Oct 15

Today’s News 15th October 2021

  • Taliban Is In Turkey For Talks After Warning US & EU That Sanctions Will Cause New Refugee Wave To Hit West
    Taliban Is In Turkey For Talks After Warning US & EU That Sanctions Will Cause New Refugee Wave To Hit West

    The Taliban has warned US and European envoys during ongoing talks in Doha that continued sanctions and US-led political pressure could unleash new refugee waves on Europe. 

    “Afghanistan’s new Taliban government has warned US and European envoys that continued attempts to pressure them through sanctions will undermine security and could trigger a wave of economic refugees,” the AFP wrote of the statement. Later in the week, the Taliban carried the same message to Turkey, which would find itself on the front lines of any migrant surge out of central Asia.

    A Taliban delegation is in Ankara for talks on Thursday, via TRT World

    Taliban official and acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told his Western counterparts that “weakening the Afghan government is not in the interest of anyone because its negative effects will directly affect the world in (the) security sector and economic migration from the country.”

    Perhaps both a warning and a threat, and reminiscent of the 2015 migrant crisis driven in large part by the destabilizing war in Syria, Muttaqi added the following demand:

    “We urge world countries to end existing sanctions and let banks operate normally so that charity groups, organizations and the government can pay salaries to their staff with their own reserves and international financial assistance.”

    As for any recent “concessions” by Washington, the Biden administration days ago announced the US would resume humanitarian aid “to the Afghan people” – but on the condition of Taliban cooperation, including allowing foreign nationals free movement to exit the country. The US has still resisted any level of formal political recognition of Taliban rule over the country, however.

    Aid, investment, and security were top of the list of concerns as the Taliban met with top Turkish officials in Ankara Thursday. Given Turkey has long been the number one regional “bridge” between Asia and Europe for migrant and refugee traffic, the question of Afghan refugees is of prime importance for Turkey’s government. 

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    Turkey is expected to feel the shock first of any coming refugee wave out of Afghanistan, given it’s already long been for years a “jumping-off point” for Afghans making the arduous trip to Europe. The past decade alone has seen some 600,000 Afghans settle in Turkey – all the while a mass wave of Syrian refugees exited there as well, many which are still along Turkey’s southern border (over 3 million).

    Turkey is reportedly now constructing a nearly 300km wall along the Iranian border to physically block the exodus coming from central Asia, according to prior reporting in the AFP.

    During a press conference after the Turkish FM-Taliban meeting, Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said that while the Turkish side reiterated a desire for Taliban reforms in human rights and areas like girls’ education and women’s employment, Turkey’s foremost concern remains stability.

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    The question of security, which Turkey has offered assistance on when it comes to protecting Kabul’s international airport, is no doubt directly linked to Turkey as well as European fears of a new migrant crisis at their gates. In statements to the press, Cavusoglu appeared to take an indirect swipe at US policy toward the Taliban, saying it won’t press for “preconditions” of “inclusivity” like the US and UE, but desires a secure Afghan environment above all.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 10/15/2021 – 02:45

  • UK Fuel & Household Energy Spending Soared 20% In The Past 2 Weeks: Lloyds Bank
    UK Fuel & Household Energy Spending Soared 20% In The Past 2 Weeks: Lloyds Bank

    Via The Epoch Times,

    Sept. 24 saw the highest amount spent on fuel in a single day since Lloyds Bank records began, analysis of customers’ debit cards shows.

    The peak fell the day after BP and Tesco closed some filling stations due to problems with fuel delivery.

    Across the UK, people spent a fifth (20 percent) more at petrol stations in the past two weeks, compared with the two weeks before, the bank said.

    Sept. 24 saw the bank’s debit card users spend 125 percent more on fuel than on the same day in 2019, and the highest amount since records began in April 2014.

    The East Midlands saw the biggest increase in fuel spending in the last two weeks compared with the two before, up 24 percent, followed by the West Midlands (23 percent), and the south east (22 percent).

    This was followed by Yorkshire and Humber (20 percent). Wales and Scotland saw the lowest increases, at 14 percent and 15 percent respectively, followed by London and the south west on 19 percent.

    However, the bank said there were signs that demand for fuel was easing. Week-on-week spending across the UK has fallen by almost a third (31 percent), with the number of transactions down 20 percent.

    Only three regions, all in the south and east, saw drops of less than 30 percent. Londoners’ spending on fuel fell just 20 percent, the lowest of any region, followed by the south east (21 percent) and east of England (25 percent).

    The amount spent on cards on household energy in the past two weeks also increased, by 24 percent, as a combination of colder weather and soaring energy prices gripped the UK.

    Spending on energy is now 14 percent higher than the same two weeks in 2020, the bank’s figures show.

    Philip Robinson, payments and fraud and financial crime director at Lloyds Bank, said: “After an initial incredible spike in late September where spending on fuel was the highest we’ve ever seen it, over the past week card payments at petrol stations have fallen, particularly in northern and western parts of the UK.

    “However, household energy spend continues to increase, 13 percent in the last week alone, driven by rising prices and colder months.

    “With this in mind, now is a very good time to sit down and reflect on your personal finances ahead of Christmas 2021.

    “Budget effectively and give yourself a clear idea of what you can afford this festive season.”

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 10/15/2021 – 02:00

  • Cryptos Surge On News SEC "Set To Allow" Bitcoin Futures ETF
    Cryptos Surge On News SEC “Set To Allow” Bitcoin Futures ETF

    There was some speculation today that the long-awaited SEC decision on a futures-based bitcoin ETF was imminent, which is what sparked the earlier surge in the crypto sector. Said speculation got only stronger after earlier in the day, the SEC tweeted out an  education bulletin the agency wrote in June about bitcoin futures and “funds that hold bitcoin futures.” As Bloomberg’s resident in house crypto expert put it, this was “clearly good sign and we upping our [bitcoin ETF] odds to 85% but until I see ProShares’ updated post-effective prospectus his EDGS, I’m not calling it.”

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    He probably should have called it because late on Thursday, Bloomberg reported what so many crypto faithful had been waiting for the past 7 years, namely that the SEC is “poised to allow the first U.S. Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund to begin trading in a watershed moment for the cryptocurrency industry.”

    According to the report, the SEC isn’t likely to block the products from starting to trade next week. Furthermore, as reported previously, unlike Bitcoin ETF applications that the regulator has previously rejected, “the proposals by ProShares and Invesco Ltd. are based on futures contracts and were filed under mutual fund rules that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has said provide “significant investor protections.”

    So barring “a last-minute reversal”, the fund launch will be the culmination of a nearly decade-long campaign by the $6.7 trillion ETF industry to begin allocating some capital to the best performing asset class/currency/commodity of the past decade.

    Advocates have sought approval as a confirmation of mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrencies since Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twins best known for their part in the history of Facebook Inc., filed the first application for a Bitcoin ETF in 2013.

    The long wait is coming to a favorable outcome after years of stumbles with the SEC previously rejecting bitcoin ETF on the grounds that the crypto space is plagued with investor hazards. The SEC had also expressed concern that prices could be manipulated and liquidity might be insufficient, and that Bitcoin’s drastic price swings may be too much for individual investors. Of course, for most investors the volatility is worth the returns: Bitcoin’s last three full-year returns were a 74% loss followed by gains of 95% and 305%. Additionally, the SEC has questioned whether funds would have the information necessary to adequately value cryptocurrencies or related products. There have also been questions about validating ownership of the coins held by funds and the threat from hackers.

    But the mood shifted in August, when Gensler – who previously showed extensive interest in the crypto world having once taught a class at MIT’s Sloan School of Management called “Blockchain and Money” – signaled he’d favor funds based on CME-traded Bitcoin futures filed under a 1940s law. He reiterated that stance late last month.

    Gensler’s openness led to a wave of futures-backed filings and unbridled optimism among issuers that approval could be imminent, and helped lift the price of bitcoin from the low/mid-$40,000s to above $50,000 in recent days, surging to its highest level since May this week, ultimately doubling from its price reached in late July when it briefly dipped below $30,000.

    That said, the initial capital reallocation will likely be modest. According to Balchunas, such futures-based ETFs are “flawed because rolling futures and will prob not sweep the nation.” His guess is only. 3-4b in first year (1% of ETF flows).” But, in any event, this is “def a BIG step after 7yr wait.”

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    Balchunas also made a prediction which Bitcoin ETF will get to the market first, a list which is headed by the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF and goes from there.

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    News of the imminent bitcoin ETF sent bitcoin and the broader crypto space sharply higher when it hit just after 10pm ET on Thursday.

     

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 10/15/2021 – 00:29

  • Tyrants Of The Nanny State: When The Government Thinks It Knows Best
    Tyrants Of The Nanny State: When The Government Thinks It Knows Best

    Authored by John W. Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,

    “Whether the mask is labeled fascism, democracy, or dictatorship of the proletariat, our great adversary remains the apparatus—the bureaucracy, the police, the military. Not the one facing us across the frontier of the battle lines, which is not so much our enemy as our brothers’ enemy, but the one that calls itself our protector and makes us its slaves. No matter what the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this apparatus and to trample underfoot, in its service, all human values in ourselves and in others.”

    – Simone Weil, French philosopher and political activist

    We labor today under the weight of countless tyrannies, large and small, carried out in the so-called name of the national good by an elite class of governmental and corporate officials who are largely insulated from the ill effects of their actions.

    We, the middling classes, are not so fortunate.

