Today’s News 15th November 2024

• How Trump Could Transform Indo–Pacific Policy
  How Trump Could Transform Indo–Pacific Policy

  Authored by Andrew Thornebrooke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  President-elect Donald Trump’s second term in office will likely bring sweeping changes to the nation’s Indo–Pacific policy and ongoing strategic competition with China.

  

  Leaders throughout Congress and the national security space are therefore preparing for an era marked by increased confrontation as the administration pushes back on the Chinese regime’s aggression in the region.

  Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chair of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, said he expects a second Trump administration to adopt a firm approach to foreign policy in the Indo–Pacific.

  “During Trump’s first administration, peace through strength was at the forefront of American foreign policy,” Moolenaar said in a statement shared with The Epoch Times by the committee’s staff.

  That strength, Moolenaar suggests, would extend to the U.S. allies throughout the Indo–Pacific, where Trump is expected to push regional partners to increase their defense spending in order to receive continued U.S. support.

  “The entire free world must act with urgency to invest in its collective military power in order to deter conflict, support global prosperity, and defend our values against CCP [Chinese Communist Party] aggression,” Moolenaar said.

  Those increased expectations of Washington’s allies could bring both risk and opportunities to U.S. relations in the region as the nation attempts to pressure regional partners into adopting a more forward-facing defense posture.

  They will also likely bring increased volatility to the United States’ relationship with China and the CCP, including by shaping the potential for an armed conflict between the two superpowers over the future of Taiwan.

  Taiwan Flashpoint

  The CCP claims that Taiwan is part of its territory. Though the communist regime has never controlled the island, CCP leader Xi Jinping has made unifying Taiwan with the mainland a legacy issue of his rule and has ordered the Party’s military wing to prepare for a potential conflict by 2027.

  The United States does not officially support Taiwanese independence or the forceful unification of the two territories. But, since 1979, Washington has maintained obligations to sell Taiwan the arms it needs to maintain its self-defense.

  Likewise, the United States has maintained a policy of so-called strategic ambiguity since 1979, in which it will neither confirm nor deny its willingness to enter a military conflict to defend Taiwan from CCP aggression.

  However, U.S. political and military leadership have signaled that they are preparing for such an eventuality. To that end, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti issued a guidance document in September ordering the Navy to prepare for war with China by 2027.

  The United States is not interested in preserving Taiwan’s independence simply because of its democratic government. The island nation is responsible for manufacturing more than half of the world’s semiconductors and nearly 90 percent of the globe’s advanced semiconductors, used in electronic components for everything from laptops to pickup trucks to hypersonic missiles.

  To that end, Trump’s transactional approach to international security deals has thrown Taiwan’s central role in the global economy into question.

  In July, for example, Trump called for Taiwan to pay more for its defense, though the island is already one of the largest purchasers of arms from the United States.

  Since 1950, Taiwan has spent more than $50 billion on U.S. weapons, making it the fourth largest purchaser of U.S. arms behind Japan, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

  Trump has also suggested that military force would not be necessary to protect Taiwan from the CCP and has instead claimed that a severe enough economic threat to China would prevent an invasion of Taiwan.

  Russell Hsiao, executive director of the Global Taiwan Institute think tank, told The Epoch Times that Trump’s ambiguous stance on Taiwan’s defense could invite further CCP attempts to sway American and Taiwanese decision-makers away from aggressively defending the island’s de facto independence.

  “The president-elect has already indicated that he would be less clear than President Biden as to whether he thought the United States had an obligation to come to Taiwan’s defense if China decided to invade the island,” Hsiao said.

  “Washington and Taipei should be prepared for Beijing to exploit this in its cognitive warfare campaigns and quickly develop their own counter-strategies.”

  Hsiao noted, however, that Trump was “unencumbered by past precedents and norms,” which could help him to strengthen the bilateral relationship by overcoming the self-imposed restrictions of the past that have limited U.S. involvement with Taiwan on the international stage.

  As such, he said, asking for Taiwan to accept a larger share of the financial burden for its defense could be an opportunity for Taiwanese leaders to demonstrate their resolve and, in the process, garner renewed U.S. support through access to increased arms sales.

  “President-elect Trump is expected to emphasize burden-sharing in security ties with allies and partners,” Hsiao said.

  “While this may be generally seen in a negative light by most allies and partners, it should be noted that this could lead to it being more forward-leaning in providing a wider variety of arms to Taiwan suited to a range of potential contingencies.”

  Trump Expected to Deliver Security—at a Price

  Taiwanese leadership responded by saying the island was committed to taking on more responsibility and defending itself from CCP aggression.

  Taiwanese leadership may consider making a substantial arms purchase early on in the second Trump administration as a sort of down payment to demonstrate its resolve to the administration.

  John Mills, former cybersecurity chief in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, said that ensuring a robust defense budget would help Taiwan to make sure U.S. support did not flag and that military expenditure was “the primary metric” used by Trump to determine an ally’s willingness to defend itself.

  “We have a very poor track record when we carry the burden for other countries,” Mills said.

  “All that is being asked is at least 2 percent of GDP spent on defense and, in reality, 4 to 5 percent is the new 2 percent.”

  At present, Taiwan spends about 2.4 percent of its GDP on defense, according to data compiled by the CIA.

  Other U.S. allies in the region are more varied. South Korea spends about 2.7 percent of its GDP on defense, and the Philippines spends only about 1.5 percent. Japan is in a unique situation because it is currently spending 1.4 percent but is in the middle of a historic reform of its military policy and strategy, which will see that figure rise to at least 2 percent in the coming years.

  Yet none of those numbers at their current levels are likely to please the incoming Trump administration if it is truly so set on encouraging the nation’s allies in the Indo–Pacific to take point on confronting the Chinese regime’s global expansion.

  There may be some wiggle room, however, as the administration looks to use less traditional pathways to secure its international interests.

  Sam Kessler, a geopolitical analyst at the North Star Support Group risk advisory company, said that a hallmark of the first Trump administration was its ability to think outside of the box, and that would likely only increase now, given Trump’s growing distance from the old guard of the Republican Party.

  “The Trump administration in the first term was innovative, proactive, and resourceful in the deals and agreements they crafted, so expect something similar, as well as a little predicted unpredictability, too,” Kessler told The Epoch Times.

  “This may be done in the form of trade deals, security arrangements, foreign investments, and policies that may help reduce the threat levels, too. It could be a wide range of things that could be utilized.”

  On that note, Kessler suggests that Trump would revisit trade deals and strong economic measures when confronting China and might prove surprisingly willing to take a proactive stance in the bilateral relationship with China.

  Such economic deals, he said, could have the secondary objective of smoothing out regional tensions and preserving allied security while holding the CCP accountable economically.

  “We may end up witnessing a series of deals and agreements that may be related to multiple issues that are non-related to the original purpose of a negotiation in order to reduce tensions between multiple parties in other areas,” Kessler said.

  In all, it is clear that U.S. allies in the Indo–Pacific will be expected to contribute more to the common defense in the region, and such efforts will not go unseen.

  With that much in mind, Mills said that he believes the likelihood of an armed conflict would drop, as Trump’s expectations for all nations in the Indo–Pacific would be clear.

  “The likelihood of conflict in the western Pacific decreases significantly under Trump,” Mills said.

  “Why? Because he’s showing clarity and resolve at all times. Clarity and resolve help prevent war. Lack of clarity and resolve creates war.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 23:50

• Tennessee Official Warns: Venezuelan Gangsters "Back In All Of Our Major Cities" 
  Tennessee Official Warns: Venezuelan Gangsters “Back In All Of Our Major Cities” 

  The American people are expressing joy about President-elect Trump’s selection of Tom Homan as the incoming “border czar” to combat Biden-Harris’ illegal alien invasion at the open southern border, which has been linked to thousands of armed Venezuela prison gang Tren de Aragua members storming communities nationwide.

  Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch is the latest official to warn about TdA members taking over his cities. He said these illegal alien criminals have been spotted in all major cities in Tennessee. 

  Local media outlet WVLT News quoted Rausch, who warned that TdA members have been involved in human trafficking within the state. 

  “They are back in all of our major cities. They are running human trafficking operations, and that’s where they start,” said Rausch.

  Rausch told Governor Bill Lee on Tuesday that the foreign prison gang was active across the state in 2023, but after a number of arrests, activity slumped. However, he said, in just the past few months, TdA activity has surged once again. 

  The TBI director said TdA members were also involved in organized retail theft and drug crimes within the state. 

  “They will not hesitate to attack their opponents in public or in broad daylight,” Rausch warned. 

