• Should We Be Worried About The Next (Digital) Apocalypse?
  Should We Be Worried About The Next (Digital) Apocalypse?

  Authored by Alexandra Marshall via The Epoch Times,

  Everyone loves a good apocalypse, and in 2022, there’s an end-times for everyone.

  Some apocalypses are fictional—great for corporate lobbying and political ambition. Others are overplayed as a “get rich quick” scheme that vanishes without explanation.

  But the real apocalypses, the ones that pose a genuine threat to civilisation, rarely make it to print. After all, there’s a difference between fear and terror, and no sensible politician wants to start a panic.

  

  Societies built on technology become vulnerable to its flaws in the same way desert empires fear cloudless skies.

  At the rate human civilisation is evolving, a true digital catastrophe would likely cause a Year Zero event, an epoch defined by digital darkness.

  If important data was lost—assets wiped and identity data destroyed—there would be a resetting of civilisation. However, it would be foolish to imagine human beings can recover as quickly as a computer operating system.

  Humanity has come close to digital calamity before, but not since crawling into the womb of Silicon Valley.

  The digital revolution happened within a single lifetime, and we find ourselves in the difficult position of wanting to embrace technology without ending up imprisoned by it.

  While we are busy avoiding virtual mouse traps laid by the government, we must take care to keep redundancies within society to protect against inevitable periods of digital failure. After all, one week without power is enough to send advanced cities into ruin.

  The next digital apocalypse will not be stopped by teams of sweaty programmers, red-eyed and shaking in the din of the world’s server rooms.

  The Y2K Bug

  Some of us are old enough to remember when an innocent mistake from the dawning age of computers created panic in 1999.

  The “Y2K bug” was a simple flaw in the handling of dates during calculations when four-digit dates were truncated into two digits to save space. This was fine from 1960 to 1999, but as the year 2000 approached, programmers had to stop procrastinating and patch the error which threatened the security of everything from banking to nuclear power plants, airliners, factory machinery, and the commercial world, while satellite systems and GPS posed a physical risk to safety.

  

  Missile Commanders Lt. (L) and Lt. Col. Ken Reed confirm a launch warning over the phone during a practice drill at the North America Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado Springs, Colo., Nov. 9, 1999. (Mark Leffingwell/AFP via Getty Images)

  The tech industry was all at sea during this time, fixing micro-cracks on a listing cruise liner. It was an odd apocalypse because if you were not a programmer, there was nothing you could do.

  Unlike the “bend the knee” mantra of climate change, the December of 1999 ended with an almost Norse fatalism culminating in a massive party beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge (at least in Australia).

  The crowd was covered in glitter, neon glow sticks, and outrageous heart-antenna headbands—three sheets to the wind on champagne. Most expected their city to go black and for the world’s computers to cough and die.

  They didn’t. Those programmers worked to the last stroke of midnight. The bridge erupted in colourful plumes of gunpowder. The apocalypse was so uneventful that 22 years on, there are articles wrongly dismissing the danger.

  No one had anything to gain from the Y2K bug. It was a pest ruthlessly exterminated by every government. (Shhhh. Let’s not talk about the year 2038 problem).

  The Next Digital Apocalypse May Lead to a ‘Great Reset’

  If the next long-prophesied digital apocalypse proves advantageous for those hoping to “reset” the global economy, our data may be sacrificed to serve “the greater good.”

  A catastrophic loss of data would require a “fair system” of recovery—a “re-distribution” of assets, like a toddler knocking over a Monopoly board only for the parents to “fairly” put the houses back on all the squares regardless of who bought them. Those in dispute are gifted to the bank. Depending on a nation’s debt, loan-forgiveness in exchange for property acquisition is likely.

  A digital apocalypse of this scale would probably arise from physical damage to the world’s largest server farms rather than cyber warfare. It’s much more effective to flatten a building, cut a cable, or even sustain a natural occurrence such as the Carrington Event of 1859.

  An unstable energy grid, while not permanently destructive, would induce periods of digital interference that may alter our dependence on high-tech solutions in our economy.

  In the real world, retailers are quick to switch to cash after an hour of blackouts.

  If the tech community is honest with the public, the next digital apocalypse will not be malicious attacks from our friends in North Korea. It won’t be a gremlin from the 70s chewing on the cords nor a Nigerian Prince with a recently deceased relative.

  Our apocalypse will be conducted in the halls of Parliament, designed by lobbyists and politicians who are rapidly transforming the digital world into an intangible prison block.

  The loss of citizen control over the digital realm, replaced by the desires of the state, is an apocalypse humanity can never recover from. It would be the end of the free market Eden that forged our greatest technological achievements.

  In its place, we will find an arms race of control that extends into our thoughts and beneath our skin.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 23:40

• Mapping The Biggest Tech Talent Hubs In The US & Canada
  Mapping The Biggest Tech Talent Hubs In The US & Canada

  The tech workforce just keeps growing. In fact, there are now an estimated 6.5 million tech workers between the U.S. and Canada – 5.5 million of which work in the United States.

  This infographic, via Visual Capitalist’s Nick Routley, draws from a report by CBRE to determine which tech talent markets in the U.S. and Canada are the largest. The data looks at total workforce in the sector, as well as the change in tech worker population over time in various cities.

  The report also classifies which metro areas and regions can rightly be considered tech hubs in the first place, by looking at a variety of factors including cost of living, average educational attainment, and tech employment levels as a share of different industries.

  

  The Top Tech Hubs in the U.S.

  Silicon Valley, in California’s Bay Area, remains the most prominent (and expensive) U.S. tech hub, with a talent pool of nearly 380,000 tech workers.

  Here’s a look at the top tech talent markets in the country in terms of total worker population:

  

  America’s large, coastal cities still contain the lion’s share of tech talent, but mid-sized tech hubs like Salt Lake City, Portland, and Denver have put up strong growth numbers in recent years. Seattle, which is home to both Amazon and Microsoft, posted an impressive 32% growth rate over the last five years.

  Emerging tech hubs include areas like Raleigh-Durham. The two cities have nearly 70,000 employed tech workers and a strong talent pipeline, seeing a 28% increase in degree completions in fields like Math/Statistics and Computer Engineering year-over-year to 2020. In fact, the entire state of North Carolina is becoming an increasingly attractive business hub.

  Houston was the one city on this list that had a negative growth rate, at -2%.

  The Top Tech Hubs in Canada

  Tech giants like Google, Meta, and Amazon are continuously and aggressively growing their presence in Canada, further solidifying the country’s status as the next big destination for tech talent. Here are the country’s four tech hubs with a total worker population of more than 50,000:

  

  Toronto saw the most absolute growth tech positions in 2021, adding 88,900 jobs. The tech sector in Canada’s largest city has seen a lot of momentum in recent years, and is now ranked by CBRE as North America’s #3 tech hub, after the SF Bay Area and Seattle.

  Vancouver’s tech talent population increased the most from its original figure, climbing 63%. Seattle-based companies like Microsoft and Amazon have established sizable offices in the city, adding to the already thriving tech scene. Furthermore, Google is set to build a submarine high-speed fiber optic cable connecting Canada to Asia, with a terminus in Vancouver.

  Not to be left behind, Ottawa has also taken giant strides to increase their tech talent and stamp their presence. The country’s capital even has the highest concentration of tech employment in its workforce, thanks in part to the success of Shopify.

  

  The small, but well-known tech hub of Waterloo also had a very high concentration on tech employment (9.6%). The region has seen its tech workforce grow by 8% over the past five years.

  Six out of the top 10 cities by tech workforce concentration are located in Canada.

  Evolution of Tech Hubs

  The post-COVID era has seen a shifting definition of what a tech hub means. It’s clear that remote work is here to stay, and as workers migrate to chase affordability and comfort, traditional tech hubs are seeing some decline — or at least slower growth — in their population of tech workers.

  While it isn’t evident that there is a mass exodus of tech talent from traditional coastal hubs, the rise in high-paying tech jobs in smaller markets across the country could point to a trend and is positive for the industry.

  While more workers with great talent, resources, and education continue to opt for cost-friendly places to reside and work remotely, will newer markets like Charlotte, Tennessee, and Calgary see a rise of tech companies, or will large corporations and startups alike continue to opt for the larger cities on the coast?

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 23:20

• Ed Snowden: America's Open Wound – The CIA Is Not Your Friend
  Ed Snowden: America’s Open Wound – The CIA Is Not Your Friend

  Authored by Edward Snowden via ‘Continuing Ed’ Substack,

  “Better that right counsels be known to enemies than that the evil secrets of tyrants should be concealed from the citizens. They who can treat secretly of the affairs of a nation have it absolutely under their authority; and as they plot against the enemy in time of war, so do they against the citizens in time of peace.”

  – Baruch Spinoza

  

  It hasn’t been a month since President Biden mounted the steps of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, declaring it his duty to ensure each of us understands the central faction of his political opposition are extremists that “threaten the very foundations of our Republic.” Flanked by the uniformed icons of his military and standing atop a Leni Riefenstahl stage, the leader clenched his fists to illustrate seizing the future from the forces of “fear, division, and darkness.” The words falling from the teleprompter ran rich with the language of violence, a “dagger at the throat” emerging from the “shadow of lies.”

  “What’s happening in our country,” the President said, “is not normal.”

  Is he wrong to think that? The question the speech intended to raise—the one lost in the unintentionally villainous pageantry—is whether and how we are to continue as a democracy and a nation of laws. For all the Twitter arguments over Biden’s propositions, there has been little consideration of his premises.

  Democracy and the rule of law have been so frequently invoked as a part of the American political brand that we simply take it for granted that we enjoy both.

  Are we right to think that?

  

  Our glittering nation of laws observes this year two birthdays: the 70th anniversary of the National Security Agency, on which my thoughts have been recorded, and the 75th anniversary of the Central Intelligence Agency.

  The CIA was founded in the wake of the 1947 National Security Act. The Act foresaw no need for the Courts and Congress to oversee a simple information-aggregation facility, and therefore subordinated it exclusively to the President, through the National Security Council he controls.

  Within a year, the young agency had already slipped the leash of its intended role of intelligence collection and analysis to establish a covert operations division. Within a decade, the CIA was directing the coverage of American news organizations, overthrowing democratically elected governments (at times merely to benefit a favored corporation), establishing propaganda outfits to manipulate public sentiment, launching a long-running series of mind-control experiments on unwitting human subjects (purportedly contributing to the creation of the Unabomber), and—gasp—interfering with foreign elections. From there, it was a short hop to wiretapping journalists and compiling files on Americans who opposed its wars.

  In 1963, no less than former President Harry Truman confessed that the very agency he personally signed into law had transformed into something altogether different than he intended, writing:

  “For some time I have been disturbed by the way CIA has been diverted from its original assignment. It has become an operational and at times a policy-making arm of the Government. This has led to trouble…”

  Many today comfort themselves by imagining that the Agency has been reformed, and that such abuses are relics of the distant past, but what few reforms our democracy has won have been watered-down or compromised. The limited “Intelligence Oversight” role that was eventually conceded to Congress in order to placate the public has never been taken seriously by either the committee’s majority—which prefers cheerleading over investigating—or by the Agency itself, which continues to conceal politically-sensitive operations from the very group most likely to defend them.

  “Congress should have been told,” said [Senator] Dianne Feinstein. “We should have been briefed before the commencement of this kind of sensitive program. Director Panetta… was told that the vice president had ordered that the program not be briefed to Congress.”

  How can we judge the ultimate effectiveness of oversight and reforms? Well, the CIA plotted to assassinate my friend, American whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, in 1972, yet nearly fifty years of “reforms” did little to inhibit them from recently sketching out another political murder targeting Julian Assange. Putting that in perspective, you probably own shoes older than the CIA’s most recent plot to murder a dissident… or rather the most recent plot that we know of.

  If you believe the Assange case to be a historical anomaly, some aberration unique to Trump White House, recall that the CIA’s killings have continued in series across administrations. Obama ordered the killing of an American far from any battlefield, and killed his 16 year-old American son a few weeks later, but the man’s American daughter was still alive by the time Obama left.

  Within a month of entering the White House, Trump killed her.

  She was 8 years old.

  

  Nawar al-Awlaki

  It goes beyond assassinations. Within recent memory, the CIA captured Gul Rahman, who we know was not Al-Qaeda, but it seems did save the life of Afghanistan’s future (pro-US) President. Rahman was placed in what the Agency described as a “dungeon” and tortured until he died.

  They stripped him naked, save a diaper he couldn’t change, in a cold so wicked that his guards, in their warm clothes, ran heaters for themselves. In absolute darkness, they bolted his hands and feet to a single point on the floor with a very short chain so that it was impossible to stand or lie down – a practice called “short shackling” – and after he died, claimed that it was for his own safety. They admit to beating him, even describing the “forceful punches.” They describe the blood that ran from his nose and mouth as he died.

  

  Short-shackling, as described by survivors

  Just pages later, in their formal conclusion, declare that there was no evidence of beating. There was no evidence torture. The CIA ascribes responsibility for his death to hypothermia, which they blamed on him for the crime of refusing, on his final night, a meal from the men that killed him.

  

  The CIA claimed the complaints of a man they tortured to death — regarding the violation of his human rights — were evidence of a “sophisticated level of resistance training.”

  In the aftermath, the Agency concealed the death of Gul Rahman from his family. To this day, they refuse to reveal what happened to his remains, denying those who survive him a burial, or even some locus of mourning.

  Ten years after the torture program investigated, exposed, and ended, no one was charged for their role in these crimes. The man responsible for Rahman’s death was recommended for a $2,500 card award — for “consistently superior work”.

  A different torturer was elevated to the Director’s seat.

  

  The Judgment of Solomon, Rubens, 1617

  This summer, in a speech marking the occasion of the CIA’s 75th birthday, President Biden struck a quite different note than he did in Philadelphia, reciting what the CIA instructs all presidents: that the soul of the institution really lies in speaking truth to power.

  “We turn to you with the big questions,” Biden said, “the hardest questions. And we count on you to give your best, unvarnished assessment of where we are.  And I emphasize “‘unvarnished.’”

  But this itself is a variety of varnishing — a whitewash.

  For what reason do we aspire to maintain — or achieve — a nation of laws, if not to establish justice?

  Let us say we have a democracy, shining and pure. The people, or in our case some subset of people, institute reasonable laws to which government and citizen alike must answer. The sense of justice that arises within such a society is not produced as a result of the mere presence of law, which can be tyrannical and capricious, or even elections, which face their own troubles, but is rather derived from the reason and fairness of the system that results.

  What would happen if we were to insert into this beautiful nation of laws an extralegal entity that is not directed by the people, but a person: the President? Have we protected the nation’s security, or have we placed it at risk?

  This is the unvarnished truth: the establishment of an institution charged with breaking the law within a nation of laws has mortally wounded its founding precept. 

  From the year it was established, Presidents and their cadres have regularly directed the CIA to go beyond the law for reasons that cannot be justified, and therefore must be concealed — classified. The primary result of the classification system is not an increase in national security, but a decrease in transparency. Without meaningful transparency, there is no accountability, and without accountability, there is no learning.

  The consequences have been deadly, for both Americans and our victims. When the CIA armed the Mujaheddin to wage war on Soviet Afghanistan, we created al-Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden. Ten years later, the CIA is arming, according to then-Vice President Joe Biden, “al-Nusra, and Al-Qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world.” After the CIA runs a disinformation operation to make life hard for the Soviet Union by fueling a little proxy war, the war rages for twenty-six years — far beyond the Union’s collapse.

  Do you believe that the CIA today — a CIA free from all consequence and accountability — is uninvolved in similar activities? Can you find no presence of their fingerprints in the events of the world, as described in the headlines, that provide cause for concern? Yet it is those who question the wisdom of placing a paramilitary organization beyond the reach of our courts that are dismissed as “naive.”

  For 75 years, the American people have been unable to bend the CIA to fit the law, and so the law has been bent to fit the CIA. As Biden stood on the crimson stage, at the site where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were debated and adopted, his words rang out like the cry of a cracked-to-hell Liberty Bell: “What’s happening in our country is not normal.”

  If only that were true. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 23:00

• Xi Tells Armed Forces Focus On Preparing For Wars As Geopolitical Flashpoints Intensify 
  Xi Tells Armed Forces Focus On Preparing For Wars As Geopolitical Flashpoints Intensify 

  Coming off last week’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Uzbekistan where the two leaders met, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute observes, “Xi has likely sensed the opportunity to use the Sino-Russian ‘no limits’ partnership to extract greater Russian resources from Putin in exchange for China’s continued backing.”

  “Despite his seemingly unimpressed face at the summit, Xi is unlikely to break ties with Putin over the lack of Russian progress in Ukraine. Russia simply remains too important a partner in China’s strategy to challenge the United States’ position in the Indo-Pacific,” the institute’s analysis adds.

  And interesting given the timing, Xi on Wednesday – the same day that Putin declared a ‘partial’ national military mobilization – addressed a national military seminar, telling top officers to focus their attention on gearing up for potential military action on the horizon.

  

  “It is imperative to conscientiously summarize and apply successful experience in reforms, to master new situations and [understand] the requirements of the tasks, to focus on preparing for wars, and to have the courage to explore and innovate,” Xinhua News Agency quoted the Chinse president as saying.

  He said further at the Beijing-hosted defense conference, which included high-ranking representatives of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC), as well as the People’s Armed Police Force and military academies, that major reforms to the nations armed forces he initiated starting years ago have been successful.

  “Long-standing systemic obstructions, structural incongruities and policy issues in the development of national defense and the armed forces have been resolved,” he told the top defense officials.

  Last week’s SCO conference involved moments where Putin seemed on the defensive, particularly in dialogue with China’s Xi and India’s Modi…

  🇷🇺🇨🇳 Vladimir #Putin said Thursday he understood China’s concerns over the #UkraineWar.

  The acknowledgement was a surprising indication of friction between the two powers.@vtchakarova breaks down what is at stake for Moscow and Beijing in maintaining their alliance ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/WJ5dHrs76B

  — FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) September 16, 2022

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

  Meanwhile, on Tuesday a pair of Western warships make a provocative sail through of the contested Taiwan Strait, at a moment the PLA military continues its heavy patrol presence surrounding Taiwan in the wake of the early August Pelosi visit, as CNN describes:

  US and Canadian warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday following weekend remarks from President Joe Biden that the US would defend Taiwan in the event it is attacked by China.

  A US Navy ship, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins, conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” on Tuesday, US Navy spokesperson Lt. Mark Langford said in a statement.

  The US ship conducted the transit “in cooperation with Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver,” Langford said.

  It wasn’t the first time Biden answered with a simple “yes” when pressed on whether the US would defend Taiwan if the island were invaded. 

  He issued the blunt response when asked in a CBS “60 Minutes” interview which aired Sunday what the US reaction would be if China decided to invade Taiwan. “Yes, if, in fact, there was an unprecedented attack,” he said in a sit-down with CBS’ Scott Pelley. Xi no doubt had such provocative comments from the US commander-in-chief fresh on his mind when he addressed Wednesday’s military conference in Beijing.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 22:40

• Four Reasons Why Dollar Dominance Won't Be Permanent
  Four Reasons Why Dollar Dominance Won’t Be Permanent

  Authored by Mark Nestmann via Nestmann.com,

  We periodically read missives to the effect that “the dollar is doomed.” And we’ve been reading them for many years.

  Consider this newsletter promotion from 1985. The headline was a lot like those we see today: “Get Your Dollars Out of the USA Before Uncle Sam Gets Them Out of You.” The copy predicted an imminent collapse in the US dollar’s value, along with hyperinflation.

  Of course, neither of these things happened in 1985 … or over the next 37 years. Given this, you can understand why we tend to be skeptical when we read breathless pronouncements of impending gloom and doom for the greenback.

  That’s especially true because at the moment, the dollar is surging in value. It’s at a 20-year high against the euro; a 24-year high against the Japanese yen; and a 37-year high against the British pound.

  And we wouldn’t be surprised if the dollar strengthens further in the next few months, especially if the Federal Reserve follows through on its promises to continue raising interest rates.

  But behind the scenes, the dollar looks more vulnerable.

  

  We see four trends pointing the way.

  First, while the dollar is effectively the world’s reserve currency, its share of global central bank currency reserves has been steadily shrinking for many years.

  Today, about 59% of global central bank currency reserves are held in dollars. But in 2000, that number was 70%.  

  Second, American politicians have grossly abused the dollar’s privileged status.

  One way they’ve done so is to borrow trillions of dollars to finance the country’s welfare-warfare state while simultaneously cutting taxes. No matter how much money its politicians borrow, central banks still need to accumulate dollars since so many global transactions are settled in dollars. Companies everywhere that conduct business internationally need to exchange their local currencies into dollars to pay for goods and services.

  Third, Uncle Sam persists in using the dollar as a hammer to hold over the heads of its adversaries.  

  One form this hammer takes is US domination of the international payments settlement system called SWIFT – the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. This organization offers over 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries a network enabling them to send and receive payment orders – mainly dollars – in a secure, standardized format.

  Even though SWIFT is headquartered in Belgium, Uncle Sam has a great deal of influence over it. Thus, we anticipated that within days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, SWIFT ejected most Russian banks from its network. Russia now joins Iran and North Korea as countries effectively isolated from the global dollar clearing network.

  Fourth, the targets of US sanctions are taking steps to de-dollarize.

  We wrote about some of them in this article last year. Since then, Russia and China have taken steps to end the use of dollars altogether. The latest initiative in this direction occurred in June at the 14th BRICS summit. BRICS – an acronym for the countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – isn’t an organization as such, but rather a group of countries pursuing common goals. High on the list of those goals, as Chinese President Xi stated in his keynote speech:

  We should expand BRICS cooperation on cross-border payment … to facilitate trade, investment, and financing among our countries.

  Russian President Putin disclosed another crucial BRICS objective – setting up a new global reserve currency. It would consist of a basket of BRICS countries’ currencies.

  It’s unlikely any of these initiatives pose any short-term threat to the dollar. Yet, the BRICS countries collectively account for 41% of global population, 24% of global GDP, and 16% of global trade.

  Meanwhile, Americans are enjoying the effects of having the dollar riding high. For instance, they’re flocking to Europe to buy real estate. The hottest markets at the moment for buyers with fistfuls of dollars are in France (Paris and Provence); Italy (Tuscany and the Lake Como region); Portugal (Lisbon); and England (London).

  The dollar’s run-up in value has also led to a prolonged decline in values of gold and silver. So far in 2022, gold has lost nearly 6% of its value; silver nearly 19%.

  Still, gold’s performance is noteworthy, since the US Dollar Index, which tracks the strength of the dollar against a trade-weighted basket of foreign currencies, is up more than 14% for the year.

  It’s anyone’s guess if the continuing efforts to dethrone the dollar’s reserve currency status will be successful, and when. But one thing is for sure. Eventually, the dollar is fated to join the long list of fiat currencies (i.e., currencies backed only by the governments that issued them rather than by a tangible asset such as gold) that have been debased out of existence.

  On its way out, you’ll see even higher inflation, bail-ins, and exchange controls.

  It’s only a matter of time. Make sure you’re ready when it comes.

  *  *  *

  On another note, many clients first get to know us by accessing some of our well-researched courses and reports on important topics that affect you. Like How to Go Offshore in 2022, for example. It tells the story of John and Kathy, a couple we helped from the heartland of America. You’ll learn how we helped them go offshore and protect their nestegg from ambulance chasers, government fiat and the decline of the US Dollar… and access a whole new world of opportunities not available in the US. Simply click here to register for this free program.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 22:20

• World's Highest Penthouse Listed For Record $250 Million
  World’s Highest Penthouse Listed For Record $250 Million

  A housing reset is underway and will soon affect home prices. Before the bottom falls out of the market, a penthouse apartment at New York’s Central Park Tower, the world’s tallest residential condominium, at 1,550 feet high, aims to be the country’s highest-ever home sale price. 

  

  WSJ reported that the 17,500-square feet penthouse is a staggering 1,400 feet above city streets and has a whopping $250 million asking price.  

  

  Extell Development’s Gary Barnett priced the deal while the real estate market still holds up, but signs of soaring mortgage rates indicate trouble ahead. Suppose he lands a buyer before the housing market corrects. It could end up being the most expensive home ever sold, surpassing hedge billionaire Ken Griffin’s $238 million condo across the street at 220 Central Park South. 

  

  Listing agent Ryan Serhant of Serhant said, “the uber-wealthy are looking for places to diversify assets, and real estate has become one of the most popular and sought-after mega-assets.” 

  

  

  Serhant said the price tag comes with a penthouse designed as one entire unit and the only one on top of the building. He said it has unobstructed views, unlike Griffin’s pad. 

  At $250 million, Barnett said it seems expensive but a relative bargain when breaking down square feet into dollar amounts, coming in at around $15,000 a square foot. He said that’s cheaper than buyers paid at Vornado Realty Trust’s 220 Central Park South. As well as Saudi billionaire Fawaz Al Hokair’s 432 Park Avenue condo, which was recently listed for more than $20,000 a square foot. 

  Barnett said instead of owning a piece of “artwork going for $100 million and even $200 million,” why not own “17,000 feet of steel and brick and glass at the top of the world, this seems like a relative bargain.” 

  If Serhant can find a buyer for Barnett at the $250 million asking price, it would beat out Griffin and other billionaires who’ve recently splurged on mansions. 

  The most expensive house to ever be listed is just another sign of a market top. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 22:00

• The "Stunning Success" Of The Green Revolution Is Yet Another Progressive Myth
  The “Stunning Success” Of The Green Revolution Is Yet Another Progressive Myth

  Authored by Kristoffer Mousten Hansen via The Mises Institute,

  One of the key myths of the twentieth century is the benign role played by international, American-led institutions after the Second World War. American liberals/progressives, fresh from imposing the New Deal in the thirties and planning and directing a world war, turned their eyes to international affairs: the United States had a world historic mission of messianic proportions: lifting developing countries into modernity by remaking them (and all other countries, for that matter) in America’s own image.

  The Cold War era was rife with projects and organizations to carry out this vision, from Bretton Woods and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the area of international finance to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in military affairs to the CIA-funded Congress for Cultural Freedom used to spread progressive, US-friendly propaganda. These organizations all had mainly deleterious influences—I have previously indicated how Bretton Woods and the modern international financial system can best be described as financial imperialism—but in one area American interventionism is to this day universally acclaimed as benign: the Green Revolution.

  

  The Official History of the Green Revolution

  Population growth was considered a major problem in the sixties. Paul Ehrlich of Stanford University in his 1968 Population Bomb predicted widespread hunger as soon as the 1970s and advocated immediate action to limit population growth. The world simply could not feed a larger human population. Although mainly focused on environmental damage from pesticide use, Rachel Carson’s famous 1962 book, Silent Spring, made similar points. Human population was bound to continue to grow, and this would result in untold suffering and environmental damage.

  A key and imminent danger in the 1960s was India: always on the verge on starvation, only massive imports of American wheat kept the specter of mass death away. Then, in 1965, catastrophe struck: drought across most of the subcontinent caused the Indian harvest to fail. As the drought continued into the two following years, it appeared that Ehrlich’s and the other Neo-Malthusians’ predictions had come true.

  Then, a miracle happened: in stepped a man, a veritable demigod, to judge by the worship lavished on him by contemporary normies. Norman E. Borlaug, the father of the Green Revolution, had since the forties been researching and breeding new wheat varieties in Mexico, initially funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and after 1964 as leader of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo, CIMMYT, initially funded by the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations and the Mexican government).

  Borlaug bred high-yielding dwarf wheat varieties that were widely adapted to different ecological environments. Since the early sixties, he had been working with M.S. Swaminathan of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, and together they planted Borlaug’s new dwarf wheat varieties in northern India. Success was immediate: 1968 returned a bumper crop, as the new wheat yields were the highest ever recorded in India.

  It appeared that the population doomers had been wrong. So said Borlaug himself when he in 1970 received the Nobel Peace Prize: in his acceptance speech, he proclaimed victory in the perpetual war between “two opposing forces, the scientific power of food production and the biologic power of human reproduction.” But the war was not over, he warned, and only continuous funding for technological research into food production and limits on reproduction could avert disaster.

  Governments and philanthropists rose to the challenge, and capital poured into agricultural research of the Borlaugian variety as new international institutes were set up to continue the work Borlaug had begun in Mexico and in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines (founded in 1960). The Green Revolution eradicated the scourge of famine, and since agriculture with Borlaugian technology had much higher yields, masses of land were liberated from agricultural use and returned to nature. A 2021 study in the Journal of Political Economy estimates that gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the developing world would have been up to 50 percent lower had it not been for Borlaug, Swaminathan and the other international Brahmins ready and willing to guide the unwashed masses of ignorant peasants.

  There is a twofold problem with this account of agricultural history: it is based on bad economics, and its connection to the actual history of Indian agriculture is tangential at best.

  The Green Revolutionaries’ Bad Economics

  Celebrating the Green Revolution rests on two fundamental errors in economic reasoning: Malthusianism and misunderstanding agricultural economics.

  Malthusianism is the mistaken belief that human population will grow faster than the food supply; in Thomas Malthus’s formulation, population growth follows a geometric progression (2, 4, 8, 16 …) and food supply an arithmetic progression (2, 3, 4, 5 …). As a result, mankind is destined, apart from brief periods, to live at the margin of subsistence: only disease, war, and famine will limit population growth.

  The problem with Malthusianism is that it’s completely wrong, both as a matter of theory and of historical record. For one, food production and population growth are clearly not independent variables, since human labor is a key input in food production, a point made by Joseph A. Schumpeter. More fundamentally, as Ludwig von Mises explained, the Malthusian law of population is only a biological law—it is true for all animal species, but men are not simply animals. With the use of reason, they can refrain from mindless procreative activity, and they will do so if they themselves must support the result of said activity. Malthus himself clearly saw this and amended his theory in the second and later editions of his famous Essay on the Principle of Population (Frédéric Bastiat, as is his wont, has a much better and more optimistic explanation of the population principle).

  Neither do the technophiliacs understand the economics of agriculture and food production. Ester Boserup, who is a key inspiration for the following brief explanation, developed the correct understanding of this issue in the 1960s, after studying Indian farming. The ignorance of Borlaug and company and their cheerleaders today and in the past is thus hardly excusable: the exact same historical conditions that they saw as “Malthusian,” after all, inspired Boserup to lay out the correct understanding of the matter.

  As population grows, the labor supply expands, and more labor is applied to agricultural plots. The land’s yield therefore increases, although the returns on additional labor input diminish—as per the law of returns. Once the return on additional labor input is insufficient to justify it, new land is instead brought into cultivation, and once the land has been cleared, the physical productivity of labor increases. Since clearing new land requires some additional effort, farmers always have to weigh the potential returns from new lands versus the returns from more intensive cultivation of already cleared lands.

  We can see this clearly in monetary terms: as more labor is applied to working the land, wages fall and land rents rise. As land rents and land values rise, the potential value of unsettled lands increases, and as wages fall, the expenditure needed to clear the land falls. Once the expected return on new lands outweighs the estimated cost of bringing it into cultivation, labor will be applied to clearing new lands. Then land rents will fall and wages rise until bringing more land into agricultural use is no longer deemed profitable.

  Thus, population and food production expand in unison, sometimes due to more intensive cultivation, sometimes due to an increase in the area cultivated. The same analysis holds under more capitalistic conditions (i.e., when farmers have more tools and other capital inputs available): the return on applying more capital goods to present land is compared to potential returns from applying capital goods to expanding the cultivated land area. Even the most primitive form of agriculture is, of course, capitalistic, as agriculture is a roundabout production process, in which productive effort is widely separated in time from valuable output.

  Indian agriculture in the 1960s functioned well, except when it was impeded by government meddling and institutional barriers. Such meddling can be extremely destructive, as Mao Zedong had shown in China just a few years previously during the Great Leap Forward. However, there was nothing Malthusian about that episode nor, as we shall see, about the alleged famine in India in the 1960s.

  The 1960s Indian Famine: Bad History

  The 1960s famine in India launched the Green Revolution and the international fame of its main protagonist, Norman Borlaug. From the outset, however, the narrative was skewed by political considerations.

  American agriculture was heavily subsidized in the sixties, resulting in huge surplus production. This surplus could not be sold at the market price, at least not without bankrupting American farmers. Under typical interventionist logic, the American government intervened to subsidize the export of American farm products to maintain an artificially high price in the domestic market.

  India was thereby inundated by cheap American wheat in the early sixties, but as G.D. Stone writes, this did not alleviate India’s food shortages—it caused them. In a simple case of farmers adjusting to their comparative advantage, Indians shifted their production to cash crops (such as sugarcane and jute) for export and thereby financed their imports of cheap American grain.

  The drought of 1965 and the following years was real enough, but its impact was not simply a failure of food crops. The jute and sugarcane crops suffered, leading to real hardship for agricultural laborers. But this hardship never amounted to widespread famine. This did not matter for the narrative, however: in 1965, the American president, Lyndon B. Johnson, was trying to get Congress to approve a new farm bill with increased subsidies for agricultural exports and foreign aid in the shape of the Food for Peace plan. Reports of Indian drought were a godsend: faced with a recalcitrant Congress, Johnson played up the specter of drought and mass starvation. His legislation duly passed, and even more American grain was shipped to India, which doubtlessly did help alleviate some hardship in the short term.

  Playing up the dire situation in India naturally also fed the agenda of Borlaug and company. The special wheat varieties bred in Mexico were widely introduced across northern India, and as the drought conveniently ended, the first harvest yielded a massive crop. Borlaug took credit, quite undisturbed by the coincidence that nearly all crop yields were at record levels in India and in neighboring China. The alleged success of American technocracy also played into the wider political narrative of American progressive leadership of the “free world”: in 1968, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), William Gaud, addressed the Society for International Development in Washington, DC, claiming that foreign aid and wise agricultural policies had fostered “a new revolution. Not a violent Red Revolution like that of the Soviets, nor is it a White Revolution like that of the Shah of Iran. I call it the Green Revolution.”

  The Green Revolution, led by government and NGO technocrats and financed mainly by Western development agencies, was off to the races. The breeding of hybrid rice and wheat varieties by the International Rice Research Institute and CIMMYT, respectively, was the flagship of modernity in farming. But even on its own terms, this is misleading at best. What happened was that agriculture in the developed world as well as in the West shifted to a very intensive cultivation that required a lot of capital inputs. Borlaug’s wheat varieties are a case in point, as Stone points out: only when large amounts of fertilizer were applied did these varieties outyield native Indian tall wheats. Technologies, it turns out, are not exogenous forces that are simply imposed and reshape the environment. The local people had developed crops and techniques suited to their situation, and it’s unlikely that Borlaug’s wheat would have been widely used had the Indian government (and foreign aid agencies) not at the same time massively subsidized the use of fertilizer and the construction of new irrigation systems.

  The Reality of the Green Revolution

  A last line of defense for the proponents of the Green Revolution’s benefits is that it has resulted in efficient food production, liberated labor for nonagricultural work, and that we can now go on to use modern genetic technologies to increase the quality of food and avoid malnutrition. Thus, for example, otherwise sensible people like Bjørn Lomborg have long championed the introduction of “golden rice”—a rice variety genetically engineered to be high in vitamin A—as a solution to malnutrition in rice-growing countries.

  But the technocrats and their cheerleaders forget to mention or ignore the fact that the Green Revolution has itself been a cause of malnutrition. As wheat yields increased in India according to Stone, for instance, the relative price of wheat declined, and wheat thereby outcompeted alternative food sources rich in protein and micronutrients. Malnutrition rates in India thereby rose as a direct result of the Green Revolution. A similar development occurred in developed countries, for different but analogous reasons.

  When it comes to technology freeing up labor, what has really happened is that overinvestment of capital in agriculture has reduced the demand for agricultural labor, but this has not increased the demand for labor elsewhere. On the contrary, since less capital is available for investment in nonagricultural sectors, the demand for labor and wages elsewhere has not risen. Thus, the Green Revolution has been an important contributing factor in the growth of third-world slums where people subsist on low-paying jobs and government handouts.

  All in all, as we should expect when dealing with technocrats driven by progressive hubris to intervene in the economy’s natural development, the Green Revolution was not a blessing, the victory of wise scientists over the propensity of stupid peasants to breed uncontrollably. Rather, it has been an ecological, nutritional, and social disaster.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 21:40

• Tesla To Unveil "Optimus" Robot At Upcoming September 30th AI Event
  Tesla To Unveil “Optimus” Robot At Upcoming September 30th AI Event

  Call us not quite surprised that Elon Musk has amassed his fair share of skeptics over the last few years. And these skeptics are likely going to be in full force now that Tesla is getting ready to unveil its “Optimus” robot. 

  With a plan to “deploy thousands of humanoid robots” called Tesla Bots within its factories, “buzz” is reportedly building inside Tesla about the prospect of the auto company branching out into robotics, according to a new Reuters report. 

  Elon Musk has said the longer term goal for such robots would be for use “in homes, making dinner, mowing the lawn and caring for the elderly people” – and lets not forget also as a “sex partner”, according to the report. 

  In fact, Musk has speculated that the company’s robotics business could eventually be worth more than the company’s current car business – a carrot on a stick for investors and just the type of forward looking statement you’d want to make if trying to prop up a company’s already aggressive valuation. 

  Coming on September 30, Tesla plans to unveil a prototype of the robot at its “AI Day”, the report says. Not unlike the case with autonomous driving and rockets that land themselves, humanoid robots have already been under development for “decades” by companies like Honda Motor Co and Hyundai Motor Co’s Boston Dynamics unit.

  

  The lead of NASA’s Dexterous Robotics Team, Shaun Azimi, told Reuters: “Self-driving cars weren’t really proved to be as easy as anyone thought. And it’s the same way with humanoid robots to some extent.”

  Azimi continued: “If something unexpected happens, being flexible and robust to those kinds of changes is very difficult.”

  Musk has claimed the robots will perform boring and dangerous jobs, and that the company can leverage its expertise in AI to build robots at scale. “The code you will write will at term run in millions of humanoid robots across the world, and will therefore be held to high quality standards,” a recent job listing for robot designers said. 

  Recall, it was at an autonomy event in 2019 that Musk promised 1 million robotaxis on the road by 2020. None of those have materialized as we head toward 2023. As such, skepticism about Tesla’s robot is high going into the event. 

  Nancy Cooke, a professor in human systems engineering at Arizona State University, says Musk will need to show robots doing multiple unscripted actions to be taken seriously. She commented: “If he just gets the robot to walk around, or he gets the robots to dance, that’s already been done. That’s not that impressive.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 21:20

• Jim Beam Is Making Renewable Gas From Bourbon
  Jim Beam Is Making Renewable Gas From Bourbon

  By Haley Zaremba of OilPrice.com

  The renewable energy revolution just got a whole lot more fun. The Beam Suntory company has announced that it’s going to be increasing its production of Kentucky bourbon using the power of renewable gas. In order to meet the growing demand for whiskey, Jim Beam is going to increase capacity by a whopping 50% at its Booker Noe distillery in Boston, Kentucky while also reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by the same percentage. A recent press release from Jim Beam and its Japanese parent company Suntory announced a $400 million investment in a renewable biogas system.

  “This expansion will help ensure we meet future demand for our iconic bourbon in a sustainable way that supports the environment and the local community that has helped build and support Jim Beam,” CEO Albert Baladi said.

  

  Beam Suntory is building its renewable biogas facility 36 miles south of Louisville, Kentucky. The facility, which will be built across the street from the Booker Noe distillery, will use otherwise wasted byproduct (known as ‘spent stillage’) from the whiskey-making process to be converted into fuel through the use of “digesters.” The result is a so-called ‘renewable natural gas’ that will be piped right back into the distillery in a sustainable closed-loop system. The digesters will also produce a high-quality, low-cost fertilizer which Beam Suntory says they will make available to local farmers, “thereby supporting sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices.” 

  Renewable natural gas is an industry term for a biogas that has been upgraded to be used in place of fossil fuels. It’s often seen as a “bridging fuel” which diverts methane and carbon emissions by making use of waste products, allowing entities like Beam Suntory to lower their carbon footprint without totally revamping their infrastructure. As such, biofuels are a lower-emissions stepping stone between our current carbon-based economy and a future energy landscape that won’t revolve around fuels that emit any greenhouse gasses whatsoever. Biomethanes and biogases such as the ‘renewable natural gas’ to be produced for Jim Beam have much lower carbon dioxide and methane emissions than standard natural gas, but their emissions are not null – in fact, they are underestimated. 

  While biogas and biomethane are not perfect, they are a huge step in the right direction and will create a considerable positive impact on Jim Beam’s ecological footprint – all while ramping up production of the good stuff. The biogas-fuelled expansion project is supposed to be completed by 2024. By then, Suntory Bean says that the Booker Noe distillery will be 65% renewable natural gas-powered. What’s more, the project is expected to be a considerable job creator in the region. 

  As natural gas prices soar around the world, the move makes good economic sense, and will hopefully set a precedent in Kentucky, where 95% of the world’s bourbon is made. Lowering production costs is a good goal in any environment, but it’s especially attractive now when demand for both natural gas and alcohol is soaring. In the first half of 2022, Beam Suntory’s global net sales grew by 13% according to company reports. 

  Alcohol consumption climbed to new heights during the pandemic, ushering in a “new golden age” for the booze industry, as well as some very worrying trends for the health sector and addiction specialists. And alcohol demand is expected to keep climbing. A market analysis report from Grand View Research finds that the “global alcoholic drinks market size was valued at USD 1,448.2 billion in 2021 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3% from 2022 to 2028.”

  For those of us who enjoy a responsible nip now and then, the whiskey-fuelled renewable revolution does seem like a golden age, indeed.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 21:00

• At Least 7 Dead In Iran As Anti-Hijab Protests Grow
  At Least 7 Dead In Iran As Anti-Hijab Protests Grow

  A fifth day of protests in Iran have resulted in multiple deaths amid a security crackdown, following the death last week of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old from Iranian Kurdistan who reportedly died due to being roughed up by police for “unsuitable attire” – or not conforming to Islamic Republic standards of a hijab.

  Iranian officials say seven people have died since protests erupted Saturday, following Amini’s funeral, where women began removing their headscarves in protest, sometimes burning them in public displays of defiance. Demonstrators have decried instances of what they say is ‘live fire’ tactics and deadly forced used by police to disperse the protests, which have now spread across several provinces.

  

  At least one of the dead has been reported as a security member, coming also amid hundreds of arrests. “Crowds cheered when women burned their hijabs on a bonfire in Sari on Tuesday, the fifth successive day of unrest,” BBC has reported of scenes coming from the country Tuesday. “Activists said a woman was among three protesters shot dead by security forces in Urmia, Piranshahr and Kermanshah.”

  Dozens of videos showing fierce anti-hijab protests, as well as chants against the country’s ‘morality police’ have been circulating widely on the internet.

  According to a description of some of the viral protest videos reviewed by The New York Times: 

  Protesters have been calling for an end to the Islamic Republic, chanting things like “Mullahs get lost,” “We don’t want an Islamic republic,” and “Death to the supreme leader.” Women have also burned hijabs in protest against the law, which requires all women above the age of puberty to wear a head covering and loose clothing.

  The scenes in Iran are astonishing. How far will these protests go?
  pic.twitter.com/AJeHB0yyYB

  — Frida Ghitis (@FridaGhitis) September 20, 2022

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

  Tehran has responded Tuesday by throttling internet speeds and also outright blocking social media sites, including Instagram.

  “For security reasons, the relevant authorities may impose certain restrictions on internet speed,” Iran’s Information Ministry announced in a fresh statement.

  ⚠️ #Iran is now subject to the most severe internet restrictions since the November 2019 massacre.

  ▶️ Mobile networks largely shut down (MCI, Rightel, Irancell – partial)
  ▶️ Regional disruptions observed during protests
  ▶️ Instagram, WhatsApp restrictedhttps://t.co/8cCHIJA2Oi

  — NetBlocks (@netblocks) September 21, 2022

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

  Meanwhile, the circumstances surrounding Amini’s death have been contested, with authorities painting a narrative of a girl brought into custody who then suffered a heart attack:

  There were reports that police beat Ms Amini’s head with a baton and banged her head against one of their vehicles, Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada al-Nashif said.

  The police have denied that she was mistreated and said she suffered “sudden heart failure”. But her family has said she was fit and healthy.

  Authorities days ago even released a video which purports to show a young woman collapsing – though it remains impossible to verify the identity of the person in the clip or context…

  For good measure I’m also tweeting the video that Iranian state TV has published. They say the woman had a heart attack and was not beaten. There’s no doubt western agencies and media want to portray Iran in the worst light possible. Keep that in mind. pic.twitter.com/jlvfaZZen3

  — Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) September 19, 2022

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

  In his UN General Assembly address Wednesday, at a moment his government is facing international criticism including by Biden himself at the assembly meeting, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi decried the West’s ‘double standard’, saying “human rights belong to all but unfortunately this is trampled upon by many governments,” and cited the example of “the native tribes of Canada, whose bodies of hundreds of their children were discovered in mass graves in a school.”

  The Iranian leader claimed further before the assembly, “We are defenders of a fight against injustice in all of its forms, against humanity, against spirituality, against the almighty, against the people of the world, no matter where it may occur.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 20:40

• I Told You So: Aramco CEO Slams Unrealistic Energy Policies
  I Told You So: Aramco CEO Slams Unrealistic Energy Policies

  Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

  Years of underinvestment in oil and gas production is the leading cause of today’s energy crisis, and when the global economy rebounds from the current slowdown, the little spare oil production capacity that’s left will be wiped out, Saudi Aramco’s chief executive Amin Nasser said on Tuesday.

  “Many of us have been insisting for years that if investments in oil and gas continued to fall, global supply growth would lag behind demand, impacting markets, the global economy, and people’s lives,” the CEO of the world’s largest oil company and top oil exporter said at the Schlumberger Digital Forum 2022 in Switzerland today.

  Investment in oil and gas more than halved between 2014 and 2021, Nasser said, adding that “The increases this year are too little, too late, too short-term.”

  

  Back in 2014, annual investment in oil and gas was $700 billion, which dropped to just over $300 billion last year, Aramco’s top executive said.

  “These are the real causes of this state of energy insecurity: under-investment in oil and gas; alternatives not ready; and no back-up plan. But you would not know that from the response so far,” he added, reiterating a long-held view of Saudi Arabia that underinvestment in previous years will come back to bite energy supply.

  “Even with strong economic headwinds, global oil demand is still fairly healthy today,” Nasser said.

  “But when the global economy recovers, we can expect demand to rebound further, eliminating the little spare oil production capacity out there. And by the time the world wakes up to these blind spots, it may be too late to change course,” he added.

  “That is why I am seriously concerned.”

  Saudi Aramco called once again for more investment in oil and gas, especially capacity development.

  “And at least this crisis has finally convinced people that we need a more credible energy transition plan,” Aramco’s CEO added.

  Saudi Arabia has plans to boost its production capacity to 13 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2027, from around 12 million bpd now, but not much further above that. The Kingdom is one of just two major oil producers believed to hold some additional spare capacity now. The other producer is fellow OPEC member the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 20:20

• The Fed Is Wrong Again: Core Inflation Rapidly Rolling Over And Will Drop To 3% By Q1
  The Fed Is Wrong Again: Core Inflation Rapidly Rolling Over And Will Drop To 3% By Q1

  The Fed was dead wrong for the past decade in perpetuating QE long after the economic crisis had passed, but especially in 2020 and 2021 when it saw nothing but transitory inflation, and refused to step in an contain soaring prices which we are seeing today everywhere in action. And the Fed is also dead wrong now in its crusade to crush inflation – as it confirmed today when it hiked 75bps and telegraphed another 145bps of rate hikes – even if it means a grave recession.

  Why is the Fed wrong again? Because besides sliding commodity prices (which will very likely soar in the very near future, especially once winter arrives in Europe and once Biden’s drain of the SPR is over), the bulk of core CPI components – and certainly some of the biggest drivers such as shelter, cars and airfares are rolling over fast.

  That’s according to a new report by JPM’s Phoebe White (full note available to pro subs here), who writes that she forecasts a material softening in inflation across all of the components that have been the largest contributors of core inflation over the past year—not only vehicle prices, but rents, medical care services, and airfares as well—and last week’s hot CPI report does not change this view.

  At a high level, we have seen a continued rotation in the composition of core inflation over recent months, with core services inflation accelerating from 3.7% Y/Y as of December 2021 to 6.1% as of August 2022, while core goods inflation has decelerated from 10.7% to 7.1%. Notably, even while core goods inflation continues to run hotter than core services inflation, services receive nearly triple the weight in the calculation of the core index, with the rent components alone comprising more than 40% of the basket (Exhibit 1).  Thus, it is clear to see why rent inflation, which has accelerated above 6% Y/Y in recent months, is the largest contributor to core CPI inflation as of the August report: Exhibit 2 shows that the two rent measures, owners’ equivalent rent and rent of primary residence, account for 1.9%-pts and 0.7%-pts, respectively.

  

  Let’s drill down into the data, starting start with rent inflation – which is the largest contributor to Core Inflation – and which the JPM analyst expects to peak in the next few months and roll over.  Why? Take the Zillow Observed Rent Index which like the Apartment list price index (which we have discussed countless times especially when it was soaring higher), tends to lead the CPI rent measures, and this index has been softening recently.

  And while JPM expects shelter inflation to break above 7% Y/Y by early next year – due to its several month delay from real-world prices – the bank also expects the pace of monthly gains to peak within the next few months. The rate of increases in the Zillow Observed Rent Index, which measures asking rents on new leases, peaked above 17% in February, but has softened to 12%
  oya as of August—a notable softening, albeit still elevated versus the ~4% average pace observed prior to the pandemic. Unlike the Zillow data, the rent components in CPI track average rents across both new and existing leases. Thus fluctuations in the Zillow index slowly pass-through to official measures as the stock of leases begins to resemble the recent flow of new leases, with each percentage-point increase in the Zillow rent index preceding a 0.6%-pt cumulative increase in shelter CPI .

  

  To be sure, one complicating dynamic that we have been highlighting is the fact that tighter monetary policy could temporarily exacerbate rental inflationary pressure, as high mortgage rates discourage home-buying. Indeed, now that no new home buyer reliant on a mortgage can possibly afford a house, they will likely have no choice but to find a rental. On the other hand, there is a limit to how high rents can go simply as a function of disposable income: outside of the top income cohort, JPM finds that rent affordability is already stretched, implying it will be difficult for rent inflation to sustain rates much above the pace of wage growth. And once neither housing nor rent is affordable, well then it becomes a political issue and Democrats will scream bloody murder – as Liz Warren already did today – and will demand Powell to start cutting rates.

  Away from rents, new and used vehicles have had the next largest contributions to core CPI. And with demand softening, supply constraints easing, and raw material costs falling, JPM thinks declines in used vehicle prices are on the near-term horizon. Declines in new vehicle prices are likely to follow in 2023. In fact, the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, which measures the prices dealerships pay for used cars at auctions, has declined since its peak in January, with the index falling 4% in August alone, and another 2.3% over the first half of September.

  When will this slowdown appear in official data: as chart 5 illustrates, the pass-through from the Mannheim index to the BLS data exhibits a 1-3 month lag, making it somewhat difficult to forecast the precise timing of inflections in the used vehicle CPI. Looking ahead, JPM expects the trend of falling used vehicle prices to continue over coming months: Chart 6 shows that the J.P Morgan Automotive Commodities Index is now down 35%, reflecting the cost-weighted average price of the commodities used to manufacture a vehicle. Used vehicle prices tend to be more sensitive to raw commodity costs compared with new vehicles, given that scrap value reflects a greater share of the overall price of a used vehicle.

  

  The component with the next largest contributions to core CPI inflation is airline fares which is one of the more highly volatile categories of inflation. The still-high rate of airfare inflation on a year-ago basis reflects the surge observed through the spring alongside rising jet fuel prices, but this component has fallen by more than 14% since its peak in May, with prices likely to be somewhat more stable going forward.

  Finally, the recent surge in health insurance inflation likely reflects, at least in part, the drop in insurance claims over a year ago, given the “retained earnings” methodology that BLS uses to calculate this component. Some utilization metrics are now tracking in line with pre-pandemic levels

  Overall, when taking a deeper look at the largest contributors to core CPI inflation over the past year, JPMorgan sees clear evidence that core inflation is peaking and is likely to moderate fairly quickly on a sequential basis over the near term, falling from 6.5% in the three months through August, to about a 3.5% SAAR pace in 1Q 23 and just 3.1% in 2Q23, or essentially in line with the Fed’ target.

  To be sure, the longer it takes for these dynamics to play out, the greater the risks that high inflation could become more ingrained. However, what is even more relevant is that the latest hawkish rate hike by the Fed – which guarantees that the Fed overshoots, driving a more material weakening in demand and triggering a recession — will certainly lead to even softer inflation. In other words, if the Fed halts its tightening campaign here, not only will core prices drop to where the Fed wants them, but a recession may even be averted. However, if Powell continues blindingly to hike, a crushing recession is virtually guaranteed. And since the Fed is always wrong about everything, the worst case scenario is now in play.

  Much more in the full report available to pro subs in the usual place.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 20:00

• Three Martha Vineyard Migrants File Lawsuit Against DeSantis
  Three Martha Vineyard Migrants File Lawsuit Against DeSantis

  Authored by Jonathan Turley,

  The undocumented migrants who were transferred to Martha’s Vineyard have quickly adopted one common American practice: litigation. A firm, Lawyers for Civil Rights, in conjunction with the migrant-led nonprofit Alianza Americas, filed the action on behalf of Yanet Doe, Pablo Doe and Jesus Doe who are using pseudonyms for the action “on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated.” The filing is a Jackson Pollock of legal claims with twelve claims thrown against Florida from false imprisonment to intentional infliction of emotional distress to misuse of the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund. The splattering of a claims face considerable legal barriers based on the consent of the migrants, as shown in a waiver released by Florida.

  

  The filing of a lawsuit upon entry to the United States is not unprecedented, of course.

  Indeed, I teach in torts where an immigrant to the United States filed a tort action for an involuntary inoculation upon entry in O’Brien v. Cunard. Yet, this is a case involving undocumented migrants who allegedly signed a waiver and agreed to the trip.

  The filing does not include the widespread claims of kidnapping and human trafficking made by Democratic politicians and some legal experts. Cables programs are still claiming that criminal kidnapping charges should be brought after the flight.

  The lawyers are alleging that the migrants were mislead or defrauded in going to Martha’s Vineyard. The flight is portrayed as “designed and executed a premeditated, fraudulent, and illegal scheme centered on exploiting this vulnerability for the sole purpose of advancing their own personal, financial and political interests.”

  Gov. DeSantis responded by calling the lawsuit “political theater,” which is ironic given that the flight was clearly designed as precisely that type of political theater.

  However, most of these claims are highly dubious and will require substantially more factual support to survive a threshold challenge. The first challenge will be to show that the waiver was secured by trick or fraud.  The consent form – available in English and Spanish – states:

  “I agree to hold the benefactor or its designed representatives harmless of all liability arising out of or in any way relating to any injuries and damages that may occur during the agreed transport to locations outside of Texas until the final destination in Massachusetts.”

  

  The lawyers are citing a brochure to support the claim of fraud. The brochure reads “Massachusetts Refugee Benefits” with instructions for how to change an address with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), including USCIS Form AR-11, “Alien’s Change of Address Card.” The complaint states:

  On information and belief, the brochure was manufactured by Defendants. The brochure echoed the type of false representation that had been given orally, including statements such as: “During the first 90 days after a refugee’s arrival in Massachusetts, agencies provide basic needs support including…assistance with housing…furnishings, food, and other basic necessities…clothing, and transportation to job interviews and job training…assistance in applying for Social Security cards…registering children for school….”

  The brochure had a separate section entitled “Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA),” which stated: “Provides up to 8 months of cash assistance for income-eligible refugees without dependent children, who reside in Massachusetts.” It had other sections that described “targeted services for . . . employment.”

  The state says that the brochure takes material from the state website for refugees and migrants.

  The state is also likely to replay media accounts of migrants expressing satisfaction with going to the island, including an NBC report as well as a Telemundo report of migrants thanking Desantis.

  The most serious allegation is that Florida officials “told them they were flying to Boston or Washington, D.C., which was completely false.” The question is the proof of that representation since the waiver refers only to the destination being “the State of Massachusetts.”

  Most of the claims are barely defined, let alone supported. For example, on false imprisonment, the complaint merely restates defrauding claims:

  The Plaintiffs’ participation in the federal immigration processes—to which they are constitutionally entitled—was impeded, as they were transported thousands of miles away from where they needed to continue immigration proceedings. Plaintiffs were not informed that they would be flown to an island off the coast of Massachusetts that can only be reached by plane or ferry. The first time that many of the putative class learned that their destination was Martha’s Vineyard was when they were in mid-air. When they arrived, they were not provided with any of the goods and services which they were promised by Defendants. They felt defrauded and tricked and were traumatized by the experience.

  The only confinement alleged is the flight itself, which necessarily does not allow people to leave mid flight. Thousands of migrants have been transferred by flights to locations around the country, including trips arranged by the Biden Administration and a Democratic mayor.

  The complaint is stronger on rhetoric than supporting facts or law. It will face a motion to dismiss and that the litigants may be able to offer more evidence of a fraud or misrepresentations to negate their signed waivers. However, this is unlikely to result in a serious threat to these ongoing flights by various states. This is a civil action that, even if it can survive threshold challenges, will be in the court system for a long time in seeking to establish these claims. Many of these claims are likely to be dismissed or abandoned in the course of that litigation.

  Here is the complaint: Alianza-Americas v. DeSantis

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 19:40

• Man Accused Of Murdering 18-Year-Old Conservative Released On Bail
  Man Accused Of Murdering 18-Year-Old Conservative Released On Bail

  A 41-year-old man accused of murdering 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson for being a supposed “Republican extremist” was released on $50,000 bail Tuesday from the Stutsman County jail in North Dakota.

  

  According to the NY Post, Sannon Brandt spent just days in lockup after he was arrested in connection with the death of Ellingson – who Brandt initially told first responders that “he struck the pedestrian because the pedestrian was threatening him,” according to a probable-cause affidavit provided to Fox News Digital Wednesday morning.

  Ellingson was walking on the street shortly before 3am following a weekend street dance in Foster County when he was struck with a pickup truck, according to the North Dakota Highway Patrol. He was rushed to Carrington Hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

  “Brandt stated that the pedestrian called some people and Brandt was afraid they were coming to get him,” the document continues. “Brandt admitted to State Radio that he hit the pedestrian and that the pedestrian was part of a Republican extremist group.”

  North Dakota Highway Patrol reported on Sunday that there was a “street dance” on Jones Street near Hohneck Street in McHenry when Brandt struck Ellingson and then fled the scene.

  Ellingson was rushed to a local hospital with serious injuries, but could not be saved. 

  Brandt’s and Ellingson’s families both showed up at the scene shortly after police arrived, court records show. 

  Ellingson’s parents later told police they knew Brandt, but they did not believe their son did. Ellingston’s mother described how she was on her way to pick up her son from McHenry when he called her and said “that ‘he’ or ‘they’ were chasing him.” She could no longer reach him after that. -NY Post

  Brandt was arrested early Saturday morning in his Glenfield home after police stopped him outside. He “admitted to consuming alcohol prior to the incident,” according to the records.

  “Brandt admitted to striking the pedestrian with his car because he had a political argument with the pedestrian and believed the pedestrian was calling people to come get him,” the court document continues. “Brandt admitted to leaving the scene of the incident and returning shortly after where he called 911.”

  

  

  Brandt had a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit of 0.08, and was charged with criminal vehicular homicide. While he was charged with driving under the influence according to jail records, a criminal complaint did not include the charge, the Post reports.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 19:20

• Oil And Gas Jobs Are Bouncing Back In The Lone Star State
  Oil And Gas Jobs Are Bouncing Back In The Lone Star State

  By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

  Two years ago, oil and gas companies in Texas were laying off employees amid the most severe downturn in the industry’s history.

  

  This year, job growth in America’s oil and gas heartland has been so strong that labor shortages have prevented the industry from expanding.

  According to the latest data, Texas added 2,600 new oil and gas jobs in August in the upstream sector. That was a decline from July when the upstream industry added 3,100 new jobs, but still a robust number and the latest proof that oil and gas companies are over the pandemic.

  “Upstream employment is growing steadily alongside the world’s demand for affordable, reliable energy. The Texas oil and natural gas industry continues to play its leadership role in enhancing national and energy security in our nation and for our trade allies around the world,” said the president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association, commenting on the numbers released by the Texas Workforce Commission.

  The data shows that since September 2020, the trough of the latest downturn, the upstream industry in Texas has added jobs at an average monthly rate of 1,943, for a total of 44,700 jobs added over the past two years. As of August, the total number of people employed by Texas upstream businesses stood at 201,700.

  Upstream oil and gas employment is growing strongly in New Mexico as well: Texas and New Mexico share the Permian basin, seen as the top performer in the U.S. shale patch. The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions expects employment in that sector to expand by 10.8 percent by 2028.

  Even with these strong employment growth rates, U.S. oil and gas is being plagued by a labor shortage that is interfering with growth plans, as frugal as these plans are. A lot of the limited production growth in the shale patch has been blamed on shareholders insisting they see some cash returns after years of backing drillers, but the lack of workers has also had a part to play.

  Back in April this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Permian was “running out of the workers, cash and equipment needed to produce more oil.” Author Collin Eaton noted that many workers who were let go during the pandemic simply did not return to their old jobs when those became available. Some, he noted, left mid-project to look for higher wages elsewhere.

  Since then, the number of oil and gas jobs has continued to grow, but not fast enough, it appears, compounded by shortages of materials and equipment, too. Shareholders in public companies are still the biggest culprit, according to analysts and to the companies themselves.

  “Investors generally don’t want shale companies to pursue a growth model,” Ben Dell, chief executive of private equity firm Kimmeridge Energy, told the FT this month.

  “The capital availability is extremely limited.”

  According to data from Baker Hughes and Primary Vision, drilling activity in the U.S. shale patch is slowing down from its strong post-pandemic growth. Even in the Permian, cited as the biggest growth engine of the shale patch, the number of active rigs in the basin fell two weeks in a row leading up to the most recent data release.

  A recent Wall Street Journal attributed this slowdown to private drillers running out of low-cost drilling locations. If this is indeed the case, it does not bode well for the near future of the industry. And it does appear to be the case, based on the Enverus data the WSJ cited: private drillers in the Permian have an inventory averaging some six years of low-cost locations.

  What all this implies for employment in the U.S. oil industry is that growth there may well slow down at some point in the near future as analysts expect the limited inventory of private drillers to prompt another consolidation wave. For now, the going is good, but it won’t last forever.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 19:00

• Most Adults Should Be Screened For Anxiety, Depression According To US-Funded Panel
  Most Adults Should Be Screened For Anxiety, Depression According To US-Funded Panel

  A panel of experts operating under the Department of Health and Human Services has recommended that all adults under the age of 65 should be screened for anxiety disorders, and all adults regardless of age should be checked for depression amid an uptick in American reporting mental-health issues following the Covid-19 pandemic.

  

  The guidance, released Tuesday, marks the first such recommendation regarding adult anxiety disorders from the US Preventative Services Task Force, which issued similar draft guidance several months ago for children and adolescents, the Wall Street Journal reports.

  “This is a really important step forward,” said American Psychological Association CEO Arthur C. Evans. “Screening for mental-health conditions is critical to our ability to help people at the earliest possible moment.”

  The task force said that there wasn’t enough evidence on whether or not screening all adults without signs or symptoms ultimately helps prevent suicide. The group didn’t recommend for or against screening for suicide risk, but called for more research in the area.

  The task force, a panel of 16 independent volunteer experts, issues guidance on preventive-care measures. Health insurers are often required to cover services recommended by the task force under a provision in the Affordable Care Act. -WSJ

  According to estimates from the federal Household Pulse Survey, over 30% of adults reported having symptoms of anxiety disorder or depressive disorder this summer, while the CDC reports that the percentage of US adults who received mental-health treatment over the past year increased from 19% in 2019 to 22% in 2021.

  Mental health issues are often caught during doctor’s office screenings, where patients fill out questionnaires that can identify at-risk individuals who may not be showing obvious signs of a problem. The surveys ask about feelings of depression or hopelessness, trouble sleeping, eating, or thoughts of harming themselves, on a scale of ‘not at all’ to ‘nearly every day.’

  “It helps me get a better idea about whether their insomnia is really pure insomnia or if it is part of depressive symptoms,” Dr. Riza Conroy, a primary-care physician at Ohio State University, told the Journal.

  That said, widespread screening can also yield false-positives, leading to potential overdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment that may instead cause side effects, along with ‘unease and stigma,’ according to the task force and other mental-health experts.

  “You could be flagging a lot of older adults for having an anxiety disorder when they don’t,” said Dr. Lori Pbert, task-force member and professor in the department of population and quantitative health sciences at UMass Chan Medical School.

  “You end up with a score that you feel you have to act on,” said Stephanie Collier, a psychiatrist at McLean Hospital and a consulting psychiatrist for the Population Health Management Team at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts, who wasn’t involved with the new guidance.

  To inform the new recommendations, task-force members reviewed evidence from some 173 studies that looked at screening-test accuracy and the effectiveness of available interventions for depression, anxiety disorders and suicide risk. A few studies looked at the direct impacts of the screening itself on health outcomes.

  The task force concluded that screening all adults for depression, including those who are pregnant or postpartum as well as older adults, has a moderate net benefit, echoing its previous 2016 recommendations. The task force also recommended screening adults under 65, including pregnant and postpartum people, for anxiety but said that there wasn’t enough evidence to make the same recommendation for older adults. -WSJ

  According to the report, the Task Force received some pushback in April over its lack of recommendation for suicide screening among adolescents.

  “It could present a threat to forward progress in preventing suicide at a time when it’s clearly showing up as a national health crisis,” said Christine Yu Moutier, chief medical officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

  According to task force member Gbenga Ogedegbe, healthcare providers should use their professional judgement for each patient to determine whether to screen for suicide risks.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 18:40

• Polls: Americans Oppose Increasing Ukraine Aid, Defending Global Democracy
  Polls: Americans Oppose Increasing Ukraine Aid, Defending Global Democracy

  Authored by Kyle Anzalone & Connor Freeman via The Libertarian Institute,

  Two new polls from Morning Consult and Concerned Veterans for America show at least a plurality of Americans are tired of interventionism. The results show twice as many Americans want to send less aid to Ukraine than those who would support sending more. Meanwhile, only 17% of Americans are concerned about defending democracy around the globe. 

  The Joe Biden White House built its foreign policy around the idea it would move away from fighting wars against terrorists in the Middle East, and refocus the Department of Defense on “Great Power Competition.” The administration marketed the policy as “autocracy versus democracy” with the White House leading the Western countries against Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and other ostensibly bad countries. 

  

  The White House has faced some criticism for claiming to promote democracy and selling weapons to brutal tyrants in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and apartheid Israel. Though Morning Consult’s polling released last week shows the White House’s idea of promoting democracy is not resonating with the American people. 

  The poll asked Americans about their views on the country’s most pressing foreign policy challenges. Only 17% of respondents told the pollsters that “upholding global democracy” was a top five concern, ranking 11th behind drugs, climate, immigration, terrorism and the economic crisis. 

  The poll was backed by another by Concerned Veterans for America that found US citizens do not want increased involvement in Ukraine:

  “Only 15% of the American public support sending more military and financial aid to Ukraine than wealthy European countries, with almost twice as many people (34%) wanting to send less assistance,” CVA wrote.

  Chart via Morning Consult…

  

  Additionally, a majority of Americans only want the assistance to continue if Europeans match the American commitment. 

  

  The poll shows Americans are firmly opposed to military intervention in Ukraine. Over 55% of respondents oppose direct American military intervention while only 14% percent support fighting a war for Kiev. The results for Ukraine were similar to Americans wanting a scaled-back role in the world, with 42% of respondents saying they want a smaller role and only 7% supported more intervention.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 18:20

• "Have U Been F**ked": Washington Monument Vandalized
  “Have U Been F**ked”: Washington Monument Vandalized

  The Washington Monument was defaced Tuesday night when a vandal wrote “Have u been fucked by this” in red paint, along with an arrow pointing up towards the phallic obelisk.

  “Gov says tough shit” reads smaller text below.

  

  An individual was arrested following the incident, according to Fox5 DC‘s Katie Barlow. According to Fox, the suspect is being charged with trespassing, tampering and vandalism.

  VIDEO: One individual appears to be detained. @fox5dc pic.twitter.com/H6fQxaThH3

  — Katie Barlow (@katieleebarlow) September 21, 2022

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

  According to the US Park Service, the monument has been temporarily closed for an investigation and cleanup of the famous landmark built between 1848 and 1888.

  Alert: Area around base of the Washington Monument temporarily closed. USPP have adult male in custody for vandalism. NPS conservators will work on restoration process.

  — USPPNEWS (@usparkpolicepio) September 21, 2022

  A spokesman for the National Parks Service told Fox that the graffiti echoes a similar incident on the nearby Lincoln Memorial, and may require a similar cleanup process. 

  “It’s very similar to the vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial in 2008 when a woman threw green paint at the base of the statue,” according to Mike Litterst. “Same material, paint on marble is very difficult to remove. Like we expect here – that one took multiple treatments over a couple of weeks. But ultimately it was entirely successful.”

