Today’s News 12th August 2024

• 'Eating Ze Bugs Is Vegan' – What The Rise Of "Ento-Veganism" Really Means
  ‘Eating Ze Bugs Is Vegan’ – What The Rise Of “Ento-Veganism” Really Means

  Via Off-Guardian.org,

  The latest “Dude, eating insects is so hip and cool” article dropped this week, this time from The Guardian, and with a little twist thrown in.

  

  It’s pushing the idea of “ento-veganism”, that is to say “vegans” who won’t eat animals…except insects.

  Or, what we used to call non-vegans.

  It’s just another step in the redefining of language as needs must, yet another front in the war on words.

  They are shifting the meaning of veganism from saving animals to being “sustainable”. The philosophy of “ento-veganism” is apparently to “do the least harm possible”.

  …except to crickets, I guess.

  The greater point here is that, while the mainstream has been promoting veganism for years, that’s much more about stopping people from eating meat and dairy than it is about getting people to eat vegetables.

  After all, a vegan could hypothetically be living on a small holding in the middle of nowhere and surviving entirely on their home-grown vegetables…and that’s the last thing the WEF-types want.

  They’re not going to all the trouble of resetting society so we can eat organic cauliflower.

  They want everyone eating GMO soy cubes dusted in cricket flour.

  They want processed. They want artificial. Most importantly, they want to make it so no one can ever be self-sufficient.

  And while that means promoting veganism for now, it also means slowly redefining what “veganism” actually means.

  Last year, eating lab-grown meat became “vegan”…

  

  Which, technically, you can argue from an ethical point of view.

  But then this year, eating crickets is “vegan” too.

  Who knows what “vegan” will mean next year?

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 08/12/2024 – 02:00

• Big Question: How Are Ukraine Stakeholders, CIA, & The US Intel Community Going To Stop Donald Trump?
  Big Question: How Are Ukraine Stakeholders, CIA, & The US Intel Community Going To Stop Donald Trump?

  Authored by ‘sundance’ via TheConservativeTreehouse.com,

  This is the simple albeit massive question that even President Trump himself doesn’t spend time thinking about. 

  

  Melania does.

  • To stop him in 2016, the FBI and DOJ ran a comprehensive surveillance operation against his campaign.  The same people manufactured a completely fabricated case of Trump colluding with Russia. Have you forgotten?

  • To stop him in 2017, the DOJ and Congress ran a comprehensive Special Counsel operation against his presidency.  The justification of the SC operation was to prove a completely fabricated case of Trump colluding with Russia.  The real reason for the SC operation was to cover up the FBI and DOJ completely fabricating the case of Trump colluding with Russia. Have you forgotten?

  • To stop him in 2019, congress and the intelligence apparatus (Mary McCord and Michael Atkinson) manufactured an impeachment hoax using Ukraine, a fabricated DoD plant on the National Security Council (Vindman), the CIA (Ciaramella) and the Intelligence Community Inspector General (Attkinson).  Have you forgotten?

  • To stop him in 2020, the U.S. Intelligence Community, working through the U.S. CDC, seeded a global pandemic and quickly manufactured an election result using mail-in ballots to manufacture 81 million votes for a completely controlled candidate with dementia.  Have you forgotten?

  • To stop him in 2022, Joe Biden (through AG Garland) appointed a special prosecutor (smith) to investigate, indict and convict him.  Have you forgotten?

  • To stop him in 2023, the FBI and DOJ raided his home. Indicted him under claims of “national security,” then began to use Lawfare in the court system against him.  Have you forgotten?

  • To stop him in 2024, the U.S. Secret Service permitted a 20-year-old with a backpack, range finder, drone and long rifle, to walk into a Trump rally, set up position on a rooftop next to the USSS operating team, and fire eight shots at less than 150 yards at President Trump’s head, wounding his ear.  Have you forgotten?

  So, my question remains:

  What will the Ukraine stakeholders, in congress, within NATO, within the State Dept, within the CIA and Intelligence Community and within the multinational banking and investment companies (Blackrock), do over the next few months to stop President Donald Trump from winning in November?

  

  …She Knows!

  

  With the 2024 election rapidly coming, it is worth revisiting the actual tariff outcome to American consumers in order to dispel the popular myths about tariffs raising prices here at home.

  CPA – […] Since the Section 301 tariffs were imposed, the share of imports from China has steadily declined from 21.6% in 2017 the year prior to the tariffs to 16.5%, a decline of 5.1%. No other country has lost as much share of total U.S. import penetration over the past five years.

  In terms of total import value, Mexico gained the most from the tariffs, adding $110.8 billion. Vietnam gained the second most in import value by $78.4 billion and by far gained the most of total share of U.S. imports. In 2017, Vietnam accounted for about 2% of U.S. imports at $46.5 billion. In 2022, the U.S. imported $127.5 billion in goods from Vietnam, and the share of the total nearly doubled to 3.9%. Other countries in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia all saw significant increases in their value of imports by the U.S. (read more)

  This might be the cited data you want to bookmark for later reference.

  It was the Fourth Quarter of 2019…..

  Right before the pandemic would hit a few months later, despite two years of doomsayer predictions from Wall Street’s professional punditry, all of them said Trump’s 2017 steel and aluminum tariffs on China, Canada and the EU would create massive inflation – it just wasn’t happening!

  Overall, year-over-year inflation was hovering around 1.7 percent [Table-A BLS]; yup, that was our inflation rate.  The rate in the latter half of 2019 was firmed up with less month-over-month fluctuation, and the rate basically remained consistent.   [See Below]  The U.S. economy was on a smooth glide path, strong, stable, and Main Street was growing with MAGAnomics at work.

  

  A couple of important points. 

  First, unleashing the energy sector to drive down overall costs to consumers, and industry outputs was a key part of President Trump’s America First MAGAnomic initiative.  Lower energy prices help the worker economy, middle class and average American more than any other sector.

  Which brings us to the second important point.  Notice how food prices had very low year-over-year inflation – 0.5 percent.  That is a combination of two key issues: low energy costs, and the fracturing of Big Ag’s hold on the farm production and the export dynamic:

  (BLS) […] The index for food at home declined for the third month in a row, falling 0.2 percent. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs decreased 0.7 percent in August as the index for eggs fell 2.6 percent. The index for fruits and vegetables, which rose in July, fell 0.5 percent in August; the index for fresh fruits declined 1.4 percent, but the index for fresh vegetables rose 0.4 percent. The index for cereals and bakery products fell 0.3 percent in August after rising 0.3 percent in July. (link)

  For the previous twenty years, food prices had been increasingly controlled by Big Ag, and not by normal supply and demand.   The commodity market became a ‘controlled market’. U.S. food outputs (farm production) was controlled and exported to keep the U.S. consumer paying optimal prices.

  President Trump’s trade reset was disrupting this process.  As farm products were less exported, the cost of the food in our supermarket became reconnected to a ‘more normal’ supply and demand cycle.  Food prices dropped, and our pantry costs were lowered.

  The Commerce Dept. then announced that retail sales climbed by 0.4 percent in August 2019, twice as high as the 0.2 percent analysts had predicted. The result highlighted retail sales strength of more than 4 percent year-over-year.   These excellent results came on the heels of blowout data in July, when households boosted purchases of cars and clothing.

  The better-than-expected number stemmed largely from a 1.8 percent jump in spending vehicles. Online sales, meanwhile, also continued to climb, rising 1.6 percent. That’s similar to July 2019, when Amazon held its two-day blowout Prime Day sale. (link)

  Despite the efforts to remove and impeach President Trump, it did not look like middle class America was overly concerned about the noise coming from the pundits.   Likely that’s because blue collar wages were higher, Main Street inflation was lower, and overall consumer confidence was strong.  Yes, MAGAnomics was working.

  Additionally, remember all those MSM hours and newspaper column inches where the professional financial pundits were claiming Trump’s tariffs were going to cause massive increases in prices of consumer goods?

  Well, exactly the opposite happened.

  [BLS report] Import prices were continuing to drop:

  

  [Table 1 – BLS report link]

  This was a really interesting dynamic that no one in the professional punditry would dare explain.

  Donald Trump’s tariffs were targeted to specific sectors of imported products.  [Steel, Aluminum, and a host of smaller sectors etc.]  However, when the EU and China responded by devaluing their currency, that approach hit all products imported, not just the tariff goods.

  Because the EU and China were driving up the value of the dollar, everything we were importing became cheaper.   Not just imports from Europe and China, but actually imports from everywhere.   All imports were entering the U.S. at substantially lower prices.

  This meant when we imported products, we were also importing deflation.

  This price result is exactly the opposite of what the economic experts and Wall Street pundits predicted back in 2017 and 2018 when they were pushing the rapid price increase narrative.

  Because all the export dependent economies were reacting with such urgency to retain their access to the U.S. market, aggregate import prices were actually lower than they were when the Trump tariffs began:

  […]  Prices for imports from China edged down 0.1 percent in August following decreases of 0.2 percent in both July and June. Import prices from China have not advanced on a monthly basis since ticking up 0.1 percent in May 2018. The price index for imports from China fell 1.6 percent for the year ended in August.

  […]  Import prices from the European Union fell 0.2 percent in August and 0.3 percent over the past 12 months.

  [Page #4 – BLS Report, pdf] – BLS press release.

  So yes, we know President Trump can save Social Security and Medicare by expanding the economy with his America First economic policy.  We do not need to guess if it is possible or listen to pundits theorize about his approach being some random ‘catch phrase’ disconnected from reality.  Yes folks, we have the receipts.

  This was MAGAnomics at work, and this is entirely what created the middle class MAGA coalition.  No other Republican candidate has this economic policy in their outlook, because all other candidates are purchased by the Wall Street multinationals.

  America First MAGAnomics is unique to President Trump, because he is the only one independent enough to implement them.

  That’s just the reality of the situation.  

  They hate him for it… 

  

  *  *  *

  [Support CTH Research Here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 23:20

• Ohio Prosecutor Fired After Biting Man's Finger Off In Bizarre Road Rage Incident
  Ohio Prosecutor Fired After Biting Man’s Finger Off In Bizarre Road Rage Incident

  Here’s something to think about the next time you want to give someone ‘the finger’ in traffic.