  A recently leaked US Army North Division report showed an estimated 5,000 TdA members running amok nationwide. 

  

  TdA members have caused chaos in Aurora, Colorado to Texas to New York.

  

  These disastrous globalist policies pushed by the far-left Biden-Harris admin neglected to uphold national security for citizens while ten-plus million unvetted illegal aliens stormed the nation. 

  

  Tennessee voters shifted toward Trump in last week’s presidential election, signaling frustration with the globalist in the White House.

  

  Months ago, Homan had a message to the illegals…

  This is Tom Homan, President Trump’s Border Czar. His message to all the illegals who crossed the border will give you goosebumps, “You better start packing now… cause you’re going home.”

  And to the cartels, he said, “Trump will wipe you off the face of the Earth! YOU’RE… pic.twitter.com/ygZICaVVJb

  — George (@BehizyTweets) November 11, 2024

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

  The restoration of national security is only months away. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 23:25

• Democratic Governors Create Coalition To Push Back Against Trump Policies
  Democratic Governors Create Coalition To Push Back Against Trump Policies

  Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The governors of Illinois and Colorado, both Democrats, have announced the formation of a new alliance to resist President-elect Donald Trump’s policies, just weeks before he is set to assume office.

  

  The alliance, named “Governors Safeguarding Democracy” (GSD), is being billed as a nonpartisan coalition of governors who will work together to prevent “authoritarianism” and the “undermining of democratic institutions,” including executive agencies, elections, and state courts, according to a Nov. 13 statement announcing the group.

  Through the group, governors will leverage their “unique legislative, budgetary, executive, and administrative powers to deliver results for the American people,” the statement said.

  The alliance will also develop “playbooks” to enable governors and their teams to “anticipate and swiftly respond to emerging threats,” according to the statement. The group did not specify what those threats were.

  Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Jared Polis of Colorado launched the group and will act as co-chairs overseeing the coalition. The group will be supported by a network of senior staff designated by each governor.

  Democrats currently govern 23 states while Republicans govern 27. Neither Polis nor Pritzker said how many governors have joined the coalition so far.

  A spokesperson for Trump’s transition team, Karoline Leavitt, said in response to the group’s formation that the president-elect “will serve all Americans, even those who did not vote for him in the election.”

  “He will unify the country through success,” Leavitt said.

  The coalition says it will be supported by the Governors Action Alliance (GovAct), a nonpartisan organization that will collaborate with think tanks, legal experts, and democracy advocates to tackle the “unique challenges facing American democracy today,” according to the statement.

  According to its official website, GovAct is advised by a board that includes former Republican and Democratic governors from states such as Minnesota and Massachusetts, as well as a former deputy attorney general.

  Specifics regarding how exactly the alliance would function were not provided.

  In a statement, Pritzker said the alliance was formed amid a “critical moment in our history … to protect the foundations of our democracy and ensure our institutions withstand threats and persevere in their mission to improve the lives of our people.”

  Trump, who campaigned on proposals including deporting illegal immigrants and imposing tariffs, scored a decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in last week’s election.

  The alliance was unveiled as multiple leaders from the Democratic Party vowed to uphold various policies related to access to abortion, climate, diversity programs, and LGBT issues following the former president’s election win.

  On Nov. 7, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to convene a special session later this year to address Trump policies, which he said threaten the state’s values.

  According to a statement from Newsom’s office, the special session will respond to public statements and proposals put forward by Trump and his advisers, as well as actions taken during his previous time in office, which the statement described as “an agenda that could erode essential freedoms and individual rights, including women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights.”

  

  The special session will begin on Dec. 2, when the Legislature convenes.

  Last week, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said that his legal team had been preparing for months to respond to future Trump policies, while New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she is working with her attorney general on how to “protect New Yorkers’ fundamental freedoms.”

  Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was Harris’s running mate in the recent presidential election, told supporters during a Nov. 8 speech in Eagan, Minnesota, that he would “stand ready to stand up and fight” if the incoming Trump administration brings a “hateful agenda” to the state.

  Reuters contributed to this report.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 23:00

• Manhattan Apartment Rents Climb To Summer Highs As Mortgage Rates Top 7%
  Manhattan Apartment Rents Climb To Summer Highs As Mortgage Rates Top 7%

  Prospective homebuyers in Manhattan were sidelined last month as the rate on a 30-year mortgage topped 7%. As a result, rents in the borough rose to three-month highs due to sliding housing affordability.

  Bloomberg cited new data from brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate and appraiser Miller Samuel that showed the median Manhattan apartment rent climbed 2.4% from a year earlier to $4,295. This was the first annual gain since April.

  In other surrounding boroughs, new leases signed in Brooklyn last month averaged around $3,600, up 3.2% from a year earlier. In northwest Queens, median rents were up nearly 5% to $3,350.

  

  In recent weeks, the US 10-year Treasury bond yield, which lenders use as a guide to price home loans, jumped in anticipation of a Trump win. Yields soared even after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate. This is mostly because traders forecasted elevated inflation under the Trump administration. 

  Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, noted that lower mortgage rates lured some renters to purchase homes before the presidential election. However, he noted that rents started to re-accelerate as soon as mortgage rates bottomed in late September and surged through October. He added that a 30-year mortgage rate over 7% has pressured rents higher. 

  “Rents tend to follow mortgage rates,” Miller said, adding, “The higher the mortgage rate, the higher rent.”

  

  Miller said newly signed leases jumped 24% last month compared to one year ago. He noted that higher rates have sparked a surge in activity this fall. 

  “Mortgage rates still aren’t coming down,” Miller said, pointing out, “Economic policy would not seem to suggest that mortgage rates will fall significantly. If anything, rents will stay where they are, or rise, moving forward.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 22:35

• Bernie Sanders Screams, 'More Cowbell!'
  Bernie Sanders Screams, ‘More Cowbell!’

  Authored by Neel Brown via RealClearPolitics,

  As Americans voted decisively for a candidate who explicitly rejects nearly everything that Bernie Sanders advocates, Vermont’s senior senator insists that the Democratic Party just wasn’t liberal enough. The mindset of the far left seems to be that the working class just needs more of what they just voted against. For Bernie, the answer is always, “more cowbell.”

  

  Four years ago, the United States elected “Scranton Joe,” a pragmatic with a long record of achievement in the Senate and the Obama administration attained through compromise and common sense. On economic issues, Joe Biden presented himself as a pro-energy, pro-growth, pro-worker – old-school Democrat. He made a point of eschewing the left’s “defund the police” fever and ended his speeches by saying, “May God bless our troops.” Americans were yearning for what he offered and elected him as a serious and pragmatic alternative to a chaotic Trump.

  Then came the Elizabeth Warren camp. From day one, the Biden administration was flooded with operatives from the Bernie/Liz left wing of the Democratic Party. What ensued was an overt shift from Scranton Joe’s campaign promises to policies for and by the liberal elite. Like those annoying clothing labels that are itchy and unnecessary, the Sanders/Warren brand was sewn into nearly every policy that came out of the White House.

  On energy issues, Biden delivered on his campaign promise for an all-of-the-above energy strategy. He passed the boldest and most comprehensive green energy investment in U.S. history while governing over record domestic energy production that literally saved Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

  Instead of championing Biden’s successes, the far left hatched a plan to end future build-outs of liquified natural gas facilities. This policy sent the wrong message to our allies around the world, and was a betrayal of the tens of thousands of energy workers in Pennsylvania. Additionally, this policy likely increased global carbon emissions by prolonging coal burning and increasing demand for LNG from dirtier sources. This pandering to the left crippled the Harris campaign in the must-win state of Pennsylvania.

  The massive drive for student debt relief is another example of how the left wing of the party is out of touch with working-class Americans. By sending out over $400 billion dollars to college graduates, the non-college, working-class Americans received a clear message: “Democrats believe that contributions to society by the college educated are more important than mine.”

  As inflation eroded their spending power, these workers didn’t get tens of thousands of dollars, but they watched other, many fewer, and more privileged Americans cash those checks. The worst part of this policy is that most recipients of this relief still have debts, and there was no reform of the American higher education system to lower future tuition rates. Instead, it provided incentives for universities to raise tuition even higher – even though the cost of higher education has far outpaced overall inflation for a generation.

  The broad anti-business rhetoric from the Bernie/Warren camp is out of step with the everyday needs and struggles of Americans. There are a host of long-standing “paychecks and pocketbooks” issues that the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice could have addressed during the Biden administration. These include serious competition problems in some food and agriculture and healthcare markets that drive up prices for consumers – often forcing them to make decisions about what bills to pay, or not. Biden’s FTC and DOJ instead focused enormous, limited public resources on the tech companies where any competition problems are far more remotely connected to consumers. Perversely, working-class Americans don’t have a litany of complaints about tech companies, and the problems that the FTC and DOJ pursued have very little effect on household budgets.

