Today’s News 10th September 2023

• Scientists Create Human "Entity" That Has No Mother Or Father
  Scientists Create Human “Entity” That Has No Mother Or Father

  Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse Blog,

  Scientists all over the world continue to “play God”, and we are all going to have to live with the consequences. 

  

  Every single day, incredibly bizarre experiments are being conducted in secret laboratories all over the planet.  I have frequently warned my readers about the very deadly diseases that are being developed in such laboratories, but other types of extremely sick experiments are happening as well.  For example, it is being reported that one team of researchers has now been able to create a human “entity” that does not have a mother or a father.  In fact, it was created “without using sperm, an egg or a womb”…

  Scientists report they have grown the early stages of a human embryo-like entity without using sperm, an egg or a womb.

  The ’embryo model’ even releases hormones that triggered a positive pregnancy test.

  This is like something out of a science fiction novel.

  Why in the world would they even consider doing something like this?

  They are telling us that using such “entities” will make medical research easier, and frankly that makes me want to vomit.

  There is no way that doing this sort of thing should be legal.

  But it is.

  This team of researchers was able to create a human “entity” without a mother or a father by starting with naive stem cells…

  Instead of a sperm and egg, the starting material was naive stem cells which were reprogrammed to gain the potential to become any type of tissue in the body.

  According to the BBC, chemicals were used to encourage these stem cells to develop into four unique cell types that are involved in the earliest stages of human embryo development…

  • epiblast cells, which become the embryo proper (or foetus)
  • trophoblast cells, which become the placenta
  • hypoblast cells, which become the supportive yolk sac
  • extraembryonic mesoderm cells

  Those cell types were then “mixed in a precise ratio”, and what happened next is extremely alarming…

  A total of 120 of these cells were mixed in a precise ratio – and then, the scientists step back and watch.

  About 1% of the mixture began the journey of spontaneously assembling themselves into a structure that resembles, but is not identical to, a human embryo.

  Professor Jacob Hanna of the Weizmann Institute is the leader of the team that conducted this research, and he claims that the “entity” which was produced “is really a textbook image of a human day-14 embryo”…

  ‘This is really a textbook image of a human day-14 embryo, [which] hasn’t been done before,’ said Professor Hanna.

  If such an entity can survive to that stage, could it go all the way and actually become a full-blown baby?

  Now that this breakthrough has been achieved, it is just a matter of time before someone tries to do that.

  And just imagine the implications if this eventually starts happening on a widespread basis.

  Babies could literally be grown on a massive scale all over the globe.

  Instead of having children the natural way, parents could just order a baby that meets certain specifications.

  And any babies that came out with “defects” would inevitably be discarded.

  Alternatively, it is easy to imagine entire armies being “grown” by tyrannical rulers just like we have seen in certain science fiction movies.

  Would such “entities” be truly human?

  Would they even have souls?

  There is so much that we don’t know, and hopefully this sort of work will be banned so that we will never find out.

  Unfortunately, there is very little holding the scientific community back at this point.

  Most of the general population has no idea what is going on in these secret labs, and most of our politicians don’t seem to care.

  And so “science” will continue to advance all over the globe with very little resistance at all.

  In addition to experiments that are creating new life, researchers are also searching for ways to cheat death.

  In recent years, swapping blood with the young has become a very hot trend among America’s billionaires.  Here is just one example…

  Until recently, Bryan Johnson was paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to infuse one litre of his teenage son’s youthful plasma into his own ageing blood stream every month. “I’ve never paid more attention to what he’s eating … because that was going into my body,” the 46-year-old American tech entrepreneur says on new podcast The Immortals. He also pumped his own plasma into his 70-year-old father’s body to help improve his declining physical and cognitive health: “It was one of the most meaningful moments in his entire life. And it was the same for me.” Johnson continues to pay $2m a year for a research team to investigate how we can live longer – and he is certainly not the only rich guy in Silicon Valley dedicated to the search for eternal life.

  Guys like Johnson have more money than they will ever need.

  But they know that their days are limited.

  So in a desperate attempt to “buy more time”, they are literally injecting the blood of young people into their own veins.

  This is another thing that shouldn’t be done.

  And it is probably dangerous.

  But nobody is going to stop them.

  In fact, the pace of scientific change will continue to march forward at an exponential rate.

  Given enough time, our world would be transformed into something stranger than anything that Hollywood has ever dreamed up.

  But our scientists won’t have enough time to do that, because the truth is that time is running out for our society.

  Our self-destructive tendencies will soon absolutely overwhelm us, and no amount of “research” will be able to turn things around at that point.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 23:30

• Triggered: Woke Alabama School Suspends 6-Year-Old Over 'Finger Guns' During Cops And Robbers Game
  Triggered: Woke Alabama School Suspends 6-Year-Old Over ‘Finger Guns’ During Cops And Robbers Game

  A six-year-old Alabama boy was suspended from school and had his “permanent record” threatened for making ‘finger guns’ during a game of cops and robbers.

  

  “They labeled my six-year-old as a potentially violent and dangerous student because he was being a little boy and playing cops and robbers with another student (who was also suspended) and using his fingers like a gun,” said the boy’s father, Jarrod Belcher, in a statement released on Friday, Sept. 8.

  According to the Epoch Times, a Jefferson County Board of Education “Due Process Referral for Class III Infractions” form released by Gun Owners of America (GOA) reads that Belcher’s son was “using gun fingers to shoot at another student.”

  The boy was subsequently suspended from school pending a hearing with his parents.

  According to the letter, on Sept. 1, 2023, two boys were playing “cops and robbers” during recess at Bagley Elementary School.

  “During the course of their play, the children reportedly extended their index fingers and thumbs and said ‘bang-bang’ at each other,” the letter reads.

   

  The child, identified as J.B., was suspended and accused of committing a Class III infraction. This is the district’s most serious infraction. According to the Jefferson County School District’s Student Parent Handbook, Class III infractions include possession of guns or explosives, sexual battery, battery of a school district employee, and robbery, among others.

  The boy would only be allowed back in school after a hearing with his parents and the district. -Epoch Times

  Following a complaint from the Belchers, the disciplinary action was downgraded to a less severe Class II infraction, however Belcher is still calling BS.

  “It should be noted that punching or hitting a student would have only been a Class II violation, so in the eyes of these school administrators, a finger gun is more serious than punching a classmate in the nose,” said Mr. Belcher, adding that his son shouldn’t be punished for something in which no harm was done.

  “Many noses have been broken by fists, but in the last 600 years since the invention of firearms, not a single person has been so much as bruised by a ‘finger gun,’” he wrote.

  Both GOA and Freeland Martz Attorneys of Oxford, Mississippi are backing the Belchers in demanding that the Jefferson County School District clear the boy’s record.

  “This incident just goes to show how embedded the anti-gun mindset is in so many communities, including in red states like Alabama. I imagine most men … can recall having played in a similar fashion in their own youth,” wrote GOA senior VP, Erich Pratt, in a Friday statement. “We will continue to demand action until a full apology is made and all disciplinary records tied to this incident are permanently destroyed.”

  In a demand letter on behalf of the belchers, attorney M. Reed Martz wrote: “Candidly, I thought the story may be a hoax until I reviewed the paperwork generated by the school.”

  We’re sure Russian and Chinese schools are just as proactive in eliminating masculinity among their future fighting forces.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 23:00

• Pfizer, J&J Pressured South Africa Into Shielding Companies From COVID Vaccine Injury Claims: Documents
  Pfizer, J&J Pressured South Africa Into Shielding Companies From COVID Vaccine Injury Claims: Documents

  Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  

  Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson pressured South Africa into implementing provisions that shielded the companies from claims over COVID-19 vaccine injuries, newly disclosed documents show.

  Pfizer made the implementation of indemnification and a compensation fund part of its COVID-19 vaccine contract with South Africa, according to documents obtained by the Health Justice Initiative.

  One document states that South Africa was agreeing to “indemnify, defend, and hold harmless” Pfizer and its partner BioNTech, as well as their representatives, “from and against any and all suits, claims, actions, demands, losses, damages, liabilities, settlements, penalties, fines, costs and expenses” arising from claims resulting from the vaccine, including injuries.

  The only exceptions were for a breach of confidentiality or fraud.

  The component was “a non-negotiable” part of the agreement between the parties, the Health Justice Initiative said in an analysis of the documents.

  Johnson & Johnson, meanwhile, also secured indemnification and the introduction of the compensation scheme in its contract with South Africa.

  In a Feb. 23, 2021, letter, South Africa’s ministers of health and finance said that Johnson & Johnson requested the no-fault compensation scheme “to address adverse events that are suffered as a result of the administration of the vaccine.”

  “It has been noted in discussions with J & J, and acknowledged by J & J, that a no-fault compensation scheme for vaccine related adverse events does not exist in South Africa, and that the available legislative mechanisms for establishing a scheme would require some time to undertake, even if the most expeditious processes available are pursued,” they wrote.

  In an exhibit attached to Johnson & Johnson’s contract, officials said that the scheme would compensate people who prove a causal link between the vaccination they received and their injury, as decided by a panel of experts. Among outcomes ripe for compensation were death, injury, and disability. The level of compensation, officials said, “should be sufficient to provide long-term relief to victims.”

  Officials later promulgated (pdf) regulations on April 22, 2021, establishing the scheme.

  The scheme would “provide expeditious and easy access to compensation for persons who suffer harm, loss or damage as a result of vaccine injury,” the regulations stated.

  Like similar schemes in other countries, including the United States, the schemes shield vaccine manufacturers from lawsuits and compensate victims with taxpayer money.

  Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson did not respond to requests for comment.

  “I wouldn’t say we were bullied, but we were in a catch-22 situation to save lives of South Africans against all odds,” Foster Mohale, a spokesperson for South Africa’s Department of Health, told Al Jazeera. “The department entered into these agreements to secure vaccine doses to protect the lives of South Africans against the deadly virus which claimed more than hundred thousand lives in South Africa.”

  Matthew Kavanaugh, an assistant professor at Georgetown University who analyzed the contracts, said that South African officials “were at the whims of each of these companies who really exploited that opportunity.

  “No kind of contract that I’ve ever signed in my life says at some point will you deliver something to us, but in whatever amount and on whatever timeline you think works for you, and in the meantime, we will agree to fully indemnify you,” added Mr. Kavanaugh, speaking on INXPrime.