  An assistant Ohio prosecutor was fired from his job for allegedly biting off a man’s finger in a road rage incident last month, according to a report from the New York Post.

  The man who lost a finger reportedly honked at the prosecutor, Christopher Murray, at a green light. 

  The Riverside Police Department responded to reports of a fight on the US Route 35 overpass, about 210 miles from Cleveland, where one caller mentioned severe bloodshed and a bitten-off finger, according to the arrest report.

  The Post report states that when law enforcement arrived, they found a 43-year-old man covered in blood standing outside his vehicle. Medical personnel confirmed that part of his middle finger had been bitten off. 

  

  The victim’s finger was severed at the tip of the knuckle, and police later found it under his vehicle. He claimed he honked at the car in front of him when it didn’t move after the light turned green.

  He “laid on his horn”, according to the Post. 

  Police identified the driver as Murray, who allegedly approached the victim’s car, declared his intent to fight, and pulled open the driver’s door.

  The two ended up on the ground, where the victim claimed Murray bit his finger. Murray then fled but dropped his phone, which police used to identify him. The victim was taken to the hospital for further treatment, and Murray now faces felonious assault charges.

  Greene County Prosecuting Attorney David D. Hayes said he had been fired from his job as a result: “As Greene County Prosecuting Attorney, I became aware on July 8, 2024, of an ongoing criminal investigation in Montgomery County regarding my employee Christopher Murray.”

  “After due consideration, I terminated Christopher Murray’s employment with the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office.”

  Here is the report from WDTN:

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 22:45

• Audit Finds NYC Overpaid Upstate Hotels By Millions For Sheltering Illegal Immigrants
  Audit Finds NYC Overpaid Upstate Hotels By Millions For Sheltering Illegal Immigrants

  Authored by Cara Ding via The Epoch Times,

  A new audit by the New York City Comptroller’s Office found the city overpaid upstate hotels and other subcontractors by millions to shelter illegal immigrants last spring.

  

  The audit also finds sizable undue commission payments to DocGo, a main city contractor responsible for running temporary shelters in the metro area at an annual cost of $432 million.

  DocGo was one of a few city contractors tasked with developing upstate hotels-turned-shelters last May, a novel city practice that auditors deem “unusual,” and has met with strong opposition from several upstate counties, including Rockland and Orange.

  Although the city’s DocGo contract has been running for over a year, the audit only looks at city payments for services rendered in the beginning months of May and June last year.

  The audit covers more than 30 temporary hotels-turned-shelters managed by DocGo both inside and outside the city, including two in the town of Newburgh in Orange County.

  It finds that as high as 80 percent of payments for that two-month period—at $11 million—either lack proof of services rendered or are unauthorized per the contract.

  Of the questionable payments, $2.5 million were for unauthorized security, medical, and social services, $1.7 million for vacant rooms, and $230,000 for inflated food bills, according to the audit.

  For example, a Newburgh hotel billed a total of $57,000 for hundreds of unoccupied rooms in early May, for which DocGo got an additional $40,000 in commissions.

  At the same hotel, billed hours of security services for May 12 exceeded the contract limit by eight times—it was claimed over 20 guards were on different shifts that day to aid the hotel’s own force—and were paid without the city’s written approval.

  The same Newburgh hotel also stood out as having the highest number of meals delivered during the two-month period. For example, it billed 1,288 meals for May 26, whereas only 388 meals and snacks would be needed that day based on the stated occupancy.

  

  Hundreds of illegal immigrants or asylum seekers lined up outside of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York City on June 6, 2023. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

  All payments were made by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), which has direct oversight of DocGo and its subcontractors.

  In response to auditors, HPD said it had given undocumented verbal permission to payments beyond the scope of the contract, that it paid for vacant hotel rooms in preparation for a likely sudden influx, and that excess food was sometimes purchased and stored for future use.

  The Epoch Times reached out to Mayor Eric Adams and DocGo for comment.

  Upstate Hotel Visits

  Auditors visited around two dozen hotels in the New York City metro area last December and found 530 rooms at eight upstate hotels housed illegal immigrants from the city.

  These hotels were in the counties of Albany, Westchester, Dutchess, and Orange, where two Newburgh hotels had 122 rooms used as city shelters.

  Orange County has had an effective court-ordered temporary ban against the city’s upstate hotel shelter practice since last May. Prior to the ban, the city had sent 186 illegal immigrants to the two Newburgh hotels, according to a court filing at the state supreme court.

  County attorney Richard Golden told The Epoch Times in an Aug. 9 statement that he has no knowledge of new arrivals from the city to any county hotels after the ban.

  The county also has an executive order in place barring New York City from establishing unlawful shelters inside the county, which withheld a legal challenge last month.

  The largest portion—nearly half—of surveyed illegal immigrants during the hotel visits are from Venezuela, followed by Ecuador, Colombia, and Mauritania.

  Most entered the country illegally via the southern border in Texas, with a relatively small number arriving via the states of California, Arizona, and New York, according to the audit.

  During their visits to these hotels, auditors found deficiencies—such as missing microwaves and refrigerators, mold, and water damage—in 80 percent of the inspected rooms.

  DocGo will manage upstate hotels for the city until December, although its shelter services inside NYC ended in May, according to the audit.

  New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is challenging Adams in the Democratic primary for the mayoral race in the fall of 2025.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 22:10

• Combatting "False Narratives": D.C. Circuit Refuses To Block Judge Limiting The Speech Of Jan. 6th Defendant
  Combatting “False Narratives”: D.C. Circuit Refuses To Block Judge Limiting The Speech Of Jan. 6th Defendant

  Authored by Jonathan Turley,

  We have previously discussed controversial sentences handed down in cases involving rioters on January 6th, including sentencing orders that, in my view, violate First Amendment rights. That included the case of Daniel Goodwyn, who pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of entering and remaining in a restricted building. That crime would ordinarily not involve any jail time for a first offender.

  However, Judge Reggie B. Walton  of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia decided that he would use the case to regulate what Goodwyn was reading and communicating with a chilling probation order. After the case was sent back by the D.C. Circuit, Walton doubled down on his extraordinary order. Now the D.C. Circuit has refused to hear an emergency appeal.

  

  Judge Walton has attracted controversy and criticism over his public comments about former President Donald Trump and the other issues. He caused a stir in Washington after doing an interview with CNN in which he rebuked former President Donald Trump for his criticism of judges and their family members. Walton previously called Trump a “charlatan,”  and said that “I don’t think he cares about democracy, only power.”

  Critics charged that Walton’s public statements ran afoul of Canon 3A(6) of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, which states:

  “A judge should not make public comment on the merits of a matter pending or impending in any court.”

  Walton then triggered criticism over his handling of the Goodwin case.

  The case involved Daniel Goodwyn, 35, of Corinth, Texas, who pleaded guilty on Jan. 31, 2023, to one misdemeanor count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority. That is a relatively minor offense, but Walton imposed a 60-day jail sentence in June 2023 with these ongoing conditions on his online reading and speech.

  Walton reportedly noted that Goodwyn spread “disinformation” during a broadcast of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on March 14, 2023 and ordered that Mr. Goodwyn’s computer be subject to “monitoring and inspection” by a probation agent to check if he spread Jan. 6 disinformation during the term of his supervised release.

  After accepting the plea to a single misdemeanor, Walton expressed scorn for Goodwyn appearing “gleeful” on Jan. 6 and his “egging on” other rioters.

  He asked his defense counsel “why I should feel that he doesn’t pose a risk to our democracy?”

  As a condition for supervised release, DOJ pushed the monitoring conditions and found a judge who seemed eager to impose it.

  The order reflects the utter impunity shown by the Justice Department in its pursuit of January 6th defendants.  Justice Department official Michael Sherwin  proudly declared in a television interview that “our office wanted to ensure that there was shock and awe … it worked because we saw through media posts that people were afraid to come back to D.C. because they’re, like, ‘If we go there, we’re gonna get charged.’ … We wanted to take out those individuals that essentially were thumbing their noses at the public for what they did.”

  Sherwin was celebrated for his pledge to use such draconian means to send a message to others in the country. (Sherwin has left the Justice Department and is now a partner at Kobre & Kim).

  Walton was rebuked by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for a surveillance order of Goodwin to detect any spreading of “disinformation” or “misinformation.”

  In my new book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I discussed concerns over the cases like Goodwyn’s and their implications for free speech. I participated in the coverage on January 6th and criticized President Trump’s speech while he was giving it. I disagreed with the legal claims made to oppose certification. However, the “shock and awe” campaign of the Justice Department, in my view, has trampled on free speech rights in cases that range from Goodwyn to the prosecutions of Trump himself.

  Many of us were relieved when appellate judges (Gregory Katsas, Neomi Rao, and Bradley Garcia) rebuked Walton and held that “[t]he district court plainly erred in imposing the computer-monitoring condition without considering whether it was ‘reasonably related’ to the relevant sentencing factors and involved ‘no greater deprivation of liberty than is reasonably necessary’ to achieve the purposes behind the sentencing.”

  They sent the case back but, to the surprise of few, Judge Walton proceeded to double down on the monitoring while implausibly declaring “I don’t want to chill anyone’s First Amendment rights.”

  For some reason, Walton believes that barring an individual from reviewing and engaging in political speech does not “chill” his First Amendment rights.

  Most of us were appalled by the riot and the underlying views of figures like Goodwyn, who is a self-proclaimed member of the Proud Boys. He was rightfully arrested and should be punished for his conduct. The question is not the legitimacy of punishment, but the scope of that punishment.

  Prosecutor Brian Brady detailed how the Justice Department has in place a new system using artificial intelligence to monitor the reading and statements of citizens like Goodwyn. The Justice Department brushed aside the free speech concerns since Goodwyn remains under court supervision, even though he pleaded guilty to only a single misdemeanor.

  Brady described a virtual AI driven thought program. The justification was that Goodwyn refused to abandon his extreme political views:

  “Throughout the pendency of Goodwyn’s case, he has made untruthful statements regarding his conduct and the events of the day, he has used websites and social media to place targets on police officers who defended the Capitol, and he has used these platforms to publish and view extremist media. Imposing the requested [monitoring] conditions would protect the public from further dissemination of misinformation… [and] provide specific deterrence from him committing similar crimes.”

