• The Final Countdown
  The Final Countdown

  Authored by Jeremiah Hosea via Substack,

  A dignified life, or dehumanized technocracy — which would you prefer for your children?

  

  As you may have noticed, I do enjoy lists. I suppose they appeal to my sense of order. The following is a list of fundamental principles that were strangely, as if by hypnosis, abdicated during the Convid Scamdemic.

  I hope you enjoy, as do I, the novelty (at least for this Substack) of presenting this particular list in countdown format!

  8. Do Not Trust the Government — how anyone could not understand this principle by now is beyond me. You don’t need to refer to ancient history to reach this conclusion. You don’t even need to have read Machiavelli (although I highly recommend you do). Just look at recent history and you will be provided with numerous examples indicating that no private citizen should ever trust the government.

  The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was even invoked by some of the poison pushers during Covid in patronizing efforts to assuage vaccine hesitancy. It was mentioned dismissively as though it were something that happened a million years ago and would never happen again. Yet every thinking person should take stock of this nightmarish event. It was medical torture that transpired over the course of 40 years and was presided over by the CDC. Yes — the same CDC.

  Politically, since the turn of the new millennium, we have been treated to a continuous barrage of psyops and wars, wars and psyops. The dubious nature of the 2000 election, the unanswered questions surrounding 9/11, the lies about WMDs that resulted in catastrophic war in Iraq, the total bailout of the banks in 2008 with not as much as a life-raft for the people, the Flint Michigan water crisis, the annihilation of Libya — we could go on and on and on in reciting examples of negligence, malfeasance and heinous actions carried out by our government irrespective of which political party held the presidency at the time. (I insist they are one party pretending to be two.)

  How could one claim to have observed history and then fail to notice that virtually every major government project done in opposition to an enemy whether literal or abstract, from all the senseless catastrophic wars against regimes to the fruitless and counterproductive “War on Drugs” and then “War on Terror”, have been entirely negative in both nature and results?

  Whenever the government announces (or doesn’t announce) it is embarking on some grand new endeavor, usually something catastrophic is underway.

  During Covid, I didn’t just see people fail to be suspicious of a government that had thoroughly earned our distrust, I had the even more harrowing experience of witnessing people I had known previously to be “critical thinkers” suddenly devolve into people incapable of any critical thought whatsoever.

  7. Don’t Trust Major Corporations, Especially Big Pharma aka Big Harma — what is a corporation? It is an instrument designed to maximize profit in the marketplace. In capitalism ruthlessness, relentlessness and an amoral approach are all considered admirable traits.

  The willingness of a corporation to poison, pollute, injure or even kill is requisite to compete in the upper echelons of the market place. Major corporations do not have a track record of admitting fault or confessing guilt. They do not have the tendency of “taking things down a notch” for the sake of the environment, or human dignity or being reasonable. The ends absolutely justify the means and therefore, nothing is off-limits in the pursuit of maximizing profits. If there is collateral damage, or if a few fines need to be paid along the way — so be it. That will all be neatly filed and tucked away under the label of “the cost of doing business.” This description shouldn’t shock anyone — I am merely describing the spirit of capitalism and the spirit of corporatism.

  Big industry from the military industrial complex to Big-Agra is thoroughly out of hand, but there’s something particularly disturbing about the corruption of the pharmaceutical industry as it pertains immediately to our health, the health of our children and the health of our families and communities. We should all be more than concerned that the oath stating, “first do no harm” has been jettisoned entirely.

  Giving legal indemnity to corporations (especially ones with felony backgrounds) is a recipe for guaranteed disaster. There should be a law against making such laws. The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 which gives liability protection to vaccine manufacturers needs to be overturned immediately and put in its historical place as an anathema to the proper drafting and passing of laws.

  6. The Right to Question — the right to question should be unquestionable. We claim to value education and up until recently intellectual curiosity was considered a good attribute. When Covid came along all the sudden “doing your own research” aka reading was suddenly being demonized. Who has ever heard of such a thing? And how can the people discouraging critical inquiry consider themselves to be the intelligent ones? It’s adjacent to the question, “when were the censors the good guys in history?”

  Questioning is good. Robust dialogue is good. The notion of sterilizing mistakes or incorrect ideas out of discourse is totalitarian. In fact, clarifying and the correcting of mistakes usually offers a great opportunity for education and enlightenment. Moreover, to attempt to gain an understanding even to venture into the taxonomy of an unfamiliar field or discipline does not mean that the inquirers suddenly become professionals in that field — no reasonable person would suggest that. It is simply to have gained some understanding in a new area. This is a good process and not a negative one.

  As my friend Ryan Cristian of Last American Vagabond ( TheLastAmericanVagabond.com ) says at the end of every program, “Question everything.”

  5. Freedom to Associate — the government has no right whatsoever to prevent us from seeing our families or friends when we are not engaged in criminal actions and are not meeting to engage in criminal conspiracies. Lockdowns (which varied in severity from country to country and county to county) were a flagrant violation of our natural rights. Just as the government cannot protect us from any act of God — the notion that they can protect us from a respiratory ailment by restricting our movements is not only blatant overreach, it’s medically and scientifically without merit.

  The falsehood of the “asymptomatic carrier” was the fraudulent basis for movement restricting policies. It should be accepted, however, that policy makers have no influence, no sway whatsoever in regard to the virome. Even if they did, a declared emergency should not be grounds for the suspension or removal of our rights. Yet what transpired during Covid and the lack of resistance from the public that went along with it, has set the stage for future abuses.

  4. Freedom of Religion — I feel an enormous spiritual feeling but I do not identify with any particular religion or religious text. My beliefs, however, as well as the beliefs or non-beliefs of every individual are irrelevant — our country, like every free society, allows for freedom of religion. It is not the job of the mayor, governor, president or any appointed or elected official to arbitrarily suspend the fundamental right to worship and practice one’s religion.

  It makes no sense to impose policies to protect a religious person from illness, when most religions are rooted in the concept of preparing the practitioner for death. For most religious people their religious practices are part of their well being. It is not up to power brokers to determine when devout persons can practice their religions or when congregations can congregate.

  Allowing liquor stores to remain open while churches and mosques were ordered closed, highlights the perfectly baseless and arbitrary nature of lockdown policies. (I cringe when I use the word “allow” because We The People should have never “allowed” the state to have as much as an impression that they could impose any of this unfounded rubbish.)

  Just prior to Covid, religious exemptions for vaccines required to attend school were overturned in New York and California. (Looking back, that was a red flag and helped set the stage for the bio security State that was about to emerge.) How is that possible? How can the government arbitrarily decide that their rule is more powerful than your religious belief and conviction to God Almighty? Who do they think they are? Religious exemptions should never be overturnable.

  3. Haste Makes Waste — Haste makes waste is a truism. It is well known that it is better to be well prepared than rushed. It’s a principle also known as the 6 P’s — proper preparation prevents piss poor performance.

  It’s better to be a well-rehearsed band than an under-rehearsed band. It’s better to be a well practiced basketball team (like the Spurs) than a team that hasn’t practiced enough. It’s better to be a well-prepared actor than an unprepared actor. It is better to have an experienced surgeon and not a medical student. Everyone knows that haste makes waste, yet somehow this axiomatic principle was disregarded in the case of “Operation Warp Speed.”

  “Warp speed” implies mistakes. It implies lack of regulation and oversight. More than imply, it means — no long term safety data. It means rushed-to-market. It means “safe and effective” is inherently a lie because they didn’t have sufficient time to confirm its safety or effectiveness.

  It’s mind numbing that not only did supposedly intelligent people insist that such a massive undertaking (Operation Warp Speed) could be executed without any noticeable reduction in quality, but then proceeded to aggressively insult and gaslight those who raised this most obvious concern.

  Despite the notion that anyone who refused the experimental injections was doing so based on elaborate conspiracy theories, I spoke to many people who told me firsthand that their hesitancy or outright refusal was based on the simple fact that the whole thing was done too damn fast.

  2. Body Sovereignty — sovereignty over one’s own body is the most fundamental of fundamental rights. It is the right from which all other rights emanate. If your body sovereignty is compromised, you are a compromised individual and you are not a free person. You may aspire to freedom, but you are not free.

  Mandating Covid “vaccines” (products falsely marketed as such) was a violation of the Constitution†, the Nuremberg Code†† and first and foremost natural law. No person should be forced to eat anything, watch anything, participate in anything — least of all an invasive medical procedure — against their will. It’s incredibly sad that this has to be discussed or debated whatsoever in the United States or any modern society for that matter.

  1. No means No — I have most certainly emphasized this in previous articles. I will exercise here the literary technique known as sufficient redundancy and reiterate that — No is the most important word in the dictionary. No is sacrosanct.

  We teach our children, and rightfully so, that they always have the right to say No. If something doesn’t feel right — No. If you don’t feel safe — No. If you are being asked to compromise your dignity — No. The word — No — by itself, is a complete sentence. This principle, of always having the right to say No, does not have an expiration date. It’s not just for children. It is fundamental to human dignity.

  It is an abomination, that the right to say No was violated across the whole of society. What a terrible example for our children, and if we don’t change things now — what a terrible inheritance for them as well.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 23:20

• Ottawa Launches Consultation On Forced Labour Crackdown Amid China Scrutiny
  Ottawa Launches Consultation On Forced Labour Crackdown Amid China Scrutiny

  Authored by Andrew Chen via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Ottawa, Canada has launched a public consultation on new measures to curb imports of goods made with forced labour. The move comes amid increased scrutiny of China’s use of forced labour involving persecuted groups.

  

  International Trade Minister Mary Ng announced the public consultation on Oct. 16, saying that it aims to strengthen the enforcement of the ban on importing forced labour goods in alignment with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and actions taken by allied countries.

  During this public consultation, the government will seek feedback on improving enforcement of the import ban, according to a separate release on Oct. 16. Proposed measures include publishing a list of items at risk of being made with forced labour, based on guidelines from the International Labour Organization (ILO). A “minimum traceability” process was also proposed, requiring importers of these items to provide more information about where their products come from.

  Additionally, the proposed changes could affect how costs are handled. Importers of goods found to be made with forced labour would have to pay for all costs related to detention, removal, abandonment, and forfeiture. This would include transportation, storage, and disposal fees.

  Citing an ILO report on modern slavery, Ottawa noted that an estimated 27.6 million people were subjected to forced labour worldwide in 2021, an increase of 3 million since 2016. Children represented about 12 percent of those affected, totalling 3.3 million.

  Forced Labour in China

  The announcement comes amid increased scrutiny of forced labour in China.

  Last month, four U.S. lawmakers urged Minister Ng and American and Mexican CUSMA trade representatives to bolster the enforcement of bans on forced labour goods from China. These lawmakers have been key proponents of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which aims to fight what they call China’s “widespread and systemic use“ of forced labour to exploit Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in the Xinjiang region.

  The U.S. lawmakers urged CUSMA members to take further action to prevent the import of goods made with forced labour into North America, expressing frustration that a shipment of solar panels, denied entry into the United States due to concerns about forced labour, was later imported into Canada and then attempted to be re-exported to the United States.

  The issue has also been studied in recent years in parliamentary committees in Canada, with human rights activists urging more action by Canadian lawmakers to curb China’s forced labour practices.

  “The Subcommittee [on International Human Rights] was advised that Canada should adopt a ’reverse‑onus’ policy for companies importing products from Xinjiang, or other parts of China where forced labour is prominent. Such a policy would require importing companies to demonstrate that forced labour was not used in the manufacturing of their products,” reads a March 2021 report published by the subcommittee.

  Since 2021, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has intercepted and assessed around 50 shipments of goods for suspected involvement with forced labour, according to an earlier statement to The Epoch Times. Six shipments were monitored for export out of the Canadian market, and one was abandoned by the importer at the border. The remaining shipments were allowed entry following a review of supply chain information provided by importers.

  “The Government of Canada expects companies to take every step possible to ensure that their supply chains conform to Canadian law. It is the responsibility of the importer to exercise due diligence to ensure forced labour is not directly or indirectly used in the production of the goods it imports,” CBSA spokesperson Luke Reimer said on Sept. 26. 

  One well-known case involved a shipment from China that was intercepted in Quebec in fall 2021, but it was ultimately allowed entry. Reimer said that this decision came after the importer requested a review of the tariff classification. Upon examining the submitted documents, it was determined that the goods did not meet the criteria for seizure related to forced labour.

  Canada has imposed an import ban on goods produced by forced labour since an amendment to the Customs Tariff Act took effect on July 1, 2020. The following year, it also launched an analysis of supply chain risks related to forced labour in China.

  In January, a law aimed at fighting forced labour and child labour in supply chains came into force. Previously known as Bill S-211, this law requires the head of every government institution involved in producing, purchasing, or distributing goods in Canada or elsewhere to submit an annual report to the minister of public safety by May 31 each year.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 22:45

• The Omniwar Is Everywhere
  The Omniwar Is Everywhere

  Authored by Joe Allen via BombThrower.com,

  The Omniwar Symposium was well worth watching in full. It hits many points I’ve been covering for years now, from transhuman ambition to religious inversion. Even so, there was plenty of new material for me to sink my teeth into. All the presenters are admirably learned and articulate, so the info went down easy.

  

  Their overarching thesis posits an all-encompassing assault by elite powers on mass populations – the fat cats against “the people.” This is a global war, waged alongside various inter-elite geopolitical conflicts. In the long view, the omniwar is a struggle to establish a technocratic hegemony. It is a fight to crush our freedoms. It is a war against humanity.

  By and large, this accusation is a response to the traumatic Covid measures brought down on the citizens of nearly every nation on earth. I may disagree with the symposium’s ultimate conclusions—especially those godforsaken nanobots—but they’ll get no argument from me about the 2020 terror campaign. In America, people in most states saw their rights trampled upon. Corporations and the federal government forced vaccination under penalty of unemployment. Lives were upended. Family ties were broken. It was a crime against human dignity.

  Those were treacherous times. Without future safeguards, they’re likely to be repeated ad nauseam. One key component of resistance, though, will be to attack the system with precision, and not allow ourselves to get lost in puerile fantasies.

  The symposium included my friend Patrick Wood, who has taught me a great deal about technocracy and transhumanism. His presentation was characteristically lucid, from the early history of the technocracy movement at Columbia University to its continued relevance in our present era. “Technocracy is the science of social engineering,” Patrick quoted from a 1937 issue of The Technocrat, “the scientific operation of the entire social mechanism to produce and distribute goods and services to the entire population.”

  The Covid crackdown was nothing if not technocratic in essence. Governments used “the numbers” to lock down their citizens and neutralize their justified protests. Drug corporations hid the real numbers to deny their customers’ vaccine injuries. Both colluded to form impromptu biosecurity states. These people should all burn in hell—at least for a little while.

  

  Despite the normie-con temptation to attribute everything to “Marxism” (which is sort of like Jew obsession, minus the nepotism and alleged moneylust), Patrick drew a clear distinction between technocracy and communism. “Marxists hated technocracy with a passion,” he explained, “and for good reason: technocrats would push man out of the picture altogether, resulting in a hierarchy of scientific dictatorship run by scientists and engineers.”

  That insight doesn’t play well with TV-brained Fox News fans, but I appreciate the nuance. “Technocracy wanted to do away with all political systems,” Patrick went on, “including communism and socialism.”

  Similarly, while acknowledging that most technocrats and transhumanists begin from atheistic premises—viewing the organic world as a system of interlocking mechanisms—Patrick emphasized that not all atheists are technocrats or transhumanists. Such distinctions will be critical going forward, lest we come off like torch-bearing witch-hunters.

  

  As it happens, a recent paper by one Omniwar participant, Daniel Broudy, inspired me to resume my research into nano-scale technology. The idea is that the Covid jabs—and perhaps chemtrails streaking overhead—contain sophisticated nanobots which can be activated by 5G routers to monitor or manipulate a subject’s body and brain.

  Some say these self-assembling vaxxbots can kill a man like tiny ball-busting pagers floating through his bloodstream. Click… BOOM!

  I remain unconvinced.

  In fact, an expert commentary hastily published by the same outlet as Broudy’s paper—the International Journal of Vaccine Practice, Theory, and Research—flatly states there are “No Nanobots in Vaccines — Just Lipids on the Loose.” But in sensationalist vaxxbot circles, the psychological damage has already been done and the clickbait money already extracted.

  Broudy avoided all mention of the nanos during his Omniwar presentation, leaving that to his co-authors Lissa Johnson and David Hughes. Instead, he focused on the broader sociological implications of technocracy. The presentation was well-written, and he read it from his screen with eloquence. His main point was that our leaders treat us like cattle, using surveillance and mind control to herd the masses at will.

  My regular readers will know I agree with that up to a point. But a one-dimensional characterization misses two vital elements. First off, anyone who’s carefully studied the transhumanist literature knows that “liberty” and “morphological freedom” are key principles that complicate any top-down oppression narrative.

  Second, and just as important, is the dark reality that—much like large-scale technocratic institutions treat mass populations like cattle—many business savvy “freedom fighters” have captured the imaginations of smaller sub-populations, filled their heads with sci-fi delusions, and made off with their minds (and money) like web-crawling cattle-rustlers.

  Speaking about large-scale control systems, though, Broudy did include one quote from Bertrand Russell’s essay “Scientific Technique in an Oligarchy” that really captures the menace of our age. In his original passage, Russell highlights the “evils” of Soviet Russia and the “atrocities” of the Nazis, looking ahead to the more insidious possibilities of scientific totalitarianism. For whatever reason, Broudy omits Russell’s obvious disdain for communism, fascism, and dictatorship, but his excerpt is relevant nonetheless.

  “Diet, injections, and injunctions will combine,” Russell wrote in 1951, “to produce the sort of character and the sort of beliefs that the authorities consider desirable, and any serious criticism of the powers that be will become psychologically impossible. Even if all are miserable, all will believe themselves happy, because the government will tell them that they are so.”

  Broudy pairs this quote with the 2016 slogan “You’ll own nothing and be happy,” which, to Broudy’s credit, he traces not to Klaus Schwab—as is fashionable—but rather to its original source. Even so, Broudy’s presentation had the effect of flattening the problems of our era to some World Economic Forum-centered conspiracy. If only life were so simple.

  

  Lissa Johnson gave the most compelling talk, describing “transhumanism as a military-intelligence operation with Covid-19 as a supporting psychological operation.” Her literature review of military, government, and corporate documents was superb. She cited a number of white papers I’d never seen before, so I’ve been following her trail for several days now. This new information has been illuminating, and for that I’m grateful.

  In fact, I highly recommend you listen to her talk in full. If that piques your interest, do read the four-part series that Johnson co-authored with Daniel Broudy and David Hughes. The information they marshal is of great interest, although I suspect their literalist, overly imaginative conclusions will do more harm than good. That’s for you to decide. (Well, you and objective reality, if anyone can grasp such a thing.)

  Two themes from Johnson’s presentation really hit me: the “manipulation of reality perception” and the recurring dreams (and nightmares) of advanced nanotechnology. It’s true that, by their very nature, psychological operations are methods of perceptual manipulation. It’s also true that advanced nanotech transmitters—whether administered via injection or aerosol—are a long-standing goal of both military and medical authorities. Yet there’s an ironic connection between these two notions that Johnson seems to miss.

  

  If, as Johnson, Broudy, and Hughes suggest, the human race is presently being seeded with self-assembling nano-scale circuitry or full-blown nanobots—whether injected into arms or dropped from fake clouds—then we live in a nightmare world of invisible creepy crawlies. These are basically UFOs in your bloodstream: unidentified floating objects. They can’t stop Covid, apparently, but they can monitor your vital signs and control your mind.

  On the other hand, if such nanotech still remains in a fantasy realm alongside quantum computers and artificial superintelligence—both of which attract billions in funding, with little more than neat parlor tricks to show for it—then Johnson et al. are leading people to chase invisible Easter Bunnies down a rabbit hole to nowhere.

  Whether they mean to or not, they also discredit any real resistance to governmental technocracy and corporate transhumanism by activating delusional loud-mouths.

  “Don’t ya’ll worry about no mRNAs in them shots. It’s the nanner bots that’ll get’che!!”

  Indeed, if viable, mass-deployed nanobots do not yet exist, then vaxxbot alarmism is itself a psy op. It’s a “manipulation of reality perception” that convinces dupes to believe their vaxxed friends and family are 5G-controlled zombies, or that airborne nanos are falling from the sky like demonic snowflakes. In that case, the evil vaxxbot is part of a “simulated reality” that rips people’s minds apart.

  Johnson et al. do a great job of showing intent, though. No one can deny that well-heeled scientists and government agents want to use nanotech to cure illness—and to deploy nanos as weaponry. This is hardly a secret. You can find bold statements of intent everywhere, from best-selling books to YouTube videos posted by the would-be perpetrators themselves.

  It’s far more difficult to prove that secret agents are deploying invisible nanotech right now. Johnson primes the pump with her more articulate version the oft-repeated mantra: “Top secret tech is decades ahead of anything we see today!!” To support this notion, she cites the former head of NASA’s Langley Research Center, Dennis Bushnell, whose infamous 2001 slideshow “Future Strategic Issues/Future Warfare [Circa 2025]” has been making the rounds for many years.

  

  Johnson goes through a list of exotic technologies—genetic engineering of human beings, implantable electronics, nanobots, smart dust, biocomputing, artificial life, etc. She then interprets a vague bullet point on Bushnell’s slide as meaning “such technologies remain in inventory for over forty years” so they were “no pixie dust” back in 2001. If I understand Johnson correctly, she’s saying classified technology is already forty years into the Future™!

  To support this mythos, Johnson cites the Harvard science historian Peter Galison, who once argued that “classified scientific research is five to ten times larger than what we see in the open literature.” That wildly imprecise estimate seems overblown to me, but for the sake of argument, let’s assume this is true.

  Why should we assume this galaxy of classified R&D has produced a slew of viable technologies? Think of it this way:

  Two primary objectives of nanotech are to cure disease and reverse aging. If our clandestine agencies have nanos that are decades ahead of what we see today, why are Ray Kurzweil and Klaus Schwab deteriorating before our eyes? Wouldn’t they be among the first to get a neurological nano-boost, or at least a cellular face-lift?

  Have their minds been uploaded to a secret metaverse for the elite, leaving their senile husks to babble onstage?

  As a thought experiment, let’s imagine Bushnell’s speculative NASA slideshow contains literal descriptions of existent tech in 2001—actual “‘Bots and ‘Borgs” and “wonderous/ubiquitous land/sea/air/space multiphysics/hyperspectral sensor swarms.”

  Okay then, why are two astronauts still stranded on the International Space Station? And why are windows blowing out of Boeing aircraft? Are NASA and Boeing pretending to be incompetent so no one looks for their secret moon base?

  I’m serious.

  To be fair, Johnson does confront the question: “Where is the tangible R&D?” However, her evidence is just another series of quotes from think tank employees and military propagandists who talk about all the great stuff they’re doing—i.e., justifying their paychecks. Johnson then cites a handful of well-funded nanotech projects. Allow me to put forward a counterpoint: so far, these people have wasted a lot of money for next to nothing in return.

  Johnson presents exactly zero evidence that labs have produced self-assembling nano-scale circuitry or nanobots that are ready to be deployed on a dozen people in the wild—let alone half the world’s population. Even worse, she goes on to show us crudely rendered cartoons of proposed biodigital networks as evidence of mature technologies. She concludes by defending certain “scientists” who claim to find vaxxbots under their microscope lenses (which, again, was sternly rebutted here).

  “It’s not pixie dust,” Johnson insists. Indeed, I’m more inclined to believe pixie dust actually exists.

  

  Johnson and Broudy’s co-author, David Hughes, won me over at first during his Omniwar presentation. He and I share an appreciation of the satanist-hunting schizoid, Vigilant Citizen, whose dot-connecting analysis of mass entertainment amused me for many years—at least until VC went behind an esoteric paywall. Even if our metaphysics differ, I thought to myself, Hughes and I would probably have much to discuss over a couple of pints.

  Then, as if to taunt me, Hughes went on to proudly endorse the harebrained theory that the World Trade Center towers were brought down by “directed free-energy technology”—a.k.a. space lasers. With a calm and confident British accent, Hughes suggested our “elite rulers” are lying about “finite resources” on earth so they can exert “global centralized control.”

  “What happens, then, if all of that is a founding myth? What happens if there is such a thing as free-energy technology?” Hughes asks skeptically. “What happens if there actually is the possibility of limitless abundance in the world? These are the things that people need to know about, because it really exposes the foundation of the control system.”

  Good questions. Allow me to pose another. What happens when the Skeptoid Ouroboros leads an otherwise sharp individual to abandon centuries of scientific research in favor of unlimited oil and magic “pixie dust” technology?

  Is the ultimate objective for “the people” to get their hands on this “free-energy technology” so we can, I dunno, inject ourselves with life-extension serum or build space communes on Mars?

  Look, I’m gonna let you in on a dark secret of the cosmos: most people will believe anything. That includes a belief in absurd technologies, whether benevolent or malevolent. A person’s high IQ is no protection from that tendency. In fact, due to the ample mental space a big brain provides, it’s oftentimes a handicap.

  

  To paraphrase Mork: “Nano, nano.”

  I humbly suggest that Johnson, Broudy, and Hughes look up from their stacks of white papers for a moment and think about what they’re saying. If top secret projects really are “twenty years ahead of anything we see today,” there would be an unknown continent where flying cars buzz around AI-controlled cities running on cold fusion generators. Maybe scientists there are using time machines to bring back dinosaurs for the local zoo.

  No one can prove a negative. So I cannot prove that ubiquitously deployed nanobots don’t exist. Nor can I prove that viable flying cars (not those wobbly mini-copters) and sustainable cold fusion are only pipedreams clogging up the patent office. It’s a big world out there. What do I know?

  But after five hours of listening to the Omniwar Symposium, I’m less convinced of vaccine- or chemtrail-borne nanos than when I began. Instead, I’m even more convinced that internet-borne memes can attach themselves to a person’s brain and detach his or her consciousness from objective reality.

  I am not arguing that the vaxxbot theories floated by Johnson, Broudy, and Hughes are untrue. I am saying I don’t believe them. Their source material is of great value and I commend their research efforts. But their aggressive conclusions are unconvincing.

  As for my readers, I encourage you to listen to this trio, to read their papers carefully, and draw your own conclusions. By now you know I have no intention of telling you what to believe. Not that it would matter if I did. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few years, it’s that people will believe whatever they like.

  *  *  *

  Subscribe the Bombthrower mailing list to get these pieces as they drop, you’ll also receive a free copy of The Crypto Capitalist Manifesto. Sign up for Joe Allen’s Singularity Weekly here.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 22:10

• "Consumers Running Out Of Money": Former Target Exec Offers Dire Warning Ahead Of Christmas
  “Consumers Running Out Of Money”: Former Target Exec Offers Dire Warning Ahead Of Christmas

  US corporate media outlets continue to push propaganda that the economy thrives ahead of the presidential elections, cheerleading the most recent retail sales print. However, most Americans know MSM is full of ‘malarkey’ because inflation and interest rates force many to spend more but receive less. Many folks have depleted their personal savings and racked up insurmountable credit card debt just to keep up with rising food, energy, insurance, and shelter costs. This toxic mix of inflation, sparked by failed Bidenomics, has hit low- and middle-income families the hardest, potentially leading to a breaking point this upcoming holiday shopping season.

  “It’s very clear that consumers are running out of money. They’re increasingly stressed by inflation and the exhaustion of their pandemic-era savings. When you take a look over the last several years, what you see month after month, everyone talks about, the consumer’s still spending. They might be, but they’re spending less than the growth of inflation,” Storch Advisors CEO Gerald Storch told Fox Bussiness’ Maria Bartiromo on Thursday during an interview. 

  

  Bartiromo then asked Storch about his forecast on the upcoming spending season between Black Friday and Christmas. The former Target executive said, “[I don’t expect] too much, frankly … and think that [if] we can get growth in [the] 2.5% range, that’d be doing pretty well, and that’s not very good. In the heydays there, we’d really want to see something that’s more like 4% type of growth. You have, by the way, the shortest holiday season you can even imagine, so that’s against retailers.” 

  Besides Target, Storch was also the former CEO at Toys “R” Us. He noted, “Now and the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is very, very short, so that’s going to be bad. The election’s going to weigh on things and the geopolitical situation as well, so I think it’s going to be a pretty weak Christmas.” 

  The longtime retail executive’s ominous warning about consumers stalling this holiday season comes after retail sales showed consumers increased their purchases at retailers last month. However, this is only because of higher prices. In other words, consumers are spending more but receiving less.

  Storch’s outlook for the holiday season comes after Goldman analysts noted that the “trade-down phenomenon” has rippled across high-end and low-end consumers. The last time “trading down” mentions soared on earnings calls was during the GFC crisis in 2008. 

  

  This chart sums up the consumer’s dire state. 

  

  We noted earlier this week that the National Retail Federation’s annual Prosper Insights & Analytics survey showed lower forecasted spending trends for Halloween among consumers nationwide. The last time this happened was just before the Covid crash. All eyes should be on upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday to gauge holiday shopping trends.

  

  One last thing: perhaps mounting economic hardships are some of the drivers as to why US drinking rates have surged to the highest levels since the 1970s inflation storm. 

  

  Millions of Americans feel stressed in this disastrous Bidenomics era—it’s only a matter of time before something gives.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 21:35

• How To Remove Fluoride From Your Water At Home
  How To Remove Fluoride From Your Water At Home

  Authored by Sheramy Tsai via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  When Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first city to add fluoride to its water supply in 1945, it was hailed as a major public health innovation aimed at preventing cavities. Many other cities quickly followed suit, and water fluoridation became a widespread practice nationwide.

  

  Today, with fluoride easily accessible in toothpaste and mouthwash, its added value in drinking water has been called into question. A review from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews found that fluoridated water reduces tooth decay by only a tiny amount—about a quarter of a tooth surface—raising doubts about its effectiveness.

  For decades, fluoride has quietly flowed through our taps, touted as a safeguard for dental health. But what if this commonly accepted chemical—long promoted for its benefits to teeth—is something you’d prefer to avoid?

  Growing evidence suggests fluoride may pose risks beyond our teeth, affecting thyroid health, cognitive development, and more. This concern has led many to seek ways to eliminate fluoride from their lives. Whether you’re wary of long-term exposure or simply want cleaner water for your family, there are solutions. From advanced filtration systems to simple DIY methods, here’s how to remove fluoride from your water—and your life.

  Push to End Fluoridation

  A February systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis published in Environmental Research linked excessive fluoride exposure to thyroid issues, and a 2016 National Toxicology Report noted an association between fluoride and lowered IQ in children.

  In September, a federal judge ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take regulatory action on fluoride, citing evidence that community water fluoridation at 0.7 mg/L may pose an unreasonable risk to children’s health under the Toxic Substances Control Act. The court did not mandate specific steps, leaving the EPA “obliged to take regulatory action in response.”

  Pharmacist and thyroid specialist Izabella Wentz echoes these concerns, telling The Epoch Times, “Reducing fluoride exposure is crucial for supporting overall health and well-being.”

  Wentz notes that while most Western European nations have ceased fluoridating their water, the United States, Canada, and parts of the UK continue the practice.

  How to Remove Fluoride From Your Water At Home

  As the debate over fluoridation in public water systems continues, many households opt to address the issue themselves. Below are some of the most popular methods for reducing fluoride exposure at home.

  Reverse Osmosis Systems

  Reverse osmosis (RO) systems are highly effective at removing fluoride and other contaminants from drinking water, filtering out up to 84 percent through a semipermeable membrane. This purification process forces water through the membrane, leaving impurities behind. Fluoride expert Richard Sauerheber told The Epoch Times that modern RO systems can operate for years with minimal maintenance while effectively reducing fluoride levels.

  However, RO systems have certain drawbacks. According to Tom Volinchak, author of “Open Tap – Drink Poison,” they can produce up to 17 gallons of wastewater for every gallon of filtered water and remove beneficial minerals, which may need to be reintroduced for taste and health benefits.

  Despite these challenges, point-of-use RO systems remain an affordable and attractive option, typically costing under $1,000. They are especially beneficial in areas with higher fluoride contamination. For those seeking more comprehensive filtration, whole-house RO systems can cost upwards of $15,000.

  Activated Alumina Filters

  Activated alumina filters, such as Berkey’s PF-2, can remove up to 97 percent of fluoride and provide a convenient countertop solution that requires no plumbing or electricity. These filters use aluminum oxide to capture fluoride molecules on their porous surface.

  However, there are concerns that small amounts of aluminum may be released into the water, and in alkaline conditions, these filters may leach harmful aluminum-fluoride complexes. Filters must be replaced regularly, typically after 1,000 gallons, and some users report a decline in water quality over time.

  It should be noted that aluminum exposure might be of concern for those using activated alumina filters.

  Bone Char Filters

  Bone char is another distinct option for filtering fluoride from drinking water. Made from crushed animal bones heated in a kiln under low-oxygen conditions, bone char naturally absorbs fluoride and other contaminants, such as heavy metals, making it an effective filtration tool. Bone char’s ability to trap fluoride raises an important question: If animal bones can absorb fluoride so effectively, what impact might fluoride have on the bones in our own bodies?

  Research shows that 99 percent of fluoride lives in bones. A 2023 study in JAAOS Global Research & Reviews found that children living in areas with higher fluoride levels in drinking water experienced more bone fractures, especially in the arm and elbow.

  Bone char filters work through adsorption, where fluoride molecules adhere to the surface of the char as water passes through. However, its filtration lifespan can be unpredictable, varying with fluoride levels, and requires regular monitoring and replacement.

  Sauerheber cautions that the quality of bone char varies by source—char from Scotland is known to be highly effective but harder to find, while Brazilian char may be less reliable. This variability makes reverse osmosis a more consistent option for most households.

  Ion Exchange Systems

  Ion exchange systems use resin beads to replace fluoride ions with less harmful ions, such as chloride, effectively lowering fluoride levels. However, these systems come with environmental concerns—plastic resin beads contribute to plastic waste, and aging filters may release microplastics or concentrated fluoride.

  Frequent filter replacements make ion exchange systems expensive, particularly in regions with high fluoride levels. Additionally, the environmental impact raises sustainability concerns for many households, said Volinchak.

  Limitations of Certified Filtration Products

  Volinchak points out that not all filtration systems perform as effectively as their certifications suggest. Organizations like the Water Quality Association and the National Sanitation Foundation certify filters based on their ability to remove a specific percentage of contaminants. However, these certifications do not guarantee that the filtered water is entirely safe to drink.

  Volinchak warns that even filters claiming to remove 98 percent of a contaminant may be insufficient if the contaminant levels in the source water are particularly high. In such cases, harmful amounts of fluoride can remain after filtration. This highlights the importance of regularly testing your water’s contamination levels to ensure your filtration method is effective.

  Distillation: A DIY Approach

  For those seeking a more hands-on method to remove fluoride, distillation provides a reliable, though labor-intensive, solution. This process involves boiling water and collecting the steam, which is then condensed back into liquid, leaving fluoride and other contaminants behind. However, distilled water lacks minerals, which many people find results in a flat or bland taste.

  Sauerheber notes, “Distillation works well but requires labor on the part of the consumer,” and it is essential to remineralize the water to avoid drinking overly purified, mineral-deficient water.

  While distillation is highly effective at removing fluoride, it requires time, equipment, and the additional step of reintroducing essential minerals.

  For those looking for a more convenient solution, water distillation machines offer an automated approach to fluoride removal. Distillation units are available in various sizes, from compact countertop models to larger units suited for higher volume needs.

  Although they eliminate the manual labor of traditional distillation, these machines produce mineral-free water, requiring remineralization for optimal taste and health. Additionally, they can be energy-intensive, which may increase utility costs over time.

  Five Ways to Reduce Your Fluoride Burden

  Reducing fluoride exposure is important for maintaining health. If you have already been exposed or live in an area with high fluoride levels, there are steps you can take to mitigate its effects. While no supplements can directly neutralize fluoride, certain nutrients and lifestyle changes may support the body’s natural detoxification processes. 1. Be Mindful of Fluoride in Foods and Products

  Beyond water, fluoride can sneak into your daily routine through common foods, beverages, and products. Wentz highlights that black and red teas and certain medications are hidden sources of fluoride because tea plants absorb fluoride from the soil. Additionally, foods processed with fluoridated water and certain pesticides can introduce fluoride into your diet, further contributing to overall exposure.

  “Swapping out conventional dental hygiene products for ones made without fluoride,” Wentz says, is another simple way to lower your fluoride intake. Reading labels and choosing fluoride-free options wherever possible can make a big difference.

  While the American Dental Association advises most people—children, adolescents, and adults—to brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste for optimal dental health, many holistic dentists remain skeptical. They argue that there is not enough long-term evidence to fully support the safety of fluoride use in dental care.

  2. Boost Your Nutrient Intake

  Boosting nutrient intake can help counter fluoride’s effects on the body, particularly by supporting thyroid function. Fluoride competes with iodine, which is essential for hormone production. Ensuring adequate iodine intake from sources like seaweed, fish, dairy, or iodized salt helps protect the thyroid. However, Wentz cautions against high-dose iodine supplements, especially for those with thyroid disorders like Hashimoto’s, as it may worsen the condition.

  Calcium is another crucial nutrient, as it can bind with fluoride and reduce bone absorption. Magnesium helps balance fluoride and calcium, while antioxidants like vitamin C and selenium protect against the oxidative stress caused by fluoride exposure.

  Wentz recommends getting these essential nutrients primarily through a whole-food diet. However, supplements can provide an effective alternative for those with deficiencies

  Read the rest here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 21:00

• Militants From Jordan Wound Israeli Soldiers In Rare Cross-Border Attack
  Militants From Jordan Wound Israeli Soldiers In Rare Cross-Border Attack

  Via Middle East Eye

  At least two Israeli soldiers have been wounded in an attack by gunmen who entered Israeli territory from Jordan, according to Israeli media reports. The incident on Friday took place in Neot HaKikar in the south Dead Sea area, close to the border with Jordan.

  Israeli media sources said that Israeli soldiers were searching the area for another possible attacker, while the Israeli army said it had killed two of the attackers and was looking for a third who fled the scene.

  

  The attack came a day after Israel claimed the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza. Earlier, the army said that its observers had noticed a group of men trying to infiltrate the border and had sent soldiers to confront them.

  Military officials have also told residents of the area to remain indoors as soldiers carry out searches for any other potential fighters. Unconfirmed images purporting to be of the slain attackers show them in military attire.

  Jordanian officials, however, have put out a statement saying that the attackers did not belong to the country’s armed forces and that the uniforms were not Jordanian military issue.

  Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, Jordan’s leaders have had to walk a fine line between heightened anti-Israel sentiment in the country and ensuring its own bilateral relationship with Israel.

  The country has a large population descended from Palestinian refugees forced to flee historic Palestine after the mass expulsions, widely known as the Nakba, and regularly sees mass protests in support of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.

  Jordan’s Islamic Action Front, which is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, lauded the attack. In a statement it said: “We celebrate the heroic attack carried out by the Amer Qawwas and Hossam Abu Ghazala in the Dead Sea region.”

  “We call on the government to reconsider its agreements with the Zionist enemy.”

  In September, Jordanian national and truck driver Maher Dhiab al-Jazi was shot and killed at the Allenby Bridge crossing with the occupied West Bank after killing three Israeli security guards. In a letter he left for his family, he said he was motivated by Israel’s ongoing atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza.

  

  At the same time, Jordan’s government has not significantly altered its diplomatic relationship with Israel, and trade ties between the two continue as normal.

  After Iran launched missile salvos at Israel in April and again in October, Jordanian armed forces were involved in attempting to down missiles flying over Jordanian territory, prompting domestic criticism.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 20:25

• Study Finds School Choice Closes Low-Income Student Performance Gap
  Study Finds School Choice Closes Low-Income Student Performance Gap

  Authored by Savannah Hulsey Pointer via The Epoch Times,

  A new report reveals that school choice has significantly narrowed the academic performance gap between low-income students and their more affluent peers.

  

  The findings of the Progressive Policy Institute’s (PPI’s) October report underscore the positive impact of public charter schools in driving academic improvements across entire school districts, not just for students attending charter schools.

  According to the report, the achievement gap between low-income students and their counterparts in Camden, New Jersey, which had 68 percent of students enrolled in charter schools by 2023, was reduced by 42 percent between the 2010–2011 and 2022–2023 school years.

  From 2011 to 2023, the proportion of students attending charter schools in Camden increased, resulting in an increase of more than 20 percent in low-income pupil performance.

  The report discovered that the gap in Washington closed by 38 percent during the same period, with 45 percent of pupils enrolled in charter schools.

  In Indianapolis, the gap narrowed by 23 percent, with 58 percent of pupils attending charter schools.

  The report indicates that nonwhite students are among the most significant beneficiaries of school choice, accounting for 70 percent of charter school pupils in the cities surveyed, despite only making up approximately half of the district.

  Charter schools are publicly funded, tuition-free, and accessible to all students.

  However, they differ from traditional public schools in their operational flexibility and governance.

  Charter schools are subject to the same federal laws regarding nondiscrimination and admission, but they have a greater degree of autonomy over their curriculum, personnel, and scheduling.

  Because of the increased self-governance, charter schools can customize and innovate their educational programs to accommodate the unique requirements of their student bodies.

  The report emphasizes the substantial increases in academic performance observed in cities with a significant number of charter schools, particularly among low-income students.

  Those students have made major strides in closing the achievement disparity with their peers in cities where at least one-third of students attend charter schools or charter-like institutions, according to the study.

  This trend has been observed in numerous cities throughout the United States, where public charter schools comprise a significant portion of total school enrollment.

  The report indicates that a key factor driving this progress is the higher accountability standards to which charter schools are held.

  Unlike traditional district schools, which are rarely closed for poor performance, charter schools must meet specific educational objectives outlined in their charter agreements.

  These schools are periodically reviewed, and if they fail to meet the required performance standards, their charters can be revoked.

  This performance-based accountability typically creates a system in which underperforming schools are either improved or replaced by higher-performing ones, ensuring that students receive a better education.

  The PPI report also recognizes a “spillover effect” in cities that have robust educational choice programs.

  In a city that has a combination of traditional and charter schools, the competition among schools fosters improvement throughout the entire system, which is advantageous to all students.

  This dynamic motivates traditional public schools to enhance their performance to retain enrollment and encourages them to implement innovative practices from charter schools.

  In addition to attention on charter schools, the option of homeschooling is growing in popularity with parents across the nation.

  New data from the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy’s homeschool research lab show that 90 percent of states reporting data saw an increase in homeschooling in the 2023–2024 school year.

  The report examined data from 21 out of 30 states that collect or report homeschool participation information. The other nine states are expected to report data in the coming months.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 19:50

• From Grey-List To Gold-Standard
  From Grey-List To Gold-Standard

  2024 was always likely to be a year of geopolitical volatility. Confronted with the hangovers of 2023’s conflicts, high inflation and civil unrest, 2024’s convergence of 64 global elections, uncertainty over the future of trade, natural resources, sovereign debt, environment and population provided an ethically divisive opportunity for the media to double down on partisan opinion, stoking further fear and polarity. From the coverage of Britain’s recent riots through to the U.S.’s 180-degree treatment of its Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, the word ‘gaslighting’ has emerged from the fringes of our lexicon to become a key descriptor of the mainstream news cycle.

  As a regular subject for this type of coverage, Dubai’s popularity and success as a business, trade and tourism destination has made itself an easy target, no part in thanks to its gold industry, which has risen to become one the world’s largest physical markets.

  In a recent piece published in June, The Times’ “Cocaine Inc: how British drugs cash is turned into solid gold in Dubai” highlights the emirate’s position as a target for U.K’s drug gangs in the form of cash mules, as well as some unfounded accusations about undeclared gold imports. As an investigative piece, where at least some of the perpetrators have already been tried and found guilty, the report also highlighted that criminality is rarely restricted by national borders, but instead passported. With the Dubai authorities having worked closely with organizations such as the World Gold Council, the UAE’s National Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism and Financing of Illegal Organizations Committee (NAMLCFTC) and INTERPOL, the evidence has become abundantly clear that if we want to fully remove illicit activity and money laundering, there must be a concerted effort to address the root causes and not the symptoms.

  In credit to The Times, its Cocaine Inc series does address the extent of the UK’s drug abuse culture, which ranges from blue collar workers all the way up to the highest echelons of power. According to The Guardian, as covered by The Times, “traces of a class-A drug, said to be a white powder, were found at Chevening, the grace-and-favor mansion of Liz Truss, then the foreign secretary. Separate sources told the paper that they had found similar deposits in the offices at No. 10 after two lockdown parties held when Johnson was prime minister.”

  Depending on your source, the value of Britain’s illicit drug trade is around GBP 10bn (USD 13.2bn) with an ultimate cost to the economy of around GBP 37bn (USD 49.10bn) and while there are no doubt some gangs that have tried to launder money through Dubai, doing so domestically remains by far the path of least resistance. According to Transparency International UK, GBP 6.7bn ($8.89bn) of laundered money was invested in UK property in the six years between 2016 – 2022, and while GBP 1.5bn ($1.99bn) of that is tied to Russians accused of corruption or links to the Kremlin, that still leaves a sizeable sum. Meanwhile, on the high street, Britain’s money service businesses (MSBs) have also helped to facilitate considerable volume, with just one money service shop in London laundering GBP 310mn ($411mn) in just one year, before being closed in 2019. Other businesses targeted include barber shops. According to Former Metropolitan Police Officer Ali Hassan Ali, “Right across High Streets we have seen a boom in barbers opening up since the pandemic. A lot of these shops have thousands of pounds of equipment but no customers.” According to figures published by the Home Office, HM Treasury and Serious Fraud Office, Britain launders GBP 150bn (USD 199.bn) each year, making it the second largest money laundering economy in the world after the United States.

  What The Times, and many newspapers like it won’t do is address the elephant in the room – that Britain has been consistently let down by a series of inept administrations who fail to acknowledge a simple, fundamental fact – that allowing a narcotics trade with a value close to the GDP of the Bahamas to not only operate but flourish within its borders will not lead to positive outcomes.

  According to one source over 50 per cent of all suicides, the leading cause of death for men aged 20 – 34 in England and Wales, are associated with alcohol and drug dependence and despite 4,907 drug- related deaths in 2022, the highest number since records began, the penalties for possession of a class A drug are a maximum of seven years in prison and an unlimited fine – neither of which are truly ever enforced.

  Comparatively, there are several reasons why the UAE doesn’t have an illicit drug trade; one of which is its zero-tolerance towards trafficking, which in some cases can result in the death penalty, and while its laws and punishments may be considered harsh by some, the net positive means law abiding citizens can live in what is recognized as one of the world’s safest countries.

  In the wake of the UK riots, sparked by the horrific murder of three young girls in Southport, more attention seemed to be spent on rounding up those who, in many cases, protested peacefully or commented on social media, before even considering addressing the public’s clear and obvious concerns. Similar to the ever growing drugs trade, the mass migration of illegal, mostly fighting-age men at the cost of the British taxpayer to the tune of GBP 14bn (USD 18.57bn) per year will also not lead to peaceful outcomes, particularly while its beleaguered National Health Service has a wait list of 7.62 million cases as of July 2024, and approximately 4.3 million of its children are estimated to live in poverty. In the government’s most recent catastrophe, Keir Starmer’s plan to issue the early release to some 1,700 inmates, has also appeared to have backfired, with at least one man already back in the dock, likely to return to prison for allegedly committing a sexual assault within hours of release. In Scotland, an estimated one in ten of some 477 early release prisoners were back behind bars within weeks, including 12 who were out for 10 days or less. And all this from a G7 nation.

  In keeping with focusing on anything but the foundational issue, The Times’ coverage of Dubai’s tangential role in a problem that originates in Britain, for which its government shows very little interest in solving, is yet another reason why the mainstream news is dying. It also coincides at a time when a “gaslit” general public is waking up and tuning to journalists who shine a light on those who’ve actually operated with complete impunity at the cost of others – a great example being Ezra Levant and Avi Yemini confronting Pfizer CEO, Albert Bourla while attending Davos in 2023.

  This isn’t to diminish the severity of any laundering activity that occurs in Dubai courtesy of Britain’s narcotics trade; however, it is easy to see why at best, it represents the tip of a far larger, often unaddressed iceberg.

  Since being placed on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF), ‘grey list’ in March 2022, the UAE has significantly enhanced its protocols for monitoring and identifying illicit activity at each stage, resulting in its removal from the list in February 2024. As a result, it has maintained a strict approach to monitoring, resulting in significant clamp downs on sectors including finance, property, and precious metals. A recent example of this enhanced domestic monitoring can be found in the UAE Ministry of Economy’s recent suspension for 32 gold refineries, which were found to be in violation of rules such as Know Your Client protocols and suspicious transaction reporting. As clearly stated by Abdullah Ahmed Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy, “The UAE affirms its firm commitment to developing an integrated legislative and regulatory system to combat money laundering,” and to achieve “the highest levels of compliance” within its gold sector’s due diligence regulations “by keeping pace with the best global practices in this regard.”

  Similarly, the LBMA’s decision to drop its jurisdictional challenge in its Tanzania labeling case is another example of an institution acknowledging due process and taking responsibility for its role as a global certification body – and while this will test, for the first time, whether a certification body can be held legally responsible for a flawed certification process, it is better for a system to be tested and found at fault, rather to be untested at all.

  Proactively speaking, the UAE has also made considerable efforts to align with organizations such as the World Gold Council in order to promote greater transparency, while building investor confidence. By addressing the wider lack of trust held by consumers, the World Gold Council, in collaboration with UAE authorities, is in the process of exploring the introduction of best practices for online gold trading. Mirroring initiatives in markets like Germany and the UK, the strategy aims to establish clear guidelines and ethical standards for digital gold platforms. Partially driven by the UAE’s expanding high-net-worth investor base, who increasingly favor gold bars and coins, the support of the WGC is a clear illustration of its commitment to collaborate with authorities to shape a more transparent and robust gold market.

  According to recent findings, the UAE continues to be the world’s top wealth magnet for a third year running and is expected to attract a record net inflow of 6,700 millionaires by the end of 2024. Conversely, the UK is expected to lose approximately 17 per cent of its millionaire population by 2028 according to Swiss bank, UBS.

  Commenting on the initiative, Andrew Naylor, Head of Middle East and Public Policy at World Gold Council said, “A new base of investors in the UAE and family offices are placing greater allocations on the metal. The UAE gold market is not just about gold jewellery alone, with bars and coin demand taking on higher volumes. If there is increased transparency in the transactions, it will benefit the whole precious metals market in the UAE. Because this market is already globally known for the purity of the gold sold via retail and other channels.”

  Other areas of collaboration with the WGC include an initiative to formalize artisanal gold mining. Conducted in a three-stage approach, the WGC aims to work in coordination with central banks to encourage them to purchase domestically produced artisanal gold, thereby boosting local economies and improving mining practices. Secondly, to explore technologies that can enhance transparency in the artisanal gold trade and help verify the origin of the gold, and finally commissioning a report on artisanal gold production to raise awareness about the issue and promote responsible sourcing practices.

  Today, the UAE is estimated to trade between 20 – 30 per cent of the world’s gold each year, meaning its monitoring processes are not only important for its domestic reputation, but for those economies that trade with it.

  While no nation is perfect, the current era of western political discourse and its alliance with the media, which evolves around denying obvious problems in the face of empirical fact needs to stop, if for no other reason than the sanity of its constituents and its relationship with the rest of the world.

  As with overcoming any toxic habit, acknowledging the underlying problem is always the first step.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 19:15

• CDC Begins Assessment Of Border Pollution In San Diego County
  CDC Begins Assessment Of Border Pollution In San Diego County

  Authored by City News Service via The Epoch Times,

  Select South Bay residents began receiving visits from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Thursday as the federal agency is partnering with the county in a health assessment to determine the impact of the Tijuana River Valley sewage pollution crisis.

  

  The county and CDC are working together on a Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response or CASPER. A total of 210 households were selected from a larger 30-block section of homes near the border to participate in the survey.

  “This assessment is a vital tool in addressing the public health crisis caused by sewage pollution in the Tijuana River Valley. By sharing your experiences, you are helping us gather the information we need to secure more resources and ensure the safety and well-being of our families,” San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Nora Vargas said. “I strongly encourage all residents to participate and make their voices heard.”

  Teams will arrive in small groups and will carry identification to reassure residents of their official role in this effort. They will be wearing reflective vests, and are bilingual in English and Spanish. Interviews will be anonymous and take around 15 minutes.

  

  Crews work on the Tijuana River outside of San Diego, Calif., on Sept. 19, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

  Visits will run through Saturday between 2 to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday.

  “It is important to hear directly from people who live near the Tijuana River Valley,” said Dr. Ankita Kadakia, the county’s interim public health officer. “If you get a knock on your door in the next couple of days from a CASPER interview team, please speak with interviewers and provide your honest answers.”

  The responses will be used to guide decisions moving forward with the river valley and the people who live near it.

  “The CDC has supported our partners in using the CASPER method for decades to quickly gather household-based information about community health concerns,” said Dr. Aaron Bernstein, director of the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. “These interviews will provide firsthand insights into how the sewage contamination is impacting the daily lives of residents, helping to inform solutions.”

  The San Diego City Council recently approved a resolution asking for a national emergency regarding the sewage outflow at the border. The council had approved 31 years of consecutive extensions of a local state of emergency on the situation.

  

  A sewage treatment facility pumps in water from the Tijuana River outside of San Diego, Calif., on Sept. 19, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

  The largely symbolic item officially implores the federal government to make the local crisis a recognized national one, as well as asking for total funding of the Environmental Protection Agency’s infrastructure solution to the pollution.

  In early September, high levels of noxious gases such as hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen cyanide were measured by scientific teams in the river valley and noticed by residents due to the rotten egg smell even miles from the border. Ultimately, crews from San Diego County determined there was no immediate health risk, but many residents believed the crisis had reached a turning point.

  “We’re left feeling like the federal government has forgotten about us,” San Diego City Councilwoman Vivian Moreno said.

  The San Diego City Council first declared a state of emergency because of the pollution—ranging from raw sewage to industrial runoff—in 1993. Imperial Beach put out a similar declaration in 2017, followed by the county in 2023.

  Since October 2018, the United States section of the International Boundary and Water Commission has catalogued more than 200 billion gallons of toxic waste coming into the United States through the Tijuana River Valley. According to a city document on Tuesday’s resolution, the commission has spent just $4 million of $40 million allocated for infrastructure maintenance at the broken South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant.

  

  The city even sued the USIBWC to make the commission comply with the Clean Water Act. A total of $300 million was appropriated through the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement for the wastewater plant. In August, the USIBWC announced it will use the more than $400 million in federal funding secured by San Diego’s Congressional delegation to repair and expand the plant.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 18:40

• Watch: In 'Kamala's America', Illegal Alien Smuggler Leads High-Speed Police Chase
  Watch: In ‘Kamala’s America’, Illegal Alien Smuggler Leads High-Speed Police Chase

  Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Chris Olivarez posted a dramatic video on X showing police in hot pursuit of an illegal alien human smuggler in Webb County.

  Olivarez stated that the “high-speed chase” involved an illegal alien smuggler who crashed into DPS special agent’s vehicle.

  “During the pursuit, the smuggler, Guillermo Osto Navarette, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, disregarded several stop signs and crashed into a DPS Special Agent. Upon exiting the vehicle, Navarette resisted arrest and assaulted a Border Patrol Agent,” Olivarez said, adding that the smuggler was charged with “three counts of smuggling of persons, evading arrest, and assault on a peace officer.”

  TX Troopers Arrest Illegal Immigrant Smuggler After High-Speed Chase, Crashes Into DPS Special Agent & Assaults Border Patrol Agent

  10/15: A human smuggler driving a Chevy Malibu led @TxDPS Troopers on a high-speed pursuit in Webb County this week.

  During the pursuit, the… pic.twitter.com/K92NAzqSAL

  — Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) October 18, 2024

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

  NewsNation’s Ali Bradley posted a mugshot of the illegal alien smuggler from Mexico…

  NEW: Texas DPS releases mugshot of illegal immigrant from Mexico attempting to smuggle other illegal immigrants also from Mexico, into the interior of the United States.

  Guillermo Osto Navarette was arrested following a pursuit, crash and agent assault in Webb county, Texas.… pic.twitter.com/rxiAf1AdNN

  — Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) October 18, 2024

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

  Illegal alien smugglers running rampant across America have only been made possible by open southern borders, pushed by Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party, aiming to import a new voting class of people to win elections in swing states and ultimately create a one-party nation. The dangerous influx of ten million unvetted migrants from third-world countries continues to cause chaos nationwide.

  

  In July, a high-speed chase in Arkansas, where an illegal alien nearly killed a member of law enforcement, shocked the nation.

  Arkansas: Heroic Motorist Rescues Female State Trooper Under Attack by Drunk Illegal Alien

  An Arkansas woman is being hailed as a heroine after she stopped to aid an officer being attacked by an intoxicated illegal alien during a recent traffic stop that ended in a shooting,… pic.twitter.com/vDvTbuXVdh

  — Border Hawk (@BorderHawkNews) September 20, 2024

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  Importing the third world into the first world has consequences. Americans are learning this the hard way, with thousands of heavily armed members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua prison gang now roaming American streets. Even the US Army, in leaked documents, has sounded the alarm.

  All Americans want is low crime and the opportunity to prosper economically. Democrats have delivered the opposite, prioritizing illegal aliens over their own citizens. Voters/taxpayers should be outraged. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 18:05

• Will A Potemkin Election Follow Biden's Potemkin Presidency?
  Will A Potemkin Election Follow Biden’s Potemkin Presidency?

  Authored by James Bovard,

  Blindfolds and systemic deceit are the death of self-government…

  

  President Biden has been derided for being a Potemkin president, a figurehead in a vast charade portraying him actually running the government.  Biden was forced to withdraw from the presidential race after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump in June.   But is a Potemkin presidency being followed by a Potemkin election?

  Biden’s expulsion from the presidential race did not herald the arrival of truth. Most of the media still tolerates pervasive secrecy on prime issues of the 2024 campaign.

  In bygone times, elections were about self-government.  Nowadays, voters merely have a cameo role to sanctify the nearly boundless power of officialdom.  Every year, the federal government slaps a “secret” label on trillions of pages of information – enough to fill 20 million filing cabinets.  And since the government is automatically benevolent (if a Democrat is president), there is no need to trouble citizens with the grisly details of how they are being served.

  At the same time Special Counsel Jack Smith is racing to fling all possible dirt at Trump before Election Day, each week we learn of new cover-ups designed to deceive Americans about how badly they have been misgoverned:

  1. Biden administration has mostly succeeded in covering up the crime wave by illegal aliens ushered into the nation since 2021. Former Border Patrol Sector Chief Aaron Heitke testified to Congress last month that the Biden administration hid the adverse impact from deluging U.S. cities with illegal aliens, including those with terror ties.

  2. The National Archives announced on Wednesday that it would delay until after the election the release of potentially damning records on Vice President Joe Biden’s dealings with his son and foreign wheelers-dealers – records that have been sought for more than a year by conservative lawyers and activists.

  3. Biden’s Justice Department sought to bury all the tax charges against Hunter Biden but were thwarted thanks to courageous IRS whistleblowers.  Hunter’s guilty plea last month to the tax charges confirms that the Justice Department’s offer a wrist-slap plea bargain to Hunter last year was a shameless obstruction of justice.

  4. Biden’s FBI last year created “a new category of extremists that it seeks to track and counter: Donald Trump’s army of MAGA followers,” Newsweek reported. FBI whistleblowers have exposed the politicization of an agency that even secretly targeted traditional Catholics who prefer to hear mass in Latin. But the vast majority of FBI surveillance and entrapment abuses remain shrouded.

  5. Team Biden is covering up both Trump assassination attempts. Biden appointees have stonewalled bipartisan congressional investigations into the abysmal Secret Service failures at Butler, Pennsylvania.  The Justice Department has indefinitely delayed hearings for Ryan Routh, the 58-year-old guy caught waiting to shoot Trump on his Florida golf course.  Delaying proceedings against Routh assures that Americans will not learn before the election whether the would-be assassin had ties to the CIA, Pentagon, State Department or other agencies that assisted Routh with his massively-publicized campaign to recruit foreign soldiers to fight for Ukraine.

  6. The Biden administration continues covering up almost everything regarding its support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia.  The best info Americans have received was thanks to a young military computer technician who leaked revelations that the Ukrainian military was in far worse shape than Team Biden claimed. Americans have been forced to pay hundreds of billions of dollars but are left in the dark regarding Biden administration machinations that risk pulling this nation into World War Three.

  7. The House Oversight Committee this week subpoenaed DHS for its records on Tim Walz’s possible ties to the CCP after being contacted by a whistleblower.  There is zero chance that the Biden administration will release any of those records before Election Day.

  8. Political convenience is practically the sole determinant of what Americans are permitted to learn nowadays.  After Biden dropped his re-election bid, the administration disclosed records showing that his son Hunter sought U.S. government handouts for Burisma when Joe Biden was Vice President.  That scandal was buried until Joe Biden was no longer politically relevant.

  Is censorship the biggest X factor for this election? Four years ago, the presidential election may have been swung by the coverup of the damning revelations in Hunter Biden’s laptop.  The FBI and the CIA hustled to censor and defuse that story with false rebuttals in October 2020.  According to multiple federal court rulings, federal agencies tampered with the 2020 election by censoring millions of comments by Americans who raised doubts about the trustworthiness of mail-in ballots and other election procedures. Federal judge Terry Doughty noted that  “virtually all of the free speech suppressed was ‘conservative’ free speech.”  A federal appeals court issued an injunction prohibiting federal officials from acting “to coerce or significantly encourage social-media companies to remove, delete, suppress, or reduce . . . posted social-media content containing protected free speech.”

  But the Supreme Court refused to recognize that the censorship victims had any legal standing and canceled the injunction.   Americans will likely have no idea how many muzzles and blindfolds were secretly attached by federal agencies and federal contractors before Election Day.

  Don’t expect journalists to suddenly get hot to thwart those Biden cover-ups. When the media shrouded Biden’s mental debility, it directly endorsed de facto secret rule. How much effort has the New York Times or Washington Post or National Public Radio exerted to reveal who is actually exercising the supreme power nowadays? Exposing that issue could derail Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign so it is ignored. But ​​​​​Biden is as oblivious as ever. When asked by a reporter on Thursday about the situation in the Hurricane Helene storm zone, Biden replied that those states “are getting everything they need. They are very happy across the board.”

