Today’s News 12th July 2023

• Russia Issues Veiled Threat Against Europe Over French Long-Range Missiles To Ukraine
  Russia Issues Veiled Threat Against Europe Over French Long-Range Missiles To Ukraine

  The Kremlin is saying consequences are coming against France after President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday announced supplies of SCALP long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine. The AFP then reported that the first delivery of the missiles are already in Kiev’s hands. 

  “The first missiles had been delivered when the president announced it,” a source told the publication from the NATO summit in Vilnius. It seems a number of the Western allies are trying to bring something “big” to the table for the Vilnius summit, making their announcements of the various new defense aid packages from Lithuania. 

  The UK calls the same weapon the “Storm Shadow” – as SCALP is an air-launched British-French missile, which will reportedly now constitute the longest range weapon in Ukraine’s arsenal of foreign arms.

  

  Some reports have cited a 290 km or more operational range, but this can be modified depending on the recipient. Russia quickly blasted the French decision as “erroneous” and said that “it remains to be clarified and found out exactly what (effective casualty) radius we are talking about,” according to a statement from Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

  “This, from our point of view, is an erroneous decision, fraught with consequences for the Ukrainian side. Because, naturally, this will force us to take countermeasures,” he told a press briefing.” He stressed that for Ukraine the missiles only “only aggravates its fate.”

  “These decisions (to supply heavier weapons) cannot, are not able to turn the course of the ‘special military operation’. They can only aggravate the fate of the Ukrainian, Kyiv regime,” Peskov asserted. 

  He also hinted it could ultimately threaten broader European security: 

  Concerning Ukraine’s speedy accession to NATO, Peskov said it could be very dangerous for European security.

  “This really conceals great dangers, and those who will make this decision have to realize that,” he stressed.

  Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda then seized on the veiled Kremlin threat to urge NATO members to begin establishing permanent military bases on Russia’s borders, according to a report in Anadolu Agency:

  “The Russian military infrastructure has never moved towards Western Europe… however there has always been a movement in the opposite direction. If the Europeans do not understand this mistake, then, of course, it is regrettable,” he noted.

  BREAKING:

  Reuters reports that France has started delivering a “significant amount” of SCALP long-range missiles to Ukraine.

  It’s the same missile as the UK’s Storm Shadow.

  Will Germany change its mind and start delivering Taurus?

  🇫🇷🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/tsituw9xt5

  — Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 11, 2023

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

  The NATO summit will run through tomorrow, and itself is located in Russia might consider it’s “own backyard” of the Baltics. Likely, the bellicose war rhetoric will only grow, as more and more escalatory measures are unveiled. 

  Is Germany next to jump on the “more and bigger weapons” to Ukraine bandwagon? 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 07/12/2023 – 02:45

• Rees-Mogg Pushes Anti-Discrimination Law As UK Banks Are Accused Of Shutting Accounts Over Personal Views
  Rees-Mogg Pushes Anti-Discrimination Law As UK Banks Are Accused Of Shutting Accounts Over Personal Views

  Authored by Lily Zhou via The Epoch Times,

  Former minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg is pushing for a new law that will make it more difficult for banks to shut down people’s accounts.

  

  It comes amid ongoing suspicion that banks have been closing customers’ accounts over their political exposure or views.

  Mr. Rees-Mogg, a Conservative MP and GB News presenter, told The Telegraph that while banks have the right to block accounts, “they are doing this in far too many cases.”

  With the declining of cash, an individual without a bank account is effectively a “non-citizen” or a “non-person,” he said.

  According to the report, Mr. Rees-Mogg will propose an amendment to the Digital Markets Bill, that aims to stop banks from discriminating against clients.

  The amendment would also compel banks to inform customers why their accounts would be closed within 30 days of their decision and give customers the right to demand compensation, the report said.

  “I would hope the government will take up this amendment. This is where the Government wants to be; it is helping their policy,” Mr. Rees-Mogg said.

  Nigel Farage Denied Accounts By 9 Banks

  Mr. Rees-Mogg’s proposal comes as his colleague at GB News, former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, said he couldn’t find a bank that’s willing to hold his account in the UK.

  In a video published on YouTube on June 29, Mr. Farage said his bank had told him they were going to close his account. He said the bank gave no reason for closing his account, but speculated that rules regarding politically exposed persons (PEPs) may be one of the possible reasons.

  Mr. Farage also speculated that Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant’s assertion in Parliament that Mr. Farage had “received £548,573 from Russia Today in 2018” may have contributed to the banks’ unwillingness to give him an account.

  In an update published on Monday,  the former businessman and politician said he still hasn’t found a new bank, with nine banks having rejected his business.

  

  British Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage speaks during a visit to Dover harbour, in Dover, Britain, on Aug. 12, 2020. (Matthew Childs/Reuters)

  It’s unclear whether banks are denying Mr. Farage access to an account over PEP concerns, politicians with all parties have complained about running into difficulty with banks.

  PEPs rules are international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force. They were adopted by the European Union in the form of directives, which were then incorporated into British law through secondary legislation.

  The anti-money-laundering rules require financial institutions to carry out extra checks on PEPs.

  While guidance (pdf) published in 2017 clarified that UK PEPs should be treated as low risk unless they pose a higher risk for other reasons, politicians have said that they still had to go through heightened scrutiny.

  City Minister Andrew Griffith wrote to the Financial Conduct Authority, urging the watchdog to prioritise a review on PEP rules so they “do not unduly burden or prevent democratically elected individuals, public officials, or their respective families from access to essential banking services.”

  Other De-Banking

  There have been others who suspected their accounts may have been closed over their political views, although banks have denied the allegations.

  In one of the most recent cases, Metro Bank emailed gender-critical parents group Our Duty, saying the bank couldn’t offer an account because it “doesn’t currently allow organisations to receive donations if not a registered charity, and for community groups to be linked to, or influence political policies or legislations.”

  Our Duty founder Keith Jordan claimed that a bank manager had told him in a phone call that the group couldn’t get an account because of what it believes is in conflict with the bank’s culture, but the bank denied making any such decisions based an individual or organisation’s personal or political views.

  According to the Times of London, an Anglican church leader lost his building society account after he replied to a monthly email soliciting feedback, telling the building society, which had displayed support for the so-called pride month on its website, that he didn’t agree with pushing transgender ideology on children.

  The building society has also denied closing any accounts over opinions, saying they “only ever make the difficult decision to close a savings account if a customer is rude, abusive, violent, or discriminates in any way, based on the specific facts, comments and behaviour in each case.”

  Triggernometry, a British YouTube show and podcast featuring interviews and satirical content about current affairs and social issues,  also lost a bank account recently. According to co-host Konstantin Kisin, the bank has also cited their reception of donations as a reason.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 07/12/2023 – 02:00

• The Great Famine Reset: You Will Own Nothing and You Will Be Starving
  The Great Famine Reset: You Will Own Nothing and You Will Be Starving

  Authored by Augusto Zimmermann and John Hartnett via The Epoch Times,

  “You will own nothing, and you will be happy.” This confronting statement emanates from the World Economic Forum (WEF), a non-governmental organisation established in 1971 by Klaus Schwab.

  By all appearances, the WEF is the most powerful organisation in the world. For decades, it has been at the centre of bringing together the world’s richest and most powerful in business and politics, becoming the driving force in the world, especially after COVID-19.

  

  In July 2020, Mr. Schwab co-authored and published a book entitled “COVID-19: The Great Reset.” With this publication, he sought to identify the weaknesses of the present economic system, which, according to him, were exposed by the alleged pandemic.

  Mr. Schwab’s WEF considers COVID-19 as a “rare but narrow window of opportunity” to reset the global economy. This involves the elimination of national borders and the removal of property rights and, indeed, any other individual right from the rest of us.

  In what is perhaps even more remarkable, the Great Reset also involves changing human beings.

