAC was born from a 1999 white paper written by @tparsi based on holding “seminars in lobbying for Iranian-American youth & intern opportunities in Washington D.C.” & reducing “the taboo of working for a new approach on Iran.”https://t.co/5DZxTu4RBq

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  14)
  2019—NIAC president @jabdi echoed Iran’s conspiracy theory that Iran’s attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman—corroborated by the US, UK, Germany & regional allies—were false-flag operations “orchestrated” by the Trump admin to wage war on Iran.https://t.co/5kYU3wLCtX

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  16)
  Former Iranian Official, Pro-Tehran Lobbyist Hosted at Obama White House Dozens of Times

  “Trita Parsi, a pro-Iran advocate long accused of hiding his ties to the Iranian government, met with Obama administration officials some 33 times…”https://t.co/g5zM4sEF2w

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  18)
  While @Princeton University says Mousavian had a “distinguished career,” it is worth noting that he was Iran’s ambassador in Germany overlooking the September 1992 Mykonos restaurant killing of four Iranian Kurdish dissidents. pic.twitter.com/wJ8lC6UudM

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  20)
  “NIAC’s most accomplished alum is Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, who is now National Security Council director for Iran in the Obama admin & the top US official for Iran policy, bringing together various departments working on US strategy toward [Iran].”https://t.co/quVfXgO3ZA pic.twitter.com/S7iI22oFLq

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  22)
  NIAC has also established ties with senior figures in Washington.

  Jan 8, 2020

  “Along with Reps. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) and Barbara Lee (D., Calif.), Sanders and Warren are scheduled to speak Wednesday evening with members of NIAC.”https://t.co/hVKX2IM3E8

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  24)
  Iran lobbyists have established ties with Sen. Warren.
  Warren voiced gratitude for an endorsement from NIAC member @rezaaslan.

  Aslan has close relations with Iran’s regime & also makes disgusting remarks on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/lXVskQjV8n

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  26)
  NIAC has strong ties with Sen. @ChrisMurphyCT who had a secret meeting with Iranian FM Zarif during the Munich Security Conference back in February.https://t.co/A2QAQT7ZA3

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  28)@brhodes also established remarkably close relations with NIAC & NIAC founder Trita Parsi. pic.twitter.com/gXVOC1u5hs

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  30)@ethanazad is a staff member of @RepRashida who handles a “broad legislative portfolio, helping Tlaib’s office on foreign affairs… and government oversight.” pic.twitter.com/brgYdMLms8

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  32)
  A reminder of #Iran’s threats:

  Iran’s hackers suspected of emailing threatening messages to U.S. voters last week & spreading false information about compromised election systems ran a disinformation campaign last year targeting the Middle East.https://t.co/nTjnTyFdUh

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  34)
  NIAC founder Trita Parsi is now the VP of @QuincyInst, a Washington, D.C., think tank funded by George Soros that has promoted anti-Semitic voices and parroted pro-Iran talking points.https://t.co/zc97xB7Ml8

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  36)
  The State Department recently called on U.S. think tanks & other policy groups to publicly disclose how they are funded — or risk forfeiting access to top department brass.

  Note:
  NIAC should be demanded to disclose its funding.https://t.co/5O6imEaKcF

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  38)
  “… we have already seen Iran sending spoofed emails to intimidate voters, incite social unrest & damage President Trump. You may have seen some reporting on this in the last 24 hours or you may have even been one of the recipients of those emails.”https://t.co/tZ1H9oSxPE

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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  39)
  Thanks for taking the time to read this long thread.

  I believe all Americans should be informed about the threats posed by #Iran’s regime & its lobby arm NIAC in U.S. elections.

  If you agree, please kindly share this thread to spread the word.