  Finally, Biden’s paralysis on the border and immigration policy was a critical part of Kamala Harris’ defeat this year. At the eleventh hour, as the campaign for president was already underway, they finally got serious about an immigration reform bill. It was too late. The far left’s unbending refusal to even acknowledge the crisis at the border crippled any chances of meaningful legislation when it could have made a difference. The end result of the left’s steadfast denialism of the problem is likely to be a Trump administration policy that is draconian and un-American.

  Bernie Sanders is right about one thing: The Democratic Party has abandoned the working class. But not in the ways that he thinks. The party has bent to the pressure from the most ideological activists while simultaneously failing to take credit for the huge successes achieved in the center of the political spectrum. The moralistic preaching from the far left on what the working class needs, even while those voters overtly reject it, is akin to the incessant ringing of the cowbell when we’ve already had enough.

  We must re-center the Democratic Party. We must listen to Americans and fashion policies that reflect an understanding of what they need and want. We cannot bend further to the left’s delusional insistence that the working class “just don’t know what’s best for them.”

  Neel Brown is managing director at the Progressive Policy Institute.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 22:10

• "Big Short" Michael Burry Boosts China Exposure, But Adds Hedges: 13F
  “Big Short” Michael Burry Boosts China Exposure, But Adds Hedges: 13F

  Michael “the Big Short” Burry boosted his exposures to China stocks including Alibaba, Baidu and JD.com in the third quarter as Beijing rolled out a stimulus blitz. But he also added new bearish options that would provide downside protection, a move that may have been especially prudent as the Chinese rally recently fizzled as fast as it arrived.

  Scion Asset Management, Burry’s family office, increased its holdings of Alibaba by almost 30% to 200,000 shares during the quarter. At the same time, Scion bought put options with the notional value equivalent to 84% of its Alibaba holdings, according to a 13F regulatory filing on Thursday. The put options allow Scion to sell the stocks to lock in a profit or limit losses, should Alibaba tumble.

  Burry used the same tactics for two other Chinese investments — Baidu Inc. and JD.com Inc. For JD.com, Scion doubled its stakes in the three months through September while adding bearish wagers against the stock positions. In Baidu, he increased its position by two-thirds but also hedged its exposure. The full breakdown is below.

  

  The three Chinese stocks including Alibaba were worth $54 million at the end of September, representing about 65% of Burry’s total equity holdings.

  The hedges could have proven timely according to Bloomberg. The three stocks all have lost more than 20% since peaking in early October, retreating to levels when Beijing announced stimulus in late September

  

  Burry has been one of the few prominent China stock bulls among hedge fund investors, along with Appaloosa’s David Tepper, even before Beijing’s major policy shift in September. In the first quarter, he loaded up on Chinese stocks and more than doubled his stake in Alibaba, then further increased that position in the second quarter to make it the firm’s top holding as of June 30.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 21:45

• US Jury Awards $42 Million To 3 Iraqi Men Tortured At Abu Ghraib By Defense Contractor
  US Jury Awards $42 Million To 3 Iraqi Men Tortured At Abu Ghraib By Defense Contractor

  Authored by Adam Dick via the Ron Paul Institute,

  The released photos documenting torture of prisoners at the United States government’s Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq during the Iraq War disgusted many people who could look beyond the war propaganda to feel sympathy for their fellow human beings.

  Even if it was assumed that all the people pictured in the midst of their torture were themselves guilty of heinous crimes — an assumption that lacked foundation, the torture was a breach of civilized behavior.

  Two decades later, some accountability has been meted out by a jury in Alexandria, Virginia.

  

  The jury decided Tuesday that the military contractor CACI Premier Technology Inc. is liable to pay a total of 42 million dollars in damages to Suhail Al Shimari, Salah Al-Ejaili, and Asa’ad Zuba’e — three former detainees at Abu Ghraib in the 2003 through 2004 time period who had brought a lawsuit against the company whose employees worked as interrogators at the prison.

  Reporting at the Associated Press on the jury’s decision, Matthew Barakat wrote:

  The $42 million fully matches the amount sought by the plaintiffs, [Center for Constitutional Rights Legal Director Baher Azmy] said. It’s also more than the $31 million that the plaintiffs said CACI was paid to supply interrogators to Abu Ghraib.

  The Center for Constitutional Rights, which aided the plaintiffs who won the case, indicated in a press release regarding the jury’s award of damages that the outcome of the case suggests liability may be imposed on other companies as well for US government torture activities:

  The first case of its kind to make it to trial, Al Shimari, et al. v. CACI delivers a rare measure of justice to survivors of the U.S. government’s post-9/11 torture regime, which extended from Guantanamo to Iraq and Afghanistan to secret prisons around the world. It also brings a new degree of accountability to the shadowy realm of security contractors at a time when employees of private companies, integral to the U.S. “war on terror,” have often been implicated in human rights abuses across the globe. 

  According to more from the statement: “The jury found CACI liable for conspiring to torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of Suhail Al Shimari, a middle school principal, Asa’ad Zuba’e, a fruit vendor, and Salah Al-Ejaili, a journalist. The men were all held at the ‘hard site,’ the part of the prison where the most severe abuses occurred. Along with hundreds of other Iraqis tortured at Abu Ghraib, they have suffered long-standing physical and emotional effects.”

  Photo from November 2003 shows a prisoner being tortured at Abu Ghraib Prison by US forces. The prisoner had electric wires attached to him and faced the threat of electrocution if he fell off the box. pic.twitter.com/Grg2BjXGSQ

  — Morbid Knowledge (@Morbidful) October 1, 2024

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  Still, the primary torture culprit — the US government and its employees — continues to evade liability for its activities at Abu Ghraib and other torture sites around the world.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 21:20

• MAHA's Nicole Shanahan Shares Vision To Make Small Farms Great Again
  MAHA’s Nicole Shanahan Shares Vision To Make Small Farms Great Again

  Update: 

  President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.

  *   *   *

  As President-elect Donald Trump selects Cabinet appointees for his second term, attention has turned to where Robert F. Kennedy Jr., leader of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, might be placed—potentially in agencies overseeing food or health policies.

  In the days before the presidential election, RFK Jr. published a short video on X indicating that when Trump “gets me inside” the United States Department of Agriculture, “we’re going to give farmers an off-ramp from the current system that destroys soil, makes people sick, and harms family farms.” 

  When @realDonaldTrump gets me inside the USDA, we’re going to give farmers an off-ramp from the current system that destroys soil, makes people sick, and harms family farms.

  If you want this to happen as much as I do, ​PLEASE DONATE TODAY ➡️ https://t.co/YxxGkb2Ulq pic.twitter.com/npo6ZEiIo6

  — Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) October 30, 2024

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  In other words, RFK Jr. and the MAHA team will ensure that small farms are made great again by directing policies to focus on traditional agriculture.

  The Trump victory signals that Americans want to drain the DC swamp and improve their health—if that’s through busting up the corruption in the USDA and FDA. The MAHA movement ensures that small farms will be prioritized over mega-corporate farms. 

  RFK Jr.’s former running mate, Nicole Shanahan, provided more color in a recent interview about some of the MAHA plans:

  “We’re definitely up against a lot, between what I call the real food movement and the fake food movement, and really what belies these two movements is a population of people who don’t need to spend an enormous amount of money on healthcare services, that are healthy, that are vibrant … and then belying the fake food movement is very, very wealthy corporations that are going to have an endless patient pool, and are going to have a consumer base that actually is physically addicted to some of these products.

  And then also, an entire psychology around it that has people believing that they’re sacrificing themselves for the greater good … we saw it play out in the delivery of the Covid vaccines.”

  Shanahan continued:

  “This is where I want to make the investments in our country. I want to create an entire – I want to bring back the infrastructure that allowed small and mid-size growers to be able to produce, and process, and package, and distribute locally, because that has all been taken away for the most part – it’s why it’s impossible economically for small growers to make a profit today.”  

  Earlier in the interview, she noted:

  “I’ve been a producer on a few of these regenerative agriculture films, and the biggest pushback we’ve ever gotten [was] from the artificial meat investors.

  Nice Shanahan: The movement for real food is “up against A LOT”

  “I want to bring BACK the infrastructure that allowed small and mid-size growers to be able to produce, and process, and package, and distribute locally, because that has all been taken away.”