  According to political economist and financial journalist James Gorrie, one of WEF’s people, professor and author Yuval Noah Harari declared that the era of people’s free will is “over,” with humans being merely “hackable animals.”

  Above all, the primary goal of the Great Reset is to restructure the entire world into a top-down dictatorship that is ruled by the global oligarchy.

  “COVID-19 restrictions and measures to tackle climate change are pillars of the Great Reset initiative aimed to remake global capitalism, leading ultimately to tyrannical control over societies,” says climate journalist and formal political aide Marc Morano.

  

  An empty and closed Melbourne Cricket Ground is seen in Melbourne, Australia, on Sept. 3, 2021. (Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

  If there is anything COVID-19 has taught us is that many governments are not working for the people.

  To the contrary, these governments are following the script of the WEF’s Great Reset, which “is tied to the climate change and the green new deal policies pushed in the United States, Europe and some other countries as well as the United Nations’ climate agenda and net-zero initiative.”

  Jeopardizing Food Security to Lower Emissions

  These oligarchical plans to compromise food security and destroy property rights are well underway in many countries around the globe.

  Take, for instance, the example of the Netherlands. A tiny country in terms of land and population, this country is nevertheless the second largest food exporter in the world.

  And yet, this is all coming soon to an end due to governmental policies that effectively blame them for “high greenhouse emissions,” despite the nation contributing only 5.2 percent of all the EU emissions.

  It is estimated that up to 3,000 farmers could have to close down their productive farms in that country.

  Writing for The Spectator Australia, Xin Du comments:

  “The Dutch policies are particularly puzzling, as Dutch farmers are among the most efficient in the world … It is, therefore, mind-boggling that the Dutch government and the EU would want to uproot this industry rather than to promote and emulate it in a world that is running out of food.”

  Unfortunately, the Dutch government is not alone in targeting their farmers. Many countries, including Canada, Germany, and Sri Lanka, are following a similar agenda to undermine the agricultural sector by reducing nitrogen in the environment by at least 30 percent.

  

  Farmers arrive for a protest at the government district in Berlin, Germany, on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019. (Photo: AP /Markus Schreiber)

  Joshua Phillip, an investigative reporter and recognized expert on asymmetrical hybrid warfare, says “nitrogen reduction policies and chemical fertilizer trends in the majority of countries around the world will lead to food shortages, like what happened in Sri Lanka recently.”

  The global warming alarmists claim nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas, and we must stop meat production to reduce it. This is just another scam.

  In the United States, farmers already cannot find enough chemical nitrogen fertilizer to grow their crops. The WEF recommendation to “build back better” has been adopted in the United States as a “climate change policy.”

  Under the Biden administration, this, too, has led to the collapse of the current energy system in order to lower carbon dioxide emissions.

  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released a disturbing report that essentially warns the American public about inevitable food shortages.

  The threat of food shortage in that country has been further aggravated by governmental policies that result in rising interest rates, price inflation, and excessive environmental regulations that, when combined, create very serious problems for that nation’s agrarian and livestock sectors.

  Global Population

  It is the WEF’s propaganda of overpopulation and environmental damage that leads governments to implement such rash insane policies.

  How is that going to affect global food supplies? Not very well, we suspect. How do we reduce the global demand for resources and limit environmental damage? Depopulate the world of humans.

  We are constantly told that there are too many people on this planet and it can’t support everyone.

  The WEF has set about implementing an agenda of dramatic depopulation of the world. This has been the program of the Club of Rome, an oligarchical think-tank, as far back as 1972 when its members were concerned with global resources and overpopulation.

  Renowned primatologist Jane Goodall said at the WEF in 2020:

  “All these [environmental] things we talk about wouldn’t be a problem if the world was the size of the population that there was 500 years ago.”

  In 1600, the world population is estimated to have been 500 to 580 million. That means 94 percent fewer humans in the world!

  We are meant to believe that reducing the world’s population to 500 million will relieve the environment of the stress on both resources and environmental damage.

  But the reduction of the human population can be done and has been done through wars.

  In World War I, 21.5 million died of which 13 million were civilians. The civilian deaths were largely caused by starvation, exposure, disease, military encounters, and massacres. In World War II, 40-50 million died, the largest of any war.

  Then there were the massacres by the communists. For example, Joseph Stalin’s Bolsheviks killed 40-60 million in the former Soviet Union, and Mao Zedong’s communist regime killed 65-78 million in China.

  

  Picture taken on May 1962 showing Chinese refugees queuing for a meal at Hong Kong. – During the famine caused by “The Great Leap Forward” Chinese policy, between 140.000 and 200.000 people were entered illegally at Hong Kong. (AFP via Getty Images)

  The war in Ukraine, coupled with the West’s economic sanctions, has put the world’s food security at tremendous risk. These sanctions aim to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. However, they are causing a serious danger to the world’s ability to feed itself.

  In the worst-case scenario, says Chris Barrett, an agricultural economist at Cornell University, “we are going to see tens of millions of people suddenly facing famine.”

  Control the Money

  We are presently experiencing an asymmetric war, some kinetic (NATO/Ukraine vs. Russia) but primarily a silent war where food shortages are engineered. This is achieved through shutting down production by driving farmers from the land, banning live animal exports, and disrupting supply lines, as we saw in the “pandemic” years.

  But probably the greatest driver of famine is none of the above. It is the supply of currency and credit.

  Control the food supply, and you control the people. But control the money supply, and you control the whole world.

  Of course, controlling the money supply also directly affects the food supply.

  It goes without saying that since 2008, the world-dominating U.S. Federal Reserve has been “printing money” like never before. Currently, the amount is already 2.3 times larger (in the same dollar terms) than was “printed” during and after World War II. And there is no sign of stopping.

  Since the U.S. dollar is the global reserve currency, either hyperinflation will result and/or a total global economic collapse will ensue. Either way, it doesn’t matter; the global famine will accelerate. It is inevitable.

  We need to wake up to the tactics of the global oligarchs and resist all efforts to impose their objectives on us.

  We must stop also the woke depopulation agenda and put an end to the WEF’s ungodly neofascist agenda before it is too late. Otherwise, paraphrasing WEF’s statement, you will own nothing, and you will be starving!

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 07/12/2023 – 00:05

• Lancet Paper On Post-Vax Autopsies Nuked After Attracting 'Special Attention': Dr. Peter McCullough
  Lancet Paper On Post-Vax Autopsies Nuked After Attracting ‘Special Attention’: Dr. Peter McCullough

  A pre-print review of autopsy data of more than 300 post-Covid-19 vaccination deaths was removed by the Lancet within 24 hours of its initial submission, according to cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough, the paper’s leading author and prominent COVID vaccine skeptic.

  

  “The government narrative is still that people do not die after COVID-19 vaccination. Now we have the largest series of autopsies, and the autopsies really are incontrovertible,” he told the Epoch Times.

  The paper was uploaded to the Lancet’s pre-print website on July 6, only to be taken down with a note implying that the study violated the medical journal’s “screening criteria.”

  “Pre-print servers go through a check to make sure all the elements of the paper are there, but it is not peer-reviewed by external doctors. And the preprint server simply offers people a chance to look at the data themselves and decide,” McCullough told the Times Jan Jekielek. “I think that’s perfectly fair to look at the tables, look at the figures.”

  “Obviously, we struck a very important gap in knowledge and the world needed to know the results.“

  The paper was co-authored by Yale epidemiologist Dr. Harvey Risch and their colleagues at the Wellness Company, a Florida-based medical group.

  The study looked at 678 published papers, 44 of which contained the 325 autopsy cases. They then used a “blind adjudication” process by which three physicians independently review all the deaths and determine whether the Covid-19 vaccine caused, or contributed significantly, to the deaths.

  “We use the standard called PRISMA, where we searched for every paper possible. We sorted through hundreds and hundreds of manuscripts because deaths can be reported as different clinical syndromes are coming out after the vaccine,” said McCullough.