  Best & Happy Thanksgiving! pic.twitter.com/zBAhCpGm9e

  — Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 26, 2020

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• Doctor Who Demanded Mandatory Mask Law Pictured Partying Maskless On Boat Surrounded By Bikini-Clad Women
  Doctor Who Demanded Mandatory Mask Law Pictured Partying Maskless On Boat Surrounded By Bikini-Clad Women
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 16:40

  Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

  The world’s so-called “hottest doctor,” who has repeatedly called for mandatory mask laws and social distancing, was pictured maskless partying on a boat in Miami while surrounded by bikini-clad women.

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  Mikhail Varshavski, known as ‘Dr. Mike’ online, completely contradicted his own advice by throwing a ‘super-spreader’ 31st birthday party for himself on November 12.

  “A picture of Varshavski on a boat in Sunset Harbor surrounded by 14 other people — most of them bikini-clad women — has since done the rounds with his fans calling him out for hypocrisy,” reports the Daily Mail.

  Another video shows the doctor massaging a woman’s neck on the deck of the boat while wearing a face scarf that isn’t even covering his nose.

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  Varshavski behavior is completely hypocritical given that he has repeatedly lectured others for ignoring social distancing and demanded mandatory mask laws to save lives.

  “If by not wearing a mask you put other’s lives at risk it might make sense to make it mandatory. Wouldn’t you agree?” Varshavski tweeted back in June.

  Hahahaha pic.twitter.com/15CrdJgIcA

  — Cerno (@Cernovich) November 25, 2020

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  A month later, the doctor appeared on Fox Business and asserted, “Wearing a mask decreases the spread of this virus and that is of utmost importance for people’s health and the health of our economy.”

  “So please, if you’re going outside in public and are going to be around other people, wear a mask,” he added.

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  During a YouTube interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Varshavski also said, “Social distancing is incredibly important. That’s how we control the spread of this virus.”

  Varshavski has also appeared on CNN numerous times telling Americans to abide by coronavirus rules to which he is apparently not subject.

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  Varshavski’s fans savaged him after the embarrassing photos were leaked.

  “You are supposed to be the example. I admired and respected you. Now that is all lost,” said one.

  “I never cared about my health, I never trusted doctors before him, now I don’t know what to believe or do anymore,” added another. “I was able to bring my family back to reality only with the information and arguments he has provided in his videos.”

  Apparently for Varshavski (and numerous other prominent figures as highlighted in the video below), it’s very much ‘do as we say, not as we do’.

  *  *  *

  New limited edition merch now available! Click here. 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.

  

• Politico Exposes Secretive Consulting Firm Set To Dominate Biden Cabinet
  Politico Exposes Secretive Consulting Firm Set To Dominate Biden Cabinet
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 16:15

  A shadowy consulting firm which openly brags about its ability to connect clients to the White House is set to prominently feature in the Biden administration, according to Politico.

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  Founded in 2017 by Tony Blinken – Joe Biden’s pick for Secretary of State – WestExec Advisers advertises itself as “quite literally, the road to the Situation Room,” adding “and it is the road everyone associated with WestExec Advisors has crossed many times en route to meetings of the highest national security consequences.”

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  Another WestExec executive, Michèle Flournoy, is a top contender for Secretary of Defense, while former WestExec principal, Avril Haines, is Biden’s pick for director of national intelligence.

  Meanwhile, WestExec’s client list is just as secretive.

  Because its staffers aren’t lobbyists, they are not required to disclose who they work for. They also aren’t bound by the Biden transition’s restrictions on hiring people who have lobbied in the past year.

  Such high-powered Washington consulting firms are “the unintended consequence” of greater disclosure requirements for registered lobbyists, said Mandy Smithberger, director of the Center for Defense Information at the Project on Government Oversight.

  By not directly advocating for federal dollars on behalf of their clients, they don’t have to publicly divulge who is paying them and for what activities, such as the connections they make with government agencies, she said. But it is also impossible to assess the influence they have on federal expenditures. –Politico

  “They avoid becoming registered lobbyists or foreign agents and are instead becoming strategic consultants,” said Smithberger.