  So now federal courts can use a single misdemeanor for unlawful entry in a federal building for less than 40 seconds to “protect the public from … dissemination of misinformation” on the government.

  That was all Walton needed to hear. Relying on a record supplied by the Justice Department, Walton said in the hearing that Goodwyn is still engaging “in the same type of rhetoric” that fomented the Jan. 6 violence. He added that he was concerned about Goodwyn spreading “false narratives” when we are “on the heels of another election.”

  Walton merely added the DOJ record to his renewed sentencing conditions.

  Defense counsel then returned to the D.C. Circuit to seek an emergency stay but Judges Florence Pan and Bradley Garcia denied the motion, holding that “Appellant has not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending appeal” to prevent further “false narratives.”

  That drew a pointed dissent from Judge Gregory Katsas who stated:

  Daniel Goodwyn pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(1). Goodwyn entered the Capitol and remained inside for a total of 36 seconds. He did not use force to enter, did not assault police officers, and neither took nor damaged any government property. When police instructed Goodwyn to leave the building, he did so.

  …

  On appeal, this Court vacated the condition … We further instructed the district court, if it wished to impose a new computer- monitoring condition on remand, to “explain its reasoning,” to “develop the record in support of its decision,” and to ensure that the condition complies with section 3583(d) and with the Constitution.

  The district court reimposed the same condition on remand. In an oral hearing, the court said that Goodwyn had made statements on social media that “can be, it seems to me, construed as” urging a repeat of January 6, particularly “on the heels of another election.”  In its written order, the court elaborated on what it called Goodwyn’s “concerning online activity.”  This included posting exhortations to “#StopTheSteal!” and “#FightForTrump,” soliciting donations to fund his travel to Washington, posing for a livestream while inside the Capitol, confirming his presence there by text, and tweeting opinions such as: “They WANT a revolution. They’re proving our point. They don’t represent us. They hate us.” Id. at 3–4. In addressing what the court described as Goodwyn pushing “false narratives” about January 6 after-the-fact, the court, quoting from the government’s brief, led with the fact Goodwyn “sat for an interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News Channel.” Id. at 4. Finally, in concluding that computer monitoring was reasonably related to Goodwyn’s offense, the court reasoned that monitoring would prevent Goodwyn from raising funds to support potential future crimes and would separate him “from extremist media, rehabilitating him.”

  Judge Katsas stated that Goodwyn was likely to prevail on the merits and that his colleagues allowed the denial of First Amendment rights to continue in the interim.

  The Walton order reflects the erosion of support for the First Amendment, even on our courts. It is reminiscent of our previous discussion of how courts have criminalized “toxic ideologies” as part of the crackdown on free speech in the United Kingdom.

  Here is the D.C. Circuit order: United States v. Goodwyn

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 21:00

• Russian Military Ship Spotted 30 Miles Off Alaska By Coast Guard
  Russian Military Ship Spotted 30 Miles Off Alaska By Coast Guard

  A U.S. Coast Guard cutter on routine patrol around Alaska’s Aleutian Islands came across a Russian military ship in international waters but within the U.S. exclusive economic zone, the AP reported citing US military officials.

  

  The crew on the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley on Monday detected the vessel about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of the Amukta Pass, the Coast Guard said in a Friday statement. A helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak also spotted the vessel.

  

  The vessel was “transiting in international waters but still inside the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone,” which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the U.S. shoreline, according to the statement.

  The Coast Guard vessel did not communicate with the Russian ship but followed it as it moved east, the statement said.

  “We met presence with presence to ensure there were no disruptions to U.S. interests in the maritime environment around Alaska” Cmdr. Steven Baldovsky, commanding officer of the Alex Haley, said in the statement.

  In July, the Coast Guard while on patrol spotted four Chinese military ships north of the Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands in international waters but also within the U.S. exclusive economic zone, officials said.

  Russian and Chinese bombers later that month flew together for the first time in international airspace off the coast of Alaska, in a new show of expanding military cooperation that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the time raises concerns.

  The flights weren’t seen as a threat, and the bombers were tracked and intercepted by U.S. and Canadian fighter jets. But it was the first time that Chinese bomber aircraft flew within the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone. And it was the first time Chinese and Russian aircraft took off from the same base in northeast Russia.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 20:25

• Former RBC CFO Sues For $36 Million After Being Terminated For Alleged Affair With Co-Worker
  Former RBC CFO Sues For $36 Million After Being Terminated For Alleged Affair With Co-Worker

  RBC’s former CFO is suing the bank that terminated her, alleging they made a a “devastating” error in firing her.

  Nadine Ahn was terminated for a relationship with a co-worker, according to BNN Bloomberg, and is now suing in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice denying that she ever had a romantic relationship. 

  She claims in her suit she suffered “palpable reputational harm” and “public humiliation” and is suing for $36 million in pay and damages, the report says. 

  RBC had previously said she was involved in an “undisclosed close personal relationship with another employee which led to preferential treatment of the employee including promotion and compensation increases.” 

  Ahn’s lawsuit details how CEO Dave McKay texted her on April 4, requesting a meeting the next morning.

  When she arrived, McKay was absent, and instead, she faced unexpected questions from a lawyer about her relationship with Ken Mason from the bank’s treasury group. Her laptop and cell phones were also seized, according to the court filing.

  

  “RBC’s investigator accused Ms. Ahn of providing Mr. Mason with preferential treatment and insinuated that they were having an affair. Ms. Ahn pleads that RBC’s allegations are patently false.” her statement says. 

  BNN reported that Ahn and Mason had been friends since 2013, well before she became CFO, and she argues RBC’s code didn’t require disclosing their friendship, which wasn’t hidden. Mason, who was also fired, has sued the bank, claiming he was “ambushed” by a biased and unfair workplace investigation.

  “RBC opted to make an example of Ken and Ahn by wrongly publicly shaming them in order to project moral righteousness, appearing to swiftly investigate and punish perceived corruption,” Ahn’s filing says. 

  “The clear insinuation of the RBC Statement was that Ken and Ahn had had an extramarital affair and that Ken received career advancement and financial benefits as a result. This insinuation was false and defamatory.”

  A spokesperson for RBC said: “These claims are without merit, and we will vigorously defend against them in court. We conducted a thorough review with an investigation by outside legal counsel and the facts are very clear that there was a significant breach of our Code of Conduct based on the irrefutable evidence collected during the investigation.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 19:15

• The Ardent Pipe-Dreams Of American Voters
  The Ardent Pipe-Dreams Of American Voters

  Authored by Edward Curtin via Off-Guardioan.org,

  To hell with the truth! As the history of the world proves, the truth has no bearing on anything. It’s irrelevant and immaterial, as the lawyers say. The lie of a pipe dream is what gives life to the whole misbegotten mad lot of us, drunk or sober.”

  – Eugene O’Neill, The Iceman Cometh

  Voters in the USA live in fantasy and probably always will.  No matter how obvious it is that the U.S. is an oligarchy, not a democracy, the ardent pipe dreams of a new face in the White House go to their heads every four years.

  

  It can only be explained by a combination of intellectual ignorance, the acceptance of propaganda, and the embrace of illusions.

  An analogy is apropos. In the small town and vicinity where I live, there are about 10 pot shops where pipe dreams are dispensed. As The Platters sang long ago, “when your heart’s on fire, you must realize smoke gets in your eyes.”  But few realize it.

  Smoke?  What smoke?

  Quadrennially, this love affair with the presidential candidates burns hot and heavy despite their records, as if they were heart throbs of stage and screen, straight from Broadway or Hollywood deeply concerned for the public’s welfare.

  Americans love actors, and the presidential candidates are of course actors, following the directions of the fat cats who produce their shows.  As the grand opening of election day approaches, the supine public is aroused to a fanatical frenzy of excitement from its years’-long sleep by a mass media that spews out drivel to deceive.  It could be said that what the media propagandists digest, the public eats.

  Smoke and mirrors never fail as the electorate’s favorite billionaire-backed candidates – at this point in 2024 Trump and Kamala Harris (but don’t count on it) – spew lie after lie and the mass media faithfully promote the show as if it were an actual contest between good and evil, a grand movie.  The acting is terrible, but the audience is so inflamed they can’t tell.

  “There are unconscious actors among them and involuntary actors; the genuine are always rare, especially genuine actors,” Friedrich Nietzsche told us long ago, alluding to far more than this crude political masquerade – to life itself – urging us to take a deep look at the games we play and love in our politicians because they confirm our illusions.

  In the 2020 election between Joseph Biden and Donald Trump, more than 158 million ballots were cast, a record number that was two-thirds of estimated eligible voters.  That was about seven percentage points higher than in 2016 when Trump and Hillary Clinton faced off.  Each election was supposed to be the most important in “your lifetime.”

  And as everyone knows, the country has gotten more prosperous, healthier and happier, and the world more peaceful, in those eight years of Republican and Democratic rule.

  One can expect more of the same smoke this year as the excitement, titillation, and political lies build to a November 4th crescendo.  Illusions die hard, or to be more accurate – they do not die.

  The Spectacle rolls on.

  Although it might sound uppity, unless people read books that explain how the political and economic system is constructed and how it operates, they have no hope of understanding why the presidential elections are musical chairs played to the tune of Yankee Doodle Dandy.  Podcasts and talks can be instructive when true, but they don’t stick like words on a page in a book that you have noted and can refer back to.

  But the vast majority of people will not read such books because many can’t read or are too lazy or distracted to take the time to switch off digital media and the mainstream corporate press.  It is only through slow meditative reading and study of the great analytic books about social structure, propaganda, history, capitalism, and political economy that a person can truly grasp the nature of the power elite’s domination of the US government, the mass media, and the White House.

  A soupçon of differences between contestants for the presidency – superficial makeup – is enough to have those caught in the spectacle get worked up into a hot lather of excitement for candidates chosen by the billionaires.  It is an aspect of the mania for celebrity culture.

  One cannot simply imbibe the daily mass media, listen to talking heads, or read books recommended and promoted by The New York Times or some prize committee such as the Booker or Pulitzer prizes. (see the NYT’s Best Sellers here – as if #5 could be as “best” as #1).