    We find ourselves badgered, bullied and browbeaten into bearing the brunt of their arrogance, paying the price for their greed, suffering the backlash for their militarism, agonizing as a result of their inaction, feigning ignorance about their backroom dealings, overlooking their incompetence, turning a blind eye to their misdeeds, cowering from their heavy-handed tactics, and blindly hoping for change that never comes. 

    The overt signs of the despotism exercised by the increasingly authoritarian regime that passes itself off as the United States government (and its corporate partners in crime) are all around us: COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccine mandates that strip Americans of their freedom of movement and bodily integrity; censorship, criminalizing, shadow banning and de-platforming of individuals who express ideas that are politically incorrect or unpopular; warrantless surveillance of Americans’ movements and communications; SWAT team raids of Americans’ homes; shootings of unarmed citizens by police; harsh punishments meted out to schoolchildren in the name of zero tolerance; armed drones taking to the skies domestically; endless wars; out-of-control spending; militarized police; roadside strip searches; roving TSA sweeps; privatized prisons with a profit incentive for jailing Americans; fusion centers that spy on, collect and disseminate data on Americans’ private transactions; and militarized agencies with stockpiles of ammunition, to name some of the most appalling.

    Yet as egregious as these incursions on our rights may be, it’s the endless, petty tyrannies—the heavy-handed, punitive-laden dictates inflicted by a self-righteous, Big-Brother-Knows-Best bureaucracy on an overtaxed, overregulated, and underrepresented populace—that illustrate so clearly the degree to which “we the people” are viewed as incapable of common sense, moral judgment, fairness, and intelligence, not to mention lacking a basic understanding of how to stay alive, raise a family, or be part of a functioning community.

    It’s hard to say whether we’re dealing with a kleptocracy (a government ruled by thieves), a kakistocracy (a government run by unprincipled career politicians, corporations and thieves that panders to the worst vices in our nature and has little regard for the rights of American citizens), or if we’ve gone straight to an idiocracy. 

    This certainly isn’t a constitutional democracy, however.

    This overbearing Nanny State despotism is what happens when government representatives (those elected and appointed to work for us) adopt the authoritarian notion that the government knows best and therefore must control, regulate and dictate almost everything about the citizenry’s public, private and professional lives.

    The government’s bureaucratic attempts at muscle-flexing by way of overregulation and overcriminalization have reached such outrageous limits that federal and state governments now require on penalty of a fine that individuals apply for permission before they can grow exotic orchids, host elaborate dinner parties, gather friends in one’s home for Bible studies, give coffee to the homeless, let their kids manage a lemonade stand, keep chickens as pets, or braid someone’s hair, as ludicrous as that may seem.

    Consider, for example, that businesses in California must now designate an area of the children’s toy aisle “gender-neutral” or face a fine, whether or not the toys sold are traditionally marketed to girls or boys such as Barbies and Hot Wheels. California schools are prohibited from allowing students to access websites, novels or religious works that reflect negatively on gays. And while Californians are free to have sex with whomever they choose (because that’s none of the government’s business), removing a condom during sex without consent could make you liable for general, special and punitive damages.

    Up until a few years ago, Missouri required that anyone wanting to braid African-style hair and charge for it must first acquire a government license, which at a minimum requires the applicant to undertake at least 1500 hours of cosmetology classes costing tens of thousands of dollars. Tennessee was prepared to fine residents nearly $100,000 just for violating its laws against braiding hair without a government license. In Oregon, the law was so broad that you needed a license even if you were planning to braid hair for free. The mere act of touching someone’s hair could render you a cosmetologist operating without a license and in violation of the law.

    It’s getting worse.

    Almost every aspect of American life today—especially if it is work-related—is subject to this kind of heightened scrutiny and ham-fisted control, whether you’re talking about aspiring “bakers, braiders, casket makers, florists, veterinary masseuses, tour guides, taxi drivers, eyebrow threaders, teeth whiteners, and more.”

    For instance, whereas 70 years ago, one out of every 20 U.S. jobs required a state license, today, almost 1 in 3 American occupations requires a license.

    The problem of overregulation has become so bad that, as one analyst notes, “getting a license to style hair in Washington takes more instructional time than becoming an emergency medical technician or a firefighter.”

    This is what happens when bureaucrats run the show, and the rule of law becomes little more than a cattle prod for forcing the citizenry to march in lockstep with the government.

    Overregulation is just the other side of the coin to overcriminalization, that phenomenon in which everything is rendered illegal and everyone becomes a lawbreaker.

    This is the mindset that tried to penalize a fisherman with 20 years’ jail time for throwing fish that were too small back into the water.

    That same overcriminalization mindset reared its ugly head again when police arrested a 90-year-old man for violating an ordinance that prohibits feeding the homeless in public unless portable toilets are also made available.

    It’s no coincidence that both of these incidents—the fishing debacle and the homeless feeding arrest—happened in Florida.

    Despite its pristine beaches and balmy temperatures, Florida is no less immune to the problems plaguing the rest of the nation in terms of overcriminalization, incarceration rates, bureaucracy, corruption, and police misconduct.

    A few years back, in fact, Florida officials authorized police raids on barber shops in minority communities, resulting in barbers being handcuffed in front of customers, and their shops searched without warrants. All of this was purportedly done in an effort to make sure that the barbers’ licensing paperwork was up to snuff.

    As if criminalizing fishing, charity, and haircuts wasn’t bad enough, you could also find yourself passing time in a Florida slammer for such inane activities as singing in a public place while wearing a swimsuit, breaking more than three dishes per day, farting in a public place after 6 pm on a Thursday, and skateboarding without a license.

    In this way, the Sunshine State is representative of the transformation happening across the nation, where a steady diet of bread and circuses has given rise to an oblivious, inactive citizenry content to be ruled over by an inflexible and highly bureaucratic regime.

    America has gone from being a beacon of freedom to a locked down nation. And “we the people,” sold on the idea that safety, security and material comforts are preferable to freedom, have allowed the government to pave over the Constitution in order to erect a concentration camp.

    The problem with these devil’s bargains, however, is that there is always a catch, always a price to pay for whatever it is we valued so highly as to barter away our most precious possessions.

    We’ve bartered away our right to self-governance, self-defense, privacy, autonomy and that most important right of all—the right to tell the government to “leave me the hell alone.”

    In exchange for the promise of an end to global pandemics, lower taxes, lower crime rates, safe streets, safe schools, blight-free neighborhoods, and readily accessible technology, health care, water, food and power, we’ve opened the door to lockdowns, militarized police, government surveillance, asset forfeiture, school zero tolerance policies, license plate readers, red light cameras, SWAT team raids, health care mandates, overcriminalization, overregulation and government corruption.

    In the end, such bargains always turn sour.

    We relied on the government to help us safely navigate national emergencies (terrorism, natural disasters, global pandemics, etc.) only to find ourselves forced to relinquish our freedoms on the altar of national security, yet we’re no safer (or healthier) than before.

    We asked our lawmakers to be tough on crime, and we’ve been saddled with an abundance of laws that criminalize almost every aspect of our lives. So far, we’re up to 4500 criminal laws and 300,000 criminal regulations that result in average Americans unknowingly engaging in criminal acts at least three times a day. For instance, the family of an 11-year-old girl was issued a $535 fine for violating the Federal Migratory Bird Act after the young girl rescued a baby woodpecker from predatory cats.

    We wanted criminals taken off the streets, and we didn’t want to have to pay for their incarceration. What we’ve gotten is a nation that boasts the highest incarceration rate in the world, with more than 2.3 million people locked up, many of them doing time for relatively minor, nonviolent crimes, and a private prison industry fueling the drive for more inmates, who are forced to provide corporations with cheap labor.

    A special report by CNBC breaks down the national numbers:

    One out of 100 American adults is behind bars — while a stunning one out of 32 is on probation, parole or in prison. This reliance on mass incarceration has created a thriving prison economy. The states and the federal government spend about $74 billion a year on corrections, and nearly 800,000 people work in the industry.

    We wanted law enforcement agencies to have the necessary resources to fight the nation’s wars on terror, crime and drugs. What we got instead were militarized police decked out with M-16 rifles, grenade launchers, silencers, battle tanks and hollow point bullets—gear designed for the battlefield, more than 80,000 SWAT team raids carried out every year (many for routine police tasks, resulting in losses of life and property), and profit-driven schemes that add to the government’s largesse such as asset forfeiture, where police seize property from “suspected criminals.”

    According to the Washington Post, these funds have been used to buy guns, armored cars, electronic surveillance gear, “luxury vehicles, travel and a clown named Sparkles.” Police seminars advise officers to use their “department wish list when deciding which assets to seize” and, in particular, go after flat screen TVs, cash and nice cars.

    In Florida, where police are no strangers to asset forfeiture, Florida police have been carrying out “reverse” sting operations, where they pose as drug dealers to lure buyers with promises of cheap cocaine, then bust them, and seize their cash and cars. Over the course of a year, police in one small Florida town seized close to $6 million using these entrapment schemes.

    We fell for the government’s promise of safer roads, only to find ourselves caught in a tangle of profit-driven red light cameras, which ticket unsuspecting drivers in the so-called name of road safety while ostensibly fattening the coffers of local and state governments. Despite widespread public opposition, corruption and systemic malfunctions, these cameras—used in 24 states and Washington, DC—are particularly popular with municipalities, which look to them as an easy means of extra cash.

    One small Florida town, population 8,000, generates a million dollars a year in fines from these cameras. Building on the profit-incentive schemes, the cameras’ manufacturers are also pushing speed cameras and school bus cameras, both of which result in heft fines for violators who speed or try to go around school buses.