  Just a handful of vaccine injury claims have been paid out so far, South African Health Minister Joe Phaala said in June.

  A number of side effects of the shots have been confirmed or are suspected, including blood clotting and heart inflammation. Some people have died from vaccine-induced injuries.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 22:30

• Where Do International Students In The U.S. Come From?
  Where Do International Students In The U.S. Come From?

  When it comes to higher education in the United States, the proportion of international students attending US institutions has jumped from 1.5% in the 1960s to 5.5% in the early 2020s.

  According to a visualization from the International Education Exchange, one can se exactly where most of these students hail from.

  

  As Visual Capitalist‘s Ehsan Soltani notes,

  The International Student Population

  The United States has always attracted students seeking quality education at its many world-class universities and opportunities in the country’s job market.

  After a drop in recent years due to COVID-19 restrictions, American institutions registered a 3.8% increase in international student participation in 2022.

  There were 948,519 international students at U.S. colleges and universities last year.

  Asian students represent 75% of the total, with Chinese (30%) and Indians (21%) adding up to over half the count. Oceania is the place of origin with the fewest international students enrolled in the U.S., making up only 0.6% of the total.

  

  According to Open Doors, for the first time in a decade, there were more graduate students (41%) than undergraduates (36%) studying in the United States in 2022.

  

  Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many colleges and universities have started to offer online courses. Still, the vast majority of students attended classes in person last year.

  A Billionaire Business

  International students continue to be a priority for the U.S. higher education sector, contributing $32 billion to the country’s economy in 2022.

  With the demographic decline in U.S. domestic higher education enrollment, many colleges and universities are strategically focusing on international students.

  According to IIE, 89% of U.S. colleges and universities indicated that 2023/24 applications are up or have stayed the same as the previous year.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 22:00

• Americans Divided As Mask Mandates Make Comeback Amid COVID-19 Surge
  Americans Divided As Mask Mandates Make Comeback Amid COVID-19 Surge

  Authored by Joe Gomez via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  

  Several schools and private companies have reinstated mask mandates as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to increase across the country, causing divisions in communities over how to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

  COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased by nearly 16 percent over the past week alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

  In Alabama, Kinterbish Junior High School issued a mask mandate in late August for students, staff, and visitors due to COVID-19 and just this week, Rosemary Hills Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland, issued a mask mandate for 10 days, after three people at the school tested positive for the virus.

  “It always starts the same way, as a temporary mandate ‘15 days to [slow the spread],’” Kyle Wilkens, a parent in Silver Spring, told The Epoch Times. “I can’t go through this again, my child is not wearing a mask to school.”

  Ms. Wilkens believes the mandate will be extended, though it is set to expire by Sept. 15.

  “The media is already doing its part to fear monger. Now, they are trying to soften us up with scattered mask guidance and requirements here and there. We know from before it will escalate.”

  Others in the area believe the temporary mask mandate is a good idea to prevent transmission of the coronavirus in the community.

  “It’s better than getting stuck at home for 10 days or feeling miserable and getting stuck at home,” Marlene Tay of Montgomery County, Maryland, told The Epoch Times.

  “We all got COVID last year after some school cases. It was awful because of course our daughter was fine while we felt sick. I expect to get sick soon. Our neighbors just had their third case a few weeks ago. All the kids are getting fevers and sore throats even though it’s not usually COVID, (yet).”

  In other parts of the country, mask mandates have also been issued and lifted. Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia, ended its mask mandate after two weeks. As did Lionsgate film studios and Kaiser Permanente in California after briefly putting a mandate in place.

  “Thank god I live in Florida,” Tammy Contreraz of Tampa Bay told The Epoch Times. “I don’t have to deal with all these confusing rules on mandates.”

  Health Officials Split on Masking

  The CDC has issued some recommendations for masking by county based on hospital admission rates, categorizing admission levels as green, yellow, and red (low, medium, and high).

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  If hospitalization rates for COVID are at the yellow (medium) or red (high) level, when there are 10 to more than 20 new admissions per 100,000 people in a county, the CDC recommends wearing a mask while indoors or in a public space.

  “I think it’s smart guidance, masks are effective at limiting any airborne pathogen but only if worn consistently, especially in crowded spaces and close contact areas,” Santiago Mercado, an Emergency Room Nurse at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, New York, told The Epoch Times.

  “I don’t know how well people will comply with the guidance, but it can absolutely protect the public and improve preventable deaths.”

  Mr. Mercado worked at intensive care units in hospitals across the New York City area during the pandemic in 2020 and has seen how quickly COVID can spread—inundating healthcare facilities.

  “It was like a brush fire; so many people were dying every day. Anything we can do to prevent that again, I support,” he said.

  

  Healthcare professionals on the other side of the issue disagree and say masking has no significant benefit to avoiding infection by the coronavirus.

  “The CDC’s own data reveals that those who wear masks get infected with COVID at the same rate as those who don’t,” according to an analysis from Americas Frontline Doctors posted on their website.

  “85 percent of those infected with COVID wore masks some or all of the time before their infection. The countless jurisdictions that mandated masks actually saw an increase in infections during the mandate. A key randomized, controlled study of mass masking during the COVID outbreak, concluded that wearing a mask had no significant effect on viral spreading.”

  The organization goes on to report that even if masks were effective, there are negative impacts of continuous mask-wearing, such as a “decrease in the levels of oxygen intake, headaches, Mask-Induced Exhaustion Syndrome (MIED), reduced immunity germ load and skin reactions.”

  Governors on Mask Mandates

  There are no statewide mask mandates across the country so far, though in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) unveiled a plan to distribute N-95 and KN-95 masks to schools this fall but is not mandating their use.

  “Thanks to the hard work of New York schools, teachers, and parents, we have come a long way to ensure students can safely return to the classroom,” Ms. Hochul said. “Frequent testing for COVID-19 is an important part of keeping our kids safe and preventing an outbreak, and I will continue working to ensure our school districts have the resources they need to provide a safe, in-person learning environment for our students.”

  

  A discarded face mask is pictured on the sidewalk in Long Beach, Calif., on Aug. 22, 2020. (Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images)

  In Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves (R) has made his opposition to masking abundantly clear, stating there will be no mask mandates in the near future.

  “There are some on the left that still want COVID restrictions… Let me say it again – there will be no mask mandates, COVID vaccine mandates, or lockdowns in Mississippi,” Reeves posted on Facebook.

  “Mississippians will not and should not submit to fear again … If you want to take extraordinary measures to protect yourself from getting sick, God bless you. That is your right and you should do what you think is best. Maybe you’re the smartest of all of us. But we are never going back to 2020.”

  Fight Over Mandates on Capitol Hill

  The split over mask mandates has spilled into politics in the nation’s capital, as some Republicans in Congress introduced legislation to ban a mandate of any kind.

  Senators JD Vance (R-Ohio), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) have cosponsored a Senate bill called the “Freedom to Breathe Act” which would ban federal mask mandates in the United States.

  “We tried mask mandates once in this country. They failed to control the spread of respiratory viruses, violated basic bodily freedom, and set our fellow citizens against one another,” said Vance.

  “This legislation will ensure that no federal bureaucracy, no commercial airline, and no public school can impose the misguided policies of the past. Democrats say they’re not going to bring back mask mandates – we’re going to hold them to their word.”

  The White House issued a “100 Day Masking Challenge” in 2021, where President Joe Biden implemented a mask mandate on federal property, but the administration has not issued a new nationwide mandate since.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 21:30

• Visualizing The 25 Best Stocks By Shareholder Wealth Creation Since 1926
  Visualizing The 25 Best Stocks By Shareholder Wealth Creation Since 1926

  Out of 28,114 publicly-listed U.S. companies analyzed over the last century, the 25 best stocks have created nearly a third of all shareholder wealth.

  Put another way, as Visual Capitalist’s Jenna Ross and Joyce Ma detail below, just 0.1% of stocks have added over $17.6 trillion to investors’ wallets.

  In this graphic, we use data from Henrik Bessembinder of Arizona State University to show the best stocks of the last century.

  

  How is Shareholder Wealth Creation Calculated?

  Bessembinder took three steps to measure lifetime shareholder wealth creation:

  1. Considered U.S. stocks in the Center for Research in Security Prices database from 1926 (or when the stock was first listed) until 2022 (or when the stock was delisted).

  2. Measured share price changes as well as cash flows to/from shareholders including dividends, spinoffs, share buybacks, and new share issuances.

  3. Calculated the excess wealth generated compared to investing in one-month Treasury bills over the same time period.

  If a company exited the database during the period, Bessembinder calculated its delisting return based on any proceeds from mergers or acquisitions as well as estimates of any remaining value after delistings for negative reasons.

  GM is the only company within the top 25 to be delisted prior to December 2022. Its second IPO in 2010 was considered a new company and not continuous wealth creation.

  The 25 Best Stocks in Modern History

  With this definition in mind, here are the best stocks since 1926.

  

  Apple takes the top spot, having created nearly 5% of all shareholder wealth. From the iPod to the iPhone, Apple’s ability to keep innovating has helped it gain a loyal fan base and given the company pricing power. Notably, Apple is America’s most profitable company.

  ExxonMobil is the only non-technology company among the five best stocks. When Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999, it was the biggest merger in history and ExxonMobil temporarily became the world’s largest public company by market capitalization. More recently, the company experienced record profits in 2022 due to high oil prices.

  The list also shows how wealth-generating patterns have changed over time. While energy and consumer staples are more frequent among older companies in the ranking, the stocks that have created massive wealth in recent years are more likely to be technology or financial companies.

  Finding the Next Winners

  Given that the names on this list account for 0.1% of all public U.S. stocks, picking out one of the next long-term winners could be a difficult task. In fact, 95% of actively-managed large cap funds—which aim to beat the market through stock picking—underperformed their benchmark over a 20-year period.

  Investing in index funds is one possible way to get exposure to top performers. For instance, Apple has been part of the S&P 500 since 1982, about a year after it went public.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 21:00

• Megyn Kelly Reveals Possible Vaccine Injury, Regrets Getting COVID Shot
  Megyn Kelly Reveals Possible Vaccine Injury, Regrets Getting COVID Shot

  Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  

  Megyn Kelly, a veteran journalist and podcaster, said Wednesday that she deeply regrets getting the COVID-19 vaccine because she believes she may have suffered a vaccine injury.

