Today’s News 16th August 2024

• France: Political Chaos
  France: Political Chaos

  Authored by Guy Millière via The Gatestone Institute,

  Paris. June 9. 8pm. The results of the European Parliament elections were made public.

  In France, the party of President Emmanuel Macron garnered 14.6% of the vote, 8 points less than in 2019; the French population had turned away from Macron. The Socialist Party came out with 13.8% of the vote and Rebellious France, a far-left party, 9.89% of the vote. The moderate right party, The Republicans, received only 7.25% of the vote and continued to slide towards insignificance. The right wing National Rally received 31.3% of the vote, 10 points more than in 2019, an extremely high result for a long-marginalized party.

  Macron’s policies were clearly rejected by the French electorate. A recent poll showed that only 31% of French people said they were satisfied with his management of the country. He could have decided to wait. He was re-elected in 2022 and can remain president until 2027. His party did not have an absolute majority in the National Assembly (France’s parliament) but was the leading party, which could also remain in place until 2027.

  Macron could not ignore that the result obtained by the Rebellious France party was worrying: Rebellious France is not only a far-left party, it is also a party tinged with anti-Semitism and counts supporters of Islamism and terrorist groups such as Hamas in its ranks. Macron also did not ignore that the National Rally’s growing support has come from all those who rejected his management of the country and were apparently extremely worried about what France is becoming.

  Macron could see, according to polls, that if legislative elections were organized immediately, his Together party would lose; Rebellious France would gain even more political weight, and the National Rally could win an absolute majority.

  He was also aware that the Olympic Games were about take place in Paris, and that since 2017, when he came to power, demonstrations and riots in France have been frequent; any decision on his part could create massive disorder at an extremely bad time.

  He nevertheless decided to dissolve the National Assembly and hold legislative elections on very short notice.

  He did not warn anyone.

  Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, whom he appointed just six months earlier, learned of the decision while speaking on television. He was not shy about showing his anger. Other members of the government learned of the decision at the same time as Attal.

  On June 30, the first round of elections led to the expected results. Together (Macron’s party) received a slightly larger share of votes than in the European Parliament elections, but a far smaller than in France’s 2022 parliamentary elections, and was heading towards a scathing defeat. Rebellious France managed quickly to form a left-wing coalition (the New Popular Front), which it dominated and on which it imposed an extremely radical program. It promised large tax increases, disarming the police and immediate regularization of all illegal immigrants in the country.

  The left-wing coalition has clearly been gaining ground. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of Rebellious France, to emphasize that he accepts anti-Semitism and supports Hamas and Islamism, gave a speech on June 30 about his party’s results in the first round, while standing on stage next to an Islamist pro-Hamas activist, newly-elected Member of European Parliament Rima Hassan. Hassan wore a keffiyeh and displayed on her clothes a small Palestinian flag.

  

  The National Rally won an even better result than it had in the European elections: a third of voters gave it their support. The National Rally was well ahead in all electoral districts in the country, except in big cities. It clearly looked able to win a majority in the second round.

  Macron then decided to wage total war against the National Rally. He described it in extreme terms and used vocabulary as radical as that used by the leaders of Rebellious France. He could see that the National Rally has a conservative program that is perfectly respectful of institutions, but nevertheless falsely described it as a party belonging to a “fascist” extreme right and a “threat to democracy“. He warned that if the National Rally came to power, the survival of the French republic would be at stake, and added that all parties, including Rebellious France, must unite against the National Rally to defeat it.

  An unprecedented situation in France took shape: all the candidates from other parties were asked to withdraw from the election and support the candidate of another party better placed to defeat the National Rally candidate, even if the better-placed candidate belonged to a party that they totally rejected.

  Some candidates from Together asked people to vote for Rebellious France candidates, and some Rebellious France candidates asked people to vote for Together candidates. The Republicans also participated in the mayhem. Former President François Hollande, running for a seat in the National Assembly, supported Rebellious France.

  The French mainstream media contributed to the operation and fueled fear of “fascism”. They accepted the propaganda. Rappers, who are widely listened to in Islamic no-go zones, released a song that calls for the murder of Jordan Bardella, the president of the National Rally, the rape of party leader Marine Le Pen, and the elimination of “Zionist Jews”. The song was described by some journalists as a courageous “song of resistance” and was broadcast over the radio. One of the lines from the song goes: “From the Jordan to the Seine, Palestine will be free” – a call not just for the destruction of Israel, but for the submission of France to Sharia law and Islam.

  On the evening of the second, run-off, round, which was held July 7, it became clear that scaring the public had worked.

  The National Rally won only 142 seats out of 577.

  Macron’s party, Together, lost a third of its seats and sank from 245 to 166 seats.

  Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s anger is apparently still intact. The other members of the government are also less than euphoric. They knew that Attal could resign soon (he resigned on July 16 and remains in caretaker role), and that it will be the end of the government of which they are part. Any support that Macron still had on June 9 has almost completely evaporated. Macron is alone, discredited.

  The “left”, with 184 seats, became the largest group in the National Assembly; Rebellious France, its most powerful component. The party’s leaders present themselves as the spearhead of the “anti-fascist struggle”; claim that they must govern the country, and that to remove them would be to make “concessions to fascism”. They do not bother to hide their anti-Semitism and their support for Hamas and Islam. One of them, Raphael Arnault, a leader of the Antifa movement in France, is on the list established by the French police of people dangerous for the security of the country. This is the first time that a leader of a movement that is officially dangerous for the security of the country has become a member of the National Assembly.

  France has become almost ungovernable. No political party has a majority. No party can form a government coalition without having to renounce the most essential part of its program.

  The power acquired by Rebellious France means that a government which does not have its approval cannot claim to govern. In addition, no new parliamentary elections can be organized for a year.

  France seems to be condemned to political instability and disorder.

  National Rally leaders emphasize that their party received the largest number of votes and that Macron’s maneuverings stole the election from them.

  Polls have shown for months that a majority of French people would like a firm fight against crime, a stop to illegal immigration, and an end to the Islamization of the country. All these points were on the program of the National Rally.

  By having strengthened Rebellious France, Macron created a situation where there will undoubtedly be less fight against crime, more illegal immigration, an increase of Islamization.

  Economic data shows that France is currently in a recession. The country’s debt is growing. The debt has increased by 30% in seven years. Year after year, the government budget is in a deficit that is increasing. By the endo of 2024, France’s budget deficit will be 5.1%.

  Every year, on average, 500,000 new immigrants, mainly from the Muslim world, settle in France. Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants reside in the country. Few are expelled. Islamic no-go zones are growing.

  On the evening of July 7, Rebellious France organized a large rally in Paris’s Place de la République. Palestinian flags were everywhere; French flags almost nowhere. Speakers presented hateful slogans against the National Rally, Israel, Jewish journalists, and the police. Demonstrators burned cars and trash cans, and destroyed stores.

  Many French Jews are aghast. Before the elections, Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld and the former president Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions, Dr. Richard Prasquier, said that, faced with the rise of Islamic left-wing anti-Semitism, they had decided to vote for the National Rally. In fact, the National Rally throughout this period was the only party to explicitly denounce Islamic left-wing anti-Semitism.

  Commenting on the results of the election, the Rabbi Moshe Sebbag, of the Grand Synagogue of Paris, said, “there is no future for Jews in France”. He recommended that Jews who could, should leave France.

  The Olympic Games, which ended on August, featured in the opening ceremony a decapitated Queen Marie Antoinette, carrying her severed head in her arms, and a blasphemous reenactment of the Last Supper by drag queens, with a nearly-naked man, painted blue, served on a platter. The author Éric Zemmour responded on X

  “The great architects of this spectacle (Macron, Boucheron, Hidalgo, etc.) have taken the beauty of Paris, the most beautiful setting in the world, hostage. But these people are not us. They don’t represent us. They are foreign to what we are. Enemies of what we were. They want to impose on us a vision of Man that is not ours.”

  At the end of the ceremony, Macron, to loud boos from the crowd, declared the Paris Olympic Games open.

  The columnist Ivan Rioufol, in a book published seven years ago, analyzing the first decisions taken by Macron at the start of his presidency, noted that Macron had acted impulsively; had sought to destroy the political parties that had governed France for decades; seemed to have no defined guideline, and seemed to despise the French population. Rioufol added: “His reign will end in a nightmare”.

  Are we about to find that out?

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 08/16/2024 – 02:00

• 10 Things To Know About Afghanistan On The Third Anniversary Of The Taliban's Return To Power
  10 Things To Know About Afghanistan On The Third Anniversary Of The Taliban’s Return To Power

  Authored by Andrew Korybko via substack,

  The Taliban returned to power three years ago on 15 August 2021 after capturing Kabul amidst the panicked Western withdrawal from Afghanistan.

  Most of the world has since forgotten about that country due to the Ukrainian Conflict, however, which is why it’s worthwhile updating everyone about what’s happening there.

  

  What follows are the ten things that folks should know about Afghanistan.

  1. American Sanctions Remain A Major Impediment To Socio-Economic Recovery

  The US continues to sanction Afghanistan and freeze those of its assets that that the former government placed within its jurisdiction. This has impeded the country’s socio-economic recovery, though that was precisely the point. The US hopes that the difficult living conditions that it contributed to creating might one day give rise to a rebellion that could threaten the Taliban’s control of the country.