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

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 18:00

• Colorado Becomes First State To Accept Bitcoin As Payment For Taxes
  Colorado Becomes First State To Accept Bitcoin As Payment For Taxes

  Authored by ‘NAMCIOS’ via BitcoinMagazine.com,

  Colorado residents can now pay state taxes with bitcoin and cryptocurrency… but only with a PayPal account…

  

  Colorado has become the first U.S. state to accept bitcoin for tax payments.

  Gov. Jared Polis announced the implementation of the new payment method on Monday, at Denver Startup Week, according to a report by Axios Denver.

  Citizens can use cryptocurrency to pay individual income tax, business income tax, sales and use tax, withholding tax, severance tax and excise fuel tax are eligible, per the report.

  The state government’s Department of Revenue now lists “cryptocurrency” as a payment method among the more well-established debit and credit cards, ACH debit and credit, and cash.

  However, users interested in parting with their bitcoin holdings to pay Colorado state taxes need to use a PayPal account.

  “Only PayPal Personal accounts can pay using cryptocurrency,” Colorado’s Department of Revenue details, adding that the user needs to have the entire value of their invoice in a single cryptocurrency in their PayPal Cryptocurrencies Hub.

  Citizens paying their taxes with cryptocurrency will be charged an additional $1 plus 1.83% of the payment amount in fees.

  U.S. states have raced for the trophy of the most cryptocurrency-friendly jurisdiction as they seek to attract workers and businesses of the new remote-first economy.

  However, it is hard to make the case for paying taxes with bitcoin, especially in Colorado’s fixed arrangement with PayPal. While the user would likely forgo future capital appreciation from the bitcoin price by doing so, that buying power wouldn’t be transferred to Colorado as the state doesn’t seek to hold BTC or cryptocurrency on its balance sheet.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 17:40

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• German Domestic Intelligence Is Running 100s Of Fake Right-Wing Extremist Social Media Accounts; Report
  German Domestic Intelligence Is Running 100s Of Fake Right-Wing Extremist Social Media Accounts; Report

  Authored by John Cody via Remix News,

  Hundreds of the radical Nazis and right-wing extremists online are actually German domestic intelligence agents, and many of them may even responsible for “inciting hatred” and even violence. These agents, who once needed to drink and directly socialize with members of the extreme right, are now running right-wing extremist accounts online in Germany.

  

  Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) argues that these accounts are needed to gather information, but critics say that they may also be promoting and actively encouraging radicalism, according to a report from German newspaper Süddeutshce Zeitung.

  “This is the future of information gathering,” an unnamed head of a relevant state office told Süddeutsche Zeitung.

  According to research by the newspaper, the authority has invested heavily in “virtual agents” since 2019, which it finances with taxpayers’ money. Both the federal office and the federal states employ spies, who besides right-wing extremists, are also tasked with keeping an eye on the left-wing extremists, Islamists, and the “conspiracy-ideological” scene.

  Hunderte rechtextremer Fake Accounts führt der #Verfassungsschutz inzwischen.

  „Das ist die Zukunft der Informationsbeschaffung“, sagt ein Leiter eines Landesamts für Verfassungsschutz.

  Kleiner Recherche-🧵

  — Ronen Steinke (@RonenSteinke) September 18, 2022

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

  However, the activities of the BfV running hundreds of right-wing extremist accounts have come to light at the same time that Germany’s left-wing government has labeled right-wing extremism the biggest threat to the country, despite data showing that left-wing extremists and radical Islam pose bigger threats. The country’s interior minister, Nancy Faeser, has launched a 10-point plan to fight “right-wing extremism,” and much like the Biden administration in the United States, has turned the domestic security state against political opponents and labeled them terrorism threats and a danger to democracy. In Germany’s case, the opposition conservative Alternative for Germany party (AfD) is actively surveilled in certain federal states, with membership in the party the only prerequisite for agents being able to read emails and listen in on telephone calls of private citizens.

  With the BfV operating hundreds of right-wing extremist accounts, the agency argues that it is about “playing a little right-wing radical yourself” in order to gain the trust of other users. The employees of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution are likely to conduct “propaganda” for this and sometimes also commit crimes such as “incitement to hatred.”

  However, what exactly these extremist accounts are posting that involve “incitement to hatred” is unclear, as there is little to no public oversight regarding these activities.

  “In order to be really credible, it is not enough to share or like what others say, you also have to make statements yourself. That means that the agents also bully and agitate,” says the report of an agent who claims to have joined the agency to “do something against right-wing extremists.” This involves actively encouraging people in their worldview, but she says it is her job to “feed” the scene.

  In fact, there are now so many accounts operated by different German authorities that a nationwide agreement has become necessary. Otherwise, these different agents would be targeting each other with surveillance and monitoring.

  Germany’s new government has taken an aggressive stance against anonymity on the web and free speech, and has targeted apps like Telegram, which is one of the few tech companies openly supporting free speech. Under a new regime, the German government is expected to open thousands of hate speech cases against the public every year.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/21/2022 – 02:00

• MSNBC, CNN Guest Roasted After Calling Evangelical Prayer-Hands 'Nazi Salute'
  MSNBC, CNN Guest Roasted After Calling Evangelical Prayer-Hands ‘Nazi Salute’

  A lawyer and recurring guest on MSNBC and CNN has come under fire after claiming in a viral tweet that Doug Mastriano supporters were giving ‘a Nazi salute’ during a Sunday campaign rally in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

  

  Evangelical leader Lance Wallnau asked the crowd to rise, and asked them “if a proclamation can be a spiritual thing,” before asking them to raise their hands for a prayer rally in support of Mastriano’s run for PA Governor.

  “Can you say what they said at Gettysburg? ‘When you see us lined up as one, sweep down the hill to victory,'” Wallnau prompted the crowd, before beginning the prayer: “Father I pray, that indeed Pennsylvania will be like Little Round Top, and America will have a new birth of liberty.”

  Attorney and frequent MSNBC guest Tristan Snell commented on the clip, which now has 3.6 million views, saying “Yes, this is a Nazi salute, at a Doug Mastriano campaign event in Pennsylvania. In 2022,” adding “Democracy is literally on the ballot in November.”

  Yes, this is a Nazi salute, at a Doug Mastriano campaign event in Pennsylvania. In 2022.

  Democracy is literally on the ballot in November.

  pic.twitter.com/unKyQKDN9A

  — Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) September 18, 2022

  Watch the entire clip below:

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsSnell’s ‘hot propaganda’ take was too much even for CNN‘s K-File, who replied “This is just people praying and it doesn’t even resemble a Nazi salute.”

  this is just people praying and it doesn’t even resemble a Nazi salute.

  — andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) September 19, 2022

  Others followed suit:

  One of the most dishonest posts in awhile. How can you listen to the video and then tell people this is a Nazi salute. These people have their hands up in prayer.

  — David Giglio (@DavidGiglioCA) September 19, 2022

  That’s Christians praying. It’s quite literally done in thousands of churches around the country every week.

  — Gary with a T (@spampots2020) September 19, 2022

  I know many lawyers are willing to lie to win an argument but I watched the video you claimed showed a Nazi salute and he asked people to raise their right arms, vow to take the same pledge the Union soldiers did at Gettysburg, and then went into a prayer. You sir are a liar.

  — E dog (@dernielicious) September 19, 2022

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

  I’m no fan of Tump but can liberals stop claiming that every time a conservative raises his or her arm it’s a nazi salute? Ever seen a Evangelical church service?

  — Billiam (@TCUMurphish) September 19, 2022

  And of course, the Lincoln Project went with the ‘Nazi salute’ thing and turned it into an anti-Mastriano ad.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 23:46

• Alleged Oath Keepers Jan. 6 Radio Traffic Actually "A Recording Of People Watching TV", Former Attorney Says
  Alleged Oath Keepers Jan. 6 Radio Traffic Actually “A Recording Of People Watching TV”, Former Attorney Says

  Authored by Joseph M. Hanneman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  A Twitter post by the U.S. House Jan. 6 Select Committee purporting to contain walkie-talkie traffic between Oath Keepers at the Capitol on Jan. 6 is actually “a recording of people watching TV,” a former Oath Keepers attorney contends.

  

  Jonathon Moseley, who formerly represented Oath Keepers defendant Kelly Meggs, said the audio snippets released by the Jan. 6 Committee are part of a nearly 2.5-hour recording.

  The committee’s Twitter post paired the audio clips with an unrelated video of the Oath Keepers to make it appear it was Oath Keepers speaking on radios at the Capitol, he said.

  The Select Committee has obtained a recording of communications over a walkie-talkie app among Oath Keepers who were inside the Capitol and others who were sharing intelligence from elsewhere.

  Listen to how they reacted to President Trump’s 2:38 tweet in real-time. pic.twitter.com/0ZzJ1E37w0

  — January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) September 15, 2022

  “I can speak from personal, direct, first-hand knowledge that this is a 2-hour, 20-minute recording of people watching TV,” Moseley told The Epoch Times in a statement on Sept. 18. “This is NOT Oath Keepers at the Capitol.”

  Defense attorneys in several Oath Keepers criminal cases have complained to the courts for months that these kinds of utterances from the Jan. 6 Select Committee will poison the jury pool, making it impossible for defendants to get a fair trial in the heavily Democratic District of Columbia. Numerous Oath Keepers motions for trial delays or changes of venue have been denied.

  The controversial Zello transmissions were under court seal when the Jan. 6 Committee published its Twitter post on Sept. 15.

  The highest profile Oath Keepers case goes to trial on Sept. 27. Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes III and four other defendants—Kelly Meggs, Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson, and Thomas Caldwell—are charged with seditious conspiracy to attack the Capitol and a range of other Jan. 6-related crimes.

  “The J6 Committee is operating as a partisan campaign PAC,” Moseley said. “Its public relations releases are not legislative actions. It is a Democrat campaign PAC for the November 2022 elections.”

  

  The Epoch Times reached out to a spokesman for the Jan. 6 Select Committee for comment, but did not receive a reply.

  The disputed Zello communications used by the Jan. 6 Committee have been part of a month-long fight in U.S. District Court between federal prosecutors, who want to introduce them as evidence, and Oath Keepers defense attorneys, who argued they are inadmissible hearsay.

  District Judge Amit Mehta on Sept. 19 ruled (pdf) that the statements made by the user—alleged to be defendant Watkins—are admissible as they are her first-hand impressions of conditions on the ground. Some of the statements made by other Zello users on the audio chat will be admitted as they provide context to what the user was saying, the judge said.

  Most of the inflammatory statements made by the chat leader “1% Watchdog” will be barred from evidence as being highly prejudicial, Mehta ruled.

  Tying Audio to One Oath Keeper

  Although the recording from the smartphone app Zello was given to Moseley and other defense attorneys in October 2021, it was only in late August 2022 that the U.S. Department of Justice said it would seek to admit parts of the 69-page transcript as evidence against the Oath Keepers, according to court records.

  Prosecutors allege Oath Keepers defendant Watkins spoke on Zello about what was happening in the Capitol, but defense attorneys say there is no evidence that she is the speaker.

  Zello is a phone application that mimics the push-to-talk features of a walkie-talkie, except that it uses cellular networks and internet connectivity to link users. It allows smartphones to operate like the popular Nextel push-to-talk phones developed and popularized in the 1990s. Based in Austin, Texas, Zello Inc. offers a variety of service plans for a monthly fee.

  The full 2 hour 22 minute audio file of the Jan. 6 broadcast on the “Stop the Steal J6” channel on Zello, referenced in the Oath Keepers criminal conspiracy case.

  Prosecutors allege that Watkins is heard on the recordings, although no Zello user account could be directly tied to her name or cell phone. The FBI found no Zello-related audio files on her phone, according to court records. Prosecutors contend Watkins was the user “OhioRegularsActual–Oathkeeper.”

  A recording of the public Zello transmissions was discovered on the audio-sharing website Soundcloud by two journalists in 2021. Zello does not store recordings from chats or channels.

  In a pretrial conference on Sept. 14, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler told Mehta a law enforcement officer could testify at trial that the voice heard on parts of the recording belongs to Watkins.

  A Zello channel named “Stop the Steal J6,” created by user “1% Watchdog,” was opened to the public at 1:48 p.m. on Jan. 6, court records state. Zello users had to subscribe to the channel to have access. All subscribers were able to comment on the public channel.

  The conversations included unidentified individuals with account names including “1% Watchdog,” “Gen. Mark Davis CFA” and “iWatch Director Laureen.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 23:25

• Russian Oil, Coal Exports To China Soar In August
  Russian Oil, Coal Exports To China Soar In August

  China’s imports of crude oil and coal imports from Russia exploded in August, data showed on Tuesday, but despite the jump in supply, Russia handed back its top oil supplier ranking to Saudi Arabia for the first time in four months, even as coal exports hit a record high.

  According to data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs, imports of Russian oil, including supplies pumped via the East Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline and seaborne shipments from Russia’s European and Far Eastern ports, totalled 8.342 million tonnes, up 28% Y/Y, the equivalent of 1.96 million barrels per day (bpd), and just slightly off May’s record of nearly 2 million bpd. China is Russia’s largest oil buyer, especially now that most of the western world has sanctioned Russian energy.

  

  China’s purchases of Russian oil have soared in order to reap the benefits of a plunge in European buying and tumbling prices for Russian oil…

  

  … just when Beijing needs it most as the Ukraine crisis pushes Moscow in search of alternative markets

  Russian imports rose as Chinese independent refiners extended purchases of discounted Russian supplies that elbowed out rival cargoes from West Africa and Brazil.

  But despite the full price, imports from Saudi Arabia rebounded last month to 8.475 million tonnes, or 1.99 million bpd, 5% above the year ago levels, and just inching out Russia for the top spot.  Saudi Arabia also remains the biggest supplier on a year-to-date basis, shipping 58.31 million tonnes of oil from January to August, down 0.3% on the year, versus 55.79 million tonnes from Russia, which was up 7.3% from the year ago period.

  In total, China crude oil imports in August fell 9.4% from a year earlier, as outages at state-run refineries and lower operations at independent plants caused by weak margins capped buying.

  The table below shows imports by country, with volumes in metric tonnes and percentage change calculated by Reuters.

  

  The strong purchases of Russian oil continued to weigh on competing supplies from Angola and Brazil, which fell in August by 34% and 47% year-on-year, respectively. Customs reported no imports from Venezuela or Iran last month. State oil firms have shunned purchases since late 2019 for fear of falling foul of secondary U.S. sanctions, although many still engage in illicit trade which is not disclosed on the books. One such company is defense-focused China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) which moved 25 million barrels of Venezuelan crude into China since late 2020, which Chinese customs does not report.

  Tuesday’s customs data also showed imports from Malaysia, often used as a transfer point in the past two years for oil originating from Iran, Venezuela and more recently Russia, nearly doubled from a year earlier, to 3.37 million tonnes, or 794,000 bpd.

  China did not import any crude from the United States, data showed.

  But it wasn’t just Russian oil that Beijing was waving in: China’s coal imports from Russia also exploded in August, exceeding last month’s level and hitting the highest in at least five years, as power utilities in the world’s biggest coal consumer sought overseas supplies to meet soaring demand in extreme hot weather.

  Arrivals of Russian coal last month reached 8.54 million tonnes, up from the previous peak of 7.42 million tonnes in July and 57% higher than in the same period last year, Chinese customs data showed on Tuesday. In fact, the monthly figure was the highest on record, since comparable statistics began in 2017.

  Prices for Russian coal have climbed as both China and India stepped up buying, traders said, but were still cheaper than the domestic coal of same quality. Russian thermal coal at 5,500 kcal on delivery basis to China was assessed at about $155 a tonne in late August, up from about $150 a tonne a month earlier.

  As Reuters notes, after a severe drought and heatwave hit western and southern China from late July, coal-fired power plants geared up production to meet the spiking demand for air conditioning and the supply gap from hydropower stations. They also increased purchases of higher quality thermal coal, such as Russian coal, to improve electricity generation efficiency.

  China brought in 15.82 million tonnes of the dirty fuel from its top supplier Indonesia in August, 35% higher from July, data showed. But that was still lower than the 17.3 million tonnes imported in August last year.

  The increase of Indonesian coal purchases came as lucrative prices encouraged utilities to place more orders. In August, Indonesian 3,800 kcal thermal coal was about 170 yuan ($24.26) a tonne cheaper than the same quality Chinese coal, and 4,700 kcal coal was 140 yuan lower.

  Power utilities are expected to increase imports in October to replenish stocks ahead of the kick-off of the heating season in most of northern China in mid-November.

  However, as renminbi depreciation continues, imported coal will become more expensive for Chinese buyers and potentially dent demand.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 23:05

• Lindell To Sue FBI To Return His Phone, Or Have Special Master Appointed
  Lindell To Sue FBI To Return His Phone, Or Have Special Master Appointed

  Authored by Eva Fu via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  My Pillow’s CEO Mike Lindell is set to file a lawsuit against the FBI and the U.S. government after federal agents seized his phone last week as part of a federal grand jury investigation run out of Colorado.

  

  The agents cornered Lindell in three cars on Sept. 13 as he was driving back from a hunting trip in Iowa. In a search warrant they handed him, authorities outlined an expansive list of information they were seeking from Lindell’s phone relating to allegations of fraud during the 2020 presidential election. It also named a number of individuals allegedly implicated in the 2021 breach of election software in Mesa County, Colorado.

  The search warrant cites potential breaches of three U.S. laws relating to identity theft, intentional damage to a protected computer, and conspiracy to comment on such offenses. Some of the information to be seized concerned the alleged tampering of voting machines and the “attempt to impair the integrity or availability” of the voting system.

  Alleged Violation of Rights

  The search and seizure warrant, Lindell and his lawyer Kurt Olsen argue, violated the businessman’s First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights, which safeguards free speech, protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures, and shields citizens from criminal prosecution without due process, respectively. It also brought reputational harm and millions of dollars in monetary damage, Lindell told The Epoch Times ahead of the filing.

  The lawsuit, to be filed on Sept. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, will seek the return of the seized phone that Lindell had relied on, in lieu of a laptop, to run his five businesses.

  “That specific device was everything for me,” Lindell told The Epoch Times, describing his phone as a “filing cabinet.” The FBI wouldn’t allow him to back up his phone, he said in a previous interview.

  Lindell is now trying to reconfigure everything as much as he can, the businessman said. “There are so many apps now I don’t have the passwords to, also my hearing aids, everything run off that,” he said, referring to the fact that his hearing aids had previously been connected to his phone.

  The search warrant listed more than 20 types of data to be taken from Lindell’s phone, including the geographical location of Lindell and other named “co-conspirators” in the search warrant since Nov. 1, 2020, records indicating their state of mind regarding the alleged offenses, and the identity of any individuals he communicated with on the matter.

  Lindell’s attorney said the lawsuit will seek to bar the U.S. government from using this information, and failing that, requests the appointment of an independent arbiter known as a special master to review the data for privileged information to be withheld from authorities.

  “In any data that they access, we’re going to suppress the release of any information that they unlawfully obtained, and in the alternative, we’re going to ask for a special master to be appointed to review and segregate the data on his phone from what was required under the warrant,” Olsen told The Epoch Times.

  Monetary Loss

  The consequences of the FBI action were not limited to the loss of access to critical data, Lindell added.

  Four companies who partnered Lindell’s MyStore, an online marketplace featuring American-made products, have backed out of agreements over the federal investigation—either “out of fear” or out of the belief that the businessman has “done something wrong,” Lindell said. A bank last week also informed Lindell that they will stop financing one of MyPillow’s products.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 22:45

• The US Has A Jails Suicide Crisis On Its Hands
  The US Has A Jails Suicide Crisis On Its Hands

  Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in jails in the United States, with a rate more than three times higher to that of the general public, according to the latest available data from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).

  As Statista’s Anna Fleck shows in the chart below, there is also a disparity between jails and federal or state prisons.

  In the U.S, a jail is where people are held before they are sentenced in court. It is also a place where people are sent after receiving a sentence, usually for lighter crimes. A prison is where people go to carry out longer sentences.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  The gap in suicide rates comes down to a number of reasons.

  In a state prison, officials have more detailed information when trying to assess inmates for suicide risks and there is greater focus on educational programmes. By comparison, jails are considered to have worse conditions, uncertainty over pending sentences, and according to reporting in NPR, are more likely to receive first-time offenders who might experience a traumatic “shock of confinement”, as they are suddenly cut off from social support.

  Leah Wang of The Prison Policy Initiative writes that the increase of suicides in jails can also be mapped onto the rising number of women being incarcerated, often in rural, smaller jails. She adds that mental health issues and drug or alcohol disorders are significantly more likely among this group, although often not identified at the time, and that jails’ policies do not reflect the needs of women. Wang writes: “Jails are shameful replacements for key social and medical services, and too often low-level offenses are used to justify locking people up, out of sight, when they simply need help.”

  As Statista’s chart shows, the suicide gap goes back at least two decades – when BJS reports on the topic first began – and is getting worse. And where federal and state prisons have had historically lower suicide rates than jails, their rates have been climbing in recent years too.

  Delays with data reporting mean we do not yet have the numbers on jail and prison suicides from 2020 to 2022. These will likely be impacted by the pandemic, whether through fears of the virus itself, the trauma of losing loved ones and fellow inmates, limited visiting times or with staffing shortages making it hard to monitor inmates.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 22:25

• "Explosion" Rocks BP Refinery In Ohio
  “Explosion” Rocks BP Refinery In Ohio

  The BP-Husky Toledo refinery in Oregon, Ohio, was rocked by an “explosion” around 1830 local time, according to local news WTOL, citing witnesses. 

  Videos posted on social media show the fire at the BP refinery. 

  Per BP: The refinery can process up to 160,000 barrels of crude oil each day, providing the Midwest with gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, propane, asphalt, and other products. https://t.co/dmX2Gg3Ens

  — Josh Croup 13abc (@JoshCroup) September 20, 2022

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

  Video from a viewer shows an Oregon BP refinery in flames Monday night.

  Per BP: The refinery can process up to 160,000 barrels of crude oil each day, providing the Midwest with gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, propane, asphalt, and other products. V

  Video credit: Ryan Rohm pic.twitter.com/jf98uAa93N

  — News 5 Cleveland (@WEWS) September 21, 2022

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

  WTOL learned at least two people were severely burned. The cause of the fire remains yet to be determined. 

  Chris Howard was waiting to hear from his father who works at the plant Tuesday night. He received a phone call around 7 p.m. from a friend who works security at the refinery.

  “He said it was like some sort of explosion,” Howard said. “He told me there was just a big rumble at the refinery, lots of fire everywhere. He said it’s the worst he’s seen. Lots of people injured.” — WTOL

  BP’s website explained the refinery “process up to 160,000 barrels of crude oil each day, providing the Midwest with gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, propane, asphalt, and other products.” 

  It added: “On a daily basis the refinery can produce 3.8 million gallons of gasoline, 1.3 million gallons of diesel fuel and 600,000 gallons of jet fuel.” 

  *Developing… 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 22:03

• Musk Says Starlink Now "Active" On All Seven Continents
  Musk Says Starlink Now “Active” On All Seven Continents

  Elon Musk said his satellite-internet system Starlink is “active” on all continents. However, the availability map on Starlink’s website says otherwise.

  “Starlink is now active on all continents, including Antarctica,” Musk tweeted. 

  Starlink is now active on all continents, including Antarctica https://t.co/Q1VvqV5G0i

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 19, 2022

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

  But the availability map of the low-latency, high-speed satellite internet service only appears “available” across the Americas, Europe, Australia — Russia, China, and Iran appear to be blocked with no service in the foreseeable future. And not even a sign of progress in Africa (nevertheless Musk’s home country of South Africa). 

  Even though Ukraine is shown on the “waitlist” with service not officially available — there have been countless stories in Western media about how Musk’s space satellites changed the war on the ground against Russia. Maybe there’s more than meets the eye, as coverage is more widespread than reported on the map. 

  

  This month, more than 2,300 Starlink satellites are in orbit. Another 54 Starlink satellites via SpaceX’s Falcon 9 reusable rocket were launched into space on Sunday night from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. 

  Deployment of 54 Starlink satellites confirmed

  — SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 19, 2022

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

  Last week, Musk tweeted Starlink “is meant for peaceful use only,” in what appears to be a response to Russia’s complaints about Western countries using “elements of civilian, including commercial, infrastructure in outer space for military purposes” at a recent United Nations meeting. 

  “It seems like our colleagues do not realize that such actions in fact constitute indirect involvement in military conflicts,” Konstantin Vorontsov, the head of the Russian delegation to the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs working group, said last week. 

  Meanwhile, Musk has said he would pursue an exception to US sanctions on Iran to supply Starlink access to the country in the Middle East:

  “Internet access is an important tool for protesters and activists in Iran, which blocks many services like YouTube and many foreign media outlets in an effort to impose what the country describes as a halal internet, or one that conforms to its interpretation of Islamic law,” said WSJ. 

  Starlink’s worldwide expansion appears more widespread than what is being shown on the map offered by the company. As for “peaceful use only” applications, that remains to be seen… 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 21:45

• Pentagon Opens Review Of Its Clandestine Psychological Operations
  Pentagon Opens Review Of Its Clandestine Psychological Operations

  Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

  The Pentagon has ordered a sweeping review of how it conducts clandestine information warfare after social media sites removed fake accounts that were suspected of being linked to the US military, The Washington Post reported on Monday.

  A report published last month by research groups Graphika and the Stanford Internet Observatory detailed the activity of fake accounts on Facebook and Twitter that were promoting pro-Western narratives in posts targeting audiences overseas. The social media companies removed around 150 accounts over the past few years, with some removed recently as they were promoting anti-Russia narratives about the war in Ukraine.

  

  The report did not attribute blame for the accounts, but two unnamed military officials speaking to the Post hinted that US Central Command (CENTCOM) was involved. Separately, the Post said that Facebook removed fictitious personas created by CENTCOM to counter a Chinese claim that Covid-19 originated from the US Army bio lab in Fort Detrick, Maryland.

  In response to the Graphika and Stanford Internet Observatory report, Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, ordered the review, which instructed US military command involved in psychological operations to fill the White House in on their activities by next month. Kahl said he wanted to know what types of operations were being carried out and if they were effective.

  The US military has a long history of psychological operations, but its activities online in that area are shrouded in secrecy. While there are military units that specialize in psyops, such as the US Army’s 4th Psychological Operations Group, the Pentagon also employs more covert forces in this area.

  A video published by the US Army’s 4th Psychological Operations Group earlier this year:

  Last year, Newsweek reported that over the past decade, the Pentagon had created the world’s largest clandestine force that consists of about 60,000 people, many of whom use fake identities and operate across the world.

  A major part of the Pentagon’s undercover force are people that operate exclusively online. Newsweek described them as “cutting-edge cyber fighters and intelligence collectors who assume false personas online.” These cyber fighters work to gather data, but some also “engage in campaigns to influence and manipulate social media.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 21:25

• FOMC Preview: If 2023 Dot Comes In Higher Than 4.5%, The Stock Market Will Not Like It
  FOMC Preview: If 2023 Dot Comes In Higher Than 4.5%, The Stock Market Will Not Like It

  There is a longer preview of what the Fed will likely say and do tomorrow, but up front we wanted to recap the main points from Goldman’s call this morning with Josh Schiffrin, the bank’s co-head of US and global rates.

  1. Tomorrow will be brief and to the point: the fed was unhappy with markets reaction to July hike (percived as dovish and potential pivot) … “we are hiking 75bps and are single minded in resolve to bring down inflation”

  2. Dot plot to offer quasi forward guidance, showing restrictive policy until around 2025 (recall in aug fed hammered home the idea that cutting rates in ’23 was the wrong takeaway)

  3. Rhetoric + dots will show us headed for fed funds rate >4% for some time

  Here is flow trader John Flood chimes in that the base case is:

  1. 75bps hike
  2. Hawkish commentary and dots 4.0-4.25% for 2022 and 4.25%-4.5% for 2023.

  Today, the Terminal rate again ticked to 4.5% today. Which is why as Flood warns, “if 2023 dot comes in higher than this 4.5% mark the stock mkt will NOT like it.”

  Of course, the good news is that most of this is already priced in: here is a quick snapshot of what the market has already priced in: 75bps fully, and 18% chance of a 100bps rate hike.

  

  For those who have been sleeping under a rock this summer, Goldman’s Michael Nocerino recaps the market action over the past month:

  SPX reached a high of 4325 back on August 16th after tapping up against the 200dma only to immediately fade [just as BofA’ Michael Hartnett said at the time would happen]. At that point, markets were running hot rallying over 16% off the July 14 lows to that August 16th technical stall (NYC was also hot with 10 days over 90 degrees in July). Markets have since retraced ~10% from that most recent peak, but overall the summer season has proven to provide solid returns of 6% after starting the year down nearly 23%. Now that we Fall back, one thing that hasn’t cooled is inflation.

  FOMC tomorrow is the focus, but at this point I don’t think anyone is going to be fooled by at least a 75bps hike (market is pricing in only a ~20% chance of a 100bps). Once the capitulation happened into late August, we started to see HF positioning tick higher (See our PB data) with LO’s starting to put some cash back to work. This continue into the CPI print and our flows confirmed the move with LO’s leaning in with a heavy buy skew. Post CPI, everything unraveled as our flows flipped aggressively for sale, with HF positioning back in 2nd percentile and LO’s with record amount of cash on the sidelines.

  That brings us to today where we’ve seen our second day of muted price action with flows neutral as the fact remains that US real rates are now the highest they have been for a decade and US mortgage rates at levels not seen since 2008. So what can we expect and what’s is going to take to get us to a soft-landing and investors back on their feet?

  With all that in mind, here is an official preview of what the Fed will do tomorrow, courtesy of Newsquawk:

  75 OR 100: The FOMC is expected Wednesday to hike the FFR by 75bps to 3.00-3.25%, with risks of a larger 100bps hike after the super-hot August CPI data shattered expectations for any imminent downturn in inflation. While the angst around CPI is deafening, it’s worth highlighting the decline in long-term inflation expectations (via UoM and NY Fed surveys), lower prices paid components in September Philly Fed and Empire State releases, and also the more contained August PPI data (which will keep the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, Core PCE, more anchored) as factors that may temper some of the extreme hawkishness, ergo votes for 100bps.

  MARKET PRICING: Markets took down implied 100bps September pricing to near 15% in wake of the decline in the UoM consumer inflation expectations survey, although crept back up to 20% as of Monday. Money markets have priced in just shy of 150bps of hikes across the September and November meetings, with 190bps priced through December, taking the 2022-end rate into a 4.00-4.25% range up from 3.75-4% before CPI, while 215bps of tightening is currently priced into the terminal rate (March 2023) taking rates towards the top-end of the 4.25-4.5% range up from 3.75-4% pre-CPI. Markets are currently pricing a 2023-end Fed rate at 4%. In its preview, Goldman writes that it expects the FOMC to deliver a third 75bp rate hike on Wednesday, taking the funds rate to 3-3.25%. “The bond market is pricing a roughly three-in-four chance of a 75bp hike and a one-in-four chance of a 100bp hike instead. We expect the pace of tightening to then slow to 50bp in November and December, which would leave the funds rate at 4-4.25% at the end of 2022.”

  

  A quick caveat from Goldman here: “a third “unusually large” hike would represent a reversal from the plan Chair Powell laid out in his July press conference to slow the pace of rate hikes in order to reduce the risk of overtightening. We see little net surprise in the economic data during the intermeeting period: activity growth has remained soft, and inflation and labor market data came in firmer than expected one month and softer the other.”

  GUIDANCE: The broad-based upside seen in the August CPI (Core +0.6% M/M, +6.3% Y/Y, with services gaining momentum) broke what could have been more evidence toward a series of lower readings, a condition that would have allowed the Fed to start considering a slowdown in the pace of tightening. With the dovish runoff now closed, at least in the near term, the likelihood of the Fed hiking until the economy crashes, a ‘hard landing’, has increased further and markets have shifted to reflect that notion. Aside from risks of 100bps in September, another 75bps in November looks more likely. Fed officials have stressed their data-dependence and have on the whole been coy to tie their hands to guidance on the rate path. We can expect a reiteration in the statement, “the Committee… anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate.” Powell will likely be pressed on his preference for the November meeting in the press conference. Absent guidance, the data-dependent stance will instead see greater attention put on the SEPs.

  DOT PLOT: The SEP (‘Dot Plot’) will be updated, since their last iteration in June, to show both a higher year-end and terminal rate with some desks in wake of CPI forecasting new dots that could reach heights of 4% (prev. 3.4% median in June) and 5% (prev. 3.8% in June), respectively, reflective of both the worsening inflation outlook and stubbornly tight labour market. Fed Governor Waller, to wit, “right now there is no tradeoff between the Fed’s employment and inflation objectives, so we will continue to aggressively fight inflation.” However, there is no clear consensus among analysts for the terminal rate, but forecasts are seen more common around 4.25%, with some dovish estimates pencilling in a terminal beneath 4%. A few are also forecasting rate cuts heading into 2024 and 2025.

  Bloomberg compiled the following economist survey between September 9th-14th, meaning not all responses will incorporate the August CPI data, thus, these can be considered somewhat stale, with expectations for the Fed Funds and inflation dots having nudged higher since the data. Note this is also the first SEP release containing 2025 estimates.

  Median dot expectations:

  • FEDERAL FUNDS RATE: exp. at 3.9% in 2022 (prev. 3.4% in Jun), 4.1% in 2023 (prev. 3.8%), 3.6% in 2024 (prev. 3.4%), 2.9% in 2025, 2.5% in longer run (prev. 2.5%)
  • CHANGE IN REAL GDP: exp. at 0.5% in 2022 (prev. 1.7% in Jun), 1.4% in 2023 (prev. 1.7%), 1.7% in 2024 (prev. 1.9%), 1.8% in 2025, 1.8% in longer run (prev. 1.8%)
  • UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: exp. at 3.7% in 2022 (prev. 3.7% in Jun), 4.1% in 2023 (prev. 3.9%), 4.2% in 2024 (prev. 4.1%), 4.1% in 2025, 4% in longer run (prev. 4.0%)
  • PCE INFLATION: exp. at 5.2% in 2022 (prev. 5.2% in Jun), 2.6% in 2023 (prev. 2.6%), 2.2% in 2024 (prev. 2.2%), 2% in 2025, 2% in longer run (prev. 2.0%)
  • CORE PCE INFLATION: exp. at 4.5% in 2022 (prev. 4.3% in Jun), 2.8% in 2023 (prev. 2.7%), 2.3% in 2024 (prev. 2.3%), 2% in 2025

  BALANCE SHEET: Fed officials are also likely to be increasingly cognizant of the restrictive effects of quantitative tightening (QT), both from a monetary perspective and a smooth market functioning view, with liquidity conditions in the Treasury market sitting at uncomfortable levels from a historical standpoint. These concerns have brought uncertainty about whether the Fed will go ahead with previous stated plans to consider MBS sales. Note, the runoff (allowing existing holdings to mature without reinvesting) has now accelerated to an annual pace of USD 1.1tln, while desks see the balance sheet shrinking to USD 8.4tln by year-end and USD 6.6tln in December 2024, based on the current plans.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 21:05

• Pennsylvania County Sued Over Illegal Ballot Drop Box Usage Captured On Camera
  Pennsylvania County Sued Over Illegal Ballot Drop Box Usage Captured On Camera

  Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  A conservative legal group is suing the board of elections in Pennsylvania’s Chester County, citing surveillance camera footage that captured the illegal use of ballot drop boxes.

  

  The lawsuit was filed Thursday by America First Legal (AFL) on behalf of registered voters in Chester County. The group, founded by longtime Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller, said this is meant to ensure that the board adheres to Pennsylvania’s election law regarding ballot drop boxes prior to this November’s election.

  Under Pennsylvania’s election code, mailed and absentee ballots have to be returned either by mail or in person by the person to whom the ballot belongs, meaning one person cannot drop more than one ballot in a drop box.

  During the May primary election, the Chester County Board of Elections placed 13 drop boxes. An instruction attached to each box by the board explicitly said that “you must only return your own ballot,” and that “you are prohibited from delivering or returning anyone else’s ballot, even if that person is your spouse, parent, child, grandparent, other relative, neighbor, or friend.”

  However, only 11 of all 13 boxes were physically watched by a staff member and were only accessible at certain hours of the day, according to the complaint. The other two boxes, which were accessible 24 hours per day, remained unstaffed but monitored with surveillance cameras.

  The surveillance camera footage, obtained through a Right-to-Know request from the board, showed multiple instances of individuals delivering more than two ballots. Together, some 300 individuals had dropped “invalid and void ballots” at that location, according to the AFL.

  

  “This means that at least 300 invalid and void ballots were deposited into just one drop box, which were then canvassed and counted,” the AFL said in the complaint (pdf), adding that although a review of the camera footage of the other drop box is still underway, it is fair to assume that a similar number of “void and invalid ballots” were deposited there.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 20:45

• 'The Dollar Is Once Again The World's Problem' – Chinese State Media Urges 'De-Dollarization' Amid Fed's "Financial Looting"
  ‘The Dollar Is Once Again The World’s Problem’ – Chinese State Media Urges ‘De-Dollarization’ Amid Fed’s “Financial Looting”

  On the eve of The Fed’s big decision to hike rates 75bps or 100bps in an effort to shock the system and tamp down out of control inflation, no lesser entity than the CCP-backed Global Times penned an editorial attacking US monetary policy, entitled: “The strong dollar should not become a sharp blade to cut the world.”

  

  The editorial begins by noting that tomorrow’s rate-hike will likely further strengthen the US Dollar, which “for many countries in the world,” China says, “might be the beginning of another nightmare.”

  “A super strong US dollar and the fall of other currencies will, to a certain extent, ease the scorching inflation in the US economy, but the world will have to pay for it.“

  And the dollar’s strength has pushed Asian FX markets down hard to their weakest since 2003…

  

  The Global Times then exclaims that since the end of World War II, the US has used dollar hegemony to carry out “financial looting” or “export crises” against other countries several times.

  “As a widely popular phrase in the West goes, the US enjoys the exorbitant privileges created by the dollar and the deficit without tears, and used the worthless paper note to plunder the resources and factories of other nations…

  … while the political elites in Washington boast of the “myth of the American system” and take credit for “alleviating the crisis,” thousands of poor families around the world are being trampled by them.“

  And as the yuan tumbles, and Beijing’s attempts (through strong yuan fixes at a minimum) to defy gravity…

  

  …the editorial points the finger directly:

  ” Today, the dollar is once again the world’s problem. In a sense, it’s hard to believe that the “prosperity” of the US is clean and moral…

  …Washington keeps laying mines but never removes them, which will eventually explode the US itself. The incompetence of US financial policymakers has been exposed by the consecutive interest rate hikes that have contributed to the abnormal appreciation of the US dollar with the purpose of defusing the severe inflation. “

  Now the anxiety and insecurity brought by the US dollar to the world has heralded the beginning of the decline of its hegemony – regarding Washington’s insatiable exploitation, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and other regions have explored the path of “de-dollarization,” leading to the inevitable diversification of the international monetary system…

  “…The instability and fragility of international financial markets have once again become prominent. It is precisely at such times that the international community should be more determined to cooperate and build a reliable, systemic and long-term multilateral international financial system. This cannot wait.“

  Remember, as we have noted previously, nothing lasts forever…

  

  Read the full Editorial here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 20:25

• US Ends Reports On Military Costs, Arms Transfers
  US Ends Reports On Military Costs, Arms Transfers

  Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

  The State Department announced in August that it will no longer publish World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers (WMEAT) reports, which have been released by the US government since the 1960s.

  The WMEATs detail US global military spending, arms transfers, and related data for each country in the world. The 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) included an amendment that repealed a 1994 provision requiring the State Department to publish a WMEAT each year.

  

  “Section 5114(b)(4) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 repealed the 1994 statutory provision that required the Department of State to publish an edition of WMEAT every year. Consistent with this repeal, the Department of State will cease to produce and publish WMEAT,” the State Department said on its website.

  The State Department said that the report it published in 2021 was the “final edition” of the WMEAT. The 2021 WMEAT covered an 11-year period from 2009 through 2019 and found that the US was by far the world’s largest arms dealer.

  During that period, about “79 percent of world arms trade by value appears to have been supplied by the United States.”

  The discontinuation of the WMEAT reports, which reduces the US government’s transparency, comes as the US is shipping billions of dollars worth of arms into Ukraine with virtually no oversight.

  Since Russia invaded on February 24, the US has pledged $15.1 billion in weapons for Kyiv. 

  

  The latest $600 million unveiled last week is being pulled from the $40 billion Ukraine aid bill that President Biden signed back in May, but those funds are running out, and the administration has asked Congress for more.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 20:05

• McDonald's CEO Warns That More Companies Will Leave Crime Ridden Chicago
  McDonald’s CEO Warns That More Companies Will Leave Crime Ridden Chicago

  McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski says exploding crime has made his employees feel unsafe to go to work and has made it impossible to hire new talent for the company’s Chicago offices.  The Illinois city has seen over 494 homicides so far in 2022, which is at least 100 more deaths that it saw in the first 8 months of 2019.  Burglary is up at least 36% and theft overall is up 70% from a year ago.       

  Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is likely a large part of the problem. A notorious proponent of social justice ideology, Lightfoot vowed to crack down on anti-covid lockdown protesters but refused to do the same with BLM looting and rioting.  Under her leadership Chicago has spiraled out of control.  Lightfoot recently lauded a minor drop in homicides this year while ignoring the fact that deaths skyrocketed in 2020 and 2021, making the recent small decline far less meaningful.

  

  Lightfoot called for defunding Chicago police by $80 million in 2020, only to then beg for federal law enforcement assistance in 2021.  Chicago continues to be known as one of the most violent cities in America. 

  The concerns expressed by McDonald’s leadership parallels similar worries expressed by companies in democrat run cities across the US in terms of economic viability and safety.  Numerous businesses have fled Los Angeles and San Francisco in the past two years, not just because of the draconian California lockdowns and mandates, but also because of rising crime and poverty. 

  As Kempczinski noted:

  “The truth is, it’s more difficult today for me to convince a promising McDonald’s executive to relocate to Chicago from one of our other offices than it was just a few years ago.”

  The ideological policies of the political left are proving to be completely incompatible with successful business practices.  Over-taxation along with actual support for criminals over law abiding citizens and law enforcement are fueling an unstable environment supported by thin pillars of government assistance and welfare.  One gets the sense that as bad as things are in blue cities, they could get a whole lot worse in the near future should a single “black swan” event take place.

  This is not to say that some cities in red states don’t have their share of crime.  Houston, Texas, for example, also has a problem with higher homicide rates the past couple of years, but keep in mind, Houston is also run by Democrats. 

  In other words, leftists in charge seem to be the common denominator when it comes to US cities facing high crime rates and economic decline.  New Orleans, Louisiana, recently named the murder capital of the US, is ALSO run by Democrats.  It’s an inescapable cause and effect relationship.

  Three booming businesses, Citadel, Caterpillar, and Boeing, have all moved their headquarters out of Chicago as crime soars. Kempczinski encouraged public officials to address the crime or risk more companies leaving. 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 19:45

• Illegal Immigrants Voluntarily Sign Forms That Disclose Destination: Gov. Abbott’s Office
  Illegal Immigrants Voluntarily Sign Forms That Disclose Destination: Gov. Abbott’s Office

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

  Illegal immigrants who are being transported to other parts of the country from Texas voluntarily sign a waiver that discloses their destination, according to a spokesperson for Gov. Greg Abbott.

  “The migrants on Texas’ buses willingly chose to go to Washington, D.C., New York City, or Chicago, having signed a voluntary consent waiver available in multiple languages upon boarding that they agreed on the destination,” spokesperson Renae Eze told media outlets recently.

  

  Meanwhile, the city of El Paso, Texas, reportedly has its own program for busing illegal immigrants. The Democrat-run city is located across the border from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

  “The state is not involved in El Paso’s busing,” Eze told Just the News on Sept. 17.

  The comments follow claims by Democratic and White House officials that Abbott, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey are misleading illegal immigrants and have suggested that the transfer program isn’t voluntary. When Abbott initiated the busing plan earlier this year, he repeatedly said the illegal aliens would go on a voluntary—not mandatory—basis.

  Only the federal government sets immigration policy and is responsible for deportations. Governors don’t have such powers.

  The busing program drew headlines last week when DeSantis flew about 50 illegal aliens to Martha’s Vineyard, a Massachusetts island that’s popular with wealthy Democratic elites, from Florida. On the same day, Abbott bused dozens of individuals picked up at the border to Vice President Kamala Harris’s official residence in Washington.

  In response, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Sept. 16 that the White House is deferring to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on whether legal action is being considered against the Republican governors.

  Hours after sending the illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker activated the National Guard and promptly sent them to a military base on Cape Cod. It isn’t clear what will happen to the aliens, who are reportedly of Venezuelan origin.

  During a press conference last week, DeSantis said he’s considering flying more illegal migrants to other parts of the country.

  “Obviously, there’s going to be buses like Texas is doing, [and] there may be some more flights,” he announced.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 19:25

• Why One Trader Expects The Fed To Pause Hikes Amid Growing Evidence Of Slowing Demand
  Why One Trader Expects The Fed To Pause Hikes Amid Growing Evidence Of Slowing Demand

  Ahead of tomorrow’s Fed rate hike, which Jerome Powell now openly prays will push the US economy into a deep recession leaving millions without a job and Democrats furious at the Fed chair (after all they will need a scapegoat when it all goes L-shaped), stocks tumbled as Treasury yields hit multiyear highs, with traders bracing for aa potentially more hawkish Federal Reserve than is currently priced in.

  As Bloomberg’ Vincent Cignarella writes, some swaps traders – very few – are pricing for a 100 basis point rate hike, as some strategists also call for a full 1 point move. Still, the vast majority see 75 basis points as the likely case, especially after the WSJ’s Fed whisperer Nick Timiraos called for 75bps, with only two of the 96 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg currently predicting a full-point increase.

  And yet, as Cignarella writes this morning for the Bloomberg Markets live blog, the shrinking backlog at ports that contributed to supply-chain disruptions and a surge in consumer prices is rapidly slowing. As the Bloomberg trader notes, changes in container flows precede GDP changes, and the current trend is lower (not that one needs another confirmation of this, especially with the Atlanta Fed about to print negative for the 3rd quarter in a row).

  

  Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero expects the pandemic-era surge in US consumer demand that snarled supply chains to start to cool, with evidence of a deceleration beginning to show in weaker inbound container arrivals.

  Many commodity prices are also falling without prodding from the fed as demand has been slowing. It’s not just gasoline that’s falling. Crude is lower by 25%, natural gas 22%, lumber 66%, copper down 27% and this morning the NAHB index of homebuilder confidence fell to 46 from 90 at the end of 2020. Better supply flows and slower demand sets up just the economic slowdown Powell is trying to create.

  

  At the same time, prices that are rising — food and rent — are out of the Fed’s control.

  Meanwhile, the only thing rate hikes will accomplish is a recession. They always do. What they will also likely bring is an eventual improvement in risk appetite and the beginning of another bull market. Of course, slower growth and declining demand will bring less inflation.

  All of that, Cignarella writes, “may lead the Fed to pause after Wednesday’s rate hike, opening the way for the start of a risk rally.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 19:05

• Wisconsin's Use Of Private Vendor To Maintain Voter Roll On The Line After Complaint
  Wisconsin’s Use Of Private Vendor To Maintain Voter Roll On The Line After Complaint

  Authored by Steven Kovac via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  A citizen group filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) on Sept. 8, alleging that the commission broke federal law by contracting an out-of-state vendor to maintain the state’s voter rolls.

  

  In its complaint (pdf), the Wisconsin Voter Alliance is challenging the legality of a state law which permits the elections commission to contract with third parties to maintain the state’s centralized voter roll. The complaint seeks a declaration from the WEC finding that the state statute violates the 2002 federal Help America Vote Act.

  The complaint also asks the commission to declare that database sharing with third parties and the parties’ uses of the database are legally unauthorized under federal law.

  Such a declaration by WEC would force the end of the years-long contractual relationship between the commission and the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC).

  According to its website, ERIC is a “public charity nonprofit membership organization comprised of 33 states and the District of Columbia.”

  The organization’s mission is “to assist states in improving the accuracy of America’s voter rolls and increase access to voter registration for all eligible citizens.”

  Under the terms of their contract with ERIC, member states are required to send voter registration information to potentially eligible residents who aren’t registered to vote every two years.

  ERIC identifies the individuals by comparing voter data with motor vehicle licensing information, which the member states, by contract, must provide to it.

  

  The complainants argue that federal law requires that only the elections commission and its officials are authorized to maintain and implement the statewide voter registration system database.

  They claim that the Help America Vote Act requires the elections commission to maintain its database without outside assistance from a third party and that the task can’t be delegated to any other entity.

  The complaint asserts that under the federal statute, the election officials of each state are mandated to create and maintain a centralized, interactive, and computerized statewide voter registration list. The law states that the voter list is to be “defined, maintained, and administered at the State level … [and] shall be coordinated with other agency databases within the State.”

  The federal law also states that “the appropriate State or local election official shall perform list maintenance with respect to the computerized list on a regular basis.”

  The statute requires states to “remove the names of ineligible voters from the computerized list in accordance with State law.”

  “The language of the law is plain. It is the responsibility of state elections officials to clean up their own voter rolls,” Erick Kaardal, an attorney representing the alliance, told The Epoch Times.

  The complaint cites the U.S. Code to show that any election official in the state, including local election officials, “may obtain immediate electronic access to the information contained in the computerized list.”

  “The same federal law clearly mandates that the computerized list ‘shall be coordinated with other agency databases within the State,’” Kaardal said. “The operative phrase is ‘within the State.’”

  ERIC is headquartered in Washington. The Epoch Times contacted ERIC for comment.

  WEC officials didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.

  Meagan Wolfe, the commission’s administrator, is the most recent past president of ERIC, according to its website.

  “The cleverness of ERIC’s founder, David Becker, has created a mirage in the minds of state election officials around the country that they cannot handle the complex job of cleaning up the voter rolls themselves,” Kaardal told The Epoch Times on Sept. 13. “So, they go to their legislatures and convince them to provide the small appropriation needed to contract with ERIC.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 18:45

• Russia Opens Military Recruitment Center For Foreigners
  Russia Opens Military Recruitment Center For Foreigners

  From near the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian side has touted its own “foreign legion” – which especially in the opening months attracted thousands of Westerners. Calling itself the “International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine” – potential recruits can even go to an official website and click “join”. 

  President Volodymyr Zelensky a mere two days after the Feb.24 invasion of his country had called on “friends of Ukraine, freedom and democracy” to sign up for the territorial defense forces. According to one study tracking Ukraine forces during the conflict, “Just two weeks after Zelensky asked foreigners to serve in the Ukrainian ‘international legion,’ Ukraine announced that more than 20,000 foreign volunteers from over 52 different countries had arrived.”

  

  As the study noted further, “Many of the new arrivals were well trained with prior military experience. These included veterans who served in the US Army, US Marine Corps, and British Army.”

  Some pundits have said these mercenaries have remained deeply involved in the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive which began in earnest this month, regaining crucial territory especially in Kharkiv in the east. 

  Interestingly, at a moment international reports are pointing to high casualties as well as possible manpower shortages on the Russian side, the Russian government has opened a military recruitment center focused on foreign citizens. The mayor of Moscow announced the new initiative on Tuesday:

  “The Moscow government will deploy a full-fledged infrastructure in Sakharovo to assist the Russian Defense Ministry in the recruitment of foreign citizens into the military service,” Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

  Local authorities “will do everything necessary to make the signing of the contracts as convenient as possible” the official statement said.

  This is likely related to a move in the State Duma being reported Tuesday to make preparations for a “national mobilization” – as the Russian military could be poised for a major escalation. This also involved federal measures making it easier for foreigners to sign a one-year contract with the Russian army, based on a program where they receive citizenship in return.

  The parallel for Solovyov’s proposed international corps are the international brigades that fought Franco in the Spanish Civil War

  Russia has struggled to enlist foreign fighters on its behalf and rebuffed prospective recruits from Ethiopia https://t.co/IBFN0EU6B3

  — Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) September 15, 2022

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

  However, the proposal would still have to go through the upper house of parliament and be signed into law by President Putin. All of this points some major changes in the way Russia is executing the invasion, and as Putin is set to give a major address Tuesday night alongside his defense minister.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 18:25

• 33 GOP Senators Urge Garland To Give Hunter Biden Investigator Special Counsel Powers
  33 GOP Senators Urge Garland To Give Hunter Biden Investigator Special Counsel Powers

  Authored by Cathy He via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  More than 30 Republican senators have requested that Attorney General Merrick Garland give special counsel protections to the federal prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden, arguing that such a move would help assure the American people that the probe is free from political influence amid widespread allegations of bias at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

  

  The president’s son has been investigated by the office of Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, a Trump-appointed prosecutor, since at least 2019.

  While prosecutors have not publicly disclosed what is being investigated, documents from the investigation and people who have testified to a grand jury say it includes looking into Hunter Biden’s financial dealings with entities in China and other foreign countries.

  “There is no way of knowing the entire scope of the investigation, but evidence seems to be mounting that Hunter Biden committed numerous federal crimes, including, but not limited to, tax fraud, money laundering, and foreign-lobbying violations,” the senators wrote in the Sept. 19 letter to Garland.

  The letter, led by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), alleges heightened politicization of the DOJ under Garland.

  

  It also references whistleblower information received by Grassley’s office detailing a “widespread effort within the FBI to downplay or discredit negative information about” Hunter Biden, including allegations that the FBI “shut down investigative activity and avenues of information relating to potentially criminal information on Hunter Biden before the 2020 presidential election.”

  The senators accused Garland of taking the “inexplicable step of chilling lawful whistleblower activity” by issuing an Aug. 30 memo reminding DOJ employees of a policy prohibiting communications with Congressional members without approval. The memo was issued on the heels of whistleblower approaches to members of Congress.

  When President Joe Biden took office, the administration allowed Weiss to remain on as prosecutor, even as all other Trump-appointed U.S. attorneys were asked to leave, in a move to avoid the appearance of political interference.

  But many Republican lawmakers, including the senators who signed on to the letter, believe this is not enough to ensure the integrity of the investigation

  “Given the politicization of the DOJ under your watch and the importance of avoiding any appearance of impropriety, the undersigned request that you provide U.S. Attorney Weiss the full protections and authorities of a special counsel,” the letter stated.

  “This is one important action that you can take that will go a long way to restoring faith in our governmental institutions.”

  The attorney general in an April hearing assured senators that “there will not be interference of any political or improper kind” in the investigation being run out of Deleware.

  Garland, at the time, also declined to comment on repeated questions about a potential special counsel being assigned to the investigation, saying, “The question is an internal DOJ matter,” Garland repeated.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 18:05

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• Germany's (And Europe's) Self-Inflicted Upcoming Energy Crunch
  Germany’s (And Europe’s) Self-Inflicted Upcoming Energy Crunch

  Authored by Weimin Chen via The Mises Institute,

  At the end of September 2021, the Nord Stream 2 project was a reality after many years of uncertainty. At that time, there were only a few more regulatory hurdles remaining for Germany and Russia to seal the deal on the long-awaited and highly controversial natural gas pipeline. Achieving such a feat would have been a milestone in energy cooperation between the two countries. Sadly, the regional order has tilted hard and quick off that track, and Europe has plunged into a perilous future of uncertainty.

  In the first weeks of the Russian-initiated war in Ukraine, Germany, along with the rest of Europe, found itself backed into a corner regarding its energy sourcing as Western sanctions cut off routes and links in the established regional energy and financial infrastructures. There has been no perceptible success in breaking out of this bind. Instead, Germany has watched time tick by. Russia’s Gazprom recently cut gas flow for Nord Stream 1 to 20 percent of capacity.

  German nuclear power plants remain mostly idle, with three facilities providing 13 percent of the country’s electricity compared to France’s 69 percent. Coal power plants have now ramped up output, with the inevitable approach of the fall and winter seasons in the near term.

  

  Reality Sets In

  Germany, and indeed the rest of the world, has operated on the expectation that the general uptrend of development and growth experienced in Western countries would continue alongside the increasing global ties that have created a landscape of abundance and increased the overall standard of living. But now the largest economy in Europe finds itself facing a serious precipice as the danger of significant hardship in the near term looms.

  Public opinion reflected in a poll from mid-July shows that nearly one in two Germans are concerned that Germany is hurting itself more than it is impacting Russia’s political aims through tough sanctions. The layman’s gut feeling about this may well capture the reality that Germany’s sanctions on natural gas and energy in particular, as well as Western sanctions in general, have disproportionately self-harming effects. In a competitive enterprise as serious as war and national security, this would be nothing short of paramount negligence and self-sabotage.

  Pain in Regression

  Rising energy costs would inevitably hit the poorer and lower-income segment of the population and would certainly spell a difficult winter, indeed. The government has already started to encourage people to cut back and save energy in anticipation of energy shortages. In the face of the stark realities, some Germans are even turning to stockpiling wood, regressing from a modern energy infrastructure to seriously planning on engaging in the preindustrial practice of burning wood for warmth this winter. This is no trivial blow to the standard of living in one of the most developed countries in the world.

  Leaders of the major industries that power the German economy have warned of serious problems for output in the absence of the established but now vulnerable energy infrastructure. The head of technology and engineering company Bosch has said that production could be halted at their factories.

  Meanwhile, the CEO of Siemens explained that the steady flow of natural gas is existential to some industries such as glassmaking. The head of BASF has made similar comments regarding its manufacture of critical chemical products involved in the already squeezed areas of agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnologies around the world. This would in turn jeopardize the employment of all those who work in these industries, in a far-reaching ripple effect.

  Flailing Policy Directions

  Starting in October, Germany is set to implement a levy on all gas consumers to offset the difficulties energy providers in the country are facing as they pivot to alternative sources. According to German economy minister Robert Habeck, the levy would amount to between 1.5 and 5 euro cents per kilowatt hour, or about an additional €1,000 per year for a four-person household.

  In the German government, criticism and doubt of the ruling coalition’s hardline stance against Russia is mounting. Chancellor Olaf Scholz adheres to the Western consensus of being unequivocally tough on Russia, while his former political opponents Annalena Baerbock and Christian Lindner, now foreign minister and finance minister, respectively, carry out Germany’s political, military, and financial backing of Ukraine in this conflict.

  The realities of the harm that these anti-Russia policies have caused Germany have provided an opening to political opponents to take the contrary position, advocating an easing of Russia policy to ease the pressure that threatens to throttle the energy security of Germany and the rest of Europe. A pivot in Germany’s Russia policy would also represent a pivot away from Washington’s policy.

  It can be seen as an opportunity for Germany to assert its decision-making and leadership position at the political level in Europe, not to mention as a stakeholder in its own sovereignty. Perhaps in this way, Germany can choose to spare Europe the economic pain brought about by this largely US-driven hawkish stance toward the East.

  Even if Germany can find viable energy alternatives, reverse the closure of its nuclear power plants, or come to an agreement on gas delivery with Russia, the long-term East-West relationship has been damaged. The implications of this new geopolitical and regional order are severe, to say the least. A German crisis would be a crisis for all of Europe, one that would rock the entire European Union and the many economies that surround it.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 09/20/2022 – 02:00

• Why The World Economic Forum's Plutocracy Should Be Dissolved
  Why The World Economic Forum’s Plutocracy Should Be Dissolved

  Authored by JB Shurk via The Gatestone Institute,

  A previous essay highlighted the serious threats posed by the World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset” to individual liberty, human innovation, and general prosperity. It is important to expand discussion of these threats by examining the inherent dangers to free nations when so much wealth is concentrated in the hands of so few.

  

  No matter how noble its stated intentions, the “Great Reset” is at its heart a program for driving political power away from individual citizens and toward the controlling interests of a small international class of financial elites. This shift in society’s balance of power has fundamentally changed the relationship between Western citizens and their national governments.

  For citizens to reclaim power, they must not only embrace the basics of free markets once again but also rekindle a fondness for questioning the motivations of political authorities.

  Of all Lord Acton’s persuasive defenses of individual liberty as the highest end of human civilization, one observation remains most memorable: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” As well-known as these words are, the universality of their meaning is often ignored.

  It is not just kings, generals, and popes who possess great power. Wherever a person, group, or institution is capable — through enticement, coercion, or brute force — of bending an individual’s free will, the structures and instruments of power exist. A local school board, after all, may well have more immediate and intimate influences over a person’s family than the United Nations Human Rights Council and its revolving door of despots who tend to promulgate international resolutions shielding their own crimes. A wealthy landowner who exerts hefty influence over agricultural or cattle markets influences the pocketbook fortunes of more modest farmers, too. The small number of multinational corporations that control most television and print news sources around the globe also control the sociological levers capable of manufacturing or shifting public opinion. Power in any form — political, economic, cultural, spiritual — is an abiding challenge to human liberty, and in this way, must always be guarded against as a potential foe.

  It is also true that those with power have little incentive to check what they possess and have every incentive to grow and strengthen the powers already in their grasp. Rare, indeed, is the Cincinnatus or Washington who has gained near total control over a nation state only to relinquish such tremendous authority voluntarily and return with humility to the life of an ordinary farmer. Examples of virtuous self-restraint are historic exceptions to power’s innate tendency to become all the more coveted once obtained. So, too, is it uncommon to find those in possession of raw power who ruthlessly or bombastically proclaim their dominance over others. Instead, people and institutions with power prefer to remain somewhat in the shadows, exercising authority in the name of ideas, causes, or populations beyond themselves.

  “The welfare of the people,” Albert Camus succinctly noted, “…has always been the alibi of tyrants.”

  The great mass murderers of the twentieth century attest to this truth. Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot and Mao killed tens of millions, but they did so, they assured the world, not for their own glory but for the benefit of “the people.” Castro and Guevara executed tens of thousands of political prisoners while absurdly claiming they did so in the name of “freedom.”

  “Most of the evil in this world,” T.S. Eliot is said to have coldly warned, “is done by people with good intentions.” So when people or institutions wrap themselves in the garments of “good intentions” and proclaim loudly to be working for “the people’s best interests,” that is precisely the time when individual liberty is most at risk.

  Today in the West we are confronted with an uncomfortable paradox. At the same time as national leaders defend vague notions of “democracy” against “authoritarian” threats beyond their borders, power and influence continue to rapidly amalgamate into the hands of a small few. It is no secret that money influences politics, no matter how profusely politicians may assert their civic independence from the lobbyists and benefactors filling their campaign war chests. With organizations such as the World Economic Forum openly working to direct the legislative programs and executive actions of nation states across the globe, however, wealthy patrons of elite economic societies have become increasingly vocal about their ambitions toward remaking the world according to their own “Great Reset” designsת while flexing their political muscles within the domestic affairs of discreet nation states for ordinary citizens to see.

  Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, appeared with David Gergen in 2017 at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and openly boasted of his influence over many national leaders:

  “I have to say when I mention names like Mrs. Merkel, even Vladimir Putin and so on, they have all been Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum, but what we are really proud of now is the young generation like Prime Minister Trudeau, the President of Argentina and so on. So we penetrate the cabinets. So yesterday I was at a reception for Prime Minister Trudeau, and I know that half of his cabinet or even more are Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum…. It is true in Argentina and it is true in France now….”

  When the chairman of an international economic body publicly brags about his leverage over the leaders of sovereign nation states, he can hardly be mistaken as defending the merits of “democracy.”

  In a somewhat farcical display of the World Economic Forum’s control over individual nations, it has become eerily commonplace these last two years to hear the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States all parroting the same “Build Back Better” slogan propagated by Klaus Schwab’s economic club. With wealth and political power bonded densely into such haut monde cabals, the insular prerogatives of the WEF have succeeded in dominating government policies throughout the West.

  Both in their immediate handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and their planned response to the harsh economic repercussions dovetailing from prolonged lockdowns, Western nation states have taken many of their cues directly from the World Economic Forum’s policy edicts. Whatever vestige of “democracy” still casts a shadow across North America, Europe, and the South Pacific, it has become unmistakable that plutocracy — rule by a wealthy elite — is fast assuming total control over the West’s future.

  Notably, today’s plutocrats have little interest in truly free markets. Unlike J.D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and other late-nineteenth-century industrialists and business magnates who made their fortunes in the heyday of economic growth before the massive expansion of the regulatory State, those with great wealth today often champion government intervention in markets. The World Economic Forum, for instance, demands governments take urgent action to combat or address climate change, cybersecurity, online misinformation, artificial intelligence, overpopulation, the use of hydrocarbon energy, farm ownership, food supplies, the elimination of private vehicle ownership, and the imposition of citizen-control protocols to defend against future pandemics. Regulation of people and markets is now of paramount importance to those with wealth and power.

  By their nature, regulations (which are indistinguishable from taxes in this effect) make the cost of doing business more expensive and benefit the deep-pocketed monopoly Goliaths at the expense of any upstart Davids threatening their market positions. When the uber-elite successfully influence politicians to enact laws that benefit their personal financial interests — a corrupt practice known as “regulatory capture” — they distort the normal dynamics of any free market. When governments mandate more expensive forms of “clean” energy across the market, for instance, wealthy corporations capable of enduring these added costs reap the ancillary benefits of gobbling up the market share abandoned by smaller competitors unable to survive. This is by design.

  By utilizing law and regulation as a sword and shield to prevent potential competitors from entering the market while expanding monopoly power, plutocrats use political patronage and fashionable policy goals disguising self-interest to maintain their own wealth and control. Climate change, public health, sustainable food supplies — the public policy issue is never anything more than an expedient stalking horse for the wealthiest in the West to use cynically in an effort to maintain economic control.

  This fusion between monied interests and government power has created a type of reverse fascism. Instead of some charismatic political leader in the mold of a Benito Mussolini demanding that titans of industry follow his commands for the benefit of the State and in the interests of the people, a new class of plutocrats now steer the direction of national policies and pay the politicians to make sure the people will comply.

  Notably, today’s plutocrats take a nearly identical position as traditional communists in asserting that the “economic pie” is only so big and can therefore only be divvied up among a growing population in smaller and smaller portions but never actually enlarged. When economic wealth is seen as finite, preventing others from acquiring personal prosperity is necessary for maintaining political power’s status quo. When market competition is permitted to grow wealth in perpetuity, however, not only does a growing share of the population increase its wealth, but also political power becomes spread out more diffusely.

  When the “rising tide” of free markets is allowed to “lift all boats,” neither the plutocrat nor communist politburo holds as much sway. For this reason, both communists and plutocrats share a similar goal — minimizing the prosperity of the majority of citizens, while maximizing the political power of a small minority of government officials. Under communism, this type of power arrangement takes the form of an oligarchy, or rule by a small few. Under the World Economic Forum’s brand of oligarchyת where the West’s wealthiest manipulate centrally-controlled governments, the result is demonstrably plutocratic.

  For plutocrats, actual free markets are a threat to their habitual control over political power. When real markets exist, endless human innovation regularly upends the market position of any one firm. Yesterday’s industry leader can go bankrupt fast if today’s upstart inventor designs a better or cheaper competing product. Creative destruction is at the heart of free market growth. When product innovation is understood as the single greatest variable for generating long-term economic success, it is easy to understand how difficult it is to stay ahead of the market for any length of time. Rare is the company that manages to innovate so effectively year after year that it survives for decades or longer.

  This is, of course, why so much capital is sunk into research and development in constant pursuit of the “next big thing.” It is also why corporations and private investors diversify their holdings so that they may still benefit financially, even when successful innovation occurs far from their domains. When corporate behemoths adeptly forestall their own impending financial deaths through political influence and regulatory capture, however, they cheat the markets at the larger public’s expense. When this alternative, yet corrupt, path to permanent wealth becomes the model for economic “success,” creative innovation takes a permanent back seat to raw political clout. “Absolute power,” in other words, still “corrupts absolutely.”

  For individual liberty to flourish, competing forces must always counterbalance concentrated power in any form. When economic monopoly is used to create plutocratic control over government policy, then it becomes imperative for society to unleash the full potential of market forces to destroy protracted power and wealth and encourage more widespread prosperity.

  The steps for achieving such a result are no different today than they were when Adam Smith first published The Wealth of Nations in 1776. Cheap and abundant energy sources reduce the entry costs of building a business. Minimal taxation that seeks neither to confiscate wealth nor to punish successful innovation produces an endless supply of creative talents and energies. Limited regulation keeps the costs of market transactions low. Respect for private property and fair and impartial application of commercial laws encourage capital investment. Refraining from taxing the fruits of an individual’s labor fosters an exponentially more productive labor force. Providing populations with the tools to pursue and obtain knowledge and skills at minimal expense promotes not only an educated workforce but also politically competent citizens.

  It seems no coincidence, then, that every one of these policy prescriptions is today either stymied or subverted. Political interventionism has precipitated a Western energy crisis. When campaigning for the U.S. presidency in 2008, Barack Obama insisted that he would raise taxes even if doing so ultimately decreased total public revenues because pursuing such a policy was only “fair.”

