Today’s News 11th August 2024

• Russiagate Continues To Survive Like A Sci-Fi Monster Resilient To Bullets
  Russiagate Continues To Survive Like A Sci-Fi Monster Resilient To Bullets

  Authored by Ray McGovern via Consortium News,

  Russiagate continues to survive like a science fiction monster resilient to bullets.   

  The latest effort at rehabilitating it is an interview by Adam Rawnsley in the current issue of Rolling Stone magazine of one Michael van Landingham, an intelligence analyst who is proud of having written the first draft of the cornerstone “analysis” of Russiagate, the so-called Intelligence Community Assessment.

  The ICA blamed the Russians for helping Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016.  It was released two weeks before Trump assumed office. The thoroughly politicized assessment was an embarrassment to the profession of intelligence.

  

  Worse, it was consequential in emasculating Trump to prevent him from working for a more decent relationship with Russia.

  In July 2018, Ambassador Jack Matlock (the last U.S. envoy to the Soviet Union), was moved to write his own stinging assessment of the “Assessment” under the title: “Former US Envoy to Moscow Calls Intelligence Report on Alleged Russian Interference ‘Politically Motivated.’” 

  In January 2019, I wrote the following about the ICA: 

  “A glance at the title of the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) (which was not endorsed by the whole community) — ‘Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections’ — would suffice to show that the widely respected and independently-minded State Department intelligence bureau should have been included. State intelligence had demurred on several points made in the Oct. 2002 Estimate on Iraq, and even insisted on including a footnote of dissent.

  James Clapper, then director of national intelligence who put together the ICA, knew that all too well. So he evidently thought it would be better not to involve troublesome dissenters, or even inform them what was afoot.

  Similarly, the Defense Intelligence Agency should have been included, particularly since it has considerable expertise on the G.R.U., the Russian military intelligence agency, which has been blamed for Russian hacking of the DNC emails.

  But DIA, too, has an independent streak and, in fact, is capable of reaching judgments Clapper would reject as anathema. …

  With help from the Times and other mainstream media, Clapper, mostly by his silence, was able to foster the charade that the ICA was actually a bonafide product of the entire intelligence community for as long as he could get away with it. After four months it came time to fess up that the ICA had not been prepared, as Secretary Clinton and the media kept claiming, by ‘all 17 intelligence agencies.’

  In fact, Clapper went one better, proudly asserting — with striking naiveté — that the ICA writers were ‘handpicked analysts’ from only the F.B.I., C.I.A., and NSA. He may have thought that this would enhance the ICA’s credibility. It is a no-brainer, however, that when you want handpicked answers, you better handpick the analysts. And so he did.”

  [See: The January 2017 ‘Assessment’ on Russiagate] 

  Buried in Annex B of the ICA is this curious disclaimer:

  “Assessments are based on collected information, which is often incomplete or fragmentary, as well as logic, argumentation, and precedents. … High confidence in a judgment does not imply that the assessment is a fact or a certainty; such judgments might be wrong.”

  Small wonder, then, that a New York Times report on the day the ICA was released noted:

  “What is missing from the public report is what many Americans most eagerly anticipated: hard evidence to back up the agencies’ claims that the Russian government engineered the election attack. That is a significant omission…”

  Burying Obama’s Role

  Mainstream journalism has successfully buried parts of the Russiagate story, including the role played by former President Barack Obama.

  Was Obama aware of the “Russian hack” chicanery? There’s ample evidence he was “all in.” More than a month before the 2016 election, while the F.B.I. was still waiting for the findings of cyber-firm CrowdStrike, which the Democratic Party had hired in place of the F.B.I. to find out who had breached their servers, Obama told Clapper and Dept. of Homeland Security head Jeh Johnson not to wait.

  

  So with the election looming, the two dutifully published a Joint Statement on Oct. 7, 2016:

  “The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations. The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts. These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process. … “

  Obama’s role was revealed in 2022 when the F.B.I. was forced to make public F.B.I. emails in connection with the trial of fellow Russiagate plotter, Democratic lawyer Michael Sussmann

  Clapper and the C.I.A., F.B.I., and NSA directors briefed Obama on the ICA on Jan. 5, 2017. That was the day before they gave it personally to President-elect Donald Trump, telling him it showed the Russians helped him win, and that it had just been made public.

  On Jan. 18, 2017, at his final press conference, Obama used lawyerly language in an awkward attempt to cover his derriere:

  “The conclusions of the intelligence community with respect to the Russian hacking were not conclusive as to whether WikiLeaks was witting or not in being the conduit through which we heard about the DNC e-mails that were leaked.”

  So we ended up with “inconclusive conclusions” on that admittedly crucial point… and, for good measure, use of both words — “hacking” and “leaked.” 

  The tale that Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee in 2016 was then disproved on Dec. 5, 2017 by the head of CrowdStrike’s sworn testimony to Congress. Shawn Henry told the House Intelligence committee behind closed doors that CrowdStrike found no evidence that anyone had successfully hacked the DNC servers. 

  But it is still widely believed because The New York Times and other Democrat-allied corporate media never reported on that testimony when it was finally made public on May 7, 2020.

  Enter Michael van Landingham

  Rolling Stone’s article on July 28 about van Landingham says he is still proud of his role as one of the “hand-picked analysts” in drafting the discredited ICA.

  The piece is entitled: “He Confirmed Russia Meddled in 2016 to Help Trump. Now, He’s Speaking Out.” It says: “Trump viewed the 2017 intel report as his ‘Achilles heel.’ The analyst who wrote it opens up about Trump, Russia and what really happened in 2016.” 

  Without ever mentioning that the conclusions of the ICA were proven false, by Henry’s testimony and the conclusions of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation that found no evidence of Trump-Russia “collusion,” Rolling Stone says:

  “The 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), dubbed ‘Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections,’ was one of the most consequential documents in modern American history. It helped trigger investigations by the House and Senate intelligence committees and a special counsel investigation, and it fueled an eight-year-long grudge that Trump has nursed against the intelligence community.” 

  Rawnsley writes in Rolling Stone the following as gospel truth, without providing any evidence to back it up. 

  “When WikiLeaks published a tranche of [John] Podesta’s emails in late October, the link between the Russian hackers and the releases became undeniable. The dump contained the original spear phishing message that Russian hackers had used to trick Podesta into coughing up his password. News outlets quickly seized on the email, crediting it for what it was: proof that the Russians were behind the campaign.”

  Because Rawnsley didn’t tell us, it’s not clear how this “spear phishing message” provides “undeniable” proof that Russia was behind it. Consortium News has contacted Rawnsley to provide more detail to back up his assertion. 

  Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan and close friend of Julian Assange,  suggested to Scott Horton on Horton’s radio show in 2016 that the DNC leak and the Podesta leak came from two different sources, neither of them the Russian government.

  “The Podesta emails and the DNC emails are, of course, two separate things and we shouldn’t conclude that they both have the same source,” Murray said. “In both cases we’re talking of a leak, not a hack, in that the person who was responsible for getting that information out had legal access to that information.”

  Reading between the lines of the interview, one could interpret Murray’s comments as suggesting that the DNC leak came from a Democratic source and that the Podesta leak came from someone inside the U.S. intelligence community, which may have been monitoring John Podesta’s emails because the Podesta Group, which he founded with his brother Tony, served as a registered “foreign agent” for Saudi Arabia.

  “John Podesta was a paid lobbyist for the Saudi government,” Murray noted. “If the American security services were not watching the communications of the Saudi government’s paid lobbyist in Washington, then the American security services would not be doing their job. … His communications are going to be of interest to a great number of other security services as well.”

  Leak by Americans

  Horton then asked, “Is it fair to say that you’re saying that the Podesta leak came from inside the intelligence services, NSA [the electronic spying National Security Agency] or another agency?”

  “I think what I said was certainly compatible with that kind of interpretation, yeah,” Murray responded. “In both cases they are leaks by Americans.”

  William Binney, a former U.S. National Security Agency technical director, told Consortium News this regarding Rolling Stone‘s assertion about the Podesta emails:

  “Saying something does not make it so. There is no evidence the phishers or hackers were Russian. In today’s networks, you really have to have the underlying internet protocol (IP nr) or device medium access control (MAC nr) to show the routing to/from [sending and receiving] devices to show exfiltration plus trace route evidence to show if that data went any further.

  [In other words, you would need the unique computer addresses of the hacked and the hacker and anyone they may have relayed it to, if it were a hack.]

  [Rawnsley] gives none of this type of data.  So, until he provides this type of data, I view his statements as an opinion and not worth much at all. 

  The whole world-wide network has to have these numbers to get data from point A to point B in the world. No one (NSA included) has shown this data going to Wikileaks for publication. The 5EYES have Wikileaks under cast iron cover/analysis and would know this and report it.”

  

  “There is one more aspect that’s important to take into account,” Binney added. “It’s the network log. This contains a record of every instruction sent on the network along with addresses for the sender and receiver. It’s held for a period of time according to storage allocated to it.”

  Binney said:

  “So, if there’s a hack, then the instruction to achieve the hack is in the log. Remember, Crowd Strike did the analysis of the DNC server all through this time and never talked about the network log. Now, Podesta’s computer does not have a network log, but the DNC and worldwide network providers do.”

  Binney told CN that he proposed automated analysis of the worldwide log for the NSA in 1992, “but they refused it as it would expose all the money and program corruption in NSA contracts.”

  Binney said he was putting that function into the ThinThread program in 1999/2000 that he was developing for the NSA, but the agency “removed it in 2001 after 9/11.”

  A report by the private cybersecurity firm SecureWorks in June 2016 assessed with “moderate confidence” that a group identified as APT28, nicknamed “Fancy Bear” among other names “operating from the Russian Federation … gathering intelligence on behalf of the Russian government” was behind the Podesta phishing, though as Binney points out, the NSA found no such evidence, when it would have had to, had Russia done it.   

  The name “Fancy Bear” of the alleged hackers from GRU, the Russian defense intelligence agency, incidentally, was coined by Dmitri Alperovich, the anti-Putin Russian co-founder of CrowdStrike. 