  Ms. Kelly said that she regrets getting vaccinated and then boosted, saying she doesn’t think it was necessary—and that a doctor told her that an autoimmune condition she developed after getting the shot may be related to the vaccine.

  “I regret getting the vaccine even though I’m a 52-year-old woman because I don’t think I needed it,” Ms. Kelly said during a Sept. 6 episode of her podcast “The Megyn Kelly Show.”

  “I think I would have been fine. I had got COVID many times, and it was well past when the vaccine was doing what it was supposed to be doing,” she added.

  “For the first time, I tested positive for an autoimmune issue at my annual physical. And I went to the best rheumatologist in New York, and I asked her, do you think this could have to do with the fact that I got the damn booster and then got COVID within three weeks? And she said yes. Yes. I wasn’t the only one she’d seen that with,” Ms. Kelly said.

  Her current vaccine regret stands in contrast to remarks she made in April 2021, when she said she had “zero qualms” about getting the shot.

  “Am getting the [Johnson & Johnson] vaccine this [weekend]. Have zero qualms [because] have spent a life immersed in a media obsessed with fear-mongering that is often irresponsible and untrue. Do what your doctor tells you to do and ignore everyone else,” she said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

  Ms. Kelly’s expression of regret at getting the shot comes amid reports linking spike protein-based COVID-19 vaccines to skin problems, a dull ringing in the ears known as tinnitus, visual impairments, blood clotting, and even death.

  Studies have also revealed a number of issues affecting vaccinated children. For example, one recent study, published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, shows that the mRNA-based vaccine for COVID-19 reduced children’s immune responses to other infections, making them more prone to getting sick after coming into contact with other pathogens.

  Another study published by Circulation showed that some children who experienced heart inflammation after COVID-19 vaccination had scarring on their hearts months later.

  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to recommend that people of all ages receive a COVID-19 vaccine despite the risk of heart inflammation and other side effects.

  Also, documents show that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the CDC hid data showing a spike in COVID-19 cases among the vaccinated.

  Former President Donald Trump told former Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon in a recent conversation on her podcast that pharmaceutical companies have an “obligation to be honest” about vaccine side effects and should disclose all relevant data on vaccine harms.

  President Trump and Ms. Dixon discussed a range of issues in an episode on the Tudor Dixon Podcast last week. At one point in the discussion, Ms. Dixon asked about President Biden’s announcement to fund a new COVID-19 vaccine.

  “He wants everyone to get this vaccine,” Ms. Dixon said. “And we’re hearing about a lot of complaints from vaccine injured. To say a lot is an understatement.”

  She then asked President Trump about vaccine data transparency, citing reports of various adverse events, including heart inflammation and blood clots.

  “Numerous pharmaceutical companies have refused to release their data on vaccine side effects,” she said. “But we’ve seen cases of myocarditis, blood clots, and heart attacks; they’re all increasing. The research has never been released.”

  She asked if President Trump would “demand that the vaccine companies, that the pharmaceutical companies release their vaccine data to the public so that we can see what they’re actually seeing about the side effects of this vaccine?”

  President Trump replied by saying that pharmaceutical companies “should do that,” adding that “we’re all in this together, and they should be doing that.”

  In context of President Biden’s remarks about funding a new COVID-19 vaccine, the former president said that “anything new has got to be looked at very carefully.”

  President Trump then reiterated the point that pharmaceutical companies should release any data on vaccine side effects.

  “They should be made public immediately. People should understand that, and they should know what research is showing,” President Trump said.

  He added that pharmaceutical companies would be wrong to withhold any information on vaccine injuries.

  “They have to be honest with the numbers, the facts, and they have an obligation to be honest,” he said, “And if they are going to hold back, that means they’re holding back something that’s not good.”

  “We’ll stand for them in many ways,” President Trump said of people who suffered vaccine injuries.

  Meanwhile, the FDA has been ordered to accelerate the pace at which it releases to the public data it relied on to license COVID-19 vaccines.

  In May, a federal judge in Texas ruled that the FDA must hurry up with disclosing data that underpinned its decision to license COVID-19 vaccines, ordering all documents to be made public by mid-2025 rather than, as the FDA wanted, over the course of about 23.5 years.

  “Democracy dies behind closed doors,” is how U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman opened his order (pdf), which requires the FDA to produce the data on Moderna’s and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines at an average rate of at least 180,000 pages per month.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 20:30

• How Much Does It Take to Be Wealthy In America?
  How Much Does It Take to Be Wealthy In America?

  What does it take to be wealthy in America? It depends, of course, on where one lives.

  According to the 2023 Modern Wealth Survey by Charles Schwab (see below), you need a net worth of at least $1.7 million to be “financially comfortable” in San Francisco, and $4.7 million to be considered “wealthy.”

  And in Houston? $606k is “financially comfortable,” while $2.1 million is “wealthy.”

  

  As Visual Capitalist‘s Dorothy Neufeld notes:

  Wealthy in America: A Closer Look

  Overall, the net worth that Americans say that is needed to be “wealthy” in the United States is $2.2 million in 2023.

  Here are the average wealth numbers indicated by respondents across 12 major U.S. cities, based on a survey of 1,000 people between 21 and 75:

  

  In San Francisco, respondents said they needed $4.7 million in net worth to be wealthy, the highest across all cities surveyed, and more than double the national average.

  This figure dropped from last year, when it stood at $5.4 million. The vast majority of people in San Francisco say that inflation has had an impact on their finances, and over half say that living in the city impedes their ability to reach their financial goals, citing steep costs of living.

  In Los Angeles and San Diego, it takes $3.5 million to be wealthy, the second-highest across cities surveyed. In New York, it takes $3.3 million in net worth to reach this target. It is home to over 345,000 millionaires, the highest worldwide.

  Houston, where the cost of living is less than half of San Francisco, respondents said a net worth of $2.1 million is needed to be wealthy. The average salary is $67,000 in Houston, while in San Francisco it falls at $81,000.

  The Wealth Paradox

  Separately, the survey asked whether respondents “feel wealthy” themselves.

  Overall, 48% of all respondents said they feel wealthy, and those people had an average net worth of $560,000. This is a considerable divergence from the $2.2 million benchmark they said was needed to be wealthy.

  Here’s the breakdown for major cities, illustrating the paradox:

  

  Millennials were most likely to feel wealthy, at 57% of respondents, while 40% of boomers felt wealthy, the lowest across generations surveyed.

  Explaining the Divergence

  When digging deeper, it becomes clear that wealth is not simply a number.

  In fact, the survey indicates that many Americans place greater importance on non-monetary assets over monetary assets when they think of wealth.

  For instance, 72% said having a fulfilling personal life was a better descriptor of wealth than working on a career, which was only chosen by 28% of respondents. Meanwhile, enjoying experiences (70%) was a better reflection of wealth compared to owning many nice things (30%).

  Interestingly, there was a narrower margin in choosing between the importance of time (61%) over money (39%).

  Beyond monetary figures, these findings illustrate the layers that influence what it means to feel financially healthy today, and how this affects an individual’s overall quality of life.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 20:00

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Wants His Party Back
  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Wants His Party Back

  Authored by Jeff Louderback via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  

  On a steamy summer morning, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. strode into a hotel conference room in Columbia, South Carolina, amid a barnstorming town hall tour of a state where Joe Biden won close to 49 percent of the vote in the 2020 Democratic primary.

  Mr. Kennedy spoke about his 2024 presidential campaign. Democrat pundits say he is a fringe candidate who spreads conspiracy theories. Polls show him with the highest favorability rating of any presidential candidate.

  There is no path for Mr. Kennedy to defeat President Biden, critics claim, despite questions about President Joe Biden’s age and mental fitness, low approval ratings, and surveys showing that Americans are concerned about the economy.

  Earlier this year, the Democratic National Committee voted to give its full support to the president.

  Mr. Kennedy agrees that unseating an incumbent president in the same party is a daunting challenge but disagrees with doubters who say he has no chance of securing the nomination.

  The 2024 presidential nominee will be announced during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next summer. Until then, Mr. Kennedy intends to continue to press his case.

  “The DNC has around $2 billion, and they’re spending that money generously to try to marginalize me in many ways, but I think most Democrats care about one thing more than anything else, which is to beat Donald Trump,” Mr. Kennedy told The Epoch Times. “I think President Biden cannot do that. I can.”

  

  Mr. Kennedy is the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963; and the son of Robert F. Kennedy, who was shot and killed after a campaign speech while running for president in 1968.

  During his town halls and meet-and-greets, Mr. Kennedy tells stories from time spent with his uncle and father and connects them to his presidential campaign.

  He wants to continue his father’s legacy of uniting Americans from all economic classes and ethnic backgrounds.

  

  “I think we do that by telling the truth to people. My dad did it that way. He talked about uncomfortable issues but talked about the truth. I think people are tired of being lied to by the government, by the media,” Mr. Kennedy said.

  “My dad ran against an incumbent president in his own party (Lyndon B. Johnson) during a divisive time. I’m running against a larger challenge because I am facing an entire infrastructure that is against me, from my own party and Big Tech and the pharmaceutical industry.”

  An environmental attorney and the founder of Children’s Health Defense, Mr. Kennedy is widely known for being outspoken about the health risks of vaccines. His stand on these and other issues has drawn support from voters who are not left-leaning.

  

  The candidate, however, has said that he won’t do that, reiterating that stance over the last month in town halls and meet-and-greets in South Carolina, Virginia, and New York City.

  “I’m a Democrat. This is my identity, but I want my party back,” Mr. Kennedy said. “I’m running for president because the Democratic Party has lost its way. I want to remind the Democratic Party of what we are supposed to represent.”

  “A focus on the middle class and labor, the well-being of minorities, a focus on the environment, civil liberties, and freedom of speech.“

  

  He frequently talks about “unity” and “healing the divide.”

  “I intend to bridge this toxic polarization that is really destroying our country and tearing us apart,” Mr. Kennedy said.

  He called his campaign a “peaceful insurgency” that he hopes will appeal to conservative Republicans, independents, moderates, and liberal Democrats.