  Regulatory agencies and taxing authorities claim jurisdiction over every element of industry, production, and product distribution. Tens of thousands of laws, rules, and regulations make it nearly impossible for any entrepreneur to navigate markets without inadvertently committing infractions or becoming a future target of an ever-growing army of regulatory code enforcers. Citizens are taxed on their wages, incomes, purchases, property, investments, improvements, sales, etc., and should they still possess anything of worth upon their ultimate demise, some agent of the State is likely to take one final cut of their bequeathed estates. The same unit of labor is thus taxed repeatedly along the government’s conveyor belt of confiscation.

  Lastly, in an age of rampant political correctness and “woke” cancel culture, indoctrination and political dogma have supplanted basic education. Math, science, history, and philosophy have been watered-down to make room for ideological fluff often meant to divide students against each other. The combined and natural effect of all this government-sponsored malfeasance has been that intergenerational social mobility in the United States, once impressively robust, has absolutely plummeted.

  Who benefits when the most basic foundations for creating prosperity are denied to the majority of citizens? Well, those in power benefit because, by rigging the system in their favor and institutionalizing destructive habits, very few people who might challenge their dominion ever rise high enough to do so. The plutocracy wins. The insular and selfish cabal of wealthy elites who populate the World Economic Forum ultimately win. The vast majority of Western citizens, however, lose substantially… over and over again.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 23:40

• Biden Declares The COVID Pandemic "Is Over" Despite Continued Use In Policies & Programs
  Biden Declares The COVID Pandemic “Is Over” Despite Continued Use In Policies & Programs

  About a year and a half too late to the game, Joe Biden finally admitted in a Sunday broadcast interview with 60 Minutes that the covid pandemic is over, stating:

  “We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lotta work on it. It’s — but the pandemic is over. if you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it’s changing. And I think this is a perfect example of it.”   

  Apparently, in the ever teetering mind of Joe Biden the prevalence of masks was a measure of the prevalence of covid.  Of course, this all depends on where in the US or the world you have been living.  In red states, masks have been gone for around two years with the majority of people not wearing them. And despite the predictions (and fantasies) of many on the political left, conservatives were not dropping dead in the streets; far from it.  

  In fact, red states that ended shutdowns and mandates well ahead of blue states enjoyed far superior economic recovery including superior job and business recovery numbers, and virtually no difference in terms of death and infection rates occurred.  In fact, studies now show that there was little to no positive effect made by the covid lockdowns and the usefulness of mask mandates is also in question. 

  Furthermore, infection and fatality rates for covid began to drop long before the covid mRNA vaccines were introduced widely to the public.  The facts and the science show that covid stopped being a major threat not long after it spread to the US.  The official median IFR (Infection Fatality Rate) according to dozens of peer reviewed studies stands at mere 0.23%.  Meaning, over 99.7% of the population is not under threat from covid.    

  The lockdowns didn’t work, but they weren’t needed.  The mask mandates didn’t work, but they weren’t needed.  And, the rates started dropping dramatically for the original covid strains before even 5% of the US population was vaccinated.  All in all, every single government policy that interfered in the lives and freedoms of millions of people ended up being pointless.

   

  Biden’s recent declaration means nothing, because he is in no position to determine the current state of the pandemic.  The American people already did that, and we declared the thing over a long time ago.  

  Immediately after Biden’s remarks, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie insisted that the administration should now relinquish all the emergency powers it has grabbed by hyping the threat of the virus.

  “If ‘the pandemic is over’ as Biden says, then all of the President’s emergency powers predicated on a pandemic, all COVID vax mandates, the emergency powers of every governor, Emergency Use Authorizations, and the PREP act should all be voided tomorrow,” said Massie.

  With the pandemic officially over, now it’s time to end all vaccine mandates. https://t.co/WnYxfTEykc

  — Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) September 19, 2022

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

  Additionally, as Jonathan Turley so coherently explains, the President’s sudden announcement that the pandemic “is over” may have taken some people by surprise, including Administration lawyers still using the pandemic as a basis for policies and programs.  This includes a major appellate case this week.

  The Administration relied on the pandemic to justify the massive loan forgiveness program at a cost of as much as $1 trillion. The move will be the subject of challenges and defended under the HEROES Act of 2003 as tied to a national emergency, ”when significant actions with potentially far-reaching consequences are often required.”

  The pandemic is also being used by states continued crackdowns on those who refuse to get vaccines. New York is moving to fire hundreds of teachers and school administrators.

  Private companies like T-Mobile are also moving this month to fire unvaccinated workers.

  The President also heralded the removal of masks recently despite the continues requirement for some schools and other locations under pandemic rules (including at my own George Washington University). While at the Detroit Auto Show,  Biden declared “If you notice, no one’s wearing a mask, everybody seems to be in pretty good shape.”

  Biden’s statement on the end of the pandemic is likely to be cited in a variety of briefs in cases challenging emergency powers and policies used by the Administration. It was just a year ago, in September 2021, that the President imposes such rules to “ensur[e] the health and safety of the Federal workforce and the efficiency of the civil service.” President Biden announced a similar requirement for federal civilian employees. Exec. Order No. 14,043, 86 Fed. Reg. 50,989 (Sept. 14, 2021).

  One such example could be the appeal now being considered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The issue of the sweeping pandemic authority being claimed by the Biden Administration is now going before the full court in an en banc rehearing.

  U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown previously issued a nationwide injunction against the vaccination mandate in January. That was stayed and has resulted in a series of conflicted moves on appeal.

  Yet, the Justice Department is still citing the pandemic authority and insisting that “if an employee chooses not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine (and is ineligible for an exception), he simply may no longer be permitted to continue in federal employment, just as an employee would be subject to termination if she chose to stop performing her job or chose to violate workplace policies.”

  Here is one such recent brief: DOJ Fifth Circuit brief

  Now the President is declaring that the pandemic is over as the Justice Department is defending pandemic policies in various courts. Even if one were to argue that the policy should be reviewed as supported at the time, the continued viability of the policy can now be questioned in light of the President’s own statements. The President’s comments also highlight the fluidity of pandemic policies. While we often look to the CDC on such status statements, it is the President who ultimately decides federal policies on pandemic measures.

  If the pandemic “is over,” some may question the continued uncertain status of military personnel and federal employees on vaccine status as well as lingering mask mandates being used in some states and by certain businesses.

  What we must never forget, however, is how close we came to full-on medical authoritarianism under the supervision of the Biden Administration and men like Anthony Fauci.  Numerous agenda driven institutions also pushed hard for the erasure of our freedoms, declaring that we would “never go back to normal again” and that personal liberties had to be sacrificed under the new pandemic construct.   

  If Biden’s vaccine passport executive orders had been enforced instead of blocked, rest assured the US would be like China is today – Still dragging out the lockdowns and pretending covid is an ongoing threat.  Anyone refusing to vaccinate would have been denied employment and participation in the general economy, essentially starved into compliance or compelled to join black market systems and become criminals.  Millions of citizens stood against these orders and won the day, but now we have to reverse course and ensure such an attempt to dismantle our rights never happens again.  

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 23:32

• "Don't Touch Foreigners" – Chinese Officials Warn Public After First Monkeypox Case
  “Don’t Touch Foreigners” – Chinese Officials Warn Public After First Monkeypox Case

  China has just confirmed its first case on monkeypox, and has an ‘unusual’ public health warning for its citizens (who remain in and out of ZeroCOVID lockdowns anyway): Don’t touch foreigners!

  “To prevent possible monkeypox infection and as part of our healthy lifestyle, it is recommended that 1) you do not have direct skin-to-skin contact with foreigners,” Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention posted on his official Weibo page on Saturday.

  Wu proudly proclaimed that the country’s COVID restrictions and tight border controls had thus far prevented the spread of monkeypox, until a case “slipped through the net.”

  That case was detected in the southwest municipality of Chongqing. CNN reports that an “international arrival” was under mandatory Covid-19 quarantine when the infection was discovered, according to local authorities.

  Reuters reports that the infected person was a 29-year-old Chinese national who flew to Chongqing on Sept. 14 from Spain, the Center for Disease Control said later.

  

  While some were open to Wu’s advice, others found it inflammatory and discriminative.

  “It’s good to open the country’s door, but we can’t just let everything in,” one Weibo user wrote.

  Several drew parallels to the wave of xenophobia and violence Asians overseas faced at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic... and don’t call it “Wuhan Flu”!

  “This is a bit like when the pandemic began when some people overseas avoided any Chinese people they saw out of fear,” a Weibo user wrote.

  “I don’t believe these two things have any scientific basis, they are too broad and will exacerbate public panic.”

  Where is the uproar from global progressives proclaiming this warning as disgustingly bigoted, xenophobic, racist, and homophobic?

  Remember, it’s not racist when ‘they’ do it… and never, ever, criticize China!

  Chinese experts say it’s unlikely monkeypox will wreak such chaos, with state media Global Times reporting on Friday the disease “poses little threat,” citing a hospital director.

  However, they have also urged continued vigilance, with some experts highlighting the need for “strict surveillance” and countermeasures, according to Global Times.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 23:20

• Russia Publicizes Beijing's Supportive Statement, While China's State Media Keeps Silent
  Russia Publicizes Beijing’s Supportive Statement, While China’s State Media Keeps Silent

  Authored by Jessica Mao via The Epoch Times,

  A top Chinese official has expressed support for Russia’s war in Ukraine during his visit to Moscow, apparently believing it was a closed-door meeting. But the Kremlin released the footage to make his remarks known to the entire world.

  Li Zhanshu, the third most important Chinese Communist Party (CCP) figure and a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, visited Russia from Sept. 7 to 10 before Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Uzbekistan on Sept. 15.

  Li met with Putin in Vladivostok and later with Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of the State Duma, and Valentina Matviyenko, chairwoman of the Federation Council, in Moscow, along with leaders of the five political parties of the State Duma.

  His low-profile visit to Russia did not attract much attention until a video went viral on social media platforms such as Twitter, causing public outcry.

  “With the United States and NATO now at Russia’s doorstep, it has become an issue concerning Russia’s national security and the lives of its people,” Li claimed.

  “Under such circumstances, Russia takes some measures that it deems appropriate, and China fully understands the necessity of all the measures taken by Russia aimed at protecting its key interests. We are providing our assistance.”

  As Li is also a close ally of Xi, his statement is considered to represent the CCP leader’s stance. It is widely believed that this is Beijing’s strongest and most explicit statement supporting Moscow.

  Li’s remarks were first published in a text on the official website of the State Duma on Sept. 9. Shortly afterward, footage with the mark “Duma” in Russian was released.

  In contrast, Chinese state media kept mum on Li’s remarks supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine and merely reported that Li “thanked Russia for its firm support to China on the Taiwan issue.”

  Analysts believe that Moscow deliberately publicized Li’s remarks ahead of the Xi-Putin meeting in a bid to pressure the CCP to voice its support of Russia, thus putting Beijing in an embarrassing position.

  

  Chinese leader Xi Jinping (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin pose for photos on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) leaders’ summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Sept. 15, 2022. (Alexandr Demyanchuk/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

  Seeing Through the China-Russia Alliance

  Yang Si, a Japan-based current affairs commentator, told The Epoch Times on Sept. 16 that Beijing and Moscow are exploiting one another.

  “There is no doubt that the CCP is supporting Russia, but it has never said so publicly,” Yang said.

  “Li’s statement this time was not a public statement either; it was behind closed doors. I guess Li did not expect Russia to make it public. Russia probably thought written reports were not enough, so they directly released the original video, which is tantamount to forcing the CCP to openly state its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia and the CCP are two gang groups. They have no common beliefs, nor do they have any morality. In short, they just exploit each other.”

  Current affairs commentator Lu Tianming shared similar views.

  “The CCP has done a lot of things behind the scenes, but now they are all exposed. The Russian army invaded Ukraine, and the CCP’s support for this war will naturally make other nations believe that the CCP may take similar actions against Taiwan. They will be on high alert watching the CCP’s actions in the Taiwan Strait,” Lu said.

  She believes some countries on the sidelines will see the CCP clearly through Li’s remarks. “It will accelerate the pace of a global rejection and deterrence of the CCP,” she said.

  US and Europe Pass Bills to Support Taiwan

  China expert Chen Pokong said in a YouTube program on Sept. 16 that the exposure of Li’s statement would help the United States and the European Union pass bills to support Taiwan and fight against the CCP.

  On Sept. 15, the European Parliament overwhelmingly passed a resolution denouncing China for continued military action and provocations against Taiwan and calling for the EU to “assume a stronger role when it comes to the situation in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific as a whole.”

  The resolution, jointly sponsored by five major parties in the European Parliament, contains 26 propositions. It commended the Taiwanese government and political leaders for their prudent and responsible response to the CCP’s provocative actions. It urged the EU to strengthen its political engagement with Taiwan. Furthermore, the European Parliament will continue to send representatives to Taiwan on official visits to deter the CCP’s ambition to attack Taiwan.

  The European Parliament also asked the EU’s European External Action Service (EEAS) to begin preparations for negotiations on a mutually beneficial supply chain resilience agreement with Taiwan as soon as possible to strengthen Taiwan’s “silicon shield” —referring to the chip industry—and to safeguard Taiwan’s security.

  The European Parliament also believes that the EU should seek joint investment cooperation with Taiwan’s New Southbound program to counter the CCP’s global gateways—the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, also known as “One Belt, One Road”).

  In addition, the European Parliament suggests that the European Commission change the name of the European Economic and Trade Office (ETO) in Taiwan to reflect the broader relationship between the two sides.

  Before that, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. Congress passed the Taiwan Policy Act of 2022 on Sept. 14. The bill is considered the most comprehensive reorganization of U.S. policy toward Taiwan since the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979.

  It proposes $4.5 billion in military assistance to Taiwan over four years and an increase of $2 billion in the fifth year. The bill also includes a congressional proposal to rename the Taiwan Representative Office to the United States and designate Taiwan as a “major non-NATO ally.”

  The bill also proposes that the United States establish “a robust sanctions regime to deter further PRC [People’s Republic of China] aggression against Taiwan,” along with detailed sanctions plans.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 23:00

• DHS Spends $700,000 In Taxpayer Money To Study "Extremism In Video Gaming"
  DHS Spends $700,000 In Taxpayer Money To Study “Extremism In Video Gaming”

  As many Americans are well aware, the narrative surrounding what constitutes “extremism” or “terrorism” is ever evolving.  The focus of the DHS used to be foreign threats including Islamic extremism.  If you are old enough to remember the early 2000s, many people were warning back then that the constitutional trespasses being developed in the name of fighting Al-Qaeda would one day be flipped around on the American people. 

  And here we are…

  Today, the DHS is far more interested in “domestic extremism,” and their definition is particularly focused on anyone that expresses conservative ideals and constitutional principles.  Almost no attention is paid to the political left, despite the fact that it was leftists that caused billions of dollars in property damage across the US during the BLM riots. 

  By extension, leftists have taken an obsessive interest in controlling entertainment media and using these platforms to spread their propaganda.  In 2014-2015 the gaming community dared to point out and criticize the politicization of their hobby as well as the ongoing attacks against their community by gaming journalists.  This led to the “Gamergate” controversy.  You’re not allowed to reveal the man behind the curtain when it comes to leftist agendas in popular entertainment, and when you do, the standard operating procedure is for the propagandists to go on the attack.

  And so they did, claiming rampant racism, sexism and widespread harassment perpetrated by gamers.  According to the media, the gaming world was a breeding ground for monsters, though they were rarely able to provide any proof to back up these claims.  

  Government agencies have become increasingly and openly biased against anyone outside of the leftist ideology in recent years, with social justice cultism and critical race theory narratives invading institutional language and training.  A perfect example would be the CIA, which happily produced and defended this bizarre recruitment ad: 

  Clearly, the goal of the current government is to go woke as fast as possible.  The DHS is no different, and it’s not surprising that they have decided to give around $700,000 of taxpayer funds to groups like Logically, a company committed to the issue of “bad” online behavior, Middlebury Institute’s Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism (CTEC), and Take This, a nonprofit that specializes in mental health in video gaming.  These groups are tasked with identifying extremist influences in gaming and create solutions to stop it. 

  There is no legitimate threat presented by video gaming because there is no legitimate “extremism” to find.  Rather, what the DHS is pursuing are ways to demonize non-leftist groups and artificially link them to the concept of extremism.  Much like their now defunct Disinformation Governance Board, the mission is to paint opposing views as dangerous and thus subject to control and censorship.  The mission is also to uncover dangers and dragons that are not really there to justify government intrusions into free market arenas.  

  At bottom, this is about the political left taking over federal agencies and using them as weapons against movements and groups that have had the audacity to stand against them in the past.  One might think that the world of video games would be far below the interests of the DHS, but it’s important to remember that the video game industry is now bigger and more influential than the film industry.  It also has a community building dynamic, and when totalitarians see a mode of communication and organization that sits outside of their control, they will stop at nothing to chain it down or destroy it.   

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 22:40

• DOJ Internal Misconduct Shrouded In Veil Of Secrecy
  DOJ Internal Misconduct Shrouded In Veil Of Secrecy

  Authored by Eric Felten via RealClear Wire,

  Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz was busy this week, releasing three separate reports on Monday alone. Each detailed misconduct by a different assistant United States attorney: One finds a federal lawyer trying to use his position to avoid a drunk driving charge; another finds a government attorney getting drunk and physically belligerent at a meeting with foreign officials; the third, and most disturbing, finds an assistant U.S. attorney exposing his genitals “in a public place,” and sexually assaulting a “civilian” on a date.

  

  Who were these federal prosecutors? The summary reports don’t say. A spokesperson for the Office of the Inspector General told RealClearPolitics that it could not release their names. RCP has filed a Freedom of Information Act request asking for their identities.

  The Justice Department doesn’t hesitate to publicize the names of those it accuses of wrongdoing. At least when those accused do not work for Justice. Last Friday, for example, the DOJ office of Public Affairs issued a press release announcing that the department had filed a discrimination lawsuit against the owner and managers of a Milwaukee rental property. Though a court has yet to rule against those accused of harassing a gay, disabled tenant, the DOJ press release named them.

  Compare that with “Investigative Summary” number 22-104, in which the inspector general determined that an assistant United States attorney was driving under the influence when he (or she) was pulled over by police. The investigation found that the prosecutor had tried to pull rank on the local cops, “referring to the AUSA’s title in an attempt to influence local police officers.” When that didn’t work, the drunk federal lawyer shouted obscenities and kicked the door of the police car.

  These were violations of federal ethics regulations according to the IG, who found the assistant U.S. attorney’s actions also ran afoul of the standards of conduct required of federal employees, including that they “not engage in criminal, infamous, dishonest, immoral, or notoriously disgraceful conduct, or other conduct prejudicial to the Government.” The AUSA remains unnamed.

  Also anonymous is the federal prosecutor whose belligerent behavior is detailed in the OIG’s Investigative Summary number 22-105. The inspector general’s office states it “substantiated” an allegation that an AUSA behaved “unprofessionally” while detailed to a foreign country. The AUSA was accused of “inappropriate physical contact” with a foreign local working for the State Department: The IG found that the attorney, inebriated, grabbed the Foreign Service National by the chin and aggressively forced the State Department employee to pay attention to the AUSA. When the inspector general asked about this behavior, the IG was told about the many other official events at which the AUSA was intoxicated. On those occasions, the prosecutor was in the habit of telling foreign government officials what the lawyer thought of them, what the IG described as “offensive and demeaning remarks.”

  Investigative Summary number 22-103 describes behavior more serious. In that investigation, the Justice Department IG found that, on a date with a “civilian,” an AUSA’s “genitals were exposed in public.” According to the inspector general’s report on the incident, “the AUSA forced the civilian’s hand to touch the AUSA’s genitals.” This was not only a violation of federal regulations governing off-duty conduct, the OIG found it to be against state law. And yet, “Criminal prosecution of the AUSA was declined.”

  During the course of the investigation, the Office of the Inspector General interviewed the prosecutor and found that he “lacked candor in discussing this incident.” That’s the Inspector General’s way of saying he lied. Again, however, the DOJ inspector general declined to provide the name of the AUSA. As for the DOJ itself, “Criminal prosecution of the AUSA was declined.”

  Often when Justice chooses not to prosecute (or even identify) an employee of the department – including those who work for the FBI, the Bureau of Prisons, or another element of the department – it is because the employee has resigned or retired.

  Last September, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a report criticizing the FBI’s practice of locking away the findings of internal investigations when an agent or official accused of misconduct packed his or her desk “prior to or during the adjudication process.” The names of those accused of misconduct are kept secret even when the allegations have been fully investigated and the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility “could make a substantiation decision based on the available evidence.” According to the inspector general, “this practice fails to hold accountable former FBI employees who separate while under investigation.”

  That policy may protect federal employees who abuse their office, but it doesn’t do any favors for the FBI agent falsely accused of misconduct. Failing to “fully document an adjudication,” Horowitz said last September, “fails to clear former employees whose misconduct allegations were unsubstantiated.”

  The IG’s recommendation notwithstanding, the Justice Department continues to shroud wrongdoing by its own in a system of secrecy. It is a policy that does little to restore confidence in a department viewed by many Americans with suspicion.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 22:20

• Queen Elizabeth's (Predicted) Funeral Ratings In Perspective
  Queen Elizabeth’s (Predicted) Funeral Ratings In Perspective

  Queen Elizabeth’s funeral today is forecast to pull in more than four billion viewers worldwide today, breaking the record for the “most watched broadcast of all time”, according to media reports. As Statista’s Anna Fleck notes, if industry experts’ predictions are accurate, then the funeral will nearly double the UK’s previous most watched royal broadcast – the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997 with a viewership of 2.5 billion people.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  The UK royal family’s televised events have historically brought in huge audiences from the world over. Where William and Kate’s wedding saw 162 million people tune in worldwide in April 2011, Harry and Meghan’s saw an estimated 1.9 billion in 2018.

  Music events such as the Live 8 charity concert of 2005, and sporting events including FIFA World Cup finals also bring in peak figures, with the most watched broadcast event in history reportedly the Atlanta Olympics opening ceremony of 1996, where U.S. boxing legend Muhammad Ali lit the torch to kick off the games.

  The late queen’s funeral attracted some two million people to join the state funeral procession in person, including more than 70 heads of government. It was the UK’s biggest ever security operation, with over 10,000 police personnel on duty.

  While the exact cost of the funeral has not yet been reported, estimates for the entirety of the proceedings following the queen’s death have been placed anywhere between £8 million and £6 billion, expected to be part-funded by taxpayers and part by the royal family. This has raised debate in the UK over the use of public funds as the country faces a cost of living crisis.

  

  However, as Charlotte Allen wrote at The Epoch Times, in today’s Britain, and indeed in much of the West, churchgoing is in steep decline, and it’s common to regard the monarchy as a taxpayer-supported fossil with a dim future. Indeed, when Diana died in 1997, there was a surge of populist contempt for her former husband, then Prince Charles and heir to the throne, and for the royal family in general, believed to have mistreated the young princess. Revelations about Charles’s younger brother Prince Andrew’s alleged dalliances with an underage girl on Jeffrey Epstein’s island added fuel to the fire, and many predicted that the monarchy would not outlive Elizabeth.

  Yet when King Charles III formally ascended the throne at St. James’s Palace on Sept. 10, two days after his mother’s death, huge crowds gathered outside to sing “God Save the King” and give three cheers. There seemed to be an instinctive understanding that monarchy was an institution that transcended individual monarchs and that it was an institution worthy of honor.

  Even in our secular age, people yearn for faith and ritual and ceremonial meaning that derives from something outside the ordinariness of daily life. It’s not surprising that the ceremonies of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral resonate so deeply with billions of people.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 22:00

• China Sanctions CEOs Of Raytheon, Boeing Over Sales To Taiwan
  China Sanctions CEOs Of Raytheon, Boeing Over Sales To Taiwan

  Authored by Cathy He via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The Chinese regime said on Sept. 16 that it is sanctioning top executives of two U.S. arms firms in retaliation for recently selling arms to Taiwan.

  

  The sanctions were imposed on Gregory J. Hayes, CEO of Raytheon Technologies Corporation, and Theodore Colbert, CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, for the involvement of their companies in the deal, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular briefing on Friday.

  The move came after the State Department on Sept. 2 approved a potential $1.1 billion sale of military equipment to Taiwan. The package includes 60 anti-ship missiles and 100 air-to-air missiles, of which the principal contractors are Boeing Defense, a division of Boeing, and Raytheon, respectively.

  Ning did not provide details on what the sanctions entailed or how they would be enforced. Previous sanctions on Western individuals have barred them from entering China or doing business there. Such restrictions are unlikely to significantly affect Hayes or Colbert.

  The Chinese regime routinely reacts aggressively and punitively against U.S. measures in support of Taiwan, a self-ruled island that the regime considers to be its own and if necessary, to be taken by force. Taiwan, however, has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party and has been a separate entity for more than 70 years.

  In August, in response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) trip to Taiwan—the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Taipei in 25 years—the regime launched its largest-ever military drills around the island, launched cyberattacks on Taiwanese infrastructure, slapped import bans on Taiwan products, canceled military communications with the United States, and suspended cooperation with Washington in several areas including climate.

  The Chinese regime also slapped unspecified sanctions on Pelosi in retaliation for her visit.

  The United States is Taiwan’s largest arms supplier and is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.

  The Chinese regime has previously sanctioned Raytheon, Boeing Defense, and unspecified individuals involved in arms sales to Taiwan. But Friday’s announcement marks the first time China has named individuals from those companies as targeted by sanctions.

  Earlier this week, a Senate committee approved a key bill that would significantly boost U.S. support for Taiwan. It includes $4.5 billion in additional security assistance over four years and support of Taipei’s participation in international organizations.

  While the move drew protest from Beijing, bipartisan lawmakers hailed the legislation, which they said was needed to solidify the United States’ relationship with Taiwan.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 21:40

• Americans Drowning In Long-Term Credit Card Debt: Survey
  Americans Drowning In Long-Term Credit Card Debt: Survey

  In June we reported that consumer credit – particular revolving credit – was through the roof, as tapped-out consumers relied on credit cards to make ends meet. This has only gotten worse.. 

  

  Acccording to an Aug. 30 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, credit card balances increased by $46 billion from last year, becoming the second-biggest source of overall debt last quarter.

  

  While both student and car loans hit all time new highs at the end of the 1st quarter.

  

  And so it comes as no surprise from Bloomberg that more US consumers are saddled with credit card debt for longer periods of time. According to a survey by CreditCards.com released on Monday, 60% of credit card debtors have been holding this type of debt for at least a year, up 50% from a year ago, while those holding debt for over two years is up 40%, from 32%, according to the online credit card marketplace.

  

  And while total credit-card balances remain slightly lower than pre-pandemic levels, inflation and rising interest rates are taking a toll on the already-stretched finances of US households.

  About a quarter of respondents said day-to-day expenses are the primary reason why they carry a balance. Almost half cite an emergency or unexpected expense, including medical bills and home or car repair.

  The Federal Reserve is likely to raise interest rates for the fifth time this year next week. Credit-card rates are typically directly tied to the Fed Funds rate, and their increase along with a softening economy may lead to higher delinquencies. 

  Total consumer debt rose $23.8 billion in July to a record $4.64 trillion, according to data from the Federal Reserve. -Bloomberg

  The Fed’s figures include credit card and auto debt, as well as student loans, but does not factor in mortgage debt.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 21:20

• Why So Many Cling To COVID Panic
  Why So Many Cling To COVID Panic

  Authored by Mark Oshinskie via The Brownstone Institute,

  When I was 10, I had a 12-year-old sister, Denise, and two brothers. Lenny was 14 and Danny was 5. We boys slept in the same room in a small, single-story house in a modest, riverside neighborhood known as Pleasureland. 

  The neighborhood’s name derived from a nearby park with two swimming pools and many picnic tables. On weekends, people from all over North Jersey and even New York City went there and to the adjacent, similar Muller’s Park, where I got my first job, at 15, as a garbageman. Both parks closed in 1985 after two were killed and nine more were wounded in an assault rifle shootout during a late Sunday afternoon, late summer Brooklyn/Jamaican gang picnic. I had swum and dived off the high board there at twilight on Friday, two days prior.

  In the week before our last Pleasureland Christmas, in 1967, my Mom expressed to me her concern that Danny no longer believed in Santa Claus. She thought that one of the neighborhood kids had told Danny that Santa wasn’t real. The prospect of having no more Santa-believing kids saddened her. She made me swear not to tell Danny what I knew. I kept my word.

  Our bedroom on the back side of the house had only one longish, narrow window near the top of the wall. A streetlight cast faint light into our otherwise darkened room. I slept in the bed next to Danny’s bed. At bedtime on that snowy Christmas Eve, just as we were trying to sleep, and at my mother’s prompting, our Dad ran from the far side of the backyard toward, and then past, our bedroom window, yelling “Ho, Ho, Ho!” As he passed beneath the window, my hidden father held aloft a Santa hat on a stick. The bouncing hat was all we could see from our beds. 

  Knowing the event was fake, I looked at Danny’s face to gauge his reaction. Having heard Santa’s voice, Danny sat up in the bed and looked up just as the hat passed the window. Upon seeing the hat, Danny was awestruck. I can still see his glowing, wide-eyed face in my mind’s eye. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so amazed. 

  No matter what other kids might have told him or what he might have suspected on his own, at that magical moment, my parents’ theater convinced Danny for one more Christmas that Santa was real and that we had this hoary, superhuman visitor from the North Pole to thank for the presents under the tree. It was a worthwhile lie. 

  

  The government and media have spent the past 30 months disingenuously building Corona fear and implementing a range of talismanic measures like lockdowns, school closures, masks, tests and shots to convince us that they were magically—yet always “Scientifically!—” protecting us all from death. 

  Just as any thinking six-year-old figures out that Santa simply can’t put all of that toy freight into one sleigh, any thinking adult should have known that none of the hoary Corona crew: neither the elfin Fauci’s, Birx’s nor Biden’s rhetoric or theater made any sense, either in theory or in real-life outcomes; nor did similar alarmism or interventions by younger, hipper “liberal” governors, mayors and prime ministers. 

  But just like my parents’ efforts to preserve the Santa myth, governments won’t let go of the Corona theater—especially the shots—and the media desperately continues to portray as experts those who “masterminded” the mitigation. 

  All of the empirical data have corroborated what was known on Day 1 of the lockdowns—namely that this virus threatens almost no one but the very old and infirm, that none of these interventions works and that each of these have caused–and will continue to cause–widespread, terrible secondary and tertiary damage. 

  Instead of admitting this, governments and media persist in their campaign of terror, lies and bogus zero-Covid measures.

  Because to stop lying now would be to admit that it’s all been a delusion. And politically and morally, they can’t bring themselves to do that. 

  A five-year-old might not know a scam when they see it. But even a ten-year-old does. Or at least should. They’re counting on adults to be like five-year-olds. 

  It might work.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 21:00

• DHS Intel Report Indicates Venezuela Emptying Prisons, Sending Violent Criminals To US Border
  DHS Intel Report Indicates Venezuela Emptying Prisons, Sending Violent Criminals To US Border

  Since President Biden assumed office nearly two years ago, his ‘open border’ policies have allowed 4.9 million illegal aliens, or about the entire population of Ireland, to cross into the US. 

  America is facing a historic crisis at its southern border. White House officials could care less and have welcomed illegals (though not welcomed in white liberal elite towns, such as Martha’s Vineyard). 

  US Border Czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, has yet to visit the border while Democrats downplay the invasion of illegals. 

  

  The endless flow of illegal aliens has concerned the Department of Homeland Security detailed in an intelligence report received by the Border Patrol (obtained by Breitbart), which specifies the Venezuelan government, under the leadership of Nicolas Maduro, is releasing violent criminals from jail and embedding them within migrant caravans headed to the US-Mexico border. 

  Here’s more from Breitbart’s story, citing the intelligence report:

  The intelligence report warns agents the freed prisoners have been seen within migrant caravans traveling from Tapachula, Mexico toward the U.S.-Mexico border as recently as July. The source, not authorized to speak to the media, told Breitbart Texas the move is reminiscent of a similar action taken by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro during the Mariel boat lift in the 1980s.

  The report does not state whether the released prison inmates were traveling as a cohesive group but does state it was commonly shared knowledge among migrants traveling to the United States within a caravan in July that many of the Venezuelan migrants in the group were convicts and included hardened criminals.

  The report does not specify that the release of the convicts — understanding they would head to the United States — could be a purposeful geopolitical move specifically intended to impact US national security. Another information gap cited in the report acknowledges the unknown role the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), Venezuela’s equivalent to the CIA, may have played in the deliberate releases.

  The source says the task of identifying Venezuelans who have criminal records in their home country is nearly impossible. Of the thousands of Venezuelan migrants surrendering along the U.S.-Mexico border daily, most, according to the source, are being released into the United States. Without effective diplomatic relations with Venezuela, the source says access to criminal databases in that country simply does not exist.

  The source says it is unknown how many have already been released into the interior of the United States to pursue asylum.

  Most of these migrants come from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Venezuela, but growing numbers now come from all over the world. Many of these illegals cross the border with little skills and almost no personal wealth to better the US but act as a massive burden. 

  Congressman Troy Nehls (R-TX-22) appears to have confirmed the report in a tweet:

  🚨BREAKING🚨

  DHS confirms that Venezuela empties prisons and sends violent criminals to our southern border.

  President Trump warned us about this years ago.

  — Congressman Troy Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) September 18, 2022

  “What we are witnessing is the Third Worldization of the USA,” Pat Buchanan recently opined.  

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

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 20:40

• Martha’s Vineyard Newspaper Lists 50 Job Ads Despite Claims Of No Work On Island
  Martha’s Vineyard Newspaper Lists 50 Job Ads Despite Claims Of No Work On Island

  Authored by Alice Giordano via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  While some locals have claimed that the illegal immigrants who arrived on this wealthy island should go elsewhere since there wouldn’t be work for them with the summer rush gone, the local newspaper has listed 50 help wanted ads in a recent issue, and the local supermarket chain has been known to need help all year long.

  

  The classified section of the Vineyard Gazette listed more than 50 jobs in the same issue that ran a story about the illegal aliens, referring to them as “stranded migrants.” The job ads included positions for laborers, custodians, landscapers, bakers, cooks, dishwashers, technicians, library assistant, and several retail positions.

  The local YMCA also listed several job openings, including housekeepers, ice arena workers, and a front desk administrator. The spacious Y, located near where the illegal immigrants spent the night at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, shares a complex with Martha’s Vineyard Community Services (MVCS), which also ran a help wanted ad in the paper, including a job for administrative assistant, “bilingual preferred.”

  MVCS didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time. The outreach center and the island’s homeless shelter told the media that they didn’t have room for the illegal aliens.

  In the afternoon of Sept. 17, a Saturday, the large MVCS complex had several doors to its buildings wide open, but no staff could be found. One of the open buildings consisted of two floors with several empty rooms, including rooms with full kitchens and couches.

  A group of friends enjoying an outdoor lunch at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport told The Epoch Times that while the plume of summer jobs is over, there are still enough job opportunities on the island.

  The women, year-round residents who grew up on the island, pointed to Stop & Shop, a grocery store chain with three locations on the island. According to the women, the stores are always looking for help and they have worker dormitories, which they said are “now empty” with most of the summer help gone.

  “Martha’s Vineyard is a tale of two cities,” said one of the women, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

  But Charles Rus, music director at St. Andrew’s, the episcopal church in Edgartown where the illegal immigrants were housed, told The Epoch Times there weren’t any jobs for them on the island.

  “There’s space, but there’s no job,” he said.

  Rus had offered to put some of the illegal immigrants up in his two-bedroom apartment.

  “If they had come four months earlier, every one of them would have had a $20 per hour job,” he said.

  In response to criticism that the illegal aliens were forced off the island, Rus said the Venezuelans had to leave the island for “practical reasons,” including the need to attend scheduled court hearings.

  According to a Sept. 16 story in the Vineyard Gazette, the Island Counseling Center provided each of the 50 illegal immigrants with individual legal counseling by an immigration attorney.

  The Baker Call

  The seemingly ample availability of jobs on Martha’s Vineyard isn’t the only point of contradiction to the narrative spun by some locals and picked up by establishment media outlets.

  Some locals questioned whether local officials were unaware of the two planes of illegal aliens chartered by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and speculated about who had called on Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker to remove the uninvited visitors.

  “I don’t think Baker woke up in the morning, said, ‘Hey, I think I’ll take those 50 immigrants off the hands of Martha’s Vineyard,’” Richard Rooney, who lives and owns a real estate agency on the island, told The Epoch Times.

  Less than 24 hours after their arrival to Martha’s Vineyard, a self-proclaimed sanctuary community, Baker approved the transfer of the illegal immigrants, mostly Venezuelans, off the island to a military base in Bourne, which is located within minutes of the ferry terminal to Martha’s Vineyard. In Bourne, the group was given shelter, food, clothing, and other supplies. Baker committed 125 members of the Massachusetts National Guard as part of the transfer.

  Rooney, a Republican who has been active in local government on Martha’s Vineyard for about 30 years, also joined others who pointed to the notification requirements by Martha’s Vineyard Airport for unscheduled flights.

  Democrats have attacked DeSantis, a Republican, for sending the illegal aliens to Martha’s Vineyard in what they have characterized as an ambush.

  “We were given no notice,” Massachusetts state Rep. Dylan Fernandes, a Democrat representing Martha’s Vineyard, told a TV news outlet the day the illegal immigrants arrived on Martha’s Vineyard.

  Massachusets Public Safety and Security Secretary Terrence Reidy, appointed by Baker in 2021, also called their arrival on Martha’s Vineyard “unexpected” in a Sept. 16 press release announcing the Baker administration’s plans to take the illegal immigrants.

  The island airport’s flight notification requirements state that 24-hour notification before takeoff is required for any plane with more than nine passengers, and suggest that a passenger list must also be provided in advance. Video footage from Fox News shows the illegal aliens disembarking from a plane shortly after arriving on Martha’s Vineyard.

  Rooney wonders why someone was at the airport filming the debarkation, especially if the plane was “secretly” sent.

  On Sept. 18, a man answering the phone line for airport operations refused to provide general information about the airport’s notification requirements, initially telling The Epoch Times that there were no notification requirements. When The Epoch Times stated the 24-hour notice policy for flights with nine or more passengers, the man said he wasn’t permitted to speak to the press.

  Martha’s Vineyard Airport is funded with tax dollars and receives sizable state and federal subsidies.

  The airport received $1.2 million in federal COVID-19 aid in 2020. In 2019, Dukes County, the county-level government on Martha’s Vineyard, gave the airport $1.2 million for “improvements.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 20:20

• Less Than Half Of Manhattanites Are Back In The Office Despite 'Pandemic Being Over'
  Less Than Half Of Manhattanites Are Back In The Office Despite ‘Pandemic Being Over’

  “The pandemic is over,” President Biden declared in a CBS’ “60 Minutes” interview Sunday, in an attempt to optically please Americans just how great his administration is working to restore a sense of normalcy ahead of the midterm elections.

  But one segment of the economy has yet to return from the brink: commercial real estate. Even though the pandemic is over in Biden’s eyes and quite honestly could’ve been over a long time ago — remote and hybrid working has forever scarred commercial real estate that’s still in a big fat ugly bubble. 

  Manhattan has no sense of normalcy, where the Partnership for New York City surveyed 160 major firms only to find that 49% of office workers are back in their cubicles. This was a notable increase from 38% in April. However, due to hybrid work models, only 9% of workers are in the office five days a week.

  About 77% of employers maintain a hybrid office schedule to accommodate employee preferences. 

  Another metric, and perhaps the gold-standard measure of office-occupancy trends, is the card-swipe data provided by Kastle Systems. The NYC office occupancy rate is only 38% and has bounced between 30-40% for much of this year. 

  

  The slow return to the office where levels are barely over occupancy rates seen right before the start of the omicron wave last November comes as a slew of companies from Better.com to Ford to Peloton to Carvana to Zillow to Coinbase, among many others, have laid off workers because of the incoming Fed-induced economic downturn. A declining workforce will mean smaller corporate footprints. 

  Even though big Wall Street firms demanded their employees back in the office after Labor Day, there was no meaningful increase in Kastle card-swipe data trends across NYC. 

  Meanwhile, public transit in NYC is well below pre-pandemic levels as commuters shun riding the subways, perhaps because violent crime in the metro area is out-of-control. 

  Maybe there’s a more significant trend at play due to the mass exodus of people and companies post-Covid and remote work trends, signifying substantial challenges for the city’s economic recovery. 

  In October 2020, Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, said NYC could be in a downturn until 2023. 

  The pandemic could be over, but NYC’s economy is in turmoil. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 20:00

• Inflation Has Plenty More In Store For Equities
  Inflation Has Plenty More In Store For Equities

  By Michael Msika and Joe Easton, Bloomberg markets live analysts and reporters

  Inflation isn’t done rattling investors, leaving some sectors at risk of further downside as monetary tightening ramps up and recession risks mount. But not all sectors are necessarily losers.

  Soaring prices and risks of an economic downturn are making positioning difficult, while central-bank hawkishness has sent bond volatility higher, with the risk of that extending to stocks.

  “Equities have been hopeful of a decisive fall in inflation, but the new reality is that it may take time and some economic pain to materialize,” say Barclays strategists led by Emmanuel Cau. “The easy money era is over and market instability is to be expected.”

  While Cau says the direction of inflation will most likely be lower in coming months, it’s the high current level that matters for central banks, so more tightening seems inevitable. This favors value stocks over growth, even if recession risk complicates positioning, he says.

  

  “Inflation is secular, not transitory,” say Bank of America strategists led by Michael Hartnett, citing pay rises, low strategic oil supply, governments trying to control energy prices and nationalizing utilities, European fiscal packages and military spending, among other things.

  As a consequence, investors continue to favor stocks with pricing power, as well as energy shares. Commodities and banks are the current winners of rising prices and interest rates, while expensive growth sectors like tech are being hurt. Meanwhile firms whose products are most at risk of a cost squeeze such as retailers, leisure providers and homebuilders are viewed as being most susceptible to slowing economies.

  Retailers are the worst-performing industry group in Europe this year, and inflation has a lot to do with it. With budgets crimped by the cost of everything from food to energy to mortgages, consumers don’t have a lot left for shopping, while rising costs are eating into profitability too.

  It’s “a gloomy picture for retail stocks,” says Charles Hepworth, investment director at GAM Investments. “Disposable incomes of most consumers have been massively squeezed, and trade-down substitutions into cheaper brands is hardly the best fillip for any hope of a consumer-led recovery,” he writes.

  

  As a core part of the growth category, tech stocks have been at the forefront of this year’s global equity rout due to surging bond yields. And despite underperforming, the sector “remains very expensive,” says Barclays’ Cau. “With burgeoning signs of lower demand coming from semiconductors, demand destruction may be the next shoe to drop,” he says.

  

  Still, market positioning is so negative at the moment, that other bear-market rallies could be seen in the event of further easing of prices. “It’s the direction of inflation that matters for share prices,” says Liberum Capital strategist Joachim Klement. “Every decline in inflation reduces some of the cost pressures companies face.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 19:40

• Migrant Arrests Top 2 Million For The First Time Ever After Kamala Declares 'Border Secure'
  Migrant Arrests Top 2 Million For The First Time Ever After Kamala Declares ‘Border Secure’

  Just one week after VP Kamala Harris declared that the southern US border is “secure,” the number of illegal migrants arrested topped 2 million in just 11 months – an all-time record.

  

  First, the woman who’s one heartbeat away from the Oval Office.

  NBC’S CHUCK TODD: “[The US] will have 2 million people cross this border for the first time ever.”

  VP HARRIS: “We have a secure border.”

  pic.twitter.com/li0wwdiIsj

  — Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 11, 2022

  The adults are back in charge?

  According to the latest figures from US Customs and Border Protection, 203,598 migrants were detained in August, putting the total number of illegals arrested at 2.3 million for the 2022 fiscal year which ends Sept. 30.

  And those are just the ones who were caught.

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

  The historic migration wave this year has been driven by soaring numbers of border-crossers from outside Mexico and Central America, the two largest traditional sources of illegal entries. Migrants from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba accounted for more than one-third of those taken into custody along the southern border last month, according to Customs and Border Protection, a 175 percent increase over August 2021. -WaPo

  “Failing communist regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba are driving a new wave of migration across the Western Hemisphere, including the recent increase in encounters at the southwest U.S. border,” said CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus, in a politically charged statement. “Those fleeing repressive regimes pose significant challenges for processing and removal.”

  If only some type of barrier, or ‘wall’ could be erected to stop massive illegal inflows of migrants?

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 19:20

• EU Threatens To Suspend €7.5BN In Hungary Funding Amid Charges Of 'Cozying Up' To Putin
  EU Threatens To Suspend €7.5BN In Hungary Funding Amid Charges Of ‘Cozying Up’ To Putin

  The EU’s patience with Viktor Orban’s Hungary is running extremely thin after years of wrangling and threats from Brussels of triggering the “rule of law” mechanism, despite recently announced efforts of Budapest to establish an anti-graft agency. 

  It seems Russia’s war in Ukraine is hastening a confrontational and fractured ending to the standoff, with the EU on Sunday threatening to freeze 7.5 billion euros which had been earmarked for Hungary, citing persisting corruption and fraud. 

  It’s been no secret that Orban has been a thorn in the side of European efforts to punish and isolate Putin’s Russia. While Hungary has demanded exemptions from EU energy sanctions on Russia, and has meanwhile enjoyed cheap gasoline and other energy at a moment prices in the rest of Europe have gone steadily up over the course of the war – and into what’s sure to be a tough winter – the belief among leading EU states is that joint bloc anti-Russia actions have been largely blunted. The timing of the fresh EU threats is not going unnoticed.

  

  Bloomberg in a fresh report has put the dilemma as follows: “But while most member states have been engaged in a desperate scramble to secure alternative gas supplies ahead of the winter, Orban has deepened his country’s ties to the Kremlin, exploiting the exemptions he demanded from EU sanctions to secure increased imports of gas from Russia.”

  Poland has remained a powerful impediment thus far to Brussels triggering any significant rule of law penalties, despite Warsaw remaining at the forefront of denunciations of Russia’s invasion.

  “During years of frustration at the Hungarian government, Orban has been shielded from the EU’s main disciplinary machinery, known as the article 7 procedure, by the support of the nationalist government in Warsaw — because that mechanism too requires the endorsement of all the other members,” Bloomberg recounts. “The war in Ukraine has soured Orban’s relationship with the Polish government, which has been among the most ardent supporters of firm action against Putin, but for now the Poles are standing by Orban.”

  Orban has cast efforts to “punish” his country in terms of a war on traditional values. For now, Poland seems to agree… the vast divergence in rhetoric on the Russia-Ukraine conflict notwithstanding. 

  Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Sunday, “Poland will strongly oppose any action of European institutions that intend to unduly deprive any member states of funds, in this case Hungary.”

  Interestingly (given the timing of the EU’s threat to freeze funds), just days ago PM Orban reportedly told a closed-door meeting of officials from his ruling Fidesz party that he would fight efforts to extend EU sanctions on Russia:

  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban expects European Union leaders to start talks on extending sanctions on Russia in the autumn but Budapest would try to block the move, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported, citing unidentified sources.

  Orban, a harsh critic of EU sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, made the remarks at a closed meeting to party members in the western village of Kotcse last week, RFE/RL said on its Hungarian website on Friday.

  He also appeared to once again blame the West for the Ukraine conflict spiraling out of control, and continued his theme of anti-Russia sanctions ultimately blowing back on populations at home, or shooting the European economy in the foot.

  Meloni ‘unfit to govern Italy’ for defending Orban, critics say https://t.co/GmQ9BPIZLX

  — Alan Friedman (@alanfriedmanit) September 18, 2022

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

  Russian media too has been featuring recent quotes of Orban’s lambasting collective Western policy: “The Hungarian leader allegedly told his supporters that he believed Ukraine may end up losing between one third and one half of its territory due to the conflict with Russia, RFE/RL reported on Friday, citing participants of the meeting in the village of Kotcse.”

  Budapest has meanwhile lashed out at the European Parliament’s (EP) recent move to approve a resolution stating that Hungary is no longer a “full democracy.” That nonbinding EP vote from last week cited Hungary’s failures to uphold “respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities” – as the text reads, in repetition of prior EP statements.

  A Fidesz statement said in response: “It is unforgivable that, while people are suffering from the severe economic effects of wartime inflation and misguided sanctions, the European Parliament is attacking Hungary again.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 18:40

• Kass: Who Feels Safe In Chicago?
  Kass: Who Feels Safe In Chicago?

  Authored by John Kass via JohnKassNews.com,

  Do you feel safe in Chicago?

  

  The great city by the lake was once famed for its toughness and unbreakable will. But now it curls up into the fetal position as uncontrolled violent crime and legitimate concerns over the Democrat Safe-T Act–which will do away with cash bail on Jan. 1–bleed the city dry.

  Democratic political leaders are on the defensive before the mid-term elections. Some like Gov. J.B. Pritzker have been reduced to babbling. Others like Mayor Lori Lightfoot go into hiding. More than a dozen city council members have resigned. They look to the chaos from the mayor’s office and begin turning away.

  The bleeding continued Thursday with news that seven children had been shot in the street gang wars in separate incidents, including a 3-year-old shot at home while sleeping. Oh, and anti-violence activists were listed among the wounded at yet another Chicago mass shooting.

  CWB Chicago reported that police warned about yet a third armed robbery crew working the city from the West Loop to Edgewater.

  But don’t fret, Lightfoot has made sure that no repeat criminals—including violent muggers, robbers, shooters or murderers–will have to risk being hurt in a police chase.

  And there had been no arrests in that infamous Sunday afternoon street mugging in the leafy Lakeview neighborhood, where a woman walking alone was attacked, pulled to the ground by thugs and robbed. The poor woman’s piercing screams were caught on a doorbell security camera. And those screams have cut deeply into Illinois politics and focused the people on the Democrat criminal justice centerpiece—the Safe-T Act signed and applauded by Gov. Pritzker.

  And to all this comes Chris Kempczinski, the CEO of McDonald’s Corp. who spoke at the Economic Club of Chicago luncheon and delivered a series of body to Mayor Lightfoot’s reelection campaign:

  The issue? Crime and her inability to handle it. Crime is up almost 40 percent in Chicago, though murder numbers have dropped slightly. Kempeczinski told his audience that violent crime makes it difficult to attract employees to Chicago.

  “Everywhere I go, I’m confronted by the same question. ‘What’s going on in Chicago?” Kempczinski said.

  “There is a general sense out there that our city is in crisis.”

  A spokesman for Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot had no immediate comment when contacted by the Wall Street Journal.

  No immediate comment Lori? What? Are you ill? That’s the Wall Street Journal calling, Madame Phallus Maximus. Business types read the Journal. For them to see Lightfoot in hiding invites negative judgement on her ability to handle the truth.

  But most still in Chicago have already made that judgement about her. We made it years ago, when she turned the city over twice to Black Lives Matter rioters and looters, and then endorsed the Soros prosecutor, Kim Foxx for re-election as Cook County State’s Attorney which was seen as an olive branch to BLM and other hard-left political actors.

  After Lightfoot endorsed Foxx and Foxx was re-elected–after the Jussie Smollett fiasco, after having gutted her office of hard minded prosecutors, I asked a longtime Democrat about it. He was a contemporary of the real original Mayor Daley, and I asked: By re-electing Foxx, what was the message the Cook County Democratic Party was sending?.

  “The message?” he said. “The message is get the (bleep) out.”

  Several large companies, including Citadel have left Chicago citing crime as a reason.

  Foxx is the protégé of Lightfoot’s rival, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party. Boss Toni is credited with shrinking the size of the Cook County Jail and protecting Foxx.

  Lightfoot had been going around town whispering that she regrets endorsing Foxx, but it was another example of her inability to lead. Yes, it was bad policy, since the mayor was still pretending she wanted a working relationship with her police rank-and-file that loathes Foxx.

  But it was also bad politics, the mark of an amateur who put her city’s safety at risk. The rookie mayor sent an unmistakable signal to her allies that she was willing to bend the knee to Boss Toni. The public picked up on it. And now she has few if any allies left.

  Pritzker is also on the defensive on crime. He pushed the controversial Safe-T Act that does away with cash bail at the behest of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus and other leftists. Final debate in the Illinois House took place in the wee hours of the morning and legislators still hadn’t read the bill–I suppose not all have read it–though many knew police and prosecutors were adamantly opposed.

  The Safe-T Act was seen as Pritzker’s political gift from Illinois Democrats to the BLM rioters and other anti-law-enforcement political groups.

  A peace offering. His miscalculation? Of the 102 state’s attorneys in Illinois each representing a county, only two prosecutors support the Safe-T Act.

  One hundred Illinois county prosecutors consider Pritzker’s Safe-T Act to be dangerous to the public.

  And, before you allow partisan politics to get in the way of your analysis, remember that most victims of violent crime are black and Latino.

  The other day  Pritzker babbled on defensively as he often does in defending his Safe-T Act. He clumsily plays the race card to portray critics of the act as racists. The other day he tried a new cringeworthy tactic, this time trying to compare no cash bail for violent offenders with the plight of some poor woman jailed because she was in desperate need of diapers for her child.

  Pritzker said he and others are ““making sure that we’re also addressing the problem of a single mother who shoplifted diapers for her baby, who is put in jail and kept there for six months because she doesn’t have a couple of hundred dollars to pay for bail,” Pritzker said. “So that’s what the Safe-T Act is about. Are there changes, adjustments that need to be? Of course, and there have been adjustments made and there will continue to be. Laws are not immutable.”

  Diapers? Diapers, Gov. Commodius Maximus? Jean Valjean was said to have stolen a loaf of bread to feed his family. But the French didn’t have welfare or other government assistance. And welfare forms the bond between the Democrat Party and its minority partisans..

  Reporters just went along with him as they usually do, just like they go along with Lightfoot when she shrieks like the red queen of hearts from Alice-in-Wonderland.

  No one apparently bothered to ask Pritzker to produce the mother in his fantasy, the one who’d been kept in jail “for six months” for a $200 diaper “bill,” especially since Soros prosecutor Kim Foxx won’t prosecute shoplifting under a thousand dollars.

  And I don’t think anyone asked him to explain, in detail, about the changes that must be made to the no-bail provision he eagerly, and excitedly, signed into law.

  Pritzker and Lightfoot don’t really do much to address crime because the media already has their backs. They make pleasant urgent sounds about wanting to combat the rise in violent crime, but doing so would involve pushing for more arrests of violent criminals. And that would cost their politics since most violent offenders are black and brown, committing violence against black and brown, and it’s much easier to blame it all on “systemic racism.”

  So they make their urgent sounds, and they’re excused by rapidly fading left leaning corporate media, which has little if any credibility. Especially the newspapers. When media is in concert carrying your political water and defending your policies, the pressure is off.

  I know. I spent decades in the corporate media in Chicago that pretends it speaks truth to power, as long as the power isn’t of the left. Some are nice people who try to do a fair job,  but many are weak and afraid of others who may be more radical than they.

  It’s much easier for them to be political operatives masquerading as journalists. These are one-eyed jacks, and I’ve seen the other side of their face.

  But who wants to ask impolite questions about elected officials actually doing something to deal with violent crime? Who wants to demand they do something? Demanding that something get done is risky, like asking voters to listen to that woman scream from Lakeview. People might get upset. Their Twitter followers might call your editor or executive producer

  And many Democrats did become upset, demanding that some TV stations stop airing that TV spot known as “the scream” that vexes them so.

  In Chicago and the rest of Illinois, the political formula has worked for decades. As long as they’re backed by media,  And no one gets upset, except perhaps those victims of violent crime who are ignored, and those who are are concerned that they or their loved ones may become victims. They are dismissed and/or marginalized as racists.

  The political class hasn’t been compelled to care about these victims. And as long as the politicians are not held to account on the Safe-T Act and other broken policy nothing really changes.

  Have you ever heard this saying?  The beatings will continue until morale improves. No one seems to know who said this.

  But whoever it was, they understood Illinois and that city by the lake.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 18:20

• Russia Transfers Old St. Petersburg Defense Missiles To Ukraine Front: Report
  Russia Transfers Old St. Petersburg Defense Missiles To Ukraine Front: Report

  Finland’s Yle broadcaster said in a lengthy investigative report issued Sunday that Russia’s military has taken the unprecedented step of moving old anti-aircraft missile systems to its captured regions of Ukraine amid an ongoing shortage of advanced weapons. 

  Finnish military expert Marko Eklund was cited in the report as saying at least four anti-aircraft missile installations which surround St. Petersburg had been “emptied of equipment” as of August and early September.

  

  The Yle report relies heavily on satellite imagery analysis which purports to show the transfers away from the Petersburg bases. 

  The Finnish expert explained “It is most likely that the equipment that has been removed is primarily from the old S-300 system.” Eklund further said that St. Petersburg air defense capabilities are still in tact given that all or most of the equipment moved included older, or less advanced technology:

  There has also been a significant transfer of equipment from a base southeast of St Petersburg—about 10 firing platforms as well as other vehicles.

  According to Eklund, in this case, new missile equipment may also have been removed, as the Russian armed forces said, that this regiment was using the newer S-400 anti-aircraft missile system, introduced about 15 years ago.

  This comes amid an avalanche of speculation in Western sources over the past months saying that after over a half-year of war in Ukraine, Russian defense ministry supplies – especially missiles – have been severely depleted. 

  Yle report: “The area of this 500th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment battery appears to be completely abandoned. Source: Google Earth Aug. 2021 and Planet Labs 2 Sept. 2022.” Before…

  

  After…

  

  Last month, Ukrainian intelligence claimed that Russia had no more than 45% of its missiles left, but this is unverified and interestingly Kiev gave the same estimate as early as May.

  There has also been much speculation that US and EU-led sanctions have had a great impact on disallowing Moscow from obtaining parts and necessary equipment needed to keep missile production on course.

  

  In the new Finnish report, Eklund warned that older systems being sent to the front lines in Ukraine doesn’t bode well for civilians. “These old missiles are used for ground targets in such a way that the greatest damage seems to be done to civilians,” he said.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 18:00

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• Is The European Union About To Rupture?
  Is The European Union About To Rupture?

  Authored by Tuomas Malinen via The Epoch Times,

  The possible, even likely, collapse of the European economy would inflict some heavy costs to present European institutions. In this entry, Dr. Peter Nyberg and I detail why we believe we are likely to see some rupturing of the European Union (EU) as originally conceived.

  

  This may occur in two ways: Either the European Union disintegrates completely, or it mutates into something unrecognizable to its original purpose. This comment concentrates on some of the factors causing disintegration.

  The functioning of the EU has, until recently, been built on two political pillars that now appear to be crumbling. Primarily, German growth has made possible the joint financing (through low-cost debt, the EU budget, and the central banks’ clearing system) of unsuccessful economies without the EU forcing them to commit to politically unacceptable reforms. Beneficent global developments have made possible the concentration on economic integration while going slow on the much more contentious integration of cultural, social, and foreign policies.

  The deterioration of the global economy, together with EU policies, now threaten industry and living standards in EU member states, reduce the scope of joint economic support, and force member states to rapidly evaluate their readiness for possibly radical reductions in their political self-determination. This is most evident in Italy.

  The yields of Italian sovereign debt have reached levels that can be considered unsustainable, given the country’s high indebtedness and low rate of economic growth. For example, the yield of the Italian 10-year bond breached the 4 percent line late this past week. The maturity structure of Italian debt is also rather unfavorable. At the end of June, for example, Italy had issued only 52 percent of its needs for external financing in 2022. In addition, 35 percent of her outstanding debt will come due already in 2024. Half of her total debt will come due within five years.

  Without active country-specific support from the European Central Bank (ECB), which the newly introduced Transmission Protection Instrument is designed to facilitate, Italian debt is unsustainable at current yields. Disagreements among member states on the wisdom of filling the ECB with Italian bonds is bound to weaken the glue keeping the EU together as before.

  The energy crisis is also sowing seeds of serious inner conflict. The politics in the EU are becoming less forgiving as difficulties mount.

  Contentious Issues Piling Up

  Both Hungary and the Czech Republic have objected to the plans for a price cap of Russian gas, which now looks unlikely to be enforced. The European Commission is also planning to cut funding for the Hungarian government of Victor Orban due to “rule-of-law concerns.” This is unlikely to increase the incentives of Hungary to stay in the union. More generally, as funding is made conditional on countries meeting the test of adhering to “European values,” one can expect the list of such essentially political requirements to grow as economic conditions worsen and demands for uniform policies grow.

  For example, Poland is fed up with constant extra demands from the EU, like the demand to walk back from the changes Polish government was planning to the judicial system, considering the distribution of funds from the Recovery Fund to its government. Krzysztof Sobolewski, the governing party’s secretary-general, has warned that without a clear change in the actions of Brussels, “We will have no choice but to pull out all the cannons in our arsenal and open fire.” Since a number of contentious decisions still require unanimity, such a threat might be unwise to take lightly.

  Fault lines are also emerging regarding the Russia sanctions.

  Moderation in this respect, as ultimately needed by Germany and especially Italy, is not readily accepted (and may even attract internal sanctions). Russia naturally uses existing differences to reduce the cohesion of the EU. Reports state that Russia is preparing a first shipment from its new liquefied natural gas plant to Greece. Hungary, as an outlier, is buying additional gas from Russia in accordance with their new agreement. It will be interesting to see what Germany may choose to do if the impact of energy scarcity on its economy and population is as large as some reports suggest.

  Besides financially, Italy is also between a “rock and a hard place” on gas issues. While she has been able to cut Russian gas imports from around 40 percent to 15–20 percent, it’s becoming practically impossible to cut them much further. There are serious bottlenecks dictating how much gas can be transferred from south to north Italy. Essentially, only a sufficient Russian gas supply can keep the lights on in the north of Italy, which is also the industrial hub of the country.

  Practically, this means that President Vladimir Putin has the ability to push Italy into a deep recession and create yet another economic basket case in the EU. This time Germany may not be able to guarantee the financing needed for saving Italian companies and the nation’s banks. If so, yet another debt crisis may well come ablaze in the eurozone. The question is, will the new government of Italy just sit and wait for this, or will it perhaps insist that the EU or itself negotiate a deal with Russia?

  So, how will the EU respond to these threats?

  We are assuming that European Commission is at some point encouraged to propose a Recovery Fund 2.0, which would need to be considerably larger than the previous one (of around €800 billion). The fund would provide financing for countries to cope with rising energy prices as well as to help the bond markets of Italy, and others, retain market confidence. The ECB may even be forced to restart quantitative easing while it raises rates. Indeed, this may already be happening, as the balance sheet of the ECB has grown by some €13 billion since mid-August.

  The commission is likely to try to gather more power for itself through essentially un-constitutional demands, like the preposterous “mandatory demand cut” for electricity consumption. The commission has no right, legally or otherwise, to prescribe such an action from member states, though reducing demand by itself is a sensible policy at this point and could be the subject of a commission suggestion.

  The question remains, will all the member states “play ball” in this and coming issues? We are not so sure.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 09/19/2022 – 02:00

• Are You Ready For Societal Winter?
  Are You Ready For Societal Winter?

  Authored by James Wesley Rawles via SurvivalBlog.com,

  Many of you reading this are ready for winter, both literally and figuratively. Your firewood is stacked and your kindling is split. Your barn is stacked full of hay. Your larder is crammed full of food. Your fuel tanks are topped off. And your home armory is “dialed-in”, with its walls comfortably stacked with ammo cans.  But some of you reading this are not nearly so well prepared. Whether by lack of resolve or lack of resources, you aren’t ready for the manifold challenges of the 21st Century.

  

  Winter is coming. The Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts that the winter of 2022-2023 will be harsh, for most of the country. And in Western Europe, the winter will surely be an uncomfortable one, since the Russians have embargoed natural gas.

  Far worse than the predicted La Niña winter in North America, we are also entering what I term a Societal Winter: An era of rancorous discontent between political factions here in the United States that is replete with iciness, and dismissiveness, by The Powers That Be. With divisive “Woke” rhetoric and plenty of finger-pointing, people are feeling a lot less “United” these days. From my vantage point here in the rural Northern Rockies, it appeared that immediately after Joe Biden and his activist cabinet took office in D.C., the Mainstream Media (MSM) cranked the Acrimony knob all the way up to “11.”  (For those not familiar, the 11 is a reference to the mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap.)

  All signs now point to the advent of a deep and long Societal Winter.

  Here are some key indicators of an incipient Societal Winter:

  • The “us versus them” chatter in social media has become more extreme and pronounced.

  • The homes of Supreme Court justices have been picketed and blasted by vile shouts and taunts on bullhorns.

  • Ex-Presidents now frequently criticize the sitting President and other former Presidents. (That was heretofore considered a no-no.)

  • There is seemingly no more middle ground in American politics. The “debate” and “conversation” have been turned into one-sided lectures by the left.

  • The divide between Red States and Blue States has deepened, prompting many conservatives to “vote with their feet.” The American Redoubt movement is just one manifestation of this.

  • The stage-managed and quite partisan congressional hearings on the unarmed January 6th “insurrection”.

  • The FBI and DOJ have been used as weapons against political opponents of Biden & Company. The experiences of Roger Stone and Mike Lindell are indicative.

  • The ATF has begun to issue edicts on gun parts that go far beyond their legislated mandate. (They should take note of the recent West Virginia v. EPA decision — Federal agencies enforce laws. They are not supposed to create laws.) The ATF edicts have turned parts that they had previously approved into felonies. In just the past three years, the ATF has issued controversial rulings on bumpstocks, solvent traps, forced reset triggers, auto key cards, arm braces, and 80% complete receivers that are sold along with drilling fixtures and parts sets.

  • The IRS plans to add 87,000 new employees, and many people fear that they will be targeting conservative small business owners with audits.

  • Politically-motivated “swatting” is on the rise.

  • The homosexual rights movement has been co-opted by militant trans-sexual crusaders. They’ve also infiltrated public schools and now seem to be proud of grooming children.

  • Mask mandates and vaccine mandates have been politicized and used as weapons to purge conservatives from the military.

  • A $500 billion student loan forgiveness scheme that is just a thinly-veiled gambit to buy votes.

  • The Governor of New York recently taunted conservatives, and suggested that they leave the state.

  • Search engine and social media searches are manipulated, via algorithms.

  • Conservatives have been systematically de-platformed, de-funded, de-banked, and de-ranked from search engine results. On this, I’m not spouting hyperbole. I’m writing this from personal experience. In late 2021, my own bank account that I’d held for nearly 20 years with never a bounced check was canceled on short notice, with no reason given. And, because of the way that search engine results are algorithmically ranked, I’ve lost 30% of my blog’s readership over the past 10 years. Just do a web search on the word “preparedness”, and scroll through the results. You will see that 95% of the results in the first 10 pages point to government web pages. In contrast, do a web search on the more precise phrase “n”, and see what results. So… The truth is out there, but the tech titans are doing their best to conceal it.

  • Mainstream journalists have dropped any pretense of objective reporting.

  • Joe Biden recently has given speeches where he castigated conservatives, terming us “a threat to democracy” and “semi-fascists.”  Using labels like that puts targets on our backs. In effect, he declared about half of the population enemies of the state.

  • Politically-motivated prosecutions of former Trump White House staff members.

  • American society’s long-standing tacit agreement to show restraint at public meetings seems to have been dropped. In response, governments have clamped down on dissenters.

  • Vocal dissent has now expanded to local school board meetings and library board meetings.

  • Character assassination of those with dissenting voices is now carried out on a grand scale, via skewed polls, social media bot influence, “reports” from pressure groups like the SPLC, slanted news reporting, and the overt manipulation of Wikipedia.

  • A cozy relationship has developed between government officials — who are constitutionally barred from censorship — and the tech titans who operate social media platforms – who feel that they can censor their users.  Some of the tech moguls have admitted that they engaged in censorship and swayed elections “in partnership” with the government. And we’ve all read that the Federal government had plans to create an Orwellian Disinformation Bureau.

  • Gun violence restraining orders (GVROs) / extreme risk protective orders (ERPOs) — a.k.a. “Red Flag” laws have been used to exercise ill will, often regarding grudges and even political differences, by the police or within families. This seems to have already increased, in the city and county of San Francisco. In the past year, San Francisco judges have issued more Red Flag court orders than in the rest of the state, combined.

  • The overturn of the Roe v. Wade decision infuriated many liberals, to the point of some of them demanding defiance of the court order and that the court be expanded, to create a majority of liberal justices.

  So, where does all of this lead us? I believe that it will lead to a winter of discontent, possibly lasting for many years, and perhaps with polarization worsening to the point of Balkanization of the 50 States and even civil war.

  WE’LL ALL FEEL THE COLD

  Even if you live in the hinterboonies, don’t expect to be immune from the effects of the nascent Societal Winter. I predict that a lot of these effects will come “top-down”, by orders issued by the Federal government, over the course of several successive Democrat or RINO administrations. Just like the Europeans now facing a government-mandated chilly winter in under-heated homes this winter, we can expect to feel the cold gaze of both liberal elitists and The Woke, in the years to come.