  2. The Taliban Has Yet To Form An Ethno-Politically Inclusive Government

  The Taliban previously pledged to form an inclusive government, which observers interpreted as a commitment to elevate the roles of ethnic minorities and the opposition, but that has yet to come to pass. They’ve also imposed restrictions on woman since returning to power. These policies have served as the pretext for the international community’s refusal to recognize their government’s legitimacy.

  3. Afghanistan’s Astronomically Large Rare Earth Deposits Are Still Untapped

  The lack of formal recognition has complicated the Taliban’s plans to profit from the estimated $1 trillion worth of rare earth minerals under Afghanistan’s soil, which could make it integral to global supply chains one day. Its economy could also be revolutionized if production facilities are established inside the country and these serve as anchors for more diverse foreign investments.

  4. Opium Production Is Practically Non-Existent After The Taliban Banned It

  The Talban banned opium cultivation eight months after returning to power, which led to a whopping 95% reduction in production. Afghanistan is now no longer the world’s opium capital, but it’s struggled to replace this crop with other ones, thus leaving some farmers out of work. They might in turn become more susceptible to joining terrorist groups in order to replace their lost income.

  5. ISIS-K Hasn’t Been Wiped Out Despite The Taliban’s Best Efforts

  ISIS-K is the only force inside of Afghanistan capable of toppling the Taliban, but they haven’t been wiped out despite the latter’s best efforts over the past three years. They continue to recruit new members over social media, train some of them, and plan attacks from their sanctuaries there. The Taliban requires more intelligence and better arms in order to quash this global threat once and for all.

  6. The Taliban’s Ties With Former Patron Pakistan Have Deteriorated

  The expectation that some had of Pakistan restoring its influence over Afghanistan upon the Taliban’s return to power were shattered after the group turned against its patron by hosting “Pakistani Taliban” (TTP) militants that Islamabad considers to be terrorists. Tensions between these two have pushed them to the brink of war, but cooler heads have prevailed thus far, though they might not prevail forever.

  7. A Planned Canal Has Worsened Relations With The Central Asian Republics

  Afghanistan’s ties with Pakistan aren’t the only ones to deteriorate over the past three years since the Taliban’s planned Qosh Tepa Canal has worsened relations with the Central Asian Republics. Ties with secular Tajikistan were already troubled since it objects to the fundamentalist Taliban’s alleged mistreatment of its co-ethnics but this brings Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan on its bad side too.

  8. India And The Taliban Surprisingly Patched Up Their Prior Problems

  Taliban-Pakistani tensions aided the group’s rapprochement with India, against whom it used to train Kashmiri militants, but integration into its North-South Transport Corridor has yet to be completed due to the aforesaid problems with the Central Asian Republics and Iran. Even so, this might have influenced their decision to recognize Kashmir as separate from Pakistan, which aligns with India’s interests.

  9. Russia Might Become The First Country To Recognize The Taliban’s Government

  Economic and security interests are responsible for Russia officially considering lifting the Taliban’s terrorist designation and subsequently recognizing its government. The Kremlin wants to tap into Afghanistan’s astronomically large mineral deposits that the Soviets first discovered, utilize the country’s transregional connectivity potential, and facilitate the Taliban’s anti-terrorist operations against ISIS-K.

  10. Afghanistan Can Play A Pivotal Role In Eurasia’s Multipolar Integration

  Last but not least, the restoration of Afghanistan’s independence after two decades of Western occupation enables it to play a pivotal role in Eurasia’s multipolar integration, though ties with its neighbors must improve before that happens. In that event, it can facilitate North-South trade between Russia/Central Asia and Pakistan/India and East-West trade between Iran and Central Asia/China.

  As can be seen, while Afghanistan no longer functions as a US airbase in the Eurasian Heartland, it’s now a source of unconventional threats to the region after the Taliban returned to power via its hosting of the TTP, its controversial canal plans, and failure to defeat ISIS-K.

  Nevertheless, Afghanistan has more geostrategic potential than ever before, but it must resolve these issues in order to capitalize upon this.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 23:25

• Two Illegal Aliens Steal $1 Million Patek At Gunpoint In Beverly Hills Hotel In Broad Daylight
  Two Illegal Aliens Steal $1 Million Patek At Gunpoint In Beverly Hills Hotel In Broad Daylight

  Up until now illegal aliens mostly raped and/or killed country bumpkins from the flyover states, so the Hollywood propaganda machine wasn’t too worried: after all none of their important Democrat buddies were in danger. But things are changing, and in a dramatic example of just how brazen “migrant” criminals in the US are becoming in the confines of such Democrat bastions as Tinsel Town, one week ago two illegal aliens stole a  $1 million Patek Philippe wristwatch at gunpoint from a man who was sitting with his wife and daughter at the patio restaurant of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. During the crime, which took place in broad daylight on August 7, one suspect pointed a gun at the man while the other removed the watch — a rather gaudy looking 5711/113p-001 Emerald Nautilus — from his wrist before fleeing in a getaway car, according to documents filed Tuesday in federal court in Los Angeles.

  

  Yet what the criminal duo, which according to authorities was part of a “crime tourism” ring, exuded in confidence they lacked in brains, and three days later, authorities said the police captured the suspects – Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar, 21, of Colombia, and Jesus Eduardo Padron Rojas, 19, of Venezuela – driving a different vehicle that had been linked to a previous armed robbery in Beverly Hills when a $30,000 Rolex was stolen.

  

  An affidavit attached to the criminal complaint indicated that the suspects belong to a South American Theft Group, designated transnational criminal organizations of citizens from countries such as Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela. According to federal authorities, “these groups commonly exploit the US immigration system and make fraudulent claims to enter the country.” Translated into English: these are illegal aliens who abuse the already lax laws, and slide in and out of the US as they desire, with the sole purpose of robbing rich Americans blinds.

  A spate of watch thefts has also plagued New York City in recent months. Some of those incidents have involved unidentified individuals placing men in chokeholds until they lose consciousness and then grabbing the victims’ watches. In the latest theft, on Aug. 9, the victim was attacked at a subway station, according to the New York City Police Department.

  Last month, the city’s police reported six other heists going as far back as March, some of them at upscale restaurants in Manhattan and in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

  In June, a victim was held up at gunpoint outside Carbone, a trendy Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village. Two men robbed his $100,000 watch and then fled the scene on a motorcycle. Another robbery targeted three men sitting at an outdoor restaurant in SoHo where one of two assailants flashed a silver firearm and took their watches worth $40,000, $35,000 and $8,500.

  Police are looking for multiple suspects in these incidents, although they may have to look all the way in Venezuela or Colombia where these “political refugees” promptly return to, to avoid getting caught on US soil.

  In the Los Angeles case, Bloomberg reports that the criminals surveilled the Patek Philippe for two weeks before making their move. The victim and his family are UK citizens who reside in the United Arab Emirates, according to court documents.

  If convicted on all counts, Sepulveda faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison, while Padron faces as many as 20 years. In reality, they will most likely be released immediately because the judge is some liberal idiot.

  Authorities described the heist as a form of “crime tourism,” involving people who live “nomadic lives” in Airbnbs and motels to avoid arrest after entering the US. Which, of course, is better than calling yet another brand of criminals “illegal aliens.” They use counterfeit identification and aliases to disguise their identity and criminal history, according to the court documents. But while they may use counterfeit identification as a disguise, fear not: they – along with 300,000 other “migrants” every month – would never lie about why they are entitled to “political asylum” in the US. And since they promise to vote for Harris, nobody in the admin’s immigration services will both to check their lies.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 23:00

• States Need To Make It Easier To Evict Squatters, Report Says
  States Need To Make It Easier To Evict Squatters, Report Says

  Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

  States that have permissive policies on squatting—a growing phenomenon in the United States—need to make the practice a criminal offense, the writers of a new report from Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) say.

  

  Squatting is occupying an unoccupied or abandoned area of land or a building without having legal permission to use it. Although squatters don’t pay rent and sometimes damage the properties they take over, evicting them can be difficult and costly.

  Most states are reluctant to allow criminal prosecution of squatters as trespassers and prefer treating incidents as landlord and tenant disputes. Police who wish to avoid potentially violent confrontations often don’t want to take direct action and instead advise property owners to seek eviction orders from judges.

  Kyle Sweetland, strategic research manager at PLF, is a co-author of the report, “Locking Squatters Out: How States Can Protect Property Owners.”

  Sweetland acknowledged that there are some thinkers who say squatting is a legitimate means of redistributing wealth.

  On the other hand, “legal scholars argue that states’ treatment of squatting as a civil rather than criminal offense amounts to a government-approved taking of private property without just compensation, a violation of property owners’ Fifth Amendment rights,” he said in an Aug. 13 interview.

  States are “letting somebody live rent-free at your home while you have to wait for this much longer process” to unfold to regain possession of it, he said.

  Model Legislation

  PLF, a national, nonprofit public interest law firm, has developed model legislation called the Stop Squatters Act that state legislatures can use to level the legal playing field, he said.

  The legislation declares that “the right to exclude others from entering, and the right to direct others to immediately vacate, residential and commercial real property are fundamental property rights.” It also provides civil and criminal penalties for squatters.

  PLF senior attorney Mark Miller said, “It is long overdue that we start treating squatters like what they actually are—trespassers.”

  “Squatters illegally take property that doesn’t belong to them, and some sell the owner’s belongings, trash the property, or use it for illicit activities,” Miller said in a statement.

  “They shouldn’t be given special legal protections.”

  The White House has acknowledged that squatting is a problem but has been wary of promoting federal policies to deal with it amid calls for national anti-squatting legislation.