  Earth to Uncle Joe?!?

  But as long as Donald Trump is not elected next month, most of the Washington media doesn’t care who is in control. If the Wizard of Oz was a contemporary political campaign story, the media would overwhelmingly side with the guy behind the curtain.

  As long as the Wizard recited “Orange Man Bad,” the media would cover up all his abuses.

  But “informed consent” is a mirage if the feds blindfold voters.

  As long as Team Biden keeps a lid on its worst outrages until Election Day, Democrats can snare four more year to abuse the Constitution, the law, and the American people. Unfortunately, self-government is not retroactive.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 17:30

• No Central Bank Wants To Stop Price Inflation
  No Central Bank Wants To Stop Price Inflation

  Authored by Daniel Lacalle via The Mises Institute,

  Many citizens want more government control of the economy to curb rising prices. It is the worst strategy imaginable. Interventionist governments never reduce consumer prices because they benefit from inflation, dissolving their political spending commitments in a constantly depreciated currency. Inflation is the perfect hidden tax. The government makes the currency less valuable by issuing more units of fiat money, partially dissolves its debt in real terms, collects more taxes, and presents itself as the solution to rising prices with subsidies in an increasingly worthless currency.

  That is why socialism and hyperinflation go hand in hand.

  

  Socialism rejects human action and economic calculation and sells a false image of a government that can create wealth at will by issuing more units of fiat currency. Obviously, when inflation arrives, the socialist government will use its two favorite tools: propaganda and repression. Propaganda, which accuses stores and businesses of driving up prices, and repression, which occurs when social unrest intensifies and citizens legitimately hold governments accountable for scarcity and high prices, are the two main strategies.

  If you want lower prices, you need to give less economic power to the government, not more. Only free markets, competition, and open economies help decrease consumer prices. Many readers might think that we currently have a free market with competitive and open economies, but the reality is that we live in increasingly intervened and overregulated nations where central banks and governments work to perpetuate unsustainable public deficits and debt. Therefore, they continue to print more money, leading many to question why it is getting harder for families to make ends meet, buy a home, or for small businesses to prosper. The government is slowly eating away the currency it issues. They call it “social use of money.”

  What is “social use of money”? In essence, it means abandoning one of the main characteristics of money, the reserve of value, to give the government preferential access to credit to finance its commitments. Therefore, the state can announce larger entitlement programs and increase the size of the public sector relative to the economy, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. The state issues more currency, which makes people’s money less valuable. Citizens become more dependent on the state, and they will demand more subsidies paid in the currency the state issues. It is, in essence, a process of control through debt and currency depreciation.

  When governments and central banks talk about price stability, it means a two percent annual depreciation of the currency. Aggregate prices rising an average of two percent is hardly price stability because it is measured by the consumer price index, which is a carefully crafted basket of goods and services weighted by the same people who print the money. That is why governments love CPI as a measure of inflation. It fails to fully reflect the erosion of the currency’s purchasing power. This is why the CPI’s basket calculation fluctuates so frequently. Even if it accurately measures, it will underestimate the rise in prices of non-replaceable goods and services by adding them to a basket of things we consume maybe once or twice a year at best. When you put together shelter, food, health, and energy with technology and entertainment, there will always be distortions.

  Thus, governments and central banks are never going to defend price stability. If aggregate prices fell, competition soared, and citizens saw their real wages rise and their deposit savings increase in real value, their jobs would disappear.

  When a central bank like the Fed cuts rates and increases the money supply after an accumulated 20.4% inflation in four years, it is not defending price stability; it is defending price increases. This strategy serves to conceal the government’s financial insolvency. A currency with a declining value.

  Governments are the ones that create inflation by spending a currency that is constantly losing purchasing power because the state issues more than what the private sector demands. No corporation or allegedly evil oil producer can make aggregate prices rise and continue increasing annually at a lower pace. Only the one that prints the money, and central banks don’t print money because they want to; they increase the money supply to absorb rising public deficit spending.

  Inflation is a hidden tax, a slow process of nationalization of the economy, and the perfect way to increase taxes without angering voters and blaming private businesses in the meantime. The consumer will likely blame the store or business for higher prices, not the issuer of a currency that loses purchasing power.

  Why would governments want higher prices? Because it gives them more power. Destroying the currency they issue is a perfect form of control. That is why they need more debt and higher taxes. High taxes are not a tool to reduce debt, but rather to justify rising public indebtedness.

  You may have read numerous times that the government has unlimited borrowing power and can manage inflation to allow you to live comfortably. It is false. The government cannot issue all the debt it wants. It has an inflationary, economic, and fiscal limit.

  Inflation is a warning sign of declining currency confidence and a loss of purchasing power. The economic limit is evidenced by lower growth, lower employment, weaker real wages, secular stagnation, and declining foreign demand for public debt.

  The fiscal limit is evidenced by soaring interest expenses even with low rates, weaker receipts every time they hike taxes, and citizens and businesses leaving the country to more friendly tax systems, all of which add to the poor or negative multiplier effect of government spending.

  If you want lower prices, you should give less economic power to governments, not more.

  A government that tells you it will borrow $2 trillion per annum in a growth and record receipt economy and will continue to increase debt and borrow well into 2033 with the most optimistic assumptions of GDP and receipt is telling you it will make you poorer.

  When a politician promises that he or she will cut prices, they are always lying. A weaker currency is a tool to increase government power in the economy. By the time you find out, it may be too late.

  Money is credit, and government debt is fiat currency. Currency depreciation is inflation, and inflation is equivalent to an implicit default. No interventionist government or central bank wants lower prices because inflation allows the government to increase its power while slowly breaching its monetary commitments.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 16:20

• Elon Musk Warns "Car Industry Very Difficult" As "Ford & Tesla" Only "US Car Companies That Haven't Gone Bankrupt" 
  Elon Musk Warns “Car Industry Very Difficult” As “Ford & Tesla” Only “US Car Companies That Haven’t Gone Bankrupt” 

  Elon Musk appeared at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Montgomery County on Friday night for his second town hall in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. With just 16 days until the election, Musk – and his pro-Trump America PAC – are holding town halls statewide to support the former president.

  In an off-topic conversation, an audience member asked Musk why Tesla had not purchased the struggling EV competitor Rivian. 

  

  Musk responded:

  “I wish them the best. I hope they do well. The car industry is a very difficult industry. There’s only two US car companies that haven’t gone bankrupt, and that’s Ford and Tesla. Rivian’s going to have a hard time. It’s insanely difficult to compete in the car industry. If it were not for two technology discontinuities, one being electrification and the other being autonomy, I think Tesla could not succeed without solving both.”

  🚨ELON MUSK: “The car industry is a very difficult industry. There are only two car companies that haven’t gone bankrupt: Ford and Tesla. Rivian is going to have a hard time. It’s insanely difficult to compete in the car industry.

  If it were not for not just one, but two… pic.twitter.com/rOgdBiGJHq

  — Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) October 19, 2024

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  Earlier this month, Rivian announced that third-quarter vehicle deliveries missed forecasts and lowered its full-year production guidance amid continued “component shortage.”

  Rivian said it delivered 10,018 vehicles in the quarter and produced 13,157 units. This missed FactSet estimates of 12,670 deliveries. 

  The problem with Rivian is the limited affordability options for most models—they’re out of reach for the average consumer. The company expects to launch a smaller Tesla Model Y-rivaling R2, which won’t roll out onto US highways until late 2026 or even 2027.

  Last month, Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas downgraded names like GM, Ford, Rivian, Magna International, and Phinia amid the slowdown in the auto market. 

  It doesn’t help when high interest rates and elevated vehicle prices have sent new monthly car payments skyrocketing higher in several years. 

  

  In a separate note earlier this year, MS Jonas pointed out that struggling EV companies could develop partnerships with legacy automakers. 

  

  Rivian recently partnered with Volkswagen, validating the analyst’s consolidation forecast in the space. 

  Here’s what X users are saying about Musk’s comments last night about Rivian:

  in reality, Tesla has nothing to gain by buying a company that egregiously burned through 23 *billion* un-successfully ramping a single product line

  — WeirdNerd (@xIronman777) October 19, 2024

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  Elon actually wants others to do well! This is another thing that folks don’t immediately realize. Tesla open sourced all their patents to help folks like Rivian out. He cares about the mission and wants competition out there to drive better products for all.

  — ĐOGEARMY GENERAL (@TheTeslaBull) October 19, 2024

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  They’ve burned so much cash. Soo soooo much cash. Prognosis for the future isn’t nearly as bright as Tesla either.

  That said… why would Tesla want to buy into such a cash drain? What tech do they have that’s even useful to Tesla?

  — Charlie (@CharliePryor) October 19, 2024

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  Shares of Rivian are down 57% this year – near record lows. Short interest is about 16.5% or about 122.3 million shares. 

  

  The price war Telsa started just a few short years ago to crush competition shows that Musk continues to win.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 15:45

• Boeing, Union Reach Tentative Deal To End Strike, Ratification Vote Pending
  Boeing, Union Reach Tentative Deal To End Strike, Ratification Vote Pending

  Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

  Boeing and the union representing striking machinists have reached a tentative agreement that union leaders say should be presented to members for a ratification vote, paving the way for a potential end to the more than month-long strike.

  “With the help of Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su, we have received a negotiated proposal and resolution to end the strike, and it warrants presenting to the members and is worthy of your consideration,” the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 751 said in a statement on Oct. 19.

  Around 33,000 of Boeing’s unionized workers walked off the job on Sept. 13 after nearly 95 percent of the mostly West Coast workers rejected Boeing’s offer of a 25 percent pay hike over four years. The strike halted production of the company’s 737 Max, as well as the 767 and 777 widebody aircraft, with the company losing an estimated $1 billion per month due to the labor action.

  

  Union leaders said the tentative deal features “key improvements” over an earlier Sept. 12 proposal that are “aimed at resolving the strike.” The latest proposal includes a 35 percent wage increase over four years, a $7,000 ratification bonus, and reinstated incentive payouts. It also includes improved 401k contributions, a $105 pension multiplier, and restored call-in provisions.

  While Boeing’s latest proposal makes a number of concessions, it does not include a dedicated pension plan for new members, which was a key demand in previous negotiations. Instead, it emphasizes enhanced 401k contributions, including a 100 percent company match up to 8 percent and a one-time $5,000 contribution for eligible members.

  The union said it plans to hold a vote on the proposal on Oct. 23 that, if approved by a simple majority of members, will cement the tentative deal into a contract and end the strike.

  Union leaders said they are still finalizing the strike settlement agreement and, along with additional contract details, will present it to members for their consideration ahead of Wednesday’s vote.

  “The future of this contract is in your hands,” they said.

  In a statement issued on Oct. 19, Boeing said: “We look forward to our employees voting on the negotiated proposal.”

  The strike began at a challenging time for Boeing, which has been trying to ramp up production after a series of safety incidents and increased regulatory scrutiny in recent years. Analysts have warned that a prolonged strike could lead to lasting financial impacts, while credit-rating agencies have warned of potential ratings downgrades.

  Shortly after the strike began in mid-September, the plane maker announced a hiring freeze, a halt to nonessential spending, and teased the possibility of layoffs, in a bid to conserve cash and preserve the company’s long-term operations. At the time, Boeing also said it will temporarily release nonessential contractors and consultants, and pause employee retention programs, catered meals, and team events.

  As the strike dragged into October, Boeing announced that it will cut around 17,000 jobs and further delay the launch of the 777X, a new model that is already several years behind schedule.

  “Our business is in a difficult position, and it is hard to overstate the challenges we face together,” Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said in an Oct. 11 memo to employees, which came on the same day that the plane maker announced in a press release that it expects to recognize negative impacts to its financial results when it reports third-quarter earnings on Oct. 23.

  Boeing attributed the impacts to charges related to certain commercial and defense programs, as well as the ongoing strike. The company now projects revenues of $17.8 billion, an operating cash flow deficit of $1.3 billion, and a loss of $9.97 per share.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 15:10

• Iranian Proxies 'Tried To Assassinate Me & My Wife', Netanyahu Says After Drone Struck His Residence
  Iranian Proxies ‘Tried To Assassinate Me & My Wife’, Netanyahu Says After Drone Struck His Residence

  Update(1330ET): Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has essentially accused Iran of trying to assassinate him after a drone sent from Hezbollah struck his private residence outside of Tel Aviv Saturday morning. “The attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake,” he said in an English statement on social media.

  “This is the first time since the beginning of the war that a target affiliated directly with Netanyahu has been hit,” Axios reported, though details of the extent of damage have been scant. Neither he nor his wife or family had been present at the residence when the attack on the upscale Caesarea neighborhood occurred. Israel’s military appeared to be tracking the drone, which traveled some 70km from Lebanon, but anti-air defenses appeared to have failed, with not so much as warning sirens going off.

  🚨 Breaking: Iran’s 🇮🇷 official IRGC Quds Forces Telegram channel published this photo, showing a direct hit at @netanyahu‘s 🇮🇱 residence 👇

  They are taking pride in their assassination attempt… Does Khamenei’s residence have similar bulletproof windows? We will learn soon 🎯 pic.twitter.com/DA3HzbpB6P

  — Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) October 19, 2024

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  Some unverified reports are saying it was an Iranian Shahed 101 drone, which was briefly filmed at some point in the skies over the Tel Aviv area, and apparently mirrored by a nearby IDF helicopter.

  Times of Israel writes that “sirens did sound in Glilot north of Tel Aviv, which houses a major IDF intelligence base and the Mossad headquarters. Those sirens were not accompanied by warnings on the Home Front Command’s app or other platforms.”

  Israel’s Channel 12 is reporting that “Iran attempted to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu” – citing a senior official.

  

  Below is Netanyahu’s statement in full…

  The attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake.

  This will not deter me or the State of Israel from continuing our just war against our enemies in order to secure our future.

  I say to Iran and its proxies in its axis of evil:…

  — Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 19, 2024

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  Could this be the precursor to a major Israeli attack on Iran which the world has been anticipating? 

  Israel has vowed it will soon retaliate for the Oct.1st attack, but well over two weeks have passed since the ballistic missile attack which saw some 200 ballistic missiles pummel various sites in central Israel.

  * * *

  ’s home has been targeted in a drone attack sent from Hezbollah in Lebanon on Saturday. It happened at this private residence in Caesarea, north of Tel Aviv.

  A Netanyahu spokesperson confirmed that the drone struck near the residence, but the prime minister and his family were not home at the time of the attack, with details of the damage not disclosed. Remarkably, the inbound drone was captured on video, traveling close in proximity to an Israeli military helicopter, which may have been tracking and trying to shoot it down.

  תיעוד שמעלה הרבה שאלות ותהיות הבוקר: מסוק קרב של חיל האוויר במרדף אחרי כטב”ם חיזבאללה. בתיעוד הזה נראה שהכטב”ם עוקף אבל יש גם אשליה אופטית וזווית צילום- בכל מקרה, מתוך שלושה כטבמים ששוגרו מלבנון, אחד פגע ישירות במבנה בקסריה pic.twitter.com/zx9fr812BG

  — איתי בלומנטל 🇮🇱 Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) October 19, 2024

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  The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) indicated that the drone was one of three launched from Lebanon, with the other two having been intercepted.

  The fact that the Kamikaze UAV made it all the way to the prime minister’s residence has raised questions over the country’s defense and warning system. The Times of Israel reports:

  The short statement from Netanyahu’s office came after the IDF said that “a building had been hit” in the upscale town famous for its swanky villas and Roman ruins and amphitheater.

  “No warning sirens were sounded in Caesarea ahead of the drone impact and explosion,” the same report notes. “Footage posted to social media appeared to show attack helicopters in the air that were apparently hunting the drone further to the north.”

  Netanyahu’s office and the Israeli army have shared the following additional details, via Al Jazeera:

  • The drone was launched from Lebanon and directly hit the PM’s house in Caesarea.
  • Police arrived to locate the scene of the attack. At about the same time, sirens sounded in Tel Aviv.
  • Two other drones launched at the same time were reportedly intercepted.
  • The incident triggered alarms in the Glilot military base, but the military later determined that drones were not in that area.

  

  Additionally, the drone flew a significant distance of 70km from Lebanon, which suggests Hezbollah is greatly deepening the reach of its projectiles, as it vowed to do following constant IDF airstrikes on Beirut and amid the expanded IDF ground operation inside south Lebanon.

  Within hours after the drone attack on his home Netanyahu issued a defiant video on social media vowing that “nothing will deter” him while declaring that Israel is “going to win this war.” He further said that slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, killed by the army in Rafah this week, was “the terrorist mastermind whose goons beheaded our men, raped our women and burned babies alive.”

  The below photo purporting to show damage to the outside of Netanyahu’s Caesarea residence (or possibly a building near it) has widely circulated online:

  One of Hezbollah’s kamikaze drones hit the wall of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea. He wasn’t home. pic.twitter.com/DlQlWm35EA

  — Mike (@Doranimated) October 19, 2024

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  “We took him out,” the Israeli leader said. He added: “We’re continuing our battle with Iran’s other terrorist proxies.” The region is still bracing for a possible major Israeli attack on Iran, in retaliation for the ballistic missile attack launched on Israel by the Islamic Republic on October 1st.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 14:55

• Leaked US Intelligence Documents Related To Israel's Attack Preparations On Iran Appear Online
  Leaked US Intelligence Documents Related To Israel’s Attack Preparations On Iran Appear Online

  A major leak of US classified documents has appeared online Saturday… or we should qualify alleged leaks of at least two TOP SECRET documents, with both marked NOFORN – which is among the highest classifications – given it indicates the specific intelligence cannot be shared with allied foreign intelligence agencies (with the exception of the “Five Eyes”).

  A breaking Axios report suggests their authenticity: “U.S. officials are extremely concerned about a potentially major security breach after two alleged U.S. intelligence documents about Israel’s preparations for an attack on Iran were published by a Telegram account affiliated with Iran,” Barak Ravid, who maintains close Israeli military and intelligence sources, writes.

  

  The documents include one which was reportedly authored by the Department of Defense National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), dubbed a “Visual Intelligence” report and distributed among the US intelligence community (IC) earlier this week, and dated to Oct.14-16.

  Neither the Pentagon nor NGA have offered official confirmation or comment, nor are they likely to. The documents first appeared on a pro-Iran Telegram channel. Axios has identified the channel name as “Middle East Spectator”. 

  The docs first appeared online Friday, but the Axios report has strongly pointed to the authenticity of leak.

  The region has remained on edge as Israel prepares to retaliate against Iran for its Oct.1st ballistic missile attack which saw some 200 projectiles pummel various sites in central Israel, some of which were said to be Iranian hypersonics. Axios has noted that “The leak could be an attempt to disrupt the Israeli operation.”

  A US official told Axios that the alleged leak is “extremely concerning” – again implying authenticity. The leak is also being described as potential very serious breach within the US intelligence community.

  Two of the documents have appeared on social media as follows:

  ⚡️ Hebrew media expresses frustration as ALLEGEDLY leaked American intelligence documents expose Israel’s preparations for an attack on Iran.

  Here are two of the “SUPPOSED” leaked documents. pic.twitter.com/xA8d9M04cB

  — Warfare Analysis (@warfareanalysis) October 19, 2024

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  Israeli media has also begun to spotlight the leak.

  Did Iran just hack and breach restricted US intelligence community servers?

  As for content of the documents, they contain information on Israel’s military transferring advanced munitions, possibly readying them for a planned attack on the Islamic Republic. One of the classified docs has the following header:

  Defense Forces Continue Key Munitions Preparations and Covert UAV Activity Almost Certainly for a Strike on Iran, 16 October 2024

  Axios has further commented on the top secret documents as follows:

  • It also states that according to U.S. signals intelligence, the Israeli Air Force conducted a large exercise this week involving intelligence planes and likely fighter jets trained for a possible attack against Iran.
  • The alleged intelligence report also detailed preparations in Israeli drone units for an attack against Iran.

  The Washington think tank community is outraged over the apparent major breach…

  Classified U.S. intelligence documents about #Israel‘s response to #Iran‘s regime’s attack on Oct. 1 found their way onto a pro-#IRGCterrorists Telegram channel. Whether by hacking or by leaks, this is a very serious incident.

  There better be a robust investigation. Recall…

  — Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) October 19, 2024

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  The documents, if accurate, reveal the efforts by US intelligence to closely monitor the preparations of US ally Israel for an attack on Iran. In this scenario the US Geospatial-Intelligence Agency using its spy satellites to track movements at Israeli Air Force bases.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 14:40

• 3 Americans Detained In Venezuela Over Alleged Anti-Government Plot
  3 Americans Detained In Venezuela Over Alleged Anti-Government Plot

  Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times,

  Three U.S. citizens are among five people detained by Venezuelan authorities over their alleged connection to a terrorist plot to destabilize the country, Venezuela’s interior minister announced on Thursday.

  

  Appearing on state television, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello identified the U.S. citizens as David Guttenberg Guillaume, Gregory David Werber, and Jonathan Pagan Gonzalez.

  Cabello did not state when the five individuals were detained or what charges they faced but said Gonzalez was captured in the border state of Zulia.

  A Peruvian and a Bolivian citizen were also among those taken into custody alongside the three Americans, he said.

  All of the individuals speak “perfect” Spanish and traveled to the South American nation under the pretense of either a holiday or visiting a romantic partner, the interior minister said.

  “The detained foreigners speak Spanish perfectly, a necessary requirement for them to involve themselves in communities,” Cabello stated.

  Cabello provided no evidence linking the detained individuals to alleged terrorist activities in the country.

  Instead, he repeated previous claims that U.S. entities such as the CIA were behind the alleged terrorist plot – a claim that has been repeatedly refuted by the U.S. State Department.

  Election Results Under Scrutiny

  The detainments follow a clampdown on what Venezuela’s government has described as “anti-government activities” following the highly disputed July presidential election in which President Nicolas Maduro secured a third term in office.

  The election results sparked nationwide protests and have been heavily scrutinized by the United States and its allies, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK.

  The latest arrests bring the number of foreign detainees in Venezuela to at least 12 after three Americans, two Spaniards, and a Czech citizen were arrested last month.

  One of those detained was later identified as Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez, whom Cabello described as a Navy SEAL who had served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Colombia.

  Also in September, a fourth U.S. citizen was arrested for allegedly taking photos of electrical and oil installations and military units.

  Officials accused those individuals of traveling to the country to assassinate Maduro, overthrow the Venezuelan government, and kill several members of its leadership.

  The United States in September imposed sanctions on 16 individuals connected to Maduro, whom the Biden administration accused of obstructing voting during the July presidential election and carrying out human rights abuses.

  The Maduro administration has previously used Americans imprisoned in Venezuela to gain concessions from the U.S. government.

  Under a deal with the Biden administration in December last year, the Venezuelan government handed over 10 Americans and a fugitive wanted by the U.S. government to secure a presidential pardon for Columbian businessman Alex Saab, a close Maduro ally accused of a $350 million money laundering scheme.

  The Epoch Times contacted the State Department for comment but didn’t receive a reply by press time.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 14:00

• "I'm With Elon": Gavin Newsom Unexpectedly Backs SpaceX In California Lawsuit Against Rogue Democrats 
  “I’m With Elon”: Gavin Newsom Unexpectedly Backs SpaceX In California Lawsuit Against Rogue Democrats 

  California’s far-left governor, Gavin Newsom, has unexpectedly backed Elon Musk and SpaceX. The private spaceflight company, which handles the majority of US space launches and leads the space race in this solar system, filed a lawsuit against a California state commission early last week, accusing it of political bias. The suit alleges that Democrats are hindering SpaceX launches off the Pacific coast. 

  “I’m with Elon,” Gov. Newsom said in an interview Thursday after campaigning for VP Kamala Harris in the swing state of North Carolina, which Politico quoted. He continued, “I didn’t like that.”

  

  On Tuesday, SpaceX filed a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles against the California Coastal Commission for alleged political discrimination. 

  The lawsuit stems from the California Coastal Commission’s (CCC) decision to halt SpaceX’s plans to increase the number of rocket launches from the Space Force base in Santa Barbara County. 

  SpaceX lawyers claimed that CCC made the decision based on political differences with Musk, a top supporter of Trump and anti-woke crusader on X, bashing Democrats for their nation-killing policies, such as open southern borders, lawless metro areas, out-of-control debt binge in Washington, and the list goes on and on. 

  The lawsuit asserts CCC’s 12 members “engaged in naked political discrimination” in last week’s decision over the Department of Defense (DOD) proposal to increase the number of SpaceX launches at Vandenberg from 36 to 50. 

  “Rarely has a government agency made so clear that it was exceeding its authorized mandate to punish a company for the political views and statements of its largest shareholder and CEO,” the lawsuit reads.

  Gov. Newsom added, “Look, I’m not helping the legal case … and you can’t bring up that explicit level of politics.” 

  Newsom sided with SpaceX in the lawsuit and pointed out that an independent agency should have been involved, politics aside, in the decision-making process for rocket launches at the base. 

  Newsom understands that, unlike many Democrats, SpaceX has become a critical part of national security rocket programs. In fact, Musk’s rocket company is quite literally America’s space program in terms of space launches and total mass catapulted into low Earth Orbit. SpaceX will even rescue Boeing’s stranded crew at the International Space Station early next year. 

  Using data from BryceTech, SpaceX launched 525 spacecraft into orbit in the first quarter, far outpacing China and Russia. 

  

  Musk is America’s rocket program: SpaceX launched about 429,125 kg of spacecraft upmass in the first quarter, significantly outpacing China’s rocket program (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation), which launched a measly 29,426 kg. 

  

  Much of this is due to SpaceX’s Starlink deployment in LEO, as thousands of these satellites provide high-speed internet coverage to millions of customers worldwide. 

  

  Just last week: 

  • French Media Blames SpaceX For 2,500 Airbus Layoffs As Elon Musk Leads Rocket Race

  And this. 

  Mechazilla has caught the Super Heavy booster! pic.twitter.com/6R5YatSVJX

  — SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024

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

  Jonathan Turley penned in a note last week:

  The left will now kill jobs, cancel national security programs and gut the Constitution in its unrelenting campaign to get Musk. His very existence undermines the power of the anti-free speech movement. In a culture of groupthink, Musk is viewed as a type of free-thought contagion that must be eliminated.

  If Democrats are indeed trying to sabotage America’s space program by weaponizing the government to restrict Musk and slow down rocket launches, it raises serious national security concerns. A deeper conversation must be had about whether this radical far-left party is being influenced by foreign adversaries with competing space programs—like China. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 13:25

• Kamala's "Opportunity Agenda" Will Be Disastrous For African Americans
  Kamala’s “Opportunity Agenda” Will Be Disastrous For African Americans

  Via SchiffGold.com,

  With Kamala Harris rapidly fading in polls among African-Americans, her campaign just released a desperate “Opportunity Agenda” for black men outlining policies that will have disastrous economic consequences. Ironically, the consequences of “forgivable loans” are likely to be the most damaging to the very same groups that she’s claiming to help.

  

  A “forgivable loan” is another way of saying “free money.” Printing $20,000 and handing it out to black entrepreneurs is only going to push prices up for the things those entrepreneurs need. Meanwhile, banks that get to issue the loans do so with no risk, because it’s all backed by the Full Faith and Credit of you, the American taxpayer. 

  The idea is to get “mission-driven lenders” to issue the loans. This slathers a gloppy layer of do-gooderism over the fact that, most likely, these loans will be issued by the usual State-favored megabanks. After all, they all have “Mission Statements,” so who’s to argue whether they’re “Mission-Driven” or not? They’re all part of a criminal banking cartel that enjoys an incredibly privileged position in terms of being inextricable from the US political structure, first in line at the low interest rate and QE money printer. 

  Meanwhile, megabanks like Wells Fargo (owned by BlackRock, Fidelity, and Vanguard) have stolen far more houses and cars than any street thief ever could, preyed on Native Americans, opened millions of fraudulent accounts, violated international sanctions, aided money laundering, along with other offenses.

  Having some guaranteed loans on the books also incentivizes malinvestment, encouraging banks to dump more money into risky bets in other areas. When you get some free money, you want to play with it. It’s just human nature.

  Forgivable loans offered to a specific ethnic group even incentivizes discrimination against them.

  If loan officers know that African-Americans are getting forgivable loans courtesy of the federal government, they’re more likely to charge higher interest rates even to black entrepreneurs whose loans aren’t guaranteed.

  Meanwhile, the Fed’s inflationary policies cause the most pain to the lowest earners and the middle class. 

  While bursts of “economic stimulus” like those of the 2008 and 2020 crises juiced the economy in the short or medium-term, we’re feeling the effects today in the form of drastically higher prices and a middle class that continues to vanish.

  Federal Reserve Total Assets (Less Eliminations from Consolidation)

  

  It all comes down to less competition in the marketplace, which inevitably leads to higher prices. No matter the context, nature or finance, humans respond to incentives, and markets are no different. That’s why no central authority can overcome the natural will of the market, no matter how hard it tries. In the long run, nature always wins.

  Of course, the Harris campaign’s “proposal”  is a campaign season prop to buy votes, and wouldn’t be enforceable without an act of Congress. But it’s still a notable sign that the campaign is worried that being a black woman might not be enough for Harris to get back the black vote. While it favored Biden, African-American support faded continuously throughout the course of his administration. For his part, Trump is promising a utopia of his own, and is a fan of the money printer as long as he gets credit, even making a point to ensure his name would appear on the inflationary Covid stimulus checks. As Peter Schiff recently said on Kai Hoffman’s Soar Financially, “Trump is promising immediate results—positive, no pain, just gain.” But inflation is already baked into the cake.

  “We have, you know, inflation that masquerades as growth…I think the economy is very weak, that’s why the Fed is cutting rates, and they’re going to cut them even more, and I think they’re going to go back to QE.”

  Incumbent administrations love when the Fed juices the economy for them, since they can take the credit.

  But Kamala’s campaign season pandering to “help” African American entrepreneurs is going to create more of the inflation and discrimination that holds back disadvantaged groups in the first place.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 10/19/2024 – 12:50

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• America's National Security Is Far Worse Off Than Four Years Ago
  America’s National Security Is Far Worse Off Than Four Years Ago

  Authored by James E. Fanell and Bradley A. Thayer via American Greatness,

  Ronald Reagan’s query to the American people in his October 28, 1980, debate with incumbent President Jimmy Carter was so simple and so devastating that it is still employed today: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” While most Americans are far worse off today than they were four years ago, with rising prices, inflation, a hollow economy, and unchecked immigration, so too are the U.S., its allies, and its partner’s national security interests, which are far worse off than they were four years ago.

  

  Four years ago, there was stability in Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific. Now Europe’s “long peace,” that is, no major war in Europe since 1945, has been shattered by Russia’s horrific invasion of Ukraine. This war has resulted in the deaths of over one million humans and the displacement of millions more. The Middle East is roiling with conflict due to Hamas’ October 7, 2023, unprovoked attack on Israel and its consequences—the Iranian-backed Houthis interdiction of international shipping in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, the attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon and ultimately unprecedented attacks from Iran against Israel with drones and missiles. The Indo-Pacific is rife with unrest principally due to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) hyper-aggression against key U.S. allies and partners like India, Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan, and against the American people themselves.

  The cause of this instability is the Biden-Harris administration’s ideological obsession to “manage America’s decline” and the subsequent policies they adopted in the last almost four years. The Biden-Harris administration failed to deter the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This war is a humanitarian nightmare for all concerned; it is a stalemated conventional conflict, evincing an intensity of combat not seen in Europe since 1945. The war also entails the risk of nuclear escalation, the tremendous cost of which the U.S. and its NATO allies would not escape. In addition, this administration has fundamentally failed to support Israel by not holding Iran to account—even worse by providing Tehran the funding to expand their terrorism against Americans.

  However, in the pantheon of Biden’s failures, it is towards the PRC that the Biden administration has made its greatest foreign policy fiascos. The Biden-Harris administration has continued the failed “Engagement” policies with the PRC that have aided the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at a time of great peril. The Biden-Harris administration ignores the existential nature of the CCP threat because it seeks to continue the Engagement school of thought through what we call the Biden-Harris administration’s “neo-Engagement” policy.

  With the exception of the Trump presidency, Engagement has been the dominant U.S. approach to the PRC since Bill Clinton. It asserts that the PRC is not an existential threat to the U.S. Far from it—the Engagement school contends the Sino-American relationship should be cooperative. Any troubles may be addressed by more cooperation with the PRC and accommodation of the interests of the CCP to sustain that cooperation. In essence, the Engagers are appeasers. Unfortunately, their arguments are ubiquitous and dominate U.S. foreign policy toward the PRC. Engagement dominates Wall Street, foundations, think tanks, universities, media, Silicon Valley, K Street, major law firms, and government. Even after the fiasco of allowing a PRC intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance balloon to fly over the entirety of America and the conga line of Biden-Harris cabinet officials traveling to Beijing to kowtow before Xi Jinping, the nadir was the November 2023 meeting between Biden and Xi near San Francisco. Beyond the obsession by Biden-Harris to resume military-to-military exchanges despite the People’s Liberation Army’s increased threatening behavior, 400 of America’s richest business leaders attended a dinner with the PRC’s dictator—Xi Jinping. These “titans” of America’s economy gave the CCP dictator two standing ovations while Xi explained his vision of tyranny—on American soil—and how the American business elite could help him sustain it.

  The failed Biden-Harris neo-Engagement policies have allowed the CCP to escape the costs of its many decades of misrule but also provided the window for the CCP’s hyper-aggression over the last four years. Since assuming office, the Biden-Harris administration has overseen and done nothing as the PRC built over 300 nuclear Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) silos in central and western China, upgraded the submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) aboard their sea-based leg of their triad, expanded their ballistic missile submarine production facilities, and introduced a new nuclear bomber, the H-20. This aircraft very closely resembles the B-2 stealth bomber.  Additionally, the Biden-Harris regime has sat by as PLA Air Force H-6 bombers have for the first time flown nuclear bomber profiles with their Russian Long Range Aviation counterparts into the Alaskan Air Defense Identification zone.

  By every metric, the CCP is flexing its strategic muscles by expanding its nuclear arsenal and strategic reach.  The PRC continues to agress relentlessly against U.S. national security interests. While the pace of their aggression is quickening, the Biden-Harris administration is cutting the size of the Department of Defense. For example, Biden-Harris continues to decommission more warships than it builds, as demonstrated by their Fiscal Year 2025 budget that procures just six warships, the lowest number of any budget submission since 2006.

  This degradation of America’s maritime power is especially pernicious as the situation in the South China Sea, near Scarborough Shoal or Sabina Shoal, is dramatically worsening. Likewise, the PLA is increasing its pressure on Taiwan through unceasing operations to prepare for an invasion. In the past month, the PLAAF violated Japanese territorial waters for the first time ever. Moreover, the PLAN and Russian Navy sailed into the Gulf of Alaska, while it has been confirmed that PLA is supplying Russia with military weapons to aid Moscow in its war against Kyiv. There are also credible reports, including from the South Korean Minister of Defense, that the North Koreans are directly aiding the Russian war effort.

  In his famous debate with Carter, Reagan also asked Americans if they believed America was as respected and whether America was as strong as four years ago. Once again, the answer to that question today is no. America was far more respected by its foes and was stronger four years ago than today. America was seen by its key allies in Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific as a far better, more reliable, and more confident ally than today. The result is that a Harris presidency would continue these neo-Engagement policies to embolden enemies and continue to punish allies and partners. Only a Trump presidency will end failed policies of neo-Engagement and return the U.S. to the Reaganesque certainty of the previous Cold War that “the U.S. wins, the CCP loses.”

  ***

  James E. Fanell and Bradley A. Thayer are authors of Embracing Communist China: America’s Greatest Strategic Failure. The views expressed are their own.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 23:25

• Which College Degrees Have The Best Return On Investment?
  Which College Degrees Have The Best Return On Investment?

  Career prospects, and especially expected lifetime salaries, can be a strong motivator or deterrent in pursuing certain college degrees.

  Not all degrees guarantee higher lifetime earnings compared to entering the workforce after high school without a degree – as some degrees may end up costing more than their financial benefits.

  This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, shows the average return on investment of a degree in the U.S., based on analysis from CollegeNPV of data from the U.S. Department of Education and Bureau of Labor Statistics.

  

  The return on investment of a degree is the expected lifetime value of the degree (net of debt) compared to entering the workforce after high school.

  STEM Degrees Have The Best Bang For Their Buck

  Below, we show the average return on investment of various degrees in the U.S.

  Field of Study	Average return on investment
  Engineering	$570,616
  Computer and Information Sciences	$477,229
  Mathematics	$340,875
  Engineering Technicians	$311,141
  Business	$205,191
  Architecture	$196,711
  Nursing and Health Professions	$194,756
  Physics, Chemistry and Geology	$168,822
  Social Sciences	$118,454
  Interdisciplinary Studies	$69,656
  Biology	$63,913
  Agriculture	$59,556
  Area, Ethnic, Cultural, Gender and Group Studies	$42,959
  Legal Studies	$38,999
  Natural Resources and Conservation	$28,985
  Communication and Journalism	$28,654
  Homeland Security, Law Enforcement and Firefighting	$27,284
  Foreign Languages	$25,750
  Public Administration and Social Services	$7,787
  Philosophy and Religious Studies	$6,011
  History	$4,938
  Fitness, Parks and Recreation	-$1,078
  Liberal Arts and General Studies	-$13,337
  Psychology	-$15,644
  Education	-$20,075
  Family and Human Sciences	-$24,540
  Communications Technologies	-$28,911
  English Language	-$39,057
  Theology	-$91,749
  Visual and Performing Arts	-$104,015

  Engineering, computer and information sciences, mathematics, and engineering technician degrees are the most valuable degrees in the U.S. when looking at expected lifetime income minus debt compared to working right after high school without a degree.

  As for specific programs, Harvard University’s computer science degree ranks first for ROI, according to CollegeNPV.

  Graduates of this program can expect an ROI of over $4 million in their lifetime, with $256,539 in median income and $14,000 in median debt.

  On the other end, humanities degrees like visual and performing arts, theology, and English are among the least valuable degrees when looking at lifetime earnings.

  With a negative ROI of about $39,000, English language programs have also experienced the greatest decrease in graduates, with 32% fewer students completing these programs compared to 10 years prior.

  To learn more about some of the top universities in the U.S., check out this graphic that shows which universities produce the most startup founders.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 23:00

• Baby Bust Will Soon Reshape Public Schools
  Baby Bust Will Soon Reshape Public Schools

  Authored by Jay Greene via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The most powerful force shaping the future of education is the sharp decline in babies being born in the United States and worldwide. As Americans have fewer children, and fewer children immigrate from abroad, the school-age population will decline dramatically over the next few decades.

  

  The United States has experienced a baby bust once before in the wake of the baby boom in the 1970s and 1980s, which gives us some idea of what to expect. But unlike the previous baby bust, which was a temporary artifact of the boomers ageing out of school, the upcoming decline in school-age population has no end in sight.

  We are about to experience a baby bust on steroids. Public school enrollments reached a peak of 50.8 million in 2019 and are projected to drop below 47 million by 2030. But that’s just the start. This year U.S. fertility rates hit an all-time low. Since the smaller number of children born this year will barely be entering school by 2030, the steep decline in school enrollments will accelerate after 2030.

  In 20 states, public school enrollments are projected to fall by more than 10 percent by 2031. Almost all of these states with larger enrollment declines are blue states, with Hawaii, California, New Mexico, and New York leading with drops between 19 and 21 percent.

  During the previous baby bust, declining school populations forced districts to close schools and layoff teachers. Job insecurity among teachers caused them to flock to teachers’ unions for protection, transforming them from local organizations concentrated in a few big cities into national political powerhouses.

  As the share of the population with children in school declined in the 1970s, property tax revolts arose across the country, most notably with Proposition 13 in California in 1978. With access to local property taxes becoming more constrained, school districts turned to the state and federal governments for funds. The teachers’ unions were able to use their increasing membership and political power to get President Carter to create the Department of Education in 1980, gaining an institutional ally in advocating for increased federal funding.

  This shift from local property tax to state and federal sources of school funding was successful in reducing the extent of school closures and teacher layoffs, but it made schools more financially vulnerable to future reductions in enrollment. Unlike local property tax, state and federal money is typically allocated to districts on a per pupil basis. If the number of pupils drops, funding is cut by a commensurate amount.

  As school enrollments start to plummet, so will their funding. The various tricks that districts have employed in the past to compensate financially are less available to rescue them. Districts might hope that state governments could significantly increase per pupil funding levels to offset enrollment drops, but state budgets are already stretched thin.

  This is especially true as the increasing share of the population over the age of 65 places more demands on states to fund healthcare. Given that the number of voters directly benefiting from government-funded healthcare far exceeds those benefiting from government-funded schools, districts should expect little financial relief from state budgets.

  The same dynamics will play out at the federal level. School districts might hope that federal spending could bail them out and could point to the fact that, unlike state budgets, the feds need not balance their budgets. But the inflationary surge following the pandemic impressed upon policymakers that even the federal government has limits on what it can spend. And with healthcare, crumbling infrastructure, and a host of other issues all in line for federal bailouts ahead of education, districts should moderate their expectations for financial relief from the federal government.

  With a larger and more sustained drop in enrollments coming and with less opportunity for financial rescue, the school closings and teacher layoffs are likely to be much larger than they were in the 1970s and 1980s. Education colleges will lose even more enrollment than they already have, and many will have to close their doors. Teachers may turn once again to the unions for protection. But unions cannot expand their geographic scope and will experience a drop in membership as the number of teachers declines, resulting in diminished political power.

  The birth dearth will also make adopting important reforms of the education system more challenging in some ways. As we clearly saw in Arizona, expanding school choice is made more politically palatable when state governments are flush with cash and when public schools are overcrowded with growing enrollments.

  When schools are filled with students, and districts are at least partially held harmless from the loss of funds as enrollment shifts to private schools, the public school establishment doesn’t fight quite as hard to block new competition from private school choice. Going forward, passing new school choice programs will become more difficult as districts become more desperate to keep every student and every dollar those students generate.

  Plummeting fertility rates, however, might provide a new argument for states to adopt choice programs. With fewer people being born, many states may experience shortages of labor, especially outside of the sunbelt where populations are already fleeing. Empowering parents to have more options and control over the education of their children may give states a competitive advantage in attracting or retaining those families and their labor.

  This competitive pressure to adopt choice programs is becoming stronger as a critical mass of states have already enacted universal private school choice programs in which every child in the state is eligible to direct government funds or subsidies to their preferred educational setting. Once Texas adopts universal school choice, which appears likely to occur next year, almost 40 percent of all students in the country will be eligible for private school choice.

  With many red states still gaining population aboard the choice bandwagon, it will be harder for other states to resist adopting similar universal choice programs. Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Wyoming may find it difficult to explain to their voters why they won’t do what Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah have already done. And once almost 20 red states have embraced universal school choice, purple and blue states will feel enormous pressure to do the same or face even larger migrations of families and labor force from their states to others that do empower families with options for educating their children.

  In addition, because private choice programs cost significantly less per pupil than do traditional public schools, state policymakers will find the financial savings very attractive. It will allow them to cover those rising healthcare costs and somewhat increase the per pupil funding for students who remain in public schools.

  As the economic historian William Fischel observed in his book “Making the Grade,” the ability of American families to move shaped the initial development of the country’s education system. Educational opportunities were an attractive amenity that lured families to relocate to new communities and increase that area’s tax base.

  That was why the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set aside a parcel of land in each block for development as an endowment for building a local school, enticing families to move West and settle the Northwest Territory. Similarly, local communities added secondary education to their school districts to complete more effectively in luring families to move to their area.

  As Fischel explains it, Tiebout choice, or the competitive market of local governments, produced the education system we now have. But existing arrangements are not set in stone and will continue to be reshaped by competition among local governments. Tiebout choice will soon lead policymakers to offer universal private school choice to attract families and their labor to their state. As birth rates plummet, the competition for that labor will grow more intense, increasing the appeal of adopting policies that empower families with educational options.

  From the American Institute for Economic Education (AIER)

  Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 22:35

• Israel Already Requesting A Second THAAD Missile Defense Battery From US
  Israel Already Requesting A Second THAAD Missile Defense Battery From US

  It was only within the past few days that Israeli leaders confirmed a US-supplied THAAD anti-ballistic missile system has become operational on the ground in Israel. This marked a major development which has effectively put American troops directly in harm’s way at a moment Israel is still readying to retaliate against Iran for the Oct.1st ballistic missile attack.

  But just after the arrival of the first THAAD (or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense), the Israeli government is already requesting that a second one be deployed from the US, according to Israel’s Channel 12 on Friday.

  

  Times of Israel notes that “Each battery consists of six truck-mounted launchers, 48 interceptors, radio and radar equipment, and requires 95 soldiers to operate.”

  Already some 100 American soldiers are on the ground manning the first THAAD, but a second battery would bring that total to around 200 US soldiers deployed in Israel. There’s as yet been no indication that the Pentagon plans to ship a second battery.

  Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh on Tuesday described that “An advance team of military personnel and some of the initial components needed to operate the missile battery arrived in Israel yesterday [Monday], with additional personnel and components scheduled to arrive in the coming days with a goal of making the THAAD fully capable in the near future.”

  “This decision was made as part of the broader adjustments the U.S. military has made in recent months to support the defense of Israel and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned militias,” she continued.

  The White House says it has been briefed by the Netanyahu government on what targets in Iran are expected to be hit, as Israel’s retaliation remains imminent. But it seems Tel Aviv is already begging for more and more equipment and missiles from the Pentagon.

  “Israel faces a looming shortage of interceptor missiles as it shores up air defenses to protect the country from attacks by Iran and its proxies, according to industry executives, former military officials and analysts,” FT wrote this week.

  “The US is racing to help close gaps in Israel’s protective shield, announcing on Sunday the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) antimissile battery, ahead of an expected retaliatory strike from Israel on Iran that risks further regional escalation.”

  Israel competing with Zelensky in the “gimme gimme gimme” category. Why can’t we use the missile defense weapons that WE paid for to protect OUR country? https://t.co/aHKdL1ocdY

  — Daniel McAdams (@DanielLMcAdams) October 18, 2024

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

  One analyst and former US senior defense official, Dana Stroul, was cited in the same report as saying that “Israel’s munitions issue is serious.” Stroul, a pro-Israel and anti-Iran hawk, has described that “If Iran responds to an Israel attack [with a massive air strike campaign], and Hizbollah joins in too, Israel air defenses will be stretched.”

  Israel is likely to keep asking for more, and despite billions of dollars already pledged – and based on prior patterns – Washington is likely to oblige… just as it’s been doing for the constant similar requests out of Ukraine.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 22:10

• Why Women Should Vote For Trump
  Why Women Should Vote For Trump

  Authored by Tiffany Marie Brannon via RealClearPolicy,

  Dear fellow women, You are being played…

  

  And falling for this particular confidence scheme won’t just cost you, it’ll cost all of us. 

  I’m an affluent 30-something divorced, white, childless, American woman with multiple postgraduate degrees, and a busy career. I’ve lived abroad in several metropolitan cities and I own my home. According to every single statistic, I should be a J.D. Vance-loathing single cat lady. 

  I should also really hate Donald Trump. But I don’t. 

  Lest we forget, the presidency is not a popularity contest. There seems to be some confusion on that front. You aren’t casting a ballot for Prom Queen, you’re voting for the leader of the free world. It’s why that little thing called the Electoral College exists. 

  I’ve heard other women say they’re voting for Vice President Kamala Harris because “she’s more iconic” than Trump. My response: what about inflation, foreign or domestic policy, war, immigration, education, human trafficking, or any other serious issue? 

  The truth is, if you actually voted for real pro-women policies, you’d vote for Trump. 

  And the Left knows this. 

  That’s why the Democratic Party has spent untold millions making Abortion the #1 issue for women. White women alone make up 40% of the electoral vote and 89 million American women total are registered to vote, making us the largest voting bloc in the nation. In 2020, swing states like Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania saw women vote at record rates, with Biden winning 57% of female voters.

  We hold serious power. Hence why Democrats want to convince women that the unrestricted right to abortion is more important than the right to vote, freedom of speech, or any other right you can think of. Make abortion equalitarian with being female and tell them they are physically under attack by the GOP. Oh, and also by the Supreme Court. We can’t forget them. Democrats have done such a good job with this indoctrination that, in a recent viral video, young women said they would rather have the right to an abortion over the right to vote. What are they teaching girls in schools these days?

  Yet even if you’re a passionately pro-choice voter, it’s silly to consider abortion as the critical issue at stake in this election. After all, Trump has already said he doesn’t favor a national abortion ban and that he would veto any such bill. According to KFF, only 14% of American women – or 7% of the American population – have had an abortion at some point in their life, 21% being Black, 19% Hispanic, and 11% White women. 

  In contrast, 100% of Americans – women included – have to buy food, pay medical bills, and want to know their tax dollars are going to help them in an emergency. Just ask the victims of Hurricane Helene as they were offered a measly $750 after FEMA gave billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars away to noncitizens and foreign countries under the Biden Harris Administration.

  We’ve been inundated with the message that voting for an objectively unpopular and recognized failure of a Vice President because she loves abortion, possesses a female reproductive system, and is of minority ethnicity is more important than anything else that matters. 

  Ladies – don’t be so easily fooled. 

  Trump’s record speaks for itself and is deserving of closer attention by female voters. The former president approved the largest paid parental leave program in history, guaranteeing 12 weeks of paid leave. He directed more than $200 million per year to technology education grants for women and programs that encouraged STEM careers. He founded the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, the first-ever government program focused on advancing women’s “full and free participation” in the global economy. Trump also shone a spotlight on under-the-radar domestic women’s issues, establishing a task force for missing and murdered Native American women. Under the Trump administration, women’s unemployment reached the lowest level in 67 years and women received over 70% of new jobs.

  Last I checked, those policies affect far more than 14% of the female population. 

  Even Trump recognizes this. He recently observed, “Women want to have safety. They want to have a strong military. They want to have a strong police force… They want to be in their house and they want to be safe. … I hope they like my personality… But to me, it wouldn’t be very important, the personality.”

  He’s right. This is not a personality contest. It’s not about which candidate is more “iconic.” It is our duty as citizens to vote for the best policies, laws, and chances for us and our loved ones to thrive for years to come. Women voters are no exception to this rule.

  So, from one would-be single cat lady to a nation of others, consider this: voting for the rich white man in this election doesn’t make you evil. 

  It makes you wise. 

  Tiffany Marie Brannon is a political strategist and the writer and host of the TMB Problems podcast.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 21:45

• Communism Failure: Cuba Paralyzed By Massive Power Blackout 
  Communism Failure: Cuba Paralyzed By Massive Power Blackout 

  In a post on X, Cuba’s Ministry of Mines and Energy announced that the nation’s largest power plant has been “completely disconnected,” sparking widespread blackouts across the island. While unsurprising for the Communist-run island nation in the northern Caribbean Sea, it’s a stark warning for all Americans about how Kamala Harris’ proposed Communist policies could rapidly push the US towards third-world conditions if elected next month. We’re halfway there with ten-plus million unvetted illegal aliens roaming America’s city streets.

  “Following the unexpected departure of the Antonio Guiteras CTE, the National Electricity System was completely disconnected at 11 a.m. today. The Unión Eléctrica is working on its restoration,” the Ministry of Mines and Energy wrote on X around 1235 ET. 

  

  Bloomberg noted that hours before the unexpected failure at the 330-megawatt capacity CTE Antonio Guiteras power plant, the Communist government revealed that it would “paralyze” top industries and divert power for residential customers. 

  “But the frequency and duration of blackouts has been on the rise, as Cuba’s aging power generators break down and the cash-strapped government struggles to import enough fuel,” the media outlet noted. 

  Cybersecurity firm Cloudflare showed that internet activity on the island has also plunged due to power outages. 

  

  Cuba’s communist regime is undoubtedly at its weakest point in decades. Constant power blackouts and food shortages are merely signs that centrally planned economies don’t function efficiently.  

  Yet, while Cuba implodes, Kamala Harris has pitched American voters that her proposed Communist-style price control strategy will make them better off if she is elected. 

  

  Sorry Democrats. Americans don’t want Chinese-style Communism. Innovation and freedom are okay with them. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 21:20

• 5 Key Exercises To Keep Your 40s From Feeling Like Middle Age
  5 Key Exercises To Keep Your 40s From Feeling Like Middle Age

  Authored by Kevin Shelley via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Welcome to middle age. Sounds strange, doesn’t it? People in their 40s are still quite young, in their prime working years, and possess the blush of youth that society cherishes.

  

  Your 40s are often a time of peaks: Your career history may be established, your family may be maturing, and you are still full of energy and vitality. However, you aren’t officially “young” anymore. The advancement into your middle ages introduces you to a time when your muscles become harder to maintain without dedicated exercise and when sedentary behavior comes at a higher price.

  But don’t let this make you feel old, whippersnapper, because you aren’t. Besides, you can continue to stay strong and energetic with just a little exercise, and I’ve provided some great ones for you to get started.

  The key here is maintaining muscle mass and flexibility to counteract the beginning of muscle decline and decreasing joint mobility. At this stage in life, managing stress and finding time to maintain healthy habits amid career and family responsibilities is crucial. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how little time it can take.

  I suggest establishing a workout routine with your family and friends to increase socialization and maximize exercise consistency. It may also be helpful to consult your physician to ensure that these exercises are right for you.

  5 Key Exercises for Your 40s

  1. Plank

  The plank is an excellent, classic core strengthening exercise that can be performed nearly anywhere. It’s challenging at first, but progress comes quickly.

  Step 1: Assume a prone position on the floor, lying with your chest and stomach downward. Rise onto your elbows while keeping your upper arms straight and at shoulder-width, palms on the floor, head up and facing forward, and your back straight (a straight back is critical).

  Step 2: Hold this position for as long as you can, up to 1 minute.

  Step 3: Try doing 3 sets for 1 minute each, taking 1 minute of rest between each set. Perform 3 rounds of plank , which counts as 3 sets.

  Planks are an excellent exercise on their own but are even better paired with the other exercises.

  Modification: You can make planks easier by bringing your forearms or knees to the floor.

  

  2. Pushups

  Pushups are renowned for their ability to provide an excellent workout in a simple, controlled movement.

  Step 1: Start on the floor with your feet together, palms flat on the floor, and arms fully extended. This is the classic starting position for pushups.

  Step 2: Lower your body by bending your elbows until you’re almost touching the floor. Keep your back and legs straight as you lower yourself.

  Step 3: Push yourself back up to the starting position. This counts as 1 repetition. Aim for 3 sets of 10 repetitions, making adjustments as needed.

  Modification: To make this exercise easier, you can keep your knees on the floor and limit how far you bend your elbows and lower your body.

  

  3. Weighted Squat

  Weighted squats target the legs and gluteal muscles and take the standard bodyweight squat up a notch in both difficulty and benefit.

  Step 1: Stand with your arms by your sides and your feet approximately body-width apart. Hold 1 to 2 pounds of weight in each hand. Canned goods work well in this role, but feel free to add weight.

  Step 2: Start by slowly squatting down until your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle, then slowly return to standing. Take one to two seconds to move in both directions—don’t rush. As you squat, bring your arms from your sides straight out. This helps with balance and adds intensity. While squatting, push your hips back to prevent your knees from moving past your toes. This helps protect your knees from unnecessary strain and ensures proper alignment.

  Step 3: Squatting and rising counts as 1 repetition. Try to perform 3 sets of 12 repetitions.

  Modification: If squatting to 90 degrees or rising from it is too much, just do what you can at first.

  

  Read the rest here…

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 20:55

• China's Coal Production Surged in September
  China’s Coal Production Surged in September

  By Irina Slav of OilPrice.com

  Coal production in China rose by 4.4% in the year last month to a total 414.46 million tons, government data showed.

  

  The production rate also rose on the month: the August total stood at 396.55 million tons.

  The increase followed the end of safety inspections in coal-producing regions and the return of coal-to-chemicals capacity to normal operation after maintenance, Reuters reported.

  “Following the end of maintenance on some coal-based methanol, urea, PVC and other chemical capacity, the capacity utilisation rate has gradually increased,” Reuters quoted analysts with Galaxy Futures, a China-based financial services firm, as saying.

  Coal production over the first nine months of the year, however, only increased marginally, by 0.6%, to a total of 3.48 billion tons. The output was no doubt affected by safety probes that resulted in substantial reduction in accidents and deaths in coal mines.

  Demand for coal was coming mostly from the power generation sector, where coal continues to be king, and heavy industry. Coal-power generation in China rose by 8.9% in September on an annual basis, reaching 545.1 billion kWh, the state statistics agency said.

  China’s coal imports also rose in September, to a total of 47.59 million metric tons of coal, a 13% increase from September 2023. The increase in imports was largely driven by a favorable arbitrage between foreign and domestic supply.

  The Asian benchmark of coal prices, at Newcastle in Australia, were falling for most of last month. The lowest level in September, at $136.46 per metric ton on September 23, was a 7% decline from the August high of $147.13 per ton, according to Reuters estimates.

  Coal accounts for about 60% of China’s generation, despite a surge in hydropower earlier this year after abundant rainfall, which reduced the share of coal in the country’s energy mix. Natural gas, in contrast, accounts for less than 10% of generation.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 20:30

• The Collapse Of Kamala Harris
  The Collapse Of Kamala Harris

  Authored by Josh Hammer via American Greatness,

  On July 26, in the aftermath of the Democratic Party’s ruthless midsummer coup of their own democratically elected presidential nominee, this column predicted that the elevation of dimwitted cackler-in-chief Kamala Harris to the party’s presidential slot would “spectacularly backfire.” More specifically, I wrote: “Practically, the path to winning 270 Electoral College votes still runs through the Rust Belt states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. It is frankly bizarre for Democrats to swap out the man who talks ceaselessly about his hardscrabble Scranton upbringing for a Californian who boasts the most left-wing voting record of any presidential nominee in modern history.”

  

  I’m feeling pretty good these days about that prognosis.

  Harris recently campaigned in Erie, Pennsylvania—a crucial regional hub in this election cycle’s most important battleground state. Conspicuously absent from that snoozefest was incumbent Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.). Harris tried to pass off the snub as a nothingburger, suggesting that Casey was doing the more important work of knocking on doors and getting out the vote. This doesn’t pass the laugh test. Facing a spirited challenge from Republican hopeful Dave McCormick, Casey has clearly concluded that Harris’ immense Bay Area lefty baggage—her history of endorsing the Green New Deal, a national fracking ban, and crippling electric vehicle mandates—is an electoral albatross around his neck.

  It’s tough to blame Casey. Other vulnerable Senate Democratic incumbents, such as Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.), reached the same conclusion a while ago. Such a conclusion makes a great deal of sense: A recent Marist national general election poll, for instance, shows Trump up a whopping 10 points on Harris with registered independents. If that margin ends up being anywhere near accurate, it is extraordinarily difficult to see a scenario in which Trump loses.

  Harris has recently been engaging in what the psychology profession calls “projection,” ludicrously criticizing Donald Trump for avoiding the media when it was actually Harris who infamously avoided a single one-on-one sit-down interview for weeks on end following the Biden coup. In reality, Trump recently sat down for two interviews with Time magazine, whose owner is a vocal Harris donor. Harris declined a Time interview nonetheless. Prior to this week’s desperate, last-second change of course, which saw her sit down with Fox News’s Bret Baier, Harris had only deigned to sit down with the most obsequious media imaginable.

  One can only wonder how bad the Harris-Walz internal polling must be to impel her to ditch the far-left “Call Her Daddy” podcast and the friendly ladies of “The View” for the considerably more mainstream Baier. Desperate times sure call for desperate measures. Democrats routinely blast Republicans as misogynistic, but their own chronic misandry is so bad that Kamala is apparently considering a sit-down with podcast king Joe Rogan, whose own brand of woke-skeptical irreverence sharply clashes with Harris’ identity politics obsessions and overt race-based pandering. The tables sure have turned. Will the last person hanging around Harris-Walz campaign headquarters please turn off the lights?

  Snark aside, this race isn’t over yet. But the Harris-Walz camp cannot possibly be feeling too good right now, either.

  Democrats have no one to blame but themselves for their predicament. Throughout this interminable campaign season, they have studiously avoided substantive discussion of the four issues that Americans consistently tell pollsters are most important to them this cycle: the economy, inflation, immigration, and crime. Instead, they have repeatedly attempted to shift the electoral terrain back to the few issues that poll in their favor: namely, abortion and the Jan. 6 jamboree at the Capitol. In this, they have completely failed. The American people still care above all about the same four basic quality-of-life issues that they have cared the most about for years now. It is Democrats’ fault that they are so woefully out of touch with the voters’ sentiments on those issues and that the Biden-Harris administration’s track record polls as poorly as it does.

  Perhaps if the Harris-Walz ticket does go down in flames, Democrats will pause and take a long, hard look in the mirror. Perhaps they will recognize that promising late-term abortion is a peculiar way to pander to women, that pledging mass amnesty for illegal aliens is a counterproductive way to pander to Hispanics, and that dangling marijuana legalization is an outright offensive way to pander to Blacks. Perhaps. But if history is any indication, they probably won’t.

  ***

  To find out more about Josh Hammer and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 20:05

• For Harris, Pro-Choice Does Not Include Cars And Appliances
  For Harris, Pro-Choice Does Not Include Cars And Appliances

  Authored by Kenin M. Spivak via RealClearWire,

  Kamala Harris wants to deprive Americans of the right to choose cars and household appliances. When she claims, as she did at a rally last week in Michigan, that “I will never tell you what kind of car you have to drive” she is guilty of two of the Democrats’ most reviled offenses, malinformation (failure to contextualize a statement) and misinformation (lying).

  

  Combating climate by changing infrastructure, consumer goods, and lifestyle is one of Harris’s core values. As recently as this year, the Biden-Harris administration continued to issue regulations and battle in court for the right to reduce consumer options for automobiles and home appliances. Harris favors consumers having choices, just so long as those choices are limited to those she pre-approves.

  Then Senator Harris co-sponsored the Senate version of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ Green New Deal. Harris believed that mandating priorities and choices to limit emissions was so important that she advocated ending the filibuster to do so. Harris also co-sponsored the Zero Admissions Vehicles Act to require that all cars be EVs, or otherwise zero-emissions, by 2040. When she ran for president in 2019, she issued a plan to phase out new gas-powered cars even sooner – by 2035.