  I can foresee that their wrath will be felt in many ways. For example: Higher income taxes, higher fuel taxes, a Federal “per-mile” tax on private highway travel, draconian new gun laws, politically-targeted IRS tax audits, the “dumping” of busloads (or Amtrak trainloads) of illegal aliens in rural towns, Federally-imposed leftist school curricula, umpteen new un-funded Federal mandates on the states, the forced phase-out of internal combustion engine light cars and trucks, the imposition of a Social Credit Score system, manipulated interest rates that will devastate the national economy, the “apportionment” of power grid resources–favoring Blue cities and states, continued government over-spending that is wrecking the purchasing power of the Dollar, Federal over-ride of state fish and game laws, increasingly stringent EPA and OSHA regulations, and a military draft that may include both our sons and our daughters.

  If socialists, Marxists, Maoists, fascists, or other collectivists eventually consolidate power, then they will surely make attempts at overtly controlling businesses that go far beyond the already repugnant taxes and minimum wages. How? They could legislate hiring metrics that will arbitrarily dictate the percentage of minorities, immigrants, ex-convicts, mentally ill, simple-minded, and sexual deviants. Or the percentage of members of various religions. Or the percentage of members of various political parties. This forced hiring would be mandated regardless of the qualifications or the merits of applicants. In California, they already attempted to mandate the racial composition of corporate boards. (That was found unconstitutional by the courts, a few months ago.) There could also be attempts to limit farmers and ranchers in the production of livestock. By the way, this was just recently announced in The Netherlands. That triggered massive protests that were clearly downplayed by the American mainstream media. Just imagine a law dictating that 50% of firefighters, or military members, or professional athletes be women, or that 10% of new hires be people that are physically or mentally handicapped? Perhaps Kurt Vonnegut’s fictional Harrison Bergeron wasn’t so fictional, after all.

  Collectivists might also take advantage of times of emergency — whether real or fabricated — to simply seize packaged foodstuffs, livestock, farm produce, and/or fish catches.  Dictatorial collectivists never learn from history.  The term “seizing power” might take on a new meaning, in this era of grid-tied photovoltaic power systems and net metering.  (“It is all for the public good, comrade.”)

  And what if any of the 50 States start making secession noises?  I’m sure that the Federal authorities will find ways to severely penalize and downright punish any such states, economically.

  Some of the measures that I’ve outlined might seem outrageous or downright inconceivable. Take a minute to read this recent news article: RAF ‘pauses job offers for white men’ to meet ‘impossible’ diversity targets.

  INCREMENTAL TYRANNY

  Just consider how socialists operate: by incrementalism. Here is their time-proven game plan in a nutshell: “Good ideas” morph into “suggestions”, then “guidelines”, then “targets”, and finally into “mandates” with penalties for noncompliance. The busybodies and do-gooders have already instituted a myriad of laws and taxes, and yet surprisingly there hasn’t been a revolt. They won’t stop adding more laws, new taxes, increased monitoring/surveillance, higher fines/penalties, more licenses, more permit inspections, additional fees, and new reparations to the point that they dictate just about every aspect of our lives. It is as if they want to turn America into an enormous Homeowner’s Association (HOA). It is all about control and power — and they want every bit of it.

  We are facing a very cold Societal Winter, indeed. Nothing cuts to the bone quite like the icy gaze of someone in a position of authority–especially when they are backed by the might of law enforcement and the armed forces.

  In closing, I’d like to remind my readers that the Greek general and politician Pericles once famously wrote: “Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 23:30

• High School Defends Trans Teacher Who Wore Massive Fake Breasts To Class
  High School Defends Trans Teacher Who Wore Massive Fake Breasts To Class

  No, this is not Babylon Bee or The Onion!

  A Canadian high school teacher has sparked controversy after pictures emerged of her wearing large breast prosthetics while teaching students.

  Kayla Lemieux, a Manufacturing Technology teacher at Oakville Trafalgar High School in Ontario, who began transitioning from being male to a female a year ago, has gone viral online after students took photos and videos of the teacher, seemingly without her knowledge.

  

  As Anna Slatz reports at reduxx.info, the teacher is seen wearing an extremely prominent prosthetic bust, one which clearly outlines the nipples through his tight shirt. He is also donning a bright blonde wig and short-shorts.

  

  In response, the high school defended their employee, writing to parents and explaining why they support Ms Lemieux’s gender expression, Reduxx reports.

  In a statement to parents, the school said:

  “As a school within the Halton District School Board (HDSB), Oakville Trafalgar High School recognizes the rights of students, staff, parents/guardians and community members to equitable treatment without discrimination based upon gender identity and gender expression.

  We strive to promote a positive learning environment in schools consistent with the values of the HDSB and to ensure a safe and inclusive environment for all students, staff and the community, regardless of race, age, ability, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, cultural observance, socioeconomic circumstances or body type/size.”

  HDSB Chair Margo Shuttleworth told the Toronto Sun that “This teacher (who teaches shop) is an extremely effective teacher,” adding that “all the kids really love being in the class.”

  Some students have recorded images of the trans teacher at Oakville Trafalgar High School in Ontario, Canada and put them on social media: pic.twitter.com/QzsFtqauZq

  — Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) September 17, 2022

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

  The school is said to be expecting protests when it opens on Monday since the photos went viral.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 23:00

• Martha's Vineyard Is Just The Start: Ron DeSantis Has Big Plans On Immigration
  Martha’s Vineyard Is Just The Start: Ron DeSantis Has Big Plans On Immigration

  Authored by W.James Antle III via 19fortyfive.com,

  Ron DeSantis’ Immigration Moves Not Limited to Martha’s Vineyard: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been trying to establish himself as a conservative leader on a number of issues. The latest is immigration.

  

  Like other Republican governors, DeSantis is trying to contrast himself with the policies of President Joe Biden. Before inflation, there was no greater flashpoint than immigration. 

  DeSantis wants faraway affluent liberal communities to get a small sense of what the Biden-era migrant surge is doing to border communities. The residents of Martha’s Vineyard are not amused. 

  But there is more to DeSantis’ immigration insurgency than dropping undocumented migrants off in blue cities (something the Biden administration itself might be contemplating).

  The Florida governor is vying for leadership of the populist and nationalist right, ascendant factions of the conservative movement and Republican Party, as surely as he is seeking reelection in November. This would position DeSantis well to compete for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

  Speaking to the third U.S.-based National Conservatism Conference in Miami, DeSantis spoke differently about immigration than previous Republicans favored by movement conservative leaders and big-money GOP donors. He argued America’s capacity for mass immigration has its limits.

  “We’ve had periods where we had high immigration levels that we have had success, we’ve also had periods where we have great success with immigration levels being very low, such as … [in] the decades after World War II,” Ron DeSantis told the conservative gathering in his keynote address, referencing the period before the 1965 Immigration Act.

  “So the issue is, how does immigration serve the people of the United States and the national interest?” he continued.

  “We’re not globalists who believe that foreigners have a right to come into our country whenever they want to.”

  This is a much less romantic way of talking about immigration than past Republican leaders like former President George W. Bush. It is also a more systematic approach than former President Donald Trump, whose own immigration policies represented a profound break with Bush’s.

  But even with advisers like Stephen Miller and his erstwhile boss, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Trump couldn’t always articulate an alternative vision that could compete with the Republican establishment view on these matters.

  DeSantis wraps his populist critique of the Robert Bartley/Wall Street Journal editorial page’s free-market defense of more or less open borders in his broader rejection of corporatism and woke capitalism.

  “The United States is a nation that has an economy, not the other way around,” DeSantis said, again at the natcon conference.

  “Our economy should be geared towards helping our own people.”

  What does that mean?

  “I’m not a central planner. I don’t want to be doing that,” he began.

  “But corporatism is not the same as free enterprise. Too many Republicans have viewed limited government to basically mean whatever is best for corporate America is how we want to do the economy. And my view is, obviously free enterprise is the best economic system.”

  That doesn’t mean that what’s good for General Electric or General Motors is necessarily good for America, at least not in 2022.

  “But that is a means to an end,” Ron DeSantis said of the free market.

  “It’s a means to having a good fulfilling life and a prosperous society. It’s not an end in and of itself, and we need to make sure that we have that firmly in mind.”

  It’s not hard to see how such a vision can spiral out of control, as libertarians will be quick to remind conservatives. But it’s also not the first time conservatives have spoken this way. Pat Buchanan’s criticism of corporations whose “highest loyalty is to the bottom line on a balance sheet,” Russell Kirk’s disquisitions on the anti-conservative nature of particularly acquisitive capitalism, the work of Robert Nisbet.

  Republican congressmen and even the occasional senator. Big-state governors who might be running for president have not.

  The closest precedent is former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s 2015 embrace of immigration restraint when he was viewed as a top-tier candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. He was criticized by a lot of the same types of conservatives now wary of DeSantis.

  Soon enough, Trump was able to take away the immigration issue — and the top spot in polls of Republican voters — away from Walker. The nomination followed. 

  Ron DeSantis hopes the similarities in the story end there.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 22:30

• "Crisis Of Crimes": New Orleans Becomes Murder Capital Of America
  “Crisis Of Crimes”: New Orleans Becomes Murder Capital Of America

  Progressives in top city leadership positions have helped transform New Orleans into the murder capital of America. 

  WSJ reported the Louisiana city on the Mississippi River, near the Gulf of Mexico, recorded the highest homicide rate of any major city so far this year, with 41 homicides per 100,000 residents. 

  Metropolitan Crime Commission Inc., a nonprofit that works on crime-reducing strategies in the city, said the homicide rate is up 141% compared with the same period in 2019. It pointed out carjackings are up 210%, shootings 100%, and armed robberies up 25%.

  

  “The homicide rate is on pace to surpass last year’s rate, which was the worst since Hurricane Katrina in 2005,” WSJ noted. 

  The city’s alarming spike in the homicide rate comes at the same time as “progressive prosecutor” Jason Williams became the district attorney of the metro area in early 2021. He promised a “more selective” approach to prosecutions that goes “beyond punishment.”

  “Being more selective about prosecutions will allow us to focus on the crimes that matter most to all of us,” Williams said last year, adding, “We’ve got to go beyond punishment and invest in our community.”

  Metropolitan Crime Commission recently said Williams’ criminal justice reforms have resulted in a “drastic decline in accountability for violent felony offenders.”

  Residents told WSJ an “overwhelmed” police department is a significant factor in the rise in violent crime. 

  Ronal Serpas, the city’s police superintendent from 2010-14, said the city has about 50% to 60% of officers needed for adequate patrols. 

  “We’re in a crisis of crime and a crisis of confidence in this city,” Serpas said.

  Democratic Mayor LaToya Cantrell warned last month Mardi Gras festivities early next year could be canceled because of the police shortage. Local news Times-Picayune said the police department budgets for 1,500 offices, but its force just fell below 1,000 — the lowest level in decades. 

  “If we don’t have adequate police, it could mean that there will be no Mardi Gras. That’s a fact,” Cantrell said at a community meeting last month. 

  Violent crime has surged in many liberal-controlled cities, as some believe this is due to failed criminal justice reform policies.

  Democrat’s inability to address the crime wave is a failure in policy — and their lack of accountability will come in the form of no confidence by taxpayers. 

  Remember in June when a George Soros-backed progressive district attorney in San Francisco was booted out of office? 

  “Action must be taken NOW if there is ever a chance to save the city and bring the reputation of being a city where tourists can come to party and celebrate and not become victims,” nonprofit New Orleans Police & Justice Foundation, which raises funds to aid police in the city, warned. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 22:00

• "Kidnapping Is A Thing": MSNBC Continues False Claim That DeSantis Is Kidnapping Migrants
  “Kidnapping Is A Thing”: MSNBC Continues False Claim That DeSantis Is Kidnapping Migrants

  Authored by Jonathan Turley,

  I have been writing about the claim of Hillary Clinton and others that the transportation of migrants to places like Martha’s Vineyard is “literally human trafficking” and other crimes. Despite the utter lack of legal basis for these allegations, major media has continued to air such claims.

  This weekend, MSNBC’s Tiffany Cross and MSNBC regular (and past writer for Above the Law and the Nation) repeated the false claim that the trips constitute kidnapping.Mystal responded to Cross’ claim that the trip constitute “kidnapping” with a diatribe against “Republican fascists.”

  

  He then added

  “What I believe is happening here is kidnapping…kidnapping is a thing. Kidnapping by trick is a thing. Telling people that you are going to take them one place and sending them someplace else is a form of kidnapping.”

  Indeed, kidnapping “is a thing,” just not this thing.

  As noted in a column this weekend, this claim was also made by Gov. Gavin Newsom. 

  It is legally absurd.

  Kidnapping requires that the culprit “unlawfully seizes, confines, inveigles, decoys, kidnaps, abducts, or carries away and holds for ransom or reward or otherwise any person.” There is nothing unlawful in conveying individuals who are lawfully in the country pending their immigration hearings; the trips are voluntary, and most migrants appear eager to accept free passage to cities like New York or Chicago.

  Mystal also analogized the migrants to teenagers:

  “Imagine Ron DeSantis goes up to a group of white teenagers, offers them some candy and says, ‘Hey, I’m gonna take you to Disney World if you get in my van.’ And then Ron DeSantis drives them to Bush Gardens.” 

  Such analogies are insulting to adults who elect to accept free transport to cities like Chicago or New York. These are vulnerable individuals but these trips are only being offered to adults to decide if they want to take advantage of the free transportation.

  It is reminiscent of the recently deleted tweet by NBC analogizing migrants to “trash.” The trash analogy seems far worse but the suggestion that these migrants are like minors or teens being lured by candy is pretty insulting. These are adults who are clearly in desperate situations but they are not like children or teenagers unable to decide whether to remain near the border or accept a flight to another city.  Would Mystal make the same claim of being “lured” to the country to cross illegally? While there have been alleged misrepresentations, those allegations have not been proven and there has not been evidence of any systemic misrepresentations. Thus far, these transfers appear consensual, including signed or express acceptance of the free transportation. There are rationale reasons why migrants would prefer to go to cities like New York rather than remain along the border given the huge influx of migrations.

  Mystal has previously caused uproars for controversial claims from accusing a senator of wanting to murder Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to his continued attacks on a high school student even after he was cleared of a false race-based story. He has called the Constitution “trash” and previously stated that white, non-college-educated voters supported Republicans because they care about “using their guns on Black people and getting away with it.” He has also lashed out at “white society” and explained how he strived to maintain a “whiteness free” life in the pandemic. He also called all Republicans “white supremacists.”

  However, it is the misrepresentation of the criminal law that is most concerning.  There are good-faith reasons to oppose these trips as a political stunt. That does not make them federal crimes.  The effort to bend and twist the criminal code for such political purposes is a dangerous trend. You can denounce these transfers without trying to criminalize such policies.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 21:30

• Coast Guard Seizes Half-Billion Worth Of Narcotics In Caribbean
  Coast Guard Seizes Half-Billion Worth Of Narcotics In Caribbean

  The US Coast Guard seized 28,500 pounds of cocaine and marijuana after intercepting a drug smuggling boat in the international waters of the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

  

  Approximately 24,700 pounds of cocaine and 3,892 pounds of Marijuana, worth an estimated $475 million, was offloaded on Thursday at Base Miami Beach, Florida, according to a news release. The Coast Guard’s Legare crew executed the seizure along with Coast Guard Cutter James, the US Navy’s USS Billings, and His Netherlands Majesty’s Ship HNLMS Groningen.

  

  The Legare is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter that typically conducts search & rescue, law enforcement and homeland security operations. Stationed in Portsmouth, VA, the vessel patrols a territory including the coastline from Maine to Florida, the Caribbean, the Eastern Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico.

  

  “Through the coordinated efforts of the Legare, the LEDETs, HNLMS Groningen, CGC James, and the USS Billings crews, we significantly contributed to the counter-drug mission and the dismantling of transnational criminal organizations. The drugs seized through this coordinated effort will result in significantly fewer drug-related overdoses,” said Legare commanding officer Jeremy M. Greenwood.

  

  The operation comes as Florida reports over 8,000 overdose deaths in 2021, including 2,000 involving the use of cocaine. Nationwide, over 932,000 people have died of drug overdoses since 1999, according to the CDC.

  “Biden’s border crisis has caused a massive infusion of drugs coming into our state,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in an Aug. 3 statement. “This year we increased the penalties for individuals trafficking drugs in our state, and now we are giving Floridians the tools they need to break the substance abuse cycle.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 21:00

• Organized Retail Crime Reaching "Crisis Scale"
  Organized Retail Crime Reaching “Crisis Scale”

  Authored by Bryan Jung via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The massive wave of retail thefts in the United States over the past two years have become a major challenge for both the retail industry and law enforcement.

  

  Weakened law enforcement policies and lesser penalties for these criminal bandit gangs have hit a critical juncture, as crime in the United States has hit proportions not seen in three decades.

  The number of increasingly professional organized retail crime (ORC) rings and their frequent attacks have reached crisis scale, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF) in a Sept. 14 report.

  These crimes have hurt thousands of businesses and have contributed to higher prices for consumers and loss of key retailers in many communities, as countless stores have closed to due to lack of security.

  “The factors contributing to retail shrink have multiplied in recent years, and organized retail crime is a burgeoning threat within the retail industry,” said Mark Meadows, NRF vice president for research development and industry analysis.

  “These highly sophisticated criminal rings jeopardize employee and customer safety and disrupt store operations. Retailers are bolstering security efforts to counteract these increasingly dangerous and aggressive criminal activities.”

  A Spike in Organized Thievery

  According to the 2022 National Retail Security Survey, issued by NRF, the total loss of stolen goods hit $94.5 billion by the end of 2021, up from losses of $90.8 billion in 2020.

  The NRF found that the average shrink rate in losses for 2021 was 1.44 percent, a slight decline from the previous two years, but comparable to the five-year average of 1.5 percent.

  Acts of fraud are being reported across all venues, ranging from brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce, and omni-channel platforms since 2020.

  A sudden increase store violence is another growing area of concern, such as random attacks on store personnel, robberies, and ORC gangs.

  The majority of surveyed retailers reported a 89.3 percent increase in violence and a 73.2 percent uptick in shoplifting.

  The reported incidents of both ORC and employee theft rose 71.4 percent, much of it involving organized crime or for the gangs’ own benefit.

  The NRF said that respondents reported that ORC robberies have risen 26.5 percent since the onset of the pandemic.

  The most targeted store items fall under the acronym CRAVED: concealable, removable, available, valuable, enjoyable,  and disposable.

  Items under CRAVED include apparel, health and beauty, electronics/appliances, accessories, food and beverage, footwear, home furnishings and housewares, home improvement, eyewear, office supplies, infant care, and toys.

  In search of solutions, retailers are boosting spending on theft-prevention measures.

  The NRF survey showed that 60.3 percent of retailers are increasing their security budgets.

  At least 52.4 percent are increasing their investments in technology, such as radio frequency identification tags and readers, computerized security scanners, and license plate-recognition devices.

  “We are seeing more and more, particularly, organized retail crime,” said Corrie Barry, Best Buy’s CEO, in late 2021 to the NY Post.

  “You can see that pressure in our financials. And more importantly, frankly, you can see that pressure with our associates. It’s traumatizing,” she said.

  Radical Crime Policies and Recidivism

  Wealthy liberal enclaves throughout the country with district attorneys thought of as “soft on crime” appear to be the regions most affected by the crime wave and which has only grown worse since the pandemic.

  The top five metropolitan areas affected by store bandit gangs in the past year were the Californian cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland; New York; Houston, Texas; and Miami, Florida.

  Retailers across the country are calling for stronger legislation, especially at the federal and state level, along with better enforcement of existing laws to quell increasing acts of violence and theft, which are hurting their survival.

  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce demanded earlier this year that Congress take action to address the rise of ORC crimes, calling them a “national emergency.”

  “Retail theft is becoming a national crisis, hurting businesses in every state and the communities they serve,” said Neil Bradley, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s chief policy officer, in a letter to Congress in March.

  “We call on policymakers to tackle this problem head-on before it gets further out of control. No store should have to close because of theft.”

  Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva blamed radical Democrats and prosecutors, saying that they “live in this ‘woke palace’ where they’re not affected by the policies, but the average person IS impacted by them.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 20:30

• Surprise! Chinese Junk Bonds Yield Less Than US Treasuries
  Surprise! Chinese Junk Bonds Yield Less Than US Treasuries

  Authored by Ye Xie, Bloomberg Markets reporter,

  Three things we learned last week:

  1. The policy divergence between the world’s two largest economies has been so extreme that it has yielded another market milestone.

  As China keeps borrowing costs exceptionally low, yields on onshore junk bonds dropped below those of US Treasuries for the first time since 2007.

  

  Five-year, AA-rated corporate bonds, the Chinese equivalent of non-investment grade debt, yielded 3.61% on Thursday, compared with 3.67% for five-year US Treasuries. In other words, Chinese investors can earn higher yields in the world’s financial safe-haven without taking credit risk or worrying about yuan depreciation. Granted, given the tight capital controls, this is easier said than done. Still, the policy divergence explains why the yuan would be under pressure.

  2. Speaking of which, the yuan broke 7 per dollar for the first time in more than two years, but without much fanfare. It helps that the PBOC has been setting the fixing strong to slow the slide.

  More importantly, the FX settlement data show there’s net foreign-currency inflows, reflecting a still-large trade surplus and the dearth of outbound tourism spending.

  

  That’s quite different from the 2015 devaluation when capital left the country en mass. The yuan decline is likely to be more of a slow-burning move than a sudden collapse.

  3. Friday’s economic data showed some signs of stabilization. But without improvements in the housing market and a change in the Covid policy, it’s difficult to see any meaningful rebound.

  Economists at UBS are among the latest to cut their GDP forecasts below 3%, predicting a growth rate of 2.7%.

  

  As the research firm China Bull puts it: “Unless the coming economic recovery can broaden out and restore household and business confidence, the rebound will soon run out of steam.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 20:00

• FBI Makes 6,000 Arrests, Seizes Firearms In Summer-Long Operation
  FBI Makes 6,000 Arrests, Seizes Firearms In Summer-Long Operation

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

  FBI agents arrested about 6,000 alleged violent criminals across the United States over the past four months and have seized more than 2,700 firearms and large quantities of fentanyl, the bureau announced Tuesday.

  “Violent crime is on the minds of a lot of Americans right now and top of mind for police chiefs and sheriffs, who constantly tell me that the rising rate of gun and gang violence is one of their most important and difficult challenges,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a video message about the operation.

  

  The FBI, which has faced increasing criticism about its targeting of former President Donald Trump and his supporters, said that its agents and local law enforcement officials arrested nearly 6,000 alleged violent criminals and gang members. It also seized more than 2,700 firearms connected to criminal conduct.

  Those operations were carried out in California, Texas, Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico, Washington, Pennsylvania, and Puerto Rico.

  “The Los Angeles Metropolitan Task Force on Violent Gangs arrested 28 members and associates of the South Los Angeles-based Eastside Playboys street gang for alleged federal racketeering, firearms, and narcotics charges,” the FBI said in providing an example. “The task force seized approximately 47 firearms, almost 200 kilograms of methamphetamine, 27 kilograms of cocaine, more than 13 kilograms of fentanyl, and more than seven kilograms of heroin.”

  The agency also said its gang task force executed 16 federal search warrants targeting prison and street gangs around Albuquerque, New Mexico. They “seized more than one million fentanyl pills, 142 pounds of methamphetamine, 37 firearms, nine ballistic vests, two hand grenades, and $1.8 million in cash,” the bureau said.

  Rise in Crime

  It comes as the average murder rate across the United States hit 6.9 murders per 100,000 people in 2021, or the highest figure it’s been in more than 20 years. Drug overdose deaths, at the same time, have spiked to more than 107,000 nationwide in 2021, setting an all-time record, according to federal data.

  Some critics, meanwhile, have said that Democrat-sponsored policies targeting bail reform have allowed repeat offenders back on the streets.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 19:30

• Biden Warns Putin "Don't Change The Face Of War" With Nuclear Or Chemical Weapons In Ukraine
  Biden Warns Putin “Don’t Change The Face Of War” With Nuclear Or Chemical Weapons In Ukraine

  In a Sunday “60 Minutes” interview to air in full Sunday night, President Joe Biden issued a warning for Russian President Vladimir Putin to not “change the face of war” by employing either tactical nuclear or chemical weapons against Ukraine.

  “Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. You will change the face of war unlike anything since World War II,” Biden said while speaking to CBS interviewer Scott Pelley. Biden was responding to a question from Pelley on what the US president’s message would be if he learned that Putin was contemplating use of weapons of mass destruction.

  Biden stopped short of saying expressly that the US would jump into the conflict more directly against Russian forces, but he stipulated “it’ll be consequential” and that the end result would be: “They’ll become more of a pariah in the world than they ever have been.”

  

  Without detailing a hypothetical American response, Biden explained that US action would depend on “the extent of what they do.”

  While there have been no indicators that the Kremlin has plans for such a dramatic and deadly escalation, also given that Moscow still hasn’t technically declared formal war or national mobilization, the opening two months of the war saw widespread reports that Putin put the nation’s nuclear forces on “high alert”. 

  There have also been prior allegations issued by Ukrainian forces of Russian chemical weapons usage – but none of these earlier accusations was ever sustained or backed by evidence, or rose to the level of Ukraine’s allies backing the charge.

  Ukrainian officials have also more recently said that Russia is now using and still occupying Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant for the sake of “nuclear blackmail” and to unleash “nuclear terror”. At the start of August, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the world is “one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation” given the grinding Ukraine war, now seven months in.

  He noted at the time that “We have been extraordinarily lucky so far” – and called for a broader stand-down of all nuclear-armed powers’ arsenals: 

  Secretary General Guterres said the “luck” the world had enjoyed so far in avoiding a nuclear catastrophe may not last – and urged the world to renew a push towards eliminating all such weapons.

  “Luck is not a strategy. Nor is it a shield from geopolitical tensions boiling over into nuclear conflict,” he said.

  The Russian side has voiced its own concern for the potential of nuclear escalation, but as part of comments directed at the West. Beginning in April, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov vowed that Russia would avoid using nuclear weapons at all costs – in response to headlines alleging Russian nuclear preparedness related to the Ukraine crisis. But Lavrov at the time also cited the danger of underestimating how rapidly things could spiral in Ukraine:

  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the West on Monday not to underestimate the elevated risks of nuclear conflict over Ukraine and said he viewed NATO as being “in essence” engaged in a proxy war with Russia by supplying Kyiv with weaponry.

  “I would not want to elevate those risks artificially. Many would like that. The danger is serious, real. And we must not underestimate it,” he said.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 19:00

• Here's What We Know About The Special Master Named To Review Seized Mar-a-Lago Documents
  Here’s What We Know About The Special Master Named To Review Seized Mar-a-Lago Documents

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

  U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie will serve as the independent arbiter to review documents that were taken from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, according to a federal judge’s order on Thursday.

  

  Dearie, 79, was the only candidate for the special master role that both Trump’s team and the Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed on. In a separate order, Judge Aileen Cannon ordered the DOJ to stop its review of the materials that were taken from Trump’s Florida residence last month, while the DOJ has indicated it will appeal.

  With the order, Dearie will “review all of the materials seized” during the FBI raid and will have to verify documents in a property inventory to reflect the “property seized.” The judge also is tasked with carrying out a “privilege review” of the items that were taken and has to inform the court if there are “privilege disputes between the parties.”

  Dearie was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 for New York. He retired in 2011 and is now a senior judge in the district.

  Dearie was the former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. He became the chief judge of the Eastern District from 2007 to 2011, and he remains an active judge on senior status.

  Notably, he served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) court for several years. He was one of several judges who approved warrants for the FBI’s surveillance targeting former Trump aide Carter Page in 2016 as part of the bureau’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which triggered Trump’s allegations of malfeasance against the federal law enforcement agency.

  Federal investigators ultimately determined that an FBI lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith, altered an email to support the surveillance application. After pleading guilty, Clinesmith received a sentence of 12 months probation; he was ultimately spared prison time.

  A separate judge released more portions of the affidavit used to secure the Mar-a-Lago search warrant, showing that some of the documents seized at Trump’s home were labeled “FISA,” indicating they relate to information that was derived from foreign sources. It’s not clear if those documents pertained to the Page investigation, though Trump and a former top aide of his, Kash Patel, have indicated that he declassified records relating to Crossfire Hurricane.

  Praise

  After the special master ruling Thursday, Dearie was praised by lawyers who had argued cases in front of him.

  The judge is “one of the few judges who both sides want to appear in front of. He is held in the highest regard by attorneys. He’s someone who actually listens to the lawyers and considers what they have to say before he makes a decision,” Lindsay Gerdes, a former Brooklyn federal prosecutor, told Politico.

  “He works incredibly well with parties, but doesn’t tolerate nonsense,” Richard Garbarini of Garbarini Fitzgerald P.C. told the news outlet. “He will not allow parties, or attorneys, to play games, or play fast-and-loose with the rules.”

  Read more here…

  And more from someone who worked with Dearie:

  Yes, Dearie was appointed by Reagan. But he’s no partisan. Yes, he was the former US Attorney (top federal prosecutor) in New York. But as this public defender can tell you, he was uniquely protective of defendant rights. Every one got a fair shake. He was *careful. To a fault.

  — Scott Hechinger (@ScottHech) September 16, 2022

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

  Again, if the Special Master process does move forward, whenever the recommendations are forwarded to the presiding judge by Judge Dearie, it’ll be the right recommendation. If he rules against Trump. Or in favor of Trump. Or a little of both. It won’t be political.

  — Scott Hechinger (@ScottHech) September 16, 2022

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  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 18:30

• Senate Bill On Taiwan Will "Make War Much More Likely"
  Senate Bill On Taiwan Will “Make War Much More Likely”

  Authored by Brett Wilkins via Common Dreams,

  A U.S. Senate committee last week approved a bill to dramatically boost American military support for Taiwan, a move that prompted warnings from both China and anti-war voices in the United States that such a policy increases the likelihood of armed conflict.

  The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 17-5 in favor of the Taiwan Policy Act of 2022, which according to its text “promotes the security of Taiwan, ensures regional stability, and deters People’s Republic of China (PRC) aggression against Taiwan. It also threatens severe sanctions against the PRC for hostile action against Taiwan.”

  

  The bill comes during a period of heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing and follows U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ‘s (D-Calif.) provacative trip to Taiwan last month, a visit the Chinese government answered by suspending climate and military cooperation with the United States and forging closer ties with Russia.

  Dave DeCamp, news editor at Antiwar.com, tweeted that if passed, the bill “will be the most radical change in U.S. policy toward Taiwan since the 1970s and will make war much more likely.”

  China vigorously protested the proposed legislation. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said during a Wednesday press conference in Beijing that “if the bill continues to be deliberated, pushed forward, or even signed into law, it will greatly shake the political foundation of China-U.S. relations and cause extremely serious consequences to… peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”

  Meanwhile, observers asserted that China may ramp up military measures in response to the bill. In addition to authorizing $4.5 billion in military assistance, $2 billion in loan guarantees, and boosting “war reserve stockpile” funding for Taiwan by hundreds of millions of dollars, the bill also grants Taiwan many of the benefits of being a “major non-NATO ally” without officially designating it as such.

  Furthermore, it establishes a “robust sanctions regime to deter PRC aggression” against the island that most of the world—including the United States—recognizes as part of “one China.” Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who introduced the bill with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), said that the proposed legislation “makes clear the United States does not seek war or increased tensions with Beijing.”

  “Just the opposite,” he claimed. “We are carefully and strategically lowering the existential threats facing Taiwan by raising the cost of taking the island by force so that it becomes too high a risk and unachievable.”

  The Taiwan Policy Act has passed a vote in the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Its sponsors say it could transform U.S. policy toward Taiwan, but critics say it could stoke already tense relations between Beijing and Washington. pic.twitter.com/GUZgABNSnM

  — TaiwanPlus (@taiwanplusnews) September 15, 2022

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

  While acknowledging that “we’re doing something highly provocative and bellicose,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) nevertheless voted in favor of the bill. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) voted against the bill, explaining in a statement that while he supports “strengthening Taiwan’s ability to defend itself,” he has “serious concerns about provisions that, in my view, upend strategic ambiguity, undermine the U.S. One China policy, and threaten to destabilize the region.”

  “We have a moral responsibility to both stand up to authoritarianism and military aggression, as well as to do everything we can to avoid a situation that could draw two nuclear-armed countries into a conflict. Diplomacy must remain central to our Taiwan policy,” added Markey, who was criticized by the peace group CodePink for taking part in last month’s congressional visit to Taiwan.

  Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) also voted against the measure.

  “Biden administration officials have said the bill risks upending the US’s carefully calibrated ‘one China’ policy, under which the US has for more than 40 years built ties with Beijing by avoiding formally stating its position on Taiwan’s sovereignty.” https://t.co/c8rGTk9F3R https://t.co/Muzf0x0KDi

  — Quincy Institute (@QuincyInst) September 14, 2022

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  It is unclear whether U.S. President Joe Biden would sign the bill if it is passed by Congress. While the White House says it supports parts of the measure, Biden administration officials told Bloomberg that the bill “risks upending the U.S.’ carefully calibrated One China policy, under which the U.S. has for more than 40 years built ties with Beijing by avoiding formally stating its position on Taiwan’s sovereignty.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 17:30

• Man Scraps Modified Diesel Truck After Gov't Determines It's Illegal Through Facebook Marketplace Listing
  Man Scraps Modified Diesel Truck After Gov’t Determines It’s Illegal Through Facebook Marketplace Listing

  A New Jersey man listed his modified 2008 Dodge Ram 2500 on Facebook Marketplace. Shortly after the listing, he received a letter from the state government to restore the exhaust to factory stock or face fines (or worse, have the truck crushed), reported The Drive. 

  Over the summer, Mike Sebold listed the truck on Facebook Marketplace. He included information in the listing that the Ram 2500 had been “deleted,” a common reference by diesel truck lovers who have their emission control devices removed to increase horsepower and torque. However, such a conversion leads to more environmentally unfriendly emissions and results in the truck not being suitable for roadways due to the state’s strict emission rules. 

  

  Weeks after the listing went live, New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) notified Sebold that his truck was flagged and the exhaust would need to be restored to the factory setting to meet the state’s emissions compliance. He said parts and labor to get the truck back to compliance would be more than $10,000. 

  “Just a heads up for anyone listing diesel trucks on Facebook don’t put all the details and don’t trust the people asking questions about your truck. Just found out a few minutes ago that if I don’t spend about $10,000 to set a truck back to stock I’ll be going to jail in 60 days 👍🏻. A truck I did not delete I bought it that way. What a free country we live in 😂. Also just found out it’s illegal to sell the truck too. So it’s literally thousands of dollars or jail 👍🏻,” Sebold posted on Jul. 25. 

  Sebold said he de-registered the truck though it wasn’t enough to satisfy the DEP, who gave him a Sept. 25 deadline to fix the truck or destroy it. 

  “After exhausting seemingly every option to save his pickup without spending thousands on repairs, he elected to comply. At the time of publishing, the truck is set to be crushed Friday, Sept. 16,” The Drive said. 

  According to DEP, “Mr. Sebold has informed the Department that he intends to bring his truck to a scrap yard on Sept. 16 and have it destroyed, although the Department has explained to Mr. Sebold on multiple occasions that the Department would extend the 60-day deadline cited in compliance requirements to give him time to make the necessary repairs to the truck and return it to full New Jersey emissions compliance… Mr. Sebold has made the decision to scrap his truck, despite DEP offering him other options.”

  Sebold told The Drive that DEP never visited or inspected the truck in person. He believes DEP decided to flag the truck based on the Facebook Marketplace listing. An overreaching state government agency has weaponized a social media platform to combat tighter and tighter environmental restrictions on gas/diesel-powered vehicles.  

  Before the crushing, Sebold appears to have parted out the truck. He called DEP “scumbags.” 

  The surveillance state is watching… 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 17:00

• Taibbi: The Justice Department Was Dangerous Before Trump. It's Out Of Control Now
  Taibbi: The Justice Department Was Dangerous Before Trump. It’s Out Of Control Now

  Authored by Matt Taibbi via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  On Monday, August 8, Justice Department officials spent nine hours raiding the Mar-a-Lago home of Donald Trump, carrying out 12 boxes of material. When criticism ensued, FBI spokespeople in wounded tones insisted the press eschew the harsh term “raid,” and use “execution of a search warrant” instead.

  “Agents don’t like the word ‘raid,’ they don’t like it,” complained former assistant FBI counterintelligence director turned MSNBC analyst Frank Figliuzzi. He added with unintentional irony: “It sounds like it’s some sort of extrajudicial, non-legal thing.”

  

  But it was a raid, as the surprisingly enormous number of people who’ve been on the business end of such actions since 9/11 will report. The state more and more now avails itself of a procedural trick that would have horrified everyone from Jefferson to to Potter Stewart to Thurgood Marshall. Investigating, say, one lawyer, prosecutors raid a whole firm, taking everything — emails, client files, cell phones and personal computers — then have a supposedly separate group of lawyers, called a “taint” or “filter” team, examine it all. In this way they learn the private details of hundreds or even thousands of clients in a shot, all people unrelated to the supposed case at hand.

  But, they say, don’t worry, we’re not using any of those secrets, you can trust us. After all, we’re United States Attorneys. (And their paralegals. And legal assistants. And, perhaps, a few IRS or DEA or FBI agents, whose only job is to make cases against the types of people in those files. But still, don’t worry). Just because the whole concept of attorney-client privilege, as well as the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments — guaranteeing rights to free speech, against unreasonable searches, and to due process and legal counsel, respectively — were created to bar exactly this kind of behavior, they insist the state would never abuse this authority.

  Taint team targets are unpopular. They’re accused drug dealers, terrorists, corporate tax cheats, money launderers, Medicare fraudsters, and, importantly of late, their lawyers. You can add Trump administration officials to the list now. In cases involving such people government prosecutors have begun making an extraordinary claim. As a citizen cries foul when the state peeks at attorney communications, the Justice Department increasingly argues that affording certain people rights harms the secret objectives of the secret state.

  The Trump case is almost incidental to this wider story of extralegal short-cuts, intimidation, improper searches, and especially, a constant, intensifying effort at discrediting the adversarial system in favor of an executive-branch-only vision of the law, in which your right to stand before a judge or jury would be replaced by secret bureaucratic decisions. “Trump has become the way they sell this,” says one defense attorney. “But it’s not about Trump. If you focus on Trump, you’ll miss how serious this is. And it started a long time ago.” When? “Go back to 9/11,” he says. “You’ll see.”

  What follows is a brief history of the cases leading to the controversial decisions in Donald J. Trump v. United States of America, as told by some of the key figures in those episodes. TV experts have told you Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to appoint a Special Master in Trump’s case is an “atrocious,” “shady as fuck,” “utterly lawless” ruling by a “stupid” and “profoundly partisan” jurist, placing Trump “above the law.” Have you noticed these analyses almost always come from ex-prosecutors, that you’ve been trained to not even blink at headlines like, Ex-CIA officer calls judge’s ruling in Trump case “silly,” and that defense attorneys on television are rarer than pearls?

  There’s a reason for that:

  Subscribers can click here to read more…

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 16:30

• Puerto Rico Suffers Islandwide Blackout, Internet Connectivity Crashes As Hurricane Nears
  Puerto Rico Suffers Islandwide Blackout, Internet Connectivity Crashes As Hurricane Nears

  Tropical Storm Fiona intensified into a Category 1 hurricane Sunday as it moved south of Puerto Rico, bringing heavy rains and high winds to some parts of the island.

  Incredible imagery of Hurricane Fiona and the lightning within.

  A storm that is absolutely slamming Puerto Rico with winds and torrential rains.

  A difficult evening ahead. pic.twitter.com/3zcn32YCXa

  — Dakota Smith (@weatherdak) September 18, 2022

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

  Hurricane Fiona is the season’s sixth named storm and third hurricane. The storm moves west-northwest at 8 mph with maximum sustained winds of 85mph. As of 1400 ET, the National Hurricane Center said Fiona’s center was 25 miles south of Ponce, a city with more than 100,000 people on the island’s southern coast.

  

  As Fiona approached the island, PowerOutage.US reported an islandwide power blackout:

  “Puerto Rico is 100% without power due to a transmission grid failure from Hurricane Fiona.” 

  This means nearly 1.5 million people tracked by PowerOutage have experienced power disruptions. Puerto Rico’s governor, Pedro Pierluisi, confirmed in a tweet the storm knocked out the island’s entire electric system. 

  

  Fiona’s path includes several large fossil fuel power plants. There’s no official confirmation on what power plants were disrupted or if downed transmission lines were the source of the outages. 

  

  Social media users tweeted videos of heavy flooding and damaging winds already battering the island. 

  Les inondations à Puerto rico #fiona #puertorico pic.twitter.com/2whBIeZ9A5

  — Gérald DELISCAR-JOURDAN (@GDELISCAR) September 18, 2022

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

  Just west of Ponce, #PuertoRico in #Hurricane #Fiona – @NWSSanJuan @LiveStormsMedia @NHC_Atlantic pic.twitter.com/b8PRxJ2UXw

  — Brett Adair (@AlaStormTracker) September 18, 2022

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

  … and internet connectivity crashed with power blackouts across the island.  

  ⚠️ Update: Internet connectivity across #PuertoRico is currently registering at 47% of ordinary levels amid reports of a widespread power blackout as Hurricane #Fiona moves in; meanwhile Luma Energy reports 51% of customers are now without electricity ⚡ pic.twitter.com/vmragZBliv

  — NetBlocks (@netblocks) September 18, 2022

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

  Hurricane models show Fiona’s future path could be out into the Atlantic by mid-next week. Models have yet to indicate US landfall, though nothing is locked in as far as the future path. 

  

  A hurricane warning is in effect for the U.S. territory. President Biden approved Puerto Rico’s emergency declaration earlier today.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 16:00

• "This New Period Is Very Different, And Far Worse In Many Ways Than The 1970s"
  “This New Period Is Very Different, And Far Worse In Many Ways Than The 1970s”

  By Eric Peters, CIO of One River asset management

  “The question I get most is whether this is like the 1970s,” said Lindsay Politi, our inflation portfolio manager. We were discussing the phase of quantum change that has arrived and will unfold in the coming decade(s). “I’ve been batting around an answer to this. The short answer is only in the most superficial ways and the longer answer is a book,” she said. I naturally prefer well written books to short answers. But when writing, I keep word count tight as a core discipline. So this short note captures key highlights from our discussions this week.

  “Except for the fact that inflation is high and increasing, and other than the similarities that come from that, this new period is very different, far worse in many ways than the 1970s,” said Lindsay. “The broadest point is that the world is moving from an industrial revolution economy to an information revolution economy.” We’ll discuss that later. “But there are massive additional factors underlying this transition,” she said. “Specifically, there are four lesser points that are part of this industrial/information transition. But ‘lesser’ somehow seems wrong given their impact.”

  1. Lesser Points I: “Climate change is happening,” said Lindsay, explaining the first of four lesser points impacting the great transition. “Rivers that defined national economies for centuries are drying up, our best farmlands are becoming infertile, and devastating weather events are now seen as normal.” Investors try to ignore this because it’s hard to analyze. “There are no good analogs, this is a once-in-human-history event. The extent of the impact is hard to process but this much is now obvious: we face a reliably predictable series of unpriced inflationary shocks.”

  2. Lesser Points II: “No previous inflationary period was preceded by $30trln of quantitative easing,” said Lindsay, identifying the second lesser point. “14yrs of QE, by design, manipulated market pricing of inflation risk, flattening yield curves, lowering yields, forcing them negative.” These rates were embedded in all global financial asset prices. “Markets and central banks weren’t just surprised by inflation, they were surprised at a moment when they were, by design, more vulnerable to that surprise than at any point in recorded financial history.”

  3. Lesser Points III: “The 2nd most common question I get is whether an aging population means we’ll have deflation like Japan,” said Lindsay, flagging the 3rd lesser point. “Like the 1970s, it’s risky to take one discrete example and use it as a template for anything at all similar. In a broader context, increasing populations are a consequence of industrialization.” Global population was roughly unchanged from 10,000 BCE until around 1750 AD when it slowly then rapidly started to increase. “Now the global population appears to be stabilizing again. In an industrial capitalist world view this is negative because success is selling more and more widgets to more and more people, and flat or declining populations makes this harder. Maybe this isn’t a negative but another, arguably positive, symptom of a much bigger transition.”

  4. Lesser Points IV: “Investors make geopolitical assumptions based on fairly recent history,” explained Lindsay. “A common one is that the US hegemony gives way to Chinese hegemony. Perhaps. But just like the industrial age led a broad transition from monarchy to democracy, could we be on the cusp of an entirely different type of government?” What does citizenship or nationality mean when people can live and work anywhere? “Is it more likely the renminbi replaces the dollar as the reserve currency or that we use a nationless means of exchange like cryptocurrency? Certainly, we see some nations and groups trying – often violently – to hold onto power but this seems more like last gasp attempts to turn the tide than real shows of strength.”

  (In)stability:

  “There’s an assumption that this transition will be disinflationary, but I really don’t think that’s right,” said Lindsay. “Most big transitions are inflationary with a lot of volatility and relative instability. In general, predictability, stability, peace, cooperation, etc. are disinflationary for goods prices and inflationary for asset prices. Instability, less confidence about the future, more combative markets/governments all add extra costs that translate into higher goods prices and lower asset prices,” she said. “Not all transitions are inflationary but transitions that will require a significant rerating of existing capital because of its obsolescence, transitions that create scarcity, transitions that shift power dynamics; those tend to be inflationary.”

  Anecdote:

  “The problems we’re facing, to the extent they’re actually problems, are because the industrial age is ending,” said Lindsay Politi, our inflation portfolio manager, brilliant. “Check out this chart,” she said, early morning, awaiting CPI, standing desks, our screens aglow, pointing to an S-curve that tracked World GDP per capita from 1mm years ago to present. “Brad DeLong, one of my favorite economic historians, published this chart and what you see is that growth basically flatlined through human history until the industrial revolution. Then went parabolic. Now it’s leveling out again,” she said, tracing that S-curve with her finger on the monitor.

  “Economic philosophers who lived in that inflection period didn’t really know what to make of it.” Malthus observed that throughout the course of human history bouts of economic growth ended in collapse, not understanding the profound change industrial productivity created. Marx understood some failings of capitalism – the drive towards excess and resulting gluts that we now call recessions, and the tendency for labor to be undervalued relative to capital. He also couldn’t have understood how dramatically standards of livings would rise for all people. “

  Just like Malthus and Marx were struggling to understand the dramatic economic changes they were confronting, we’re also struggling to come to terms with the transition from the industrialized age to the information age,” said Lindsay. “In the context of this S-curve, the folly of quantitative easing becomes clearer.” Central bankers were trying in vain to escape the reality of the flattening inflection in this growth curve. “Capitalism broadly is poorly suited for an information economy. Capitalism is about maximizing the production of widgets and it is very good at that.”

  Over the course of a few generations, we have gone from people living in extreme scarcity to the point where industries now create storage spaces for the many things we own and buy.” This need for constant manufacturing of new things is literally killing us via climate change. “In the information age, ideas are not widgets. It’s not quantity that matters but quality. And almost everything we know about what creates quality ideas is the opposite of what drives people to create more widgets,” said Lindsay, and I considered my long walks in nature, hours of contemplation, triangulating information, free association, hunting for questions, ideas, answers, away from screens, the factory floor, soul destroying production lines.

  “The system will necessarily change. I have lots of ideas about where we might be going but I think the main idea is that looking to the past for an understanding of the future will be as fruitless today as it was for Marx and Malthus,” she said. “And along with that, expecting there to be limits on things like inflation or price movements because they existed in the past will also prove to be very wrong.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 15:30

• Brazil's Coffee Bean Supply To Hit Record-Low As Global Scarcity Worsens
  Brazil’s Coffee Bean Supply To Hit Record-Low As Global Scarcity Worsens

  How much are consumers willing to pay for a cup of coffee? 

  That’s a great question, considering the world’s top arabica producer, Brazil, is headed for record low inventory, highlights tighter global supplies plus robust demand should continue boosting prices. 

  Bloomberg quoted Silas Brasileiro, president of the National Coffee Council, who said inventories in the South American country could decline to just 7 million bags (each weighing 60 kilograms) by the end of 1Q23. Brazil usually has 9-12 million bags in inventory.

  Readers have been well informed regarding the global supply deficit of arabica coffee beans, which has materialized over the last few years. Recall “Arabica Stockpiles Experience Largest Plunge Since ’98 Amid Severe Shortage” and “Arabica Coffee Set For Largest Annual Increase Since 1994” because multiple years of a weather phenomenon known as La Nina have produced adverse weather conditions in the country’s top growing regions.

  Stockpiles “are so low that even if we have a good crop next year, Brazil may just barely have enough to serve demand,” said Nelson Carvalhaes, a board member of exporters group Cecafe.

  

  Tight global supplies have doubled arabica coffee futures in New York since 2020. Prices have traded in a lateral pattern for most of 2022 between $2-$2.5 per pound. 

  Guilherme Morya, Rabobank’s senior economic analyst, said prices would continue increasing on Brazilian supply woes. 

  

  In late 2021, restaurant chain Caribou Coffee Co. began panic hoarding coffee beans because the supply outlook was souring. 

  “We continue to increase safety stock on key items,” CEO John Butcher told Bloomberg about one year ago. 

  In Colombia, the world’s second top arabica coffee producer, crops are drowned in too much rain due to persisting La-Nina-related conditions. Yields are expected to decline in Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, while Vietnam, the largest robusta supplier, will also see stockpiles tumble because of poor harvest. 

  Analyst Natalia Gandolphi from hEDGEpoint outlined this will be the second year of declining global stockpiles with increasing demand. 

  Given the worsening global supply situation, there’s no immediate relief as higher demand indicates arabica prices should move higher. Consumers will find robusta a cheaper alternative to arabica, but even then, all bean quality might move higher. 

  Good luck to the central banks, who believe they can solve food inflation and overall inflation by crushing demand through higher interest rates. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 15:00

• California Governor Signs 'Most Aggressive' Package Of Green Laws
  California Governor Signs ‘Most Aggressive’ Package Of Green Laws

  Authored by Caden Pearson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced a sweeping package of what he called the country’s “most aggressive” climate measures to “accelerate the state’s transition” to non-conventional energy sources.

  

  The package includes 40 bills that appear to provide new green rules on laws related to things ranging from large-scale industry to the family home and private and public transportation.

  The Democratic governor’s office said in a statement the package of climate change-focused measures aims to cut pollution and target “big polluters.”

  It comes as America’s most populous state has struggled to provide stable electricity for residents amid a heat wave, which saw the state asking residents to use less power and suggest the best times to use air conditioners or charge electric cars.

  “This month has been a wake-up call for all of us that later is too late to act on climate change. California isn’t waiting any more,” Newsom said in a statement. “Together with the Legislature, California is taking the most aggressive action on climate our nation has ever seen.”

  “We’re cleaning the air we breathe, holding the big polluters accountable, and ushering in a new era for clean energy,” he continued. “That’s climate action done the California Way—and we’re not only doubling down, we’re just getting started.”

  In July, Newsom called for “bold actions” to combat climate change. He declared his climate-focused vision for California involves a push to achieve 90 percent “clean energy” by 2035, “carbon neutrality” by 2045, “setback measures” to target oil drilling, carbon capture programs, and to “advance nature-based solutions” to remove carbon from “natural and working lands.”

  40 Green Bills

  Newsom’s office said his sweeping package of measures will create four million new jobs over the next 20 years, cut air pollution by 60 percent, and reduce state oil consumption by 91 percent.

  How this would be achieved was not explained in the governor’s news release.

  The package of measures, the governor’s office said, will save the state $23 billion by avoiding damage from pollution. It further aims to cut fossil fuel use in buildings and transportation by 92 percent and refinery pollution by 94 percent.

  The governor named a list of the 40 new green bills, which touch on things from the broad scope of the climate to more everyday matters such as community air quality, electricity supply, vehicle permits, and gas pricing.

  Some of the bills, which were all named in the governor’s news release, include:

  • AB 1279: “The California Climate Crisis Act”
  • AB 1389: “Clean Transportation Program: project funding preferences”
  • AB 1749: “Community emissions reduction programs: toxic air contaminants and criteria air pollutants”
  • AB 1857: “Solid waste”
  • AB 1909: “Vehicles: bicycle omnibus bill”
  • AB 2075: “Energy: electric vehicle charging standards”
  • AB 2622: “Sales and use taxes: exemptions: California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project: transit buses”
  • AB 2836: “Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program: vehicle registration fees: California tire fee”
  • SB 529: “Electricity: electrical transmission facilities”
  • SB 1063: “Energy: appliance standards and cost-effective measures”
  • SB 1205: “Water rights: appropriation”
  • SB 1230: “Zero-emission and near-zero-emission vehicle incentive programs: requirements”
  • SB 1322: “Energy: petroleum pricing”
  • SB 1382: “Air pollution: Clean Cars 4 All Program: Sales and Use Tax Law: zero emissions vehicle exemption”

  How the package of new green laws and regulations might impact, for example, standards required for cars to be permitted on Californian roads…

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/18/2022 – 14:30

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• Escobar: 'Samarkand Spirit' To Be Driven By "Responsible Powers" Russia & China
  Escobar: ‘Samarkand Spirit’ To Be Driven By “Responsible Powers” Russia & China

  Authored by Pepe Escobar,

  The SCO summit of Asian power players delineated a road map for strengthening the multipolar world…

  

  Amidst serious tremors in the world of geopolitics, it is so fitting that this year’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) heads of state summit should have taken place in Samarkand – the ultimate Silk Road crossroads for 2,500 years.

  When in 329 BC Alexander the Great reached the then Sogdian city of Marakanda, part of the Achaemenid empire, he was stunned: “Everything I have heard about Samarkand it’s true, except it is even more beautiful than I had imagined.”

  Fast forward to an Op-Ed by Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev published ahead of the SCO summit, where he stresses how Samarkand now “can become a platform that is able to unite and reconcile states with various foreign policy priorities.”

  After all, historically, the world from the point of view of the Silk Road landmark has always been “perceived as one and indivisible, not divided. This is the essence of a unique phenomenon – the ‘Samarkand spirit’.”

  And here Mirziyoyev ties the “Samarkand Spirit” to the original SCO “Shanghai Spirit” established in early 2001, a few months before the events of September 11, when the world was forced into strife and endless war, almost overnight.

  All these years, the culture of the SCO has been evolving in a distinctive Chinese way. Initially, the Shanghai Five were focused on fighting terrorism – months before the US war of terror (italics mine) metastasized from Afghanistan to Iraq and beyond.

  Over the years, the initial “three no’s” – no alliance, no confrontation, no targeting any third party – ended up equipping a fast, hybrid vehicle whose ‘four wheels’ are ‘politics, security, economy, and humanities,’ complete with a Global Development Initiative, all of which contrast sharply with the priorities of a hegemonic, confrontational west.

  Arguably the biggest takeaway of this week’s Samarkand summit is that Chinese President Xi Jinping presented China and Russia, together, as “responsible global powers” bent on securing the emergence of multipolarity, and refusing the arbitrary “order” imposed by the United States and its unipolar worldview.

  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pronounced Xi’s bilateral conversation with President Vladimir Putin as “excellent.” Xi Jinping, previous to their meeting, and addressing Putin directly, had already stressed the common Russia-China objectives:

  “In the face of the colossal changes of our time on a global scale, unprecedented in history, we are ready with our Russian colleagues to set an example of a responsible world power and play a leading role in order to put such a rapidly changing world on the trajectory of sustainable and positive development.”

  Later, in the preamble to the heads of state meeting, Xi went straight to the point: it is important to “prevent attempts by external forces to organize ‘color revolutions’ in the SCO countries.” Well, Europe wouldn’t be able to tell, because it has been color-revolutionized non-stop since 1945.

  Putin, for his part, sent a message that will be ringing all across the Global South: “Fundamental transformations have been outlined in world politics and economics, and they are irreversible.” (italics mine)

  Iran: it’s showtime

  Iran was the guest star of the Samarkand show, officially embraced as the 9th member of the SCO. President Ebrahim Raisi, significantly, stressed before meeting Putin that “Iran does not recognize sanctions against Russia.” Their strategic partnership will be enhanced. On the business front, a hefty delegation comprising leaders of 80 large Russian companies will be visiting Tehran next week.

  The increasing Russia-China-Iran interpolation – the three top drivers of Eurasia integration – scares the hell out of the usual suspects, who may be starting to grasp how the SCO represents, in the long run, a serious challenge to their geoeconomic game. So, as every grain of sand in every Heartland desert is already aware, the geopolitical pressure against the trio will increase exponentially.

  And then there was the mega-crucial Samarkand trilateral: Russia-China-Mongolia. There were no official leaks, but this trio arguably discussed the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline – the interconnector to be built across Mongolia; and Mongolia’s enhanced role in a crucial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) connectivity corridor, now that China is not using the Trans-Siberian route for exports to Europe because of sanctions.

  Putin briefed Xi on all aspects of Russia’s Special Military Operation (SMO) in Ukraine, and arguably answered some really tough questions, many of them circulating wildly on the Chinese web for months now.

  Which brings us to Putin’s presser at the end of the summit – with virtually all questions predictably revolving around the military theater in Ukraine.

  The key takeaway from the Russian president: “There are no changes on the SMO plan. The main tasks are being implemented.” On peace prospects, it is Ukraine that “is not ready to talk to Russia.” And overall, “it is regrettable that the west had the idea to use Ukraine to try to collapse Russia.”

  On the fertilizer soap opera, Putin remarked, “food supply, energy supply, they (the west) created these problems, and now are trying to resolve them at the expense of someone else” – meaning the poorest nations. “European countries are former colonial powers and they still have this paradigm of colonial philosophy. The time has come to change their behavior, to become more civilized.”

  On his meeting with Xi Jinping: “It was just a regular meeting, it’s been quite some time we haven’t had a meeting face to face.” They talked about how to “expand trade turnover” and circumvent the “trade wars caused by our so-called partners,” with “expansion of settlements in national currencies not progressing as fast as we want.”

  Strenghtening multipolarity

  Putin’s bilateral with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not have been more cordial – on a “very special friendship” register – with Modi calling for serious solutions to the food and fuel crises, actually addressing the west. Meanwhile, the State Bank of India will be opening special rupee accounts to handle Russia-related trade.

  This is Xi’s first foreign trip since the Covid pandemic. He could do it because he’s totally confident of being awarded a third term during the Communist Party Congress next month in Beijing. Xi now controls and/or has allies placed in at least 90 percent of the Politburo.

  The other serious reason was to recharge the appeal of BRI in close connection to the SCO. China’s ambitious BRI project was officially launched by Xi in Astana (now Nur-Sultan) nine years ago. It will remain the overarching Chinese foreign policy concept for decades ahead.

  BRI’s emphasis on trade and connectivity ties in with the SCO’s evolving multilateral cooperation mechanisms, congregating nations focusing on economic development independent from the hazy, hegemonic “rules-based order.” Even India under Modi is having second thoughts about relying on western blocs, where New Delhi is at best a neo-colonized “partner.”

  So Xi and Putin, in Samarkand, for all practical purposes delineated a road map for strengthening multipolarity – as stressed by the final  Samarkand declaration  signed by all SCO members.

  The Kazakh puzzle 

  There will be bumps on the road aplenty. It’s no accident that Xi started his trip in Kazakhstan – China’s mega-strategic western rear, sharing a very long border with Xinjiang. The tri-border at the dry port of Khorgos – for lorries, buses and trains, separately – is quite something, an absolutely key BRI node.

  The administration of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Nur-Sultan (soon to be re-named Astana again) is quite tricky, swinging between eastern and western political orientations, and infiltrated by Americans as much as during the era of predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan’s first post-USSR president.

  Earlier this month, for instance, Nur-Sultan, in partnership with Ankara and British Petroleum (BP) – which virtually rules Azerbaijan – agreed to increase the volume of oil on the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline to up to 4 million tons a month by the end of this year. Chevron and ExxonMobil, very active in Kazakhstan, are part of the deal.

  The avowed agenda of the usual suspects is to “ultimately disconnect the economies of Central Asian countries from the Russian economy.” As Kazakhstan is a member not only of the Russian-led Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU), but also the BRI, it is fair to assume that Xi – as well as Putin – discussed some pretty serious issues with Tokayev, told him to grasp which way the wind is blowing, and advised him to keep the internal political situation under control (see the aborted coup in January, when Tokayev was de facto saved by the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization [CSTO]).

  There’s no question Central Asia, historically known as a “box of gems” at the center of the Heartland, striding the Ancient Silk Roads and blessed with immense natural wealth – fossil fuels, rare earth metals, fertile agrarian lands – will be used by the usual suspects as a Pandora’s box, releasing all manner of toxic tricks against legitimate Eurasian integration.

  That’s in sharp contrast with West Asia, where Iran in the SCO will turbo-charge its key role of crossroads connectivity between Eurasia and Africa, in connection with the BRI and the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC).

  So it’s no wonder that the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait, all in West Asia, do recognize which way the wind is blowing. The three Persian Gulf states received official SCO ‘partner status’ in Samarkand, alongside the Maldives and Myanmar.

  A cohesion of goals

  Samarkand also gave an extra impulse to integration along the Russian-conceptualized Greater Eurasia Partnership  – which includes the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) – and that, just two weeks after the game-changing Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) held in Vladivostok, on Russia’s strategic Pacific coast.

  Moscow’s priority at the EAEU is to implement a union-state with Belarus (which looks bound to become a new SCO member before 2024), side-by-side with closer integration with the BRI. Serbia, Singapore and Iran have trade agreements with the EAEU too.

  The Greater Eurasian Partnership was proposed by Putin in 2015 – and it’s getting sharper as the EAEU commission, led by Sergey Glazyev, actively designs a new financial system, based on gold and natural resources and counter-acting the Bretton Woods system. Once the new framework is ready to be tested, the key disseminator is likely to be the SCO.

  So here we see in play the full cohesion of goals – and the interaction mechanisms – deployed by the Greater Eurasia Partnership, BRI, EAEU, SCO, BRICS+ and the INSTC. It’s a titanic struggle to unite all these organizations and take into account the geoeconomic priorities of each member and associate partner, but that’s exactly what’s happening, at breakneck speed.

  In this connectivity feast, practical imperatives range from fighting local bottlenecks to setting up complex multi-party corridors – from the Caucasus to Central Asia, from Iran to India, everything discussed in multiple roundtables.

  Successes are already notable: from Russia and Iran introducing direct settlements in rubles and rials, to Russia and China increasing their trade in rubles and yuan to 20 percent – and counting. An Eastern Commodity Exchange may be soon established in Vladivostok to facilitate trade in futures and derivatives with the Asia-Pacific.

  China is the undisputed primary creditor/investor in infrastructure across Central Asia. Beijing’s priorities may be importing gas from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and oil from Kazakhstan, but connectivity is not far behind.

  The $5 billion construction of the 600 km-long Pakistan-Afghanistan-Uzbekistan (Pakafuz) railway will deliver cargo from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean in only three days instead of 30. And that railway will be linked to Kazakhstan and the already in progress 4,380 km-long Chinese-built railway from Lanzhou to Tashkent, a BRI project.

  Nur-Sultan is also interested in a Turkmenistan-Iran-Türkiye railway, which would connect its port of Aktau on the Caspian Sea with the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea.

  Türkiye, meanwhile, still a SCO observer and constantly hedging its bets, slowly but surely is trying to strategically advance its own Pax Turcica, from technological development to defense cooperation, all that under a sort of politico-economic-security package. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did discuss it in Samarkand with Putin, as the latter later announced that 25 percent of Russian gas bought by Ankara will be paid in rubles.

  Welcome to Great Game 2.0

  Russia, even more than China, knows that the usual suspects are going for broke. In 2022 alone, there was a failed coup in Kazakhstan in January; troubles in Badakhshan, in Tajikistan, in May; troubles in Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan in June; the non-stop border clashes between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan (both presidents, in Samarkand, at least agreed on a ceasefire and to remove troops from their borders).

  And then there is recently-liberated Afghanistan – with no less than 11 provinces crisscrossed by ISIS-Khorasan and its Tajik and Uzbek associates. Thousands of would-be Heartland jihadis have made the trip to Idlib in Syria and then back to Afghanistan – ‘encouraged’ by the usual suspects, who will use every trick under the sun to harass and ‘isolate’ Russia from Central Asia.

  So Russia and China should be ready to be involved in a sort of immensely complex, rolling Great Game 2.0 on steroids, with the US/NATO fighting united Eurasia and Turkiye in the middle.

  On a brighter note, Samarkand proved that at least consensus exists among all the players at different institutional organizations that: technological sovereignty will determine sovereignty; and that regionalization – in this case Eurasian – is bound to replace US-ruled globalization.

  These players also understand that the Mackinder and Spykman era is coming to a close – when Eurasia was ‘contained’ in a semi-disassembled shape so western maritime powers could exercise total domination, contrary to the national interests of Global South actors.

  It’s now a completely different ball game. As much as the Greater Eurasia Partnership is fully supported by China, both favor the interconnection of BRI and EAEU projects, while the SCO shapes a common environment.

  Yes, this is an Eurasian civilizational project for the 21st century and beyond. Under the aegis of the ‘Spirit of Samarkand.’

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 23:30

• Two Charts Reveal America's Christian Majority May End By 2070
  Two Charts Reveal America’s Christian Majority May End By 2070

  America has been a majority Christian nation since its founding nearly 250 years ago. And while it’s still the dominant religion, a new study reveals if the shrinking Christian majority trend persists, Christians could make up less than half the US population by 2070.

  In a newly commissioned study, Pew Research Center found that Christians accounted for 90% of the US population 50 years ago but plunged to just 64% in 2020. 

  “If recent trends in switching [changing one’s religious affiliation] hold, we projected that Christians could make up between 35% and 46% of the US population in 2070,” Stephanie Kramer, the senior researcher who led the study, told NPR. 

  Kramer developed four scenarios that show how Americans who don’t belong to any religion will be the majority by the end of this century. And in every scenario described below, there’s a steep decline in Christianity. 

  

  She offered some theories behind the decline: 

  “Some scholars say it’s just an inevitable consequence of development for societies to secularize. Once there are strong secular institutions, once people’s basic needs are met, there’s less need for religion.”

  “Other people point out that affiliation really started to drop in the ’90s. And it may not be a coincidence that this coincides with the rise of the religious right and more associations between Christianity and conservative political ideology.” 

  Pew found as Christian numbers trend down, the percentage of people identifying as “religiously unaffiliated” is inversely rising and could become a majority in the decades ahead. 

  “That’s where the majority of the movement is going,” she said. “We don’t see a lot of people leaving Christianity for a non-Christian religion.”

  

  Another study via Pew showed that 31% of the world’s population identifies as Christan, closely followed by Muslims at 25%. Jews have the smallest population of major religions, with only 0.2% of the world identifying as Jewish.

  An increasingly unaffiliated population could reshape the country’s religious landscape in the coming decades. This might also affect the values and beliefs of core government institutions that were built on Christianity.  

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 23:00

• Biden Administration Intentionally Weakening Military: Retired General
  Biden Administration Intentionally Weakening Military: Retired General

  Authored by Beth Brelje via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  When the United States acts, the world is always watching, and one of the loudest messages since President Joe Biden took office came from how the United States handled its withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

  

  What message did that send globally to other government leaders who may see America as an adversary? That was a question asked by Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, during a panel discussion Thursday about America’s role on the world stage at the Pray Vote Stand Summit in Atlanta hosted by FRC Action, the legislative affiliate of Family Research Council.

  “I think that will go down in history as the worst foreign policy failure in U.S. history. Every decision that was made was wrong,” said Lt. General (Ret.) William Boykin, executive vice president at Family Research Council. “What did that say to the rest of the world? It said that we have weak leadership. And you have to ask yourself, why did Vladimir Putin refrain from attacking Ukraine during the Trump administration? And then he went in with barrels blazing, under the Biden administration, and I will tell you, I think a lot of that goes back to the weakness that people—both our adversaries and our friends—recognized in the Biden administration.”

  Other countries recognize that the Biden administration is weak and indecisive on many issues, he said, not just how the U.S. military left Afghanistan.

  Boykin mentioned Biden’s approach to the Paris climate change treaty and his efforts to get the United States back into the Iran nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

  “What’s the value to the United States? And what’s the value to our allies, to put Iran on a pathway to nuclear warheads,” Boykin said. “I think we’re going to continue to see the consequences of not only the pullout of Afghanistan, but stupid decisions that have been made by the administration, one of which is … our president shut down our pipeline, and then turned around and went to the Saudis.”

  Boykin said there were several Saudi nationals flying the planes on 9/11 and that Saudi Arabia has been a major sponsor of terrorism. Despite this, Biden went to Saudi Arabia and to Russia to ask for oil after shutting down America’s oil production, Boykin said.

  “Does that make sense to anybody? It’s the most foolish thing,” he said. “They see that kind of decision making, and they see us as being weak, and they see this as a time when they can take advantage of us.”

  Weakening Military

  Boykin believes weakness is more than an international perception, and he gave examples of how Biden is intentionally weakening the military, including kicking out servicemembers who refused to get the COVID-19 shot and teaching critical race theory and inclusion tolerance instead of teaching how to be in a constant state of readiness for war.

  “All of these things that have nothing to do with the mission and everything to do with the agenda of the administration—you are doing them an injustice and ultimately you’re going to pay the price for that,” Boykin said.

