Today’s News 17th April 2023

• Italy's Meloni Declares 'State Of Emergency' As Illegal Immigration Quadruples
  Italy’s Meloni Declares ‘State Of Emergency’ As Illegal Immigration Quadruples

  Authored by John Cody via Remix News,

  Italy could see up to 50,000 migrants arriving a month if current trends hold…

  

  Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has announced emergency measures to combat a surge in illegal immigration. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

  Italy is responding to the number of illegal boat migrants quadrupling by declaring a nationwide state of emergency, with the government of Giorgia Meloni hoping it will help Italy cope with the growing immigration surge. However, experts are warning that if current trends hold, Italy could see up to 50,000 new arrivals a month in the summer months.

  The new measures, which are initially limited to six months, are intended to free up additional resources and money to deal with the crisis. Over Easter alone, around 2,000 people landed in several boats on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa.

  In addition to emergency aid totaling €5 million, which will flow into the most affected regions of the country, the state of emergency will also see the construction of additional migrant shelters.

  

  Migrants disembark from a ship in the Sicilian port of Catania, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

  So far this year, the Italian Interior Ministry has registered over 31,000 illegal entries by sea. In the same period last year, their number was 7,900. However, the real fear is that in the coming months with warmer weather, an unprecedented number of migrants could be arriving.

  “Italy risks seeing something like 50,000 people arrive on its shores a month, i.e., just under 2,000 migrants a day. In March alone, landings exceeded 13,000 units and you don’t need a calculator to project this figure into the summer when sea conditions will be optimal for a greater number of days. If these figures are projected to the end of the year, Italy runs the risk of having over 250,000 migrants as of December 31,” writes Frances Gallici for Il Giornale newspaper.

  Meloni is under pressure over immigration. Despite campaign pledges to reduce migrant flows, Italy has done little to tackle the crisis and has seen illegal immigration numbers rise dramatically. In fact, she has personally greeted migrants rescued from the sea in a photo op, leaving many conservatives questioning whether she has any appetite to tackle the issue. Her coalition partner, Matteo Salvini, is calling for stricter measures, such as the ones he instituted while serving as interior minister in 2019, which saw illegal immigration plummet.

  Salvini, who now serves as deputy prime minister, is not keeping quiet about the issue either. From Udine, he underlined that Europe “has been chatting for years, but has never lifted a finger. It’s time to demonstrate that there is a union and solidarity is not only the responsibility of Italy, Spain, Greece or Malta, because we are unable to support a thousand arrivals a day economically, culturally and socially.”

  Salvini’s League party has introduced 21 amendments to existing immigration laws that the party says will help speed up repatriations and serve as a deterrent to new arrivals.

  A government statement regarding the emergency measures announces “new structures, suitable both for sheltering as well as for the processing and repatriation of migrants who don’t have the requisites to stay” in Italy. However, building new migrant shelters may improve congestion, but it is unlikely to reduce numbers overall.

  According to the Italian Interior Ministry, the most common countries of origin for illegal immigrants are Ivory Coast (17 percent), Guinea (13 percent), Pakistan (11 percent), Egypt and Tunisia (8 percent each), Bangladesh (7 percent), Cameroon (5 percent) and Syria (4 percent). Another 22 percent are from other countries or have unclear status.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 04/17/2023 – 02:00

• Escobar: All Roads Lead To Beijing
  Escobar: All Roads Lead To Beijing

  Authored by Pepe Escobar,

  This is the tale of two pilgrims following the road that really matters in the young 21st century; one coming from NATOstan and another one from BRICS.

  

  Let’s start with Le Petit Roi, Emmanuel Macron. Picture him with a plastic grin in his face strolling alongside Xi Jinping in Guangzhou. Following the – long and gentle – sound of classic “High Mountain and Flowing Water”, they enter the Baiyun Hall  to listen to it played by the 1000-year-old Guqin (a beautiful instrument). They taste the fragrance of 1000-year-old tea – and muse on the rise and fall of great powers in the new millennium.

  And what does Xi tell Le Petit Roi? He explains that when you hear this eternal music played by this eternal instrument, you expect to be in the company of a bosom friend; you are in synch as much as the high mountain and the flowing water. That’s the deeper meaning of the ancient tale of musicians Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi, 25 centuries ago in the Kingdom of Chu: bosom friendship. Only bosom friends can understand the music.

  And with that, as Chinese scholars explained, Xi brought up the concept of Zhiyin. After Zhong Ziqi died, Yu Boya broke his Guqin: he thought that no one else could understand his music. Their story imprinted the term “Zhiyin”: someone who understands music, with the added meaning of close friends that can completely understand each other.

  All bets are off on whether a narcissist puppet like Macron would ever be cultured enough to understand Xi’s subtle, sophisticated message: those that get it are true soul mates. Moreover, Macron was not dispatched to Beijing and Guangzhou by his masters to do soul mating, but to try to bend Xi towards NATO on Russia/Ukraine.

  His body language is a dead giveaway – complete with crossing his arms demonstrating boredom. He may at first have been impervious to the notion that true friendship requires mutual understanding and appreciation.