  In April 2023, the Biden-Harris administration proposed rules that would ensure that EVs accounted for about 67 percent of all new car sales by 2032 (just eight years from now). After objections from nearly every sector and region of the country, the EPA issued final rules on March 20 of this year that require from 31 percent to 44 percent of new cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks manufactured in 2027 be EVs, with the final percentage to be based on emissions from other vehicles. The EPA rules require that by 2032, EVs account for at least 56 percent of new car sales, and at least another 13 percent be hybrids, leaving not more than 31% as gas powered.

  In 2023, EVs accounted for only 7.6 percent of new car sales. That is because, despite subsidies and massive pressure from government and the Left, consumers dislike EVs. EVs have limited range, particularly in the cold. They take a long time to charge, and it is difficult for those who live in apartments to do so. They are costly. EVs may not even be particularly good for the environment once the electrical grid and generating capacity are expanded to support mandates, and disposal of lithium ion batteries is considered. It also is unlikely the U.S. could have sufficient generating capacity without brownouts, blackouts, and other conservation measures.

  EV mandates imperil national security by replacing fossil fuels, in which the U.S. is the world leader, with minerals found in China. China also is the low cost manufacturer of EVs, meaning that EV mandates will send American jobs and profits to China.

  Energy expert Mark P. Mills warns that “All the world’s mines, both currently operating and planned, can supply only a small fraction of the… increase in various minerals that will be needed to meet the wildly ambitious EV goals,” while the UN Trade Development Agency advises there will be considerable shortages in lithium, cobalt, and copper if EV requirements are not slowed.

  The strong disfavor in which consumers hold EVs is seen in two numbers. As Fortune observed, “no one wants to buy used EVs,” destroying resale value, and second, EVs are the least likely cars to be stolen. Numerous major automobile manufacturers are cutting EV production targets, and earlier this year Hertz announced that it was disposing of a third of its almost new EV fleet. The 2024 Deloitte Global Automotive Consumer Study found that EVs were never very popular among consumers, and familiarity is breeding contempt, with a 9% increase in the popularity of gas powered cars. A Gallup survey in April found that among Democrats who don’t yet own an EV, the percent saying they would never purchase an EV rose 10 points, compared to a year ago.

  Harris not only wants to deprive Americans of the opportunity to choose gas-powered cars and most hybrids, but she also supports the Green New Deal’s goal of prohibiting sales of home appliances that do not meet draconian emissions standards. To date, the Biden-Harris administration has sought to take off the market most home dishwashers, heaters, air conditioners, and gas stoves. A federal appeals court struck down the Department of Energy’s action targeting dishwashers.

  In May, the House passed the Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act on a bipartisan basis. That bill is intended to restrain the administration from banning home appliances that run on natural gas.

  Next time Kamala Harris claims that she won’t tell you what to buy, just keep in mind that she intends to eliminate most options, leaving you with a Hobson’s choice of poorly performing alternatives.

  Kenin M. Spivak is founder and chairman of SMI Group LLC, an international consulting firm and investment bank. He is the author of fiction and non-fiction books and a frequent speaker and contributor to media, including The American Mind, National Review, the National Association of Scholars, television, radio, and podcasts.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 19:15

• NATO Membership Or Nuclear Weapons: Zelensky Stuns Allies With Demand
  NATO Membership Or Nuclear Weapons: Zelensky Stuns Allies With Demand

  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, having received a lackluster response when he pitched his ‘victory plan’ to US officials in Washington last month, now says that Ukraine must either join NATO or obtain nuclear weapons.

  He made the ultra provocative comments while speaking before the EU’s European Council in Brussels, where he presented the victory plan before European lawmakers. That’s when he referenced a recent private conversation with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying he told Trump that his country needs “some kind of alliance” or be “forced to pursue nuclear weapons.” 

  “In a conversation with Donald Trump I said – this is our situation: What way out do we have? Either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons, which for us will be a defense, or we’ll need to have some sort of alliance, besides NATO. But today we know of no other alliance,” Zelensky said.

  

  “NATO countries today are not at war. NATO countries are not fighting. In NATO countries people are still alive. Thank God. That is why we choose NATO, not nuclear weapons. And Donald Trump heard me. He said you have a just argument,” he continued.

  At one point in these comments he referenced this historic Budapest Memorandum, a 1994 agreement where Ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear arsenal from Soviet times in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, the US, and UK.

  He also emphasized in a rhetorical question, “Which nuclear states suffered? None except Ukraine… Who gave up their nuclear weapons? All of them? No. Only Ukraine… Who is fighting today? Ukraine.”

  Following the address, Zelensky appeared alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and sought to downplay the nuclear remarks, saying, “We never spoke about … that we are preparing to create nuclear weapons or something like this.”

  Russian media also picked up on this moment:

  Zelensky himself walked back his earlier comments at a later joint news conference in Brussels with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, saying: “I said I have no alternative except NATO. That was my signal. But we are not building nuclear weapons.”

  Meanwhile former Russian president and current deputy chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev has claimed that Ukraine is working on a dirty bomb. He said the Zelensky government “has everything necessary for that: resources, technology and specialists.”

  However, he dismissed the Ukrainian leader’s nuke rhetoric as nonsense, and instead focused his criticisms on the likelier potential to develop a dirty bomb.

  “Either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons, and then it will be a defense for us, or Ukraine will be in NATO. NATO countries are not at war today. All people are alive in NATO countries. And that is why we choose NATO over nuclear weapons.” – President Zelensky. pic.twitter.com/yAv3RoozDi

  — WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) October 17, 2024

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

  If Kiev pushes this nuclear development line further, it’s likely to find that the US and West will distance themselves from more long-term support, amid accusations that arms and ammo supplies have been dwindling to just a trickle.

  Among Zelensky’s main messages to the EU on Thursday was that a “dangerous winter” lies ahead, and therefore more immediate financial and weapons aid is urgent. “We did our homework,” Zelensky said of efforts to prepare for the winter months, at a moment Russia is gaining ground in the east.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 18:55

• Pro-Crypto Orgs Dominate Megadonors To US Presidential Election
  Pro-Crypto Orgs Dominate Megadonors To US Presidential Election

  As the 2024 election approaches, organizations are pouring millions of dollars in to support their party of choice, or in some cases, bipartisan groups that bolster their industry.

  Using data from the Federal Election Commission for the period January 1, 2023 to August 20, 2024, The Washington Post compiled the 50 top organization donors and where they spent their money. This chart, via Visual Capitalist’s Julie Peasley, maps the top 10.

  

  Megadonors Supporting Bipartisan Groups

  Crypto companies Coinbase and Ripple gave the majority of their donations to Fairshake, a super political action committee (PAC) that supports campaigns of crypto-friendly congressional candidates. Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm, also supported Fairshake.

  Contributions from these three megadonors totaled $180.1 million.

  Megadonors Supporting Partisan Groups

  The majority of the donations went to partisan groups.

  

  The largest contributors to Republican organizations include the Empower Parents PAC and Koch Industries. The notable donations made by these firms went to Never Back Down Inc. ($82.5 million from Empower Parents PAC), Americans for Prosperity Action, Congressional Leadership Fund, and Senate Leadership Fund.

  Conversely, the remaining five of the top 10 megadonors supported Democratic groups. The most significant recipients were Democracy PAC, which received $60.0 million from Fund for Policy Reform, and Future Forward PAC, which received $55.9 million from Future Forward USA Action.

  If you found this interesting, check out this visualization that looks at the U.S.’s most trusted sources for government information.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 18:50

• Gold: The "Everything Hedge"
  Gold: The “Everything Hedge”

  Authored by James Rickards via DailyReckoning.com,

  Goodbye Digital, Hello Physical

  Is the election over already?

  Sure, Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. But the election is happening in real-time and will mostly be over by the end of this week because of early voting, mail-in ballots, drop boxes and ballot harvesting.

  These votes won’t be counted until Election Day, but they are being cast now, so hopefully somebody will be watching this time.

  It goes state by state, so different states have different laws, obviously. But in many states, the voting has already begun. In many cases, it was Oct. 11. Other states opened up on Oct. 15.

  But the point is a lot of the voting has already happened, and a lot more is going to happen during this week.

  So the election will be over before Election Day. We won’t know the results until Nov. 5, but the election’s very largely over in the middle of October. (That’s why the “October surprise” of past election cycles is obsolete.)

  Polls Pointing to Trump

  This timing is another reason why I believe Donald Trump will win this election. Polling has swung to the Trump camp in the past few weeks. This momentum has come at the right time as early voting began in critical battleground states.

  But once voters have cast their votes and a winner is declared next month, the election will not be over. Why? Because the Democrats have another lawfare trick up their sleeves in anticipation of a Trump victory.

  But let’s assume for the moment that Trump wins the election and actually takes office in January. What market sectors should do well under a second Trump administration?

  Here are some of the sectors that will benefit with a Trump victory in November:

  • Oil and natural gas drilling, production and refining

  • Mining (gold, silver, copper, lithium)

  • Defense (especially in contractors with good research and development programs. We need new technology, not just more of the same weapons)

  • Automobile manufacturing focused more on internal-combustion engines rather than electric vehicles.

  

  The Return of the Physical

  I would also look at sectors that benefit from lower oil and gas prices including trucking and airlines.

  Trump’s agenda will incentivize billions of dollars of investments in U.S. energy and manufacturing jobs. He’ll make domestic oil drilling and refining a top priority which will provide America with energy independence. This will also benefit companies (and provide more jobs) in the energy sector.

  He’ll also eliminate the Green New Scam by reducing spending on wasteful projects like Kamala Harris’ EV mandates. This will allow automakers to shine once more by producing more automobiles with traditional internal-combustion engines.

  In short, a second Trump term could ignite a boom in the physical world. This stands in stark contrast to most of the past 15 years, which have seen the domination of investments in the digital, online world.

  Since most investors’ portfolios are outweighed with popular, mega-cap technology stocks, few are positioned to profit from this trend. You shouldn’t be one of them.

  Refiners, Refiners, Refiners! 

  Here, my senior analyst, Dan Amoss, lays out the investment case for refiners, which should thrive under a second Trump administration:

  One sector you should pay attention to is refiners because U.S. refiners are in a new golden age. Two years ago, you may recall hearing news stories about tight diesel supplies across many areas of the U.S.

  The Biden/Harris administration has constantly promised action to “fight” high prices for gasoline and diesel. However, this administration has only made politically expedient, short term-oriented moves like draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

  The cold, hard reality that green energy advocates need to accept is that the billion-plus fleet of internal-combustion engines around the world will need diesel and gasoline for decades into the future.

  Pandering to a political base of radical environmentalists will only result in the loss of political power, whether it’s in the U.S. or Europe.

  Until we see more political support to maintain U.S. oil, gas and refining production capacity — and years of catch-up investments are made — we’ll keep bumping up against constraints.

  Demand for refined products remains strong despite high prices. Gasoline and diesel prices might seem high, but that’s only because it’s natural to make a mental anchor to super-low prices in 2020 and early 2021.

  Why U.S. Refineries Are in a New Golden Age

  Hydrogen is a crucial ingredient in the oil refining process. It dilutes the carbon in the end product, which allows for increased production of high-quality fuels. Where do refineries get hydrogen?

  They get it from natural gas. Access to lower-cost natural gas is why U.S. refineries will enjoy a huge competitive advantage versus competing refineries in Europe and Asia.

  Natural gas prices in Europe have cooled off over the winter as demand has slowed. In recent years, Europe has enjoyed some of the warmest winters in memory. But it won’t always be unseasonably warm.

  Another surge in natural gas prices will remind investors that it will be difficult to profitably refine crude in Europe. The continent may see more refinery shutdowns in the years ahead.

  If so, it will rely more on imported products from geographies that have been investing in refineries, including the Middle East. Mothballed European refineries act to tighten refined product supply, which boosts profits at U.S. refiners.

  Sanctions on Russian refined products have tightened refined product supplies — especially distillates (heating oil and diesel). Of course, Russia gets around sanctions by exporting to third parties. But the net effect is an increase in miles traveled for the global refined-product tanker fleet.

  That means there are more refined products on the water and fewer products sitting in onshore tanks. Tighter onshore supplies keep prices high.

  Meanwhile, U.S. refining capacity has been in a downtrend since COVID. So even if demand for gasoline and diesel falls in a recession, tighter refining capacity will cushion the downside risk in refining margins.

  We like to recommend cyclical stocks when their sectors have been underinvesting. Refining has been underinvesting for several years, so it’s a good time to own refiners. The mid-2000s was a golden age for U.S. refiners. Profits were high and consistent, and refining stocks left the S&P 500 in the dust. Now we’re looking at another golden age.

  Gold: The “Everything Hedge”

  Returning to the election, Trump is in a good position to win. Still, the uncertainty factor and element of surprise make it too soon to issue a final prediction. And if the Democrats have their way, Trump could be in for a battle to take office even if he wins. So there’s still a lot of uncertainty.

  Markets hate uncertainty. That’s why volatility will be high for the next several weeks in several sectors of the market.

  It’s a perfect scenario for owning gold. I call gold the “everything hedge.” It hedges you against political uncertainty, stock market collapse, geopolitical risk, social unrest and an attack on the U.S. dollar. So gold serves all those purposes.

  That’s why I recommend 10% of your investable assets be allocated to gold. It’s excellent insurance that’ll give you peace of mind in uncertain times.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 18:25

• Oh, 'Bamacare! Visualizing Forty Years Of Health Insurance Cost Inflation
  Oh, ‘Bamacare! Visualizing Forty Years Of Health Insurance Cost Inflation

  The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CEX) now covers forty years worth of data for how Americans households spend money.

  That data includes how much the average “consumer unit” surveyed by the U.S. Census Bureau spends on health insurance, which like many other things in the economy, has seen significant cost inflation over the past four decades.

  The following chart, via Political Calculations blog, shows how that cost has changed from 1984, the first year for the CEX, through 2023, the latest, whose data was just released last month.

  As you’ll see, over the past 40 years, there has been one major factor that has altered the trajectory for how much American households/consumer units pay on average for health insurance coverage.

  

  Back in 1984, the first year for the CEX, American household consumer units paid an average of $370 for health insurance.

  That figure grew steadily over the following years and by 2000, the average cost of health insurance for a U.S. household has risen to $980.

  From 2000 through 2010, the average cost of health insurance grew faster, reaching $1,826 by 2010.

  Had the 2000 through 2010 growth trend continued, we estimate the average amount American households would pay for health insurance in 2023 would be $2,927.

  But it didn’t, thanks to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in 2010.

  It was implemented over several years, going into full effect in 2014.

  The claimed goal of the law, as suggested by its name, was to make health insurance more affordable for Americans.

  In 2023, the average cost of health insurance paid by American households has more than doubled what it was in 2010.

  At an average $4,049 per household, this expense is more than 38% higher than the trend that existed in the decade before the Affordable Care Act became law.

  The chart also indicates the cost “curve” for health insurance has bent upward since 2021, which has inflated more quickly over the last few years following 2020’s coronavirus pandemic.

  Political Calculations blog will be featuring other aspects of how American consumer spending has changed over the past four decades using the latest CEX data in the weeks ahead.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 18:00

• Gmail Users Warned About New Account Takeover Scam: Here's What To Look For
  Gmail Users Warned About New Account Takeover Scam: Here’s What To Look For

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

  A security researcher and a technology startup CEO are warning that some Gmail users could fall prey to a sophisticated, AI-based scam that could lead to their accounts being taken over.

  

  Garry Tan, chief executive of prominent tech-oriented venture capital firm Ycombinator, wrote on X late last week that there is a “pretty elaborate” phishing scam that uses an AI-generated voice.

  The scammers “[claim] to be Google Support (caller ID matches, but is not verified),” he wrote in an Oct. 10 post that he termed a “public service announcement.”

  “DO NOT CLICK YES ON THIS DIALOG—You will be phished.

  “They claim to be checking that you are alive and that they should disregard a death certificate filed that claims a family member is recovering your account. It’s a pretty elaborate ploy to get you to allow password recovery.”

  IT consultant Sam Mitrovic, in a blog post last month, wrote of a similar scam attempt targeting Gmail accounts and also using an AI-generated voice.

  “The scams are getting increasingly sophisticated, more convincing and are deployed at ever larger scale,” Mitrovic wrote in the post. “People are busy and this scam sounded and looked legitimate enough that I would give them an A for their effort. Many people are likely to fall for it.”

  According to the post, Mitrovic said he received a notification to approve an attempt to recover a Gmail account, which he ultimately rejected. He then received a phone call about 40 minutes later with a caller ID as “Google Sydney” and rejected it as well.

  “Exactly a week later,” he said, “more or less exactly the same time, I received another notification to approve my Gmail account recovery again from the United States.

  “You guessed it—about 40 minutes later I receive a call which I pick up this time. It’s an American voice, very polite and professional. The number is Australian. He introduces himself and says that there is suspicious activity on my account.”

  The person on the other line then asked if Mitrovic was traveling, to which he replied he was not, according to his account. The person then asked if Mitrovic was in Germany, to which he also said no.

  Mitrovic said he found the caller’s number was an official one that was listed under Google Australia’s IT support page, adding that he asked for a confirmation email, and the sender address also appeared to be an official account used by Google’s team.

  “In the background, I can hear someone typing on the keyboard and throughout the call there is some background noise reminiscent of a call centre. He tells me that he has sent the email. After a few moments, the email arrives and at a first glance the email looks legit—the sender is from a Google domain,” he wrote.

  But the researcher noted that “spoofing an email address is easy and I notice that the To field contains an email address cleverly named GoogleMail at InternalCaseTracking dot com (non-Google domain).”

  “The caller said, Hello, I ignored it then about 10 seconds later, then said Hello again,” he said, adding that at that moment, he realized the voice was AI-generated, “as the pronunciation and spacing were too perfect.”

  Mitrovic wrote that he hung up and called the number back. He then received a message that said, “This is Google Maps, we are currently unable to take your call.”

  The researcher said he wasn’t the only one who appeared to have been almost scammed, finding others who wrote that they were targeted by a similar scheme.

  Public service announcement: You should be aware of a pretty elaborate phishing scam using AI voice that claims to be Google Support (caller ID matches, but is not verified)

  DO NOT CLICK YES ON THIS DIALOG— You will be phished

  They claim to be checking that you are alive and… pic.twitter.com/60zeuS2lL8

  — Garry Tan (@garrytan) October 10, 2024

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

  “There are many tools to fight the scammers, however, at an individual level the best tool is still vigilance, doing the basic checks as above or seeking assistance from someone you trust,” Mitrovic wrote.

  According to the blog post, the researcher said there were several hints to suggest it may have been an attempt to take over his Google or Gmail account.

  Mitrovic noted that telltale signs of a scam include that one, he received account recovery messages that he did not initiate; two, it was a phone call, as Google does not call users unless they have a Google Business Profile; and three, the email he received had an address “not connected to a Google domain.” Additionally, the email header showed “how the email was spoofed,” and a “reverse number search showed others who received the same scam call,” he said.

  “Despite many red flags upon closer inspection, this call seemed legitimate enough to trick many people,” he wrote. “My guess is that their conversion rate from calls answered would be relatively high.”

  The Epoch Times contacted Google for comment about Mitrovic’s and Tan’s warnings but received no response by press time.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 17:40

• New Claims That 10,000 North Korean Troops Are Being Sent To Fight Ukraine
  New Claims That 10,000 North Korean Troops Are Being Sent To Fight Ukraine

  At this point it has become clear that Zelensky is trying to scare and blackmail the West into ramping up support to Ukraine, which includes a push allow NATO membership, and with loose talk of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons to boot.

  Part of the fearmongering has also featured Zelensky’s insistence that a global coalition of enemies is now fighting Kiev. “The coalition of criminals along with Putin already includes North Korea,” Zelensky told his parliament in a speech this week. “Everyone sees the Iranian regime’s assistance to Putin, and also China’s cooperation with Russia.”

  The next day, Thursday, Zelensky was in Brussels where he informed EU officials that North Korea is amassing a large amount of troops in Russia, readying them to fight in Ukraine.

  

  “We know that there are 10,000 soldiers of North Korea, that they are preparing to send, fight against us,” he said in a briefing. This includes “land forces, other tactical personnel” and framed it as “the first step to a world war.”

  “Because of the gap in mobilization, because of lots of Russian losses, and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is afraid of mobilisation very much . . . that is why he is trying to involve other participants in this war,” he added.

  But as Financial Times has pointed out, Western intelligence finds these claims dubious:

  Military analysts and Nato officials have cast doubt on the accuracy of reports that North Korean troops are involved in combat in eastern Ukraine. Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte said on Wednesday that the defence alliance had no “definitive” information on this matter.

  The White House said on Tuesday it could not independently confirm the reports of North Korean troops fighting on behalf of Russia but “those reports are concerning to us”, according to National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

  On Friday, South Korean intelligence (the NIS) sought to vouch for Zelensky’s claims, saying it believes up to 12,000 North Korean troops are mustering in Russia, and that at least 1,500 have already arrived.

  South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has highlighted the report Friday, issuing a call for international community must respond with “all available means”.

  If indeed there were a surge of North Korean troops of this size into Eastern Europe, there would likely be photographic evidence, or at least leaked images of some kind. Pro-Kiev accounts have offered the following unverified images, sources and date unclear…

  This is reportedly how North Korean soldiers are outfitted in Russian gear.

  According to reports, this is the Sergievsky training ground in Russia’s Far East.

  Soldiers from North Korea are fighting in Europe against a European country.
  How will Europe react? https://t.co/IgoPAqqCOo pic.twitter.com/iMfAGZorEM

  — Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) October 18, 2024

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

  If true this would mark a major escalation of N.Korea’s involvement. “More North Korean troops could be deployed in the war,” Seoul had previously warned this much. But the West wouldn’t be able to do much, having already put fairly maximum sanctions on both Russia and North Korea. It could be another dangerous sign that the Ukraine war is getting more and more internationalized.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 17:20

• Did CDC Officials Mislead The Public About COVID Vaccine Efficacy? Rep. Massie Says "Yes"
  Did CDC Officials Mislead The Public About COVID Vaccine Efficacy? Rep. Massie Says “Yes”

  Via American Greatness,

  When Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) contacted officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in December of 2020, he wanted to know if taking the newly released Covid vaccine would benefit him, since he’d already contracted the illness.

  

  After reading the scientific studies himself, and seeing no benefit, Massie contacted the CDC to learn why they were putting out incorrect information which claimed that their studies showed that the Covid vaccine does provide a benefit to those who have previously had Covid.

  Massie says those secretly recorded conversations with CDC officials in December of 2020 show that they were lying about their Pfizer Covid vaccine trial data.

  In December of 2020, I caught CDC lying about Pfizer COVID vaccine trial data. I recorded phone conversations with CDC where they admitted I was right. My late wife Rhonda suggested I give the tapes to @SharylAttkisson. I did and Sharyl exposed CDC. Watch:pic.twitter.com/apWAVJqcdv

  — Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) October 16, 2024

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

  In those phone calls, Massie says CDC officials were caught deliberately downplaying the effectiveness of natural immunity while pushing for Covid-19 vaccinations for everyone, regardless of prior infection.

  According to Attkisson, in the recordings, CDC officials thanked Massie for finding the mistake in their studies and admitted that the claims of vaccine efficacy for the previously infected wasn’t true, yet they pushed back on correcting the falsehood, saying it would confuse the public.

  Attkisson says, the very next day, those same officials who had admitted their mistake regarding the vaccine’s effectiveness to Massie nevertheless conducted a webinar for doctors that repeated the same misinformation.

  In the recording, Massie expresses concern that continuing to encourage previously infected people with natural immunity to get the vaccine, which was in short supply, could prevent others who were at greater risk from Covid from having access to the vaccine.

  In a call with CDC’s Washington D.C. Director Anstis Brand, Massie says, “If there’s a “they” who is refusing to fix something that is factually and provably wrong, I want to know who “they” is. Because this is going to result and is already resulting in misallocation of the vaccine.”

  Brand tells him that she’ll have to look into it and get back to him.

  In another call with the CDC’s Dr. Sara Oliver, Massie points out the error in which the study erroneously claims that the vaccine is efficacious for those with prior infection and he asks to get it corrected.

  Dr. Oliver says admits that Massie is correct but says that the CDC still is recommending that previously infected individuals get the vaccine, saying “We wouldn’t want to put out that if you’ve had Covid before, you shouldn’t get the vaccine.”

  Massie’s recorded calls with CDC officials clearly show the agency was pushing vaccination even for those who likely didn’t need it due to natural immunity.

  These revelations appear to vindicate those who expressed worries that U.S health officials were being driven by an agenda to promote vaccines rather than by honest science.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 17:00

• US Banks Suffer Biggest Weekly Deposit Outflow Since SVB Crisis
  US Banks Suffer Biggest Weekly Deposit Outflow Since SVB Crisis

  After the massive deposit inflows the prior week, US banks saw total deposits plunge in the week-ending 10/09 (latest data released today), down a stunning $69BN (on a seasonally-adjusted basis), erasing the prior two weeks deposit inflows…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  On a non-seasonally-adjusted basis, banks also deposit outflows ($59.5BN)…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Additionally, for the first time in four weeks, money market funds saw (admittedly small) outflows this week (-$6.5BN), taking them just off record highs…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  That is only the second weekly outflow from MM funds in the last three months… and the outflow was all institutional (with retail funds continuing to see inflows)…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Excluding foreign deposits, the US domestic bank deposit outflows were considerably worse, down $85BN (NSA) and $88BN (SA)…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  That is the biggest weekly SA domestic deposit outflow since the SVB crisis in March 2023…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  As a reminder, its tax-filing extension deadline time, which we’re sure explains some of this. However, this is the largest mid-October deposit outflow since at least the GFC.

  Outflows from Large Banks (-$81BN SA and -$85BN NSA) dominated small inflow for Small Banks (+$3.4BN SA and +$0.03BN NSA).

  The Fed’s bank bailout facility continued to shrink last week (down $2BN), really getting back to immediate SVB crisis loan levels (having erased all the arbitrage-driven surge in the blue box)…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  As might be expected with the large deposit drawdown, loan volumes shrank dramatically at Large Banks (and rose modestly at Small Banks)

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Finally, the gap between bank reserves at The Fed and US equity mareket cap continues to widen…

  

  …will that relationship ever recouple?

  So, all eyes next week on deposit flows to see if they normalize after tax-day.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 16:40

• The Three Layers Of Culpability
  The Three Layers Of Culpability

  Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

  “The migrant crisis has been the first issue to truly evocatively make obvious that something extremely dark and sinister is happening to the country.”

  – Simplicius on Substack

  The Great Fright among the elite of the party ruling our country steals across the land chillingly now from sea to shining sea – as if all those ghouls, werewolves, zombies, and tormented wraiths assembled in the front yard Halloween displays send up one mighty wail of despair: Donald Trump will seek revenge against his enemies if you elect him! they scream into the pale moonlight.

  

  Well, he ought to, of course, and remember: they are your enemies, too – the FBI thugs battering down your doors at five in the morning, the malicious US attorneys manufacturing phony felonies, the Soros-owned DAs and party-owned judges, and the thousands of spooks from agencies both known and unheard-of surveilling your every move, every purchase, every journey, every thought. Consider that it is not whether Mr. Trump might seek revenge but whether justice, and the mental health of the nation, require an accounting for the real crimes of actual persons against the people of America lo these years of the Woke Jacobin Inquisition.

  Finally, as the days dwindle down to November 5, you understand exactly what motivates the three layers of evil heaping America with malice and punishment.

  • Layer one: the officers of the political establishment, a.k.a., “the blob” or Deep State, both current and emeritus. You know now that they are motived to stay out of courts-of-law (and, ultimately, prison). Figures such as John Brennan, Merrick Garland, Lisa Monaco, Chris Wray, Anthony Fauci, Alejandro Mayorkas, Barack Obama, and many more, exude culpability for doing real harm to US citizens. They do not want to do time. As Dr. Johnson famously said: “When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” They see Donald Trump’s poll number go hockey stick and they tremble in their Beltway mansions. On the Kubler-Ross transect of grief, they are just now wavering between the stages of anger and bargaining.

  • Second layer: the lawfare lawyer gang deployed to keep the blob safe from investigation and prosecution: Marc Elias, (the mail-in ballot fraud genius), Norm Eisen, Andrew Weissmann, Mary McCord (authors of every get-Trump legal brief), and many others who work with them, are motivated by the gigantic fees they command from the Democratic National Committee and other cut-out orgs that funnel payments to them. The Elias Law Group alone is rumored to have raked-in millions from one client, the Kamala Harris campaign. This is apart from whatever lawyerly zeal they exercise so enjoyably in their blood-lust for Mr. Trump and his associates. Remember: Jacobins are sadists who derive pleasure from cruelly punishing their adversaries. It probably motivates them more than the money involved, since ambitious Beltway lawyers can always and easily make bundles of money from the most mundane services to the blob.

  • Third Layer: the news media. The motives of these birds are the flimsiest: social status and professional stature. They operate within a self-referential reward bubble that provides psychological nourishment as long as they go along with the mumurations of their flock. They will be easiest to turn around as the national mood turns (and is now turning, sharply). A year from now, don’t be surprised if they treat Mr. Trump as a revered hero who saved the country from the malignant blob — and pretend that they never thought otherwise. By then, it will be too late for some, of course, and actual figures such as Lawrence O’Donnell and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, Maggie Haberman of The New York Times, NBC’s Nicolle Wallace, will be drowning in their own slime trails.

  Now, whether Mr. Trump would actively seek revenge is a thing apart from the paranoia of his adversaries.

  On the one hand, he seems aware that his own place in history will rest not on looking backward to the harms inflicted on him as the sacrificial goat for the sins of “the deplorables” – the many Lawfare cases against him will likely be reversed in higher courts, or just dropped – but on attending to and fixing the many obvious, reality-based problems afflicting the nation: inflation, the horrendous debt, the libido for war induced by military contractors and neocons, the return of productive industry and jobs that pay living wages, sealing the border and expelling dangerous aliens, and stopping the race-and-gender hustles, to name a few things.

  In 2016, Mr. Trump floated the idea of defaulting on US debt, or negotiating its terms. Sounded outrageous to some at the time. Now, with the BRICs org meeting to de-dollarize their trade arrangements, might be a ripe time to make such a move. He can reverse “Joe Biden’s” 2021 reversal of his border policies by executive order on day one, put a stop to the “sanctuary city” idiocy, and end all cash incentives to illegals currently inside the USA. He can negotiate a reasonable end to the Ukraine conflict that leaves that country neutral, as everyone knows it should be. He can incentivize the return of factory production with US companies. He knows (and you know) that there is a huge agenda of practical problems to face. Mr. Trump does not need the aggravation of stirring up further grievance and resentment among the defeated Wokesters. He needs them to get aboard a national reclamation project, get their minds right, and lend a hand.

  Speaking of hands, on the other hand, remember that the signal weakness of Julius Caesar was pardoning his enemies. Since Mr. Trump is best known as a deal-maker, I believe he will seek to make a deal with the blob. The deal will be for them to cooperate in the prosecution of certain key figures in exchange for not demolishing their agencies altogether. Some of these people — Garland, Mayorkas, Fauci, Brennan, and Wray, for examples — really do need to do some ‘splainin’ in front of juries. That may be sufficient to clarify for history some of the damage the Woke insanity did to our country. We can’t pretend that nothing happened. Most of all, Mr. Trump has to defeat the sick belief that anything goes and nothing matters.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 10/18/2024 – 16:20

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• The US Fears An Uncontrollable Escalation Sequence With Russia Much More Than With Iran
  The US Fears An Uncontrollable Escalation Sequence With Russia Much More Than With Iran

  Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

  Politico cited a senior Senate aid and two sources in the Biden Administration to report on Wednesday that the US is much more afraid of an uncontrollable escalation sequence with Russia than with Iran due to the first’s nuclear capabilities.

  

  As proof of this, the US has no qualms about shooting down Iranian missiles launched against Israel but won’t consider shooting down Russian ones launched against Ukraine, which has upset Zelensky and some of his compatriots who thus feel like second-class allies.

  The difference between Russia/Ukraine and Iran/Israel in this regard accounts for the US’ different approach towards each pair.

  As was explained last month in this analysis about why “Putin Explicitly Confirmed What Was Already Self-Evident About Russia’s Nuclear Doctrine”, the comparatively more pragmatic policymakers who still have the final say in Russia and the US have thus far managed to avoid the uncontrollable escalation sequence that their respective hawkish rivals want.

  Here’s how they did it:

  “[The US hawks’] comparatively more pragmatic rivals who still call the shots always signal their escalatory intentions far in advance so that Russia could prepare itself and thus be less likely to ‘overreact’ in some way that risks World War III. Likewise, Russia continues restraining itself from replicating the US’ ‘shock-and-awe’ campaign in order to reduce the likelihood of the West ‘overreacting’ by directly intervening in the conflict to salvage their geopolitical project and thus risking World War III.

  It can only be speculated whether this interplay is due to each’s permanent military, intelligence, and diplomatic bureaucracies (‘deep state’) behaving responsibly on their own considering the enormity of what’s at stake or if it’s the result of a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’. Whatever the truth may be, the aforesaid model accounts for the unexpected moves or lack thereof from each, which are the US correspondingly telegraphing its escalatory intentions and Russia never seriously escalating in kind.”

  There’s no equivalent balance of nuclear power between the US and Iran, with the most that Iran can do is launch saturation strikes against American bases in the region, not existentially threaten it like Russia can.

  If Iran’s potential retaliation to Israel’s expected strike harms or kills some of the nearly 100-member team operating the US’ THAAD in the self-professed Jewish State, then the US could either take the hit, retaliate against Iranian-aligned Resistance groups in the region, or strike the Islamic Republic.

  Regardless of whatever might happen, non-nuclear Iran is incapable of existentially threatening the US like nuclear-armed Russia could if the latter retaliated to the interception of its missiles by hitting targets inside of NATO, which could easily catalyze a possibly apocalyptic escalation sequence.

  To be sure, there are indeed some US hawks who want to risk that scenario and the abovementioned comparatively less consequential one in West Asia, but their more pragmatic rivals are still able to stop them for now.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 23:25

• China Macro Data Dump "Unexpectedly" Beats Across The Board
  China Macro Data Dump “Unexpectedly” Beats Across The Board

  On the day the Biden admin decided to flagrantly misrepresent the last retail sales report before the election, and used the biggest ever September seasonal adjustment on record to make an unadjusted retail sales decline into a blazing hot print, once again misleading the Fed that the economy is doing much better than it is, something Powell lamented after the BLS recently “revised out” some 818K jobs …

  

  … China decided to out BS the BLS, and moments ago reported economic “data” that was fake, goalseeked and, well, BS from top to bottom.

  In its Friday morning data dump when Beijing reported all the key economic metrics for the month, as one would expect from the only country eager to outmanipulate the US when it comes to rigging econ data, every single data point beat estimates but only ever so slightly, you know… to make it realistic:

  • Q3 GDP 4.6%, beating estimates of 4.5% (but down from 4.7$ in Q2).
  • Retail Sales Sept 3.2%, beating estimates of 2.5%, and up from 2.1%
  • Industrial Output 5.4%, beating estimates of 4.5%, and up from 4.5%
  • Fixed Investment Jan-Sept 3.4%, beating estimates of 3.3%, and unch sequentially
  • Urban jobless rate dropped to 5.1% from 5.3% in August

  

  Why this miraculous “beat” across the board? Simple: to instill confidence that the fake bazooka which Beijing pretended to fire in late September, yet which appears to be just another major dud where Xi Jinping hopes to sent stocks and home prices surging without actually massively expanding credit into the economy, is already succeeding. The better-than-expected retail sales figures in September also received a boost from government subsidies for buying home appliances, which saw a 21% surge in sales from a year ago, picking up from a 3% gain in the previous month.

  Alas, as we discussed earlier, it is doing anything but and investors are already fleeing from Chinese markets just days after mainland stocks soared as much as 30% on what in retrospect appears to have been hollow promises, lies and David Tepper dumping his bags while using gullible CNBC viewers as exit liquidity telling them to buy China no questions asked.

  Yet not even the fake data could cover up that China’s economy continues to sink: yes, the numbers may have beat, but the Q3 GDP – the slowest since Q1 2023 – remains well below the government’s target for full-year growth of 5% and less than the 4.7% recorded in the previous quarter as sluggish consumption and a property slump weighed on household sentiment.

  “It makes the official growth target of 5% difficult to achieve if this trend continues to year end,” said Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. “This may be why the government decided in the Politburo meeting to change policy stance and boost growth.”

  The National Bureau of Statistics said there’s reason for caution despite improvements in the main indicators as the stimulus measures are rolled out. “We also need to see that the external environment is increasingly complex and grim, and the economy’s foundation for rebound and improvement needs to be further solidified,” a spokesperson said in a statement accompanying the release, pretending it is somehow everyone else’s fault Beijing has completely lost its ability to reflate the economy.

  Data released before Friday painted a mixed picture for growth in September. Exports slowed sharply, curbing a trade rebound that has been a bright spot for the economy. Deflationary pressures continued to build, with consumer prices still weak and factory gate prices falling for 24 straight months.

  The softer growth will underscore the need for more support for the economy from Beijing, which in late September announced its biggest monetary stimulus since the pandemic and followed up with promises of heavy fiscal spending, yet which have yet to materialize.

  As noted earlier, China’s markets reacted exuberantly to the news of monetary stimulus but – once Jim Cramer said to rush into Chinese stocks – have slumped as desperate investors await confirmation of the coming fiscal stimulus. The CSI 300 index of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed stocks and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng benchmark are down in October, although they remain up for the year to date.

  

  Efforts by the country’s economic planner, finance ministry and housing ministry to boost confidence have been consistent duds, falling far short of investor expectations. The Hang Seng Mainland Properties index fell 6.7% on Thursday after the housing ministry’s support for the real estate sector disappointed markets. Authorities have yet to quantify the extra fiscal spending, but analysts have said this might be announced at a standing committee meeting of the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp parliament, in the coming weeks.

  And amusingly, just as Chinese and Hong Kong stocks slumped after the strong Chinese data (because they were not misses, taking away from the urgency to stimulate more), with the CSI 300 already into negative territory, the central bank stepped in yet again with what has now become a daily market-boosting gimmick, which today came in the form of a slew of headlines to show that more easing and support for markets lie ahead.

  • *PBOC SAYS FIRST BATCH OF SFISF QUOTAS EXCEEDED 200 BILLION YUAN
  • *PAN REITERATES PBOC MAY FURTHER LOWER RRR YEAR-END: CAILIAN

  As a result, the CSI 300 is now up nearly 1%, although not even the algos buying Chinese stocks will be fooled for long and having seen this same old song and dance day after day, the selling will resume momentarily as traders indicate they no longer want words but demand actions.

  

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 23:06

• The Kids Aren't Alright: Local Washington Police Report 350% Increase In Juvenile Fights
  The Kids Aren’t Alright: Local Washington Police Report 350% Increase In Juvenile Fights

  New data coming out of the Issaquah Police Department in Washington have revealed a 350% increase in fights among juveniles since the start of August this year, compared to last year. 

  The data, highlighted by KOMO News, was driven by “juveniles in middle school”, according to the report. 

  Between August 1 and October 15, Issaquah police received 18 reports of juvenile fights, up from 4 during the same period in 2023.

  Officers noted these incidents occurred in public settings and reported a pattern of increased fights at the start of the school year, with most reports coming from adult witnesses, parents, or students.

  Police reported that 72% of juvenile fights occurred between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., often near school properties or within a few blocks of Issaquah schools. 

  

  The KOMO News report obtained an Oct. 3 memo from Issaquah Middle School Principal Mark Jergens-Zmuda, addressing the rise in student fights, some recorded by bystanders.

  “School safety is paramount, and some measures have been put in place. Ensuring a safe and supportive school environment is our top priority,” the memo said. 

  To address the issue, the school held assemblies on expectations, safety, and conflict resolution. Jergens-Zmuda also reminded parents of school rules, including requiring students to stay seated for the first 15 minutes of lunch and banning gatherings on a nearby hill after school, where several fights had occurred.

  The school district responded in a statement:

  “Schools across the country have student altercations, and our district does as well… we take every instance of student altercations seriously, and investigate them in accordance with Washington state law as well as Issaquah School District policies and regulations. Student privacy laws do not allow us to share specific information about individual instances of altercations, the students involved, or discipline. As always, we are working with students, staff and families to support our students. We appreciate the partnership of our staff, families and community members.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 23:00

• Raytheon To Pay Over $950 Million In Settlement Over Fraud, Qatari Bribery, And Export Violations
  Raytheon To Pay Over $950 Million In Settlement Over Fraud, Qatari Bribery, And Export Violations

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

  Raytheon, a subsidiary of defense contractor RTX, has agreed to pay more than $950 million to resolve federal investigations into government contract fraud, as well as violations of anti-corruption and export control laws.

  

  The settlement, announced by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Oct. 16, addresses allegations involving defective pricing on military contracts with the U.S. government, as well as illegal bribes to a Qatari official, with the resolution involving both civil and criminal penalties.

  An RTX spokesperson confirmed the settlement, telling The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that the company acknowledges responsibility for the misconduct and has cooperated with investigators. The company also emphasized its commitment to bolstering its compliance and ethics programs.

  Raytheon has admitted to two major fraud schemes affecting Department of Defense (DoD) contracts, including the provision of PATRIOT missile systems and radar systems.

  In the first case, Raytheon employees provided defective pricing information, leading the DoD to overpay on two contracts by roughly $111 million between 2012 and 2018.

  In a separate scheme, Raytheon failed to provide accurate cost or pricing data for numerous DoD contracts, including a weapons maintenance agreement, leading to further inflated payments.

  Under the terms of a three-year deferred prosecution agreement, Raytheon will pay a criminal monetary penalty of $146.8 million and $111.2 million in victim compensation and retain an independent compliance monitor for three years.

  The company received a 25 percent reduction in penalties for taking remedial actions, such as firing employees responsible for the misconduct and implementing new controls to prevent future fraud.

  Additionally, Raytheon has agreed to pay $428 million to settle False Claims Act allegations related to providing false data during contract negotiations with the DoD. As part of the settlement, Raytheon admitted it misrepresented labor and material costs for weapon systems and double-billed on a radar station contract.

  “The department is committed to holding accountable those contractors that knowingly misrepresent their cost and pricing data or otherwise violate their legal obligations when negotiating or performing contracts with the United States,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the DOJ’s Civil Division, said in a statement.

  Bribery Scheme in Qatar

  Raytheon also faced charges under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) for a bribery scheme in Qatar.

  The company was accused of paying nearly $2 million in bribes to Qatari military officials between 2011 and 2017 to secure lucrative defense contracts through sham subcontracts.

  From the early 2000s to 2020, Raytheon also paid more than $30 million to a Qatari agent, a royal family member with no military contracting experience, despite numerous internal warnings about corruption risks.

  In this case, which involved a parallel investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Raytheon was accused of failing to adequately document the agent’s services while continuing to rely on this relationship to obtain defense contracts.

  As part of a settlement with the SEC, Raytheon agreed to pay $124 million in penalties, with $22.5 million of that amount offset by a parallel DOJ fine.

  In addition, Raytheon entered into a separate deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ for the bribery violations, which includes a $230.4 million criminal fine and a $37 million forfeiture. The company will also retain an independent compliance monitor for three years.

  “Raytheon willfully failed to disclose bribes made in connection with contracts that required export licenses,“ Matthew Olsen, Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ’s National Security Division, said in a statement. ”Today’s resolution should serve as a stark warning to companies that violate the law when selling sensitive military technology overseas.”

  RTX has expressed its commitment to taking responsibility for the violations and implementing reforms.

  “We have worked diligently during the investigations to remediate that misconduct and continue to do so,” an RTX spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “We are committed to working closely with the incoming independent monitor to improve and further enhance our ethics and compliance program.”

  The spokesperson also reaffirmed the company’s commitment to maintaining a robust compliance program that adheres to global laws and regulations “while upholding integrity and serving our customers in an ethical matter.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 22:35

• How Many Years Does It Take To Save For A Condo?
  How Many Years Does It Take To Save For A Condo?

  This graphic, via Visual Capitalist, shows the average number of years that a skilled worker must work in order to afford a 650 square foot condo near the city center across select markets, based on data from the UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index 2024.

  

  In Hong Kong, the most unaffordable city worldwide for 14 consecutive years, it takes more than two decades for an average skilled worker to buy a condo.

  Paris stands as the most unaffordable city in Europe, despite real home prices falling more than 20% from post-pandemic highs.

  The median sale price of a condo or co-op in Manhattan stood at nearly $1.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, with prices per square foot up 44% in a decade.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 22:10

• The Shifting Media Landscape
  The Shifting Media Landscape

  Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

  Listening to an interview with journalist Megyn Kelly, I was startled to learn that her private media company beats the mainstream legacy networks in traffic and influence. She has six employees. When she was fired by NBC in 2018, she believed it was the end of her career. She went to dark places in her mind. But she bounced back with her own broadcasting company and has never been happier or more influential.

  

  The same story has been told by Tucker Carlson, whose network is gigantic and whose influence is far beyond even the heights he obtained at Fox in the old days. I have no direct knowledge of how many people work for his personal channel but it is a reasonable guess that it is no more than a dozen.

  Everyone knows about the success and reach of Joe Rogan’s show. Apart from that, there are many thousands more with influence in their own sectors of reach. The share of influence dominated by legacy seems to be falling dramatically. You can detect their influence in this election season in which candidates are working the podcast circuit.

  You might chalk this up to technology: everyone has the capacity now to make content and distribute it. Therefore, of course, people do it.

  The real story, however, is more complicated.

  A new poll from Gallup offers an intriguing look.

  The latest polls show trust in major media is at an all-time low. It’s fallen from a post-Watergate high in 1976 of 72 percent to 31 percent today. That is an enormous slide, impossible to dismiss as mere technological change. Along with that, the poll documents dramatic losses of trust in government and essentially all official institutions.

  

  The loss of trust has hit all age groups but more profoundly affects people under 40 years of age. These are folks who have grown up with alternatives and developed a sophisticated understanding of information flows and are deeply suspicious of any institution that seeks control over public culture.

  Comments Gallup: “The news media is the least trusted group among 10 U.S. civic and political institutions involved in the democratic process. The legislative branch of the federal government, consisting of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, is rated about as poorly as the media, with 34 percent trusting it.”

  In contrast, “majorities of U.S. adults express at least a fair amount of trust in their local government to handle local problems (67 percent), their state government to address state problems (55 percent), and the American people as a whole when it comes to making judgments under our democratic system about the issues facing the country (54 percent).”

  It seems based on this poll that, in people’s hearts and minds, we are defaulting back to the America of Alexis de Tocqueville, a network of self-governing communities of friends and neighbors rather than a centrally managed and controlled monolith. The farther the institutions get from people’s direct experiences, the less they are trusted. That is how it should be, even aside from other considerations.

  In this case, the causal factors are not only the distance and not only the technology that allows for alternatives. Legacy media has been so aggressively partisan for at least nine years that it has alienated vast swaths of the viewing audience. Top executives have known about this problem for a very long time and worked to fix it but they face tremendous pressure from within, from reporters and technicians with Ivy educations and a dedication to woke ideology.

  The New York Times (NYT) after 2016 attempted to repair the damage from having so completely mishandled and miscalled the election. They hired new editors and writers but it was only a matter of time before they were driven out in a reminder to the top brass that there was a cultural revolution afoot, and that the personal is the political and visa-versa.

  The NYT defaulted back to extreme partisanship, leaving owners and managers to figure out other paths to sustaining profitability.

  As a result, it appears that an entire industry is in the process of a long meltdown with no available fixes. Huge audiences have turned away from them toward alternatives that are not necessarily partisan on the other side but simply display a dedication to telling facts and truths about which actual readers care.

  A question has long mystified me: Is this loss of trust entirely due to a change in media bias or is it that new technological options have fully revealed what might always have been there but was not widely known? I don’t have the answer to that but it is worth some reflection.

  When I was a kid, there were exactly three channels on television and one local newspaper. There was never a chance to see the New York Times except perhaps at the public library. The nightly news came on at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. It lasted 30 minutes. It opened with international news, moved to national news, turned to sports, and then the local affiliate took over with local news and weather.

  There was perhaps 10 minutes per day of national news on three separate channels, each reporting more-or-less the same thing. That was it. People in those days chose their station based on whether they liked the voice and personality of the broadcaster. News media was highly trusted. But was that trust based on reliable and excellent reporting or simply a reflection of all that people did not know?

  In those days, my own father was deeply distrustful of what he saw on television. Somehow he intuited that Richard Nixon was being railroaded by the Watergate scandal. He theorized that someone was out to get him not for bad things he had done, but for the good he had done and had planned to do. He preached this opinion constantly and it set him apart from all conventional wisdom. Indeed, as a young man I knew for sure that my father was the outlier: none of my friend’s parents agreed and none of my teachers did either.

  Since then, much has come out that seems to reinforce my father’s views.

  If Watergate happened in today’s world, there would be a huge explosion of opinions in all directions, with motives of all actors pushed out on every channel and there would be widespread competition to find the real story. We certainly would not be relying on two relatively inexperienced reporters at the Washington Post.

  I happen to believe that this is a good thing, even though it has come with a loss of trust. Maybe the old trust was not nearly as merited as people thought, simply because there were so few options. As the years went on, there were even more sources, starting with PBS but moving to CNN and C-SPAN. After the web came online and social media took off, that’s when the veil was really pulled back and media wholly transformed.

  People on all sides of the political spectrum today express profound regret for this change. Former presidential candidate John Kerry has said that today’s media environment makes governing impossible, and Hillary Clinton has floated the idea of criminal penalties for misinformation, a word tossed around so frequently these days but rarely defined as anything other than speech that some people do not like.

  All told, the rise of alternative media has surely contributed to the decline in public trust in the mainstream media. This might not reflect a fundamental change in the bias of media sources but simply the reality that we are only now fully aware of what has always been true. In that case, we are better off seeing these trends as good news all around, provided we have an attachment to seeing reality as it is. In any case, we all should.

  Returning to the Kelly/Carlson business model: they are doing far more with fewer staff people than was ever thought possible. It’s a solid prediction that many legacy media companies will be downsizing in terms of personnel in the future. They can do more with less.

  And they can do it with more fairness and less bias. Economic realities will likely make it so.

  The entire landscape of information and media economies is dramatically shifting. That is precisely why we are hearing ever more calls for censorship. Many elites long for the old days of canned and constructed narratives with no other options. But the well-documented loss of trust makes that little more than a pipe dream. It cannot and will not happen.

  The only viable path to earning audience loyalty in our times is to write and speak with fact-based integrity. Trust has to be earned.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 21:45

• "She's Not As Strong As Me": Lip Reader Deciphers Biden-Obama Grumpy Old Men Chat
  “She’s Not As Strong As Me”: Lip Reader Deciphers Biden-Obama Grumpy Old Men Chat

  On Wednesday afternoon, cameras caught President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama having a ‘vigorous’ discussion while attending Ethel Kennedy’s funeral. Kennedy died last Thursday at the age of 96 after having a stroke the previous week.

  

  Because their voices weren’t picked up by the camera, the internet got creative and made a few suggestions:

  Here it is. pic.twitter.com/Gkh1aUHHP6

  — 1MANTHRILLRIDE 🇺🇸 (@1MANTHRILLRIDE_) October 16, 2024

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

  On Thursday, the NY Post reported that they hired a professional lip reader to decipher what was said. Hilariously, the parodies weren’t too far off!

  President Biden griped to former President Barack Obama that “she” is “not as strong as me” — with Obama agreeing “that’s true” — in a stunning off-mic conversation deciphered for The Post by a professional lip reader.

  The apparent candid assessment of Vice President Kamala Harris’ standing going into the Nov. 5 election occurred Wednesday afternoon as America’s two most recent Democratic presidents conversed at Ethel Kennedy’s memorial service in Washington.

  “She’s not as strong as me,” said Biden, 81, according to the translation, which was produced by analyzing the on-video lip movements during the discussion.

  “I know … that’s true,” the popular former president agreed, adding, “We have time.”

  “Yeah, we’ll get it in time,” said Biden, who was forced by fellow Democrats to relinquish the party’s nomination in favor of Harris on July 21 in a mutiny that Obama was believed to support.

  The Post hired London-based forensic lip reader Jeremy Freeman, who was born deaf and has served as a University College London-certified expert witness for litigants, police, and journalists for 16 years, according to the report.

  That said, Freema also says he detected “no tension” between Obama and Biden.

  Biden spokesman Andrew Bates laughed in the Post‘s face, saying “A ‘lip reading expert’? Did your usual right-wing soothsayer have their out-of-office up? Only President Biden and President Obama know what they discussed, but this certainly wasn’t it.”

  An Obama source told the outlet: “Only President Obama and President Biden know what they discussed yesterday. Any assertion otherwise is ridiculous.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 21:20

• North Carolina County Democratic Chair Resigns After Removing Trump Campaign Signs
  North Carolina County Democratic Chair Resigns After Removing Trump Campaign Signs

  Authored by Stephen Katte via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The chair of the Moore County Democratic Party in North Carolina has resigned after being arrested for removing 2024 campaign signs supporting Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump.

  

  In an Oct. 11 statement, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office said that a deputy working in the West End area observed Lowell Evan Simon removing campaign signs from the roadside along Seven Lakes Drive in the West End area.

  “The deputy, who was responding to an unrelated call at the time, later followed up at Simon’s residence, where the signs were found in his vehicle,” the sheriff’s office said. “Simon admitted to removing the signs, which were then recovered and returned to their original owner.”

  A warrant for Simon’s arrest was issued for two counts of misdemeanor larceny of political signs. He was later released under a written promise to appear in Moore County District Court on Oct. 30.

  Removal or theft of campaign signs violates North Carolina law protecting the lawful placement of political signs during an election cycle. Violating this law is a Class 3 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail, $500 in fines, and up to a year of probation.

  In an Oct. 15 statement, the Moore County Democratic Party said Simon, 68, “offered an apology for his actions, as well as his resignation,” both of which were accepted.

  “While we appreciate the hard work and dedication he has shown to the Democratic Party and the community, the Moore County Democratic Party cannot and will not condone the tampering of political signs or any other illegal activity,” the party said in a statement. “We believe in the importance of freedom of expression and speech, and hope that local law enforcement will continue to enforce such laws that protect those freedoms fairly and without bias across party lines.”

  Simon, also a candidate for the state House of Representatives, told local radio station WRL that he removed the signs because they were placed in front of his own, obscuring them to passersby. He said the ongoing issue caused him to act out in a moment of weakness.

  “My worse angels got the better of me and I removed the signs,” he said. “I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t do it in the stealth of night or anything. I did it when it was 5 o’clock in the afternoon.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 20:55

• US CBP Agents Halt Some DJI Drone Imports Over 'Forced Labor' Concerns 
  US CBP Agents Halt Some DJI Drone Imports Over ‘Forced Labor’ Concerns 

  Chinese drone manufacturer SZ DJI TECHNOLOGY CO LTD., commonly known by many pilots as “DJI,” is the world’s largest drone maker. It produces billions of dollars worth of drones each year, which end up in the hands of US consumers, government agencies, and/or on the modern battlefield in Eastern Europe. 

  DJI is a privately held company. It has received funding from state-owned enterprises in China and is classified as a “Chinese military company” by the US Department of Defense, according to the think tank Uyghur Human Rights Project, adding it supplies more than half of all drones in the US and is the most recognizable drone brand among consumers. 

  

  However, a new report from Reuters says the popular drone brand has faced difficulties importing various drone models into the US after the US Customs and Border Protection used the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). 

  DJI notified US importers via a letter that the CBP stopped some drone imports from entering the US because CBP agents were verifying documentation that the drones were in good standing with UFLPA. In other words, border agents were making sure the drones were not produced by forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. 

  The letter told importers that the action appeared to be “part of a broader initiative by the Department of Homeland Security to scrutinize the origins of products, particularly in the case of Chinese-made drones,” adding that the US government’s claims are “unsubstantiated and categorically false, but the law gives them the authority to withhold goods without any tangible evidence.”

  Data from Sayari, a top counterparty and supply chain risk intelligence provider, shows DJI has seven major risk factors. It has exposure to a Xinjiang-based entity with forced labor concerns. 

  

  “The entity possibly owns (minority, majority, or wholly) a Xinjiang-based entity up to 3 hops away via direct shareholding relationships with 10% or more controlling interest, including beneficial owner, owner, shareholder, partner, subsidiary, or branch. Applicable to entities globally,” Sayari noted in the DJI profile. 

  

  DJI products are also widely used by US government agencies. US lawmakers have sounded the alarm (read: Senators Introduce Bill To Blacklist Chinese Drones In The US) on the widespread use of these drones by consumers and government agencies, warning these unmanned systems are national security threats.  

  Meanwhile, state-run Chinese media outlet Global Times spoke with Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, about the incident first reported by Reuters, criticizing Washington for “adopting the ridiculous and discriminatory UFLPA to crack down on the drone maker.” 

  Xiang told GT, “By doing so, the Biden government may aim to protect the US dronemaking industry. However, the unreasonable move by the US could spark further concerns worldwide over future China-US relations.” 

  What drone industry is the Biden admin protecting for consumers? We can’t name one affordable US-based drone company that is as good or exceeds DJI in performance. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 20:30

• Election 2024: Those Who Lecture Versus Those Tired Of Being Lectured
  Election 2024: Those Who Lecture Versus Those Tired Of Being Lectured

  Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

  The election is finally shaping up to be not only liberal Democrat Harris versus conservative Republican Trump.

  

  Instead, it has become a larger contest between those who talk down to their fellow Americans and those who are increasingly sick and tired of being lectured.

  How smart is it, for example, for Harris supporters to claim nonstop that ex-president Trump is a fascist dictator—and thus, by extension, those also who vote for him?

  Women voters poll about 53-5 percent for Kamala Harris. Trump enjoys a similar, although likely somewhat smaller, majority margin of male voters.

  Yet Harris – along with campaign surrogates Barack Obama and Bill Clinton – has been lecturing both black and white male voters nonstop that they are misled.

  Or they supposedly suffer from false consciousness – as if they have no clue that Harris and her progressive agenda are really in their own self-interest.

  Such haughtiness reached a zenith when Harris ran ads of actors costumed as supposedly working-class men. They voiced scripted talking points to prove that “real” men are progressive Harris supporters.

  But the actors were so patently ridiculous, their canned lines so unreal, that most viewers likely thought the ads were run by Trump himself—to show how arrogant, out-of-touch elites must imagine how the so-called “clingers” and “deplorables” think and talk.

  The Trump campaign also tries all sorts of strategies to win over women voters, from promising to rectify the Biden-Harris hyperinflation to reducing spiraling crime in towns and cities.

  But one method they avoid is claiming women are ignorant of their real self-interest and deluded by Harris—accurately assuming that a candidate does not win voters by belittling their intelligence.

  Harris and Obama both dressed down black men, claiming they are especially culpable for not voting en masse for Harris—even though a far higher percentage of black males will vote for Harris than for Trump.

  This hectoring the electorate on its supposed ignorance or moral shortcomings has become a Harris campaign trademark.

  To Harris, objecting to 10-12 million foreign nationals entering the company illegally without background checks during the Biden-Harris administration is supposedly a sign of a lack of compassion.

  And claiming that a current declining rate of illegal immigration should allay voters’ supposed paranoias utterly ignores the millions of illegal aliens who were all but welcomed in by Biden-Harris before the 2024 election cycle.

  Voters are also talked down to ad nauseam that they do not appreciate the Biden-Harris economy given the rate of inflation is falling.

  True. But most voters go shopping in a manner politicians do not.

  So, they resent such top-down sermons. They know best that prices for staple foods, fuel, insurance, and housing have spiked by some 20-30 percent since 2021—and stayed astronomically high.

  Currently, the auto industry is in crisis. Its huge inventory of electric voters sits unwanted and unsold. Harris and the left, remember, mandated all sorts of EV standards in their war against the internal combustion engine.

  Then the proverbial people revolted against the comparatively limited range of EVs and the difficulty in finding accessible and quick-charging stations.

  So, the free market and consumer demand ignored the increasingly strident lectures.

  Likewise, Harris pontificated that crime that had spiked in 2021-2023 is now not all that bad.

  But voters know all too well that their major cities are now unsafe. They sense one reason this year that crime is not soaring as it was two years ago is because it had gotten so bad that any further commensurate increases would have made life utterly unlivable.

  The Harris campaign was further hurt by past videos that keep popping up of Harris lecturing voters about how they either must think correctly or remain cluelessly selfish or ignorant.

  So, a recent clip surfaced on Columbus Day 2021 of a Vice President Harris lecturing America about Western civilization’s “shameful” sins in discovering the new world.

  Another video reveals Harris warning the country in 2020 on national television that the massive post-George Floyd demonstrations—that had turned violent and deadly—were not and should not stop, as if the country had to pay collective penance for its sins.

  This 2024 race may be becoming analogous to an October 1980 teachable moment.

  Then a preachy and sanctimonious incumbent Jimmy Carter—ahead in the final October polls over challenger Ronald Reagan—finally turned off voters for good.

  The previous underdog Reagan won in a landslide for a variety of reasons. But certainly, one explanation was that the electorate had finally collectively shrugged their weariness. They were sick and tired of Carter’s downer lectures about how they were wrong and culpable.

  Reagan, however, reminded voters that America was better than all the alternatives, needed not be perfect to be good, and had nothing to apologize for.

  The same contrast will likely determine the election of 2024.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 20:05

• Yemen Overtakes Afghanistan As The World's "Least Peaceful" Nation
  Yemen Overtakes Afghanistan As The World’s “Least Peaceful” Nation

  The Global Peace Index is a scoring system adopted by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).

  It identifies and measures 23 different metrics that drive peace in a country.

  Every year the non-partisan group ranks 163 countries based on factors such as military expenditure, weapons imports and exports, political terror scale, deaths from internal and external conflict, nuclear and heavy weapons, perceptions of criminality, homicide rate, political instability, violent crime, and demonstrations, among others.

  Yemen is the least peaceful country in the world in the 2024 GPI, followed by Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. This is the first year that Yemen has been ranked as the least peaceful country in the world, with the country having fallen 24 places in the rankings since the inception of the index.

  

  Source: @JuliePeasley

  The gap between the most and least peaceful countries in the world is now wider than it has been at any point in the last 16 years.

