Dec 11

Today’s News 11th December 2024

  • East Vs. West: A Global Dollar Dump Is Inevitable And The US Must Prepare
    East Vs. West: A Global Dollar Dump Is Inevitable And The US Must Prepare

    Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

    In October of 2024, Russia hosted the annual BRICS Summit in the city of Kazan with the intent to show unity among developing nations and general eastern interests. The Kremlin, a target of severe NATO sanctions since the start of the war in Ukraine, has been effective in solidifying economic guarantees from BRICS partners and circumventing western economic controls.

    Despite being removed from the SWIFT banking network and being cut off from a large percentage of global trade, Russia has continued to garner solid export revenues. We certainly aren’t seeing the total collapse of the Russian economy that so many media “experts” predicted.  The reason? Russia is resource rich and in an inflationary environment countries that are heavy in commodities sold at lower prices are always sought after. The BRICS event this year was a reminder that the west’s financial influence is in decline.

    At that same meeting, Putin called for an alternative international payment system and passed around a mock-up of what he called a BRICS “bank note”. The paper note was purely symbolic, but it’s presence at the summit started an uproar within the establishment media. Pundits were quick to “fact check” the story and declare that this was not a real unified currency announcement. As far as I know, no one said it was. What we did say, however, is that a real multilateral currency system cutting out the dollar is MUCH CLOSER than most people realize.

    Putin flashed that banknote around because this is something the BRICS have been working on for well over a decade. Those cynics that think such a thing is impossible are living in denial, or, they have an agenda to peddle.

    Donald Trump in particular seems to understand quite well that the BRICS currency concept is not a bluff or a joke. In a recent social media post, Trump threatened to increase tariffs for any nation that tries to diminish or replace the dollar’s world reserve status (the dollar is the premier currency used in the vast majority of international transactions). Putin responded with a warning that Trump’s efforts to reinforce the dollar would backfire.

    Overall, Putin is right. Any move to force the dollar onto developing nations as a reserve currency will only result in them dumping it faster. Tariffs act as leverage for short term adjustments to trade imbalances, but they aren’t going to be effective in preventing other countries from using alternative currencies.

    The problem with the dollar reserve system is its foundation. Officially established with the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1944 as we neared the end of WWII, the unspoken deal underlying the dollar was that the US would get the economic benefits of reserve status, but in exchange America would be required to carry the bulk of military defense obligations for allies around the globe.

    Five years later in 1949 NATO would be founded, the dollar was made the common currency denominator for all members and the US would end up paying 60% or more of all funding for the alliance for decades to come. The economic trade off was established – The US dollar gets the advantages of reserve status and the rest of the western world gets military protection from the US.

    However, as far as eastern nations and the BRICS are concerned today, NATO is not an ally. There’s no agreement or unspoken doctrine which convinces the developing nations to maintain the dollar’s reserve status; only precarious import/export arrangements that can fall apart quickly if conflict arises.

    And let’s be honest, the sparks of wider conflict are everywhere. At my current count, there are at least three regional proxy wars going on simultaneously that have the potential to kick off WWIII – Ukraine, Israel and Syria. Then there’s Taiwan, North Korea, and Georgia (Eastern Europe); regions that are constantly on the verge of going hot.

    On top of that, there’s the steady decline of Western Europe, with Germany and France now in governmental limbo, not to mention the UK turning into an Orwellian police state. Americans are so insulated from the global crisis that’s unfolding that I worry millions will be caught completely off guard when it finally arrives on our doorstep.

    To be sure, the US has its share of instability. The stagflation crisis is in its third year (officially) and prices don’t look like they will be coming down on most necessities any time soon. The illegal immigration crisis is about to come to a crescendo and we’re all waiting to see if the Trump Administration follows through on his promise of mass deportations. Then there’s the incredible debt crisis – Our government has added $6 trillion to the national debt in the past two years alone. We are creating over $1 trillion in new debt every 3-4 months and our debt to GDP ratio is 124%. This is unsustainable.

    That said, we haven’t experienced any catastrophic economic disruptions yet. The loss of the dollar’s reserve status would bring historically devastating consequences, at least in the short term, and that’s only if our country devises a plan to weather the storm.

    Conflicts between east and west are only going to grow given the existing conditions, and the calls for a dollar alternative are going to continue. There’s not much Trump can do about that. We also have to keep in mind that there are globalist institutions like the IMF and BIS that are, as I write this, getting ready to introduce CBDCs and cashless systems that would limit the dollar’s global influence by default.

    When globalists pontificated endlessly about a “Great Reset” during the pandemic era, what they were talking about was primarily an economic reset and a currency reset. Klaus Schwab of the WEF stated ‘Now is the time for a great reset of capitalism’, and this event was supposed to precede a global shift into a cashless system.

    There can’t be a global currency reset without the dollar being demoted. There can’t be a reset without a reversal of the old Bretton Woods system. They know it, and they aren’t going to warn the rest of the public about the consequences.

    Everything is working against the dollar right now, and there’s a lot of people out there that question if it’s even worth saving. The Federal Reserve has been the source of considerable corruption within our government and I have often referred to central bankers as economic suicide bombers. But, the dollar is all we have until a tangible safety net can be established.

    Instead of focusing on trying to intimidate the BRICS into sticking with the dollar, Trump should be drafting a plan to backstop our currency system with hard commodities to prevent greater inflation and ensuring that the US has the capacity to manufacture all our necessities domestically.

    There is a chance this could be done under Trump; there was zero chance it would have been done under Kamala Harris. So, at least there’s hope.

    At bottom, it’s impossible to keep the dollar in a position of global dominance when every element of geopolitics is working against it and the very globalist organizations that helped create the Bretton Woods system are now trying to dismantle it. It’s time to localize, build redundancies and get ready for the greater crisis at hand., because one way or another difficult changes are coming.

    *  *  *

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    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 23:25

  • Here's The Best Time To Buy A Christmas Tree
    Here’s The Best Time To Buy A Christmas Tree

    Website Finder.com cited data from the National Christmas Tree Association showing that 43% of American households are expected to purchase a real tree this holiday season, with the average tree costing around $79.31—around $4 more than in 2023.

    2020 marked a critical point in which artificial tree sales surpassed real tree sales for the first time. 

    Separately, data from point-of-sale company Square shows that Christmas tree prices typically peak and are most expensive immediately after Black Friday and during the first half of December. Square noted that 50% deals occur in the days leading up to Christmas. 

    Square Research Lead Ara Kharazian wrote in a note: “The cheapest time to buy a Christmas tree is right before Christmas. The best time is whichever day maximizes joy in your household.”

    Over the past decade, Christmas tree supplies have been squeezed by a supplier bust originating back to the Global Financial Crisis, compounded by continued adverse weather conditions in the country’s top tree-growing regions.

    “The root of the tight supply issue goes back to 2008 when an oversupply led growers to scale back planting,” Jill Sidebottom, a National Christmas Tree Association spokesperson, told CBS MoneyWatch.

    Sidebottom added that adverse weather conditions, including the 2021 heat dome that destroyed trees across the Pacific Northwest, have exacerbated supply constraints in recent years.

    Meanwhile, PNC Bank’s annual Christmas Price Index, which calculates the cost of “True Love’s” gifts from the classic holiday carol The Twelve Days of Christmas, rose by 5.4% compared to last year.

    Data from Bankrate shows persistent inflation and high interest rates are expected to weigh on low/mid-tier consumers this holiday season. According to the financial services company, about one-third of holiday shoppers plan to spend less this year than last year.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 23:00

  • "They Will Take Away Your Kids" – Fascism Is Already In Place In The US
    “They Will Take Away Your Kids” – Fascism Is Already In Place In The US

    Authored by Dr Gerry Brady via Boom Finance & Economic substack,

    “Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power.”

    – Benito Mussolini, Fascist Dictator of Italy for 26 Years

    Marc Andreessen speaks with Joe Rogan – [warning – disturbing in the extreme] – the US government under Biden was planning total control — they can and will de-bank you!

    Marc Andreessen is an American businessman and Silicon Valley stalwart. He is the co-author of Mosaic, the first widely used web browser with a graphical user interface (GUI). He co-founded Netscape and the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He is clearly one of the Fathers of the Internet. In 2012, Andreessen was named in the Times 100, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

    Last week, he was interviewed by Joe Rogan and revealed some startling facts of life in present day USA. He essentially revealed that America is already in the grip of Fascist ideology, The US Government seeks Total Control in partnership with a US Corporatocracy. They also seek total control of Artificial Intelligence and Technology companies. It would be foolish to ignore what he had to say.