    As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, this is what happens when the American people get duped, deceived, double-crossed, cheated, lied to, swindled and conned into believing that the government and its army of bureaucrats—the people we appointed to safeguard our freedoms—actually have our best interests at heart.

    Yet when all is said and done, who is really to blame when the wool gets pulled over your eyes: you, for believing the con man, or the con man for being true to his nature?

    It’s time for a bracing dose of reality, America.

    Wake up and take a good, hard look around you, and ask yourself if the gussied-up version of America being sold to you—crime free, worry free, disease free and devoid of responsibility—is really worth the ticket price: nothing less than your freedoms.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 10/15/2021 – 00:00

  • Global Ship Backlog Just Got Even Worse As New Supply Chain Nemesis Emerges
    Global Ship Backlog Just Got Even Worse As New Supply Chain Nemesis Emerges

    As if relentless, fiscally-stimulated global demand for (made in China) products, coupled with soaring input prices, Covid-crippled indutries, production-throttling energy crises and containership parking lots off major ports wasn’t enough to cripple global supply chains, we can throw in one more factor that will make “just in time” deliveries a thing of the pre-Biden past and will ensure that nobody gets their presents this Christmas.

    The weather.

    A tropical storm that’s lashing southern China is causing a ship backlog from Shenzhen to Singapore, Bloomberg reports as it warn of even emptier store shelves come Christmas.

    Shipping data compiled by Bloomberg show there are currently 67 container ships anchored off Hong Kong and Shenzhen, 22% more congested than median daily counts from April through Oct. 14. Another 61 remain anchored off China’s massive Ningbo port in Shanghai.

    Container ship positions as of Oct. 14 heatmapped in yellow.

    For once there is no “unintended consequence” behind this pile up – it’s the result of Typhoon Kompasu freezing transit lanes, closing schools in Hong Kong and canceling stock market trading in the financial hub on Wednesday. It also sparked the latest containership domino-effect at the worst possible time, with 37 ships now waiting off Singapore, 18% more congested than normal. And with Singapore one of the most efficient ports in the world and a key hub for containers to be moved from one vessel to another while in transit, any disruption in the city-state is bound to have far-reaching ramifications.

    The incremental delays will make an already fragile supply chain, that much more unstable: according to the Busan Port Authority in South Korea, vessels are having to wait about three days to berth and that’s causing so-called transshipment cargo to pile up. Meanwhile, almost 40 ships are anchored off Los Angeles, 4.5% more congested than usual, while 11 are cooling their heels off the coast of Malaysia at Tanjung Pelepas, creating a congestion rate about 25% above the median. For Vietnam’s dual hub of Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau, things are even worse, with current congestion 38% higher than the median.

    Operators are scrambling to find a solution to this chaos which seems to get worse with every passing day: “shipping companies and other stakeholders are trying to resolve the backlog because there are real concerns that many year-end holiday goods will never reach consumers in time,” said Um Kyung-a, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities in Seoul. “This month will be the most challenging period but hopefully things will start to ease from the fourth quarter.”

    This is a “hopeful” line we have heard every month since May. It has yet to come true.

    Located at the gateway – both literal and metaphorical – of global Transpacific supply chains, accessible port terminals are an indispensable anchor to any hopes of normalizing supply chains. Alas, congestion at container terminals around the world has added pressure to already stretched supply chains. Covid-19 cases at ports, along with shortages of shipping containers and labor have aggravated the problem as exporters try to send goods to the U.S. and Europe before the end of the year.

    According to Singapore Logistics Association chairman Dave Ng, vessels are waiting one to three days to berth at most major ports in Southeast Asia, including Singapore, The wait is more than three days at major ports in Northeast Asia and could extend to over a week in other parts of the world. And any incremental delays only cascade exponentially, adding more days to an already broken system.

    “Global port congestion has introduced more uncertainty into planning and booking of sea shipments,” Ng told Bloomberg. “Ocean freight costs have increased five to six times from the levels pre-Covid and this has translated into higher operating costs for logistics companies.”

    Logistics companies have been working to improve business productivity by sharing resources and leveraging technology, Ng said. But they still face difficulties in filling jobs, particularly driving and warehousing, which could impact operations in the near term, he said.

    Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported this week that shipping giant Maersk said earlier this week that it’s diverting some ships from the U.K.’s largest container port because of congestion tied to a trucker shortage. Many logistics companies are finding it difficult to find drivers to pick up and deliver containers, causing a backlog at the Port of Felixstowe.

    Port congestion and lack of containers has driven shipping rates to record levels this year. Spot levies to haul a 40-foot container to Los Angeles from Shanghai peaked at $12,424 last month before easing to $11,173 as of Oct. 7, the Drewry World Container Index show. Rates to Rotterdam from Shanghai hit an all-time high of $14,807 last week. Shipping rates dipped modestly in the latest week, but as we explained previously, this was for the worst possible reason namely a sharp drop in China output. Expect a sharp spike in the next few weeks as throttled Chinese production returns.

    Exporters and shipping companies have been trying to find alternative routes to avoid the backlog. Some cargo from China is now being shipped to Busan and then reloaded on ships bound for Russia’s east coast before being put on trains and sent through to Europe.

    In an act of sheer desperation, the Biden admin announced on Wednesday that the Port of Los Angeles will begin operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week as part of efforts to break the logjam. However, as Rabobank explained earlier this morning, simply getting containers out of the terminal at LA achieves very little if you don’t the solve chassis crisis; if the containers sit there waiting for trucks; or for truckers; or for rail. All you do is move the logjam from sea to shore – and that can potentially make matters worse. The Transportation Secretary running this task force is a vocal opponent of the ‘so build a bigger road’ mentality that ends up with bigger roads and the same traffic logjam.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 10/14/2021 – 23:40

  • Oh Great, They're Putting Guns On Robodogs Now
    Oh Great, They’re Putting Guns On Robodogs Now

    Authored by Caitlin Johnstone,

    So hey, they’ve started mounting sniper rifles on robodogs, which is great news for anyone who was hoping they’d start mounting sniper rifles on robodogs.

    At an exhibit booth in the Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting and exhibition, Ghost Robotics (the military-friendly competitor to the better-known Boston Dynamics) proudly showed off a weapon that is designed to attach to its quadruped bots made by a company called SWORD Defense Systems.

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    “The SWORD Defense Systems Special Purpose Unmanned Rifle (SPUR) was specifically designed to offer precision fire from unmanned platforms such as the Ghost Robotics Vision-60 quadruped,” SWORD proclaims on its website.

    “Chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor allows for precision fire out to 1200m, the SPUR can similarly utilize 7.62×51 NATO cartridge for ammunition availability. Due to its highly capable sensors the SPUR can operate in a magnitude of conditions, both day and night. The SWORD Defense Systems SPUR is the future of unmanned weapon systems, and that future is now.”

    Back in May the US Air Force put out a video on the “Robotic Ghost Dog” these weapons are designed to be used with, showing the machines jogging, standing up after being flipped over, and even dancing. All of which becomes a lot less cutesy when you imagine them performing these maneuvers while carrying a gun designed to blow apart skulls from a kilometer away.

    At one point in the video a Senior Master Sergeant explains to the host how these robodogs can be affixed with all kinds of equipment like communications systems, explosive ordnance disposal attachments, gear to test for chemicals and radiation, and the whole time you’re listening to him list things off you’re thinking “Guns. Yeah guns. You can attach guns to them, why don’t you just say that?”

    The SPUR prototype is just one of many different weapons we’ll surely see tested for use with quadruped robots in coming years, and eventually we’ll likely see its successors tested on impoverished foreigners in needless military interventions by the United States and/or its allies. They will join other unmanned weapons systems in the imperial arsenal like the USA’s notorious drone program, South Korea’s Samsung SGR-A1, the Turkish Kargu drone which has already reportedly attacked human beings in Libya without having been given a human command to do so, and the AI-assisted robotic sniper rifle that was used by Israeli intelligence in coordination with the US government to assassinate an Iranian scientist last year.

    And we may be looking at a not-too-distant future in which unmanned weapons systems are sought out by wealthy civilians as well.

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    In 2018 the influential author and professor Douglas Rushkoff wrote an article titled “Survival of the Richest” in which he disclosed that a year earlier he had been paid an enormous fee to meet with five extremely wealthy hedge funders. Rushkoff says the unnamed billionaires sought out his advice for strategizing their survival after what they called “the event”, their term for the collapse of civilization via climate destruction, nuclear war or some other catastrophe which they apparently viewed as likely enough and close enough to start planning for.

    Rushkoff writes that eventually it became clear that the foremost concern of these plutocrats was maintaining control over a security force which would protect their estates from the rabble in a post-apocalyptic world where money might not mean anything. I encourage you to read the following paragraph from the article carefully, because it says so much about how these people see our future, our world, and their fellow human beings:

    “This single question occupied us for the rest of the hour. They knew armed guards would be required to protect their compounds from the angry mobs. But how would they pay the guards once money was worthless? What would stop the guards from choosing their own leader? The billionaires considered using special combination locks on the food supply that only they knew. Or making guards wear disciplinary collars of some kind in return for their survival. Or maybe building robots to serve as guards and workers — if that technology could be developed in time.”

    Something to keep in mind if you ever find yourself fervently hoping that the world will be saved by billionaires.

    LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman has said that more than half of Silicon Valley’s billionaires have invested in some type of “apocalypse insurance” such as an underground bunker to ensure they survive whatever disasters ensue from the status quo they currently benefit so immensely from. The New Yorker has published an article about this mega-rich doomsday prepper phenomenon as well. We may be sure that military forces aren’t the only ones planning on having eternally loyal killing machines protecting their interests going forward.