  “This whole Russiagate affair was a concoction of the DNC, the Clintons, the F.B.I. etc. and none of them have produced any specific basic evidence to support their assertions,” Binney said. “The idea that the word ‘Bear’ implies Russia is about the level of technical intellect we are dealing with here.”  

  Binney said these are the key technical questions that still need to be answered: 

  1. What are the IP and/or MAC numbers involved? And, what are the allocations of these numbers by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (network number allocation authority)?

  2. What are the trace routes of the hacked packets going across the worldwide network?

  3. What instructions are in the network log indicating data exfiltration of data?

  4. Are there any other specific technical aspects that are relevant to a potential hack? No opinions or guesses, that’s not factual evidence of anything beyond the writers biases.”

  Binney said in email:

  “Even if you assume the Russians did the hack and have the DNC/Podesta emails, you still have to show the transfer of these emails to Wikileaks to know who really did the deed. So far, no one has evidence the emails were sent to Wikileaks.

  Most importantly, Julian Assange publicly said it was not the Russians. Kimdotcom said he helped others (not the Russians) to get data to Wikileaks. Craig Murray talked about physical transfer of data. These statements by people involved in WikiLeaks is clearly consistent with the technical evidence I and others have assembled.”

  Binny said that “until such time as those others produce specific technical evidence for peer review and validation (like we have), they are just pushing sludge up an inclined plane with a narrow squeegee hoping they can get it over the top and accepted by all.”

  Binney noted that the ancient Greek school of sophism called this the fallacy of repetition. “That’s where they keep repeating a falsehood over and over again till it is believed (it helps when they say the same thing from many different directions especially by people in positions of authority),” Binney said.

  So the head of CrowdStrike testifies that there’s no evidence anyone hacked the DNC and according to Binney and Murray, there is no definitive proof that Russia was behind the Podesta phishing expedition either.  WikiLeaks maintains that a state actor was not the source of either. 

  And yet the Russiagate myth persists. It is useful in so many ways for those in the U.S. who still want to ratchet up even more tension with Russia (as though Ukraine isn’t enough) and for a political party to perhaps again explain away an election loss if it happens in November. 

  Thanks to Bill Binney and two other VIPS very senior NSA “alumni”, and the detailed charts and other data revealed by Edward Snowden, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) was able to publish a memorandum on Dec. 12, 2016 that, based on technical evidence, labeled the Russian hacking allegations “baseless.” The following July we issued a similar VIPS  memo, with the title asking the neuralgic question, “Was the ‘Russian Hack’ an Inside Job?” The question lingers.

  Shameless or Just Dumb? Michael van Landingham brags to Rolling Stone that he wrote the first draft of the meretricious cornerstone of Russiagate, the “Intelligence Community” Assessment falsely blaming the Russians for helping Trump defeat Hillary in 2016https://t.co/1yWupvqvcg

  — Ray McGovern (@raymcgovern) July 30, 2024

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

  I have now posted an item on X to call attention to this latest Russiagate indignity.

  I cannot escape the conclusion that journalism is not like war: In war the victors get to write the history; in today’s journalism, the losers — who get it wrong — get to write it.

  O Tempora, O Mores!

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 23:20

• These Are The Most (& Least) Popular US Governors
  These Are The Most (& Least) Popular US Governors

  With a net approval rate of 13 percent, Democratic nominee for the vice presidency, Tim Walz, is only the 36th most popular governor in the country. He currently is the first in command in Minnesota.

  However, as Statista’s Katharina Buchholz reports, other governors who were reportedly being considered for Kamala Harris’ running mate in the upcoming 2024 election are much more popular at home, namely Andy Beshear, who has a net approval rate of 40 percent in Kentucky, and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, who places 16th with a net approval of 25 percent. This is according to data collected by Morning Consult.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  However, according to NBC, Walz and Harris reportedly got along best in person and the Democratic nominee for president felt that he was best suited for a role of supporting the president loyally.

  Walz, who has (admittedly controversial) military experience in the Army National Guard, worked a blue collar job in addition to having been a teacher and is a gun-owning hunter, is hoped to appeal to moderates and voters from non-coastal states and therefore complement Harris’ profile. 

  Voters describe Walz as “normal” and “genuine”, but his policies are progressive despite his regular guy image, which might have also endeared him to Harris and her campaign. However, Walz’s stance has also caused pushback among more conservative voters in Minnesota, resulting in a lowish net approval.

  Additionally, he has been criticized both for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the protest that followed the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis in 2020.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 22:45

• Trump Campaign Hacked, Microsoft Says Iran-Backed Group "Mint Sandstorm" Responsible
  Trump Campaign Hacked, Microsoft Says Iran-Backed Group “Mint Sandstorm” Responsible

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

  Microsoft’s cyber threat assessment unit said on Aug. 9 that a high-ranking official on a U.S. presidential campaign had been hacked by an Iran-backed group, with the Trump campaign later revealing that it had been the target of a cyber attack and linked the breach to “foreign sources hostile to the United States.”

  

  The report from the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) indicates that an Iranian group called Mint Sandstorm that is connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sent a spear phishing email in June to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign from the compromised email account belonging to a former senior campaign adviser.

  “Mint Sandstorm similarly targeted a presidential campaign in May and June 2020 five to six months ahead of the last U.S. presidential election,” MTAC said, adding that the same group also tried but failed to breach an account belonging to a former presidential candidate.

  No details were released on the official’s identity, but Microsoft’s threat assessment team said that the Iranian-linked breaches related to increasing attempts to influence the U.S. presidential election in November.

  “This recent cyber-enabled influence activity arises from a combination of actors which are conducting initial cyber reconnaissance and seeding online personas and websites into the information space,” according to the report.

  Following the release of the report, the Trump 2024 presidential campaign confirmed that it had been the target of a cyberattack in which campaign documents were stolen.

  The breach, which Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Politico on Aug. 10 has been attributed to “foreign sources hostile to the United States,” marks a significant development in the area of foreign interference in U.S. elections as the race for the White House heats up.

  Politico reported that, on July 22, it began receiving emails from an anonymous source using the alias “Robert.” The emails reportedly contained internal documents from the Trump campaign, including a 271-page research dossier on Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who was vetted as a potential vice presidential nominee and later chosen as former President Donald Trump’s running mate.

  Cheung pointed to the Microsoft report and its finding that Iranian hackers had broken into the account of a high-ranking official on the U.S. presidential campaign as evidence of involvement of a foreign hostile power in the Trump campaign breach.

  “These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our democratic process,” Cheung told the outlet.

  He also linked the timing of the breach to reports of Iranian plots against Trump, who remains a target of Iranian hostility after ordering the 2020 assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

  Cheung, who did not immediately respond to a request from The Epoch Times for more details of the development, declined to tell Politico whether the Trump campaign had contacted law enforcement in regards to the breach.

  U.S. intelligence officials recently stated that Iran had been hard at work sowing political discord in the United States via the use of clandestine or ghost social media accounts. Iran has denied that such practices are taking place and said that any actions against the United States are purely defensive and do not involve cyber attacks.

  The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a statement in July confirming that Iranian groups had targeted the U.S. political campaign, specifically that of Trump, to influence the upcoming election.

  The U.S. intelligence community “has observed Tehran working to influence the presidential election, probably because Iranian leaders want to avoid an outcome they perceive would increase tensions with the United States,” the statement reads.

  Microsoft’s report said that the hackers’ activity also covered a wider scope, including gaining intelligence on U.S. political campaigns, which allowed Iranian groups to target political swing states in the United States.

  The report also stated that the previous breach involving the county official, which took place in May, was part of a wider “password spray operation.” This type of operation involves the use of common or leaked passwords, which hackers use on multiple accounts until they find a match and break into one.

  The report confirmed that no other accounts were compromised through the breach and that all other targeted officials were notified of the cyber attack.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 22:10

• Half Of OECD Countries Earn Less Now Than Pre-Pandemic
  Half Of OECD Countries Earn Less Now Than Pre-Pandemic

  According to a recent report, around half of OECD countries are earning less now than they had before the pandemic.

  As Statista’s Katharine Buchholz reports, when considering hourly real wages – wages adjusted for inflation – people in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and many European countries now have less money at their disposal than roughly four years ago. No data was published for Turkey, Chile and Colombia.

  While the pandemic caused issues for some industries, others also started paying workers more as they wound up being in short supply due to the upheavals to employment Covid-19 caused. After the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in early 2022, most workers around the world took a hit to their real wages as inflation was running hot in many countries, causing price increases to effectively outweigh any potential wage growth.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  Finland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Sweden and New Zealand were hardest hit by this phenomenon according to the OECD Employment Outlook 2024, seeing real wages decrease by more than 5%. Sweden saw wages dwindle most, by 7.5%. The country is known for relatively low real wages compared to its pricy standard of living—pay is 11% lower than in neighboring Denmark and 16-20% lower than in Germany, the Netherlands or Norway. Trade unions negotiate a majority contracts in the country that has placed a focus on equality, but like in many European nations, collective bargaining has become more contentious. In this context, observers have even referred to a “lost decade” for Swedish wages.

  The United States fared better than others as real wages were just 0.8% lower in Q1 of 2024 than in Q4 of 2019. Neighbor Canada lost 2.4% of hourly real wages in roughly the same time period, while the loss was even more severe in Australia at 4.8%. The University of Sydney comments that a departure from collective bargaining and a decrease in manufacturing have affected the jobs that used to be peak performers for wage growth in the country.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 21:35

• Is A Much Deadlier Strain Of Monkeypox Going To Be The Next Great Global Health Scare?
  Is A Much Deadlier Strain Of Monkeypox Going To Be The Next Great Global Health Scare?

  Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

  Should we be alarmed? 

  Many of us have been watching the spread of a deadly new strain of Monkeypox for quite some time, and now it appears that this crisis is about to reach a boiling point.  It is being reported that the World Health Organization is going to hold an “emergency meeting” to determine whether or not to declare a “public health emergency of international concern” due to a rapidly growing outbreak of Monkeypox in central Africa.  For those that are not familiar, a “public health emergency of international concern” is the highest level of alert that the WHO issues.  For example, in January 2020 a “public health emergency of international concern” was declared when COVID started to spread like wildfire inside China. 