  On April 8, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said “This is a local issue” and that it was “critical that communities take action to address this issue in a way that works best for them.”

  “It is important that we protect the rights of both property owners and also renters. But I also want to be clear here: Anyone found guilty of a crime should be held accountable,” she said.

  Statistics Show Squatting on the Rise

  Quantifying the problem is difficult because the FBI’s national crime database doesn’t track squatting.

  The PLF report says national statistics on squatting incidents are unavailable, but in 2023, the National Rental Home Council surveyed its members and reported that Atlanta (1,200), Dallas (475), and Orlando (125) experienced the greatest numbers of homes subjected to squatting at some point, although the figures weren’t broken down by year.

  But case counts for litigation against squatters that were obtained from civil court records in Georgia and New York showed an upward trend that began in 2019.

  The case count in Georgia rose from three in 2017 to 50 in 2021 and 198 in 2023. In New York, there were nine cases each in 2020 and 2021, and 62 in 2022. The figure for 2023 fell to 37.

  But these figures likely understate the true number of cases filed because the records examined for Georgia covered courts in only 25 of the state’s 159 counties, and the records for New York exclude local civil courts in towns and villages, the report says.

  Meanwhile, public concern over squatting has caused eight state legislatures to pass new laws to criminalize the practice and make it easier for property owners to remove squatters, according to the report.

  Although most states treat squatting as a civil matter to be resolved in court, as of May 2024, Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Tennessee, Washington, and West Virginia have laws on the books that make squatting a crime.

  Legislation has been introduced in North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania that would bolster property owners’ rights against squatters.

  Some states, such as Colorado, have created an expedited legal process for removing squatters. Since April, Georgia has had a law in place that cuts the time for repossession of a property to 10 days from eight months, the report says.

  Since July, Florida law has allowed property owners to ask law enforcement to immediately remove squatters. The local sheriff can remove an unauthorized person if ownership of the property can be verified. To guard against abuse, a person wrongfully removed can sue for damages equal to triple the fair market rent.

  Sweetland said that the attention now being paid to squatting has helped some legal reforms happen and that this is giving homeowners “a much better process of getting repossession of their homes.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 22:35

• Coming To San Fran? Viral Video Shows 'Sub-Lethal' Remote Gun Protecting Commercial Building
  Coming To San Fran? Viral Video Shows ‘Sub-Lethal’ Remote Gun Protecting Commercial Building

  South Africa ranks third in Africa on the Global Organized Crime Index. Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban are among the most dangerous cities in the country, suffering from high levels of violent crime, carjackings, robberies, and murders.

  Given the South African government’s inability to protect individuals and businesses from the chaos, one South African company has developed a non-lethal remote control gun mounted on light poles that shoots intruders. 

  Johannesburg-based Sublethal developed the non-lethal remote-control gun that fires standard .68 caliber paintballs with solid nylon bullets or pepper balls. 

  

  “This weapon is frequently used in security in South Africa and internationally where non-lethal force should be used,” Sublethal wrote on its website. 

  A video of the weapon in use in South Africa has gone viral on X in the past day, garnering more than 5 million views. 

  En Sudáfrica hay una cámara de seguridad que cuando detecta a un chorro lo caga a tiros kjjj
  Para que aprendan las viejas acá con las alarmas vecinales pic.twitter.com/7A9CAtN6E5

  — ElBuni (@therealbuni) August 14, 2024

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

  Here’s the full video:

  Sublethal noted, “The remote gun will not autonomously shoot anyone. The gun is controlled either from a control center or from the user’s cellphone. Either way, there is a human who decides when to shoot.” 

  It’s only a matter of time before this non-lethal remote-control gun, mounted on light poles, finds its way into commercial yards across the US, given the Democrats’ inability to uphold common sense law and order. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 22:10

• The Overclass Exposed
  The Overclass Exposed

  Authored by Robert Gore via StraightLineLogic.com,

  “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”

  -Upton Sinclair

  The overclass has produced far less than it has taken and has destroyed far more than it has created.

  

  The overclass is the cohort in both government and ostensibly private enterprise who derive their sustenance directly or indirectly from government in exchange for goods or services. It consists of the relatively small group who rule, and the much larger group, numbering in the millions, whose defining characteristic is that government is the source of their compensation. For analytic clarity, this group does not include people who receive money from government (e.g. Social Security, AFDC) that is not salaries.

  The overclass includes the massive administrative state, the military, intelligence, government contractors, much of public and private academia, many nongovernmental organizations and foundations, parts of the mainstream media, much of the scientific and medical establishments, and state and local governments. A substantial chunk of the $11 plus trillion that all levels of government will spend this year, an estimated 38.12 percent of the GDP, will flow into these pockets (figures from usdebtclock.org).

  The underclass consists of that group who work in non-government-related private enterprise. Their output must satisfy a market test—someone has to be willing to pay more for it than the cost of the inputs used to generate it. This is a crucial distinction between the underclass and overclass, who are not subject to this market test.

  While some members receive high incomes and are wealthy, the underclass is the underclass because legally it is subjugated to the overclass; its production supports the overclass. Statistically, underclass average compensation and benefits are now less than those of the overclass (it used to be the opposite).

  The overclass produces less than it consumes and has grown relative to the underclass. The mounting national debt confirms both assertions. Ironically, that debt provides handsome incomes to the overclass sector that markets and trades it.

  While billionaire oligarchs, prominent politicians, celebrities, journalists, academics, and woke warrior leaders arouse the most ire and dismay among their opposition, it is the overclass layer just below that top strata that has a vice grip on American governance and is the biggest obstacle to any meaningful change. They will never let go because they must hold on; current arrangements provide their livelihoods, prestige, and power. What makes this group so invidious is that its role is rarely acknowledged or even recognized.

  It is a common observation that transfer payments from the welfare state essentially buy votes and keep recipients docile. However, who has more political influence―those recipients, or the bureaucrats who administer transfer programs; professors who spend their careers chasing government grants; Department of Agriculture officials who dispense crop support payments or oversee the department’s myriad programs and the agricultural interests who are their beneficiaries; the executives and employees of defense contractors; the TSA goons who harass you at the airport; the IRS goons who harass you at tax time; the DHS America lasters who champion open borders; scientists and administrators at national laboratories; researchers who cook up government-mandated vaccines; spooks who cook up regime changes; teachers who dumb down and indoctrinate our kids; government censors; central banker functionaries who debase the currency; and so on and so on and so on. Transfer payments are huge and unsustainable, but their recipients’ political clout is dwarfed by that of the overclass. Transfer payees can’t pay Hillary Clinton $600,000 for a speech; Goldman Sachs can and did.

  The second tier of the overclass almost completely escapes moral scrutiny. They are not remote figures like the rulers and string-pullers. They are relatives, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances, and they go to the same stores, cocktail parties, backyard barbecues, sporting events, school plays, churches, and synagogues as the underclass. Overclass incomes make them a large percentage of what’s left of the shrinking middle class, although affluence puts many of them above middle class.

  Rarely will productive members of the underclass that supports the overclass think about their relationships with the overclass in such terms. It’s not: “Bill works at the Department of Energy and wastes my tax dollars working on green energy scams”; it’s: “Bill works at the Department of Energy and we get together with our wives for dinner every so often.” If an underclass son or daughter is admitted to an Ivy League school, graduates, and secures a high-status, high-paying job in government, most underclass parents are delighted.

  The moral posture of the overclass rests on social conditioning that politely overlooks two facts. Overclass compensation is stolen from the productive underclass, and the market value of overclass output is exceeded by the market value of the inputs used to produce it. The national debt grows as the real income of the underclass shrinks. The overclass’s face-saving justification is that the value of their output is measured in non-market metrics—the common good, public interest, or some other airy intangible.

  What shreds that justification is the overclass’s massive destruction of value measured by either market or non-market metrics. America’s wars since World War II have cost tens of trillions of dollars and millions of lives. As the empire crumbles, can anyone cite a single intangible value they’ve advanced? They’ve had nothing to do with the defense of America proper, and everything to do with protecting various “interests” that are generally not specified because they are usually overclass rackets.

  The trillions that government has thrown at health, education, and welfare have not produced equal or greater trillions’ worth of health, education, and welfare. They have produced all manner of social pathologies, including falling life expectancies; dumbed down, indoctrinated kids; greater than 50 percent out-of-wedlock birth rate; and crime-infested cities. The overclass has produced far less than it has taken and has destroyed far more than it has created. By any standard of value, it has failed.

  Repeated failure is not a recipe for self-esteem. Overclass insecurity is often hidden by arrogance and maintained by fig-leaf justifications that among themselves they refuse to question. However, outside of their insular psychological garrison, those justifications are under increasingly strident attack, and they see an existential threat.

  Their support structure is collapsing. The unbalanced arithmetic that allowed for an expanding overclass, whose real compensation steadily grew, has reached its limit. The productive underclass can be squeezed no more, and interest rates ratcheting up indicate credit market queasiness at the exponentially mounting debt. The stock market and the statistics are signaling imminent recession or worse. They toll the bell for the unaffordable overclass and their unaffordable privileges and pretensions.

  Inside their insular garrison, the unmentionable is still unmentioned; but try as they might, they can’t ignore the barbarians at the gate. The barbarians don’t realize the benefits of their own subjugation, notwithstanding reams of “correct information” plied directly from government and through approved media. Instead, they’ve swallowed “dis-”, “mis-”, and “malinformation” through uncontrolled media that is devilishly difficult to control or censor. Whack one mole and two more pop up.