    We are ruled by warmongers and sociopaths, and none of them have healthy plans for our future. They are not kind, and they are not wise. They’re not even particularly intelligent. Unless we can find some way to pry their fingers from the steering wheel of our world so we can turn away from the direction we are headed, things will probably get very dark and scary.

    *  *  *

    My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, following me on Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud or YouTube, or throwing some money into my tip jar on Ko-fi, Patreon or Paypal. If you want to read more you can buy my books. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for at my website or on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish, use or translate any part of this work (or anything else I’ve written) in any way they like free of charge. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I’m trying to do with this platform, click here.

    Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 10/14/2021 – 23:20

  • India's Energy Crunch Intensifies As Power Supply Deficit Worst Since March 2016
    India’s Energy Crunch Intensifies As Power Supply Deficit Worst Since March 2016

    It’s now a fact that India is teetering on the edge of a power crisis as coal shortages have left power grids with the worst deficit in years. 

    This month, 80% of India’s 135 coal-fired plants had less than eight days of supplies — more than 50% of plants had two days of fuel left. For some context, the four-year average of coal inventory has been a little more than two weeks.  

    We noted India’s “persistent electricity shortages” have become more widespread since the start of October as coal-fired power plants can’t keep up with demand. 

    Reuters, citing data from grid operator Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO), showed power supply dropped 750 million units short of demand throughout the first 12 days of October, primarily due to a coal shortage. The power deficit was the worst since March 2016, coming in at 1.6%. 

    Northern states such as Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, and the eastern states of Jharkhand and Bihar had some of the worst power supply deficits between 2.3% to 14.7%. 

    A combination of supply factors and crashing coal imports led to this month’s power crunch that may worsen as coal supplies tighten and prices surge ahead of the Northern Hemisphere winter. 

    Coal-powered energy accounted for nearly 70% of power in early October, an increasing percentage as power generation from renewables declines. 

    If China is any guide, India might take steps to ration power to energy-intensive industries to maintain grid stability. 

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    The energy crisis is worldwide, first in Europe and China and now spreading to India. There’s reason to believe electricity shortages and blackouts could be unleashed in the US this winter. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 10/14/2021 – 23:00

  • Sanjay Gupta Tucks Tail Back At CNN After Disastrous Rogan Interview
    Sanjay Gupta Tucks Tail Back At CNN After Disastrous Rogan Interview

    Update (1715ET): To the surprise of absolutely nobody, CNN is in major damage control mode after Joe Rogan slammed the network over their coverage of his use of Ivermectin as part of a cocktail he used to treat Covid-19.

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    Note how CNN‘s framing is absolutely disingenuous – with Lemon suggesting they didn’t slander Rogan for taking ‘horse dewormer’ – whiled Gupta lied when he said there’s ‘no evidence that it [Ivermectin] really works’ against Covid.

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    Absolutely pathetic.

    *  *  *

    Joe Rogan went off big on CNN during an interview with the network’s chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta, who appeared on the star’s Spotify podcast on Wednesday to discuss a wide range of topics.

    During the exchange, Gupta conceded that his network’s framing of Ivermectin, a widely-prescribed anti-parasitic which has shown tremendous efficacy in treating Covid-19, was wrong.

    “Calling it a horse de-wormer is not the most flattering thing, I get that,” said Gupta.

    “It’s a lie on a news network – and it’s a lie that they’re conscious of. It’s not a mistake. They’re unfavorably framing it as veterinary medicine,” Rogan shot back.

    “Why would you say that when you’re talking about a drug that’s been given out to billions and billions of people? A drug that was responsible for one of the inventors winning the Nobel Prize in 2015?” the 54-year-old Rogan continued.

    “A drug that has been shown to stop viral replication in vitro – you know that, right? Why would they lie and say that’s horse de-wormer? I can afford people medicine, motherfucker. This is ridiculous.”

    Watch:

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    Opining further on Rogan’s rough-up is Glenn Greenwald:

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    Meanwhile, as we noted last month regarding Ivermectin (and worth repeating):

    This widely prescribed anti-parasitic which is also used in horses has shown massive efficacy worldwide in the treatment of mild and moderate cases of Covid-19, plus as a prophylactic. India’s Uttar Pradesh province, with a population of over 200 million, says that widespread early use of Ivermectin ‘helped keep positivity [and] deaths low.’

    (source, May 12th)

    Separately, there have been several studies funded by the Indian government, primarily conducted through their largest govt. public medical university (AIIMS).

    • Role of ivermectin in the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers in India: A matched case-control study (source)

    Conclusion: Two-dose ivermectin prophylaxis at a dose of 300 μg/kg with a gap of 72 hours was associated with a 73% reduction of SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers for the following month.

    • Ivermectin as a potential treatment for mild to moderate COVID-19 – A double blind randomized placebo-controlled trial (source)

    Conclusion: There was no difference in the primary outcome i.e. negative RT-PCR status on day 6 of admission with the use of ivermectin. However, a significantly higher proportion of patients were discharged alive from the hospital when they received ivermectin.

    • Clinical Research Report Ivermectin in combination with doxycycline for treating COVID-19 symptoms: a randomized trial (source, double-blind randomized, peer-reviewed)

    Discussion: In the present study, patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 infection treated with ivermectin in combination with doxycycline generally recovered 2 days earlier than those treated with placebo. The proportion of patients responding within 7 days of treatment was significantly higher in the treatment group than in the placebo group. The proportions of patients who remained symptomatic after 12 days of illness and who experienced disease progression were significantly lower in the treatment group than in the placebo group.

    Here are more human studies from other countries on the ‘horse dewormer’:
     
    Peru:
    • Sharp Reductions in COVID-19 Case Fatalities and Excess Deaths in Peru in Close Time Conjunction, State-By-State, with Ivermectin Treatments (source, peer-reviewed, University of Toronto, Universidad EAFIT)

    For the 24 states with early IVM treatment (and Lima), excess deaths dropped 59% (25%) at +30 days and 75% (25%) at +45 days after day of peak deaths. Case fatalities likewise dropped sharply in all states but Lima

    Spain:
    • The effect of early treatment with ivermectin on viral load, symptoms and humoral response in patients with non-severe COVID-19: A pilot, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial (source, University of Barcelona, peer-reviewed)

    Findings: Patients in the ivermectin group recovered earlier from hyposmia/anosmia (76 vs 158 patient-days; p < 0.001).

    Bengladesh:

    • A Comparative Study on Ivermectin-Doxycycline and Hydroxychloroquine-Azithromycin Therapy on COVID-19 Patients (source – peer reviewed, though not govt funded)

    Conclusion: According  to  our  study,  the  Ivermectin-Doxycycline combination therapy has better symptomatic relief, shortened recovery duration, fewer adverse effects, and superior patient compliance compared to the Hydroxychloroquine-Azithromycin combination. Based on this  study’s  outcomes,  the  Ivermectin-Doxycycline  combination  is  a  superior  choice  for  treating  patients  with  mild to moderate COVID-19 disease.

    • A five-day course of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19 may reduce the duration of illness (source, peer-reviewed double blind randomized, though small sample size)

    Discussion: A 5-day course of ivermectin resulted in an earlier clearance of the virus compared to placebo (p = 0.005), thus indicating that early intervention with this agent may limit viral replication within the host. In the 5-day ivermectin group, there was a significant drop in CRP and LDH by day 7, which are indicators of disease severity.

    Meanwhile, There are currently 76 ongoing or completed clinical trials on Ivermectin around the world. Below are the results of 32 which have been completed. One can visit ivermeta.com and dig down on any of these / read the entire study. The site recommends Ivermectin in conjunction with vaccines to confer the best protection against Covid-19, however we’ll leave that to you and your doctor to discuss.

    Screenshot, http://ivermeta.com/

    Yet doctors who advocate for Ivermectin are ridiculed by the media (more here and here and here).

    The MSM swarmed over ‘horse paste overdoses’  for weeks after a handful cases nationwide (and no deaths) – including an outright lie amplified by Rolling Stone which they were forced to correct after the hospital in question denied the claim.

    Meanwhile, the likes of Maddow, Don Lemon and Chris Hayes jumped right on the propaganda bandwagon – with Maddow promoting the debunked ER story in a tweet she refuses to delete – and Twitter refuses to censor for misinformation.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 10/14/2021 – 22:43

  • Is America Becoming Rome Versus Byzantium?
    Is America Becoming Rome Versus Byzantium?

    Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via The Epoch Times,

    In A.D. 286 the Roman emperor Diocletian split in half the huge Roman Empire administratively—and peacefully—under the control of two emperors.

    A Western empire included much of modern-day Western Europe and northwest Africa. The Eastern half controlled Eastern Europe and parts of Asia and northeastern Africa.

    By 330 the Emperor Constantine institutionalized that split by moving the empire’s capital from Rome to his new imperial city of Constantinople, founded on the site of the old Greek polis of Byzantium.

    The two administrative halves of the once huge empire continued to drift apart.

    Soon there arose two increasingly different, though still kindred versions, of a once unified Romanity.

    The Western empire eventually collapsed into chaos by the latter fifth century A.D.

    Yet the Roman eastern half survived for nearly 1,000 years. It was soon known as the Byzantine Empire, until overwhelmed by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 A.D.

    Historians still disagree over why the East endured while the West crumbled. And they cite the various roles of differing geography, border challenges, tribal enemies, and internal challenges.