    Marc Andreessen explained the secret de-banking of 30 technology company founders and anyone who dared to oppose the Biden Government politically. After being a lifelong supporter of the Democrat Party, he switched to being a supporter of Donald Trump after attending some meetings with unnamed US Government officials. “I ATTENDED ALARMING MEETINGS WITH THE US GOVERNMENT” — “THEY SEEK FULL GOVERNMENT CONTROL”

    In the interview, he deals with the subject of de-banking (the closing of bank accounts). BOOM’s transcripts of the video excerpts here are paraphrased as far as possible. It is sometimes hard to hear (exactly) every word he says in the recording. Andreessen is also speaking conversationally. Thus, to paraphrase what he said:

    Andreessen on Government Control of AI (Artificial Intelligence): 

    “The AI thing was very alarming. We had meetings in the Spring that are the most alarming meetings I have ever been in where they were taking us through their plans”. “Basically – full government, full government control. There will be a small number of large companies controlled by the Government. They told us not to launch Start-ups. Don’t even bother. There is no way for those to succeed.” “They said this is already over. It’s going to be two or three companies, and we’re just going to. We’re going to. We’re going to control them. And that’s that.”

    Rogan asks: 

    “When you leave a meeting like that, what do you go and do?” 

    Andreessen replies: 

    “You go and endorse Donald Trump” 

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    “THEY CAN AND WILL DE-BANK YOU” – 30 TECH FOUNDERS DE-BANKED. 

    Andreessen:

    “30 Founders of tech companies have been de-banked in the last 4 years. It’s been a big recurring pattern.” ……

    “There is no due process, no written record, there are no rules, there is no court, there is no decision process, there is no appeal.”

    “Who do you go to to get your bank account back?” 

    “This is one of the reasons why I ended up supporting Trump”. 

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    THEY WILL TAKE AWAY YOUR KIDS.

    In another section of the interview, Andreessen says the Government will take your kids if you oppose them. This is chilling. 

    “Step one was they take away your driver’s license. Step two is they take away your insurance, and step three is to take away your kids. Right. And so, like, that was their version of this. And that was a very specific take away your kids. That was the threat at the end to the truckers at the Canada trucker strike.”

    GOVERNMENT WORKERS STAY AT HOME

    Andreessen: 

    After Covid,“most Federal workers never came back to work. They work from home. They still collect full Washington DC salaries. A very large percentage, like half. In one union agreement, workers only have to be in the office one day a month”.

     “Under the DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), they have already announced – you can work from home but not for the Federal Government” 

    MOUSE WIGGLERS.

    Andreessen: 

    “Do you know about Mouse Wigglers? – They are physical devices that hold your mouse and they intermittently wiggle it” 

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    CHINESE DRONES.

    Andreessen: 

    “The Chinese own the Drone market. 90% of US military and police drones are. Chinese-made. That is a very bad idea. Each drone has the potential to be a weapon—or a spy platform.” 

    Rogan: 

    “That sounds like a terrible security risk.” 

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    GOVERNMENT CONTROL OVER YOUR FOOD. 

    Andreessen: 

    “The Government directly put itself into the food system, specifically (in regard to) High Fructose Corn Syrup. There are 450 US Government Agencies, one is the US DA (the US Department of Agriculture) which does the Food Pyramid which is upside-down. They promoted High Fructose Corn Syrup (as opposed to Sugar) which was a poisonous decision.” 

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    SILICON VALLEY SPLIT IN TWO. 

    Andreessen: 

    “I have always been a Democrat. However … there are now two kinds of dinner parties in Silicon Valley. There’s one where everyone there believes every thing in the New York Times on that day. I am no longer invited to those. Then there’s the other kind”. 

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    CONTROL THROUGH BIASED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE — MOST AI IS PROGRAMMED IN A POLITICAL DIRECTION. 

    In regard to Artificial Intelligence (AI), Andreessen describes how the US Government is seeking to have a rigid control on AI. And he describes how (most) AI has been developed with a political bias. 

    Andreessen: In describing how Artificial Intelligence is (mostly) politically biased, he explains how the Artificial Intelligence Program called Gemini (by Google) responded to a request for an image of a Nazi.

    “According to Gemini (Google AI), Hitler had an excellent DEI Policy. In reality, he did not and it is important to understand that. But Gemini happily threw up Black Nazis.”

    “They programmed AI to be biased, in a political direction. The LLMs (Large Language Models) are politically biased – 9 out of 10 of them. There’s a handful that aren’t. The Government plans a censorship regime on Artificial Intelligence just as it did on social media. If you thought social media censorship was bad, AI control will be 1000x worse. It’s going to be the control layer for everything: Your kids’ education, your loans, your front door. Does your house open?” 

    “If that happens, we are in for a very bad future”.

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    THE FULL INTERVIEW: Readers can watch the full podcast on Youtube:

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 22:35

  • US Life Expectancy Ranking Will Drop To 66th by 2050, Study Says
    US Life Expectancy Ranking Will Drop To 66th by 2050, Study Says

    Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    The United States is set to fall in worldwide life expectancy ranking by mid-century, with widespread obesity adversely affecting people’s health, according to a recent study.

    File photo of an obese person. Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images

    The peer-reviewed study, published in The Lancet on Dec. 7, forecasted the life expectancy for Americans between 2022 and 2050 after taking into account the effect of more than 350 diseases and injuries.

    Study authors said overall life expectancy is projected to increase from 78.3 years in 2022 to 79.9 years in 2035, and to 80.4 years in 2050. The study said the increase “is forecasted to be modest compared with that in other countries around the world.”

    As a result, the United States’ global rank in terms of life expectancy is projected to decline from 49 in 2022 to 66 in 2050 among 204 nations and territories. In addition, ranking in terms of health-adjusted life expectancy, which estimates the average number of years a person lives in good health, is projected to fall from 80 to 108.

    Despite the slight increase in life expectancy, health improvements are expected to slow down in the nation as a result of obesity issues, according to professor Christopher J.L. Murray, co-senior author of the study and director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).

    Rising obesity rates are a “serious risk factor to many chronic diseases and forecasted to leap to levels never before seen,” he said a Dec. 5 statement from the institute.

    “The rise in obesity and overweight rates in the U.S., with IHME forecasting over 260 million people affected by 2050, signals a public health crisis of unimaginable scale,” he added.

    Researchers estimated that if authorities succeed in eliminating risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar by 2050, the United States will succeed in preventing the deaths of 12.4 million people.

    Life expectancy ranking of American females is forecast to drop from 51 in 2022 to 74 in 2050. For men, the ranking is expected to fall from 51 to 65.

    “These lower rankings put the U.S. below nearly all high-income and some middle-income countries,” the institute said.

    Researchers pointed out that the findings “highlight the alarming trajectory of health challenges in the USA, which, if left unaddressed, could lead to a reversal of the health progress made over the past three decades for some US states and a decline in global health standing for all states.”

    Between 1990 and 2021, mortality rates for several leading causes of death, such as stroke, cancer, and ischemic heart disease, declined nationwide, which caused life expectancy to improve during those three decades.

    The study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

    Chronic Obesity

    The study’s categorization of excess weight as a key risk factor to good health comes as the United States is facing an obesity crisis.

    More than two in five American adults are obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which estimates that more than 100 million Americans are obese and more than 22 million have severe obesity.

    Obesity rates have skyrocketed over the past decades, jumping from 30.5 percent in 1999–2000 to nearly 42 percent during 2017–2020, with rates of severe obesity almost doubling.

    “Many adults with obesity have other serious chronic diseases. For example, 58 percent of U.S. adults with obesity have high blood pressure, a risk factor for heart disease. Also, approximately 23 percent of U.S. adults with obesity have diabetes,” the agency says.

    During a hearing in December 2023, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) highlighted the issue of obesity among children, pointing out the link between having excess weight and getting diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

    The senator called for banning the advertising of junk food targeting children, saying that such a move could aid in reducing obesity rates among kids.

    “For decades, we have allowed large corporations in the food and beverage industry to entice children to eat foods loaded with sugar, salt, and saturated fat,“ he said. ”This situation has led to an addiction crisis, with ultra-processed foods being as addictive as alcohol and cigarettes.”

    In August, former President Donald Trump, now the president-elect, said that he plans on setting up a panel of experts to investigate the reasons for surging childhood health issues, including obesity.

    In a video from September, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, said chemicals in the soil and ultra-processed foods as contributing factors to the country’s obesity situation.

    The United States’ food supply is “loaded with high fructose corn syrup and seed oils and hundreds of artificial additives and flavors and processed carbohydrates that don’t exist in nature and that are banned in other countries,” Kennedy said.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 21:45

  • US Cattle Crisis Worsens As Nation's Herd Size Continues Alarming Side Into Abyss
    US Cattle Crisis Worsens As Nation’s Herd Size Continues Alarming Side Into Abyss

    America’s beef cow inventory has steadily declined over the last half-decade, reaching 64-year lows and signaling a deepening crisis across the cattle industry. As the cattle crisis worsens, consumers should brace for higher ground beef prices.

    The shrinking beef supply has pushed the nation’s herd size to its smallest level since 1961. With severe droughts, high interest rates, costly feed prices, sliding farm income, surging farm debt, and a shifting consumer preference toward cheaper chicken, struggling ranchers have been culling heifers, preventing any meaningful recovery in the number of calves necessary to expand the nation’s herds.

    As Bloomberg reports, the nation’s cattle crisis is set to worsen with new pressures: first, President-elect Trump’s anticipated tariff war 2.0, which is expected to tighten domestic beef supplies, and second, immigration reform.