  The symbol of all this gauche unruliness is Trump, at whom they direct their vitriol. He rips away flimsy pretenses and must be stopped by means fair or foul. He’s a symbol, but what he symbolizes is quite real: underclass recognition and resentment of overclass exploitation.

  Unfortunately for the underclass, the chances of meaningful change via the ballot box are remote. For one thing, the overclass cheats; but even if Trump wins, it will be as difficult to make his rhetoric reality in the second term as it was in the first.

  It’s a pleasant fantasy to think of Trump taking a chainsaw to the federal government à la Javier Milei. However, “institutional constraints” are a polite way of saying the overclass has a death grip on government; their livelihoods, status, and power depend on neither letting go nor having their hands pried away from it. They will delay, countermand, and sabotage everything he tries to do, and time will be on their side. The system is not going to change itself from within, no matter who’s on top.

  Also in the pleasant fantasy category is the notion of a substantial portion of the underclass walking away from their critical jobs and letting things collapse; a shrug à la Ayn Rand. Unfortunately, they can’t abscond to a hidden gulch where no government, laissez faire capitalism, and gold—real money— are the order of the day.

  They would be walking away from their jobs and sustenance, and most of them don’t have the resources for an extended “strike.” Not to mention the kind of retribution they might face from their employers or the government, like that the Canadian government levied against the truckers and their supporters. January 6 paints a clear picture of how the American government treats anyone it labels an “insurrectionist.”

  One thing the underclass does have going for it is the unsustainability of current arrangements; what can’t last won’t. Long bear markets in bonds and stocks, exploding deficits, and a shrinking economy will force choices, cutbacks, and changes in policy. The overclass will never lose its taste for empire and domestic skims and scams, but economic and financial collapse will limit what can be stolen or borrowed.

  What remains to be seen is where the breaking point is on underclass toleration of its own subjugation. The overclass and its globalist overseers are ratcheting up the totalitarianism, doing their best to make peaceful revolution impossible, and thereby making—as John F. Kennedy warned—violent revolution inevitable.

  When the choices and cutbacks come, unproductive beneficiaries of government largess and unemployed members of the overclass with limited or no marketable skills can be expected to react violently, but it will be random and mindless. The productive underclass, on the other hand, could be far more problematic for what remains of the overclass, especially if does not wait until it has nothing—resources or freedom—left to lose.

  The largest, stupidest, and most inflexible government (only China’s rivals it) since the fall of the Soviet Union has almost infinite vulnerabilities and attack points. The underclass has the knowledge, imagination, skills, and experience to exploit them. What emerges from a Great Asymmetric Insurrection could be anything from splintering and secession to the complete defeat of the government and a reconstituted confederation of states.

  Regardless, the outcome will be a vale of tears for the overclass. They’re the embodiments of centralization of power and resources that serves no useful purpose (if it ever did) and contributes nothing but obstacles to humanity’s progress. Only their victims’ acquiescence has allowed them to survive and thrive, but that’s ending. The overclass will be the victims of the unstoppable forces of decentralization and their own arrogance, corruption, and tyranny. Its fall seems unimaginable now, but most of the twenty-first century has been unimaginable until it happened.

  The outcomes of dramatic change and chaos are unpredictable, but one prediction can be hazarded. The future will belong to those enlightened polities where there is no underclass, only people who are free to peaceably live their lives as they see fit and have the first and only claim on what they produce.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 21:45

• Wealthy Chinese National Engineered "Bogus Raid" To Strongarm Business Partner Out Of $37 Million
  Wealthy Chinese National Engineered “Bogus Raid” To Strongarm Business Partner Out Of $37 Million

  Four former law enforcement and military officers are being accused of conducting a raid in 2019 that they used to extort a businessman out of $37 million.

  The four accused individuals were paid by the victim’s business partner, a wealthy Chinese national, to engage in the “bogus raid”, according to NBC News.

  They then made the businessman sign over his multimillion-dollar interest in Jiangsu Sinorgchem, a Chinese rubber chemical manufacturer. He had previously been in a dispute regarding the company for years.

  According to the DOJ, the four men involved were:

  • Steven Arthur Lankford, 68, of Canyon Country, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputy who stopped working for LASD in 2020 and owns a Santa Clarita-based process service company;
  • Glen Louis Cozart, 63, of Upland, a former LASD deputy who owns and operates a San Bernardino County-based private investigation and security services company;
  • Max Samuel Bennett Turbett, 39, of Australia, a United Kingdom citizen and former member of the British military who owns an Australia-based private investigation and asset recovery business; and
  • Matthew Phillip Hart, 41, of Australia, an Australian citizen and former member of the Australian military who owns an Australia-based risk management services business.

  The NBC report says that during the raid, the man’s wife and two children were present. The victim and his business partner, referred to only as “unindicted co-conspirator 1,” a wealthy Chinese national, were not named, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

  

  In December 2018, the unindicted co-conspirator asked Turbett to help resolve her business dispute, expressing frustration with costly litigation and seeking an alternative solution, prosecutors said. She promised Turbett they could both retire if he succeeded.

  Turbett and the co-conspirator then created fake settlement agreements, requiring victim 1 to transfer nearly $37 million in cash and shares in Jiangsu Sinorgchem to her. This set off a chain of events leading to the staged raid on June 17, 2019, according to the report. 

  Before the raid, Turbett hired Cozart, who then recruited Lankford, a sheriff’s deputy, to locate victim 1 using a law enforcement database, which was against policy, prosecutors said. 

  Turbett and Hart flew from Australia to Los Angeles to meet with Cozart and Lankford to plan the sham raid. During the raid, the defendants detained the victim and his family, confiscated their phones, and subjected the businessman to physical threats until he signed the agreements, prosecutors said. 

  Although warned not to contact police, the victim reported the incident after the defendants left. Lankford later lied to police, claiming the raid was legitimate and that no force was used.

  By November 2019, all defendants had been paid for their roles in coercing the businessman, with the co-conspirator paying Turbett’s company around $419,813 and thanking him for a “very good job,” according to prosecutors.

  United States Attorney Martin Estrada commented: “It is critical that we hold public officials, including law enforcement officers, to the same standards as the rest of us. It is unacceptable and a serious civil rights violation for a sworn police officer to take the law into his own hands and abuse the authority of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”

  “The defendants in this case allegedly believed they could carry out vigilante justice by using official police powers to enter the home of vulnerable victims and extorting them out of millions of dollars,” said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.

  The full DOJ press release can be read here. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 21:20

• 10 Things To Know About Tim Walz And His Ties To Communist China
  10 Things To Know About Tim Walz And His Ties To Communist China

  Authored by Sasha Gong and Bradley Thayer via American Greatness,

  Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her vice presidential candidate seems to be a case of ideological birds of a feather flocking together.

  In the wake of the selection, Walz has received considerable criticism for his deception and dissembling regarding his military service.

  He merits equally great criticism for his ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Here are ten things that you did not know about Tim Walz and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

  

  First, Walz claimed that he was in the PRC during the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square Massacre. One of the authors interviewed him in 2014 when he made this statement, and he later repeated the same falsehood to the media. In reality, Walz did not enter China until September 1989, several months after the massacre. He entered China from Hong Kong as part of the WorldTeach program, which was sponsored by the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID). HIID was known for being very pro-PRC and had trained many high-ranking Chinese officials. Later, HIID received many millions of dollars from the PRC.

  Second, Walz claimed that he went to the PRC in 1989 because it was a rising country. However, China was not rising at that time. In fact, it was still extremely impoverished. The PRC’s rise occurred in the mid-1990s and especially after 2001 when it joined the World Trade Organization. After the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the Chinese government was desperate to recruit foreigners to come to the country. A few did to show support for the communist regime.

  Third, the Chinese gave Walz the name “Tian Hua.” Walz misrepresented its meaning by saying it reflected his kindness. In reality, there is no such implication in Chinese. “Tian” means “field,” and “Hua” means “China.” The accurate translation of “Tian Hua” is “the fields of China.”

  Fourth, in 2014, Walz explained why he went to the PRC during that critical time: “I felt it was more important than ever to go, to make sure that story was told, and to let the Chinese people know we were standing there, we were with them.” This was clearly a lie. After the massacre, the CCP launched a political crackdown that permeated the PRC and it remains a taboo issue. Hundreds of thousands of people were imprisoned, and no one could even mention the bloody event without risking arrest. Walz would not have been able to say a word to his students unless he wanted to get himself and them into serious trouble. In fact, according to Tim Walz himself, he fell in love with that China, that is, with the CCP’s form of tyrannical and illegitimate rule over the Chinese people.

  Fifth, it is well known that after the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Chinese authorities—including the Ministry for State Security, the United Front, and other spy agencies—made concerted efforts to woo every foreigner in the PRC—especially Americans—by showering them with gifts and praise with the promise of more to come. Walz mentioned that he received so many gifts that he could not bring them all back to the U.S. At that time, China was a very poor country, with the average income of a Chinese worker being less than $20 per month. Moreover, it was somewhat dangerous for ordinary Chinese citizens to get too close to foreigners, particularly Americans. The Chinese government did not fully resume its open-door policy until 1992, long after Walz had left.