    We moderns certainly have developed unfair stereotypes of a supposedly decadent late imperial Rome of Hollywood sensationalism that deserved its end. And we likewise mistakenly typecast a rigid, ultra-orthodox bureaucratic “Byzantine” alternative that supposedly grew more reactionary to survive in a rough neighborhood.

    Yet in both cases, separate geography multiplied the growing differences between a Greek-speaking, Orthodox Christian and older civilization in the east, versus a more or less polyglot and often fractious Christianity in the Latin West.

    Byzantium held firm against ancient neighboring Persian, Middle Eastern, and Egyptian rivals. But the West disintegrated into a tribal amalgam of its own former peoples.

    Unlike the West, the glue that held the East together against centuries of foreign enemies, was the revered idea of an ancient and uncompromising Hellenism—the preservation of a common, holistic Greek language, religion, culture, and history.

    By A.D. 600, at a time when the West had long ago fragmented into tribes and proto-European kingdoms, the jewel at Constantinople was the nerve center of the most impressive civilization in the world, stretching from the Eastern Asia Minor to southern Italy.

    There is now much talk of a new American red state/blue state split – and even wild threats of another Civil War.

    Certainly, millions of Americans yearly self-select, disengage from their political opposites and make moves based on diverging ideology, culture, politics, religiosity or lack of it, and differing views of the American past.

    More conservative traditionalists head for the interior between the coasts, where there is usually smaller government, fewer taxes, more religiosity, and unapologetic traditionalists.

    These modern Byzantines are more apt to define their patriotism by honoring ancient customs and rituals—standing for the national anthem, attending church services on Sundays, demonstrating reverence for American history and its heroes, and emphasizing the nuclear family.

    Immigration in fly-over country is still defined as melting pot assimilation and integration of new arrivals into the body politic of a hallowed and enduring America.

    While red states welcome change, they believe America never had to be perfect to be good. It will always survive, but only if it sticks to its 234-year-old Constitution, stays united by the English language, and assimilates newcomers into an enduring and exceptional American culture.

    In contrast, the more liberal blue state antithesis is richer from globalist wealth. The west coast from Seattle to San Diego profits from trade with a thriving Asia. It is bookended by the east coast window on the European Union from Boston to Miami.

    The great research universities of the Ivy League, MIT, Caltech, Stanford, and the University of California system are bicoastal. Just as Rome was once the iconic center of the entire Roman project, so blue Washington, D.C., is the nerve center for big-government America.

    The salad bowl is the bicoastal model for immigration. Newcomers can retain and reboot their former cultural identities.

    Religion is less orthodox; atheism and agnosticism are almost the norm. And most of the recent social movements of American feminism, transgenderism, and critical race theory grew out of coastal urbanity and academia.

    Foreigners see blue coastal Americans as the more vibrant, sophisticated, cosmopolitan—and reckless—culture, its vast wealth predicated on technology, information, communications, finance, media, education, and entertainment.

    In turn, they concede that the vast red interior—with about the same population as blue America but with vastly greater area—is the more pragmatic, predictable and home to the food, fuels, ores, and material production of America.

    Our Byzantine interior and Roman coasts are quite differently interpreting their shared American heritage as they increasingly plot radically divergent courses to survive in scary times.

    But as in the past, it is far more likely that one state model will prove unsustainable and collapse than it is that either region would ever start a civil war.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 10/14/2021 – 22:40

  • Anti-Trump Neocons Led By Ex-CIA Operative To Back Democrats In Midterms
    Anti-Trump Neocons Led By Ex-CIA Operative To Back Democrats In Midterms

    A group of Republicans who hate all things Trump are set to endorse a slate of Democratic lawmakers throughout next year’s midterm election season in a bid to stop the Republican party from regaining control of Congress.

    Led in part by former CIA counterintelligence officer and failed 2016 Reoublican presidential candidate Evan McMullin (now an independent), the “Renew America Movement” (RAM) claims to support “principled Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who have the courage to stand up to political extremists in races across the country.”

    ‘Founding signatories‘ include notable neocons and anti-Trumpers McMullin, Anthony Scaramucci, George Conway, Max Boot, Michael Hayden, Michael Chertoff, Tom Ridge and dozens of others.

    Trump, meanwhile, has endorsed several candidates who are mounting primary challenges against GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach him over the Jan. 6 Capitol riots – such as Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, according to Reuters.

    RAM, whose leadership includes former Republican Governors Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey and Bill Weld of Massachusetts, said supporting moderate candidates is vital to safeguarding American democracy. -Reuters

    “With the mounting threats to our democracy and Constitution, we need people who work proactively to lead their party and the country away from the political extremes,” the group’s national political director, Joel Searby, told the outlet.

    So far, RAM will endorse and/or campaign for 11 moderate Democrats, 9 moderate Republians and one independent running in next year’s midterm elections. Those backed include Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Sen. Mark Kelley (D-AZ).

    Unsurprisingly, they’re also supporting Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL).

    While claiming to ‘lead the country away from the political extremes,’ we note that the group doesn’t seem to be opposing any far-left Democratic socialists – arguably the most ‘politically extreme’ faction in DC.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 10/14/2021 – 22:20

  • Microsoft To Shut Down LinkedIn In China Following Censorship Criticism
    Microsoft To Shut Down LinkedIn In China Following Censorship Criticism

    Authored by Eva Fu via The Epoch Times,

    Microsoft is abandoning its local version of LinkedIn in China, a move that would close off the last major U.S.-owned networking platforms remaining in the country.

    LinkedIn entered mainland China in 2014, a country known for its highly restrictive censorship practices set by the ruling Communist Party. The platform now boasts about 53 million local users, or roughly 7 percent of its global total.

    But the professional networking site has recently drawn growing criticism over its move to block the profiles of researchers and others whose work involves China.

    In a statement on Oct. 14, LinkedIn said that it made the decision to discontinue the seven-year venture upon facing “a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China.”

    In its place, LinkedIn said it will later this year set up a new job search application called InJobs without a social feed or post sharing features.

    “While we’ve found success in helping Chinese members find jobs and economic opportunity, we have not found that same level of success in the more social aspects of sharing and staying informed,” the company statement said.

    China has some of the most strictest control over the internet. Twitter and Facebook were banned more than a decade ago. Google exited the country in 2010, four years after launching a self-censored search engine there.

    LinkedIn has made a number of controversial moves since its entry to the Chinese market that critics deem as appeasement to Beijing. That includes blocking coverage about 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, eliminating the presence of a Tiananmen activist, and freezing the account of a China critic after he called the Chinese regime a “repressive dictatorship” and the state media “propaganda mouthpieces.”

    Scrutiny over the platform’s censorship practices has intensified since June. On the morning of June 3, the eve of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, staff members from The Epoch Times based in the United States, Sweden, Turkey, and elsewhere were informed by the company that their profiles would be hidden in China.

    A redacted LinkedIn message received by employees of The Epoch Times on June 3, 2021. (Screenshot via LinkedIn)

    More journalists and researchers have received similar messages over the following months. Affected users were also told that their account in China could be restored if they agreed to remove unspecified content.

    Asked by The Epoch Times at the time, the company said that “[d]ue to local legal requirements within China, the profiles and activity of some LinkedIn members associated with certain publishing organizations are not visible within China at this time.”

    It further pointed to a 2014 statement from its former CEO Jeff Weiner, who argued that despite LinkedIn’s support for freedom of expression, its absence from China would deny Chinese users the opportunity to “pursue and realize the economic opportunities, dreams, and rights most important to them.”

    The fresh wave of censorship by the platform has caught U.S. lawmakers’ attention.

    “LinkedIn’s willingness to carry water for the Chinese regime raises questions about how Microsoft became the only technology company with significant access to the Chinese market,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) wrote in a Sept. 24 letter.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 10/14/2021 – 22:00

  • Biden Admin Reinstates Andrew McCabe's Full Pension After 2018 Firing For Lying Under Oath
    Biden Admin Reinstates Andrew McCabe’s Full Pension After 2018 Firing For Lying Under Oath

    Andrew McCabe, the disgraced Russiagate FBI agent who lied four times to the DOJ and FBI, will receive his full pension more than three years after he was fired by the Justice Department, according to the New York Times. Under the terms of a settlement stemming from a lawsuit McCable filed in 2019 over his firing, he will also receive around $200,000 in missed pension payments.

    The DOJ has also agreed to expunge any mention of his firing from FBI personnel records, and that he would receive special cuff links given to senior executives, along with a plaque bearing his mounted badge and FBI credentials.

    The Justice Department did not admit any wrongdoing. But the settlement amounted to a rejection by the Biden administration of how Mr. McCabe’s case had been handled under Mr. Trump, who perceived Mr. McCabe as one of his so-called deep-state enemies and repeatedly attacked him. A notice of the lawsuit’s dismissal was also filed in federal court. -NYT

    McCabe’s lawyers will also receive over $500,000 in legal fees, courtesy of the US taxpayer.

    This, of course, is on top of more than $540,000 he got from just one of several GoFundMe campaigns, as well as income from his 2019 book, “The Threat.”

    McCabe, who was caught lying four times to the DOJ and FBI (twice while under oath) over leaks to the press, was fired in March, 2017 –  days before he was set to receive his full pension.

    Specifically, McCabe authorized an FBI spokesman and attorney to tell Devlin Barrett of the Wall St. Journal, just days before the 2016 election, that the FBI had not put the brakes on a separate investigation into the Clinton Foundation – at a time in which McCabe was coming under fire for his wife taking a $467,500 campaign contribution from Clinton proxy pal, Terry McAuliffe. 