  “During the 35 years I spent as one of the leaders of the environmental movement in our country, I was the only environmentalist who was regularly going on Fox News. I went on Sean Hannity repeatedly—Bill O’Reilly, too,” Mr. Kennedy said.

  “I want to talk to media members and voters who share differing opinions than mine, because how else are you going to persuade?

  

  “I think we have a lot more in common than what the media portrays. What keeps us apart are things that are rather trivial. We let them feed this toxic polarization. We need to talk. We need to have conversations with people from a wide range of views.”

  Days after a House hearing on censorship in July that saw Democrats attempt to block Mr. Kennedy from testifying, a Harvard-Harris poll showed that he has a higher favorability rating than any other 2024 presidential candidate.

  Mr. Kennedy saw a favorable rating of 47 percent and an unfavorable mark of 26 percent, according to a survey of 2,068 registered voters, conducted July 19–20 and released on July 23. Former President Trump carried a favorability rating of 45 percent compared with an unfavorability number of 49 percent. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had a 40 percent favorable rating and 37 percent unfavorable, and President Biden’s rating was 39 percent favorable and 53 percent unfavorable.

  Mr. Kennedy also had the highest net favorability of all 2024 presidential candidates in a June poll from The Economist/YouGov.

  Kennedy campaign manager Dennis Kucinich is a former Democratic congressman from Ohio who ran for president in 2004 and 2008. He believes Mr. Kennedy can “rebuild and save” the country and that there is a path to victory over Biden.

  “He is the only Democrat who can reach across the political spectrum, which means he can win in 2024,” Mr. Kucinich told The Epoch Times.

  “Conservatives, liberals, independents, and libertarians are responding to this campaign because of the unique qualities of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and because there is an understanding he stands for unity, freedom, truth, and authenticity. That is what’s resonating with people.”

  

  When asked about President Biden and former President Trump, Mr. Kennedy is measured in his responses.

  “I’m not going to attack other people personally,” Mr. Kennedy said. “I don’t think it’s good for our country. And what I’m trying to do in this race is bring people together, is try to bridge the divide between Americans.”

  ‘Poison, Hatred, and Vitriol’

  Mr. Kennedy stands for “de-escalating” what he called “poison, hatred, and vitriol.”

  Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly expressed his disapproval of President Biden’s job performance, but he has refrained from personal attacks about the 80-year-old’s mental fitness.

  “If there’s a policy I disagree with—like the war, like censorship, the lockdowns—I’m going to criticize those, but I’m not going to attack him as a man,” Mr. Kennedy said.

  “I will say, whether he’s up to it or not, whether he’s making his own decisions—the decisions that are coming out of the White House are bad decisions.”

  President Biden is not scheduled to appear in Democrat primary debates, a decision Mr. Kennedy believes the president should reconsider.

  “I think it would be better if we have a democracy where every candidate debates,” Mr. Kennedy said.

  “I suppose he is making a strategic decision that’s based upon his own interest, but I think we’re living in a period when people have lost faith in the democratic process, and they think the system is rigged.”

  President Joe Biden and President Trump should take the debate stage as a sign of respect for American voters, Mr. Kennedy said.

  

  “Americans shouldn’t feel like we live in the Soviet Union, where the party picks the candidates. I think it would be much better for our democracy, and we’d be a better example for the world and improve our credibility with the American people if we actually allowed democracy to function and all the candidates participated in debates, and town halls, and retail politics.

  “It is important for the Democratic Party that there is a primary debate. Ultimately, a Democrat will debate a Republican, and the Republican will likely be Trump. He is probably the most successful debater in this country since Lincoln Douglas,” said Mr. Kennedy, noting how President Trump defeated a crowded pool of Republican primary candidates in 2016.

  “He has his own technique that people like. It’s like going into a prize fight. You need practice, and that usually happens in the primary,” Mr. Kennedy said.

  “Asking the president to not debate in the primary is like asking a prizefighter to practice by sitting on the couch.”

  In South Carolina, Virginia, and New York City, Mr. Kennedy talked to voters about the economy and issues on which he disagrees with President Biden.

  

  In Charleston, he criticized the president for continued financial support to Ukraine.

  “One of the big problems we have in our federal government is the addiction to war,” Mr. Kennedy said. “President Biden went to Congress and asked for another $24 billion for the Ukraine War.

  “We’ve spent $8 trillion dollars on wars since 9/11. If we kept that money home, we would’ve had child care for every American. We would have free college education for every American. We’d be able to pay for our Social Security system.”

  He believes that he, and not President Biden, is the candidate who will best represent Democrats in 2024 and beyond.

  “I am the only choice that is going to end the war machine, that is going to really focus on rebuilding the American middle class, taming inflation,” Mr. Kennedy said.

  

  About gun control, Mr. Kennedy said, “I do not believe that, within that Second Amendment, there is anything we can meaningfully do to reduce the trade and the ownership of guns.”

  “Anybody who tells you that they’re going to reduce gun violence through gun control at this point, I don’t think is being realistic,” he said. “I think we have to think about other ways to reduce that violence.”

  Mr. Kennedy did note that he would sign an assault weapons ban if he were president and the legislation was placed on his desk.

  A vocal opponent of the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Kennedy vowed at a town hall in Brooklyn on Sept. 1 that he would ban pharmaceutical advertising.

  He is outspoken about the dangers of the COVID-19 vaccine for some in the population who were coerced to take them, but he told the Epoch Times that he is not “anti-vaccine.”

  “I’ve never been anti-vaccine,” he said. “I’ve said that hundreds and hundreds of times, but it doesn’t matter because that is a way of silencing me. Using that pejorative to describe me is a way of silencing or marginalizing me.”

  Mr. Kennedy has said that, initially, he was not in favor of former President Trump’s border wall. But after seeing the border firsthand in Arizona in July, he changed his mind. He said there is a need for increased infrastructure and technology at the border, including more segments of a physical wall, and sensors in areas where a wall isn’t feasible.

  Until the United States can seal the border, he said he doesn’t think it is possible to get an immigration reform package through Congress.

  

  Mr. Kennedy visited the Arizona–California border with Mexico in early June and met with illegal immigrants, Border Patrol agents, and other stakeholders.

  “The Democratic Party thinks our function should be welcoming all immigrants into the country no matter what, and to basically open the borders. And the experiment has been a disaster, a humanitarian catastrophe,” Mr. Kennedy said.

  “I watched it firsthand. I watched 300 people come across the border and then be processed and sent to locations all over the country with court dates seven years down the road.”

  “There’s now seven million people who have come across illegally and have no legal status in this country. Those people are very vulnerable now to unscrupulous employers who are paying them $5 and $6 an hour,” he said.

  Mr. Kennedy called the Biden administration’s open border policy “a way of funding a multibillion-dollar drug and human trafficking operation for the Mexican drug cartels.”

  “As president, I will secure the border, which will end the cartel’s drug trafficking economy. I will build wide doors for those who wish to enter legally so that the U.S. can continue to be a beacon to the world where diversity and culture make us great,” he said.

  “Immigration is good for our country, but this kind of immigration is unfair to everybody,” he said.

  Ending the Ukraine War

  Mr. Kennedy has called for de-escalating the war in Ukraine. He explained that he is sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause and added that Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded the country illegally, but he chastised the United States for its role in the conflict.

  “We have neglected many, many opportunities to settle this war peacefully,” he said. “We have turned that nation into a proxy war between Russia and the United States.”

  

  Mr. Kennedy has urged President Biden to negotiate a peaceful end to the Russia-Ukraine war, which started when Russia invaded the neighboring nation in February 2022.

  “Russia is not going to lose this war. Russia can’t afford it,” Mr. Kennedy said. “It would be like us losing a war to Mexico.”

  As part of his reasoning for ending the Ukraine war, Mr. Kennedy referenced his uncle, President John F. Kennedy.

  “My uncle Jack said that the primary job of an American President of the United States is to keep the country out of war. He kept out of Vietnam. He sent only 16,000 military advisers there—mainly Green Berets,” Mr. Kennedy said.

  “In October 1963, he learned that one of his Green Berets had died, and he asked his aide to give him a combat casualty list, and the aide came back and said 75 had died so far. He said: ‘That’s too many.’”

  The American Dream

  When it comes to supporting labor unions, Mr. Kennedy’s ideas are similar to President Biden’s.

  “In my administration, you can expect vigorous action by the Justice Department and the Department of Labor to enforce laws against union-busting and unfair labor practices,” Mr. Kennedy said.

  “We will also raise the minimum wage so that unions have a higher floor from which to bargain. We will negotiate trade treaties that don’t pit American workers against low-wage foreign workers in a race to the bottom.”

  At his campaign stops. Mr. Kennedy likes to talk about the flourishing economic period the nation experienced after World War II.

  “I grew up during the heyday of American economic prosperity. It was in the 1950s and 1960s that the archetype of the American Dream was born. It was not something available only to a lucky few; it was within the reach of most Americans,” he said.

  Read the rest here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 19:30

• CNN Political Director Admits Biden In Danger From "Troublingly Low" Approval Ratings
  CNN Political Director Admits Biden In Danger From “Troublingly Low” Approval Ratings

  A new poll from CNN conducted by SSRS found that President Biden’s reelection campaign is already in trouble, with 46% of voters, overall, saying that any GOP candidate would be preferred over Biden – including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

  

  According to CNN political director David Chalian, Biden’s approval ratings are “troublingly low.”

  Amontg those polled, 58% say Biden’s policies have made economic conditions worse, and 70% say things in America are going badly. Just 33% of those polled described Biden as someone they’re proud to have as their president.