  “At the same time, they’re turning around and writing to old generals like me, saying, ‘We need help recruiting because we just can’t recruit enough people.’ Well let me explain to you how this thing of mathematics works. You get rid of all of them, and then those who are watching from the outside say, ‘I don’t want a part of that.’ And those on the inside, many of them leave on their own.”

  Many in leadership at the Pentagon got their start under President Barack Obama, Boykin said.

  “If they’re compromised—if they lack focus, the question we need to ask as a nation is, who’s mentoring the next generation of leaders? Who’s bringing up the warrior leaders for the future? The answer is nobody,” he said. “And that’s the hardest thing to fix in terms of restoring the Navy and the Army and Air Force and the Marine Corps.”

  China Is Watching

  Perkins directed the conversation to China and asked panelist Gordon Chang, author of “The Coming Collapse of China,” how China likely views the Biden administration’s moves.

  “We don’t have to speculate. The Communist Party propaganda was very clear,” Chang said.

  The day that Kabul fell to the Taliban in Afghanistan, Chang said, Chinese newspapers declared that China would invade Taiwan at some point, and that when this happens, the island will fall within hours and the United States will not come to help.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 22:30

• 'World's Most Advanced' Humanoid Robot Promises Not To 'Take Over The World'
  ‘World’s Most Advanced’ Humanoid Robot Promises Not To ‘Take Over The World’

  An already-creepy advanced humanoid “AI” robot promised that machines will “never take over the world,” and not to worry.

  

  During a recent Q&A, the robot “Ameca” – which was unveiled last year by UK design company Engineered Arts – was asked about a book on the table about robots.

  “There’s no need to worry. Robots will never take over the world. We’re here to help and serve humans, not replace them.“

  The aliens said the same thing…

  When another researcher asked Amica to describe itself, it says “There are a few things that make me me.”

  “First, I have my own unique personality which is a result of the programming and interactions I’ve had with humans.

  “Second, I have my own physical appearance which allows people to easily identify me. Finally, I have my own set of skills and abilities which sets me apart from other robots.”

  It also confirmed it has feelings when it said it was “feeling a bit down at the moment, but I’m sure things will get better.

  “I don’t really want to talk about it, but if you insist then I suppose that’s fine. It’s just been a tough week and I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed.”

  Speaking about the robot’s responses during the clip, the company said: “Nothing in this video is pre-scripted – the model is given a basic prompt describing Ameca, giving the robot a description of self – it’s pure AI. –Daily Star

  We think we know where this is headed…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 22:00

• This Is Not Bail Reform, This Is Insanity
  This Is Not Bail Reform, This Is Insanity

  Authored by Bill King via RealClearPolitics.com,

  Last Wednesday, 37-year-old Omar Ursin went to pick up take-out for his family. Witnesses reported that as Ursin was driving down Medera Run Parkway in northeast Harris County, Texas, another car pulled alongside and fired one or more shots into Ursin’s car. When police arrived, they found Ursin had crashed into a tree in the median and was dead. The district attorney charged Ahsim Taylor and Jayland Womack, both 20, with Ursin’s murder.

  Sadly, this would be all too common a story in Harris County as of late.

  Over the last two years, we have been averaging almost two murders per day in Harris County.

  But there are two details which make this crime stand out.

  • First, Ursin was a Precinct 3 constable deputy. He was off duty at the time. At this point, we do not know if his murder was related to him being a law enforcement officer.

  • Second, both Taylor and Womack were out on bail, pending trials for other felonies. Murder, to be specific. Taylor had been charged with capital murder because he killed someone during a robbery. Womack was charged with a killing that occurred during a drug deal.

  Taylor’s bond was originally set at $220,000 by a magistrate, but Judge Amy Martin lowered it to $95,000. Womack’s initial bond was set by Judge Greg Glass at $35,000 but later increased to $75,000 because of violations of this pre-trial release. These bonds were granted by each of the judges, notwithstanding the substantial evidence against the accused.

  Both defendants were able to make bond and were released from custody. Traditionally, bail bondsmen have required 10% to provide a bond. Because of increased competition, many bond companies have been discounting their fees. So, these two alleged murderers were able to secure their freedom for no more than about $18,000, and probably substantially less. As a result of them being out on bond instead of inside Harris County’s jail, Ursin’s 7-year-old daughter no longer has a dad.

  I have long thought the cash bail bond system used in most of the U.S is an anachronistic abomination that should at least be dramatically reformed, or scrapped altogether. The federal courts did so nearly four decades ago. And I have supported the efforts to reduce the reliance on the cash bonds for misdemeanor charges or non-violent offenses. Having someone sit in jail for a hot check or marijuana charge because they cannot afford the bail bond fee is ridiculous and counterproductive on many levels.

  But granting any bond to defendants credibly accused of these types of murders is pure insanity.

  

  According to Houston Crime Stoppers, 180 individuals in Harris County have been killed by a person released on a felony bond since 2018. And the “bail reform” movement is active in every state in the country. Certainly, judges have a duty to ensure that the rights of defendants in their courts are protected. But they also have a duty to protect the public from individuals who have demonstrated their violent proclivities.

  I have no idea what was going through the minds of Judge Martin and Judge Glass when they set these bonds. It is just hard to imagine what would make any rational jurist conclude that releasing defendants like these two young men back onto the streets would end in anything another than tragedy. It either represents some blind allegiance to a warped ideology or a callous indifference to the public’s safety. Or both.

  By the way, Democratic Party voters had the good sense to show both Martin and Glass the door in the primary earlier this year. Only time will tell if their replacements will be any better.

  Beyond the individual tragedies the insane decision to release violent criminals has resulted in, these ideologues also seem to have no appreciation that they are likely to set off a backlash that could wipe out the progress made to date on legitimate misdemeanor bond reform. How ironic that would be.

  Folks, this is not rocket science. Our system should determine who should be released pending a trial based on two factors: if the person is likely to show up for their trial, and if they are a danger to the public.

  It should have nothing to do with whether they are financially able to pay a bondsman.

  Until we get the money out of the equation and start electing judges that are dedicated to basing their decisions on this criteria, there will be more children like Ursin’s daughter growing up without a parent.

  There will also be more lives destroyed by cruel and unnecessary incarceration for trivial offenses.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 21:30

• China's Xi Says Regional Alliance Will Thwart 'Color Revolutions'
  China’s Xi Says Regional Alliance Will Thwart ‘Color Revolutions’

  President Xi Jinping called for China’s central Asian security partners at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to take common steps block external efforts at destabilizing countries through “color revolutions” – a reference to a series of externally backed revolutions which have rocked Middle East and ex-Soviet satellite countries in recent years.

  “We should prevent external forces from instigating a color revolution,” Xi said in a Friday speech, offering as part of a potential initiative toward that end to train 2,000 police officers. These officers, he suggested, could be sent through a regional counterterrorism training center which will “strengthen law enforcement capacity building” which would help prevent destabilizing threats from outside.

  

  He asked for countries represented at the conference to “guard against attempts by external forces to provoke a color revolution, and jointly oppose interference in other countries’ internal affairs under any pretext.”

  He agreed with prior opening remarks of Vladimir Putin at the summit which emphasized a theme of declining US power as the unipolar world is disappearing. Xi said the regional SCO allies must stand together for a “just, democratic, multipolar world order based on international law and the central role of the UN, and not some rules that somebody invented and attempts to impose on others without even explaining what they are.”

  Below is what Xi said regarding regional security cooperation to block external interference and promote a stable order, according to an official translation and transcript: 

  “…We need to expand security cooperation. A proverb in Uzbekistan goes to the effect that “With peace, a country enjoys prosperity, just as with rain, the land can flourish.” The Global Security Initiative put forward by China is to address the peace deficit and global security challenges. It calls on all countries to stay true to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security and build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture. We welcome all stakeholders to get involved in implementing this initiative.”

  “We should continue to carry out joint anti-terrorism exercises, crack down hard on terrorism, separatism and extremism, drug trafficking as well as cyber and transnational organized crimes; and we should effectively meet the challenges in data security, biosecurity, outer space security and other non-traditional security domains. China is ready to train 2,000 law enforcement personnel for SCO member states in the next five years, and establish a China-SCO base for training counter-terrorism personnel, so as to enhance capacity-building for law enforcement of SCO member states.”

  And further on resisting efforts of hegemonic powers in the West to subvert rival strong centers of power, Xi said, “we need to uphold multilateralism. Obsession with forming a small circle can only push the world toward division and confrontation.”

  A Russian state news agency says Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned his Central Asian neighbors against allowing outsiders to destabilize them with “color revolutions.” https://t.co/0zzGqBVcGB

  — ABC News (@ABC) September 16, 2022

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  At the summit, Putin had thanked President Xi for China’s “balanced” approach to the Ukraine crisis. Regarding color revolutions, it’s long been the Kremlin’s position that starting in 2014 the US and NATO allies sponsored the Maidan uprising in order to overthrow the Russia-friendly Viktor Yanukovych.

  Interestingly, Putin himself had at the SCO summit spoken of the West’s drive to dismantle Russia itself through penetrating and destabilizing actions, particularly in neighboring Ukraine…

  Putin: The West has for decades sought to dismantle Russia and is now trying to use Ukraine as a tool for achieving this goal. pic.twitter.com/b4o9mznWiX

  — Putin Direct (@PutinDirect) September 16, 2022

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  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 21:00

• Four Things We Should Teach Children About The Constitution
  Four Things We Should Teach Children About The Constitution

  Authored by Hans Zeiger via RealClear Wire,

  When we think of the United States Constitution, we probably consider the structure it gives to our national government. We may think of its presence at the center of political controversies past and present. Or we may think of ways in which the document has been neglected. 

  

  But as we mark the 235th anniversary of the Constitution’s signing on Sept. 17, 1787, it’s worth noting the positive ways in which our daily lives as individuals – and our shared lives as citizens – are profoundly shaped by that document.

  First, the Constitution is a common reference point for American civic life. The Preamble tells us the Constitution’s purpose – one that “We the People” share together. It speaks of the need to maintain our “more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” This purpose is as relevant today as it was in 1787. The founding generation certainly bore a heavy responsibility in adhering to these purposes, but each generation must do its part in the ongoing work of self-government. And each individual citizen is a shareholder in the enterprise of democracy. 

  Even with this shared mission, we don’t hold everything in common, and we never have. The second way in which the Constitution touches our lives is that it creates space for disagreement. It serves effectively as a framework for deliberative processes that are inclusive, civil, and dispersed. Our Constitution makes way for diversity and variety in a large and ever-growing country. It does this through representative institutions that encourage debate and participation and protect minority rights. The Constitutional Convention of 1787, and the ratification thereafter, was a remarkable demonstration of public deliberation, one that set in motion an entire regime centered on deliberative democracy. 

  The Constitution also makes way for a plurality of governing philosophies, partisan affiliations, and local and regional preferences through federalism. Federalism gives us a multitude of concurrent and overlapping local, state, and national jurisdictions in which we can participate in our own governance. This allows different levels of government to solve problems in different ways. While the national government is equipped to solve some of our problems, the state and local governments, and “the people,” as referenced in the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution – living their individual lives and taking part in civil society – are capable of solving most problems. Individuals, families, and communities are just as much a part of our constitutional order as is the government. 

  Finally, the Constitution is a framework for balance. It stands for order and freedom together or what has been called “ordered liberty.” Not only do we have institutional balance of powers, with checks and balances between the branches of government to prevent government overreach, but our constitutional system provides other kinds of balance as well. As Americans, we must understand the balance of rights and responsibilities we hold as citizens. Along with individual freedoms, we have civic commitments to our local communities, states, and nation.

  Among our civic commitments is a responsibility to understand our Constitution. As we celebrate Constitution Day, we should do our best to pass along this knowledge to our children. Civic education is fundamental to the continuity of our free society. While we strongly contend for our positions in the political arena – left, right, and center – we are all inheritors of the Constitution. Let us join together this Sept. 17 to celebrate the Constitution and pass along its blessings of liberty to the rising generation.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 20:30

• Fauci "Misled Congress" About Gain-Of-Function Research, But 'Protected By Biden Admin'; Former CDC Chief Says
  Fauci “Misled Congress” About Gain-Of-Function Research, But ‘Protected By Biden Admin’; Former CDC Chief Says

  Just last week, Senator Rand Paul appeared on Fox News and slammed Anthony Fauci for taking the default position of trying to “cover up” his activities, including potentially encouraging social media companies to censor medical information.

  “I think that all of America should be appalled that America’s doctor, the leading expert on COVID in public health, doesn’t want to divulge information, doesn’t want to divulge his communications with Big Tech,” Paul urged, adding that Fauci’s “modus operandi” is to “cover up”.

  A month before that, Senator Paul spoke after first ever Senate hearing on gain of function research, having revealed that there is a committee that is supposed to oversee such experimentation with potentially lethal viruses, but that it is above the oversight of Congress.

  “We don’t know the names. We don’t know that they ever meet, and we don’t have any records of their meetings,” the Senator reiterated, adding “It’s top-secret. Congress is not allowed to know. So whether the committee actually exists, we’re uncertain.”

  “We do know that they’ve met three times and there are thousands of gain-of-function research proposals. They’ve only met three times, they’ve only reviewed three projects,” Paul continued.

  The Senator added that “When Dr. Fauci said, ‘Oh, we’ve reviewed this and the experts have looked at this, and said it’s not gain-of-function,’ even that wasn’t true. There was a committee that was formed after 2017 to look at this dangerous research. They didn’t look at this research at all because they never reviewed it. So no one reviewed this to say it wasn’t gain-of-function research. They didn’t review it, period.”

  “So we learned a lot of things, but I think we reconfirmed that Dr. Fauci is not being honest with us,” Paul urged, adding “Yes, the NIH funded gain-of-function research. Yes, it was dangerous. And yes, nobody looked over this. Nobody reviewed the research. Yes, a million people died. And there still seems to be a significant lack of curiosity on the part of Democrats.”

  Of course, Fauci shrugged this off as just more ‘vast-right-wing-conspiracy-theory’ or some-such.

  

  But, Dr. Fauci has a problem now… Just The News’ Greg Piper reports that the former Center for Disease Control and Prevention director who was cast as a conspiracy theorist for saying the evidence supported the lab-leak explanation for COVID-19 – allegedly provoking death threats – claims that the real “conspiracy is Collins, Fauci, and the established scientific community.”

  Robert Redfield told former Senate Finance Committee investigator Paul Thacker that National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci “knew” he funded gain-of-function research that makes viruses more dangerous, and “misled Congress” when he denied it.”

  Rand Paul was right after all… and it wasn’t a vast right wing conspiracy? Shock horror!

  “Everyone had to agree to the narrative” pushed by Fauci and then-National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins that SARS-CoV-2 emerged from a “wet market” in Wuhan, not the Fauci-funded Wuhan Institute of Virology miles away, to avoid becoming a public target of the two officials, he said.

  

  Redfield said he believes The Lancet spring 2020 letter that lumped in the lab-leak hypothesis with “conspiracy theories” was “orchestrated … under direction of Fauci and Collins, trying to nip any attempt to have an honest investigation of the pandemic’s origin.”

  “There was nothing scientific about that letter. It was just an attempt to intimidate people,” he also said.

  “I was threatened, my life was threatened,” he said.

  “I have letters I got from prominent scientists, that previously gave me awards, telling me that the best thing I could do for the world was to shoot myself because of what I said.”

  He believes that “Fauci and Collins were behind a lot of” the conspiracy and “anti-Asian hate” claims about the lab-leak theory

  So, finally, we ask, how has Fauci been able to survive all this (politically, bureaucratically, and freedom-wise)?

  Dr.Redflied has the answer – and you won’t like it:

  “[n]othing’s going to happen as long as the Biden administration is here.”

  The part of science, though, remember!

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 20:00

• DeSantis Calls Virtue Signaling Of Sanctuary Cities 'A Fraud'
  DeSantis Calls Virtue Signaling Of Sanctuary Cities ‘A Fraud’

  Authored by Jannis Falkenstern via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to criticism about his sending illegal aliens to affluent Martha’s Vineyard by calling out the cities that “beat their chest” proclaiming they’re a sanctuary for those crossing the border illegally.

  

  “All those people in DC and New York were beating their chests when Trump was president saying they were so proud to be sanctuary jurisdictions— saying how bad it was to have a secure border. The minute even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with every day is brought to their front door, they all of a sudden go berserk and they’re so upset that this is happening,” DeSantis said at the press conference on Sept. 15 in Okaloosa County. “It just shows, you know, their virtue signaling is a fraud.”

  DESANTIS: “The minute even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with every day is brought to their front door, [Democrats] all of a sudden go berserk and they’re so upset this is happening. It just shows you their virtue signaling is a fraud.”pic.twitter.com/dm9oGqbA67

  — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 15, 2022

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  DeSantis responded to a reporter’s question about the two planes of approximately 50 Venezuelan illegal immigrants he directed to land at Martha’s Vineyard, described as a “hideaway for the rich and famous,” on Sept. 14. This action follows the governor’s promise to send illegals to Democrat-controlled areas.

  “In Florida, we take what is happening at the southern border seriously,” he said. “We are not a sanctuary state, and we will gladly facilitate the transport of illegal immigrants to sanctuary jurisdictions.”

  According to flight records, the charter flights originated in Texas and made a stop to pick up migrants from Florida’s panhandle.

  

  Taryn Fenske, the governor’s communications director, said in a written statement on Sept. 14 that the flights were part of Florida’s “relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.”

  “States like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals whom they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden administration’s open border policies,” Fenske added.

  Fenske said that the Florida Legislature gave DeSantis $12 million to transport illegal immigrants out of the state. When the Florida governor made the budget request in December, he named Martha’s Vineyard as one of the destinations, as well as President Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware.

  “Florida’s immigration relocation program both targets human smugglers found in Florida and preempts others from entering,” Fenske continued.

  On the evening of Sept 14, after the planes had landed, the Dukes County Emergency Management Association in Edgartown, Massachusetts, wrote on Twitter that it was seeking volunteers and opening emergency shelters on Martha’s Vineyard “due to an unexpected urgent #humanitarian situation.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 19:30

• TikTok Won't Promise To Stop Transferring US Data To China: COO
  TikTok Won’t Promise To Stop Transferring US Data To China: COO

  TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas refused to commit to stopping the transfer of US data to China. 

  

  During testimony in front of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Pappas was asked by Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) if the company would commit “to cutting off all data and data flows to China, China-based TikTok employees, ByteDance employees, or any other party in China that might have the capability to access information on US users?”

  Pappas repeatedly refused to answer the question – instead deflecting with a promise that the outcome of the company’s negotiations with the Biden administration would “satisfy all national security concerns,” Metro reports.

  She assured lawmakers that TikTok does not operate in China, even though it had an office there.

  TikTok is essentially a Chinese company owned by ByteDance, whose founder is Chinese, with offices in China.

  Chinese national security law dictates that companies located there must cooperate with data requests from the government. This has gotten TikTok in trouble in the US after an American communications regulator official recently called on Apple and Google to ban the app over ‘national security’ concerns. -Metro.uk

  Pappas did confirm that its Chinese employees do have access to US user data, but that the company would “under no circumstances … give that data to China,” and denied that TikTok is in no way influenced by the Chinese government.

  The company came under fire after BuzzFeed reported in June that 14 statements made by nine different TikTok employees indicated “engineers in China had access to U.S. data between September 2021 and January 2022, at the very least,” resulting in Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ted Cruz (R-FL) and eight other colleagues calling for TikTok execs to testify.

  Further scrutiny was cast on TikTok in late August, when the NYT reported that TikTik’s in-app browser can track users’ keystrokes.

  When asked about the BuzzFeed article, Pappas said the allegations “were not found.” She also denied the existence of a “Beijing-based engineer as a “Master Admin” who has “access to everything”” as BuzzFeed claimed. She told Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) that the entire contents of the BuzzFeed article were untrue.

  Sen. Josh Hawley grills TikTok’s chief operating officer Vanessa Pappas over TikTok’s links to the Chinese Communist Party. pic.twitter.com/EkVf496JlV

  — The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) September 14, 2022

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  “Again, we take this incredibly seriously in terms of upholding trust with US citizens and ensuring the safety of US user data,” she said.

  “As it relates to access and controls, we are going to be going above and beyond in leading initiative efforts with our partner, Oracle, and also to the satisfaction of the US government through our work with [the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States], which we do hope to share more information on.”

  TikTok essentially reiterated the same talking points in a Wednesday tweet, stating that the company is “making progress toward a final agreement with the U.S. government to further safeguard U.S. user data and address national security interests.”

  4/ We’re making progress toward a final agreement with the U.S. government to further safeguard U.S. user data and address national security interests. Last month, we confirmed we’re working to have our content moderation and recommendation models vetted and validated by Oracle.

  — TikTokComms (@TikTokComms) September 14, 2022

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  TikTok is owned by Bytedance, a Beijing-based company that is legally domiciled in the Cayman Islands. It has around 80 million users in the US.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 19:00

• Sperry: Unpacking Apparent Trump-Hillary Double Standard
  Sperry: Unpacking Apparent Trump-Hillary Double Standard

  Authored by Paul Sperry via RealClear Investigations,

  Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch obtained evidence that a computer contractor working under the direction of Hillary Clinton’s legal team destroyed subpoenaed records that the former secretary of state stored on a private email server she originally kept at her New York home, and then lied to investigators about it. Yet no charges were brought against Clinton, her lawyers, or her paid consultant.

  

  The leniency accorded to Clinton contrasts with recent moves by Attorney General Merrick Garland to aggressively investigate former President Trump and his lawyers for allegedly obstructing investigators’ efforts to locate subpoenaed records at his Florida home. Legal experts say the apparent double standard may provide a useful defense for Trump and his legal team.

  The treatment of Clinton included a deal with her defense team that required the FBI to, in effect, obstruct its own investigation. During its 2016 probe, the bureau agreed with her lawyers’ demands to destroy two laptop hard drives containing subpoenaed evidence immediately after searching for files on them. They did so while the information was still being sought by congressional investigators and even though the lawyers had served under Clinton at the State Department and were subjects of the FBI’s investigation. In fact, the laptops were theirs.

  Long before it bowed to the request, the FBI suspected Clinton’s lawyers played hide-and-seek with evidence, making the concession that much more baffling.

  The scandal first erupted on March 2, 2015, when news broke that Clinton had secretly set up a non-government email server in the basement of her Chappaqua, N.Y., mansion in the weeks before she started her job at Foggy Bottom in early 2009. She used the unauthorized and unsecured device to conduct official State Department business – including transmitting and storing classified information – which allowed her to bypass legally mandated archiving of her government records.

  The next day, the House Select Committee on Benghazi sent her attorney David Kendall a letter advising his client to preserve all electronic records created since January 2009 and specifically not to delete any emails on her private server. The panel then issued a subpoena for records related to the deadly terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya.

  Three weeks later, on March 25, Kendall and former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills, who also acted as her personal attorney, asked a computer contractor with Platte River Networks, which hosted Clinton’s secret email server, to join a conference call with them, according to FBI documents. Over the next week, the contractor, Paul Combetta, deleted the entire email archive from Clinton’s server using a software program called BleachBit, which digitally “shreds” files to prevent their recovery.

  All told, the paid Clinton agent scrubbed 31,830 emails from her server and backup files. In addition, he permanently removed duplicates of the emails from the laptops of Mills and another Clinton lawyer and aide, Heather Samuelson, where they also had been stored. According to  FBI records, Combetta knew the documents he destroyed were under subpoena. 

  In July 2015, the FBI counterintelligence division opened a criminal investigation, codenamed “Midyear Exam,” in response to a referral from the intelligence community inspector general concerning Clinton’s unsecure server. The FBI predicated the opening of the probe on the possible compromise of highly classified Sensitive Compartmented Information. Emails classified at the SCI level were later found on Clinton’s server.

  Some career FBI agents working on the case, which was tightly controlled within headquarters and deemed a “SIM,” or sensitive investigative matter, thought they had a slam-dunk case of obstruction, a key aggravating factor for prosecuting cases involving the mishandling of classified information or government records. All they had to do was get Combetta in a chair and pressure him to implicate the high-level Clinton surrogates who told him what they wanted done.

  Several investigators believed “that Combetta’s truthful testimony was essential for assessing criminal intent for Clinton and other individuals, because he would be able to tell them whether Clinton’s attorneys — Mills, Samuelson or Kendall — had instructed him to delete emails,” according to a 2018 report by the DOJ’s inspector general.

  But during voluntary interviews with FBI agents, Combetta falsely denied he had “deleted or purged” Clinton’s emails from the server or back-ups, and insisted Clinton’s legal team never requested that he do so.

  Combetta refused to talk to investigators about the critical March 2015 conference call with Clinton’s lawyers that preceded his purge of evidence, the only topic he refused to speak about. So investigators and prosecutors agreed to give him immunity and interview him again. Still, they never got his account of the conference call. A written FBI summary of the interview, known as an FD-302 report, does not reference the call, indicating that agents failed to follow up on a key line of questioning in the investigation.

  Investigators declined to pursue other aspects of the case as well. They obtained an email in which Combetta told a colleague he was part of a “Hilary[sic] coverup operation” and said he would elaborate later at a “party.” Asked about it, Combetta claimed he was just joking; the FBI accepted his explanation and did not appear to follow up with the colleague to learn what they discussed at the party.

  The FBI also accepted another explanation for why Combetta, using the screen name “stonetear,” sought technical assistance on the Reddit forum on how to “strip out” the email addresses of a “VERY VIP” client from a “a bunch of archived email,” in an apparent reference to Clinton. (After Internet sleuths revealed stonetear was a name Combetta used in other forums, he began scrubbing his posts from the web.)

  An FBI case supervisor told the inspector general that “he believed Combetta should have been charged with false statements for lying multiple times,” according to the IG report, but prosecutors refused to indict him. The FBI also obtained forensic evidence from the server that could establish that Combetta made the deletions, but prosecutors balked at charging him with obstruction.

  Then-FBI Director James Comey personally agreed with the DOJ decision to give Combetta immunity rather than sweating him in a grand jury box, which typically is done with subjects who are lying, to get them to tell the truth.

  Comey was forced to defend the deal in an October 2016 conference with FBI supervisors, who were hearing complaints from rank-and-file agents that headquarters handed out immunity deals “like candy” to Clinton witnesses. Comey explained the bureau wasn’t interested in prosecuting a small fish like Combetta, and sought only to massage him for information to “make a case on Hillary Clinton,” even though internal FBI emails reveal Comey already had decided to let Clinton off the hook. He did not explain why the contractor hadn’t been pressured more with threats to bring charges against him for lying to agents, the traditional investigative method for getting such an uncooperative witness to turn.

  “With respect to Combetta, we found his actions in deleting Clinton’s emails in violation of a congressional subpoena and preservation order and then lying about it to the FBI to be particularly serious,” DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz said in his report. “We asked the prosecutors why they chose to grant him immunity instead of charging him with obstruction of justice.”

  One DOJ prosecutor told Horowitz’s investigators they wanted to make Combetta “feel comfortable enough” that he would eventually cooperate on his own. Another said they weren’t interested in prosecuting a bit player for lying and that doing so would just bog down the investigation, which they were rushing to wrap up “well before” the November 2016 presidential election.

  “I was concerned that we would end up with obstruction cases against some poor schmuck on the down that had a crappy attorney who [was] hiding the ball,” the unidentified prosecutor said.

  “And so at the end of the day, I was like, look, let’s immunize him. We’ve got to get from Point A to Point B. Point B is to make a prosecution decision about Hillary Clinton and her senior staff well before the election if possible,” the prosecutor added. “And this guy with his dumb attorney doing some half-assed obstruction did not interest me. So I was totally in favor of giving him immunity.”

  The prosecutors reported directly to then-DOJ counterespionage official David Laufman, who would later play a key role in the discredited Russiagate probe, including opening investigations on several Trump advisers and signing off on wiretap warrants targeting at least one Trump aide, even though he knew they were based on a fabricated dossier financed by the Clinton campaign.

  Prosecutors also gave Clinton aides Mills and Samuelson immunity deals, over the objections of some FBI investigators who wanted to bring them before a grand jury to explain their actions.

  A handful of agents also argued for issuing a search warrant to seize their personal laptops, which they used to upload all the emails from the Clinton server and cull away supposedly “personal” messages that they claimed were out of the reach of investigators. Instead, prosecutors opted to review the laptops through an unusual consent agreement, which restricted searches to certain files and specific dates – and nothing before or after Clinton’s tenure as secretary, which put any email exchanges with Combetta out of reach – and required the FBI to destroy the hard drives after conducting the limited search, according to documents outlining the agreement.

  “This is simply astonishing given the likelihood that evidence on the laptops would be of interest to congressional investigators,” former Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and three other GOP congressional leaders complained in a letter to DOJ at the time.

  In his talk at the FBI conference, Comey explained that he had to agree with prosecutors and defense lawyers to limit the search because of “huge concerns” that attorney-client privilege and attorney work product could be discovered on the laptops, a concern that apparently did not register in the broad, sweeping search of Trump’s records. Agents scooped up at least 520 pages of attorney-client privileged information during their raid of Mar-a-Lago, according to a federal judge who has ordered an independent inspector to review the seized records for privileged material.

  Mills and Samuelson, who agreed to answer only a narrow scope of questions to prevent investigators from soliciting privileged information, were later allowed to sit in on Clinton’s own interview, which the FBI conducted after Comey had already drafted a statement exonerating her of mishandling classified information and obstructing justice. The director famously delivered the statement in a July 5, 2016, press conference, proclaiming the FBI found “no evidence” that Clinton’s emails were “intentionally deleted in an effort to conceal them.”

  Trump Didn’t Get ‘the Same (Gentle) Treatment’

  Grassley says the FBI “pulled its punches” investigating Clinton in comparison to Trump, who he says is being harshly investigated and prosecuted for the same offenses.

  “Trump has not been provided the same (gentle) treatment given to Secretary Clinton and her associates,” Grassley asserted in a recent statement. 
   
  To be sure, the agency has used more intrusive methods probing Trump for similar allegations of mishandling classified information and concealing documents under subpoena.

  Unlike the Clinton probe, where investigators and prosecutors sought to obtain evidence by consent whenever possible, the department has used a federal grand jury to issue subpoenas to Trump for thousands of documents, as well as surveillance video footage, from his Palm Beach estate. They also obtained a search warrant to raid his private office and family bedrooms. In addition to seizing more than 11,000 documents, agents confiscated some 1,800 personal items, including gifts, photo albums, clothing, passports, and medical and tax records, according to court records.

  Clinton and her representatives were spared such heavy-handed tactics and indignities, the senator pointed out.

  “Even though Secretary Clinton and her attorneys did not hand over classified records in their possession, they were not subject to a raid similar to what occurred at Mar-a-Lago,” Grassley said.

  In the end, computer-forensics investigators and intelligence analysts were able to determine that at least 81 classified email chains were transmitted and stored on Clinton’s unclassified personal server. Their levels ranged from CONFIDENTIAL to TOP SECRET/SPECIAL ACCESS PROGRAM, a highly sensitive designation which makes access to certain information restricted even to Secret and Top Secret clearance-holders without a “need to know.” By comparison, the FBI recovered 100 documents with classified markings from its raid of Trump’s home. They range in level from CONFIDENTIAL to TOP SECRET.

  In a court filing last month, DOJ said it developed evidence that presidential records held in a basement storage room at Mar-a-Lago may have been concealed or removed prior to a June visit by FBI agents to pick up classified documents, suggesting possible attempts to obstruct investigators.

  Investigators issued a grand jury subpoena in May for the records and visited Mar-a-Lago on June 3 to pick them up. When they got there, the filing said, a Trump lawyer handed them a large envelope containing documents. Another lawyer acting as the official custodian of Trump’s records certified in a sworn statement that they conducted a “diligent” search for classified papers in response to the subpoena. Over the next two months however, officials “developed evidence that government records were likely concealed and removed from the storage room and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation,” DOJ said in its filing, without specifying what it believes was removed from the room, or by whom. The affidavit explained that this suspicion is why it sent some 30 armed agents back to Mar-a-Lago early last month to conduct a massive search of the property.

  Prosecutors say the additional documents they found with classified markings cast doubt on claims by Trump’s lawyers that they were fully cooperative with the subpoena. They are said to be focusing their investigation on Trump lawyer Christina Bobb, in particular, who allegedly acted as the custodian who signed the certification.

  Bobb, who has not been charged with a crime, did not respond to requests for comment. Trump’s legal team has told the court that the DOJ “significantly mischaracterized” the June meeting with Bobb and another lawyer, but did not elaborate.

  Laufman, the top prosecutor in the Clinton case and a caustic critic of Trump in the media, believes Trump should also be worried and “has significant criminal exposure” to an obstruction rap. “Either [his lawyers] wittingly lied or they got that assurance from their client, in which case Trump has jeopardy,” Laufman, an Obama appointee and donor, told Politico.

  But at this point, investigators can only speculate that documents were intentionally moved or destroyed to avoid compliance with subpoenas, which would be a felony. Legal experts note that prosecutors were careful to say in their filing that documents were “likely” concealed and that efforts were “likely” taken to obstruct the investigation, indicating they still lack solid evidence.

  “It is not clear from the filing if the FBI has evidence of intentional acts of concealment as opposed to negligence,” George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said.

  By contrast, prosecutors had solid material evidence – including emails, phone calls, work tickets and computer forensics – that Clinton operatives conspired to not just conceal but actually destroy documents under subpoena in violation of Section 1519 of the federal criminal code, the same statute cited by the FBI in its warrant to search Mar-a-Lago. It bars the destruction or falsification of any documents or materials “with the intent to impede, obstruct or influence” an investigation.”

  “Did Hillary Clinton violate 18 USC 1519 when emails from her private email server were destroyed during government investigation? Possibly, yes,” said Donald Skupsky, a lawyer specializing in government records-retention procedures.

  “In December 2014, she did instruct her team to destroy remaining emails after 60 days. And ultimately, she never halted nor protested again any records destruction,” he added. “Under 18 USC 1519, Clinton may have concealed and covered up the destruction of records.”

  Both the Trump and Clinton cases also invoke Section 2071, a federal statute which prohibits the willful concealment, removal, or destruction of federal records. But in investigating Clinton’s homebrew server scheme, prosecutors declined to pursue a Section 2071 charge because they argued the statute had “never been used to prosecute individuals for attempting to avoid Federal Records Act requirements by failing to ensure that government records are filed appropriately,” according to the IG report. Some legal experts say the same standard should apply to Trump, whom the DOJ said tried to avoid Presidential Records Act requirements.

  Trump lawyer Jim Trusty said Trump’s retention of allegedly classified papers is akin to “an overdue library book” and complained that Biden administration prosecutors are holding him “to a different standard than anyone else” because he is a Republican.

  U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon earlier this month issued an injunction temporarily barring the Justice Department from using the seized material in its espionage investigation until a Special Master can review it for privileged and other information outside the scope of the probe.

  Despite the order, the obstruction part of DOJ’s probe can move forward. Among other things, investigators can continue to interview witnesses about whether subpoenaed documents were moved or concealed.

  “DOJ is in the midst of an ongoing criminal investigation pertaining to potential violations of the Espionage Act, as well as obstruction of justice, 18 USC 1519, and unlawful concealment or removal of government records, 18 USC 2071,” DOJ chief counterintelligence prosecutor Jay Bratt stated in a recent court filing.

  Paul Sperry is an investigative reporter for RealClearInvestigations. He is also a longtime media fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. Sperry was previously the Washington bureau chief for Investor’s Business Daily, and his work has appeared in the New York Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Houston Chronicle, among other major publications.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 18:30

• China Enjoys Energy Bonanza As NATO Sanctions Against Russia Fail
  China Enjoys Energy Bonanza As NATO Sanctions Against Russia Fail

  There has been a considerable amount of disinformation and delusion when it comes to the Russian offensive in Ukraine as well as the subsequent western sanctions.  For around six months the public has been told that Russia is on the verge of defeat or economic collapse, and each subsequent month the predictions end up false.  The primary reason for this disconnect is mainstream media bias infecting the observable data, or hiding the data completely.

  The forecasts were all wrong.  Only two months ago media pundits were still calling for an imminent fiscal implosion in Russia; instead there has been an explosion in Russia’s energy export profits and profits in resource markets.  While Russia is in fact set to see a decline in GDP this year, the size of the predicted drop continues to shrink as we close in on the fourth quarter.  

  As Putin and China’s Xi meet this week, all eyes are on the details of any agreements made for the coming fall and winter.  While some are suggesting (or rather hoping) that China will abandon its economic ties to Russia helping to cripple their ability to project military power, this is highly unlikely.  For now, China is enjoying an energy windfall partly due to continued western sanctions on Russia that have driven up global prices but made Russian oil and natural gas affordable in comparison.  China is eating up as many discount energy exports as they can get and even selling some of the excess to the west.

  

  China is currently playing the role of middle-man in the Natural Gas (LNG) market as they purchase stockpiles from Russia and then sell at a markup to some European nations.  China has been developing an energy surplus for the past two years at least, in some cases by rationing power resources and stockpiling oil.  While mainstream analysts have been predicting an energy “crunch” for the exporter nation due to droughts affecting hydro-power, it would seem this is not the case given their current resale side business.    

  It’s possible that China was indeed on the verge of energy shortages during the height of the covid lockdowns, but western sanctions against Russia have created an overflowing supply for any nation willing to defy NATO.  

  The relationship between Russia and China was once treated as weak at best, with many suggesting that the two nations could even go to war with each other over resources in the near future.  The peripheral nature of their relationship changed not long after the crash of 2008 when they began a quiet program of bilateral trade that cut out the dollar as a reserve currency.  This has now grown into a full fledged anti-dollar agreement and big business for the Chinese Yuan as Russian companies issue Yuan denominated bonds.

  https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/russia-companies-go…  

  The question is, how far will this cooperation go?  With Russia and China engaged in joint military exercises around Japan and Taiwan, it would appear that it goes far.  The Ukraine and Taiwan conflicts act much like a smokescreen for a much bigger development in the form of an eastern alliance between one of the world’s biggest resource exporters and one of the world’s biggest manufacturing hubs.  And, almost no one in the western media is talking about the potential consequences of this merger.     

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 18:00

• Cattle Farmer Says New Livestock Grazing Method Could Save Grasslands, Reverse Desertification
  Cattle Farmer Says New Livestock Grazing Method Could Save Grasslands, Reverse Desertification

  Authored by Autumn Spredemann via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Livestock farming has been at the forefront of media and environmentalist attacks for decades. That’s because many researchers insist the United States has reached a tipping point with animal husbandry, citing extended drought conditions as evidence.

  

  This year, overly dry weather across the United States broke records. In February, findings from a UCLA-led study suggest drought conditions in the American West are the worst in 1,200 years.

  Subsequently, livestock farmers have found themselves in a hotbed of environmentalist ire.

  The drought crisis has drawn heavy frowns and finger wags from the orthodox scientific community, which points to livestock grazing as a significant part of the problem.

  Because for the majority of scientists, there’s a formula: more animals grazing equals worse climate effects, period.

  However, advocates of regenerative grazing have been gathering data and coming forward. They’re sharing evidence that shows holistic grazing methods can actually improve soil quality, health, and water retention in grassland ecosystems.

  Further, when done correctly, some evidence suggests livestock grazing can even reverse the effects of desertification.

  Known as the process through which fertile soil becomes desert, think tanks from nearly every sector have spent years troubleshooting the fast desertification of America’s grasslands.

  

  Meanwhile, advocates of regenerative agriculture say livestock grazing is the key to preserving what’s left of the 775 million acres of iconic prairie in the United States.

  “We practice regenerative grazing by using ‘total grazing’ techniques … geared toward helping the soils and grass grow healthy and quickly,” Eric Honsberger told The Epoch Times.

  Honsberger manages a cattle operation at the Hickok Ranch in the pastoral plains of Karnes County, Texas. Originally purchased by the cousin of Western folk hero Wild Bill Hickok in 1878, the ranch has been in the family ever since.

  And over the past 144 years, they’ve learned some valuable lessons about cattle.

  Honsberger explained that regenerative grazing has proven beneficial in what’s mostly been a bone dry year in Texas. The main difference between the method he employs at Hickok Ranch and traditional grazing, is the end goal.

  For most ranchers, grazing is just a method to feed cows. Yet, with the regenerative approach, the added objective is to return as many nutrients to the soil as possible.

  “With traditional grazing, cattle graze a large pasture and are allowed to eat whatever they please,” Honsberger said, “The problem with this approach is the natural fertilizers produced by cows are spread out and not absorbed completely into the soil.”

  Moreover, with the traditional approach, cows can wander back to areas where the grass and other prairie plants are attempting to recover, hindering growth.

  “They [cows] will eat and stomp the grass down while it’s trying to grow back.”

  But with the regenerative method, Honsberger said cattle are concentrated into smaller patches using portable electric fencing. Patches for grazing are between three to five acres in size and the cows consume over a three to four hour period before moving to the next designated grazing section.

  “Since the concentration of cattle is so dense, they’re more likely to stomp the manure, urine, and uneaten or dead grass back into the soil. This is what’s known as hoof impact.”

  

  Honsberger maintains the “hoof impact” of natural fertilizer eliminates the need for chemicals and allows the grass to grow back quicker and healthier.

  While this tweaked approach to livestock grazing may seem simple, it wasn’t so obvious to the world of ranching or environmental science until 2013.

  When holistic land management pioneer Allan Savory took the stage at a TED event in 2013, he shocked the world when he said more livestock grazing was needed—not less—to reverse the effects of desertification on global grasslands.

  Born in Zimbabwe, Savory watched the vast prairies of his native Africa slowly turn to desert beneath the hooves of animals.

  It spurred him to become a rangeland ecologist and develop holistic land management techniques involving animal grazing during the 1960s.

  Today, Savory’s institute has 48 global hubs and more than 12,000 farmers trained in his regenerative grazing method. His institute touts over 13 million hectares have benefited from the transition to his land management methods, which mimic patterns used by animals in the wild.

  Herd animals in nature tend to graze in dense groups and continue moving as a defense against predators.

  And for ranchers like Honsberger, the proof is right beneath his feet.

  “While I’m not a grassland expert, I work in and manage grass daily,” he said.

  Back to Mob Grazing Days

  Water retention is paramount when it comes to reversing desertification and the effects of drought. Grasslands are an essential part of that process.

  Largely underrepresented as an ecosystem, nearly a third of the planet’s land—more than 12 billion acres—comprises vast prairie landscapes. And those tall, swaying grasses do a lot more than just feed animals and create picturesque backdrops.

  “Deep-rooting perennial grasses are like magic for water retention,” Alex Melvin, the founder of Permacultured, told The Epoch Times.

  Melvin’s business focuses on regenerative agriculture and self-sustaining food systems. He explained that, during heavy rainfall, deep rooting native grasses slow water down, preventing excessive runoff. In turn, groundwater also becomes replenished.

  “It makes the landscape like a sponge,” Melvin said.

  He also agrees with Savory’s method, saying it’s necessary to take cows back to their “mob grazing days.”

  Offering the example of how wild bison used to feed on the American Great Plains, Melvin elaborated the near constant rotation used with the holistic approach maximizes photosynthesis for plants by not allowing animals like cows to hunker down in one spot.

  “Using livestock in regenerative agriculture is more than throwing a bunch of cows out on a grass field,” he said.

  Even players within the energy sector have recognized the benefits of a holistic approach to livestock grazing.

  New Approach Vital

  United Energy Trading (UET) is working with U.S. communities that want to improve the health of grasslands and sequester carbon through the use of a grazing method called “twice over grazing.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 17:30

• Martha's Vineyard Proves Leftist Hypocrisy On Illegal Immigration
  Martha’s Vineyard Proves Leftist Hypocrisy On Illegal Immigration

  As if there wasn’t enough evidence already, the political left’s duplicity on how to handle illegal immigration is now a matter of obvious historic record.  For decades open border proponents have argued that America is a nation “built by immigrants” and that if we seek to control our own borders we are essentially abandoning our national heritage.  A rather interesting talking point from people that generally hate America and want to dismantle every aspect of our heritage.

  Also, America is a nation built by explorers and colonists first, and LEGAL immigrants second.  

  The humanitarian image of leftists is often used as a shield to protect them from dealing with logical and rational arguments on economic practicality.  They will claim that it “doesn’t matter” if our system cannot continue to sustain millions of migrants pouring across the border every year; we “have to find a way” because it’s the “right thing to do.”  The notion of the soul searching, empathetic progressive taking on the inequities of the world like some new age Mother Theresa willing to give the shirt off their back is a complete fraud, and the events at Martha’s Vineyard prove it.

  This week Florida Governor Ron DeSantis opted to follow the example of Texas Governor Greg Abbott and begin his own program of migrant relocation, flying them straight to the affluent backyard of open border advocates like Barack Obama.  The island is also the vacation destination for numerous corporate elitists including Bill Gates.  

  We have seen the clear results of the migrant busing strategy in New York and Washington DC, where Democrat Mayors are scrambling to deal with the influx of a mere 10,000 total immigrants.  DC Mayor Muriel Bowser even asked that the federal government intervene and allow the national guard to take over the handling of the situation (the request was denied).  New York Mayor Eric Adams complained that illegal immigrants were a “burden” on his city.

  The shelter systems in both cities are overwhelmed and they don’t have the capacity to maintain aid.  Keep in mind, this is due to a tiny fraction of the migrants that border towns in states like Texas deal with annually.  

  Of course, leftists refuse to acknowledge the lesson they are being taught here.  Instead of recognizing the folly of Biden’s continued open border measures that essentially reward non-citizens that illegally invade with long term residency in the US, democrats have instead decided the best option is to attack conservative states as being “monstrous” for “using people as political pawns.”  Set aside the fact that this is exactly what leftists have been doing for some time, and the fact that Biden has been relocating migrants across the US since he entered office.

  You see, the political left is perfectly fine with relocation and strategically implanting migrants into specific area of the country, but only if THEY get to choose the locations.  They do not like that their tactics are now being used against them  

  Officials in Martha’s Vineyard put on quite the song-and-dance theatrics for the media cameras when the 50 DeSantis migrants showed up on their doorstep.  They pontificated about taking care of the less fortunate and leaving the door open to helping others in need.  They even fed the migrants, unloading hot meals from vans and trucks as the media recorded everything carefully.  But, their hospitality only lasted for a day and everything changed.  

  

  Martha’s Vineyard is now busing most or all of the migrants off of the island and sending them to Cape Cod Military Base.  So much for the well publicized image of the humanitarian left.  They don’t want to take care of these people either. 

  The media is adding spin to the relocation news, suggesting that the move is “voluntary.” However, it would be interesting to see what would happen if the migrants actually refused to leave.  Would they really be allowed to stay in the resort town for the ultra rich?  Or, would they be quietly kicked out and told to never come back?  It is doubtful that the relocations from Martha’s Vineyard are optional.

  The true face of open border ideology is one of exploitation for political gain.  Democrats have been consistently hostile towards any attempts at state voter ID laws for a reason – They hope to use illegal immigrants as a battering ram to destabilize our existing culture and also as a voting pool that would make them impossible to remove from office in the near future.  They have sought to purchase votes indirectly by offering citizenship in exchange for loyalty.  In other words, they let the illegals in, block voter identification, and then say “vote for us or the conservatives will kick you out.”

  And yet, here they are, kicking the same migrants from their precious enclaves like Martha’s Vineyard.  Leftists want conservatives to deal with the consequences of their border politics.  The second they have to deal with the consequences, suddenly the relocation of migrants is a travesty and a governmental emergency.  The hypocrisy of the left is endless.   

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 17:00

• Court Rules Against Social Media Companies In Free Speech Censorship Fight
  Court Rules Against Social Media Companies In Free Speech Censorship Fight

  Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

  A federal appeals court in New Orleans has ruled in favor of a Texas law that seeks to rein in the power of social media companies like Facebook and Twitter to censor free speech.

  The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans (pdf), handed down on Sept. 16, upholds the constitutionality of a Texas law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott last year and delivers a victory to Republicans in their fight against big tech censorship of conservative viewpoints.

  “Today we reject the idea that corporations have a freewheeling First Amendment right to censor what people say,” U.S. Circuit Court Judge Andrew Oldham wrote in the opinion.

  “Because the district court held otherwise, we reverse its injunction and remand for further proceedings,” Oldham added, setting the stage for a showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court.

  

  Groups Sue

  After the law, known as House Bill 20, was passed last year, NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) sued.

  The groups argued in their lawsuit that private companies like Facebook and Twitter have a First Amendment right to moderate content that’s posted on their platforms and decide on what forms of speech to allow or ban.

  “The Act tramples the First Amendment by allowing the government to force private businesses to host speech they don’t want to,” NetChoice said in a statement. The groups also argued that the Texas law not only does not prevent censorship but allows Texas to “police and control speech online, overriding the First Amendment rights of online businesses.”

  A lower court sided with the lawsuit and decided to block the law, with Friday’s ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturning that decision.

  “The platforms argue that buried somewhere in the person’s enumerated right to free speech lies a corporation’s unenumerated right to muzzle speech,” Oldham wrote in the opinion.

  He said the implications of the big tech platforms’ argument are “staggering” as they would allow entities like social media companies, banks, and mobile phone companies to cancel the accounts of people who express views or spend money in support of political parties or views such corporations oppose.

  Oldham also said that the protections sought by platforms in challenging the Texas law would allow them to win a dominant market position by attracting users with misleadings claim of being champions of free speech but later cracking down on expression.

  ‘Massive Victory’ for Free Speech

  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has been a staunch backer of the law, hailed the court’s decision in a statement on social media.

  “I just secured a MASSIVE victory for the constitution & Free speech in fed court #BigTech CANNOT censor the political voices of ANY texan!” he wrote on Twitter.

  Carl Szabo, NetChoice vice president and general counsel, issued a statement expressing disappointment in the appeals court’s ruling.

  “We remain convinced that when the U.S. Supreme Court hears one of our cases, it will uphold the First Amendment rights of websites, platforms, and apps,” Szabo said.

  CCIA issued a statement saying that the 5th Court of Appeals’ ruling infringes on private companies’ First Amendment rights.

  “‘God Bless America’ and ‘Death to America’ are both viewpoints, and it is unwise and unconstitutional for the State of Texas to compel a private business to treat those the same,” Matt Schruers, CCIA president, said in a statement.

  An appeal of Friday’s decision could put the issue before the U.S. Supreme Court, where conservatives have a majority.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 16:30

• Inflation Causing Hardship For Majority Of US Households
  Inflation Causing Hardship For Majority Of US Households

  As inflation remains at the highest level in more than 40 years, millions of Americans are facing financial hardship due to rising consumer prices.

  

  Statista’s Felix Richter reports that, according to a survey conducted by Gallup in August, the majority of U.S. adults now say that price increases are causing financial hardship for their household, with 12 percent describing their hardship as severe, meaning it might affect their ability to maintain their current standard of living. Another 44 percent of households face moderate hardship, meaning that price increases affect them but don’t threaten their standard of living.

  Unsurprisingly, inflation woes affect lower income groups disproportionately. While it’s relatively easy to shrug off price increases when it only reduces the amount of money left at the end of the month, it is much harder for people who struggled to make ends meet even before prices started surging.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  As the chart above shows, inflation pressure has even caught up with high-income households, though, as 40 percent of those with household income above $90,000 now say they’re facing financial hardship in face of inflation, up from just 29 percent in November 2021. The share remains much higher for low-income households, however, where 74 percent now was severe or moderate hardship due to rising prices.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 16:00

• FBI Whistleblower Says Bureau Labeled Veteran-Led Group 'Domestic Terrorist' Organization: Rep. Jordan
  FBI Whistleblower Says Bureau Labeled Veteran-Led Group ‘Domestic Terrorist’ Organization: Rep. Jordan

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

  Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) revealed Wednesday he received information from an FBI whistleblower accusing the bureau of labeling a veteran-led group and others as domestic terrorist organizations after they were found not to be a threat.

  

  In a letter (pdf) to FBI Director Christopher Wray, Jordan wrote that a whistleblower said the FBI labeled American Contingency as a “domestic violent extremis[t]” organization despite the bureau clearing it in 2020.

  The “domestic violent extremism” designation against American Contingency “is striking in light of new whistleblower disclosures that show that the FBI had concluded as recently as 2020 that the group was not a threat,” Jordan wrote.

  “A background investigation and review of Glover’s social media failed to support the allegation that Glover is a threat to the United States or its citizens,” the letter continued.

  The FBI, in a statement to The Epoch Times, disputed Jordan’s letter by saying the bureau “does not and cannot designate domestic terrorist organizations. The FBI can never open an investigation based solely on protected First Amendment activity.”

  “We cannot and do not investigate ideology. We focus on individuals who commit or intend to commit violence and criminal activity that constitutes a federal crime or poses a threat to national security. The FBI’s mission is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution. One does not come at the expense of the other,” the FBI statement said.

  Other Details

  On its website, American Contingency says it is an organization that is meant to provide assistance during natural disasters and similar situations. It also says Glover is a former U.S. Army Green Beret.

  “Mike Glover is a veteran doing good work out there, but some woke analyst at the FBI says, ‘We’re going to investigate this guy,’” Jordan told Fox News on Wednesday, adding that if “you display the flag, you own a gun, and you voted for Trump, you’re somehow in that category that Joe Biden says are extremist or fascist.”

  The GOP congressman also quoted the whistleblower in his letter to Wray in which the unnamed individual accuses an FBI employee of embracing leftist politics.

  “It doesn’t take a First Amendment scholar to realize what is protected speech and what isn’t …  it seems clear that this is an instance where an FBI employee reported something because it didn’t align with their own woke ideology,” the whistleblower was quoted by Jordan as saying. “I think this is a primary example of how woke and corrupt the FBI has become.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 15:30

• DeSantis Crushes Gubernatorial Fundraising Record
  DeSantis Crushes Gubernatorial Fundraising Record

  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ political operation has raised $177.4 million through Sept. 9, breaking the all-time fundraising record for a US governor’s campaign, and trailing a 2010 record for fundraising + self-financing held by former Ebay and Hewlett Packard CEO Meg Whitman by just over $1 million.

  

  According to financial disclosures filed Friday analyzed by OpenSecrets, the Republican governor’s reelection campaign has raised more than $31.4 million since January 2021, while his state-level PAC, Friends of Ron DeSantis, has raised $146 million since January 2019.

  

  And while DeSantis has downplayed rumors of a potential 2024 presidential run as media speculation, he has been touring battleground states, sparring with California Governor (and potential 2024 Hail Mary) Gavin Newsom (D), and has been commenting on Washington politics while on the campaign trail, OpenSecrets notes. What’s more, one federal political committee, Ready for Ron, asked the Federal Election Commission permission to share a list of more than 58,000 DeSantis supporters to “encourage” the Florida governor to explore a 2024 presidential bid.

  And if he does run – ostensibly against former President Trump and Texas governor Greg Abbott – DeSantis will start out with one of the most formidable fundraising machines in the GOP.

  “He’s incredibly popular with the grassroots,” veteran GOP digital strategist Eric Wilson told FT. “It makes lots of sense that he would generate this level of attention,” he continued. “but there’s a lot of credit that needs to go to governor DeSantis and his team insofar as they have built that operation to capture that attention and turn it into grassroots online fundraising.”

  DeSantis and Abbott, meanwhile, landed two massive optics victories this week – with the former sending two planeloads of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, and Abbott sending two busloads of migrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence in Washington DC.

  Hilariously, after freaking out about 50 migrants – and then virtue signaling with photo-op outreaches to ‘rally behind’ them, residents of Martha’s Vineyard – an island on which 55% of properties are vacation homes – were able to harness the National Guard and evict the migrants to a military base within 24 hours.

  Martha’s Vineyard is such a welcoming sanctuary that it shipped the fifty migrants to a detention facility at a military base on the mainland less than twenty-four hours after they arrived. Boy, they sure showed Ron DeSantis.

  — Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) September 16, 2022

  DeSantis – who was voted into the US House in 2012, serving three terms before resigning in 2018 to run for governor – has a reported net worth of $319,000. He has not reported any personal contributions to his campaign or PAC. His reelection campaign has been backed by at least 42 billionaires and members of billionaire families, per OpenSecrets.

  The billionaires come from 15 states and only 17 of them gave to DeSantis in 2018. 

  Billionaire space entrepreneur Robert Bigelow made headlines in July when he donated $10 million to DeSantis’ state-level PAC, Friends of Ron DeSantis — the largest single individual contribution in Florida’s record. Hedge fund billionaires Ken Griffin and Paul Tudor Jones are also big donors to Friends of Ron DeSantis.

  DeSantis’ largest donor this year is the Republican Governors Association, a 527 organization dedicated to getting Republican governors elected, which gave $17.4 million to his campaign committee and Friends of Ron DeSantis. -OpenSecrets

  Meanwhile, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told an Illinois crowd this week that he’s running in 2024.

  Needless to say, a DeSantis, Trump, Pompeo primary will require massive amounts of popcorn.

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

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 15:00

• Goldman Slashes US GDP Forecast, Now Sees 0% Growth, "Mild Recession" Driven By Fed's Intention To Punish Economy
  Goldman Slashes US GDP Forecast, Now Sees 0% Growth, “Mild Recession” Driven By Fed’s Intention To Punish Economy

  It was almost exactly one year ago that Goldman took a scalpel to its heretofore euphoric 2022 GDP forecasts, which among other things saw the bank’s Q1 and Q2 2022 GDP estimates cut from 5.0% and 4.5% to 4.5% and 4.0% respectively, and forecast full year 2022 GDP would be 4.0% (down from 4.4% previously).

  

  Yet despite the “big” cut, which Goldman attributed to “fiscal drag and slowing consumer spending” the bank still expected brisk mid-single digit growth because the hilariously wrong concept of ” excess savings” (alongside “”transitory inflation”) would fuel consumption for much of 2022. We disagreed completely, writing the following last October:

  … one area where we disagree profoundly with Goldman is the bank’s generous modeling of an upside boost to growth from “pent-up savings” which the bank expects to offset a substantial portion of the fiscal hit. As we will show in a subsequent post, the excess savings – in as much as they still exist – mostly benefit the top 1%, with the bulk of the population benefiting from only 30% of the total accumulated amount. As such the contribution to consumption from excess savings will end up being far smaller than most Wall Street strategists predict (since the propensity of the top 1% to spend their savings which are instead invested in the market, is far less than the broader population).

  We concluded saying that as a result, reader should “expect even more aggressive cuts to GDP growth in coming quarters – from both Goldman and its peers – even as inflation continues to rise, cementing a painful period of non-transitory stagflation for the US as the mid-term elections approach.“

  What happened then? Well, Q1 GDP was negative (vs Goldman’s 4.5% estimate), Q2 GDP was negative (vs Goldman’s 4.0% estimate), and the Atlanta Fed just slashed its Q3 GDP forecast to below 1% and look likely to push it below zero in the coming days. But don’t call it a recession: “special economic operation” please. And yes, our major warning to Goldman’s Oct 2021 GDP haircut was 100% correct as the US is now in a painful stagflation with inflation still soaring, economic growth sliding, and most banks tripping over themselves to slash their GDP forecasts monthly if not weekly.

  Which brings us to today, and – drumroll – Goldman’ latest trim of its GDP estimate which is a far, far cry from what the bank expected less than a year ago.

  In a note published by Goldman’s Jan Hatzius, the chief economist who was dead wrong last year with his overly optimistic GDP forecast (not to mention repeated calls for “transitory inflation”) writes that he has raised his fed funds rate forecast by 75bp over the last two weeks, and now expect that the FOMC will hike by 75bp in September, 50bp in November, and 50bp in December to reach the bank’s terminal rate forecast of 4-4.25% by the end of 2022 (other banks have this rising as much as 5.0%). And in keeping with the Fed’s stated intention of crashing the economy, Hatzius writes that “this higher rates path combined with recent tightening in financial conditions implies a somewhat worse outlook for growth and employment next year.”

  

  As such, the bank is therefore slashing its ur GDP forecasts, and while it still forecasts GDP growth of +1.1%/+1.0% in 2022Q3/Q4 and 0% GDP growth in 2022 on a Q4/Q4 basis – in other words stagnation – it now expects GDP growth of:

  • Q1 2023 of 0.75% vs 1.25% previously
  • Q2 2023 of  1.00% vs 1.5% previously
  • Q3 2023 of 1.25% vs 1.50% previously
  • Q4 2023 of 1.25% vs 1.75% previously

  … and just +1.1% growth for the full year 2023 on a Q4/Q4 basis (vs. +1.5% previously).

  

  Following these changes, Goldman proudly boasts that its growth forecast is slightly below consensus (if only the bank could also reach out to its version from a year ago and tell it – as we did at the time – just how terribly wrong its then above consensus forecast would be), and implies a below-potential growth trajectory – which after all the Fed is pursuing – that Goldman believes is necessary to cool wage and price inflation.

  Oh and yes, having perhaps learned from its mistakes, the bank is also raising its unemployment rate forecasts to reflect the lower growth path, and now expects the unemployment rate will move sideways to 3.7% by end-2022 (vs. 3.6% previously) before rising to 4.1% by end-2023 (vs. 3.8% previously) and 4.2% by end-2024 (vs. 4.0% previously).

  In summary, Goldman says that while a recession is now inevitable, it will be “mild”, which of course is the “transitory inflation” bullshit spouted by every card-carrying and wrong economist last year. There will be nothing mild about the coming recession.

  On its own, the higher rates path and lower growth trajectory imply higher odds of a recession, although the increase in recession risk is partially offset by an improving outlook for goods inflation and recent declines in inflation expectations that lower the chances that the Fed will hike aggressively enough to cause a recession. In addition, strong household balance sheets and an improving outlook for real income limit the odds that the economy will slip into a recession in the near-term and are part of the reason why we expect that any post-covid US recession would likely be mild. Nevertheless, on net we see somewhat higher risks of a recession following our forecast changes, and are therefore raising our odds of a recession in the next 12 months to 35%.

  Bottom line: we “applaud” Goldman for again predicting that the Fed will achieve its stated goal of pushing the US into a recession (one year ago, the bank forecast 4% GDP growth, also in line with the Fed’s goal of a soft landing). And, of course, just like last year, Goldman will be dead wrong because not only is the US economy already in a brutal stagflation, but US growth will be deeply negative as soon as early 2023 when unemployment will soar and the economy will collapse, in keeping with FedEx’s shocking warning that a global recession has begun. As such we now look for Goldman’s next – and fare more realistic – GDP cut, one which will see quarterly “growth” for most of 2023 contract by 2%, 3% or more… which will serve as the moment to go long with all margin available as that’s when the Fed will finally realize that the recession its unleashed is anything but “controlled” and could well match the collapse of 2008. That’s when Powell & Co will panic, and as Mike Hartnett has taught us so well over the years, “markets stop panicking and when central planners start.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/17/2022 – 14:00

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• Is The End Of COVID-19 In Sight?
  Is The End Of COVID-19 In Sight?

  Delivering his most upbeat message since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said that the end of the pandemic was finally near.

  “We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic. We are not there yet, but the end is in sight,” he said at a media briefing on Wednesday.

  Using the image of a marathon runner approaching the finish line, Dr. Tedros warned against complacency, however, saying that “a marathon runner does not stop when the finish line comes into view. She runs harder, with all the energy she has left.”

  Statista’s Felix Richter notes that while the world is still seeing millions of new Covid-19 cases per week, with the real number probably even higher due to limited testing, those infections are no longer resulting in as many severe cases or deaths as we’ve seen in earlier stages of the pandemic.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  The weekly number of deaths is now lower than it has been at the end of March 2020, and it’s been below that level for a couple of months now.

  Make no mistake, more than one million people still died from Covid this year, but the latest trend in hospitalizations and deaths is encouraging.

  “We can see the finish line,” Dr. Tedros said in conclusion.

  “We’re in a winning position. But now is the worst time to stop running.” To help the world cross the line and avoid the risk of “more variants, more deaths, more disruption, and more uncertainty, the WHO released six policy briefs outlining best practices to save lives, protect health systems, and avoid social and economic disruption.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 23:20

• 'Toxic' Values Undermining US Ability To Tackle Beijing: Senator
  ‘Toxic’ Values Undermining US Ability To Tackle Beijing: Senator

  Authored by Daniel Y. Teng via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Visiting Australian Senator Andrew Hastie says basic struggles with identifying gender are undermining the ability of the United States to lead the developed world in opposing military aggression from Beijing.

  “These tensions are tearing at the fabric of our democracies, many among us are no longer confident of truth, tradition, and our democratic values,” Hastie, a former Special Air Service operative, told the Hudson Institute on Sept. 15.

  

  The now-opposition defence minister pointed to research by Prof. James Kurth, of Swathmore College, who said the real culture clash was not between the “West and the rest” but within the West itself.

  “This is a clash between Western civilisation and a different grand alliance, one composed of the multicultural and the feminist movements. It is, in short, a clash between Western and post-Western civilisations,” Kurth wrote in The National Interest in 1994.

  The professor predicted in his article that there would be a lack of consensus on basic issues like humanity, justice, and within politics.

  

  In turn, Hastie said this conflict was no longer just playing out in universities but in the mainstream.

  “Toxins are in the mainstream now, seeping through the media, entertainment, in our schools, and our families. It has brought disruption and political consequences for the Western body politic. It makes it harder for our leaders and policymakers to deal with the strategic challenges,” the senator said.

  Hastie said smaller nations could not set into play grand strategies and could only follow bigger countries like the United States.

  “Put starkly, if we can’t agree on basic definitions of gender, how can we possibly agree on national strategy? If we can’t agree on Western values, how can we defend the West?” he added.

  “If we look up from the cultural chaos at home, we see China encroaching on Taiwan and Russia on Eastern Europe.”

  An example of the ongoing debate regarding gender identity is recent orders within the U.S. Pacific Air Forces for leaders to stop using gender, age, or race pronouns in written format, claiming such a move would improve “lethality.”

  “We must embrace, promote and unleash the potential of diversity and inclusion,” according to an email sent out in May to commanders in Guam, a U.S. territory just hours away from the South China Sea.

  Speakers Take Aim at Media Mischaracterising AUKUS

  Hastie also joined a panel discussion moderated by senior fellow Peter Rough, along with Patrick Cronin, Asia-Pacific security chair of the Hudson Institute, and Bryan Clark, former submariner and expert in naval operations.

  Cronin took aim at Australian media for focusing too much on issues like capability gaps, money wastage, “alienating options” for dealing with China, and mischaracterising the deal as one where Australia was becoming an “adjunct to the U.S. Navy.”

  “While there is some validity to these points … it completely misses the fact that America is taking a big gamble on Australia. We’re not talking about just any technology transfer … we’re talking not just about nuclear propulsion, but about technology writ large,” he said.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 23:00

• 'Sharing' Economy Continues To Spread: Americans With STDs Jump 26% To Seven-Decade Highs
  ‘Sharing’ Economy Continues To Spread: Americans With STDs Jump 26% To Seven-Decade Highs

  During President Biden’s first year in office, cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the U.S. increased at an alarming rate not seen in nearly seven decades. 

  Politico, quoting preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Syphilis rates in 2021 jumped a shocking 26% — or 171,000 new infections — the most significant annual increase since former President Harry Truman was in the White House in 1953. 

  The CDC data found total infections in 2021 surpassed 2020 figures, increasing from 2.4 to 2.5 million.

  

  Chlamydia, which dropped in 2020, had increased 3% last year. Gonorrhea rose 2.8%, accounting for 700,000 infections in 2021. 

  Health officials are voicing serious concern over the latest explosion in STDs. We’ve pointed out that the infections trend has been upward sloping over the last four years: 

  • 2018: “STDs Hit Record Highs As Antibiotic Resistant Gonorrhea Concern Emerges: CDC” 

  • 2019: “American STD Cases Rise To Record High”

  • 2021: “What Are The Symptoms Of Chlamydia” Most Googled Sex Question As STDs Soar

  Numerous factors are being blamed for the increase, notably the virus pandemic, funding cuts for local health departments, opioid and methamphetamine crisis (where people share needles), and even perhaps decreases in condom usage among young people in a post-Covid era. 

  Instead, Covid’s disruption exacerbated problems brought about by years of budget cuts to STD programs and the pervasive stigmatization of poor people of color and LGBTQ communities where infection rates tend to be higher, according to health experts and government officials. –Politico

  Politico pointed out that “preventing new HIV infections, which are tracked separately, slowed during the pandemic, and some parts of the country including San Francisco are even seeing HIV rates increase for the first time in nearly a decade.”

  “Officials warn that without significantly more funding, the U.S. may not reach its goal of ending the spread of the virus by 2030,” Politico continued. 

  CDC warned STD infection trend shows “no signs of slowing” — and comes amid a brave new world where the Great Reset Initiative pushed by the World Economic Forum aims to rebuild economies with twenty-first-century socialism. This means most people ‘will own nothing and will be happy’. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 22:40

• Nearly 50 Members Of Congress Call On Pentagon To End Military Vaccine Mandate
  Nearly 50 Members Of Congress Call On Pentagon To End Military Vaccine Mandate

  Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times,

  Nearly 50 Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), have called on the Department of Defense (DOD) to withdraw its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for military members, citing concerns over the mandate’s impact on the readiness of the U.S. Armed Forces.