  It is no secret that the reading public has been shrinking for years as literacy has waned dramatically.  This is not an accident as the internet, cell phones, and the online life have been pushed by the authorities at every level, including throughout the school system.  (I am not arguing that the voters saw through the electoral charade in the past because the level of cultural literacy was higher.)

  Today, a walk into any local library throughout the country will confirm the sad state of what even those who read books are reading.  The new fiction shelves are filled with books with candy-colored sensationalized covers that evoke bodice-ripping books of old now updated to sound more serious by telling stories of orphans on European trains during WW II, mysterious murders, separated twins, equally evil Nazis and Russians on the prowl, childhood trauma, unfaithful men, etc.  All seemingly NY Times bestsellers, together with the “non-fiction” books within which you would search a long time on the shelves to find a radical critique of the American political system and its propaganda arms.

  This issue of voting and literacy is connected to another key matter.  The American public as a whole does not much care to follow foreign policy and military issues.  That is an understatement.  Once the military draft was ended in January 1973, the public lost interest in who was being killed in America’s wars.  Let foreigners be damned was the unspoken assumption.  It was a stroke of genius by the military-industrial-political complex, for politics has always been about what’s in it for us, and when the military is voluntary and Americans are dying in smaller numbers, people are indifferent to the killing.

  When it comes to politics, the public’s focus is primarily on domestic issues, the economy, health care, taxes, etc., despite the fact that the entire economy is dependent on war and preparations for war and the U.S. has been at war continually for decades.  The U.S spends nearly $900 billion dollars annually on “defense” spending; this is more than China, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia, the U.K., Germany, France, South Korea, and Japan combined.

  As everyone knows:

  The U.S. is defending itself in Syria where its troops illegally occupy the oilfields in the northeast.

  It is defending itself helping Israel slaughter Palestinians and supporting an expanded Middle Eastern war.

  It is defending itself by attacking Russia via Ukraine and leading the world to nuclear war.

  It is defending itself by provoking China in the South China Sea.

  It is defending itself all over the world with special forces and military bases everywhere because everyone is out to get us.

  It is defending itself always far, far away from its own shores.

  Everyone knows that’s how it goes.

  But facetiousness aside, the voting public either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that the U.S.A. is a warfare state; it’s as simple as that.  Without waging wars, the U.S. economy, as presently constituted, would collapse.  It is an economy based on fantasy and fake money with a national debt over 35 trillion dollars that will never be repaid.  That’s another illusion.  But I am speaking of pipe dreams, am I not?    And whether they choose to be aware of it or not, the vast majority of Americans support this killing machine by their indifference and ignorance of its ramifications throughout the society and more importantly, its effects in death and destruction on the rest of the world.  But that’s how it goes as their focus is on the masked faces that face each other on the stage of the masquerade ball every four years.

  This charade is comical but accepted by so many, and as the Halloween season in a presidential election year in the USA approaches, it becomes most clear.  It’s always a trick until four years elapses and the next poisoned candy treat is offered.

  Get to the polls.  Your life depends on it!

  But there is a big price to be paid – a lesson always too late for the learning – for going to the masquerade ball.  Yet when smoke gets in your eyes…ah, such an exciting time it is!

  “Do you not know there comes a midnight hour when everyone has to throw off his mask?” warned Søren Kierkegaard.

  “Do you believe that life will always let itself be mocked?

  Do you think you can slip away a little before midnight in order to avoid this?

  Or are you not terrified by it?”

   

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 18:40

• Appeals Court Rules Against ATF's Pistol Brace Ban
  Appeals Court Rules Against ATF’s Pistol Brace Ban

  Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

  A federal appeals court in North Dakota has found that a rule issued by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that restricts ownership of pistol attachments known as stabilizing braces is “arbitrary and capricious,” ordering a lower court to re-consider a motion that would block enforcement of the brace ban.

  

  In a 2–1 decision issued on Aug. 9 by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, the majority found that a coalition of 25 Republican attorneys are likely to succeed in their legal challenge against the ATF rule that treats pistols fitted with stabilizing braces as short-barreled rifles and subjects them to various restrictions.

  “The Final Rule, as a whole, is arbitrary and capricious because it allows the ATF to arrive at whatever conclusion it wishes without ‘adequately explain[ing] the standard on which its decision is based,’” the majority opinion states. “Thus, we conclude the Coalition is likely to succeed on the merits of its challenge.”

  The states and other plaintiffs sued the ATF in February 2023, with U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland in North Dakota declining to grant their motion for a preliminary injunction and block the rule. Arguing that they were unlikely to succeed on the merits, Hovland found that ATF had adequately explained its rulemaking process.

  The majority on the 8th Circuit disagreed, and in their Aug. 9 decision ordered Hovland to reconsider the plaintiffs’ motion for a injunction that would block the ATF rule’s enforcement.

  “We reverse the order denying a preliminary injunction and remand with instructions to reconsider the motion consistent with this opinion,” the judges wrote in the majority opinion.

  Circuit Judge Bobby Shepherd dissented, saying that the panel should have affirmed Hovland’s order because there was no need for a preliminary injunction after the rule was vacated in June by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Texas.

  O’Connor argued in his 12-page decision that the ATF’s rule that treated roughly 99 percent of pistols fitted with the braces as short-barreled rifles violated the Administrative Procedures Act’s procedural requirements because it was not a “logical outgrowth” of the proposed version of the rule.

  “The Court finds that the adaptation of the Final Rule was arbitrary and capricious for two reasons,” O’Connor wrote. “First, the Defendants did not provide a detailed justification for their reversal of the agency’s longstanding position. And second, the Final Rule’s standards are impermissibly vague.”

  The judge granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and ordered the rule vacated.

  The ATF told The Epoch Times that it had no comment on the 8th Circuit ruling.

  Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who were among the 25 attorneys general who challenged the ATF rule, praised the 8th Circuit ruling.

  “This victory upholds Americans’ constitutional rights and stops the Biden-Harris ATF’s illegal attempt to make millions of law-abiding citizens felons overnight,” Bird said in a statement.

  Bailey issued a statement saying: “The Constitution was meant to be a floor, not a ceiling, for our God-given rights. We will continue to do everything in our power to safeguard Missourians’ right to keep and bear arms against encroachment by unelected federal bureaucrats.”

  Stabilizing Braces

  The pistol stabilizing brace, introduced over a decade ago, was designed to aid disabled individuals and others who require assistance when shooting large-format pistols, such as those built on AR-15 platforms. This accessory attaches to the rear of the pistol and the shooter’s forearm, providing a steadier aim for one-handed shooting.

  Restrictions on stabilizing braces have been the subject of intense debate after the ATF proposed them in 2020. Initially, the ATF said in open letters that it did not consider the braces as converting pistols into short-barreled rifles but in the final rule, the agency cited changes in the braces’ design in saying they convert pistols into restricted short-barreled rifles.

  In January 2023, the DOJ announced that it had submitted the final rule to the Federal Register, formalizing the regulation that President Joe Biden advocated for in April 2020 after it was found that a man killed 10 people at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, using a gun with a stabilizing brace.

  The rule went into effect immediately upon publication. Any firearms with stabilizing braces or similar attachments that qualified them under the new rule as short-barreled rifles had to be registered no later than within 120 days, or modified by removing the brace and restored into a regular pistol, or turned into a local ATF office, or destroyed.

  Short-barreled rifles are subject to more strict regulations under the National Firearms Act (NFA), with those found in possession of unregistered NFA firearms can face fines of up to $10,000, 10 years in prison, and a felony conviction that disqualifies them from future firearm ownership.

  The rule faced pushback from Republicans and gun-rights groups like the National Rifle Association, which pointed out they were originally designed for disabled veterans.

  The rule faced several legal challenges. In one of the lawsuits, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals determined in August 2023 that the rule was finalized without giving the public a meaningful chance to comment on it, in violation of the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which sent the case to O’Connor in Texas, who in June this year vacated the rule, setting up a possible U.S. Supreme Court appeal.

  The number of Americans impacted by the ATF’s brace rule is difficult to determine. The ATF estimates that 3 million pistol braces have been sold. Second Amendment advocates say the number is closer to 40 million.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 17:30

• A Question Of Timing
  A Question Of Timing

  Authored by Jeff Thomas via InternationalMan.com,

  France, 1788.    Russia, 1916.    Germany, 1937.

  These dates have something in common.

  In France in 1788, political conditions had been getting questionable, but there was no apparent need to panic. That came the following year, with the sudden outbreak of the French Revolution. From that point on, it was dangerous even to go out in the streets of Paris. So many people had become enraged, that even if you were not a member of the aristocracy, you could easily become collateral damage.

  And so, it would have been wise if, in 1788, you had decided to pack your bags and remove yourself from the epicentre of what was developing.

  Similarly, in 1916, Russia was at war with the Germans, and the populace was becoming increasingly vocal about the state of the economy. Yet, even the czar believed that the people simply had to accept the situation and muddle through.

  A year later, soldiers were deserting, a host of political wannabes were vying for power and anyone who simply wanted to be left alone to run his own life was now afraid to go out on the streets.

  And of course, in Germany, prior to Kristallnacht in November of 1938, all the warnings were there that the country was beginning to unravel, but virtually everyone assumed that, somehow, things would be all right.

  A year later, Germany was at war with five nations and had invaded three others. People were being rounded up, imprisoned and/or shot. Those who sought to get out of Germany found that they were no longer allowed to do so.

  And history is full of similar cases. In hindsight, the warning signs have always been there: an increasingly autocratic government, increasingly volatile and irrational political struggles, mounting debt, increased taxation, a declining economy and the removal of basic freedoms “for the greater good.”

  In 1929, if you lived in the US, you might have just paid $2,735 for a new Packard Custom 8 Roadster – a means of showing off your recent gains in the stock market. A year later, you might well have offered it for sale for only $100, as, for all your previous price offers, there were no takers. And you, like they, had been wiped out in the crash, and $100 meant the difference between eating and not eating.

  In 1958, you might have been enjoying a daiquiri at El Floridita in Havana and joking to friends about ‘las barbudas’ – the tiny rebel force hiding in the Sierra Madre. A year later, the joking had ended and private businesses like El Floridita had been nationalized by the new government.