  “There were deaths where there was an auto accident or a suicide. There were some cases in nursing homes where people are on hospice and it looked like they were in their last days of life. We just couldn’t attribute it to the vaccine,” he added. “But the striking cases were people who were perfectly healthy, who had no other medical problems. The only new thing in their life was a vaccine, and then they died with an obvious syndrome like a blood clot, or heart damage, or myocarditis.”

  “This is important because when these papers were originally published, the authors didn’t know the full breadth of safety profiles of the vaccine,” McCullough continued. “Initially there were some autopsies from Germany [where] people died of blood clots shooting to lungs. The authors concluded that it wasn’t vaccine because at that time they didn’t know the vaccine causes blood clots, but we do now.”

  To that end, a total of 240 deaths (73.9 percent) were identified as directly due to or significantly contributed to by COVID-19 vaccination.

  The most implicated organ system in COVID-19 vaccine-associated death was the cardiovascular system (53 percent), followed by the hematological system (17 percent), the respiratory system (8 percent), and multiple organ systems (7 percent), according to the paper. The mean time from vaccination to death was 14.3 days, with most deaths occurring within a week from the most recent jab.

  Without further detail from Lancet, it is hard to tell exactly in which way the study’s methodology might have failed to support its conclusions. On the other hand, Dr. McCullough said they used standard methodology and did reach realistic results. –Epoch Times

  “We didn’t come up with an unrealistic number. We didn’t come up with 100 percent or zero percent of deaths were due to vaccines. We came up with a reasonable number that’s defensible,” he said. “In the supplemental tables, people can go through every case and decide if they agree or disagree, and that’s fair. That should be up on the pre-print server so the world can see it.”

  “The main thing people want is they want access to the data. They simply don’t want data censored off of the internet,” he added. “We should have grand rounds on this. We should have broad internet discussions on it. People maybe want to discuss specific cases—maybe the authors [of the 44 papers] themselves want to look at it.“

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 23:45

• Santa Clara University Students Must Take COVID Vaccines Or Withdraw
  Santa Clara University Students Must Take COVID Vaccines Or Withdraw

  Authored by Lucia Sinatra via The Brownstone Institute,

  College COVID vaccine mandates remain some of the most coercive mandates ever declared. While most colleges have now rescinded their mandates, some colleges refuse to let go, and Santa Clara University in California is one of the most oppressive.

  

  In late April 2021, after most incoming freshmen had committed, SCU announced that all students were required to get COVID vaccines for fall enrollment or after full approval, whichever was later. 

  Then by mid-summer, SCU announced that students would be required to receive the vaccine even if it remained authorized only for emergency (EUA) and despite the fact that the CA Health and Safety Code codifies the Nuremberg Code. Section 24172 states 

  “(t)here is, and will continue to be, a growing need for protection for citizens of the state from unauthorized, needless, hazardous, or negligently performed medical experiments on human beings. It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature, in the enacting of this chapter, to provide minimum statutory protection for the citizens of this state with regard to human experimentation and to provide penalties for those who violate such provisions.”

  SCU (and many other CA colleges and universities) are in direct violation of this Code for removing informed consent by mandating EUA medical treatments.

  Despite lack of efficacy or adequate safety data for this overwhelmingly healthy young adult population, in December 2021, SCU mandated the booster, midway through the academic year when students would have no choice but to comply or leave tens of thousands of dollars behind. SCU’s three-dose requirement remained through the 2022-23 school year.

  In complete disregard for the end of the emergency declarations, in early April 2023, when most universities like nearby Stanford were announcing the end of their COVID vaccine mandates, SCU updated its requirement for incoming freshmen. 

  On May 8th, one week after the fall 2023 enrollment deadline, SCU quietly updated its COVID vaccine policy to require one bivalent dose for incoming freshmen (but not returning students) regardless of how many COVD vaccines they had previously taken. SCU backdated this announcement to May 1st thinking no one would take notice, but in private emails from incoming students learned that some were furious. We encouraged them to withdraw and accept another offer.

  On May 31st, SCU updated its policy again. They now require either three previously taken monovalent doses or one bivalent dose for all community members. As with the University’s previous mandates, SCU offers no religious exemptions and limited medical exemptions for students even in the most extreme of circumstances as explained below. Faculty and staff, however, are permitted to request exemptions. 

  SCU’s policy is determined by its opaque “COVID-19 team,” believed to be led by campus physician Dr. Lewis Osofsky, who also holds several positions at Santa Clara County Medical Association (SCCMA). SCCMA partners with the Santa Clara County Public Health Department (SCCPH) to maximize COVID-19 vaccinations. Santa Clara County is one of the most vaccinated counties in the country, with more than a third having received the bivalent booster, twice the national average, and 88.5 percent having received the primary series.

  Osofsky’s positions in the SCCMA include chair of the Professional Standards and Conduct committee, tasked with promoting high ethical standards for physicians and investigating disputes involving unethical conduct.  This is ironic, as Osofsky is believed to be a driving force behind SCU’s ethically-indefensible mandate. Medical ethics would require, at a minimum, both transmission prevention and a proven benefit for students. An antibody increase from vaccines, with no established antibody level correlate of protection, wanes in mere weeks, and cannot support the ethics of a mandate. In fact, a recent study demonstrated that the “greater the number of vaccine doses previously received the higher the risk of COVID-19.”

  It is alleged that Osofsky has improperly denied student medical exemptions. In a March 2022 lawsuit filed against SCU, Harlow Glenn, one of the student plaintiffs, claims that she had serious adverse reactions to her primary series COVID vaccines, including an emergency room visit due to leg paralysis and abnormal bleeding. According to the complaint, Osofsky refused to grant her a medical exemption for the required booster and actively interfered with her doctor-patient relationship by contacting her private doctors to persuade them to retract their medical exemption documentation.

  Such aggressive tactics are nothing new for Osofsky, as he apparently employs them against patients in his private pediatric practice. Parents have complained in online reviews that Osofsky’s office forced vaccines and didn’t listen to their concerns. As it turns out, Blue Cross Blue Shield pays pediatricians in private practice a $40,000 bonus for every 100 patients under the age of 2 that they fully vaccinate, if at least 63 percent of the patients are fully vaccinated (including the annual flu vaccine).

  Osofsky’s roles with SCCMA, which is in partnership with the SCCPH whose goal is to maximize COVID vaccination, as well as his aggressive private practice approach to vaccination, have likely played a large role in SCU’s continued COVID vaccine mandates. 

  On June 14, 2023, attorneys for the plaintiffs filed their opening brief against SCU in the Sixth Appellate District in California. It is expected that SCU will oppose the appeal and insist on its right to demand that students submit to EUA boosters to “protect the campus community.”

  Protect the community? That justification went out the window long ago when CDC Director Rochelle Walensky admitted that the COVID vaccine did not prevent infection or transmission.

  Recently released documents confirmed that Walensky actually knew this information in January of 2021, well before colleges announced COVID vaccination requirements.

  Given that the emergency is officially over, and the shots have proven to be both ineffective and in some cases harmful, now more than ever, SCU must defend the science and ethics behind their refusal to drop them. 

  In the absence of such transparency, we are left to assume that Osofsky, along with SCCMA and SCCPH, must be using SCU students as mere pawns to achieve their unscientific and authoritarian vaccination goals and quotas.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 23:25

• More Black Americans Support Supreme Court Affirmative Action Ruling Than Oppose It: Poll
  More Black Americans Support Supreme Court Affirmative Action Ruling Than Oppose It: Poll

  A new poll from YouGov/The Economist reveals that more black Americans support last month’s Supreme Court decision to strike down race-based admission policies at colleges.

  

  According to the poll, 44% of black respondents said they ‘at least somewhat’ support the recent rulings in Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which eliminated race-based admissions practices from college campuses. 36% of blacks polled disapproved of the decision.