  “I’ve been a producer… pic.twitter.com/iDxGKduFhc

  — American Values 🗽 (@AV24org) November 14, 2024

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  Bold vision: Go long small farms? Go short, fake meat?

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 20:55

• 'Snow White' Actress Goes Wicked Witch: Wishes Harm On Trump & All His Supporters
  ‘Snow White’ Actress Goes Wicked Witch: Wishes Harm On Trump & All His Supporters

  Authored by Eric Lendrum via American Greatness,

  Rachel Zegler, the scandal-plagued star of Disney’s upcoming live-action “Snow White” remake, has once again found herself embroiled in controversy, this time for her numerous attacks against supporters of President-elect Donald Trump.

  

  As reported by Breitbart, the 23-year-old actress posted a series of raving rants on her Instagram stories attacking the 45th and 47th President, as well as all of his supporters.

  “I find myself speechless in the midst of this,” said Zegler.

  “Another four years of hatred, leaning us towards a world I do not want to live in. May Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace.”

  She went on to say that she considers Trump supporters to be a “deep, deep sickness in this country,” and that she believes “there is no help, no counsel, in any of them.”

  

  After a plea with her followers to delete their X accounts out of protest of Elon Musk, who supported President Trump’s campaign, she concluded by simply saying “F**k Donald Trump.”

  Zegler has earned a reputation as a gaffe-prone and volatile actress. In 2023, she went viral for unhinged remarks she made during a red carpet appearance in which she repeatedly criticized the original “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” accusing the 1937 classic of being out-of-date, sexist, and “weird.”

  She also openly suggested that her co-star Andrew Burnap, who plays the Prince Charming character, could be “cut from the film” entirely, smugly remarking “it’s Hollywood, baby.”

  Her comments ignited widespread backlash on social media, with Disney scrambling to retrain the actress on what to say and not to say in public appearances regarding the film. Zegler subsequently began taking a much more deferential tone towards the original film in later interviews, but the damage had been done. The film, originally scheduled to be released in 2024, was delayed back to 2025. With a production budget of over $200 million, the film may have to earn as much as $600 million just to break even, which may be impossible due to the growing online campaign to boycott the film due to Zegler’s remarks.

  The film also faced controversy for its decision to completely remove the Seven Dwarves themselves. After actor Peter Dinklage, himself a midget, claimed that the dwarf characters were examples of bigotry, Disney decided to initially replace the dwarves with seven generic characters of various races and genders. When a leaked photo of the seven non-dwarf characters went viral, mockery and criticism on social media led to Disney again revamping the film and moving forward with seven computer-generated dwarves. Both the film and Dinklage have since come under fire from fans and numerous other dwarf actors, who feel that the film would have provided an opportunity for multiple dwarf actors to star as the iconic characters.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 20:30

• Not So Fast! Infowars Auction Thrown Into Chaos After Judge Investigates Malarkey
  Not So Fast! Infowars Auction Thrown Into Chaos After Judge Investigates Malarkey

  (Update 2020ET): Just when you thought the least funny website on the planet, The Onion, had prevailed in the Infowars auction, the judge in the case put the brakes on the sale after it was revealed that the (anti-Jones) bankruptcy trustee did not accept the highest bid, and instead allowed the Sandy Hook families to ‘assist’ by pledging their massive judgement towards the auction – which Jones says is illegal.

  

  Jones explains it in 10 minutes:

  Legal Bombshell: Judge Blocks Sale Of InfoWars, Slams How Auction Was Conducted! Alex Jones Reveals Shocking Details

  Follow us @AJNlive pic.twitter.com/Vc9X8OwJmW

  — Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) November 15, 2024

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  According to Jones, there should be some sort of a hearing to discuss this early next week. He believes that the judge is likely to order a new auction for sometime in January, where a Jones-allied group will have the opportunity to buy the company without the trustee picking their own winner regardless of actual bid.

  The saga continues…

  *  *  *

  (Update 1130ET): Hours after yesterday’s auction, Infowars.com is now down. We wish Alex Jones well on his next endeavor, which we’re guessing is going to be massive.

  pic.twitter.com/H9pBclnikh

  — Sal the Agorist (@SallyMayweather) November 14, 2024

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

  According to Jones, a lower bid was accepted.

  🚨 Alex Jones confirms that the highest bid for InfoWars at the Federal Auction was not accepted and they chose the lower bid from The Onion instead, likely to make sure he wouldn’t retain control. This shows it’s not about helping the Sandy Hook families, it’s about punishment. pic.twitter.com/ADZx0xfuPR

  — Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) November 14, 2024

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  *  *  *

  The leftist-satirical rag The Onion announced on Thursday that it had won a bankruptcy auction to acquire Infowars – the website founded and operated by Alex Jones since 1999.

  

  On Wednesday, Jones said that the auction’s trustee could choose any bidder it wanted – not necessarily the high bidder. Jones announced the sale on X Thursday morning.

  “I just got word 15 minutes ago that my lawyers and folks met with the U.S. trustee over our bankruptcy this morning and they said they are shutting us down even without a court order this morning,” he said. “The Connecticut democrats with The Onion newspaper bought us.“

  Infowars is being shut down now! pic.twitter.com/nb4loGvL12

  — Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) November 14, 2024

  The Onion told the NY Times that the bid was sanctioned by the families of the victims of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, who won a $1.4 billion defamation lawsuit against Jones.

  The Onion did not disclose the price it paid for Infowars and its assets, including Jones’ production studio and supplement business.

  Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion parent company, Global Tetrahedron, says he plans to relaunch Infowars in January as a parody of itself, mocking “weird internet personalities.”

  In a not-funny post, The Onion wrote:

  What’s next for InfoWars remains a live issue. The excess funds initially allocated for the purchase will be reinvested into our philanthropic efforts that include business school scholarships for promising cult leaders, a charity that donates elections to at-risk third world dictators, and a new pro bono program pairing orphans with stable factory jobs at no cost to the factories.

  As for the vitamins and supplements, we are halting their sale immediately. Utilitarian logic dictates that if we can extend even one CEO’s life by 10 minutes, diluting these miracle elixirs for public consumption is an unethical waste. Instead, we plan to collect the entire stock of the InfoWars warehouses into a large vat and boil the contents down into a single candy bar–sized omnivitamin that one executive (I will not name names) may eat in order to increase his power and perhaps become immortal.

  After Infowars is raped and rebooted, the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety says it plans to advertise on it. Collins declined to disclose the value of said advertising deal, but that it was a multiyear agreement that would include banner ads and sponsored articles on the site.

  BREAKING: Democrats Are On Their Way To The Building To Shut InfoWars Down Now– Alex Jones Explains The Future of InfoWars In This Critical Emergency Broadcast https://t.co/eBE30t4Gf6

  — Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) November 14, 2024

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

  John Feinblatt, president of Everytown, told the NY Times, “This was an opportunity for us to give The Onion the facts, the storytelling, the data and the research that’s at our fingertips,” adding “And for them to give us the creativity of how to turn all of that information into new messaging to a new audience.”

  Collins said that the relaunched Infowars might publish its own satirical stories focusing on gun violence.

  Chris Mattei, a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families, said in a statement that taking possession of Infowars amounted to accountability for “Alex Jones and his corrupt business.”

  “By divesting Jones of Infowars’ assets, the families and the team at The Onion have done a public service and will meaningfully hinder Jones’s ability to do more harm,” said Mattei.

  According to the NYT, “The plan is to relaunch it next year with an approach reminiscent of Clickhole, The Onion’s sister site that poked fun at “listicles” from BuzzFeed and other purveyors of viral content.”

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

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 20:21

• In Most U.S. Cities, Social Security Payments Last Married Couples Just 19 Days Or Less
  In Most U.S. Cities, Social Security Payments Last Married Couples Just 19 Days Or Less

  Relying solely on Social Security for retirement, especially as a married couple, may need a serious second look. New findings from GOBankingRates reveal that in 50 major U.S. cities, Social Security income won’t even cover a full month’s expenses. At best, these benefits might last up to 19 days, but in six of these cities, they fall short in under 10 days.

  GOBankingRates conducted an analysis of the 100 largest U.S. cities by population, using the average Social Security benefits for married couples to assess how far this income stretches when set against living costs.

  The recent study reveals that in many U.S. cities, Social Security benefits fall far short of covering even half a month’s living expenses for married retirees. In particular, six major cities—including Irvine, Fremont, San Jose, San Francisco, Honolulu, and San Diego—offer the briefest financial coverage from Social Security, with benefits lasting between just 6.73 and 9.59 days, according to GoBankingRates.com.

  Irvine, California, stands out as the city where benefits stretch the least, covering under a week’s worth of expenses, with a monthly cost of living that exceeds $9,700 for a couple.