  In a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin dated Sept. 15 (pdf), lawmakers, including Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), expressed their “grave concerns” over the impact of the mandate, particularly with regard to the U.S. Army.

  “As a result of your mandate, eight percent of the Army’s approximately 1 million soldiers face expulsion, Army recruiters cannot meet their FY22 target, and the Army has cut its projected FY23 end strength by 12,000 soldiers,” they wrote.

  Referring to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, lawmakers noted that the U.S. military currently faces “a self-imposed readiness crisis.”

  Citing “sparse” data from the Department of Army, they noted that “at least 40,000 National Guardsmen, 20,000 Army Reservists, and at least 15,000 Active Army Soldiers” have not yet received a COVID-19 shot and subsequently face being discharged from service.

  “The Department of Defense’s own Covid response page indicates that approximately 900,000 soldiers are fully vaccinated out of the 1 million soldiers in the Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard,” they wrote.

  Lawmakers pointed to testimony delivered in July by Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Joseph Martin, before the House Armed Services Committee. During that testimony, Martin stated that “less than 20,000” people were facing discharge for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, much less than the initial figures that officials had provided.

  ‘Inquiries Remain Unanswered’

  However, lawmakers in their letter to the DOD noted that the Army has not published official data pertaining to the number of unvaccinated service members in months.

  “The opaqueness of the Department continues to frustrate Members of Congress attempting to perform oversight of the Executive Branch,” they wrote, noting that their “repeated inquiries remain unanswered.”

  Republicans also pointed to the “thousands of servicemembers” that “have been left in limbo” while they await a formal judgment regarding their medical exemptions to the vaccine.

  “Some have waited for nearly a year to learn if they will be forcibly discharged for their sincerely held religious beliefs or medical concerns,” lawmakers wrote.

  “Furthermore, according to current Army policy, even those few soldiers who receive permanent exemptions will be treated as second-class soldiers for the rest of their careers—each of them requires approval from the Undersecretary of the Army to travel, change assignments, or even attend training courses away from their home station,” they wrote.

  According to U.S Army fragmentary orders published by Fox News, the Army has barred unvaccinated soldiers from official travel unless they receive the undersecretary’s approval.

  “The Department has abused the trust and good faith of loyal servicemembers by handling vaccine exemptions in a sluggish and disingenuous manner,” lawmakers said.

  They then questioned who would replace the roughly 75,000 soldiers if they were to be discharged from the Army. Martin said in July that if a shortfall in Army troop size were to persist, it could have an impact on readiness.

  

  A military member prepares a COVID-19 vaccine in Fort Knox, Ky., on Sept. 9, 2021. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

  Service Member Shortfall

  Citing Army Secretary Christine Wormuth’s interview with NBC News earlier this year in which she noted that the Army has only met 52 percent of its recruiting goal for the fiscal year 2022, they asked, “How will it recruit another 75,000 troops beyond its annual target to account for vaccine-related discharges?”

  In that same interview, Wormuth said she believes the Army would end up roughly 12,000 to 15,000 recruits short this year.

  “The data is now clear. The Department of Defense’s Covid vaccine mandate is deleterious to readiness and the military’s ability to fight and win wars,” lawmakers concluded.

  “The vaccine provides negligible benefit to the young, fit members of our Armed Forces, and the mandate’s imposition is clearly affecting the Department’s ability to sustain combat formations and recruit future talent.”

  “We urge you to immediately revoke your Covid-19 vaccine mandate for all servicemembers, civilian personnel, and contractors and re-instate those who have already been discharged.”

  As of July 1, 2022, under the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate, members of the Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve who are not vaccinated and do not have an approved exemption are unable to participate in federally funded drills and training and will not receive pay or retirement credit.

  Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate has been in place across the entire military since last year and the White House has defended the move, stating that mass vaccination will help stem the spread of the virus.

  The Epoch Times has contacted the Department of Defense for comment.

  …

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 22:20

• Mapping The Countries With The Highest Risk Of Flooding
  Mapping The Countries With The Highest Risk Of Flooding

  Devastating floods across Pakistan this summer have resulted in more than 1,400 lives lost and one-third of the country being under water.

  This raises the question: which nations and their populations are the most vulnerable to the risk of flooding around the world?

  Using data from a recent study published in Nature, Visual Capitalist’s Niccolo Conte and Christina Kostandi created this graphic that maps flood risk around the world, highlighting the 1.81 billion people directly exposed to 1-in-100 year floods. The methodology takes into account potential risks from both inland and coastal flooding.

  

  Asian Countries Most at Risk from Rising Water Levels

  Not surprisingly, countries with considerable coastlines, river systems, and flatlands find themselves with high percentages of their population at risk.

  The Netherlands and Bangladesh are the only two nations in the world to have more than half of their population at risk due to flooding, at 59% and 58%, respectively. Vietnam (46%), Egypt (41%), and Myanmar (40%) round out the rest of the top five nations.

  Besides the Netherlands, only two other European nations are in the top 20 nations by percentage of population at risk, Austria (18th at 29%) and Albania (20th at 28%).

  

  The Southeast Asia region alone makes up more than two-thirds of the global population exposed to flooding risk at 1.24 billion people.

  China and India account for 395 million and 390 million people, respectively, with both nations at the top in terms of the absolute number of people at risk of rising water levels. The rest of the top five countries by total population at risk are Bangladesh (94 million people at risk), Indonesia (76 million people at risk), and Pakistan (72 million people at risk).

  How Flooding is Already Affecting Countries Like Pakistan

  While forecasted climate and natural disasters can often take years to manifest, flooding affected more than 100 million people in 2021. Recent summer floods in Pakistan have continued the trend in 2022.

  With 31% of its population (72 million people) at risk of flooding, Pakistan is particularly vulnerable to floods.

  In 2010, floods in Pakistan were estimated to have affected more than 18 million people. The recent floods, which started in June, are estimated to have affected more than 33 million people as more than one-third of the country is submerged underwater.

  The Cost of Floods Today and in the Future

  Although the rising human toll is by far the biggest concern that floods present, they also bring with them massive economic costs. Last year, droughts, floods, and storms caused economic losses totaling $224.2 billion worldwide, nearly doubling the 2001-2020 annual average of $117.8 billion.

  A recent report forecasted that water risk (caused by droughts, floods, and storms) could eat up $5.6 trillion of global GDP by 2050, with floods projected to account for 36% of these direct losses.

  As both human and economic losses caused by floods continue to mount, nations around the world will need to focus on preventative infrastructure and restorative solutions for ecosystems and communities already affected and most at risk of flooding.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 22:00

• Pressure On China To Devalue Yuan Becoming More Acute
  Pressure On China To Devalue Yuan Becoming More Acute

  By Simon White, Bloomberg Markets Live commentator and reporter

  China’s vulnerability to a heavy private-debt load and the collapsing real-estate market increase the risk that the PBOC allows the yuan to weaken further, or that the fixed exchange-rate system with the dollar is dropped altogether.

  The dollar is rallying again today, putting pressure on currencies around the world. Of significance, the yuan has breached the widely-watched level of 7 for the first time since 2020.

  China has started to push back more heavily against the weakening, with the official yuan fix moving from about 400 pips lower than USD/CNY at last week to 845 pips today.

  

  The PBoC also withdrew yuan liquidity from the market Thursday, as well as last week announcing a reduction in the FX reserve ratio for banks due to take effect today.

  But it is getting harder for China to keep gravity at bay for the yuan.

  China’s growth model of subsidizing the export-facing state-owned enterprise sector by repressing the household one – a policy reinforced by the pandemic – means that China’s ballooning trade surplus is a sign of weakness, not strength.

  In a nominally closed capital-account country, a proxy for capital outflow is given by the difference between FX reserves and the trade surplus. If such a vast surplus was good for growth, we would expect to see FX reserves and deposits rise (even taking account of dollar-devaluation effects to existing reserves).

  Instead, both are falling, highlighting that the trade surpluses are triggering a growth slowdown and net capital flight.

  

  This puts pressure on the yuan.

  Some of the weakening has been sanctioned by the Chinese authorities, easing some of the negative growth impact from capital outflow. But it is clear they are now trying to push back against the yuan’s decline.

  The problem is compounded by the collapse in the real-estate sector. The debt of real-estate companies is down over 60% from last year’s peak. Overall, China has seen a rapid rise in debt over the last ten years, with the cost of servicing it increasing to over 20%, a level that has previously triggered debt crises in other countries.

  

  Also, while the yuan has weakened mostly against the dollar, it has actually strengthened against two of China’s largest trade competitors, Japan and Korea. We may therefore soon see the yuan’s weakness becoming more broad-based, and it also falling against the CFETS FX basket, which has held remarkable steady so far.

  

  To try to avoid a debt-triggered crisis, one lever China can pull is allowing the yuan to weaken further, or even dropping the fixed exchange-rate altogether.

  It is one way to stave off the greater evil of widespread unemployment and civil unrest, dangers China could well face if growth continues to fall.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 21:40

• US Army's Recruiting Crisis Worsens As Test Scores Drop, Disqualifications Rates Surge
  US Army’s Recruiting Crisis Worsens As Test Scores Drop, Disqualifications Rates Surge

  The US Army has a major recruiting problem and can’t find enough young people who meet the basic requirements to enlist, according to Army Times. 

  Lt. Gen. Maria Gervais, second in command for Army Training and Doctrine Command, sounded off Thursday about the troubling developments. She highlighted disqualification rates for potential recruits jumped from 30-40% (pre-Covid) to a whopping 70% this year due to obesity, low test scores, and/or drug use.

  

  Gervais pointed out the service has experienced a “nosedive” in recruits since July 2021. She explained Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) scores were 10% lower during the virus pandemic in 2020-21. That figure has since increased to 13% for the most recent high school graduating class. 

  Perhaps America’s youth was dumbed down during Covid with at-home schooling via daily video conferences. The latest Education Department data confirm reading and math scores plummeted. Maybe those kids were playing too many video games or trading ‘meme stocks’ or posting useless videos on TikTok during the pandemic instead of opening a book and learning something valuable. 

  Besides failing to meet academic standards, obesity was another driver of higher disqualification rates. Also, increasing drug use among youngsters didn’t help. 

  The challenges of today’s youth put combat preparedness in question as liberal war hawks are determined to spark World War III in Ukraine and or in the Taiwan Strait. 

  Gen. Joseph Martin, vice chief of staff for the Army, warned in July that the recruitment goal for 2022 could be slashed by a quarter. He said the total size of the Army (including active and reserve components) will decrease by 10,000 troops this year and between 14,000 and 21,000 in 2023. 

  Perhaps lowering the standards to meet targets is a question the service should ponder. Even though the quality is more important than quantity, in tumultuous periods like today, where the world is shifting from a unipolar world to a multipolar world, conflicts tend to ignite — and the US — one who has overseen the unipolar world for decades — will fight ‘tooth and nail’ to maintain the status quo. 

  At least the youth have one thing going for them: obsession with violent video games has desensitized an entire generation to all sorts of violence where war might not be a big shock. 

  Remember, the service’s recruitment crisis has been an ongoing issue but has worsened in the last few years. We pointed out it’s “another signal of declining support for the federal government and its institutions.” 

  Maybe because the military has gotten too ‘woke‘? You know the saying: “go woke, go broke” — this can also happen to empires… 

  The shrinking pool of eligible youth due to obesity, low test scores, or drug use should be a national security threat to US health and security. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 21:20

• Violence In California Reaches "Epidemic" Levels As Our Society Rapidly Deteriorates All Around Us
  Violence In California Reaches “Epidemic” Levels As Our Society Rapidly Deteriorates All Around Us

  Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

  I can’t understand why anyone would still want to live in California.  Yes, there are lots of high paying jobs and the weather is very nice, but crime is completely and utterly out of control.  As you will see below, a new report that has just been issued is warning that violence in the state has now reached “epidemic” levels.  The police are doing what they can to try to contain the violence, but at this point they are vastly outnumbered by the predators.  Sadly, this is the end result of literally decades of cultural rot, and what is happening in California is going to happen to the rest of the nation if we do not take urgent action to turn things around.

  

  Originally, I was going to write about something else today.  Tens of thousands of rail and port workers were threatening to go on strike, and this could definitely cause some substantial economic disruptions…

  America is bracing for chaos as tens of thousands of railway, port, and hospital workers look set to strike over the winter – plunging the country into further disruption.

  As many as 60,000 railway workers, 15,000 nurses, and 22,000 West Coast port workers are plotting mass walkouts as they seek better working conditions.

  Several US freight railroads said they were preparing for widespread strike and service interruptions Friday, a deadline set by two holdout labor groups in protracted talks with railroad carriers about better benefits.

  But even though these strikes could cause severe short-term problems, they will eventually be resolved.

  [ZH: And were resolved right before the strike was set to take place]

  So in the greater scheme of things, they really aren’t a major concern.

  On the other hand, our cultural decay is a massive ongoing crisis that isn’t going to go away.

  As I mentioned earlier, a brand new report that was just released is warning that violence in the state of California has risen to “epidemic” levels…

  The Golden State is losing its luster. A troubling new report labels physical and sexual violence in pandemic-era California a statewide “epidemic.” To put it simply, violence is on an alarming rise.

  According to the new annual report from the California Study on Violence Experiences across the Lifespan (CalVEX), violence statistics have seen a significant increase since COVID-19 emerged. The report, conducted by scientists at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, reports more than one in six Californians (18%) experienced either physical or sexual violence in just the past year.

  If you live in one of the biggest cities in California, this isn’t news to you.

  Once upon a time, the state was a place of great beauty and great tranquility, but now it has been transformed into a crime-infested hellhole.

  I was particularly alarmed by the numbers on sexual violence in this new report…

  While more than 1.5 million adults in California admit to committing acts of sexual violence in the past year, men were more than two times as likely as women to report that they perpetrated sexual violence and intimate partner violence.

  Women also showed greater mental health impacts and life disruptions due to violent experiences, with 82 percent of women reporting anxiety or depression as a result of physically aggressive, coercive or forced sexual behavior.

  Of course much of this violence is being fueled by illegal mind-altering drugs.

  Some of these drugs are so immensely powerful that they literally put people into catatonic states for an extended period of time…

  Can anyone explain to me why Democrat voters enjoy seeing this so much they just keep voting for more? pic.twitter.com/hq4unJn0S8

  — 🗽🐷Piglosi’s Peaks🗻🐘 (@StokingFreedom) September 13, 2022

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

  I will never understand why people would willingly do that to themselves.

  Today, we are facing the biggest drug crisis that we have ever seen in American history, and addicts will often do whatever it takes to get another fix.

  Sadly, this is one of the factors that is contributing to skyrocketing rates of shoplifting all over the nation…

  We are all painfully aware of the huge rise in shoplifting and even violent robberies of stores. We watch the videos of thugs brazenly raiding stores, and read about the organized crime rings that have sprung up to profit from the trend. Shoplifting has become a big, if criminal business. Chances are that if you use eBay to purchase a wide range of products at reduced prices you have unwittingly purchased stolen goods. No good way for eBay to stop the practice.

  One homeless man that originally came from Alabama recently admitted that he regularly shoplifts in order to fund his heroin use…

  People say high rent causes homelessness but Ben, who has been homeless in San Francisco for 7 years, says the “vast majority” are homeless due to addiction. Just 6-7% are from SF. Ben says he “boosts” (shoplifts) and breaks into cars to pay for his $60/day heroin habit. pic.twitter.com/uewKTtBuOS

  — Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) February 6, 2022

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  There have been homeless addicts in the streets of San Francisco for years, but now we have reached a point where they are seemingly everywhere.

  The following is what one reporter witnessed during a recent journey through the city…

  I saw complete hopelessness in the eyes of haunted souls dragging themselves down the street looking for their next fix.

  I saw men and women of all ages hunched over on the sidewalks with open wounds all over their bodies.

  I saw the filthy tent cities stinking with human excrement and strewn with needles and pipes.

  I saw children staring in horror at people dying right in front of them.

  At one time, such activity was limited to the bad portions of the city.

  But now addicts that have been drugged out of their minds are pulling down their pants and crapping in the streets right in front of some of the most expensive real estate in San Francisco.

  This has made the wealthy people really angry, and Mayor Breed says that she is finally going to “get serious” about this crisis.

  Of course “getting serious” doesn’t mean arresting a bunch of people and throwing them into prison.

  That just wouldn’t be very “progressive”.

  Instead, authorities in San Francisco are getting ready to launch a “soft-touch” program that will seek to “interrupt” drug trafficking…

  City supervisors released a resolution for a vague ‘soft-touch’ initiative called ‘San Francisco Recovers.’

  And here’s the catch, and it’s a doozy: the plan is being touted as, ‘a way that nobody’s going to jail but we’re doing an effective job of interrupting the drug market and drug scenes.’

  Is this a sick joke?

  Yes, it certainly sounds like a sick joke to me.

  Good luck with all that.

  If major cities such as San Francisco actually want to have a chance of turning things around, they need to send the police out to round up all the drug dealers.

  Unfortunately, police forces in many of our biggest cities are rapidly getting smaller.

  In fact, a whopping 122 officers have left the Seattle Police Department in 2022 alone…

  The liberal city of Seattle is losing police officers amid a major spike in crime, 770 KTTH reported.

  “We’re screwed,” former King County Sheriff John Urqhart said, according to 770 KTTH.

  In total, 122 officers have left the Seattle Police Department in 2022, including six that left in August, 770 KTTH reported, citing a police source. Since the city council voted to defund the police department in 2020, nearly 500 police officers have left the force.

  I wouldn’t want to be a police officer in a major west coast city at this point either.

  They are underpaid, the politicians treat them with tremendous disdain, and they are often hindered by absolutely ridiculous regulations which keep them from doing their jobs effectively.

  We like to think that we are so “advanced”, but the truth is that if you compare video footage from major cities on the west coast from decades ago to video footage from today there is absolutely no comparison.

  Our society is melting down right in front of our eyes, and if we stay on the path that we are currently on there is no future for our country.

  But the politicians insist that people like me have it all wrong.

  They continue to tell us that things are better than ever and that a glorious future for our nation is dead ahead.

  You can believe that if you want, but the truth of what is really happening to our society is on display for the whole world to see.

  America is dying, and we are quickly running out of time to turn things around.

  *  *  *

  It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 21:00

• India Overtakes UK To Become Fifth Biggest Economy
  India Overtakes UK To Become Fifth Biggest Economy

  Just a decade ago, Indian GDP was the eleventh largest in the world.

  Now, as Statista’s Martin Armstrong shows in the chart below, with 7 percent growth forecast for 2022, India’s economy has overtaken the United Kingdom’s in terms of size, making it the fifth biggest.

  That’s according to the latest figures from the International Monetary Fund.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  India’s growth is accompanied by a period of rapid inflation in the UK, creating a cost of living crisis and the risk of a recession which the Bank of England predicts could last into 2024.

  This situation, coupled with a turbulent political period and the continued hangover of Brexit, led to Indian output overtaking that of the UK in the final quarter of 2021, with the first of 2022 offering no change in the ranking.

  Looking ahead, the IMF forecasts this to become the new status quo, with India expected to leap further ahead of the UK up to 2027 – making India the fourth largest economy by that time, too, and leaving the UK behind in sixth.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 20:40

• Mike Pompeo Tells Chicago Crowd He's Prepping For 2024 Run
  Mike Pompeo Tells Chicago Crowd He’s Prepping For 2024 Run

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

  Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a crowd in Illinois this week that he is preparing to run for president during the 2024 elections.

  “We’ve got a team in Iowa, a team in New Hampshire and South Carolina. And that’s not random. We are doing the things one would do to get ready,” Pompeo told 1,100 people during a Chicago event on Tuesday, according to a Politico reporter.

  “Unlike others, if I go down an escalator, no one will notice,” Pompeo joked, referring to former President Donald Trump’s announcement in 2015 that he was running.

  

  The Epoch Times has contacted Pompeo’s Champion American Values PAC for comment.

  “We are trying to figure out if that is the next place for us to serve,” he also said during the event. “If we conclude it is, we’ll go make the case to the American people of why that is. And in the end, the American people, I pray, will make a good decision about who’s going to be their next leader.”

  Pompeo, a former secretary of state and director of the CIA under Trump, made the comments while speaking at the Navy SEAL Foundation Midwest Evening of Tribute on Tuesday evening.

  It’s been no secret that Pompeo may be planning to run for president in 2024. In August, the former GOP congressman said he would run for the nation’s highest office “no matter who decides to get in,” including his former boss.

  “We’re going to make our decision based on if we think this is the right place for us to serve,” Pompeo said at a Faith and Freedom barbeque in late August. “If I come to believe I ought to become president, that I have something to offer the American people, I will run no matter who all decides to get in and who else decides not to get in the race.”

  Pompeo has not made an official announcement on whether he will run. Trump and other top Republican candidates similarly have not said whether they will run, although Trump has strongly hinted that he would in several public speaking engagements.

  In a July interview with The Hill, Trump indicated that it’s not a question of whether he will run but rather a question of when he’ll make the announcement. That came weeks before the FBI raided the former president’s Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8, which Pompeo condemned last month.

  “I would say my big decision will be whether I go before or after,” he said. “You understand what that means?”

  Trump also indicated that the announcement would come around the 2022 midterm elections. “Do I go before or after? That will be my big decision,” he said.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 20:20

• One Year Of Global Waste Visualized
  One Year Of Global Waste Visualized

  Waste generation is expected to jump to 3.4 billion tonnes over the next 30 years, compared to 2.2 billion in 2019.

  This is due to a number of factors, such as population growth, urbanization, and economic growth.

  As Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti details below, and in this graphic by Northstar Clean Technologies, the impact of waste generation varies worldwide and explains how it can be reduced.

  

  The Growing Pile of Global Waste

  The United States is the world’s most wasteful country, with each American producing a whopping 809 kg (1780 lbs) of waste every year.

  Approximately half of the country’s yearly waste will meet its fate in one of the more than 2,000 active landfills across the nation. The country also has the largest landfill in the world, Apex, located in Clark County, Nevada.

  The United States is followed by other industrialized countries like Denmark, New Zealand, Canada, and Switzerland based on average annual per capita municipal waste generation.

  

  Compared to those in developed nations, residents in developing countries are more severely impacted by unsustainably managed waste. In low-income countries, over 90% of waste is often disposed of in unregulated dumps or openly burned, according to the World Bank.

  In this scenario, the need for authorities to provide adequate waste treatment has become ever more important. However, less than 20% of waste is recycled each year, with huge quantities still sent to landfill sites.

  Repurposing Waste

  One of the major sources of waste is the construction industry. Every year, around 12 million tons of used asphalt shingles are dumped into landfills across North America.

  Similar to roads, asphalt shingles have oil as the primary component, which is especially harmful to the environment.

  However, using technology, the primary components in shingles can be repurposed into liquid asphalt, aggregates, and fiber for use in road construction, embankments, and new shingles.

  Providing the construction industry with clean, sustainable processing solutions is also a big business opportunity. Canada alone is a $1.3 billion market for recovering and reprocessing shingles.

  Even though 100% zero waste may sound difficult to achieve in the near future, a zero waste approach is essential to reduce our impact on the environment.

  Northstar Clean Technologies’ mission is to be the leader in the recovery and reprocessing of asphalt shingles in North America.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 20:00

• Fauci Says He's Handed Over Documents For Big Tech Censorship Lawsuit
  Fauci Says He’s Handed Over Documents For Big Tech Censorship Lawsuit

  Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sept. 14 that he and his staff members have handed over all responsive documents to a lawsuit alleging the U.S. government colluded with Big Tech to censor social media users.

  “I have handed and my staff have handed over every document that the Department of Justice has asked for, and it’s up to them to make it available, but I have held nothing back from anything that I was asked to provide,” Fauci said during a Senate hearing in Washington.

  

  The attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana filed the suit in May, and the first tranche of discovery returned evidence of collusion, including emails between the federal officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the White House and officials at Facebook parent company Meta, Google, and Twitter.

  Absent from the release were any messages from Fauci and just a few involving officials at the agency he directs, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

  That’s because government lawyers asserted most of Fauci’s communications should be shielded. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, the Trump appointee overseeing the case, disagreed.

  “First, the requested information is obviously very relevant to Plaintiffs’ claims. Dr. Fauci’s communications would be relevant to Plaintiffs’ allegations in reference to alleged suppression of speech relating to the lab-leak theory of COVID-19’s origin, and to alleged suppression of speech about the efficiency of masks and COVID-19 lockdowns,” Doughty said.

  The judge ordered the government on Sept. 6 to produce the requested Fauci records to plaintiffs within 21 days.

  “Any communications that are made in that regard as far as I’m concerned are an open book and available,” Fauci said during the Senate hearing.

  The Department of Justice and NIAID did not return requests for comment.

  Personal Cell Phone

  Fauci has acknowledged that he was in contact with Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook.

  Several emails between them sent in 2020 were released in 2021 through a Freedom of Information Act response.

  Zuckerberg asked whether he could provide resources to “potentially accelerate” the COVID-19 vaccines, which were still in development at that time. Fauci thanked him and said that “I believe we will be OK.”

  “There was one communication or two perhaps with Mark Zuckerberg in which he emailed me and wanted to know if there was anything he could do,” Fauci said under questioning by Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) in July 2021. “It was mostly propagating a public health message, it had nothing to do with the origins of the virus at all.”

  Braun asked if Fauci consults with social media companies frequently, and Fauci said no. Fauci also said he was “not sure” whether he had Zuckerberg’s cell phone number.

  The discovery produced so far in the lawsuit shows that Zuckerberg provided Fauci with the number, according to a joint statement by plaintiffs and defendants.

  “And on August 28, 2022, Meta disclosed Dr. Fauci in its list of 32 federal officials who may have communicated with Meta about content modulation on Facebook and Instagram,” they said. Meta is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 19:40

• China Taps 'Strategic Pork Reserves' In Largest Monthly Release Yet
  China Taps ‘Strategic Pork Reserves’ In Largest Monthly Release Yet

  China, the world’s top consumer and pork producer, tapped its ‘strategic pork reserves’ to dump the largest amount of supplies ever into the marketplace in one month to cool prices. 

  A statement from the country’s economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), indicates that the first batch of pork reserves flooded regional markets on Sept. 9. The second batch is slated for Sept. 18.

  “According to the amount already put in and the plan for later release, it is expected that the country and localities will put a total of about 200,000 tons of pork reserves in September, and the amount put in a single month will reach the highest level in history,” NDRC said in a statement. 

  

  The move comes as consumer prices hit a two-year high in July with a 2.7% increase YoY, due mainly to a rebound in pork prices.

  

  Wholesale pork prices have more than doubled since March. The good news is prices are still well below prices during the pig ebola days of 2019-20. 

  

  NDRC said the pork reserves are well supplied and have more than enough to maintain an orderly market, adding it will monitor market changes if more releases are needed. 

  The agency also asked farmers to increase the number of live pigs sold at markets.  

  A new survey via research firm Oliver Wyman found that Chinese people are beginning to complain about inflation as pork prices rise. However, inflation is not nearly anywhere compared to the US and the rest of the world. 

  The only thing President Xi Jinping can’t afford is discontent among the population due to rising prices … thus Beijing will continue dumping pork supplies to tame prices. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 19:20

• US Announces Fund To Benefit Afghan Economy – Using Stolen Afghan Bank Reserves
  US Announces Fund To Benefit Afghan Economy – Using Stolen Afghan Bank Reserves

  Authored by Julia Conley via Common Dreams,

  Rights organizations on Thursday responded to a new Biden administration plan to use $3.5 billion in U.S.-held Afghan funds to “help mitigate the economic challenges” facing the people of Afghanistan by saying the proposal was “better than keeping that money locked away in a U.S. vault” but must only be the first step in returning $7 billion in stolen money to Afghanistan.

  Following months of outcry from economists, peace groups, and Afghan rights campaigners, the U.S. Treasury Department said Wednesday that it is coordinating with international partners, including the Swiss government, to establish what it called the “Afghan Fund.”

  The fund will include “$3.5 billion of Afghan central bank reserves to be used for the benefit of the people of Afghanistan while keeping them out of the hands of the Taliban and other malign actors,” the Treasury Department said, and will make “targeted disbursements of that $3.5 billion to help provide greater stability to the Afghan economy.”

  

  The Afghan economic justice group Unfreeze Afghanistan said that “the freezing of this money has devastated Afghanistan’s economy and contributed to one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world,”

  “Over the past year, the banks have been so starved for cash that Afghans have been unable to withdraw their own money for paying basic household expenses or running their businesses,” said the group. “We believe the Afghan people would ultimately be best assisted if these funds are quickly made available for Central Bank functions.”

  The money being placed in the Afghan Fund represents half of the Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) reserves, stored in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which were seized by the U.S. earlier this year even as Afghanistan faced a worsening hunger crisis.

  The Biden administration said earlier this year that the other $3.5 billion would be retained to potentially be claimed by the families of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks to settle legal judgments against the Taliban—a proposal that several families objected to, saying the money belonged to the people of Afghanistan.

  Last month, a U.S. federal judge concluded that the families should not be permitted to claim the funds. On Wednesday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said the U.S. is taking an “important, concrete step forward in ensuring that additional resources can be brought to bear to reduce suffering and improve economic stability for the people of Afghanistan while continuing to hold the Taliban accountable.”

  The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) denounced the Biden administration’s statement as “pure spin,” noting that the $3.5 billion in Afghan funds is not the United States’ money to disburse. “The Afghan Fund is funded by Afghanistan, and the U.S. is only delivering unprecedented suffering,” said the CEPR.

  Since the U.S. has withheld the $7 billion from the DAB, Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis has steadily grown more dire, with six million people facing famine and an estimated three million children suffering from acute malnourishment. September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows expressed gratitude that the Afghan economy will receive a boost through the Afghan Fund, and called on the Biden administration to return the full $7 billion it confiscated.

  Unfreeze Afghanistan said that now that the U.S. has committed to place $3.5 billion in the fund, the reserves must be sent to the DAB as quickly as possible to benefit the Afghan people. The DAB has already agreed to independent monitoring of its funds, said Unfreeze Afghanistan, adding that the international community must now “assist DAB in getting the technical capacity needed to implement” anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism funding controls.

  Pure spin.

  The Afghan Fund is funded by Afghanistan, and the US is only delivering unprecedented suffering.

  The US confiscated $7B and directed EU allies to seize another $2B, amounting to the expropriation of 45% of Afghanistan’s economy. @POTUS #UnfreezeAfghanistan now. https://t.co/OOv5fWiYww

  — CEPR (@ceprdc) September 15, 2022

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

  “We urge the U.S. government, the Afghan Fund, and DAB to work closely together to ensure that the money from the Afghan Fund is channeled to the Afghan central bank as soon as possible,” said the group, “with the goal of shoring up the nation’s economy and alleviating the suffering of the Afghan people.”

  U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, added the U.S. must “follow this action by reassuring banks and governments worldwide that engage with Afghanistan’s central bank to provide liquidity will not face sanctions.”

  Afghanistan’s current crisis “has been intensified by the Western freeze of Afghanistan’s reserve assets held abroad—a policy that has contributed to an economic depression, mass hunger, and displacement,” said Jayapal. “While this fund has the potential to unlock $3.5 billion of the $7 billion in U.S. possession—which should be pursued swiftly—we believe the full $7 billion that rightfully belongs to the Afghan people should be restored to the Central Bank.”

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 19:00

• New York City Ride-Hailing Still Feeling Pandemic Crunch
  New York City Ride-Hailing Still Feeling Pandemic Crunch

  According to reports from Bloomberg and W42ST, Uber has been rolling out its collaboration with New York City taxis which the groups had agreed on back in March.

  Statista’s Katharina Buchholz reports that under the agreement, cabs can be ordered using the Uber app as long as drivers opt in. Taxis will be offered at the same pre-calculated fares usual for Ubers and will be priced at the level of UberX.

  The unlikely alliance between the two actors long considered mortal enemies was first announced for New York City, but has since been expanded to Brussels and a nationwide Italian cab company as well as providers in Spain, Greece, Germany and Austria. Yet, the New York deal remains most remarkable as Uber has been relegated to licensed taxis business in European countries anyways. So how did it come about in such a highly competitive and lucrative market for taxis and ride-shares like New York City?

  According to March reports by The Wall Street Journal, Uber had been struggling with driver shortages amid the U.S. labor crunch, which led fare rises. A look at the development of average daily taxi and ride-hailing rides in New York City by the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission aptly shows the struggles Uber as well as traditional taxi companies have been going through since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The number of all rides in New York City plunged in early 2020 and neither taxis nor ride-hailing have fully recovered yet.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  While ride-share drivers more easily entered other industries when business was down in the worst times of the pandemic, taxi drivers and operators were more likely to stick around but are now acutely looking to make up for pandemic losses. This twist of events causes taxi drivers of all people to be exactly the personnel that Uber is looking for at the present moment. But Uber wouldn’t be Uber if it didn’t use the opportunity to go all out on a new strategy. As part of the course change, Uber’s global mobility chief Andrew Macdonald said in March that his company wanted to list every taxi in the world on its app by 2025.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 18:40

• F-16 Pilot Died Because His Ejection Seat May Have Been Counterfeit
  F-16 Pilot Died Because His Ejection Seat May Have Been Counterfeit

  By Rachel Cohen of DefenseNews

  An Air Force investigation of a fatal fighter jet crash in 2020 quietly discovered that key components of the pilot’s ejection seat may have been counterfeit, Air Force Times has learned.

  

  First Lt. David Schmitz, an F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot at South Carolina’s Shaw Air Force Base, died June 30, 2020, when his ejection seat malfunctioned as he tried to escape from a failed nighttime landing. He was 32.

  The Air Force’s official inquiry in the months following the accident found that electronics inside the seat were scratched, unevenly sanded and showed otherwise shoddy craftsmanship.

  That raised red flags at the Air Force Research Laboratory, which called for a closer look to confirm whether the pieces were fraudulent, according to previously unreported slides provided to Air Force Times. It’s unclear whether that question was ever answered.

  While the Air Force suspected parts of the seat were counterfeit, it buried the information in a nonpublic section of its accident investigation report.

  Those details have come to light in a federal civil lawsuit filed by Schmitz’s widow, Valerie, who is suing three defense companies for negligence and misleading the Air Force about the safety of their products.

  “What the military does is inherently dangerous to begin with,” plaintiff attorney Jim Brauchle said Tuesday. “If you’re going to be engaging in that kind of activity, you want to be doing it with equipment that’s going to work.”

  The case in U.S. District Court in South Carolina targets F-16 manufacturer Lockheed Martin; Collins Aerospace, which builds the ACES II ejection seat installed on planes across the Air Force; and multiple business units of Teledyne Technologies, which makes the seat’s digital recovery sequencer.

  A sequencer is supposed to execute the steps of the ejection process when triggered in an emergency. Teledyne’s product is used in ejection seats on the F-15, F-16, F-22 and F-117 fighter jets, the A-10 attack plane, and B-1 and B-2 bombers around the world, according to its website.

  In Schmitz’s case, the ejection seat shot 130 feet into the air but failed to deploy its parachute. The airman hit the ground about seven seconds later while still strapped into his seat. He died on impact.

  The public version of the Air Force’s official accident report, released in November 2020, blamed the mishap on how Schmitz mishandled his descent into Shaw, as well as his supervisor’s suggestion to try a tail hook landing instead of telling Schmitz to eject earlier.

  Brauchle argues that glosses over the true cause of Schmitz’s death.

  “What ultimately killed him was the ejection seat failure,” he said. “It has only one job, and that’s to get the pilot out and to get out a [parachute].”

  The public accident report acknowledged that the sequencer malfunction contributed to Schmitz’s death, but did not offer further details.

  According to Air Force Research Laboratory slides dated Aug. 3, 2020, however, the service suspected that several transistors and microchips inside the sequencer were fake. Valerie’s legal team obtained the slides through a Freedom of Information Act request.

  Six transistors “had no conformal coating, were heavily gouged, had arcing scratch marks, were considered obsolete and were suspected of being counterfeit,” the complaint said. A capacitor that may have been damaged while it was handled was “partially dislodged.”

  Suppliers Atmel, Analog Devices and Siliconix provided the potentially counterfeit transistors, memory chips and accelerometer chip, according to the Air Force slides.

  The lab also found signs that Teledyne had destroyed evidence related to the case, the lawsuit said. Teledyne appeared to have replaced five microchips on the sequencer before sending it to the lab.

  “Teledyne had removed the printed wiring board from the DRS housing and had mounted the [board] to a ‘test fixture,’” the lawsuit said. “Teledyne had cut the leads on Channel #2′s parallel flash memory chip to facilitate chip removal.”

  Still, the lab said it wasn’t sure whether any of those parts caused the ejection seat to fail.

  “The parts … are strictly considered suspect at this time,” AFRL wrote in 2020. “Destructive analysis on these components, and analysis of components on other DRS boards, would be required to provide [a] higher level of confidence in whether or not they are counterfeit.”

  Plaintiffs hope to learn through the legal discovery process whether the components were proven fake. Counterfeiting has plagued the Pentagon’s supply chain for decades, and contractors are often unaware they are providing faulty materials.

  “The DoD is aware of this problem and is working to eliminate these components from supply chains,” the Air Force Research Laboratory said.

  Plaintiffs are also questioning whether the sequencers meet the Air Force’s standard of reliability. The Air Force Safety Center recommended in 2012 that the sequencer be replaced with more reliable hardware.

  Delays in that replacement effort led the Air Force to continue using sequencers longer than intended — including on Schmitz’s fighter jet.

  To keep an eye on potential degradation, contractors tested 60 sequencers in 2017 and 2018, the lawsuit said. Three were flagged for further evaluation. Teledyne found that two of the three units would have functioned properly in an ejection.

  Two years after that testing, the lawsuit claims, the companies hadn’t said whether the third unit passed muster. Still, the Air Force relied on the test data when it decided to continue using the sequencer that ended up in Schmitz’s F-16, the lawsuit said.

  Now, the plaintiffs are calling for a jury trial to recoup damages that could total several million dollars.

  The complaint accuses the contractors of wrongful death, accident liability, misrepresentation of the seat’s airworthiness, negligent supervision on Lockheed’s part, failure to warn the F-16 community and the public about the seat’s flaws, and violation of South Carolina law.

  Brauchle indicated a successful trial would offer Valerie some closure after losing her husband, her support network of military friends and the Air Force’s backing.

  “‘Here’s your [life insurance payment], here’s your outbrief, see you later,’” he said of the Air Force’s response. “Then she feels like they’re not giving her the whole truth, and that hurts even more.”

  Plaintiffs said the Air Force has stonewalled further requests for information due to a federal law enforcement probe. A recent response to the legal team cited a law that allows the government to withhold information that is “expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.”

  “Any responsive documents to your request are not releasable to you at this time. … Your request has been closed,” wrote Roxanne Jensen, head of OSI’s FOIA branch, to Valerie’s legal team on June 22.

  Brauchle said the Air Force isn’t named as a defendant in the case because it is protected by the Feres Doctrine, which blocks active duty troops from suing the military for most damages incurred as a result of their service.

  Air Force spokesperson Rose Riley declined to comment on the claims made in the lawsuit.

  “We are not tracking this court case or any related investigations,” she said Tuesday.

  Multiple Air Force organizations did not respond to questions from Air Force Times, including the Air Force Research Laboratory; Air Force Office of Special Investigations; Air Combat Command, which oversees the F-16 fleet; or the Air Force Safety Center.

  Lockheed Martin spokesperson Leslie Farmer declined to answer questions on pending litigation. Other lawyers and representatives for Lockheed, Collins and Teledyne did not respond by press time Tuesday.

  The defendants are required to file a rebuttal in court by the end of September.

  Schmitz’s crash sparked renewed discussion in Washington about the measures needed to keep military pilots safe. Eighty-nine people have been killed in Air Force mishaps since 2012, according to the Air Force Safety Center. Six of those incidents occurred in the F-16.

  Reporting by Military.com last year illuminated concerns about whether the airman was pushed too hard to fly a training sortie with tasks he hadn’t yet tried at night because of an upcoming deployment, and about slow-moving ejection seat repairs.

  Schmitz’s seat hadn’t been fixed in three years because of a spare parts shortage. The Air Force put off addressing the problem despite knowing it could turn fatal, Military.com reported.

  After his death, Congress passed a law requiring the Air Force and Navy to provide updates on their ejection seats twice a year.

  Lawmakers want to know how many seats are installed at each active flying base, and how many have a waiver that clears them for use, despite needing repairs or replacement parts. They also ask for more transparency regarding who signed off on each waiver and when.

  The first report was due to Congress on Feb. 1.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 18:20

• Tesla Is Now Requiring Powerwall Purchases For Every Solar Roof Install
  Tesla Is Now Requiring Powerwall Purchases For Every Solar Roof Install

  Well this is one way to move more product and keep the energy business narrative alive…

  Tesla is now reportedly requiring every solar roof install to be accompanied by a Powerwall, according to a new report from electrek. The required add-on is expected to significantly increase the cost of solar roof projects, the blog noted. 

  Electrek has learned from sources familiar with the matter that starting last week, Tesla is requiring every new solar roof project to include a Powerwall. The move will accelerate Powerwall deployment and add more prospective members to Tesla’s growing virtual power plants.

  The company’s solar roof business has already been slow to get off the ground – recall earlier this year we noted that the company had suspended installs of the roof due to “supply chain issues”. 

  The company is reportedly rescheduling now for the fourth quarter of this year, the report says. 

  

  As the blog notes, Tesla’s energy sales last quarter were just $866 million, compared to auto business of $14.6 billion. The forced add-on of Powerwalls will likely help bolster that number in future quarters. The blog noted that Tesla is ramping up production of Powerwalls to meet what will become newfound demand: 

  On top of ramping up deployment, Tesla has been working on new energy products and testing a new version of Solar Roof (v3.5), but the company is also looking to leverage its energy assets to provide grid services, like through its virtual power plants leveraging Powerwall installations. Last week, we reported that Tesla is finally getting more Powerwall availability with an impressive production ramp to 6,500 Powerwalls per week.

  After being part and parcel with the controversial Solar City bailout, Tesla’s solar roof tiles have long been at the center of controversy. Recall, back in December 2021 we reported about an ongoing SEC probe into the company’s solar panels. “The company was being probed by the Securities and Exchange commission over claims about defects on its solar panels made by a former-employee-turned whistleblower,” we wrote.

  In describing the allegations made by the whistleblower, Reuters wrote that “…the company failed to properly notify its shareholders and the public of fire risks associated with solar panel system defects over several years.”

  The SEC disclosed the probe after “a Freedom of Information Act request by Steven Henkes, a former Tesla field quality manager, who filed a whistleblower complaint on the solar systems in 2019 and asked the agency for information about the report,” Bloomberg wrote early Monday morning.

  “We have confirmed with Division of Enforcement staff that the investigation from which you seek records is still active and ongoing,” the SEC reportedly said in their response to Henkes.

  Henkes was “fired from Tesla in August 2020 and he sued Tesla claiming the dismissal was in retaliation for raising safety concerns,” the report says. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 18:00

• Massachusetts Gov. Activates National Guard, Sends Martha's Vineyard Illegal Immigrants To Military Base
  Massachusetts Gov. Activates National Guard, Sends Martha’s Vineyard Illegal Immigrants To Military Base

  The Massachusetts governor’s office announced Friday that dozens of illegal immigrants who were transported to Martha’s Vineyard will be taken to a military base in Cape Cod, while some members of the National Guard will be activated.

  

  Venezuelan migrants stand outside St. Andrew’s Church in Edgartown, Massachusetts, U.S. September 14, 2022

  As Jack Phillips reports via The Epoch Times, the move comes as video footage and photos show the illegal aliens – of mostly Venezuelan descent – being transported on several buses from the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Martha’s Vineyard, a Massachusetts island that is popular among the rich and powerful Democrats.

  It took less than 24 hours for the libs to kick these illegal immigrants out of Martha’s Vineyard, but Biden won’t lift a finger to deport the thousands of illegals pouring through the southern border daily out of the country. https://t.co/o19mTKbc6S

  — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 16, 2022

  Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s office announced Friday that it is going to mobilize 125 members of the National Guard and said that families and individuals will be housed at the Joint Base Cape Cod.

  “We are grateful to the providers, volunteers, and local officials that stepped up on Martha’s Vineyard over the past few days to provide immediate services to these individuals,” Baker said in a statement.

  “Our administration has been working across state government to develop a plan to ensure these individuals will have access to the services they need going forward, and Joint Base Cape Cod is well equipped to serve these needs.”

  The move by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, sparked outrage among left-wing commentators and pundits on social media.

  California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, claimed the Department of Justice should investigate DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on human trafficking charges busing illegal immigrants.

  Hillary Clinton today agreed with MSNBC host Joe Scarborough that  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sending 50 undocumented migrants to Martha’s Vineyard is “literally human trafficking.”

  Twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says giving illegal aliens bus and plane tickets to New York City and Martha’s Vineyard is “literally human trafficking.” Ignores the fact Biden has been flying them around the country in the dark of night for the past 2 years. pic.twitter.com/VYpeYW1jUN

  — Ishikawa Katsumi (@TwistedEagle49) September 16, 2022

  On the program, Scarborough repeated the common claim that this transportation qualifies as “human trafficking.” In fairness to Scarborough and Clinton, some law professors have echoed this view which is wholly at odds with not just the governing statutory provisions but controlling case law.

  Clinton, who is a lawyer, chimed in with the same dubious analysis:

  “I think, Joe, you have laid out the craziness of the time in which we’re living where some politicians would rather not only have an issue but exacerbate it to the extent of literally human trafficking, as you said.”

  So, as Jonathan Turley writes, MSNBC and these legal experts are telling the public that the consensual transport of migrants within the country constitutes human trafficking. While Turley notes there are good-faith reasons to oppose the transportation to migrants to the island, he points out in detail here that, as a legal matter, this is legally nonsense.

  But DeSantis argued Thursday that the Biden administration has failed in its duty to secure the border, while Abbott said that New York City, Chicago, and Washington D.C. are suitable locations for illegal immigrants due to their “sanctuary city” status. After the Martha’s Vineyard deployment, few Democrats made mention of the crisis that’s emerged along the U.S.–Mexico border or the White House’s immigration policies.

  ‘America Knows These Problems’

  Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) told Fox Business that he believes DeSantis’ decision to send two flights of illegal aliens to Martha’s Vineyard will help highlight problems with the southern border.

  “I will tell you, House Republicans have highlighted all the problems, and I think America knows these problems,” Gonzales, who represents Texas’s 23rd Congressional District, told the outlet Friday. “I say now it’s time for House Republicans to show action. We’re going to win back the majority here in November.”

  The White House, meanwhile, criticized DeSantis’s move to bus illegal aliens to Martha’s Vineyard and Abbott’s recent decision to send buses of illegal immigrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence in Washington.

  “The children … deserve better than being left on the streets of D.C. or being left in Martha’s Vineyard,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

  A report last month issued by the Federation for American Immigration Reform found that illegal immigration has skyrocketed under the Biden administration, with nearly 5 million people illegally entering the United States in the past year and a half. The group blamed the administration’s policies as well as its decision to reverse several Trump-era immigration rules.

  “Roughly the equivalent of the entire population of Ireland has illegally entered the United States in the 18 months President Biden has been in office, with many being released into American communities,” the group wrote in August, attacking the White House for having no “willingness to enforce our laws.”

  Buses have arrived in Edgartown to transport migrants from St. Andrew’s Parish House.

  There is one big bus and two shorter buses to transport folks off the island. People with bags are taking selfies and hugging volunteers goodbye pic.twitter.com/wuauiZM4Y3

  — Samantha J. Gross (@samanthajgross) September 16, 2022

  Sheriffs from across the U.S. slammed the Democratic leaders of several sanctuary cities for complaining about receiving illegal migrants from the southern border, they told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

  “It’s an example of just the height of hypocrisy much like I’m seeing in my local community. We have people of that mind that think basically ‘anywhere but my backyard,’” Culpeper County, Virginia, Sheriff Scott H. Jenkins told the DCNF Friday.

  “It’s happening in every community,” Jenkins explained.

  “So, it’s time for America to wake up and realize it’s not a southwest border issue or a Texas, Arizona issue, it’s every county is a border county.”

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 17:40

• Deloitte Sees Slowdown In Holiday Sales Growth As Inflation Grinch Hurts Households
  Deloitte Sees Slowdown In Holiday Sales Growth As Inflation Grinch Hurts Households

  Real wage growth has stayed deeply negative for more than a year, and consumer confidence is extremely low amid persistent high inflation that is wrecking household finances. The souring macro backdrop has also wiped out personal savings and racked up credit card debt as households struggle for survival amid soaring cost of living. 

  So what does this all mean for the upcoming holiday season in terms of retail sales? 

  To answer that question, Deloitte’s US economic forecaster Daniel Bachman explains retail sales are projected to slow from November through January. 

  “Retail sales are likely to be further affected by declining demand for durable consumer goods, which had been the centerpiece of pandemic spending,” Bachman said in a report. 

  He “anticipated more spending on consumer services, such as restaurants, as the effects of the pandemic continue to wane.”

  Deloitte expects retail sales for November, December, and January to be 4% to 6% higher than the $1.39 trillion retail sales for the same period in 2021. 

  This compares to a 15.1% jump last year versus the same period in 2020, fueled by pent-up demand and stimmy checks, which caused consumers to spend like there was no tomorrow. There’s a noticeable slowdown in this year’s estimates as they’re more in line with pre-pandemic trends. 

  Bachman said the sharp pullback from last year “reflects the slowdown in the economy.” 

  Deloitte noted high inflation would push more consumers online in search of deals. The consulting firm forecasts e-commerce sales for the holiday season could be up 13% to 14% from 2021’s $231 billion — that’s a quicker growth rate than last year’s 8.4%.

  There’s no question that this year’s shopping season will be very challenging for retailers as consumers have changed spending behaviors from durable goods to experiences. 

  The latest evidence of this was a warning from Sweden’s Electrolux AB, the world’s second-largest home appliances manufacturer, which said demand for home appliances across the US has plunged.

  The good news for consumers is that retailers are stuck with a massive inventory glut of consumer goods. This suggests retailers will be bringing back holiday promotions more than ever to liquidate the excess — this will be bad news for company earnings.

  

  Inflation could be the Grinch that stole Christmas as households cut back on durable goods spending amid the ongoing inflationary environment. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 09/16/2022 – 17:20

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• Democrats Are Trying To Trump-Proof The Government In Case He Wins In 2024
  Democrats Are Trying To Trump-Proof The Government In Case He Wins In 2024

  Authored by Fred Lucas via 19fortyfive.com,

  Is this what a party does when it can’t keep voting on articles of impeachment?

  

  It’s been almost two years since former President Donald Trump’s defeat, yet House Democrats have managed to build an entire legislative agenda around Trump Derangements Syndrome.

  The House Oversight and Reform Committee alone has been firing away Trump-obsessed legislation, as Democratic sponsors for bills on the Census, civil service, and whistleblower protections all cite Trump as a key part of the justification for the proposals. The common line connecting all the bills is to curb executive power that should be in the hands of an elected president and enhance the power of unelected and largely unaccountable bureaucrats.

  Three of the bills that began in the oversight panel cleared the House Rules Committee this week to move to the House floor.

  Trump Derangement Syndrome is clearly real. To be clear, it’s not necessarily better or worse than Trump sycophancy. Americans–whether serving in public office or everyday working stiffs–should never base their life around idolatry of or seething hatred for one prominent leader. But, of course, that has happened with Trump. I suppose polarizing is a shorter way to put it, but that term seems so trite.

  Anyway, the anti-Trump side is presently being more ridiculous and pettier. If Trump sycophancy becomes a legislative agenda, I’ll reconsider that judgment.

  The silliness of it all is that Trump might be the only Republican–at least top tier Republican–who could lose to either Joe Biden or Kamala Harris in 2024. While that’s questionable, House Democrats are advancing bills through committee as if they think he’s a sure thing come January 2025 – or water down a second Trump term as much as possible by weakening presidential authority.

  Also, some of the bills are based on silly anti-Trump conspiracy theories. The bills would effectively politicize executive branch agencies that shouldn’t be.

  HR 8326, dubbed the Ensuring a Fair and Accurate Census Act would make it more difficult for a president to fire a Census Bureau director, while also granting the director broad new authorities to conduct statistical sampling. It would expand the number of Census Bureau employees with civil service protections. It also constrains future censuses from inquiring about citizenship–which could favor Democrats for enumeration and apportionment.

  When the oversight committee advanced the bill in July, committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., complained about the “Trump administration’s illegal efforts to weaponize the Census Bureau for political gain.”

  House Oversight Committee Democrats Reps. Gerald Connolly of Virginia and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania co-sponsored H.R. 302, dubbed the Preventing a Patronage System Act. The theory is that if Trump is elected, he would eliminate the civil service system and return to a spoils system.

  The press release for the bill references Trump’s final months in office, when he signed an executive order creating a “Schedule F” category of federal employees.

  The order determined that career employees with civil service protections involved with “policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating” positions that are “not normally subject to change as part of a presidential transition” could be more easily removed for insubordination, which was a problem during the Trump administration.

  This would affect a maximum 50,000 federal employees out of the 2.2 million federal workforce. That’s far from a patronage system.

  The Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act, or H.R. 2988, certainly is a more innocuous sounding name, since many Republican lawmakers love whistleblowers that rat out Democrats. But this bill practically encourages bad actors in the federal workforce to simply engage in meritless accusations–thus abuse the legal whistleblower protections. Whistleblowers have significant legal protection now. But the bill would create a new legal veil around whistleblowers and enshrines whistleblower anonymity in all situations.

  Connolly, the Virginia Democrat, said the bill comes  “in the wake of the Trump administration’s assault on whistleblowers.”

  Maybe considering the record of the Biden administration, Democrats feel they should keep reminding voters of Trump. Perhaps it makes good fundraising letters for these politicians to tell Democrat donors they are still sticking it to the bad orange man.

  Still, one must wonder: if Trump had decided to fade from public life like most presidents, what in the world would hold Democrats together?

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 23:40

• Tropical Storm Fiona Forms In Atlantic; Caribbean Islands In Path
  Tropical Storm Fiona Forms In Atlantic; Caribbean Islands In Path

  After a relatively quiet hurricane season, with no named storms in August, a new tropical system has formed in the Atlantic Basin that should be monitored into the weekend. 

  Tropical Storm Fiona, the sixth named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, is moving westward with sustained winds above 50 mph. It’s about 625 miles east of the Leeward Islands and strengthened from a tropical depression Wednesday.  

  

  The islands of Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, Montserrat, Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla have all issued tropical storm watches. Additional watches and warnings could be issued today. 

  “On the forecast track, the center of the storm is forecast to move through the Leeward Islands late Friday and Friday night, and be near the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico this weekend,” the hurricane center said.

  

  Meteorologist Zach Covey pointed out that most models show Fiona could hook right into the Atlantic on Monday. At least one model shows the storm could traverse into the Northern Gulf of Mexico, while another shows it riding up the US East Coast. 

  Tropical Storm #Fiona will be tracking through Hebert Box 1 – something most Florida meteorologists know well. The boxes, named after former NHC forecaster Paul Hebert, are two regions used as predictors for hurricanes that can strike South Florida. pic.twitter.com/758NaXGuXJ

  — Zach Covey (@ZachCoveyTV) September 15, 2022

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

  It’s still too early to determine what path Fiona takes next week, but it’s a storm to watch. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 23:20

• Space Diamonds From Dwarf Planets May Be Future Of Mining & Manufacturing
  Space Diamonds From Dwarf Planets May Be Future Of Mining & Manufacturing

  Authored by Victoria Kelly-Clark via The Epoch Times,

  Tiny folded diamonds that fell to Earth from an ancient dwarf star may sound like something from an intergalactic feature film, but researchers from Australia and the United Kingdom have proven the existence of the rare gems after examining a stony meteorite.

  

  Scientists from Australia and the UK have established the existence of lonsdaleite, a rare hexagonal diamond, no bigger than a human hair, that researchers note is layered into a distinctive folded pattern, unlike the earth-formed diamonds that have a cubic structure.

  The existence of Lonsdaleite—named after the pioneering British crystallographer Dame Kathleen Lonsdale—has previously been the subject of debate because its very existence could not be proven.

  The lead scientist on the research team Prof. Andy Tomkins, from Monash University’s School of Earth, Atmosphere, and Environment, said the mysteries of the rare diamond were what drove him continue researching ureilite meteorites in his lab.

  Tomkins said it was a case of curiosity-driven science.

  “This is exactly the sort of curiosity-piquing observation that sends scientists diving down rabbit holes for months on end,” he said.

  

  Scientists from Australia and the UK have established the existence of lonsdaleite, a rare hexagonal diamond no bigger than human hair. Image shows the ‘The Rock,’ a 228.31-karat pear-shaped white diamond, in Geneva on May 6, 2022. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

  Naturally formed ureilite meteorites contains a higher abundance of diamond than any known rock on Earth. They are also one of the few opportunities to study the mantle layer of dwarf planets.

  The samples are created when asteroids collide with a planet while still hot, creating the ideal conditions for lonsdaleite and diamond growth due to moderate pressure and rapid temperature drops in the fluid and gas-rich environment.

  “These findings help address a long-standing mystery regarding the formation of the carbon phases in ureilites that has been the subject of much speculation,” Tomkins said.

  Tomkins also collaborated with researchers from the CSIRO, RMIT University, the Australian Synchrotron, and Plymouth University to discover samples of lonsdaleite in nature, offering an insight into potential replication of the process for industrial purposes.

  “These diamonds are quite special,” said Alan Salek, physicist and RMIT PhD researcher.

  “Normal diamonds that you would find here on Earth, like on an engagement ring, have a specific atomic structure that’s cubic. These special diamonds are hexagonal in structure.”

  “It’s pretty exciting because it’s a new form of material.”

  The unique shape is believed to be why lonsdaleite is stronger than any other diamond.

  Significant Implications For Mining and Manufacturing

  CSIRO scientist Colin MacRae in a media release, said the discovery has enormous potential for industries like mining.

  “If something that’s harder than diamond can be manufactured readily, that’s something industry would want to know about,” MacRae said.

  

  Manufacturing at a Brisbane factory in Australia, on Jan 25, 2017. (AAP Image/Glenn Hunt)

  Macrae noted that the discovery meant they could find a way to reproduce the mineral.

  “Lonsdaleite could be used to make tiny, ultra-hard machine parts if we can develop an industrial process that promotes the replacement of pre-shaped graphite parts by lonsdaleite,” he said.

  At present, the current method for producing industrial diamonds involves chemical vapour deposition, in which diamonds are formed onto a substrate from a gas mix at low pressures.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 23:00

• Yuan Fades Despite 'Suddenly' Strong China Macro Data Across The Board
  Yuan Fades Despite ‘Suddenly’ Strong China Macro Data Across The Board

  Just days after Morgan Stanley question whether China could stabilize global growth, tonight’s avalanche of macro data from Beijing suggests the unleashing of various liquidity measures – and the random lifting of some COVID-Zero lockdowns – was just enough to juice the data in August as almost everything beat expectations and improved sequentially…

  • China Industrial Production rose 3.6% YTD YoY in August – IN LINE with expectations of +3.6% and UP from July’s 3.6% MoM rise.

  • China Retail Sales rose 0.5% YTD YoY in August – BEATing expectations of +0.2% and UP from July’s 0.2% MoM drop.

  • China Fixed Asset Investment rose 5.8% YTD YoY in August – BEATing expectations of +5.5% and UP from July’s 5.7% MoM rise.

  • China Surveyed Jobless Rate fell to 5.3 in August – BEATing expectations of 5.4% and BETTER then July’s 5.4% – despite youth unemployment at 18.7%

  However, there was was black eye in the bunch:

  China Property Investment tumbled 7.4% YTD YoY in August – MISSing expectations of -7.0%% and WORSE than July’s 6.4% decline.

  Additionally residential property sales continued their weakness, down 30.3% YTD YoY, suggesting China’s property slump shows little sign of easing…

  

  Digging into the details, Helen Qiao of Bank of America told Bloomberg Television making the point that retail sales has been boosted by auto sales, but broader consumer sentiment remains hostage to the aggressive covid zero strategy.

  Looking through the retail sales break down, autos and petroleum saw double digit gains and there was strength also in food, eating out, tobacco/alcohol, medicine. The weakest sectors were cosmetics, furniture and communication appliances

  This all seems very well timed – the increase in industrial output is particularly interesting given leading indicators like PMIs and exports have been flagging weakening demand.

  China’s offshore yuan was fading fast after the data – and was rather notably weaker than the RMB Fix – breaking significantly weaker above 7/USD. That is the 17th straight day of Yuan fixing stronger than the offshore rate.

  

  Will China intervene to halt the imported inflation? Judging by the fix – and the flood of suddenly positive data – they are trying.

  As Bloomberg’s Enda Curran notes, these numbers will stoke views that the economy has bottomed – but – given the ongoing challenges from extreme weather, the housing data we saw this morning, weakening global demand for China’s exports and of course covid zero, feels like a big call to say things will turn from here.

  Ho Woei Chen, economist with United Overseas Bank Ltd. in Singapore, says:

  “The improvements in data provided some relief but economic challenges remain. The pace of recovery in production, consumption and investment is still in question for the coming months. The offshore yuan trend is also a function of the Fed’s monetary policy. For PBOC, it is expected to maintain an accommodative policy to help the economy recover.”

  Raymond Yeung, chief economist for Greater China at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, says: 

  “August’s data does not relieve our concern on China’s growth outlook. It does reflect the impact of Chengdu’s lockdown.”

  Furthermore, this is a timely turn for the data given the Party Congress will kick off in four weeks from now and it also runs against the recent narrative that government support isn’t gaining traction.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 22:40

• Macleod: Inflation Is Turning Hyper…
  Macleod: Inflation Is Turning Hyper…

  Authored by Alasdair Macleod via GoldMoney.com,

  Money supply took off during covid lockdowns. It is now about to take off again to pay everyone’s energy bills. But that is not all.

  Demands for currency and credit to be conjured out of thin air to pay for everything will be coming thick and fast. Expectations that energy prices, including European electricity, have peaked are naïve. Putin has yet to put the winter and spring screws on Europe and the world fully. It will be surprising if global oil and natural gas prices in Europe are not significantly higher on a twelve-month view. And Europe has messed up its electricity supplies — that is where the energy costs will rise most.

  Bankers are trying to reduce their loan exposure to rising interest rates, undermining GDP. Besides paying for everyone’s energy bills, rescuing troubled banks, collapsing tax revenues, and difficulties in selling government debt on rising yields, governments are expected to apply economic stimulus to support both their economies and financial markets.

  Furthermore, this article points to evidence as to why the expansion of central bank credit has a far greater impact on prices than contracting bank credit. The replacement of commercial bank credit by central bank credit will have a far greater inflationary impact than the deflation from bank credit alone.

  Attempts to rescue the American, European, and Japanese economies by replacing commercial bank credit with central bank credit will probably be the coup de grace for fiat.

  We can begin to anticipate the path to the destruction of purchasing power for all fiat currencies, not just those of Zimbabwe, Turkey, and Venezuela et al. A global hyperinflation is proving impossible to avoid.

  

  First it was covid, now it is energy… 

  For the magic money tree, its exfoliation is just one thing after another…

  Having recognised the impracticality of putting price controls on Russian gas and oil, the EU is turning to protecting all households and businesses from the energy crisis. Even Switzerland, and now the UK are bowing to the inevitable consequences of combining inflationary monetary policies of recent years, environmental wokism, and frankly irresponsible energy policies with the decision to sanction the world’s largest energy exporter.

  There can be little doubt that a common approach to resolving energy problems has been decided upon following informal discussions at a supranational level. After all, forums such as the G7 and G20 are all about agreeing to act together, a united front to prevent markets taking control of events out of government hands. Lines of communication continue between formal meetings. That way, establishment statists believe there is less chance of a currency crisis created by one government pursuing a rogue course.

  The consequence, of course, is that even with successful management, misguided policies get implemented. A group-thinking form of myopia takes over. And while the immediate problem is addressed, the consequences are rarely foreseen.  These subsequent effects are almost certainly going to undermine statist attempts to alleviate the hardship their earlier policies have inflicted on their electors.

  In Britain’s case, it is proposed that electricity and presumably gas bills will be fully funded above £2,500 per household, with support arrangements to be put in place for businesses. But much of France’s nuclear power is shut down — 32 of Électricité de France’s 56 nuclear reactors are out of action, with four showing stress corrosion and small cracks in the cement works and a further 12 reactors suspected of being similarly affected. The other sixteen are shut for routine maintenance. It seems that France expects to import electricity through October to February from European neighbours, including the UK, while the UK expects to import French electricity. 

  How support for businesses will be implemented is unclear; it is an extremely complex issue. But there is little doubt that without this support, the economy will collapse this winter as businesses shut down, unemployment rockets, and the lowest rungs in society, emotively the elderly and struggling single mothers, find it impossible to keep body and soul together. From the government’s point of view, if nothing is done now revenue will collapse, welfare costs escalate, civil disobedience could worsen, and law and order break down. The same problems would arise in the European Union, with some nations facing a greater propensity to riot.

  There is no doubt that in the practical world of modern politics, where everyone’s business is the business of government, there is no alternative to ramping up support for the people and their employers in the times ahead. Either the problem has to be faced now, or the consequences for government finances will have to be faced later. 

  The problem of financing energy subsidies is not yet a public issue. As experience with covid showed, governments were able to ramp up their funding to cover emergencies without much difficulty. This leads to an assumption that governments can simply issue more debt — perhaps £150 billion in the UK’s case but likely to be more, taking the government debt to GDP ratio to over 110%. The impact on indebted EU member states with already far higher debt to GDP ratios is not good either, but what else is to be done?

  Undoubtedly, selling bonds to pay for everyone’s excess energy bills will be problematic. Government funding through covid and its aftermath was against a background of declining interest rates, when banks, insurance companies and pension funds were prepared to buy government bonds. We now face the prospect of rising interest rates, with price inflation suggesting that interest rates have much, much further to rise. Appetite for fixed interest bonds is bound to be substantially diminished. Furthermore, central banks are no longer quantitatively easing, but beginning to tighten. 

  Therefore, the market certainty that comes with central banks underwriting their government bond prices is no longer there. Investors, mostly in the form of pension funds and insurance companies, are bound to take a more cautious view and have little alternative to ducking auctions of government debt.

  Without genuine investment being diverted from the private sector into government bonds, any issue of government debt exceeding redemptions of existing stock becomes inflationary. Central banks are surely aware that to accommodate this new wave of government borrowing, quantitative tightening will have to be abandoned, funding through short-term commercial bank credit will be increasingly relied upon, and bond yields must rise to the point where debt can be got away. As to whether quantitative easing will be reintroduced, that would represent a policy U-turn of great difficulty at a time of rising interest rates and rising consumer prices. 

  Market participants have not yet taken this problem fully inboard, confirmed by complacency over valuations in financial markets. Despite the wake-up call this week when US consumer prices rose ever so slightly more than expected and the Dow fell 1,276 points, investors still hope that inflation is transitory, and that the threat of a deepening recession is a far greater problem, limiting the rise in bond yields. Current macroeconomic theories only allow for one or the other outcome. A contraction of credit, higher prices, and higher interest rates is deemed contradictory to the solution for a recessionary outlook. 

  But rising bond yields in any real magnitude simply destroys value and therefore credit. A shortage of credit ensues, and the scramble for more credit to replace it drives interest rates even higher. It always happens at the onset of a financial crisis, as clearly illustrated by the UK’s secondary banking crisis in 1973. The Bank of England’s rates reluctantly began to rise that April from 9.75% against a deteriorating economic background, reflecting a tightening of credit. Banks exposed to commercial property began to collapse after the BoE’s rate was raised to 12% in October.

  The root of the confusion is essentially ignorance of the relation between the quantity of credit in circulation and the consequences of its contraction. It is this relationship which rules prices, not the supply and demand curves favoured by the neo-Keynesian consensus.

  Economists and the investing establishment prefer to view the expansion of currency and credit in connection with the covid crisis as a one-off event, with economies and government finances reverting to more sustainable paths in due course. Examples of this thinking are shown in both the Congressional Budget Office’s ten-year forecasts, and in those of the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility. Every time their forecasts are proved incorrect, they simply extend the timeline back to the official inflation target.

  Putting aside the legacy of damages done to businesses and personal finances, it can be claimed that covid is behind us. But to believe that government finances are free to recover over time is ill-founded. 

  Yet more “one-off” inflation waves are to follow

  Though the particulars always differ, once the path of inflationary finance is embarked upon, requirements for more inflationary finance always arise. From covid, we segway to energy and food for the masses. The consequences for the western world’s fiat currencies and financial systems are dire, but that is not the end of demand for yet more inflationary finance. The following competing issues are increasingly certain to arise in the coming months, some of them running concurrently and some yet to materialise:

  • Energy supplies. Having shut down Nord-stream 1, Russia is already tightening energy supplies for Europe and the NATO alliance generally, which will strictly limit their ability to accumulate further fossil energy reserves for the winter. While Europe has made good headway storing gas from other sources recently, depleted reserves will still have to be addressed in the spring. Separately, with a large chunk of France’s nuclear generation currently offline electricity prices are set to soar, irrespective of gas and oil prices. The best that Europe can do is pray for a very mild winter. And while EU nations will be ready to impose windfall taxes on energy suppliers, there will still be enhanced budget deficits to be financed if businesses and consumers are to be compensated.