    During a November, 2020 appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, McCable dismissed the FBI’s abuse of power under his watch as mere mistakes.

    McCabe said he was “shocked” by the “significant number of errors and failures related to the FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] applications” to spy on Carter Page, a former adviser on candidate Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. His claim was reminiscent of Captain Renault in the film “Casablanca,” who pretended to be “shocked, shocked” at the gambling in Rick’s Cafe as he pocketed his winnings. –Fox News

    McCabe also never bothered to speak with Christopher Steele – the former UK spy ultimately paid by the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign to fabricate a now-discredited dossier designed to smear then-candidate Donald Trump. McCabe knew the dossier was fake before the election and did nothing, claiming he was oblivious to the exculpatory evidence before the agency used the dossier when applying for a surveillance warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).

    Before Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, McCabe’s agents tracked down Steele’s main source, Igor Danchenko, who promptly discredited the dossier as nothing more than multiple hearsays and rank speculation, some of which emanated from Danchenko’s drinking buddies.

    It was also determined that parts of the dossier were likely Russian disinformation and that the Russia Hoax itself was invented by none other than Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to smear Republican candidate Trump with an alleged scandal.  –Fox News

    Also recall that McCabe’s team, under Director Comey, heavily altered the language of the FBI’s 2016 opinion concerning Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified information – effectively “decriminalizing” her conduct. Comey’s original draft – using the term “grossly negligent” would have legally required that the FBI recommended charges against Clinton. Instead, McCabe’s team changed it to “extremely careless” – a legally meaningless term.

    According to documents produced by the FBI, FBI employees exchanged proposed edits to the draft statement. On May 6, Deputy Director McCabe forwarded the draft statement to other senior FBI employees, including Peter Strzok, E.W. Priestap, Jonathan Moffa, and an employee on the Office of General Counsel whose name has been redacted. While the precise dates of the edits and identities of the editors are not apparent from the documents, the edits appear to change the tone and substance of Director Comey’s statement in at least three respects. –Letter from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)

    After he was fired, McCabe said he was “confused and distracted” when he was talking to investigators, and charges were never filed against him. Former Trump National Security Adviser Gen. Mike Flynn was notably not afforded the same luxury.

    “I answered questions as completely and accurately as I could. And when I realized that some of my answers were not fully accurate or may have been misunderstood, I took the initiative to correct them,” McCabe wrote in a Washington Post op-ed.

    In the wake of his firing, McCabe – an central figure in the Trump-Russia investigation, received over $540,000 from just one of several GoFundMe campaigns.

    Looks like Andy’s in the club…

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 10/14/2021 – 21:40

  • Navy Announces Plans To Expel Those Refusing Covid Vaccine, Revoke Benefits
    Navy Announces Plans To Expel Those Refusing Covid Vaccine, Revoke Benefits

    At the end of August the Pentagon initially announced a mandate for military personnel across all armed service branches, ordering them to “immediately begin” Covid vaccination. A memo issued by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the time directed the Secretaries of the Military Departments to “immediately begin full vaccination of all members of the Armed Forces under DoD authority on active duty or in the Ready Reserve, including the National Guard, who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.”

    However, when the mandate went out it remained unclear precisely what repercussions military members would face if they don’t comply – this also as a number of lawsuits have since been filed against the DoD by troops arguing that the order violates individual medical freedom. On Thursday the US Navy made it clear to their personnel: receive the jab by November 28 for be expelled from the service. 

    Via US Navy file image

    “With Covid-19 vaccines now mandatory for all military members, the Navy has announced plans to start processing for discharge those who refuse vaccination without a pending or approved exemption,” the US Navy said in the statement.

    The Pentagon had so far remained ambiguous over whether servicemembers would actually be booted after the mandate cut-off date. With Thursday’s Navy announcement, other branches are expected to soon follow suit.

    The AFP notes that “The navy said that 98 percent of its 350,000 active duty members had begun or completed the vaccination process.” The rate among all branches combined is about equal – or just under this, but Pentagon officials worry about lagging vaccination rates in the reserves, given recent reports indicate just 80% of the reserves have had at least one dose. 

    The AFP report underscores that if official Pentagon policy becomes to expel troops across the board for refusing the shot, this could create a significant problem for US defense readiness, given it would inevitably involve a mass exit of troops.

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    “If all the services take the same hard line that the navy is taking, it risks losing as many as 46,000 troops, though presumably more will accept vaccinations before the deadline,” the report underscores. 

    What remains is the question of the terms under which they would be discharged at the end of November. The Navy said in the Thursday announcement those kicked out for not taking the vaccine “will receive no lower than a general discharge under honorable conditions.” 

    However, there could be penalties like being forced to pay back certain training and education costs – or more significantly the loss of post military service benefits, as the official Navy guidance spells out: “This type of discharge could result in the loss of some veterans’ benefits.”

    The Hill details based on the statement that processing discharges might begin immediately: 

    With the new guidelines in place, administrative actions can begin immediately against those who refuse the vaccine who do not have a pending or approved exemption request.

    Those who refuse the vaccine will not be allowed to be promoted, advance, reenlist, or execute orders, with the exception of separation orders, until the CCDA has completed disposition of their case, the guidance notes.

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    Interestingly, the Navy while issuing the harsh punitive plan of action says it will recognize religious exemptions. Likely pastors, priests, and rabbis near military bases and at naval ports might begin to see a flood of random phone calls from “vaccine hesitant” military members seeking a way out of the impasse. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 10/14/2021 – 21:20

  • Average New Car Prices Hit Record High
    Average New Car Prices Hit Record High

    New car prices hit a new all-time high in September due primarily to snarled supply chains, according to Kelley Blue Book.

    At $45k, the average transaction price for a new car was up 12.1% (or $4,872) from one year ago in September and monthly up 3.7% (or $1,613) from August. Here are car prices for individual carmakers. 

    “The record-high prices in September are mostly a result of the mix of vehicles sold,” said Kayla Reynolds, an analyst for Cox Automotive. 

    “Midsize SUV sales jumped in September compared to August, and full-size pickup share moved up as well. Sales of lower-priced compact and midsize cars, which had been commanding more share during the summer, faded in September,” Reynolds said. 

    All-time-high prices come as the entire industry endures a slowdown in sales. Total sales last month were approximately a million cars, a 7.3% monthly decrease, and one of the lowest volumes in the past decade.

    Dwindling sales are likely a function of two things, a worldwide shortage of microchips that have shuttered many automobile factors and possibly higher prices are creating demand destruction among buyers. 

    Over the last year, dealership inventories have been tight due to supply chain difficulties and forced dealers to reduce incentives and discounts to prospective car buyers. Incentives were only 5.2% of the average transaction price last month, compared with 10% a year ago. 

    Another issue for buyers is the staggering increase in used cars, which hit a record high last month. 

    To sum up, fewer cars were sold last month, but prices continue to hit record highs that may suggest consumers are becoming discouraged to buy because of affordability issues. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 10/14/2021 – 21:00

  • John Durham & The Amazing Disappearing DNC Hack
    John Durham & The Amazing Disappearing DNC Hack

    Authored by George Parry via Spectator.org,

    Evidence grows that the alleged Russian hacking of the DNC server in 2016 was an inside job…

    This is the fifth in a series of articles analyzing the 27 page federal grand jury indictment charging lawyer Michael Sussmann with making a false statement to the FBI.

    As stated in the fourth article, when the FBI learned of the alleged hack of the Democratic National Committee’s (“DNC”) emails, it asked to examine the server.

    In fact, at the same time as the alleged DNC hack, there were similar reports regarding the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s (“DCCC”) server as well as DNC Chairman John Podesta’s personal email devices.

    In testimony before the Senate, FBI Director James Comey stated the following:

    Question (by Senator Burr): Did the FBI request access to those devices [the servers and Podesta’s devices] to perform forensics on?

    A: Yes, we did.

    Q: And would that access have provided intelligence or information helpful to your investigation in possibly finding … including to the Intelligence Community Assessment?

    A: Our forensics folks would always prefer to get access to the original device or server that’s involved. So, it’s the best evidence.

    Q: Were you given access to do the forensics on those servers?

    A: We were not. We were … a highly respected private company eventually got access and shared with us what they saw there.

    Q: But is that typically the way the FBI would prefer to do the forensics or would your forensic unit rather see the servers and do the forensics themselves?

    A: We always prefer to have access hands on ourselves, if that’s possible.

    Q: Do you know why you were denied access to those servers?

    A: I don’t know for sure. Um, I don’t know for sure.

    Q: Was there one request or multiple requests?

    A: Multiple requests at different levels and ultimately what was agreed to is that the private company would share with us what they saw.

    So, instead of using a search warrant or some other legal process to perform a direct, hands on forensic examination of the DNC server, the FBI agreed to base its investigation on the findings of a private cybersecurity company. And, as discussed in the previous article, that company, CrowdStrike, was to do the investigation pursuant to its contract with Michael Sussmann of Perkins Coie, the law firm that represented Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

    Think about that. When presented with allegations of a devastating foreign cyber attack on one of the two major political parties, the FBI meekly agreed to allow CrowdStrike and Perkins Coie to do the forensic examination and, for all intents and purposes, run the investigation.