  CNN POLL: 70% of Americans say things are going badly in the country today pic.twitter.com/lGwoCvaThU

  — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 7, 2023

  “Look at that approval number over time. Since the spring, he’s been hanging out in this very low, troubling approval rating for him and It really has not fluctuated for him all that much,” said Chalian. “Take a look by party. You noted among Democrats, his approval rating is down a bit from where it was in July. He’s at 74% among his own party faithful. Independents, holding troublingly low for the president at 36%. Obviously, single digits among Republicans.“

  A recent Wall Street Journal poll also spelled bad news for Biden, with former President Donald Trump leading Biden by 11 points on the question of who had a better record. Trump also led Biden by 10 points in perceived mental fitness to hold office. Fifty-eight percent of those polled said the economy has gotten worse over the past two years, with a majority of those polled disapproving of Biden’s handling of the economy. -Daily Caller

  Watch the whole clip (via the Daily Caller),

  “And look at how Biden stacks up against all of his modern-era predecessors at this point in their presidency. Going to draw a line here to show he’s hanging out in this category with Trump and [Jimmy] Carter. Something about Trump and Carter, they lost their reelection efforts,” he continued.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 19:00

• New Mexico Lawmakers Call For Governor's Impeachment Over 2A Overreach
  New Mexico Lawmakers Call For Governor’s Impeachment Over 2A Overreach

  Update (1848ET):

  New Mexico State Representatives Stefani Lord (R-22) and John Block (R-51) called for the impeaching of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) after she issued a public health emergency to strip the right away for law-abiding citizens to carry firearms in public in and around Albuquerque, the state’s largest city. 

  “This is an abhorrent attempt at imposing a radical, progressive agenda on an unwilling populous. Rather than addressing crime at its core, Governor Grisham is restricting the rights of law-abiding gun owners,” Lord wrote in a press release shared on X. 

  🚨PRESS RELEASE: @RepBlock & I are calling for the impeachment of @GovMLG. New Mexicans won’t stand by as she disregards her oath to uphold our Constitution.

  Read the full press release below! 👇 pic.twitter.com/r5kt9nOSvI

  — Rep Stefani Lord (@Lord4NM) September 9, 2023

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

  While impeachment calls grow, Erich Pratt, Senior VP of Gun Owners of America, told us: “The Governor’s actions are evil and tyrannical. GOA’s attorneys are already preparing a complaint. So heads up to the Governor: ‘We will see you in court.'”

  *   *   * 

  On Friday evening, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) issued an emergency order suspending the right of law-abiding citizens to open and conceal carry firearms in crime-ridden Albuquerque and the surrounding county for at least 30 days, after declaring a public health emergency in response to a spate of recent gun violence.

  

  Grisham, who apparently thinks criminals will follow her orders, says she expects legal challenges, but was ‘compelled to act’ following recent shootings, AP reports.

  The Governor of New Mexico has just declared the 1st & 2nd Amendment “does not exist” due to an “emergency.”

  Under this legal theory *all* of our “rights” are essentially eliminated.

  Watch the most evil & tyrannical 60 seconds you’ve ever heard from a politician: pic.twitter.com/xLpMSTbyi2

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 9, 2023

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  “Today I issued a 30-day ban on the open & concealed carrying of guns in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. Gun violence is killing between 2 and 3 children every month in NM – every single one of these deaths is unconscionable and they must stop,” Grisham posted on X. 

  Today I issued a 30-day ban on the open & concealed carrying of guns in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. Gun violence is killing between 2 and 3 children every month in NM – every single one of these deaths is unconscionable and they must stop. https://t.co/KJdXUMBVaG

  — Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (@GovMLG) September 9, 2023

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  Grisham declared in a statement, “As I said yesterday, the time for standard measures has passed. And when New Mexicans are afraid to be in crowds, to take their kids to school, to leave a baseball game—when their very right to exist is threatened by the prospect of violence at every turn—something is very wrong.”

  Yes governor, now law-abiding citizens won’t be able to match force with criminal threats while in public, after failed progressive policies transformed Albuquerque into a crime-infested metro area with soaring violence.

  According to a recent report by the Major Cities Chiefs Association, Albuquerque had one of the highest homicide rates in the country.

  

  Constitutional law attorney Jonathan Turley said the move by Grisham is “flagrantly unconstitutional under existing Second Amendment precedent.” 

  Turley continued, “Democratic leaders have increasing turned to a claim used successfully during the pandemic in declaring a health emergency to maximize unilateral authority of governors.” 

  “The taking away of individual rights as an emergency measure is hardly new. For centuries, governments have claimed that the suspension of individual rights is necessary for the good of citizens,” he said. 

  You thought the “public health emergency” power grab was a one and done with COVID?

  Do not comply. https://t.co/PXLzgt280e

  — Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) September 9, 2023

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

  According to Erich Pratt, Senior VP of Gun Owners of America, “The Governor’s actions are evil and tyrannical. GOA’s attorneys are already preparing a complaint. So heads up to the Governor: ‘We will see you in court.’“

  According to @erichmpratt, Senior VP of Gun Owners of America said:

  “The Governor’s actions are evil and tyrannical. GOA’s attorneys are already preparing a complaint. So heads up to the Governor: ‘We will see you in court.’” https://t.co/2Xj0b4QSv7

  — Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) September 9, 2023

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

  Trial Balloon?

  Grisham’s move signals a new attack strategy by Democrats on the Second Amendment. We must remind readers ever since the ‘defund the police’ movement began several years ago, many Democratic-led cities have faced soaring crime rates. Failed social justice reform only sparked more violence, which may have been intentional to create a crisis and then offer a novel solution with even more gun control. 

  This “Public health order” is a trial balloon for things to come. The moment we allowed them to do this with COVID, we opened the door. https://t.co/FFSiwDHPzk

  — Nick Short ‎‎ (@PoliticalShort) September 9, 2023

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

  And this… 

  The 2nd amendment isn’t a recommendation. It’s a right.

  Friendly suggestion to @GovMLG on how to *actually* reduce violent crime in your state: focus on sealing your own state’s southern border & stop the virtue signaling elsewhere. https://t.co/RgzpFZAPs8

  — Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) September 9, 2023

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

  Democrats have faced gun control roadblocks ever since the US Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen in 2022, which hindered their ability to pass expansive laws restricting guns ever since.

  Now, the tactic is to use emergency orders to suspend rights – which police chiefs for both Albuquerque and Bernalillo Counties have said might be civil violations.

  Social media users on X weren’t pleased with the governor:

  Every law enforcement officer in your state should unite & ignore you.
  So should the citizens of NM. Do not comply.

  Because criminals will undoubtedly ignore you & this unconstitutional order empowers them. https://t.co/UCmavZwsJb

  — Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) September 9, 2023

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

  Given the real problem of crime in some places, and that people carrying for self-defense are not the perpetrators, the appropriate response is to refuse to comply. https://t.co/7XVqMYvfs1

  — J.D. Tuccille (@JD_Tuccille) September 9, 2023

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

  These guys respect emergency declaration orders. They’ll voluntarily disarm just like in old Mexico where gun possession is illegal, I’m sure….. https://t.co/OXE2pUAtxI pic.twitter.com/QkT84WfQtZ

  — Randy Clark (@RandyClarkBBTX) September 9, 2023

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

  Tyrants always trample on rights under the false guise of safeguarding the public. https://t.co/MhrHjY5FhE

  — Justin Amash (@justinamash) September 9, 2023

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  Literally treason. You’re not a dictator. You do not have the authority to disregard the US Constitution. The US Constitution cannot be altered via EO. You do not get to disregard your oath of office. Your days in office are numbered. https://t.co/msp9ufnSVu

  — Alex Shepard 🇺🇸 (@Sinnersaint39) September 9, 2023

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

  Albuquerque for the next 30 days: https://t.co/aRvnMo8L5C pic.twitter.com/bVIdTweBaN

  — Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) September 9, 2023

  How many of those murders, or any murders, are by people with CCW permits?

  Will you be personally reimbursing the taxpayers after the inevitable legal challenges result in the government having to pay plaintiffs’ legal fees under 42 U.S. Code § 1988? https://t.co/rp66l6Rdji

  — Kostas Moros (@MorosKostas) September 9, 2023

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

  Remember the past.  

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

  In New Mexico, Governor @GovMLG‘s capricious gun ban in the name of “public health” serves to remind us that history doesn’t always repeat itself but it often rhymes. https://t.co/7NL0No9235 https://t.co/7NL0No9235 pic.twitter.com/loqjzf9EfG

  — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) September 9, 2023

  Any bets on which Democrat governors will follow suit?

  pic.twitter.com/fGih3Czg6h

  — Natalie F Danelishen (@Chesschick01) September 9, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 18:58

• The Art Of The Lose-Lose Deal
  The Art Of The Lose-Lose Deal

  Authored by MN Gordon via Economic Prism,

  

  Has there ever been a worse time to be a lowly American wage earner?

  First, Washington spewed out $6 trillion in printing press money.  This pushed consumer price inflation to a 40 year high.  At the same time, it diluted wages from a standard lager to a pilsner light.

  Now, at this very moment, the demand for higher wages through union organization is leading to the mass culling of payrolls.  The higher wages go.  The less jobs will remain.

  Just last month, for example, Yellow Corp., a trucking company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.  Yellow CEO Darren Hawkins blamed the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for driving the company out of business.

  Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien pointed the finger at, “Yellow’s dysfunctional, greedy C-suite” for the company’s demise.  Adding, “They shamelessly pin their corporate incompetence on working people.”

  Who’s right?  Who’s wrong?  Who knows?

  What we do know is that some 30,000 workers are now looking for jobs.  For some of these truckers, losing their jobs at Yellow will be the best thing that ever happened to them.

  Maybe they’ll be compelled to learn a new skill.  One that demands higher compensation without the need for union strongarming.

  With some hard work and perseverance, they’ll come out far ahead of where working at Yellow ever got them.  They may be rewarded with fatter paychecks and greater satisfaction in their new endeavors.

  Others, however, will fall further behind.  Maybe they’ll take a job with a competitor at reduced income.  Maybe they’ll find themselves on the unemployment dole.

  Regardless, for millions of U.S. workers something’s got to give.  Incomes and the cost of living are at a significant mismatch.  And squaring the difference via credit cards is a dreadful solution.

  Expect the Unexpected

  The challenge for wage earners is that everything’s so doggone expensive these days.  The average gross annual wage income per full time employee in the U.S. is roughly $75,000.

  That may sound like a lot.  But it really doesn’t cut it.

  After factoring in federal and state income tax, social security and Medicare, $75,000 is eroded to about $57,000.  Then subtract 4 percent of gross (or $3,000) for 401k contribution and another 6 percent of gross (or $4,500) for health insurance premiums.  The $57,000 of after-tax income drops to just $49,000 in actual take home pay.  That comes to $4,125 per month.