  The findings show that California is a challenging state for retirees relying on Social Security alone, with 15 of its cities appearing in the top 50 cities where benefits last the shortest.

  Within the top 10 cities with the shortest Social Security coverage, California holds seven spots, underscoring the high cost of living in the state. While Irvine ranks as the most expensive, Stockton, California, provides the most days of coverage in the state at nearly 18 days—though even this is well below a full month.

  

  At the other end of the spectrum, Saint Petersburg, Florida, ranks as the city where Social Security lasts the longest among the 50 cities analyzed, stretching to 19.38 days for married couples. This reflects the lower cost of living in Saint Petersburg, where expenses amount to $1,584 monthly.

  Florida’s comparatively affordable living costs mean that, while Social Security coverage still falls short of a full month, retirees may face less financial strain.

  The GoBankingRates.com study showed that beyond California and Florida, cities like Arlington, Virginia, and Seattle also show limited Social Security coverage, lasting only around 10 to 11 days. Arlington, with a monthly cost of $5,307, and Seattle, at $4,733, both represent high-cost areas where retirees might struggle to maintain financial stability on Social Security alone.

  Honolulu is the sole representative from Hawaii in the top six, where the high cost of living cuts Social Security coverage to just over 8 days.

  The study’s detailed breakdown shows a significant disparity between cities, where monthly costs range from $9,794 in Irvine to $1,584 in Saint Petersburg. Even cities with more affordable housing and expenses, such as Gilbert, Arizona, and Austin, Texas, provide just around 16 days of coverage, demonstrating that even in lower-cost cities, retirees would need supplementary income to cover basic living expenses each month.

  Ultimately, the findings illustrate the pressing financial challenge facing retirees in urban areas across the United States. With the cost of living continually rising, retirees must consider alternative income sources or substantial savings to bridge the gap left by Social Security benefits, especially in cities where expenses drastically outpace what Social Security provides.

  You can view the study’s methodology and full results here. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 20:05

• The Retreat Of DEI In Corporate America
  The Retreat Of DEI In Corporate America

  Authored by Paul Miller via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  This summer we saw the wheels come off the “Social” bus. Nearly a dozen large public companies pulled the plug on their DEI initiatives. This is good news for consumers and for the million workers who had to navigate an increasingly politicized workplace. Many corporate executives began remembering that their job is to create value for shareholders by focusing on their customers and delivering goods and services with excellence, not promoting divisive social ideology.

  

  These large public companies have been facing pressure from activist investors like Robby Starbuck, customers, and elected officials. And they’ve determined what critics have known all along: DEI and other Social initiatives are expendable programs. They don’t add to a company’s bottom line nor improve its efficiency. In fact, these DEI initiatives drain time, money, and other resources. Companies don’t need chief diversity officers, sensitivity training, or quotas to recruit and retain good talent or to treat employees fairly.

  In June, Tractor Supply canceled ”an array of corporate diversity and climate efforts,” citing the negative reactions they had been getting from a huge number of their customers. In July, John Deere announced that it would end its DEI initiatives—emphasizing their commitment to customers and to quality recruitment and operations. In August, Ford announced that it would no longer participate in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual workplace survey. Lowes also announced in August that it would no longer participate in the HRC’s diversity surveys or in LGBTQ+ and other social issue events. In October, Toyota said it will no longer sponsor LGBTQ+ events, instead focusing its philanthropy on “STEM education and workforce readiness.”

  Here is a list of large public corporations that dropped their commitments to DEI this summer:

  • Tractor Supply (~50,000 employees; market cap: ~$32 billion)
  • John Deere (~80,000 employees; market cap: ~$111 billion)
  • Ford Motors (~177,000 employees; market cap: ~$44 billion)
  • Lowes (~300,000 employees; market cap: ~$160 billion)
  • Harley-Davidson (~11,000 employees; market cap: ~$5 billion)
  • Brown-Forman Corp. (~ 6000 employees; market cap: ~$23 billion)
  • Molson Coors (~16,000 employees; market cap: ~$11 billion)
  • Stanley Black & Decker (~50,000 employees; market cap: ~$16 billion)
  • Toyota (~380,000 employees; market cap: ~$270 billion)
  • Boeing (~170,000 employees; ~$95 billion)

  Taken together, these public companies represent over a million workers and nearly a trillion dollars of market value. Although there is some variation in exactly how much these companies have rolled back their DEI policies, they all share one or more of the following characteristics.

  1. No longer funding or participating in social or cultural “awareness” events
  2. No longer participating in the HRC’s diversity surveys
  3. Removing DEI language and priorities in their hiring and recruiting

  Public companies have long engaged in activities to improve their brand image and to develop positive reputations in the communities where they operate. They try to build goodwill through corporate philanthropy—giving money for parks, museums, schools, and other cultural amenities. They also try to improve their reputation by joining various causes and partnerships—such as working on public health, public literacy, and job training initiatives.

  But in recent years, especially starting in 2020, many public companies directed resources to controversial and ideological causes in the name of improving their brand and reputation—such as participating in cultural or social “awareness” events like an LGBTQ+ parade or a BLM gathering. Public companies’ retreat from DEI usually includes statements that they will stick to traditional forms of corporate philanthropy and no longer participate in these controversial social and political activism events.

  One of the most important proponents of DEI has been the Human Rights Campaign. They have actively worked to change business recruitment and hiring practices to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (especially on the LGBTQ+ front). Their method involved sending questionnaires to public companies and scoring them along their “human rights” index. Most of the companies who backtracked from DEI have explicitly stated that they will no longer participate in HRC’s questionnaire.

  These companies have also removed DEI language, goals, positions, and training from their operations. For some, they have eliminated “sustainability” and “diversity” positions. Others have removed DEI targets from bonus evaluations for their executives. They have also walked back DEI-based recruitment targets in favor of competence and excellence. Company performance for shareholders, operational excellence, and delivering value to customers have been re-centered in these companies’ policies and strategies.

  Organizations sympathetic to DEI like Microsoft, Google, and other large tech companies, have scaled back how much they talk about the issue and how many resources they devote to it. Even Larry Fink, CEO of Blackrock and a proponent of ESG, has abandoned the term because it became too “political.” Other large companies have been downplaying their DEI commitments even if they haven’t fully reversed them. One of the only places DEI continues to make headway is government bureaucracies like public schools and universities, libraries, and regulatory agencies.

  DEI programs are a part of the broader Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) movement. But the ESG moniker never had logical coherence. Pursuing environmental goals often undermines Social goals and vice versa. Pursuing Social goals often undermines good Governance. ESG gained traction because it was a vacuous umbrella term that could be used to advance many different, and at times contradictory, ideological values.

  Even ESG advocates who want to preserve environmental and governance goals should abandon the DEI movement to its fate in history’s dustbin of bad ideas. The summer of 2024 will be noted for the retreat of DEI programs in corporate America. Let’s hope that 2025 will be remembered for the retreat of DEI and other woke ideology across the federal and state governments.

  From the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER)

  Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 19:40

• Barack Obama: The Political Genius That Wasn't
  Barack Obama: The Political Genius That Wasn’t

  Authored by Richard Truesdell and Keith Lehmann via American Greatness,

  Every few months, a sanitized report appears on the post-presidency activities of Barack Obama’s public advocacy.

  It’s a narrative that conveniently ignores the inherent problems in having a person with no constitutional role or congressional oversight take an active role in executive decision-making.

  

  Over the summer of 2024, Obama emerged as a central figure in government censorship of the internet while launching a new campaign against gun ownership. In earlier times, the spectacle of an ex-president leading simultaneous campaigns against the First and Second Amendments might have generated some interest in the legacy media. But as last week’s election coverage proved, the press is no longer interested in reporting hard facts or maintaining transparency. The mockingbird media are now servants of those holding power and will do anything to advance their interests.

  Yet there is another interpretation of Obama’s peculiar involvement with Democrat operatives during the Trump and Biden administrations. It is that Obama was never the leader of anything, neither then nor now.

  Post-presidency, Obama was fixated on collecting laundered wealth from intermediaries such as Spotify and Netflix, buying luxury properties, and hanging out on private yachts with celebrities. His stratospheric levels of egotism and absence of self-awareness motivated him to occasionally appear in public next to Biden as a larger, more popular figure, signaling that he was “The One” who was calling the shots. We know this to be completely false.

  Obama has proven to be a celebrity-obsessed, pretend billionaire with the lazy pretense of having any positive influence whatsoever on the inner workings of the American government. He has presented himself as a self-consumed lightweight who was breathtakingly narcissistic even by Washington, D.C., standards.