    Not even the lowliest local police department would agree to such an absurd arrangement. What if this was a murder case? Would the Smallville PD allow a private investigator and lawyer hired by the murder victim’s family to process the crime scene, do the autopsy, and tell the police and district attorney what they supposedly found? Wouldn’t such findings be subject to attack in court as coming from sources that may have had an interest in shaping and tailoring the investigative results to suit the needs and desires of their client? Wouldn’t there be legal problems with the evidence’s provenance, chain of custody, and the reliability and comprehensiveness of the investigative work that supposedly produced it? Would the police and district attorney ever allow themselves to get roped into such a bizarre, ridiculous, nightmarish, and self-defeating arrangement?

    Of course not. No rational person or organization intent on conducting a serious investigation would.

    But that, in effect, is precisely what the FBI — the self-proclaimed greatest investigative agency in the world — did when faced with this purportedly monumental foreign attack on the Democrat Party apparatus.

    Now keep Comey’s testimony in focus as we review the remarkable appearance of Shawn Henry, President of CrowdStrike Services, before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (“HPSCI”).

    The HPSCI convened in closed executive session on December 5, 2017. Present were Henry, the Committee members and staff, as well as a lawyer representing CrowdStrike and a lawyer from Perkins Coie.

    Under questioning, Henry confirmed that CrowdStrike’s examination of the DNC server was done pursuant to its contract with Michael Sussmann of Perkins Coie. Consequently, as explained by the Perkins Coie lawyer, CrowdStrike’s findings were protected by the attorney-client privilege. Therefore, it would be up to Perkins Coie, acting on behalf of the DNC, to decide what information Henry would be allowed to share with the HPSCI.

    First up was Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) who wanted to know why the FBI hadn’t taken “the lead in this investigation.”

    And that’s when the fun and games began.

    Once it was established that the FBI did not have access to the server, Stewart asked, “Could they [the FBI] conduct their own investigation in a thorough fashion without access to the actual hardware?”

    To that Henry went out on a limb and firmly replied, “Maybe.”

    Undeterred, Stewart asked, “Are you comfortable that someone could complete a thorough investigation, using other tools, without direct access to the hardware or equipment?”

    Up to the challenge, Henry proceeded to answer a question that wasn’t asked.

    “Could they come to a conclusion? You’re asking a nuanced question. And I’m not being cagey. I want to be clear, because this is an important point.”

    But would it be better if the FBI had access?

    Henry replied, “The more information you have access to, the better any investigation. But it doesn’t mean that a lack of a piece of information precludes you from coming to a conclusion.”

    The determined Stewart tried again. If you “could have a better investigation if you had access to all of the equipment or hardware” would there be “reasons for not making that available [to the FBI] that override the benefit of having a more conclusive investigation?”

    To which Henry replied, “You’re asking me to speculate. I don’t know the answer.”

    At which point, an exasperated Stewart said to the Perkins Coie lawyer, “By the way, you need to pay him well, because he’s obviously serving you well today as you guys have your conversations back and forth.”

    Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) in 2019

    So just what evidence did CrowdStrike find on the DNC server?

    Over the course of the hearing, Henry grudgingly gave ground with answers such as these:

    “Counsel just reminded me that, as it relates to the DNC, we have indicators that data [the DNC emails] was (sic) exfiltrated [taken by hackers off the server]. We did not have concrete evidence that data was (sic) exfiltrated from the DNC, but we have indicators that it was exfiltrated…. There’s not evidence that they were actually exfiltrated. There’s circumstantial evidence … we didn’t have direct evidence. But we made a conclusion that data left the network.” (Emphasis added.)

    Okay, there was no direct, concrete, or other proof that the emails were actually taken from the DNC computer. But what were these “indicators” that led CrowdStrike to conclude that the emails were hacked?

    According to Henry, CrowdStrike found “indicators of [server] compromise, which are pieces of malware, et cetera.” He then explained that CrowdStrike’s investigative report states that the data [emails] were “staged for exfiltration” by the purported Russian hacker.

    He added, “There are times when we can see data exfiltrated, and we can say conclusively. But in this case, it appears that it (sic) was set up to be exfiltrated, but we just don’t have the evidence that says it actually left.” (Emphasis added.)

    Got that? With no evidence that the emails were actually hacked, CrowdStrike nevertheless concluded that the Russians hacked the emails.

    Despite the spin, the whole DNC hack story had just flatlined.

    But there was one more issue to be addressed: exactly what evidence was shared with the FBI?

    I will spare you the tedious details of the interrogation. The questioners kept asking Henry what information CrowdStrike provided to the FBI, and he repeatedly said that they got whatever they asked for.

    But the problem with this line of questioning is that it failed to consider the fact that CrowdStrike was working for Perkins Coie. Consequently, the questions should have focused on what information Perkins Coie allowed to be transmitted to the FBI.

    The closest anyone came to getting at this issue was when Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) asked, “Did the DNC restrict anything that you shared with the FBI or that the FBI asked for? Did they tell you ‘no’ at any point?”

    Henry replied, “No, I have no recollection. Again, I know that there are redacted reports and there was some restriction on the reports. That’s the only thing that I can recall.”

    Wait. What? Redacted? Restriction? Does this mean that the DNC withheld some of CrowdStrike’s findings and work product from the FBI?

    The answer to that question can be found lurking in the pre-trial pleadings in the case of United States v. Roger Stone. In an effort to debunk the DNC hack story, Stone’s lawyers requested that the Department of Justice produce the full, unredacted CrowdStrike investigative report.

    And that’s when the cowpie hit the fan. It turned out that, in addition to not examining the DNC server, neither the FBI nor the DOJ actually saw the full, final CrowdStrike report.

    The following is lifted directly from the prosecution’s response to Stone’s discovery request:

    Ponder  that carefully. The referenced “counsel for the DNC and DCCC” is Perkins Coie. The reports provided were marked “draft” and had redactions. But the FBI and DOJ had the assurances of Perkins Coie that the  drafts were, in fact, the last version of the report and “no redacted information concerned the attribution of the attack to Russian actors.”

    So, was there a hack of the DNC server? Don’t ask the FBI or the DOJ. They only know what Perkins Coie — which was representing a client that was heavily invested in spreading the Russian hack story — allowed them to know.

    But thanks to the release of Shawn Henry’s testimony before the HPSCI, what we now know is that CrowdStrike never found any “direct,” “concrete,” or other evidence that proves the DNC emails “actually left” the DNC server.

    Or, as we used to say in the old Justice Department: turn out the lights, the party’s over.

    There’s more to come, but this article is already too long.

    So stay tuned for the next episode.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 10/14/2021 – 20:40

  • Brace For A Retail Sales Miss
    Brace For A Retail Sales Miss

    Last month, the August retail sales surge was a surprise to many… but not to us. With consensus expecting a modest drop in both headline and core, we tweeted moments before the data was revealed to expect a “big retail sales beat.”

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

    How did we know? Because Bank of America, which instead of relying on the hive “knowledge” of a handful of recent Econ PhD grads and a reversion to the mean impulse uses real-time credit and debit card spending data to asses precisely how much Americans are spending at any given moment, knew, and in its preview of the September retail sales print, the bank correctly forecast a big beat.

    It wasn’t the first time BofA was right: in fact the bank has been accurate every single month since this spring, usually going against the onsensus herd and coming on top every single time like in August, when it correctly predicted a big drop in the July print…

    … the month prior when it and consensus agreed, and both were spot on…

    … the month before when BofA once again was correct in calling for a sharp drop and consensus was wrong…

    … one month earlier as well…

    … and so on.

    In short, when it comes to predicting the upcoming retail sales print, toss consensus which has been wrong on 5 out of 6 previous occasions, and listen to the flawless BofA.

    So what does the bank forecast the Census Bureau will report tomorrow at 830 when the September retail sales data drop? Well, it will be another miss, with headline coming in about three times worse than the consensus est of -0.2% and ex-autos coming in flat, also missing estimates of a 0.4% bounce.

    According to BofA, retail sales ex-autos were unchanged month over month seasonally adjusted (SA) in September.

    After accounting for the sharp collapse in unit auto sales to 12.2 million saar (seasonally adjusted annualized rate), as measured by Wards, BofA predicts that tomorrow’s Census Bureau total retail sales will end up down -0.6% mom SA. This follows the sharp swings over the prior two months which owed to a variety of special factors including the timing of the Prime Day promotions.

    While the delta between BofA data and Census is small, in a market where a miss is a miss, and a beat is a beat, will certainly be felt. This is how the delta between BofA’s numbers and the Census Burea has looked over time.

    In any case, BofA’s chief economist Michelle Meyer contends that this month’s report should give us a cleaner picture of the consumer.

    Drilling deeper, within retail ex-autos, spending on furniture and building materials staged a comeback, reflecting the latest turn higher in home sales. BofA also observed a pop in spending on airfare, consistent with the weekly data, working to offset the sharp drop in August. However, spending on lodging continued to contract mom SA (travel related spending is not in the retail ex-autos aggregate).

    Also in September, spending at daycare centers was 52% above last year’s level and only 13% below the same time in 2019. BofA sees this as an encouraging sign as reliable childcare is critical for the recovery of the labor force.

    While retail sales may miss consensus, it will be modest. Meanwhile, the good news and confirmation that the US consumer remains generally strong, BofA continues to see gains in leisure spending with spending on travel and entertainment, in particular, improving. The bank’s aggregate for leisure spending is running at 1% over a 2-year period, up from the recent low of -8% in mid Sept.

    The improvement is not felt evenly across the country, however: in NY and PA spending on entertainment services has been particularly weak (-20% and -12% over a 2-year period, respectively) vs. FL where entertainment is up 16% over a 2-year period.