  Now, subtract $2,000 for rent, $400 for a car payment, $100 for cell phone charges, $200 for gas, $300 for utilities, $800 for food, and you’re left with $325 to get through the month.  Buy the kids a pair of shoes and a couple of Happy Meals – or a round of puberty blockers – and the money is long gone.

  We recognize these numbers are gross generalizations.  In some American cities the costs will be more.  In others they will be less.  The point is a $75,000 income doesn’t get you very far these days.  That’s the reality Americans are facing.

  According to a recent study by SecureSave, 67 percent of Americans don’t have enough money saved to cover an unexpected expense.  However, unexpected expenses, as based on a broad spectrum of empirical evidence, should be expected.

  Inevitably a head gasket blows, a crown breaks, or the washer goes on the fritz.  Having savings set aside for expenses like these is essential.

  Work Less, Make More

  When wages fall short of expenses, the options for getting though the month are lacking.  The difference can be made up with credit card debt, which leads to bigger problems down the road.

  Another option available to wage earners is to take on a second job to boost their incomes.  Still, there are only so many hours in the day.

  Alternatively, families can downsize their lifestyles.  They can go on a beans and rice diet.  They can move into smaller apartments in seedy parts of town.

  If needed, several families can pile into the same residence.  The quality of life suffers.  But at least the bills are paid.

  Again, these options are lacking.  This is why promises of working less and making more are so, so appealing.

  Have you ever heard of Shawn Fain?

  We hadn’t heard of him until the Wall Street Journal published a special Labor Day article titled, Meet the Man Who Has Detroit on Edge.

  Fain, as we learned, is the 15th president of the United Auto Workers (UAW).  He recently took out incumbent Ray Curry and assumed office in March.

  Fain, a fan of ‘90s hip hop who carries one of his grandfather’s Chrysler pay stubs from 1940 in his pocket, has an incredible idea.  He wants auto workers to have a shorter, 32-hour workweek and a 46 percent wage increase.

  In fact, this is the deal he recently put forth as part of his negotiations of new labor contracts for about 146,000 hourly workers at General Motors, Ford Motor, and Stellantis (the global car company that now owns Jeep, Ram and Chrysler).

  The Art of the Lose-Lose Deal

  The existing contracts expire on September 14 – in less than a week.  According to Fain, if a deal isn’t reached by then, he’s ready to strike all three automakers at the same time.

  “‘How far are you willing to go to get the contract you deserve?’  Fain yelled to a roaring crowd at a recent rally, after walking on stage to Eminem’s ‘Not Afraid.’”

  Clearly, Fain knows exactly what he is doing.  Though, he may not get his intended result for the 146,000 hourly workers he represents.  He may get something much, much different than what he’s bargaining for.

  About a month ago, as part of his negotiating strategery, Fain made a public spectacle of throwing Stellantis’s bargaining proposals in the trash.  Fain said Stellantis was making “lowball” demands that are “a slap in the face” to union autoworkers.

  Two weeks later, UAW Vice President Rich Boyer revealed that Stellantis has threatened to relocate production of their Ram 1500 pickup trucks from its location in metro Detroit to a facility in Mexico.  Stellantis has yet to confirm or deny the move.

  As the clock ticks forward, the September 14 deadline is rapidly approaching.  With a unified strike of all three automakers, Fain and Boyer may get the ‘work less, make more’ deal they’re proposing.  They may even tout this as a big win.

  But who ultimately wins?  Not the UAW.  Not General Motors, Ford Motor, and Stellantis – at least initially.  But, rather, laborers in Mexico.

  Such are the sort of shabby lose-lose deals that union bosses and corporate executives must come to following an episode of extreme currency debasement.  An episode that is now only partially contained.

  At this rate, Detroit autoworkers – the ones that still have jobs – will soon find a 46 percent wage increase will be woefully insufficient.

  What will Fain and Boyer demand then?  What sort of discord and discontent will prevail?

  [Editor’s note: Is the Pentagon secretly provoking China to attack Taiwan?  Are your finances prepared for such madness?  Answers to these important questions can be found in a unique Special Report.  You can access a copy here for less than a penny.]

  Sincerely,

  MN Gordon
  for Economic Prism

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 18:30

• Watch: A Confused Biden At G20 Butchers Saudi Crown Prince's Name
  Watch: A Confused Biden At G20 Butchers Saudi Crown Prince’s Name

  At the G20, The Associated Press and others took note of President Biden’s “hearty handshake” with Mohammed bin Salman after the lesser and more ambiguous fist bump ​​​​​​of over a year ago, which at the time was supposed to represent some degree of greater distance between the US and the Saudi crown prince, who has long stood accused of ordering the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

  “Biden warmly greeted Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman, after they appeared together along with several other leaders at the Group of 20 summit Saturday in New Delhi. The leaders had gathered to announce an ambitious plan to build a rail and shipping corridor linking India with the Middle East and Europe,” the AP wrote. Smiles and warmth all around, as India’s Modi also draped his hand over the pair…

  

  But what the mainstream press has so far been largely silent about is the deeply awkward moment where Biden stumbled through the names of world leaders, and struggled to speak coherently while mumbling through some brief written remarks.

  While it would perhaps be funny and ironic if done on purpose (to shame Riyadh at a moment of continued tensions with Washington over oil output), he specifically butchered the name of Mohammed bin Salman.

  Watch as the US president—who is often dubbed in international press “the leader of the free world”—messes up not only the Saudi prince’s name but also mispronounces European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s name.

  JOE BIDEN: “The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salam, excuse me, Mohammed bin Salman … and since he’s not speaking today, I wanted to — well maybe he is speaking today. I had a note he wasn’t speaking. Any rate, I’m gonna stop there.”

  We Pity You America. pic.twitter.com/rkeHgoRymi

  — The Jaipur Dialogues (@JaipurDialogues) September 9, 2023

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

  One might say MbS certainly deserves it, but again it didn’t appear purposeful, and a flummoxed Biden soon after just seemed to give up in saying, “I wanted to… well maybe he is speaking today. I had a note he wasn’t speaking. Any rate, I’m gonna stop there.”

  Never mind the 2024 presidential election which is just around the corner, but how will Biden get through this G20 summit weekend in New Delhi? Things are off to a rough start.

  Meanwhile, The Daily Beast actually has this one correct (blind squirrel, nut etc)…

  Jamal Khashoggi was brutally killed and dismembered on the orders of Mohammed bin Salman in 2018.https://t.co/Awu5VsXniA

  — The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) September 9, 2023

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

  Another important development has been the G20’s inability to produce a statement condemning Russia and its invasion of Ukraine. This was somewhat expected, but Biden has so far failed to rally allies especially among BRICS and global south countries.

  “Diplomats had been working furiously to draft a final joint statement in the lead-up to the summit but hit snags on language to describe the Ukraine war,” CNN observed Saturday. “The eventual compromise statement amounted to a coup for the summit’s host, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but still reflected a position far softer those the United States and its Western allies have adopted individually.”

  The section of the G20 declaration where the US, UK and Europe hoped to include more teeth failed to so much as mention Russia at all. “All states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition,” it reads. And the declaration added more mutedly: “there were different views and assessments of the situation.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 18:00

• Trump Explains Why He Didn't Fire Fauci
  Trump Explains Why He Didn’t Fire Fauci

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

  

  Former President Donald Trump responded to questions about why he did not terminate the employment of former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci amid the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  During an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, President Trump was asked about Dr. Fauci, who had been on the Trump pandemic response force, in 2020.  “First of all, you’re not allowed,” the former president said when asked why he didn’t fire him, which Mr. Hewitt said was the “biggest knock” on his presidency.

  “No, no, no, Dr. Fauci was there. First of all, he’s civil service, and you’re not allowed to fire him. But forget that because I don’t necessarily go by everything … but Dr. Fauci would tell me things, and I wouldn’t do them in many cases. But also, he wasn’t a big player in my administration,” President Trump said. “Dr. Fauci became a big player in the administration of Biden. He’s a very big player in Biden’s administration.“

  The former president has received some criticism—namely from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—for not firing Dr. Fauci, who ultimately became a controversial figure during the pandemic for his often dire predictions about the course of the virus. The former public health official also often recommended people wear masks, get the vaccines, and defended COVID-19-related lockdowns and stay-at-home orders.

  In response to President Trump’s comments this week, Mr. DeSantis dismissed the former president’s arguments that he couldn’t fire him. He said that President Trump’s comment differs from the ones he gave about Dr. Fauci in the past.

  “It’s important to point out for a long time that was not his excuse,” Mr. DeSantis told the Rubin Report on Wednesday. “His excuse had been that if you fired Fauci, both the Democrats and the media would have pitched a fit, which, of course, is 100 percent true.”

  “But that’s the price of leadership. You got to stand up and do what’s right,” the governor continued to say. “Clearly, he could have been fired from the White House Task Force. There was no obligation to run him out at press conference after press conference, have him doing media interviews.”

  During the pandemic, Mr. DeSantis grew a national profile for ending COVID-19 lockdowns early and reopening businesses while also backing laws that would prevent vaccine or mask mandates, or any new lockdowns. However, like other governors around the United States, Mr. DeSantis in March 2020 ordered a statewide lockdown due to the virus before he rescinded it several months later.

  “During the height of the COVID stuff in 2020, Fauci would do local hits in Florida media attacking me for having schools open and some of these other stuff,” he told the Rubin Report. “So, there was no obligation to do that. I think you could have also fired him from NIH because he had basically committed misconduct with the gain of function [research].”

  

  But President Trump said that Mr. DeSantis “shut down Florida,” and the state “was tight as a drum.” He added: “He had vax lines. He was vaxxing everything. Now, he talks about the vaccinations this and that.”

  “And let me tell you the other thing. I will send you, after this conversation, five articles about how much he loves Dr. Fauci,” he continued. “‘I do what Dr. Fauci says. This is Ron DeSantimonious. I do what Dr. Fauci says.’ That’s what he says. And I’ve got the articles here. But he doesn’t like to go back.”

  The spat over Dr. Fauci, who stepped down from his federal government positions in late 2022, comes as some hospitals, schools, and businesses have reinstated mask mandates. In a Thursday news conference, the Florida governor announced that there won’t be any new mandates in his state, reiterating a prior stance he has taken.