  Compared to 2008, the 25 most peaceful countries were one per cent more peaceful in 2024, while the 25 least peaceful countries were 7.5 per cent less peaceful.

  The report finds that many of the conditions that precede major conflicts are higher than they have been since the end of the Second World War.

  There are currently 56 active conflicts, the most since the end of Second World War, and with fewer conflicts being resolved, either militarily or through peace agreements.

  The number of conflicts that ended in a decisive victory fell from 49 per cent in the 1970s to nine per cent in the 2010s, while conflicts that ended through peace agreements fell from 23 per cent to four per cent over the same period.

  Conflicts are also becoming more internationalised, with 92 countries now engaged in a conflict beyond their borders, the most since the inception of the GPI in 2008.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 19:40

• Grand Jury Indicts New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice Over Allegations Of Case Interference
  Grand Jury Indicts New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice Over Allegations Of Case Interference

  Authored by Stephen Katte via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  A New Hampshire Supreme Court Associate has been indicted by a grand jury for allegedly trying to interfere in an open investigation of her husband.

  

  In an Oct. 16 statement from the New Hampshire Department of Justice, Attorney General John Formella said the Merrimack County Grand Jury had indicted Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi for two felonies and five misdemeanors.

  All the charges relate to her alleged attempts to interfere with the criminal investigation into her husband, Geno Marconi.

  “The decision to charge a sitting Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court was not made lightly, and it comes after careful and thoughtful deliberation,” Formella said.

  “No person is above the law, and the evidence in this case required investigation and presentation to the grand jury.”

  According to the New Hampshire Department of Justice, Hantz Marconi has been charged with two Class B felonies, one count of attempt to commit improper influence, and one count of criminal solicitation of improper influence.

  She is also charged with five Class A misdemeanors, two counts of criminal solicitation of misuse of position, one count of criminal solicitation of official oppression, one count of official oppression, and one count of obstructing government administration.

  One of the indictments accuses Hantz Marconi of trying to solicit New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu to “improperly influence a member and/or members” of the New Hampshire Department of Justice while they were investigating her husband, who served as director for the New Hampshire Division of Ports and Harbors.

  She allegedly told the governor that the investigation was the result of “personal, petty and/or political biases.” She also allegedly said to Sununu that the investigation into her husband “needed to wrap up quickly because she was recused from important cases pending or imminently pending before the New Hampshire Supreme Court.”

  A conviction for a Class B felony is punishable by three to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $4,000. A Class A misdemeanor carries a sentence of up to 12 months behind bars and a fine of up to $2,000.

  At this stage, the New Hampshire Department of Justice said the investigation is complete and no one else has been accused of wrongdoing.

  The State Department of Justice also said that “the charges in these indictments are only allegations, and Justice Hantz Marconi is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.”

  Hantz Marconi has been on paid leave from the Supreme Court since July. Her husband has been on leave since April and is the subject of an investigation by Attorney General John Formella. The exact nature of the investigation has not been shared publically, and Geno Marconi has not been charged with any crime.

  Attorneys for Hantz Marconi have said their client is innocent and hasn’t violated any rules or laws. In a court filing, they plan to push for the charges to be dismissed.

  “We will fight the charges to the fullest extent permitted by the law, starting with motions to dismiss the case which we anticipate filing soon,” Hantz Marconi’s attorneys said.

  “We intend to fight these wrongful accusations in court, where the fight should occur, and not in the media.”

  The Epoch Times contacted the New Hampshire Department of Justice and Hantz Marconi for comment but received no replies by publication time.

  The Associated Press contributed to this report.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 19:15

• Billionaires' Row Developer Buys Madison Ave. Office Tower For Condo Conversion
  Billionaires’ Row Developer Buys Madison Ave. Office Tower For Condo Conversion

  Whether to tear down old office towers or convert them into multi-family residential structures involves a lot of consideration—including real estate values and zoning codes—and it’s important to note that some towers are not structurally supportive for conversion. 

  Developers have hired engineers to examine old towers across Manhattan and other boroughs to carefully determine which ones are the least expensive to convert office floors into apartments.

  A 24-story office tower at 655 Madison Ave. was slated for demolition months ago as Manhattan’s skyline was about to lose another historic mid-century building. This was halted after one of Manhattan’s top developers, Extell, known for kickstarting the “Billionaires’ Row” towers near Central Park, bought the 310-foot-tall, 200,000-square-foot structure for $160 million, according to Bloomberg, citing public records documents. 

  People familiar with the matter told the financial publication that Tyko Capital, which Elliott Investment Management backs, provided Extell with financing for the acquisition of the tower. 

  

  Other developers are moving in on NYC towers for conversions:

  Last week, developer Vanbarton Group agreed to buy the Archdiocese of New York’s headquarters building on First Avenue, with plans to convert it into rental housing. That followed a deal in September to purchase a financial district tower for a similar office-to-housing project. -BBG

  Hybrid and remote working options have changed the landscape of work forever. This has left parts of the borough with massive gluts of towers – some of which are half abandoned.

  The Kastle ‘Back to Work Barometer’ index of NYC shows that the office tower vacancy rate has been hovering at 50% since the end of 2022. 

  

  The glut of towers sent the price of a one-million-square-foot Manhattan tower, once owned by UBS, crashing 97% from the $332.5 million valuation when the bank bought the building in 2006. 

  At the start of the year, Goldman analyst Jan Hatzius told clients that office tower prices had to move much lower to make financial sense for conversions.

  We spoke with the head of one notable property management firm in the Baltimore-DC metro area on Monday, who pointed out that some towers can’t even be given away due to high conversion costs. Let’s not forget that regional banks hold the bulk of tower debt. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 18:50

• Kamala Harris Celebrates Hamas Chief's Killing, After Loudly Opposing Operation That Got Him
  Kamala Harris Celebrates Hamas Chief’s Killing, After Loudly Opposing Operation That Got Him

  Update(1600): Kamala Harris is hailing Israel’s killing of Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar. But last spring as the IDF was poised to expand its operations further south into Rafah, she was firmly against it. She had even warned of “consequences” (which of course never came). Throughout the more than year-long conflict the Biden-Harris administration has been speaking out of both sides of its mouth. The contradictions abound. Of course, the first and foremost contradiction is that the administration has admitted that large-scale massacres of civilians have taken place in Gaza, yet continues to arm America’s “closest Mideast ally” to the teeth and to the tune of billions.

  And now for the latest glaring contradiction, here’s Harris back in March:

  Israel could face “consequences” if it launches a ground assault on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, the US vice president has warned.

  Vice President Kamala Harris said in an interview that aired on Sunday that it would be a “huge mistake” for the Israeli military to move on the city. The comments appear to underscore the continued strain in relations between Washington and Israel as the latter’s war in Gaza continues.

  Below: But here she is today, offering a celebratory congratulations to Israel on the Hamas chief’s death, while trying to appear ‘presidential’ as a potential future commander-in-chief…

  “Justice has been served, and the United States, Israel and the entire world are better off…”

  It takes real chutzpah for Kamala to celebrate the killing of Hamas’ leader Sinwar after opposing the Rafah mission. pic.twitter.com/dSJWyFP1Iq

  — Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) October 17, 2024

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  One online commenter noted, “All she ever did was shout for a ceasefire, now she’s practically giving the US credit for defeating Hamas.”

  She during the remarks underscored that this “moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza.” So far it appears that Netanyahu sees it differently, having stated that he’ll pursue the return of the hostages by any means possible (while appearing to rule out negotiations or ceasefire).

  The IDF says this is video of Sinwar’s final moments alive, possibly after a fire-fight or his position was shelled:

  Raw footage of Yahya Sinwar’s last moments: pic.twitter.com/GJGDlu7bie

  — LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) October 17, 2024

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  * * *

  Update(1250ET): Official confirmation is trickling in, ahead of a planned evening Netanyahu speech – where he’s expected to issue an official declaration of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s death during fighting in southern Gaza:

  ISRAEL FOREIGN MINISTER KATZ: HAMAS CHIEF SINWAR WAS KILLED IN GAZA

  Katz’s message to foreign leaders likely means a DNA match was made:

  In a message to dozens of foreign ministers around the world, Foreign Minister Israel Katz confirms that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed, becoming the first Israeli official to do so on the record.

  “The mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, who is responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7, was killed today by IDF soldiers,” says Katz, according to his office. “This is a great military and moral achievement for Israel and a victory for the entire free world against the evil axis of radical Islam led by Iran,” he continues.

  Katz says the killing “creates a possibility” for getting the hostages out immediately and for creating a Gaza free of Hamas and Iranian control.

  The top diplomat concluded, “Israel needs your support and assistance now more than ever to advance these important goals together.” US Congressional leaders are hailing news of the Hamas chief’s death, as he was considered the mastermind of the Oct.7 terror attacks.

  Axios correspondent Barak Ravid writes that “The IDF and Shin Bet confirm Sinwar’s body has been identified.”

  Below: graphic image issued by the IDF of Israeli troops standing over Sinwar’s body in Rafah…

  

  * * *

  In a huge breaking development, Israeli officials believe that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is dead. His alleged death may have been the result of an Israeli army attack on a building in Rafah, in southern Gaza. He oversaw the terror attacks of October 7 of last year and has remained Israel’s target #1.

  The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) which were operating in south Gaza were not specifically seeking to target him, but a body recovered at the scene suggests he may have been killed. Israeli sources and media are saying there is a “high likelihood” Sinwar has been killed.

  

  “At this stage, the identity of the terrorists cannot be confirmed,” the Israeli army and air force said in a joint statement as speculation mounts, also as gruesome photographs of a badly mangled body circulate widely online.

  The Washington Post writes that “A body, believed to be Sinwar’s, is being brought to Israel for DNA analysis, according to an Israeli official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.” According to more details:

  “We have his DNA from when he was in jail,” Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said in an interview in September, at a previous moment when Israeli authorities believed they might have killed the Hamas leader. Danon said at the time that DNA analysis had been run on previous bodies, but that the testing had not been a match.

  According to Israeli journalist Nadav Eyal, “A reserve IDF force operating near Rafah spotted three armed men in a building, which was then hit by a drone/tank shell.”

  He describes that “A man resembling Sinwar and a Hamas regiment commander were found dead with a substantial amount of cash and weapons. This was part of the ongoing IDF operation, not a targeted assassination. No hostages are believed to have been present, but the ground is being inspected to confirm.”

  The Israeli police says its forensics team has identified Sinwar’s body according to pictures of his teeth that were taken by soldiers on the ground and compared to photos of his teeth Israel has. DNA test is still ongoing https://t.co/XNx5DlJ6Lk

  — Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) October 17, 2024

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  While Israel’s military is urging caution and patience amid all the rumors, if confirmed it would be a huge win for Israel, and major setback for Hamas:

  Army chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi vowed to “find him (Sinwar), attack him” and force Hamas to find another leader.

  Sinwar — Hamas’s leader in Gaza since 2017 — has not been seen since the October 7 attack, the deadliest in Israel’s history.

  It would certainly mark the biggest development of the conflict since the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31st of this year.

  Israeli army publishes footage of what it says is the operation that “led to the assassination of Yahya Sinwar”…

  الجيش الإسرائيلي ينشر صورا لما قال إنها للعملية التي “أدت لاغتيال يحيى السنوار” #غزة #قناة_العربية #فلسطين pic.twitter.com/XDlh3gjILp

  — العربية عاجل (@AlArabiya_Brk) October 17, 2024

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  A prominent open source analysis X account, OSINTdefender, writes that “One of the Images claimed to show the Body of Yahya Sinwar, following an Israeli Strike earlier today on Southern Gaza. With Facial Features as well as his Watch appearing to be an Exact Match to the Leader of Hamas.”

  Strong rumors of his death have been circulating in Arabic media as well.

  UPDATE: Israel is “close” to confirming Yahya Sinwar DNA, but “NOT FINAL” a source tells @AlMonitor . 2 Sources told Kan Sinwar has been killed. No comment from Hamas yet https://t.co/B5cMpTXFEr

  — Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) October 17, 2024

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  Below is a quick review of his bio, via Al Jazeera:

  • Yahya Sinwar was born in the Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza in 1962.
  • His family were refugees from Majdal Askalan, or what became Ashkelon, after the creation of Israel in 1948.
  • Sinwar spent 22 years of his life in Israeli prisons, for allegedly planning the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1988. He was freed in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal.
  • An Israeli government assessment of his years in detention described him as “ruthless” and “powerful”.
  • He used his time in jail to become fluent in Hebrew.
  • Sinwar succeeded Ismail Haniyeh as Hamas’s leader in Gaza in 2017. He became the group’s leader after Israel assassinated Haniyeh in July.
  • After the October 7 attack in southern Israel, which he is accused of masterminding, the Israeli military described him as a “dead man walking”.

  developing…

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 18:45

• Deep Dive: The Election Will Decide President Trump's Legal Fate
  Deep Dive: The Election Will Decide President Trump’s Legal Fate

  Authored by Mike Davis via Unfazed and Determined (emphasis ours),

  For years, the Biden-Harris Justice Department, partisan Democrat state and local prosecutors, and private citizens—often funded by wealthy anti-Trump donors—have waged an unprecedented lawfare campaign against President Trump. We set out to provide a detailed update on the mind-boggling number of cases. We focus on the four absurd criminal indictments because, of course, they could mean a lifetime of imprisonment for President Trump. We also detail important civil litigation Trump faces.

  

  Indictment No. 1: New York Nonsense

  In April 2023, Democrat Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who campaigned on getting Trump, obtained an indictment against Trump on 34 felony counts related to supposed business records violations. In late 2022, Bragg plucked Matthew Colangelo—the acting No. 3 political appointee in the Biden-Harris Justice Department—to become a key lieutenant in Manhattan to get Trump. Colangelo, in other words, left one of the most prestigious legal jobs in the country to become a local prosecutor. In the indictment, Bragg claimed that, just before the 2016 election, Trump—through attorney Michael Cohen—had agreed to pay a common nuisance complaint to two litigants, a common business practice. Then, Bragg claimed, Trump had falsified his personal business records to conceal the payments. Business records violations of this type are normally misdemeanors in New York for which the statute of limitations is only two years, but Bragg alleged that Trump had violated federal campaign finance laws. According to Bragg, Trump had been required to disclose these payments. His falsifying business records in furtherance of campaign finance violations was thus a felony—or, in Bragg’s absurd view, 34 felonies—because business records falsified to further a felony themselves constitute felony violations.

  Bragg’s case makes no sense. The payment occurred in late October 2016. Trump would not have had to disclose it to the Federal Election Commission (FEC)—assuming, of course, that he even would have had to disclose it at all—until weeks after the election. In other words, the failure to disclose it could not have impacted the election. As former FEC Commissioner Brad Smith (more on him in a bit) has articulated, payments like this—so-called hush-money or nondisclosure payments—are personal and not campaign expenses. The Justice Department indicted former North Carolina Senator John Edwards on the same theory, and the jury deadlocked. The Justice Department could not make the case that Edwards’ payment to his former lover, made while he was running in the 2008 presidential election, was a campaign matter rather than a personal one.

  Acting Manhattan Supreme Court (New York’s lowest state court) Justice Juan Merchan presided over Trump’s trial in April and May 2024. The judge had no business on the case. First off, he had donated in 2020 to President Biden—Trump’s 2020 and, at the time, 2024 opponent—in violation of New York’s judicial ethics guidelines. More importantly, Judge Merchan should have recused because of his daughter, Loren Merchan. Ms. Merchan is the president of Authentic Campaigns Inc. (Authentic), a Chicago-based firm that does digital consulting and marketing for Democrat candidates. One of Authentic’s clients during the 2024 cycle was Adam Schiff, the deranged anti-Trump U.S. House representative who is running for a vacant U.S. Senate seat from California. When Bragg announced his indictment of Trump, Schiff—while working with Authentic—sent out a fundraising email touting the indictment. The Senate Majority PAC, another Authentic client that works to elect Democrats to the Senate, sent out a similar fundraising email based on the indictment. Schiff and the Senate Majority PAC combined have raised well over $100 million since the emails. It is impossible to say how much the emails themselves generated, but the point is that Judge Merchan’s daughter Loren’s clients have used the case to fundraise. The more donations come in, the more chance there is for Authentic to profit.

  Judge Merchan should have dismissed the case; instead, he let it go to trial. He refused to allow Brad Smith, the former FEC commissioner, to testify about the intricacies of campaign finance laws. Smith would have explained why the campaign finance claim makes no sense. Judge Merchan did, however, allow the testimony of two of President Trump’s former White House aides—Hope Hicks and Madeleine Westerhout—regarding communications with Trump while he was President over the payments. The prosecution referred to this testimony as “devastating” in its closing argument because, the prosecutor claimed, it corroborated Cohen’s testimony that Trump had ordered the payments. The jury found Trump guilty on the 34 counts; Bragg had charged each entry as a separate felony. Trump faces up to 136 years in prison. Judge Merchan scheduled sentencing for July 11, 2024, but a dramatic development changed the game.

  On July 1, 2024, the United States Supreme Court ruled that presidents are absolutely immune from criminal prosecution for core official acts and at least presumptively immune for other official acts. This ruling stemmed from Trump’s indictment in the District of Columbia (more details on that later). While the alleged payments in Bragg’s case may not be official acts, the Supreme Court crucially held that a president’s internal deliberations with aides—even about unofficial acts—are inadmissible in a criminal case concerning those unofficial acts. As such, the testimony of Hicks and Westerhout—the “devastating” testimony, according to the prosecution—never should have happened.

  Trump’s team immediately moved for a mistrial. Judge Merchan stated that he would rule by September 6 on the motion and go ahead with the sentencing, if necessary, on September 18. On September 6, however, Judge Merchan postponed a ruling on the mistrial motion until November 12 and the sentencing, if necessary, until November 26. Under this schedule, both will occur after the November 5 election. Based on old and new evidence, however, Judge Merchan should not rule on the case. On August 20, 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris filed her first FEC report as the presumptive Democrat candidate for the presidency. On Form 3P, line 23, a little-noticed but explosive disbursement appears: a $468 payment to Authentic for website hosting services. The Biden campaign had used Amazon to host its website prior to his leaving the race on July 21. Within days, the Harris campaign hired Authentic; the disbursement date is July 30. This means that Judge Merchan’s daughter, Authentic’s president, has a direct business relationship with Trump’s main opponent for the presidency while Judge Merchan is making rulings that could profoundly impact the election.

  Indictment No. 2: Madness at Mar-a-Lago

  When he was about to leave office, President Trump declassified many records and kept personal copies. This is similar to what former President Bill Clinton did when he retained copies of audiotapes of material, including classified information, related to the presidency. When a group sought these tapes as presidential records, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District of Columbia held that President Clinton had exercised his discretion to retain the records as personal records. This suit arose from the Presidential Records Act of 1978 (PRA). Under the PRA, presidents must turn over presidential records to the National Archives. The Archives usually returns many of these records for use in presidential libraries. Presidents also have the inherent power to declassify anything they wish in any manner they wish. While the government owns presidential records, the PRA gives a former President access to his presidential records anytime he wants.

  Trump and the National Archives battled for months over the custody of certain presidential records. During this time, the presidential records were at Trump’s Office of the Former President in Mar-a-Lago and under Secret Service protection. Trump, as a former president, is entitled to this protection for life. The DOJ intervened in the dispute and subpoenaed the records. In August 2022, FBI agents raided Mar-a-Lago in an early morning operation. The agents, heavily armed, seized truckloads of boxes of documents. Attorney General Merrick Garland signed off on the raid, as did U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart. Six weeks prior,  Judge Reinhart had recused himself from a lawsuit involving Trump and Hillary Clinton. The reason was obvious. In 2017, while a private lawyer, Reinhart had disparaged Trump in a Facebook post; in other words, Judge Reinhart had expressed animus against one of the parties in a case over which he was presiding. Yet, he signed the Mar-a-Lago raid warrant.

  Fast forward to November 18, 2022, when Garland plucked Jack Smith from The Hague to serve as Special Counsel in Trump’s federal cases. Smith had served as the head of DOJ’s Public Integrity Section and had secured a conviction against former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, a likely 2016 Republican candidate for the presidency or vice presidency. The 2014 conviction was based on the theory that, while in office, McDonnell had obtained gifts in exchange for holding meetings with people. DOJ never claimed that McDonnell had, say, signed a law in exchange for gifts. In 2016, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected this laughable theory. What McDonnell had done may have been tawdry, but it was not a crime. The damage had been done, however, as McDonnell was out of commission as a political force.

  The Senate never confirmed Smith; Garland simply picked him, claiming that Smith would serve independently since Trump had announced his candidacy for the presidency earlier that month. In June 2023, Smith secured an indictment against Trump and two others on charges of willfully retaining and mishandling classified information, as well as obstruction of justice. Smith claimed that Trump and his aides had tried to hide documents after the subpoena. Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida received the random case assignment immediately after the indictment. Smith never sought her recusal during her 13 months on the case.

  One of these motions concerned the constitutionality of Smith’s appointment. Smith, Trump argued, had power equivalent to a U.S. Attorney. These officials require Senate confirmation, which Smith never obtained. Judge Cannon agreed, holding that Smith’s appointment violated the Appointments and Appropriations Clauses of the Constitution. She cited a concurrence by Justice Clarence Thomas in the presidential immunity decision. The Supreme Court has never determined whether a special counsel like Smith is constitutional. In 1974, Leon Jaworski served as the special prosecutor in the investigation of President Richard Nixon. While that case wound up at the Supreme Court, neither party briefed nor argued the constitutionality of Jaworski’s appointment.

  Smith has appealed Judge Cannon’s decision to the Eleventh Circuit. Briefing should be finished by mid-October, and oral argument likely will occur after the election. Smith has not sought Judge Cannon’s recusal; however, a Soros-funded leftist group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has. In its friend-of-the-court brief, CREW—a nonparty who has no standing to seek recusal—claimed that Judge Cannon has been biased in favor of Trump. CREW never filed such a brief with respect to Judge Reinhart. CREW whined about the “sluggish” pretrial pace, but CREW does not have the right to a speedy trial. That right belongs exclusively to the defendant under the Sixth Amendment. It is unclear if the court will accept CREW’s brief, and we have urged the three-judge panel to decline to do so.

  CREW’s brief was the culmination of a pattern of absurd attacks against Judge Cannon. Leftist legal pundits are angry that she has not jumped whenever Smith has barked. In a New York Times story, for instance, anonymous sources claimed that Chief Judge Cecilia Altonaga had suggested that Judge Cannon step aside so that the case could be moved to Miami where there was a secure facility to view classified documents. One since has been built at the courthouse where Judge Cannon sits in Fort Pierce. Another judge supposedly made the absurd suggestion that Judge Cannon should let a more experienced judge handle the case. There is no experience requirement for a judge to preside over a case, and were Judge Cannon to step aside and be replaced by, say, a less experienced Biden appointee, the experience complaints would evaporate in no time.

  The most egregious campaign against Judge Cannon came from Glenn Kirschner, a former federal prosecutor and terminal sufferer of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Kirschner posted on his YouTube channel a guide for his followers to file ethics complaints against Judge Cannon with the Eleventh Circuit. Over a thousand of these pests deluged the court, and it got so bad that Chief Judge William Pryor directed the court clerk to stop accepting these complaints because the limited court staff were overwhelmed. This unprecedented campaign against Judge Cannon, based on absurd arguments, is a grave threat to judicial independence that so far has failed and must never succeed.

  Indictment No. 3: D.C. Derangement

  Smith, who has no business serving because his appointment was unconstitutional, was not remotely finished with Trump after the Florida indictment. In August 2023, he obtained an unprecedented separate indictment against Trump in the District of Columbia over the events surrounding the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. Notably, even rabid partisan Smith did not charge Trump with having incited an insurrection, the absurd claim used to attempt to disqualify Trump from the ballot, as detailed later. Instead, Smith charged Trump with conspiracy to violate the rights of voters by depriving them of their lawfully cast votes. Smith also claimed that Trump had defrauded the United States because, Smith alleged, Trump knew he had lost the election but spread the lie that he had won in order to stay in power. Smith also charged Trump with obstruction of an official proceeding, the counting of the electoral votes in Congress. Smith intruded upon internal DOJ deliberations, inserting their contents into the indictment. Trump had asked the DOJ to investigate election fraud, and Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark had suggested sending an advisory to state legislatures–a draft never sent–that they should conduct their own investigations and, if appropriate, appoint alternate electors. Pundits have called these “fake electors,” but they in reality were alternatives who could have voted for Trump were the Biden electors rejected if fraud had emerged.

  D.C. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee, received the case assignment in August 2023 and set a March 4, 2024, trial date. This scheduling was absurd. There were millions of pages of discovery and thousands of hours of video to pour over. The goal was obvious: get Trump before a virulently anti-Trump D.C. jury and secure a quick conviction before the election. At prior sentencings, Judge Chutkan had made critical comments regarding Trump, though she referred to him as one person who had not been charged; she did not utter his name. Smith had proposed an even more ridiculous trial date: January 2, 2024. Judge Chutkan ruled against Trump in pretrial motion after pretrial motion, culminating in her December denial of his motion to dismiss the case on the basis of presidential immunity. Trump claimed that he had taken official acts that constituted the basis of Smith’s indictment. Those acts were immune from prosecution, and the indictment must fail. Judge Chutkan categorically rejected this claim, holding that presidents are not entitled to immunity for official acts.

  At this point, Trump appealed to the D.C. Circuit, and Smith’s train began to derail. Since the issue involved immunity, Trump’s appeal halted all pretrial proceedings before Judge Chutkan. Smith, desperate to obtain his conviction before the election, sought review by the Supreme Court even before the D.C. Circuit had ruled. His justification was insulting. He claimed that the nation had a compelling interest in resolving this issue. The nation is not entitled to a speedy trial; the defendant is. It would make no difference legally whether the issue of immunity was resolved in 2024 or 2025. The justices rejected Smith’s pathetic political ploy and allowed the appeal to proceed as it otherwise would have.

  Without justification, the D.C. Circuit expedited briefing and oral argument on Trump’s appeal. In February 2024, a three-judge panel rejected Trump’s immunity claim, holding that, while presidents might have immunity for some acts, Trump did not for his. The judges, in other words, created a Trump-only immunity rule. The panel also rejected concerns that prosecutors would abuse power to indict a former president, reasoning that Trump’s being prosecuted in the normal course of the criminal justice system showed that the prosecution was proper. This reasoning makes no sense, as Chief Justice John Roberts later pointed out at oral argument. After the D.C. Circuit’s ruling, Trump sought Supreme Court review, which the justices granted in March. Oral arguments occurred on April 25, and the Court ruled on July 1.

  This timeline infuriated leftist pundits, who whined that the Court was not moving fast enough. To put this in perspective, Trump was indicted in August 2023, and a pretrial appeal wound its way through the federal system and was resolved in 11 months. That timing is extraordinarily fast. For example, Joseph Fischer, a former police officer, was indicted on November 10, 2021, for, among other things, obstruction of an official proceeding concerning the Capitol riot. Judge Carl Nichols dismissed that count, the DOJ appealed and won at the D.C. Circuit, and the Supreme Court granted Fischer’s petition for review. In June 2024, the justices ruled in Fischer’s favor, holding that the obstruction statute did not apply. More than two and a half years had elapsed between the time of Fischer’s indictment until the Supreme Court’s decision, more than double the time it took to resolve Trump’s pretrial appeal. The only reason for complaints about timing was an improper one: the election. Like Smith, leftist pundits wanted Trump convicted and locked away in a cage during the campaign.

  The Supreme Court gave Trump (and the presidency) a significant victory in the immunity decision. Core official acts like pardons or bill vetoes are, the justices held, absolutely immune. Other official acts are at least presumptively immune. For instance, the Court cited Trump’s conversations with Vice President Mike Pence concerning the certification of electors. As President of the Senate, Pence presided over the certification, and President Trump wanted him to reject several slates of electors. Pence refused, and Congress certified the election results. The justices also struck portions of Smith’s indictment concerning Trump’s communications with the DOJ, holding that those deliberations between the president and DOJ constituted core presidential acts. The Court also ruled that a president’s motives cannot be considered in determining whether acts are entitled to immunity. Presidents also have broad leeway in communicating with the American people. As such, many public statements of a president constitute official acts. In the indictment, Smith cited many of Trump’s social media posts concerning the election as evidence of criminality.

  The Court remanded the case to Judge Chutkan to apply its immunity test. Judge Chutkan had made no findings of fact; rather, she had rejected Trump’s immunity claim on its face. Even though Fischer’s case, which we referenced earlier, did not directly involve Trump, the Court’s ruling well could. The obstruction statute on which Trump and Fischer were indicted was a post-Enron law dealing with the destruction of evidence in cases. Its 20-year maximum sentence has been a powerful weapon for the DOJ to induce January 6 defendants to plead guilty to lesser charges. All but one district judge in D.C., Judge Carl Nichols, allowed the DOJ to get away with this statutory abuse and political persecution. In light of the Supreme Court’s decision, however, many defendants will need to be resentenced without the obstruction charge. Judge Chutkan will also need to decide if those two counts must be dismissed as to Trump–two of four of Jack Smith’s bogus charges.

  On September 5, 2024, Judge Chutkan held the first status hearing on Trump’s case since the pause in proceedings last December. Smith made an extraordinary proposal. He wanted to file an opening brief on the issue of immunity, after which the defense could respond and Smith could reply. Even more astoundingly, Judge Chutkan agreed to this. Instead of permitting the defense to file a motion to dismiss the superseding indictment that Smith had obtained last month, the normal procedure in such a case, Judge Chutkan permitted prosecutors to have the first and last word on the immunity dismissal issue. All briefing should be complete by October 29, a week before the election. Smith has indicated that he will submit evidence that has not yet become public. This submission will occur while voters are casting ballots in mail and early voting. It is a blatant effort to influence the election.

  Judge Chutkan has stated that she will not take the election into account in her scheduling decisions. Her rulings themselves cast doubt on that assertion, however. She rushed to schedule a trial and made no findings of fact concerning immunity. This lack of fact finding elicited justified criticism from the Supreme Court. She then, in what is essentially a motion to dismiss an indictment, allowed the prosecution to fire the first shot. It is plain that she is solidly against Trump.

  Because it is impossible for the D.C. case to go to trial before the election, Smith has tried to dent Trump through the filing of evidence presented to the grand jury in obtaining the superseding indictment. Judge Chutkan, who has discretion in managing a pretrial schedule, decided to allow this. The result was a bizarre 180-page long brief that was filed before the Trump team even had the chance to file a motion to dismiss. This is totally bizarre – and if the goal were to ultimately convict Trump at trial, Smith would never put all this information on the public record right now, due to the risks of tainting the jury pool. But it seems clear that Smith has decided that his prosecution is doomed, and so he will use this prosecution to provide fodder for hit pieces against President Trump in the run-up to the election. This is a totally improper use of the judicial system, but Judge Chutkan was happy to allow it.

  Smith has indicated that, even if Trump wins, he will continue to pursue the case. Trump’s acting attorney general must fire Jack Smith immediately, shutdown his office, and dismiss with prejudice all these bogus federal indictments against Trump. It is crucial to remember that these cases should not be proceeding and never should have begun. They are not the result of earnest prosecutors who desire to uphold the law regardless of politics; rather, they are the product of politically motivated lawfare designed to take out an opposing party’s presidential candidate.

  Indictment No. 4: The Fulton Fani Fiasco

  In August 2023, Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis obtained an indictment against Trump similar to Smith’s D.C. indictment–but even more bizarre. Willis alleged that Trump had violated Georgia’s racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations (RICO) statute. According to Willis, Trump had sought to overturn a valid election in Georgia through illegal means. She cited a recorded call on which Trump had told Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find 11,000 votes, the approximate margin of Trump’s deficit at the time. According to Willis, Trump wanted votes fabricated. Willis also charged that Trump had engaged in a fake electors scheme to replace Biden’s slate of Georgia electors with an alternate Trump slate.

  Willis did not just indict Trump. She indicted 18 defendants, including Trump attorneys John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. These lawyers, Willis claimed, had submitted fraudulent court filings in furtherance of the RICO conspiracy. Willis did not stop there, however, indicting David Shafer, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party. She even went so far as to indict Jeffrey Clark, the former U.S. Assistant Attorney General, and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

  Willis’s case seemed to be humming along nicely until January 2024. At that point, one of Trump’s codefendants filed a motion seeking the recusals of Willis and Nathan Wade, her top special prosecutor. Willis paid Wade nearly $700,000 for his services on Trump’s case. The motion alleged that the two had been having a secret affair while the case was pending and while Wade was married. Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee held a lengthy evidentiary hearing on the motion, over the vehement protests of Willis’s underlings, who demanded that the lawyer who had filed the motion be sanctioned.

  Instead of a garden-variety evidentiary hearing, what occurred was the courtroom version of Jerry Springer. In a nationally broadcast proceeding, Wade and Willis testified and admitted to the affair. While Wade was relatively calm, Willis melted down. She was so out of control that Judge McAfee admonished her to stop her antics. Willis and Wade admitted that Wade had paid for lavish vacations, including a Caribbean excursion. They also claimed that Willis had reimbursed Wade, but they provided no documents to support this assertion. Instead, they told the judge, Willis had given Wade cash. Willis claimed that she keeps massive piles of cash at her house, including leftover campaign contributions, that she uses to pay expenses. It is unclear why Willis did not just use the cash to pay for the trips themselves.

  Judge McAfee split the baby. He ruled that Willis could remain on the case, but only if Wade resigned. Wade resigned the afternoon of the ruling. The judge criticized Willis for her conduct, highlighting her speech at a predominantly African American church in which she had claimed that the charges against her were racially motivated. Judge McAfee characterized Willis’s and Wade’s testimony as having “the odor of mendacity.” Trump and many of his codefendants immediately appealed to the Georgia Court of Appeals, which will hear oral arguments in December. The court must rule by next March, but the losing side can appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court. That court has discretion to hear the appeal. If it chooses to hear the case, a decision may not occur until 2026. If Willis and her office are disqualified, a committee will assign the case to another district attorney in a different county, who might elect to drop it.

  Even if Willis is not ultimately disqualified, the case is a long way from trial. The reason concerns presidential immunity. Like he did with respect to the D.C. indictment, President Trump has moved to dismiss the Georgia case on the theory that the indicted acts are immune from criminal prosecution. Judge McAfee has not touched that issue. The immunity ruling came in July; by that time, proceedings before Judge McAfee were on hold because of the Willis disqualification appeal. When and if Judge McAfee rules, that decision can be appealed through the Georgia courts and ultimately up to the United States Supreme Court. Also, if Trump wins the presidency, the case surely will be paused while he serves his term. Meadows also has sought to remove his case to federal court, claiming that his acts were official and thus subject to the removal statute. The district judge and Eleventh Circuit ruled against him, and he has sought Supreme Court review. The issue would become moot if Willis is disqualified and a new prosecutor drops the case.

  The case should be dropped, but the case never should have begun. Willis and Wade used it as a trough to finance their luxurious lifestyle, costing the taxpayers of Fulton County nearly $700,000 in the process. Wade’s billing for his services was outrageous. On one day, he billed 24 hours at $250 an hour. If true, Wade did not stop to eat. Take a shower. Go for a walk for a few minutes to stretch his legs after sitting at a desk and working his fingers to the bone. Catch some sleep. He just worked nonstop, he claimed. This assertion is insulting to the intelligence of any reasonable person. Wade also billed Fulton County taxpayers $4,000 for two meetings with Biden-Harris White House officials before bringing the unprecedented indictment against Trump, their political opponent. The first occurred in Athens, Georgia, with the White House Counsel. The second occurred in Washington, where Wade apparently went to the White House. We have no idea what discussions occurred between Wade and White House officials, but it is plain that there was coordination between the Biden-Harris White House and state prosecutors. Since Wade billed Fulton County, whatever he was doing pertained to Trump’s case. Wade also never should have been hired to prosecute a RICO conspiracy, one of the most complicated indictments a prosecutor can pursue. Willis cited Wade’s service as a municipal court judge, but that in no way qualified him to prosecute a case of this complexity or magnitude. He had never even tried a felony case. Wade also laughably claimed that, even if Trump is President, he can be tried criminally in Georgia during his term. This assertion alone illustrates just how unqualified Wade was to serve on the case. Thanks to their astonishing foolishness and arrogance, Wade and Willis might well find themselves as criminal defendants either in Georgia or a federal court in some other venue while Trump goes free and serves four more years in the White House.

  * * *

  The criminal lawfare that President Trump has had to face is, by itself, shocking, but it does not come close to capturing the magnitude of the lawfare campaign. Civil actions have sought to bankrupt Trump, prevent him from doing business, and even remove him from the presidential ballot. The last effort not only was an attack on Trump; it amounted to an attempt to disenfranchise the tens of millions of Americans who wish to vote for him. Below is a history and update on several of these civil actions.

  Lawsuit No. 1: The Insurrection Rejection

  The National Park Service approved a permit for the so-called “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, 2021. The purpose of this event was to protest the electoral certification of Biden’s victory that day in Congress, and President Trump spoke at the rally. In his speech, President Trump urged his supporters to “peacefully and patriotically” march to the Capitol.

  What happened at the Capitol that day was a riot. As Justice Alito pointed out at oral argument in Fischer v. United States, the case that stopped the Biden-Harris Justice Department from using the obstruction statute against January 6 defendants, “January 6 was very serious.” Police officers were assaulted, and the Capitol sustained damage. Some rioters even stole government property like computers from the offices of members of Congress. An officer died from natural causes; Trump was not, contrary to some delusional leftist claims, responsible for his death.

  January 6 was not, however, an insurrection. Shortly after the riot had subsided, leftists began plotting to end Trump’s potential 2024 presidential campaign early. Voters would not decide if he should resume the presidency; judges would. This plan centered around Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Insurrection Clause. This provision holds that those who have previously taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and then engage in rebellion or insurrection against it shall be disqualified from holding further office, unless Congress removes the disability by a two-thirds vote. The Insurrection Clause was designed to keep former confederates from assuming office, such as being elected to the House of Representatives.

  Leftists claimed that Trump’s January 6 speech, which called for a peaceful march to the Capitol, constituted an insurrection. These authoritarians claimed that Trump had used violence to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. Were this view accepted, it would gut the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech. Phrases such as “fight like hell” would transform someone into an insurrectionist. When Trump announced his candidacy, leftists began filing lawsuits to strike him from ballots. Most failed, but Denver, Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace decided to hold a trial on the issue. The judge then ruled that Trump had engaged in an insurrection but that he was not an officer of the United States and that the oath he had taken was not the same as the one articulated in the Insurrection Clause.

  On appeal, the Colorado Supreme Court agreed that Trump had engaged in an insurrection but reversed the trial court’s rulings with respect to the oath and Trump’s being an officer of the United States. The 4-3 majority on the all-Democrat-appointed court, including now-Chief Justice Monica Márquez, ordered Trump removed from the presidential primary ballot. This ruling, issued just before Christmas, sent shockwaves through the nation. Within a short time, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a radical Democrat who had not even been elected, decreed that Trump was an insurrectionist and removed him from the ballot. Soon after, Cook County Circuit Judge Tracie Porter in Chicago followed suit based on the ruling of the Colorado Supreme Court. The leftist lawfare was working to perfection. Trump was almost gone; there was just one more hurdle to overcome.

  Trump appealed the Colorado decision to the Supreme Court of the United States. On March 4, 2024, the day before Super Tuesday—the day on which many states have primaries and caucuses—the justices issued their decision. The Court unanimously–9-to-0–held that states have no authority to bar federal candidates from running for office based on the Insurrection Clause. A majority of the justices also held, as Chief Justice Salmon Chase had in Griffin’s Case (1869), that Congress must pass a statute for the Insurrection Clause to be enforceable; in other words, the Insurrection Clause is not self-executing. House Democrats have proposed such a law, but there is no chance that it will pass the Republican-controlled House. If Trump wins and Democrats take control of the House and Senate, however, such a law could pass next January before Trump’s inauguration. Otherwise, if Trump prevails, leftists cannot thwart his assuming the presidency by branding him as an insurrectionist.

  The events of the insurrection saga were unfathomable. Trump has never been convicted of insurrection. He has never even been charged with that offense. Jack Smith, as aggressive a prosecutor as there is and a rabid partisan to boot, has not even gone down that road, and Smith has indicted Trump for seemingly everything under the sun. Yet, a group of leftist lawyers and so-called scholars led by J. Michael Luttig, a retired judge appointed by President George H.W. Bush, who was passed over by President George W. Bush for elevation to the Supreme Court, cooked up a scheme based on a constitutional provision designed to guard against a return to power by members of the Confederacy. With the vigorous support of leftist groups like CREW, this cabal convinced a trial judge and a state supreme court to throw a major party’s candidate off the ballot. An unelected secretary of state snapped her fingers and declared this candidate an insurrectionist. It is highly likely that some leftist lower court federal judges would have gone along with this plan. While they have failed in many areas, President Biden and Vice President Harris have excelled at stocking several appellate courts with hardcore leftists. Only the Supreme Court of the United States saved democracy by stopping the audacious effort to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters. This shameful episode illustrates in the most stark way how the Supreme Court is the last safeguard against the unspeakable lawfare that President Trump has had to endure.

  Lawsuit No. 2: New York Nonsense, Big-Tish Style

  Alvin Bragg is not the only leftist New York prosecutor who has it out for Trump. Professor Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School wrote a book, Get Trump, in which he detailed the extraordinary efforts of the anti-Trump lawfare. The title was easy. Dershowitz did not make it up; it came from New York Attorney General Leticia James, a partisan Democrat who vowed to do just that in her campaign. She followed through, suing Trump for hundreds of millions of dollars. James claimed that Trump had defrauded many banks. James’s theory was that Trump had inflated the value of his assets to procure bank loans. A clause in the lending agreement instructed banks to do their own due diligence. These banks were some of the largest in the world, the most sophisticated of actors. One executive testified that Trump was “a whale,” meaning someone with whom banks wanted to deal because of his enormous brand. The banks reasoned that Trump was good for the money, and the banks received payment for the loans on schedule, in-full, on-time, and with interest. In other words, there was no victim of this supposed fraud.

  There was a trial in this case, but much of the deciding had already occurred. Democrat Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron ruled, based on briefing, that Trump had somehow committed fraud. The statute in question, which deprives defendants of a jury trial, never had been used like this in its history. The trial was for the sole purpose of determining damages. In the end, Judge Engoron imposed approximately $455 million, including interest. He ordered Trump to pay the entire amount as a bond prior to appealing; otherwise, James could begin seizing his assets. The order also banned Trump and his sons from serving as officers of a New York corporation for several years. Trump appealed, and the New York Appellate Division lowered the bond to $175 million, still a gargantuan amount.

  Throughout the trial, Judge Engoron made it plain that he detested Trump, referring to him as “a bad guy” and repeatedly smirking during the proceedings. He imposed an unconstitutional gag order to prevent Trump from criticizing him. Judge Merchan imposed a similarly illegal order in the criminal trial that precludes Trump from mentioning the ties that Loren Merchan has to Biden, Harris and other Democrats. Judge Engoron’s clerk also made political donations in violation of New York judicial ethics guidelines, just like Judge Merchan. The case is currently awaiting a ruling by the Appellate Division, after which the losing side will surely seek review by the New York Court of Appeals. The oral argument strongly indicates the appellate judges see this case as legal lunacy.

  As prominent investor and Shark Tank host Kevin O’Leary pointed out, what Trump did was no different than what businesspeople do every day. No other businessperson has faced legal repercussions for such conduct. Recognizing that the decision against Trump may have inspired fear among other members of the business community that could cause a massive exodus from New York, Democrat New York Governor Kathy Hochul sought to quell fears by claiming that they did not need to worry; this was only about Trump. This assertion proves Trump’s point; he has been a target of lawfare. Members of the business community do indeed need to worry, however, for if New York can do this to Trump because of James’s vendetta, New York can do the same to any of them.

  Lawsuit No. 3: More January 6

  In June 2021, two officers with the Capitol Police—James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby—sued Trump for damages based on physical and emotional suffering as a result of the Capitol riot. The officers claimed that Trump’s words, including his plea to take back the country with strength and to “fight like hell” had incited the riot, even though he had urged supporters to march “peacefully” to the Capitol. Trump moved to dismiss the suit on the grounds that the actions alleged were official. Blassingame and Hemby claimed that the actions were not those of a president but rather those of a candidate seeking to advance his personal interests, mainly the goal of remaining in power. In February 2022, D.C. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee, denied the motion. Trump appealed, and the D.C. Circuit issued its ruling in December 2023. There was neither expedited briefing nor oral argument.  Unlike the D.C. criminal case, the civil matter proceeded in the normal course. The appeals court held that there should be a discovery phase after which the district court should determine which of Trump’s acts were official and thus entitled to immunity versus which acts were personal and thus not so entitled.

  The concept of civil presidential immunity from private suits goes back to Nixon v. Fitzgerald (1982). There, the Supreme Court held that presidents are absolutely immune for civil actions based upon acts that concern even the outer perimeter of presidential duties. At oral argument in Trump’s D.C. criminal case, Justice Gorsuch spoke favorably of remanding for a test like that adopted by the D.C. Circuit in the suit by the Capitol officers. Trump’s counsel, D. John Sauer, agreed that such a remand would be proper. Judge Mehta has been undertaking that analysis since the D.C. Circuit’s remand, and the case will not go to trial before the election. Judge Mehta also denied a motion to dismiss the case on free speech grounds. If it goes to trial, Trump likely will lose in front of a D.C. jury. His only hope for salvation will come from appellate review. The D.C. Circuit did not review Judge Mehta’s First Amendment ruling.  Those kinds of decisions receive review after the conclusion of a trial. Immunity is different because, if a defendant is immune from civil or criminal liability, the defendant should not even face trial. As such, immunity decisions are immediately appealable. We should expect a massive judgment similar to or even greater than the $148 million that a rabid D.C. jury levied against Giuliani in a defamation suit brought over his claims of election fraud.

  When and if the case reaches the appellate phase, either the D.C. Circuit or, more likely, the Supreme Court should throw it out on First Amendment grounds. If Trump’s speech, where he never asked the crowd to be violent but rather urged a “peaceful” march to the Capitol, can constitute the basis for civil liability, the First Amendment would be a nullity. Tens of thousands of people attended the rally, heard the speech, and either went home or followed Trump’s request to march “peacefully” to the Capitol. In the insurrection case, the Supreme Court did not reach the First Amendment issue, but that ground alone should have ended the case. Just as one should not be branded an insurrectionist and disqualified from office based on a speech that never urged violence, one also should not incur a gigantic civil judgment for that speech.

  Lawsuit No. 4:  The Carroll Clown Show

  Author E. Jean Carroll claimed that Donald Trump had raped her in a New York department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. She did not specify a year, much less a date. In 2022, in a lawsuit financed in part by Democrat megadonor Reid Hoffman, Carroll sued Trump, first for defamation and then for the alleged sexual assault. Trump had called Carroll’s claim “a hoax” and denied having met her. While the defamation suit came first, the sexual-assault suit was the first to go to trial.

  This trial never should have occurred. In 2022, New York enacted a law called the Adult Survivors Act (ASA). The ASA revived all adult claims of sexual abuse for one year, regardless of whether the statute of limitations had expired. Suppose that a 75-year-old claims that another 75-year-old abused her in 1970, 54 years ago. According to the ASA, even though the civil statute of limitations expired half a century ago, that 75-year-old would have a year to bring this claim. Such a scheme is horrifying. People rely on statutes of limitations. After a certain number of years, a matter is no longer ripe for legal review. There are crimes like murder with no statute of limitations, but this lack of a limitation period has been in law for centuries. The ASA retroactively revived long-since dormant cases, and that is a whole different kettle of fish.

  The trial on the sexual assault fell into the hands of U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, a Clinton appointee. The relationship between the hyperpartisan judge and Alina Habba, Trump’s lead lawyer, got so bad that Habba faced the threat of going to jail for contempt. The jury determined that Trump had not raped Carroll but that he had sexually abused her. The defamation case then went to trial before Judge Kaplan. This jury also found in favor of Carroll. The combined damages, including punitive damages, totaled over $90 million. Trump has appealed both verdicts. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument on the sexual assault verdict on September 6, the same day that Judge Merchan delayed the sentencing. The appeal dealt with many issues, including Judge Kaplan’s decision to permit the introduction of the so-called “Access Hollywood tape” and his having allowed testimony from a woman who claimed that Trump had groped her on an airplane in 1979. The defamation appeal is awaiting oral argument.

  Like the other lawfare episodes against Trump, this one is extraordinary in a horrifying way. Trump could not be expected to be able to provide a defense to a charge with no date and not even a year. There was no physical evidence like DNA or photographs of bruising to indicate the occurrence of a sexual assault, and no other witnesses could testify about the events of an unknown day or year. If a legislature can retroactively revive claims long barred by a statute of limitations, and if a jury believes an alleged victim’s testimony, a defendant could be out tens of millions of dollars. And if a defendant dares to defend himself by calling the charges, for instance, a hoax, he could be out tens of millions more thanks to a defamation suit. This scheme is so unjust that it offends basic notions of constitutional due process.

  The Stakes of the Election

  President Trump’s fate depends in large part on the election result. If Vice President Harris prevails, it is certain that Jack Smith will continue to prosecute Trump, unless the Supreme Court determines that his appointment is unconstitutional. At that point, however, the other political appointees in the Kamala-Walz Justice Department could resume control of the prosecution. Trump might prevail at trial before a reasonable jury in Florida, but his conviction before a highly biased D.C. jury would be a virtual certainty. There is also no reasonable doubt that Judge Chutkan would hammer him at sentencing. She has shown how ardently anti-Trump she is, and she also has been one of the most harsh sentencers of January 6 defendants. If she gets the chance, she will make sure that Trump rots in a cage for the rest of his life.

  A Trump victory in November would ensure that he would not go to prison based on Bragg’s case at least until 2029 if at all, if the appellate courts fail to stop this clearly illegal political persecution. Even though Trump does not have a criminal record, it is likely that, if given the chance, Judge Merchan would send him to Rikers Island, the notorious jail where prisoners await trial and those convicted serve short sentences. Judge Merchan’s daughter Loren would certainly raise a lot of money off that republic-ending travesty. If Trump prevails, it is doubtful that Judge Merchan would try to throw Trump in prison in the month and a half between the potential sentencing and the inauguration. If he were to act rashly, however, either a higher court in New York or the United States Supreme Court would almost certainly put a stop to his shenanigans.

  The Georgia appellate courts should end Fani Willis’ lawfare against Trump. If Trump wins the White House again, even if the case is not dismissed, Trump would not face trial until at least 2029. By that point, a new district attorney might decide to drop the case. The Georgia Court of Appeals hopefully will put an end to this and disqualify Willis, a decision that should be affirmed in short order by the Georgia Supreme Court. Given her disgraceful conduct, Willis has more than earned that remedy.

  If Vice President Harris prevails, the Supreme Court almost certainly will no longer be a safeguard against the anti-Trump lawfare. The Vice President has indicated that she is open to packing the Court with hardcore leftists who undoubtedly will be clones of Judges Merchan, Engoron and Chutkan. They will serve as rubber stamps for Smith, Bragg, James and Willis. Trump thus will spend the rest of his life in prison based on charges that never should have been brought. He also might face the lesser consequence of bankruptcy if a Supreme Court packed with leftists gives its blessing to the nearly half a billion dollars in judgments against him from New York courts.

  This election will decide whether the lawfare waged against President Trump for so many years and on so many fronts will be rewarded or punished. Several juries have rendered verdicts, and President Trump has appealed. In mere weeks, voters will deliver the most crucial verdict, and it is unappealable. President Trump’s fate is now in the hands of one more jury: the American people.

  Mike Davis is the Founder and President of Article III Project.

  You can subscribe to Unfazed and Determined here, and be sure to follow Mike Davis and the Article3Project here and here.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 18:25

• Canada's Trudeau Slammed Over "Black Justice" Proposal That Would Decriminalize Drugs, Empty Jails
  Canada’s Trudeau Slammed Over “Black Justice” Proposal That Would Decriminalize Drugs, Empty Jails

  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is being slammed by conservatives over recommendations he seeks to implement from a standing committee on “black justice” in Canada.

  The proposal will make crime worse in Canada, conservatives led by MP Jamil Jivani have argued. 

  Jivani challenged Liberal Diversity Minister Kamal Khera at a heritage committee meeting over the recommendations in “A Roadmap for Transformative Change: Canada’s Black Justice Strategy”, according to True North.

  Jivani criticized the proposals as “radical,” citing calls for a 30% reduction in incarceration over 10 years, decriminalizing a 30-day supply of hard drugs like cocaine, heroin, and meth, and cutting 25% of federal grants to police departments.

  Jivani accused Khera of being the “DEI Minister” and asked if she supported such “radical criminal justice policies”.

  

  Khera responded: “It would only be a Conservative that would be making a joke out of systemic racism (which as a result) have seen an over incarceration of black and Indigenous people in our criminal justice system. To be making a joke about that is disgraceful.”

  The True North report says that in December 2021, Justice Minister Arif Virani was tasked with addressing systemic discrimination contributing to the overrepresentation of Black Canadians in the justice system. A 2020/21 Justice Canada report found that 9% of federal offenders were Black, though they make up only 4% of the population.

  The Black Justice Strategy report, released in June and developed with input from 12 Black-led organizations, proposes measures like reducing Black and Indigenous incarceration by 50% by 2034, easing bail restrictions, repealing mandatory minimums, and providing a taxpayer-funded “safe supply” of drugs.

  It also advocates for decriminalizing possession of a 30-day supply of controlled substances, including heroin, meth, and cocaine, and reallocating 25% of federal police grants to non-police organizations.

  Virani called the report “historic” and essential for building a fairer justice system, but Jivani warned that its recommendations would lead to more crime and disorder, calling the strategy “appalling” in a July social media post.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 18:05

• Albert Einstein & The Folly Of Marxist Sympathies
  Albert Einstein & The Folly Of Marxist Sympathies

  Authored by Kgatlhiso Darius Leshaba via The Mises Institute,

  In the year 1949, the first issue of the socialist publication Monthly Review was released. Within the collection of essays, one stood out in particular. Notably, its author was none other than Albert Einstein. Somewhat misleadingly titled “Why Socialism?” the essay reads more like a critique of capitalism than a justification of socialism. In it, the brilliant physicist lays out his reasons for rejecting private property and briefly sketches out his vision for a moral and just society.

  Now, 75 years after the first appearance of the essay, I believe a critical analysis is in order.

  

  Einstein begins his essay by justifying his (and other non-economists) right to chime in on the debate about socialism. While I agree with the broad sentiment, the specific points strike me as worryingly naive. The first is that, due to the fact that since the history of most states is one of violence and coercion, conventional economic theory, as a product of the past “predatory phase” of human development, is ill-equipped to “throw…light on the socialist society of the future.”

  This seems to imply that not only should non-economists’ opinions be considered just as valid as professional economists, but that the opinions of economists are tainted by the context of their formation, and thus not adequate to comment on the nature of the future socialist paradise. At some point or another, socialists must come to realize that the nature of their envisioned society must be investigated if they are going to avoid repeating the catastrophes of the 20th-century experiments. An analysis of the incentives of such a system is crucial for evaluating if such a system would indeed serve as an improvement to the current state of affairs. The only field of study with the tools for this is economics, in all its depth and breadth.

  The second point made is one I wholly agree with, that economics as a science cannot choose ends, but can only inform the means for the attainment of desired ends. Thus, the question of what ends should be chosen lies outside the field of economic analysis, but the analysis of the means chosen for the attainment of desired ends is fair game.

  Einstein then goes on to lay out a brief theory of the relationship between the individual and her society. The main point in what he terms the “crisis of our time” is that the willful dissociation of individuals from their group identities leads to a nihilistic isolation for which capitalist societies are to be blamed. Einstein seems to fail in recognizing society as an abstract concept representing numerous individuals and their various interactions, direct and indirect, across time.

  Einstein then goes on to state that the modern individual depends wholly on “society,” however, this isn’t the entire picture. Since society is an abstract sum of individuals, it’s better to (at least partially) disaggregate the concept of society and understand that an individual’s interaction with society is ultimately just an interaction between individuals. One is not in a parasitic relationship with the society they belong to, the relationship is mutualistic. Man does not simply receive “food, clothing, a home, the tools of work, language,” man must also provide something of value to society. It may, therefore, be true that the dependence of the individual on other people’s efforts is a fact of nature, but the opposite—that the relative success of other people’s efforts relies on the efforts of the individual—is true as well.

  Einstein fails to realize that the pushback against the desires of the group often arises from coercive attempts to enforce those desires, rather than from a rejection of interdependence altogether. Einstein even makes the claim that the way people find meaning is by serving the desires of the group. There is an important qualification that is missing here—that if they do decide to serve the desires of the group, it must be voluntary and not coerced.

  Here is where we begin to run into Einstein’s “Marxist” critiques of capitalism.

  We start off with the Marxist exploitation theory, built on the back of the labor theory of value. Einstein says, “…what the worker receives is determined not by the real value of the goods he produces…”

  The first problem we run into is the concept of value. It has been firmly established that economic value isn’t intrinsic, that, “The measure of value is entirely subjective in nature.” Value is not transferred somehow from labor to product. In fact, the direction of the imputation of value is exactly the other way around. The economic value of labor is determined by the value of the final product it aids in producing. Therefore, I agree with Einstein, worker pay isn’t determined by the “real value” of what they produce but only because it cannot be determined by something that doesn’t exist. Einstein also seems to believe in the outdated subsistence theory of wages which had long since been disproven by the time Einstein’s essay was published. 

  Einstein then goes on to cite wealth inequality and the resulting distortion of the political landscape by private special interests. He is correct in that the market economy does not make people equal as there is no reason to expect it to do so. People are different, masters of different skills and trades (trades that are valued differently by consumers), leaving little reason to expect remuneration for their various services to be remotely equal. Rent-seeking doesn’t stop, however, just because resources are centrally controlled. Inequality isn’t unique to capitalism.

  Einstein voices displeasure with the fact that most sources of information (media, education, etc.) are privately owned and sees this a limiting factor in individuals’ ability to make objective decisions and their ability to make effective use of their political rights. One would think that, having had to flee from a state which had taken total control of the media, Einstein would know that the criticisms he levies against private ownership of media and education are more effective against these institutions being centrally controlled. Absent a monopoly, private ownership of the media and schools allows for a pluralistic society, where people are more likely to encounter competing viewpoints, and thus does better in the quest for mitigating misinformation. This makes coming to objective conclusions more likely than if there was a single, centrally-owned and -controlled source of information.

  Einstein then goes on to criticize the profit motive. “Production is carried on for profit, not for use” he says, not understanding the emptiness of his statement. Entrepreneurs produce goods that they believe consumers will find useful in satisfying their desires. If consumers judge the goods produced as useful, they patronize the business and the entrepreneur enjoys a profit. Thus, profit represents the entrepreneur’s success in providing goods and services that consumers find useful and valuable. Saying “production is carried on for profit” is just another way of saying production is carried on for the use of the consumers. I prefer not to comment on the faults of the Marxist theory of business cycles and simply let the record of history prove that there isn’t much of a relationship between the passage of time and the severity of depressions.

  Einstein ends by saying that the only way he sees for eliminating these “evils” is through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an education system that is oriented towards “social goals.” With little discussion of the mechanisms of such a system, one gets the idea that Einstein hasn’t thought this matter through much. The ownership of the factors of production by “society” and their utilization in a “planned fashion” isn’t even demonstrated to be plausible. We are to take him by his word that such a system would improve our standard of living without any critical analysis. Einstein relegates the possibility of repression at the hands of the state to the final few sentences of his essay, ending with sentiments which echo the claim that state ownership of the means of production is not “real socialism.” Although he raises some pertinent questions, he provides no answers.

  It is telling that many of these same arguments raised by Einstein are raised by disgruntled Zoomers with socialist sympathies.

  It would almost seem as though, as brilliant a thinker as Albert Einstein was, he was unfamiliar with economic theory and evidence that ran counter to the Marxist narrative, much like modern-day naive college socialists. Even where we agree, such as the hand inequality plays in distorting politics, he fails to show that it’s uniquely under capitalism that power dynamics can be skewed.

  This is because none of the criticisms levied can be laid down at the feet of capitalism, merely removing the market economy will not solve the great “evils” but only change the way these evils manifest themselves in society.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 17:45

• We're Told This Is Progress, But It's Actually Anti-Progress
  We’re Told This Is Progress, But It’s Actually Anti-Progress

  Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

  We need a new definition of Progress, and a reset of the mythology guiding our descent into “Anti-Progress”.

  There’s a curious disconnect between our glorification of Technological Progress and our real-world experience. If we step outside the tent of relentless propaganda touting science-fiction fantasies come to life–permanent bases on the Moon, limitless energy from fusion, etc.–we find that rather than everyday life getting better–the core meaning of Progress–we find that everyday life is getting harder. I call this Anti-Progress–the opposite of Progress.

  Buried beneath the thrills of science-fiction fantasies come to life, real life is characterized by the accelerating descent into Anti-Progress.

  Consider a raw carrot. In the current system of Progress, the most important feature of a raw carrot is its low profitability. There is little that promotion, branding or “innovation” can do to persuade consumers to pay more for a raw carrot.

  The most important feature of a raw carrot to the human body is that it is a natural food packed with nutrients and fiber. It is easy to store and transport and can be eaten raw or cooked. It can be eaten alone or mixed into stews, soups, salads and casseroles. A raw carrot is a healthy snack.

  None of this overcomes its terrible, unfixable flaw: it doesn’t lend itself to Progress, i.e. boosting profits. The Progress solution to this inherent flaw is to process the carrot into a product that can be marketed as an advance (i.e. Progress) in convenience, novelty, status and engagement (i.e. dopamine rush / addiction), attributes the consumer will pay more for.

  A few shreds of the carrot are cooked into mush and added to a concoction of potato starch, sugar and low-quality fat that is dyed with artificial colors to match a carrot’s color and marketed as a “veggie snack” (“contains real carrots!”).

  The nutritional value of the product is nil and the health consequences of consuming what is basically a greasy sugary confection are negative. The list of chronic diseases incurred by a diet of such highly processed food is long.

  This engineered snack, deceptively marketed as “veggie” to deceive parents into assuming it is a “healthy snack,” is immensely profitable, and so the system cheers the soaring sales and profits.