  So could we now be on the verge of the next great global health scare?

  

  Two years ago, an outbreak of Monkeypox quickly spread all over the planet, and it is truly a horrifying disease…

  Mpox is a viral disease that causes painful rashes and flu-like symptoms such as fever, headaches and body aches. The virus that causes it comes from the same family as that of smallpox. It spreads from person to person and from animals to people through direct contact.

  In May, scientists reported a new strain of the virus in the DRC that they said was more virulent and might spread more easily.

  Right now, if you somehow got infected with the strain that spread throughout the world in 2022, there is a good chance that you would be in so much pain that you would actually believe that you were about to die.

  But that strain was rarely fatal.

  Unfortunately, this strain is much more deadly.

  According to the head of the World Health Organization, this new strain has already killed more than 500 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo so far this year…

  The outbreak, which began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo but has spread recently to at least three other neighboring countries, has involved more than 14,000 reported cases so far this year alone, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, with at least 511 deaths reported.

  Some experts believe that this new strain also spreads more easily.

  Like the strain that spread all over the globe in 2022, this new strain spreads through sexual contact, but apparently it also spreads in other ways as well…

  The CDC said in the alert that outbreaks in some provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been associated with sexual contact.

  In other parts of the country, however, patients have gotten sick through contact with infected animals, household transmission or patient care, the CDC said, adding that a high proportion of cases have been reported in children younger than 15.

  “Most reported cases in known endemic provinces continue to be among children under 15 years of age,” the World Health Organization wrote on its website on June 14. “Infants and children under five years of age are at highest risk of severe disease and death.”

  In 2022, very few children got infected.

  But this time around lots of children are getting infected.

  There had been hope that this outbreak could be confined to the Democratic Republic of Congo, but that didn’t happen.

  At this point, confirmed cases have been detected in four nations that directly border the Democratic Republic of Congo…

  The WHO said the virus has now ‘spread to previously unaffected provinces.’

  In the past month, at least 50 Mpox cases have been reported in four other countries bordering the DRC – countries that have not experienced the virus before.

  They include Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

  The genie is out of the bottle.

  What are they going to do now?

  Well, it appears that the first step will be to declare a “public health emergency of international concern”…

  World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday called an “emergency” meeting of international experts amidst growing worries over the mpox virus.

  With mpox spreading outside of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tedros said the WHO emergency committee would meet “as soon as possible” to advise him on “whether the outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern.”

  When a “public health emergency of international concern” is officially declared, it will get a ton of media attention and that will really ramp up the fear level.

  As I noted earlier, it is the “highest level of alert” that the WHO can issue…

  PHEIC, the emergency classification Ghebreyesus referred to, is the W.H.O.’s highest level of alert. The W.H.O. declared a PHEIC over the novel coronavirus that was first detected in China in late January 2020.

  Thankfully, there have been no confirmed cases outside of Africa yet.

  But last week the CDC instructed doctors in the United States “to be on the lookout” for cases…

  The Centers for Disease Control on Wednesday alerted doctors to be on the lookout for a deadly new strain of mpox spreading through parts of Africa while U.S. officials committed $424 million to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is the epicenter of the outbreak.

  What are they expecting?

  Do they anticipate that there will soon be confirmed cases here in the United States?

  Needless to say, such a development would deeply alarm millions of people.

  Interestingly, the CDC is also instructing Americans to limit contact with animals at county fairs all over the nation due to concerns about the bird flu…

  Your trip to the county fair might look a little different this year all because of avian influenza also known as “bird flu.”

  Organizers across the U.S. are working to ensure their events do not lead to the spread of the virus.

  Children under five, people 65 years and older, pregnant people, people with certain chronic medical conditions, and others are at a higher risk of developing serious flu complications and should limit contact with animals that could carry influenza viruses, if possible, according tothe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  Will H5N1 cause more panic during the months ahead, or will it be Monkeypox?

  We will just have to wait and see how all of this plays out.

  In any event, it is just a matter of time before the next major health scare paralyzes the entire globe just like we witnessed a few years ago.

  Even as you read this article, scientists in secret labs all over the planet are playing around with some of the deadliest diseases ever known to humanity, and as we have seen it is way too easy for an “accident” to happen.

  We live at a time when great pestilences will be a constant threat, and fear of those great pestilences will cause chaos all over the world.

  So buckle up and hold on tight, because what we went through before was just a preview of what is ahead.

  *  *  *

  Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 21:00

• Newsom Hires $200k/Year Celebrity Photographer For Glamor Shots
  Newsom Hires $200k/Year Celebrity Photographer For Glamor Shots

  As 20% of California suffers in poverty amid soaring power bills, soaring homelessness, businesses fleeing the state, and sky-high taxes, one might expect the state’s leadership to focus on solutions. Instead, Governor Gavin Newsom has taken a rather unconventional approach: hiring a celebrity photographer, Charles Ommanney, with a $200,000 annual salary to enhance his public image.

  

  Yes, you read that right. In a state where many struggle to make ends meet, Newsom has brought on board a photographer known for capturing the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Ommanney’s task? To ensure that the governor is photographed in his most flattering light, whether it’s wearing aviator sunglasses while picking up trash from a homeless encampment or surveying wildfire damage in designer workwear.

  This new role, which was quietly created and filled without the usual fanfare, is particularly egregious amid the backdrop of California’s economic struggles. With Ommanney now a full-time member of the governor’s team, his photos aren’t just about documenting events—they’re about crafting a carefully curated image of Newsom as a hands-on leader, Politico reports.

  And while residents suffer, their governor is ramping up his meticulously polished persona, perhaps with an eye on the national stage. Earlier this year, instead of delivering the traditional State of the State address, Newsom’s office produced a glossy video, complete with dramatic visuals—some of which were shot by Ommanney—highlighting national issues over local crises.

  Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for Newsom, defended the hire.

  “Charles plays an instrumental role in communicating the work of state government across visual platforms — including social media, helping us meet Californians where they are at.”

  Yet, it’s hard to overlook the absurdity of this situation: a governor who earns $234,101 annually is paying a photographer nearly as much to follow him around the state, capturing photos that are, in essence, taxpayer-funded PR.

  In a time when California’s residents need real solutions and tangible action, the governor’s decision to prioritize a high-priced image consultant raises more than a few eyebrows. For a state in dire need of economic revival, the focus on optics over substance is a bitter pill to swallow.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 20:25

• "Neither Scholar Nor Journalist": How A NYT 'Influencer' Undermined Groundbreaking Study Debunking Mask Mandates
  “Neither Scholar Nor Journalist”: How A NYT ‘Influencer’ Undermined Groundbreaking Study Debunking Mask Mandates

  Authored by Paul D. Thacker via The Disinformation Chronicle,

  Hey guys, I had a piece last week in UnHerd discussing hundreds of emails I had gone through that found social media influencer Zeynep Tufekci pressured the prestigious medical nonprofit Cochrane to put out a statement attacking their own review that found there is little evidence that masks stop respiratory viruses. One of the people Tufekci interviewed for the piece also told me that she twisted his words, which is obvious from the emails.

  

  I want to walk you through some of those emails, but if you’d like to read the piece in UnHerd, it’s here: How the NYT undermined mask evidence: Leaked emails reveal how scientists were smeared.

  The emails were sent to me after someone had filed Freedom of Information requests at different universities, and I got others from a person at Cochrane who is upset at what is happening inside the organization. Let’s first set the stage for what happened.

  Mask activist on the attack

  In March 2023, New York Times columnist Zeynep Tufekci wrote an essay arguing that “masks work” while attacking a review on masks by Cochrane, which publishes the gold standard of evidence for medical interventions. When Tufekci’s piece first appeared, I knew it smelled fishy.

  Just a month prior, I had published a long Q&A with Tom Jefferson, the lead author of the Cochrane 2023 mask review. Jefferson loves going into all kinds of details about the hierarchy of evidence, how reviews are done, the contrasts between different types of reviews, and other tiny bits of medical information that only interest people with decades of expertise in clinical trials and medical research.

  In short, very hard to follow.

  My interest in masks was to help readers cut through all the controversy, to understand whether they really help with COVID and if mask mandates make sense in their schools and local community. I had noticed videos and news stories circulating on social media pointing out that several public health officials had done a 180 from the early months of the pandemic, first stating that masks don’t work, before pivoting to advocate for masks.

  I called this the “great mask-science flip flop of 2020” and participants included Canada’s chief health officer, Theresa Tam, as well as the leading public health official in England, Jenny Harries.

  Even Tony Fauci performed a mask-science flip flop, first arguing that masks didn’t work, before pivoting into full-on mask activist.

  

  As Jefferson kept rambling on with tiny details about how to perform medical reviews that nobody but an expert in medical reviews could really follow, I stopped him.

  “Wait, did you just say that Cochrane has done this mask review several times?” I asked. “This isn’t the first one?”

  “Yes,” he replied.

  So we went down the list. The Cochrane mask review published in February 2023 wasn’t the first time Cochrane scientists had examined the scientific literature to see if there was any evidence masks worked to stop viruses. They had published prior updates finding the same thing in 2020, 2011 2010, 2009, and 2007.

  So the whole thing started 17 years ago.

  Every time Cochrane has put out a review that looked at masks, nobody said anything, because masking wasn’t controversial. Everyone agreed that masks didn’t seem to stop viruses. Physicians had first started using masks over a hundred years ago but that was to stop spreading bacteria during surgery. And bacteria are hundreds of times larger than viruses.

  I then started digging around and found several scientific studies concluding masks don’t do much to stop respiratory viruses, as well as several examples of international medical bodies drawing similar conclusions. For example, the World Health Organizations stated in their 2019 pandemic preparedness plan, “There have been a number of high-quality randomised controlled trials (RCTs) demonstrating that personal protective measures such as hand hygiene and face masks have, at best, a small effect on influenza transmission.”