  Do you approve or disapprove of Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action?

  White: 65% approve, 23% disapprove
  Hispanics: 45%-30%
  Blacks: 43%-36%

  Both sexes, all races, every age group, every level of income. All reject race-based governance. https://t.co/a74PiCnGBh pic.twitter.com/VF2qDVBZ0p

  — Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania) July 9, 2023

  Harvard University hinted that the Ivy League school would be seeking to circumvent the court’s ruling in a press release following the decision. Essays by applicants that discussed how race affected their lives could be taken into consideration during the admissions process, the Supreme Court’s opinion stated. –Daily Caller

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsOverall, 59% of respondents approved of the Supreme Court ruling vs. 27% who disapproved. 45% of hispanics polled also supported the decision vs. 30% who did not.

  The poll was conducted between July 1-5 for The Economist, and included 1,500 adults – 1,350 of whom are registered voters. Of them, 198 were black and 200 were hispanic. The poll had a 2.9% margin of error.

   

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 23:05

• Pressure Builds On China To Open Easing Floodgates Further
  Pressure Builds On China To Open Easing Floodgates Further

  Authored by Simon White, Bloomberg macro strategist,

  Stimulus in China is not yet getting through as loan growth declines and money growth stalls, increasing the likelihood policy makers ease further, and driving a re-acceleration in global inflation.

  Loan data from China released today superficially showed a “beat” on the month. But month-on-month data is noisy and seasonal, the clearest way to look at it is the percentage change of the 12-month sum. This way we can see the trend, which for total CNY loans is down.

  

  It is loans to non-financial enterprises and government loans that is driving total loans lower. One bright spot is that household-loan growth is rising (but is still negative). China’s pandemic policies, which favored state-owned enterprises at the expense of the household sector, further widened imbalances in the economy.

  The low-hanging fruit from export-led growth has been plucked, and mercantile-driven growth has had to be increasingly supplemented by debt to meet targets. Now China is reluctant to stimulate in too carefree a manner as they are increasingly concerned about financial stability. Thus the rise in household-loan growth is a positive sign, but it is not enough to arrest the overall anemic recovery in China.

  A principal area of weakness is the property market. It’s a major source of wealth and saving for the household sector in an economy with few alternatives and a closed capital account (at least to most people). It will be difficult to rejuvenate the household sector – and therefore the economy overall – without a rehabilitation of the property market.

  Yet despite a series of easing measures, such as aid for developers, with further measures said to be imminent, the property market remains quagmired.

  Real-estate transaction growth continues to slide, while floor-space started is contracting at over 6% per year, near series lows.

  Furthermore, real-estate debt, after recovering early this year, is falling again, and is on track to make new lows, with USD HY debt having lost almost three-quarters of its value.

  

  China’s binding constraint is unemployment. If growth deteriorates to the point where unemployment begins to rise sharply (youth unemployment is already over 20%, due to the weaker services sector in the pandemic, and a skills mismatch, according to Goldman Sachs), it’s likely China will reach for the hard-liquor, and stimulate – both fiscally and monetarily – much more freely.

  This is likely to fuel a re-acceleration in US and global inflation. We’re not there yet, but the more disappointing data we see, the closer we will be.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 22:45

• Yacht Broker Selling OceanGate Sub For $750,000
  Yacht Broker Selling OceanGate Sub For $750,000

  A yacht broker is selling an OceanGate manned submersible, which can carry five people to depths of 305 meters (1,000 feet). However, after the implosion of the company’s Titan submarine last month during an expedition to the Titanic wreck site, there are concerns that selling the sub may be near impossible. 

  Steve Reoch, an expedition-yacht broker, told Bussiness Insider that he’s trying to offload OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush’s 1995-built Antipodes sub. He has represented sales for other submersibles and said this sub was Rush’s first sub. 

  

  Antipodes is listed on Yatco’s website for $795,000. 

  

  Reoch told Insider that Antipodes would likely be “tied up in litigation for years” because OceanGate has suspended commercial and exploration operations following last month’s incident. He said he’ll remove the listing because “I don’t want to have anything to do with it.” 

  

  He said the 13.7-foot-long sub has been for sale for several years with very little interest. With Oceangate’s Titan submersible incident, the probability of finding a buyer has likely crashed to zero. 

  

  “We’re in the process of disassociating ourselves from the vessel because it won’t sell,” he said, adding the listing will be taken down in a few weeks. 

  And who would want to purchase a three-decade sub? Nevertheless, Insider said Titan had a success rate of reaching the Titanic wreck site 14% of the time. 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 22:25

• Hundreds Of Human Rights Violations Found In "Green" Mineral Supply Chains
  Hundreds Of Human Rights Violations Found In “Green” Mineral Supply Chains

  By SupplyChainBrain

  

  Over 100 cases of alleged human rights violations and environmental abuses by Chinese-invested companies involved in mineral mining supply chains were identified in a recent report from the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre in London, England.

  According to the survey, entitled “Unpacking Clean Energy: Human Rights Impacts of Chinese Overseas Investment in Transition Minerals,” 102 allegations of abuse were linked to Chinese companies’ overseas investments in the transition minerals sector between January 2021 and December 2022.

  Indonesia was the worst culprit with 27 recorded abuse allegations. Peru had the second-most abuse allegations (16) followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12), Myanmar (11) and Zimbabwe (7).

  More than two-thirds of the allegations (69) related to human rights abuses against local communities. Over half of the recorded incidents (54) involved a negative impact on the environment. More than a third of the allegations (34) had to do with workers’ rights with a majority of them focused on health and safety risks in the workplace.

  Despite the large number of recorded abuse allegations, less than 18% of the companies mentioned in the report (7 out of 39) have published human rights policies, “suggesting there is significant room for improvement in both policies and practices,” according to the study’s authors. Of the 22 companies within the critical mineral mining sector that were approached regarding these abuses, only four organizations actually responded to the allegations.

  The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre provided three key recommendations that could greatly contribute to “rapid and successful energy transitions:” fair labor negotiations, human rights/social protections and shared prosperity to build trust and stability within the industry.

  “As demand for transition minerals to fuel green technologies remains a global priority, the scope for human rights infringements by mining companies and their investors remains a major concern,” the report’s authors wrote. “Commitment to these principles has never been more important.”

  The report analyzed 102 allegations of human rights and environmental abuses related to Chinese overseas investments between January 2021 and December 2022. In the study, the term allegation refers to publicly reported incidents of abuse by a company, civil society action against a company or attacks against human rights defenders. Impacts were organized into six categories of abuse: environmental impacts (E), local communities and attacks against civil society organizations (LC), impacts on workers (W), governance and transparency (G), security issues and conflict zones (S) and the COVID-19 pandemic (C).

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 22:05

• Strike Could Cost UPS 30% Of Diverted Volume
  Strike Could Cost UPS 30% Of Diverted Volume

  By Mark Solomon of FreightWaves

  UPS Inc. should be prepared to lose as much as 30% of diverted volume should the Teamsters strike the company by the end of the month and a work stoppage last for a decent duration, a leading parcel consultant said Monday.

  

  UPS handled about 18.6 million parcels in the U.S. per day in the first quarter. Under a contingency plan, it expects to handle 4 million parcels on its own. The balance of about 14.6 million parcels, most of which would be ground deliveries, would be subject to diversion.

  Satish Jindel, president of consultancy ShipMatrix, said in a communique to FreightWaves that the 30% of volume that could be lost would be equivalent to more than 4 million parcels a day. 

  Because there are about 80,000 package car drivers and each driver delivers about 230 parcels per day, the diverted volume, if it never returns to UPS could result in 4,300 lost driver jobs and those of a few thousand package handlers for every 1 million packages diverted, he said.

  Unlike the last Teamster strike in 1997, there is plenty of competition for diverted volume. For example, FedEx Corp whose ground unit didn’t exist back then, is delivering on-time performance for air and ground on par with UPS, according to Jindel. This will give shippers more confidence to keep diverted volumes with FedEx, he said.