  The engagement/addiction aspect of this product is especially pernicious, as it is specifically designed to hijack the human brain’s reward centers much like a powerful drug. Its mouthfeel and heavy doses of sugar, salt and fat activate our hard-wired predilection for what is scarce in the hunter-gatherer diet: salt, fats and sweets. Eating this snack generates an immediate reward: a pleasurable dopamine rush. Bet you can’t just have one.

  Not only is this confection devoid of nutrition, it’s designed to be addictive. As every drug dealer knows, there’s nothing more profitable than an addiction that generates reliable demand.

  This describes not just addictive drugs and processed foods; it describes the whole of consumerism, which carefully cultivates addiction as the defining dynamic not just of Progress but of every-day life.

  Should any consumers lodge a complaint about the deceptively advertised “veggie snack” with the agencies tasked with protecting public health, they will find the corporate lobbyists have neutered public influence by spending whatever sums of money are needed to buy the compliance of regulators, what’s known as regulatory capture.

  The product is declared safe and anyone complaining about the deceptive packaging is told that it’s up to consumers to choose what to buy or not buy: caveat emptor, buyer beware.

  This process of boosting profits by masking the negative consequences is not just rational in the system of Progress, it’s the only path: any CEO who chooses not to maximize profits and buy political influence is fired for incompetence.

  This reveals the pathological nature of organizing an economy and society around promoting a mythology that equates expanding consumption with Progress.

  Anyone who describes the system as it truly is must be marginalized with an accusation of violating the American taboo against negativity. Not finding a silver lining is an unforgiveable sin: just as you must cheer technological Progress, you must be relentlessly positive. An entire library of cheery slogans is at the ready to ensure the proper dose of positive spirit has been administered, no matter how insincerely. If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

  So when we move to the response to the diseases generated by a diet of addictive processed foods–the immensely profitable market for pharmaceuticals that alleviate the symptoms of the diseases caused by consuming processed foods–we find a happy marriage of profits reaped by generating lifestyle diseases and an equally profitable alleviation of symptoms.

  There are numerous subsidiary winners in this Anti-Progress profit bonanza: university research funded by corporate interests, lobbying firms handsomely paid to dig regulatory moats, politicians harvesting campaign contributions, think-tanks paid to distribute the apologists’ favorite cover-story, “the free market,” speculators scheming to cash in on a heavily hyped initial public offering (IPO), and so on.

  Once we tune in to the siren songs of Progress, we hear them everywhere. The smart phone is a wonder, for what could be better than having shopping, hyper-addictive games and social media at our fingertips, an addictive device that enables access to a wealth of other addictions?

  Just as the consequences of consuming the “veggie snack” are hidden, so are the consequences of glorifying addictive technologies as Progress.

  Healthy human life is constructed of relationships between individuals, families, communities, the natural world and the moral universe.

  Our economic system of Progress severs all these links as impediments to expanding consumption and profits via addiction, obsolescence, insecurity and narcissism. From the perspective of a healthy human life, these are the perfection of Anti-Progress.

  How can soaring rates of diabetes and prediabetes be Progress? Clearly, this is Anti-Progress.

  

  How can soaring rates of disability be Progress? Clearly, this is Anti-Progress.

  

  How can soaring rates of metabolic disorders be Progress? Clearly, this is Anti-Progress.

  

  How can soaring costs of basic healthcare insurance be Progress? Clearly, this is Anti-Progress.

  

  How can soaring rates of teen depression be Progress? Clearly, this is Anti-Progress.

  

  How can increasing loneliness be Progress? Clearly, this is Anti-Progress.

  

  While returning to the Moon and AI apps are touted as “proof” of Progress, real-world life is most accurately described as snowballing Anti-Progress. We need a new definition of Progress, and a reset of the mythology guiding our descent into Anti-Progress. That’s the topic of my new book, The Mythology of Progress, Anti-Progress and a Mythology for the 21st Century.

  *  *  *

  Become a $3/month patron of my work via patreon.com.

  Subscribe to my Substack for free

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 17:05

• "The Case Is More Serious": NYT Hid Extent Of Kamala Harris Plagiarism From Their Own Expert
  “The Case Is More Serious”: NYT Hid Extent Of Kamala Harris Plagiarism From Their Own Expert

  Earlier this week journalist Chris Rufo revealed that Kamala Harris plagiarized giant sections of her book on crime, after famed Austrian “plagiarism hunter” Dr. Stefan Weber found that “Kamala Harris plagiarized at least a dozen sections of her criminal-justice book.”

  

  In response, the New York Times bent over backwards (and forwards) to downplay their preferred candidate’s cut-n-pastery – first casting it as ‘conservative activist seizes on passages‘ from Harris’ book, then totally lying about Rufo’s reporting – which Rufo quickly debunked.

  As part of their propaganda, the Times wheeled out plagiarism expert Jonathan Bailey, who said “his initial reaction to Mr. Rufo’s claims was that the errors were not serious, given the size of the document.“

  Except, the Times concealed the extent of the claims from Bailey – who writes in his Plagiarism Today blog: “At the time, I was unaware of a full dossier with additional allegations, which led some to accuse the New York Times of withholding that information from me. However, the article clearly stated that it was my “initial reaction” to those allegations, not a complete analysis.

  ABC does fake fact-checks to help Kamala. CBS stealth-edits an interview to help Kamala. New York Times withholds evidence to help Kamala. This is endemic—and only visible now because we have X.

  — Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 17, 2024

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  From Bailey’s blog:

  Today, I reviewed the complete dossier prepared by Dr. Stefan Weber, whom I have covered before. I also performed a peer review of one of his papers in 2018.

  With this new information, while I believe the case is more serious than I commented to the New York Times, the overarching points remain. While there are problems with this work, the pattern points to sloppy writing habits, not a malicious intent to defraud.

  Bailey still refers to the plagiarism as nothing more than “sloppy writing habits, not a malicious intent to defraud.”

  

  Much like it’s not “malicious intent to defraud” when a college student copies Wikipedia word-for-word, then gets expelled?

  What’s more, Rufo implored the Times to look at the entire claim – which they refused to do.

  When the Times published its piece, I called the reporter and the editor to protest that they withheld evidence from their supposed “expert.” The editor, Mary Suh, gave me the excuse that it wasn’t their job to review the whole report. I hung up on her. pic.twitter.com/D7sQDpJS6P

  — Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 17, 2024

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  Here is the full 47-page dossier, prepared by famed Austrian “plagiarism hunter” Stefan Weber. Anyone can read it and come to the conclusion that Kamala Harris plagiarized her book, Smart on Crime. https://t.co/7KvwbzqTOS

  — Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 15, 2024

  Meanwhile, the plagiarism is even worse than reported!

  SHE KEEPS GOING: This is a ninth instance of significant plagiarism by Kamala Harris. Although she cited the source, she copied long passages of language verbatim, without paraphrasing or putting it in quotations. It’s textbook “verbatim plagiarism”—and not an isolated incident. pic.twitter.com/5uwWwRDxkt

  — Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 15, 2024

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  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 16:45

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• Italy's Meloni On Israel Arms Embargo: "We Have Blocked Everything"
  Italy’s Meloni On Israel Arms Embargo: “We Have Blocked Everything”

  The Italian government has imposed the strictest arms embargo on Israel among any European nation, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni having confirmed before the Italian senate that all new arms deals were blocked within weeks of the start of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

  “After the start of [Israeli military] operations in Gaza, the government immediately suspended all new export licenses, and all agreements signed after October 7th were not implemented,” Meloni said on Tuesday.

  

  She further described that licenses authorized before the war are being “analyzed on a case-by-case basis by the competent authority at the foreign ministry.”

  “We have blocked everything,” the Italian leader said while acknowledging that her government’s ban is “much more restrictive than that applied by our partners—France, Germany and the United Kingdom.”

  Pro-Israel sources as well as Jewish news agencies in the West have described Italy’s rhetoric as “increasingly hostile” toward Israel of late, particularly after the escalation of war in Lebanon.

  Meloni in her Tuesday address made reference to ongoing controversy surrounding Israeli forces targeting troops of the UN Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL). Italy and Ireland tend to be Europe’s largest contributor of troops to the peacekeeping team which has its command HQ in south Lebanon.

  Two UNIFIL troops have been wounded by Israeli forces (IDF) thus far. “Even if there have been no casualties or extensive damage, I think that Israel’s attack on UNIFIL cannot be considered acceptable,” the Italian premier said. “We believe that the attitude of the Israeli forces is completely unjustified,” she emphasized.

  IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi has countered by saying that the real problem is that Hezbollah terrorists are exploiting positions surrounding UNIFIL outposts. 

  Israel has called on the UN peacekeepers to leave while accusing UNIFIL of allowing Hezbollah to relentlessly bombard northern Israel with missiles from territory under its watch. Meloni meanwhile also unveiled plans to soon visit Lebanon.

  As for whether arms embargos on Israel will grow among European countries, Frances is currently in embroiled in a public spat with Israeli leadership. Top German leaders have also of late blocked the sale of weapons to Israel.

  Speaking in #Italy‘s lower house of parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, announced an upcoming visit to #Lebanon on Friday, October 19. #Meloni also said heeding the “unilateral request from Israel would be a grave mistake,” as “it would… pic.twitter.com/ZXOHjBhede

  — Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 16, 2024

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  The German government has insisted that there is no official arms embargo in effect. Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently vowed that more weapons will be sent to Tel Aviv soon.

  However, Politico has highlighted: “Arms export decisions are approved by the Federal Security Council made up of senior ministers. Bild reported that Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock — Green politicians who are in governing coalition with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats — withheld approval for arms exports in the council pending assurances from Israel that it would not use German weapons in a genocide.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 02:45

• EU Energy Ministers Debate Russian Gas Flows As Ukraine Transit Deal Nears End
  EU Energy Ministers Debate Russian Gas Flows As Ukraine Transit Deal Nears End

  Authored by Charles Kennedy via OilPrice.com,

  • EU ministers are debating alternatives to Russian gas imports as the Ukraine transit deal expires in December 2024.

  • Concerns are rising regarding rising Russian LNG imports and the effectiveness of EU sanctions on re-exports.

  • Some EU members advocate for stricter LNG reporting and alternatives like Azerbaijan are being discussed, but no concrete solutions are yet agreed upon.

  European Union energy ministers are discussing the flows of natural gas from Russia to the EU as the transit deal via Ukraine is nearing its end.

  

  The ministers are also talking about the issue of Russia’s LNG shipments to the bloc, which have been rising in recent months.

  The EU’s latest package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine included in June a ban on reloading services of Russian LNG in EU territory for the purpose of transshipment operations to third countries, after a transition period of 9 months. This covers both ship-to-ship transfers and ship-to-shore transfers, as well as re-loading operations, and does not affect import but only re-export to third countries via the EU, the bloc said.

  Now several EU member states, including France and Belgium, are calling on the European Commission to propose stricter requirements for reporting LNG import volumes by suppliers and storage companies.

  “We have seen in Belgium a doubling of LNG volumes. These are probably destined for security of supply within Europe but we have difficulty implementing this (14th) package that’s why we are calling for a tracking system,” Belgium’s Energy Minister Tinne van der Straeten said, as carried by Reuters.

  Regarding remaining pipeline gas flows from Russia to the EU via the Ukraine transit route, Ukraine has already said on several occasions that it would not extend the current gas transit deal which expires on December 31, 2024.

  But Slovakia, which continues to receive Russian gas, has said it would like to continue using the route via Ukraine.

  EU energy ministers have been discussing replacing Russia with Azerbaijan as a supplier, but there haven’t been many details about how this could work, technically and politically, Bloomberg notes.

  The EU is nowhere near an agreement on replacing Russian flows, and a possible deal could even be struck at the 11th hour or early next year, anonymous sources familiar with the discussions told Bloomberg.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 10/17/2024 – 02:00

• The US Plans To Let BRICS Fail In A Geopolitically Explosive Environment
  The US Plans To Let BRICS Fail In A Geopolitically Explosive Environment

  Authored by Peter Hanseler via VoiceFromRussia.ch,

  Introduction

  In less than two weeks, the 2024 BRICS Summit will take place in Kazan from 22-24 October. Our team will be there to follow and report on what is likely to be the most important geopolitical event of the year.

  

  We are using the summit as an opportunity to publish several articles on this issue of the century. In this first article, we describe the adverse geopolitical environment in which this organisation is developing.

  I would like to preface this with the following: Reliable geopolitical statements are based on facts. As the geopolitical facts change almost daily, this fact makes it difficult or impossible to produce analyses that will stand the test of time.

  Several key geopolitical parameters are either completely in flux or will not have been decided at the time of the BRICS summit. I consider the following parameters to be crucial for medium-term geopolitical developments: (1) war in the Middle East; (2) war in Ukraine; (3) interest rate developments and the behaviour of the Fed until the end of this year as an indicator of the instability of Western financial markets with the inevitable consequences for the global economy; (4) US presidential elections.

  For China and Russia, which play a leading role in BRICS – Russia currently holds the chair – the following questions arise: Should BRICS accept few, no or many new members? Candidates are lining up, but some are under enormous pressure from the US to avoid joining BRICS. Should a new payment mechanism independent of the US dollar be introduced now, further upsetting the balance in already unstable financial markets? Such decisions, or even the mere communication of them, have the potential to significantly alter the entire geopolitical situation within hours – positively or negatively, depending on the observer’s point of view.

  This article can therefore be no more than a transcription of thoughts on significant geopolitical developments that are currently taking place simultaneously and unpredictably. A full assessment is impossible. Many factors cannot be reliably assessed – such as developments in Africa, Asia and South America.

  The feigned disinterest of the West

  For a long time, the Western media maintained an ironclad silence on the subject of BRICS. A glimmer of interest appeared when Turkey expressed interest in joining BRICS. Now there is radio silence again. Alternative media are outdoing each other with predictions that BRICS will change the world tomorrow. The Russian media are holding back in this fireworks of jubilation. But to interpret the silence of the Western media as a lack of interest in BRICS would be more than naive.

  The Mainstream Media in the West as Hate Mongers and Warmongers

  In retrospect, people are always amazed at how people allowed their leaders to behave so foolishly and against the interests of their own nations on the road to world wars.

  The answer is banal: the mainstream media regularly play a devastating role, both on the road to war and during war. The mainstream media allow themselves to be used and wring their hands when those media that report honestly are destroyed. Without journalists who sell their souls and trample on the interests of their own country, there would be no such catastrophes.

  A few gallows should be kept ready for the ladies and gentlemen responsible. That would be nothing new, by the way. Julius Streicher, publisher of the Nazi hate newspaper “Der Sturmer”, was hanged in Nuremberg.

  

  Hate propaganda can lead to a broken neck – Julius Streicher, former publisher of the newspaper “Der Stürmer”

  This picture is intended to be a visual lesson in how it can end when you throw all journalistic principles overboard for evil.

  The population in the West is already powerless

  Since the brainwashing is not yet absolute, significant parts of the European population are still far from believing and supporting the madness spread by the media. The closed front of hatred – for example, against Russia – takes place primarily in the media, which are in complete lockstep throughout the West, with a few exceptions.

  Significant parts of the population – in France, Germany and Austria, for example – have expressed their disgust with their leaders at the polls, and in a functioning democracy this should have led to political change. The political elites in France and Germany – and recently also in Austria – have used illegal means to prevent the political participation of those parties that advocate peace, for example in Ukraine, accompanied by the media labeling those who advocate peace as “Nazis” or at least “right-wing extremists. I have never heard of Adolf Hitler advocating peace.

  There are certainly parallels with those dark times. The actions of the Nazi regime after it seized power in 1933 are virtually identical to those of today’s elites in Europe against dissenters in terms of restricting freedom of expression: inciting the masses against those sections of the population who question the policies of the powerful; bringing the media into line; and – especially in Germany – violating the law beyond recognition. For example, denying the winner of the regional elections in Thuringia the right to participate in the government or to have a blocking minority.

  Freedom of expression in the midst of agony

  Representative of the trend that freedom of expression in the West is hanging by a thread, here is a quote from John Kerry, on the occasion of a WEF meeting that took place between September 23 and 27.

  “Our First Amendment stands as a major block to the ability to be able to hammer [disinformation] out of existence.

  What we need is to win…the right to govern by hopefully winning enough votes that you’re free to be able to implement change.

  In other words, Kerry qualifies freedom of expression as a problem and announces that this “problem” would be solved by the state if Kamala Harris wins. We leave this thought in the air and refer to our article: “US elections decide on war or peace”.

  If it weren’t for the internet and blogs, the powerful would have already achieved their goal, because fortunately it seems practically impossible to silence all voices of reason.

  BRICS: From an economic project to a geopolitical force

  When representatives from Brazil, Russia, China and India first met formally on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in 2006, the world looked very different. Even in 2009, when the first formal BRIC summit was held in Yekaterinburg in June 2009, without South Africa – hence “BRIC” instead of “BRICS” – the world was different. The original goals of the BRIC countries were to achieve better economic cooperation between countries that had not yet been openly declared enemies or even sanctioned by the West. There seemed to be no rush (yet).

  From 2014, pressure on Russia increased as a result of Maidan and Crimea. Russia was portrayed as the villain and sanctions were imposed. President Putin continued to seek diplomatic solutions for another eight years, welcomed Minsk I and II, but was again deceived. The artillery shelling of civilians in Donetsk by the “peaceful” Ukrainians did not stop, and NATO was building up the Ukrainian army for an attack on Russia.

  Russia began to prepare for the foreseeable, especially economically, because militarily it had been doing so with great energy and creativity since the attack on Georgia in 2008. When the situation escalated in February 2022, Russia had apparently done its economic homework and could count on the loyalty of its partners in BRICS and SCO. The US miscalculation can be explained by the fact that Americans are unfamiliar with the concept of loyalty, while the EU miscalculation can be explained by the fact that most of its members are ruled by leaders whose stupidity borders on idiocy.

  Russia has weathered the economic war unleashed by the West, despite a storm of sanctions unprecedented in world history. The losers are to be found in the West, with Germany being hit the hardest – also due to a senseless economic policy.

  The U.S. did not limit its economic war to Russia, but also began to sanction China in 2014, as always with flimsy arguments. The EU – as a vassal of the US – has willingly gone along with this, and is currently doing so out of its own self-interest, since the industrial pearl that is Germany has already lost out due to misguided economic policies, bad decisions by its automotive industry and suicidal sanctions against Russia. Auto industry experts are speechless and wringing their hands: Since Covid, Mercedes has not managed to get its factories above 50% capacity – a complete collapse is becoming apparent across the board.

  Next came the freezing of the reserves of the Russian Central Bank and the expropriation not only of Russians, but of anyone with a “Russian connection”, a term that is not legal in nature and has opened the door for governments and banks in the West to stage a raid.

  China, which is only a few steps behind Russia in terms of sanctions, has become a target for the West because of its industrial superiority. It is the great new enemy of the US and Europe.

  It would be naive to neglect the South China Sea and Taiwan, which are hot spots along with Ukraine and the Middle East, because what is at stake is nothing less than military domination of the Pacific, which the Americans have held since 1945, and control of one of the world’s most important transportation routes. Once the Americans are somewhere, you can’t get rid of them – even 80 years after a conflict. In Germany, for example, the US still operates 40 military bases. This alone makes it clear that Germany is not even nominally sovereign, but a mere vassal of the US. What “interests” the US “protects” for others around the globe remains in the dark.

  Although most people consider military conflicts to be more important than economic wars because they are more bloody and evoke more emotion, history teaches us that the economically stronger ultimately prevails. As a consequence of this thought, it can be argued that the economic war as the decisive part of the 3rd World War is already in full swing.

  In addition to many small military conflicts – such as in Africa – two increasingly escalating wars are currently raging: the conflict in Ukraine has been going on for two and a half years, and the latest conflict in the Middle East has been raging for a year.

  Military escalation in Ukraine

  Since last September, it has been clear who will prevail militarily in Ukraine. The advance of Russian troops across the entire front is accelerating steadily. We regularly recommend a YouTube channel that provides an unemotional daily report in English (“Military Summary”) and Russian (“Военныe сводки”) of events at the front and has not made any mistakes: only facts.

  Ukraine’s Kursk adventure will end as it was bound to end; the last elite Ukrainian troops that (President) Selenski assembled for this suicide mission and equipped with modern equipment will leave Kursk as prisoners or in body bags. My sources speak of more than 21,000 casualties on the Ukrainian side.

  Since the military outcome of the matter was decided – that is, since September 2023 – (President) Selenski, on behalf of his masters in Washington, has been wasting his men – young and old – at an ever-increasing rate. The death rate on the Ukrainian side has doubled from last year to June 2024: 60,000 to 80,000 men lost – per month. The number of Ukrainian prisoners of war is also increasing daily due to military encirclement. The fresh soldiers who have been thrown to the front since the beginning of the year do so after a 10-day quick fix, following a veritable hunt by recruiting troops throughout the territory of western Ukraine. These men do not want to go to the front and flee at the first opportunity. They know the war is lost, and they are not willing to give their lives for a country whose leadership they do not respect and whose fight is hopeless. Even CNN and the New York Times are reporting this.

  The latest attempt by the U.S. and Britain to escalate the situation by using NATO’s long-range weapons against Russia failed because of President Putin’s clear response that in this case NATO countries, the U.S. and Europe would be directly involved in the war in Ukraine and that Russia would therefore make appropriate decisions based on the threat, given the changed nature of this conflict. This statement caused President Biden to backtrack within hours. Russia then further tightened its doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons, making it clear that the concept of proxy wars would no longer be tolerated in the future.

  It is not possible to say how long these two statements by President Putin will prevent the escalation. On October 3, another attack was carried out against the Kursk nuclear power plant – it is not known whether long-range weapons were used. It was rumored that at the next Ramstein meeting, Germany would authorize the use of long-range weapons despite the warning from the Kremlin. However, President Biden has now announced that he would not be attending this meeting due to the hurricane situation in the US. Shortly afterwards, Anthony Blinken also canceled. Meanwhile, the meeting has been canceled for the time being. Believing in victory looks different.

  On October 8, Foreign Minister Lavrov reaffirmed the new doctrine and its automatic application in the event of the use of long-range weapons.

  “As soon as this decision is taken [by the West to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles], if it is taken, we will learn that, and the contingency mentioned by Vladimir Putin will already be in action,”

  Sergei Lawrow – 8 Oktober 2024

  Selenski’s ‘victory plan’ was rejected in Washington anyway and testifies to the president’s complete loss of touch with reality. Even Czech President Petr Pavel has pointed this out. Although he is a vocal supporter of Ukraine and a former NATO general, he nevertheless expressed the view that parts of Ukraine would probably end up belonging to Russia. He softened this statement by describing this Russian occupation as ‘temporary’. Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, has also come out strongly against Ukraine joining NATO. Fico has long been a thorn in the side of the hawks, and they will regret that the attempt on his life did not bear fruit. I would not be surprised if a second attempt is made, as has already happened with Donald Trump.

  The interim conclusion is that Russia has already won militarily against Ukraine, but the dying goes on without changing the outcome. The only thing left for NATO to do is to use long-range weapons against Russia in order to extend the war to the whole of NATO.

  Escalation in the Middle East

  The situation in the Middle East is even worse. After the events of 7 October 2023 were portrayed as a massacre of Palestinians, Prime Minister Netanyahu used this event, referred to as the “9/11 moment”, as an opportunity to massacre the population of Gaza. In January 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled unequivocally that this was genocide. To no avail, because since its creation in 1948, Israel has only respected the law that benefits it.

  In the months following October 7, it emerged that the vast majority of the deaths that day were at the hands of the Israeli Defense Forces and that the alleged mass rapes and beheadings of children were pure invention. These clear denials of Israeli propaganda were, incidentally, not made by obscure blogs, but by the Israeli daily newspaper “Haaretz”.

  The entire Western public has been subjected to an unprecedented brainwashing, which in Germany, for example, has gone so far as to issue a memo to the staff of public television stations dictating the wording and adjectives they should use in their reporting. See our article “ARD–Glossary justifies genocide – Dr. Goebbels would be proud“.

  Apart from a few courageous students, who were labeled anti-Semites for protesting against this genocide, no one in the West seems to be bothered by the fact that genocide is becoming fashionable again as a war tactic. After the Israeli military expanded the slaughter to the West Bank, Israel turned its attention to Lebanon. The leader of Hezbollah was eliminated by dropping 86 massive bombs on a residential neighborhood consisting of six buildings. Hundreds of civilians died. Israel uses such barbaric methods to eliminate a few officers of Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The attacks in Pager are also acts of terrorism and war crimes. Western media celebrate them as ingenious moves by Mossad.

  Genocide and terror are “legal” for the US and the entire West. The Holocaust was also legal, as was the slaughter of over 15 million Russian civilians. The Nazi regime provided these “actions” with a “legal basis”. We have thus returned to a time when the terms “legal basis”, “law” and “law” have degenerated into empty phrases to assuage the consciences of those who actually commit these atrocities.

  Since 1979, Iran has been described by the West as the epitome of evil and a terrorist state, even though it has not attacked another country in 150 years. That may be about to change. When the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was liquidated by the Israelis in Tehran on July 31, 2024, Iran held back. Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, was apparently persuaded by the U.S. not to respond militarily as a cease-fire was being worked out in Gaza. Iran showed its goodwill.

  This was followed shortly afterwards by the pager attack, the assassination of Hassan Nasrrallah and the invasion of Lebanon. The Americans have once again pulled the wool over Iran’s eyes and set a trap. The response from Tehran last week was a missile attack with almost 200 missiles. The US and Israel are calling it a failure, but Israel has banned the dissemination of information about the damage. Film footage shows that over 80% of the missiles hit their target and the damage to military infrastructure is considerable. Iran only attacked military targets, not civilian ones. This distinguishes Iran from the real terrorist state, which has probably systematically killed over 100,000 civilians since last October.

  Israel and the US should think carefully about whether this is a good idea before launching further attacks on Iran: Russia has equipped Iran with S-400 air defense systems and fighter jets – probably including pilots; at the same time, Moscow is clearly distancing itself from Israel and calling on Russian citizens to leave the country.

  The risk of a conflict in which the US and Russia face each other directly in the Middle East has therefore increased noticeably. Neither China nor Russia have the slightest interest in Iran being forced into a war. As a member of the SCO and BRICS, Iran has become an ally of these two major powers and they would therefore have to respond militarily, which would make a direct confrontation between the US and Russia/China de facto inevitable.

  I rule out a military victory for Israel and the US over Iran for the following reasons: Firstly, due to its military successes in the 1960s and 1970s, Israel lives from a myth as a military superpower in the Middle East, which is based on conflicts that lasted a few days or weeks against opponents who were inferior to the Israelis in every respect.

  In 2006, however, Israel clearly lost against Hezbollah and the ineffectual Israelis had to call off their offensive against Lebanon after a month. The Israelis were also unable to achieve their loudly proclaimed goals against a significantly less powerful Hamas despite their genocidal approach.

  Iran is a huge country with an area of 1.6 million square kilometers and a population of 90 million, with an army of just under one million men including reservists. Moreover, Iran is over 1,700 km away from Israel, which rules out a land war. Even the Americans, who cannot even prevail against the Houthis, will have no chance here. Attacking Iran is therefore complete nonsense and madness.

  If you listen to experts, even air strikes seem practically impossible and extremely risky for aircraft due to the Russian S-400 defense systems. Iran has hundreds of thousands of state-of-the-art missiles at its disposal and could cover Israel with hundreds of missiles every day for months. The Israelis’ miraculous Iron Dome may be suitable against old Quds missiles, but they are practically ineffective against modern Iranian missiles, as the last attack showed.

  Unless the Americans have completely lost their minds, they will not comply with the wishes of the Israeli Mini-Hitler. That would probably also be worse for the Biden-Harris government. If the conflict escalates, Iran will multiply the price of oil through attacks on oil infrastructure and a possible blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which would mean the end of the Harris campaign.

  The third major conflict for supremacy in the South China Sea and over Taiwan is not yet being waged kinetically, but it could just as well start tomorrow or in a year’s time.

  The forces that control the USA are the cause of this evil

  Overview

  It sounds simplistic, but there is actually one party ultimately responsible for all the incidents described: The US. It is – rightly – afraid of losing its role as hegemon after 80 years.

  The US’s problem is multifaceted. Firstly, the world’s most indebted country is economically in the doldrums: The published economic figures, which paint a slightly better picture, are sugarcoated. Secondly, society in the US is more divided than ever before: the election campaign between Harris and Trump is hate-filled and this is not about the choice between two people, but about the choice between the deep state and the anti-establishment, which we already described in detail a month ago (US elections decide war or peace) and therefore do not cover this aspect in this article. Thirdly, the strategy of destroying or dismembering Russia implemented after the fall of the Soviet Union has become a distant prospect by conventional means; the war against Russia in Ukraine has failed. Fourthly, over the last 45 years, the US has lost its formerly dominance in the Middle East. The last bastion is Israel, which is being led to its doom by a sociopath under the expert leadership of the US. Fifthly, in my opinion, the biggest problem for the US is the rise of BRICS, as the American empire cannot exist without the supremacy of the US dollar. With the rise of BRICS, this dominance will disappear. For this reason, the US is fighting BRICS with all means at its disposal, be it by exerting pressure on new or potential members (e.g. Saudi Arabia) or through military intervention (e.g. Russia and Iran).

  US economy: The world’s richest country driven to the wall

  The US took over as hegemon after the Second World War with 22,000 tons of gold, an economy that produced 70% of the world’s industrial goods and a monetary system (Bretton Woods) that was imposed on over forty members and made the US dollar the world currency. In addition, the US was practically spared from the Second World War – as it had been from the First World War. The country and the civilian population suffered no damage whatsoever and compared to the losses suffered by many other warring parties – first and foremost the Soviet Union – the American losses in both world wars can be described as homeopathic.

  Despite this “starting capital”, the US as hegemon did not succeed in maintaining this strength over time. The list of coups, military conflicts and major wars launched by the US in the last 80 years is almost endless and has led to millions of civilian deaths, destroyed countries and complete military defeats for the US.

  The image that the US paints of itself as a “friendly hegemon” is a complete farce. The US was not only brutal and ruthless towards enemies, but also towards friends. If a friend stepped out of line, it was destroyed militarily (Iraq, Libya), subjected to decades of sanctions (Cuba, Iran) or blackmailed by other means (Switzerland).

  The biggest problem for the United States is the fact that it has always lived beyond its means and spent more money than it earned. This led to the collapse of the Bretton Woods system after just 26 years, when President Nixon was forced to close the gold window, which led to them ripping off their partners in the Bretton Woods system. Then the genius Henry Kissinger invented the Petrodollar, which turned the US dollar into the “King Dollar” and gave the US an instrument for unlimited debt, which the Americans also used as a weapon. Anyone who tried to break away and sell raw materials in currencies other than the US dollar was destroyed (Iraq, Libya).

  The turning point came at the latest with the freezing of Russian central bank funds, an infringement of assets that was primarily started by the vassals in the EU in 2022, with even “neutral” Switzerland participating in this – until then – unthinkable breach of the law.

  In my opinion, this action will go down in the history books as one of the greatest blunders, as it not only heralds the end of the Petrodollar, but also greatly accelerates the coming together of the Global South, which is characterized by the fact that the Chinese and Russians no longer conduct 60%, but only 15% of their transactions in US dollars and the BRICS countries – whenever possible – conduct their trade activities outside the US dollar. This trend is accelerating with each passing year and will sooner or later lead to the collapse of the US budget, as it is dependent on the world holding US dollars, or else the US will collapse.

  The stock markets in the West are still close to their highs, but are a miserable measure of the economic health of the Collective West. Most of the countries in this group are effectively bankrupt and are keeping themselves alive by printing money and cutting interest rates. Interest rate cuts that are based on the lie that inflation has been defeated. Every European or American who has to watch their budget has tears in their eyes – from laughter or weeping – when they look at the official inflation figures.

  The official figures have nothing in common with reality. It is the West’s last gasp before collapse. Here, too, history is repeating itself. In the 1970s, Americans were also led to believe that inflation was under control and the Fed Chairman at the time, Arthur F. Burns, lowered interest rates. An inflationary storm then broke out, which Burns’ successor, Paul Volcker, finally got under control again by raising the key interest rate to 19.1% (June 1981).

  On October 4, ZeroHedge reported that global food prices have risen the most in 18 months. The parallels with the 1970s in terms of inflation are striking and worrying.

  

  This drastic cure would no longer be feasible today. At today’s interest rates, the US is paying over one trillion US dollars in interest per year on its gigantic mountain of debt. That is more than the US spends on its gigantic military apparatus. Very few people can even imagine what a trillion actually means:

  Here are some examples of what a trillion actually means:

  • One million seconds equals 11.5 days – one trillion seconds equals: 32,000 years.

  • If someone were to give away a million every day since the day Christ was born, they would still have enough money today to continue this process for another 715 years – until the year 2,739.

  • One trillion grains of rice weigh approximately 30,000 tons.

  It is only a matter of time before this house of cards collapses. Whether the catastrophe starts in Europe, the US or Japan is of secondary importance, as this will lead to a domino effect.

  Bloodbaths accompany the loss of US supremacy in the Middle East

  In our three-part series “Bloodbaths are changing the world”, we have meticulously detailed the rise of the military-industrial complex in the US (Part 1) as the basis for the US’s aggressive foreign policy.

  Until the overthrow of the Shah of Persia in 1979, the US dominated the Middle East and thus also controlled a large part of the world’s oil reserves.

  In the following maps, the influence of the US is colored red. The coloring in the following maps should not be considered absolute.

  

  Influence of the US (red) in the Middle East until the fall of the Shah of Persia – Source: VoicefromRussia.com

  In 2001, the situation looked much worse for the US – its influence was much smaller.

  

  Situation on September 11, 2001 – Source: VoicefromRussia.com

  In part 2 of our bloodbath series, we explained how the US used 9/11 as an excuse to plan a huge campaign to conquer Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iran. A plan that was in no way inferior to Hitler’s megalomania.

  

  Influence US in September 2001: (red) – the plan: (yellow) – Source: VoicefromRussia.com

  It turned out differently: all war campaigns led to disaster for the US. Nevertheless, the Americans destroyed the following countries either completely or significantly: Afghanistan (US withdrawal), Iraq (US withdrawal with a small contingent remaining against the will of the government), Libya (no [official] ground troops, country destroyed), Syria (lost, but to this day still some ground troops in the oil-rich part), Sudan (no control), Somalia (no control).

  The situation today is as follows: A disaster for the US.

  In addition, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt joined BRICS last summer (Saudi Arabia joined but has not yet signed up). The following countries in the Middle East have also submitted formal applications for membership: Kuwait, Bahrain and Turkey – more on these in our follow-up articles to this report.

  The geopolitical reach of the US in the Middle East is therefore extremely limited. Furthermore, anyone who believes that Israel does not do exactly what the US orders is naive.

  Israel would not be able to survive a month without US financial and military support. The US has once again found a sociopath (Prime Minister Netanyahu) to do the dirty work for the US, including genocide.

  The power of the Zionists

  Much more important, however, is the question of who is able to influence the US to such an extent and how this is done. The short answer: the Zionists.

  What is Zionism? – “Zionism (from Zion) refers to a political ideology and associated movement aimed at the establishment, justification and preservation of a Jewish nation state in Palestine.”

  The Zionists are in charge of the Israeli government today, although they only represent around 10% of the electorate. One of their most extreme representatives is the current Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

  In our series on Israel, we mentioned the ultimate goal of the Zionists several times and proved this, among other things, with the help of an entry in Ben Gurion’s diary, namely the creation of a Greater Israel that included Israel, Jordan, Iraq, parts of Syria and areas of Saudi Arabia. This also proves that the term “river” in the Israeli saying “From the river to the sea” does not mean the Jordan, but the Euphrates. This ultimate goal is always dismissed in the West as a conspiracy theory, as well as an old hat, since Ben Gurion’s diary entry dates back to 1948. However, the following statement by Smotrich from October of this year confirms the unbelievable:

  Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich:

  I want a Jewish state that includes Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/k08V7wYNGU

  — Globe Eye News (@GlobeEyeNews) October 10, 2024

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

  It is no secret that the American government is riddled with Zionists – such as Blinken and Sullivan. Even Joe Biden describes himself as a Zionist.

  The Zionist movement is organized worldwide. By far its most powerful lobbyist is the extremely wealthy AIPAC – The American Israel Public Affairs Committee; in essence a Zionist lobbying organization in the US.

  In the US, all lobbying organizations must be registered as such, which is required by law under FARA – the Foreign Agents Registration Act. This has been in place since 1938 to prevent foreign influence on American politics. AIPAC is expressly excluded from this.

  AIPAC has unlimited access to members of the US Congress and Senate at all times. There has never been a US president who has dared to go against the express will of AIPAC. And AIPAC is the organization that Netanyahu can fully rely on at all times in his religious war mania and to ensure the supply of weapons and money not only from the US.

  This short paragraph should suffice to show that (1) Israel’s goal is not peace, but gigantic expansion at the expense of practically all its Arab neighbors; (2) the question of whether Israel dominates the US or the US dominates Israel is irrelevant: the Zionists are in decisive positions in many countries – including the US and Israel.

  As long as the Zionists occupy these positions of power worldwide, there will be no peace in the Middle East.

  Priority number 1 for the US: Prevent BRICS!

  Whether the US can maintain its hegemony ultimately depends not on military successes, but on economic might, because the US has not won a war since 1945, but has still been able to maintain its world dominance.

  Every hegemon that has ever lost its status has lost it because it went broke. Nevertheless, the US’s approach makes perfect sense from its perspective. The weakness of the US can no longer be hidden. They are now trying to weaken their opponents – at least to create a balance on a relative level – by causing wars that are waged by third parties who weaken each other in the process.

  This is intended to prevent the “rest of the world” from realigning itself collectively. BRICS stands for precisely this realignment: a realignment through the creation of a multipolar world. If BRICS is successful, the US will disappear as a hegemon and will then be one of many players at the table, with defunct empires regularly acting as if they were playing a major role for centuries to come. Just like President Macron or Boris Johnson, for example, who from a rational point of view are just ridiculous loudmouths with countries that belong on the geopolitical dustbin.

  The West’s cast-iron silence on BRICS should therefore by no means be interpreted as a lack of interest. The really important geopolitical developments are known to take place in the background. I personally believe that this organization poses the greatest threat to the US. Russia and China are the two countries that are leading the development of this organization. It therefore makes perfect sense from an American point of view to fight these two countries most aggressively.

  The Russians and Chinese are aware of this and are reacting with the discretion and restraint typical of both countries. There have been 200 events on BRICS in Russia this year and not a lot has been heard.

  It is a huge challenge for BRICS to develop in a well-structured way in this geopolitical turmoil. Some members are already at war with the Collective West (Russia, Iran), Saudi Arabia may not make up its mind as it is obviously under enormous pressure due to its huge investments in the UK and US. The formal signature for accession is still pending.

  The war against Russia in Ukraine has completely failed and has considerably weakened Europe – especially Germany – and exposed NATO as a chatter club. The time will come when even the last naive person in Europe will realize that Europe is once again being used as a blunt and willing instrument of its masters in Washington against Russia. This is a betrayal of national interests. Bought morons in the service of Washington. But how Germany has managed to elect a government whose intellectual abilities are difficult to describe is down to the society that made a choice back in 1933, the consequences of which we all know. The Germans seem to have a special ability to regularly shoot themselves in their own feet – the left and the right.

  To date, US efforts to bring down BRICS by weakening Russia and China have failed.

  Nevertheless, the geopolitical turmoil that the US has caused in recent years is certainly influencing the development of BRICS – both negatively and positively.

  Negatively, as potential members are being bullied, such as Saudi Arabia. Attempts are also being made to influence full BRICS members by luring and threatening them (India, Brazil). Other countries that would like to join BRICS are put under pressure, even if the general public is not aware of this, as this happens in the background or the pressure is exerted for other, pretextual reasons (e.g. Venezuela).

  The positive effect of the US’s behavior is that many countries are becoming acutely aware of what could befall them if they are treated in the same way as Russia and China, although many countries in the Global South are mere microcosms compared to these two giants and therefore lack the resilience of Russia and China. Since BRICS sells multipolarity credibly and actually behaves in a spirit of partnership and not hegemonism, the prospect of living under the umbrella of this community is extremely attractive. This is evident from the long list of countries that would like to formally join or have expressed a strong interest.

  Looking into the crystal ball

  Now one has to ask what the best strategy for BRICS will be: Just grow fast? I do not hold this opinion. Based on conversations with my contacts, BRICS decision-makers seem to think along similar lines. It is possible that no new full members will be admitted at all this year and a status called “ Partner” will be introduced, because the big growth step of last August (increase from 5 to 9 members) must be consolidated and in the current geopolitical environment it is an advantage to be smaller and more flexible.

  What can be considered certain: BRICS has evolved from an economic association to a geopolitical entity. In times of conflict, such an economic community must secure itself geopolitically. It is very possible that the SCO, a security policy organization, will move closer to BRICS or even merge with it.

  From an economic perspective, the biggest challenge for BRICS is to create an efficient payment or settlement system independent of the US dollar. At present, most trade activities within BRICS are settled in local currencies, but no solution has yet been found for settling trade deficits among the members. A lot is being written and rumored, but the Russians and Chinese are keeping their cards close to their chests on this matter. We will hopefully be able to comment on this before the summit begins.

  In the next part, we will provide the latest figures on BRICS. The fact that BRICS is the big economic magnet of the Global South can be anticipated. Over 50 countries want to join and this would create an organization that would outshine everything that has ever existed, because BRICS is already stronger than the G7 in terms of all important parameters.

  Conclusion

  What the death throes of a hegemon look like is currently being demonstrated to the global public in all its gruesome detail. An unbelievable number of people are dying, genocide is once again considered acceptable in the West, the media are becoming drivers of hatred, concealing objectively important developments and lying through their teeth. “Friends” (better: vassals) are sent into the fire for ‘the good cause’. Their own population is lied to and economically ruined. It is becoming increasingly difficult for the hard-hit empire to credibly convey the noble slogans of “freedom”, “democracy” and “prosperity” to its people.

  Being able to develop in an orderly and free manner in such an adverse environment is a huge challenge for an organization like BRICS. This organization, which was launched as a purely economic association, was originally designed to assert itself in free competition. Today, hatred, sanctions and wars are being used as a means to put an end to this organization. A loose economic alliance is becoming a geopolitical alliance and, in the event of further escalation, has every chance of becoming a military alliance.

  I am not an augur, but I would not be surprised if BRICS adopts a strategy of resilience rather than growth and flexibility rather than size. We will know more on October 24.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 23:25

• NFL Beer Cost Inflation Over The Past Decade
  NFL Beer Cost Inflation Over The Past Decade

  This graphic, via Voronoiapp.com, shows where beer prices have increased the most across NFL teams between 2013 and 2023, based on data from Team Marketing Report via FinanceBuzz.

  

  The Carolina Panthers saw the sharpest increase in beer cost, likely due to having the cheapest 16-ounce beer in the league in 2013, at $4.36.

  Four teams saw beer prices more than double, including the Philadelphia Eagles, where a beer cost a hefty $15.35 in 2023.

  On average, the price of beer rose 25% across the NFL, lower than the pace of inflation, which was 31% over the period.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 23:00

• Brace Yourselves: A Tsunami Approaches
  Brace Yourselves: A Tsunami Approaches

  Authored by John & Nisha Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,

  “What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security… And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.”

  – Historian Milton Mayer, They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45

  Brace yourself: a tsunami approaches.

  

  While we squabble over which side is winning this losing battle to lead the country, there is something being concocted in the dens of power, far beyond the public eye, and it doesn’t bode well for the future of this country.

  Anytime you have an entire nation so mesmerized by the antics of the political ruling class that they are oblivious to all else, you’d better beware.

  Anytime you have a government that operates in the shadows, speaks in a language of force, and rules by fiat, you’d better beware.

  And anytime you have a government so far removed from its people as to ensure that they are never seen, heard or heeded by those elected to represent them, you’d better beware.

  We’ve got to get our priorities straight if we are to ever have any hope of maintaining any sense of freedom in America.

  As long as we allow ourselves to be distracted, diverted, occasionally outraged, always polarized and content to view each other—rather than the government—as the enemy, we’ll never manage to present a unified front against tyranny (or government corruption and ineptitude) in any form.

  Mind you, by “government,” I’m not referring to the highly partisan, two-party bureaucracy of the Republicans and Democrats. Rather, I’m referring to “government” with a capital “G,” the entrenched Deep State that is unaffected by elections, unaltered by populist movements, and has set itself beyond the reach of the law.

  This is the hidden face of a government that has no respect for the freedoms of its citizenry.

  So, stop with all of the excuses and the hedging and the finger-pointing and the pissing contests to see which side can out-shout, out-blame and out-spew the other.

  Enough already with the short- and long-term amnesia that allows political sycophants to conveniently forget the duplicity, complicity and mendacity of their own party while casting blame on everyone else.

  This is how evil wins.

  This is how freedom falls and tyranny rises.

  This is how good, generally decent people—having allowed themselves to be distracted with manufactured crises, polarizing politics, and fighting that divides the populace into warring us vs. them camps—fail to take note of the looming danger that threatens to wipe freedom from the map and place us all in chains.

  The world has been down this road before, as historian Milton Mayer recounts in his seminal book on Hitler’s rise to power, They Thought They Were Free.

  We are at our most vulnerable right now.

  The gravest threat facing us as a nation is not extremism but despotism, exercised by a ruling class whose only allegiance is to power and money.

  We’re in a national state of denial, yet no amount of escapism can shield us from the harsh reality that the danger in our midst is posed by an entrenched government bureaucracy that has no regard for the Constitution, Congress, the courts or the citizenry.

  No matter how often the team colors change, the playbook remains the same. The leopard does not change its spots.

  Scrape off the surface layers and you will find that nothing has changed.

  The police state is still winning. We the people are still losing.

  In fact, the American police state has continued to advance at the same costly, intrusive, privacy-sapping, Constitution-defying, heartbreaking, soul-scorching, relentless pace under the current Tyrant-in-Chief as it did under those who occupied the White House before him (Trump, Obama, Bush, Clinton, etc.).

  Consider for yourselves:

  • Police haven’t stopped disregarding the rights of citizens.

  • SWAT teams haven’t stopped crashing through doors and terrorizing families.

  • The Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security haven’t stopped militarizing and federalizing local police.

  • Schools haven’t stopped treating young people like hard-core prisoners.

  • For-profit private prisons haven’t stopped locking up Americans and immigrants alike at taxpayer expense.

  • Censorship hasn’t stopped.

  • The courts haven’t stopped marching in lockstep with the police state.

  • Government bureaucrats haven’t stopped turning American citizens into criminals.

  • The surveillance state hasn’t stopped spying on Americans’ communications, transactions or movements.

  • The TSA hasn’t stopped groping or ogling travelers.

  • Congress hasn’t stopped enacting draconian laws.

  • The Department of Homeland Security hasn’t stopped being a “wasteful, growing, fear-mongering beast.”

  • The military industrial complex hasn’t stopped profiting from endless wars abroad.

  • The Deep State’s shadow government hasn’t stopped calling the shots behind the scenes.

  • And the American people haven’t stopped acting like gullible sheep.

  So you can try to persuade yourself that you are free, that you still live in a country that values freedom, and that it is not too late to make America great again, but to anyone who has been paying attention to America’s decline over the past century, it will be just another lie.

  The German people chose to ignore the truth and believe the lie.

  They were not oblivious to the horrors taking place around them. The warning signs were definitely there, blinking incessantly like large neon signs.

  “Still,” historian Robert Gellately writes, “the vast majority voted in favor of Nazism, and in spite of what they could read in the press and hear by word of mouth about the secret police, the concentration camps, official anti-Semitism, and so on.”

  The German people backed Hitler because for the majority of them, life was good.

  In a nutshell, life was good because their creature comforts remained undiminished, their bank accounts remained flush, and they weren’t being discriminated against, persecuted, starved, beaten, shot, stripped, jailed and turned into slave labor.

  Life is good in America, too.

  Life is good in America as long as you’re able to keep sleep-walking through life, cocooning yourself in political fantasies that depict a world in which your party is always right and everyone else is wrong, and distracting yourself with bread-and-circus entertainment that bears no resemblance to reality.

  Life is good in America as long as you don’t mind being made to pay through the nose for the government’s endless wars, subsidization of foreign nations, bloated workforce, secret agencies, fusion centers, private prisons, biometric databases, invasive technologies, arsenal of weapons, and every other budgetary line item that is contributing to the fast-growing wealth of the corporate elite at the expense of those who are barely making ends meet—that is, we the 99%. 

  Life is good in America for the privileged few, but as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, it’s getting worse by the day for the rest of us.

  So, please spare me the media hysterics and the outrage and the hypocritical double standards of those whose moral conscience appears to be largely dictated by their political loyalties.

  Anyone who believes that the injustices, cruelties and vicious callousness of the U.S. government are unique to any one particular administration has not been paying attention.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 22:35

• Syrian, Russian Warplanes Pound AQ In Idlib After Israeli Attacks On Damascus
  Syrian, Russian Warplanes Pound AQ In Idlib After Israeli Attacks On Damascus

  Via The Cradle

  Syrian and Russian fighter jets carried out several air raids on Wednesday targeting positions belonging to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terrorist group, formerly Al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front. 

  The strikes hit HTS positions in the countryside of the northern Idlib governorate, as well as in the countryside of the northwestern city of Latakia, for the second day in a row, according to Al Mayadeen’s correspondent. “The raids targeted military training sites and warehouses, in addition to an underground tunnel in the vicinity of the town of Benin in Jabal al-Zawiya,” Al Mayadeen reported. 

  

  Russian and Syrian jets have stepped up their bombardment of HTS positions in the Idlib and Latakia countryside over the past few days. 

  Syrian-Russian airstrikes targeted the extremist group’s encampments in the Al-Basel Forest west of Idlib city on Monday, as well as the hills surrounding the towns of Sheikh Bahr and Kafr Jales. 

  Sources told Al Mayadeen that the strikes two days ago hit an underground machinery warehouse in Idlib city. 

  According to the opposition-linked war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Syrian army forces brought in additional military reinforcements to Idlib from the suburbs of Aleppo and its western countryside. 

  Syria intensified its bombing campaign against Idlib in October last year, following a drone attack carried out by extremists under HTS command, which targeted a Syrian military college, killing dozens. According to several reports, anti-government extremist militants in northern Syria have expanded their drone arsenal and expertise in drone warfare through recent cooperation with Ukraine. 

  Idlib is the last governorate of Syria under full control of extremist armed opposition groups. Damascus’ forces made their first advancement towards Idlib in 2019 when they captured the town of Habeet in the Idlib countryside.

  The latest strikes on Idlib come as Syria has withstood repeated Israeli attacks. Damascus has, over the years, accused HTS and other extremist groups in the country of close cooperation with Tel Aviv. 

  Northeastern Syria has also witnessed significant escalation in recent months, particularly after heavy fighting broke out in August between pro-government Arab tribes and Washington-backed Kurdish militants of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near US-occupied parts of the country. 

  

  The fighting has come to an end, yet tensions remain high. Tribal figures and academics in Syria’s northeast have attempted to bridge the divides between Damascus and several Kurdish organizations with a new national dialogue initiative. Syrian officials held talks with SDF officials and US-backed Kurdish authorities last year, but the negotiations never progressed. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 21:45

• Venezuelan Prison Gang Seizes Multiple Apartment Buildings In Texas
  Venezuelan Prison Gang Seizes Multiple Apartment Buildings In Texas

  A new shocking report has found that Venezuelan transnational gang Tren de Aragua has taken over at least four apartment building complexes in San Antonio, Texas, as thousands of its illegal alien gangsters run amok nationwide, sparking crime and chaos from Colorado to Texas to New York City. Many of the members of the armed migrant prison gang invaded the nation through Biden-Harris’ open southern borders.  

  DailyMail revealed: 

  A dangerous Venezuelan gang has taken over at least four apartment complexes in San Antonio, Texas, as it expands its reach in yet another America city, DailyMail.com can reveal.

  The report confirmed that Palatia Apartments was one apartment complex where TdA members were operating out. This complex was the scene of a recent raid… 

  Just last week a small army of police officers raided an apartment complex in San Antonio and arrested 19 individuals – including four gang members.

  Law enforcement sources confirmed TdA had been operating at the Palatia Apartments for five to six months – squatting in empty units they either rented out to other migrants, used as a base to deal cocaine or, most horrifically, as prostitution dens to pimp out women and children.

  But now DailyMail.com can reveal that this apartment invasion is just the tip of the iceberg in the major southern Texas city, with at least three other rental properties also occupied by the criminal organization. 

  While Palatia Apartments was one complex full of TdA members, the other three buildings were not named in the report because of ongoing police investigations. 

  Venezuelan gang seizes San Antonio apartment complex. The San Antonio apartment complex, Palatia Apartments, has been taken over by Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization from Venezuela. This has caused fear and concern in the city. The U.S. Border Patrol had… pic.twitter.com/ApaUQlDADD

  — Bob Bishop – Forensic Investigator (@BobBish40288847) October 9, 2024

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  A few residents at the apartment complex testified about the dangers of living in the Palatia Apartments. “Gun shots day and night”

  The residents claim it’s from the Venezuelan outlaws of Tren De Aragua. pic.twitter.com/awbpkNMPuL

  — hernando arce (@hernandoarce) October 7, 2024

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  BREAKING: Texas law enforcement raided a San Antonio apartment complex controlled by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua

  San Antonio Police Chief McManus said the multi-agency task force cleared over 300 vacant units at the Palatia Apartments on the city’s North Side

  Police had… pic.twitter.com/Spb3S8ZtTq

  — Unlimited L’s (@unlimited_ls) October 6, 2024

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  Justice served! 💪🏼👮‍♂️ Over a dozen suspected members of the notorious Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, have been arrested in an early morning raid. Operation Aurora targeted the Palatia Apartments, a sprawling complex near the airport, where gang members were breaking into vacant… pic.twitter.com/KzduNsFVO6

  — Vlemx4u (@vlemx4u) October 15, 2024

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  TdA’s activity in San Antonio comes after armed gangsters from the same prison group terrorized the Denver suburb of Aurora last month. This area is a sanctuary city run by far-left Democrats.

  Since 2022, over 42,000 migrants poured into the sanctuary city of Denver, CO.

  Among them were members of the Tren de Aragua gang.

  In 2024, they made their way to neighboring town Aurora & took over apartment buildings, terrorized residents with gun crime, theft & drug dealing. pic.twitter.com/EYd3wcNaHm

  — America (@america) October 12, 2024

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  The US Army warned in leaked documents that as many as 5,000 TdA members have invaded the nation, many of which are armed.

  

  DailyMail noted that TdA’s command and control center shifted north to just below the US border in the Mexican town of Ciudad Juarez. The armed group is rapidly expanding turf nationwide. This may ignite gang warfare with native US gangs.

  

  In recent weeks, police sources told the NYPost that TdA was recruiting their members and victims straight out of NYC-run migrant shelters. 

  In the Big Apple, Tren de Aragua is trying to recruit foot soldiers to force women into sex trafficking — in the hopes that it will become a main source of income for the gang, according to the leaked memo. -NYPost

  This is shocking…

  NYPD Admits Armed Migrant Kids From Gov’t-Funded Roosevelt Hotel Terrorizing Times Square https://t.co/JhHcXhIYe4

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 16, 2024

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  Only made possible by. 

  

  ‘We did it, Joe!’ … 

  

  Democrats are importing the third world into the first world – this only means the situation will worsen.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 21:20

• Anthony Fauci: The Man Who Thought He Was Science
  Anthony Fauci: The Man Who Thought He Was Science

  Authored by Jayanta Bhattacharya via The Brownstone Institute,

  As a young medical student, I admired Tony Fauci. I bought and read Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, a vital textbook that Fauci co-edited. In reading his new memoir, On Call, I remembered why I admired him. His concern about his patients’ plights, especially HIV patients, comes through clearly.

  

  Unfortunately, Fauci’s memoir omits vital details about his failures as an administrator, an adviser to politicians, and a key figure in America’s public health response to infectious disease threats over the past 40 years. His life story is a Greek tragedy. Fauci’s evident intelligence and diligence are why the country and the world expected so much of him, but his hubris caused his failure as a public servant.

  It is impossible to read Fauci’s memoir and not believe he was genuinely moved by the plight of AIDS patients. Since the first time he learned of the illness from a puzzling and alarming case report, his laudable ambition has been to conquer the disease with drugs and vaccines, cure every patient, and wipe the syndrome from the face of the earth. He is both sincere and correct when he writes that “history will judge us harshly if we don’t end HIV.”

  When an aide in 1985 offered to quit when he contracted AIDS for fear of scandal at Fauci’s beloved National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Fauci hugged him, declaring “Jim, you crazy son of a bitch, there is no way in the world I would ever let you go.” This was Fauci at his best.

  But Fauci paints an incomplete picture of his attitude toward AIDS patients in its early days. In 1983, in response to a case report of an infant with AIDS published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, Fauci told the press that AIDS might be spread by routine household contact. There was no good evidence then and is none now to suggest that HIV is transmitted that way. But Fauci’s statement, prominently echoed in the media, panicked the American people, almost certainly leading many to physically shun AIDS patients out of an unfounded fear of catching the disease.

  Fauci does not address this incident, so one is left to speculate about why he was attracted to this theory. One possibility is that there was little political support for government spending on AIDS when the public thought it only affected gay men. As the public came to understand AIDS impacted broader populations, such as hemophiliacs and IV drug users, public support for funding HIV research expanded.

  Fauci was tremendously successful in eventually building public support for government spending on treating and trying to prevent the spread of AIDS. Likely no other scientist in history moved more money and resources to accomplish a scientific and medical goal than Fauci, and his memoir proves he was highly skilled in managing bureaucracy and getting his way both from politicians and from an activist movement that was at first highly skeptical about him. (One prominent AIDS activist, playwright Larry Kramer, once called Fauci a murderer.)

  Fauci’s response to activist criticism was to build relationships and use them as a tool to push for more government funding. Fauci’s activist allies seemed to understand the game, staging attacks on Fauci, both playing their part to gain more money for HIV research.

  By contrast, his treatment of scientific critics is harsh, crossing lines that federal science bureaucrats should not cross. In 1991, when University of California, Berkeley, professor and wunderkind cancer biologist Peter Duesberg put forward a (false) hypothesis that the virus, HIV, is not the cause of AIDS, Fauci did everything in his power to destroy him. In his memoir, Fauci writes about debating Duesberg, writing papers, and giving talks to counter his ideas. But Fauci did more, isolating Duesberg, destroying his reputation in the press, and making him a pariah in the scientific community. Though Fauci was right and Duesberg wrong about the scientific question, the scientific community learned it was dangerous to cross Fauci.

  Fauci’s HIV record is mixed. The great news is that, because of tremendous advances in treatment, a diagnosis of HIV is no longer the death sentence it was in the 1980s or 1990s. Fauci claims credit in his memoir, pointing out that the NIAID developed a clinical trial network that made it easier for researchers at pharmaceutical companies to conduct randomized studies of the effectiveness of HIV medications. But any competent National Institutes of Health (NIH) director would have directed NIAID resources this way.

  Furthermore, many in the HIV community have criticized Fauci for not using this network to test treatment ideas developed within the community—especially off-patent medications. Fauci is more reasonable when he takes credit for the 2003 creation of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program (PEPFAR), through which the US sent effective HIV medications to several African nations.

  Despite billions of dollars spent on the task, no one to date has produced an effective HIV vaccine or a definitive cure, and the virus remains a threat to the health and well-being of the world population.

  By Fauci’s own high standard, there is still a long way to go.

  In the early days of the war on terror, Fauci became head of civilian biodefense, with the mandate to develop and stockpile countermeasures to biowarfare agents. This appointment made Fauci one of the most well-paid and powerful figures in the US government. Fauci leveraged his deep knowledge of the federal bureaucracy, streamlining federal contracting rules to issue “sole source contracts” and “rapid research grants” to create constituencies of companies and scientists who depended on Fauci for their success.

  In 2005, avian flu emerged and spread among birds, chickens, and livestock. Also spreading were worries that the virus could evolve to become more transmissible among human beings. Fauci deployed NIAID money to develop an avian flu vaccine, leading the government to stockpile tens of millions of ultimately unused and unnecessary doses.

  At this point, virologists persuaded Fauci’s NIAID to support dangerous scientific lab experiments designed to make the avian flu virus more easily transmissible among humans.

  In 2011, NIAID-funded scientists in Wisconsin and the Netherlands succeeded. They published their results in a prestigious scientific journal, so that anyone with the knowledge and resources could replicate their steps. They effectively weaponized the avian flu virus and shared the recipe with the world, with Fauci and his agency in full support.

  The idea behind this gain-of-function research was that we would learn which pathogens might leap into human beings, and that knowing that would help scientists develop vaccines and treatments for these prospective possible pandemics. Fauci, writing to molecular biologists in 2012, downplayed the possibility that laboratory workers or scientists studying these dangerous pathogens might cause the pandemic they were working to prevent.

  He also argued that the risk of such an accident was worth it: “In an unlikely but conceivable turn of events, what if that scientist becomes infected with the virus, which leads to an outbreak and ultimately triggers a pandemic? Many ask reasonable questions: given the possibility of such a scenario—however remote—should the initial experiments have been performed and or published in the first place, and what were the processes involved in this decision? Scientists working in this field might say—as indeed I have said—that the benefits of such experiments and the resulting knowledge outweigh the risks. It is more likely that a pandemic would occur in nature, and the need to stay ahead of such a threat is a primary reason for performing an experiment that might appear to be risky.”

  The NIH did pause funding gain-of-function work aimed at increasing germs’ pathogenicity. The pause didn’t last long, though. In the waning days of the Obama administration, the government implemented a bureaucratic process to permit NIH and NIAID to fund gain-of-function work again. Fauci played a pivotal behind-the-scenes role in reversing the pause, but his memoir provides almost no information about what he did. This is a gaping, telling hole, given the subsequent history with Covid-19.

  Among the projects Fauci and the NIAID funded during these years was research to identify coronaviruses in the wild and bring them into laboratories to study their potential for causing a human pandemic. The work encompassed laboratories worldwide. Fauci’s organization funded an American outfit, EcoHealth Alliance, which worked with scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

  In his memoir, Fauci goes out of his way to deny that any NIH money went to any activities that might have led to the creation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid. When Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) in July 2021 confronted Fauci with the possibility that Fauci’s NIAID had funded this work, Fauci resorted to cheap debate tactics to obfuscate his and the NIH’s responsibility in supporting this work. It is undeniable that Fauci championed pathogen enhancement for a decade or more.