  Floating to the Top on a Cloud of Projection

  Obama’s lack of managerial experience and his thin understanding of important issues did not matter—Democrats wanted a malleable figure as the leader of the Free World who could speak decisively, travel the world repeating leftist platitudes convincingly off a teleprompter, and sign anything put in front of him.

  What Democrats failed to comprehend was that the projection of their beliefs onto a relatively unknown, singular person was to create a figure that would ultimately destroy their party in ways they did not anticipate. Obama’s far-left beliefs, his antipathy toward America, and his racial divisiveness were somewhat hidden at first, yet became quite obvious as he was put on a pedestal by Democrats who were blinded by his charm.

  Nowhere was this more evident than after Kamala Harris was installed as the candidate. The failure of his vice presidential understudy, Joe Biden, was pushed aside after the disastrous first presidential debate where he seemed dazed and confused. Democrat power brokers, specifically Obama along with Nancy Pelosi, knew there was no way that Biden could defeat Donald Trump in November.

  What they didn’t count on was Biden immediately endorsing his vice president. Obama and Pelosi didn’t see that move coming. As a result, politically, they got caught completely flat-footed. It was wonderful for all of us on the right to watch and as much as any political move in 2024, it ensured Harris’s and the Democrats’ stunning defeat.

  This should come as no surprise to anyone who has observed presidential politics from the moment Obama was sworn in on January 20, 2009, to last week’s election. The cult of personality surrounding Obama prevented the damage from being seen in its entirety until well after Obama’s second term. His radicalism, hatred of America and Israel, and his tendency to be attracted to wealth and fame compromised his presidency and explained how the Democrat Party lurched so far to the left and alienated a large portion of its moderate base.

  Obama’s fascination with billionaires led to an emerging oligarchy, especially in the tech sector, tightening its grip on the government at large. His penchant for “settling scores” resulted in the weaponization of nearly every government agency against American citizens. Race relations were set back to the 1950s. Inequality skyrocketed. The Tea Party emerged. Donald Trump was elected. “Russiagate” was born. The Democrat-supporting legacy media began its sudden decline in viewership and readership. It all started with Obama in the White House, continued through Trump’s first presidency, and the sham of what was the Biden-Harris administration. Biden’s cognitive decline was hidden from America until it was too late.

  Looking back through the prism of history, the Obama years didn’t end well for Democrats. When Obama took office in 2008, Democrats held 55 Senate seats and 256 seats in the House. After Obama’s second term ended in 2016, Democrats had lost nine seats in the Senate and 62 seats in the House. There were twelve fewer Democrat governors, with Democrats overall holding fewer elected offices nationwide at any time since the 1920s.

  For all the platitudes of his political intellect and savvy manner of operation, Obama has been a down-ballot disaster for Democrats. But it has been a goldmine for Obama, who is now in his fourth mansion. We have to wonder how anyone in the Democrat Party thinks they got their money’s worth with Obama.

  It’s not hard to see how rewarding this was for Obama. He knew that division and racial strife were the path to electoral victory for the left. By reigniting animosities and weaponizing the federal government against his political opponents, a process that intensified during the Biden administration, Obama took extreme, unprecedented measures to achieve short-term gains and position himself as the central figure in Democrat political circles.

  He wanted fame, fortune, adulation, worship, and no accountability. He achieved all of that and more, becoming the de facto “kingmaker” of the Democrat Party.

  What exactly were the motives of Democrats when they elevated a junior senator from Illinois to be the central figure of their party? To answer that question, one must understand the criminal enterprise that Washington, D.C., has become over six decades and the need for an effective frontman to charm the population. Bill Clinton served that purpose quite well for two terms after being elevated similarly.

  But Obama was an unknown entity with far fewer accomplishments than Clinton. Obama was the DEI-approved face of the Democrat machine that could operate with near impunity, reflexively branding any attempt to resist or criticize him as racist. A political and racial arsonist to his core, Obama scorched the earth at every opportunity and dared anyone to challenge him. It was the most destructive and divisive presidential period in modern history.

  Obama utilized the radicalism that was honed during his time as a “community organizer” in Chicago and applied it to the nation. He engineered conflict, caused chaos, and pitted people against each other. It was the classic Marxist notion of “oppressor versus oppressed,” where winners and losers, villains and heroes, innocence and guilt, are unilaterally determined. People were labeled, vilified, categorized, and ostracized from society simply by their beliefs. Violence against them was justified and even celebrated.

  Democrats were genuinely “riding the tiger” with Obama and were unsure exactly where he would lead them. Well, here we are—a nation completely divided, at each other’s throats, leveling hyperbolic charges against strangers, all because we had to have the equivalent of a DEI hire in the White House to assuage our “racial strife.” And how is that “racial strife” going today?

  More to the point, “How are the Democrats doing today with Obama as their de facto leader?” Horribly, as the 2024 election has proven.

  The ironic aspect of this will be missed by many. Obama rose to power in 2008 because the 18- to 25-year-old Millennials believed in his stature as the Black Jesus. In 2024, the 18- to 25-year-old Gen-Zs abandoned him because they don’t.

  With the electoral drubbing Democrats took last week, with recriminations on who to blame being spread across Democrat circles, Obama’s political “brilliance” has been revealed as pure fiction. You can say that the mask has been ripped off with the presidency and both Houses of Congress now in Republican hands.

  Trump is moving at lightning speed to fill his cabinet with people who hold dear his populist message. Trump went through this game eight years ago and has a clearer picture of how the sausage is made in the D.C. swamp. And with a clear mandate from voters, he knows he has at least two years to fix the mess with the economy and at the border that he’s inherited from Biden (with plenty of help from the puppet master pulling his strings from the shadows in what has turned out to be the third term of Obama’s presidency).

  Key to Trump’s success – and if he can retain control of the House and Senate in the 2026 midterms – will be to bring the warring parties in Ukraine and Russia as well as the Middle East to the negotiating tables, and at the same time fix the damage to the economy wrought by Biden, Harris, and Democrats in Congress. If he does, it will cement his legacy while at the same time, likely ending Obama’s influence and interference in American politics once and for all.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 18:50

• Russia Has Surged 50,000 Troops Into Kursk Region To Boot Ukrainian Army
  Russia Has Surged 50,000 Troops Into Kursk Region To Boot Ukrainian Army

  This week the Ukrainian government has warned its allies that the army faces nearly 50,000 Russian troops now deployed to Kursk province.

  Ukrainian forces have held hundreds of square kilometers of territory inside Russia since a surprise blitz move across the border in early August. Rather than Moscow choosing to relocate sizeable forces from Donbass to defend Kursk, which Kiev was hoping for as a strategic way to weaken Russian front lines in the east, the Kremlin has been patient.

  It appears a final big push to force out the Ukrainians is underway. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed this in Monday statements. He said that Ukrainian troops “continue to hold back” the “nearly 50,000-strong enemy group” in Kursk.

  

  But with those numbers on the Russian side, and given the battle space is inside Russian territory, it is only a matter of time before Kiev’s Kursk adventure comes to a halt.

  “They stormed with a battalion-sized force,” an officer of a Ukrainian mechanized unit told CNN, adding that “the Russian invaders were eliminated.”

  There also remains deep concern that Russia is sending North Korean troops to help gain back control of occupied Kursk. CNN writes of some of the latest:

  And while Russia has reclaimed some settlements, the line of control has barely changed over the past months.

  A US official told CNN on Sunday that Russia has amassed a large force of tens of thousands — including recently arrived North Korean troops — to carry out an assault on the Ukrainian positions in Kursk. The official said the offensive was expected in the coming days.

  Zelensky has claimed that some 11,000 North Korean troops are in the region. They are said to be in Belgorod as well, which has also been subject of frequent Ukrainian cross-border attacks.

  The CNN report continues, “Separately, a Ukrainian commander told CNN Sunday that North Korean troops were taking part in direct combat operations in Kursk, as well as defensive operations in the neighboring Belgorod region of Russia and in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.”

  Starting last week, Zelensky said there have been direct and deadly clashes between Ukrainian and North Korean forces. Russia has not completely denied it, saying that a defense treaty inked between Moscow and Pyongyang allows for allied forces to help defend Russian territory.