  

  So why was I reading a “masks work” essay in the New York Times?

  The only explanation is Zeynep Tufekci. I didn’t really know Tufekci until I read her “masks work” essay last year, and when I looked into her background I found that she was mostly unknown in the scientific world until COVID. Once the pandemic started she made a name for herself writing essays in places like Wired and Scientific American. Intrigued, I looked into her academic publishing record and found that her academic CV was a tad barren, with few peer-reviewed studies but a slew of opinion articles.

  Plus, Tufecki has no training in medicine or public health.

  I then discovered that her profile had exploded in March 2020 when a New York Times media reporter praised Tufekci for a March 1 tweetstorm and March 17 essay in The New York Times that swayed the CDC to alter federal guidance and begin advising people to mask.

  As I read the article praising Tufekci, I started laughing at how crazy it was that national policy could be set by tweets and an essay, not anything published by scientists. It was just so bizarre.

  Tufekci has bounced around to different universities in the past four years, but at the beginning of the pandemic, she was a professor at the University of North Carolina. North Carolina’s big paper is the Raleigh News & Observer, and I found that they profiled Tufekci in 2021, anointing her a COVID hero who had challenged top health officials and got the facts right — but with essays, not science.

  Instead of conducting lab experiments related to Covid-19, she used her platform on Twitter and in the opinion sections of Scientific American, The Atlantic and The New York Times to inform the public with practical advice about what to do and why.

  I read that newspaper article thinking, “Thank God Tufekci didn’t use her platform on Twitter to challenge airline pilots at Raleigh-Durham International that she could fly a 747 to London’s Heathrow.”

  And then I got the emails.

  Opinions mean nothing, emails and documents everything

  One of the first things I noticed was that Tufecki had emailed Michael Brown, a physician at Michigan State University, on February 24, 2023. According to other emails, I learned that Michael Brown had been the sign off editor for the mask review.

  Why, I wondered, had Tufekci contacted Brown at this time?

  Searching the news, I realized that Tufekci’s New York Times colleague, Bret Stephens, had published an essay three days prior, ribbing mask advocates like Tufekci because of Cochrane’s mask review: “The Mask Mandates Did Nothing. Will Any Lessons Be Learned?”

  Tufekci’s rise in prominence is based mostly on her mask advocacy, and the thrust of Stephens’ piece in the New York Times must have cut her open like a surgeon’s scalpel:

  [W]hen it comes to the population-level benefits of masking, the verdict is in: Mask mandates were a bust. Those skeptics who were furiously mocked as cranks and occasionally censored as “misinformers” for opposing mandates were right. The mainstream experts and pundits who supported mandates were wrong. 

  Without much of a scientific publishing record and so much of her credibility tied to her mask advocacy, Stephens’ essay must have felt threatening.

  But when she contacted Brown, Tufekci laid it on thick that she was an academic researcher, claiming expertise in statistics and causal inference, as well as scientific reviews.

  “I use and participate in reviews myself (I’m writing one in my own field soon) and thus am familiar with many of the challenges and issues.”

  

  You don’t need to have attended university to know that Tufekci is fibbing here. I glanced through Google Scholar to see what Tufeckci has published in the academic literature and didn’t find much except opinion pieces. In all of 2024, Tufecki has not published a single article in the scientific literature, and in 2023, she published one piece: an opinion essay.

  

  As for the review Tufeckis told Brown in March 2023 that she was writing “in my own field soon”? It has never appeared.

  When I contacted Brown about Tufekci, he told me that he had been a bit naive perhaps in dealing with her, as he hadn’t looked into her background, and didn’t realize that she was a mask activist. But what Tufecki did with the quotes she took from Brown is quite disturbing.

  In her article, Tufekci quoted Brown and followed up in the next paragraph implying that he supported the idea that “the evidence is really straightforward” that masks provide protection from COVID. But Brown told me that’s not what the science concludes.

  Here’s the section of Tufekci’s essay:

  Brown, who led the Cochrane review’s approval process, told me that mask mandates may not be tenable now, but he has a starkly different feeling about their effects in the first year of a pandemic.

  “Mask mandates, social distancing, the other shutdowns we had in terms of even restaurants and things like that — if places like New York City didn’t do that, the number of deaths would have been much higher,” he told me. “I’m very confident of that statement.”

  So the evidence is relatively straightforward: Consistently wearing a mask, preferably a high-quality, well-fitting one, provides protection against the coronavirus.

  This is just sleazy.

  When I contacted Brown, he said that Tufecki spun his words, because the evidence is clear that masks don’t seem to do much. Brown actually stated as much some months after Tufekci interviewed him. Emailing the organizer of a talk he was giving, Brown wrote that masks “likely” provide “some” protection but “do not make a major impact at the community level when promoted as a public health intervention.”

  

  This is basically the opposite of how Tufekci framed Brown’s quote in her essay.

  Brown also told me that he had told Tufekci to contact the scientists who wrote the Cochrane review, because they are the real experts. Duh! While he was the editor of the review, he hadn’t read each and every published study like the review authors.

  But Tufekci ignored Brown. Instead, Tufekci contacted Karla Soares-Weiser, the woman running Cochrane. Apparently, Tufekci sent a slew of questions, because Soares-Weiser then emailed Lisa Bero, a professor medicine at the University of Colorado who serves as Cochrane ethics advisor.

  “Lisa, I have been back and forth with NYT about the mask review. CAN I GET YOUR VIEWS ON THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS?” emailed Soares-Weiser. She then sent questions to Bero that she had gotten from Tufekci.

  What makes this all comical is that Tufekci obviously knows nothing about reviews, yet Soares-Weiser freaked out because Tufekci writes a column at the New York Times.

  It’s science by essay writer.

  After Bero answered the questions, Soares-Weiser thanked her. “Thank you, Lisa. I’m navigating a difficult situation and of course need to take these points into account. Help appreciated.”  

  

  For anyone with a passing familiarity with scientific research, one thought should come immediately to mind: why didn’t Soares-Weiser tell Tufekci to send those questions to scientists who had written the review? That’s what Michael Brown did.

  That will become clear in a bit.

  I got a copy of the email Tufekci sent Jefferson for questions and it’s dated March 9, the day before she published her 2000+ word essay. I’ve written for the New York Times. It’s a rather laborious process dealing with editors and fact checkers. It would impossible for Tufekci to contact Jefferson for comment and then slam out a 2000+ word essay, get that essay edited, deal with those edits, and then get it fact checked.

  What those dates tell you is that Tufekci had the essay ready to publish before she contacted Jefferson for comment, suggesting she didn’t even care what he had to say. Jefferson has been publishing scientific research on respiratory virus for several decades, but Tufekci wasn’t interested in what he had to say because she already considered herself the expert.

  The day Tufecki published her essay, Soares-Weiser then rushed out a statement claiming she was working to fix problems in the Cochrane mask review. But Soares-Weiser did this without consulting the scientists who had done the work. This would be like the editor-in-chief of the New York Times publishing an essay complaining about a New York Times investigative series without bothering to consult any of the reporters or editors who had done the work.

  “I will not speak for the others but am deeply distressed by this course of events which have occurred without our knowledge,” replied Jon Conly, a professor and former head of the department of medicine at the University of Calgary.

  

  Michael Brown responded that he had spoken to Tufekci and told her that “I stood by the conclusions of the review but asked that she reach out to you, the authors, to answer some of her questions directly. She assured me that she would do so.”

  

  Of course, Tufekci did NOT reach out to the scientific authors, because she wasn’t interested in what they had to say.

  Brown then sent an email to Soares-Weiser and several of the Cochrane editors reminding them that changes were being considered to the mask review language, even though it was the same wording as had been used in the 2020 update.

  Why were changes being considered then? As Brown explained, it had nothing to do with science. “[I]t was only under intense media coverage and criticism that these revisions were suggested.”

  

  Emails find that Soares-Weiser appeared to be in a bit of panic, monitoring negative commentary about her decision to publish a statement without bothering to consult the scientists. “I had a challenging meeting with the [governing board] yesterday. I am holding on, stressed, but OK,” she emailed Lisa Bero.

  

  Bero then suggested to Soares-Weiser that Cochrane publish negative comments being submitted by outsiders criticizing the mask review. “That should be published as soon as possible (following screening for libel or profanity),” Bero emailed. “It is important for readers to know that criticism has not just come through the media, but through the formal channels that we have.”

  

  Shortly after bullying Cochrane’s Soares-Weiser to put out a statement claiming she would make changes to the mask review, Tufekci began tweeting that she had gotten the review “corrected.”

  However, this isn’t true.

  

  A month back, Soares-Weiser put out a correction to her prior statement, and now says that Cochrane will not make any changes to the mask review.

  

  The entire saga calls into question Zeynep Tufekci’s ethics and whether Soares-Weiser is still fit to lead Cochrane.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 19:50

• MSM Absent In Reporting "Dozens Of Night Time Low Temp Records" Across US 
  MSM Absent In Reporting “Dozens Of Night Time Low Temp Records” Across US 

  Climate alarmists and their left-wing corporate media allies, who constantly spread fear and anxiety among an already heavily medicated population, churn out endless streams of climate doom headlines right at the peak of the Northern Hemisphere summer (how convenient). They deliberately ignore the fact that the 2022 Tonga Volcano eruption is contributing to some of the Earth’s warming—and they’ll conveniently leave out this critical piece of climate news:

  “Dozens of night time low temp records have been broken the last 2 mornings. Many folks waking up to temps in the upper 40s and lower 50s this morning,” private weather forecaster BAM Weather wrote on X. 

  

  BAM Weather explained these low temperatures are “Typical of early October weather for most.” 

  

  Let’s not forget that climate alarmists usually point to ‘record temperatures’ with data going back several decades, half a century, or a little more. If they were to show the entire picture, well, their agenda and climate grift would evaporate overnight. 

  

  The lower 48 region is about three weeks post-peak summer.

  

  Looking ahead, the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center still expects the weather phenomenon La Nina to emerge “during Sep-Oct-Nov (66% chance) and persist through the Northern Hemisphere winter 2024-25 (74% chance during Nov-Dec-Jan).” 