    “All of the things he is talking about have potentially negative consequences more so than anything positive,” Derrell Peel, a professor of agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University, told Bloomberg, adding, “Our fate’s pretty well determined in the cattle industry in the U.S. for the next two to four years” – and it’s not looking good.”

    In February, the United States Department of Agriculture projected that the cattle herd could begin rebuilding by 2025. However, that timeline has since shifted to 2027. The reason is primarily because of high interest rates and poor pasture conditions in the Midwest. 

    “Even as the beef industry has experienced periods of growth over the past decades, the animal count has dropped almost 40% since a peak in 1975. During the current downcycle, which started in 2020, the herd has been shrinking at the fastest pace since the big farm crisis of the 1980s,” Bloomberg noted.

    If Trump introduces new tariffs, it could disrupt the flow of imported beef, further tightening domestic supplies. However, as Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF USA—a group representing cow-calf producers nationwide—explained, this move will drive up beef prices while encouraging investment in rebuilding the nation’s cattle herd. 

    Bullard said, “Tariffs will provide our industry an opportunity to invest in expansion and to begin rebuilding the herd that has been shrinking at an alarming rate,” adding, “Over the long term, consumers are going to be better served because we will no longer have such a dependency on imported products.”

    America’s beef supply relies heavily on small producers raising calves, but with herd levels at half-century lows—combined with new factors like tariffs and immigration reform that could drive prices even higher—consumers need to recognize that food inflation will likely remain sticky through the decade’s end.

    Earlier this year, Tyson Foods CEO Donnie King told the BMO Global Farm to Market Conference that he wasn’t even sure when the nation’s collapsing herd size would reverse.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 21:20

  • NASA Finds Underground 'City' Hidden 100 Feet Below Icy Surface
    NASA Finds Underground ‘City’ Hidden 100 Feet Below Icy Surface

    Via The Mind Unleashed,

    In the vast, icy expanses of Greenland, a place more synonymous with desolate, arctic landscapes than with the shadows of human history, NASA scientists have stumbled upon an extraordinary anomaly. Buried beneath a hundred feet of ice lies a remnant of a bygone era, originally hidden from the world above and shrouded in Cold War secrecy.

    What was initially just another radar scan over the frosty tundra turned into a discovery of an underground “city,” a relic of geopolitical strategies from a tension-filled past. This isn’t a tale of ancient civilizations, but rather a hidden chapter of recent history, now frozen in time, waiting to be uncovered. What secrets does this icy fortress hold?

    The Discovery of Camp Century

    In a groundbreaking exploration, NASA’s radar technology unveiled an extraordinary find beneath Greenland’s ice—a secret Cold War base known as Camp Century or “the city under the ice.” This discovery, made in April 2024 during a flight testing new radar equipment, revealed intricate underground structures that have not been seen so vividly until now.

    While NASA scientists were testing the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) mounted on a Gulfstream III aircraft, they captured a surprising image. Alex Gardner, a cryospheric scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, noted, “We were looking for the bed of the ice and out pops Camp Century. We didn’t know what it was at first.”​ This advanced radar system is not your typical radar; it’s designed to give a more dimensional view of what lies beneath the ice by not only looking downward but also to the sides.

    The UAVSAR technology has proven pivotal in this discovery. It allowed the team to see the underground city in unprecedented detail, mapping out the camp’s layout against historical blueprints and revealing structures that conventional radar had missed. This novel imaging technique represents a significant leap in ice-penetrating radar technology, offering new ways to understand the geological and environmental history of icy regions​.

    Photo from NASA Earth Observatory

    The rediscovery of Camp Century is not just a historical curiosity but also provides crucial data for understanding ice sheet dynamics and the potential environmental impact of the materials left behind. As the climate changes, the ice sheets’ response is a vital area of study, with UAVSAR contributing to predictions about sea levels and ice stability​.

    History of Camp Century

    Camp Century, famously known as the “City Under the Ice,” was initially presented to the public as a pioneering Arctic research station. However, its true purpose was far more clandestine. Established in 1959 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, this secretive base was part of “Project Iceworm,” intended to test the feasibility of deploying nuclear missiles from beneath Greenland’s vast ice sheet directly against the Soviet Union.

    On the surface, Camp Century featured accommodations and amenities that supported scientific research and the daily needs of its inhabitants, including laboratories, a library, and living quarters. This facade supported its cover story as a hub for polar research, where significant scientific firsts occurred, such as drilling the first ice cores to provide data on the Earth’s past climate​.

    Beneath its scientific guise, the camp’s primary objective was far more militaristic. The U.S. planned to create a network of tunnels capable of housing and launching “Iceman” ballistic missiles. These facilities were meant to be part of a broader strategy to ensure the U.S. could respond to Soviet actions during the Cold War. The project was ambitious, aiming to house up to 600 nuclear missiles under the guise of Arctic scientific endeavors​.

    The base was constructed deep within the ice, with tunnels extending over several miles. Despite the innovative approach to Cold War military strategy, the project faced insurmountable challenges. The ice’s dynamic nature caused structural instabilities within the tunnels, leading to frequent maintenance issues and eventual abandonment of the missile plan. The shifting ice also posed significant risks to the structural integrity of the facility, leading to its decommission in 1967​.

    In the decades following its closure, concerns have grown over the environmental impact of the waste left behind, including low-level radioactive waste from the camp’s nuclear reactor. Studies suggest that as the climate warms and the ice melts, these contaminants could be released into the environment, posing new risks to the ecosystem​.

    Technological and Engineering Features of Camp Century

    The construction of Camp Century was a remarkable feat of engineering, designed to test the feasibility of establishing military facilities under the harsh conditions of the Greenland Ice Cap. This project was not only ambitious but also showcased a range of innovative construction techniques that have informed cold region engineering practices to this day.

    Camp Century was constructed using a “cut-and-cover” method where trenches were dug into the ice and then covered with arched steel structures. This method was crucial in creating the protective tunnels that formed the main structure of the base. The entire facility was then insulated to protect against the extreme cold and to ensure that the heat generated within the base did not cause the surrounding ice to melt​.

    To support its designation as a self-sustaining underground city, Camp Century included living quarters, a kitchen, a hospital, and even a movie theater, all powered by a groundbreaking portable nuclear reactor, the PM-2A. This reactor was a critical component of the base, providing a reliable power source in an environment where traditional fuel supplies would be logistically challenging to maintain​.

    The base’s design and construction required innovative solutions to numerous challenges, such as the structural integrity of buildings under ice and the management of thermal effects caused by the heat generated within the base. These innovations have left a lasting impact on polar construction techniques and have been studied for their potential applications in other remote and harsh environments​.

    Moreover, the data and experience gained from the construction and operation of Camp Century have been invaluable in the development of future designs for ice-cap camps. This project demonstrated that subsurface ice-cap camps are both feasible and practical, and that nuclear power can significantly reduce the logistical burdens of supporting isolated, remote military facilities​.

    Secrets Uncovered

    The unveiling of Camp Century’s true purpose marked a significant chapter in Cold War history. For years, the world believed that Camp Century was solely a scientific research station focusing on Arctic studies and ice core sampling. In reality, it was a cover for a highly classified military operation known as Project Iceworm.

    Initially portrayed as a peaceful research facility, Camp Century was publicly celebrated as a model of polar innovation and technological achievement. The facility was featured in documentaries and news articles, praising its advanced infrastructure and the potential scientific advancements it could bring​.

    The truth about Camp Century came to light in 1997 when the Danish Parliament published documents revealing that the base was intended to serve as an underground launch site for nuclear missiles targeted at the Soviet Union. This disclosure came as a shock to the international community, especially since Denmark had been assured that the operations at Camp Century were purely scientific​.

    This revelation not only strained U.S.-Danish relations but also raised significant ethical and legal questions about the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Greenland. The Danish government expressed deep concerns, as they had not consented to the militarization of their territory, which they were led to believe was being used for benign scientific purposes.

    The declassification of Project Iceworm’s objectives prompted a broader discussion about the environmental impact of the military base, particularly concerning the nuclear reactor used to power the camp. Concerns were raised about the potential release of radioactive materials stored under the ice, which could emerge due to the accelerating ice melt caused by global warming​.

    Camp Century’s Effect on the Environment

    The thawing of Greenland’s ice sheet is poised to reveal the remnants of Camp Century, including hazardous materials such as low-level radioactive waste and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are known carcinogens. This potential exposure is a significant environmental threat, as the melting ice could release these contaminants into the surrounding ecosystem and beyond​.

    As the ice melts, estimated projections suggest that by as early as 2090, the base could become exposed, unveiling not only the physical structure but also the environmental hazards contained within. This includes an estimated 9,200 tons of physical materials, 53,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and other toxic wastes such as PCBs, which have long-term persistence in the environment and can bioaccumulate in wildlife and humans​.