  For millennia, the playbook has been the same. Countries that had been wonderful to live in, began to deteriorate from within, and the great majority of residents had failed to read the tea leaves – the warning signs that, in the future, conditions were not going to get better; they were going to get worse.

  But why should this be so?

  Well, in 1787, in the midst of the Scottish Enlightenment that gave rise to Adam Smith, economist and historian Alexander Tytler is credited as having said:

  A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.

  He further noted that the latter stages of any such decline are marked, first, by complacency, then by apathy. The final stage is invariably one of bondage.

  In some cases of collapse, the country is taken over by an outside force, but invariably, as stated above, the rot always starts from within. It’s simply human nature for the majority of any population, when passing through challenging times, to fall prey to promises that, somehow, a change in the form of government can and will result in the elimination of problematic conditions.

  But how do those who make such claims sell their ideas? Do they suggest that everyone should work harder and practice a greater level of abnegation?

  Well, no. Although such people may exist and may even become outspoken, they are, historically, never the individuals whom the majority of the population follow. Invariably, the majority (having become complacent and pathetic), choose those who promise to take from one group and share the spoils amongst those who are less productive.

  As illogical as this promise is, most people, even if they doubt the reality of the claim, tend to think, “Well, it couldn’t be any worse. I might get something, so let’s give it a try.”

  A very simple case in point is the Bahamas election of 1967, in which Bahamians elected their first ‘man of the people’ as their premier. Under his rhetoric of ‘Bahamas for Bahamians,’ he promised the large underclass of Bahamians that he would take the top jobs away from the British bankers and other business leaders and that the spoils would go to the average Bahamian.

  Of particular interest were the luxury vehicles driven by successful businessmen. Bahamians in their thousands imagined that the senior staff in banks would be fired, that they themselves would be given the jobs… and the fancy Jaguar Saloons.

  And that did happen to some extent. Those who were loyal to Prime Minister Lynden Pindling did move up to management positions overnight – positions for which they were not qualified. Not surprisingly, they were unable to learn decades of knowledge overnight. They subsequently either lost their new jobs, or the banks lost business on a massive scale.

  And the Jaguars? Well, it turned out that there were thousands of Bahamians for every Jaguar that existed, and for 99.9%, there would be no previously imagined spoils.

  Instead, their lives soon headed south in the coming months and years, as wealth flowed away from the Bahamas, most of it never to return.

  In other countries the details have often been quite a bit more complex, but the scenario and the outcome have been the same.

  Once the warning signs begin to appear, it’s important to remember that, historically, the process never reverses itself. An apathetic population is not one that will suddenly decide to roll up its sleeves and get the country, once again, on a productive footing.

  Invariably, the population jumps on the toboggan of empty promises and rides it downhill until it reaches the economic bottom.

  And so, circumventing such a situation becomes a question of timing. When it becomes clear that the telltale signs are reappearing once again, those who are wise will acknowledge that the sands are running out and it’s time to move on.

  The signs tend to be the same in any locale, in any era. They’re quite easy to see. The difficult part is choosing to make an exit whilst it’s still easy to do so.

  *  *  *

  Unfortunately, there’s little any individual can practically do to change the trajectory of broke governments in need of more cash. There are still steps you can take to ensure you survive the turmoil with your money intact. That’s precisely why bestselling author Doug Casey and his colleagues just released an urgent new PDF report that explains what could come next and what you can do about it. Click here to download it now.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 16:55

• Zelensky Blames Russia, Goads Western Allies, After Fire Breaks Out At Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant
  Zelensky Blames Russia, Goads Western Allies, After Fire Breaks Out At Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant

  Just hours before futures in the US open, troubling news has surfaced on X that Ukraine’s Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant’s cooling tower has caught fire. 

  At first, several X users that identified as “OSINT”—or open-source intelligence—pointed out the fire developing at the largest nuclear power plant in Europe (able to generate 6,000 megawatts for four million homes). 

  A blaze has broken out at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine this evening, sending up a large column of black smoke.

  Ukrainian sources report that the Russians set tires on fire in the vicinity of one of the cooling towers. pic.twitter.com/yNzA9a9lRR

  — OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) August 11, 2024

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

  About 15 minutes later, around 1500 ET, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on X that “Russian occupiers have started a fire on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.”

  Zelensky continued:

  Currently, radiation levels are within norm. However, as long as the Russian terrorists maintain control over the nuclear plant, the situation is not and cannot be normal.

  Since the first day of its seizure, Russia has been using the Zaporizhzhia NPP only to blackmail Ukraine, all of Europe, and the world.

  We are waiting for the world to react, waiting for the IAEA to react. Russia must be held accountable for this. Only Ukrainian control over the Zaporizhzhia NPP can guarantee a return to normalcy and complete safety.

  Enerhodar. We have recorded from Nikopol that the Russian occupiers have started a fire on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

  Currently, radiation levels are within norm. However, as long as the Russian terrorists maintain control over the nuclear plant, the… pic.twitter.com/TQUi3BJg4J

  — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 11, 2024

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

  Zaporizhzhia NPP has come under shelling and drone attacks in the past. The United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has issued numerous warnings about the plant dangerously close to suffering an accident or attack. 

  According to Russian state-controlled Russia Today, the fire at Zaporizhzhia NPP’s cooling systems facility was the direct “result of Ukrainian shelling of Energodar city – local authorities.” At this moment, it really depends on the source for who is responsible for the fire. Welcome to the ‘fog of war’. 

  ⚡️Fire breaks out at Zaporizhzhya NPP cooling systems facility as result of Ukrainian shelling of Energodar city – local authorities pic.twitter.com/v17IDeIbxy

  — RT (@RT_com) August 11, 2024

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

  AFP News cited Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed governor of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, who said the fire at the cooling system was a result of shelling of the town of Energodar by the Ukrainian armed forces.

  Russian occupation troops set something on fire(reportedly tires) near the unit of Zaporizhzhia power plant https://t.co/Ghcru7qV61 pic.twitter.com/sjSZcEffjA

  — Liveuamap (@Liveuamap) August 11, 2024

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

  Data from the Joint Research Centre of Radioactivity Environment Monitoring (view here) shows radiation levels are still normal despite the ongoing incident. 

  

  In April, Goldman’s Borislav Vladimirov told clients, “Sabotage or failure at the NPP Zaporizhzhia. Situated on the front line of the war in Ukraine, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest of its type in Europe, poses ongoing risks not only due to the threat of Russian sabotage, but also to the gradual deterioration of the facility due to poor maintenance and extreme (war-zone) operating conditions.”

  The fire at the Zaporizhzhia NPP coincides with the recent deployment of Ukrainian fourth-generation F-16 fighter jets in the air along the frontline in the southern Kherson region, according to Newsweek. Additionally, Ukrainian forces have seized the “Sudzha” gas metering station, one of the last remaining Russian pipelines still delivering NatGas to Europe through Ukraine. Meanwhile, Ukraine has been intensifying suicide drone missions targeting Russian energy infrastructure. 

  In markets, well, crypto at the moment, since futures are closed, the first response by algos has been to dump Bitcoin and Ethereum.

  

  *This story is developing…  Please check back for updates. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 16:20

• Secret Service Apologizes For Picking Lock, Breaking Into Local Salon After Covering-Up Security Cam
  Secret Service Apologizes For Picking Lock, Breaking Into Local Salon After Covering-Up Security Cam

  The Secret Service has apologized to a Massachusetts salon owner after her security camera showed individuals breaking into her business to use the bathroom while on assignment for a nearby VP Kamala Harris fundraiser.

  

  Berkshires salon owner Alicia Powers says someone picked her lock and broke into her store to use the bathroom after a Secret Service officer covered a camera with tape.

  Those using the bathroom included a pair in emergency medical uniforms, while a person in a camouflage law enforcement uniform and another in a dark suit with a white shirt could be seen guarding the door.

  The U.S. Secret Service is apologizing to a Massachusetts salon owner after an agent covered her security camera with duct tape and broke into her salon by picking the lock so that its bathroom could be used by various people for a two-hour period.

  After the two-hour period,… pic.twitter.com/s4qSFtebn0

  — Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) August 11, 2024

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsAccording to the NY Post:

  A Secret Service rep was adamant that agents would not break into buildings like that — but did not deny that an officer covered her camera with tape, an act that was captured by surveillance footage, and appeared to cop some sort of mea culpa in a statement.

  “The Secret Service has since communicated with the affected business owner. We hold these relationships in the highest regard and our personnel would not enter, or instruct our partners to enter, a business without the owner’s permission,” said spox Melissa McKenzie.

  According to Business Insider, the head of the Secret Service’s Boston-based field office called the salon owner to apologize.

  “He said to me everything that was done was done very wrong,” said Powers. “They were not supposed to tape my camera without permission. They were not supposed to enter the building without permission.”

  According to Powers, the incident took place on July 27, prior to Harris’ first major in-person fundraiser since President Biden announced he was dropping out of the race. The salon is held behind the Colonial Theatre, where Harris’ event was held. She added that her salon was closed before the fundraiser due to the chaotic security presence.

  “They had a bunch of people in and out of here doing a couple of bomb sweeps again — totally understand what they have to do, due to the nature of the situation,” she told Insider. “And at that point, my team felt like it was a little bit chaotic, and we just made the decision to close for Saturday.”

  After the tape was placed on the camera, her interior cameras detected four other people over a 90 minute span.

  “There were several people in and out for about an hour and a half — just using my bathroom, the alarms going off, using my counter, with no permission,” she told the outlet. “And then when they were done using the bathroom for two hours, they left and left my building completely unlocked and did not take the tape off the camera.

  “Whoever was visiting, whether it was a celebrity or not, I probably would’ve opened the door and made them coffee and brought in donuts to make it a great afternoon for them,” she said. “But they didn’t even have the audacity to ask for permission. They just helped themselves.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 15:45

• Bitcoin Is Change Management
  Bitcoin Is Change Management

  Authored by Kane KcGukin via The Mesh Point,

  For the past few years, after every Bitcoin Conference, I take time to reflect on my learnings and observations. What did I see, and what does it mean for Bitcoin’s future and the broader financial system?