  #ENSO-neutral is expected to continue for the next several months, with La Niña favored to emerge during Sep-Oct-Nov (66% chance) and persist through the Northern Hemisphere winter 2024-25 (74% chance during Nov-Dec-Jan). A #LaNina Watch remains in effect. https://t.co/5zlzaZ0D9Z pic.twitter.com/hRzW9Dj8un

  — NWS Climate Prediction Center (@NWSCPC) August 8, 2024

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

  Here are the weather impacts in a La Nina year across the Lower 48.

  

  Leftist corporate media usually get it wrong – with zero accountability – because they’re plagued by the ‘climate religion’ and push an agenda to scare folks into believing that more government taxes and banning cow farts and Taylor Swift’s jet will solve the world’s problems.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 19:15

• Police Audio Corroborates Claims Biden Had A Medical Emergency In Vegas
  Police Audio Corroborates Claims Biden Had A Medical Emergency In Vegas

  Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

  Police audio has been released revealing that law enforcement in Las Vegas were engaged in a snap operation to secure a route for Joe Biden to get to University Medical hospital, a trauma center, corroborating previous reports that there was some sort of medical emergency involving Biden before he stepped down as the Democratic nominee.

  

  As we highlighted at the time, police sources claimed that US Secret Service informed local law enforcement that there was an emergency situation involving Biden on July 17, and to close necessary streets so that he could be transported immediately to the hospital.

  According to the sources, hundreds of officers and employees heard the broadcast live and set in motion emergency response procedures, with radio dispatchers asking for a “surge” of police resources to secure the area and the emergency room on standby.

  The plan then abruptly changed and Biden was flown back to Delaware at high speed.

  Speculation was that Biden was displaying stroke like symptoms, and that he could have experienced a transient ischaemic attack, also called a “mini stroke”, a serious condition where the blood supply to the brain is temporarily disrupted.

  The new audio is from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department’s protective detail for Biden and was released Friday afternoon by Oversight Project, which obtained the recordings through a Freedom of Information Act request.

  🚨BREAKING – AUDIO OBTAINED🚨

  We just obtained the recording from the Las Vegas Police Department and have decided to immediately release it while we are simultaneously reviewing.

  Links in next post. https://t.co/WUa7DjmFFA

  — Oversight Project (@OversightPR) August 9, 2024

  The three recordings, containing police chatter, are not time stamped, but appear to span a few hours.

  Here are the 3 police audio files obtained by Oversight Project through a FOIA request that corroborate the claim Joe Biden experienced some sort of medical emergency in Las Vegas, putting cops and the University Medical Center on standby. Report: https://t.co/nCAd3p1lF8 pic.twitter.com/AHhdZAXsQo

  — m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) August 10, 2024

  In two clips, both of around four-minutes, officers are asked to respond Code 3, which is an emergency response posture.

  In the third longer clip of 43 minutes, someone on the radio states “For everybody on the radio, right now they’re on a hold for something regarding the President.”

  These links should work on mobile devices and desktops:https://t.co/GnuFPCgqGchttps://t.co/TDLn2A8cBdhttps://t.co/W70D8mbGe0

  — Oversight Project (@OversightPR) August 9, 2024

  The protective detail was then informed “For everyone on the radio, right now POTUS is 421. He’s being seen, so we’re just kinda waiting to see how this is shaping out. So, for everybody’s knowledge, he’s 421 right now; we’re just trying to figure out what’s going on and we’re gonna go from there.”

  Code 421 means a sick or injured person, according to LVMPD’s code sheet.

  The rest of the audio contains chatter about the protective detail quickly moving their resources to ensure a secure route for “POTUS movement.”

  While it is difficult to determine exact details from the audio, it is clear evidence that something significant happened to Biden. Something that the American people and the world is still not privy to.

  *  *  *

  Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 18:40

• US Will Lift Ban On Offensive Weapons Sales To Saudi Arabia
  US Will Lift Ban On Offensive Weapons Sales To Saudi Arabia

  Via Middle East Eye

  The Biden administration will lift its ban on the sales of offensive weaponry to Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported on Friday, a move that reverses the three-year US ban amidst ongoing attempts by the administration to broker a Saudi-Israel normalisation deal.

  The move comes against the backdrop of the 10-month-long Israeli war on Gaza and after Middle East Eye’s reporting that Russia has deployed military intelligence officers to assist Yemen’s Houthis with targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

  

  A congressional aide told Reuters that the administration briefed Congress this week on the decision, and another source said that Biden was moving ahead on Friday afternoon with notifications about a sale. “The Saudis have met their end of the deal, and we are prepared to meet ours,” a senior Biden administration official told Reuters.

  Middle East Eye reached out to the White House for comment on the report, but didn’t hear back by time of publication.

  The Biden administration first invoked the ban on offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia in February 2022, a move that came after US lawmakers, progressive activists, and antiwar groups were calling on Washington to end its support of the Saudi-led coalition’s war efforts in Yemen.

  War broke out in Yemen in 2014 after the Houthi rebel group seized the capital Sanaa, prompting Saudi Arabia and allied Gulf Arab countries – chiefly the United Arab Emirates – to launch a coalition to fight against the Houthi gains and reinstate the internationally recognised government.

  The Saudi-led coalition launched a brutal bombing campaign that killed thousands of Yemeni civilians. Outrage spread in the US when reports began to emerge that US-supplied bombs were being used by coalition forces in attacks that killed civilians.

  However, the harder line taken by the Biden administration against Saudi Arabia soon began to fade, most notably since last year as the US attempted to broker a historic deal that would see Saudi Arabia and Israel normalise diplomatic relations for the first time in history.

  At the same time, the US and the UK have for months been actively battling Yemen’s Houthis in the Red Sea, launching several air strikes on Houthi military sites as the armed group responded with attacks on American naval vessels and downing multiple armed reaper drones.

  The Houthis, whose fight against the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has been paused due to a UN-brokered ceasefire in April 2022 that has so far held, began to target ships travelling to and from Israel in the Red Sea last year, in what they said was in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

  The war between Israel and Hamas is spreading far beyond the borders of Israel and Gaza.

  Days ago, Yemeni Houthis went far beyond striking Israel-bound cargo ships, to navigating an armed drone over 1,200 miles, past Israel’s iron dome and into Tel Aviv.

  And in the last few… pic.twitter.com/aRyeYnZy0G

  — Truth In Media (@Truth_InMedia) August 1, 2024

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

  The Houthis also claimed responsibility for a deadly drone attack in Tel Aviv in July, which prompted Israel to launch air strikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah. “We are regularly conducting airstrikes to degrade Houthi capabilities, an effort that is ongoing and will continue together with a coalition of partners,” a senior Biden official told Reuters.

  “We have designated the Houthis as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, and we will have imposed sanctions and additional costs on the Houthi smuggling networks and military apparatus. This pressure will continue to build over the coming weeks.”

  Middle East Eye’s reporting of the assistance to the Houthis provided by Moscow, a major rival to the US, has added another dimension to the situation.

  The US has been actively providing Ukraine with billions of dollars in military support, including advanced weaponry such as tanks, amid Kyiv’s efforts to fend off a Russian invasion that began in 2022.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 17:30

• As East Coast Says Goodbye, Debby, A New Tropical Threat Emerges 
  As East Coast Says Goodbye, Debby, A New Tropical Threat Emerges 

  For those on the East Coast, finally – goodbye, Debby. But now, the focus shifts to a new tropical system forming in the Atlantic Basin.

  The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory note on ‘AL98’ said shower and thunderstorm activity has increased in association with a tropical wave between the Cabo Verde Islands and the Lesser Antilles. Tropical development probabilities currently stand at 30% over the next 48 hours and 80% over the next seven days.

  Here’s the full advisory note:

  Near the Lesser and Greater Antilles (AL98): Shower and thunderstorm activity has increased since yesterday in association with a tropical wave located roughly midway between the Cabo Verde Islands and the Lesser Antilles. Gradual development of this system is possible during the next couple of days while it moves westward to west-northwestward across the central tropical Atlantic. Afterwards, conditions are expected to become more conducive for development, and a tropical depression is likely to form by the early to middle part of next week while the system approaches and then moves near or over the Lesser Antilles. The system is forecast to continue moving generally west-northwestward and could approach portions of the Greater Antilles by the middle to latter part of next week.

  • Formation chance through 48 hours…low…30 percent
  • Formation chance through 7 days…high…80 percent.

  AL98’s seven-day trajectory model 

  

  Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel wrote on X, “Invest #98L is gradually get its act together, and as these things go we could easily have a depression or storm close to the Leeward Islands Tuesdayish.”

  Invest #98L is gradually get its act together, and as these things go we could easily have a depression or storm close to the Leeward Islands Tuesdayish. From there, a trip north of the islands or a trip into the Greater Antilles is possible with a ramp up in intensity too for… pic.twitter.com/Yc5KnyqccX

  — Jim Cantore (@JimCantore) August 10, 2024

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

  “A hurricane is likely to be near the US East Coast next weekend, but how close?” Ben Noll, a meteorologist with New Zealand’s National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, wrote on X. 

  A hurricane is likely to be near the U.S. East Coast next weekend, but how close?

  Most ECMWF-EPS members are safely offshore, nudged by an upper trough, but a small handful are close enough for a U.S. impact.

  Atlantic Canada & Bermuda will want to watch this one closely! pic.twitter.com/g7B9mHecZ9

  — Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) August 10, 2024

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

  If AL98 does become a named storm, it will be called “Ernesto.” Spaghetti models show AL98’s potential track could make a presence on or near the East Coast.

  

  The hurricane season is beginning to ramp up, as the peak is in mid-September. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 16:55

• The Trillion Dollar Coin: A Dumb Idea That Some Government People Take Seriously
  The Trillion Dollar Coin: A Dumb Idea That Some Government People Take Seriously

  Authored by Mike Maharrey via Money Metals,

  When I was about 7 years old, my friend Tommy and I decided we were going to dig a cave. We envisioned a massive cavern we could stand up in. It would be our secret fort. We went as far as digging a pretty deep hole in Tommy’s backyard. 