    Once again, it is the south that knows how to party while the northeast excels mostly in locking itself down.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 10/14/2021 – 20:20

  • Treasury Slams 'Misinformation' Over $600 Bank Reporting Provision
    Treasury Slams ‘Misinformation’ Over $600 Bank Reporting Provision

    The US Treasury Department slammed “misinformation” over a provision in President Joe Biden’s tax plan which would require banks to report aggregate inflows and outflows of at least over $600 to the IRS.

    “Congressional consideration of this proposal has been marred by misinformation, as opponents have elevated the pernicious myth that banks will have to report all individual customers’ transactions to the IRS,” said Treasury deputy assistant secretary for economic policy, Natasha Sarin in a Thursday blog post. “This is unequivocally false, and an incorrect representation of the proposals under consideration.”

    So it won’t be ‘all’ customers.

    As Bloomberg suggests, “The plan would require financial institutions to report information about some bank accounts to the Internal Revenue Service in an effort to determine if Americans are underreporting their income on their tax forms.”

    While the blog post offered no clarity on who exactly would be targeted by the $600 provision, we can probably assume they mean ‘people who pay taxes.’

    According to the Tax Policy Center, 61% of Americans paid no federal income taxes in 2020, up from 47% .

    “This proposal has been seriously mischaracterized,” said Treasury Secretary Janey Yellen in a Tuesday interview with CBS Evening News.

    Of course, despite what the Treasury says, Democrats have been walking it back:

    House Democrats excluded the idea from their version of the tax-and-spending bill they wrote last month, partly because of opposition from members in their own party. However, Democratic leaders continue to work on the plan, which could raise hundreds of billions of dollars to fund an expansion of social programs.

    House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden have said they are working on scaling back the administration’s plan so that only account flows totaling $10,000 or more would be reported and other carveouts so that only high-income taxpayers would be in the scope of the plan. Lawmakers are looking at ways to exclude some common transactions, such as payroll deposits or mortgage payment withdrawals. –Bloomberg

    According to the Independent Community Bankers of America, a banking trade group, the Treasury’s proposal violates consumers’ privacy and would require banks to “perform a police function on behalf of the IRS.”

    The Treasury, meanwhile, insists that this additional information will help them track down high-earning tax cheats. The IRS estimates that people pay 99% of taxes due on their earnings when there is third-party reporting, vs just 45% when there’s no verification.

    “The proposal would direct banks to report basic, high-level information on aggregate account inflows and outflows,” reads the Treasury blog post. “Banks would add just a bit of additional data to information that they already supply to taxpayers and the IRS: how much money went into the account over the course of the year, and how much came out.”

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 10/14/2021 – 20:00

  • Larry Summers Slams "Woke" Fed "Losing Control" Of Inflation
    Larry Summers Slams “Woke” Fed “Losing Control” Of Inflation

    You know it’s bad when you’ve lost Larry Summers…

    It appears the so-called ‘progressives’ push to ever more signaling of their virtue and cradle-to-grave dependence on bigger and bigger government (as long as you ‘obey’ the narrative) is just too much for the former Treasury Secretary who warned that monetary policy makers in the U.S. and elsewhere for paying too much attention to social issues and not enough to the biggest risk to inflation since the 1970s.

    Speaking to a virtual conference organized by the Institute of International Finance, Summers rebuffed the newly ‘woke’ Fed:

    “We have a generation of central bankers who are defining themselves by their wokeness,” Summers, who is now a professor at Harvard University, said on Wednesday.

    “They’re defining themselves by how socially concerned they are.”

    Read that again and consider the source – Bill Clinton’s Treasury Secretary and head of the National Economic Council in the early years of the Obama administration!!

    His fear is simple: Fed talking heads are too focused on social justice that they are taking their eye off the ball that is their mandated job of managing inflation and jobs.

    “We’re in more danger than we’ve been during my career of losing control of inflation in the U.S.,” the 66-year-old Summers, a paid contributor to Bloomberg, said.

    “We’ve gone even further towards losing it in Britain and I think we’re at some risk in Europe.”

    Summers also – quite ironically for someone who has supported fiscal expansion as a means of promoting macroeconomic stability – blamed the Fed and other central banks for not preparing investors for the tough steps policy makers will probably have to take to rein in inflation.  

    “If those actions come, they’re going to be very shocking and very painful in financial markets,” he said.

    This is not the first time Summers has raised a red flag. As James Caton writes at The American Institute for Economic Research, in February, Summers participated in a discussion with Paul Krugman where he outlined his concerns. He notes that:

    1. The stimulus of 2020 was about twice the size of the output gap in the same year. The proposed stimulus for 2021 was, at the time, 4 times the size of the projected output gap.

    2. Unemployment compensation provided to the bottom 30% of earners was more than double their losses from Covid-19.

    Elsewhere, Summers explains that the current labor shortage will drive up wages and that we have already seen monthly rents for new tenants increase by 17 percent, on average, above the rents paid by previous tenants. 

    Summers believes that the “toxic side effects of QE” are not being recognized by policymakers. In an interview, Larry Summers used a rather peculiar metaphor to describe this situation.:

    So, I look at that dwindling hole. Then I look at expenditures that aren’t hard to add into the multiple trillions, and I see substantial risk that the amount of water being poured in vastly exceeds the size of the bathtub.

    When I heard Summers use this metaphor, my mind was drawn to a passage I first read over a decade ago from Benjamin Anderson in his reflection on the Great Depression. In referring to monetary policy that preceded the initiation of the Great Crash in October 1929, he wrote:

    When a bathtub in the upper part of the house has been overflowing for five minutes, it is not difficult to turn off the water and mop up. But when the bathtub has been overflowing for several years, the walls and the spaces between ceilings and floors have become full of water, and a great deal of work is required to get the house dry. Long after the faucet is turned off, water still comes pouring in from the walls and from the ceilings. It was so in 1928 and 1929. 

    Consistent with both statements is the belief that the monetary policy provided more stimulus than was merited by prevailing economic conditions. And consistent with Summers’ belief that excessive monetary support can be toxic, Anderson bemoans the extensive damage that can occur when the water spigot is left on for too long.

    Instead of racial ‘equity’ or climate change, The Fed needs to concentrate on monetary policy. This is a serious job that requires serious focus. Perhaps Summers recognizes that the post-2008 monetary framework has created a fiscal Fed. Or maybe he will. 

    Summers’ demands for limits to the aims of monetary policy might be politically feasible under the old Volcker-Greenspan regime. Under that monetary regime, inflationary pressure placed strict limits on the expansion of the balance sheet. The political incentives now faced by both politicians and Fed officials promote precisely the sort of oversized fiscal expansions that we have observed in the last two years, the same expansions that Summers decries. 

    The post-2008 framework has incentivized the destabilization of monetary policy. The sooner we recognize this fact, the sooner we can seriously discuss a solution to the problem.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 10/14/2021 – 19:40

  • Treasury Official Warns Using Stablecoins For Payments "Raises A Whole Set Of Issues"
    Treasury Official Warns Using Stablecoins For Payments “Raises A Whole Set Of Issues”

    As bitcoin prices surge in anticipation of the SEC finally approving a bitcoin ETF (after years of turning down one application after another), one top crypto regulator from Treasury – Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang – offered a frank explanation for why the Treasury Department sees stablecoins as an important locus for crypto regulation. The issue is that stablecoins solve a critical problem for crypto: they’re rarely volatile, by design. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that tether, one of the biggest stablecoins, appears to be a massive Ponzi scheme. Although it saw some volatility in response, on Thursday, tether was trading right around $1.

    Why is it that tether didn’t collapse after being accused of being a Ponzi scheme (not like this is even the first time)? Because stable coins like tether have become a central part of the crypto-trading economy, allowing traders to move easily into and out of positions in different coins without ever needing to re-convert their crypto to US dollars. As Liang put it, stablecoins play a “foundational” role in the crypto economy. While they’re mostly used for trading right now, the Treasury is keeping a close eye on whether stablecoins start being used for commerce, something that might trigger a backlash from the Treasury since it would be a sign that a real competitor to the US dollar might actually be emerging.

    As Liang added, stablecoins being used for payments (like Mark Zuckerberg infamously tried to do) “raises a whole set of issues”.

    “We believe they’re kind of foundational to crypto and future crypto services,” Liang said Thursday during a virtual event sponsored by the Institute of International Finance. “They’re being used mostly for crypto trading currently. They also have the potential and have started to be used for payments — and may be widely used for payments, and that raises a whole set of issues that the President.”

    “They’re being used mostly for crypto trading currently. They also have the potential and have started to be used for payments — and may be widely used for payments, and that raises a whole set of issues that the President’s Working Group wanted to focus on,” she said.

    At this point, more regulation for the crypto community seems virtually inevitable with Janet Yellen running Treasury and Gary Gensler running the SEC. President Biden and his advisors have even considered imposing an entire new regulatory framework for crypto via executive fiatn (no pun intended).

    Liang  is a member of the President’s Working Group on crypto regulation. For those who aren’t familiar with it, the working group includes the heads of Treasury and several other federal agencies. The group is planning to issue a report on stablecoins by the end of the month. In addition to the policy-setting team, the DoJ has put together a task force to combat cryptocurrency-related crime as well.

    Media reports have suggested that the Biden Administration plans to regulate stablecoins like banks. He’s also reportedly considered hiring a “crypto czar”

    But whatever happens, keep in mind: whatever lip-service federal policymakers give about stablecoins (including the FedCoin which is being studied by the central bank) being a key part of innovation, in reality, they see it as one thing: a threat.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 10/14/2021 – 19:20

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