  Unfortunately, this year, Bitcoin’s main event was hijacked by politicians.

  Their presence was so pervasive it degraded the ability to float freely, meet people, and learn from the vast set of stages talking about all things Bitcoin. On the one hand, it’s not exactly a surprise that political interests are laser focused on Bitcoin. On the other hand, it’s difficult to witness Bitcoin being used as a pandering tool.

  As with any setback, we must ask ourselves. What is the opportunity? Where is the signal amongst the noise?

  Bitcoin Is Much More Than “Number Go Up”

  In all honesty, the “number go up” narrative is one of the most fiat-brained ideas in Bitcoin. That doesn’t mean the show can’t go on. The conference this year proved Bitcoin will outlast longer any naysaying from TradFi skeptics.

  Bill Mill IV summed them up nicely: “Most people work for somebody else… even if you believe in Bitcoin and you buy on behalf of somebody else, or one of your bosses doesn’t like it. You’re done. You’re head’s chopped off. Whereas, if it goes right, and somebody that you work for didn’t like it; you get a begrudging pat on the back. So, everything comes down to incentives.”

  So, why is there such confidence in Bitcoin? Because of three things:

  1. The Nakamoto Stage opening presentation.

  2. The focus on Bitcoin as a solution to our energy infrastructure problem.

  3. Edward Snowden, 4th Turnings, and the power of paradigm shifts

  Mastering Strategic Thinking

  To kick off the conference, on the Nakamoto main stage, was Sophie von Laer’s talk: Mastering Strategic Thinking & Leading Bitcoin Companies Effectively.

  

  What stood out most was it felt like a subtle psychological prep for what is to come and what types of individuals will be recruited to lead the charge. The talk felt like a high-level intelligence briefing, with its nuanced linguistic framing and psychological messaging. While I can’t say for certain if this was intentional, the theme became increasingly apparent over the next few hours and days.

  There was a heavy government influence throughout Bitcoin 2024. Whether it be Trump, one of the numerous politicians, or Edward Snowden it was made clear that Bitcoin’s network would be a pivotal tool for decades to come.

  Sophie’s descriptions of a Strategic Maverick, the strategic mindset, new paradigms, and the necessity of disconnection to achieve connection, felt very foretelling of what will be required for the chaos we’re living through (see 4th Turning).

  

  Her thoughts on how we program and condition leaders seemed to outline an expectation for Bitcoiners who will inevitably partner with political forces as they bare down.

  The framing around “thinking about not just your own needs but the needs of those around you” sounded much more moral, principled, and unifying than the divisiveness of our current DEI handbook.

  • Strategic Plan = continuous improvement and evolution

  • Strategic Alliance = it takes a village, a tribe

    • “Knowing the intersection of the things going on around you.”

  • Adaptive Resilience = manage change effectively

    • “Culture that fosters the change that is going on.”

  • Positive Psychology = focus on the things you do well in life.

    • A culture that thinks together becomes more coherent. We’ve got a lot of work to do based on where we stand today.

  Strategic Maverick’s understand Adaptive Resilience: “The period of rest after change allows you to become the thing you want. Someone truly becomes adaptive in this time.” A framing, or warning? It seemed fitting for Bitcoin and Bitcoiners alike, amid this paradigm shift.

  Bitcoin: an Energy Infrastructure Solution

  Beyond politics, Bitcoin’s role in revamping the US energy infrastructure was a major focus of the conference. The recurring theme was that we are still early in this new paradigm.

  Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty made a great point in his talk when he highlighted that post-WWII was about expanding people, goods, and energy use in the US. To continue to support all that growth, we need more energy efficiency. And, caught in the middle of all the economic growth and the increasing energy demand is our money.

  Bitcoin miners provide solutions to both monetary and energy challenges. They help balance energy use and, more importantly, generate revenue for utility companies by purchasing excess energy that would otherwise be wasted. As Harry Sudock succinctly put it, “Revenue cures everything.”

  What better way to solve an energy issue than with machines that can switch on and off, easily balancing our stressed grid?

  These machines provide revenue during periods that would otherwise be unprofitable. Additionally, they offer the flexibility to shut down during peak energy consumption, preventing the drain on scarce power.

  Our modern economy relies heavily on advanced technologies. As we move forward, we’ll require significant updates and optimizations to our energy infrastructure, networks, and server farms. Each of these technologies has an exponential energy component. Bitcoin is the only solution that computes both money and energy in exponential form.

  Edward Snowden: “Cast a Vote, Don’t Join a Cult”

  Snowden’s greatest point was dousing cold water on the political parade. He attempted to bring us back down to earth a bit by offering several reminders that neither political party is as much your friend, as they are just out to get Bitcoiners to love them. Citing past behaviors, he urged us to remain caustious with this quote:

  “for in every country of the world, I believe, the avarice and injustice of princes and sovereign states, abusing the confidence of their subjects, have by degrees diminished the real quantity of metal, which had been originally contained in their coins.” -Adam Smith

  Edward reminded us that technologies have historically been designed to benefit “them”, organizations and politicians. This perspective makes it easier to envision a future where privacy diminishes as quickly as we can now connect, considering the six degrees of separation.

  He touched briefly on the moral dilemma we face. Reminding us that our internal system feels broken, because of our broken money. With political interference, we may have started a new version of the same game, but with new rules. In this game, we should all be prepared to make difficult decisions.

  Among many enlightening quotes Snowden made, I thought these two are worth remembering:

  “We are competing constantly and cooperating rarely. We need to change that.”

  “The internet is broken because the institution is competing against the individual, and the individual against another individual.”

  Peter Theil made reference to the idea behind the first quote in his book Zero to One, and the second quote offered powerful insights to the situation we’re watching unfold.

  Tying it All Together

  The message was clear throughout Bitcoin 2024 we are headed for a paradigm shift on the other side of this 4th turning, and the Bitcoin tribe is believed to have the leaders that will shape the culture of our future.

  Bitcoin is now mainstream. It’s still early in the adoption phase, but the Bitcoin network will be a crucial tool for our future.

  How that future is shaped, and Bitcoin’s role in our financial system, will depend on which side of the aisle gains control and how they choose to use it. Will it be an asset and means to rebuild our aging energy infrastructure or is it just another monitoring device? Only time will tell.

  *  *  *

  Get on the Bombthrower mailing list here and receive a free copy of The Crypto Capitalist Manifesto and The CBDC Survival Guide when it drops.   Subscribe to Kane McGukin’s Substack here.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 15:10

• ATF Dispatched After McMansion Explodes Near Baltimore
  ATF Dispatched After McMansion Explodes Near Baltimore

  A McMansion in Harford County, Maryland, exploded on Sunday morning, resulting in one fatality at the 2300 block of Arthur Woods Drive in Bel Air.

  

  Harford County Fire and EMS Association spokesman Jeffrey Sexton told WBAL TV that emergency dispatchers received a call early this morning reporting a natural gas leak at the house. Shortly after, their hotlines were flooded with reports of an explosion. 

  Neighborhood doorbell camera captured the sound of a house exploding in the 2300 block of Arthur Woods Drive in Bel Air on Sunday morning.

  You can find all the details on our website https://t.co/0ufS0dHAon pic.twitter.com/0nOyJs0xBp

  — WMAR-2 News (@WMAR2News) August 11, 2024

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  Local utility company Baltimore Gas and Electric was aware of the NatGas leak, and contractors were on-site at the time of the explosion that obliterated the house and damaged surrounding structures in the neighborhood.

  One of our viewers, Sam Casale, sent us this drone video captured minutes after a home on Arthur Woods Drive in Bel Air reportedly exploded killing at least one person. You can see the home is reduced to rubble. Firefighters are still searching the debris. @wbaltv11 pic.twitter.com/5LkFFfBrfj

  — Breana Ross (@breanarossWBAL) August 11, 2024

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  “This is one of the largest explosions I’ve seen, especially in Harford County,” Master Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire told WBAL.

  Update on apparent house explosion. Volunteer Firefighters continue to search for victims. No current public threat. @HarfordCoDES Special Operations is responding with special equipment to search the rubble.

  Media staging is Abingdon Library 2510 South Tollgate Road, Abingdon. https://t.co/B7srld2j6N pic.twitter.com/H6g08Iwjwb

  — Harford Co., MD Fire & EMS (@HarforCoFireEMS) August 11, 2024

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  House explosion in Bel Air pic.twitter.com/O1MyjY8hMY

  — Megan Weeks (@sparkyweeks25) August 11, 2024

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  Emergency officials said one of the workers and a neighbor were injured. The deceased victim’s identity has not been released. 

  The home was for sale at the time. Investigators are still trying to determine whether the homeowner was inside during the incident. 

  Alkire added that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is en route to the scene. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 14:35

• Imagine There's No Carry, It's Easy If You Try
  Imagine There’s No Carry, It’s Easy If You Try

  By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities

  What were we thinking about markets last weekend?

  In some ways, that seems like an obvious question, since the S&P 500 finished the week unchanged!

  On the other hand, it might seem like a crazy question, since you heard more about the yen carry trade than you ever wanted to hear, and saw stocks decline sharply on Monday (with lots of “crash” chatter), only to be followed later in the week with the best day for the S&P 500 since 2022.

  Despite last week’s volatility, it seems easiest to start with where we were last weekend.

  The Plodding Fed. We focused largely on how the Fed seems to be basing policy on some data of dubious quality (birth/death model on jobs, and OER on inflation). We stuck to our theme that very little de-risking had occurred and more pain was to come (we also paid some attention, though clearly not enough, to the yen carry trade). It is worth pointing out that on Wednesday of the prior week, the S&P 500 was up over 2% after the FOMC, so, yes, this week’s rally was impressive, but we had a similar one before and it didn’t prevent the “excitement” of this week.

  We think that last weekend’s report is relevant, and worth reading if you didn’t get to it before the “fun” began on Sunday night.

  Sunday night saw the yen gap stronger, and stocks, stock futures, and crypto drop significantly. By Monday morning, the weekend T-Report had to be supplanted with Margin Call Monday. We did our best to analyze what was going on in markets. Without a doubt, we finally had some serious de-risking.