    The exposure of these contaminants poses not only environmental risks but also political and diplomatic challenges. The cleanup and management of this waste will require coordinated international efforts, potentially straining relationships between the United States, Denmark, and Greenland. The situation underscores the broader impacts of climate change, where thawing ice is not just a physical change but a catalyst for emerging political conflicts over accountability and environmental stewardship​.

    Echoes from the Ice: Reflecting on Camp Century’s Legacy

    The rediscovery and impending exposure of Camp Century not only unearths a relic of the Cold War but also reminds us of the lasting environmental impacts of human endeavors. This hidden base, once a symbol of military ingenuity, now poses significant environmental risks as the consequences of its hazardous wastes are set to re-emerge due to the warming climate. The challenges ahead are not only technical or environmental but also deeply political, involving negotiations and responsibilities that span across nations and generations.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 20:55

  • ​​​​​​​Bean Mania: Arabica Coffee Hits New High, Cocoa Jumps To 7-Month High
    ​​​​​​​Bean Mania: Arabica Coffee Hits New High, Cocoa Jumps To 7-Month High

    Cash-strapped US consumers should be deeply concerned about rising food inflation. It’s ‘stickier’ than ever as coffee and cocoa prices surge.

    Arabica coffee futures in New York hit a record high on Tuesday, driven by ongoing fears of a global supply crunch. Prices surged nearly 5% during the session, reaching their highest level in data dating back to 1972. At that time, coffee prices soared due to the disastrous Black Frost, which devastated Brazilian yields.

    “Concerns over Brazil’s 2025-26 arabica crop grew this week,” said Steve Pollard, an analyst at Marex Group, as quoted by Bloomberg.

    Pollard added, “Recent crop tours point to production in the mid-30 million bags,” which would result in yet another supply shortfall.

    Major agricultural trader Volcafe Ltd. recently slashed Brazil’s arabica production outlook due to severe drought conditions. The trader projected that South America would produce just 34.4 million bags of arabica coffee in the next growing season, down 11 million bags from the prior September estimate, according to Bloomberg.

    Volcafe also forecasted a global coffee production shortfall of 8.5 million bags for the 2025-26 season, marking the fifth consecutive year of deficits.

    “We are currently experiencing a strong fundamental phase in the coffee market, which we expect to sustain the elevated price levels,” said Viktoria Kuszak, a research associate at Sucden Financial.

    In the cocoa market, the most active contract in New York jumped to the highest level in seven months over West Africa’s dismal production outlook, yet another crop experiencing dwindling global supplies.

    The most-active cocoa contract has jumped 58% to $10,500 per metric ton since late October, the highest since June. This comes as adverse weather dents supplies from top growers in Ivory Coast and Ghana.

    “The outlook for the mid-crops have deteriorated in the past weeks,” said Steve Wateridge, head of research at TRS by Expana, adding, “The weather conditions in next three months will determine whether we see further deterioration.”

    Broad food price trends via the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ Food Price Index, which tracks international prices of a basket of globally traded foods, show that prices have alarmingly re-accelerated this year. 

    Back to the cocoa market: The new surge in bean prices certainly sits well with famed commodity trader Pierre Andurand’s bullish thesis earlier this year about worsening global supplies.

    The big takeaway is that food inflation is very sticky despite the government saying otherwise.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 20:30

  • New York City Mayor Adams Working To Bypass City Council On Sanctuary City Law
    New York City Mayor Adams Working To Bypass City Council On Sanctuary City Law

    Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he is working to bypass the New York City Council to change the city’s sanctuary city law ahead of a meeting with the incoming Trump administration’s border czar.

    CBS News host Marcia Kramer asked Adams, a Democrat, about his pending meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, over illegal immigration in the city.

    Adams stated that he wants criminal illegal aliens deported first, adding that he may try to bypass the City Council-passed sanctuary law, which in part bars the city’s police department from telling federal immigration officials about criminals’ immigration status.

    “The City Council made it clear they don’t want to change that,” Adams told Kramer on Dec. 8, according to a transcript released by the mayor’s office.

    “They stated they’re not willing to change the sanctuary city law. I think they’re wrong. I have my teams looking at my power as executive orders.”

    He then said that he has “to protect the people of this city” and suggested that he may have “the power to do so.”

    “Prior to the election, even when I communicated to the president and his team, the current president, I stated over and over again we have to deal with the small number of violent offenders who are making their way into our country,” Adams said in the interview.

    “In particular, it’s a very dangerous Venezuelan gang. It is not the overwhelming number of migrants and asylum seekers. And many of these gang members are preying on migrants and asylum seekers also.”

    However, Adams said that because the City Council “made it clear” that it isn’t changing the sanctuary city law to allow cooperation with federal immigration officials, he is now going to “plan B” and looking at his options and powers as mayor.

    “I told the corporation counsel, give me what are my options,” the mayor said in the Dec. 8 interview.

    “As I stated almost a year ago, I want to look at those who are committing serious violent felonies in our city. And I want to know what are my powers.”

    The mayor earlier this year said he wanted the city’s immigration law changed, and he reiterated his stance after Trump’s win in November. He had publicly supported the sanctuary city designation during his mayoral campaign, writing on social media platform Twitter (now X) in October 2021 that New York City would “remain a sanctuary city” if he won.

    Homan and Adams are scheduled to meet in the coming days, the mayor said earlier this month.

    “I want to hear the actual plan, and how are we going to operationalize the plan,” Adams told MSNBC on Dec. 5, reiterating that he wants to target illegal immigrants who have committed violent crimes in the city.

    Homan, a former acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has issued multiple warnings to sanctuary cities ahead of Trump’s inauguration next month.

    In November, Homan suggested that Denver Mayor Mike Johnston could face criminal charges following Johnston’s remarks to a local media outlet that he would direct police to block federal immigration officials from apprehending illegal aliens.

    In multiple interviews, Homan has said that Trump wants to focus on deporting criminal illegal immigrants first but has also said that any unauthorized individual residing in the United States could face deportation.

    Over the weekend, Trump told NBC News’s “Meet the Press” that he may deport families with mixed immigration statuses to avoid separating children from their parents and vowed that he will move to end birthright citizenship.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 20:05

  • "Parasites Simply Had It Coming": Luigi Mangione's Manifesto Published Online By Journalist
    “Parasites Simply Had It Coming”: Luigi Mangione’s Manifesto Published Online By Journalist

    Update (1952ET):

    Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein released what appears to be Luigi Mangione’s manifesto.

    Klippenstein wrote on his website:

    “I’ve obtained a copy of suspected killer Luigi Mangione’s manifesto — the real one, not the forgery circulating online. Major media outlets are also in possession of the document but have refused to publish it and not even articulated a reason why. My queries to The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and NBC to explain their rationale for withholding the manifesto, while gladly quoting from it selectively, have not been answered.”

    Here’s the full manifesto shared by the journalist:

    “To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, a lot of patience. The spiral notebook, if present, has some straggling notes and To Do lists that illuminate the gist of it. My tech is pretty locked down because I work in engineering so probably not much info there. I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy. United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but as our life expectancy? No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allwed them to get away with it. Obviously the problem is more complex, but I do not have space, and frankly I do not pretend to be the most qualified person to lay out the full argument. But many have illuminated the corruption and greed (e.g.: Rosenthal, Moore), decades ago and the problems simply remain. It is not an issue of awareness at this point, but clearly power games at play. Evidently I am the first to face it with such brutal honesty.”

    NBC News’ Ben Goggin commented on the manifesto published by Klippenstein: “Seeing many fake manifestos being published — the one published by Ken matches what NBC has reported here as real.” 

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    Klippenstein noted. 

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    Frank Figliuzzi, former assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, told NBC’s “TODAY” that murder suspect Mangione fits the profile of an ‘activist killer’… 

    *   *   *

    The 26-year-old Ivy League school graduate, Luigi Mangione, charged in the murder of UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson, will fight extradition to New York City.

    “My client will not waive extradition today,” Manginone’s lawyer said, quoted by Fox News.  

    Mangione was denied bail on Monday and will remain at the State Correctional Institution—Huntingdon, Pennsylvania—until proper paperwork is filed.

    Mangione’s extradition challenge has kicked off the process requiring a warrant issued by the New York governor’s office to allow him to be transported to the state, where he would then be arraigned at the criminal courthouse in lower Manhattan. 

    Ahead of the extradition proceeding at the Blair County Courthouse in Pennsylvania, Mangione yelled to reporters: “It is completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people.” 

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    “The New York Police Department and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is seeking the Defendant’s extradition pursuant to this Warrant of Arrest,” an extradition filing obtained by Fox News said. 

    The criminal complaint against Mangione in New York has yet to be made public. In New York, criminal complaints remain closed until a defendant is arraigned. 

    NYC prosecutors charged Mangione with murder late Monday night, according to court records. He was slapped with criminal possession of a weapon, possession of a forged instrument, and criminal possession of a firearm suppressor in the horrific killing of Thompson nearly one week ago outside a Midtown Manhattan Hilton hotel. 

    Manhattan District Attorney’s Office told Fox News: “The complaint itself remains sealed.” 