  On Sunday, the U.S. Postal Service launched “Ground Advantage” with two-to-five-day transit times comparable to FedEx and UPS. Jindel envisioned a scenario in which large shippers divert lightweight parcels under 5 pounds that can fit in a mailbox to the Postal Service and the heavier parcels to FedEx.

  The potential damage to UPS and its unionized workers behooves both sides to return to the table and resume negotiations, Jindel said. Talks collapsed last week reportedly over an inability to come to terms on part-time wages. No new talks are scheduled. The current contract expires July 31.

  “Being very tough in negotiations is analogous to stretching a rubber band,” Jindel wrote. “No one knows the full limit before it snaps and then one has to start all over again with a new set of conditions.”

  Separately, for the minority of Teamsters union members at UPS who don’t favor a strike should a contract not be agreed to in three weeks, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation on Monday issued some advice.

  All UPS employees can resign their membership in the union and continue to do their jobs, according to a legal notice issued by the foundation. “If you don’t support the union you can send the union a letter resigning your membership at any time,” the notice said.

  In addition, employees who resign their membership — or who are already nonmembers — have the right to work even if the union orders a strike. “Union officials can — and often do — fine union members thousands of dollars for working during a strike,” the notice said. “So you should seriously consider resigning your union membership before you return to work during a strike, which is the only way to avoid fines and discipline.”

  Employees working in a “right-to-work” state, where union membership and financial support are voluntary, can resign their membership and opt out of all union financial support, according to the notice.

  Employees not working in a state with those protections have the right to opt out of paying dues for union politics and may be able to avoid other union financial support, according to the notice. In non-right-to-work states, unions can still only mandate that employees pay dues as a condition of employment if the union and management have finalized a union monopoly bargaining contract that contains a valid forced-dues clause, the notice said.

  About 97% of UPS’ members have voted to authorize a strike if a contract is not reached by July 31. The Teamsters represent 340,000 UPS employees, many of them part-timers.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 21:25

• "This Is Not Sustainable": China's EV Market Set To Face Even More Competition, HSBC Says
  “This Is Not Sustainable”: China’s EV Market Set To Face Even More Competition, HSBC Says

  With recent rallies in Tesla (and now Rivian), market participants are starting to mull whether or not EV stocks are about to be looked at favorably and outperform once again. 

  But insane-valuation- and hot-money-history may not be ready to repeat itself just yet. The industry is facing headwinds that it hasn’t before, with Tesla leading a charge of price cutting to start 2023 and now HSBC reporting that an already saturated and competitive market is going to become…even more saturated and competitive – especially in China.

  In a note out early this week, Yuqian Ding, HSBC Head of China Auto Research said the growing competition is “not sustainable”. He says there are “far too many” car models in China, Bloomberg wrote in a wrap up on Tuesday.

  

  Ding predicts that “smaller, less advanced manufacturers will be squeezed out” as competition becomes more robust. Larger automakers account for 73% of the country’s EV market, he writes, meaning that 57 other brands are left fighting for the remaining 27% of the market. 

  Currently, there’s about 400 to 600 ICE models available and Ding notes that 75% of 250 new models being launched over the next 12-18 months will be EVs. He predicts that the price war that’s currently ongoing will come to a halt, writing: “The price war will eventually fizzle out as competition squeezes the smaller players, which are burning through cash, out of the market”.

  He predicts that up to 8.2 million EVs will be sold in 2023 and 12.6 million per year by 2025. By 2030, he is expecting 22.6 million EV sales per year and he has raised his forecast on higher volumes and increased supplies. 

  He is bullish on BYD, Li Auto and Geely, maintaining his “buy” rating on those names while writing that: “Leaders will tighten their grip on the market. With the exception of Tesla, we think they will all be China EV brands.”

  And Tesla is definitely holding its own for now. We noted yesterday that despite price wars, Tesla was able to grow its sales in the country by 20.6% MOM. Tesla sold 74,212 vehicles and exported 19,468 units for the month of June, solidifying a 20.6% sequential rise for the EV maker, per Bloomberg’s calculations.

  Even more impressive for Tesla is that China’s June Retail Passenger Vehicle sales were lower by -2.6 YOY, falling to 1.89 million units, according to the same data. For comparison on a sequential basis, Tesla’s 20.6% month-over-month jump outpaced China’s 8.7% month-over-month gain on sales.

  

  Bloomberg noted this weekend that total NEV sales in the country continue to be the driving force behind its sales growth. NEVs in China were up 25.2% YOY, totaling 665,000 units. Passenger vehicle output fell 0.5% YOY but was up 10.3% sequentially, coming in at 2.2 million units. 

  The company’s robust sales are still being helped along by price cuts it put into place at the beginning of the year, with Bloomberg noting that “after a price war leading into the Shanghai auto show in April, deliveries started to pick up again and the overall market for new-energy vehicles remained strong.”

  Now we’ll see how it handles a larger field of EV entrants going forward…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 21:05

• US Introduces New Immigration Pathway For People From Central America, Colombia
  US Introduces New Immigration Pathway For People From Central America, Colombia

  Authored by Mimi Nguyen Ly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The Biden administration has introduced a new immigration program to allow some nationals of Central America and Colombia to enter the United States.

  

  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on July 7 that it’s implementing “new family reunification parole (FRP) processes” for Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The program was first announced in April.

  The FRP processes allow certain migrants with U.S. relatives to enter and work legally while they await their U.S. immigration visas.

  “Specifically, nationals of these [four] countries can be considered for parole on a case-by-case basis for a period of up to three years while they wait to apply to become a lawful permanent resident,” the DHS stated on July 7.

  Potentially eligible migrants are those from the four countries who have family members who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents in the United States.

  The latest initiative, according to the DHS, is part of the comprehensive measures the DHS and State Department announced in April “to further reduce unlawful migration across the Western Hemisphere, significantly expand lawful pathways for protection, and facilitate the safe, orderly, and humane processing of migrants.”

  The FRP processes were available to Cubans starting in 2007 and Haitians starting in 2014. The Trump administration had halted the programs, but the Biden administration later restarted them.

  US ‘Intends to Welcome as Many as 100,000’

  The U.S. family member must file Form I-30—also referred to as the Petition for Alien Relative—on behalf of their Colombian, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, or Honduran relative.

  If the petition is approved, the State Department issues an invitation to the petitioning U.S. family member, who can then start the FRP process by filing a request on behalf of the migrant relative to be considered for advance travel authorization and parole.

  The DHS said on July 7 that if the foreign national is granted parole status, which permits entry into the United States, that person can then request employment authorization while waiting for his or her immigrant visa to become available. When the immigrant visa is available, he or she may apply for permanent residency—also referred to as a green card.

  The FRP process can be a faster pathway to enter the United States than the regular process of U.S. citizens’ and green-card holders’ applying and waiting for an immigrant visa for their relatives.

  The Biden administration announced on May 2 that the United States “intends to welcome as many as 100,000 individuals from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador” under the FRP processes. No time frame has been provided, however, and a numerical cap for Colombian migrants has also not been specified.

  ‘Lawful Pathways’

  Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement that the new processes “promote family unity and provide lawful pathways consistent with our laws and our values.”

  “The Department has proven that the expansion of safe, orderly, and lawful pathways, combined with strong enforcement, is effective in reducing dangerous, irregular migration to the United States,” he said.

  According to data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection more than 126,200 Colombians, 40,700 Salvadorans, 115,100 Guatemalans, and 110,000 Hondurans have been processed at the southwest border so far in fiscal 2023.

  The DHS stated that the new FRP processes “allow for parole only on a discretionary, case-by-case, and temporary basis upon a demonstration of urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit, as well as a demonstration that the beneficiary warrants a favorable exercise of discretion.”