  While the molecular biological and genetic evidence for a laboratory origin of SARS-CoV-2 is strong, many virologists disagree. (Their entire field would come under a cloud were it true, and many virologists’ careers have been generously supported by Fauci’s NIAID.) The debate on this topic rages on. A review of Fauci’s memoir is not the place to settle the dispute.

  But in judging Fauci’s record as a scientist and a bureaucrat, it’s worth knowing that in 2020, Fauci and his boss, Francis Collins, failed to empanel public discussions and debates on this vital topic. Instead, they created an environment where any scientist voicing the lab-leak hypothesis came under a cloud of suspicion, accused of advancing unfounded conspiracy theories. As with Duesberg, Fauci sought to destroy the careers of dissenting scientists.

  In his memoir, Fauci writes of a “right-wing…smear campaign [that] soon boiled over into conspiracy theories.” He asserts, “One of the most appalling examples of this was the allegation, without a shred of evidence, that an NIAID grant to the EcoHealth Alliance with a sub-grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China funded research that caused the COVID pandemic.”

  But in Congressional testimony in 2024, Fauci denied that he had called the idea of a lab leak a conspiracy theory: “Actually, I’ve also been very, very clear and said multiple times that I don’t think the ‘concept’ of there being a lab leak is inherently a conspiracy theory.”

  This self-serving denial makes a lawyerly distinction between the possibility of a lab origin of the Covid pandemic and the NIH’s funding of EcoHealth Alliance to work with the Wuhan Institute of Virology on coronaviruses. These are neither “right-wing” nor “conspiracy theories,” and the likelihood of a connection between the two is, for good reason, the subject of active bipartisan congressional investigation.

  Fauci was quick to gather all the glory of administrative achievements like PEPFAR to himself while decrying any possibility of blame for the origin of Covid. But if he is responsible for the consequences of one (the millions of Africans saved because of PEPFAR), he is responsible for the consequences of the other. This includes the tens of millions who have died due to the Covid pandemic and the catastrophically harmful lockdowns used to manage it. This is Fauci at his worst.

  By any measure, the American Covid response was a catastrophic failure. More than 1.2 million deaths have been attributed to Covid itself, and deaths from all causes have stayed high long after the number of Covid deaths themselves diminished. In many states, particularly blue states, children were kept out of school for a year and a half or longer, with devastating effects on their learning and future health and prosperity.

  Coercive policy regarding Covid vaccination, recommended by Fauci on the false premise that vaccinated people could not get or spread the virus, collapsed public trust in other vaccines and led the media and public health officials to gaslight individuals who had suffered legitimate vaccine injuries.

  To pay for the lockdowns recommended by Fauci, the US government spent trillions of dollars, causing high unemployment in the most locked-down states and a hangover of higher prices for consumer goods that continues to this day. Who is to blame?

  Fauci served as a key adviser to both President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, and was a central figure on Trump’s Covid task force that determined federal policy. If Fauci has no responsibility for the outcomes of the pandemic, nobody does. Yet in his memoir’s chapters on Covid, he simultaneously takes credit for advising leaders while disclaiming any responsibility for policy failures.

  Fauci implausibly writes that he “was not locking down the country” and “had no power to control anything.” These statements are belied by Fauci’s own bragging about his influence on a host of policy responses, including convincing Trump to lock the country down in March 2020 and extend the lockdown in April.

  He discusses the extended closure of schools, now almost universally seen as a bad idea, in the passive voice, as if the virus caused the school closures on its own. In Congressional testimony in 2020, Fauci exaggerated the harm to children from getting infected with Covid, instilling fear in parents that their kids might suffer from a rare complication of Covid infection if they sent them to school. It is impossible not to recall Fauci exaggerating the risk of children contracting HIV from casual contact.

  In May 2020, Fauci said that schools should reopen, conditional on “the landscape of infection with regard to testing.” But he also recommended six-foot social distancing, based on no evidence—a policy that made it nearly impossible to open schools. Fauci opposed churches holding services and mass, even outdoors, despite the lack of evidence that the disease spread there. His memoir provides little detail about the scientific data he relied on to support these policies.

  All this background makes his discussion of the Great Barrington Declaration all the more galling. The Declaration is a short policy document I wrote along with Martin Kulldorff (then of Harvard University) and Sunetra Gupta (of the University of Oxford) in October 2020.

  Motivated by recognizing that the lethality and hospitalization risk from Covid was 1,000 times lower in younger populations than in older, the document had two recommendations: (1) focused protection of vulnerable older populations, and (2) lifting lockdowns and reopening schools. It balanced the harms of the lockdowns against the risks of the disease in a way that recognized that Covid was not the only threat to human well-being and that the lockdowns themselves did considerable harm.

  Fauci denigrates the Great Barrington Declaration as being filled with “fake signatures,” though FOIAed emails from the era make it clear he knew tens of thousands of prominent scientists, doctors, and epidemiologists had co-signed it. In his memoir, he repeats a propaganda talking point about the Declaration, falsely claiming the document called for letting the virus “rip.” In reality, it called for better protection of vulnerable elderly people.

  Fauci asserted it was impossible to “sequester to protect the vulnerable” while simultaneously calling for the whole world to sequester for his lockdowns. His rhetoric about the Great Barrington Declaration poisoned the well of scientific consideration of our ideas. With brass-knuckle tactics, he won the policy fight, and many states locked down in late 2020 and into 2021.

  The virus spread anyway.

  Fauci does not mention the success of Swedish Covid policy, which eschewed lockdowns and instead—after some early errors—focused on protection of the vulnerable. Swedish all-cause excess death rates in the Covid era are among the lowest in Europe and much lower than American all-cause excess deaths. The Swedish health authorities never recommended closing schools for children 16 and under, and Swedish children, unlike American children, have no learning loss.

  If lockdowns were necessary to protect the population, as Fauci claims, Swedish outcomes should have been worse than American ones. Even within the United States, locked-down California had worse all-cause excess deaths numbers and economic outcomes than Florida, which opened in the summer of 2020. It is shocking that Fauci still does not seem to know these facts.

  Near the end of his memoir, Fauci writes that by March 2022, he knew “there would not be a clear end to the pandemic;” the world would need to learn to “live indefinitely with COVID.” He reasons that “perhaps the vaccine and prior infection had created a degree of background immunity.” This is as close as he comes in the book to admitting error.

  A part of me cannot help but admire Fauci, but the extent of damage caused by his hubris gets in the way. He once told an interviewer, “If you are trying to get at me as a public health official and a scientist, you’re really attacking not only Dr. Anthony Fauci, you’re attacking science….Science and the truth are being attacked.” Despite his career accomplishments, no one should give any man, much less Fauci, credit for being the embodiment of science itself.

  If Fauci’s goal in writing this memoir is to guide how historians write about him toward the positive, I do not think he succeeded.

  He will be remembered as a consequential figure for his contributions to the American approach to the HIV and Covid pandemics.

  But he will also be remembered as a cautionary tale of what can happen when too much power is invested in a single person for far too long.

  Republished from The Illusion of Consensus

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 20:55

• These Are The Most & Least 'Green' Cities In America
  These Are The Most & Least ‘Green’ Cities In America

  WalletHub compared the country’s 100 largest cities across 28 “green” indicators.

  Voronoiapp.com visualizes the 10 greenest and 10 least green cities in America…

  

  The data used to create this ranking was collected as of September 4, 2024.

  To determine the greenest cities in America, WalletHub compared the 100 most populated cities across four key dimensions: 

  1) Environment, like air quality and greenhouse-gas emissions;

  2) Transportation, like commuters traveling alone, biking, and walking score;

  3) Energy Sources, like the share of renewable sources and

  4) Lifestyle & Policy, like community gardens, green job opportunities. (Excluding recycling efforts.)

  West Coast leads: California cities dominate the top 10.

  Arizona falls short: Four Arizona cities land in the bottom 10.

  Southern and Rust Belt cities struggle: Major metros like Houston and Detroit rank low.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 20:30

• Here's What's Driving The Arctic Dimension Of The Russian-Indian Strategic Partnership
  Here’s What’s Driving The Arctic Dimension Of The Russian-Indian Strategic Partnership

  Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

  Rising Indian influence in the Arctic serves as a counterbalance to China’s, which meets both Russian and Western interests…

  

  The Russian-Indian joint working group on the Northern Sea Route (NSR) through the Arctic Ocean, which is expected to become one of the world’s most important trade routes, just held its first meeting last week in Delhi. It was formed as a result of Indian Prime Minister Modi’s trip to Moscow over the summer where he and Putin signed nine agreements for expanding cooperation in diverse fields. Here’s what’s driving the Arctic dimension of their decades-long strategic partnership:

  1. India Is Expected To Use The NSR For More Of Its Trade With Europe

  The ongoing Israeli-Resistance War indefinitely suspended work on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and inspired the Houthis to blockade the Red Sea, thus raising the costs of Indo-European trade and highlighting how strategically insecure it’s always been. India is therefore expected to use the NSR more in the future as a less risky route to complement the Red Sea one upon its reopening, thus adding context to the four points that’ll follow.

  2. Indian Shipyards Have The Capacity To Build Russian Icebreakers

  The Maritime Executive reported that Russia’s interest in having India build four non-nuclear icebreakers is due to its shipyards having the capacity that competitors in China, South Korea, and Japan will lack till at least 2028. They also noted that European shipyards can’t service such contracts due to sanctions. India plans to build more than 1,000 ships in the next decade so it makes perfect sense for Russia to invest some of its enormous rupee stockpile into this industry with a view towards developing the NSR.

  3. India Also Has Enough Extra Sailors To Train For Navigating The NSR

  Last week’s meeting also discussed training Indian sailors, who are the third most numerous in the world, for navigating the NSR. A 2017 Russian law banned shipping oil, natural gas, and coal along that route under a foreign flag, while a 2018 one mandates that these ships will have to be built in Russia. Given Russia’s naturally declining population, experienced Indian sailors could be contracted to help navigate these ships instead of relying on Central Asian migrants, who the locals don’t want any more of.

  4. India Could Invest In Russian Arctic Energy Under Certain Conditions

  Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project, from which a Chinese company withdrew over the summer, could see Indian investment under certain conditions. Its Oil Secretary said last month that his country won’t get involved for now due to the sanctions, but an exemption might be possible if it helps broker an end to the Ukrainian Conflict. Kiev reportedly prefers for India to play this role instead of China, and if it can pull this off, then the West might reward it accordingly in order to reduce China’s influence in the Arctic.

  5. India Plays An Indispensable Role In The Global Balance Of Influence

  And finally, Russia relies on India to preemptively avert disproportionate dependence on China, which readers can learn more about here, here, and here. Despite Western pressure on India to distance itself from Russia, the West is gradually beginning to appreciate this role as well, hence why it hasn’t imposed maximum sanctions against India for their reportedly covert tech trade. Rising Indian influence in the Arctic therefore serves as a counterbalance to China’s, which meets both Russian and Western interests.

  Russian-Indian cooperation in the Arctic is very promising for the reasons that were enumerated, though it’ll be held back from its full potential so long as India remains reluctant to defy Western sanctions on the Arctic LNG II project. Considering India’s indispensable role in the global balance of influence, it and the West should enter into discreet talks on what could be done to receive an exemption, which would then enable India to more effectively compete with China in the Arctic.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 20:05

• Pro-Life Mother Begins 3.5 Year Prison Sentence After Biden-Harris DOJ Threw The Book At Her
  Pro-Life Mother Begins 3.5 Year Prison Sentence After Biden-Harris DOJ Threw The Book At Her

  Bevelyn Williams – a pro-life activist and the mother of a young daughter, is reporting to an Alabama prison today to serve a 3.5 year sentence for unlawful assembly after the Biden-Harris DOJ threw the book at her for taking part in a two-day pro-life protest outside a New York City Planned Parenthood in June of 2020.

  

  “I wanted to give you an important update,” Williams wrote in a Tuesday Facebook post. “My legal team worked tirelessly to submit a stay of appeal so I could be home on bail while appealing this case for the sake of my daughter and husband. Unfortunately, the judge, who also sentenced me, denied the appeal. I have now been assigned a federal facility to report to and must surrender tomorrow at FCI Aliceville.”

  Hello Everyone,

  I wanted to give you all an important update. My legal team worked tirelessly to submit a stay of appeal so I could be home on bail while appealing this case for the sake of my daughter and husband. Unfortunately, the judge, who also sentenced me, denied the… pic.twitter.com/fSCSkxS255

  — Bevelyn Williams (@MrsBevelynW) October 15, 2024

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  Her husband recorded a video as they were headed to the prison:

  Biden/Harris administration has made my husband a single father today. I am on my way to turn myself into federal prison where I am scheduled to serve three years in federal prison for unlawful assembly. Share this and make mothers and fathers of this nation aware of what’s going… pic.twitter.com/4uEfKi9mCN

  — Bevelyn Williams (@MrsBevelynW) October 16, 2024

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  🚨 ATTENTION AMERICANS: Kamala Harris’ DoJ is sending a black woman to prison for 3.5 years for peacefully protesting outside of an abortion clinic. @hodgetwins

  “Tomorrow I will drive my wife to a federal prison in Alabama as her offense is “unlawful assembly” 3 1/2 years in… pic.twitter.com/oRm1EEYKDR

  — Publius (@OcrazioCornPop) October 16, 2024

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  The DOJ accused Williams of having “repeatedly intimidated and interfered with individuals seeking and providing critical reproductive health services. She did so by physically blocking access to clinics, threatening staff, and by force.”

  That said, her category of offense was unlawful assembly.

  “Please share this people need to know the truth 41 months, 3 1/2 years for unlawful assembly under the Biden Harris administration!!” she posted to X.

  This is my surrender paperwork! I just want you guys to know what the media said about me being violent is a lie! My category of offense is unlawful assembly! Please share this people need to know the truth 41 months, 3 1/2 years for unlawful assembly under the Biden Harris… pic.twitter.com/kXEueW1cvh

  — Bevelyn Williams (@MrsBevelynW) October 16, 2024

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  Williams voted for Trump before taking off for prison.

  Waiting in line to vote with my wife @MrsBevelynW and daughter. #TRUMP2024 pic.twitter.com/NSiMc7Rwdp

  — Rickey Victory (@MrRickeyVictory) October 16, 2024

  Williams set up a GiveSendGo account, which can be found here.

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  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 19:40

• Disaster: Kamala.exe Crashes In Fox Interview Meltdown
  Disaster: Kamala.exe Crashes In Fox Interview Meltdown

  Kamala Harris appeared in a Fox News interview with Bret Baier Wednesday night, where she alternated between deflection, blame, and then had a complete meltdown when shown a clip of Donald Trump (full interview here).

  

  For starters, when asked if she would take responsibility for the flood of illegal immigrants after she and Joe Biden ripped up Trump’s executive orders on immigration on day one, Harris spat out a well-work Democrat talking point about ‘Trump killing a bill’ that would have saved the day. Baier – a NeverTrumper who deserves credit for this one – pushed back.

  Kamala can’t give a single straight answer to Bret Baier.

  This is bad. pic.twitter.com/hWCmsYDrDu

  — Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 16, 2024

   As Fox‘s Bill Melugin points out, the Democrat bill “would have given pathway to amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants and it failed despite Democrats controlling the White House & Congress.”

  NEW: VP Kamala Harris dodges question when colleague @BretBaier repeatedly asks her how many illegal aliens the Biden/Harris admin has released into the US.

  When asked if she regrets terminating Remain in Mexico, she again dodges and pivots to saying they tried to pass an…

  — Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 16, 2024

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jshttps://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsKamala.exe Bluescreens

  When asked to explain why more than 70% of people say the country is on the wrong track.

  “That track follows three-and-a-half years of you being vice president and President Biden being president. That is what they’re saying. 79 percent of them. If you’re turning the page – you’re been in office for three-and-a-half years…“

  To which Harris offered the strangest answer yet – “And Donald Trump has been running for office…”

  There are so many clips I want to share, but Bret Baier saying, “I actually don’t, what are you talking about,” was incredible. Watch this clip on Kamala turning the page: pic.twitter.com/OMjUDKOWBu

  — Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 16, 2024

  Kamala Enraged!

  When shown a clip of Trump denying he would ‘turn the American military on the American people,’ Harris went ballistic…

  NEW: Kamala Harris fumes after Fox News has a clip ready of Trump after she claimed he called Americans “the enemy within.”

  Kamala: Trump is the one who talks about an enemy within…

  Baier: We actually asked that question to the former president today. Here it is.

  Kamala:… pic.twitter.com/q6qHt6Q9QV

  — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 16, 2024

  Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro and a few hundred J6 protesters would like to have a word about weaponized government…

  Word Salad On The Menu

  What did you expect? Kamala simply can’t answer questions…

  BAIER: If Trump is as bad as you claim, why is he beating you in the polls?

  KAMALA: It’s not supposed to be a cake walk.

  BAIER: So are the American people misguided? Are they stupid? What is it?

  KAMALA: 🦗🦗🦗 pic.twitter.com/5p94JYr5sR

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 16, 2024

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  Kamala Harris is asked when she realized Joe Biden’s mental faculties were diminished..

  [a pause] pic.twitter.com/XWMZIgTER7

  — Russian Market (@runews) October 16, 2024

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  Kamala Harris tells Bret Baier to stop interrupting her

  ‘I’m not finished.’ pic.twitter.com/3UGJkd7Auh

  — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) October 16, 2024

  According to Baier and others, not only did Harris show up late for the interview, her staff was desperate to end the interview…

  THIS IS EMBARASSING.

  Bret Baier says Kamala’s staff was DESPERATELY trying to end the Fox interview

  “I’m talking, like four people, waving their hands like, ‘It’s gotta stop!”

  pic.twitter.com/Hphq6QCvEd

  — Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) October 16, 2024

  After the interview, Bret Baier said that as he ws interviewing her, there FOUR of @KamalaHarris‘ people frantically demanding he wrap the interview early. He also said she showed up late, even after her people twice cut the time of the interview down shorter. This should be…

  — Duke Santos 2.0 (@unashamedusa) October 16, 2024

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  To my Democratic friends: maybe you should consider swapping Kamala Harris for Joe Biden.

  — JD Vance (@JDVance) October 16, 2024

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  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 19:25

• 10 Signs That The Economy Is A Giant Mess As The Election Approaches
  10 Signs That The Economy Is A Giant Mess As The Election Approaches

  Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

  The health of the economy has been a major determining factor in many past presidential elections, and the health of the economy is certainly going to have an enormous influence on the outcome of the upcoming presidential election.  In fact, according to a poll that was just released by Rasmussen the economy is the number one issue by a wide margin for voters in the ultra-important swing state of Pennsylvania.  

  Unfortunately for the Democrats, most Americans are not pleased with how the economy is performing, and it appears that conditions are now taking another turn for the worse.  

  

  The following are 10 signs that the economy is a giant mess as the election approaches…

  #1 The number of Americans filing first time claims for unemployment benefits just hit the highest level in over a year…

  The number of people filing for unemployment for the first time was at its highest levels in more than a year, partly due to storm damage and labor stoppages.

  Initial jobless claims for the week ending Oct. 5 came in at 258,000, up 33,000 from last week’s level of 225,000, and the highest since it hit the same level in August 2023, data from the Labor Department shows.

  #2 According to Primerica’s latest Financial Security Monitor report, the percentage of middle-income households that “rate their personal financial situation negatively” has hit the highest level that they have ever recorded…

  Primerica’s latest Financial Security Monitor report for the third quarter found 55% of middle-income households now rate their personal financial situation negatively, a 6-point jump from the previous survey.

  “For the first time in a year, a majority of middle-income households are feeling negative about their personal finances,” said Glenn Williams, CEO of Primerica. “In fact, this latest report represents the highest negative rating we’ve seen since we began fielding the survey exactly four years ago.”

  #3 I am old enough to remember a time in this country when you were set for life if you had a million dollars.  Unfortunately, thanks to our endless cost of living crisis it now costs 4.4 million dollars to live “the American Dream” over the course of a lifetime…

  You can live the American Dream, but it will cost you.

  The lifetime tab for such aspirations as owning a home, driving new cars, raising kids and taking annual vacations comes to a cool $4.4 million, according to Investopedia, the financial media site.

  That’s more than the average American earns in a lifetime.

  #4 The company that produces more french fries than anyone else in North America is cutting production and laying off workers due to a dramatic slowdown in consumer demand…

  Lamb Weston, the largest producer of french fries in North America and a major supplier to fast-food chains, restaurants and grocery stores, is closing a production plant in Washington state. The company announced last week that it would lay off nearly 400 employees, or 4% of its workforce, and temporarily cut production lines in response to slowing customer demand.

  #5 At one time Boeing was flying high, but now it has decided to lay off approximately 10 percent of its entire workforce…

  The CEO of Boeing told employees late Friday that the company plans to cut 10% of its total staff “over the coming months.”

  “Our business is in a difficult position, and it is hard to overstate the challenges we face together,” said Kelly Ortberg, who started at CEO of the troubled aircraft maker two months ago and has been dealing with a strike by 33,000 hourly workers for half his time on the job.

  #6 The banking industry continues to deeply struggle.  So far this year, banks in the United States have permanently shut down over 700 local branches…

  US banks closed more than 700 branches in the first nine months of the year, forcing thousands to travel further to access vital services.

  Bank of America closed the most locations of any bank, shuttering 132 between January and September.

  U.S. Bank followed swiftly behind, having closed 101 of their own branches.

  #7 After 75 years, True Value has been forced to file for bankruptcy and will be “selling substantially all of its operations to a rival”…

  True Value, a 75-year old hardware store brand, has filed for bankruptcy and is selling substantially all of its operations to a rival, the company announced Monday.

  In a press release, True Value said it will continue day-to-day operations of selling hardware and other homeware tools to its 4,500 independently operated locations during the Chapter 11 process, which includes a $153 million stalking horse bid from rival company Do it Best.

  #8 Did you ever think that you would live to see a day when hundreds of 7-Eleven stores would be closing?  Sadly, that time has now arrived…

  Several hundred “underperforming” 7-Eleven locations across North America are closing, the convenience store announced.

  Seven & I Holdings, the chain’s Japan-based parent company, revealed in an earnings report Thursday that 444 locations of 7-Eleven are shutting down because of a variety of issues, including slowing sales, declining traffic, inflationary pressures and a decrease in cigarette purchases.

  #9 Home Depot apparently believes that rough times are ahead, because they are dumping millions of square feet of warehouse space…

  Home Depot is hastily exiting warehouse space, to the tune of 3.2 million square feet in a month, according to Bisnow.

  Since late August, Home Depot has put up nearly 4 million square feet of warehouse space for sublease, including a 1.3M SF Phoenix warehouse and a 1.1M SF distribution center in the Inland Empire, according to CoStar Analytics.

  #10 At this point, things are so bad that even Disney is laying off workers…

  According to sources cited by Deadline, Disney is pushing ahead with new layoffs as part of a broader “cost-saving initiative.” About 300 employees across Disney’s corporate divisions will be impacted this week.

  The layoffs of 300 employees began on Tuesday and will continue until the end of the week. They are all US-based employees who work across the company’s corporate operations, including legal, HR, finance, and communications.

  If you have recently lost your job, I feel very badly for you, because the employment market has gotten a lot more “complicated” than it was in the old days.

  Once upon a time, being good at what you do was enough.

  But now other considerations are often more important than pure merit…

  A top Oregon state official has been put on administrative leave after a pink-haired, DEI-obsessed subordinate complained he was making hiring decisions based on qualifications instead of personal identity considerations, according to a report.

  Mike Shaw, who until recently served as the Oregon Department of Forestry’s second-in-command, was put on blast by Megan Donecker, the department’s former DEI strategy officer, for looking “beyond gender and identity in hiring, seeking only candidates most qualified for the job,” OregonLive reported.

  He was formally placed on administrative leave Aug. 6 after Donecker filed a formal complaint, according to the Daily Mail.

  Isn’t that nuts?

  Our society is getting crazier with each passing day, and I am deeply concerned about where all of this is heading.

  Sadly, the tough economic times that we are experiencing now are not even worth comparing to the pain that is coming if we don’t turn things around.

  Our system is literally crumbling right in front of our eyes, and unless something dramatic happens economic conditions in this country will soon become extremely harsh.

  *  *  *

  Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 19:15

• Where Americans Should Retire Vs Where They Actually Retire
  Where Americans Should Retire Vs Where They Actually Retire

  This chart, via Voronoiapp.com, compares the top states for retirement (based on five metrics analyzed by experts), with those states where retirees are actually moving, as indicated by net migration data.

  

  Figures are sourced from Smart Asset and Bankrate, as of 2024.

  Bankrate’s study judged all fifty states by five key metrics: affordability (40%), well-being (25%), healthcare (20%), weather (10%), crime (5%). Check out our graphic on their method and how each state performed.

  The experts and retirees only agree on three states that are best for retirement – Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia – indicating that there’s a divergence between the data analyzers and where retirees actually want to live.

  It’s also clear most retirees are moving for warm summers and mild winters.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 18:50

• Political Analyst Predicts 'Biggest Mental Health Crisis In American History' If Trump Wins
  Political Analyst Predicts ‘Biggest Mental Health Crisis In American History’ If Trump Wins

  Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via modernity.news,

  Political analyst Mark Halperin predicts that America will experience the biggest mental health crisis in its history if Trump wins the election and that it will lead to violence.

  

  Halperin made the explosive comments during a sit down interview with Tucker Carlson.

  Given that many Democrats think Trump winning again is the worst thing that could happen to the country, Carlson asked Halperin how Kamala Harris voters would react.

  “I say this not flippantly, I think it will be the cause of the greatest mental health crisis in the history of the country,” Halperin responded.

  NEW: Mark Halperin predicts there will be the biggest mental health crisis in American history if Trump wins, predicts Democrats will resort to violence.

  Halperin predicts there will be workplace fights and violent protests launched by the left.

  “I think it will cause the… pic.twitter.com/lQNveS2lIY

  — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 15, 2024

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

  The pollster added that a Trump win would completely derail tens of millions of Americans’ connection to their country and their fellow citizens.

  He went on to add that mental health professionals will be overwhelmed with people requiring support and will lead to “trauma in the workplace” as well as “alcoholism” and “broken marriages.”

  “They think he’s the worst person possible to become president,” said Halperin, noting that the crisis won’t pass in between the election and Trump’s inauguration, but will be a “sustained,” “unprecedented” and “hideous” fallout.

  Halperin said the country was not ready for what is coming if Trump beats Harris and that some level of “violence” will inevitably ensue, in the form of riots, workplace fights and even unrest during things like kids birthday parties.

  The pollster said for tens of millions of Americans, Trump winning would be “so traumatic” that it will become “impossible for even the most mentally healthy person to truly process and incorporate in the daily life.”

  “They think that their fellow citizens supporting Trump is a sign of fundamental evil at the heart of their fellow citizens and of the nation,” concluded Halperin.

  Trump’s first term in office was characterized by what became known as Trump Derangement Syndrome, where everything Trump said or did became a reason for some Americans to flip out and engage in deranged behavior.

  At one point, some actually took to screaming helplessly at the sky because they simply couldn’t accept that he was in power.

  * * *

  Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 18:25

• "Superhuman": Nvidia CEO Blown Away After Musk Sets Up 100,000 GPUs In 19 Days
  “Superhuman”: Nvidia CEO Blown Away After Musk Sets Up 100,000 GPUs In 19 Days

  Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says Elon Musk pulled off a “superhuman” feat by setting up a supercluster of 100,000 H200 Blackwell GPUs in just 19 days – a process he says takes everyone else “one year to accomplish.” 

  

  According to Tom’s Hardware, the xAI team reportedly went from “concept” to full-ready compatibility with Nvidia’s “gear” in less than three weeks – including running xAI’s first AI training run.

  From start to finish, the process involved building the massive X factory where the GPUs would reside and equipping the entire factory with liquid cooling and power to make all 200,000 GPUs operational. That’s not to mention all of the coordination between Nvidia’s and Elon Musk’s engineering teams to get all of the hardware and infrastructure shipped and installed precisely and in a coordinated manner.

  What’s more, Huang says that networking Nvidia’s gear isn’t as simple as networking traditional data center servers. “The number of wires that goes in one node…the back of a computer is all wires,” he said, adding that Musk’s integration of 100,000 H200 GPUs has “never been done before,” and probably won’t be repeated by anyone else anytime soon.

  Watch:

  Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Elon Musk and @xAI

  “Never been done before – xAI did in 19 days what everyone else needs one year to accomplish.

  That is superhuman – There’s only one person in the world who could do that – Elon Musk is singular in his understanding of engineering.” pic.twitter.com/oNZuH97RhJ

  — ALEX (@ajtourville) October 13, 2024

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 18:00

• Joy Reid Claims Black Male Trump Voters Are Part Of A 'Global Fascist Phenomenon'
  Joy Reid Claims Black Male Trump Voters Are Part Of A ‘Global Fascist Phenomenon’

  While it’s true that not many Americans watch MSNBC’s Joy Reid and take her seriously (her show ‘The ReidOut’ is #14 on the list of most popular news commentary shows in the US according to viewership), she does remain a symbol of the woke left and her views often give us a glimpse into the collective hive mind of progressives.  Similar to women on shows like ‘The View’, Reid is a standard bearer for perpetually angry, post-menopausal cat ladies that do sadly tend to vote in large numbers. 

  These are the same women coming out in droves to support Kamala Harris based purely on her gender and skin color.  They are the same women that supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 simply because they wanted a woman president and they didn’t care who it was.  And generally speaking it is these kinds of women that use shaming tactics as a means to control the people around them.  Their only source of power in life is to henpeck others into submission.

  

  The problem for Harris is that childless cat ladies are not a large enough demographic to ensure a presidential win; she needs men to vote for her as well.  As many critics have pointed out, this is rather ironic given the fact that Democrats and leftist activists have spent the better part of the last decade calling masculinity a “toxic” and oppressive social disease that needs to be eliminated.  They have worked hard to demonize all men as potential rapists, misogynists, mass shooters and fascists.  Now, not surprisingly, progressive women want men to lift them out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves.  

  But they don’t want to admit they were wrong about men or apologize for their behavior and accusations, no.  That would be asking far too much.  Instead, they have turned to the same old shaming tactics they always use to get what they want.

  This week Joy Reid suggested that Kamala Harris’ plunge in the polls is due in large part to a ‘global fascist phenomenon’ led by white males.  She also argues that pockets of ‘black and brown men’ are a part of this supposed fascist takeover.

  Joy Reid completely loses it on air and is now claiming black and brown men voting for Trump are fascists

  Keep it up, this is exactly why Kamala Harris is losing the male vote

  The Democrat desperation is glorious

  pic.twitter.com/tRp3Cyj9pN

  — Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) October 15, 2024

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  The campaign to drag black voters back to the Democrat plantation continues.

  Reid’s comments come not long after Barack Obama (also a henpecker) tried to shame black men into voting for Harris by accusing them of bias against her because she’s a woman.  As 2016 taught Americans, it’s foolish to blindly trust the polls and the election isn’t over until it’s over – That said, numerous indicators suggest that Harris does not inspire trust or optimism among most Americans. 

  Minority voters including black men have been loudly explaining why they don’t like Harris, and her being a woman is rarely on their list of complaints.

  Oh man. Black Americans are DONE with Barack Obama. Listen to black voters respond to Obama trying to shame them into voting for Kamala.

  These responses are🔥🔥🔥

  We can now officially call Obama’s smug speech the greatest political backfire of all time… pic.twitter.com/m0e0Weh3ub

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 14, 2024

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  Here’s what most American voters care about according to the surveys:  The failing economy and stagflation, mass immigration and open borders and foreign policy leading to WWIII.  That’s it.  It doesn’t matter if they are white, black, brown, man or woman, these are the issues that concern people the most.  Electing the first black woman president is irrelevant compared to these problems. 

  Black male voters in particular are walking away from the political left, not because they are turning “fascist”, but because they’re finally waking up to the game being played with their futures.       

   

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 17:44

• SBA's Disaster Loan Program Runs Out Of Money As Hurricanes Drive Demand
  SBA’s Disaster Loan Program Runs Out Of Money As Hurricanes Drive Demand

  Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times,

  The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) disaster assistance loan program is out of money after hurricanes Helene and Milton struck parts of the United States, the agency has announced.

  

  In an Oct. 15 press release, the SBA said funds for the program have been exhausted following increased demand from disaster survivors in the wake of multiple extreme weather events, including the two hurricanes that made landfall in September and October.

  The agency will therefore be pausing new loan offers for its direct, low-interest, long-term loans to disaster survivors.

  The SBA encouraged individuals and small businesses to continue applying for loans, citing assurances from congressional leaders that additional funding will be provided once they return to Capitol Hill in November.

  The agency’s loan application portal will also remain open, while its disaster centers and in-person staff will continue to be deployed across the country, the press release said.

  “The agency will continue to accept new applications and ready borrowers to get their disaster loan offers as soon as possible once Congress appropriates funds,” the SBA stated.

  Additionally, the SBA noted it may continue to make a “small number of new loan offers during this time,” using funds made available through loan cancellations and similar actions.

  The SBA was created in 1953 and offers low-interest loans to businesses, homeowners, renters, and private nonprofit organizations to help them recover from federally declared disasters.

  Thousands Seek Relief Funds

  Through its loan program, homeowners can receive up to $500,000 to replace or repair their primary residence, while businesses and private nonprofit organizations can get up to $2 million to cover disaster-related physical damage and economic injuries that aren’t fully covered by insurance.

  In a statement, SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman stressed the importance of getting swift financial relief to communities, noting it helps in both recovery efforts and stabilizing local economies.

  “While we await Congress to provide much-needed funding, we strongly encourage eligible businesses and households to apply for SBA disaster loans,” Guzman said.

  “SBA will continue to support homeowners, renters, businesses, and nonprofits in processing their applications to ensure they receive assistance quickly once funds are replenished,” she added.

  The latest announcement from the SBA comes after President Joe Biden warned lawmakers this month that the agency’s disaster loan program was set to run out of funding “in a matter of weeks” and well before Congress plans to reconvene in November.

  Biden urged lawmakers to act immediately to replenish the disaster loan program, although he stopped short of stating exactly how much money the program needs.

  It comes amid recovery efforts from hurricanes Helene and Milton,  the latter of which Biden said has caused around $50 billion worth of damage.

  In its latest press release, the SBA said it has received around 37,000 applications from those impacted by Helene, and has made over 700 Helene loan offers totaling about $48 million.

  For Milton, the agency has already received over 12,000 applications, it said.

  “Importantly, despite this funding lapse, borrowers who already have a loan offer will continue to receive disbursements, and borrowers who already have existing loans may continue with servicing actions and loan modifications,” the agency said.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 17:40

• WTI Rallies After API Reports Across-The-Board Inventory Draws
  WTI Rallies After API Reports Across-The-Board Inventory Draws

  Oil prices dipped very marginally today (with WTI holding above $70), down for the fourth day in a row as traders focused on an uncertain demand outlook – particularly from China, the world’s largest crude importer.

  Additionally, traders have “largely priced in the Middle East tensions,” and the base-case scenario for many of them is that there will be a limited attack on Iranian energy facilities, if any, from Israel, Naeem Aslam, chief investment officer at Zaye Capital Markets, told MarketWatch.

  However, “the fact is that we are looking at a situation where two countries are attacking each other directly,” he added.

  “[It] is a very serious situation because currently the U.S. is very much mediating the matter and tensions are incredibly high on both sides.”

  “On the demand side, market participants are looking for clearer signals regarding China’s fiscal policy, as uncertainties about its economic recovery affect oil-demand expectations,” said Christopher Tahir, senior market strategist at Exness, in emailed comments.

  “Both the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the International Energy Agency have lowered their forecasts for global oil-demand growth in 2024, mainly due to expected changes in China’s consumption,” he noted.

  For now, the recent hurricanes are playing havoc with any analysis of the real-time supply/demand regime based on API/DOE data.

  API

  • Crude -1.58mm (+1.9mm exp)

  • Cushing +410k

  • Gasoline -5.93mm (-2.0mm exp)

  • Distillates -2.67mm (-2.2mm exp)

  After the large gasoline draw the prior week (and big crude build), the effect of Hurricanes Helene and Milton continue to ripple through physical energy markets. API reports major product draws and a surprise crude draw (build expected) last week…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  WTI was hovering just above $70 ahead of the API print and rallied into the green for the day after the print…

  

  From a price perspective, Zaye Capital Markets’ Aslam believes oil is very much back to “normal fundamentals,” with the Chinese demand equation influencing the market.

  “So in the absence of any serious geopolitical tension, the path of least resistance is skewed to the downside,” he said.

  Tomorrow (a day late due to the Columbus Day holiday), we will get the official weekly data on US production, demand, and inventories.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 10/16/2024 – 17:20

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• FEMA Still Paying $9,000 For COVID Funerals, Billions On Pandemic Payouts
  FEMA Still Paying $9,000 For COVID Funerals, Billions On Pandemic Payouts

  By Brian McGlinchey at Stark Realities

  As the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) carries out widely-criticized responses to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, officials say the agency’s Disaster Recovery Fund is incapable of handling a third major storm. While some are circulating false accusations that disaster funds have been diverted to immigrants or poured into the proxy war in Ukraine, a review of the agency’s 2024 outlays reveals a different, ongoing drain on FEMA’s coffers: Long after the end of the declared Covid-19 emergency, FEMA is still pumping out billions of dollars to pay for pandemic expenses — including, believe it or not, up to $9,000 each for funerals.

  

  As previously detailed here at Stark Realities, governments’ response to the Covid-19 pandemic was disastrous on many fronts. While the Pandora’s box of collateral damage included widespread harm to the physical and mental health of individuals, it also dealt a blow to the nation’s fiscal well-being, as the federal government recklessly showered trillions of dollars it didn’t have on people, businesses and state and local governments — with much of that money intended to offset the effects of government’s own tyrannical and counterproductive policies.

  While all but the most diehard Branch Covidians have moved on from that dark chapter, the federal government has a distinct version of “long Covid.” Though it’s not clear where all the money is going, FEMA is paying up to $9,000 each to reimburse funeral expenses for those who die from Covid.

  That’s an especially odd example of government picking winners and losers. As Stanford University School of Medicine professor and prominent Covid-regime critic Jay Bhattacharya said in a social media post that drew my attention to this giveaway program and its hyper-longevity, “There are apparently more and less worthy ways to die in the US.”

  Indeed: Why is the family of someone who dies from Covid more deserving of a government-paid funeral than the family of someone who dies from cancer, cardiac arrest or a car accident? It bears emphasis that this question was every bit as relevant in 2020 as it is today.

  The favoring of one cause of death over another isn’t the only winners-and-losers dimension of the funeral program: There’s no reimbursement for those who’d planned ahead via pre-paid funerals. Echoing the grievances of people who saved up to pay for college only to see their neighbor’s student loans forgiven by vote-buying politicians, some families say they feel like they’re being punished for having planned for the future.

  

  This isn’t FEMA’s first funereal foray, but it’s the largest by orders of magnitude. In the 10 years before the pandemic, FEMA received about 6,000 applications for funeral assistance for various natural disasters. As of Jan. 1, 2024, FEMA had approved more than 300,000 for Covid-19, shelling out $3.15 billion to cover an expense that, whether caused by a pandemic or something else, is universally inevitable.

  Of course, the magnitude of that inevitable expense isn’t fixed, and the mere presence of a government subsidy reliably results in higher costs. Knowing they can spend up to of $9,000 of other people’s money on their Covid-19 funeral, it’s safe to assume many affected families have made more expensive choices than they otherwise would — bolstering the profits of funeral homes, casket producers and other associated businesses.

  Unsurprisingly, the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), a trade group and principal lobbyist for the industry, hailed the passage of the COVID 19 Relief Package/Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020. The legislation not only funded Covid funeral reimbursements, NFDA enthused, but also funeral payments “for any subsequent major disaster declared by the President,” an expansion the group had been lobbying for.

  To qualify for reimbursement under the funeral assistance program, the death certificate must either indicate the death was caused by Covid-19 — or that it merely may have been caused by Covid-19 or “Covid-19-like symptoms.”

  As is increasingly the case with government handouts, there’s no requirement of US citizenship, for either the decedent or the person paying the funeral expenses. A family’s ability to pay for the funeral is likewise irrelevant — there are no income or wealth criteria.

  There’s more to the cost of this program than the reimbursements themselves — there’s also significant overhead. Pressed to implement the program as soon as possible, FEMA opted against creating a website to receive applications for reimbursement, choosing to instead require that all claims be submitted via 20-minute phone conversations, necessitating the creation of a huge call center operation staffed by 5,000 phone agents, all of whom would require training and support.

  While you might think word-of-mouth would be sufficient to encourage widespread use of a handout program, still more money was spent on advertising. In a 2022 report lamenting that many eligible people hadn’t cashed in yet, NPR’s Blake Farmer — blissfully oblivious to the federal government’s relentless march to insolvency — cheerfully said “FEMA is launching an outreach campaign to promote the program, since there’s plenty of money left.”

  

  Fittingly, NPR found the national leader in funeral reimbursement claims at the time was Washington DC, with applications amounting to 77% of Covid-19 fatalities.

  Whether a government handout program takes the form of cash reimbursement, tax credit or subsidy, it inevitably has another cost dimension: so-called “improper payments,” a term encompassing both fraud and errors made by applicants and administrators.

  On that score, FEMA’s Covid-19 funeral-funding program has come under repeated criticism from government watchdogs. In 2022, the General Accountability Office (GAO) identified “several gaps in FEMA’s internal controls meant to prevent improper or fraudulent payments” — such as double-payments when two different parties applied for reimbursement for the same funeral, or payments made to applicants who didn’t meet program requirements.

  That same year, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) sent an “urgent” alert to FEMA, saying its audit found the agency “regularly reimburses applicants for expenses expressly excluded from funeral assistance” by the agency’s own policy guide that serves as its interpretation of regulations.

  Reimbursable expenses include funeral services, cremation, caskets, urns burial plots, ceremony costs, headstones and clergy compensation. Among the unauthorized expenses are catering, gratuities, flowers and transportation. The OIG learned that, rather than directing claims processors to scrutinize claims to ferret out unauthorized expenses, FEMA told them to “accept for reimbursement all verifiable funeral expenses…listed on expense documents from a funeral home.” Thus, if flowers, for example, were listed on a funeral home bill, reimbursement was approved regardless of FEMA’s standing rule against covering that cost.

  The OIG found that 59% of approved applications included ineligible expenses. In one case, FEMA’s loose approach led to an improper reimbursement for $3,760 for transportation that included “two lead escort vehicles, a limousine, and a horse and carriage.”

  

  FEMA admitted its lawyers hadn’t even reviewed its Covid operating procedures. Worse, FEMA resisted the OIG’s post-inquiry recommendations, exasperatingly arguing that if the agency started applying the rules correctly, it “would create inequalities to the detriment of future applicants, who would qualify for less assistance for fewer eligible expenses.” GAO rightly countered that FEMA was itself creating inequalities — by reimbursing funeral expenses that it hadn’t reimbursed for previous disasters and shouldn’t reimburse for future ones.

  While it serves as a vivid illustration of irrational, wasteful and persistent spending that accompanies both bona fide and contrived crises, the funeral reimbursement program represents just a small share of ongoing Covid-related government outlays: In the fiscal year that ended September 30, FEMA tallied $15 billion in Covid-19 commitments, accounting for a startling 39% of all FEMA disaster relief obligations.

  Not coincidentally, FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund is repeatedly running on empty, prompting additional, multi-billion-dollar infusions from Congress. Seeking still more money Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas earlier this month told reporters that “FEMA does not have the funds to make it through [hurricane] season.”

  

  His warning prompted a false narrative to erupt along the American right — specifically, that the Disaster Relief Fund has been depleted by $650 million spent on migrants in the 2024 fiscal year. While one can challenge the propriety and constitutionality of that spending, the $650 million didn’t come from the Disaster Relief Fund, but from a separate, congressionally-appropriated program and account.

  Rather than parroting false narratives, conservatives should be asking why the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) is still being hammered by Covid payouts to state, local and tribal governments, hospitals, non-profits and others. At least one federal legislator is already on the case — on Friday, Texas Rep. Chip Roy sent a letter to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, spotlighting the troubling state of affairs:

  “The depletion of the DRF is of particular concern considering the sheer amount of funding that has gone to COVID-19 projects nearly a year and a half after the COVID-19 emergency – which should have been terminated much earlier – was terminated.

  According to a FEMA document, as of October 4, 2024, nearly $4 billion – or 45% – of the DRF funding that was delayed … was for COVID-19 projects. About $1.2 billion of that COVID-19 funding would go to the state of California alone.”

  In addition to requesting a full accounting of Covid and non-Covid spending, Roy asked Criswell to explain how her agency would prevent Covid-19 projects from continuing to “jeopardize FEMA’s ability to use the DRF in the future to respond to disasters, absent a massive increase in congressional appropriations.”

  Barring an extension, FEMA will finally stop accepting Covid-funeral reimbursement applications on September 30, 2025. However, as of now, the agency plans on tapping its disaster fund for other Covid-19 outlays for four more years —to the tune of another $22.2 billion between now and September 2028.

  That’s assuming FEMA’s estimate is accurate, but cost estimations are another recurring weakness of the organization. Indeed, FEMA originally estimated $17.6 billion in total Covid-19 outlays over the duration of the emergency. By March of this year, its estimate had soared to $171.6 billion.

  * * *

  Stark Realities undermines official narratives, demolishes conventional wisdom and exposes fundamental myths across the political spectrum. Read more and subscribe at starkrealities.substack.com  

  

  Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

  You may also like:

  • Public Health Erred on the Side of Catastrophe
  • Lockdowns, Masks and the Illusion of Government Control Over Covid

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 23:25

• Canada Expels 6 Indian Diplomats For Alleged Involvement In Murder Of Sikh Separatist
  Canada Expels 6 Indian Diplomats For Alleged Involvement In Murder Of Sikh Separatist

  Via Middle East Eye

  Canada expelled six top Indian diplomats and consular officials on Monday, including India’s high commissioner, citing them as “persons of interest” in the murder of Sikh separatist figure, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. 

  In June 2023 Nijjar was assassinated by masked gunmen in Vancouver, British Columbia, after which three Indian nationals were arrested and charged for the crime. The investigation triggered a diplomatic spat in September when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that the Indian government was involved in the killing.

  New Delhi denies the allegations. On Monday, Canadian law enforcement authorities accused the Indian government of running a wide-ranging criminal network to intimidate and target Canadian Sikh separatists.

  

  India’s High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma was declared persona non grata by the Canadian government along with a number of other officials for their alleged roles in criminal activity, extortion and homicide.

  “The decision to expel these individuals was made with great consideration and only after the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) gathered ample, clear and concrete evidence which identified six individuals as persons of interest in the Nijjar case,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

  The development marks a new low between India and Canada, with the potential to rupture ties between the two Commonwealth nations. The Indian government accused Trudeau of making the decision based on a “political agenda” and said it was pulling its diplomats out of Canada.

  “We have no faith in the current Canadian Government’s commitment to ensure their security. Therefore, the Government of India has decided to withdraw the High Commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials,” India’s foreign ministry said in a statement. 

  On Monday New Delhi also announced that it, too, would be expelling six Canadian diplomats, including the Canadian embassy’s second-highest ranking diplomat, Stewart Wheeler, the charge d’affaires.

  Canada’s law enforcement authorities have a “significant amount of information about the breadth and depth of criminal activity orchestrated by agents of the government of India in consequential threats to the safety and security of Canadians and individuals living in Canada,” the RCMP said in a statement.

  The law enforcement agency said the government of India is linked to homicides and extortion and used organized crime to target the South Asian community in Canada and interfere in democratic processes.

  The Indian government says that Canada has yet to provide any evidence of its investigation into Nijjar’s killing or India’s involvement in the assassination. “This latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts. This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains,” India’s foreign ministry said on Monday.

  Later on Monday Prime Minister Trudeau released a statement defending Canada’s actions, saying that India’s response to the allegations has been denial, obfuscation, and personal attacks. “[It] is obvious that the government of India made a fundamental error in thinking that they could engage in supporting criminal activity against Canadians here on Canadian soil. “We will never tolerate the involvement of a foreign government threatening and killing Canadian citizens on Canadian soil.”

  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada accused the Indian government of homicide and extortion intended to silence critics of India living in Canada, escalating a bitter dispute that began last year with the assassination of a Sikh activist. https://t.co/AXyfmvJhiR pic.twitter.com/YjIgQ1Nkoi

  — The New York Times (@nytimes) October 14, 2024

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

  Canada withdrew more than 40 diplomats from India in October 2023 after New Delhi asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence. Canada is host to one of the largest Indian diaspora communities in the world with a population of just under two million, with Sikhs dominating the community at 36 percent compared to Hindus as 32 percent of the diaspora. The majority of the diaspora is concentrated in Ontario and British Columbia. 

  Assassination plot in US

  US prosecutors in New York in November charged an Indian national with a failed attempt to assassinate an American citizen on US soil, according to an indictment.

  Authorities say that an unnamed Indian government official recruited 52-year-old Nikhil Gupta, who went on to contact someone he believed to be a hitman, to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Pannun is a prominent Sikh activist and New York-based lawyer for the Punjabi secessionist group, Sikhs for Justice.

  The individual Gupta contacted was, however, not a hit man but an undercover officer working for the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). According to Wednesday’s indictment, Gupta had brokered a deal in which the unnamed Indian government employee would pay the hitman $100,000 for the killing.

  The indictment did not name Pannun as the victim. However, Biden administration officials later said that the target of the failed assassination was the Sikh activist.

  “The dedicated law enforcement agents and prosecutors in this case foiled and exposed a dangerous plot to assassinate a US citizen on US soil,” assistant attorney general Matthew Olsen said in a statement. “The Department of Justice will be relentless in using the full reach of our authorities to pursue accountability for lethal plotting emanating from overseas.”

  The indictment said that the plot to assassinate Pannun took place in June, around the same time that Nijjar was assassinated. Gupta was arrested that same month while in the Czech Republic, which has a bilateral extradition treaty with the US. He faces charges that could land him a sentence of 10 years in jail.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 23:00

• Home Prep Guide: What You Need To Last 2 Weeks In An Emergency
  Home Prep Guide: What You Need To Last 2 Weeks In An Emergency

  Authored by Mikai Allbert via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Two hurricanes have barreled through the Southeast in just two weeks. Hurricane Helene thrashed North Carolina, while Hurricane Milton—the most destructive storm to hit the Tampa area in a century—left more than 3 million without power and at least 10 people dead in Florida.

  

  “[We] were not expecting a one-in-1,000 event,” one resident told our photographer and editor Richard Moore amid the wreckage. Motel operator Sharon Parton said: “My son and his wife lost everything. My mother-in-law lost everything.”

  Such major storms display nature’s unpredictable force, exposing how vulnerable our communities truly are.

  “It’s not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ such events will occur,” Creek Stewart, an author of more than 40 books on survival, told The Epoch Times. Being ready to face adversity is a responsibility that each family must accept and embrace.

  Prepping doesn’t have to be daunting. “Preparedness is very simple,” Stewart said, “but without a proper guide, you are going to become overwhelmed.”

  In this guide, we streamline the process by outlining the essential items recommended by survival experts.

  “Think of preparedness as an insurance policy,” preparedness expert Paul Martin told The Epoch Times. “None of us like paying insurance premiums, but we do it in order to transfer the risk of loss.”

  A robust preparedness plan has three core elements: family communication, evacuation, and sheltering in place.

  Family Communication

  The cornerstone of any disaster plan is effective family communication. This involves establishing clear meeting points and alternative methods of staying in touch. “Know where to meet, how to get in touch, and how to get there … so that there’s no guessing,” Stewart said.

  Establish an Out-of-Town Contact: Select a trusted friend or relative outside your immediate area whom all family members can contact.

  Memorize Important Numbers: Ensure everyone knows key phone numbers in case cell phones are lost or not working.

  Designate Meeting Places: Select one near your home, such as a neighbor’s front porch, and one outside the neighborhood, in case you can’t return home, such as a library or community center.

  To create a comprehensive family plan, you can use online templates such as the Department of Homeland Security’s form.

  Evacuation Plan

  An evacuation plan involves deciding well ahead of time what to take with you and where you will go if evacuation becomes necessary. Identify and practice evacuation routes.

  Having a well-stocked “bug-out bag” ready is crucial. Stewart suggests preparing for the possibility of returning to a home that’s no longer there. This means packing for at least 72 hours of self-sufficiency for your entire family. Essential items include shelter, water, fire-starting tools, food, first-aid supplies, and important documents.

  Additionally, you should consider the items recommended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for a basic emergency kit:

  • Battery-powered or hand-crank radio and a NOAA weather radio with tone alerts
  • Cell phone with chargers and a backup battery
  • Flashlight
  • First-aid kit
  • Extra batteries
  • Whistle (to signal for help)
  • Dust mask (to help filter contaminated air)
  • Plastic sheeting, scissors, and duct tape (to shelter in place)
  • Moist towelettes, garbage bags, and plastic ties (for personal sanitation)
  • Wrench or pliers (to turn off utilities)
  • Manual can opener (for food)
  • Local maps

  Shelter-in-Place Plan

  The most likely scenario involves focusing on surviving comfortably at home. “Execute the basics well,” Martin said. This entails having a two-week supply of nonperishable food, ample water, and off-grid solutions for cooking and heating. This topic will be covered in-depth in the infographic below, providing you with detailed guidance on how to effectively shelter in place.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 22:35

• 73% Of Mexicans Own A Dog
  73% Of Mexicans Own A Dog

  Data from a Statista Consumer Insights survey reveals that dog ownership varies greatly around the world.

  

  Where as many as seven in ten respondents said they had a dog as a pet in Mexico in a survey conducted between July 2023 and June 2024, under three in ten said the same in Sweden.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  In the United States, around half of respondents said they owned a dog.

  Americans were most likely to own a dog, followed by a cat (36 percent), a fish (7 percent), a reptile (4 percent) and a bird (4 percent).

  Only three percent of respondents said they owned a rodent, whether a rabbit, a hamster, guinea pig, mouse or rat.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 22:10

• Autism Spectrum Disorder: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments, And Natural Approaches
  Autism Spectrum Disorder: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments, And Natural Approaches

  Authored by Mercura Wang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or just autism, is a neurological and developmental condition that affects social interaction, communication, learning, and behavior. It encompasses a range of conditions related to brain development.

  

  Globally, around 1 percent of children have autism. In the United States, however, one in 36 children and one in 45 adults have autism, with the condition affecting around 4 percent of boys and 1 percent of girls. The prevalence is up from one in 44 in 2020 and has almost tripled since 2000 when it was one in 150.

  

  What Are the Symptoms and Early Signs of Autism?

  “On the spectrum” refers to individuals who share core characteristics of autism while recognizing that each person’s autistic experience is unique, complex, and can change over time.

  Thinking about autism as on a linear spectrum can be misleading, as it suggests a person can have “more” or “less” autism, leading to oversimplified labels such as “higher” or “lower functioning.” Instead, autism is better understood as a range of diverse traits, strengths, and challenges that vary for each individual.

  Early Signs

  The first signs of autism typically appear in early childhood and can be detected through screening in children as young as 12 months old or as old as 24 months. However, the condition may be missed until much later.

  Early signs of ASD by age include the following:

  • 6 to 12 months: Limited smiling, eye contact, or reciprocal social interactions; diminished babbling or gestures; and reduced response to name
  • 9 to 12 months: Repetitive behaviors (e.g., spinning and lining up objects) and unusual play (intense focus on toys’ visual or tactile features)
  • 12 to 18 months: Lack of single words, compensatory gestures (e.g., pointing), and pretend play; and limited joint attention (initiating and sharing interests)
  • 15 to 24 months: Little to no spontaneous two-word phrases

  Signs and Symptoms

  The following are common behaviors observed in individuals with ASD. While not all autistic individuals exhibit every behavior, most will show several traits. Some of these behaviors can also occur in people without ASD.

  Social interactions:

  • Minimal or inconsistent eye contact with others
  • Appearing disinterested or inattentive when others are speaking
  • Rarely sharing enthusiasm or feelings about objects or activities
  • Avoiding physical affection and preferring solitary play, often withdrawing into their own world
  • Not responding or taking a long time to respond when called by name
  • Limited or delayed speech or loss of previously acquired words
  • Struggling with the give-and-take aspect of conversations
  • Echoing words or phrases without grasping their meaning
  • Having trouble comprehending basic questions or instructions
  • Relying on memorized scripted speech instead of using spontaneous language
  • Using pronouns incorrectly, such as saying “you” instead of “I” or “me” when referring to themselves
  • Talking extensively about specific topics without recognizing others’ disinterest or allowing them to contribute
  • Using facial expressions and gestures that are inconsistent with their verbal messages
  • Exhibiting an unusual voice quality, such as a sing-song or monotone
  • Struggling to grasp others’ perspectives or anticipate their behavior
  • Showing little emotional expression and appearing unaware of others’ emotions or exhibiting abnormal expressions of empathy
  • Struggling to understand nonverbal cues such as body language or tone of voice
  • Not developing close personal relationships, especially outside the family
  • Lack of speech, in severe cases
  • Taking things very literally, such as not understanding sarcasm or expressions such as “it’s raining cats and dogs”

  Restrictive or repetitive behaviors:

  • Stimming (self-stimulating behaviors), which involves repetitive body movements or the manipulation of objects. While common among autistic individuals, it is a behavior that nearly everyone exhibits in some form, such as nail biting. For autistic people, stimming can occasionally interfere with daily life or cause harm but often serves as a coping mechanism for managing sensory overload or stressful situations.
  • Establishing rigid routines or rituals and becoming upset with even minor changes.
  • Experiencing coordination issues or displaying unusual movement patterns, such as clumsiness, toe-walking, or exaggerated body language.
  • Displaying severe tantrums or emotional outbursts.
  • Fixating on a single topic or activity or maintaining a deep, enduring interest in particular subjects such as numbers or facts.
  • Showing limited attention span.
  • Picky eating, such as preferring only a few foods or avoiding certain textures.
  • Showing heightened or diminished sensitivity to sensory stimuli such as light, sound, clothing, or temperature.
  • Developing an intense attachment to specific inanimate objects.
  • Having highly specialized and sometimes unusual interests (e.g., intense fascination with vacuum cleaners).

  People on the autism spectrum often have notable strengths, such as the ability to learn and retain detailed information, strong visual and auditory learning skills, and excellence in memory, math, science, music, or art. They may also notice subtle details, patterns, smells, or sounds that others may overlook.

  Autism Signs in Females

  Autism symptoms in women and girls may be different from those in males. According to the DSM-5-TR, autistic females may exhibit:

  • Enhanced reciprocal conversation skills
  • Improved understanding of verbal and nonverbal communication
  • Greater ability to adapt their behavior to different situations
  • Less noticeable repetitive behaviors
  • More socially accepted special interests (e.g., celebrities)

  Research indicates that females are more likely to mask their autism symptoms to fit in than males. They may stay close to peers and move in and out of activities, regardless of engagement status.

  What Causes Autism?

  Research indicates autism arises from a combination of genetic and environmental factors, as well as abnormal brain development.

  Genetics

  Genetic factors are believed to contribute 40 percent to 80 percent of autism risk. Over 1,000 genes have been linked to ASD, although many associations remain unconfirmed. Common gene variations may increase ASD risk, but most have a small individual effect, and not everyone with these variations develops ASD.

  In about 2 percent to 4 percent of cases, rare gene mutations or chromosomal abnormalities are a direct cause, as with ADNP syndrome, also known as Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome (HVDAS). Some other genes whose rare mutations are associated with autism include ARID1B, ASH1L, CHD2, CHD8, DYRK1A, POGZ, SHANK3, and SYNGAP1. Many ASD-associated genes play roles in brain development or regulate other genes or proteins.

  In some children, autism may be linked to a genetic condition such as fragile X syndrome or Down syndrome.

  Brain Development

  Research suggests that during brain development, individuals with ASD may have an excess of neurons and overgrowth in parts of the brain’s outer layer, the cortex. Additionally, there are irregular areas where the typical structure of the cortex is disrupted. The cortex normally has six layers, formed before birth, each with specialized neurons and connections. These abnormalities are seen in the frontal and temporal lobes, regions involved in emotions, social behavior, and language. These differences are believed to contribute to the social, communication, and cognitive challenges associated with autism.

  Other parts of the autistic brain that exhibit abnormalities include the cerebellum and the amygdala. However, it is unclear whether these brain changes spur autism or vice versa.

  Environmental Factors

  Environmental factors can range from infections and diseases to toxins and maternal health during pregnancy. They include:

  • Certain diseases: An ASD subtype called childhood disintegrative disorder is associated with certain diseases, especially if it is late-onset, including subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (a chronic brain infection caused by a measles virus form), tuberous sclerosis (a genetic disorder characterized by benign tumor formation in the brain and other organs), leukodystrophy (a condition involving maldevelopment of the myelin sheath, leading to the disintegration of white matter in the brain), and lipid storage diseases (disorders where excessive fat accumulates in the brain and nervous system, causing toxicity).
  • Prenatal infections: Examples include rubella and cytomegalovirus infections.
  • Maternal immune conditions: Maternal immune conditions increase autism risk in children. A 2020 study found that maternal asthma was the most frequently reported in mothers of children with ASD. Autistic boys were more likely to have mothers with a history of immune conditions than girls with ASD.
  • Prenatal exposure to air pollution: Exposure to PM2.5 (particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers or smaller in diameter) during the first two trimesters of pregnancy was linked to a higher risk of ASD in children, especially boys.
  • Exposure to toxins in the womb: Being exposed to toxins (e.g., heavy metals) or medications (e.g., antidepressants, valproic acid, and thalidomide) while in the womb or in early childhood could raise the risk of autism.
  • Lower levels of manganese and zinc.
  • Maternal diabetes and obesity: Maternal preexisting Type 2 diabetes, Type 1 diabetes, and gestational diabetes diagnosed by 26 weeks of pregnancy are linked to a higher risk of ASD in children. A 2016 study found that children born to obese women with diabetes are over three times more likely to be diagnosed with autism compared to children of mothers with a healthy weight and no diabetes.
  • Birth complications: Preterm birth may increase the risk of ASD, with a higher risk associated with greater levels of prematurity. Challenges during birth resulting in episodes of oxygen deprivation to the baby’s brain can also increase the risk.
  • Assisted reproductive technology: A 2017 study suggested that the use of assisted reproductive technology (e.g., in vitro fertilization) may be associated with an increased risk of autism in children.
  • Paternal cannabis use: A 2019 study found that a gene linked to autism, DLGAP2, can change in the sperm of men who use cannabis. These changes in the gene’s DNA could be passed down to future children, possibly affecting their autism risk.