  It was a dumb idea.

  But our cave-building scheme wasn’t nearly as dumb as the notion that simply minting a trillion-dollar coin can solve America’s debt problem.

  

  The idea is pretty simple. The U.S. Treasury could mint a $1 trillion platinum coin, deposit it at the Federal Reserve, and then the federal government could write checks against that asset.

  Voila! Budget problem solved.

  Now, it may sound a little bit like creating money out of thin air.

  That’s because it is. But hey, if it’s legal, why not? 

  I’ll be honest; when people were discussing the trillion-dollar coin during the 2023 debt ceiling fight, I thought it was just an attention-grabbing political gimmick. Even Janet Yellen eventually nixed the idea. Surely nobody seriously considered such a scheme, right? 

  Wrong.

  Documents obtained by Bloomberg investigative journalist Jason Leopold reveal that government officials discussed the feasibility of minting a trillion-dollar coin on at least two occasions in 2013 and 2015. 

  According to a heavily redacted November 2013 memo, Treasury Department officials and Department of Justice lawyers discussed the legality of issuing a “large denomination coin in order to obtain funds for making debt payments and other expenditures if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling.” 

  A second memo dated Oct. 27, 2015, reveals another round of discussions about the legality of such a scheme.

  It seems to me they should probably consider the economic ramifications before fretting over legal minutia, but that’s just me. 

  Yale professor Jack Balkin promoted the $1 trillion coin scheme back in 2011. Here’s how it would work:  

  “Sovereign governments such as the United States can print new money. However, there’s a statutory limit to the amount of paper currency that can be in circulation at any one time.

  “Ironically, there’s no similar limit on the amount of coinage. A little-known statute gives the secretary of the Treasury the authority to issue platinum coins in any denomination. So some commentators have suggested that the Treasury create two $1 trillion coins, deposit them in its account in the Federal Reserve and write checks on the proceeds…

  “The ‘jumbo coin’ [strategy works] because modern central banks don’t have to print bills or float debt to create new money; they just add money to their customers’ checking accounts.”

  In effect, it would be no different than the quantitative easing operations (QE) the Federal Reserve currently runs to expand the money supply.

  In a QE operation, the Federal Reserve buys securities (primarily U.S. Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities). The catch is the money to buy these assets doesn’t exist until the Fed “writes a check” for the purchase. Imagine your bank honoring a check you wrote even though your balance was zero. That’s QE in a nutshell. The central bank creates the money out of thin air and injects it into the economy.

  The trillion-dollar coin scheme would have the same practical effect as QE, but the government would be off the hook from having to pay off bonds on the Fed balance sheet. Instead of having to borrow money by issuing bonds for the Fed to later monetize, the government would just create the money itself bypassing the Fed middleman.

  So, what’s the problem?

  Well, we just saw what happens when the Fed creates money out of thin air. During the pandemic, the central bank created nearly $5 trillion through quantitative easing. After that, prices went through the roof. This was inevitable because money creation is, by definition, inflation. One of the consequences of monetary inflation is price inflation. 

  Minting a trillion-dollar coin would have a similar effect. 

  The coin is just a prop for monetary kabuki theatre to make it all seem legal and above board. They wouldn’t even use 1 trillion dollars in platinum. If they did, it would weigh over 60 million pounds.

  In fact, they don’t even need the coin. As economist Robert Murphy explained, the Treasury could sell a paperclip to the central bank. Just imagine a QE operation using a paperclip instead of Treasury bonds.

  “The Federal Reserve has the power to buy whatever assets it wants at whatever price it wants. In principle, [the Treasury Secretary] could sell a paperclip to the Fed for $2 trillion. The Fed would simply write a check made out to the Treasury, drawn on the Fed itself.

  “When the Treasury deposited this check with its own bank — which just so happens to be the Fed — then its own ‘checking account’ balance would go up by $2 trillion. This money wouldn’t come from anywhere in the sense that some other account would need to be debited $2 trillion. On the contrary, the system’s total reserves (and what is called the ‘monetary base’) would have swelled by $2 trillion. The Treasury would be free to start paying bills by writing checks on the $2 trillion in its account.”

  Nevertheless, some people think this is a great idea. In their minds, it would be “free money.”

  But as the saying goes, there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. You would pay for the $1 trillion coin through the inflation tax – just like you’re still paying for the pandemic-era stimulus every time you go to the grocery.

  Minting a coin or selling a paper clip and pretending it is worth $1 trillion doesn’t change the economic dynamics. When you boil it all down, it’s just a weird scheme to increase the money supply.

  And I can’t emphasize this enough – increasing the money supply is inflation.

  In theory, the government could keep price inflation under control by using the newly created funds judiciously and with restraint. In theory, they could just dribble the new money out slowly as they need it to minimize the inflationary effect. In theory, it could work!

  And in theory, Tommy and I could have dug a cave fort.

  Let’s be honest – judicious and restrained aren’t qualities you find in politicians. They’d blow through that $1 trillion like a spring tornado through Kansas. And when they spent it all, they’d mint another coin. And another. And another.

  There would be no dribble. It would unleash a cascade of spending on top of the tidal wave we already have.

  But this is what you get when you have an entire school of economics that disconnects money from stuff. 

  Sure, the federal government could mint a $1 trillion coin. But it can’t mint stuff. It can’t create stuff out of thin air. It can’t mint cars, food, clothing, houses, and cell phones. It can’t wave a wand a create vital services.

  But don’t you worry! We’re dealing with “smart” people here. They’ll tell you, “Don’t worry! This is different.” And then they’ll start spinning. They’ll offer up seemingly plausible reasons a $1 trillion coin will work. They’ll couch it in academic speak and technical jargon to make it sound even more plausible. They’ll yammer about how the dollar is the global reserve currency and everybody wants more of them. They show you some convincing-looking accounting tautologies. They’ll babble and gesticulate. And suddenly, you’ll be thinking, “Heck yeah! Mint that $1 trillion coin! That’s the ticket!”

  No.

  It’s dumb. 

  Tommy and I quickly realized our cave fort was a dumb idea. But unfortunately, dumb ideas spun out in the hallowed halls of government rarely die so easily.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 16:20

• Ukraine Says It Hit & Destroyed Russian Offshore Gas Platform In Black Sea
  Ukraine Says It Hit & Destroyed Russian Offshore Gas Platform In Black Sea

  Ukraine says its military has targeted and destroyed an offshore gas platform in the Black Sea which had allegedly been converted to a forward operating sea base by Moscow forces.

  “Ukraine’s navy and military intelligence have attacked and damaged a former offshore gas platform used by Russian forces in the Black Sea,” a Ukraine navy spokesman said Saturday.

  The Ukrainians further released a video purporting to show the strike. The nighttime footage shows a large explosion and fire engulfing an offshore platform. Dozens of people may have been killed in the attack, but it is unconfirmed whether they were military or civilian platform operators.

  A Ukrainian government spokesman, Dmytro Pletenchuk, announced on social media: “The occupiers used this location for GPS spoofing to make civilian navigation dangerous. We cannot allow this to happen.”

  He further claimed there “were no civilians there” and that the “platform was not performing its normal functions” – and thus was a legitimate military target.

  Moscow did not immediately comment on the Ukrainian claims or the video. Starting Friday the Kremlin did acknowledge a sizeable Ukrainian naval attack on its Black Sea fleet and infrastructure, as well as drones sent over Crimea.

  Russian state media said the bulk of these attacks in various locations were thwarted:

  The Russian military has intercepted an attempted landing by Ukrainian marines near Kherson and destroyed a group of sea drones headed for Crimea, according to the Defense Ministry in Moscow.

  Overnight, a group of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) was detected on approach to the Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol. Combat camera footage released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday showed them being destroyed in the water.

  “The on-duty fire systems destroyed seven unmanned boats in the Black Sea,” the ministry said, without elaborating.

  Meanwhile, a group of Ukrainian commandos tried to land at the tip of the Kinburn Peninsula, overlooking the mouth of the Dnieper, early on Friday. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, four boats approached the Kinburn Spit, attempting to land a “sabotage and reconnaissance group.” Under covering fire from two of the boats, about a dozen troops stormed the beach.

  

  All of this is also taking place against the backdrop of the surprise Ukraine cross-border attack into Russia’s Kursk region, which as of Saturday has entered day five.

  Ukraine has in the past months dramatically stepped up its attacks and sabotage campaign against Russian oil and gas infrastructure. Currently a Ukrainian cross-border force appears to be in control of Gazprom’s Sudzha trans-shipping hub for Russian natural gas to Europe via Ukraine, which is a crucial part of the Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhhorod pipeline. Still, supplies appear to be pumping normally, and very little has been confirmed of the current status of fighting in Sudzha amid an information blackout and fog of war.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 15:45

• Manners Are The Glue That Binds Society
  Manners Are The Glue That Binds Society

  Authored by Rob Smith via RealClearMarkets,

  

  Convention, customs, manners and civility.

  When my daughter Ella was 16, I met her at a local restaurant for dinner. I was already seated when she arrived and before I could hold the chair out for her, she plopped down in the seat next to me. I was livid. I stood up and told her to get her ass out of the chair and stand up. I told her to always wait until the gentleman held the chair out for her, no matter how long it takes. I followed with “you need to demand respect from men, because if you don’t, you’ll never get it.”

  Manners are important. Indeed, they are the adhesive glue that binds society together and allows it to operate in smooth, orderly and conciliatory fashion. Like all convention, customs and manners developed organically because they served important functions. There was never a top-down Napoleonic Code of Manners that was dictated to the populace by some sort of government edict. I think all would agree that we have seen a degradation of civil society over the past 30 plus years. Our cities are trashed, there’s violence in the streets, and  civil  adult discourse is rare. Politicians and talking heads are totally uninhibited from telling not just “straight up lies,” but lies that are so fantastically and obvious false that a 3rd grader can immediately recognize the deceit. I attended schools with rigid honor systems and grew up in a culture where such blatant dishonesty made one an outcast and an immediate social pariah, cast out from respectable society. I remember a childhood contemporary was kicked out of boarding school for cheating on a test. At the time, this seemed like a punishment worse than death, as he would have to live with the stigma of dishonor the rest of his life. These long-established honor codes reflected the mores of the culture, anyone who violated these standards polluted the student population and had to be immediately drummed off campus. Today dishonesty seems to be rewarded as long as it advances an agenda.