  Sixth, Walz chose June 4 as his wedding day in 1994, which is extremely unusual. Even ordinary Chinese people would avoid selecting that bloody day for celebrations, as it is considered bad luck. The only reason someone might choose that day would be to show submission to the Chinese government by celebrating the crackdown. In Chinese symbolic tradition, this could be seen as a pledge of loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

  Seventh, before his honeymoon, Walz launched a company called Educational Travel Adventures, which specialized in bringing American students to China. An article in the local Chinese media reported that he and his bride brought 50 students from America. The company continued to send students to China until 2003. It is important to note that operating a business in China requires all kinds of permits—both official and unofficial—from Chinese authorities at the local, provincial, and central levels. These permits were typically obtained either by paying bribes or by securing endorsements, whether tacit or open, from government officials. For foreigners, the MSS would certainly have been involved. That is as certain as the sun rising in the east.

  Eighth, education is one of the most closely monitored activities in the PRC. To operate a business like his, Walz would have needed at least one local partner, if not several, and those partners would have been sanctioned by State Security. There is no way around it. However, Walz has never mentioned any such partnership. After carefully searching Chinese websites, we were not able to find any records, which is very unusual. Typically, local Chinese media would boast about large groups of foreign students visiting and about Americans who loved China. An educated guess would be that such records were completely wiped after Walz entered politics.

  Ninth, it is likely that possible partners of Walz’s company in the United States would be local Confucius Institutes and CTG Travel, which is PRC-owned. In the PRC, they would be local or central offices of the United Front Department, the Department of Education, the Communist Youth League, and universities and colleges. These partners underscore strong ties to the CCP.

  Tenth, there likely are many more shoes to drop when it comes to Walz’s relationship with the PRC and CCP. It was a longstanding relationship. It is a certainty that the CCP expects something in return for their investment in Walz. The American people deserve to know the who, what, where, why, and when of Walz’s relationship with the PRC. Walz would not be the first politician bought by the CCP, President Biden, his family, and associates have received many scores of millions of dollars from PRC entities. But Walz should be the last. His close ties to the CCP alone should disqualify him from office.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 20:55

• CIA Sees Kursk Raid As Having 'Punctured The Hubris' Of Putin
  CIA Sees Kursk Raid As Having ‘Punctured The Hubris’ Of Putin

  President Joe Biden said this week that he was in “constant contact” with the Ukrainians related to the ongoing invasion of Kursk oblast. “I’ve spoken with my staff on a regular basis probably every four or five hours for the last six or eight days,” Biden told reporters about the fighting in Kursk, which is now at a week-and-a-half.

  “And it’s — it’s creating a real dilemma for Putin.  And we’ve been in direct contact — constant contact with — with the Ukrainians,” he added. “That’s all I’m going to say about it while it’s active.”

  From the start, US officials have acted like they were in the dark the whole time as to Ukraine’s plans, likely for the purpose of plausible deniability and so Kiev isn’t seen by Moscow as having been directly backed by NATO in the brazen cross-border operation.

  

  National Security Council spokesman John Kirby had initially said on Friday, “We’re in touch with our Ukrainian counterparts, and we are working to gain a better understanding of what they’re doing, what their goals are, what their strategy is, and I’m going to leave a little bit of space for us to have those conversations before I try to characterize what’s going on.”

  But on Thursday there are the following interesting lines from the NY Times pointing out that top US officials have been quick to boast about how the operation has dealt a blow to the “hubris” of Putin: 

  The operation itself will not drive Russia to the bargaining table, according to U.S. officials. Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, has pledged not to negotiate while Ukraine occupies Russia, and American officials said he should be taken at his word.

  But in public speeches, the C.I.A. director, William J. Burns, has spoken about the need to puncture the hubris of Mr. Putin. Russia will not make any concessions, he has said, until Mr. Putin’s overconfidence is challenged and Ukraine shows strength on the battlefield.

  The Times also proclaims that this operation has embarrassed Putin and exposed weaknesses. And US officials further say that the fight is about to get a lot dirtier and more risky, in expectation of future sabotage and cross-border campaigns. 

  “American officials say Ukraine will have to build on the operation, with other daring operations that can push back against Russia’s sense that its victory is inevitable,” writes NY Times. “Whether that will include more cross-border incursions, secret sabotage missions or other yet-to-be-planned operations remains to be seen.”

  These future operations might involve use of US-supplied equipment, just like with the current Kurks mission: “The lack of warning to Kyiv’s foremost Western ally took on even greater meaning when it became clear that Ukraine was using American-supplied vehicles, arms and munitions to help carry out the bold ground operation into Russia,” the report continues.

  Ukrainian forces conduct an ambush in Kursk. Seems like there are a lot of these small groups conducting operations in areas the Russians feel are safe to travel. pic.twitter.com/pms8tvKt5H

  — Preston Stewart (@prestonstew_) August 15, 2024

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  Politico is meanwhile separately reporting that the Biden administration is now “open” to providing Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles, which would be “a move that would give Kyiv’s F-16s greater combat punch as it seeks to gain further momentum in its fight against Russia,” according to the publication.

  Ukrainian operations and heavy fighting have also reportedly spread to the Belgorod region. Kiev continues to tout ‘victories’ – including the capture of another 100 Russian soldiers on Thursday. Dramatic accounts like the following continue to come out in Western publications: 

  A Ukrainian soldier who participated in the first forays of last week’s Kursk incursion said his unit caught Russian troops completely by surprise as the latter were having coffee. His account, published by The Financial Times, adds to a chorus of assessments that Russia had been unprepared and blindsided by Ukraine’s rare cross-border attack on August 6.

  The FT wrote that the soldier, identified as Volodymyr, was part of a unit operating a US-provided Stryker armored fighting vehicle.

  Volodymyr told the outlet that his unit entered Kursk in the late morning of August 6, and soon found a group of Russian troops “sitting in the forest, drinking coffee at a table.”

  “Then our Stryker drives right into their table,” he said, per the FT. “We killed many of them on the first day. Because they were unarmed and didn’t expect us,” he added.

  More mass surrenders of Russians in Kursk. https://t.co/UMcumnK8iG

  — Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) August 15, 2024

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  And now Zelensky has opened a new administrative center in Ukraine. “Ukraine solidified its control over the parts of Russia’s Kursk region it has taken in a 10-day offensive, announcing Thursday the appointment of a military commander to manage the area as well as new battlefield successes,” The Washington Post writes.

  The cross-border assault has unfolded over the past ten days, with Ukrainian officials recently floating a plan to hold territory inside Russia as a “buffer zone”. However, Russia has been sending heavy manpower to the region, as well as aerial power.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 20:30

• Fake Images Are Everywhere Now—Here's How To Spot Them
  Fake Images Are Everywhere Now—Here’s How To Spot Them

  Authored by Andria Pressel via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to develop, it’s getting harder and harder to tell the difference between real photographs and AI-generated images.

  

  AI can create everything from stunning landscapes to lifelike portraits in a matter of moments—and at first glance, they may appear perfectly legitimate.

  In this age of misinformation, how can you discern if the images you’re seeing are real or fabricated?

  Fortunately, there are subtle clues that can help us tell the difference, including inconsistencies in texture, anomalies in human features, and garbled writing. By understanding these telltale signs, you can better navigate digital information and assess the authenticity of the images you encounter.

  1. Unnatural Hands and Limbs

  

  Hands and limbs are surprisingly complex structures, and AI often struggles to accurately replicate them. Look for extra, oddly shaped, or misaligned fingers. They may also be positioned in an unusual way or have improper dimensions.

  In the above image, the children’s hands and feet look unnatural, with misshapen fingers and toes as well as misaligned sandal straps.

  

  2. Discrepancies in Details

  

  AI has difficulty rendering small details, so you might also see objects and elements being subtly merged together in unnatural ways. These imperfections occur because AI relies on pattern recognition, which can fail when handling intricate or nuanced details.

  So if you’re uncertain if a crowd photo is legitimate, take a look at the details. For example, background faces are often blurred or have soft, poorly defined characteristics.

  In this AI-generated image, the man in the water has a blurry face and fingerless hands, while the young man on shore has a transparent leg that appears to merge into the background.

  

  3. Overly Perfect Skin

  

  Having an overly smooth face with very little texture is a sign of an AI-generated photo. Its lack of genuine texture and flaws can almost make the individual look comical.

  In the above images, the girl on the left has extremely smooth skin and hair that blends in with her collar. The boy to the right also has skin that is too smooth.

  4. Misalignments

  

  AI can struggle with alignments, resulting in a disjointed or incoherent appearance because elements don’t align properly.

  Objects may overlap in unnatural ways that defy spatial coherence.

  Zoom in to spot inconsistencies, such as in the above image, where the lines of the wicker cut through the picnic items. The texture lines on the woven picnic basket and tray are misaligned.

  

  5. Inconsistencies and Asymmetries in Small Details

  

  Inconsistencies in minor things, such as glasses with mismatched lenses or frames, should be easy to notice.

  Though they appear genuine at first glance, the following AI-generated photos from ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com have flaws that may be seen with closer examination.

  The woman in the left image is wearing two completely different earrings.

  The center image is betrayed as AI-generated by the left corner, where the man’s shirt blends with the background.

  In the image on the far right, the endpieces of the glasses are mismatched.

  6. Garbled Writing

  

  AI-generated images often produce garbled or nonsensical text, with letters and words jumbled.

  Take a close look at any writing or logos in the image to see if they are difficult to read or completely incoherent.

  This image, produced by AI, depicts traffic on a crowded street. Upon closer inspection, you can see that the text on the roadside billboard is illegible.