  The above stipulations are in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), enacted in 1952. The INA authorizes the Homeland Security secretary—currently Mr. Mayorkas—to decide whether to parole a foreign national into the United States.

  Parole Status Previously Granted Sparingly

  An immigration expert told The Epoch Times in 2022 that parole should be a “very, very boutique thing” and should be used in only special cases, such as when a family member needs entry into the United States to donate a kidney to his brother, or if a witness to a criminal case is needed to testify.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 20:45

• Illinois Law Forces Landlords To Rent To Illegals Or Face Civil Rights Violations
  Illinois Law Forces Landlords To Rent To Illegals Or Face Civil Rights Violations

  Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed SB 1817 into law, which mandates landlords must rent property to illegal immigrants. Democrats in this ultra-progressive crime-ridden state are under fire for prioritizing the needs of migrants over the needs of their constituents. 

  Breitbart first reported Pritzker signed SB 1817 into law on June 30. The rule amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to include “immigration status” as a protected class. This means landlords could get slapped with a civil rights violation if they ‘discriminate’ against a migrant. 

  “This law sets clear boundaries, protecting the rights of immigrants and ensuring that financial institutions and service providers cannot engage in discriminatory practices,” Democratic State Sen. Ann Gillespie wrote in a statement. 

  Gillespie continued, “Putting these protections in place will promote fairness to ensure people are not unjustly denied housing.”

  The law comes after Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent more than 8,000 migrants to Chicago amid the worst border crisis ever — sparked by the Biden administration’s failed open border policies. In the last few years, the record surge of migrant and drug flows into the country has triggered a twin crisis this country has never seen before. 

  Meanwhile, Democratic leadership in Chicago has pleaded with Abbott to halt the bussing of migrants from the southern border to their city because resources are limited to help them. 

  

  As for landlords, running a background check and credit report on potential tenants is standard. The question is, how does one vet illegals?

  Just wait until the Pritzker allocates millions of dollars for ’emergency’ housing assistance for illegals. 

  As for the working poor and/or people experiencing homelessness in the state — this is yet another example of Democrats putting their constituents last while trying to appease illegal aliens in hopes of becoming new voters for their party ahead of the 2024 presidential election cycle. 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 20:25

• Supreme Court Independence Jeopardized by Leftist Fanatics
  Supreme Court Independence Jeopardized by Leftist Fanatics

  Authored by Christopher Roach via American Greatness,

  Last week was a big week for the Supreme Court.

  The Court disposed of its rather muddled affirmative action precedents by declaring the entire practice anathema. It enforced constitutionally required separation of powers by rejecting Joe Biden’s executive order creating a $430B student loan forgiveness program. And finally, in keeping with the earlier Masterpiece Cakeshop decision, it reaffirmed the right for people in business to avoid compulsory expressive speech (in this case, web design) contrary to their religious beliefs.

  This line of decisions comes on the heels of last year’s ruling in Dobbs, through which the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, returning the question of abortion to the political process within the states.

  The Court has been doing a lot of work and, in the process, overturning a range of anti-democratic, activist precedents that have accrued since the 1960s. In the process, a number of decades-long conservative goals have reached fruition.

  

  Recent Decisions Restore Principles of Self-Government

  The recent decisions affirm the principles of majority rule, as limited by the plain language of the Constitution. In spite of the Left’s attempted ownership of the concept of democracy, this principle is not advanced by selectively and randomly vetoing legislative enactments and torturing constitutional language to reach favored conclusions.

  Instead, self-government requires adherence to a fairly prosaic set of ideas: we elect men to make laws; the words that constitute laws mean what they say; this principle applies to the supreme law that is the Constitution; and, judges are supposed to interpret those words naturally according to their original meaning and neutrally as between the litigants.

  This means that “equal protection” does not permit policies of collective punishment towards the white race because of certain past evils. Even under the Fourteenth Amendment, the law deals with individuals as individuals, not as avatars of preferred or disfavored groups.

  Similarly, the separation of powers principles and the plain language of Article I of the Constitution require spending—including a massive loan forgiveness program—to originate in the Congress. Biden’s student loan decision may very well be a good policy or a terrible one. But the Court was rightly agnostic on the question of merits, instead asking whether the enactment is within the President’s power.

  The decision touching on free speech and gay rights reflects an unavoidable tension, which the Court’s precedents have never fully resolved. Namely, antidiscrimination laws, particularly as applied to private businesses, represent an equal and opposite set of principles as those of the First Amendment. The former turn everyone de facto into a common carrier, a quasi-public institution, which must serve all paying customers equally. By contrast, the First Amendment permits expressive conduct by businesses, even offensive conduct, as well as the right of refusal under the principle of voluntary association.

  The Left’s Unprincipled Approach to the Constitution

  This week’s decisions present a real problem to the Left. They’re a reminder that courts, properly functioning, impose limits on the state. But leftist political principles are not easily reconciled with constitutional limits. We saw this in the original court-packing scheme under FDR. Today, the Left’s unhappiness is amplified because it believed history was on its side, and it also had no particular commitment to procedures or process. The Left wants results and wants them now.

  The Left’s approach to politics is versatile and, procedurally speaking, unprincipled. Earlier victories arising from the Supreme Court, each far more aggressive and hostile to the limits of the constitutional text than those being pilloried at the moment, were applauded when they circumvented a stalled political process. This includes rulings ranging from abortion to gay marriage, where there was substantial public dissensus and, in some cases, conservative majorities opposing left-wing change.

  One heard few concerns for Our Democracy™ back in those days.

  Both sides’ partisans do this to some extent. But conservatives, independents, and moderates are understandably wary about messing with rules of game in mid-game through an extreme measure like packing the court. By contrast, the Left is truly indifferent about procedures, process, and the constitutional principle of precommitment. Rather, the Left is bold in the pursuit of its goals.

  This kind of power move only makes sense if one concludes that their side will win all future elections and retain political power indefinitely. Otherwise, overreach means they pack the Court this time, and we re-pack it the next time, and pretty soon the court is as big as the U.S. Congress.

  The Left has mostly captured the legal profession, and the capture is even more complete in the elite institutions that feed the ranks of the federal judiciary, Department of Justice, and related national institutions. Until recently, this meant the Left felt a great deal of comfort with court-led social change and activism. After all, judges were “our kind of people.”

  But, as Barack Obama said, elections have consequences, and since 2000, a little over half of the time the country had a Republican president. Republican presidents mean Republican judicial nominees.

  Just as the Church often became stronger under persecution, the small number of conservatives in elite legal circles have become more focused, rigorous, and purposeful since the creation of the Federalist Society in 1982. And that has meant, under Trump in particular, the availability of talented individuals to appoint to the high court who shared a philosophical commitment to originalism.

  Trump’s appointees—Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett—are undeniably smart, and each of them had a golden resume before appointment to the Court. They are joined by their stalwart predecessors, Justices Alito and Thomas. Each of these justices deviates greatly from the profession’s leftward tilt. They are able to explain their rulings with a vigor and precision that resists attack.

  Thus, the extreme hostility directed at them has the intensity reserved for class traitors.

  Whose Country?

  The reality of self-government has been under stress for many decades from a variety of sources. Mass immigration, deficient civic education, and an overbearing and out-of-control administrative state all combine to discourage optimism and participation. The “fortification” of the 2020 election and the daily spectacle of the senile Joe Biden only increases collective cynicism.

  As if recent revelations of government-coordinated censorship and the indictment of a former president were not enough, packing the Court would be the final nail in the coffin, confirmation that self-government, representation and limited government are all dead.

  After all, even when they disagreed strongly with the Court’s Warren-era precedents, activists on the right spent many years honing the arguments, supporting candidates, pressuring elected officials and otherwise slowly pursuing relief within the process. Doing so again after court-packing would be pointless and humiliating; if somehow we obtained a future court that made a ruling that was worthwhile, the Court could simply be packed again.