  What’s more, WestExec employs a ton of former Democratic national security and foreign policy officials who have been involved in fundraising for Biden’s campaign, have joined his transition team, or have acted as unofficial advisers. In fact, 21 of the 38 WestExec employees listed on the firm’s website donated to the Biden campaign – with Flournoy raising over $100,000 alone.

  Five WestExec staffers — all veterans of the Obama administration — are on leave from the firm to help staff Biden’s review teams for the Pentagon, the Treasury Department, the Council of Economic Advisers and other agencies, which are charged with coordinating the transfer of power between outgoing Trump officials and Biden’s appointees.

  Two other WestExec principals were among those who briefed Biden last week on national security: Bob Work, who served as deputy secretary of defense in the Obama administration and was asked to remain on for the first few months of the Trump administration, and David Cohen, a former deputy director of both the CIA and the Treasury Department who is also in the running for a top post.

  Former Obama White House communications director Jen Psaki – also a WestExec employee – is also advising Biden’s transition team, while two former WestExec’ers – Lisa Monaco and Julianne Smith – are under consideration for potential Biden administration hires.

  The firm was so well positioned to take over in a Democratic administration that they negotiated a clause in their office lease that they can break it if members are called back to public service, according to American Prospect.

  WestExec isn’t the first DC consulting firm staffed by former administration officials who “serve as the government in waiting for the party that’s out of power” according to Meredith McGehee – executive director of Issue One, a Washington good government group (per Politico), adding that while there’s nothing wrong with it – Blinken and other potential Biden Cabinet picks who have worked for firms such as WestExec should go further than the law requires and publicly disclose any clients for whom they’ve done significant work.

  Read the rest of the report here.

  

• "Stand Down Officers!": Angry Crowd Heckles Cops After Toronto BBQ-Owner Arrested For Ignoring Lockdown
  "Stand Down Officers!": Angry Crowd Heckles Cops After Toronto BBQ-Owner Arrested For Ignoring Lockdown
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 15:50

  Authored by Lauren O’Neil via blogto.com

  The sauce has hit the fan at Toronto’s Adamson Barbecue restaurant, where, after opening for a third day in defiance of multiple lockdown orders, owner Adam Skelly was just taken away in handcuffs by police.

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  “A 33-year-old man was arrested for Attempting to Obstruct Police,” reads an update issued by TPS Operatins shortly after 1 p.m. on Thursday.

  “He has been taken into custody. More details will follow. Officers remain in the area. We continue to ask for calm.”

  Adamson BBQ owner Adam Skelly arrested at 12:25pm today, here’s another angle. He has a big smile on his face as he’s taken away by police. #adamsonbarbeque #adamsonbarbecue pic.twitter.com/D3M9sKLd4z

  — Tina Yazdani (@TinaYazdani) November 26, 2020

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  It is unclear if any other new charges have been laid against Kelly today (in addition to nine announced yesterday against he and his incorporated restaurant chain), but the anti-maskers who’ve been supporting him are straight up freaking out right now.

  Livestreamed video posts from the scene of Skelly’s restaurant at Queen Elizabeth and Royal York Roads show police, some of them on horseback, surrounding the building in a united front.

  Hundreds of histrionic protesters have positioned themselves in front of the cops and are screaming things like “FREEDOM!,” “SHAME!” and “STAND DOWN OFFICERS! STAND DOWN!” 

  Adam rams through his door to his business… now is being arrested!#adamsonbarbecue #AdamsonBBQ pic.twitter.com/9x50jcYDcI

  — Presidential Elect Ian Fenton 🇨🇦 (@ianfenton84) November 26, 2020

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  Police first arrived to the Texas-style BBQ joint early Thursday morning to change the establishment’s locks after Skelly vowed that he would once again reopen his restaurant for indoor dining after being ordered to close by Toronto Public Health.

  Flanked by crowds of people wearing Trump 2020 hats and carrying anti-lockdown signs, the infuriated restaurant owner eventually managed to gain access to the building and start serving meat.