  Turnaround Tuesday fizzled, as did another bounce on Wednesday, but Thursday had no such problem as apparently, at least in part, a small (probably statistically insignificant) drop in new unemployment claims combined with some strong earnings sent stocks soaring. As we wrote on Thursday, that rally was unlikely to fade, as even my mother knew that every rally faded, and that is usually a good contrarian signal.

  But that leads me to the question, and the main reason for today’s title, how much did market positioning change?

  Imagine There’s No Carry Trade, It’s Easy if You Try

  One thing that I think we can safely argue is that there is very little positioning left in the yen carry trade. Anyone who didn’t get stopped out by now is unlikely to close out trades unless we get another monster move. It seems difficult to believe that much money was put to work creating new yen carry trades even at the now “attractive” levels and with a “pledge” from the BOJ not to raise rates while markets are volatile.

  So, one difference is this yen carry trade has largely been removed from the system and has not been replaced. That is good for risk and for calming markets.

  How Much De-Risking Occurred in the “Panic”

  That is really the biggest question of all. Bulls seem to be of the opinion that we had “panic,” and the market is all set for clear sailing from here.

  We concede that the yen carry trade should no longer be an issue. On the other hand, I would argue that there was very little panic as a whole. We focused on the alleged panic in Did the VIX Hit 65?

  We argue quite vehemently (and hopefully convincingly) that there was no panic in the volatility markets. Fear, yes. Some new hedges added, yes. But panic, no. We focus on the VIX futures market, since it actually trades, and people actually risk money in the VIX futures market, unlike the VIX calculation, which is just that, a calculation (a complex and sometimes, like Monday morning, weird calculation heavily influenced by wide bid/offers on “lottery” ticket types of options).

  I highly encourage you to read that particular T-Report, partly because it is contentious, but it also forms the crux of our argument that we had no panic, just some fear.

  The working premise is:

  • Some de-risking occurred Monday, as stops were triggered, vol sellers got scared away, etc.
  • While de-risking occurred, there was no panic.
  • That by the end of the week, away from the yen carry trade, much of the de-risking had turned to re-risking.

  On a scale of 1 to 10 on how at risk markets were going into last week, with 10 being the most risky, we were probably sitting at a 7 or 8. By Monday lunchtime, it had dropped to a 5 or so, as prices had dropped too quickly, and the move was too closely tied to a trade that once unwound, wouldn’t act like a catalyst again.

  By Tuesday, we were back to a 6 or 7 as we saw clear evidence, not only of no panic, but also of investors re-risking. By Thursday’s close, we were back to an 8 on risk, as people piled into risk as the belief that the worst was behind us became consensus.

  Why We Are As Bearish This Weekend as We Were Last Weekend

  The bearish case boils down to this:

  • The narrative that there was panic is overblown. There was some fear, but it was nowhere near the level of panic, and if anything, we’ve pivoted back to complacency.
  • We learned very little about the economy last week, and we fully expect to see weak economic data once again hammering home recession fears (with a Fed that will be reluctant to act, due to what we believe are overblown inflation concerns).
  • We need to get through a few more important earnings calls, which no longer seem to create an almost obligatory bounce in the important stocks and major averages.
  • The 10-year Treasury yield is back to 3.94% (thankfully) and has the potential to rise more as the campaigns move on to discuss policies, and it was quite clear from the lack of demand at the Treasury auctions that the move to much lower yields had been technical.
  • Nothing about the geopolitical landscape has improved and many of the risks of escalation and expansion remain out there.

  It is possible that no catalyst occurs to drive stocks lower, but we see plenty of potential catalysts, ready to spark another wave of selling. Positioning is once again too bullish and susceptible to a rapid pullback. Finally, liquidity is abysmal – in BOTH directions, which is dangerous and why we are comfortable not giving too much credence to Thursday’s rally.

  Bottom Line

  What a wild week, but little was resolved, and we are back to bearish stocks, a bit worried about credit, and largely comfortable with bond yields (though we’d like to see 10s back above 4.1%, but that is unlikely if we get the weak economic data that we are looking for).

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 14:00

• "It Didn't Sound Like Joe Biden": Pelosi Questions Dropout Letter As Biden Fingers Her In Ouster
  “It Didn’t Sound Like Joe Biden”: Pelosi Questions Dropout Letter As Biden Fingers Her In Ouster

  In his first interview since he was very clearly ousted from the 2024 race, President Biden specifically mentioned former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) – telling CBS News Sunday Morning that Democrats in the House and Senate thought he would drag down the entire party’s chances of reelection.

  

  “A number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races. And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic — you’d be interviewing me about why did Nancy Pelosi say [something] … and I thought it’d be a real distraction,” said Biden.

  Biden admits he was forced out of the race because Democrats thought he’d “hurt them in their races” pic.twitter.com/UJjrHeXEVl

  — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 11, 2024

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  “When I ran the first time, I thought of myself as being a transition president. I can’t even say how old I am — it’s hard for me to get out of my mouth,” he continued, adding that it was a combination of those factors, along with the priority of “maintaining this democracy,” that steered ‘his’ decision, the NY Post reports.

  Pelosi, meanwhile, is acting very strange about the whole thing – suggesting that Biden’s letter announcing his withdrawal from the race wasn’t written by him. (duh)

  “It didn’t sound like Joe Biden to me”

  Pelosi admits others might be writing Biden’s statements against his will: pic.twitter.com/IffHpDIkdI

  — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) August 11, 2024

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  As modernity.news reported last week, it was widely reported that Pelosi told Biden that he could either step down “the easy way” or be removed “the hard way.” Biden is apparently furious with her, as mentioned by interviewer Lesley Stahl in this clip.

  “I did not call one person.” Speaker Nancy Pelosi talks with Lesley Stahl about her role in President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race. https://t.co/BtvgDUKdYf pic.twitter.com/cnJ8ywR5sU

  — CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) August 3, 2024

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  She didn’t need to call anyone.

  “I didn’t call anyone” is probably the worst excuse she could have come up with.

  — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 4, 2024

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  It’s fairly obvious what happened – and now Pelosi is overcompensating with absurd suggestions, like adding Biden to Mount Rushmore. 

  I’m kinda blown away that she is even talking about this.

  She is making it so obvious that she had a massive role in removing him.

  — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 11, 2024

  Nancy Pelosi had a delicate conversation with her dear friend about his legacy…

  … it was a loving, thoughtful discussion filled with data and respect. 🫡😂😂😂😂

  And now the Democrats have flipped the polls because of her loving chat with Biden — a conversation that helped…

  — @jason (@Jason) August 11, 2024

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  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 13:25

• ActBlue Tightens Donation Security Requirements Amid Investigations
  ActBlue Tightens Donation Security Requirements Amid Investigations

  Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times,

  ActBlue agreed to tighten its donation security requirements, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who, along with other Republican-controlled states and a congressional committee, is investigating the Democratic fundraising platform.

  

  Paxton said in an Aug. 8 statement that ActBlue has cooperated with the Texas investigation and will now require CVV codes for credit card contributions.

  One primary focus of the Texas probe launched in December 2023 involved ActBlue’s failure to require donors to provide CVV codes, which are numerical codes printed on credit cards commonly used to combat credit card fraud.

  “ActBlue has been the subject of numerous allegations of illicit activity, including that its platform may enable fraud,” the statement said.

  Paxton said his office issued a supplemental civil investigative demand in his ongoing probe to obtain additional information relevant to allegations of wrongdoing regarding ActBlue.

  Enforcing the law surrounding elections and campaign contributions is critical, he said.

  “Certain features of campaign finance law may incentivize bad actors to use platforms like ActBlue to covertly move money to political campaigns to evade legal requirements,” Paxton said.

  State attorneys general from Virginia, Wyoming, and Missouri have launched similar investigations into ActBlue.

  ActBlue has denied wrongdoing.

  “This investigation is nothing more than a partisan political attack and scare tactic to undermine the power of Democratic and progressive small-dollar donors,” the organization said in a statement on Aug. 2 as Virginia announced its investigation.

  

  Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) speaks at a hearing with the House Administration subcommittee on Elections in Washington on June 24, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

  Republicans have resorted to “political attacks and spreading false accusations” because they can’t accept that millions of Democrats are donating, according to the group’s statement.

  ActBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.

  On the federal level, Rep. Bryan Steil, (R-Wis.) chairman of the House Administration Committee, initiated a probe into ActBlue last fall amid allegations it facilitated illegal contributions to political committees nationwide.

  In an Aug. 5 news release, Steil asked the FEC to require political campaigns to verify online donors’ CVV codes and stop taking donations via prepaid credit cards and gift cards.

  In March 2023, O’Keefe Media Group reported that senior citizens in Maryland and elsewhere denied making all the donations attributed to them in Federal Election Commission records.

  Donors contacted by O’Keefe Media Group said they made political contributions to ActBlue but had no knowledge of making what amounted to thousands of donations—with some totaling more than $200,000— in a few years.

  The media group found similar anomalies in data from WinRed, a Republican platform similar to ActBlue. The House Administration Committee does not appear to be investigating the WinRed fundraising organization.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 12:50

• Plagiarizing Trump, Copycat Kamala Promises No Tax On Tips
  Plagiarizing Trump, Copycat Kamala Promises No Tax On Tips

  At a Saturday rally in Las Vegas just three weeks into her campaign, Kamala Harris “stole” one of Donald Trump’s defining policy stances – promising to abolish federal income taxes on tips if elected. While right-wing social media reacted by vaulting #CopyCatKamala to the top of Twitter’s politics trending list, tax-savvy observers sighed, knowing the policy is riddled with drawbacks.  

  

  Harris didn’t just steal the idea, she even copied Trump’s choice of where to announce it, as the former president also unveiled the idea in Vegas on June 9th. That makes sense, given the hospitality-heavy city’s high proportion of voters working in tipped jobs. 

  Kamala’s first major policy proposal was plagiarized directly from Trump pic.twitter.com/8OgpBGA627

  — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) August 11, 2024

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  Trump quickly took to Truth Social to ridicule Harris for parroting his proposal and cast doubt on whether she’s serious about it:

  

  From a pure retail-politics point of view, Trump’s proposal was brilliant, as it outflanked the Democrats in appealing directly to low-income, working class people. Rather than contest the position, Team Harris decided to simply neutralize its benefit to Trump by removing it as a voting-booth differentiator.