  Changing the size and composition of the Court to vouchsafe a particular, ideologically preferred outcome is the opposite of “blind justice” and completely incompatible with the rule of law. Yet one should not be surprised that people who rig elections also now aim to rig the courts.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 20:05

• Retail Politics: This GOP Candidate Will Pay You $20 If You Give Him $1
  Retail Politics: This GOP Candidate Will Pay You $20 If You Give Him $1

  In a move that gives new meaning to the term “retail politics,” North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum has launched an eyebrow-raising promotion where he’ll pay you $20 if you’ll give him $1. 

  Burgum’s incentive to buy campaign contributions springs from the Republican National Committee’s qualification thresholds for the first presidential primary debate on August 23. In addition to having at least 1% support in certain national polls, candidates amass at least 40,000 donors. 

  

  There’s a high chance you haven’t even heard of Doug Burgum, much less that he’s running for president. Maybe that’s why the wealthy venture capitalist and software entrepreneur is choosing to take this let’s-do-this-the-easy-way approach to hitting the donor requirement. 

  Visitors to Burgum’s campaign website are now being presented with an offer to receive a “Biden Relief Card”: 

  “The burden on American families caused by the Democrats is unruly, and Joe Biden is doing nothing to fix it. We want to help, so we’re offering YOU a $20 gift card, and all YOU have to do is contribute $1 to claim it.” 

  The offer’s open to the first 50,000 individuals who jump on it. If all of them give the minimum $1, Burgum would be checking off one major debate qualification at a price of $950,000. Given his low profile, that could be a far better ROI than he’d realize through a direct mail or digital marketing push.  

  People are hurting because of Bidenflation, and giving Biden Economic Relief cards is a way to help 50,000 people until we get in office and fix this crazy economy for everyone!
  Get yours here: https://t.co/IDkW8hGz53

  — Doug Burgum (Text “DOUG” to 70177) (@DougBurgum) July 10, 2023

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  Burgum campaign spokesman Lance Trover told the New York Times that the card offer will help “secure a spot on the debate stage while avoiding paying more advertising fees to social media platforms who have owners that are hostile to conservatives.”

  Some aspiring Republican presidential candidates have criticized the donor requirement. Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said it “will keep some candidates from being on the debate stage and [benefit] candidates who generate online donations through extreme rhetoric and scare tactics.”

  Even if the gift-card gimmick works, the 1% polling requirement may still be Burgum’s undoing: The Real Clear Politics average has him at just 0.1% nationally and 1% in Iowa.

  On the other hand, he’s already demonstrated the ability to surge from the back of the pack to pull off the upset. A month after he announced his 2016 gubernatorial candidacy, he was 49 points behind the leader, but went on to win the primary by a whopping 20-point margin.

  As governor, Burgum has signed several laws pushing back on the trans agenda, as well as one of the country’s strictest abortion bans. As presidential candidate, he’s promised to aggressively pursue the cold war with China that he says is already underway, pledging to “unite the country and take the fight to China and Xi Jinping.” 

  Regarding the war in Ukraine, last month Burgum said, “Russia cannot have a win coming out of this, because if it’s a win for them, it’s a win for China.” 

  We get the feeling the military-industrial complex would love this guy. 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 19:45

• Tucker Carlson Uncensored One-On-One With Andrew Tate: "I Don't Want You To Think That I'm A Conspiracy Theorist"
  Tucker Carlson Uncensored One-On-One With Andrew Tate: “I Don’t Want You To Think That I’m A Conspiracy Theorist”

  Tucker Carlson is back with something everyone should pay attention to.

  Episode 9 of ‘Tucker on Twitter’ is a lengthy (complete) interview with Andrew Tate – the former-kickboxer-turned-influencer who is currently being held on human trafficking, rape, and criminal gang charges.

  

  As an introduction, Carlson’s monologue reflecting on the constant emasculation of American men. Specifically, he pointed to the “grotesque” feminist experiments of trying to snatch manhood away from boys and men.

  “What would it be like to find yourself the subject of that experiment, as a boy trying to become a man during the Biden years?” Carlson asked.

  “Well, you might kill yourself. Many have. You might decide to reject your own manhood and embrace androgyny or even switch sexes.

  ‘Girls are better?’ ‘Fine, I’ll become one.’

  Or more likely, you might simply withdraw into porn and weed and video games and give up on your life before it’s begun.”

  This led to Tucker introducing Andrew Tate who argues for a different way for boys to become men, pointing out that men want respect above all things, and thus must earn it by, among other things, staying sober, finding God, and living a healthy lifestyle.

  Tate says he is attacked for emphasizing the importance of having a masculine presence in a relationship with a woman in order to have a functioning society. He said elites are trying to “instill cowardice” in men and elicit compliance in society.

  Tucker asks Andrew Tate: “What is it about your message that infuriates people?” pic.twitter.com/dF2GK7pE3x

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 11, 2023

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  Regarding the charges against him, Tate believes the Romanian government “coerced” the women to come forward, explaining that there is no evidence of actual crimes.

  “I would hate to come across as a conspiracy theorist, but I kind of have a feeling that it might have something to do with my influence in an attempt to slander my name,” he said.

  “But the fact that they chose such a heinous crime, and they report it so heavily, and they won’t shut up…

  …also considering the fact that people who actually commit heinous crimes have way more favorable press coverage. But I don’t want you to think that I’m a conspiracy theorist. Please, Tucker, I would hate for you to come here and call me crazy.”

  Specifically, Tate believes they silenced him because “he’s helping men to resist the slave programming…”

  

  Tucker asked him what he did in prison. The answer was simple and ominous…

  “Smoked cigarettes, did pushups, and read the Quran… and I don’t want to go back…”

  The discussion was wide-ranging including his thoughts on the war in Ukraine:  “If you are naïve enough to believe that there are good guys and bad guys in wars and it’s as simple as good & bad… you need to do a little more investigation…” to which Tucker replied: “That’s the truest thing.. Anyone who doesn’t understand that should shut the f*ck up”

  TATE ON RUSSIA/UKRAINE: “If you are naïve enough to believe that there are good guys and bad guys in wars and it’s as simple as good & bad… you need to do a little more investigation”

  TUCKER: “That’s the truest thing.. Anyone who doesn’t understand that should shut the f*ck up” pic.twitter.com/sBHjDtvjV8

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 11, 2023

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  And the former kickboxer pulled no punches on what he thinks of Kamala Harris…

  Andrew Tate on Kamala Harris “She’s largely incompetent. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her put a compendious coherent sentence together”

  pic.twitter.com/bUzVaBcm6c

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 11, 2023

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  And COVID: “Sweden never did a thing… Where was their winter of severe illness and death?”

  Andrew Tate discusses the difference between how the rest of the world handled COVID compared to Sweden “It’s actually scary, you see how the Nazis were able to do what they did.”

  “Sweden never did a thing… Where was their winter of severe illness and death?” pic.twitter.com/W61vlRhLfK

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 11, 2023

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  Tate believes this situation he is in is a “test from God” and say he “will suffer as much as I need to suffer to stick by my convictions and know that I am an innocent person.” Tate added without irony:

  “I will never kill myself”

  Around 42:00, Tucker & Tate discuss European immigration, and Tate offers an interesting perspective:

  “…we are feminizing, neutering the local population of males… and then these high-testosterone men from the 3rd world arrive – what do you think will happen…”

  “…which makes you wonder, if this is purposeful…”

  Tucker asked Tate, whose father was black and mother was white, what he made of the race conversation in the United States…

  “I think it’s deliberately,.. they’re trying to put fuel on the fire and they’re deliberatly trying to accelerate division.”