  The former president added: “To every covid tyrant who wants to take away our freedom, hear these words: we will not comply, so don’t even think about it. We will not shut down our schools; we will not accept your lockdowns; we will not abide by your mask mandates; and we will not tolerate your vaccine mandates.

  “Even today, parts of our country are forcing children to wear masks in the classroom,” Mr. DeSantis told the news conference. “Those mandates are [dead on arrival’ in Florida, and we will protect parents and children from this perpetual COVID hysteria.”

  As for President Trump, he released a video several days ago saying that Americans should “not comply” with any lockdowns, mandates, or other COVID-19 rules.

  “The left-wing lunatics are trying very hard to bring back COVID lockdowns and mandates with all of their sudden fearmongering about the new variants that are coming,” he said. “Gee whiz, you know what else is coming? An election.“

  The former president continued: “To every COVID tyrant who wants to take away our freedom, hear these words: we will not comply, so don’t even think about it. We will not shut down our schools; we will not accept your lockdowns; we will not abide by your mask mandates; and we will not tolerate your vaccine mandates.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 17:30

• Rand Paul Blasts Pentagon For Role In Niger, Demands To Know How Many Boots On Ground
  Rand Paul Blasts Pentagon For Role In Niger, Demands To Know How Many Boots On Ground

  Sen. Rand Paul has sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin demanding to know more about the Pentagon’s role in Niger, which recently underwent a coup wherein Niger’s US-trained military overthrow the democratically elected US-backed president. 

  Naturally, the senator from Kentucky has some questions. The letter was sent Tuesday and subsequently obtained by Politico. Among Paul’s chief aims is to assess just how many American troops are still in Niger, which is now being ruled by a junta, which includes Brig. Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou, who received training by elite US forces.

  “Under what authorities, and or what purpose did U.S. forces provide training to Moussa Salaou Barmou or any other Nigerien forces and coup leaders who overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum,” Paul asked in the letter.

  

  He’s further demanding to know which specific Niger forces were beneficiaries of US security aid and support, and where US-supplied equipment went.

  “Is the Department of Defense concerned that any current recipients of funds, training, equipment or other kinds support … is currently engaged in human rights violations or engaged in human rights violations in the last ten years,” Paul wrote.

  The stakes couldn’t be higher, given the potential for broader regional war with foreign forces (including the French) in the middle, as Responsible Statecraft’s Kelly Vlahos points out:

  There are 1,016 U.S. troops still in Niger — a virtual powderkeg of political and military unrest since an armed junta overthrew its president and locked him and his family in the basement of the government palace in late July.

  As a result, regional governments under the banner of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) is threatening to intervene militarily until the still-imprisoned leader is restored to office. The coup leaders have responded by rallying the people to their cause, as well as other armed juntas in the region.

  Below are a couple more pointed questions from the letter, which seem to allude remotely to the recent Afghan pullout fiasco:

  How many countries is the U.S. military operating in under the 2001 AUMF? How many are operating under Sections 333 and 127e of the U.S Code, and who specifically is receiving aid and training in those countries? How much money went to Niger?

  Aside from the tragic deaths of four American soldiers in October 2017 in an ambush, how many service members have come under fire in Niger since 2013? Under what authorities are being used to keep a U.S. military footprint there now?

  It should be noted that coup leaders like Brig. Gen. Barmou weren’t just trained by the Pentagon in Africa, but in his case he attended military schooling at Fort Benning, Georgia and the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

  “As citizens of a Constitutional republic,” Sen. Paul concluded in his letter, “Americans must be informed of hostilities involving the Armed Forces so that the people can participate in national debates over war and peace.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 17:00

• ICC Lead Prosecutor: We Will Prosecute Cyber 'War Crimes'
  ICC Lead Prosecutor: We Will Prosecute Cyber ‘War Crimes’

  Authored by Connor Freeman via The Libertarian Institute, 

  In an article published last month in Foreign Policy Analytics, Karim Khan – the lead prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in the Hague – declared that his office will now be investigating and potentially prosecuting “war crimes” committed in cyberspace. This comes after Joe Biden ordered his administration to begin sharing evidence of alleged Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine with the ICC.

  Khan wrote that his office will investigate cyber crimes that possibly violate the Rome Statute. “Cyber warfare does not play out in the abstract. Rather, it can have a profound impact on people’s lives… Attempts to impact critical infrastructure such as medical facilities or control systems for power generation may result in immediate consequences for many, particularly the most vulnerable. Consequently, as part of its investigations, my Office will collect and review evidence of such conduct.”

  

  On Thursday, Washington and London sanctioned 11 people allegedly affiliated with Trickbot, a Russian hacking group accused of targeting businesses and government infrastructure, as well as hospitals, during the coronavirus pandemic. A US Treasury statement describes the individuals as “key actors involved in management and procurement” for Trickbot, which is claimed to be connected with Russian intelligence.

  Lindsay Freeman – the director of technology, law, and policy at Berkely’s Human Rights Center – explained that the ICC’s remit extends beyond hackers themselves to the command structure above them, which could lead to charges against higher level military officers or Russian President Vladimir Putin himself. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin, he has been accused of kidnapping, and unlawfully deporting to Russia, thousands of Ukrainian children as well as teenagers.

  According to a report in Wired, Khan’s office confirmed the new cybercrime mandate with the outlet. “The Office considers that, in appropriate circumstances, conduct in cyberspace may potentially amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and/or the crime of aggression.” The spokesperson continued, “…such conduct may potentially be prosecuted before the Court where the case is sufficiently grave.”

  Disinformation, vaguely defined, is listed as one of Khan’s concerns in his article, “We are likewise mindful of the misuse of the internet to amplify hate speech and disinformation, which may facilitate or even directly lead to the occurrence of atrocities.” He suggests the ICC could prosecute people for leaking confidential information as well, writing “disinformation, destruction, the alteration of data, and the leaking of confidential information may obstruct the administration of justice at the ICC and, as such, constitute crimes within the ICC’s jurisdiction that might be investigated or prosecuted.”

  It is noted, in the Wired report, that Kiev is currently conducting its own investigation into Russian “war crimes carried out via cyberattacks.” Evidence collected as part of the Ukrainian government’s investigation could also be provided to the ICC’s prosecutors to assist with their cases.

  Regarding the legal precedent, Bobby Chesney – director of the Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas Law School – says “I don’t think anyone who’s serious about international law would dispute that there are at least some circumstances in which intentional harm to civilians can be carried out through cyber means in a way that qualifies as an attack” that violates the Rome Statute’s principle that warring parties distinguish between military targets and civilians. Neither Russia, Ukraine, nor the United States, are parties to the Rome Statute.

  Last June, Gen. Paul Nakasone, the head of US Cyber Command, revealed to Sky News that Washington has been aiding Ukraine by conducting “offensive” cyber-attacks against Russia. Nakasone said the US has “conducted a series of operations across the full spectrum; offensive, defensive, information operations” aimed at Russia, without offering more details.

  Ukraine formally joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Cyber Defense Center earlier this year. Biden has previously warned that cyber conflicts are liable to start a real war with Russia and China. “If we end up in a war, a real shooting war with a major power, it’s going to be as a consequence of a cyber breach of great consequence.”

  As with the United States, Russia is not a member of the ICC and does not recognize the court. In 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the American Servicemembers’ Protection Act, also known as the “Hague Invasion Act.” The bipartisan legislation goes as far as to authorize military action against the Netherlands – a fellow founding member of NATO – to prevent US officials and military personnel accused of war crimes from facing accountability before an international tribunal.

  During the Donald Trump administration, the US sanctioned ICC officials for attempting to investigate American war crimes committed in Afghanistan. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo charged the court is an “unaccountable political institution masquerading as a legal body.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 16:30

• Fired NYC Teachers Who Refused Vaccine To Be Reinstated With Back Pay: Judge
  Fired NYC Teachers Who Refused Vaccine To Be Reinstated With Back Pay: Judge

  A New York state judge on Wednesday ruled that 10 employees fired by the NYC Department of Education for refusing the Covid-19 vaccine must be reinstated with back pay.

  

  In his ruling, State Supreme Court Judge Ralph J. Porzio found that the city acted illegally when it denied religious exemptions to certain city teachers – who went to Children’s Health Defense to sponsor a lawsuit against the department following failed attempts to claim religious accommodation for the mandate.

  “This Court sees no rational basis for not allowing unvaccinated classroom teachers in amongst an admitted population of primarily unvaccinated students,” wrote Porzio, adding “As such, the decision to summarily deny the classroom teachers amongst the Panel Petitioners based on an undue hardship, without any further evidence of individualized analysis, is arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable. As such, each classroom teacher amongst the Panel Petitioners is entitled to a religious exemption from the Vaccine Mandate.”

  Porzio also slammed the city’s assertion that allowing teachers religious exemptions would place undue hardship on the city, calling the claim “arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.”

  In the order, he granted relief to 10 plaintiffs who completed the administrative steps to request an exemption. He denied relief to six plaintiffs because they did not complete the administrative process.

  As part of his ruling, Judge Porzio made reference to Mayor Eric Adams’s lifting of a vaccine mandate for some private employees in 2022, notably celebrities and athletes. He said the decision was evidence that the mandate for public workers was done on an arbitrary basis.

  New York City imposed a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all Department of Education workers that started on Oct. 1, 2021, and lasted until Feb. 10, 2023. Reports indicated that thousands of workers, teachers, and other staffers lost their jobs for not adhering to the mandate. –Epoch Times

  An attorney for the plaintiffs, Sujata Gibson, said that they have been “fighting for this since August of 2021 for these 10 people specifically. And we won and we won big for them,” adding “They were reinstated with back pay, with no break in service, and attorneys’ fees. That’s huge.”

  “The judge’s ruling yesterday, while not everything we wanted, is a precedent-setting victory, and a watershed moment in the teachers’ fight,” she added, noting that thousands of other unvaccinated workers were similarly denied a religious exemption, and can now sue the city based on this new precedent.

  Gibson added that another class action lawsuit may be in the cards.

  “The court’s ruling on class certification still leaves the door open to future relief for thousands of teachers negatively affected by the vaccine requirement,” she said, adding “We intend to file a motion of reconsideration on a narrower basis.”

  It comes months after a lawyer for another group of fired, unvaccinated New York City teachers claimed that Mayor Eric Adams’s administration blacklisted employees who refused to get the vaccine with a special code.