  I have lots of nicknames, Robbie, Jones, Big Rob, Big, B.R., B-aura, Mr. Bread Truck, Professor and a few others, one of which is Mr. Mayor. I don’t know why folks call me Mayor, but I have thought quite a lot of what I would do if I was the mayor of Richmond, or better yet Governor of Virginia. The very first initiative, before any government policy proposals would be to start a campaign to re-establish civility and good manners. And what better place to begin than Richmond, Virginia, which I am quite sure, at one point not terribly long ago was the good manners capital of the world. I want to bring those days back. An initiative like this takes leadership and passion. Oh, how I hate to see what is happening to my city, not to mention the fabric of our national culture. My campaign would be much like Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” program. No government money.

  When Robert E. Lee became president of what would become Washington and Lee University in 1865, he initiated the “Speaking Rule.” Other Virginia schools followed. I don’t remember there being such a rule at the University of Virginia, primarily because the natural, organic culture that already existed was one spoke to everyone he passed and engaged in a pleasantry. It’s demoralizing to walk down the sidewalk in Richmond and watch your oncoming neighbor try NOT to make eye contact to avoid speaking. They know nothing of the “speaking rule,” and it’s sad. In the world of social media where people rage at complete strangers, there is no better salve than to look someone in the eye , smile and say “Good morning.”

  Good manners revolve around respect for others, and of course such respect is the essence of the Golden Rule. Good manners have a transcendental nature in that they create a system that one can’t see and can’t touch, but nonetheless create a benign social order. This evolves into a “custom” which evolves further into an almost universal “convention.” Kindness, gentleness, respect and tolerance are the result. Moreover, when a child is raised in this social order, this invisible ethos of civility instills itself in one’s personality, it is imbued, cooked in the sauce, and the act of being well mannered and thoughtful occurs without any conscience volition or effort to be that way. A few years ago, I visited two older gentleman I knew in the Alzheimer’s ward. There were ladies present, and I’ll never forget, although they couldn’t remember their names, they didn’t forget their manners. They were as we say perfect “southern gentlemen.” It was “baked in.”

  Before the advent of “business casual,” we all wore suits. How well I can remember 100 degree, extremely humid days and the perfumed smell of tobacco resting in downtown Richmond warehouses. Despite the heat and humidity, men did not take off their jackets when wandering outside their offices. If one was in the presence of a lady, the custom was to seek her permission before taking off one’s jacket. Now this might sound archaic to some, but the foundation of this rule, like so many others, is respect for and deference to women. As these exercises in civility have waned, what are we left with? The absolute barbarity of men beating the tar out of women in an Olympic sport.

  Dressing well is important.  By putting forth an effort to look nice, you exhibit respect and appreciation towards everyone you encounter, but the respect works both ways, your dress illustrates that you respect yourself.  Likewise, being punctual illustrates your respect for the other party and the value of his time, but it also illustrates that you respect yourself. 

  Boy, how many lessons did I learn from my father! Always stand when a lady enters a room. Stand when she leaves the dinner table and stand again when she returns. Ladies are always served first. Never, ever begin to eat until the last lady at the table has picked up her fork and put food in her mouth.  I’ll always remember him telling me to always wear a sports jacket and sometimes a tie when traveling on a plane. “Son, wherever you go in this world, you are a representative of the Commonwealth of Virginia and our family.” When I was old enough to drive and before cell phones, the custom was to follow a woman home and make sure she got into her house safely. When I see kids that I coached or taught in Sunday School wearing a hat in restaurant, I yank it off their heads and ask them what the hell is wrong with them. That was Dad’s biggest pet peeve! Offer the black housekeepers walking through the neighborhood to the bus stop a ride. Always be a good sport, and win or lose after any competition, whether athletic or business, shake the other fella’s hand. When using the telephone, introduce yourself and say “may I speak to,” and not “is so and so there.” Never go through a woman’s pocketbook or anyone’s mail. There’s a proper way to shake hands. Oh, he was a stickler for proper English! Using words correctly and phrased pleasantly honors the recipient. And, I will never forget exactly where I was when I heard the biggest rule of all. I was 5 years old. Dad was driving.  I can remember the story Dad told me, the exact bend in the road and the message was the most despicable thing a man could ever do, and was never, ever permissible under and circumstances, was to hit a woman!

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 15:10

• US Arms-Makers Warily Consider Production In Ukraine At Pentagon's Urging
  US Arms-Makers Warily Consider Production In Ukraine At Pentagon’s Urging

  At the urging of the Pentagon, several American arms-makers are exploring the possibility of producing weapons inside Ukraine, but are grappling with assessing a host of risk factors that include not only Russian bombs but also Ukraine’s infamous corruption. 

  In June, President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bilateral agreement  committing to “defense industrial cooperation, including codevelopment, coproduction, and supply of Ukraine’s defense industrial base requirements.”

  The next month, Northrop Grumman was first to take the plunge, announcing that it had finalized a deal to coproduce medium-caliber ammunition in Ukraine. Crucially, no Northrop employees are to set foot inside the embattled country. “As part of the co-production agreement Northrop Grumman will provide the equipment and training to install an assembly line so that [Ukranian firm Ukroboronservice] can produce and test advanced medium caliber ammunition in Ukraine,” a spokesman told Breaking Defense. 

  

  If that first project goes well, Northrop could take on more ambitious ventures. “[Medium-caliber ammo] is our first project that’s paid for with Ukrainian dollars. We are looking to expand that into tank ammo, 155 mm, others as we find innovative processes,” Dave Bartell, the firm’s director of international business for Northrop’s defense systems sector, told Breaking Defense in June.  

  Other companies are still crunching the numbers and weighing risks that are difficult to quantify. An unnamed State Department official says they’re champing at the bit. “I think our industry is really eager, but at the same time, [it] has to make sense from a business case, right? And financing is an issue too, how you can actually pay for this stuff,” the official told Defense One. 

  The official also acknowledged other risks that go beyond the prospect of employees and production lines being vaporized. “Clearly, corruption is a concern,” the official said, before offering the mandatory Western-government claim that Ukraine is making progress on that front.  

  In May, Ukraine’s former deputy head of the presidential administration was charged with “illicit enrichment,” having amassed real estate, vehicles and other riches valued in excess of 10 times his disclosed salary and savings. A few weeks earlier, local media revealed that the wife of the head of the Security Service’s cybersecurity operation bought a $500,000 apartment, which prompted President Zelensky to fire her husband. There are many more examples where that came from.

  

  There’s also the question of whether a heavy investment would be accompanied by long-term opportunity, or whether the breakout of peace — God forbid — would turn a Ukrainian-based project into a money-loser. Given the uncertainty, companies are likely to emphasize less ambitious undertakings. The ability to obtain insurance is another concern. 

  “It has to be a business case for what they’re trying to do, and so looking at maybe starting off with a maintenance, repair, and overhaul type stuff, spare parts production, so kind of starting a crawl-walk-run-type philosophy, before you actually get to the more advanced stuff,” the official added. 

  We suspect that, if things turn south, the Pentagon will find a way to make it up to US weapon manufacturers — and pass the cost on to you. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 14:35

• Polling On Latinos Shows Trouble For Harris
  Polling On Latinos Shows Trouble For Harris

  Authored by Jeffrey Baldwin via RealClearPolitics,

  According to a new survey, Latinos are disillusioned with President Joe Biden and his administration’s policies. 

  

  The survey, primarily sampling Latinos living in several key states such as Pennsylvania, finds that a majority feel like things are worse than they were four years ago. And a whopping 72% say that the country is headed in the wrong direction. 

  The findings are significant because Biden comfortably won the Latino vote in the 2020 presidential election, and Latinos have traditionally voted for Democrats in previous elections. 

  And following the dramatic shake up atop of the Democratic ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign will need to put together a coalition – which includes Latinos – if she is to win the presidency.

  Unfortunately for Harris, our poll shows that the economy is front and center for most Latino voters.

  According to our findings, consistent with other polls, Latinos are most worried about jobs, the economy, inflation, and the high cost of living. 

  According to our findings, two-thirds of Latinos say the state of the economy is either fair or poor. It’s no surprise, then, that our poll found that though Latinos still continue to believe in the American Dream, nearly 88% believe that it’s harder to achieve than ever before. 

  These findings are consistent with what I am hearing every day from Latinos drawn to our workshops on financial literacy, the role of government, and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. Hispanics are drawn to America because of the promise of a better life and want to be active in making this country better and more prosperous. 

  Most immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean are not looking for handouts, but instead are looking for ways to get ahead in a country of abundant opportunity and prosperity. They know that unlike other countries – including the ones they may have fled from – the United States is where people can accomplish extraordinary things through hard work and perseverance. 

  But as our polling makes clear, Latinos are feeling battered after years of runaway spending, crony capitalism, and ever-expanding regulations that make owning a business or raising a family more difficult.  

  The everyday Latinos I talk to, who are working two shifts or struggling to make ends meet, are looking for solutions from our elected officials. They are looking for bold leadership and they are tired of partisan politics.  

  Many of us, having come from countries ruled by dictators with little chance of prosperity, are grateful to take on the responsibilities that come with living in a republican democracy where the elected officials are accountable to the people – not the other way around.  

  We’re not a perfect nation, but the founders of this country knew that to make this a “more perfect union,” this great experiment of democracy needs an educated and vibrant citizenry. Latinos are showing that we are both and will not be seen as a monolithic, one-issue voting bloc for anyone. 

  As one of the youngest and fastest growing demographic, Latinos will have an outsized role in determining the future of our country. This election is just the start in shaping the next chapter of America’s history.  