  If a black billionaire and a white billionaire meet, I don’t think there is much conversation about race…

  …but amongst the lower echelons of the populous, they seem very interested in trying to turn us all on each other…”

  But, Tate continued “I think what certain people in the world would be most afraid of is white people of a certain class and black people of a certain class shaking hands and saying ‘this is bullshit'”

  Andrew Tate discusses people who use race as an excuse in life: “the only answer is hard work” pic.twitter.com/Z2PgK8tqpA

  — ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) July 11, 2023

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  Having slayed Kamala earlier, Tate addressed President Biden…

  “I think the reason he was put into office is because he is incompetent. And that makes him easy to control and influence… that’s what is most scary.”

  Tucker rounded out his questions by asking Tate’s thoughts on digital currency:

  “CBDCs are inevitable and they’re scary…super scary because its the final absolute realm of control. They’re already remeving cash from society. They want to be able to trace things more easily. They can control where it goes and how and when it can be spent… ‘it can only be spent on vegetables because you’ve had too much meat this week’.”

  Finally, we note – without humor – that Tate repeated the fact that “I will never kill myself” many times during the interview to the point where Carlson noticed and Tate replied “I have to keep saying it…because it’s scary.”

  “I think they give you three lives: first they cancel you; when that fails, they throw you in jail; and if that fails they have only one option left… so I am in a very scary scenario.”

  Watch the full interview below:

  Ep. 9 The Andrew Tate interview pic.twitter.com/0KKMzSVmMO

  — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 11, 2023

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

   

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 19:27

• How Much Money Does Amazon Make On Prime Day?
  How Much Money Does Amazon Make On Prime Day?

  Today, July 11 marks the beginning of the annual Amazon Prime Day, a 48-hour campaign meant to offer Prime subscribers a variety of deals across a broad range of consumer goods.

  Even though Amazon itself doesn’t release official sales numbers for this campaign, estimates by the e-commerce research experts at Digital Commerce 360 show a meteoric rise in revenue connected to Prime Day that’s been hampered by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

  As Statista’s Florian Zandt shows in the chart below, estimated revenues grew from $900 million in 2015 to $7.2 billion in 2019, an increase of 700 percent.

  The jump from 2019 to 2022 is considerably smaller, amounting to around $5 billion and a growth rate of 68 percent.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  While the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020 shifted shopping behavior from brick-and-mortar stores to online channels, it also put increased stress on the labor market and endangered jobs in the hospitality and service sectors. With the pandemic’s effects on the economy waning in 2022, the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022 can be seen as another marker for a more conservative approach to consumer spending due to, for example, the price hikes for energy and food.

  The first Prime Day was held by Amazon in 2015 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the start of its e-commerce platform.

  The 24-hour event was available to Prime customers in the US, the UK, Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, and Austria.

  According to company statements, customers bought 34.4 million items on the first Prime Day.

  In 2022, this number shot up to 300 million items.

  Due to rising inflation and a pessimistic monetary outlook, shoppers focused on discounted household and so-called consumer packaged goods, according to a report by Numerator.

  Whether the spending will shift towards more traditional e-commerce goods like electronics, toys or fashion and how the uptake in Amazon’s first-ever discounts on travel will be in 2023 remains to be seen.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 19:05

• Taibbi: Is The FBI Helping Ukraine's Secret Service Censor Americans?
  Taibbi: Is The FBI Helping Ukraine’s Secret Service Censor Americans?

  Authored by Matt Taibbi via Racket News,

  

  I spent much of the weekend combing through the Twitter Files for examples of the “Censorship Enterprise” described by the Attorneys General in the landmark Missouri v. Biden lawsuit. As I was about to publish, a new report was issued by the House Weaponization of Government Committee that takes the Twitter Files theme in several crazy new directions.

  A month ago, Aaron Maté of The Grayzone published a new piece about a bizarre finding in the Twitter Files. An FBI agent named Alexander Kozbanets had forwarded to Twitter a list sent to the FBI by Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU. These accounts, Kozbanets said, were “suspected by the SBU of spreading fear and disinformation.” Of the 170-odd account names on the list, most were Russian, but one stood out: Aaron’s! Here he is, along with the popular Russian newspaper “Rush Hour” (Chas-Pik) and a host of Cyrillic names:

  

  The shame of this story wasn’t that the SBU sent this list over, but rather that the FBI collaborated in the effort, even having the gall to forward the name of a respected, award-winning Canadian journalist to Twitter. To its credit, Twitter Trust and Safety chief Yoel Roth pushed back, noting Aaron’s name and saying, “authentic news outlets and reporters who cover the conflict with a pro-Russian stance are unlikely to be found in violation of our rules.” Nonetheless, the fact that the FBI even tried this lunatic stunt was damning.

  Now, thanks to the Weaponization Committee, we find out this situation with Aaron appears not to have been a one-off incident.

  In fact, the Committee found that since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, there’s been an ongoing pattern of mass-censorship requests, funneled from the SBU through the FBI to a whole variety of platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, for starters. As the report notes:

  The FBI, at the request of the SBU, flagged for social media companies the authentic accounts of Americans, including a verified U.S. State Department account and those belonging to American journalists. The FBI and SBU repeatedly requested the removal or suspension of authentic accounts expressing unambiguously pro-Ukrainian views, as well as those voicing opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

  As to the latter, the Committee suggested the part of the problem may be connected to an incident in which President Volodymyr Zelensky fired the head of the SBU “on account of Russian infiltration.”

  Whatever the reason for some of the moderation decisions, the pattern of behavior the Commitee uncovered probably explains some of the documents we found in the Twitter Files. For instance, now that we know for sure the FBI was forwarding SBU moderation requests to YouTube, the following document we found decrying “anti-Ukrainian narratives” in YouTube videos,” which the FITF sent to Twitter from an unidentified source, may make more sense:

  

  The Committee report also noted that the lists the SBU sent, which sometimes contained thousands of names, mostly targeted accounts from places like Russia or Belarus. However, they also roped in Americans, from a New York photographer, to the manager of a moving company in South Carolina, to a musician in Minnesota, to a professor and an author of children’s books, even an Instagram account belonging to the U.S. State Department!

  Subscribers to Racket News can read the rest here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 18:45

• Blinken: Ukraine Will Be "Defenseless" Without US Cluster Bombs
  Blinken: Ukraine Will Be “Defenseless” Without US Cluster Bombs

  Secretary of State Antony Blinken while at the NATO summit in Lithuania is promoting a message that Washington essentially had no choice but to arm Ukraine with cluster munitions because the country would have been “defenseless” with them. 

  He gave an interview to MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” and asserted that Ukraine’s own stockpile of cluster bombs and artillery is running out, even merely exhausted. 

  

  “The stockpiles around the world and in Ukraine of the unitary munitions, not the cluster munitions, were running out, about to be depleted,” Blinken began.

  “And so, the hard but necessary choice to give them the cluster munitions amounted to this: If we didn’t do it, we don’t do it, then they will run out of ammunition,” he explained to Mitchell. “If they run out of ammunition, then they will be defenseless.”

  He also when pressed by the MSNBC host continued to advance the White House talking point that Russia is already doing worse, so cluster bombs are permissible despite the well-known human rights and war crimes issues.

  Mitchell asked whether the US is ceding the moral high ground in delivering bombs which are banned by over 120 nations. “Every ally I’ve talked to has said they understand why we’re doing this when we’re doing it,” Blinken claimed.

  NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has relied on the same logic. “We are facing a brutal war, and we have to remember this brutality is reflected, that every day we see casualties, and that cluster munitions are used by both sides,” Stoltenberg said days ago. “And Russia used cluster munitions to invade another country. Ukraine is using cluster munitions to defend itself.”

  Meanwhile, a number of European allies have broken from the US on the issue, condemning the move – most notably Germany. Ukraine has long accused Berlin of being weak and hesitate in the face of the Russian invasion.

  But Blinken’s method of arguing makes clear, Washington has framed each new escalation decision as matter of life & death, despite billions in arms already shipped. Every moment is somehow “facing down Hitler”… we are told.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 07/11/2023 – 18:25

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