  “Loosely speaking, it is like a scarlet letter,” lawyer John Bursch told the New York Post earlier this year. “The employee’s personnel file shows a [generic] problem code that could just as easily be [for] committing a crime as declining to take a vaccine for religious reasons. In some instances, when plaintiffs tried to obtain employment elsewhere, they were told that they were red-flagged because of the problem code,” he said. -Epoch Times

  NYC Mayor Eric Adams rescinded the vaccine mandate for workers earlier this year, allowing some 1,700 fired workers to reapply for their jobs (without back pay or retroactive full benefits).

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 16:00

• Zelensky On Starlink-Gate: Musk "Committing Evil" & Driven By "Big Ego"
  Zelensky On Starlink-Gate: Musk “Committing Evil” & Driven By “Big Ego”

  Update(1640ET): Amid the continuing controversy over Elon Musk having previously made the decision to block Kiev from utilizing Starlink satellites to attack Crimea, Zelensky’s office has lashed out in what we might call a “bite the hand that feeds you” moment.

  Musk “committed” and “enabled evil” by denying the ability of Kiev to launch massive drone attacks on Crimea last year, Mikhail Podoliak, a senior aide to President Zelensky said Friday. Somewhat ironically, he wrote this charge on the Musk-owned platform X. Here’s what he said, framing the most hard-hitting lines suggesting Musk is doing “evil”… awkwardly in the form of a question (likely fearing Musk could at any time switch off Ukraine’s Starlink comms altogether):

  “Sometimes a mistake is much more than just a mistake,” Podoliak wrote. “By not allowing Ukrainian drones to destroy part of the Russian military (!) fleet via Starlink interference, Elon Musk allowed this fleet to fire Kalibr missiles at Ukrainian cities.”

  “As a result, civilians, children are being killed. This is the price of a cocktail of ignorance and big ego. However, the question still remains: why do some people so desperately want to defend war criminals and their desire to commit murder? And do they now realize that they are committing evil and encouraging evil?”

  Sometimes a mistake is much more than just a mistake. By not allowing Ukrainian drones to destroy part of the Russian military (!) fleet via #Starlink interference, @elonmusk allowed this fleet to fire Kalibr missiles at Ukrainian cities. As a result, civilians, children are…

  — Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) September 7, 2023

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

  To recount, Musk has pointed out amid an avalanche of mainstream media “outrage” that—

  “The obvious intent being to sink most of the Russian fleet at anchor,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

  “If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation.”

  But to Zelensky and his aides, this is “evil” apparently. We wonder what’s next in this saga. Some online are going so far as to call for the US government to “nationalize” SpaceX’s systems which pertain to Ukraine…

  This guy’s assets, the ones pertaining to national security, should be nationalized. When the balloon goes up in the PACOM AOR we can’t have this idiot’s thumb on the scales for the enemy. https://t.co/otQTChm4PT

  — Jack Murphy (@JackMurphyRGR) September 8, 2023

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  * * *

  Since Elon Musk has apparently become Donald Trump – in that any lie/twist/gaslighting will do to further the narrative, no matter how false it is known to be – last night saw the mainstream media overwhelmed with circle-jerk-justified accusations that Musk meddled in the Ukraine-Russia war to stop a Zelenskyy-driven offensive (that likely would have turned the war and hailed victory ticker-tape parades up and down Kiev’s streets).

  

  Ok, admittedly that last bit was out hyperbole; but given a quick read of headlines from CNN and NBC, we could be forgiven for this view.

  Elon Musk secretly ordered his engineers to turn off his company’s Starlink satellite communications network near the Crimean coast last year to disrupt a Ukrainian sneak attack on the Russian naval fleet, according to an excerpt adapted from Walter Isaacson’s new biography of the eccentric billionaire titled “Elon Musk.”

  As Ukrainian submarine drones strapped with explosives approached the Russian fleet, they “lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly,” Isaacson writes.

  NBC led with the following headline: Ukraine is furious with Elon Musk for thwarting an attack on Russia’s navy

  Tech billionaire Elon Musk has come under fire from Ukraine after it emerged he thwarted a major attack on the Russian navy.

  According to excerpts published by CNN, a soon-to-be-released biography of the SpaceX CEO claims that Musk secretly ordered his engineers to turn off his Starlink satellite network over Russian-occupied Crimea last year in order to prevent a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s naval fleet.

  Elon Musk last year secretly ordered SpaceX engineers to switch off the Starlink satellite communications network near the Crimean coast in order to thwart a Ukrainian surprise attack on Russia’s naval fleet, according to Walter Isaacson’s upcoming Musk biography. pic.twitter.com/uPto8hm1pW

  — The Recount (@therecount) September 7, 2023

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

  The mainstream media did not have to look too far to find someone willing to denigrate Musk:

  Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, blasted the tech billionaire on X, formerly Twitter, which Musk owns.

  “Sometimes a mistake is much more than just a mistake,” Podolyak wrote.

  “By not allowing Ukrainian drones to destroy part of the Russian military (!) fleet via #Starlink interference, @elonmusk allowed this fleet to fire Kalibr missiles at Ukrainian cities,” he added.

  “As a result, civilians, children are being killed,” Podolyak said.

  “This is the price of a cocktail of ignorance and big ego. However, the question still remains: why do some people so desperately want to defend war criminals and their desire to commit murder? And do they now realize that they are committing evil and encouraging evil?”

  Isaacson quotes Musk at the time as questioning “How am I in this war?”

  “Starlink was not meant to be involved in wars. It was so people can watch Netflix and chill and get online for school and do good peaceful things, not drone strikes.”

  Couple quick questions – how would Musk know – pre-emptively – of the attack, and choose to disable Starlink? Is his intel better than Putin’s; better than the CIA’s?

  The spin here is utterly mind-blowing.

  In fact, according to Musk – who responded to the accusations on X, the details are the exact opposite to how CNN described them…

  In fact, Musk NEVER turned Starlink on in those controversial border zones – for exactly this reason, as he feared using this technology near borders could prompt an escalation in the war.

  The Starlink regions in question were not activated. SpaceX did not deactivate anything.

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 7, 2023

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

  In fact, Musk did not ‘turn Starlink off’ but refused to ‘turn Starlink on’ for Ukraine’s offensive.

  There was an emergency request from government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol.

  The obvious intent being to sink most of the Russian fleet at anchor.

  If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and…

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 7, 2023

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

  Which makes more sense to you – the richest man in the world unilaterally switching off internet access to pre-emptively thwart a secret attack by Ukraine on Russia in a Blofeld-esque move? Or the CEO of a major communications company refusing to enable his technology to be used to escalate a war that could well lead to armageddon?

  Both sides should agree to a truce.

  Every day that passes, more Ukrainian and Russian youth die to gain and lose small pieces of land, with borders barely changing. This is not worth their lives.

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 7, 2023

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

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 15:55

• Rail Volumes Fall For Third Straight Month In August
  Rail Volumes Fall For Third Straight Month In August

  By Carolina Worrell of Railway Age

  “August was the third straight month in which total year-over-year U.S. rail carloads have fallen,” Association of American Railroads (AAR) Senior Vice President John T. Gray reported on Sept. 6. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 35 weeks of 2023 was 16,173,208 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 4.9% compared to last year.

  

  Gray said that a major reason why is that “other than automotive manufacturing, the industrial economy, in recent months, has not been doing as well as other areas of the economy. Until industrial activity, and especially manufacturing recovers, rail volumes in many key markets could remain constrained.”

  According to AAR, U.S. Class I railroads for the first eight months of 2023 hauled a total of 7,852,770 carloads, up 0.0%, or 3,625 carloads, from the same period last year; and 8,320,438 intermodal units, down 9.2%, or 838,829 containers and trailers, from last year.

  U.S. railroads originated 1,133,375 carloads in August 2023, down 2.0%, or 23,323 carloads, from August 2022. U.S. railroads also originated 1,239,290 containers and trailers in August 2023, down 6.3%, or 83,717 units, from the same month last year. Combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations in August 2023 were 2,372,665, down 4.3%, or 107,040 carloads and intermodal units from August 2022.

  In August 2023, nine of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month saw carload gains compared with August 2022. These included: motor vehicles and parts, up 9,374 carloads or 13.6%; petroleum and petroleum products, up 5,567 carloads or 12.9%; and primary metal products, up 1,792 carloads or 4.6%. Commodities that saw declines in August 2023 from August 2022 included: grain, down 22,064 carloads or 22.9%; coal, down 9,754 carloads or 2.8%; and pulp and paper products, down 2,334 carloads or 10.2%.

  Excluding coal, carloads were down 13,569 carloads, or 1.7%, in August 2023 from August 2022. Excluding coal and grain, carloads were up 8,495 carloads, or 1.2%.

  Week 35 (Ending September 2, 2023)

  Total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 476,851 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.4% compared with the same week last year

  

  Total carloads for the week ending September 2 were 231,113 carloads, down 1.6% compared with the same week in 2022, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 245,738 containers and trailers, down 8.7% compared to 2022.

  

  North American rail volume for the first 35 weeks of the year (ending Sept. 2) on 10 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 337,338 carloads, down 0.1% compared with the same week last year, and 328,232 intermodal units, down 9.9% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 665,570 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.2%. North American rail volume for the first 35 weeks of 2023 was 22,675,055 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.1% compared with 2022.

  Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2022. They included motor vehicles and parts, up 2,274 carloads, to 16,073; metallic ores and metals, up 1,968 carloads, to 22,786; and chemicals, up 1,889 carloads, to 32,942. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2022 included coal, down 4,408 carloads, to 68,598; grain, down 4,403 carloads, to 14,961; and nonmetallic minerals, down 1,219 carloads, to 32,305.

  

  Canadian railroads reported 89,904 carloads for the week, up 2.2%, and 72,134 intermodal units, down 14.6% compared with the same week in 2022. For the first 35 weeks of 2023, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 5,519,818 carloads, containers and trailers, down 3.3%.

  

  Mexican railroads reported 16,321 carloads for the week, up 9.2% compared with the same week last year, and 10,360 intermodal units, down 3.5%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 35 weeks of 2023 was 982,029 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 5.1% from the same point last year.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/09/2023 – 15:30

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