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 14:00

• Biologist Richard Dawkins Says Facebook Nuked Account After Posting That Male Boxers Shouldn't Fight Women
  Biologist Richard Dawkins Says Facebook Nuked Account After Posting That Male Boxers Shouldn’t Fight Women

  Facebook has nuked the account of famed evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins after he said that genetically male boxers should not be allowed to fight women in the Olympics.

  

  On Saturday morning, Dawkins posted on X about the shocking censorship – saying that there was no reason given for the sudden removal of his account.

  

  “My entire @facebook account has been deleted, seemingly (no reason given) because I tweeted that genetically male boxers such as Imane Khalif (XY undisputed) should not fight women in Olympics. Of course  my opinion is open to civilised argument. But outright censorship?”

  My entire @facebook account has been deleted, seemingly (no reason given) because I tweeted that genetically male boxers such as Imane Khalif (XY undisputed) should not fight women in Olympics. Of course my opinion is open to civilised argument. But outright censorship?

  — Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) August 10, 2024

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  [Dawkins presumably meant that he posted it on Facebook, not “tweeted.”]

  Social media exploded in controversy following a women’s Olympic boxing match between Italy’s Angela Carini and Imane Khelif of Algeria – in which Carini quit just 46 seconds into the fight after receiving a barrage of powerful punches from Khelif.

  

  Notably, the International Boxing Association banned Khelif and another boxer, Lin Yu-ting from last year’s World Boxing Championships for having failed gender testing.

  “This test conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the required necessary eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors,” the IBA said in a statement.

  Furthermore, IBA president Umar Kremlev told Russian news agency TASS that DNA tests “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded from the sports events.”

  As Why Evolution Is True opines;

  There are debates about whether the two boxers in question were of XY chromosome constitution, had high levels of testosterone (they had previously been disqualified in other competitions), or had genetic disorders of sex development (DSDs).

  But regardless, to ban someone’s account for expressing the opinion that genetically male boxers shouldn’t fight against biological women is unconscionable. Richard said that one of the boxers is “XY undisputed,” and since I’ve been out of touch, that may be the case.  And if that is the case, then there is a real debate to be had.

  There’s a general debate to be had about these boxers anyway since, last I heard, people were arguing about every aspect of the two is subject to dispute.

  Facebook botched this one very badly, and should restore Dawkins’s account.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 13:25

• Tether Mints 1.3BN USDT Since Market Bottom: Can It Push Bitcoin Above $65K?
  Tether Mints 1.3BN USDT Since Market Bottom: Can It Push Bitcoin Above $65K?

  By Zoltan Vardai of CoinTelegraph

  Tether, the issuer of USDT — the world’s largest stablecoin — has minted over $1.3 billion worth of stablecoins since the market bottom, as investors prepare to buy the dip.

  Tether’s treasury has printed over $1.3 billion worth of USDT since the market bottomed on Aug. 5. The $1.3 billion was transferred to some of the most popular centralized cryptocurrency exchanges — including Kraken, Coinbase, OKX and Bullish — according to an Aug. 9 X post by Lookonchain.

  1.3B $USDT has been transferred from #TetherTreasury to exchanges since the market crash on Aug 5! pic.twitter.com/BYtMqgVRyZ

  — Lookonchain (@lookonchain) August 9, 2024

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  Large stablecoin inflows to crypto exchanges could signal incoming buying pressure, as stablecoins are the main on-ramp from the fiat to the crypto world used by investors.

  Is the local crypto market bottom in?

  Following the aggressive $510 billion crypto market sell-off, the local market bottom may be in.

  The 1.3 billion USDT has been minted since Aug. 5, when Bitcoin price bottomed at a five-month low of above $49,500 before starting to recover, according to Bitstamp data.

  

  Since then, Bitcoin price has staged an over 21% recovery to trade at $60,271 as of 10:44 am UTC. The world’s first cryptocurrency has risen over 5.2% during the past 24 hours.

  Can USDT help push Bitcoin above the key $65,000 mark?

  Bitcoin could still see more downside volatility unless it manages to reclaim the crucial $64,000–$65,000 mark.

  This price level acts as the short-term whale holder realized price for large Bitcoin holding entities, according to an Aug. 9 X post by CryptoQuant.

  Pay attention to #Bitcoin short-term whales

  “The short-term holder whale realized price is in the 64K-65K range. This level may present itself as a resistance.” – By @XBTManager

  Get the full insight 👇https://t.co/MgZCbsB060 pic.twitter.com/Rqs3GPtht3

  — CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) August 9, 2024

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  Inflows from the United States spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have also turned positive, which could contribute to Bitcoin’s price appreciation. The US Bitcoin ETFs amassed a cumulative $194 million worth of net positive inflows on Aug. 8, according to Farside Investors data.

  

  ETF inflows can significantly contribute to a cryptocurrency’s price appreciation. For Bitcoin, ETFs accounted for about 75% of new investment in the cryptocurrency by Feb. 15 as it surpassed the $50,000 mark.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 12:50

• Russia Blocks Signal, Curbs YouTube, As Ukraine Troop Incursion Results In 76,000+ Civilians Evacuated
  Russia Blocks Signal, Curbs YouTube, As Ukraine Troop Incursion Results In 76,000+ Civilians Evacuated

  Ukraine forces’ cross-border attack into Russia’s Kursk region has entered a fifth day, with the Russian defense ministry acknowledging it is “continuing to repel” the offensive which has shocked Kremlin leadership and the population.

  But this has apparently led to crackdowns on US-based social media platforms and messaging apps. Friday into Saturday there have been widespread reports that Russia has blocked the Signal messaging app while also throttling YouTube.

  

  State media regulator Roskomnadzor told the RBC business daily on Friday that Signal has been banned from the country for “violations” of national law.

  It has been restricted “due to violations of the requirements of Russian legislation, compliance with which is necessary to prevent the use of the messenger for terrorist and extremist purposes,” Roskomnadzor stated.

  The statement came Friday within hours after users across Russia complained of widespread outages for the secure messaging app which allows for communication via encrypted text and calls.

  Russian opposition activist and independent journalists who are critical of the Kremlin have complained that this move primarily targets them, as they heavily rely on Signal in their reporting and to talk to sources. Similarly, Russia had banned Telegram’s messaging app in 2018.

  As for YouTube, while it has not been banned, users have noticed loading speeds significantly drop. Some regions of Russia have seen users say that it is inaccessible. This as Russian reserve and national defense convoys have been observed on Russian highways headed south in large numbers.

  Today, #Russia initiated a block on the #Signal web messenger (@signalapp), known for its robust encryption, aiming to hinder Russians from sharing videos, photos, and news about the invasion of the #Kursk region by Ukrainian forces and possible coordination of subsequent… https://t.co/CO37rSBZnK

  — Viktor Kovalenko (@MrKovalenko) August 9, 2024

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  Al Jazeera interviewed users and wrote this week:

  Russian internet monitoring service Sboi.rf said thousands of glitches had been reported on Thursday with users saying they could only access the platform through virtual private networks (VPNs).

  “YouTube is not working,” one anonymous user said in comments on the site.

  Reuters news agency reporters in Russia were unable to access YouTube. The website remained available on some mobile devices.

  A Russian political scientist named Boris Pastukhov, who maintains a popular YouTube channel, has said, “We’ve seen that particular regions lose Youtube connectivity overall or slow down by 90 percent for a few days, which is not really explainable by servers being old.”

  The fear is that YouTube could be next to be blocked by Kremlin authorities, but this would prove a deeply unpopular move among the Russian population. Reports commonly estimate that more than 50 million Russians use YouTube every day.

  The US is actively enabling a literal ground invasion of Russia at the moment, and it’s not even being treated like a particularly big story

  — Michael Tracey (@mtracey) August 10, 2024

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  At this point a whopping 76,000+ Russians living near southern border areas have had to evacuate their homes amid the ongoing Ukrainian cross-border offensive. 

  According to a regional summary of Saturday events:

  Moscow on Saturday mounted a “counter-terror operation” in three border regions adjoining Ukraine to halt Kyiv’s advance deeper into Russia and warned that the fighting endangered a nuclear power plant.

  Ukrainian units stormed into Russia’s western Kursk region on Tuesday morning in a shock attack, the largest and most successful cross-border offensive by Kyiv of the two-and-a-half-year conflict.

  Its troops have advanced several kilometers and Russia’s army has rushed in reserves and extra equipment, including convoys of tanks, rocket launchers and aviation units – though neither side has given precise details on the extent of the forces they have committed.

  Russia’s nuclear agency on Saturday warned the Ukrainian attack posed a “direct threat” to the nearby Kursk nuclear power station.

  At least 16,000 civilians have left their homes in Russian border areas, where emergency aid and medical supplies have been ferried in, and extra trains to the capital Moscow have been put on for people fleeing.

  TASS has subsequently put this figure at over 76,000 Russian citizens who have had to be emergency evacuated to safety as fighting encroached on dozens of towns and villages, citing the country’s Emergencies Ministry.

  President Putin has accused Ukrainian troops of “indiscriminately firing various types of weapons, including missiles, at civilian facilities, residential buildings, and ambulances.” US-supplied equipment, especially Bradley Fighting Vehicles, have been observed during the assault.

  The Russians published a video of the transfer of forces to the Kursk region. On the last seconds of the video an interesting vehicle can be see – MT-LB with an installed Grad-1 rocket launcher pic.twitter.com/oOcUVokKog

  — Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 9, 2024

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  Verifiable information coming from the areas of fighting in Kursk has been scant. Each side is claiming successes and advances, but as we detailed Friday President Putin and top Kremlin leadership were caught off guard by these surprise developments.

  With scenes like the below now widely unfolding in Russia’s southern oblasts, Moscow is likely about to hit Ukraine hard, but it must restore stability and security to Kursk, Belgorod, and Lipetsk first.

  

  With evidence of a large-scale tank deployment on its own territory to repel the Ukrainian invaders, Russia is very likely to accelerate its war in Ukraine. This is indeed a significant turning point, and not helping matters is the fact that the US is appearing to positively back the cross-border move by Kiev.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 08/10/2024 – 12:15

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