  But then something extraordinary happened. Xi’s message may have touched a key spot in the tortured inner depths of the narcissist Petit Roi. What if, in international relations, mutual understanding and appreciation is the key for nations to find common ground and work together towards common goals?

  What a revolutionary notion; not exactly the Hegemon-imposed “rules-based international order”.

  Are you a true Sovereign?

  By inviting Le Petit Roi to China, and personally spending no less than 6 hours with his guest, Xi enacted millenniums-old diplomacy at its best. He reminded his guest of the turbulent history between France and the Anglo-Saxon powers; and he talked about sovereignty.

  The key subtle sub-plot: “Europe” better think hard about being subservient to the Hegemon and minimize as best as possible the massive economic turbulence when Confrontation Day with the U.S. arrives. Implied is Beijing’s priority of breaking up growing U.S. attempts to encircle China.

  So Xi treated France as a potential true Sovereign even under the EU; or somewhat splitting from EU dogma.

  Of course another key message was implied under this Confucian invitation to epistemological growth. For those not willing to be friendly to China because of complex geopolitical layers, it will never be too late for Beijing to show the less “friendly” side of the Chinese state – if the situation arises.

  Translation: if the West goes for Total Machiavelli, China will apply Total Sun Tzu. Even if Beijing would rather go for international relations under the aegis of Beauty, Goodness and Truth rather than “you’re with us or against us”, war of terror and sanctions dementia.

  So did Petit Roi have a “road to Damascus” moment? The verdict is open. He literally freaked the Hegemon out with his outburst that Europe must resist pressure to become “America’s followers”. That’s pretty much in synch with the 51 points agreed upon by Beijing and Paris, with emphasis on “legitimate security concerns of all parties”.

  The Americans got even more spooked when Macron asserted that Europe should become an independent “third superpower”. Le Petit Roi even advanced some baby steps in favor of de-dollarization (certainly under supervision of his financial masters) and not in favor of Forever Wars.

  So the Americans, in panic, had to send German 5th column Annalena “360 Degrees” Bearbock in a hurry to Beijing to try to undo Le Petit Roi’s outbursts – and reaffirm the Washington Dictates Brussels official script. No one, anywhere, paid the slightest attention.

  That came on top of the most glaring subplot of the whole tale: how European Commission dominatrix Ursula von der Leyen was treated by Beijing as worse than irrelevant. A Chinese scholar scathingly described her as “just the mouthpiece of a canine organization with no teeth. Even her bark sounds like whimpering from a terminally ill dog that is about to be euthanized.”

  The “terminally ill dog” had to go through passport control and customs (“Anything to declare”?) No diplomatic status. No official invitation. No sovereignty. And no, you cannot take the special high-speed train alongside Macron to go to Guangzhou. So here’s another message – this one quite graphic: Don’t mess with the 3,000-old Middle Kingdom ethos.

  Lula and “Zhiyin”

  Top Chinese scholars were absolutely riveted by Xi applying diplomatic stratagems that had been so useful 25 centuries ago, now re-enacted on the road-to-multipolarity global stage.

  Some are calling for a new “Strategies for the Warring States” rewritten for the 21st century. The massive round table set up by Chinese protocol with the “jungle” in the middle and Macron and von der Leyen positioned as if for a job interview was a monster hit on Weibo and We Chat. That led to endless discussions on how China is now finally able to “drive a wedge among the barbarians”.

  Compared to all this hoopla, the tale of Brazilian President Lula coming to Shanghai and Beijing reads like a graphic illustration of Zhiyin.

  Lula went for the jugular right from the start, during the inauguration of former President Dilma Rousseff  as the new president of the NDB, the BRICS bank.

  In simple, direct language that anyone from Sahara to Siberia can understand, Lula said, “Every night I ask myself why should every country need to be tied to the dollar for trade? Why can’t we trade in our own currencies? And why don’t we have the commitment to innovate?”

  Directly implied is the fact that the expanding BRICS+ should design and promote its own currency (the long, complex process has already started), on top of allowing trade in national currencies.

  Lula’s powerful message was addressed to the whole Global South. A Brazilian example is China’s ICBC setting up a clearing house in Brazil allowing direct yuan-real exchange.

  It’s no wonder that the CIA official rag, the Washington Post, foaming at the mouth, immediately issued the Deep State verdict: Lula is not obeying the “rules-based international order” diktat.

  That means the Deep State will come after Lula and his government – all over again, and will go no holds barred to destabilize it. Because what Lula said is exactly what Saddam Hussein and Colonel Gadaffi said – and tried to implement – in the past.

  So Lula will need all the help he can get. Enter, once again, “Zhiyin”.

  This is how Xi officially welcomed Lula in Beijing. Very few people around the world, non-Chinese, understand that when someone of Xi’s stature tells you, right in front of you, that you are “an old friend of China”, this is it.

  All doors are open. They trust you, embrace you, protect you, listen to you, help you in times of need and will always do their best to keep the friendship close to their hearts.