  Yet, as tech entrepreneur and investor David Sacks noted on X: “The entire narrative of the Harris campaign is that she represents something fresh and new. She just shattered that by blatantly copying Trump’s “no tax on tips.” 

  The entire narrative of the Harris campaign is that she represents something fresh and new. She just shattered that by blatantly copying Trump’s “no tax on tips.”

  — David Sacks (@DavidSacks) August 11, 2024

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  And with no accomplishments from the Biden-Harris administration to ride on, Harris and her handlers have resorted to plagiarism. At the same time, corporate media is turning a blind eye to the fact that she hasn’t given a single unscripted interview since announcing her run.

  Prior to Harris jumping on the bandwagon, Nevada’s two senators — both Democrats — voiced their own support for the concept. Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz introduced a “No Tax On Tips Act” to make the idea a reality, and Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds offered a companion House bill, while Reps. Thomas Massie and Matt Gaetz offered a “Tax Free Tips Act of 2024” with different specifics.

  – pic.twitter.com/AEsbqfHssK

  — The Right To Bear Memes (@grandoldmemes) August 11, 2024

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  While the concept has a great ring to it, its actual application could have an underwhelming effect on the working class and some unintended consequences for many others. As Tax Foundation senior policy analyst Alex Muresianu wrote in July:

  “The policy would be poorly targeted at low- and middle-income earners, given the relatively small share of the population working in tipped occupations. Worse, the exemption itself, and any safeguards added, would add to the complexity of the tax code overall.”

  Only 2.5% of American workers earn tips, and just 5% of the bottom quartile of earners, Muresianu noted, citing the work of the Yale Budget Lab. Then there’s the fact that many tip-income workers pay little or no federal income taxes as it is, thanks to the standard deduction and credits like the child tax credit and earned income tax credit (EITC).

  For those who do make enough to pay federal income tax, the “no tax on tips” idea is another example of politicians picking winners and losers, with a waitress making $34,000 getting a huge break while a cashier with the same total earnings getting left out. 

  

  That brings us to an important question about policy specifics — just which taxes would tips be exempt from? Under the Cruz-Donalds “No Tax On Tips Act,” tips would be spared from federal income tax, but remain subject to the payroll tax that purportedly funds Social Security and Medicare. The Massie-Gaetz offering would exempt tips from both flavors of government theft.  

  On the knowingly false assumption that tax-free tips wouldn’t alter behavior of labor market participants, the cost of the proposal might be around $107 billion over 10 years. However, making a certain kind of income at least income-tax-free will offer a powerful incentive to shift compensation in that direction, including many occupations where tips are currently nonexistent. 

  Just last year the IRS under Biden-Harris made plans to crack down on tips.

  Now Kamala is stealing Trump’s policy of “no tax on tips.”#CopyCatKamala pic.twitter.com/63aiLioajY

  — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 11, 2024

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  “One could imagine a scenario in which, say, highly compensated lawyers or accountants begin to receive some of their income as voluntary tips,” cautioned Muresianu. Congress could try heading that off by imposing income limits and other restrictions on the exemption, but that would only further complicate an already Byzantine tax code. An increase to the standard deduction would offer a simpler and more even-handed avenue for easing tax pressure on the working class. 

  Kamala Harris, who now claims to be against taxing tips, was the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which expanded the IRS so it could go after people not paying taxes on tips.

  Incredible stuff. The most inauthentic, astro-turfed campaign in history. pic.twitter.com/9Nne61oJPi

  — Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) August 11, 2024

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  If all that isn’t enough to give you pause about “no taxes on tips,” consider how many more places — dentist offices, auto shops, florists, groceries — where you might have a cashier spinning one of those touch-screens around and asking you to choose how much you want to tip.  

  Pathetic! https://t.co/3PE9NF964b pic.twitter.com/g4Hsj7Ftlp

  — Captain Sou (@SouSanDiego) August 11, 2024

  Fresh and newly borrowed.

  It seems this is who she is.

  Fake and unoriginal.

  People are so gullible, they’ll willingly sign up for it.

  Sad for the country if she wins.

  — Town Square (@XTownSquareX) August 11, 2024

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  This race will boil down to one issue…The Real Kamala Harris.

  If Trump can expose it, he wins.

  If the Democrats/media can keep it hidden, she wins.

  — Johnny (@JohnBrdln) August 11, 2024

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  Prediction: when she announces her “policies” they’re going to be basically identical to Trump.

  A few will stray, which will separate her, but she doesn’t have time for new policy. This is going to be a copy/paste job with 2 months to pitch what Trump’s been pitching for years.

  — Drew (@tallRevere) August 11, 2024

  Good point…

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  Her first official policy is steal Trumps. Also, why wait. You’re VP now.

  — MERICA MEMED (@Mericamemed) August 11, 2024

  Another zinger. 

  

  Next thing you’ll know…

  

  What else will Harris plagiarize before the September 10th debate with Trump?

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  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 12:15

• Appeals Court Blocks Key Parts Of Biden's Student Loan Relief Plan
  Appeals Court Blocks Key Parts Of Biden’s Student Loan Relief Plan

  Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

  A federal appeals court has issued an order blocking key parts of the federal government’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) student loan forgiveness plan, replacing an earlier temporary administrative stay with an injunction that lays out specific prohibitions that will remain in force until the court issues a final ruling on the matter or until the Supreme Court intervenes.

  

  The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals on Aug. 9 ruled against the Department of Education’s (DOE) student loan forgiveness plan, largely granting an injunction requested by seven GOP-led states of a district court order that they say didn’t go far enough in blocking the program.

  The SAVE plan, which aimed to lower monthly payments for millions of borrowers and speed up loan forgiveness for some, has been a point of contention since its introduction, drawing legal challenges from several states.

  The latest order halts key aspects of the program while the legal battle continues.

  The Eighth Circuit’s partial injunction prohibits the Biden administration from forgiving any principal or interest on loans under the SAVE plan, blocks provisions that would prevent interest from accruing on loans, and disallows borrowers from making very low or $0 monthly payments based on their income.

  The federal government is “enjoined from any further forgiveness of principal or interest, from not charging borrowers accrued interest, and from further implementing SAVE’s payment-threshold provisions,” the judges wrote. The injunction will remain in effect until further order of the Eighth Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court, the judges stated.

  An initial ruling by a district court in Missouri partially blocked the SAVE plan but allowed other key parts to continue. The Eighth Circuit Court noted in its Aug. 9 order that the government adapted to the district court ruling by creating a hybrid plan that continued loan forgiveness in a different form, effectively undermining the district court’s injunction.

  The hybrid plan meant that the lower court’s injunction only delayed loan forgiveness from 10 to 20 years and that borrowers could still get their loans fully forgiven after 20 years, even if they’ve made zero payments each month.

  The Biden administration appealed the district court injunction, while the coalition of Republican-led states cross-appealed, seeking an expanded injunction. In response, the Eighth Circuit issued a decision on July 18 that granted the states’ emergency motion for an administrative stay, temporarily halting the implementation of the entire SAVE plan.

  The Eighth Circuit then ruled on Aug. 9 to replace the administrative stay with a superseding injunction, siding with the district court’s finding that the plaintiffs have a “fair chance” of winning their argument on the merits because the sheer magnitude of the Biden administration’s debt relief plan.

  Estimated to forgive around $475 billion in student loans, the SAVE plan likely exceeds the scope of congressionally authorized income-driven repayment plans.

  The partial injunction only blocks the more controversial parts of the SAVE plan, such as faster forgiveness and non-accrual of interest, while allowing the federal government to continue offering income-driven repayment options to borrowers, just under stricter terms. The judges recognized that some aspects of the SAVE Plan, which were challenged as overreach, may exceed the government’s authority. However, other elements are within the permissible scope of income-driven repayment programs authorized by Congress.

  Education Secretary Miguel Cardona issued a statement expressing opposition to the appellate court’s decision.

  “I strongly disagree with the Eighth Circuit’s decision blocking our Administration’s SAVE plan,” he said in a post on X, adding that borrowers currently enrolled in the program will be placed in an interest-free forbearance, the details of which would be announced by the DOE in the coming days.

  Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey voiced support for the decision to grant an injunction.

  “This court order is a stark reminder to the Biden–Harris Administration that Congress did not grant them the authority to saddle working Americans with $500 billion in someone else’s Ivy League debt,“ he said in a statement. ”This is a huge win for every American who still believes in paying their own way.”

  Despite the injunction, the federal government can still implement the broader structure of income-driven repayment under the SAVE plan, meaning that borrowers can still make payments that are calculated based on their income and family size.

  Further, the injunction indicates that all borrowers currently impacted by the Eighth Circuit Court’s administrative stay are allowed to remain in administrative forbearance and are thus not required to pay principal or interest on their loans. Also, borrowers who have remained in PAYE and REPAYE plans are not impacted, and the coalition of states that challenged the SAVE plan “cannot turn back the clock on any loans that have already been forgiven.”

  Another federal judge in Kansas had also blocked parts of the SAVE plan. However, a different federal appeals court, the Denver-based 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, put part of that decision on hold. A group of Republican-led states have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate that injunction.

  In an earlier emailed statement to The Epoch Times, a DOE spokesperson said that Congress gave the department the authority to define the terms of income-driven repayment plans in 1993 and that the SAVE plan is the fourth time the agency has used that authority.

  The spokesperson added that the Biden administration “won’t stop fighting to provide support and relief to borrowers across the country—no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us.”

  The Education Department said recently that it had already granted $5.5 billion to 414,000 borrowers through the SAVE plan.

  The administration has estimated that the program would cost taxpayers around $156 billion over a decade, while Republican attorneys general argued that its true cost will amount to around $475 billion.

  The Eighth Circuit wrote in its Aug. 9 decision that a budget model by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania estimated that the program would cost $475 billion, while siding with the Kansas district court’s finding that the Biden administration’s expansion of the income-driven repayment plans from a program costing roughly $15 billion to $475 billion “expands agency authority to such an extent that it alters it.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 08/11/2024 – 11:40

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