    “Thompson’s killing captivated the public, with some corners of the internet deeming Mangione a quasi-folk hero for striking a blow against the insurance industry,” the Wall Street Journal noted. 

    Mangione was arrested on Monday at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Investigators are still piecing together Mangione’s connection to UnitedHealth. 

    Former schoolmates at the private Gilman School in Baltimore told The New York Times that Mangione’s family had reached out to them this year, saying they had been trying to contact their son for several months following his back surgery.

    The banner photo on Mangione’s X account features an X-ray image of what appears to be a person’s back following a spinal fusion procedure.

    The Daily Mail reported, “Mangione had suffered after a back condition called spondylolisthesis was worsened by a surfing accident,” adding that he was “believed to have had back surgery sometime in 2023 but is feared to have suffered continued complications afterward.” 

    The San Francisco Standard reported that Mangione’s mother reported him missing to the San Francisco Police Department on November 18. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 19:52

  • Taliban & Hamas 'Congratulate' Syrian People & Julani After Assad Fall
    Taliban & Hamas ‘Congratulate’ Syrian People & Julani After Assad Fall

    The hardline and extremist Islamic groups Hamas and the Taliban have been among the first regional entities to offer congratulations to the Islamist-led ‘rebels’ and the Syrian people after the overthrow of the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

    Afghanistan’s Taliban government announced the following on Sunday soon after al-Qaeda spinoff Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) gained control of the presidential palace and government ministries and state media stations in Damascus:

    “We express hope that the process of power transition be carried out in a manner aligned with the aspirations of the Syrian people, paving path for the establishment of an independent and service-oriented Islamic government,” a foreign ministry statement said, calling for Syria to be able to “move forward free from external interference”.

    AFP/Getty Images

    Hamas in Gaza had a similar message, praising the Syrian people for achieving their “aspirations for freedom and justice” after the Syrian Army collapsed and Assad fled the country.

    In Hamas’ first public statement on the Syria crisis, the group said: “We stand strongly with the great people of Syria […] and respect the will, the independence and the political choices of the people of Syria.”

    Hamas further expressed hope that post-Assad Syria will continue “its historical and pivotal role in supporting the Palestinian people.”

    The head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziad Al-Nakhala, also issued a congratulations, offering similar words. All of the aforementioned groups are considered terrorists by Washington and many governments around the world.

    But in the case of HTS which now rules Damascus and much of the major cities in Syria, Washington and London are reportedly mulling whether to drop the formal terror listing.

    The Israeli government has issued a warning to HTS and the jihadist factions in Damascus, saying that they will go the way of Assad if they threaten Israel. IDF tanks are meanwhile just about 25km to the south of Damascus, after moving in the country ostensibly to secure a ‘buffer zone’.

    The groups now in control of Syria have an ideology no different than the Taliban’s, and in many cases are even more extreme…

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    The head of HTS and new ruler of Damascus, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, had in his ‘victory’ speech from Umayyad Mosque praised the “heroic mujahideen”. Julani said, “Today, Syria is purified, thanks to God almighty… Thanks to God almighty, then thanks to the heroic mujahideen.” 

    He and his fighters have long been on record as seeking to establish an ‘Islamic State’ and governance based on Sharia law. The Assad government had represented the last secular state in the Middle East, belonging to the Baath party.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 19:40

  • China's Oil Demand Could Peak In 2025
    China’s Oil Demand Could Peak In 2025

    By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com

    Oil demand in China, the world’s top crude importer, could peak as early as next year as the penetration of electric vehicles and LNG trucks is accelerating, state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) said on Tuesday.

    At this time last year, CNPC expected a peak in oil demand coming to China by 2030.

    Now, after a year of EVs and LNG-fueled trucks displacing some gasoline and diesel demand, respectively, the peak in China’s oil demand may occur five years earlier, in 2025, according to a report by CNPC economists carried by Bloomberg.

    China’s oil demand growth has been slowing down due to weaker economic performance and a shift to electric vehicles and LNG-fueled trucks, oil industry executives said at the APPEC conference in Singapore in September.

    Although some of the weakness is attributable to weaker economic performance, the shift toward EVs and LNG trucks is removing some road fuel demand permanently, analysts say.

    China’s shift toward EVs will bring about domestic gasoline demand peaking either this year or next, according to Vitol Group’s CEO Russell Hardy.

    “Gasoline is likely to peak this year or next year in China — not because nobody’s moving, but simply because the fleet is slowly changing towards electric vehicles,” the top executive of the world’s largest independent oil trader told Bloomberg in an interview in September.

    Earlier this year, Vitol pushed back its expected timeline for global peak oil demand beyond 2030. Hardy said in February that a slower pace of the energy transition would push peak oil demand beyond 2030.

    Nevertheless, Vitol sees weakening Chinese gasoline demand growth and diesel demand due to the electrification of transport and greater use of LNG for fueling trucks.

    The rise of electric vehicles and the growing use of LNG in trucking have combined with slower-than-expected economic growth and activity to dent China’s oil demand growth and undermine earlier forecasts of global oil demand this year.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 19:15

  • Americans Are Driving Their Older Cars Into The Ground
    Americans Are Driving Their Older Cars Into The Ground

    Americans, hit by inflation, higher interest rates, and supply-chain issues, are buying fewer new vehicles. The four-year average for annual sales is now 15.5 million, down from 17.7 million pre-pandemic, per the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

    The slowdown in new car sales might seem like good news for auto repair and parts companies, as older vehicles typically need more maintenance. Cars between four and eleven years old are in the “sweet spot” for repairs, yet signs show many Americans are cutting back on maintenance spending, according to the Wall Street Journal.

    In May, tire retailer Monro reported a sharp decline in same-store sales, citing low- to middle-income consumers opting for cheaper, off-brand tires due to a glut of imports. Spending on services like brakes and shocks dropped even more.

    Similarly, in September, Genuine Parts, owner of Napa auto-supply stores, experienced its worst single-day stock drop in decades, as retail sales fell significantly. CEO William Stengel blamed a “cautious end consumer deferring certain service and maintenance-related purchases.”

    The Journal wrote that Valvoline also reported weaker-than-expected sales recently, with its shares falling 9%. CEO Lori Flees noted that competitors, like tire service centers, were offering discounted oil changes to attract traffic, as many consumers delayed core services.

    Carfax data shows 30% of vehicles in the U.S. are overdue for tire rotation and 19% for an oil change. This penny-pinching is widespread, with lower-income households trading down to cheaper options across industries. However, skimping on car maintenance could backfire.

    A no-name tire costing $149.99 for a Ford Explorer comes with a 40,000-mile warranty, while a Goodyear option priced at $254 offers a 60,000-mile warranty and better safety.

    The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index is up 36% over five years, meaning maintenance investments now have a greater payoff. Still, iconic brands like Goodyear, which saw an 8.3% drop in tire sales in the Americas last quarter, face pressure from cheap imports that are gaining market share.

    However, while motorists might trade down on parts, they still need local services—an advantage foreign manufacturers can’t replicate.

    The rise in EV sales, which require less maintenance, could impact auto parts stores and quick-lube chains, but it’s too recent to explain the current dip in spending, the report says. 

    Pandemic-related shifts, like remote work and fewer miles driven since 2020, have also played a role, though driving levels have recently returned to 2019 norms.

    Maintenance spending should stabilize as wear-and-tear returns to normal, even if the economy weakens. Historically, during downturns like the 2007-2009 recession, auto-parts retailers outperformed, with the three most retail-focused chains beating the S&P 500 by an average of 55 percentage points.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 18:50

  • Landlords Increasingly Faced With Squatters, Sometimes With Deadly Consequences
    Landlords Increasingly Faced With Squatters, Sometimes With Deadly Consequences

    Authored by Allan Stein via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    A property manager in Phoenix says that dealing with itinerant “squatters” is one of the least pleasant parts of the real estate business.

    Sometimes, you can’t control what happens, Calvin Favata with Your Holdings told The Epoch Times.

    Rashaad Johnson, 29, had been renting a Your Holdings unit in South Phoenix for about two months and never had any trouble. But he was a “nice guy” who sometimes let squatters who lived in the vacant house across the street use his bathroom shower, Favata said.

    A squatter removes belongings from an apartment as Maricopa County constables serve an eviction order in Phoenix, Ariz., on Sept. 30, 2020. John Moore/Getty Images

    Favata said the shower situation soon “got out of hand,” and the company had to stop it.

    “We even put padlocks and deadbolt [locks] on the bathroom doors so they couldn’t use it,” Favata said.

    On Oct. 14, one of the squatters asked Johnson to use the shower, but when he refused, the man dressed in body armor allegedly told Johnson he was going to get his gun.

    The man returned and killed Johnson, as well as wounding another tenant, a 32-year-old woman who was with him.

    Phoenix police charged Refugio Jimenez, 49, with first-degree murder and burglary, including misconduct involving body armor, felony drug possession, and other crimes.

    Favata said that Johnson’s senseless death was apparently “over a shower.”