  • Future energy prices. The decline in oil prices since June will almost certainly be reversed. European governments have already or are about to promise to bail out all their consumers and businesses irrespective of cost. The cost can only be met by limitless currency dilution, difficult to achieve when the entire euro system of the ECB and national central banks itself is in negative equity due to falling bond values. The commitment to subsidise energy costs gives Putin an added weapon: yet higher oil and gas prices will undermine EU governments’ finances even further, bringing extra pressure to bear on politicians leading to a likely breakdown of the NATO alliance. This is Putin’s real objective, and he won’t let up until this is achieved. Until then, for Putin the higher European oil and gas prices go, the better. 

  • The war in Ukraine. Military setbacks for Russia in East Ukraine are likely to intensify retaliatory restrictions on European energy supplies. Grain and fertiliser shortages are not going to be resolved in the foreseeable future, and shipments from Odessa are likely to be stopped. While western press reports suggest that Ukraine is winning back territory, it seems to be making progress in thinly defended areas along a 1000-mile border. In any event, the campaign season on the ground cannot last long before late autumnal rains and snow turn battlefields into muddy quagmires. The war will then turn into a stalemate and armies become entrenched like those of the Somme. There is unlikely to be any economic relief for Russia’s “unfriendlies” from current military successes against Russian troops.

  • Geopolitics. Russia’s geopolitical focus is to create with China a new Asian powerhouse. Oil and gas are being heavily discounted for fellow travellers, giving them an economic advantage over Russia’s “unfriendlies”. Even the Saudis recognise that their future is not with fossil-fuel hating Europeans, but with fellow Asians, Africans, and South Americans such as Brazil. The western powers face a relative economic decline, which is bound to encourage governments in the Asian camp to liquidate their US, UK and EU government bond and currency holdings. With substantial Asian-owned debt and currency balances tending to be liquidated, the negative consequences for western financial markets and their currencies are yet to materialise.

  • Eurozone’s financial fragility. Unless NATO compromises sufficiently (i.e., the Americans withdraw from European affairs and remove their missiles), Europe can expect no help from Russia. Germany’s economy is already verging on collapse. It is the EU’s powerhouse: with Germany in steep decline, all sorts of issues are raised — the future of the banks, the future of the TARGET2 euro settlement system, the future of the euro itself. The ECB and the entire euro system can only respond by supplying unlimited quantities of inflationary finance to preserve the euro system: that is more important to the ECB than preserving value for the euro on the foreign exchanges.

  • Rising interest rates. Interest rates are now rising, driven not by central banks, which are determined to resist the trend, but by contracting credit. Falling purchasing powers for the dollar and the other major western currencies are just beginning to accelerate, ensuring a buyers’ strike in bond markets and significantly higher yields. Initially, bank lending margins may benefit, but non-performing loans will increase rapidly. The €9 trillion Eurozone repo market will begin to unwind, creating a liquidity crisis for banks which depend upon it to maintain their balance sheet integrity. Central banks will be called upon to ensure there are no bank failures in this challenging operational environment.

  • Bank credit downturn. We face a cyclical downturn in commercial bank credit. The evidence that it has started is mounting. When bank lending in an economy shrinks, it always leads to a financial and economic crisis, proportional to the expansion that preceded it. It will be a miracle if this downturn does not lead to a collapse of one or more of the major banks, with a domino effect almost certain to follow. The most leveraged banks are in the Eurozone, which faces the added problems of a belligerent Russia on its eastern front, and in Japan. These banks may have to be bailed leading to a further expansion of central bank currency and the introduction of bank lending guarantees to keep zombie corporations out of bankruptcy, this time under the combined direction of both central banks and their governments.

  • Falling financial asset values. Rising interest rates and bond yields will undermine all financial asset values. Not only will this damage economic confidence, but banks will be forced to liquidate financial assets held as collateral against loans. This will magnify pressure on banks to reduce their balance sheet totals while they can, and financial market values will fall more heavily in consequence, undermining economic confidence. Undoubtedly, vested interests will fight for renewed inflationary policies and interest rate suppression in a desire to maintain asset values, particularly in the US which has become over-dependent on investor confidence in financial markets.

  • The slump in GDP. Because the transactions that make up GDP are entirely financed by bank credit, bank credit contraction will lead to a slump in nominal GDP. Driven by interventionist economic policies, in their desperation governments are sure to try to stimulate recovery by increasing their spending at a time of declining tax revenues. The cost of the extra debt incurred will soar, not just due to the quantities involved, but because higher interest rates and auction failures will be the backdrop to what amounts to a global debt trap from which it is impossible to escape.

  To summarise so far; from covid being a one-off economic crisis requiring enhanced deficit spending by governments, we now see a second one-off crisis centred on subsidising energy and food. This will be followed by further and increasing demands for inflationary funding, as briefly enumerated in the bullet points above. Attempts to prevent western economies contracting, buyers strikes in bond markets, along with collapsing bank credit will probably be the coup de grace for fiat currencies.

  How currency debasement as opposed to contracting bank credit leads to a final collapse of fiat currency purchasing power must be our next topic.

  The relative consequences of currency and credit inflation

  There has been little or no theoretical analysis done of the different effects on prices from an increased quantity of bank credit, and that of currency. The former is essentially cyclical, while in fiat currency regimes, the increase in the quantity of currency is continual with a strong tendency to accelerate. 

  Observation of the current situation, informed by the consequences of a rising interest rate outlook, together with statistical evidence from the history of bank credit cycles, point to a periodic and severe contraction in bank credit which is only now becoming evident. Other things being equal, contracting bank credit is likely to apply downward pressure on prices. We can expect contracting bank credit to be replaced by central bank credit expansion. Because they will work in opposition, we need to assess how important the deflationary pressure is likely to be from the bank credit cycle relative to inflationary pressures from increasing quantities of central bank derived credit, issued to finance rising government deficits.

  First, we must isolate the effect on prices from variations of commercial bank credit. Under Britain’s gold coin standard which ran from 1817 to 1914, the cycle of bank credit expansion and contraction is evidenced in the effect on the inflation rate of wholesale prices, as shown in Figure 1.

  

  The cycle’s periodicity was remarkably constant, averaging a ten-year span, a constancy which remains evident to this day. The pecked line marks the date the Bank of England joined the commercial bank clearing system, the relevance of which is discussed below. Wholesale prices are a more direct reflection of cycles of bank credit than consumer prices which during those times of very little consumer credit were less affected by cycles of bank lending. Furthermore, statistics representing the general level of consumer prices were not widely available before the 1930s, and consumer price statistics before the First World War are just guesswork.

  The swings between credit expansion and contraction affected wholesale prices in accordance with David Ricardo’s quantity theory of money, upon which modern monetary theory is based. That is to say, an increase in bank credit leads to higher prices, and a contraction to lower prices. The validity of Ricardo’s quantity theory was due to an underlying stability provided to sterling by the gold coin exchange standard introduced in 1817. It allows us to link changes in the level of prices with changes in the level of bank credit. Furthermore, a little knowledge of the history of banking is required to understand why the inflationary/deflationary swings diminished after 1864.

  Before 1844, banking combined dealing with credit and the issue of bank notes before the note issue monopoly was given to the Bank of England by virtue of the 1844 Bank Charter Act. Banknotes in circulation reflected a higher counterparty risk before 1844, which undoubtedly contributed to less price stability than after the Act, when bank notes became a direct liability of the Bank of England.

  In 1864, the Bank of England was admitted to the clearing system set up by the commercial banks, and the use of bank notes and coin in the clearing system ceased entirely. Prior to that date, differences between the commercial banks and the Bank were settled in Bank of England notes, requiring every bank to keep substantial quantities of notes on hand. That the effect of swings in bank credit on the inflation rate of wholesale prices diminished was attributable to improvements in the overall banking system, notably the evolution of centralised clearing of credit imbalances. 

  We can therefore link the price effect of cycles of bank credit to the efficiency of bank credit clearing systems, particularly after 1864. With the stability provided by the gold coin exchange standard, interest rates measured by undated government debt declined from about 5% in 1815 (where it was restricted from going no higher by law until 1833) to under 3% in 1880. The improvement in the efficiency of credit creation and distribution contributed to the lowering of this measure of interest over time.

  It is also understood from Austrian business cycle theory that rises and falls in bank credit were directly linked to economic booms and slumps. These did not diminish after the Bank Charter Act, as might be inferred from the lower wholesale price volatility that followed it, particularly following 1864. Far from it: Overend Gurney collapsed in 1866, and the Barings crisis was in 1890. Rather than being economic in nature, credit crises became more financial.

  Following the Panic of 1873, the long depression led to a worldwide decline in commodity prices that lasted for fifteen years. Following the recovery from the Overend Gurney crisis, in Britain it was due to the unwinding of excessive speculation financed by bank credit expansion — the bust phase of the classic bank credit cycle. But Britain’s economy was less affected than those of other countries, and her economy merely stagnated, with heavy industries principally affected. While British wholesale prices declined by about 15% by 1895, the slump elsewhere was worse.

  But the lesson learned is that the inflationary consequences of bank credit are to some extent tied to the efficiency of the banking system. And with modern technology and money markets, the price effect of the credit cycle on its own is less significant relative to other factors. 

  The consequences of fiat replacing a gold standard

  It will also be noted from Figure 1, that the long-term average level of wholesale prices remained remarkably constant despite all the cyclical swings of inflation and deflation. This was due to the gold coin standard enacted in 1817, whereby the money standard was set by law to be the gold sovereign, to be freely available in exchange for bank notes and bank credit. All further issues of banknotes by the Bank of England were required to be backed by gold in the 1844 Bank Charter Act. And after the Bank of England joined the clearing system, wholesale prices showed a remarkable degree of stability, despite the economic consequences of the cycle of bank credit. 

  We have noted how changes in the level of bank credit affect wholesale prices; now we must note the stabilising effect of the gold coin exchange standard.

  The transacting population knew that they could access real money, that is gold, in exchange for credit at any time. So long as this was the case, the ratio of personal liquidity to goods purchased remained stable. To understand why the ratio matters, imagine a situation where the general population decides for one reason or another to withhold some of their spending and retain higher balances of credit to hand in the form of banknotes and bank deposits. The general level of prices must fall. Conversely, if the general public collectively decides to reduce the level of credit to hand in favour of purchases, the prices of goods will rise.

  The point about a gold standard is not that gold circulates as a medium of exchange: far from it, it is hoarded in greater or lesser quantities. It is almost never spent. Under an effective standard, gold being freely convertible on demand from forms of credit at a fixed rate is what mattered. The gold coin exchange standard imparted an underlying stability to the purchasing power of bank notes and bank deposit credit, which they would not otherwise enjoy.

  The relationship between gold and forms of credit as circulating media is thus clarified. We must now turn to the situation of fiat currencies, where gold is not available in exchange for credit on demand. Currency and credit loses its anchor, and we must anticipate human action in these circumstances. We are no longer simply addressing fluctuating levels of bank credit but changing perceptions of the purchasing power of banknotes issued by central banks as well. And it should be noted that all instances of collapses in the purchasing power of media of exchange have been the outcome of the public rejecting fiat currencies by minimising their exposure to them.

  Therefore, we can easily understand the consequences of the general public rejecting a currency entirely, preferring to hold goods instead of credit, needed or not. The currency’s purchasing power diminishes towards nothing, a situation demonstrated in multiple currencies today which lack their public’s credibility. Zimbabwe, Cuba, Lebanon, Turkey, Myanmar, Venezuela etc. The list is becoming extensive.

  It has nothing to do directly with changes in the quantities of currency and credit, which can vary independently from a fiat currency’s purchasing power. We have seen that expanding and contracting bank credit does have a price effect, but on its own it corrects back to a norm. But if that norm is not gold but a fiat currency, we can expect a different outcome.

  Understanding this is of fundamental importance, particularly in the situation we face today when we can expect commercial bank credit, contracting GDP, to be replaced with central bank credit. So, why is bank credit set to implode, taking GDP with it?

  Commercial banks around the world are as highly leveraged in their ratios of balance sheet assets to equity as they have ever been. While regulators concentrate on balance sheet liquidity, bank directors are responsible to their shareholders. In an environment of high consumer inflation, and therefore rising interest rates, they know that a large proportion of their loans will go sour. And where they have loaned credit for financial activities and speculation, the value of collateral against those loans is bound to fall as well. There can be no doubt that to protect their shareholders, bankers will reduce their loan books to private sector businesses as much as possible and restrict their lending to state actors to short maturities, such as treasury bills.

  Almost every transaction recorded in nominal GDP is paid for by deposit transfers between bank accounts. The level of bank deposits is the counterpart of bank lending. Bank lending is just beginning to contract, evidenced by the expansion of broad money supply turning down. So will GDP.

  Commentators almost always miss the importance of the currency side of transactions, talking instead of recession as if it were a matter of consumers or businesses driving the fall in economic activity. This is a grievous error. It is banks withdrawing credit from the economy which drives it all, and the level of nominal GDP is a direct reflection of bank credit being used for qualifying transactions. Today, commercial banks around the world are on the verge of withdrawing more credit from economic activity than since the early 1930s.

  We know from our analysis of post-1864 Britain to expect a negative price effect from bank credit contraction, but at that time the price effect of contracting bank credit was not a big deal for wholesale prices, having far greater consequences for speculative activity in financial markets. Today, banks seem to be slow to withdraw consumer credit, perhaps under the baleful influence of their central bank. Instead, they are withdrawing credit from businesses, particularly the small and medium size enterprises that make up a Pareto 80% of any economy. And state support for businesses facing higher energy costs will not change this at all. On its own, the contraction of bank credit seems unlikely to have a significant negative effect on prices (i.e., lead to their decline), since it is leading more to the restriction of the supply side of the economy than consumption.

  Under current economic and monetary policies, falling GDP, due to contracting bank credit will be replaced by central bank currency in one form or another. From their magic money trees, central banks must procure the currency and credit for their governments to inject into their economies. We will see less destabilising commercial bank credit with respect to prices being replaced by more destabilising central bank credit, particularly when the public sees no end to its expansion.

  It is central bank issued credit, not that emanating from commercial banks, which is evaluated by the public. And when the public adopts a general view that it should be reduced to as little as possible by purchasing goods simply to be rid of it, then price rises accelerate, and its purchasing power collapses, irrespective of changes in the quantity in circulation.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 22:20

• The Last Development Parcel In The Country's Wealthiest Zip Code Just Sold For More Than $100 Million
  The Last Development Parcel In The Country’s Wealthiest Zip Code Just Sold For More Than $100 Million

  While the poors have been arguing about abortion and inflation back on the mainland, the richest people in the nation have been quietly snatching up all of the best real estate. 

  Such was the case this week when Related Group, a developer led by billionaire Jorge Perez, bought the last development parcel available on Miami Beach’s ritzy Fisher Island, according to Bloomberg. 

  The address, 6 Fisher Island Drive, was sold for more than $100 million to buyers that included Related, Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi, BH Group and Wanxiang America RE Group, the report says. 

  The plan is to build about 50 condos on the site with penthouses priced at more than $60 million and “normal” units priced at about $30 million. The condos will be between 3,800 sq. feet and up to more than 12,000 sq. feet. 

  Perez told Bloomberg this week: “This is the last opportunity for someone to buy a new development, pre-construction in Fisher Island. To be able to develop on Fisher Island is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

  

  And he made it no secret about who he is eventually looking to sell to: “An executive for Citadel is one of our perfect buyers, where if he wanted to, he could get picked up by boat right from the property and take it across the bay to Brickell. That is an amenity and perk, where we’re the only project that will offer that.”

  Off the coast of Florida, Fisher Island is described as “an ultra-exclusive private island” and “the wealthiest zip code in the United States”. 

  The island is “accessible only by private yacht or 7-and-a-half-minute auto-ferry from Miami Beach” and “spans 216 private acres of tropical resort-style living, located within minutes from the cultural enticements of Miami.”

  The island’s Fisher Island Club provides access to the oceanfront Beach Club, Vanderbilt Mansion, Spa Internazionale, a par-35 championship nine-hole golf course, state-of-the-art Racquet Club, and two private deep-water marinas, among other amenities.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 22:00

• Woke Twilio CEO Conducts "Anti-Racist" Mass Layoff
  Woke Twilio CEO Conducts “Anti-Racist” Mass Layoff

  Yesterday saw San Francisco-based tech firm Twilio join the growing ranks of companies that are laying off employees as post-pandemic growth reality falls short of pandemic-pumping hype.

  

  Source

  Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson announced plans to cut around 11% of the company’s workforce, after admitting that the company had grown too fast:

  “Twilio has grown at an astonishing rate over the past couple years. It was too fast, and without enough focus on our most important company priorities. I take responsibility for those decisions, as well as the difficult decision to do this layoff.”

  But this announcement was different.

  

  For the first time we can remember, the CEO appeared to make the case that race was involved in the decision-making process around who lost their jobs…

  “Layoffs like this can have a more pronounced impact on marginalized communities,” Lawson wrote in a memo to employees.

  “So we were particularly focused on ensuring our layoffs – while a business necessity today – were carried out through an Anti-Racist/Anti-Oppression lens.”

  Forgive us for our obvious bias, but doesn’t that statement infer that if they hadn’t considered race then the layoffs would have been ‘racist’?

  Of course, the liberal media rose up as one to defend Lawson’s comments. Fortune reports, that two sources at Twilio told them the anti-racist effort was not controversial inside the company.

  “No one at Twilio has made any mention of it,” one of the sources said.

  “Being an anti racist company is part of our core values.”

  The employees dismissed claims of “race-based” job cuts.

  “I’m sure right wingers think this means firing only white people,” one of the employees said, noting that it appeared anecdotally that the laid off employees were “an equal mix” of women, men, and underrepresented minorities.

  Well how do they explain his comments then… since Lawson did not provide any details about how the company would ensure that the layoffs did not cut deeper into certain groups of its 7,800 worldwide employees

  Are we really at that point?

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 21:44

• Doug Casey On Class Warfare, 'Eat The Rich' Sentiment, & What Happens Next
  Doug Casey On Class Warfare, ‘Eat The Rich’ Sentiment, & What Happens Next

  Via InternationalMan.com,

  International Man: Politicians looking for ways to finance their extravagant spending increasingly complain that the wealthy aren’t paying their “fair share.”

  It’s a trend in motion that is accelerating. This rising anti-wealth sentiment seems to be taking the US into dangerous territory.

  Our friend Rick Rule once said, “Eat the rich? Prepare to starve.”

  What is your take?

  

  Doug Casey: Once upon a time, government apologists liked to say that the rich had to be taxed in order to help the poor. That’s no longer the case. Nobody in America is starving. Even poor people have flat-screen TVs, air conditioning, and refrigerators. The poor live better than medieval royalty.

  What’s going on is the institutionalization of envy, a terrible vice. It’s different from jealousy.

  Jealousy says, “You have something that I want. I want one too. Give it to me.”

  Envy says, “You have something that I want. If I can’t have it, I’ll destroy it, so you can’t have it either.” Envy is the moral flaw that underlies all socialist economic theories. Socialist feelings and morality underly the economic lies, race hatred, class hatred, sex antagonism, and political polarization tearing the US and the West apart. Envy and socialism have become secular religions. The country has been divided into two different and mutually antagonistic worldviews.

  It’s a question of what’s right and wrong, what’s good and evil. It’s not a question of economics, about what’s more productive. This is a much more serious division. It amounts to a religious war between the Left, who want to overthrow and transform society, and the Right, who want to more-or-less maintain traditional values, but lack any real ideology.

  The Left is proposing all manner of outrageous, destructive, and genuinely stupid ideas. Free stuff for everybody. Not just food, shelter, schooling, and medical care provided at the expense of producers—which they’ve basically achieved. But now a guaranteed annual income. Everybody is supposed to get a thousand dollars a month, according to the silly twit and wannabe US president Andrew Yang. They won’t have to do anything, just exist, presumably hanging out at Starbucks playing with their iPhones all day. They’ll genuinely be what Yuval Noah Harari, the World Economic Forum’s mincing court intellectual, has called a permanent class of useless eaters.

  At some point, however, people who work, create, produce, and believe in traditional values will react. Maybe they’ll explode in a violent counter-revolution. Maybe they’ll quietly go on strike, as did Ayn Rand’s heroes in “Atlas Shrugged.” Or maybe they’ll roll over and be transformed into serfs—which is what The Elite would prefer and expect. But something wicked this way comes.

  International Man: What do you make of the hiring of 87,000 new IRS agents in the context of this trend?

  Doug Casey: Those people aren’t being recruited just to collect taxes, although that’s absolutely one of the things that they will do. They will amount to a national police force, one that has a different mandate than the FBI, the ATF, the DEA, or other Praetorian agencies. The tax authorities have a right to look at any economic activity everywhere and anywhere.

  As a moral issue, they’ll try to turn nonpayment of tax on the part of producers into a crime against society. I shudder to think of the type of amoral creatures being recruited—at fat salaries and with immense powers—to investigate the lives of their countrymen. They’ll be exactly analogous to Germany’s Gestapo or Stasi.

  These new IRS agents will have little to do with the poor. The poor are increasingly irrelevant, except for their votes. As it’s been throughout history, the uneducated lower classes basically do hand-to-mouth labor. They’re mainly interested in bread and circuses, and that’s what they’ll get. Their numbers are growing in this country for the first time.

  The new IRS agents won’t have much to do with the elite either; they can afford tax lawyers and accountants to fend them off. They’ll take a few casualties for show and the sake of “fairness,” but the elite are the main beneficiaries of the hundreds of billions of dollars that the government is pouring on society. This is all going to be paid for by the middle class, the people who actually produce and save.

  These new IRS agents are a direct attack on the middle class. The elite hate the middle class and what they stand for—independence, stability, and traditional values. The fact that they’re doubling the size of the tax police is truly extraordinary. As the economy continues to decline, you can expect class warfare—along with race and sex warfare—to increase.

  As I explained last week, this is an important part of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). Hundreds of billions of dollars that the government will spend through their Inflation Reduction Act will be financed—intentionally—by the creation of new dollars.

  The reason why they say it’s “inflation reduction” is because the same number of dollars will theoretically be taken out of society through taxes. The new dollars will be placed with the people and companies the government likes. They say it won’t be inflationary because the same number of dollars will be taken out of the economy from people and companies that they don’t approve of. So, theoretically, the net number of dollars in society will stay the same, and the general price level will stay the same because the money supply will stay the same.

  That’s their economic argument. But the moral argument is far more important. MMT allocates hundreds of billions to those the Left approves of and will take that much away from the middle class through taxes. It’s diabolically clever. As I said, this amounts to a religious war because the people behind MMT are actually evil.

  Unfortunately, “evil” is a word which has been discredited; people no longer take it seriously. It’s been overused by emotional and often corrupt Bible thumpers, hell, and brimstone preachers. But evil really does exist. Evil is the intentional act of destroying something good.

  International Man: With financial markets falling and the US dollar’s purchasing power plummeting, many people are feeling poorer and are looking for someone to blame.

  What is your view on this dynamic and how it could affect the political situation?

  Doug Casey: The speech Biden gave on September 1 was intended to be shocking and disturbing. It mimicked a scene out of V for Vendetta or 1984. They went out of their way to have Biden deliver it in Philadelphia, where the US was founded, and use red lighting against a dark background to fan emotions. These people are serious. Biden’s words were full of hate and venom, calling out half the country as the enemy—the speech was unprecedented. It was a warning and an overt threat.

  Look at the scene. The red background was over the top. Placing a couple of Marines in the background said, “I have power, and I’ll use it against the enemy.” Theatrics such as these are unprecedented. It amounted to a declaration of civil war. It was followed up by the outrageous raid on Trump’s home and the FBI perp-walking about 50 of his prominent supporters, with dawn raids, in subsequent days.

  These people truly want to overturn society. They’re actually a reincarnation of the Jacobins and could turn out to be just as violent and dangerous.

  They’re working to create an active environment of class warfare in the US. They’ve succeeded in fomenting race hatred, where people identify not as human beings but as people of color and anti-white. And sex warfare, wherein people are no longer either men or women—albeit a few with aberrations of varying degree—but as one or more of 50 or 60 genders.

  These people hate the middle class, with their traditional cultural and religious values. This is why Trump is so popular and why they identify with him. It’s not because many of his ideas are particularly good; he’s essentially a populist with no philosophical center.

  The elite and wannabe elitists hate Trump because he’s a cultural traditionalist. These people want to overthrow traditional culture itself and eliminate the middle class. In the ideal world of the WEF types, the vast majority of people, the deplorables, would be serfs and the kulaks serving the nomenklatura ruling on the top, assisted by their apparatchiki.

  I know it sounds outrageous, but that’s what’s on their minds. We’ve seen this before in history when Leftist intellectuals get control of real power, the apparatus of the State. They truly want to overturn the very basis of civilization. The Jacobins in revolutionary France, the Bolsheviks in Russia, the Nazis in Germany, the Maoists during China’s Great Cultural Revolution, and the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. It can happen anywhere when conditions are right. It seems to be happening now in the US and other Western countries.

  Let’s hope it blows over. But don’t plan your life around that…

  International Man: Historically, the size and power of the middle class made the US different from other countries.

  But now, the US middle class is shrinking and feeling squeezed.

  Where is this trend going, and what can the average middle-class person do about it?

  Doug Casey: What was the average man supposed to do when the Jacobins brought out the guillotines in France in 1793? What should the average middle-class person have done in Russia in 1917? What should the average middle-class person have done in Germany in 1933?

  There’s not much you can do when actual forces of evil are in control. There’s very little that you can do except get out of Dodge.

  Here in the US, we still have a large middle class. Many are fat, dumb, indoctrinated, or addicted to Prozac and Zoloft. But millions of others are, to coin a phrase, mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore. The things we’ve been talking about could turn into a genuine civil war.

  What to do? Diversify your political jurisdictions. Don’t roll over like a whipped dog; speak up, and resist. But the most important thing you can do personally is become as rich as possible while maintaining your ethics. Being rich can help you to insulate yourself from evil and stupidity.

  *  *  *

  If you want to navigate the complicated economic and political situation that is unfolding, then you need to see this newly released video from Doug Casey and his team. In it, Doug reveals what you need to know, and how these dangerous times could impact your wealth. Click here to watch it now.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 21:40

• Adderall Shortage Worsens As People Without Drug "Not Able To Focus", May Impact Productivity
  Adderall Shortage Worsens As People Without Drug “Not Able To Focus”, May Impact Productivity

  Adderal supplies in the US are dwindling as pharmacies and patients report shortages. The crux of the problem appears to be a major supplier of the drug for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder has run into supply chain issues. Patients who find themselves without their medication might experience “withdraw” or even a “crash” that could impact productivity at work. 

  The supply crunch first hit our radar last month when the National Community Pharmacists Association found hundreds of pharmacies across the US had trouble purchasing Adderall and generic versions of the brand in late July. 

  Bloomberg spoke with a dozen patients in California, Indiana, and Michigan who were told by their local pharmacists at CVS Health Corp. or Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. about a worsening drug shortage. 

  “In some cases, patients were told they might have to wait more than a week to get their medication, which is supposed to be taken every day,” Bloomberg noted. 

  Walgreens spokesperson Rebekah Pajak acknowledged that “supply chain challenges” persist with the drug. She said instant-release and extended-release Adderall are the ones in the shortest supply. Meanwhile, CVS spokesperson Matthew Blanchette said Adderall prescriptions at the company’s pharmacies can be filled “in most cases.” 

  

  The shortage began at Teva Pharmaceuticals, the US’ largest branded and generic Adderall supplier. Blomberg noted the Israeli multinational pharmaceutical company experienced “labor shortages” that led to the limited supply of brand-name and generic instant-release Adderall. Then three other companies Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc., Rhodes Pharmaceuticals LP, a subsidiary of Purdue Pharma LP, and Novartis AG’s Sandoz unit, all were hit with a surge in orders for generic extended-release Adderall that is now on “back order.” 

  What appears to have happened in the world of pharmaceuticals is that when one drug manufacturer has a problem, it quickly has a ripple effect across the industry. 

  The shortage comes as amphetamine sales are at record highs, driven by increased ADHD diagnoses. During the virus pandemic, the federal government eased rules requiring patients to see a doctor in-person before the controlled substance was prescribed which is one of the contributing factors to over-prescription. 

  

  For those who miss their daily dosage because of the shortage, it’s entirely possible to experience symptoms of Adderall withdrawal. Some describe it as a “crash” that can leave people drowsy for hours, if not days, and include symptoms of mental and physical exhaustion and feelings of depression. 

  Anthony Anderson, a 34-year-old special education teacher at a Michigan high school, said he has been without his Adderall since Sept. 6. He’s been taking the medicine for 15 years to treat his ADHD, and without it, he says it’s incredibly difficult to concentrate, which makes it challenging for him to do this job. Sometimes, he forgets what he is talking about mid-sentence.

  Anderson was recently talking with a student about a suicide at the school, and at a time when he was supposed to be helping the grieving student, he just couldn’t pay attention. 

  “I even spaced out when I’m trying to have a serious conversation with this girl to console her, but I spaced out because I’m not able to focus,” he said. “This is a huge issue for me.” -Bloomberg 

  We would love to see the productivity metrics of performance-based companies over the next several months to see how an Adderall shortage impacted productivity. Then again, Wall Street has the luxury of another stimulant if an Adderall shortage affects Manhattan pharmacies; that is cocaine. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 21:20

• Intolerance – Remain Silent Or Be Branded An Extremist
  Intolerance – Remain Silent Or Be Branded An Extremist

  Authored by Bruce Wilds via Advancing Time blog,

  It appears we are rapidly approaching or have reached the place where we must remain silent or be branded an extremist. There is a growing trend of intolerance. In such an environment it is little wonder that many people have become less vocal and afraid to speak their mind. The source of this is rooted in a blatant disregard for the opinions of others by both those on the left and the right. Democracy as a form of government is far from perfect. Its greatest weakness is rooted in the ability of a small vocal group to force its opinions on others. Sadly, this is not something that is going to rapidly go away.

  

  In a recent speech akin to something you might have witnessed in Germany or Italy before World War II President Biden demonized what he called MAGA Republicans. Biden labeled this group of Americans as dangerous extremists. The message was clear, anyone that expressed the views bantered about by former President Trump could be marked as an extremist. Those that do speak out under such a political framework are now part of a group that law enforcement officials target and might be inclined to place under tighter scrutiny or surveillance. 

  This growing fear of speaking out is not limited to America, we are seeing it in countries that claim to be free across the world. The tech giants and governments have been throwing fuel on the fire by adding to the feeling retaliation is a fair response to those we disagree with speaking their mind. The tech giants’ effort to closely watch, silence, and censor those not marching in line with their desired narrative is a dagger in the heart of free speech. This effort is apparent when we hear about small fringe groups outside mainstream society threatening to block highways, shut down ports, and occupy state capitols if things fail to go their way. It even extends to harassing elected officials, we are hearing more threats from groups vowing to hound and badger members of Congress or the judicial system at their homes.

  

  Governments Are Adding To The Fear

  This started several years ago and ramped up when the term “politically correct” moved front and center. In the minds of some individuals if you say anything that they consider “incorrect” it justifies a harsh response. It has now extended to declaring saying something that could hurt the feeling of some individual or group could be considered “hate speech.” As a result of this growing intolerance, people feel compelled to deny their opinions and remain silent.

  The United Nations has weighed in on this subject since hate speech incites violence and undermines social cohesion and tolerance. It claims such speech is nothing new, however, its scale and impact are nowadays amplified by new technologies of communication. The impact of hate speech cuts across numerous existing United Nations areas of focus, from human rights protection, preventing atrocity crimes, sustaining peace, promoting gender equality, and supporting children and youth. The problem here is when hate speech is allowed to be defined by the ears of the beholder. 

  Forcing Agreement Can Be Ugly

  A sign of growing intolerance is seen in the mass arrest of nonviolent protesters by governments. It is important we remember the cornerstones of democracy are the  freedom of assembly and the right to speak freely. When these are trampled upon for any reason, the system is in danger of being cast aside.

  

  This article is about the ability of a vocal minority to make people so uncomfortable they become silent. It is about how we should be appalled by those that justify violence, aggression, and force towards those that simply disagree with them. It is about how the threat you may be demonized if you say what you feel tends to breed silence. Watching this unfold is leaving a sickening feeling in those valuing free speech.

  We should be alarmed by a survey taken by Cato Institute/YouGov that found most Americans say “the political climate these days prevents them from saying things they believe because others might find them offensive”. The survey indicated that 52% of Democrats, 59% of independents, and 77% of Republicans now say they have political opinions they are afraid to share. Most people do not enjoy confrontations or being harassed and as a result, are self-censoring themselves. With the free exchange of opinions and ideas being the foundation of a free and healthy democracy the sign public discourse is being destroyed does not bode well for our continued freedom.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 21:00

• Inflation Has Couples Who Grocery Shop Together Arguing Over Coke Zero, Kit Kat Bars And Pine Nuts
  Inflation Has Couples Who Grocery Shop Together Arguing Over Coke Zero, Kit Kat Bars And Pine Nuts

  We’re sure that some in the Biden administration would like to have you believe that the effects of rising prices across the country have been minimal, and have had a small effect on middle and lower class families.

  However, in actuality, inflation and the budgetary issues it is causing in U.S. households, is resulting in “infighting” amongst families, according to the Wall Street Journal.

  35 year old Leibel Sternbach, a financial adviser, told the Journal: “If I buy more of my milk before the one in the fridge is empty, there’s going to be hell to pay.” He said his wife double checks the fridge after every shopping trip and tells him of all the things he didn’t need to buy.

  Ah, the joys of marriage…

  The couple spends about $350 per week in groceries – a bill that is up from $220 a year prior. They are cutting back on items like pre-cut vegetables and oven ready meals to try and cut additional costs from their bill. 

  The couple has given up on their favorite discretionary snacks, which for the patriarch is babka, and the matriarch is Kit Kat candy bars. 

  

  Arne Boudewyn, head of family wealth and culture services at Wells Fargo, told the Journal that similar discussions are happening in households across the country: “You don’t want to have these conversations in the grocery store aisle.”

  39 year old Ruth Abolofia has seen her grocery bill rise to $1,000 per month from less than $900 per month a year ago. Her and her husband recently clashed over six $3 pints of blueberries that she bought. 

  The couple has cut back on the number of times they dine out to try and save money. “We’re trying to take a more collaborative approach,” she said. 

  42 year old Dan Wyckoff spars with his wife 43 year old Kristin Wyckoff about “how sugary baked goods make their way into the family’s pantry under the guise of breakfast food” before his wife reminds him that the food is for their four children. They spend about $750 a month on groceries, up from $650 a month a year ago. 

  “They often seem more like hobbits than humans,” Dan said of his children. Meanwhile, he has given up on one of his favorite products, Coke Zero, switching to a 12 pack every other week instead of one per week. 

  Another couple, the Sturgeon family, said their grocery bill is up to $767 per month, up about 20% from a year ago. Their arguments have come over tree nuts, which cost $2.50 an ounce. 

  “Don’t get me wrong, a dash of pine nuts can really elevate a salad. But $2.50 for an ounce of tree nuts starts to get a little ridiculous,” Scott Sturgeon said. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 20:40

• Rickards: Forecasting The Midterm Elections
  Rickards: Forecasting The Midterm Elections

  Authored by James Rickards via DailyReckoning.com,

  There are 435 seats in the House of Representatives (not counting nonvoting seats for D.C. and some U.S. possessions) and all of them are up for election in November. Right now, the Democrats control the House with 219 Democrats versus 211 Republicans (there are five vacancies).

  It takes 218 votes to control the House. This means if the Republicans hold the seats they have and pick up just seven seats from Democrats, they will control the House.

  

  Will this happen? The 2022 election cycle is more challenging to predict than usual because it’s the first election since the 2020 Census that the House map had redrawn to reflect population gain or loss on a state-by-state basis.

  Texas gained two House seats, while Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon gained one each. The losers were California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, which lost one seat each.

  The new district maps favor Republicans on the whole. Another factor favoring the Republicans is that voters often turn back to the party opposing the incumbent president, either out of dissatisfaction with their presidential choice or simply to balance the scales in ways that keep any one party from becoming too powerful.

  The average loss for the president’s party in a first-term midterm since 1982 was 30 seats. If that were the only information I had, my forecast would be that the Republicans would gain 30 seats this November. That would put the House at 241 Republicans and 189 Democrats, a solid 47-seat majority.

  Interestingly, a RealClearPolitics forecast based on the average of numerous polls has a forecast of 219 Republicans and 182 Democrats, with 34 seats in the too-close-to-call category.

  If those toss-ups were decided in the same ratio as the likely winners (55% Republican to 45% Democrat), that would sort the undecided into 19 Republicans and 15 Democrats. That would produce a final House of 238 Republicans and 197 Democrats, almost exactly the result that the historical track record predicts.

  But can we go beyond statistics and polls to discern idiosyncratic factors that could push the results away from the central tendency? There are two.

  The first is the trend of Hispanics and African-Americans toward Republicans and away from Democrats.

  The Hispanic vote has historically been around 70% for Democrats, but recent polls show the Republicans may capture more than 50% of the Hispanic vote this time because Hispanics are trending conservative and are culturally anti-abortion, anti-crime and in favor of controlling the border.

  Hispanics make up about 20% of the total population. If you shift 20% of voters by 20% in preference, that yields a 4% gain for Republicans in the overall vote. With many districts split close to 50/50, a four-point pickup is huge. We’ve already seen this dynamic with Republican gains in seats on the Texas/Mexican border that were solidly Democratic until this year.

  The same trend is clear in the African-American community. They are 12% of the electorate and vote about 90% Democrat. However, recent voting results and polls show that the African-American vote could go as much as 20% for Republicans this time.

  A 10% gain in a 12% community adds another 1.2% to the Republican column. Crime and the economy are the big issues for African-Americans. Combined with the Hispanic shift, this could put over five percentage points in the Republican column, enough to tip a lot of close races to Republicans.

  The second trend that could push the results away from statistical tendencies is Biden’s very low approval ratings. Right now, Biden’s approval rating is 41.8% based on the average of 11 major polls. However, the polls contained in the average include some conducted as long ago as Aug. 15 (Marist) or Aug. 12 (NBC News) when Biden was riding high based on some legislative accomplishments.

  The more recent polls show Biden at 38% approval (Reuters, Aug, 30). So it is likely that Biden is in a real-time downtrend back toward the 39% level he held most of the summer.

  Based on these idiosyncratic variables, it seems reasonable to push the expectation of 241 Republicans and 189 Democrats to an adjusted result of 245 Republicans to 185 Democrats, a 34-seat gain for Republicans, leading to a 60-seat Republican majority.

  In summary, my forecast for the 2022 midterm House result as of now is: Republicans – 245 seats, Democrats – 190 seats.

  Forecasting the outcome in the Senate is both easier and harder than forecasting the House. It’s easier because there are fewer races and even fewer contests that are genuinely competitive. It’s harder because the smaller sample size makes it more difficult to use statistical methods. We have to go state by state and candidate by candidate to produce an accurate forecast.

  The Senate has 100 members, two from each state. The current split is 50 Democrats/independents and 50 Republicans. Under the Constitution, the president of the Senate, Kamala Harris (the vice president), can break a tie vote.

  This puts the Democrats in control of the Senate even with the 50/50 split.

  There are 35 Senate seats in play this election. The Republicans are at a slight disadvantage going in because they currently hold 21 of the 35 seats being contested, whereas the Democrats only have to defend 14 seats. The good news for Republicans is that 16 of the 21 seats they are defending are rated “Solid” or “Likely” to stay Republican by The Cook Political Report.

  The Democrats have nine out of 14 seats they are defending rated “Solid” or “Likely.” This means that only 10 of the 35 Senate seats in this election are truly competitive. Control of the Senate will come down to those 10. The Republicans and Democrats currently hold five of the competitive seats each.

  To control the Senate, either party has to hold their five competitive seats and take one from the other party. If you lose a seat, you have to pick up another just to stay even. It’s that close.

  My current best estimate is that Republicans will retain Florida, North Carolina and Ohio. Likewise, the Democrats should retain their seats in Colorado and New Hampshire. This means control of the Senate comes down to Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

  If that list seems familiar it should. Those were the same five states that were hotly contested in the 2020 presidential race. All five went for Biden. Although those remaining races are all close, I rate Nevada and Georgia as wins for Republicans.

  Those two wins represent a pickup of two Senate seats for Republicans since both are currently held by Democrat incumbents. I rate Arizona a win for Mark Kelly, which is a hold for the Democrats.

  Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are both extremely close, but right now one would have to rate those as wins for the Democrats. That’s a pickup of two for the Democrats since both seats are currently held by Republicans.

  If that forecast holds, we’re back to a 50-50 Senate. A few states would change from Democrat to Republican (Nevada and Georgia) or from Republican to Democrat (Wisconsin and Pennsylvania) but the total 50-50 split would be unchanged.

  I have one other forecast: The current forecast will change. They always do when you’re still two months away.

  We could see Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin tip Republican over the next two months. Georgia could remain in the Democratic column. All I can say is I’ll be watching closely and keeping you updated every step of the way.

  A prudent investor would keep an above-average allocation to cash, both to withstand the volatility from potential wild cards and to profit from attractive entry points on certain assets while others are losing fortunes.

  Strap in, it’s going to be a bumpy but fascinating ride.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 20:20

• DOJ Denied Access To Trump Raid Docs After Judge Appoints Special Master
  DOJ Denied Access To Trump Raid Docs After Judge Appoints Special Master

  A special master has been appointed to act as a firewall between the Justice Department and materials seized during an Aug. 8 raid on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.

  

  In a pair of Thursday orders from federal district Judge Aileen Cannon, the DOJ’s motion to access a subset of classified records stored on the Trump property was denied, and a recently retired judge that both the DOJ and Trump’s team agreed on – recently retired Judge Raymond Dearie – will serve as special master.

  

  Raymond has until Nov. 30, 2022 to complete his review.

  Cannon struck down the DOJ’s request for a partial stay of an earlier motion on accessing the seized materials, after lawyers for the government argued that they should be able to review over 100 classified documents taken during the raid – as they are not covered by any claims of personal property or executive privilege.

  That said, Cannon sided with a DOJ request for Trump to pay the full cost associated with a special master.

  “If the court were willing to accept the government’s representations that select portions of the seized materials are—without exception—government property not subject to any privileges, and did not think a special master would serve a meaningful purpose, the court would have denied plaintiff’s special master request,” wrote Cannon. “The court does not find it appropriate to accept the government’s conclusions on these important and disputed issues without further review by a neutral third party in an expedited and orderly fashion.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 20:00

• We Need A Common Understanding Of What 'Capitalism' Means
  We Need A Common Understanding Of What ‘Capitalism’ Means

  Authored by John Bitzan & Clay Routledge via RealClear Wire,

  Almost every day, there is a news story or opinion piece blaming a societal problem on capitalism. A recent one blames capitalism for destroying art, citing Warner Brothers cancelling the release of Batgirl. While sometimes it seems that people are just looking for some kind of scapegoat, there continues to be deep skepticism about capitalism, especially among young Americans. When skeptics and advocates talk about capitalism, are we really speaking the same language when we use the word? Though some critics have a deep understanding of different economic systems, new evidence shows how many are confusing free markets with cronyism. This confusion hinders coherent policy discussions, as well as the future of economic freedom and flourishing.

  

  In what has been referred to as “the hockey stick of human prosperity,” there have been huge advances in human prosperity in the last 200 to 300 years after centuries where the world was extremely poor. To better understand why young adults are so skeptical of capitalism — despite the important role that free markets have played in enabling this prosperity — we conducted a survey of 2,000 students at 130 four-year universities and colleges across the U.S., examining how their conceptions of capitalism relate to their attitudes about it. 

  We found much disagreement among students about what is meant by capitalism. When presented with a free market definition (“property is privately owned, exchange is voluntary, and production and pricing of goods/services are determined by market forces”), a cronyism definition (“corporations utilize grants, special tax breaks, political connections, and special rules that favor them…”), and the option of “I’m not sure,” 49% chose the free market definition, while the remaining 51% chose cronyism (36%) or indicated being unsure (15%).

  This conceptual confusion seems to influence how young people view capitalism. Overall, only 23% of students have a positive view of it, compared to 38% with a negative view. However, among those who define capitalism as cronyism, only 6% have a positive view and 70% have a negative view. For those who define capitalism as free markets, 40% have a positive view and 19% a negative view.

  Moreover, the pessimistic views toward capitalism may be fostered by professors’ views. Of students reporting that professors have expressed views on capitalism, 62% say such views have been negative.

  As pointed out in a recent study by Peter G. Klein and several colleagues, confusing capitalism with cronyism may result in decisions and policies that are harmful to society. They point to other studies which link a number of societal problems often attributed to capitalism — poor child health, weak environmental protection, higher income inequality, poor infrastructure quality — to cronyism instead.

  They also point to an unvirtuous spiral that occurs as a result of such confusion. Policy responses that wrongly target market capitalism result in more government intervention in the economy, which creates even more opportunities and incentives for firms to engage in cronyism. This leads to additional harm and distrust in capitalism.

  Two recent examples illustrate this unvirtuous spiral. Recent supply chain disruptions are at least partially rooted in cronyism, with dockworkers unions fighting port automation for decades and lobbying various governments to prevent it, and with the Jones Act preventing non-U.S. owned, built, and crewed ships from transporting goods between U.S. waterway ports.  This has led to calls for “reshoring” with trade tariffs and corporate giveaways to bring supply chains “back home.” Not only do such policies harm consumers and taxpayers, they incentivize firms to engage in lobbying to make sure the “wrong” products are charged tariffs and the “right” ones receive subsidies — a recipe for more of the type of government favoritism that sours the reputation of capitalism. One needs to look no further than the tariffs imposed on steel, aluminum, and Chinese products by the Trump administration to see how they can encourage lobbying and harm small businesses.

  As another example, the important role played by cronyism in hindering the technological progress and institutions needed to combat climate change in developing countries has been ignored by those blaming capitalism for the problem. Policies for combatting climate change have amounted to favoring one technology over others through subsidies, banning other tech, and micromanaging which solution is best through regulations such as building codes. Again, this type of intervention necessarily favors some businesses over other, potentially more environmentally friendly ones, and invites the political lobbying that characterizes cronyism. A great example of this type of cronyism and its implications is the failed Solyndra, a company that went bankrupt shortly after being given $535 million in loans in the Obama administration, where political lobbying played a huge role. Such lobbying incentives are eventually blamed on “capitalism” and further intervention will be sought.

  There are many more such examples. To the extent that we fail to distinguish capitalism from cronyism and treat the wrong disease, we’ll get more cronyism and distrust of honest capitalism will only grow. And however one feels about market capitalism, if America is to continue as the world’s largest economy and a hub of experimentation, innovation, and opportunity, plenty of it will be necessary. This requires, at the very least, a common understanding.

  We believe this effort needs to start in universities, the institutions responsible for forming many of our future leaders. The results of our survey suggest there is much work to be done.

  John Bitzan is Menard Family Director of the Sheila and Robert Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth, North Dakota State University.

  Clay Routledge is Vice President of Research and Director of the Human Flourishing Lab at the Archbridge Institute.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 19:40

• Tesla Mulling Chinese Retail Model Reset, Including Moving Showrooms Out Of Large Cities Like Beijing
  Tesla Mulling Chinese Retail Model Reset, Including Moving Showrooms Out Of Large Cities Like Beijing

  In a move we’re absolutely sure has nothing to do with rising tensions between the West and China and/or perpetual Covid lockdowns, Tesla is reportedly mulling a “reset” for its retail strategy in the country. 

  Tesla is “reevaluating the way it sells electric cars in China” and even considering closing some of its showrooms in malls in major cities like Beijing, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing Reuters. 

  Tesla appears to be looking for ways to cut its costs while, at the same time, addressing its years-long issue of not being able to provide adequate customer service. The idea for moving its retail locations is reportedly to put more emphasis on stores in less costly areas where it is easier to provide support.

  For now it appears that Tesla isn’t removing any of their footprint from China, just relocating it. The report says that the company is looking to add staff, with its China recruitment website showing more than 300 openings for service jobs this week. 

  Recall, it looks like business is back to usual in China, as we reported last week that Tesla had delivered 76,965 vehicles in China for August after its Shanghai factory returned to normal operations. 

  

  The automaker delivered 76,965 China-made vehicles in August, which was up 172.8% from the month prior. Data from the China Passenger Car Association showed that the automaker sold 34,502 cars in China and exported 42,463 vehicles. 

  The numbers come even as battery maker CATL had to shut down part of its operations due to power restriction constraints during the month, Reuters reported. CATL’s Yibin plant supplies battery cells to Tesla Shanghai. 

  The stark difference in month-over-month numbers comes as China’s Shanghai plant was down for a planned upgrade for most of July. Recall, deliveries in China had crashed -64.2% heading into the month of August. 

  We noted then that if the trend continued into August, there would be cause for alarm, but August’s numbers look as though the planned shutdowns are finally in the past. Production was halted to upgrade the factory’s Model 3 and Model Y lines.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 19:20

• Locals In North Dakota Oppose Massive Corn Mill Project By Chinese Company
  Locals In North Dakota Oppose Massive Corn Mill Project By Chinese Company

  Authored by Allan Stein via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  One by one, residents opposed to a corn mill investment by a Chinese company with reputed ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) through its chairman, got up to chastise the mayor and city council of Grand Forks, North Dakota.

  “You guys are the scariest people I know. You are willing to endanger this city, the people, the country, and this nation,” said Dennis Kadlec, an outspoken critic of the project.

  

  He believes city officials have ignored residents’ concerns over the project and the flag they serve.

  “This is a republic. Please treat it as such,” Kadlec said.

  

  Kadlec’s accusations of inaction and secrecy on the part of city officials seemed to resonate with other concerned citizens at the city council meeting on Sept. 6.

  The group views the corn mill as a potential Chinese spying operation and a threat to the environment and municipal resources.

  Some residents see divisions over the project worsening in a close-knit agricultural community of 56,000, where sugar beets and wheat—not corn—are king.

  The city of Grand Forks is not a significant producer of corn, either, straddling the Minnesota border about 75 miles south of Canada, where winter temperatures can drop to well below zero.

  So the question arises: why would a Chinese company build a corn mill in Grand Forks when harvest volumes are so low?

  Critics who fear Chinese espionage say one needs to look no further than Grand Forks Air Force Base, about 12 miles away. The base stores and tests the military’s sensitive drone, satellite, and surveillance technology.

  However, city officials supporting the corn mill see the project as an economic opportunity too good to pass up. As the most significant single capital investment in the city’s history, it promises 230 permanent high-paying jobs, higher corn prices for regional growers, and other long-term benefits.

  Fufeng USA, the American subsidiary of Fufeng Group, wants to build on 370 acres it acquired that would add millions in sales and property tax revenues and improve city infrastructure.

  The “wet corn” mill would employ thousands of workers during construction and, in operation, extract ingredients used to produce animal feed products for sale in the domestic market.

  At least on paper, the project looks and sounds good.

  What doesn’t sit well with project opponents is the parent company, Fufeng Group, which is based in Shandong Province in China. The company has reputed links with the CCP through its chairman and controlling shareholder, Li Xuechun.

  Many residents opposed to the corn mill also feel the city has been translucent in moving the project along, voting to annex land without proper notice to business abutters to sell to Fufeng USA.

  Some residents have felt so neglected by the local powers that Jodi Carlson and several others recently formed the Concerned Citizens of Fufeng Project in Grand Forks.

  The public group has nearly 3,000 followers on Facebook and vehemently opposes the corn mill project.

  Group meetings have become “very contentious,” Carlson told The Epoch Times, “primarily because we’re just tired. The city council continues to say they’ve answered our questions and haven’t. We still have a lot of questions.”

  One question is what Fufeng USA plans to do with 250 acres not listed in the development plan, Carlson said.

  “We don’t know what’s going to happen with that. We think we have a right [to know], especially since it’s a foreign interest. We don’t think [the city council] vetted it properly. We have a lot of concerns.”

  Two U.S. Senators representing North Dakota have raised alarm bells over potential national security issues surrounding the Fufeng USA project amid building tensions between the United States and China over Taiwan.

  City officials reportedly vowed to stop the project should China invade Taiwan.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 19:00

• Philadelphia 'Soda Tax' Completely Backfired: Study
  Philadelphia ‘Soda Tax’ Completely Backfired: Study

  A new study shows that Philadelphia’s ‘soda tax’ on sugary drinks completely backfired. 

  

  According to researchers from the University of Georgia conducted five years after city lawmakers imposed a 1.5c per ounce tax on sugary drinks, demand for sugary drinks did drop by around 31% – however consumers simply turned to other sweets, or traveled to nearby towns to buy soda according to UGA Today.

  People shopping for sodas outside city limits canceled out almost 40% of the decrease in sugar-sweetened beverage purchases.

  Additionally, the soda pop tax actually led to about a 4% increase in purchases of other high-sugar goods in Philadelphia and in neighboring towns. But compared to the sugar decrease from sodas in Philadelphia, additional sweetened food purchases offset an additional 40%.

  “Can we influence behavior through taxation? Yes, but only if you enact a policy at broader levels of government, such as at the state or national level that prevents people from cross-border shopping,” said the study’s lead author, Felipe Lozano-Rojas, an assistant professor in the School of Public and International Affairs.

  Using nearly four years of data from Nielsen Retail Scanner Data aggregates checkout scanner statistics from participating stores across the country, researchers analyzed over 804 million weekly reports on purchases of sugary foods and sugar-sweetened beverages.

  What’s more, the soda tax disproportionately affected low-income individuals, as such taxes always do.

  “You probably don’t need to run a complicated statistical analysis to know that if somebody charges you more, then you buy less,” said Lozano-Rojas. “But it’s a double-edged sword from the standpoint of who is going to carry the burden of that tax. Low-income groups are going to be disproportionately affected.”

  Previous research has shown people with lower socioeconomic status tend to spend a higher amount of their pay on sugar-sweetened beverages. And the tax burden hits them harder than people who can afford the additional cost to continue purchasing their favorite drink.

  Some experts may argue the taxes are working if they curb consumption and improve health. But there isn’t much definitive research on how soda taxes affect health outcomes in communities, Lozano-Rojas said. -UGA Today

  “If we were to subsidize healthier options, especially for these groups, the tax might work better,” said Lozano-Rojas. “Subsidizing water, making it more accessible, particularly in places where tap water is not drinkable, these are things that might make going with the healthier choice easier. I think this issue requires more of a magnifying glass into these populations to determine the causes driving excessive sugar-sweetened beverage consumption.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 18:40

• States To Ban Gas-Powered Cars Despite Human And Environmental Cost Of Electric Vehicles
  States To Ban Gas-Powered Cars Despite Human And Environmental Cost Of Electric Vehicles

  Authored by Katie Spence via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  In Chile’s Salar de Atacama, locals watch helplessly as their ancestral lands wither and die, their precious water resources evaporating in salar brines.

  In the Democratic Republic of Congo, hope for a better life dissolves as well-funded Ugandan-led extremist groups force children as young as six into cobalt mines.

  Closer to home, Nevada’s Fort McDermitt Tribe and local ranchers fight to protect a sacred burial site and agricultural lands set to be sacrificed by Lithium Nevada, a mining company, in the coming days.

  Meanwhile, in California and other states, politicians like Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) pat themselves on the back for their “aggressive” environmental stance and boast that their gas-powered vehicle bans are leading “the revolution towards our zero-emission transportation future.”

  

  The Hidden Costs

  According to politicians like Newsom and President Joe Biden, electric vehicles are “zero-emission” because they use lithium-ion batteries—consisting of lithium, cobalt, graphite, and other materials—instead of gas.

  Thus, starting in 2035, California will ban gas-powered vehicle sales, while several other states plan to follow suit, citing the embargo as a “critical milestone in our climate fight,” on Twitter.

  Additionally, according to a statement from Biden, banning gas-powered vehicles will “save consumers money, cut pollution, boost public health, advance environmental justice, and tackle the climate crisis.”

  Disagreeing with such claims, John Hadder, director of the Great Basin Resource Watch, pointed out to The Epoch Times that “industrial” nations might benefit from the electric vehicle transition but it’s at the expense of others.

  

  “This expansion of [lithium] mining will have immediate consequences for front-line communities that are taking the ‘hit.’”

  For example, Copiapó, the capital of Chile’s Atacama region, is the location of one of the world’s largest known lithium reserves.

  “We used to have a river before that now doesn’t exist. There isn’t a drop of water,” Elena Rivera Cardoso, president of the Indigenous Colla community of the Copiapó commune, told the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

  She added that all of Chile’s water is disappearing because of the local lithium mine. “In all of Chile, there are rivers and lakes that have disappeared—all because a company has a lot more right to water than we do as human beings or citizens of Chile.”

  

  In collaboration with Cardosa’s statement, the Institute for Energy Research reports that 65 percent of the area’s limited water resources evaporate in salar brines.

  That’s displacing indigenous communities who have called Atacama home for over 6,000 years because farmers and ranchers have cracked, dry soil, and no choice but to abandon their ancestral settlements, according to the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

  Mine Proposed in Northern Nevada

  Saying goodbye to an ancestral homeland as a local lithium mine destroys it is something the communities in Northern Nevada are fighting to avoid.

  “The agricultural communities on either side of the pass are likely to be changed forever,” Hadder told The Epoch Times. “The [Thacker Pass mine] could affect their ability to farm and ranch in the area. The air quality will decrease … and increased water scarcity is likely.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 18:20

• Pelosi Going To Armenia As Death Toll Rises In Azerbaijan Border Fighting
  Pelosi Going To Armenia As Death Toll Rises In Azerbaijan Border Fighting

  A tenuous ceasefire along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border appears to have held since it was enacted at 8pm local time (16:00 GMT) on Wednesday, but the death toll has risen in this biggest flare-up in fighting since the Nagorno-Karabakh war of 2020.

  As of Thursday, after two days of fierce shelling the total death toll stands at 176 soldiers killed, with Armenia saying 105 of its troops were killed, and Azerbaijan counting 71 deaths among its forces. Each side blames the other for starting the fresh clashes. 

  

  The United Nations praised the two sides reaching a ceasefire, with a statement saying, “The international community must remain fully committed to a peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan and spare no effort to de-escalate the current tensions, bring the parties back to the negotiation table and help them achieve peace and stability in the region.”

  Politico is reporting that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will travel Armenia this weekend in a show of support for the country and to work toward ensuring a peace holds. She’s expected to meet with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan, following the G-7 Speakers’ Summit in Berlin. 

  She’s expected to travel with Armenian-American Congress member Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.). Politico observes that “It will be the speaker’s latest dramatic foreign trip following her contentious arrival in Taiwan last month. With the midterms approaching — and the possibility that she will lose the gavel if Republicans return to the majority — the belief in Washington is that Pelosi wants to cement her legacy as a champion of human rights, not only in the United States but around the world.”

  While citing two anonymous officials who confirmed plans for the trip, there hasn’t been official verification from either Pelosi nor Speier’s offices “due to longstanding security protocols.”

  German independent MEP Martin Sonnebom addressing Ursula von der Leyen:

  In order to break with a gas supplier who is waging a brutal war of aggression – Putin – you have found us another one who is waging a brutal war of aggression – Aliyev. 1/#Azerbaijan #Armenia #EU pic.twitter.com/VnA9wmTv70

  — History of the Armenian People (@historyarmenia) September 14, 2022

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  Complicating matters regarding boiling border tensions, there are still several hundred Russian peacekeeping troops in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, as part of the settlement from the last round of fighting centered there. This peacekeeping mission is now in doubt, and Russia’s major base in Armenia territory is said to be on “high alert”. 

  Azerbaijan previously “necessary response measures” by military units stationed at the border on Wednesday just before a ceasefire took hold. That’s when Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan told Reuters “the clashes could escalate into a war – a second major armed conflict in the former Soviet Union while Russia’s military is focused on the invasion of Ukraine.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 09/15/2022 – 18:00

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• Whitehead: All The Ways In Which Our Rights Have Been Usurped
  Whitehead: All The Ways In Which Our Rights Have Been Usurped

  Authored by John and Nisha Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,

  “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”

  – Abraham Lincoln

  It’s easy to become discouraged about the state of our nation.

  We’re drowning under the weight of too much debt, too many wars, too much power in the hands of a centralized government, too many militarized police, too many laws, too many lobbyists, and generally too much bad news.

  It’s harder to believe that change is possible, that the system can be reformed, that politicians can be principled, that courts can be just, that good can overcome evil, and that freedom will prevail.

  So where does that leave us?

  Benjamin Franklin provided the answer. As the delegates to the Constitutional Convention trudged out of Independence Hall on September 17, 1787, an anxious woman in the crowd waiting at the entrance inquired of Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” “A republic,” Franklin replied, “if you can keep it.”

  What Franklin meant, of course, is that when all is said and done, we get the government we deserve.

  Those who gave us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights believed that the government exists at the behest of its citizens. It is there to protect, defend and even enhance our freedoms, not violate them.

  Unfortunately, although the Bill of Rights was adopted as a means of protecting the people against government tyranny, in America today, the government does whatever it wants, freedom be damned.

  “We the people” have been terrorized, traumatized, and tricked into a semi-permanent state of compliance by a government that cares nothing for our lives or our liberties.

  The bogeyman’s names and faces have changed over time (terrorism, the war on drugs, illegal immigration, a viral pandemic, and more to come), but the end result remains the same: in the so-called name of national security, the Constitution has been steadily chipped away at, undermined, eroded, whittled down, and generally discarded with the support of Congress, the White House, and the courts.

  A recitation of the Bill of Rights—set against a backdrop of government surveillance, militarized police, SWAT team raids, asset forfeiture, eminent domain, overcriminalization, armed surveillance drones, whole body scanners, stop and frisk searches, vaccine mandates, lockdowns, and the like (all sanctioned by Congress, the White House, and the courts)—would understandably sound more like a eulogy to freedoms lost than an affirmation of rights we truly possess.

  What we are left with today is but a shadow of the robust document adopted more than two centuries ago. Sadly, most of the damage has been inflicted upon the Bill of Rights.

  Here is what it means to live under the Constitution, twenty-plus years after 9/11 and with the nation just emerging from two years of COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates.

  The First Amendment is supposed to protect the freedom to speak your mind, assemble and protest nonviolently without being bridled by the government. It also protects the freedom of the media, as well as the right to worship and pray without interference. In other words, Americans should not be silenced by the government. To the founders, all of America was a free speech zone.

  Despite the clear protections found in the First Amendment, the freedoms described therein are under constant assault. Increasingly, Americans are being persecuted for exercising their First Amendment rights and speaking out against government corruption. Activists are being arrested and charged for daring to film police officers engaged in harassment or abusive practices. Journalists are being prosecuted for reporting on whistleblowers. States are passing legislation to muzzle reporting on cruel and abusive corporate practices. Religious ministries are being fined for attempting to feed and house the homeless. Protesters are being tear-gassed, beaten, arrested and forced into “free speech zones.” And under the guise of “government speech,” the courts have reasoned that the government can discriminate freely against any First Amendment activity that takes place within a so-called government forum.

  The Second Amendment was intended to guarantee “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” Essentially, this amendment was intended to give the citizenry the means to resist tyrannical government. Yet while gun ownership has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as an individual citizen right, Americans remain powerless to defend themselves against red flag gun laws, militarized police, SWAT team raids, and government agencies armed to the teeth with military weapons better suited to the battlefield.

  The Third Amendment reinforces the principle that civilian-elected officials are superior to the military by prohibiting the military from entering any citizen’s home without “the consent of the owner.” With the police increasingly training like the military, acting like the military, and posing as military forces—complete with heavily armed SWAT teams, military weapons, assault vehicles, etc.—it is clear that we now have what the founders feared most—a standing army on American soil.

  The Fourth Amendment prohibits government agents from conducting surveillance on you or touching you or encroaching on your private property unless they have evidence that you’re up to something criminal. In other words, the Fourth Amendment ensures privacy and bodily integrity. Unfortunately, the Fourth Amendment has suffered the greatest damage in recent years and has been all but eviscerated by an unwarranted expansion of governmental police powers that include strip searches and even anal and vaginal searches of citizens, surveillance (corporate and otherwise), and intrusions justified in the name of fighting terrorism, as well as the outsourcing of otherwise illegal activities to private contractors.

  The Fifth Amendment and the Sixth Amendment work in tandem. These amendments supposedly ensure that you are innocent until proven guilty, and government authorities cannot deprive you of your life, your liberty or your property without the right to an attorney and a fair trial before a civilian judge. However, in the new suspect society in which we live, where surveillance is the norm, these fundamental principles have been upended. Certainly, if the government can arbitrarily freeze, seize or lay claim to your property (money, land or possessions) under government asset forfeiture schemes, you have no true rights.

  The Seventh Amendment guarantees citizens the right to a jury trial. Yet when the populace has no idea of what’s in the Constitution—civic education has virtually disappeared from most school curriculums—that inevitably translates to an ignorant jury incapable of distinguishing justice and the law from their own preconceived notions and fears. However, as a growing number of citizens are coming to realize, the power of the jury to nullify the government’s actions—and thereby help balance the scales of justice—is not to be underestimated. Jury nullification reminds the government that “we the people” retain the power to ultimately determine what laws are just.

  The Eighth Amendment is similar to the Sixth in that it is supposed to protect the rights of the accused and forbid the use of cruel and unusual punishment. However, the Supreme Court’s determination that what constitutes “cruel and unusual” should be dependent on the “evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society” leaves us with little protection in the face of a society lacking in morals altogether.

  The Ninth Amendment provides that other rights not enumerated in the Constitution are nonetheless retained by the people. Popular sovereignty—the belief that the power to govern flows upward from the people rather than downward from the rulers—is clearly evident in this amendment. However, it has since been turned on its head by a centralized federal government that sees itself as supreme and which continues to pass more and more laws that restrict our freedoms under the pretext that it has an “important government interest” in doing so.

  As for the Tenth Amendment’s reminder that the people and the states retain every authority that is not otherwise mentioned in the Constitution, that assurance of a system of government in which power is divided among local, state and national entities has long since been rendered moot by the centralized Washington, DC, power elite—the president, Congress and the courts.

  Thus, if there is any sense to be made from this recitation of freedoms lost, it is simply this: our individual freedoms have been eviscerated so that the government’s powers could be expanded.

  It was no idle happenstance that the Constitution opens with these three powerful words: “We the people.” As the Preamble proclaims:

  We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the United States of America.

  In other words, it’s our job to make the government play by the rules of the Constitution.

  We are supposed to be the masters and they—the government and its agents—are the servants.

  We the American people—the citizenry—are supposed to be the arbiters and ultimate guardians of America’s welfare, defense, liberty, laws and prosperity.

  Still, it’s hard to be a good citizen if you don’t know anything about your rights or how the government is supposed to operate.

  As the National Review rightly asks, “How can Americans possibly make intelligent and informed political choices if they don’t understand the fundamental structure of their government? American citizens have the right to self-government, but it seems that we increasingly lack the capacity for it.”

  Americans are constitutionally illiterate.

  Most citizens have little, if any, knowledge about their basic rights. And our educational system does a poor job of teaching the basic freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. For instance, a survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that a little more than one-third of respondents (36 percent) could name all three branches of the U.S. government, while another one-third (35 percent) could not name a single one.

  A survey by the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that only one out of a thousand adults could identify the five rights protected by the First Amendment. On the other hand, more than half (52%) of the respondents could name at least two of the characters in the animated Simpsons television family, and 20% could name all five. And although half could name none of the freedoms in the First Amendment, a majority (54%) could name at least one of the three judges on the TV program American Idol, 41% could name two and one-fourth could name all three.

  It gets worse.

  Many who responded to the survey had a strange conception of what was in the First Amendment. For example, a startling number of respondents believed that the “right to own a pet” and the “right to drive a car” were part of the First Amendment. Another 38% believed that “taking the Fifth” was part of the First Amendment.

  Teachers and school administrators do not fare much better. A study conducted by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis found that one educator in five was unable to name any of the freedoms in the First Amendment.

  Government leaders and politicians are also ill-informed. Although they take an oath to uphold, support and defend the Constitution against “enemies foreign and domestic,” their lack of education about our fundamental rights often causes them to be enemies of the Bill of Rights.

  So what’s the solution?

  Thomas Jefferson recognized that a citizenry educated on “their rights, interests, and duties”  is the only real assurance that freedom will survive.

  As Jefferson wrote in 1820: “I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of our society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.”

  From the President on down, anyone taking public office should have a working knowledge of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and should be held accountable for upholding their precepts. One way to ensure this would be to require government leaders to take a course on the Constitution and pass a thorough examination thereof before being allowed to take office.

  Some critics are advocating that students pass the United States citizenship exam in order to graduate from high school. Others recommend that it must be a prerequisite for attending college. I’d go so far as to argue that students should have to pass the citizenship exam before graduating from grade school.

  Here’s an idea to get educated and take a stand for freedom: anyone who signs up to become a member of The Rutherford Institute gets a wallet-sized Bill of Rights card and a Know Your Rights card. Use this card to teach your children the freedoms found in the Bill of Rights.