  Childhood Vaccines

  Although authoritative organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) assure parents that there is no link between childhood vaccines and autism, some scientists call for further study.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 21:45

• US Threatens Israel With Arms Shipment Suspensions Over Spiraling Gaza Situation
  US Threatens Israel With Arms Shipment Suspensions Over Spiraling Gaza Situation

  The Biden administration is said to be threatening to withdraw key aspects of US military aid to Israel if it doesn’t reign in the devastating humanitarian situation in Gaza.

  Like with prior such ‘warnings’ (this isn’t the first), the message seems more timed for the November election. Kamala Harris has wedded herself to Biden’s policies on Israel and Gaza, alienating Arab-Americans in some key swing states like Michigan, where the ‘uncommitted’ movement is growing.

  Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin this week issued a letter to the Israeli government telling it to take “urgent and sustained action” to reverse course on the spiraling humanitarian situation in Gaza or risking seeing select US military assistance cut off. The US has reportedly given Israel 30 days to demonstrate progress.

  

  “The Departments of State and Defense must continually assess your government’s adherence to your March 2024 assurances that Israel would ‘facilitate and not arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance’ to and within Gaza,” the letter states.

  It continues: “The Department of State will need to conduct a similar assessment under section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act in order to provide additional Foreign Military Financing assistance to Israel. We are now writing to underscore the U.S. government’s deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory.”

  The allegations come after several NGOs and rights groups have allege that Israel has blocked vital aid from getting into the Gaza Strip, including aid sent from the US.

  “Blinken and Austin raise alarm in the letter that the amount of aid entering Gaza has dropped by 50 percent compared to assurances provided in March and April,” The Hill notes.

  This also comes as Israel has begun to lose the NY Times. Its opinion editor wrote on Tuesday:

  A recent opinion essay gathered first-hand testimonies from 65 U.S.-based health professionals who worked in Gaza over the past year, who shared more than 160 photographs and videos with Times Opinion to corroborate their detailed accounts of treating preteen children who were shot in the head or chest. Following publication, some readers questioned the accuracy of the accounts and the authenticity of three CT images shown. Those criticisms are unfounded.

  …While our editors have photographs to corroborate the CT scan images, because of their graphic nature, we decided these photos — of children with gunshot wounds to the head or neck — were too horrific for publication. 

  Despite all of this, throughout the totality of the conflict and amid an avalanche of allegations of war crimes against Israel’s military (often involving use of American-supplied weapons), the Biden administration has merely paused one single shipment of bombs – it appears based on public reporting.

  A new study from Brown documents the stunning amounts given to Israel over the last year by Biden/Harris to pay for Israel’s wars.

  It’s $18b to Israel, plus another $5b from US military actions for Israel.

  Yet the GOP grievance is that Dems haven’t done enough for Israel.🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/OTIb3AwIRl

  — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 14, 2024

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

  The reality is that Washington is unlikely to ever significantly block military aid to Israel, no matter what its actions are. This will remain true whether a Republication or Democratic administration is in the White House.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 21:20

• Where Trump And Harris Stand On China Policies
  Where Trump And Harris Stand On China Policies

  Authored by Terri Wu and Lily Zhou via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The next president will likely preside over one of the most consequential periods in the nation’s relations with communist China, an adversary that has the intention and capacity to displace the current U.S.-led world order.

  

  Eight in 10 Americans view China unfavorably, according to a Pew Research Center report released in July.

  Washington also has a consensus that the Chinese regime poses a threat as it closes the power gap with the United States in military, diplomatic, and technological domains.

  The current approach to China began with former President Donald Trump. Identifying China as a “strategic competitor,” the Trump administration took a new approach to U.S.–China relations. It imposed broad tariffs on Chinese goods, controlled Chinese access to American semiconductor technology, and pivoted national security strategy from the Middle East to China and Russia.

  The Biden administration continued many of the same policies, and Washington’s China policy will likely continue to be hawkish. However, the two candidates will also have distinct approaches, owing to their personal differences and depending on whom they appoint to key positions.

  Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump is broadly expected to resume his China policies in the first term.

  Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris has indicated no sign of divergence from the Biden administration’s China policies.

  Trade

  The two candidates agree on controlling strategic goods and technologies, investing in innovation, re-shoring supply chains, and combating Beijing’s unfair trade practices.

  The aim is to ensure “America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century,” Harris has said repeatedly.

  Last month, the Biden administration finalized its tariffs, retaining all Trump-era rates and sharply increasing them on selected critical technology and minerals.

  During a speech on the economy in Pittsburgh on Sept. 25, the vice president vowed, “I will never hesitate to take swift and strong measures when China undermines the rules of the road at the expense of our workers, our communities, and our companies.”

  Meanwhile, the Trump-centered Republican platform also pledges to revoke China’s permanent normal trade relations status, which grants it free trade benefits with the United States; phase out imports of essential goods that include electronics, steel, and pharmaceuticals; and stop China from buying American real estate and industries.

  Trump hinted at reigniting the trade war, suggesting he may impose more than 60 percent tariffs on Chinese goods.

  Dennis Wilder, a former national security and intelligence officer who held several senior roles in the Bush and Obama administrations, believes Trump’s threat of higher tariffs is merely a negotiation tool to achieve a trade deal similar to the phase one U.S.–China trade deal signed in 2020.

  

  Stephen Ezell, a vice president at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation think tank, believes Trump will take the pledges in the Republican platform seriously, particularly revoking China’s permanent normal trade relations status, because Beijing has failed to comply with its commitments as a member of the World Trade Organization, he told The Epoch Times.

  Beijing did not fulfill its pledge in the phase one deal to buy an additional $200 billion in U.S. products over two years. During a meeting with farmers in Pennsylvania’s Smithton, a city near Pittsburgh, on Sept. 23, Trump said, if reelected, his first call would be to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, asking him to honor the deal.

  During the final months of his term, Trump raised the idea of separating the United States and Chinese economies, known as decoupling. His former trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, a rumored candidate for the next secretary of the Treasury, advocates the same approach.

  Harris and her Democratic Party have a different view; she believes in derisking, not decoupling.

  James Lewis, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said decoupling is already happening.

  As to whether a future Harris administration would differ from Biden’s approach, Lewis told The Epoch Times that he would watch the pace of decoupling and the measures adopted to reinforce it.

  Security

  Despite a growing consensus in Washington on the need to counter the Chinese regime’s aggressive actions, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, differences remain on how to avoid military conflicts.

  Trump emphasizes maintaining peace by showing military strength. During his term, he focused on modernizing nuclear weapons and stopped the trend of cuts to the U.S. nuclear stockpile.

  A 2018 nuclear policy document listed that one of the roles of nuclear weapons was for “hedging against an uncertain future.” The Biden administration dropped this language in its 2022 update.

  President Joe Biden’s 2022 Nuclear Posture Review also canceled the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile program for cost reasons. However, Congress continued funding the program, although it was not included in the Biden administration’s defense budget requests. According to its proponents, the program enhances the credibility of U.S. deterrence.

  

  A YouGov survey in June found that Trump supporters are more likely than Biden supporters to say America is safer because of its nuclear arsenal.

  During a debate on the defense funding bill in 2020, then-Sen. Harris (D-Calif.) supported cutting the budget and said, “I unequivocally agree with the goal of reducing the defense budget and redirecting funding to communities in need.”

  In May, Harris said the United States’s air and space supremacy is essential to ensuring global peace and security, and the Biden administration has kept defense spending steady.

  Trump started the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy, which Biden continued. Both parties agree that the Indo-Pacific region is the United States’s primary theater. However, Trump and Harris may differ on the balance between the imminent dangers in the Russia–Ukraine and Israel–Hamas regional wars and the tense South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.

  Ivan Kanapathy, a senior vice president at advisory firm Beacon Global Strategies and former senior national security official under the Trump administration, believes the European Union, which has a much larger economy than Russia, should handle the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war while the United States should focus more on China and North Korea.

  Elbridge Colby, a former senior Pentagon official and a top contender for the national security adviser position in Trump’s second term, shares this view.

  In late September, Harris reaffirmed the U.S. support for Ukraine as a way of “fulfilling our long-standing role of global leadership.” Earlier this year, in February, she touted having “ invested heavily in our alliances and partnerships and created new ones to ensure peace and security” in the Indo-Pacific during the past three and half years.

  The Biden administration has maintained that the Indo-Pacific is the “priority theater” for the United States. However, military assistance to Ukraine and Israel has strained the defense industry and led to an arms sales backlog to Taiwan of about $20 billion, the same as the island’s annual defense budget.

  Biden has said several times that the United States would defend Taiwan if Beijing tried to annex the island by force. However, his officials walked back those statements each time, saying U.S. policy is deliberately vague on what it would do.

  In September 2022, Harris said the United States will “continue to oppose any unilateral change to the status quo” and “continue to support Taiwan’s self-defense, consistent with our long-standing policy.”

  Trump has recently sparked controversy by saying Taiwan should pay the United States for its defense.

  Trump is also credited with forging closer U.S.–Taiwan relations, starting with his unprecedented phone conversation in 2016—the first such official call since 1960—with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who congratulated the U.S. president-elect.

  

  Trump signed into law the Taiwan Travel Act in 2018, which encouraged engagements between U.S. and Taiwan officials at all levels, and the Taiwan Assurance Act in 2020, which ensured alignment of Taiwan guidelines in the State Department. During his term, several current U.S. cabinet-level officials visited the island nation.

  In Smithton, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 23, Trump alluded to the possibility of getting into a war with China while speaking about protecting the U.S. steel industry.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 20:55

• Questions, Outrage After Israel Attacks Northern Lebanese Christian Stronghold
  Questions, Outrage After Israel Attacks Northern Lebanese Christian Stronghold

  Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

  On Monday, Israeli warplanes carried out an attack on a small apartment building in the northern Lebanese village of Aitou, in the Christian-majority Zgharta District. At least 22 people have been killed in the attack, according to the Lebanese Red Cross, which also wounded at least eight.

  There has been no official comment from the Israeli military on why they attacked the Christian-majority village. That’s not unusual when the Israeli strike doesn’t appear to have had any military target or purpose.

  

  Speculation is that the attack was primarily a revenge attack against Lebanon in general after a Sunday drone strike by Hezbollah against a northern Israeli military base killed four soldiers and wounded scores of others.

  Alternatively, Israeli media has been speculating that the attack, again on a Christian village, “may have targeted a senior Hezbollah leader.”

  There has been no official sign that was the case, nor indeed are those making such speculation offering any name of the potential Hezbollah figure being targeted.

  22 people have been killed in an Israeli strike on the Maronite Christian village of Aitou, located ~ 100 kilometers northeast of Beirut in northern Lebanon. The Lebanese Red Cross said its teams are still evacuating the wounded and deceased, with the majority of those killed… pic.twitter.com/lqLRbbRfPr

  — Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) October 14, 2024

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  This northern part of Lebanon has not been considered militarily significant throughout the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah conflict, and there hadn’t been an Israeli attack anywhere near this area since the 2006 war.

  Israeli attacks on explicitly Christian targets are not unheard of, at any rate. Just last week, Israel launched a missile strike against a Catholic Church in the southern area of Tyre. 

  They destroyed the church, killing eight people, and have still offered no military justification for doing so.

  There are Orthodox as well as Maronite Catholic churches throughout the south of Lebanon, amid the war zone, and some have been destroyed by Israeli airstrikes…

  ⚡️#BREAKING Isreal bombed a church in the Lebanese town of Derdghaiya pic.twitter.com/n1N7inveKj

  — War Monitor (@WarMonitors) October 10, 2024

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  Already facing growing international pariah status over their attacks on civilians in the Gaza Strip, the escalation of attacks in Lebanon seems like Israel is willing to risk even more backlash.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 20:30

• It's Obvious Why Chicago Politicians Hate What Donald Trump Says About The City
  It’s Obvious Why Chicago Politicians Hate What Donald Trump Says About The City

  Authored by Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner via Wirepoints.org,

  Presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump is in Chicago Tuesday for his latest campaign stop. While neither Chicago nor Illinois is in play this election, count on him to hit Chicago’s leadership hard for their many self-inflicted crises when he addresses the Economic Club of Chicago. 

  Trump has been highly critical of Chicago in the past, calling crime in the city “embarrassing to us as a nation”  and “worse than some of the places…in the Middle East where you have wars going on.” He’s also decried its migrant policies: “New York City and Chicago play the Sanctuary City card, where criminals are protected…” 

  

  His rhetoric on Chicago can often be nasty and over the top, but it’s not wrong. Too many Chicagoans experience the high-crime, low-literacy, high-tax, low-opportunity version of Chicago – which we detail below – and which Trump is likely to point at. But because it’s Trump talking, expect the media and connected class to deflect or even deny that the city’s problems exist. 

  Their denials should anger many of the ordinary Chicagoans who live with the impact of these problems every day. There are the residents who feel threatened living in the nation’s long-running homicide capital – polls show nearly two-thirds of Chicagoans don’t feel safe from crime. There are the black residents who’ve made their voices heard in multiple hearings, frustrated by the attention and billions in financial and healthcare resources directed towards the city’s illegal immigrants. And there are parents who feel their children’s education is secondary to the extreme demands of the Chicago Teachers Union – one reason why 110,000 black children have fled the public school system since 2000.

  Most of these problems have been inflicted by the city’s political class. They’ve stopped prosecuting many criminals. Most students aren’t taught to read or do math proficiently. Fiscal failures have the city, CPS and the regional transit authority all stuck with near one-billion-dollar deficits. And all of that mess is wrapped up in endemic political corruption, of which former Ald. Ed Burke and former House Speaker Mike Madigan are just the latest examples. 

  Chicagoans’ concerns have merit, and the failures of the city’s politicians deserve to be discussed. If the Economic Club of Chicago was to have an open, honest conversation about the city with Trump, here are five key goals that should get deeper attention:

  1. Start arresting, prosecuting and sentencing again. Protect victims, make crime criminal.

  If not, Chicago will likely continue to lead the nation in total homicides as it has for the last 12 years. If this year’s murder trend stays on track, it will be 13 years in a row. Overall violent crime will also continue to threaten Chicagoans. Through August of this year, violent crimes were running at a six-year high, over and above the jump in violent crimes last year.

  

  2. Bring back literacy and numeracy. Set ambitious proficiency targets, make those targets public, and then aggressively track and report progress to all Chicago parents. And begin the nation’s most ambitious school choice program. 

  If not, Chicago Public Schools will continue to fail the city’s children. Just 20% of minority children at CPS are proficient in reading and they all get moved along the system, grade after grade, until they’re pushed out via graduation. It’s been happening for decades. 

  The most recent years show that 70% to 80% of black students graduated from CPS, though just 10% to 15% were proficient on the SAT. It’s similar for the city’s Hispanics.

  

  3. Obsess about economic growth and job creation. Reduce spending. Cut taxes. Tackle corruption with ethics reforms. Make Chicago attractive, affordable to job creators.

  If not, Chicago will continue to suffer a poor jobs climate. Chicagoland, as recently as June, had the highest unemployment rate – 6.2% – out of all big metro areas nationwide.

  For the city’s black community it’s far worse. Chicago’s black unemployment rate, at 12.3%, was the worst among the country’s biggest cities in 2023. And the poverty rate for Chicago’s black residents – 26.4% – was also the highest among big cities as well. 

  

  4. Support and prioritize Chicago’s citizens. End the city’s sanctuary status.

  If not, Chicago will continue to spend hundreds of millions on the city’s illegal migrants each year, stretching the city’s finances and making it worse for citizens most in need. It’s simply not sustainable for a city that’s one notch away from a junk credit rating, and a school district that’s already junk.

  Illinois has already spent more than $2 billion dollars on “welcoming” programs, including healthcare for recent arrivals. The costs are far larger when what’s spent on all illegal immigrants is included.

  

  5. Obsess about attracting people to Chicago again. Fixing the problems of crime, education and jobs is just the start. Combined with reforms, Chicago can grow its way out of its many problems.

  If not, the city will continue to lose people. Chicago and Detroit are the only major cities, among the 15 largest cities in 2000, to lose population since then.

  Fewer residents means higher debts and taxes on the people who remain. Those higher costs – along with the city’s many other problems – in turn drive even more people out of the city in an ever-worsening downward spiral.

  

  Read more from Wirepoints:

  • No ShotSpotter and no cash bail in Chicago is a big mistake. 8 reasons why.

  • Suddenly the school board cares about Chicago Public School debts?

  • City of Chicago budget revenues have ballooned by $6 billion since 2019. Why the $1 billion deficit?

  • Chicago Public Schools is in dire financial straits, yet Chicago Teachers Union blocks closing of near-empty, failing schools.

  • Chicago’s worst-in-nation pension crisis strikes again

  • An Open Letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson on the forthcoming recommendations of his Pension Working Group

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 20:05

• 2024 Campaign: Too Much Negativity, Not Enough Policy
  2024 Campaign: Too Much Negativity, Not Enough Policy

  With just three weeks until election day, a long and often tumultuous campaign is approaching the home stretch.

  For months the race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, and Joe Biden before her, has dominated the headlines, both in the U.S. and internationally, as no other election in the world draws as much attention as the U.S. presidential election.

  

  Given the length of the U.S. presidential campaign that started off long before the first primaries and caucuses in January of this year, it’s no secret that many people will be glad when the race is finally over.

  But what do Americans think of the race so far?

  Statista’s Felix Richter reports that, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey, views of the 2024 presidential campaign are mostly negative, with 79 percent of registered voters saying that the race does not make them feel proud of their country.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  71 percent describe the race as too negative and 62 percent think that it wasn’t focused on important policy debates.

  Despite these criticisms, there’s one thing that most Americans agree on: the campaign was not boring.

  68 percent of voters think that the presidential campaign has been interesting so far, versus just 30 percent who think it was dull.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 19:40

• India Plans $109 Billion Of Grid Investments To Boost Renewables
  India Plans $109 Billion Of Grid Investments To Boost Renewables

  By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com,

  India plans a massive upgrade and expansion of its power transmission system, expecting investment opportunities of $109 billion to support the integration of renewable energy sources and storage solutions, the power ministry has said.

  

  India’s new National Electricity Plan (Transmission) envisages the addition of hundreds of thousands of kilometers of transmission lines, transformation capacity, and inter-regional transmission capacity by 2032.

  India aims to have 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity installed by 2030 and more than 600 GW by 2032, according to the National Electricity Plan.

  The country expects its power demand to surge to 708 GW by 2047, India’s Power Minister Manohar Lal said in a statement. To meet this demand, India needs to quadruple its power capacity, the minister added.

  “This is not just about increasing capacity; it’s about reimagining our entire energy landscape,” Lal said.

  “We have set an ambitious target of 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030, effectively doubling our current capacity,” he added.

  This push towards green energy aligns with India’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions by one billion tons by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2070, the power ministry said.

  Last month, Renewables Energy Minister Pralhad Joshi said that financial institutions had pledged $386 billion in investment commitments to help India boost its renewable energy industry.

  The country will need to install at least 44 GW of clean energy capacity every year by the end of the decade to meet the 500-GW goal, according to Bloomberg’s estimates based on data from the Indian Ministry of Power.

  “We received overwhelming commitments from states and Union Territories as well as from the developers, manufacturers, and financial institutes to support our goal of 500 GW by 2030,” Joshi said at the annual Renewable Energy Investor’s Meet and Expo in India.

  India-based conglomerates Reliance Industries and Adani are among the companies that have pledged additional renewable energy capacity. Reliance committed 100 GW of additional renewable capacity, and Adani Green Energy pledged to develop 38.8 GW of capacity.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 19:15

• Iranian TV Shows Quds Force Chief After Deemed 'Missing' For Two Weeks
  Iranian TV Shows Quds Force Chief After Deemed ‘Missing’ For Two Weeks

  The head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s (IRGC) Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, has been spotted at a military funeral in Tehran after not being seen for two weeks. US media reports earlier this month described that the general “has not been seen in public since Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a massive air strike on Beirut on Sept. 27.”

  On Tuesday he was shown on state TV attending the the funeral ceremony for General Abbas Nilforoushan, who had been killed in the same Israeli airstrike on Beirut which took out Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.  Nilforoushan’s body was only days ago recovered from deep under the rubble in the south Beirut district of Dahieh.

  

  Qaani’s public appearance is significant given that rumors and rampant speculation had led to regional and international media issuing reports saying he either died in an Israeli strike or was under arrest by the government of Iran.

  For example, nearly a week ago Middle East Eye issued a report saying that Qaani was being detained by Iran in order to question him about the circumstances of the series of major security breaches exploited by Israel.

  MEE had also said at the time that “Speculation has mounted online and in the media that Qaani was wounded or killed in Israel’s continuous bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs.”

  AFP now reports of his new appearance in downtown Tehran:

  Qaani – who heads the Quds Force, the IRGC’s foreign operations arm – had disappeared from public view and was rumored in some media to have been targeted in an Israeli strike on Lebanon.

  He appeared Tuesday at the funeral, clad in the IRGC’s green military uniform.

  Nilforoushan’s casket was paraded through the packed streets of Tehran after a funeral ceremony at Imam Hossein Square in the city center.

  After weeks of speculation and false reports, IRGC Quds Force Commander Brigadier General Esmail Qaani was seen in an IRIB live broadcasting along with other officials receiving the body of Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan at Mehrabad Airport. pic.twitter.com/AmDfWqK8pY

  — PressTV Extra (@PresstvExtra) October 15, 2024

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  Interestingly, some other Western reports had speculated that Qaani had suffered a heart attack or that his health was deteriorating. But he looks healthy in the newly released footage.

  As Jerusalem Post highlights, “Last week, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news channel claimed that the IRGC General Ebrahim Jabbari had told state media that Qaani was in full health and would be receiving the Medal of Conquest from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the near future.”

  Iran has remained defiant in the face of an expected Israeli retaliation for the Oct.1st Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel. Yoav Gallant has said Israel’s response will be “deadly, precise, and surprising.”

  Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force Brigadier General Esmail Qaani attended the funeral procession of Martyr Major General Abbas Nilforoushan in Tehran on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/r2PoRTLYmK

  — IRNA News Agency (@IrnaEnglish) October 15, 2024

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  Tehran has in response said that it desires de-escalation and peace, but stands ready to respond against any aggression. “The Islamic Republic of Iran does not want to escalate tensions or war, but we are ready for any situation. We are prepared for war, but also for peace. This is Iran’s firm position,” foreign minister Abbas Aragchi said Sunday.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 18:50

• Georgia Judge Rules County Officials Can't Delay, Decline To Certify Election Results
  Georgia Judge Rules County Officials Can’t Delay, Decline To Certify Election Results

  Authored by Samantha Flom via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  A Georgia judge has ruled that county election officials must certify election results by the statutory deadline regardless of irregularities or suspected fraud.

  

  Georgia law requires county election superintendents to certify election results by 5 p.m. on the Monday following the election—or the Tuesday, if the date falls on a federal holiday, as it does this year.

  Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled on Oct. 14 that election officials must stick to that deadline.

  “No election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance,” the judge wrote in his opinion.

  McBurney added that if a superintendent should determine a need for additional information from the elections board or other election officials, that information should be provided “promptly,” where unprotected by law.

  “However, any delay in receiving such information is not a basis for refusing to certify the election results or abstaining from doing so,” he wrote.

  Julie Adams, a Republican member of the Fulton County Board of Elections and Registrations, brought the lawsuit after the county’s appointed election director allegedly denied her repeated requests for access to election results and processes.

  “Plaintiff swore an oath to ‘prevent fraud, deceit, and abuse’ in Fulton County elections and to ‘make a true and perfect return,’” Adams’s attorneys wrote in the initial complaint. “These obligations are frustrated by the repeated and continuing refusal to allow Plaintiff access to, and direct knowledge of, the information Plaintiff reasonably believes she needs to execute her duties faithfully and thoroughly.”

  Unable to observe the county’s election results and processes herself, Adams voted against certifying the results of the presidential preference primary in March. Her lawsuit sought clarification of the extent of the election director’s role and her own rights as a member of the election board.

  In his ruling, McBurney held that election certification is “a purely ministerial task that gives its performer no discretion to exclude some votes while counting others.”

  He reasoned that allowing election superintendents to “play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge” and refuse to certify results “because of a unilateral determination of error or fraud” would effectively silence Georgia voters.

  “Our Constitution and our Election Code do not allow for that to happen,” he concluded.

  McBurney’s latest ruling coincided with the start of early voting in the Peach State. Voters will have the option to vote early in person through Nov. 1.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 18:25

• Israel's Supply Of Interceptor Missiles Under Strain Amid Daily Assaults
  Israel’s Supply Of Interceptor Missiles Under Strain Amid Daily Assaults

  Israel has been at war on several fronts for more than a year at this point, and is rapidly expending ammo and missiles, especially as it tries to shoot down what are now dozens of projectiles daily sent from Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.

  Hezbollah is estimated to have an arsenal of hundreds of thousands of rockets and drones of various sizes. Israel’s formidable anti-air defense systems have been regularly engaging inbound threats, sometimes expending hundreds of interceptors a day – and this was particularly true during the Oct.1st Iranian ballistic missile attack.

  Israel has long heavily relied on the United States to supply it with heavy artillery, bombs, and missiles – but now appears to be running low on interceptors amid the daily firefights. 

  

  A new Financial Times report warns that Israel’s missile defense shield is being stretched thin, and that the country is more heavily relying on Washington to fill the gaps.

  “Israel faces a looming shortage of interceptor missiles as it shores up air defenses to protect the country from attacks by Iran and its proxies, according to industry executives, former military officials and analysts,” FT writes.

  “The US is racing to help close gaps in Israel’s protective shield, announcing on Sunday the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) antimissile battery, ahead of an expected retaliatory strike from Israel on Iran that risks further regional escalation.”

  One analyst and former US senior defense official, Dana Stroul, stated that “Israel’s munitions issue is serious. Stroul, a pro-Israel and anti-Iran hawk, has described that “If Iran responds to an Israel attack [with a massive air strike campaign], and Hizbollah joins in too, Israel air defenses will be stretched.”

  She underscored the limitations in such a scenario for the Pentagon’s stockpiles: “The US can’t continue supplying Ukraine and Israel at the same pace. We are reaching a tipping point.”

  We’ve highlighted before that Israel likely cannot sustain wars on multiple fronts without steady support and weapons shipments from the US. As conflict – and Washington involvement – from Eastern Europe to the Middle East escalates, it remains that the only ‘winners’ are the major US defense firms:

  Boaz Levy, CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries which produces missile interceptors, adds: “Some of our lines are working 24 hours, seven days a week. Our goal is to meet all our obligations.”

  Palestinian media has meanwhile taken note…

  “Supply constraints” and the demands of war have left the Israeli military “relying on the US to fill the gaps in protective shields”.

  In recent days, the US announced it is deploying the anti-missile system THAAD to Israel as it continues to provide “ironclad” support for its… pic.twitter.com/Ngt2iGXKPG

  — Quds News Network (@QudsNen) October 15, 2024

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  During two separate rounds of Iranian missile attacks on Israel of the past year, the US has deployed warships and fighter jets to assist Israel in shooting down inbound projectiles. But systems like the Iron Dome, Arrow, and David’s Sling remain vital to Israel’s daily defense, especially given Hezbollah’s ramped-up attacks on the north of late. The US has now sent the Army’s THAAD missile defense system.

  Will the US ever cut off Israel? It is unlikely, given that both sides of the aisle tend to be led by “Israel firsters” – and sadly the presidential race is no different.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 18:00

• Monkeypox: Evidence Of The "Pandemic Preparedness" Lie
  Monkeypox: Evidence Of The “Pandemic Preparedness” Lie

  Authored by Clayton Baker via The Brownstone Institute,

  This article was co-authored by Brian Hooker, PhD and Heather Ray.

  “Pandemic Preparedness,” and the gain-of-function research that underlies it, operates under a grand deception, a big lie.

  

  The Biological Weapons Convention, which every major nation has signed, “prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons.” As a result, gain-of-function research – the process of taking viruses and other pathogens found in nature and making them more transmissible and dangerous in humans – must be justified by defining it as something other than what it really is – namely, the creation of biological weapons and countermeasures for those weapons.

  The grand deception – the big lie – used to justify gain-of-function research goes something like this: “We need to alter pathogens in the lab to anticipate the mutations that just might occur in nature, and to promote the production of vaccines to protect humanity from these theoretical superbugs.”

  In truth, there is no legitimate reason to create superbugs in the laboratory. One does not save Tokyo by creating Godzilla. Unfortunately, science can be both complicated and confusing, especially when the “experts” are intentionally untruthful. This grand deception has therefore worked for decades, and a gigantic, profitable, and frankly terrifying pandemic preparedness industry involving governments, non-governmental organizations, Big Pharma, and universities has grown as a result.

  In order to expose and discredit a big lie that has persisted for such a long time, sometimes a “smoking gun” is needed – that is, a piece of clear and obvious evidence that the long-held premise is false. In the case of the big lie surrounding gain-of-function research and the pandemic preparedness industry, monkeypox serves the role of smoking gun.

  Monkeypox virus is back in the news in 2024, as one of the pandemic industrial complex’s leading candidates for the so-called “Disease X” about which the World Health Organization has been sounding its relentless alarm. (Of course, this is the second time monkeypox has been trotted out in recent years, after the 2022 monkeypox fear porn campaign in the United States that ultimately fizzled out.)

  Once one gains a thorough understanding of both the monkeypox virus’s peculiar history in the US, as well as the natural characteristics of the virus, one can easily see through the grand deception – the big lie – that is used to justify gain-of-function research and the entire “pandemic preparedness” industry.

  Monkeypox Comes to America

  In 2003, through exotic pet importation, 35 people in six US states were confirmed to have been infected with the clade II type of the monkeypox virus. The humans contracted the disease from infected prairie dogs, kept as pets, that had themselves been exposed to either contaminated imported animals or other individuals infected with the virus. All human cases made a full recovery without lasting effects. 

  This outbreak was an odd, self-limited, and entirely incidental occurrence of a rare and essentially non-lethal virus finding its way to the US by specific and preventable circumstances. In a world of sensible and ethical public health practices, this event should have prompted a reasonable, proportionate response, such as increased precautions regarding the exotic animal trade.

  Instead, this incident opened the floodgates to dangerous research by scientists who sought to identify a strain of monkeypox that could easily be passed to humans by way of aerosol transmission. 

  In 2009, Christina Hutson and her team at the CDC collaborated with Jorge Osorio at the University of Wisconsin to investigate the transmissibility of monkeypox. Again, in 2012, Hutson teamed with other universities to test and compare the transmissibility of the monkeypox virus in rodents, ultimately determining in those experiments that “transmission of viruses from each of the MPXV clade was minimal via respiratory transmission.”

  Again, in a sensible and ethical world, these findings might have shut the door on ill-advised research on monkeypox. As we shall see, that was not the case.

  Monkeypox: A Lumbering Giant of a Virus

  The monkeypox virus itself is a strange candidate indeed to try to manipulate in the manner Hutson and Osorio sought. Unlike small, simple, rapidly mutating RNA respiratory viruses like Influenza viruses or coronaviruses, monkeypox is, in the virus world, a slow-moving, lumbering giant.

  The most ‘successful’ bioweapon in human history is the SARS CoV-2 coronavirus that causes Covid. It encodes only 29 proteins in its single-stranded, RNA genome, which is correspondingly small – slightly less than 30,000 bases in length. With its genetic simplicity and its single-stranded RNA genome, it mutates very rapidly. The virus itself is small as well – it is only about 100 nanometers in diameter and weighs about 1 femtogram (or 0.000000000000001 gram).

  As one might expect, this virus is readily transmitted through the airborne route.

  Monkeypox virus, by contrast, is one of the largest and most complex viruses in existence. It can be up to 450 nm long and 260 nm wide, and its double-stranded DNA genome has nearly 200,000 base pairs. With this lengthy, complex genome, encoded in more stable, double-stranded DNA, it mutates slowly. This large virus – a giant, by viral standards – does not transmit by the aerosol route. Rather, it is transmitted by close contact, including sexual intercourse (as became well known during the 2022 monkeypox scare), as well as the hunting, slaughtering, and eating of bushmeat.

  Consider also that naturally occurring monkeypox is much less deadly to humans than the pandemic planners and fear pornographers typically advertise. The WHO has since reported on the international monkeypox outbreak that occurred in 2022. As of January 2023, the total number of confirmed cases was 84,716, with 80 total deaths. Thus, the case fatality rate during that outbreak was less than one death in every thousand cases, 100 times less than the frequently-cited case-fatality rate of 10%.

  Strictly speaking, the frequently cited 10% case-fatality rate refers only to the more virulent clade I of monkeypox. However, many authorities have picked up the bad habit of bandying about the 10% figure indiscriminately of clade. Furthermore, even with clade I, this rate appears to be a significant exaggeration. 

  For example, in its webpage on endemic clade I Monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the CDC states that “Since January 1, 2024, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reported more than 31,000 suspect mpox cases and nearly 1,000 deaths.” These numbers result in a case fatality rate of around 3%.

  There are numerous other threats to human health that are more worthy of time, funding, and effort. For example, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where monkeypox is endemic, about eighty times more people die of malaria than of monkeypox. Malaria is both preventable and curable with proper diagnosis and access to inexpensive medications. This tragic death toll from malaria illustrates how common, deadly, but relatively unprofitable diseases are neglected by supposedly philanthropic entities such as the WHO. 

  Instead, they heavily promote the grand deception of pandemic preparedness and gain-of-function research.

  Given the monkeypox virus’s sheer size, complexity, low rate of mutation, relatively stable DNA genome, and instability when exposed to oxygen, the likelihood of it ever naturally mutating into an airborne pathogen is remote. There is simply no legitimate reason to monkey with its genome in the lab (pun intended).

  Add to the mix its limited transmissibility and low mortality (especially for clade II), and any honest and competent scientist truly seeking to serve humanity would recognize that naturally occurring monkeypox is a relatively low public health priority and a marginal-at-best vaccine candidate – especially for the world population at large. 

  But Anthony Fauci and his cronies at NIAID saw things differently.

  Fauci and Friends, at It Again

  In 2015, AnthonFauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) covertly approved a dangerous gain-of-function experiment that would genetically manipulate the monkeypox virus to create a more virulent and transmissible pathogen that would potentially pose a grave threat to humans. 

  Instead of raising the alarm about this proposal to create a deadly hybrid monkeypox virus, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and NIAID itself deceptively hid the project’s approval from the oversight of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, by burying funding for the experiment in an alternate grant.  

  The project was proposed by Dr. Bernard Moss, a long-time friend and colleague of Fauci at NIAID. Moss, who has accumulated multiple US patents related to monkeypox, intended to insert virulence genes from the more severe form of monkeypox, clade I (Congo Basin clade), in the “backbone” of the more transmissible monkeypox virus, clade II (West Africa clade). This project would create a much more dangerous version of monkeypox with the virulence of clade I and the transmissibility of clade II. This chimeric form of monkeypox would not originate in nature, as different clades of DNA viruses do not naturally transpose genes.

  It is unknown whether this ill-advised, highly dangerous, and deceitfully approved project was completed. Fauci and Moss’s sleight-of-hand was discovered in 2022, prompting a seven-month Congressional investigation. The House Committee Report (page 6) states that “HHS, the NIH, and NIAID continue to insist the GOFROC (gain-of-function research of concern) experiment transferring material from clade I to clade II was never conducted, despite being approved for a period of over 8 years. However, HHS has repeatedly refused to produce any documents that corroborate this claim.”

  Is a weaponized form of monkeypox in existence? If so, Fauci, Moss, and friends aren’t telling.

  What is known is that there was no legitimate reason to conduct such experiments, and that those involved knew this, as they hid the project from their overseers. The only logical assumption about the intent of the research is that it was to create a weaponized version of monkeypox. 

  The House Committee’s conclusions on Fauci’s NIAID as a whole are damning:

  The primary conclusion drawn at this point in the investigation is that NIAID cannot be trusted to oversee its own research of pathogens responsibly. It cannot be trusted to determine whether an experiment on a potential pandemic pathogen or enhanced potential pandemic pathogen poses unacceptable biosafety risk or a serious public health threat. Lastly, NIAID cannot be trusted to honestly communicate with Congress and the public about controversial GOFROC experiments. (page 8)

  NIAID couldn’t be trusted about Covid. 

  They cannot be trusted about monkeypox, either. 

  According to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, they cannot be trusted, period.

  To summarize: in nature, monkeypox disease is a relatively rare, usually mild viral illness transmitted through behaviorally modifiable forms of close contact such as sexual intercourse and the hunting and eating of bushmeat. The infectious agent is a very large, complex DNA virus that transmits poorly from person to person and is much less prone to mutation than numerous other viruses. 

  Once one realizes all this, it becomes frankly preposterous to attempt to justify gain-of-function research on such a pathogen for any legitimate purpose. The only plausible reason to do such research on monkeypox is to create a bioweapon – a weaponized virus – and to also create and profit from its countermeasure – a proprietary vaccine.

  Pandemic preparedness is a grand deception, a big lie. The monkeypox madness demonstrates this, as compellingly as a smoking gun at a murder scene. We must put an end to all gain-of-function research and to the bogus pandemic preparedness excuse for illegal bioweapons research.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 17:40

• Trump Pulls Ahead In Battleground States
  Trump Pulls Ahead In Battleground States

  As of Oct. 14, 2024, polling averages aggregated by website RealClear Polling show that Republican candidate Donald Trump has caught up in battleground states ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November.

  Democratic contender Kamala Harris led her opponent by 0.3 percentage points only in the state of Wisconsin most recently.

  Statista’s Katharina Buchholz reports that approximately one month ago, the website had seen Harris and Trump ahead in three battleground states each, while another one was rated as tied.

  Right now, the biggest lead for Trump was reported from Arizona with a margin of 1.1 percentage points, while other leads – for example in Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania – were much smaller.

  Harris leading only in Wisconsin is the equivalent of 10 electoral votes while Trump would collect 83 in this scenario.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  The source also calculates how many electoral votes in the 2024 election are expected to come from states usually voting Democratic or Republican and likely/leaning to vote Democratic or Republican.

  Here, Harris has 215 votes (including 76 likely/leaning ones), while Trump has 219 votes (126 likely/leaning).

  Harris would therefore have to carry slightly more of battleground votes to reach an electoral college majority, which in this calculation include an additional 10 from Minnesota and one from Nebraska’s second district.

  The prediction markets are much more clear on who they think will win…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  But just as polls are open to manipulation, the lower liquidity in the prediction markets leaves them open to billionaires pushing and pulling.

  With that said, however, Trump’s recent dominance is broad-based and if it was a certain ‘world’s richest man’ pushing the market around, why wouldn’t Soros and his pals push back?

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 17:20

• IEA Sees "Sizeable Surplus" In Oil Market As Demand Growth Slows
  IEA Sees “Sizeable Surplus” In Oil Market As Demand Growth Slows

  By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com

  The oil market faces a sizeable surplus next year amid ample supply and slowing demand growth, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday as it further lowered its demand growth estimate for 2024.

  

  Global oil demand is set to increase by just 862,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year, amid decelerating consumption growth in China, the agency said in its closely-watched Oil Market Report today. The latest estimate is a downgrade from the 903,000 bpd growth in global oil demand expected in last month’s report.

  Demand is set to grow by below 1 million bpd in 2025, the IEA said, slightly raising its estimate to 998,000 bpd from 954,000 bpd.

  “Chinese oil demand is particularly weak, with consumption dropping by 500 kb/d y-o-y in August – its fourth consecutive month of declines,” the agency noted.

  Meanwhile, oil supply from producers outside the OPEC+ agreement is rising and set to make robust gains of around 1.5 million bpd this year and next. The United States, Brazil, Guyana, and Canada are set to account for most of the increase, ramping up their combined production by over 1 million bpd both years, according to the IEA.

  This will more than cover expected demand growth, the agency says.

  In recent weeks, heightened concerns about oil supply security bump into a well-supplied market, the IEA said.

  “Heightened oil supply security concerns are set against a backdrop of a global market that – as we have been highlighting for some time – looks adequately supplied,” it added in its monthly report.

  Moreover, spare production capacity within OPEC+ stands at historic highs, as effective spare capacity – excluding Libya, Iran, and Russia – comfortably exceeded 5 million bpd in September, the agency said.

  The IEA affirmed it is ready to act in case of supply shocks, but noted that “For now, supply keeps flowing, and in the absence of a major disruption, the market is faced with a sizeable surplus in the new year.”

  Yesterday, OPEC also cut its oil demand growth outlook, for a third consecutive month, due to actual consumption data so far this year and expectations of slightly lower demand in some regions, including China.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 17:00

• "Skipping COVID Booster Could Reduce Your IQ": Vax Propaganda Thrives At LA Times
  “Skipping COVID Booster Could Reduce Your IQ”: Vax Propaganda Thrives At LA Times

  The LA Times is out with an opinion piece by two Yale professors who suggest that failing to get a COVID booster could reduce your IQ.

  

  Their argument: a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that COVID itself reduces IQ, which “suggests yet another reason to get the vaccine: It may protect your intellect.“

  Many people regard their ability to reason as a core aspect of their identity; that’s one reason the prospect of dementia is so frightening. This research suggests that getting your booster may be one way to preserve that ability and promote brain health. If you want to keep solving Wordle or the Saturday crossword, you have an additional reason to get boosted. –LA Times

  For starters, the study’s authors found that the cognitive deficits were largely observed in those who had the original COVID strains, not recent strains.

  “The largest deficits in global cognitive scores were observed in the group of participants with SARS-CoV-2 infection during periods in which the original virus or the alpha variant was predominant as compared with those infected with later variants.”

  The authors specifically looked at vaccinated vs. unvaccinated, and only observed “a small cognitive advantage among participants who had received multiple vaccinations.”

  The LA Times article also ignores the fact that COVID-19 vaccines and boosters do not prevent infection. It also ignores that the NEJM study authors “found smaller cognitive deficits among participants who had been infected during recent variant periods than among those who had been infected with the original virus or the alpha variant.”

  “Hey, don’t be stupid. Get your Covid booster.”

  Me: So the booster prevents infection/transmission, right?

  “Ummm…no.”

  Me: I’ll take my chances. https://t.co/4bRi0DytrW

  — Physics Geek (@physicsgeek) October 14, 2024

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

  Edit: As ZeroHedge reader Nelbev notes in the comments:

  If you read p. 27 Table S7 of the supplement/appendix, they have the multivariate regression coefficients of both having covid of various durations and being vaccinated and t-scores for significance among other variables. https://www.nejm.org/doi/suppl/10.1056/NEJMoa2311330/suppl_file/nejmoa2311330_appendix.pdf

  Their analysis indicate negative coefficient by vaccination (versus not vaccinated) on cognitive score (same as their getting covid relative to not results)

                                      coef   t-score
  Vaccine doses 1      -0.130   -3.054
  Vaccine doses >=2  -0.057   -4.078

  Thus, getting vaccinated is highly significantly (99%+) correlated with a drop in cognitive ability or IQ, more so for the first dose than booster.

  This is absolutely hilarious, the paper cited says the exact OPPOSITE of what the LA Times Op ed says, vaccination is instead associated with a DROP in IQ similar to what they say about having Covid.

  That paper and statistics do say a drop in IQ is related to having covid and worse with duration (long covid), but the Op ed assumes being vaccinated lowers you chances of getting covid which it doesn’t, then jumps to the conclusion that getting boosted will prevent you from getting covid lowering IQ where the statistics on being vaccinated once or boosted versus not vaccinated in the paper say opposite, vaccination is associated with a drop in IQ similar to catching the virus.  The Op ed authors must have been boosted.

  *  *  *

  According to a study released in May, current boosters are just 52% effective at protecting against infection after 4 weeks, and 20.4% after 20 weeks. So essentially – take the vaccine – risking its potential side-effects – for a coin toss as to whether you’ll get COVID.

  The authors also suggest that “Young people, whose more active social lives often drive the spread of COVID, can safeguard not just their health but also their intelligence and their futures by getting vaccinated.”

  Yet, FDA adviser Paul A. Offitt says young and healthy people shouldn’t get the latest COVID boosters, citing two studies suggesting that bivalent boosters, which target the original COVID-19 strain and two Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA. 5, do not “elicit superior immune responses.”

  Meanwhile, Sweden, Norway and Finland suspended or limited use of Moderna’s COVID jab for people under children, while the UK has scaled back COVID vax efforts for healthy children after a study showed “an increased risk of hospital admission for myocarditis following a first or second dose of BNT162b2” in adolescents aged 12-17 years.

  #vaccinegenocide #RipDiamond #Myocarditis #InformedConsent #NurembergCode #Pfizer #DiedUnexpectedly

  “There are a lot of People Who are Vaccine Damaged and Don’t Know it”

  Dr Bret Weinstein speaks with Dr Aseem Malhotra about Subclinical myocarditis & it’s impact on longevity pic.twitter.com/tve20xLmbP

  — Asher Press (@AsherPress) January 22, 2023

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

  Waning immunity

  Their thesis also fails to acknowledge waning immunity from boosters. A recent study which appeared last month in Nature Medicine found that “people who received repeated doses of vaccine, and in some cases also became infected with SARS-CoV-2, largely failed to make special antibody-producing cells called long-lived plasma cells (LLPCs),” according to Science.org.

  Lee and her colleagues found that nearly all participants had LLPCs in their bone marrow that secreted antibodies against tetanus and flu. But only one-third had plasma cells generating the same defense against SARS-CoV-2. Even in those subjects, just 0.1% of the antibodies generated by their LLPCs were specific for SARS-CoV-2, an order of magnitude less than for tetanus and flu. “The paper is very informative,” Iwasaki says.

  Click into this thread for a breakdown:

  An important study by F. Eun-Hyung Lee’s team shows that long lived plasma cells (the source of long-term circulating antibodies) fail to establish after mRNA vaccination (even combined with SARS-CoV-2 infection). 🧵 (1/)https://t.co/Z15xiyxCLS

  — Prof. Akiko Iwasaki (@VirusesImmunity) September 27, 2024

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

  Outdated data

  The LA Times article also falsely claims that “more than 95% of a group that knows COVID better than most — physicians — get their shots.”

  That claim is based on data from June 2021, before the boosters even existed. In reality, a growing number of doctors are not getting their boosters, while almost half of healthcare workers are hesitant to get the jab.

  The comments section reveals that even LA Times readers aren’t buying this shit anymore…

  “This piece is extremely misleading and as a physician, I am insulted that the LA Times didn’t fact check it better. It closes, “That’s why more than 95% of a group that knows COVID better than most — physicians — get their shots.” As you can see by clicking the source above, that statistic about 95% of physicians getting their shots is from June 2021 – before the COVID booster even existed (it was authorized in September 2021). 95% of physicians do NOT currently get their booster shots, though the conclusion makes it sound like they do – this is overtly misleading. There is so much vaccine misinformation out there already, and it is infuriating that the LA Times would contribute to this. Please correct.”

  *  *  *

  “There are plenty of people out there who were “fully vaccinated” with multiple boosters and still got COVID numerous times. It’s even more of a stretch to tie vaccination to higher IQs when it can’t even do much to quell the disease.”

  *  *  *

  “This ad brought to you by your friends at Pfizer.“

  *  *  *

  “A recent study in the UK shows that the vaccine does almost nothing to prevent covid in children, being completely ineffective after 14-15 weeks. The study shows that the vaccine causes severe inflammation (myocarditis and pericarditis) of the heart tissues and it is unclear how long this lasts, but it may be permanent.”

  Amazing.

   

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 16:40

• The Deep State And The 2024 Election
  The Deep State And The 2024 Election

  Authored by Nick Giambruno via InternationalMan.com,

  The Deep State is the permanently entrenched bureaucracy that really runs a country.

  It is THE establishment.

  

  While the Deep State concept is commonly associated with the US government, many other countries have their own versions.

  Looking at what happens in those countries when an outsider comes to power can help us better understand what the Deep State might do in the US.

  If an outsider somehow comes to power, there are three possible outcomes:

  1. The Deep State kills the outsider.

  2. The outsider succeeds in crippling the Deep State and can implement an independent agenda.

  3. The Deep State co-opts the outsider.

  Numerous examples of this dynamic have played out in different countries in recent history.

  Outcome #1: The Deep State Kills the Outsider

  A prominent example of the Deep State killing an outsider is the assassination of JFK.

  In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi was an outsider. However, Morsi did not break the back of the Egyptian Deep State, which swiftly overthrew him. Morsi later died in prison of a “heart attack.”

  Economic Hit Man John Perkins claims the Deep State assassinated Jaime Roldos and Omar Torrijos, independent leaders of Ecuador and Panama after they resisted being co-opted.

  Outcome #2: The Outsider Cripples the Deep State

  In Cuba, Fidel Castro’s revolution was able to prevail because he crippled the old Cuban Deep State. Had Castro left the old Cuban Deep State intact, it likely would have overthrown and killed him.

  In Iran, there was the Islamic Revolution in 1979 that threw out the US-backed Shah. It succeeded because Khomeini broke the back of the old Iranian Deep State through violent purges of the military and security agencies.

  In Russia, it seems Putin was able to tame the old Russian Deep State to a large degree by successfully taking on the oligarchs and making an example out of Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

  In Turkey, Erdogan was once considered an outsider. Erdogan came within minutes of losing his life during a military coup in 2016 and was lucky to survive. After that coup failed, Erdogan seems to have tamed Turkey’s Deep State by purging and restructuring the military and intelligence agencies.

  In El Salvador, Bukele was a genuine outsider. He successfully broke the old El Salvador Deep State, which the US Deep State really ran. He did this by neutralizing the violent gangs, which would have been the primary way the Deep State would have destabilized Bukele.

  Outcome #3: The Deep State Co-Opts the Outsider

  Trump’s first term is an excellent example of how the Deep State co-opted an outsider.

  There are supposed outsiders in Europe like Giorgia Meloni in Italy or Geert Wilders in the Netherlands. However, they displayed no intent or capability to take on the Deep State in Europe and were easily co-opted by it.

  It seems that Fico in Slovakia was too independent for his own good. He barely survived an assassination attempt. I suspect he received the message and will get in line.

  A Potential Trump Second Term

  The main takeaway from these examples is that an outsider will not succeed in implementing an independent agenda unless he can take on the Deep State and win.

  That is a dangerous proposition because there is a good chance the Deep State will kill him first.

  Few leaders are willing to take that kind of gamble with their lives. Even fewer succeed.

  That’s why many outsiders conclude it’s better to play ball with Deep State.

  There is a decent chance Trump could return to the White House in a matter of months.

  It’s important to keep this dynamic about the Deep State in mind as we assess the investment implications of Trump’s potential second term.

  Given the recent assassination attempts, which nearly succeeded, it seems the Deep State felt Trump was going to be too independent in a second term.

  • Is Trump willing and able to cripple the Deep State?

  • Or will he be co-opted, as he largely was during his first term?

  If I had to guess, I think Trump understood the message and will be co-opted if he is elected again—which is a big if.

  Here’s the bottom line.

  In order for Trump to be able to implement an independent agenda, he must:

  1. Survive further Deep State assassination attempts.

  2. Overcome cheating, a hostile media, and other shenanigans to win an election that will be rigged against him in every way possible.

  3. Make the fateful decision to take on the Deep State.

  4. Succeed in crippling the Deep State.

  The odds of ALL of these things happening are tiny.

  

  Many people want Trump to be a savior, but it’s not the way to bet—at least given current circumstances.

  If investors want to plan for a potential second Trump term, the base case scenario is that the permanently entrenched bureaucracy that really runs a country will co-opt him.

  That means we can expect Trump in a second term to continue with the same overall agenda but with a different flavor.

  The Deep State’s overall agenda seems to be focused on perpetuating the US-led world order. In other words, the US government’s unmatched global dominance it has enjoyed since the end of World War 2.

  The Deep State doesn’t care if Trump implements different social policies or other inconsequential domestic pet projects, so long as he does not do anything to fundamentally alter the dominance of the US in the world—like cutting the US government down to a limited Constitutional Republic with no foreign entanglements.

  For example, with a new Trump administration, we will likely see the current anti-Russian focus substituted with an anti-China one. The idea is to continue pursuing a policy of US global hegemony but with a different flavor.

  A new anti-China focus means we can expect:

  • Trade protectionism

  • Economic sanctions

  • Trade embargoes

  • Disruption of supply chains

  Trump has also proposed devaluing the dollar to make US exports more competitive, so we can expect more currency debasement too.

  Here’s the bottom line.

  With the most pivotal election on the horizon, we’ve just entered the most turbulent period in US history…

  It will be more dangerous than the 1930s, the 1940s, and even the 1860s.

  That’s because severe crises are brewing on multiple fronts and converging.

  The whole system will have a complete reset, and soon.

  Is the 2024 US presidential election on November 5 going to be where it all comes to a head?

  There’s an excellent chance that it will.

  *  *  *

  That’s exactly why I just released an urgent new report with all the details, including what you must do to prepare. It’s called, The Most Dangerous Economic Crisis in 100 Years… the Top 3 Strategies You Need Right Now. Click here to download the PDF now.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 16:20

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• After Summit Snub, UK Government "Absolutely Ready To Engage" With Musk
  After Summit Snub, UK Government “Absolutely Ready To Engage” With Musk

  Via OilPrice.com,

  Technology Secretary Peter Kyle has suggested that Elon Musk was not invited to the government’s international investment summit due to his tendency to avoid such events. 

  

  Previous reports suggested Musk, the owner of X and Tesla, was omitted from the guest list following controversial social media comments he made regarding Britain’s summer riots, where he controversially claimed civil war was “inevitable.”

  In response to the snub, Musk recently said on X:

  “I don’t think anyone should go to the UK when they’re releasing convicted pedophiles in order to imprison people for social media posts.”

  However, in an interview with Times Radio this morning, Kyle said:

  “Elon Musk has never come to any of the past investment summits that have been held under the previous government, he doesn’t tend to do these sort of events, but I stand absolutely ready to engage with him, to talk about any potential global investments he’s making – I’m not aware of any at this moment in time.”

  He added that “we have good engagement with some of his companies” and praised Musk for the safe landing of his booster rocket yesterday.

  On Sky News today, Kyle also denied that Musk was not invited because he called the prime minister “two tier Kier”.

  The international investment summit, taking place today, will see Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledge to slash red tape that is hindering investment in the UK.

  Australian infrastructure giant Macquarie is expected to announce £20bn in new investment in the UK, and total pledges from businesses at the summit could reach as high as £50bn. 

  High profile speakers at the event include Blackrock boss Larry Fink, former Google chairman Eric Schmidt, ex-England manager Gareth Southgate, and Aviva chief Amanda Blanc. 

  X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/15/2024 – 02:00

• 'Our Democracy' Marks 'Their Duplicity'
  ‘Our Democracy’ Marks ‘Their Duplicity’

  Authored by Thaddeus McCotter via American Greatness,

  Presently, we are embroiled in a presidential campaign. It is the apex of political messaging, as both parties and their well-heeled allies bombard the electorate with varying promises, claims, smears, and deceits.

  

  One of the Democrats’ and their “Never Trump” cohorts’ favorite narratives is that the GOP candidate, former president Trump, is divisive and that he must be defeated to allow the Democrat nominee, Vice President Harris, to unite the nation. To believe this, one must concur with the Democrats and Never Trumpers on two counts: first, Mr. Trump, his MAGA supporters, and the GOP are divisive; and, second, Ms. Harris and the Democrats are not divisive but rather a unifying political force.

  For purposes of this piece, let us stipulate Mr. Trump and his MAGA and GOP supporters are “divisive,” if only for the simple reason they dissent from the Democrats radical, extreme, and dangerous agenda; and, moreover, unapologetically champion the populist and conservative principles and policies they believe will promote and protect the liberty, prosperity, and security of our free republic.

  Nonetheless, even with this stipulation, it is impossible for an objective mind to conclude Ms. Harris and her Democrat supporters are a unifying force within our deeply divided nation. The Democrats are, by design, a divisive party that premises its campaigns and policies upon identity politics—race, gender, class, etc.; and, at root, offers the electorate varying and increasing levels of paranoia and dependence upon the Leviathan—i.e., the administrative state, which is controlled by their cohorts who are ensconced within the unaccountable and remunerative sinecures housed in the bowels of the federal bureaucracy.

  Consider the Democrats’ demanding the citizenry’s obeisance to their DIE (“diversity, inclusivity, and equity”) secular religion, which one is compelled to believe above all else.

  The left defines “diversity” with external traits, not internal thoughts. In sum, this inherently divides the entire population by physical traits and social castes into “manageable” political blocs—the “Balkanization” of the American electorate. Their root fallacy is that how you look determines how you think. The left purports it is using one’s “lived experience” to make this differentiation, but this experience is presumed to have occurred (even if it has not) based on your external appearance and/or economic status. Such a prejudicial pronouncement upon one’s fellow citizens is patronizing, demeaning, and—in its most heinous manifestations—racist. (Why do you think progressives have expended so much energy trying to redefine and dilute the definition of “racism” to weaponize it against, not racists, but non-leftists?)

  Once an individual has been pigeonholed into one of the Democrats’ diversity classifications and it is marked with its “social credit” connotations, these leftist social engineers will cajole and coerce them into their “inclusive” collective, wherein what matters is not individual rights but one’s allegiance to the left’s ideological dictates. True, some individual rights and licenses are granted by the state, but they are in addition to our unalienable, God-given rights we already possess and that cannot be infringed by the state. The left disagrees, believing the state is the ultimate grantor of rights and that “Our Democracy” must not be impaired by the antiquated concept of unalienable, God-given constitutional rights. Consequently, the left believes a citizen’s rights are not God-given but rather government-given. As such, they constitute not unalienable rights; they are arbitrary and conditional licenses. This subordinates the citizens’ sovereignty to the supremacy of the state.

  As the Supreme State doles its licenses, it will decide what is “equitable.” This is merely another of the left’s euphemisms for socialism—as is Ms. Harris’s “Opportunity Society.” But once citizens have been civically and economically diminished by the Democrats’ delineating and dividing them on basis of physical traits and economic status and by being subsumed into a leftist collective, Americans will have little recourse to dissent, let alone rid themselves of such a repressive, autocratic socialist regime.

  Why would people subject themselves to this DIE agenda? This is where the left’s paranoia pimping enters stage left. The Democrats aver that they and their administrative state are needed to protect citizens from sundry conspiracies out to block Americans’ pursuit of happiness—or worse. Hence, the Greek chorus of Democrats wailing about “Systemic Racism,” “The Patriarchy,” “Threats to Democracy,” and so forth. This is literally a party that smears its opponents as existential threats to “Our Democracy” and demands these opponents be crushed so that they may never again threaten it. Such inherently divisive narratives are designed to lure people into the illusory “security” of the one extant entity capable of controlling Americans’ lives—“Their Government.”

  So, how does a progressive manage to believe they are the champions of “Our Democracy,” even as they burn it to the ground to persecute their opponents? By reason of a simple intellectual sleight-of-hand. When Democrats bleat “Our Democracy,” it is a “prog whistle” that, translated, means “Our Party.” Conflating the fortunes of their party with those of the country, the Democrats have the capacity for enormous self-regard that allows them to engage in immense amounts of cognitive dissonance and self-justification as they attempt to foist their reckless, harmful agenda on Americans.

  Yes, Republicans also believe their fortunes will save “Our Republic.” But there is a critical distinction. Democrats define “unity” as a uniformity of agreement. Republicans define “unity” as a uniformity of acceptance.

  This explains why the Democrats are hellbent to force their DIE ideology on people and why Republicans oppose it. It is an overlooked irony that the left, which obsesses over the diversity of external traits, demands the conformity of internal thoughts. The Twentieth Century is replete with bitter instances of such an ideology’s failed attempts to dictate a rigid uniformity of ideological agreement in the vainglorious hopes of recreating and perfecting humanity.

  The answer to such state coercion is still federalism and pluralism. A limited, divided government charged with protecting the unalienable God-given rights of sovereign citizens remains the surest path upon which to pursue one’s happiness. The acceptance required is of the ground rules of the nation—of the constitution, of the peaceable means of effectuating constructive change, of someone else’s thoughts and their right to hold and advocate them, and of your reciprocal right to disagree and oppose their ideas. E pluribus unum—“Out of many, one”—has well served and enriched our nation and must remain the abiding goal.

  Again, the left deems federalism and pluralism as bars to the implementation of their autocratic, socialist state, which will determine and map your pursuit of happiness whether you like it or not. It is evinced in why the left crafted the word “diversity” to supplant “pluralism.” Ponder that the root of the word, “div-,” as is found in words such as “divisive,” “divest,” “divorce,” and so forth, that do not exactly scream “unity.”

  Nor does their pushing of their “Our Democracy” narrative to supplant the reality we live in a constitutional republic with limits upon its enumerated and citizen-delegated powers; and the duty to serve as a guardian of our unalienable God-given rights and the U.S. Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic—be they a dictator or a mob.

  As they do, the left reveals how their clamor and connivance for “Our Democracy” merely mark “Their Duplicity.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 23:25

• Oregon DEI Forestry Snitch Busts Boss For Prioritizing Qualified Candidates Over "Gender Identity"
  Oregon DEI Forestry Snitch Busts Boss For Prioritizing Qualified Candidates Over “Gender Identity”

  Oregon’s #2 official at the Department of Forestry, Mike Shaw, was placed on administrative leave after the department’s former DEI strategy officer, Megan Donecker, complained that Shaw had “beyond gender and identity in hiring, seeking only candidates most qualified for the job,” Oregon Live reports.

  

  Donecker first became triggered when Shaw pushed for a more careful approach to DEI – comparing the slide into wokism to speeding on “an icy road.” She says that Shaw warned “We don’t go 60 (mph) out of the gate, or we’re gonna crash the car.”

  What’s more, Donecker also reportedly claimed that six homosexual staffers didn’t “feel safe or comfortable” at work because they could not have “conversation around pronouns,” and referred to the department as a “boys club,” the Daily Mail reports further.