    “Since then, I’ve been here every day. We’ve got cameras back up,” Favata told The Epoch Times as he picked up tools from the back of his company truck outside the residence.

    He said squatters have always been an issue and it’s hard to get rid of them. The situation has gotten worse in the Phoenix area in recent months.

    (Top) Phoenix property manager Calvin Favata stands in front of the residence where one of his tenants was allegedly shot to death by a suspected squatter on Oct. 14, 2024. (Bottom) The house across the street where six alleged squatters were staying, on Nov. 2, 2024. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

    “It’s pretty much any house you see that’s vacant. I thought it would be pretty much here and there,” Favata said.

    “The one [property] we just bought, I had to do all the electrical and plumbing. They took all the copper out of the house.”

    ‘Snowbirds’ Targeted

    Scott Blake is the constable for the Hassayampa District, one of the largest districts in Arizona’s Maricopa County. The district includes Phoenix.

    Blake, like Favata, said he has seen more squatters in recent months. The situation appears driven by increasing homelessness, rent costs, and the snowbird phenomenon.

    In the summer, thousands of snowbirds will leave their Arizona property for milder climates and return in the winter. Some seasonal residents return to find a total stranger living in their home and refusing to leave.

    “There is a group of people in society that wants to live for as little as possible. If they can live for free, they do,” Blake said.

    “It’s more frequent than it ever was. I see it once a week now. A lot of times, when the squatter is confronted by law enforcement, they will leave. It’s very rare that it goes as far as me.”

    Blake said that the shooting in Phoenix shows what can happen when a landlord or tenant confronts an alleged squatter.

    Recent incidents in other states have put the issue in the spotlight.

    A man looks to get a view of an abandoned mansion covered in graffiti in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles on Sept. 20, 2024. Neighbors said the house has been a refuge for squatters coming and going for over two years. Robyn Beck/ AFP/AFP via Getty Images

    Two suspected squatters were arrested in March for allegedly killing an apartment resident in New York City and stuffing her body inside a duffel bag in Pennsylvania, according to news reports.

    In October, Los Angeles police said that a homeowner in Van Nuys was attacked by a suspected squatter. The homeowner managed to pin down the trespasser when officers arrived.

    Another alleged squatter was arrested in May for first and second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of two men hired to clean a house, local media reported.

    Blake said that getting rid of a squatter is an often complicated matter, and each state has its version of “squatters rights.”

    According to turbotenant.com, squatters in Arizona can make landlords’ lives extremely difficult once they’ve settled into a property.

    “Even more anxiety-inducing, if a squatter stays on a property long enough and meets specific requirements, they might eventually be able to claim it as their own through a legal process called adverse possession,” the website stated.

    A Notice to Vacate is issued to squatters to leave the property within a certain period to begin the eviction process under Arizona law. The next step is to file an eviction lawsuit in court to remove squatters.

    Blake said that the entire process can take up to 21 days.

    “In Arizona, we are blessed with one of the fastest eviction procedures in the United States,” he said. “In some states like California, the process can take as long as a year.”

    An ‘Invasion’ of Squatters

    The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles (AAGLA) reports that squatters have become a significant problem in California and across the United States.

    “Thousands of properties across America are being invaded by squatters, who move in and live rent-free causing major damage, or in worse cases, injury or death to property owners—and there’s really no expedient, easy legal way for property owners or the police to remove them,” according to the organization’s website.

    A newly erected fence blocks the front of a vacant home that Moms 4 Housing activists occupied during a monthslong protest, which ended in a court ordered eviction, in Oakland, Calif., on Jan. 28, 2020. Philip Pacheco/AFP via Getty Images

    The group said the internet and dark forums have become a clearinghouse for advice on how to break into someone else’s home and “establish a right to be there.”

    Blake said that, in some cases, a squatter may produce a fake lease to show police, who then treat squatting as a civil matter.

    Read the rest here…

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 18:25

  • Here's How Manhattan DA Plans To Keep Trump Case Alive
    Here’s How Manhattan DA Plans To Keep Trump Case Alive

    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg – who had a Biden DOJ plant in his legal case against former President Donald Trump – is trying to ensure his hush money case doesn’t vanish into thin air as Trump prepares for his return to the White House.

    According to court filings revealed Tuesday, Bragg’s office is fiercely opposed to dismissing the case outright but is open to pausing proceedings while Trump serves his second term as president.

    The 82-page legal brief, prosecutors’ most detailed argument yet, stops short of recommending an explicit course of action but outlines several ways to keep the case alive. Among them: delaying sentencing until after Trump leaves office in 2029 or freezing the case while leaving the jury’s guilty verdict intact, The Hill reports.

    “The extreme remedy of dismissing the indictment and vacating the jury verdict is not warranted in light of multiple alternative accommodations that would fully address the concerns raised by presidential immunity,” wrote Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy.

    The filing comes as Trump, now president-elect, wages a legal battle to quash the 34 felony charges stemming from hush money payments to an adult film star. Trump’s lawyers claim his status as president-elect grants him immunity and demands immediate dismissal.

    Prosecutors, however, aren’t buying it. They argue that immunity doesn’t apply until Trump is inaugurated, meaning the case could theoretically proceed to sentencing before January 20, 2025 — a prospect Trump has vowed to fight tooth and nail.

    Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over Trump’s trial, will now decide the case’s fate, with a ruling expected any day.

    A Legal Tightrope

    The DA’s office acknowledged the complications of prosecuting a sitting president but stopped short of saying the case should be completely shelved.

    Trump was convicted by a Manhattan Jury ‘of his peers’ on 34 counts of falsifying business records, however his reelection to the highest office in the land has put a damper on prosecutors’ plans.

    Sentencing was initially scheduled for last month, only to be postponed indefinitely by Judge Merchan, making it increasingly unlikely Trump will face punishment anytime soon.

    That would leave open the possibility that Trump could still proceed to sentencing in 2029, after he leaves office.

    Alternatively, state prosecutors said the judge could terminate the case without tossing Trump’s conviction, noting a jury verdict removed the presumption of innocence, he was never sentenced and his conviction was “neither affirmed nor reversed” on appeal because of presidential immunity. -The Hill

    Trump’s legal team is crying foul, claiming the prosecution disrupts his transition efforts and his ability to govern effectively. “Wrongly continuing proceedings in this failed lawfare case disrupts President Trump’s transition efforts and his preparations to wield the full Article II executive power authorized by the Constitution pursuant to the overwhelming national mandate granted to him by the American people on November 5, 2024,” Trump’s attorneys fumed in a recent filing.

    Prosecutors hit back, accusing Trump of using delay tactics to muddy the waters. “Having filed those motions to dismiss and then sought repeated adjournments of sentencing to permit their determination by this Court, it is particularly brazen for defendant to argue that the Supremacy Clause bars the Court from taking any action on the motions defendant himself filed,” Conroy wrote.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 18:00

  • Hurricane Helene Recovery In North Carolina Town Fueled By Devoted Locals
    Hurricane Helene Recovery In North Carolina Town Fueled By Devoted Locals

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

    Nestled in the mountains of Yancey County in western North Carolina, Burnsville looks like a town that might feature in a Norman Rockwell painting or a Hallmark Christmas movie.

    NuWray Hotel owners Amanda Keith, and her husband James Keith, provided meals to residents and volunteers in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Burnsville, N.C., on Nov. 30 ,2024. Jeff Louderback/The Epoch Times

    Even before Thanksgiving, the town square was decorated for Christmas. Antique shops, cafes, and coffee houses dot Main Street, bustling with activity. On the surface, it appears to be a typical holiday season, but all is not as it seems. Two months after Hurricane Helene struck the region, Burnsville and Yancey County are still on a long path to recovery.

    Crystal Capps, a real estate agent whose family has lived in Yancey County for several generations, said immediate and long-term assistance is essential for ensuring locals’ safety and enabling them to remain in the region.

    “There is a sense of urgency. Winter weather is here. People are tough in these mountains, but it’s cold— too cold for people to be sleeping in tents and in their cars,” Capps told The Epoch Times. “I saw houses floating down the river when Helene hit. I’ll never forget that. For those who survived but are displaced, they need help.”

    Capps is one of several Burnsville natives, including many friends from Mountain Heritage High School, who serve on the board of the Appalachian Disaster Coalition.

    “We have a lot of work to do, but we have hope, and we are doing all we can to give hope to people who are struggling,” she said.

    Bradley Honeycutt was born and raised in Yancey County. His parents live on a 48-acre mountainside property and have cattle and horses.

    Honeycutt helped start the Appalachian Disaster Coalition just days after the storm. He was born and raised here and graduated in 2006 from Mountain Heritage High School.

    Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane. It left a swath of destruction throughout the Southeast extending to western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.

    Raging floodwaters and landslides from Hurricane Helene reached western North Carolina on Sept. 27, devastating urban and rural communities and severely damaging roads, homes, and power sources.

    Just before Helene hit, storms drenched Asheville and surrounding western North Carolina towns when a weather front stalled over the Appalachian Mountains. Some areas received more than a foot of rain, saturating the land before Helene arrived.