  Better photo of North Korean M-1978/1989 Koksan 170mm self-propelled howitzers being transported by rail, presumably somewhere on the territory of Russia. pic.twitter.com/ngn1ezuMQO

  — Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (BlueSky too) (@Archer83Able) November 14, 2024

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  Given the incoming Trump administration and its vow to immediately achieve ceasefire, pressure will grow on Kiev to quickly enter negotiations with Russia. Any future deal would have to involve Ukrainian forces exiting Kursk, assuming they are not defeated there first, or else the Kremlin will not sign off on it.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 18:25

• 'Company' Offers To Cryogenically Freeze Leftists For Four Years
  ‘Company’ Offers To Cryogenically Freeze Leftists For Four Years

  Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

  In an hilarious parody ad that is going viral, a fictional company called ‘Don’t Cry Cryo’ is offering to cryogenically freeze panicking leftists who can’t cope with president Trump’s election victory and wake them up after it’s all over.

  

  The AI created ad, produced by Newzy, asks “are you distraught by the recent presidential election?” and offers to help, announcing “our expert team of cryogenic care providers can cryogenically freeze you until the Trump presidency is over.”

  “No more crying, no more anxiety attacks, just blissful sleep until Trump is gone,” the ad further promises,” adding “it will be like his presidency never even happened.”

  They even offer a JD Vance add on package!

  There are more twists and turns in the ad, but we won’t give it all away.

  Enjoy!

  Don’t Cry, Cryo! 😂 Need a Break from Trump’s Term? Freeze Yourself for 4 Years! #Trump #ElonMusk #meltdowns pic.twitter.com/pEZXc0Hdqw

  — newzy.com (@realnewzy) November 13, 2024

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

  Who do you know that could use this service? @TheView @VP @jimmykimmel @HowardStern @Oprah ?

  — newzy.com (@realnewzy) November 13, 2024

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

  Lets send this supernova.

  Super Bowl ad winner 😂

  — 💪Make Men Again💪 (@southofcolumbia) November 14, 2024

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

  And give Newzy a follow, they deserve it for this!

  All of Hollywood and the media should be mandate to enroll in this.

  — Bjl (@Bjl1044341) November 14, 2024

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

  You legitimately won the internet today! Epic.

  — Lying Liars Lying (@LyingLiars96) November 14, 2024

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

  *  *  *

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

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 18:00

• VDH: The Fault, Dear Democrats, Is In Yourselves
  VDH: The Fault, Dear Democrats, Is In Yourselves

  Authored by Victor Davis Hanson,

  “Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves.”

  – William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

  “They had learned nothing and forgotten nothing.”

  – Often attributed to Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand

  The Democratic election postmortem immediately descended into public blame-gaming – as expected. When Joe Biden was forced off the ticket in late July, the conspirators issued a party line that he was to be praised as a veritable George Washington — in the spirit of Washington’s farewell address of 1796 about why it was a good thing for the first president not to run for a third term.

  

  So, we were lied to that Joe, the sitting President of the United States, was not forced out by Nancy Pelosi, the Obamas, George Clooney and the celebs, and the billionaire class. We instead were lectured that Biden, magnanimously as the neo-father of our country, selflessly bowed out to ensure Kamala Harris’s elevation as the nominee and, with it, a sure Democratic victory.

  But now?

  After the Democratic train wreck, half the party is suddenly damning George Washington Joe for sticking around too long, even though party grandees cooked up the scheme in the first place of nominating the cognitively challenged Biden in 2020 to shut out his radical (and supposedly unelectable) primary rivals.

  Now that his successor Harris has bombed, in the leftist mind, Joe has gone from a Washingtonian Olympian to a veritable selfish Richard Nixon who clung to office far too long and supposedly ensured his party’s defeat.

  Yet still, others now blame incumbent Vice President Kamala herself. The once “joyful” candidate, after the coup to remove Biden, was once praised to the skies as a “turn the page”/”move forward”/“change” candidate — only then to be damned as an insipid loser.

  So, one postelection narrative was that Harris — we were told to recall — was always known as inept and thus originally picked as Joe Biden’s Spiro Agnew insurance policy, who would prevent his indictment, impeachment, or medical removal.

  But never mind blaming either Biden or Harris or both.

  The left cannot fault either a lack of funds; they raised a billion dollars more than Trump. Leftists also cannot complain about 95 percent favorable media coverage, supposedly worth billions of dollars in free advertising.

  They cannot regret that they did not do everything imaginable to destroy the Trump monster — given they had impeached him twice and tried him as a private citizen. They cooked up the Russian collusion and laptop disinformation hoaxes, raided his home with a SWAT team, and unleashed five criminal and civil suits designed to bankrupt, demonize, and jail him. They tried to remove him from at least 16 state ballots and daily smeared him as a fascist, dictator, and Hitler — even as two would-be assassins tried to shoot him.

  So, we are witnessing the rich Democrat-media fusion blame and fault everything but themselves. In truth, whether Biden or Harris ran — it never really mattered.

  Even an open convention with a “moderate” veneer nominee like a Josh Shapiro would not have saved them. The fault was in themselves: a radical Democratic agenda actualized by Joe Biden, who will leave office with an approval rate under 40 percent, and two-thirds of the country believing the country was headed in the wrong direction under his tenure.

  So, what lost the election for the Democrats? Both substance and style.

  The proverbial people may have agreed that Trump was sometimes crude, but they knew in his prior four-year tenure that food, gas, rent, power, and insurance were affordable.

  The border was finally secured. Trump did not welcome in 12 million unaudited illegal aliens.

  Nor did he oversee a disastrous flight from Afghanistan or watch two theater-wide wars blow up Ukraine and the Middle East as a derelict America became irrelevant.

  Boys did not spike volleyballs down upon the heads of girls nor did male boxers pound the brains of women.

  Nor did teenage biological males shower with young girls.

  Nor did the Trump tenure witness institutionalized anti-Semitism spreading throughout the nation’s elite campuses and onto the streets.

  Nor did Republican party grandees obsess on race, promote reparations, demand unlimited abortions until the moment of birth, or trash fracking.

  So, the message — not just the messengers — was toxic. But that said, the message was also delivered by a bicoastal elite, exuding hubris and superciliousness. This election, the left committed the two cardinal sins of American politics: one, never talk down to the American people as too stupid to appreciate the wisdom of their supposed elite betters; and two, never abandon the upwardly mobile aspirations and real struggles of the middle class.

  Instead, during the campaign and after the election slaughter, Democratic grandees screamed against a supposedly racist, sexist, homophobic, nativist electorate — as if these critics were a mummified Hillary Clinton circa 2016 still pontificating about the deplorables and irredeemables or a calcified Obama lecturing on the pathologies of the clingers.

  Indeed, the epitome of such hypocrisy was the late entrance of the now-plutocratic Obamas. The pair variously private jetted in from one of their four mansions to “save” Harris from her incompetent self by diagnosing the skeptics of her hard-left message as ignorant, illiberal, and suffering from Marxist false consciousness.

  Thus, a week after the election, Democrats are still trapped in La La Land.

  Blue-state governors now posture and brag that they will stop the newly elected Trump — but from what exactly? Will they refuse his tainted federal funds? Spit at him when they ask for disaster relief help? Declare blue America “sanctuary states” that will nullify federal law and not pay federal taxes?

  What does California governor Gavin Newsom mean by calling to session the California legislature to “resist” Trump? Will he order another Steele dossier pee-pee tape? Another Hillary Clinton 2016 call to join La Résistance?

  What does Illinois Governor Pritzker mean by warning Trump he will have to go through the ample governor to get to “his people?”

  Coordinate more local and state prosecutors to resume where Fani Willis, Alvin Bragg, and Letitia James left off?

  Mimic Madonna and threaten to blow up the White House?

  Emulate Kamala Harris and warn weeks of violent protests that won’t and should not stop?

  So how exactly is the elected president actually stripping away the rights of their liberal residents — three months before he even sets foot in office? And what might such illiberal or extralegal Trump efforts entail?

  Find another Andrew McCabe to weaponize the FBI to go after his enemies?

  Discover another Anthony Fauci to stealthily send American cash to a leaky Chinese virology lab run by the People’s Liberation Army?

  Draft another Lois Lerner to politicize the IRS to deny left-wing groups nonprofit status?

  Rehire James Comey to get the FBI and social media together to censor the news?

  Maybe rehire Loretta Lynch or Merrick Garland to sic the Department of Justice on political enemies at school board meetings?

  Bring back Confederate-style nullification of federal law and open the border?

  Or are Trump’s threats likely to be more existential and cosmic — like packing the court to ensure another six conservative justices?

  Or, as the right takes control of the Senate, will the damnable new conservative majority abolish the ancient filibuster?

  Perhaps the left is worried that now that a vengeful Trump has handily won the popular vote, he will most likely remove the 237-year-old Electoral College by sidestepping the constitutional amendment process?