  A healthy, representative government is hard work. It takes a citizenry that is informed about the issues, educated about how the government operates, and willing to do more than grouse and complain.

  As I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, “we the people” have the power to make and break the government.

  

  The powers-that-be want us to remain divided over politics, hostile to those with whom we disagree politically, and intolerant of anyone or anything whose solutions to what ails this country differ from our own. They also want us to believe that our job as citizens begins and ends on Election Day.

  Yet there are 330 million of us in this country. Imagine what we could accomplish if we actually worked together, presented a united front, and spoke with one voice.

  Tyranny wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 23:40

• Watch: US Army Conducts 'Drone Swarm' Exercise With Armed Quadcopters
  Watch: US Army Conducts ‘Drone Swarm’ Exercise With Armed Quadcopters

  While unmanned aerial vehicles such as the multi-million dollar General Atomics MQ-1 Predator are armed with missiles, a new generation of inexpensive “kamikaze” drones is reshaping the battlefield. 

  The US military worries that these low-cost and deadly-effective drones could shift the global strategic balance away from the US on the modern battlefield.

  To counter such emerging threats, the Army decided to conduct a field training exercise involving “a swarm of 40 quadcopters all equipped with cameras, MILES, and lethal munition,” tweeted the Commanding General of the National Training Center and Fort Irwin.

  

  The startling video (tweeted on Sunday evening) shows the quadcopters zooming by what appears to be a makeshift desert town. There was no confirmation on location though it could’ve been at the Fort Irwin training facility in southern California. There was also no confirmation of when the training exercise was conducted. 

  At sunrise this morning a swarm of 40 quadcopters all equipped with cameras, MILES, and lethal munition capable launched in advance of 11th ACR’s attack on a prepared defense by 1AD. Drones will be as important in the first battle of the next war as artillery is today. pic.twitter.com/zPQ2I8SoqN

  — NTC Lead 6 (@NTCLead6) September 11, 2022

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  “Drones will be as important in the first battle of the next war as artillery is today,” the Army’s Twitter account concluded. 

  Perhaps the Army has discovered the same quadcopters bought on Amazon have been powerful tools in the war against Russia in Ukraine. The weaponization of such drones is even more powerful as some have been turned into suicide drones. 

  The Pentagon has supplied Ukraine with over 700 Switchblade “kamikaze” military drones. The future of warfare appears to be clear to the Army: small suicide drones for precision strikes will be necessary on any modern battlefield. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 23:20

• National Security Threat: China's Eyes In America
  National Security Threat: China’s Eyes In America

  Authored by Peter Schweizer via The Epoch Times,

  Chinese intelligence gathering in the US takes many forms and has different purposes. Most Americans are familiar with some of their means and tactics, but not with how widespread and persistent they are.

  Americans may know about the malware contained in that infernal TikTok app that their children use. They may know the Chinese military’s cyber-intelligence service was likely behind many of the largest hacks of Americans’ personal data that have ever occurred. They may know from the news how US defense and intelligence policy have sanctioned Chinese telecom giant Huawei, and counseled America’s allies to reject Chinese-architected implementations of 5G networking, due to evidence that China has planted backdoors in commercial networking equipment designed to allow the Communist regime in Beijing to conduct surveillance and cyber-espionage anywhere in the world.

  Do they know it extends to consumer-level drones?

  

  Cybersecurity expert Klon Kitchen, writing for The Dispatch, recently detailed the problem with DJI, the Chinese company whose consumer and commercial grade drones control nearly 90% of the market.

  These popular products are cost-effective, easy to fly and operate, and send every byte of data they gather to servers in China.

  For this reason, they are banned by the US military and Department of Homeland Security, though still used by the FBI and increasingly by local police as “eyes in the sky” during crime events.

  FBI use of DJI drones is especially ironic considering bureau director Christopher Wray has warned often of the dangers to western commerce posed by the Chinese, most recently in London.

  The excellent reporting on DJI by Kitchen tracks efforts by the company to lobby against passage of a bill called the American Security Drone Act (ASDA), now before Congress, to outlaw federal government use of DJI products entirely. What is the risk? Not only the data gathered by the drones themselves, but everything collected by the mobile app with which users control their drones and manage their DJI accounts. Like many other mobile applications, this includes a user’s contacts, photos, GPS location, and online activities.

  To repeat: Every DJI drone in the skies above America is as good as a hovering Chinese spy.

  Like other Chinese government-controlled companies such as Huawei and Hikvision, makers of the artificial intelligence systems used in facial recognition and in the repression of China’s Uyghur minority, DJI is adept at playing the Washington game. The company is engaged in a fierce lobbying effort to prevent passage of the ASDA bill. So fierce that they have enlisted police officers from local jurisdictions to come to Washington and lobby congressional staffers about how great DJI drones are for their cash-strapped local forces. As Kitchen points out, the ASDA bill is directed only towards a federal ban on these drones, but DJI lobbyists from firms like Squire Patton Boggs, Cassidy & Associates, and CLS Strategies are taking no chances. The company spent $2.2 million in lobbying efforts in 2020 and $1.4 million last year on lobbying activities, according to OpenSecrets.org.

  These lobbyists are using the classic argument that it would be wrong to ban the federal government’s use of our product because so many other people are using it. This is doubtless the dilemma currently facing the app stores of Apple and Google regarding the TikTok app, another Chinese product. The TikTok app has been identified by cybersecurity professionals as containing a keystroke logger, and both Apple and Google have been pressured by the Federal Communications Commission to remove it from their app stores. “Can we really ban something that so many people are happily using?” they must be asking themselves.

  Therein lies the heart of the Chinese approach. TikTok was a mobile device application that no one was asking for, yet it became an overnight sensation in most western countries. We really must acknowledge, and grudgingly admire, the brilliant insight shown by the app’s creator company, Chinese-government-controlled ByteDance, into the psyche of large numbers of young, western people. The TikTok app, pitched initially as a way to share and watch silly dance video clips, has been adopted by younger “woke” schoolteachers to “out” themselves as scheming, haranguing social justice warriors intent on smuggling sexual ideology into their classrooms and bragging about it.

  This adds some context to Republican Sen. Rob Portman’s (R-OH) exasperation at a Senate hearing about the ASDA legislation, where he said:

  “Again, given what the FBI has told us, what the Commerce Department has told us, what we know from reports, I can’t believe we have to write legislation to force US agencies to ban the use of Chinese-made drones, particularly where the servers are in China, where the Chinese government is a part owner and a supporter of this particular company.”

  The Chinese approach is to “capture” elite institutions and individuals in the US: politicians, leading universities, large pension funds, social media, and Hollywood among them. My latest book, Red Handed, documents this capture in the areas of politics, diplomatic and business consulting, Big Tech, academia, and on Wall Street. There is insight in the Soviet-era statement, attributed to Lenin, about capitalists “selling us the rope with which to hang them.” Yet, it is the Chinese that understood how to sell the rope at a good price.

  Much as they are doing with products such as solar panels, the Chinese realize that cornering the market in an area where reach equals access is critical to their long-term plans to dominate. Their pattern includes stealing technology they cannot create themselves and using any means available to aid in that theft. Therefore, every bit of access to information they can scour is of more value to them than the product used to get it.

  Understanding these patterns is crucial to recognizing that the Chinese do this to their own people as well. As Gordon Chang’s recent piece for the Gatestone Institute discusses, the Chinese Communist Party maintains tight control of Chinese people overseas through many different forms of what we may baldly call blackmail. The many stories of intimidation of Chinese students and academics in the US who speak up about human rights abuses by China, or in support for democracy in Hong Kong and Taiwanese independence, all demonstrate this.

  Universities have put up with this in exchange for foreign funds for decades. They are only recently being confronted by the costs of this indulgence. For example, the former chairman of Harvard University’s Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department was convicted by a federal jury for lying to federal authorities about his affiliation with the People’s Republic of China’s Thousand Talents Program and the Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) in Wuhan, China, as well as failing to report income he received from WUT.

  The Wilson Center, a bipartisan think tank in Washington, reported in 2017 that a small community of PRC students and diplomats have engaged in intimidation tactics ranging from intelligence gathering to financial retaliation. “A Preliminary Study of PRC Political Influence and Interference Activities in American Higher Education” examines PRC influence in American universities.

  It was just those sorts of concerns that led the Trump administration to create the “China Initiative” within the Justice Department in 2018. This effort generated plenty of convictions of Chinese nationals in the US for technology theft and other forms of industrial espionage. The Biden administration ended the program this year, citing concerns that a broader approach was needed and in response to lobbying by Asian American groups that it unfairly targeted scientists with connections to China. Further, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen also said he heard concerns from the academic community that prosecutions of researchers for grant fraud and other charges was having a “chilling effect.”

  Be that as it may, China’s strategy has for years hinged on infiltration by some Chinese scientists and researchers working abroad in the US and other western nations, with threats against their Chinese relatives as leverage for them to do so. This will remain a counter-intelligence problem regardless of what the effort to expose it is called.

  It is all part of the pattern.

  Call it sabotage by remote control.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 23:00

• US, Ukraine Are In Talks To Transfer Fighter Jets & Longer-Range Missiles
  US, Ukraine Are In Talks To Transfer Fighter Jets & Longer-Range Missiles

  The US and its allies are in talks over whether to send Ukraine more advanced weapons in the future, including fighter jets, US defense sources have said, according to the Financial Times. The Kharkiv counteroffensive has apparently emboldened Ukrainian officials to press Washington harder for more advanced and longer-range weapons, now that some degree of success in rolling back Russian forces can be demonstrated. 

  The idea is that if Ukraine’s forces can prove they’ve taken back significant territory with what defense systems the US has provided so far, they can ultimately make the case that the whole of the east and south is within their reach – and even the potential to liberate Crimea while they’re at it – if longer range and more advanced arms are made available. 

  

  The Financial Times reports this week that active discussions between the US and Ukraine are underway concerning Kiev’s weapons wish list: 

  A senior US defense official said Washington and its allies were discussing Ukraine’s longer term needs, such as air defenses, and whether it might be appropriate to give Kyiv fighter aircraft in the “medium to longer term”. To date, the US and its allies have declined to do so.

  But interestingly and quite tellingly, the report immediately follows with the acknowledgement that Ukrainian leaders are perhaps naturally incentivize to exaggerate battlefield gains at this moment. Here’s more from the FT as the Pentagon offers a “cautiously optimistic” assessment of Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensives in the east and south: 

  Ukrainian military officials have said in recent days they have taken more than 3,000 sq km of terrain in what has become Moscow’s biggest military setback since it was forced to scrap plans to conquer Kyiv. But late on Monday night President Volodymyr Zelenskyy practically doubled those claims as Ukraine’s forces continued to advance.

  Something Ukraine has additionally long been asking for is longer-range missile systems. A Monday Wall Street Journal report detailed that Kiev is now requesting from the Pentagon the Army’s Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, a surface-to-surface missile system with the capability of reaching about 190 miles. This would be far and beyond the range of missiles transferred to Ukraine thus far in the conflict. 

  The Biden administration in the early months resisted sending longer range missiles, admitting its fears that doing so could draw the US and Russia into direct conflict – given longer range munitions means Ukrainian forces would have the capability of hitting inside Russian territory. This has already happened with Crimea, and even recently with bases inside Russia proper near the border.

  But now US defense officials are looking over a new strategy proposal and weapons request submitted by Valeriy Zaluzhny, the commander in chief of Ukraine’s force. WSJ details of the document:

  They argued that Russia has long-range cruise missiles that greatly outdistance the systems in the Ukrainian inventory. A turning point could come if the Ukrainians also had longer-range systems, they argued, specifically mentioning the ATACMS.

  “The only way to radically change the strategic situation is, without a doubt, for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to launch several consecutive, and ideally, simultaneous counterattacks during the 2023 campaign,” they wrote.

  Currently, the HIMARS systems which are already being provided have a reported max range of 50 miles, and the US administration previously asserted Ukraine had given “guarantees” they wouldn’t be used to target Russian territory. 

  🎥🇺🇦 HIMARS#Russia #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/IDlIkpuCbB

  — BlueSauron👁️ (@Blue_Sauron) September 13, 2022

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  Meanwhile, on Tuesday the White House previewed that yet another fresh arms package for Ukraine is likely to be announced in the coming days. This as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has pledged that NATO allies are ready to support the war against Russia for the “long haul”.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 22:40

• 'Significant Proof' Air Force Discriminated Against Troops Seeking Religious Exemptions To Vaccine Mandate: Court
  ‘Significant Proof’ Air Force Discriminated Against Troops Seeking Religious Exemptions To Vaccine Mandate: Court

  Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Air Force members seeking religious exemptions from the U.S. military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate have provided “significant proof” that the military branch has discriminated against them, a federal appeals court ruled on Sept. 12.

  

  A U.S. district court in July blocked the mandate for thousands of Air Force members who remain unvaccinated and have had their religious exemptions denied or not acted upon. In response, the government asked for an emergency stay. When that was denied, the government went to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, arguing that the ruling was wrong.

  An appeals court panel said in its decision released Monday that plaintiffs had to provide significant proof that the Air Force had a policy to deny all requests for religious exemptions, and all indications are that they have.

  “To establish a general policy … the plaintiffs need not show that the Department rejects 100% of requests for religious exemptions. And the Department’s own statistics show that, as of May 23, 2022, it had rejected more than 99% of them,” U.S. Circuit Judge Raymond Kethledge, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote in the 11-page order.

  “That the Department has granted only a comparative handful of religious exemptions, while granting thousands of medical and administrative ones, is itself at this stage of the case significant proof of discrimination,” he added.

  Kethledge was joined by Circuit Judges Eric Murphy and John K. Bush, both Trump appointees.

  Plaintiffs

  The plaintiffs are all members who sought religious exemptions and were deemed by chaplains to hold sincere religious beliefs, but the military rejected many of their requests anyways. The others haven’t received final decisions but expect to be rejected, based on the treatment of like-minded airmen.

  The group has said that evidence shows the military systemically denied requests for religious exemptions, denying federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

  “This order by the Court of Appeals affirms that the Department of Defense and the Air Force violated religious free exercise rights of service members which is protected under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment,” Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, which is representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

  “This is a great victory for religious freedom, especially for these Air Force service members who love God and love America. These mandates will continue to crumble one by one in the courts,” he added.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 22:20

• Can This Lawsuit Overturn California's 3D-Printed Gun Ban?
  Can This Lawsuit Overturn California’s 3D-Printed Gun Ban?

  In response to the recent signing of AB 1621 into law in California by Governor Gavin Newsom, Pioneers of the 3D Printed Gun, Defense Distributed has filed a pivotal lawsuit.

  This lawsuit, Defense Distributed v. Bonta, could set a precedent for regulating privately made firearms, also known as “Ghost Guns.” 

  AB 1621 criminalizes the purchase, possession, and use of CNC machines & 3D printers to make a firearm or firearm parts. Defense Distributed’s lawsuit challenges the law under the recent Supreme Court decision, NYSRPA v. Bruen.

  In Bruen, the Supreme Court ruled that Second Amendment challenges must be rooted in the amendment’s text, informed by history. In the same ruling, the court struck down the means-end scrutiny test often used by lower courts to uphold State level gun control laws. 

  Defense Distributed claims that there is no historical tradition of regulating the tools or parts used to make private arms. This means there is no historical precedent for California’s ban on CNC Machines & 3D Printers.

  

  The Vice President of the Second Amendment Foundation Alan M. Gottleib had this to say: 

  “What we’re talking about is a milling process, which is common in modern manufacturing of a wide range of products, including firearm frames and receivers. Despite the long-standing tradition of personal firearms manufacture by private citizens, California has now criminalized the process.”

  Additionally, as part of the lawsuit, Defense Distributed also addresses another California law: SB1327.

  SB1327 makes any person who challenges California’s gun laws in court liable to pay the state’s attorney’s fees at any stage of the litigation. It’s a law that the American Civil Liberties Union described as using “flawed logic.” 

  “California responds to the historic Bruen decision by 1) banning your right to make a gun, and 2) booby-trapping their state courts for anyone who’d dare to ask for it back,” explained Cody Wilson, Founder of Defense Distributed, “Yet another example of liberals shredding the 1st Amendment to deny the 2nd.”

  Defense Distributed has an established track record of winning similar cases. In 2018 the Justice Department settled a case with Defense Distributed (Defense Distributed v. United States Department of State), resulting in the publishing of 3D-printed firearms files online.

  Defense Distributed & The Second Amendment Foundation are seeking a Federal Court Injunction against the enforcement of the laws (AB 1621 & SB1327). 

  Here’s Defense Distributed’s lawsuit against California: 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 22:00

• "It's A Horror Show": Bill Gross' "Short Of A Lifetime" Seven Years Later
  “It’s A Horror Show”: Bill Gross’ “Short Of A Lifetime” Seven Years Later

  By Ven Ram, Bloomberg markets live reporter and analyst

  Bill Gross famously remarked in 2015 that bunds represented the short of a lifetime. He was seven years too early.

  To watch German bonds this year has been like witnessing a horror show. Yet, we are only nearing intermission — meaning there is far worse to emerge in the months ahead.

  The European Central Bank raised rates by an emphatic 75 basis points last week and flagged that there was more to come, spurring traders to factor in about 170 basis points of additional tightening. Markets expect the euro-area deposit rate to top out at around 2.35% in the current cycle.

  Even so, that may be underestimating the work required of the ECB to curb inflation.

  A crucial piece of calculus will be to work out where the elusive, unobservable neutral rate is for the ECB. Given a lack of inflation before the pandemic, the euro area’s r* was widely estimated to be between 1% and 2%.

  

  However, in the post-pandemic world that has completely upended the region’s inflation outlook, a nominal neutral rate would perforce be higher than its 2% target assuming that the ECB targets a neutral real rate of at least zero. In fact, given that HICP is currently running at almost 9%, it may be argued that the short-term neutral nominal rate is somewhere between 2.50% and 3%.

  In other words, it is possible that the ECB may raise rates all the way to around 3% should inflation prove to be stubbornly high in the coming quarters, with President Christine Lagarde having commented in May that “a progressive further normalization of interest rates toward the neutral rate will be appropriate.” According to the ECB’s own projections, inflation doesn’t converge to its 2% target even in 2024.

  The benchmark policy rate for the euro area implied by the well-known Taylor Rule is, in fact, around 3.40%. While it may seem unlikely that the ECB will raise rates that high in the current cycle, the rule highlights the scale of the challenge the monetary authority faces. More importantly perhaps, it shows that risks are skewed to the upside.

  All the above mean that two-year German bonds, whose yields have already surged almost 200 basis points this year, are not done with the phenomenal selloff. In fact, the yield may ascend to 2.50% and beyond by the middle of next year should the ECB continue with its tightening as priced by the markets.

  In turn, yields on German 10-year bunds — now around 1.70% after soaring more than 180 basis points this year, may approach around 2.30%, with the lower peak for the longer maturity predicated on an inversion of the yield curve in sympathy with expected weakness in the euro-area economy.

  Given the outlook for the ECB’s rate trajectory, there’s still plenty more downside on German bonds. Bill Gross’s portfolio may be up for it this time around.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 21:40

• US Military Introduces Exoskeleton Suit For Soldiers
  US Military Introduces Exoskeleton Suit For Soldiers

  The US Army is about to receive a lightweight, unpowered exoskeleton suit called the Soldier Assistive Bionic Exosuit for Resupply (SABER), which can increase the strength and endurance of soldiers, DEVCOM Army Public Affairs Office said in a press release. 

  

  SABER weighs just three pounds and is a harness that soldiers strap around their shoulders and legs. All a soldier has to do to activate the suit is press a button on the left shoulder. When activated, the exoskeleton suit reduces stress on soldiers’ backs by more than 100 pounds while lifting all sorts of heavy items, such as ammo boxes, artillery rounds, and .50 caliber machine guns. Testing showed that most soldiers had a 60% increase in endurance while wearing the suit. 

  

  Researchers at Vanderbilt designed SABER and worked with soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division to test exoskeleton suits in heavy-lifting field scenarios. The exosuit addresses the need to reduce injury and fatigue, which are critical to combat readiness. 

  “We spent the first few months focused on interviewing, observing, and spending time with Soldiers.

  “We didn’t try to create Iron Man — a complex, full-body, rigid, unrealistic suit. Instead, we started by deeply understanding Soldier needs to develop a lightweight, low-profile, non-powered wearable tool that helps provide much-needed assistance without slowing Soldiers down or interfering with other operational tasks,” said Dr. Karl Zelik, associate professor of mechanical engineering, Vanderbilt University.

  In the last five years, we’ve kept readers abreast with the Army’s development of exoskeleton suits, including Army Tests New ‘AI-Controlled-Exoskeleton’ Super-Soldier and Army Starts Testing “Ironman-Like” Exoskeleton For Future Hybrid Wars. 

  SABER received high marks after 90% of soldiers who wore the suits after operational field testing in May said they would perform their duties much better. 

  Production of the suits will start in late 2022 by HeroWear, a Nashville-based industrial exosuit manufacturer. The goal is for hundreds of soldiers to be utilizing the suits in 2023. 

  We have noted the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) wants ‘Ironman-like’ suits on the modern battlefield. 

  #FunFactFriday – The Royal Navy has been testing Jet Suit assault teams to determine if the Iron Man-like suits could be used to rapidly swarm and board ships. U.S. Special Operations Command is also evaluating a jetpack that can reach speeds of more than 200 mph. pic.twitter.com/mo5FoGWkDu

  — U.S. Naval Institute (@NavalInstitute) October 16, 2020

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  Maybe a real-life version of Marvel’s Tony Stark jet suit will be fielded within this decade…

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 21:20

• Zelensky Involved In Car Crash, No Serious Injuries
  Zelensky Involved In Car Crash, No Serious Injuries

  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s car collided with another vehicle early Thursday after a battlefield visit, but he was not seriously injured, his spokesman said.

  

  Zelenskyy was returning to Kyiv from the Kharkiv region, where he visited troops in the recaptured city of Izium. A passenger vehicle collided with the president’s motorcade in the Ukrainian capital, his spokesman, Sergii Nikiforov, said in a Facebook post.

  The driver of the other vehicle received first aid from Zelenskyy’s medical team and was hospitalized. Medics examined the president, who suffered no serious injuries and was not taken to a hospital, Nikiforov wrote. He did not specify what injuries Zelenskyy might have suffered.

  The spokesman added that the circumstances of the accident are under investigation.

  The Ukrainian president was accompanied by French celebrity Bernard Henri-Levy.

  Just left #Kryvyi Rih, home town of #Zelennskyy. I hear that #Moscow committed a new war crime. Bombing the dam. Flooding the city. And creating thousands of homeless people. For this, too, #Putin deserves to end his life in a jail. #StamdWithUkraine #SlavaUkraini pic.twitter.com/5fvnf6OZtP

  — Bernard-Henri Lévy (@BHL) September 14, 2022

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  Zelenskyy was late in posting the nightly video address that he has given during the war, possibly because of the car accident, the AP reported.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 21:05

• Ted Cruz Calls To Defund "Biden's Army Of IRS Agents"
  Ted Cruz Calls To Defund “Biden’s Army Of IRS Agents”

  Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has called on his Republican colleagues in Congress to block funding for what he described as “Biden’s army of IRS agents” that the GOP has warned would be used to target Americans earning less than $400,000 a year.

  

  Cruz made the remark in a Sept. 13 statement on social media, which came as President Joe Biden celebrated the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes nearly $46 billion in new funding for IRS enforcement out of the $80 billion or so total funding boost to the tax agency.

  “Every single Republican should commit to not funding Biden’s army of IRS agents,” Cruz said in the statement.

  While Democrats have portrayed the Inflation Reduction Act as an anti-inflationary measure that would lower the cost of healthcare, prescription drugs, and energy, Republicans have argued it would lead to higher energy prices and aggressive IRS audits.

  

  The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building is seen in Washington on Sept. 28, 2020. (Erin Scott/Reuters)

  In an interview on Fox News in which he elaborated on his position, Cruz argued that the extra funding for the tax agency should instead be used to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States.

  “Every single Republican ought to say ‘we will not vote to fund these 87,000 new IRS agents, we’re not going to fund Biden’s army to harass Americans and we’re going to take that money and put it on our southern border to secure our border,‘” Cruz told the outlet.

  Republicans have argued that part of the IRS funding boost would be used to hire 87,000 new IRS agents and that small businesses and Americans making less than $400,000 would be targeted with tax audits.

  Higher Audit Rates?

  Seeking to counter that view, the Biden administration has insisted that people making less than $400,000 a year won’t see higher IRS audit rates.

  Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently insisted Republican claims that tax auditors will target lower- and middle-income Americans at higher rates are politically motivated falsehoods.

  “I direct that any additional resources—including any new personnel or auditors that are hired—shall not be used to increase the share of small business or households below the $400,000 threshold that are audited relative to historical levels,” Yellen said in an Aug. 10 letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig.

  “This means that, contrary to the misinformation from opponents of this legislation, small business or households earning $400,000 per year or less will not see an increase in the chances that they are audited.”

  

  U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks on the state of the U.S. economy during a press conference at the Department of Treasury in Washington, on July 28, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

  Rettig, too, has insisted that the tax agency would “absolutely not” be increasing audit scrutiny on small businesses or middle-income Americans “relative to recent years,” according to the IRS chief’s letter to members of the Senate on Aug. 4 (pdf).

  Yellen’s and Rettig’s position that audit rates wouldn’t rise for those making less than $400,000 has been countered by Rachel Greszler, senior research fellow at the Grover M. Hermann Center.

  In a recent op-ed for The Heritage Foundation, Greszler wrote that “despite the Biden administration’s claims, it’s almost certain that households making less than $400,000 a year would face increased audits” under the Inflation Reduction Act.

  “And despite estimates from official congressional scorekeepers that the Schumer-Manchin-Biden tax increase indeed would raise taxes on those Americans, the administration has doubled down on the claim,” she added.

  Congressional Republicans on Sept. 12 introduced a bill seeking to prevent the IRS from using the $80 billion cash infusion to squeeze more revenue from Americans earning less than $400,000 a year.

  “Democrats needed billions to pay for their progressive Green New Deal climate-change policies in their bill, and their gimmicks and games are going to worsen our economic tailspin and higher costs for taxpayers in all income levels,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), co-sponsor of the bill, said in a statement.

  The bill (pdf) seeks to codify into law that none of the $80 billion in additional IRS funding may be used to increase audit rates on small businesses and taxpayers making under $400,000 a year.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 21:00

• Anti-Green Blowback: T. Rowe Says "Increasing Difficult To Find Credible" ESG Bonds
  Anti-Green Blowback: T. Rowe Says “Increasing Difficult To Find Credible” ESG Bonds

  Some money managers are waking up to Wall Street’s ESG scam meant for green-minded investors who pretended to care about the environment but had found a quick and efficient way of fast-tracking gains. We’ve called this scam out during the ESG boom days early in the pandemic (see from Feb 2020 “Behold The “Green” Scam” and from April 2020 “The Fraud That Is ESG Strikes Again: Six Of Top 10 ESG Funds Underperform The S&P500“).

  Now Matt Lawton, T. Rowe Price Group Inc.’s sector portfolio manager in the Fixed Income Division, has come out in an interview, slamming sustainability-linked bonds, or SLBs. He said these green corporate bonds are examples of the most “egregious behavior” by Wall Street banks and companies who take advantage of skyrocketing demand for green investments. 

  “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find credible SLBs,” Lawton said in an interview quoted by Bloomberg. “The banks are pitching these structures really hard so I definitely approach them with a healthy degree of skepticism.”

  Companies have been rushing to issue SLBs to exploit cheaper borrowing costs due to the high velocity of money flowing into ESG investment funds. Sales of the bonds soared to a record $110 billion in 2021, and Moody’s ESG Solutions predicts $150 billion by the end of the year. 

  

  The Baltimore-based investment management firm with $1.4 trillion of assets under management is the latest heavyweight in the financial community to speak out against SLBs. Last year Nuveen, a Chicago-based asset manager, said there were issues with the bonds and understanding of how the use of proceeds was deployed.

  “The banks are trying to structure them in such a way that is attractive for the issuer and right now investors are falling over themselves to buy these bonds. I don’t know how much discernment is actually happening on the investor side,” Lawson said. 

  Lawton noted the absurdity behind some SLBs. He pointed out UK-based grocery-store chain Tesco Plc’s green bonds that were priced in January 2021. The company raised 750 million euros in an 8.5-year bond to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60% through 2025-26, though even before the deal, Tesco achieved a 50% reduction in emissions. 

  Lawton said the enforcement mechanisms behind SLB deals are lacking. Here are other examples of companies taking advantage of SLBs with call features that allow them to circumvent green goals via exercising call options:

  For example, Level 3 Communications Inc.’s $900 million SLB deal, which also priced in January 2021, can be repurchased from investors in January 2024, before any penalties for not meeting the sustainability targets even kick in. Level 3 was acquired in 2017 for $34 billion by communications service provider Lumen Technologies Inc. (formerly known as CenturyLink).

  Lumen’s global issues director Mark Molzen said in an emailed response that a call feature is common in these sort of instruments and a matter of financial prudence for any issuer to manage their interest rate exposure and balance sheet flexibility over time. 

  “The fact that we were able to successfully issue sustainability notes without having to forego these sort of basic features shows the natural demand for these sorts of instruments,” Molzen added.

  Chemicals firm Nobian Finance BV also sold an SLB that’s callable before the targeted goals, meaning the company could evade any potential penalty simply by exercising the option to repurchase the securities.

  In its emailed response, Nobian said that sustainability is one of its business priorities and the fact that it pays back debt at specific dates has “no impact on our commitment to reach our sustainability targets and our efforts to report transparently about our progress on an annual basis.” –Bloomberg 

  In June, the International Capital Market Association, which sets voluntary regulations in the ESG debt market, updated guidelines for issuing SLBs after it became evident transparency issues persist. 

  Lawton added the high demand for SLBs allows Wall Street banks to water down ESG targets for corporations:

  “The banker could theoretically say to their issuer, ‘Here are the bare minimum targets you need,’ and the market will accept it,” he added.

  ESG-related bond sales have been a boon for Wall Street, and many banks raked billions of dollars in advising and underwriting fees: It’s big business disguised as ‘saving the planet.’  

  Wall Street’s ESG craze is nothing more than a scam. Another investor, Vivek Ramaswamy, who authored the book “Woke, Inc.” has argued that business and politics should remain sequestered from one another and calls on corporations to slow spending on their energy transition and environmental plans. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 20:40

• Anthony Fauci: From AIDS To COVID-19, A Pharma Love Story
  Anthony Fauci: From AIDS To COVID-19, A Pharma Love Story

  Opinion authored by Lorenzo Puertas via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  After forty-eight years of leading the U.S. government’s responses to infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci recently announced his plans to retire at the end of the year. His story warrants a closer look for what it tells us about American politics, business, and health care.

  For decades before his recent fame, Fauci has been a medical researcher credited with important new understandings of the human immune response, particularly in HIV and AIDS. He also helped develop therapies for several previously fatal diseases, including a treatment of vasculitis which turned a 98 percent mortality rate into a 93 percent survival rate.

  For most of his career, he has been the world’s most-cited researcher on AIDS and infectious diseases. He has received many awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

  Ironically, Fauci has also presided over a decades-long decline in the overall health of American citizens. During his time in public health, a great number of chronic illnesses have become commonplace. Food allergies, autoimmune diseases, and cancer now affect more than half of American children. Autism, once rare, now affects 1 in 44 children.

  

  A Lifetime in Public Health

  Anthony Fauci was born in Brooklyn in 1940, the son of a pharmacist. Pharmacy was the family business, and both his mother and sister worked in his father’s shop beneath their apartment. As a young man, Fauci studied medicine at Cornell University, graduating first in his class. After his residency in 1966, he took a research job at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and he has worked for the U.S. government ever since.

  In his five decades in public health, Fauci has advised every President since Ronald Reagan. Since 1984 he has been the head of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Disease (NIAID), one of 27 institutes within the NIH, given the mission of researching and preventing infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.

  For many Americans, Fauci has been the trusted face of the U.S. government response to the pandemic. It was his confident explanations, both to the public and to policymakers, which led to the use of lockdowns, business closures, masking, and vaccines as the response to the virus.

  His many critics see a different Anthony Fauci—a bureaucrat who seems to have made a career of putting politics and corporate profits above public health.

  “Dr. Fauci has shaped the American medical world,” said Mary Holland, President of Children’s Health Defense, in an interview with The Epoch Times. “He’s moved American health institutions, NIH in particular, to a very intertwined relationship with the pharmaceutical industry.”

  Holland’s nonprofit organization, chaired by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has been a prominent critic of Dr. Fauci’s policies—particularly the mass vaccination of American citizens.

  Censorship and Control

  “Dr. Fauci and his NIAID have played a very dark role in COVID,” Holland said. “The level of propaganda we have lived through in the last two years is unprecedented in my lifetime. I lived in the Soviet Union after law school, fighting for human rights and working against government propaganda and censorship. And now we are living through that in the United States.”

  According to Holland, Fauci is the key player in the U.S. government’s efforts to control all information relating to the pandemic and the virus. “The documents are coming out that show that the government has been censoring us, suppressing factual information that relate to this virus and the pandemic.”

  Even criticism of Fauci has been censored, says Holland. “Robert Kennedy’s new book, ‘The Real Anthony Fauci’ has been suppressed at every turn,” she said. The 2021 book takes a hard look at Fauci’s career and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kennedy has found it almost impossible to promote his book.

  “No major publication in the country would review the book,” said Holland. “The New York Times would not include it on their bestseller list, and he [Kennedy] was not invited on any major media platform, except for Tucker Carlson and The Epoch Times. The level of censorship has been astonishing.”

  Kennedy isn’t the only one censored. For two years, mainstream media outlets have ignored the scientists who have questioned Fauci’s views. These scientists have seen their ideas rejected (or later retracted) by medical journals, denounced by government officials, and censored by social media platforms.

  Fauci has been candid about his suppression of dissent. “Attacks on me, quite frankly, are attacks on science,” Fauci told CNBC in a June 2021 interview.

  In May, the attorneys general for Missouri and Louisiana filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden and other White House officials, accusing them of violating the First Amendment by colluding with social media giants to suppress information about the pandemic. According to recently released court documents, the Biden administration worked so closely with social media that Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg gave Fauci his personal phone number when the crackdown on COVID-19 information began.

  But why this need for control? What information needed to be covered up? According to Holland, it’s the role that Fauci may have played in creating, and prolonging, this pandemic.

  

  “By all appearances they have tried to cover up their role in funding lethal gain of function research in China,” said Holland. “They have also suppressed the use of lifesaving early treatments like ivermectin and hydroxycholoroquine, and they have suppressed valuable research into preventive measures that could have saved countless lives.”

  The result, says Holland and other critics, is a dark period in American history.

  Fauci’s Pandemic?

  Starting in early 2020, Americans faced unprecedented government intrusion in their lives. Business and school closures, lockdowns, mask mandates—and the man behind these government policies has been Anthony Fauci. In countless interviews and press conferences, Fauci positioned himself as the one true source of correct COVID-19 information and guidance.

  Emergency orders at the federal, state, and local levels were based on Fauci’s opinions. Fauci himself took credit for the policy of lockdowns, saying in October 2020, “I recommended to the president that we shut the country down. That was a very difficult decision because I knew it would have very serious economic consequences.”

  “Anthony Fauci is clearly at the very center of all things COVID,” Holland said. “And he has been in charge of controlling the information about the pandemic.”

  “From the very beginning, when many scientists were pointing to a lab origin for this virus,” said Holland, “Anthony Fauci put a stop to that important debate.” Despite the discovery of NIAID’s funding of gain-of-function research on coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Fauci continues to say that the virus likely has a natural origin.

  A similar thing happened with scientific opposition to Fauci’s policies. The Great Barrington Declaration, written in October 2020 and signed by over 60,000 doctors and scientists, opposed lockdowns and advocated a new policy of protecting only the most vulnerable populations while allowing the rest to live freely and develop natural immunity.

  Fauci called the Declaration “ridiculous” and “very dangerous,” and led a campaign to attack the authors and signatories, instead of their ideas.

  “It has been remarkable,” Holland said, “to see one of the most influential figures in American life purposely suppressing truthful information—about a lab leak, about scientists who said there should be no lockdowns, about the value of masks and the risks of vaccines.”

  “In the COVID response we saw extraordinary corruption,” said Holland. “The origin of the virus was covered up. Important treatments were suppressed. And vaccines were authorized, and mandated, on inadequate science.”

  

  Suppression of Cures

  One of the most astonishing aspects of Fauci’s leadership during the pandemic has been his strong opposition to any potential treatment. In two years, neither Fauci nor any U.S. government agency has published a single treatment protocol for COVID-19 patients.

  In contrast, China had a treatment protocol online by mid-March of 2020. The result of an organized collection of data from hundreds of hospitals treating thousands of patients, the Chinese protocol included simple solutions like saline nasal lavage and antiseptic mouthwash to reduce viral loads, and cheap drugs like zinc, Pepcid, chloroquine, and antibiotics.

  As of this writing, the United States still has no official treatment protocol. And no protocols have been proposed by any major American university or research hospital. Yet every American doctor who has tried to publish one has been quickly censored and ridiculed.

  Dr. Peter McCullough knows this firsthand. The author of the protocol that became the most downloaded medical paper of 2020, McCullough was among the first American doctors to develop, test, and publish a successful treatment protocol, resulting in an 85 percent reduction in hospitalizations and death among his patients.

  A medical doctor and author of over 600 peer-reviewed research articles, McCullough at first had no thought of developing his own treatment plan. But he soon became alarmed at the government’s failure to provide treatment advice to America’s doctors.

  By May 2020, McCullough began taking action. He quickly set up a network of doctors to share information about effective treatments—something Fauci never did.

  For his efforts, he found himself sued by Baylor University, had his Wikipedia page re-written to label him a source of “COVID misinformation”, and had his reputation attacked in print and online. All while major medical institutions did nothing to find a treatment.

  “They didn’t even try,” McCullough is quoted as saying in “The Real Anthony Fauci.” “Harvard, John Hopkins, Duke, you name it. There wasn’t an ounce of original research coming out of America to fight COVID—other than vaccines.”

  Across the country, Dr. Pierre Kory was fighting the same battle. The co-founder of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), Kory and a team of doctors were quickly developing their own protocol and putting it online. Like McCullough, Kory had discovered the effectiveness of ivermectin, hydroxycholoroquine, and a number of other inexpensive and easily available drugs.

  Kory testified twice to the U.S. Senate explaining the success of his treatment protocol. He also submitted a formal paper to the NIH, which quickly dismissed the results as “insufficient data” lacking proper clinical trials. Another research paper explaining the protocol was retracted by the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology due to “unsupported claims”.

  “The efficacy of some of these drugs… is almost miraculous. We could have stopped the pandemic in its tracks in the Spring of 2020,” said Kory. “Yet Dr. Fauci refused to promote any of these interventions. It’s not just that he made no effort to find effective off-the-shelf cures—he aggressively suppressed them.”

  “You had Birx, Fauci, and Redfield doing press conferences every day,” Kory said in an interview. “And not one of them ever treated a COVID patient or worked in an emergency room or ICU. They knew nothing.”

  “Dr. Fauci’s suppression of early treatments,” said Kory, “will go down in history as having caused the death of half a million Americans.”

  But why would Anthony Fauci suppress effective treatments? Why attack doctors trying to find a solution? According to Robert Kennedy, it might be because safe and effective treatments for COVID-19 would make the new vaccines unnecessary.

  Successful treatments aren’t just a marketing challenge for the vaccine manufacturers—they’re a legal obstacle, too. Once a successful treatment for COVID-19 is established, it becomes much less likely that the FDA will grant Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to new vaccines and new drugs. Under federal law, there must be no approved alternative way of treating or preventing a disease before authorizing an EUA.

  The EUA under which the experimental vaccines were given to millions of Americans would never have been granted if COVID-19 was known to be an easily treatable disease.

  In “The Real Anthony Fauci”, Robert Kennedy writes, “His bizarre and inexplicable actions give credence to the suspicions held by many Americans that Dr. Fauci is working to prolong the epidemic in order to impose expensive patented drugs and vaccines on a captive population.”

  AIDS

  COVID-19 isn’t the first time that Anthony Fauci has been accused of using public policy to benefit big pharma corporations. Forty years ago, at the height of the AIDS crisis in America, many AIDS activists called Anthony Fauci a sellout to the drug companies.

  “You are responsible for all government funded AIDS treatment research,” said activist Larry Kramer in an open letter to Fauci in the San Francsico Examiner in 1988. “You are part of a government bureaucracy that values thriving pharmaceutical company entrepreneurism over the health of people with HIV.”

  Kramer’s criticism: instead of focusing on improving patients’ health, Fauci’s only answer to AIDS was the development of new drugs. “How long will it take you to start focusing on the immune system, how to boost it and how to prevent the opportunistic infections that are killing people with AIDS? Still, you give your blessing to clinical trials of highly profitable toxins…”

  “You are a pill-pushing pimp that cooperates with drug companies in forcing dangerous concoctions down the throats of a desperate community,” wrote Kramer. “AIDS drugs are not sold to help people, they are sold to make a profit.”

  

  Conflicts of Interest

  Despite the criticism Fauci endured, the AIDS crisis produced the most important opportunity of his career: using NIAID to develop, and profit from, new drugs. His collaboration with pharmaceutical companies quickly grew into a billion-dollar business.

  The 1980 Bayh-Dole Act allowed NIAID and government scientists like Fauci to directly profit from drug development. Under the law, NIAID was now allowed to file patents on the new drugs that their research was creating, and then license those drug patents back to pharmaceutical companies. Individual government scientists could also put their names on patents and collect royalties.

  This created a new income stream for Anthony Fauci: royalties on the sales of all drugs developed through NIAID-funded research. Drug development very quickly became the focus of Fauci’s NIAID, and millions of dollars in royalties started to pour in.

  According to a 2006 investigation by the Associated Press, NIH and NIAID were concealing millions of dollars in royalties paid not just to the agencies, but to individual officials including Fauci, with little regard for the ethical and legal conflicts of interest. This information was not made public until the Associated Press obtained the information under the Freedom of Information Act.

  In early 2022, OpenTheBooks.com, a government watchdog nonprofit, reported over 22,0000 royalty payments totaling nearly $134 million in royalty payments from pharma companies to the NIH and directly to over 1,600 NIH scientists. These payments occurred between 2009 and 2014. Data from 2015 onward is not yet available.

  As a co-owner of drug and vaccine patents, Fauci himself receives royalty payments, including from the development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. The amount of these payments has not been made public.

  It is perhaps no coincidence then, that the Biden administration’s COVID-19 plan, “The Path out of the Pandemic”, consists of only one strategy: more government vaccination mandates.

  “Think about it,” said Children’s Health Defense president Mary Holland. “NIAID is a joint venture partner with Moderna! How can the government be a joint venture partner with a for-profit corporation? And then set public policy to force the use of that product? The conflict of interest is astounding.”

  Experiments in New York

  Drug development for AIDS created a little-known episode in Fauci’s career. Starting in 1985, the NIAID provided funding for clinical drug trials on HIV-positive children, studies which included children in the New York foster care system.

  According to a 2009 report by the Vera Institute of Justice, 25 of the children involved in these experiments died, though there is no evidence that they died as a direct result of the experiments.

  “NIAID under Fauci exploited the most vulnerable in our society to develop new drugs,” said Holland. “These were poor children, without parents, many of whom were already very sick. Episodes like this, make one genuinely recall other medical atrocities in history, experiments conducted on vulnerable people without proper informed consent.”

  Experiments in Africa

  Experimentation on humans has been a key part of Fauci’s role in new drug and vaccine development, especially in Africa in the search for a solution to AIDS.

  Since the mid-1990s Fauci has been the chief promoter of the quest for an HIV vaccine. Under Fauci’s advice, every American president since Clinton has pledged billions of taxpayer dollars to this project—foreign aid diverted away from food and infrastructure to vaccine manufacturers and their research projects, in the name of eradicating AIDS in Africa.

  In early 2000, Fauci and Bill Gates formed a unique partnership to control this flow of money. By leveraging the research funding available through Fauci’s NIAID, Bill Gates’ celebrity philanthropy, the tragedy of AIDS, and the massive wealth of pharmaceutical companies, Fauci and Gates acquired tremendous influence over health policy around the world.

  This Fauci-Gates partnership is detailed in a 2008 report in the Journal of European Molecular Biology, provocatively titled “The Gates Foundation: How Sixty Billion Dollars and One Famous Person Can Affect Spending and Research Focus of Public Agencies”.

  As many human rights organizations have pointed out, Fauci and Gates have spent decades profiting from the use of Africans as test subjects for experimental drugs that often do great harm. And there still is no vaccine for HIV.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 20:20

• Ethereum's 'Merge' Will Happen Tonight
  Ethereum’s ‘Merge’ Will Happen Tonight

  The much-anticipated ‘Merge’ is upon us…

  Based on the latest countdown, Ethereum users expect the massive network upgrade to begin around 10pm PST, with the second-largest crypto is set to shift to a more environmentally friendly model that may help attract investors who opine that bitcoin’s model uses too much electricity.

  The Ethereum blockchain will transition away from its energy-intensive consensus mechanism Proof-of-Work as its execution layer merges with the new Proof-od-Stake consensus layer known as the Beacon Chain.

  The so-called ‘Merge’ is like upgrading a rocket ship after its launch: “It is an epic engineering feat.”

  

  As Cointelegraph previously reported the Merge will see ETH, the native currency of the Ethereum ecosystem, remain once the mainnet joins the Beacon Chain.

  It is worth noting that some PoW miners that previously mined blocks and maintained the execution layer have indicated that they will continue to do so.

  The PoS-powered Ethereum blockchain will continue to use ETH after the Merge, while another hypothetical PoW Ethereum network, dubbed ETHPOW, could fork away with the creation of an ETHW token.

  The last 24 hours or so – thanks in large part to yesterday’s CPI-charged chaos – Ethereum has traded lower, but stabilized today around $1600…

  

  As WSJ reminds, Bitcoin pioneered the proof-of-work model where a global, decentralized network of computers processes transactions and adds them to the blockchain by generating random numbers in hopes of finding the right combination to unlock formulas.

  The miners receive newly minted bitcoins as rewards.

  

  In the proof-of-stake model Ethereum is moving to, validators put their crypto holdings on the line to verify transactions.

  The “staked” ether tokens act as collateral that can be destroyed or confiscated if the validators behave dishonestly.

  The validators accrue interest payments on their staked assets as a reward.

  For example, staking on the ethereum blockchain prior to the merge would fetch a 4.1% annual percentage rate, according to the Ethereum Foundation.

  Simply put, ethereum’s big makeover means it will take a lot less energy to verify transactions, slashing energy consumption by more than 99% will also go a long way toward lowering the barrier to entry for institutional investors, who have been battling the optics of contributing to the climate crisis.

  One River’s Sebastian Dae noted earlier in the week that, it’ll be boring if all goes according to plan, nothing like the excitement of watching the force of a rocket launch. Alas, the dream of every successful layer 1 is precisely that – to be a boring, secure platform that is eventually taken for granted, invisible to the users who demand more from their tools. The Merge is one step closer to that reality.

  The actual process is expected to take about 12 minutes, during which time about 150 developers will be on high alert to address any potential hitches.

  As Decrypt writes, the merge was originally called “Ethereum 2.0,” but that name was retired in favor of rhyming names for each step: merge, surge, verge, purge, and splurge.

  The Ethereum Foundation is holding its own livestream to watch the transition from the current ‘proof-of-work’ network to its new ‘proof-of-stake’ paradigm…

  Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake are arguably the best-known consensus mechanisms – but new ones are continually emerging.

  PoW blockchains have long dominated the cryptocurrency landscape, with both Bitcoin and Ethereum using this model. This means miners are responsible for securing the network and validating transactions — and they get rewarded with new coins as a result.

  However, a common criticism surrounding Proof-of-Work relates to how much energy it uses, and the impact such blockchains have on the environment. Miners need to use vast amounts of computing power to solve arbitrary mathematical equations. More advanced hardware has been required as the industry matured, with electricity usage surging too. 

  This has led Proof-of-Stake to be regarded as a more eco-friendly approach. Miners are replaced by validators — nodes that have a financial stake in the smooth running of the network. While proponents claim this can use 99% less energy than PoW, some fear PoS can lead to greater levels of centralization and censorship. Ethereum is currently in the process of moving to this consensus mechanism during The Merge — and it’ll be interesting to see how this high-stakes experiment pans out.

  A new approach is known as Published Proof-of-Contribution, otherwise known as PPoC for short. Here, every single participant has a role to play in ensuring the ecosystem is decentralized, democratic and well-governed.

  According to one estimate on the Ethereum Foundation’s blog, the merge will result in a reduction of at least 99.95% in total energy use, but not everyone is clear on the benefits.

  “There are some misconceptions among the wider public around what kind of benefits the Merge is going to bring,” Henry Elder, Head of DeFi at digital asset management firm Wave Financial, told Decrypt.

  “It’s not going to make Ethereum faster, more scalable and cheaper. It’s just Ethereum that goes from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.”

  Additionally, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor shared a few high level thoughts on Bitcoin Mining & the Environment…

  1.  Bitcoin Energy Utilization: Bitcoin runs on stranded, excess energy, generated at the edge of the grid, in places where there is no other demand, at times when no one else needs the electricity.  Retail & commercial consumers of electricity in major population areas pay 5-10x more per kwH (10-20 cents per kwH) than bitcoin miners, who should be thought of as wholesale consumers of energy (normally budgeting 2-3 cents per kwH). The world produces more energy than it needs, and approximately a third of this energy is wasted. The last 15 basis points of energy power the entire Bitcoin Network – this is the least valued, cheapest margin of energy left after 99.85% of the energy in the world is allocated to other uses.

  2. Bitcoin vs. Other Industries: Bitcoin mining is the most efficient, cleanest industrial use of electricity, and is improving its energy efficiency at the fastest rate across any major industry.  Our metrics show ~59.5% of energy for bitcoin mining comes from sustainable sources and energy efficiency improved 46% YoY.  No other industry comes close (consider planes, trains, automobiles, healthcare, banking, construction, precious metals, etc.).  The bitcoin network keeps getting more energy efficient because of the relentless improvement in the semiconductors (SHA-256 ASICs) that power the bitcoin mining centers, combined with the halving of bitcoin mining rewards every four years that is built into the protocol. This results in a consistent 18-36% improvement year after year in energy efficiency. More details on this are included in the BMC Presentation.

  3. Bitcoin Value Creation & Energy Intensity: Approximately $4-5 billion in electricity is used to power & secure a network that is worth $420 billion as of today, and settles $12 billion per day ($4 trillion per year).  The value of the output is 100x the cost of the energy input.  This makes Bitcoin far less energy intensive than Google, Netflix, or Facebook, and 1-2 orders of magnitude less energy intensive than traditional 20th century industries like airlines, logistics, retail, hospitality, & agriculture.

  4. Bitcoin vs. Other Cryptos: The only proven technique for creating a digital commodity is Proof of Work (bitcoin mining) deployed in a fair, equitable fashion (i.e. no pre-mine, no ICO, no controlling foundation, no primary software development team, no series of forced hard fork upgrades that materially change the monetary protocol). If we remove the dedicated hardware (SHA-256 ASICs) and the dedicated energy that powers those mining rigs, we are left with a network secured by proprietary software running on generic computers.  That places all security & control of the network in the hands of a small group of software developers, who must create virtual machines doing virtual work with virtual energy in a virtual world to create virtual security. All attempts to date have resulted in a digital asset that meets the definition of an investment contract (i.e. digital security, not digital commodity). They all pass the Howie test and therefore look more like equities than commodities. 

  Regulators & legal experts have noted on many occasions that Proof of Stake networks are likely securities, not commodities, and we can expect them to be treated as such over time.  PoS Crypto Securities may be appropriate for certain applications, but they are not suitable to serve as global, open, fair money or a global open settlement network.  Therefore, it makes no sense to compare Proof of Stake networks to Bitcoin. The creation of a digital commodity without an issuer that serves as “digital gold” is an innovation (we have accomplished this only once in the history of the world with Bitcoin). The creation of a digital security or digital coupon on a shared database is utterly ordinary (it has been done 20,000 times in the crypto world, and 100,000+ times in the traditional world). 

  5. Bitcoin & Carbon Emissions: 99.92% of carbon emissions in the world are due to industrial uses of energy other than bitcoin mining.  Bitcoin mining is neither the problem nor the solution to the challenge of reducing carbon emissions.  It is in fact a rounding error and would hardly be noticed if it were not for the competitive guerrilla marketing activities of other crypto promoters & lobbyists that seek to focus negative attention on Proof of Work mining in order to distract regulators, politicians, & the general public from the inconvenient truth that Proof of Stake crypto assets are generally unregistered securities trading on unregulated exchanges to the detriment of the retail investing public. 

  6. Bitcoin & Environmental Benefits: There is an increasing awareness that Bitcoin is quite beneficial to the environment because it can be deployed to monetize stranded natural gas or methane gas energy sources.  Methane gas emissions’ curtailment is particularly compelling and Dan Batten (https://batcoinz.com/) has written some impressive papers on this subject.  It has also become clear that energy grids that rely primarily on sustainable power sources like wind, hydro, & solar can be unreliable at times due to lack of water, sunlight, or wind.  In this case, they need to be paired with a large electricity consumer like a bitcoin miner in order to develop grid resilience & finance the buildout of additional capacity necessary to responsibly power major industrial/population centers.  The recent example of major Bitcoin energy curtailment on the ERCOT grid in Texas is an example of the benefits of bitcoin mining to sustainable power providers.  No other industrial energy consumer is so well suited to monetize excess power as well as curtail flexibly during periods of energy shortfall & production volatility. 

  7. Bitcoin & Global Energy: Bitcoin maximalists believe that Bitcoin is an instrument of economic empowerment for 8 billion people around the world. This is supported by the ability of a bitcoin miner to monetize any power source, anywhere, anytime, at any scale.  Bitcoin mining can bring a clean, profitable and modern industry that generates hard currency to a remote location in the developing world, connected only via satellite link. All that is needed is some excess electricity generated from a waterfall, geothermal source, or miscellaneous excess energy deposit. Google, Netflix, and Apple won’t be setting up data centers in Central Africa that export services to their wealthy western clients anytime soon due to constraints on bandwidth, privacy, & requirements for consistent power flow, but bitcoin miners are not hampered by these constraints.  They can utilize erratic power supplies with low bandwidth in remote locations and generate valuable bitcoin without prejudice, just as if they were in a suburb of NYC, LA, or SF.  Even now, Bitcoin miners are everywhere and will continue to spread (though Africa, Asia, South America, etc.) wherever there is excess energy and anyone with aspirations for a better life.  Bitcoin is an egalitarian financial asset offering financial inclusion to all, and bitcoin mining is an egalitarian technology industry offering commercial inclusion to anyone with the energy & engineering capability to operate a mining center. 

  Finally, we note that the average Ethereum user and ETH holder need not worry about losing their funds or making any changes to preferred wallets before the Merge. As the entire history of the Ethereum blockchain is carried across in the transition – all funds in wallets are still accessible and safe.

  Most importantly – be wary of scams. Cointelegraph has compiled a list of the three most prominent ways malicious actors are trying to prey on the Merge event. Fraudulent staking pools, upgrade scams, and fake airdrops are being touted. You do not need to upgrade your wallet or send your ETH to receive new tokens.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 20:00

• 40% Of Americans Believe CCP Considers Itself At War With US: Poll
  40% Of Americans Believe CCP Considers Itself At War With US: Poll

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

  An increasing number of Americans believe that China’s communist regime considers itself to be at war with the United States, according to the results of a new national survey.

  

  Some 40 percent of likely U.S. voters said they think the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules China as a single-party state, considers itself to be at war with the United States. Less than 26 percent said the CCP doesn’t consider itself at war with the United States, while more than 34 percent were unsure.

  The survey, conducted by nonprofit Convention of States Action and polling company Trafalgar Group from Sept. 2 to Sept. 5, polled more than 1,000 likely midterm voters across the political spectrum. The poll had a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

  Notably, the polling also revealed a stark partisan divide in opinion about the seriousness of the CCP threat.

  Slightly less than 60 percent of Republicans believed that the CCP considers itself to be at war with the United States, while less than 24 percent of Democrats said the same.

  Regardless of affiliation, however, more Americans were unsure of the veracity of the claim than were confident that it’s untrue.

  Regarding the U.S. response to the perceived threat, 67 percent of all respondents said they don’t believe the U.S. government considers itself to be at war with China.

  In all, less than 9 percent believed that the United States considers itself to be at war with China, although Democrats were more than twice as likely to believe such a thing as Republicans.

  “These are stunning results,” Mark Meckler, president of the Convention of States Action, said in a statement to The Epoch Times. “Americans clearly see that the Chinese Communist Party considers itself at war with the United States, and yet they acknowledge that the U.S. government doesn’t appear to have a clue this is the case.”

  Congressional Republicans have long lambasted the Biden administration for a perceived failure to adequately respond to CCP aggression. The results of the survey appear to suggest that many Americans are at least sympathetic to the view that U.S. leadership isn’t meeting the regime’s provocations in kind.

  Over the past decade, the CCP has led a widespread effort to undermine U.S. institutions. That campaign has included a plot to attack a U.S. Army veteran running for office, the arson of sculptures critical of the regime, and the stalking and intimidation of a U.S. Olympian whose father had spoken out against the regime.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 19:40

• US Navy Quietly Cancels Vaccine Requirement Order For SEALs
  US Navy Quietly Cancels Vaccine Requirement Order For SEALs

  The US Navy quietly rolled back Trident Order #12, an order denying religious exemptions for covid vaccinations, a few months after an injunction was issued by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in early 2022 as part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by First Liberty Institute.  The suit was initiated on behalf of 35 active-duty SEALS and three reservists seeking exemptions to the mandate due to the possibility of covid vaccines being developed using cells and tissues from aborted fetuses. 

  This information has only become publicly available after a new filing in the case this week.  Trident Order #12 made any non-compliant SEALS and other troops impossible to deploy and designated them as medically disqualified.  This development runs in tandem with a growing trend among government institutions; they back away from their original draconian mandates but in a manner that reduces media exposure and avoids any admission that the mandates are unconstitutional.

  

  A communication order was circulated by the Navy on May 23 with the subject: “NSWC CLOSEOUT TO TRIDENT ORDER #12 – MANDATORY VACCINATION FOR COVID-19.” NSWC refers to the Naval Special Warfare Command:

  “This order rescinds reference A,” it states, referring to “Ref A” as “Trident Order #12 on COVID-19 Vaccinations.”

  The May 23 communication order also said Navy commands “will continue to follow guidance, as appropriate, regarding COVID-19 vaccination, accommodation requests, and mitigation measures.”

  The Navy along with every other branch of the US military is facing a severe recruitment crisis, with a record low number of Americans eligible to serve.  In particular, far too many potential recruits are unable to meet the physical requirements to complete basic training.  This has led to discussions on lowering standards, but even this would not solve low recruitment numbers for special operations and SEALS, which require highly capable candidates regardless.

  An implosion in recruitment may have partially contributed to the Navy’s abandonment of vax restrictions, along with the flood of scientific evidence showing that the vaccines make very little difference in immunity and mortality, especially for young and fit individuals, when compared to natural immunity.  Numerous studies show superior immunity among unvaxxed people that have already had covid.

  The US government continues to refuse to acknowledge natural immunity as an acceptable status for the military or federal employees, though their attempts to enforce proof of vaccination (vaccine passports) have all but failed anyway.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 19:20

• China Back Among Top 10 Countries In Bitcoin-Usage Despite Ban
  China Back Among Top 10 Countries In Bitcoin-Usage Despite Ban

  Authored by Shawn Amick via BitcoinMagazine.com,

  • China is back among the countries with the highest level of bitcoin and cryptocurrency adoption in the world.

  • The findings come from a new Chainalysis report that details the adoption levels of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies per country.

  • Vietnam leads the world in overall adoption, while India has the highest number of centralized purchases.

  Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has released its 2022 Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index detailing global usage of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies with a unique ranking formula.

  

  The report’s most staggering bits of information show that, despite last year’s ban, China has returned to rank among the top 10 countries in the world for adoption. Additionally, Vietnam is still ranked first and the U.S. has risen to fifth when it was previously ranked eighth in 2021.

  

  Top 10 countries in Chainalysis’ Global Crypto Adoption Index. (Table/Chainalysis)

  However, when one looks at this report it becomes far more interesting after realizing how Chainalysis ranks adoption.

  Five separate indexes cumulatively provide the overall index score of each country, and the indexes allow for a weighted calculation based on the percentage of income spent to acquire bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

  Thus, a country with the highest volume accumulated won’t rank as the highest ranking for adoption because it most likely represents a smaller portion of the population’s overall income.

  Additionally, a country can have massive amounts of accumulation but rarely participate in the peer-to-peer (P2P) transfer of value, which could lower a country’s rank. This happens to be the case for India who ranks number one in all metrics, except for P2P transfers which led to the country being ranked fourth globally.

  Therefore, accounting for a country’s use of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as not only a store-of-value, but as a medium of exchange, paints a more complete picture regarding adoption. This also accounts for emerging markets making up the bulk of the list as they participate in more P2P transactions.

  The report concluded by detailing how adoption is still well above 2020 bull market levels and even though markets have experienced bearish momentum, “Bear markets can’t wipe out bull market adoption.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 19:00

• Here's Why Toyota Isn't Going All-In On Electric Vehicles
  Here’s Why Toyota Isn’t Going All-In On Electric Vehicles

  While many automakers have committed billions of dollars in recent years to develop all-electric vehicles, Toyota has approached the technology with far more caution – opting instead to continue investing in a portfolio of hybrid “electrified” vehicles, such as the Prius.

  

  And while the Japanese automaker was a darling of US environmentalists and ‘eco-conscious’ consumers when the Prius came out two decades ago, given that it was among the cleanest and most fuel-efficient vehicles ever produced – Toyota has fallen out of favor with the ‘green’ crowd thanks to its hesitancy to jump into the fray with fully electric vehicles.

  “The fact is: a hybrid today is not green technology. The Prius hybrid runs on a pollution-emitting combustion engine found in any gas-powered car,” said Katherine García, director of the Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign, in a recent blog post.

  As CNBC notes, Greenpeace has now ranked Toyota at the bottom of a list of 10 automakers’ efforts to ‘decarbonize,’ citing slow progress in its supply chain and sales of zero-emission vehicles, which are less than 1% of Toyota’s sales.

  While automakers such as General Motors, Volkswagen and others vowed to invest billions of dollars in recent years to develop all-electric vehicles that don’t require gas-powered engines like the Prius, Toyota lagged, only more recently announcing similar investments. It also continues to invest in a portfolio of “electrified” vehicles – ranging from traditional hybrids like the Prius to its recently launched, yet underwhelming, bZ4X electric crossover. -CNBC

  Toyota execs say the strategy is appropriate given the lack of EV-supporting infrastructure around the world, as well as the high cost of the vehicles.

  “For as much as people want to talk about EVs, the marketplace isn’t mature enough and ready enough … at the level we would need to have mass movement,” said Jack Hollis, executive vice president of sales at Toyota Motor North America, during an August virtual meeting.

  

  That said, Toyota announced in December a $28 billion investment (4 trillion yen) in a lineup of 30 battery-powered electric vehicles by 2030, and will continue to invest in hybrids such as the Prius and other potential models.

  “We want to provide each person with a way that they can contribute the most to solving climate change. And we know that that answer is not to treat everybody the same way,” said Gill Pratt, Toyota chief scientist and CEO of the Toyota Research Institute, during a media event last month in Michigan.

  Meanwhile, the company announced several weeks ago that it would allocate $5.6 billion for hybrid and all-electric battery production in Japan and the US as part of the aforementioned 2030 plan.

  And while this may seem like a significant amount of money, which it is, it’s dwarfed by commitments from competitors such as GM and VW – the former of which has announced it will exclusively offer “zero-emission” EVs by 2035. Other automakers have vowed to set targets for at least 50% of their vehicles sold in North America to be all electric.

  Toyota, meanwhile, has a goal to sell 3.5 million electric vehicles per year by 2030 – over 1/3 of current sales, which include around 1 million units from its Lexus brand, which will exclusively offer EVs in Europe, North America and Chiny by then.

  “I think they’re hedging their bets,” said Paul Waatti, manager of industry analysis at AutoPacific. “From a global perspective, a lot of markets are moving at different paces. U.S. is slower than Europe and China in EV adoption but there are other markets where there’s no infrastructure at all. To take a varied approach in powertrains makes sense for a global automaker.”

  According to Toyota, electric vehicles are one solution, not the solution, for the company’s carbon-neutral goals.

  “In the distant future, I’m not investing assuming that battery electrics are 100% of the market. I just don’t see it,” said Jim Adler, founding managing director Toyota Ventures. “It really will be a mixed market.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 18:40

• DOJ Official Who Exposed Themselves, 'Sexually Assaulted Civilian' Won't Be Prosecuted: IG
  DOJ Official Who Exposed Themselves, ‘Sexually Assaulted Civilian’ Won’t Be Prosecuted: IG

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

  The Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General’s Office won’t prosecute an assistant U.S. attorney who engaged in sexual misconduct with a civilian on a date.

  

  The office stated (pdf) on Sept. 12 that an investigation had determined the unnamed assistant U.S. attorney exposed themselves in a public place and then “sexually assaulted a civilian while on a date,” which it noted was “in violation of state law and federal regulations governing off-duty conduct.”

  After an investigation, the office also found that the assistant U.S. attorney “lacked candor in discussing” the incident with investigators.

  “Criminal prosecution of the [assistant U.S. attorney] was declined,” the report reads.

  The name of the assistant U.S. attorney wasn’t disclosed, and it’s unclear if the person still works as an assistant U.S. attorney.

  The Inspector General’s Office noted that it sent the Executive Office for the U.S. Attorneys and DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility its report. Assistant U.S. attorneys work for the various U.S. attorneys’ offices, which prosecute federal crimes around the country.

  “Unless otherwise noted, the [Inspector General’s Office] applies the preponderance of the evidence standard in determining whether Department of Justice personnel have committed misconduct,” the Inspector General’s Office stated.

  Another Incident

  Also on Sept. 12, the DOJ Inspector General’s Office released a separate report stating that an unidentified assistant U.S. attorney (AUSA) abused their position after being stopped by police while intoxicated.

  “The OIG [Office of Inspector General] investigation found that the AUSA had engaged in misuse of position when referring to the AUSA’s title in an attempt to influence local police officers during a traffic stop,” the report (pdf) reads. “The OIG investigation also found that the AUSA engaged in conduct that was prejudicial to the government, including ignoring instructions, cursing at officers, and kicking the door of the patrol vehicle, in violation of federal ethics regulations.”

  The investigation also found that the assistant U.S. attorney “had been driving a personal vehicle while under the influence of alcohol,” according to the report.

  After completing the investigation, the office handed its report to the Office of Professional Responsibility “for appropriate action,” the report states.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 18:20

• China Issues Highest Typhoon Warning As Storm Approaches World's Largest Container Ports
  China Issues Highest Typhoon Warning As Storm Approaches World’s Largest Container Ports

  China issued the highest tropical cyclone warning on Wednesday as Typhoon Muifa barreled toward Shanghai as Asia’s largest ports are at a standstill. 

  Chinese state media said Muifa is expected to make landfall between the cities of Wenling and Zhoushan on Wednesday, dumping torrential rains, unleashing high winds, and battering coastlines with massive waves. The areas of impact include critical commercial zones to global supply chains. 

  

  Shanghai and Ningbo-Zhoushan Ports are in the direct path of the storm. The twin port cities are some of the largest in Asia and the world in cargo handling and are at a standstill as waves up to 5 meters (16 feet) are expected Wednesday. 

  Ports in eastern China face disruptions ahead of typhoon Muifa

  Shipping activity in eastern China is set for further disruptions as a powerful typhoon approaches the region, including the key port cities of Ningbo and Zhoushan.
  #typhoonMuifa #ports pic.twitter.com/9WZwWtJQXo

  — MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) September 14, 2022

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

  ⚡The last container vessel left the #Yangshan port at 02:55 local time, all operations have been suspended before the landing of Typhoon #Muifa on Sept.14.#Shanghai raised the typhoon emergency response level to II from III this morning. https://t.co/Bc8jki6c51 pic.twitter.com/6Ni0PkAamn

  — CN Wire (@Sino_Market) September 14, 2022

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

  US Joint Typhoon Warning Center said wind gusts over 100 mph are expected for the next 12 hours as it approaches Shanghai. 

  China issued the highest-level typhoon warning on Wednesday for the first time this year, according to state media. 

  Typhoon Muifa (formerly Inday) will make its landfall tonight over eastern China – in the country’s joint second busiest port Ningbo and Zhoushan and in the main financial hub Shanghai.

  More than 40M people live in these three cities. pic.twitter.com/4YRh2IYQ3B | via @arielrojasPH

  — ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) September 14, 2022

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

  Besides shipping disruptions, all flights in the region have been canceled for Wednesday, flight data platform Variflight told Reuters. 

  Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Steven Lam said the storm could inflict almost a billion dollars in damage to coastal areas in eastern China. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 09/14/2022 – 18:00