  7. Illogical Context

  

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 20:05

• Watch: Russian Strategic Bomber Crashes In Siberia
  Watch: Russian Strategic Bomber Crashes In Siberia

  Things in general haven’t been going well for Russia’s military in the month of August, especially given the still unfolding cross-border incursion in Kursk, which has also recently seen reports of fresh fighting inside Russia’s Belgorod.

  Thursday marked another rarity in the conflict. A Russian long-range strategic bomber has crashed over the Siberian region of Irkutsk in what was described as a routine flight.

  

  Russian state media was the first to report and confirm the crash, citing military officials. “The crew ejected. Their lives are not in danger,” the defense ministry said. All four crew members managed to deploy their parachutes ejecting from the plane.

  “The plane crashed in an uninhabited area. There is no damage on the ground,” the military said, as cited in RIA Novosti news agency.

  Identified as a nuclear-capable Tu-22M3 bomber, military officials say that the crash was due to technical malfunction. 

  Widely circulating videos reveal that the plane caught fire while in mid-air during either a nighttime or early dark morning hours flight…

  🚨 BREAKING: A Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber, worth $40 million, has crashed in the Irkutsk region of Russia.

  The Russian Ministry of Defense has reported that the crash was caused by a technical fault. The crew is said to have ejected safely. pic.twitter.com/Qcy6d0P40C

  — Beats in Brief (@beatsinbrief) August 15, 2024

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  Videos also showed the jet burning on the ground after it crashed:

  ⚡️A fallen 🇷🇺Russian Tu-22M3 bomber is burning pic.twitter.com/AR0PxWLTRD

  — 🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 (@front_ukrainian) August 15, 2024

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  According to background of the Tupolev Tu-22M supersonic aircraft:

  The Tu-22M3, which has the NATO codename “Backfire,” is a “long-range supersonic missile carrier bomber,” according to its manufacturer Tupolev’s website.

  The Soviet-era plane, made from alloys of aluminum, titanium, and magnesium, as well as “high-strength and heat-resistant steels,” made its maiden flight in 1977, with the most up-to-date version entering service in 2018.

  It is designed to take out sea- and ground-based targets using guided missiles and aerial bombs.

  More footage shows a plummeting plane which is on fire in Russia’s far east…

  Reports that a Russian Tu-22M3 bomber crashed in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia tonight.

  Footage shows a plummeting plane, on fire, hitting the ground outside of Cheremkhovo. pic.twitter.com/yuN8aMCkca

  — OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) August 15, 2024

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  This incident is not the first time Russia has lost a Tu-22m bomber in the course of the Ukraine war. Back in April, Ukraine claimed to have shot one down.

  While Ukraine had said at the time its anti-missile units succeeded for the first time in shooting one down, the Kremlin countered that it had actually crashed as it returned to base, also citing a technical malfunction. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 19:40

• Columbia University President Minouche Shafik Resigns
  Columbia University President Minouche Shafik Resigns

  Authored by Stephen Katte via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Columbia University President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik has resigned from her post effective immediately following months of criticism over her handling of on-campus protests against the war in Gaza.

  

  Students set up a pro-Palestinian encampment protesting the war and calling for the school to divest from corporations supporting Israel on April 17.

  What followed was a month of chaos and violence between police and protesters, as one encampment was taken down, and a second one popped up. All protest encampments were disbanded by June 2, but critics argued Shafik hadn’t done enough to curb anti-Semitism and broader disruption to the university during that time.

  In an Aug. 14 statement, Shafik said her decision to step down had come amid “a period of turmoil,” which she said has taken its toll on her loved ones.

  “This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community,” she said.

  “Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead.”

  The university’s website lists Katrina Armstrong as interim president going forward. Armstrong is the university’s executive vice president for health and biomedical sciences. She has led the Columbia University Irving Medical Center since 2022.

  It has not been announced when a new president might be appointed or who might be in the running to replace the outgoing Shafik.

  New President for Next Term 

  Shafik only assumed the role of president in July of last year. According to her statement, she will be moving on to a new job with the UK’s foreign secretary.

  “In terms of next steps, I am honored to have been asked by the UK’s Foreign Secretary to chair a review of the government’s approach to international development and how to improve capability,” she said.

  “I am very pleased and appreciative that this will afford me the opportunity to return to work on fighting global poverty and promoting sustainable development, areas of lifelong interest to me.”

  She previously led the London School of Economics and held roles at the World Bank, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, and the Bank of England.

  A new term is due to start on Sept. 3, and Shafik said the timing of her announcement will ensure a new leader could be put in place before students return. 

  “I have informed the Board of Trustees, and I would like to express my immense appreciation to them for their support,” she said in the statement.

  “I am committed to working with the Interim President to ensure an orderly transition.”

  Pressure Mounts on University Leadership 

  Congress has called in several university leaders over the last year to answer questions about concerns of anti-Semitism on campus. Earlier this year, Claudine Gay from Harvard and Liz Magill from the University of Pennsylvania resigned due to pressures involving Gaza war protests.

  Three deans at Columbia University also resigned on Aug. 8 after exchanging texts disparaging Jews during an event exploring anti-Semitism. University officials said in July the administrators in question were going on leave pending an investigation. 

  Protests swept across college campuses in the United States and around the world since the Hamas terrorist group launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, massacring 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking hostage 250 more. Israel responded with a military campaign to neutralize Hamas’s military capabilities in Gaza that were responsible for the attack.

  According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, about 40,000 Gazans have been killed since the fighting began. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and noncombatants in its death counts.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 19:15

• California Democrat Revives Bill To Release Longtime Convicts Who Have 2 Murder Convictions
  California Democrat Revives Bill To Release Longtime Convicts Who Have 2 Murder Convictions

  How many murders is too many to get out of prison?

  

  Apparently three, according to a California Democrat who has recently revived a bill that would grant early release to prisoners serving life sentences without the possibility of parole – a sentence which is typically reserved for those who have committed the most violent and egregious crimes – murderers, rapists, and repeat offenders whose actions were beyond the pale.

  However, under SB 94, spearheaded by State Senator David Cortese (D), the doors could soon be open for some of these offenders return to society. The bill primarily targets those sentenced before June 5, 1990, when voters passed Proposition 115 which expanded the state’s ability to impose life without parole for particularly heinous crimes. Those who have served 25 years or more could petition for early release, with eligibility based on a range of factors including “childhood trauma,” military service, cognitive impairments, and even age-related conditions that supposedly reduce the risk of future violence.

  The list of those exempt from early release has raised eyebrows – which includes only those who committed first-degree murder of a police officer, killed three or more people, or engaged in sexual violence, such as a rape-homicide, any of which would make an inmate ineligible for release. This means that someone convicted of two murders could still appeal – as long as one victim wasn’t a police officer and neither crime involved sexual acts.

  Cortese argues that many of these prisoners, who have languished behind bars for decades, are now classified as low-risk according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s own assessments. He contends that the bill simply introduces a judicial review process for cases that have not been reconsidered in years.

  However, as The Center Square reports, the San Diego Deputy District Attorneys Association has voiced strong opposition, urging lawmakers to consider the potential risks to public safety. The association pointed out that California voters, through Proposition 115, clearly expressed a desire to keep the most dangerous criminals behind bars for life. They argue that SB 94 undermines this mandate by creating presumptions favoring the release of individuals convicted of serious crimes.

  “By enacting Proposition 115, the voters of this state have told us they want to keep the worst of the worst in prison where they belong,” wrote SDDDAA ion opposition. “By creating presumptions favoring the release of these murderers, SB 94 will create unjustifiable risks to public safety.”

  California State Sen. Minority Leader Brian Jones (R-San Diego) added that “SB 94 could literally let hundreds of the most heinous murderers out of prison early, even if they were sentenced to life without parole. This harsh punishment is reserved for the worst of the worst criminals.”

  Amazing…

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 18:50

• Palm Beach Officials Mull Closing Mar-a-Lago Amid Heightened Security
  Palm Beach Officials Mull Closing Mar-a-Lago Amid Heightened Security

  Authored by Samantha Flom via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Heightened security protocols at and around former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club have Palm Beach, Florida, officials contemplating its closure.

  

  The U.S. Secret Service ramped up its protection of the former president’s estate, along with his other properties, after the July 13 attempt on his life.

  One change was the closure of a portion of South Ocean Boulevard, which borders the club.

  The closure, which began on July 20, is expected to last through to Election Day on Nov. 5 at the earliest, but officials are already receiving complaints.

  “Our residents don’t feel safe right now,” Palm Beach Town Council member Julie Araskog said at the council’s Aug. 13 meeting.

  “It’s hard to get a fire truck through, it’s hard to get out of their homes, it’s hard to get a caregiver in. I had a problem the other night, and you can’t get a nurse in.”

  Despite the road closure, the Mar-a-Lago Club is expected to reopen for the start of the Palm Beach social season in the fall.

  But Mayor Danielle Moore said: “If the road is closed, the Mar-a-Lago Club is closed.”

  “There’s no way in God’s green earth that they can bring 350 people into that club,” Moore said. “It’s completely illogical that you’ve got a road closed and then you’re going to let 350 strangers into your club.”

  While the mayor agreed with the need to secure Trump’s primary residence, she said: “You can’t have it both ways, boys and girls. Either the club’s open or not.”

  Other council members voiced their agreement, directing staff to research the town’s legal options.

  During Trump’s presidential term, the Secret Service closed the road by Mar-a-Lago when he was present in Palm Beach.

  The latest closure is effective indefinitely, at all hours of the day, even in his absence.

  The new protocol is just one of the measures the Secret Service has taken to increase protection for those in its charge in the wake of the assassination attempt on Trump, including maximizing personnel, increasing the use of drones, and faster approval of personnel requests.