  Or will a dastardly Trump bifurcate some blue states to ensure their red halves become two new states and with them four conservative senators?

  In sum, the left will not recover by blaming the American people and the voters for their loss. Nor will they regain power by caricaturing the supposedly illiberal and unappreciative middle class.

  Nor will they reboot by blustering that they are at war with a president before he takes office as if he was not just elected by a clear majority and an overwhelming electoral college vote.

  Nor will they find salvation today by blaming the “messaging,” or tomorrow Kamala Harris, or next week Joe Biden — rather than looking in the mirror and acknowledging the fault, Dear Democrats, is “in ourselves.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 17:20

• SEC's Gensler Hints At Quitting, Defends Crypto War, Sued By 18 States For "Gross Gov't Overreach"
  SEC’s Gensler Hints At Quitting, Defends Crypto War, Sued By 18 States For “Gross Gov’t Overreach”

  It was a busy day for SEC Chair Gary Gensler…

  

  With bitcoin smashing to new record highs after Trump’s trifecta victory, Gensler – potentially only weeks away from being removed from office – appeared to double-down on his position on (predominantly negative) crypto policy and enforcement.

  As CoinTelegraph’s Turner Wright reports, in prepared remarks for a Nov. 14 speech at the Practicing Law Institute’s 56th Annual Institute on Securities Regulation, Gensler said his focus for digital assets while leading the commission was having parties “register and give proper disclosure to the public” for roughly 10,000 tokens considered securities.

  He also pointed to the SEC’s record of approving spot Bitcoin BTC$88,160 exchange-traded funds and BTC futures investment vehicles under his watch but suggested that some crypto firms had not followed “common-sense rules of the road.”

  “This is a field in which over the years there has been significant investor harm,” said Gensler.

  “Further, aside from speculative investing and possible use for illicit activities, the vast majority of crypto assets have yet to prove out sustainable use cases.

  Everything we’ve done is focused on ensuring compliance with our laws.”

  Though the SEC chair’s term ends in June 2026, Trump promised crypto users that he intended to fire Gensler “on day one” if elected, marking a potentially different direction the commission could take on crypto enforcement.

  Experts have suggested that the president-elect could not remove Gensler without cause, nor has the SEC chair suggested he would resign.

  It’s unclear if Trump has the authority to remove Gensler from the SEC. Any replacement would require Senate approval, but the Republican suggested he would attempt to bypass the chamber by making recess appointments for all of his cabinet and staff. At the time of publication, Trump had not announced any potential replacement for Gensler.

  

  But, at the end of the prepared remarks, Gensler dropped a statement that sounded a lot like a ‘so long and thanks for all the fish’ comment:

  Remarkable SEC Staff

  Before I close, I want to say something about the SEC and its staff. It’s a remarkable agency. The staff and Commission are deeply mission- driven, focused on protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation.

  The lawyers, accountants, economists, policy experts, and other staff generally could make more money working somewhere else. They choose, though, to work on behalf of the public here at the SEC.

  It’s been a great honor to serve with them, doing the people’s work, and ensuring that our capital markets remain the best in the world.

  Conclusion

  Sam and Jane Gensler, my mom and dad, never worked in finance or even completed college. When they invested their savings, our family benefited from the securities markets’ common-sense rules of the road.

  The SEC’s effective administration of well-regulated securities markets promotes trust. It’s what brings investors and issuers to the market like fans to a football game. It’s what underpins the world’s largest capital markets. It’s what has contributed to our nation’s great economic success these last 90 years.

  I’ve been proud to serve with my colleagues at the SEC who, day in and day out, work to protect American families on the highways of finance.

  But things then went a little bit turbo for Liz Warren’s enforcer as CoinTelegraph’s Vince Quill reports that 18 US states have filed a lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Chairman Gary Gensler, accusing the financial regulator of “gross government overreach” against the nascent crypto industry.

  

  The plaintiffs include Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming, Kentucky, West Virginia, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi, Ohio, Montana, and others.

  

  The legal complaint reads:

  “The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not respected this allocation of authority.

  Instead, without Congressional authorization, the SEC has sought to unilaterally wrest regulatory authority away from the States through an ongoing series of enforcement actions.”

  According to the Blockchain Association, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s various legal actions against the crypto industry cost crypto firms a collective $426 million bill to fight against the regulatory agency’s enforcement actions and lack of clarity on a coherent digital asset policy.

  Buh-bye, Gary!

  An open ‘Goodbye’ to #GaryGensler pic.twitter.com/VtjGJT0Vfb

  — Vote Orange (@_Vote_Orange_) November 13, 2024

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  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 17:00

• Israeli Military Planning To Stay In Gaza Through 2025
  Israeli Military Planning To Stay In Gaza Through 2025

  Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

  The Israeli military is planning to stay in Gaza through 2025 and is stepping up demolitions and the construction of more permanent military structures, Haaretz reported on Wednesday.

  There is a significant portion of Gaza’s territory that’s under the control of the Israeli military, where the IDF has been destroying every building in sight and establishing military outposts, including the Netzarim Corridor, a strip of land that separates northern Gaza from the rest of the Strip.

  

  According to Haaretz, the Netzarim corridor is currently five to six kilometers wide and about nine kilometers long, and the Israeli military is working to expand it even more.

  “Today, when you stand on the road in some places, you no longer see any houses,” an Israeli combat soldier said of the corridor, which includes the former site of a Jewish settlement.

  The Israeli military has conducted a similar campaign of destruction along the Philadelphi Corridor, which is on the Gaza-Egypt border, and in a “buffer zone” along the entire Israel-Gaza border that cuts one kilometer into Gaza’s territory.

  In those areas as well, virtually all the buildings have been destroyed, and military outposts are going up. Haaretz previously reported that the Netzarim Corridor, the Philadelphi Corridor, and the buffer zone account for 26% of Gaza’s territory.

  In northern Gaza, Israel is now allegedly conducting an ethnic cleansing campaign focused on the cities of Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, and Jabalia, which have been completely cut off from aid deliveries as the Israeli military is starving the civilian population. Israeli forces are also demolishing buildings in the northern cities so the expelled Palestinians have nowhere to return.

  The ethnic cleansing campaign and conquering of Gaza’s territory is expected to pave the way for Jewish settlements in Gaza. “When you see the roads being paved here, it’s clear that this isn’t intended for the ground maneuvers or for raids by the troops into various places.

  They are building a colony in the middle of #Gaza_Strip!

  Israeli soldier, in Netzarim Corridor, posted this on instagram writing: “My son, one day all of this will be yours.” pic.twitter.com/vB1YeSFqvn

  — Motasem A Dalloul (@AbujomaaGaza) November 14, 2024

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  These roads lead, among other places, to the places from which some of the settlements were removed,” an Israeli officer in Gaza told Haaretz.

  “I don’t know of any intent to rebuild them, that isn’t something we’re told explicitly. But everyone understands where this is going.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 16:40

• Trump Nominates RFK Jr. For HHS Secretary
  Trump Nominates RFK Jr. For HHS Secretary

  President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of Health and Human Services.

  

  The 70-year-old Kennedy has been a longtime health advocate who Trump said he would let “go wild,” should he win the November 5 election.

  “He’s going to help make America healthy again. … He wants to do some things, and we’re going to let him get to it,” Trump said during his victory speech. “Go have a good time, Bobby.”

  In a post to Truth Social, Trump said:

  I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health. The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country. Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!

  That said, Politico suggested that Kennedy “may still face a steep slope to confirmation” over his fight against overvaccination, and his book accusing former NIH official Anthony Fauci of conspiring with Bill Gates and drugmakers to sell COVID-19 vaccines.

  Kennedy says he isn’t taking vaccines away from anyone – he just wants to ensure they’re safe.

  Ladies and gentlemen, your new HHS Secretary, Bobby Kennedy Jr.:

  “I asked God for 19 years to put me in a position where I could end the chronic disease epidemic and bring health back to our children, and in August, God sent me Donald Trump.”

  MAHA 🤝 MAGA

  🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/1vKVSLQ4Y3

  — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 14, 2024

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  “I’m going to make sure scientific safety studies and efficacy are out there, and people can make individual assessments about whether that product is going to be good for them,” he told MSNBC the day after the election.

  Kennedy also says he’ll recommend against adding fluoride to drinking water, as it’s “almost certainly” causing an IQ loss in children, according to some studies.

  What an incredible upgrade. From weirdo cross dresser to gigachad. Who better to take on the role of Secretary of Health and Human Services than RFK Jr.? pic.twitter.com/8f0WY2p123

  — Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) November 14, 2024

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  Meanwhile…

  

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/14/2024 – 16:13

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