  The purple-haired Donecker has since quit the department and now works as a DEI consultant, describing herself as an “accomplice to marginalized communities,” whatever that means.

  The Oregon Department of Forestry didn’t directly address the allegations, but said that leadership “takes employee complaints and concerns seriously and, when brought to our attention, we ensure they’re handled in accordance with state laws, rules, policies and HR best practices. This includes protecting employees from retaliation.”

  “Providing a safe, diverse and inclusive workplace is a shared core value and priority of both the department and the Board of Forestry,” said State Forester Cal Mukumoto.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 23:00

• Will Politicians Toxify Freedom Forever?
  Will Politicians Toxify Freedom Forever?

  Authored by James Bovard via The Mises Institute,

  The official theme song of the Kamala Harris presidential campaign is “Freedom” by Beyonce. But a more accurate theme would be the Rolling Stones classic, Under my Thumb.

  Vice President Harris is seeking the presidency as the greatest champion of freedom in modern times.

  But Kamala-style freedom will only unleash the government, not private citizens.

  

  The original Bill of Rights created a row of bulwarks for citizens to prevent government oppression. In the era of the American Revolution, it was a common saying: “The Restraint of Government is the True Liberty and Freedom of the People.” But Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, are offering a “freedom,” seemingly inspired by Yugoslavian communist dictator Tito: “The more powerful the State, the more freedom.”

  Harris begins by tacitly presuming that politicians must forcibly save humanity. Harris seeks to vastly expand government intervention to supposedly give people true freedom in daily life. Harris’s “freedom” presumes government is irrevocably benevolent—unless you are a bad person who deserves punishment or subjugation or overtaxing. But the definition of “bad” can be endlessly expanded to include anyone who howls about being fleeced, locked down, or muzzled.

  Harris-Walz Freedom requires maximum government interference in daily life. Harris called for a merciless crackdown on misinformation, including punishing social media companies that fail to kowtow to Washington. Walz is emphatic that there is no freedom of speech for “misinformation”—a vague notion which can include any statement disapproved by officialdom. When did America’s most distrusted occupation—politicians—become entitled to define truth and to forcibly suppress and punish what they label “misinformation”?

  Under the Harris-Walz standard, Americans will only have the freedom to say anything that the government approves. Walz endorsed a 1919 Supreme Court case that upheld imprisoning anyone who criticized military conscription during World War One. The Biden administration was condemned by federal judges for suppressing millions of comments and jokes by Americans about Covid mandates and shutdowns. But according to liberals, that wasn’t censorship because only reactionaries or deplorables complained about pandemic policies. Plus, Fauci is still a saint. 

  Mindy Kaling, an actress and emcee for the third night of the Democratic National Convention, invoked “the freedom to work one job and afford your rent.” The Biden administration floated proposals for nationwide rent control and Harris is championing proposals to stop “price gouging.” To achieve true freedom, bureaucrats would commandeer veto power over any contract dealing with housing or food. And when federal price controls caused devastating shortages, that would simply prove that politicians need even more power over daily life.

  At the Democratic National Convention, a Harris campaign video pledged that she would deliver “freedom from extremism.” But that would provide a blank check to suppress any ideas of which politicians disapprove. Newsweek reported last year that the FBI created “a new category of extremists that it seeks to track and counter: Donald Trump’s army of MAGA followers.” To permit politicians to define extremism is to let them preemptively vilify their most dangerous critics. Two years ago, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre asserted, “When you are not with what majority of Americans are, then you know, that is extreme. That is an extreme way of thinking.” This is a definition of extremism that could put the federal crosshairs on most people who visit this website.

  “Freedom from fear” is another Harris-Walz promise. Pledging “freedom from fear” entitles politicians to seize power over anything that frightens anyone. People who sound the alarm about excessive government power will be guilty of subverting freedom from fear. Giving politicians more power based on people’s fears is like giving firemen pay raises based on how many false alarms are reported.

  Harris promises the “freedom to be safe from gun violence.” Harris previously supported banning private ownership of pistols, warrantless searches of people’s homes to inspect their firearms, and confiscating the most popular rifle in America. Freedom from fear of guns will justify politicians confiscating any firearm that frightens any liberal in the land. Disarming Americans will leave them in total dependency on the same politicians who lied to confiscate their guns in the first place.

  Walz declared that he and Kamala were devoted to safeguarding “the freedom for children to go to school without worrying if they’ll be shot in the halls.” But what about children’s freedom not to be forcibly injected with experimental vaccines? Liberal Democratic governors in California and New York pushed hard to make Covid vaccines mandatory for school kids. California is also safeguarding the “freedom” to mastermind using drugs or other interventions to assist kids to change their gender while keeping the treatment secret from parents.

  Harris champions “the fundamental freedom of a woman to be able to make decisions about her own body.” But vast numbers of nurses were fired for refusing to get the Covid vaccine that Biden mandated for all health care workers. Biden sought to compel tens of millions to get those injections despite their dismal failure to prevent Covid infections or transmission. The Supreme Court blocked Biden’s mandate for private employees but perversely allowed it for health care workers (even though many of them had natural immunity after recovering from Covid infections). That court decision did not prevent liberal governors and mayors from imposing vaccine passport restrictions that effectively sought to banish the unvaccinated from society. 

  All that matters is that the latest Covid booster is government-approved—so forcing people to get injected is no violation of individual freedom, which includes freedom to obey your superiors. The same standard could justify imposing endless vaccine mandates for future plagues that escape from federally-funded labs.

  Harris pledges to give Americans “the freedom to breathe clean air, and drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis.” Since the 1970s, federal legislation has sharply curbed pollution of air and water. And how would Harris define this new “freedom”? Parts per billion or parts per trillion of contaminants? To achieve Harris’s vague standards, federal regulators would be entitled to ban gasoline-powered cars and gas stoves. Harris would also entitle bureaucrats to inflict endless restrictions on development to satisfy the latest green fetish.

  Harris-Walz freedom is a circus shell game in which constitutional restraints vanish and politicians always win. Once politicians invoke the new freedoms to stretch their power, it will not matter whether they deliver the bounties they promise. Citizens will be left muzzled and disarmed and at the mercy of officialdom.

  The campaign video pledged that Harris would give Americans “freedom from control.” A more honest Harris-Walz campaign slogan would be: “For your own good.” Or maybe promise Americans the “freedom to be what the government approves”? Perhaps the Harris-Walz art team could create an icon portraying an iron fist as the new, improved symbol of freedom. Adding a smiley face atop the fist would harmonize with the Harris “joy” and “positive vibes” campaign theme. 

  Redefining boundless arbitrary power as freedom is the death knell for government under the law. The Harris-Walz delusions on freedom stem in part from the Democratic Party’s perverse notion of the proper role of government. The perverse redefinition of freedom parallels the attempt to portray politicians as literal saviors. At the Democratic National Convention, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Grisham hailed Harris: “We need a president who can be Consoler-in-Chief. We need a president capable of holding us in a great big hug.” 

  Not me. I have enough shams in my life without some politician pretending to be my friend.

  Instead of vesting blind trust in Harris and Walz, Americans should heed Thomas Jefferson’s 1798 warning: “In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” Those constitutional chains will come in damn handy no matter who wins the election next month.

  Is there as much confusion in America on the meaning of freedom as there is on the benefits of tariffs? For almost half a century, prevailing opinion in this nation recognized the folly of permitting politicians to recklessly blockade our own ports with heavy taxes on imports. But both parties are now portraying tariffs as economic magic wands.

  Similarly, Americans for generations had an instinctive recognition of the danger of unleashing politicians and letting government officials wantonly intrude into their lives. The Supreme Court declared in 1934, “A general, roving… investigation, conducted by a commission without any allegations… is unknown to our Constitution and laws; and such an inquisition would be destructive of the rights of the citizen, and an intolerable tyranny.” But this is practically the recipe for Harris-Walz freedom as well as some of Donald Trump’s interventionist schemes. Regardless of the election outcome, Americans must beware of Trojan horse definitions of freedom that allow bureaucrats to clamor out and take over everyone’s lives.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 22:35

• Almost 90% Of Voters Want CBS To Release Deceptively Edited Kamala Harris Interview
  Almost 90% Of Voters Want CBS To Release Deceptively Edited Kamala Harris Interview

  Close to 90% of voters want CBS to release the transcripts from Kamala Harris’ ’60 Minutes’ interview which was deceptively edited to make her appear intelligent.

  

  According to a new Harvard Harris poll, 87% of Democrats, 88% of Republicans and 80% of independents think CBS should “release the full transcript of its interview with Kamala Harris.”

  

  That said, while 81% of Republicans think CBS edited the interview to make Harris look better, 50% of independents agree, along with just 27% of Democrats.

  To review, CBS came under fire for deceptively editing the Harris interview – replacing her word-salad answer from a pre-interview teaser with a completely different answer in the version that aired.

  When asked by host Bill Whitaker why it seemed like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t listening to the United States, Harris originally replied:

  “Well Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by, or a result of, many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region.”

  But in the version that aired, Harris’ answer was: “We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”

  Watch:

  Remember Kamala’s word salad answer about Israel on 60 Minutes? It’s gone.

  This is what many Americans will now see. pic.twitter.com/H4w7btDv6x

  — MAZE (@mazemoore) October 8, 2024

  In response, the Trump campaign demanded that the network release the full interview.

  “On Sunday, 60 Minutes teased Kamala’s highly-anticipated sit-down interview with one of her worst word salads to date, which received significant criticism on social media,” said Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary. “During the full interview on Monday evening, the word salad was deceptively edited to lessen Kamala’s idiotic response.”

  “Why did 60 Minutes choose not to air Kamala’s full word salad, and what else did they choose not to air?” she asked. “The American people deserve the full, unedited transcript from Kamala’s sit-down interview. We call upon 60 Minutes and CBS to release it.“

  Trump also posted about it on Truth Social, writing “I’ve never seen this before, but the producers of 60 Minutes sliced and diced (“cut and pasted”) Lyin’ Kamala’s answers to questions, which were virtually incoherent, over and over again, some by as many as four times in a single sentence or thought…” Trump suggested that the network helping Harris may have been a “major Campaign Finance Violation,” and is a “stain on the reputation of 60 minutes that is not recoverable.”

  Of course, why not demand they release the footage?

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

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 22:10

• Latest Kamala Word Salad Drops
  Latest Kamala Word Salad Drops

  Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

  During an appearance at a ‘Christian center’ service in North Carolina, Kamala Harris was supposed to speak about faith, but ended up confusing everyone with yet another verbal mish mash of nonsense.

  

  She was talking about hurricanes and how such devastation can lead some to question their faith, when she said the following.

  “In times of crisis, and we’re looking at the images of the aftermath of the hurricane, but, it is easy in these moments of crisis to sometimes question our faith. To sometimes lose our faith for a moment.”

  Then came the kicker.

  “What we see is so hard to see that we lose faith or a vision of those things we cannot see but must know.”

  KAMALA: “What we see is so hard to see that we lose faith or a vision of those things we cannot see but must know.” 🤔 pic.twitter.com/xWFe3CEzm9

  — Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 13, 2024

  What?

  Kamala Harris is a fortune cookie stuffed inside a magic eight ball and wrapped inside the horoscope page of your local newspaper. https://t.co/tRIV9331Ub

  — Paul Neumann (@ItsPaulNeumann) October 13, 2024

  Can we have some fries instead of the salad please.

  Even those bused in with $200 and a free meal shouldn’t have to sit through this total word salad nonsense

  — Andrew Fisher (@acpandy) October 13, 2024

  Pretty sure this isn’t a quote from the Bible.

  How about this, can we see some policy proposals that will help make things better?

  Cause we “cannot see” what you propose to do and this we “must know.”

  — HernandoDon (@HernandoDonella) October 14, 2024

  Is there a translator here who speaks gibberish?

  I need a translator on this? Who specializes the language of word salad?

  — 50 Trump (@Real50Trump) October 13, 2024

  It was almost as cringe as her inspirational moment.

  Actual Christians had some thoughts.

  Ummm, what? Pathetic word salad.

  She should not be speaking anywhere that calls themselves Christian. She shouldn’t be within 100 ft of a Christian convention center.

  God will have nothing to do with somebody who promotes abortion until birth.

  — – Josh – (@WEAPONFORTRUTH) October 13, 2024

  It is the duty of pastors to protect the dignity of the pulpit. Why is this drunk woman preaching in a church?

  — Christopher Fishell (@chieffishell) October 13, 2024

  A new accent was also unlocked during the event:

  New accent unlocked pic.twitter.com/gtn25cv5fT

  — Don Wick (@yayavarkm) October 13, 2024

  The SNL version of Harris is more coherent than the actual Kamala.

  *  *  *

  Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 21:45

• Spy Drones Swarmed Langley Air Base, Pentagon Unable To Counter Threat
  Spy Drones Swarmed Langley Air Base, Pentagon Unable To Counter Threat

  Since the start of the 21st century, America’s defense spending has soared nearly 50%, with this year’s budget surpassing $841 billion. Yet, despite being the world’s largest military spender, the Pentagon alarmingly struggles to protect the homeland against the rising threat of spy drones operating within US borders. 

  A new Wall Street Journal report said a fleet of spy drones swarmed some of America’s most sensitive national-security sites, including Langley Air Force Base on Virginia’s shoreline late last year.

  For several nights, military personnel had reported a mysterious breach of restricted airspace over a stretch of land that has one of the largest concentrations of national-security facilities in the US. The show usually starts 45 minutes to an hour after sunset, another senior leader told Kelly.

  The first drone arrived shortly. Kelly, a career fighter pilot, estimated it was roughly 20 feet long and flying at more than 100 miles an hour, at an altitude of roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feet. Other drones followed, one by one, sounding in the distance like a parade of lawn mowers.

  The drones headed south, across Chesapeake Bay, toward Norfolk, Va., and over an area that includes the home base for the Navy’s SEAL Team Six and Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval port. -WSJ

  US Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly told the Journal that he was stumped by reports of spy drones over Langley AFB. The Journal said the drones flew around the base and other highly sensitive military installations in the region at night for a little more than two weeks. Some officials suspected Russian or Chinese agents were conducting aerial spy operations.

  Kelly said some drones were roughly 20 feet long and flew more than 100 mph at 3,000 to 4,000 feet altitude. None of these drones were shot down because federal law prohibits the military from dispatching F-22s, F-35s, and other fighter jets to neutralize drones for ‘aerial snooping’ – unless these unmanned systems posed an ‘imminent threat.’

  

  Shortly after the spy drones first appeared across the Chesapeake Bay region, President Biden was briefed on the national security threat. Officials from the Defense Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Pentagon’s UFO office consulted with outside experts to understand the gravity of the situation. 

  Drone incursions into heavily restricted airspace shouldn’t be some shocker in Biden-Harris’ America, where open southern borders have flooded the nation with ten-plus million illegal aliens, some of which have been terrorists, spies, prison gangs from South America, and other violent criminals. 

  WSJ noted that Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall spoke with other White House officials about deploying anti-drone guns to jam signals, yet did not because of the fear of disrupting local civilian communication networks. Another idea officials had to counter this threat was directed energy weapons, and again, weren’t deployed for fear of harming commercial jets. 

  Authorities mostly ruled out the possibility of amateur drone pilots.

  In early January, a Chinese student who attended the University of Minnesota was caught flying a drone near Langley AFB. The FBI found the Chinese student had drone footage of Navy ships docked at the base. He was arrested and charged with unlawfully taking photos of classified naval installations after trying to flee the country. 

  The takeaway here is that this is an amazing display of incompetence by the military and federal government as those in the highest levels of power focus on a disastrous “woke” agenda that is weakening the nation from within. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 21:20

• DOJ Sues Virginia For Purging Voter Rolls Close To Election
  DOJ Sues Virginia For Purging Voter Rolls Close To Election

  Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Virginia on Oct. 11, alleging that the state violated federal law by removing potential noncitizen voters from the rolls too close to the general election.

  

  In a court filing, the DOJ alleged that Virginia’s voter removal program violated the “Quiet Period Provision” in the National Voter Registration Act, which requires that states complete their programs for removing ineligible voters from active rolls no later than 90 days before an election.

  “Congress adopted the National Voter Registration Act’s quiet period restriction to prevent error-prone, eleventh hour efforts that all too often disenfranchise qualified voters,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement.

  The complaint, filed on Oct. 11, also named the state Board of Elections and Virginia Commissioner of Elections Susan Beals as defendants.

  According to the complaint, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order in August requiring the commissioner to certify that daily updates to the state’s voter lists were being conducted.

  These updates involved comparing the list of individuals identified as noncitizens by the State Department of Motor Vehicles “to the list of existing registered voters,” the DOJ stated.

  Local registrars were then required to notify those voters that they needed to affirm their citizenship within 14 days or they would be removed from the list of registered voters, according to the Justice Department.

  The DOJ said the process has resulted in U.S. citizens having their voter registrations canceled. The state removed 6,303 individuals from the rolls between January 2022 and July 2024, according to the complaint.

  It further alleged that local registrars had no discretion to prevent the cancellation of voters who fail to return “an affirmation of citizenship” even if they have reason to believe that those voters are U.S. citizens.

  “This systematic voter removal program, which the State is conducting within 90 days of the upcoming federal election, violates the Quiet Period Provision,” the DOJ said in a statement.

  Youngkin criticized the Biden administration for filing the lawsuit with less than 30 days before the election and said that he had “appropriately” enforced the law.

  The Republican governor called the DOJ’s lawsuit “unprecedented” and said it was a “politically motivated” attempt to interfere with the state election, according to a statement issued by his office on Oct. 11.

  “Virginians—and Americans—will see this for exactly what it is: a desperate attempt to attack the legitimacy of the elections in the Commonwealth, the very crucible of American Democracy,” Youngkin stated.

  “With the support of our Attorney General, we will defend these commonsense steps, that we are legally required to take, with every resource available to us.”

  The DOJ filed a similar lawsuit against the state of Alabama and its Secretary of State on Sept. 27 over the state’s program that was aimed at removing ineligible voters, including noncitizens, from active rolls. It stated that Alabama announced the launch of the voter roll purge program 84 days before the Nov. 5 general election, which violated the National Voter Registration Act.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 20:55

• Traders Increasingly Focused On US Election As Trump Odds Soar
  Traders Increasingly Focused On US Election As Trump Odds Soar

  Having ignored the election for far too long, rates traders are starting to price in US election risks to Treasury and volatility markets, according to Goldman strategists who continue to recommend shorting 10-year TSYs versus German bunds. Meanwhile, Citi took profit on a long breakevens position, while BMO looks to enter the trade should rates fall to more favorable buying levels.

  As a reminder, now that the Nov 5 election has entered the 30-day “catalyst window” of the VIX…

  

  … the VIX remains stubbornly high, and in fact as Goldman trader Brian Garrett noted recently, it is extremely rare to see the VIX print above 20 when the S&P hits a new all time high as it just did.

  

  A big reason for this is that the market is finally starting to sweat the outcome of the Nov 5 election, which at least until very recently, it would blissfully pretend doesn’t matter.

  But before we take a look at how equity traders are assessing the election, here is a snapshot of what Wall Street’s rates traders and strategists are saying:

  Bank of America (Mark Cabana, Meghan Swiber and others, Oct. 11  report, available to pro subscribers)

  • Maintains dip-buying stance and real steepeners bias, favors adding duration with 10-year trading between 4% to 4.25%; five-year the preferred tenor
  • “We prefer to allocate to longs at the belly vs back end of the curve as election remains a risk” while “We recommend holding off on adding to duration further out the curve until we pass peak election risk”

  Barclays (Anshul Pradhan and others, Oct. 10 report, available to pro subscribers)

  • Keeps view to pay 5y5y USD versus EUR rates (via OIS vs. ESTR, entered at 80bp): “US far forward rates still do not appear to be pricing in enough term premium, and EUR far forwards should reflect the risk of a low neutral rate”
  • “All in all, the data argue against the need for a material easing beyond some further re-calibration, and Fedspeak implies risks are skewed towards over-easing”

  BMO Capital Markets (Ian Lyngen and Vail Hartman, Oct. 11 report)

  • Stays in 2s10s steepener (entered at 9.8bp, currently around 14bp) but were stopped out of 2s30s steepener
  • Looks to enter long 10-year breakevens in the event they fall below 223bp, the close on Oct. 4 jobs report day
  • “With CPI and PPI in hand, our read is that the September inflation profile has solidified expectations for a 25 bp rate cut next month” while “there is a very high bar for the remaining pre-Fed data to truly put a pause on the table for the November FOMC meeting”

  Citi (Jabaz Mathai and others, Oct. 11 report, available to pro subs)

  • Takes profit on long 10-year breakeven position around 2.342%, writing “The Treasury curve is now back to levels that are more consistent with a realistic assessment of benign/soft landing vs. hard landing probabilities for the economy”
  • Upside data surprises like September CPI “raise the likelihood of a skip this year if payrolls don’t deteriorate into year-end. The Fed will in all likelihood go 25bp in November, as monetary policy is still quite some distance away from neutral”

  Goldman Sachs (William Marshall and others, Oct. 11 report, available to pro subs)

  • Maintains recommendation to be short 10-year Treasuries versus bunds, “which we think is positioned well for our baseline but can also benefit if the market presses on election-related risks (either fiscal or tariff-related)”
  • Traders and vol market are increasingly focused on US election with most key data risks behind us (save for October jobs report)
  • “Shorter expiry vol on longer term yields has richened on the surface since the start of the month, likely reflecting a combination of uncertainty shifting away from the very near-term Fed path towards terminal rate considerations, as well as a greater focus on post-election risks”

  TD Securities (Gennadiy Goldberg and others, Oct. 11 report)

  • Re-enters 5s30s steepeners, prompted by several reasons including:
    • Easing inflation and jobs momentum hints at more gradual cuts ahead
    • Less prohibitive carry
    • Election uncertainty
  • “We remain of the view that labor market dynamics are likely to continue driving policy decisions by the FOMC in the near term”

  While rates strategists are dignified, nuanced creatures, stock traders, on the other hand, are simpler brutes, and here things are somewhat easier. Indeed, one can see a dramatic reversal with Goldman’s Republican Victory basket – a proxy for Trump’s odds – surging in recent days to new all time highs, while the Democrat Victory basket – a proxy for president Kamala – sinking.

  

  Indeed, with just weeks to go until the election showdown between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, odds are increasingly shifting in Trump’s favor: “A Trump victory would likely be positive for risk sentiment, though more for US assets at the expense of Europe and rest of the world,” Kumar said. “In our view, the environment remains broadly positive for risky assets.”

  And while public polls remain irrevocably politicized, with massive Democrat oversampling still skewing results grotesquely to the point where most polls are meaningless – although even here we are seeing a massive surge in support for the former president with the latest poll by MSM flagbearer NBC showing Kamala’s 5 point lead evaporate…

  New NBC poll: Harris 5 point advantage over Trump is now gone. pic.twitter.com/V3bEtZMTh0

  — Shermichael Singleton (@MrShermichael) October 14, 2024

  … in far more accurate online betting markets, Trump’s spread over Kamala on Polymarket is now the highest it has been and is approaching Trump’s blowout odds observed against Joe Biden…

  

  … before he was put out of his dementia misery, and forced to pull out of the race by Nancy Pelosi.

  d

  In its latest Weekly Rundown note (available to pro subscribers), Goldman advised clients to position themselves ahead of the election: “Buy GSP24REP if you expect a Republican sweep or Buy GSP24DEM if you expect a democratic sweep.“

  

  Some more from Goldman: “The sensitivity of our Republican Policy Outperformers (GS24REPL) to election events since this summer implies the it could move +8% if Trump wins the presidential election%. Over the summer, investors have tactically traded around election events and have shortly unwound their trades.”

  

  And the punchline: “Considering we are only ~1 month away from election day, we notice a shift in focus: our client near-term outlook depends on the election outcome and they are becoming more comfortable positioning themselves accordingly.”

  

  While some have speculated that whether Trump or Kamala wins, it doesn’t really matter unless there is a sweep, the reality is that while the market was frowning on the odds of either party winning both the House and the Senate, in the past few days we have seen a surge of Republican sweep odds, with Polymarket traders now assigning 39% odds, rapidly approaching the July record highs.

  Finally, it’s not just Goldman: UBS writes that as recent election poll results seem to be shifting in favor of the Republican party, the bank’s Republican Win basket continued outperform the Democratic Win basket (BBG index UBPTREDE) by 2.4% on Monday, marking almost 6% over the past five sessions.”

  

  In other words, while questionable mainstream media polls do everything in their power to convince the marginal voter that Kamala is still in the lead, online betting markets and Wall Street traders have clearly taken the other side of the bet.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 20:30

• Hurricane Response Proves Volunteerism Is Better Than Authoritarianism
  Hurricane Response Proves Volunteerism Is Better Than Authoritarianism

  Authored by Ron Paul via The Ron Paul Institute,

  Following Hurricane Helene, many private helicopter pilots launched their own search and rescue missions. One would think government officials would welcome the help of these volunteers, but instead they harassed them and even threatened to arrest them!

  For example, one private helicopter pilot rescued an individual stranded by Helene. Unfortunately, he was threatened with arrest if he flew his helicopter back into the impacted area to save someone left behind on the earlier flight.

  In a video shared by comedian and political commentator Jimmy Dore, Jonathan Howard, a member of the Florida State Guard and volunteer for the nonprofit group Aerial Recovery, discussed how the government took credit for the rescue of an 11-day-old baby even though the rescue was done totally by volunteers. Mr. Howard stated that when he goes on a search and rescue mission he sees around forty other private helicopters and just two military helicopters.

  One reason the federal government is unable to provide adequate aid to those impacted by Helene (and now Milton) is the government is sending military aid worth billions of dollars to Ukraine and Israel. In fact, over 700 members of the Tennessee National Guard are deploying to the Middle East as people in the state deal with damage from Hurricane Helene!

  When questioned on Fox News about Helene’s impact, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham made an impassioned plea …. for more aid to Israel. Senator Graham is far from the only member of Congress to put the needs of foreign countries and the military-industrial complex ahead of Americans.

  Congress will likely consider a multi-billion-dollar disaster relief bill in the post-election “lame duck” session. Conservative Republicans will (properly) demand the spending be offset by cuts in other spending. The problem is most of these “fiscal conservatives” will vote to increase the national debt to fund the military-industrial-complex.

  When I served in Congress, I voted against federal disaster aid even when the disaster impacted my district. Inevitably my office would receive complaints from outraged constituents. After a few months of jumping through the federal government’s bureaucratic hoops in seeking to recover from the disaster, many constituents would call my office to say that they now agree that they would be better off if the government would stop trying to “help” the victims of natural disasters.

  

  One of the helicopter pilots who voluntarily flew into the areas impacted by Helene was Curves fitness chain founder Gary Heavin. Mr. Heavin, in addition to being a successful businessman, is a passionate advocate for liberty who serves on the advisory board of my Institute for Peace and Prosperity. It is not surprising that someone who believes in liberty would be willing to help those in need rather than rely on the government to provide assistance.

  Contrary to the lies spread by authoritarians, libertarianism does not require selfishness. Libertarians welcome voluntary action to help those in need. Libertarians object to government assistance because it is based on force. Authoritarianism leads to poverty, war, chaos in the streets, and a lack of compassion for the less fortunate. Liberty leads to prosperity, peace, and a flourishing of private charities.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 20:05

• Mapping Global Real Estate Bubble Risks
  Mapping Global Real Estate Bubble Risks

  In many major cities, real home prices have declined as high interest rates are dampening demand.

  Simultaneously, property markets are slowing due to tough financing conditions and rising construction costs. As a result, housing bubble risks have eased in cities like Hong Kong, London, and New York. However, strong demand in the luxury market and a booming stock market are fueling bubble risks in cities like Miami and Los Angeles.

  This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld, shows the cities with the highest real estate bubble risk, based on the UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index 2024.

  

  Methodology

  To analyze real estate bubble risk, UBS looked at the following factors across 25 major cities:

  • Price-to-income ratio

  • Price-to-rent ratio

  • Change in mortgage-to-GDP ratio

  • Change in construction-to-GDP ratio

  • City-to-country price ratio

  More specifically, bubble risk refers to the likelihood of a significant price correction due to distortions in global property markets

  Miami Ranks Highest for Housing Bubble Risk

  With real housing prices increasing nearly 50% since the end of 2019, Miami has the highest bubble risk across cities analyzed.

  This has pushed the price-to-income ratio higher, as buyers compete for limited waterfront luxury properties. At the same time, the city’s relative affordability compared to other major U.S. metros, along with no state income tax and a favorable climate, has fueled demand.

  

  Ranking in second is Tokyo, one of the most unaffordable cities in the world.

  Ultra-loose monetary policy and economic stability has contributed to high property valuations in Tokyo. Last year, a 646 square foot apartment cost 15 times more than an average skilled worker’s salary, exceeding levels seen in London and New York.

  Although Dubai hasn’t entered bubble territory, home prices surged 17% between Q2 2023 and Q2 2024—the fastest increase among the cities analyzed. Over the past year, the city saw record transaction volumes and strong population growth as buyers flocked to this global financial hub.

  By contrast, a number of cities saw their bubble risk decline as real home values dropped, including London, Hong Kong, Paris, and Toronto.

  To learn more about this topic from a housing affordability perspective, check out this graphic on the least affordable property markets around the world.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 19:40

• Cut The Truth Out Of Our Heads
  Cut The Truth Out Of Our Heads

  Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Brownstone Institute,

  The censors are losing patience. They have gone from regretting the existence of free speech and gaming the system as best they can to fantasizing about ending it through criminal penalties. 

  

  You can observe this change in temperament – from frustration to fury to calling for violent solutions – over the last several weeks. And it serves as a reminder: censorship was never the end point. It was always about controlling society’s “cognitive infrastructure,” which is how we think. And to what end? A secure monopoly on political power. 

  This week, Fox reporter Peter Doocy was sparring with the White House spokesperson over whether FEMA is funding migrants even as it cannot help American storm survivors. She immediately shot back and called this “disinformation.” Peter wanted to know what part of his question qualified. Jean-Pierre said it was the whole context of the question and otherwise never said. 

  It was clear to anyone who was watching that the term “disinformation” means to her nothing other than a premise or fact that is unwelcome and needs to be shut down. This messaging has been further reinforced by a Harris/Walz ad blaming unnamed “misinformation” from Trump for exacerbating hurricane suffering following Hurricane Helene. 

  This exchange came only days after Hillary Clinton suggested criminal penalties for disinformation, else “they will lose total control.” It’s an odd plural pronoun because, presumably, she is not in control..unless she regards herself as a proxy for an entire class of rulers. 

  Meanwhile, former presidential candidate John Kerry said the existence of free speech is making government impossible. Kamala Harris herself has sworn to “hold social media accountable” for the “hate infiltrating their platforms.” And well-connected physician Peter Hotez is calling for Homeland Security and NATO to put an end to debates over vaccines

  You can detect the fury in all their voices, almost as if every post on X or video on Rumble is causing them to lose their minds, to the point that they are just saying it out loud: “Make them stop.”

  Hurricane Milton seems to have caused the censors to flip out in a violent rage, as people wondered whether and to what extent the government might have something to do with manipulating the weather for political reasons. A writer in the Atlantic explodes: “I’m running out of ways to explain how bad this is. What’s happening in America today is something darker than a misinformation crisis,” while decrying “outright conspiracy theorizing and utter nonsense racking up millions of views across the internet.”

  Catch that? It’s the viewing itself that is the problem, as if people do not have the capacity to think for themselves. 

  The old meme of the man staying up late typing because “someone is wrong on the Internet” applies now to an entire swath of the ruling class. They want freedom out and the stakeholders in control, somehow forcing the whole of the digital age into a version of 1970s television with three channels and 1-800 numbers. The Biden administration even refounded the Internet, replacing the Declaration of Freedom with a new Declaration of the Future.

  We are reminded of Katherine Hepburn’s performance as Violet Venable in Tennessee Williams’s play Suddenly, Last Summer. 

  Violet is an heiress and widow with a son Sebastian on whom she doted and with whom she traveled internationally for many years. One summer, her niece Catherine (played by Elizabeth Taylor) goes on the trip instead and the son dies. 

  Catherine was clearly traumatized by something but she doesn’t know what. But this much remained in her memory: Sebastian was not a good man. Instead he used the women who accompanied him as bait to procure boys for his sexual pleasure. 

  Violet was so infuriated with this observation – all she could remember about Sebastian’s death –  that she sent Catherine to a mental hospital. She further has every intention of endowing a local hospital to specialize in lobotomies on the condition that they give one to Catherine. 

  Violet wants Catherine to stop her “babblings” and instead “just be peaceful.” Catherine observes that they simply want to cut the truth out of her head before she comes around to recalling the whole of it, which is more horrible than one can imagine. 

  Doctor: “There still is a great deal of risk.”

  Violet: “But it does pacify them, I’ve read that. It quiets them down. It suddenly makes them peaceful.”

  Doctor: “Yes, that it does do, but…”

  Her goal was an invasive surgery on her sister’s daughter, which she was willing to fund in order to assure it would take place by a major gift in the guise of philanthropy. It was all in the interest of psychological self-protection. 

  Violet simply did not want to know the truth. She wanted instead her own “truth” to be the constructed narrative: her son was a wonderful and pious gentleman and her niece was a crazy person, a deplorable, a speaker of misinformation and disinformation. 

  In order to protect Violet’s own self-perceptions and her own delusion, she was willing to invade the brain of her own niece with a knife to stop her from clear thinking and clear speaking. 

  Catherine: “Cut the truth out of my brain. Is that what you want? You can’t. Not even God can change the truth.”

  

  As with all of Tennessee Williams, and all great literature, the story is about far more than what it seems. It is really about the lengths to which a wealthy ruling class is willing to go in order to prevent the puncturing of their own illusions about the world. 

  In those days, lobotomies were more common, even approved, and often deployed by those who could afford them to be imposed on relatives. The stories are quite legendary, so there was nothing unrealistic about Williams’s story. Psycho-surgery was deployed for decades in the service of cutting truth out of people’s brains. 

  So far we’ve only experienced a relatively low-grade version of this compared with what they really want. YouTube accounts have been demonetized and deleted. Facebook posts have been throttled and banned. LinkedIn’s algorithms punish posts that take issue with regime narratives. This has not slowed down in light of litigation but rather continued and intensified. 

  The goal is to close up the Internet. They would have done it by now if it were not for the First Amendment, which stands in their way. For now, they will continue to work through university cutouts, third-party providers, phony baloney fact-checkers, pressure on tech firms that provide government services at a price, and other mechanisms to achieve indirectly what they cannot do directly just yet. 

  Among the strategies is the political persecution of dissenters. Alex Jones is a bellwether here and his company is being bankrupted. Steve Bannon, the philosopher king of MAGA, has been in jail for the entire election season for having defied a Congressional subpoena on the advice of counsel. The protestors on January 6 have been in prison not for damages caused or trespassing but for landing on the wrong side of the regime. 

  Most of us had an intuition that the Covid vaccine mandates themselves were not entirely about health but rather a tactic of exclusion of those who were not fully trusting of authority. This was rather obvious when it came to the military and the medical profession but less apparent within academia where noncompliant students and professors were effectively purged for their refusal to risk their lives for pharma. 

  There was an element of malice, too, in the mask mandates. Even though there was zero scientific evidence that a Chinese-made synthetic cloth worn on the face can change epidemiological dynamics, they did serve well as a visible sign to separate believers from unbelievers, and also as a sadistic means of reminding individualists of who is really running the show. 

  The final means of censorship is violence against person and property, while the end is to control what you think in service of one-party rule. Major tech companies and major media are wholly complicit in bringing this about. Only a handful of services are stopping this and they are all being targeted by the regime through myriad forms of lawfare. 

  In the final scenes of Suddenly, Last Summer, Catherine is finally induced to recall the horrifying details of her cousin’s death and tell family members the fullness of the truth. Aunt Violet cannot handle it and defaults into denial and psychopathology herself, dishing out her own litany of disinformation. 

  Therein the viewer is presented with the deepest irony of all: every claim that Violet made against Catherine eventually comes to pertain to Violet herself. The person who wanted to use violence to cut the brain out of the truthspeaker was merely protecting herself against a terrible truth that she could not handle. 

  And there it is: it’s the liar more than anyone who has reason to fear free speech.

  *  *  *

  Postscript: as this article is released, the website archive.org has been fully down for the better part of a week, supposedly due to a catastrophic DDOS attack. The private owners say the data has been saved and it will be restored in time. Maybe. But consider: this the one tool we have for having a verified memory of what was posted when. It is how we found that WHO changed its definition of herd immunity. It’s how we found that the CDC was behind the mail-in ballot fiasco of 2020. It’s how we know that FTX funded anti-Ivermectin studies. And so on. The links were stable and good, never down. 

  Until now, two weeks before the election. We are of course supposed to believe that this shocking collapse is purely a coincidence. Maybe. Probably. And yet without this website – a central point of failure – vast amounts of the history of the last quarter century is deleted. The entire contents of the web can be re-written as vaporware, here one instant, gone the next. Even if this site does come back, what will be missing and how long will it take to figure it out? Will the Internet have been lobotomized? If not this time, could it happen in the future? Certainly. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 19:15

• Russia Says Ukraine Kidnapped Over 1000 Kursk Residents, Seeks Whereabouts
  Russia Says Ukraine Kidnapped Over 1000 Kursk Residents, Seeks Whereabouts

  The Kremlin has issued a formal accusation saying Ukraine’s military has captured and is holding over 1,000 Kursk residents against their will, since launching the cross-border offensive in early August.

  Russia’s presidential human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said Monday, “I’ve received messages regarding more than 1,000 such people from relatives trying to find them.”

  

  “We know nothing about their fate. This is a gross violation of their rights and international norms of treatment of civilians,” Moskalkova added. She said she plans to raise the issue directly with the Ukrainian government.

  “I think it would be useful to remind you that the forced removal of civilians from their places of permanent residence is a gross violation of the Geneva Convention,” Moskalkova continued (according to machine translation). “And the world community should probably give this a proper assessment.”

  Russia has estimated that since the start of the Ukrainian army’s attack on its southwest border region, over 112,000 residents have been displaced from their homes. 

  Social media videos have often confirmed that amid the Ukrainian troop invasion a number of Russians have remained – often elderly people have been spotted, perhaps unable to flee.

  Moskalkova has identified that over 12,000 of the displaced Russians are living at temporary displacement shelters in various parts of Russia. Other have been forced to stay with relatives in safe parts of Russia.

  Ukraine has claimed that its forces are treating Russian civilians in captured territory humanely. In September Kiev requested that teams from United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) come in and verify the situation in areas of Russia’s Kursk.

  Moscow has complained about such requests, arguing that any international organization or even media must coordinate with the Kremlin before stepping foot on Russian sovereign territory. For example, Russia has issued charges targeting a CNN team that crossed the border while embedded with Ukrainian troops.

  OVER 1,000 RESIDENTS OF RUSSIA’S KURSK REGION FORCIBLY EVACUATED BY UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES ARE BEING SOUGHT BY THEIR RELATIVES – RUSSIAN COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

  The forcible removal of civilians is a gross violation of the Geneva Convention; the international community… pic.twitter.com/RUJHcaA70n

  — Sputnik (@SputnikInt) October 14, 2024

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  Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has said that the UN and Red Cross invitation was intended to “prove [Ukraine’s] adherence to international humanitarian law.”

  Meanwhile, Kiev has accused Russian troops of conducting mass executions as it fights Ukrainians in Kursk:

  Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman has denounced the alleged execution of nine captured Ukrainian troops by Russian forces in the Kursk border region.

  Dmytro Lubinets said he had written to the United Nations and the Red Cross about the allegations, accusing Moscow of breaching “all the rules and customs of war”.

  The intervention follows reporting by Ukrainian battlefield analysis site DeepState, which published drone footage purporting to show the dead troops who it said were drone operators. Officials in Russia have yet to comment on the allegations.

  Over the weekend President Zelensky said that his forces continue to “hold the line” in Kursk. But analysts agree that the Kursk operation has no impact on front lines in the Donbass, where pro-Kiev forces are losing ground.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 18:50

• Michigan Republicans Prevail In Election Integrity Lawsuit Over Number Of Poll Workers
  Michigan Republicans Prevail In Election Integrity Lawsuit Over Number Of Poll Workers

  Authored by Matt McGregor via The Epoch Times,

  Michigan Republican officials have secured a win in an election integrity lawsuit against the city of Detroit over “its deliberate failure” to hire enough Republican election inspectors.

  

  The Republican National Committee (RNC), the Michigan GOP, and the Wayne County Republican committee chairs announced that the city had agreed to modify its election protocols to hire “at least one Republican poll worker in each location,” in a settlement of the lawsuit.

  In August, the RNC and other entities sued the city, alleging that it violated a state law that requires election officials to hire an equal number of poll workers on both sides of the political aisle.

  The city, the lawsuit alleges, hired seven times as many Democrats as Republicans, which the RNC said decreases public trust in elections.

  According to the complaint, the Republican Party nominated 675 election inspectors; however, the city only appointed 52 of them for the primary election.

  The city hired up to 250 Republicans who were not nominated by the RNC, leaving a ratio of seven Democrats to one Republican inspector, which the RNC said was “not even close to equal.”

  In comparison, the city hired more than 2,300 election inspectors from the Democratic Party.

  “This uneven distribution of poll workers not only breaches state law but also undermines the integrity and fairness of the electoral process,” the RNC said in an August press release. “Our lawsuit demands that Detroit appoint more Republican inspectors.”

  In response to The Epoch Times’ request for comment, the City of Detroit’s corporation counsel, Conrad Mallett, said: “The modest extra steps we agreed to take were not complicated and not required by law. They were put in place as part of a continuing effort to ensure our citizens respect and have confidence in our election process and to demonstrate that our city clerk listens to all concerns.”

  RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said the win will return “much-needed transparency and accountability” to the city’s election protocols.

  “Thanks to the efforts of the RNC and Michigan GOP, Detroit will now change its election processes so that Republican poll workers will be allocated to all voting locations and, as nearly as possible, an equal number of Republicans will be hired this November,” Whatley said.

  The RNC’s Michigan lawsuits are part of a larger legal battle for election integrity in the state.

  In July, the RNC won a lawsuit to protect signature verification requirements that election officials had been instructed to disregard.

  “The signatures of absentee ballot voters have to and should be verified—it’s common sense,” state Republican Party Chairman Pete Hoekstra said in a statement. “Michigan is crucial to the pathway to victory in November. We must protect and enforce all our election laws to maintain confidence in our system.”

  In March, the RNC filed a lawsuit alleging that state election officials are violating federal law by not maintaining voter registration records.

  “Election integrity starts with clean voter rolls, and that’s why the National Voter Registration Act requires state officials to keep their rolls accurate and up-to-date,” Hoekstra said.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 18:25

• Quid Pro Quo Revealed: Netanyahu Vows He Won't Strike Iranian Oil Or Nuclear Targets
  Quid Pro Quo Revealed: Netanyahu Vows He Won’t Strike Iranian Oil Or Nuclear Targets

  A full two weeks have passed since Iran’s October 1st ballistic missile attack on Israel, which involved some 200 projectiles, many of which caused destruction on the ground (though Israel has been tight-lipped on the extent of it).

  The big question has remained: when will Israel retaliate and what form will it take? The Biden administration has over the last many days reportedly been urging for Israel to avoid hitting nuclear sites as well as energy sites. But there have been conflicting reports.

  

  For example on Monday, Harper’s Magazine editor Andrew Cockburn wrote, “Word in Washington is that Biden has approved Israeli strike on Iran’s Natanz nuclear site.”

  However, within hours after this speculative statement on X, The Washington Post reported that Israel is walking back from the prospect of bombing oil as well as nuclear facilities.

  “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the Biden administration he is willing to strike military rather than oil or nuclear facilities in Iran, according to two officials familiar with the matter, suggesting a more limited counterstrike aimed at preventing a full-scale war,” the Monday afternoon report said.

  President Biden in a phone call with PM Netanyahu last Wednesday reportedly conveyed serious concern that any counterstrikes could lead to all-out war if not kept ‘limited’.

  Monday’s afternoon WaPo headline was enough to send oil prices falling, also after morning reports of China’s weak demand…

  

  At the time of last week’s phone call, Netanyahu had reportedly expressed that he favors attacks on the Islamic Republic’s military infrastructure.

  The Washington Post now appears to be chalking this up as a win for Biden diplomacy:

  Netanyahu was in a “more moderated place” in that discussion than he had previously been, said the U.S. official, describing the call between the two leaders.

  The apparent softening of the prime minister’s stance factored into Biden’s decision to send a powerful missile defense system to Israel, both officials said.

  So the quid pro quo becomes clear… this is in reference to weekend reports saying the US is sending the THAAD anti-air missile defense system to Israel, for protection against Iran, which will include US troop operators. 

  

  However, at a moment that Israel is already engaged militarily on several fronts, especially in Lebanon with Iran-backed Hezbollah, absolutely nothing is certain.

  There remain plenty of hawks in Bibi’s security cabinet who are urging Israel to go big in its response. It is also the case that Netanyahu has been talking about taking out Iran’s nuclear program for many years at this point.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 18:00

• Kamala: "This Election Is Packed With Some Stuff"
  Kamala: “This Election Is Packed With Some Stuff”

  Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

  Kamala Harris proved once again Friday that she is in way beyond her depth, telling a crowd that the election is “packed with some stuff,” and then laughing inanely.

  

  “So when we think about what’s at stake in this election…Whoa, it’s packed with some stuff!” Harris said, breaking into weird over the top laughter.

  “It’s packed with some fundamental stuff! HA HA HA! I say rather articulately!” She then blathered.

  KAMALA: “It’s packed with some stuff! HA HA HA HA!”

  She’s the funniest person she knows! pic.twitter.com/nsInOBgIxq

  — Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 11, 2024

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  Did her teleprompter break again?

  Kamala is imploding in Scottsdale. WOW.

  “Stuff”?!

  — Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) October 11, 2024

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  Elsewhere during the speech, she claimed that Donald Trump is going to weaponise the DOJ against his political opponents.

  Rings a bell.

  She also bragged about her leadership skills and her ability to bring people together in her office, despite the fact that nearly everyone who has worked for her in the past four years has rage quit.

  Kamala: “The way that I like to lead, I bring folks in my office all the time and they know, I don’t want any yes people.”

  She had a 92% staff turnover rate as Vice President. pic.twitter.com/hqy9bUPBgj

  — Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 11, 2024

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  She has no coherent policies and never says anything of any substance.

  There is something seriously wrong with this weird woman. https://t.co/JbAnD80y7a

  — Motja (@MotjaB) October 11, 2024

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  She cannot think on her feet. How bad would that be if she somehow becomes the president of the country?

  Ya know… I was originally agreeing that Trump should tone down the “Kamala has a low IQ” insults.
  But as always, Trump was right and very much justified.

  — SteveJ777 🇺🇸 🚢 💪 (@StevieJ3210) October 11, 2024

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  It really is a Trump must win situation.

  In other news… Kamala’s brain is NOT packed with some stuff.

  — Debbie (@TheInlet72) October 11, 2024

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  Idiocracy is in danger of looking desirable compared to this.

  If this was written for a comedy, it would be rejected for being too cringe and over the top… https://t.co/9Bw3OB6F8n

  — Ricky Roma (@RickyRoma0) October 11, 2024

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  Or Veep.

  Articulate my arse. This woman is an absolute joke. If it wasn’t so serious it might be funny but this is running for President of the United States of America. Drop out now. https://t.co/QmqEpHnC9z

  — L G (@LG8889664252176) October 11, 2024

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  To quote tampon Tim Walz, We can’t afford another four years of this.

  I won’t make it through 4 years of this….. https://t.co/hUW9jm2rJ7

  — HedgedIn (@noalpha_allbeta) October 11, 2024

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  *  *  *

  Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 17:40

• NYT Lies To Downplay 'Racist' Kamala Plagiarism Scandal – So Chris Rufo Brings Receipts
  NYT Lies To Downplay ‘Racist’ Kamala Plagiarism Scandal – So Chris Rufo Brings Receipts

  Update (1745ET): After journalist Chris Rufo relayed the results of an in-depth analysis proving that Kamala Harris plagiarized ‘at least a dozen’ sections of her book on crime, the NY Times scrambled into damage control mode. First, they framed it as ‘conservative notices.’

  Every time they frame a story like this it’s an admission that they didn’t do their jobs. They didn’t do the journalism. Someone else did, and they think that someone else is the story. Because if it’s not the story, people might start asking “Hey why didn’t you guys report on…

  — Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) October 14, 2024

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  They then completely lied about Rufo’s reporting. So of course, Rufo hit back.

  The New York Times is lying about my plagiarism story and I have the receipts to prove it:

  1. The Times claims that I only argued that Kamala Harris plagiarized “five sections” involving “about 500 words.” But this isn’t true. In my story, I wrote that Stefan Weber argued there… pic.twitter.com/89ulECr4Hb

  — Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 14, 2024

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  Full response below:

  1. The Times claims that I only argued that Kamala Harris plagiarized “five sections” involving “about 500 words.” But this isn’t true. In my story, I wrote that Stefan Weber argued there are “more than a dozen” instances of “‘vicious plagiarism.'” This past Saturday, I provided the Times not only with my written analysis, which argues that there are “more than a dozen,” but with Weber’s full dossier, which included 18 allegations of varying severity. So, the Times deliberately withheld this crucial contextual information from its readers and from the supposed plagiarism expert, who, based on this limited information, called it “not serious.” They could have easily confirmed the “more than a dozen” point, but instead, lied by omission.

  

  2. The Times claims that “none of the passages in question took the ideas or thoughts of another writer.” This is preposterous. Harris not only copied multiple paragraphs of other people’s work verbatim, but she often lifted those ideas directly and at face value. In one case, she came to the wrong conclusion because she copied Wikipedia—i.e., she stole a bad idea, copied the language verbatim, and got the point wrong. This is the Full Monty of plagiarism. The Times’s claim doesn’t hold up at all; it’s just a way of downplaying the transgression of Kamala Harris, as they tried to do initially with Harvard president Claudine Gay. Their claim is not supported by the evidence:

  

  3. The Times provides one example of the plagiarism from my story, which suggests that it was a minor copy-and-paste of two short sentences:

  

  But this is supremely misleading. The violation was not two sentences, but, rather, five sentences. Here is the actual extent of this plagiarism instance, which is much more severe than the Times suggests. She copied-and-pasted two paragraphs and simply added the word “additional”

  

  4. The Times suggests that noticing Kamala Harris’s plagiarism is somehow “racist,” even though the paper has covered plagiarism by many other political figures, including conservative minorities, such as former Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke, without suggesting that doing so was “racist.” This is just a way of laundering in a smear to complement the absurd headline that my reporting on plagiarism by a presidential candidate is “seiz[ing] on” a transgression that is “not serious”—in other words, framing me as the villain of the story, rather than the plagiarism by a presidential candidate.

  My rule of working with journalists is simple: If you treat me fairly, I treat you fairly. After publication of the Times piece, I called the reporter and editor at the Times to ask politely for a correction. The editor, Mary Suh, had nothing but excuses. And so, we’re going to fight this one out. They should issue a correction, but, even if they do not, I will correct the record in public.

  In short, bitch please.

  A plagiarism expert lmaoooo

  — Michael Brown (@MikeBrownsWorld) October 14, 2024

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  Literally next Sunday morning… pic.twitter.com/hiyGBOQHJ0

  — David Santa Carla 🦇 (@TheOnlyDSC) October 14, 2024

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  *  *  *

  Kamala Harris’ plagiarism apparently goes far beyond Trump and Biden‘s economic plans.

  

  In a Monday thread on X by investigative journalist Christopher Rufo, we learn that famed Austrian “plagiarism hunter” Dr. Stefan Weber found that “Kamala Harris plagiarized at least a dozen sections of her criminal-justice book, Smart on Crime,” and “even lifted material from Wikipedia.“

  We can begin with a passage in which Harris discusses high school graduation rates. Here, she lifted verbatim language from an uncited AP/NBC News report: pic.twitter.com/pZv5mD3m5t

  — Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 14, 2024

  Continued from X;

  In another section of the book, Harris, without proper attribution, reproduced extensive sections from a John Jay College of Criminal Justice press release. She and her co-author passed off the language as their own, copying multiple paragraphs virtually verbatim. Here is the excerpt, with abbreviations, such as percentages and state names, treated as verbatim substitutions:

  

  In a section about a New York court program, Harris stole long passages directly from Wikipedia—long considered an unreliable source. She not only assumes the online encyclopedia’s accuracy, but copies its language nearly verbatim, without citing the source. Here is Harris’s language, based on the page as it appeared in December 2008, before she published the book:

  

  Harris also copied language from a Bureau of Justice Assistance report report, which was linked in the the Wikipedia entry. Here is the passage in Harris’s book, with duplicated material in the other column:

  

  Finally, when attempting to write a description of a nonprofit group, Harris simply lifted promotional language from an Urban Institute report, and failed to cite her source:

  

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  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 17:36

• China New Credit Data Is A Disappointing Mess, Sparking Speculation Of QE
  China New Credit Data Is A Disappointing Mess, Sparking Speculation Of QE

  Two weeks ago, when the world was still enamored with Jim Cramer’s idiotic idea that Chinese stonks can magically double in just a few weeks simply because Beijing had some soothing words to say and because when it comes to greater fools, China has more than anyone else, and when Goldman laughably upgraded Chinese stocks after the 30% runup had already taken place,we warned that the party was about to end…

  Cramer: “You have to come in China stocks right now”

  That’s the top.

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 2, 2024

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  … for one simple reason: as we said in “Why China’s Rally Won’t Have Legs“, China would be unable to recreate previous reflationary episodes simply because Beijing would not be able to recreate the credit impulse explosion that rebooted the Chinese economy during previous downturns, in 2012, 2015 and 2020.

  Specifically, this is what we said:

  In the 2015 stimulus cycle, China’s credit impulse peaked at 13.5 trillion yuan, equivalent to over 15 percent of GDP. Given that China’s nominal economy is now twice as large, an equivalent stimulus would need the credit impulse to peak at 27 trillion yuan (Chart 2).

  

  At its most recent peak though, China’s credit impulse did not even reach 5 trillion yuan! Meaning that to compare with the 2015 episode, the just-announced stimulus cycle would need an amplitude five times greater than the most recent peak.

  This would require a major reversal of the downtrend in stimulus cycles through the past two decades. After the credit impulse peaked at a monster 25 percent of GDP in 2009, subsequent peaks have reached 15 percent, 15 percent, 10 percent, and just 3 percent. This is significant because as the peak impulse has dwindled, so has the boost to growth (Chart 3 and Chart 4).

  

  We bring this up because earlier today China published its latest, September, credit data, and it was a mess: the broadest credit aggregate, total social financing (TSF), as well as new RMB loans remained soft, in line with market expectations. 

  

  Here are the details:

  • New RMB loans: RMB 1590bn in September (RMB loans to the real economy: RMB 1973bn) vs. Bloomberg consensus: RMB 1938bn.
    • Outstanding RMB loan growth: 8.1% yoy in September; down from 8.5% yoy in August.
    • New RMB loans missed market expectations and were much lower than a year ago. The outstanding RMB loan growth declined to 8.1% yoy in September (vs. 8.5% yoy in August). In addition, the composition of new loans suggested credit demand remained weak in September. After seasonal adjustment, household loans expanded mildly by 1.7% month-over-month annualized in September (vs. 2.1% in August), with accelerated short-term loans extension. Bill financing growth remained solid (31.6% month-over-month annualized in September vs. 34.4% in August), while corporate medium-to-long term loans growth moderated to 8.6% month-over-month annualized in September (vs. 10.1% in August).
  • Total social financing: RMB 3760bn in September, in line with Bloomberg consensus: RMB 3575bn.
    • TSF stock growth: 8.0% yoy in September, down from 8.1% in August. The implied month-on-month growth of TSF stock: 8.4% in September vs. 8.4% in August.
    • TSF flows were broadly unchanged from August to September, as a rise of government bond issuance was offset by a decline of corporate bond issuance. Specifically, government bond net issuance rose to RMB 1349bn vs. RMB 1174bn in August after seasonal adjustment, while corporate bond net issuance fell to RMB -41bn in September after seasonal adjustment vs. RMB 85bn in August. In year-over-year terms, TSF stock growth edged down to 8.0% from 8.1% in August. The implied sequential growth of TSF stock was unchanged at 8.4% mom sa annualized in September.
  • M2: 6.8% yoy in September vs. Bloomberg consensus: 6.4% yoy, August: 6.3% yoy; more ominously, M1 growth edged down to -7.4% yoy in September, vs. -7.3% yoy in August.

  

  According to Goldman, the September credit data indicated credit demand of private sectors remained weak: household loan growth remained low, and corporate loan growth moderated. Money supply data were mixed: M1 stock still experienced a deep contraction, but M2 growth picked up in September (as a reminder, M1 has to surpass M2 for China to even have a hope of a successful reset). The Securities Times reported that the rise of M2 growth was driven by inflows into bank deposits and margin deposits, thanks to the stock market rally in late September; of course, the subsequent drop means that M2 will promptly reverse. More importantly, the deep M1 contraction still signals likely disinflationary pressures in the coming months.

  China credit impulse remains depressionary. For all its talk, Beijing will need to unleash a new credit flood for markets to take it seriously. pic.twitter.com/U0tsQrRle3

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 14, 2024

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

  Bottom line: this was a clear step in the wrong direction for China, and Beijing’s desire to reflate the economy, and reminds us of what we said one week ago, when we quoted a Goldman trader who cautioned that unless China does QE “now”, it will ned up in a much bigger hole in 12 months, as there is just one thing that matters for China: M1 vs M2 dynamics, to wit: “If the rally has legs you need to see M1 growing faster than M2 (demand for settlement balances above demand for saving balances) and you also need to see much steeper curve.”

  

  Which brings us to this morning, because just hours after the latest dismal credit data was published, China’s Caixin reported that the first tentative step to full-blown QE, namely the imminent issuance of “6 trillion yuan from ultra-long special treasury bonds over three years as part of its efforts to buttress the slowing economy through fiscal stimulus.”

  Naturally, with amounts that big, the central bank will have to backstop demand, hence QE. And, as a reminder, one week ago we also said that “if China does do QE, oil will soar, and bitcoin and gold will be orders of magnitude higher once Beijing triggers then next global reflationary tsunami.” That should explain why bitcoin surged today…

  

  … and why it is well on its way to new all time highs again.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 17:20

• More Than 400 North American 7-Eleven Stores To Close
  More Than 400 North American 7-Eleven Stores To Close

  Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

  Convenience store chain 7-Eleven will close hundreds of stores as the company faces declining sales at its U.S. stores.

  

  7-Eleven operates more than 13,000 stores across the United States and Canada. The company plans to shut down 444 “underperforming stores” as part of improving efficiency and managing cost, according to an Oct. 10 financial forecast presentation from the firm. The closures represent more than 3 percent of the company’s U.S. and Canadian stores. This is expected to generate approximately $30 million in operating income benefit for the retail chain this year.

  7-Eleven is looking to boost capital efficiency and ensure sustained business growth in North America given the “tough consumer spending environment, particularly among lower-and middle-income earners,” it said in an Oct. 10 statement.

  Challenging employment conditions, high interest rates, and inflationary pressures have led to a decline in labor incomes, according to the company.

  The firm credited the robustness of the North American economy to consumption by high-income earners, noting that middle- and lower-income groups have taken a “more prudent approach” in this regard.

  “In the six months ended August 31, 2024, merchandise sales at existing stores in the U.S. decreased year-on-year in U.S. dollars,” it stated, noting that traffic also declined.

  7-Eleven attributed this to several factors, including a large portion of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, the reduction in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, the growth of online retail sales, and a cyber outage incident that affected operations.

  The firm specifically highlighted declining tobacco use as a contributing factor affecting traffic and sales. Tobacco use has fallen by 26 percent compared to 2019, the company stated.

  Cigarettes made up 21.5 percent of total convenience store sales in 2023. Circle K and 7-Eleven are the two top convenience store chains by store count, meaning that they likely already each capture the largest shares of U.S. tobacco sales, according to Don Burke, senior vice president at Management Science Associates, a market research firm.

  The market for U.S. cigarette smokers is declining after decades of warnings about health risks. Convenience stores have long dominated tobacco sales, accounting for about 70 percent of purchases.

  The planned closure of 444 stores is part of several steps being taken to ensure the long-term success of 7-Eleven outlets, according to the company. Other measures include growing proprietary foods, accelerating digital sales, and growing and enhancing store networks.

  The retail chain reduced its estimate for total store sales in the second half of 2024. The company predicted that it will “return to growth in 2025 and beyond.”

  7-Eleven is owned by Japan-based Seven & i Holdings, which has multiple other brands under it.

  7-Eleven stated that it plans on setting up “a store network of 50,000 stores in areas outside Japan and North America by the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025, and to extend our presence to 30 countries and regions including Japan and North America by the fiscal year ending December 31, 2030.”

  Buyout Attempts

  In August, Seven & i Holdings revealed that it received a buyout offer from Canada-based convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT). In September, the firm announced that it rejected the offer.

  According to Seven & i Holdings, Couche-Tard proposed a $14.86-per-share cash deal, which it stated “grossly” undervalued the firm. The Japanese company determined that the transaction was not in the best interests of shareholders.

  Even if the Canadian store chain were to raise the proposed buyout value “very significantly,” the possibility of the deal getting through remains uncertain, Seven & i Holdings stated.

  Stephen Dacus, chair of Seven & i’s board, wrote a letter to Couche-Tard, clarifying that the Japanese firm remains open to any offer that recognizes their “standalone intrinsic value.”

  “However, we do not believe, for several critical reasons, that the proposal you have put forward provides a basis for us to engage in substantive discussions regarding a potential transaction,” he said.

  On Oct. 9, Seven & I Holdings stated that it received a revised, nonbinding buyout proposal from Couche-Tard.

  Seven & I Holdings “has maintained, and intends to continue to maintain, the confidentiality of its current discussions with ACT at this time.”

  “The Company will continue to act in the best interest of its shareholders and other stakeholders of the Company,” it stated.

  The Japanese firm announced recently that it plans to establish an intermediate holding company that will watch over its supermarket food business, specialty stores, and other businesses, collectively referred to as the SST Business Group. A total of 31 companies will be brought under the group.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/14/2024 – 17:00