  Meanwhile, Palm Beach attorney Joanne O’Connor is still waiting for a response from the agency outlining the authority under which it is keeping South Ocean Boulevard closed.

  While residents can access the road with proper identification, O’Connor noted in a July 22 letter to Secret Service Chief Counsel Thomas Huse that the closure “effectively cuts the town in two.”

  Palm Beach Police Chief Nicholas Caristo said that the Secret Service and local police were working together to direct traffic in the area and improve signage to ease the congestion.

  Caristo also advised that limiting bridge openings to only once per hour could help speed up traffic.

  However, for that to happen, the Secret Service would need to reactivate the maritime security zone that was in place around Mar-a-Lago during Trump’s presidency.

  Trump began operating Mar-a-Lago as a social club in 1993 under a declaration-of-use agreement with Palm Beach. A breach of that agreement could allow the town to revoke the club’s occupational license.

  The Epoch Times has contacted both the Trump Organization and the Trump campaign for comment.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 18:25

• Couple That Earns $250,000 A Year Says They Can't Find A House In Their Budget
  Couple That Earns $250,000 A Year Says They Can’t Find A House In Their Budget

  Entitled millennials or out of control inflation in the housing market? You be the judge.

  Samuel and Laura Graves both earn six figure sums, but say the housing market has left them with no choice but to raise their two kids in an apartment, according to Yahoo Finance and Business Insider.

  The couple is in their mid 30’s and lives in Portland, Oregon. They’ve been looking for a house for three years.

  Laura told Business Insider: “We refuse to become ‘house-poor’ and, like many others, are choosing to sit it out until the housing market is reasonable again.”

  With a combined income of $250,000, they aim to keep their mortgage payment between $3,000 and $3,500—about 30% of their $11,000 monthly income, the report says.

  

  However, rising home prices and mortgage rates have pushed most homes they like to a $5,000 monthly mortgage, nearly half their income. Instead of exceeding their budget, they’ve opted to wait, paying $2,700 a month for a two-bedroom apartment and storage, hoping the market improves.

  The report says rising home prices and high mortgage rates have made homeownership increasingly unaffordable. And, although the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates, this could drive more buyers into the market, potentially raising prices further and keeping housing supply tight.

  The couple, living in Wilsonville, a suburb of Portland, faces steep home prices—$642,000 on average. One home they liked was listed at $635,000, with an estimated $5,000 monthly mortgage payment, consuming 43% of their income. Though aware that other parts of the U.S. offer cheaper housing, they are hesitant to move again, according to the report. 

  Previously, they lived in Spokane, Washington, where they paid $2,200 a month for their home. But after six years, they missed their jobs in Portland. In 2021, Laura’s old boss offered to double her salary, prompting them to sell their Spokane home and return to Portland.

  “We actually tried uprooting the kids to a more affordable town and found ourselves less happy in the end,” Laura concluded.

  “Our children have begun talking about how they want a house so badly and their own rooms. We’ll never get these years back. By the time we buy, we won’t even need room for a play set.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 18:00

• VDH: The Weird, Creepy, Surreal (And Dangerous) 2024 Campaign
  VDH: The Weird, Creepy, Surreal (And Dangerous) 2024 Campaign

  Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

  The already-long 2024 presidential campaign has become the strangest in modern history.

  

  Here are ten unanswered questions that illustrate how and why we’ve entered this bizarro world:

  1. How can Kamala Harris merely promise us fixes to come in 2025 for inflation and an open border when she is still vice president for another six months? Why can’t she enact her proposed solutions to these problems (which she helped create) right now?

  2. Would the media prefer to help her win but lose further credibility themselves by failing to ask why she has disowned her last three decades of leftist agendas, or to reclaim some of their reputations and thereby risk her losing?

  3. Does the left appreciate the new campaign and election protocols it has now established?

  That is to say:

  Cancel by fiat their virtual nominee four months before the election when he sinks in the polls?

  Nullify the outcome of a year of primaries and the will of 14 million voters?

  Threaten a sitting president with removal by the 25th Amendment process unless he steps aside as his party nominee?

  Anoint a replacement nominee before the convention and without a single primary—and then prevent any rival candidates from challenging her?

  4. After the precedents of 2020 and 2024, is the future orthodox protocol for any Democratic nominee now to avoid all interviews and ex tempore speaking, and stick to teleprompted speeches and scripted responses only?

  Is the fear that a transparent progressive messenger with an overt and honest left-wing message will double down on it and thus guarantee defeat?

  5. For the next 80 days, has the chameleon-like Kamala Harris now become a temporary MAGA candidate, as she expropriates Trump’s positions from border security to no taxes on tips? Does the media care to ask the new 80-day MAGA Harris why she has renounced many of her once emphatic beliefs?

  6. If Democratic presidential reelection candidate Joe Biden was pronounced fit as a fiddle before June 27, but after July 21 was abruptly forced off the ticket as too debilitated to continue as his party’s nominee, what exactly is his status now?

  (Half-cognizant and thus able enough to continue his not-so-important task as America’s president, but also half-enfeebled and thus utterly unable to continue as the far more important Democratic nominee, it appears.)

  7. Does the new anti-Semitic Democratic Party prefer to risk losing with the radical nonentity WASP Tim Walz as vice presidential candidate rather than likely win with a popular, successful, and moderate Jewish Josh Shapiro?

  8. If one vice presidential candidate went to a war zone to serve with his deployed unit, while his counterpart preferred to retire from the military to avoid doing the same and lies about his abdication, how can the media credibly assert that the former’s tour was militarily suspect and yet pronounce the latter’s absence as heroic?

  9. If the current president canceled his reelection bid because he was too debilitated and unpopular, and is now rarely seen or heard, and if the vice president is out of Washington running a campaign in his place, but avoiding all press conferences, interviews, and unscripted addresses, who exactly, if anyone, is running the United States for the next six months of the lame duck Biden-Harris administration?

  10. If Donald Trump all summer has been compared by his enemies to Hitler and his murderous Third Reich, and if a 20-year-old would-be assassin and murderer with ease took up a sniper’s position to kill Trump—without a notified Secret Service or other law enforcement attempting to abort the shooter’s attempted assassination—what signal does that send to other would-be assassins for the next 80 days of the 2024 campaign?

  Is the message that if a 20-year-old amateur sniper can brazenly and visibly for nearly an hour breach all Secret Service security perimeters to shoot eight times at the president, hit him in the ear, kill one innocent bystander, and wound two others, then almost any future, more-experienced serious shooter could match or exceed the ability of that disturbed amateur to get close enough to Trump to fire more than eight shots at his head?

  And that shooting Donald Trump in many leftist quarters would subsequently earn the unhinged killer eternal fame, applause, and immortality?

  And that if there are such anticipated rewards and perceived opportunities, then we may well see more attempts on candidate Trump’s life?

  In sum, presidential campaigns traditionally kick off after Labor Day and mostly follow accepted protocols. But this warped 2024 version violates every prior precedent and is not just creepy but dangerous—even before the campaign was supposed to formally begin.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 17:40

• US Government Asks Supreme Court To Reinstate Student Loan Relief Plan
  US Government Asks Supreme Court To Reinstate Student Loan Relief Plan

  Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

  The federal government urged the Supreme Court on Aug. 13 to reinstate a $475 billion student loan relief plan after an appeals court ruling blocked key parts.

  

  The new emergency application filed by Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar came after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on Aug. 9 temporarily paused parts of the SAVE plan while the litigation over it continues. The case is Biden v. Missouri.

  Justice Brett Kavanaugh directed Missouri, which is challenging the plan, to respond by 4 p.m. on Aug. 19.

  The SAVE plan that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona first proposed in August 2022 would lower monthly payments for millions of eligible borrowers and accelerate loan forgiveness for some borrowers. SAVE is an acronym that stands for Saving on a Valuable Education. A reported 8 million borrowers have signed up for the program.

  The SAVE plan was not yet finalized in June 2023 when the Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden’s previous $400 billion student loan forgiveness plan in Biden v. Nebraska.

  Days ago, the Eighth Circuit found that Missouri and six other states challenging the plan would likely be able to prove the plan violates the major questions doctrine.

  The doctrine requires courts to presume Congress does not delegate important policy questions to government agencies.

  The injunction temporarily prevents the federal government from forgiving principal or interest on outstanding student loans, blocks a provision stopping interest from accruing on loans, and pauses a provision allowing borrowers to make very low or zero monthly payments geared to income.

  District Judge John Ross in Missouri previously blocked the SAVE plan on June 24.

  In the new application, Prelogar argues the plan is “a straightforward exercise” of the Department of Education’s authority under federal law.

  “The Eighth Circuit’s injunction has severely harmed millions of borrowers and the Department by blocking long-planned changes and creating widespread confusion and uncertainty,” she said.

  The injunction is so broad that it interferes with the department’s other programs that forgive student loan debt but are not in dispute.

  “That extraordinary injunction has scrambled the Department’s administration of loans for millions of borrowers,” she said.

  Prelogar said if the Supreme Court decides not to reverse the Eighth Circuit’s injunction, it should consider holding oral arguments in the case this fall “to avoid prolonging the harm the Eighth Circuit’s injunction is inflicting on millions of Americans.”

  The new application came after Texas Solicitor General Aaron Nielson told the Supreme Court on Aug. 10 that Texas wanted to press on with its own previously filed application to halt the SAVE plan. That case is Alaska v. Department of Education.