  Police stayed on scene in an attempt to control the crowd of protesters, who have collectively come to be known in recent days as “BBQAnon.”

  The whole Toronto police force down at #adamsonbarbeque horses and all!
  Small business should stand up for themselves, they have as much right as Big business to be open. #isupportadamsonbarbeque #skelly pic.twitter.com/TaHmlY6EC0

  — President-Elect Konniesomething (@konniesomething) November 26, 2020

  Skelly was arrested and taken away for police obstruction shortly before 12:30 p.m. this afternoon.

  His supporters remain camped out around the Etobicoke location of Adamson Barbecue, however, where they are now starting to tussle with police.

  At least one additional male has been arrested so far for assaulting a police officer.

  pic.twitter.com/NETIYwfPcz

  — Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) November 26, 2020

  Meanwhile, four days after Toronto and Peel were put into the “grey zone” of Ontario’s COVID-19 restriction framework, a massive anti-lockdown protest has broken out at Queen’s Park.

  The hashtag #IStandWithAdam is trending on Twitter in the U.S. and people on both sides of the debate are growing increasingly distressed over how the situation is being handled.

  Many are criticizing Skelly for blatantly flouting public health restrictions amid a deadly viral outbreak, while others are calling him  a “patriot” and a “hero.”

  😲This is what is happening in 🇨🇦 right now! This brave man has been arrested for simply trying to keep his business going under the most tyrannical lockdowns in our country. Shame on our police! Shame on all the officials who are backing this. We are NOT a communist country! 😠 https://t.co/xWrrojUc7c

  — Shelley Thomas (@Shelleybvi) November 26, 2020

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  Skelly is expected to appear in court on March 19 of 2021 to face multiple charges for hosting illegal gatherings, breaching indoor dining regulations and operating without a business license on both Tuesday and Wednesday. “Top to bottom, this thing stinks — it reeks of corruption,” said Skelly of the lockdown in an Instagram post announcing his plans to reopen earlier this week. “How many businesses — how many people — are going to lose everything? Enough is enough.” “We’re opening for anybody who is a fan of freedom and sovereignty,” said Skelly at the time. “The right to choose what you wear, where to go, who to have over at your house, what businesses you can go to.”

  

• Comcast To Impose 1.2TB Data Cap On Northeast Customers 
  Comcast To Impose 1.2TB Data Cap On Northeast Customers 
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Thu, 11/26/2020 – 15:25

  More people than ever have shifted to the digital economy as remote working becomes standard across corporate America. Internet service providers (ISP) have reported record internet traffic this year due to the online shift, with some warning that computer networks have been stressed due to the rapid increase in data usage among households. 

  Demand for online video and chat tools, such as Slack, Zoom, and GoToMeeting, have been off the chart this year. Many of these online tools make work-at-home possible for millions of folks. Many of these tools are incredibly data-intensive, which is likely why Comcast has introduced data caps for customers. 

  According to The Verge, Comcast will charge Xfinity customers in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia, as well as parts of North Carolina and Ohio a fee of $10 per 50GB of data if they exceed 1.2TB in a given month. Customers will be eased into the data cap program in early 2021. 

  Data Cap Area

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  The good news for customers fretting about a data cap and additional charges if the 1.2TB is breached is that 95% of the customer base has yet to exceed the level over the last six months. Median monthly data usage for customers this year has been around 300GB. Still, as the second wave of the virus pandemic continues to ravage many parts of the country and remote working continues to become a dominant working situation for many, Comcast expects data usage to surge during the COVID winter. 

  “Comcast has quietly updated its online customer support website to reflect the forthcoming introduction of data caps to the last remaining major regions of the country where it has avoided imposing them for years,” wrote Stop The Cap, an advocacy group against the ISP data cap. 

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  Stop The Cap said Comcast’s data cap in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states could push customers to competitor Verizon FiOS. 

   

  

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