    Some roads remain only partially repaired in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Yancey County, N.C., on Nov. 30, 2024. Jeff Louderback/The Epoch Times

    Hundreds of roads were blocked or completely washed away, requiring rescue crews to reach victims by mule, horseback, and on foot. Search and rescue efforts, and delivery of supplies, were challenging because many residents who live on a mountainside only have one way in and one way out.

    Honeycutt heard about what was happening in western North Carolina on the news. He tried to reach his parents all day on Sept. 27.

    Finally, a cousin connected a Starlink terminal to a generator, enabling internet access, and contacted him through Facebook Messenger, he told The Epoch Times.

    “It’s really bad,” he was told. “We don’t know what the rest of the county looks like, and we have not heard from your mom and dad,” his cousin said.

    Honeycutt booked a flight to Charlotte and arrived at his parents’ property on Sept. 28.

    “They weren’t there when I got to the house. I knew they were safe because the generators were running and the lights were on. When they pulled into the driveway, we hugged and talked for around an hour. Then I said, ‘I gotta go and see what I can do.’” he said.

    Honeycutt contacted friends who had experience with search and rescue after disasters. They traveled to Yancey County to help.

    Friends in Dallas, where he is finishing a degree in architecture and design with the intent to return to Burnsville and open a business, established social media accounts under the name “Bradley Loves Burnsville.”

    The accounts gained followers, and Honeycutt outlined the area’s immediate needs to them.

    “We needed propane. We needed gas. Before we knew it, a tanker with 11,000 gallons of gas arrived. Necessities and other items like generators started coming in. It was chaos,” Honeycutt said. “There was no outside communication since cell phones didn’t work. No water. No power. It was dark, and we were on our own.”

    Recognizing immediate and long-term needs for temporary and permanent housing, and trauma therapy, Honeycutt established an incorporated nonprofit called Appalachian Disaster Coalition.

    The current priority is getting displaced residents into campers and temporary homes, Honeycutt said. The group has partnered with other nonprofits to expand their capabilities. Eventually, they plan to build 30 three-bedroom, two-bath, single-family homes for locals in Yancey County.

    Appalachian Disaster Coalition and other independent groups are important in ensuring the town isn’t forgotten, Honeycutt said.

    Read the rest here…

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 17:40

  • GM To Wind Down Cruise Robotaxi Operations
    GM To Wind Down Cruise Robotaxi Operations

    General Motors is winding down its Cruise robotaxi division, according to a new report from Bloomberg. 

    GM’s exit from the market leaves Google’s Waymo and Tesla as the two main names in autonomous driving. The division “proved costly and full of reputational pitfalls” for General Motors, the report said.

    GM and Cruise will merge technical teams to focus on autonomous tech for future GM vehicles, halting robotaxi development due to high costs and stiff competition, the company announced Tuesday.

    This marks a significant shift after Cruise weathered industry challenges and resumed operations following a high-profile incident last year.

    The Bloomberg report said that GM’s retreat from the robotaxi business reshapes its ambitions. CEO Mary Barra’s vision of transforming GM into a tech-driven company with $50 billion from Cruise now seems distant. The move aligns GM with its core car-making focus, abandoning mobility-as-a-service goals.

    This shift comes as Waymo expands and Tesla targets a 2026 robotaxi launch. Cruise had resumed operations with safety drivers in Dallas and Houston and planned California testing before the pivot.

    The DOJ and SEC were among multiple agencies probing GM Cruise after a collision with a pedestrian last October. 

    Following the incident, California revoked Cruise’s permits, citing the company’s lack of transparency. A review by law firm Quinn Emanuel cleared Cruise executives of intentional deception but criticized their leadership and confrontational attitude towards regulators. The victim survived the accident.

    Recall back in December 2023 we noted that Cruise was slashing 24% of its workforce as part of a restructuring. The autonomous driving unit at the time said it would lay off 900 of its 3,800 employees, most of whom were in the commercial operations and related corporate functions.

    Exemplifying the difficulties of autonomy, the news came on the same day it was reported that Tesla was sued by the family of a deceased driver who lost his life during an accident where a car was purportedly operating on ‘Autopilot’. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 17:20

  • Kroger-Albertsons Merger Blocked By Court In Latest Anti-M&A Farce By Biden Admin
    Kroger-Albertsons Merger Blocked By Court In Latest Anti-M&A Farce By Biden Admin

    The Biden administration, desperate to make an impact somewhere, anywhere, in its final, dying days, has struck again.

    Just around the time we learned that Biden was set to finally kill the Nippon Steel of US steel, we learned that a federal judge had also blocked supermarket giant Kroger from acquiring Albertsons, siding with that anti-M&A puppet of various outgoing socialist interests, Lina Khan, who said the $20 billion supermarket merger would erode competition and raise prices for consumers, when in reality it will only lead to more supermarket failures, fewer jobs and even higher prices for consumers.

    U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson agreed with the Federal Trade Commission’s argument that Kroger would become the dominant player in traditional supermarkets if allowed to add nearly 2,000 stores by taking over Albertsons, its smaller rival. Nelson rejected the companies’ counterargument that selling 579 stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers would replace the lost competition.

    “Evidence shows that defendants engage in substantial head-to-head competition and the proposed merger would remove that competition,” Nelson wrote in the ruling, clearly unaware that grocers have a less than 1% profit margin, or that a similar ruling blocked the Jetblue-Spirit merger less than a year ago, culminating with Spirit’s bankruptcy, mass layoffs and even higher prices for those carriers who remained.

    The decision is a significant milestone for the FTC under the Biden administration, whose chair Lina Khan has waged legal battles to stop megadeals rather than accept companies’ proposed fixes to address competition concerns.

    For the companies, the decision is a major blow to a deal that executives have said is critical for competing against bigger retail powers like Walmart and Amazon. Attorneys for Kroger and Albertsons have previously said they would likely abandon the deal if the judge sided with the FTC.

    An FTC spokesman said the ruling “protects competition in the grocery market, which will prevent prices from rising even more.”

    As the WSJ reports, Kroger and Albertsons had both spent hundreds of millions of dollars on lawyers, bankers and other advisers since they announced the deal in October 2022, according to securities filings. If the deal is called off, Kroger has to pay Albertsons a $600 million breakup fee.

    Kroger is the biggest traditional U.S. supermarket operator by sales, representing about 9% of the grocery market, while Albertsons is the second-largest supermarket with 5% of American grocery sales. Both companies have been surpassed by megaretailer Walmart, which for decades has been the country’s biggest seller of groceries, and Costco’s grocery sales have nearly caught up to Kroger’s.

    The deal with Albertsons would have nearly doubled Kroger’s total store count, exceeding the scale of Walmart’s 3,500 supercenters. Rodney McMullen, Kroger’s longtime chief executive, had pledged to eventually invest $1 billion annually in lowering prices at the acquired Albertsons stores, where he said prices typically run 10% to 12% above a Kroger store.

    But FTC attorneys argued the deal would only give Kroger a reason to increase prices by removing a competitor. The FTC said the merger would result in excessive concentration of supermarket ownership in over 1,900 local markets across the country, far more than what the companies acknowledged.

    Kroger and Albertsons compete head to head for consumers in many markets, especially on the West Coast and in states such as Colorado and the city of Chicago.

    Nelson’s order granting the FTC a preliminary injunction doesn’t immediately kill the deal. The FTC and the parties could continue to litigate a separate case testing the legality of the merger in the agency’s in-house court. A trial before an FTC administrative law judge is scheduled for no sooner than Dec. 18.

    Kroger shares closed 5.1% higher, while Albertsons stock dropped 2.7%.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 16:40

  • Opposition To Woke Progressivism Energizes Trump Coalition
    Opposition To Woke Progressivism Energizes Trump Coalition

    Authored by Peter Berkowitz via RealClearPolitics,

    In January, Republicans will gain undivided control of the federal government’s political branches. Yet President-elect Donald Trump’s comfortable 312-226 electoral-college victory over Vice President Kamala Harris and his narrow margin in the popular vote – 49.9% to 48.4% – do not constitute a landslide. Considering also Republicans’ razor-thin House majority and several vulnerable seats the 53-47 Republican Senate majority must defend in 2026, it is early to speak of a national political realignment. Whether the GOP expands and establishes firmly the impressive multi-racial and multi-ethnic working-class coalition that Trump built over the last nine years turns on the coalition’s composition and the forces that unified it around the most unlikely of two-term presidents.

    In 2024, Trump enjoyed stunning, nearly across-the-board improvements over his 2020 performance. The president-elect increased his numbers in 2,764 of America’s 3,112 counties – including those that tend Democratic – while all 50 states shifted right. Trump achieved “unprecedented” levels of support for a Republican presidential candidate among black, Latino, and Asian peoples. Although female voters went 53% to 46% to Harris, Trump bettered his results with women. And, in a mid-November CBS news poll, 57% of adults in the United States under 30 were happy or satisfied with Trump’s victory and 58% of those 30-44 years of age. Harris surpassed President Joe Biden’s 2020 results only among white, college-educated voters.