  Although the Eighth Circuit’s injunction halting aspects of the SAVE plan gave the state much of what it wanted, the ruling left some questions unanswered, such as whether the department violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act by giving the public an unusually short period to comment on the plan before it was finalized.

  The Eighth Circuit’s injunction conflicts with the Tenth Circuit’s June 30 order pausing a ruling by District Judge Daniel Crabtree of Kansas who blocked parts of the plan. The Tenth Circuit’s ruling allows geared-to-income repayments by borrowers to begin.

  The Epoch Times reached out to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey for comment on the federal government’s new application but did not receive a reply by publication time.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 17:00

• Over 100,000 LA Residents Could Be Homeless By 2028 Olympics
  Over 100,000 LA Residents Could Be Homeless By 2028 Olympics

  With the Paris 2024 Olympics having come to a close, the countdown has started once more for the next Summer Games, set to take place in Los Angeles, the United States in four years time. Despite this year’s Olympiad having been heavily criticized for the “social cleansing” that took place in the run up to the event, with thousands of people relocated from the city’s encampments and squats, Statista’s Anna Fleck reports that there are already questions over how LA will respond to its homelessness crisis.

  A 2023 report by McKinsey & Company reveals that LA’s number of people experiencing homelessness is the highest of any city in the United States.

  According to the source, approximately one in every 150 LA inhabitants, or 69,000 people, are experiencing homelessness, and figures are still growing.

  

  As Fleck shows in the following chart, based on estimates from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, where 84,000 people are estimated to experience homelessness in 2024, the figure could rise above the 100,000 mark by 2028. This data is based on the calculation that for every 207 individuals who exit homelessness daily, 227 more enter it.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  Such crises affect all people in a society. For those experiencing homelessness directly, the impacts are of course the most severe, as according to the report, women who experience chronic homelessness can expect to see their lives cut short by an average of 35 years, while it is 28 years for men. For people living in the wider society, ripple effects are felt too as populations experiencing chronic homelessness have “historically required more spending on support services than the rest of the population”.

  Increasing the stock of affordable housing is one part of the solution put forward by the McKinsey & Company analysts to at least slow the growth in homelessness, placing fewer people at risk of entering the situation in the first place. Just some of the barriers to this so far have been the complexity of the approval process as well as the high costs of construction.

  The report states that a multi-pronged solution is needed to respond to this crisis of inequality, however, explaining: “building more housing is not enough on its own. Given the scale and complexity of the crisis, any solution may need tailored, large-scale coordination, the likes of which are typically seen in national-scale emergencies.”

  This includes recognising that different groups have different specific needs, for example, whether that’s providing support for survivors of domestic violence, or for those battling with substance use disorders or for the formerly incarcerated.

  These figures are estimates and vary depending on the source. For example, NBC reports the figure could be closer to 30,000 people.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 16:40

• Kamala: The NPC Candidate
  Kamala: The NPC Candidate

  Authored by John Wilder.

  “This isn’t a video game.  There are no extra lives.”

  -Edge of Tomorrow

  Kamala Harris has invented a new type of presidential candidacy – one based on being absolutely nothing.  Seriously.  She has stated exactly one position publicly:  “No tax on tips” which is precisely the position staked out by Donald Trump two months ago.  I guess we should give Kamala this one, since she’s no stranger to a variety of tips.

  

  Kamala posted a commercial to YouTube®, I tried to reply, but just like Kamala the comments were disabled.  (Memes and content mostly “as found”)

  Oh, sure, Mr. Trump’s trademark is being “short on details” so that he can leverage a win, but based on 2016, what really outraged the GloboLeft is that Trump actually tried to follow through on many of his positions.  One thing that Trump won’t be to voters is a surprise, but I think Kamala is so unknown as to be a surprise, and not a good one.

  

  Kamala’s first interview question:  “Describe yourself in one word.”  Kamala:  “Vague.”  Interviewer:  “Can you elaborate?”  Kamala:  “Possibly.”

  Why?

  She’s pulling what I’ll call an “Ultra-Clinton” approach to her candidacy.  Back when Hillary first ran for senate in 2000, I was expecting that, finally, she’d have to address the public.  There wasn’t any way, I naively thought, that she could duck the people for an entire election.  I mean, without killing them.

  Whoops.  While Hillary did do carefully staged and vetted “listening tour” events, what she didn’t do was meet with anyone but fawning press.  She successfully avoided all genuine interaction with people so she wouldn’t have to kill time.  Of course, Hillary was well known to be a GloboLeft accomplice, so it wasn’t any surprise when the New York machine churned out a senate seat for her to launch an eventual presidential campaign.

  Kamala Harris, though, is another matter.  She is the ultimate in vapor.  What, exactly, does she stand for?  Apparently, no taxes on tips.  But beyond that, she is a ghost.

  Is she Indian or black?  Yes, though my guess is that more of her ancestors owned slaves than were slaves.

  

  I guess if she doesn’t owe reparations, nobody does.

  Is she for or against illegals scurrying across the border in unending streams?

  Yes.  She wants to be seen as “tough on immigration” at the same time she promises to “let every illegal sitting in detention out on day one”.

  Is she against inflation?  You bet she is, and on day one of her administration she’ll do something (the something is not mentioned) to stop it.  Why the Biden/Harris administration can’t stop it right here and now isn’t discussed and no one asks here that question, since that would be mean or something.  As usual, the Bee nails it:

  

  If honesty is the best policy, I guess Kamala’s normally uses the second-best policy.

  Interviews?  Trump sits down to a multi-hour open and candid conversation with Elon Musk, and sits for interview after interview.  Kamala?  She might sit for an interview sometime by the end of the month.  Maybe.  If they can keep her off the gin for that long.

  And Trump’s request for three debates?

  Well, there’s just one on the schedule, and that’s enough for Kamala, at least in August.  Heck, in September I’m not so certain that Paperwork American Judge Juan Merchan won’t slap Trump in irons and send him to prison.  Oh, sure, he’ll get out on an appeal shortly thereafter, but don’t count that possibility out.  This election is a circus, and we’re far short of the finale.

  

  They did a study of how often Kamala was drunk.  The results were staggering.

  But what is known is that Kamala is really attempting to appeal to a select group of voters:  those who aren’t paying attention and who will vote for a candidate based on what they feel.

  Kamala has no need to preen for the hard-core GloboLeftists that want to hang Trump because they don’t like his face.  They’re going to show up for her even if she changes her tune to being pro-life and wants to start distributing AR-15s to every citizen.  They’d vote for her, because what they believe in is based only on what the latest talking points are from the DNC.  These people are Non-Player Characters (NPC) because they’re programmed by the mainstream news or by whatever the talking head night joke men tell them to believe.

  What, really, is an NPC?

  Since humans are social creature, there is an inherent tendency in many people to follow.  In the past, this made sense.  The number of people, say, a French peasant would have seen in their life was small, and they derived their beliefs by what was presented to them other people, rather than any other source.

  

  This variety of NPC is popular in the UK, and in the United States too!  Talk about diversity!

  Women, especially, were subject to this effect.  An example proving that was the number of war brides that American troops returned home with from Germany.  I don’t have the total from Germany, but over 300,000 war brides came from Europe, many speaking little English, to the United States.  These women immediately married men of the armed forces that had bombed and terrorized them for years because everyone said they were in charge now.

  See?  NPC.

  But as family groups become fractured due to no-fault divorce and a system that gives women cash and prizes for divorcing men, and as people become uprooted chasing economic success in areas far from where they grew up, they became reliant on a different tribe:  mass media.

  No one is entirely immune, but some are entirely dependent on mass media for their opinions.  A close-knit family, longstanding friends, family stories and novels and other idea intrusions (like this blog) serve as counter-programming to the NPC soup that many live in.  The more you’re divorced from Infocancer like The View, the greater your immune system, and the less of an NPC you are.

  

  This phrase must have tested highly with the NPC species Karenus Manageriusspeakum.

  Kamala is not for you.  Kamala is for the NPC.

  Kamala has to appeal (or pretend to appeal) to the middle.  These are the people who aren’t on the GloboLeft, and aren’t on the TradRight.  They just want to grill and enjoy the sunset and consume mass media.  Be aware, this how they were built – to follow.  Immersive multi-media that’s fed from a screen and doesn’t require any critical thought is what they desire.

  For the NPC the TV or TikTok™ is their tribal sense of purpose.  Along with a lot of drugs.

  

  How the NPC class copes.

  The difficulty for Kamala is that for many of these people the last four years have been hell.  Their businesses have been closed (if they own a business) and their paychecks have dwindled in the face of ever-present inflation.  They’ve seen awful riots, they’ve seen this weird transgender explosion that they don’t much like, and now they notice huge numbers of people who moved into their neighborhood and don’t speak any English staring at them when they fill their gas tank.  They know they’re supposed to like them, but also have a tingling sense that these aren’t refugees or immigrants.  They’re becoming worried that this is an invader class.

  

  Huh.  Wrongly think.  Get on board, citizen!

  Kamala has to appeal to those people to win.  She can’t do it on record, so the best option is to run against anything she has ever stood for, or at least pretend to run against that.  She can say anything in front of any group, and will wait for the networks and search engines to run interference for her so that she can fulfill her strategy to win the White House.

  

  How?  Kamala intends to be the first NPC candidate, standing for nothing, with no real substance except a desire for power with the media as her staunchest friend and defender.  Let’s get this woman some more gin!

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/15/2024 – 16:20

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