    Several factors propelled citizens of different groups to vote for Trump. As Fareed Zakaria observes, Trump “celebrated risk-taking and spoke the language of disruption and radical reform,” which attracted men, entrepreneurs, and technologists. Moreover, the GOP nominee faced a weak opponent who, until three months before the election, conspired with her party and the press to pretend that the unpopular president was as sharp as ever. The perception that Biden presided over lawless migration, high inflation, and indulgence of crime fomented discontent, especially among the working class. In addition, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs and transgender activism, which flourished under the Biden administration, angered Trump voters. DEI impelled the federal bureaucracy, big business, major media, and universities to disparage merit as a bigoted standard and to provide preferential treatment to non-Jewish and non-Asian minorities and women. Transgender activism denied the public relevance of biological differences between men and women.

    Many Trump voters view the Democratic Party as “woke.” So do some Trump critics, prominent among them New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, who maintained shortly after the election that “woke is broke.” The term originally emerged in the 1940s among African Americans who described as woke those acquiring awareness of injustice in society. In today’s national conversation about politics woke refers to fashionable progressive opinions about society, morality, and politics contrived in universities and spread by elites to government, corporations, the mainstream media, Hollywood, and Silicon Valley.

    Woke progressivism is not a fixed creed or settled doctrine but embraces a mix of recognizable and interrelated attitudes, ideas, and goals. Typically, woke progressives maintain that society is divided into oppressors and oppressed. They equate virtue with victimhood. They teach that white supremacy and male supremacy gave birth to the United States and that systemic racism and sexism permeate America’s unwritten norms, founding principles, and basic political institutions. They insist that social justice requires government and private organizations to discriminate against white men to ensure that the minorities and women whom they oppress acquire positions of wealth, status, and power at least equal to their proportion in society. They reject civility, toleration, and colorblindness as hopelessly compromised by their association with America’s corrupt constitutional heritage. And they despise dissent from their axioms and aims, which they interpret as dispositive evidence of dissenters’ racism and sexism.

    Woke progressivism promotes the social, political, and economic attainment of minorities with privileged status on the hierarchy of grievance – especially those already moving in elite circles. And it advances careers of highly credentialed white people by signaling their rectitude to fellow initiates while giving the pleasure of lording their moral refinement over the clueless rabble.

    Yet woke progressivism’s appeal is limited. It is an ideology that is poorly designed to win over white men or, for that matter, their wives, mothers, and daughters who in many cases take umbrage at the vilification of their husbands, sons, and fathers. It also rankles men and women of all races and ethnicities who believe that America, for all its shortcomings, remains a land of hope and opportunity. And it appears illiberal and antidemocratic to the inspiring diversity of persons who hold that inherent human dignity requires equal respect for the rights of all. The combination of vilified white men, the females who love them, and nonwhite citizens who feel gratitude for American freedom and opportunity seems to embrace a majority of citizens.

    In “Academe’s Divorce From Reality,” recently published by the Chronicle of Higher Education, William Deresiewicz indicates that Trump voters rightly associated woke progressivism with the Biden administration. An essayist, scholar, and longtime critic of universities’ betrayal of liberal education, Deresiewicz argues that the election represented a referendum on “the politics of the academy.” That politics converges with woke progressivism. “Its ideas, its assumptions, its opinions and positions – as expressed in official statements, embodied in policies and practices, established in centers and offices, and espoused and taught by large and leading portions of the professoriate – have been rejected,” he maintains.

    “Over the last 10 years or so” – as Americans’ confidence in higher education plummeted – “a cultural revolution has been imposed on this country from the top down,” according to Deresiewicz. “Its ideas originated in the academy, and it’s been carried out of the academy by elite-educated activists and journalists and academics.”

    Overlapping in many respects with Biden-administration sympathies and objectives, this university-driven cultural revolution aims at “decriminalization or nonprosecution of property and drug crimes and, ultimately, the abolition of police and prisons; open borders, effectively if not explicitly; the suppression of speech that is judged to be harmful to disadvantaged groups; ‘affirmative’ care for gender-dysphoric youth (puberty blockers followed by cross-sex hormones followed, in some cases, by mastectomies) and the inclusion of natal males in girls’ and women’s sports; and the replacement of equality by equity – of equal opportunity for individuals by equal outcomes for designated demographic groups – as the goal of social policy.”

    The university-driven cultural revolution anathematizes fundamental institutions and rejects nature, “insist[ing] that the state is evil, that the nuclear family is evil, that something called ‘whiteness’ is evil, that the sex binary, which is core to human biology, is a social construct.”

    It mobilizes the federal government, higher education, and the private sector to establish and manage “the DEI regimes, the training and minders and guidelines, that have blighted American workplaces, including academic ones.”

    It commandeers language to compel obedience to its dictates, “promulgat[ing] an ever-shifting array of rebarbative neologisms whose purpose often seems to be no more than its own enforcement: POC (now BIPOC), AAPI (now AANHPI), LGBTQ (now LGBTQIA2S+), ‘pregnant people,’ ‘menstruators,’ ‘front hole,’ ‘chest feeding,’ and, yes, ‘Latinx.’”

    And it seeks not merely acquiescence to its policies but solemn allegiance – outward and inward – to its imperatives: “It is joyless, vengeful, and tyrannical. It is purist and totalistic. It demands affirmative, continuous, and enthusiastic consent.”

    A recent report of the Network Contagion Research Institute at Rutgers University, “INSTRUCTING ANIMOSITY: How DEI Pedagogy Produces the Hostile Attribution Bias,” lends social-science support to the observation that woke progressivism, contrary to its promise to advance social justice, fosters distrust and enmity among citizens. For example, researchers asked one group to read representative statements contending that America is rife with systemic racism and the other to read nonpolitical materials. Researchers then presented to both groups a hypothetical involving a college applicant who, following an interview, is denied admission. While the hypothetical mentioned neither the applicant’s nor the interviewer’s race, those who read the DEI materials were significantly more likely to see bigotry at play.

    NCRI researchers’ several studies consistently found that “ideas and rhetoric foundational to many DEI trainings,” contrary to DEI claims, neither “foster pluralistic inclusiveness” nor “increase empathy and understanding.” Rather, “[a]cross all groupings, instead of reducing bias, they engendered a hostile attribution bias…amplifying perceptions of prejudicial hostility where none was present, and punitive responses to the imaginary prejudice” (footnote omitted).

    The NCRI findings reinforce common sense. If, in the spirit of woke progressivism, elite universities teach that American institutions are hateful, students will learn to despise their country and scorn the patriots among their fellow citizens. If elite universities teach that Americans are either oppressors or oppressed, the best and the brightest will view politics as war and education as propaganda. If elite universities teach that group identity takes precedence over the dignity of the person, graduates will regard themselves as duty bound to trample over individual rights in pursuit of social justice.

    And if our elite universities – and the graduates they annually launch into the world – keep it up, they will increase the Trump coalition’s chances of landslide election victories and enhance the prospects of a national political realignment built around working-class men and women joined by individuals of all colors and classes who cherish freedom and democracy in America.

    Peter Berkowitz is the Tad and Dianne Taube senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. From 2019 to 2021, he served as director of the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. State Department. His writings are posted at PeterBerkowitz.com and he can be followed on X @BerkowitzPeter.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 16:20

  • Elon Musk: "We Should Unwind" The NGO Industry
    Elon Musk: “We Should Unwind” The NGO Industry

    Non-governmental organizations receiving taxpayer dollars are under scrutiny for misusing funds in shady operations. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, set to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), have announced plans to investigate how taxpayer funds are funneled into NGOs. 

    Let’s begin with an exchange between Musk and Ramaswamy on X one week ago…

    “We need to scrutinize U.S. government funding of “non-government organizations.” It’s an oxymoron that represents a waste of taxpayer dollars, but the real problem runs deeper: Americans deserve transparency on opaque foreign aid & nonprofit groups abetting our own border crisis,” Ramaswamy said, while quoting another X user who explained how Victoria Nuland, appointed to the Board of Directors of the National Endowment, funded overseas NGOs involved in questionable activities in Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria.

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    Musk agreed, commenting, “Absolutely.”

    With such vague and expansive authority, some of these NGOs effectively act as agents of the government, often pursuing politically motivated agendas such as promoting woke propaganda, engaging in censorship, supporting endless foreign wars, and even supporting the migrant invasion into the US. 

    On Tuesday morning, Musk scrutinized the NGO industry once again. He said, “We should unwind this IMO,” referring to one X user who posted how the NGO industry’s total assets over the last two decades exploded. 

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

    Whoa. 

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

    And this. 

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    Marc Andreessen, the billionaire investor and co-founder of the influential Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, told Joe Rogan during a recent interview how the “government outsources to these NGOs the things it’s not legally allowed to do …. such as censorship.” 

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    Americans are realizing that these mysterious NGOs serve as workarounds for the federal government that encounter constitutional limitations or fear of political backlash.

    DOGE appears to be the entity that will end this NGO madness. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/10/2024 – 15:45

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