  And that ends, for now, our tale of “bosom friends” taking the road to Beijing. The BRICS friend certainly understood all there is to know. As for the NATOstan Little King dreaming of becoming a true sovereign leader, the moment of truth is knocking at his door.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 23:30

• "Newly Discovered Seafloor Seep" Off Oregon Coast On Fault Line May Be Harbinger To Major Quake
  “Newly Discovered Seafloor Seep” Off Oregon Coast On Fault Line May Be Harbinger To Major Quake

  “Chemically distinct liquid shooting up from the seafloor” has been detected by researchers on a stretch of a 600-mile-long fault line in the Pacific Ocean, which is situated only 50 miles away from the Oregon coast, and could potentially trigger a catastrophic earthquake in the Pacific Northwest. 

  

  “Pythia’s Oasis is a newly discovered seafloor seep on the Central Oregon segment of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, where focused venting emits highly altered fluids ~9°C above the background temperature. The seep fluid chemistry is unique for Cascadia and includes extreme enrichment of boron and lithium and depletion of chloride, potassium, and magnesium. We conclude that the fluids are sourced from pore water compaction and mineral dehydration reactions with minimum source temperatures of 150° to 250°C, placing the source at or near the plate boundary offshore Central Oregon,” researchers at the University of Washington wrote in a study. 

  

  Researchers said the seep is nearly a mile below the surface of the ocean at the plate boundary and was first observed in 2015. They fear the leak could be a sign of future earthquake activity:

  “The megathrust fault zone is like an air hockey table.

  “If the fluid pressure is high, it’s like the air is turned on, meaning there’s less friction and the two plates can slip. If the fluid pressure is lower, the two plates will lock – that’s when stress can build up,” co-author Evan Solomon, a University of Washington associate professor of oceanography who studies seafloor geology, wrote. 

  Video of an underwater drone surveying the seafloor seeps. 

  The Cascadia Subduction Zone parrels several major West Coast cities, including Seattle and Portland, Oregon, as well as Northern California and Vancouver Island in Canada. And researchers fear the seismically quiet fault line could be awakened and “unleash a magnitude-9 earthquake in the Pacific Northwest.” 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 23:00

• 10 Years On – The Boston Bombing Backstory
  10 Years On – The Boston Bombing Backstory

  Authored by Lloyd Billlingsley via AmGreatness.com,

  Local police, not the FBI, are the true warriors against terrorism…

  

  Ten years ago, at the April 15, 2013 running of the Boston Marathon, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev planted pressure-cooker bombs that wounded more than 250 and killed Lingzi Lu, 23, Krystle Campbell, 29, and Martin Richard, only eight years old.

  The 2016 film “Patriots Day” dramatizes the story but doesn’t start at the beginning. 

  A year and a half before the bombing, the FBI ignored warnings from Russia about the Tsarnaevs’ terrorist connections. In the film, Kevin Bacon plays special agent Richard DesLauriers, in charge of the “counterterrorism investigation,” after the fact.  

  Local police, not the FBI, go after the bombers and manage to take down Tamerlan. Dzhokhar hid in a boat and suffered several wounds, including one to the mouth that may have been self-inflicted. 

  The brothers had murdered MIT police officer Sean Collier, as U.S. Attorney William Weinreb explained, “shooting him in the head at point-blank range twice in the side of the head and once right between the eyes.” 

  That brought the death toll to four. As they buried their dead, Bostonians had cause to wonder why the FBI failed to learn from previous bombings. 

  In 1993, the FBI failed to prevent Islamic terrorists from detonating approximately 1,200 pounds of explosives at the World Trade Center. The blast claimed the lives of John DiGiovanni, Robert Kirkpatrick, Stephen Knapp, William Macko, Wilfredo Mercado, and Monica Rodriguez Smith. The blast wounded more than 1,000, including 88 firefighters, 35 police officers, and a medical worker. 

  Three years later, at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, the FBI failed to stop Eric Robert Rudolph from planting a bomb, packed with nails, that killed Alice Hawthorne of Albany, Georgia. Turkish cameraman Melih Unzonyol suffered a fatal heart attack and the bomb wounded more than 100 others. 

  The FBI then tried to frame security guard Richard Jewell, subject of the eponymous Clint Eastwood film, who tried to evacuate the area before the blast. For his part, Rudolph had an example to follow. 

  Back in 1978 Ted Kaczynski mailed a bomb that wounded Northwestern University professor Buckley Crist. Kaczynski’s bombs also wounded United Airlines president Percy Wood, Vanderbilt University secretary Janet Smith, UC Berkeley electrical engineering professor Diogenes Angelakos, engineering student John Hauser, University of Michigan professor James McConnell, his assistant Nicklaus Suino, and computer store owner Gary Wright. 

  Kaczinski’s explosive devices maimed renowned computer scientist David Gelernter in 1993 and killed computer store owner Hugh Scrutton, advertising executive Thomas Mosser and lobbyist Gilbert Murray, in 1994. The so-called Unabomber had been active for 17 years, during the administrations of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton—all without detection by the FBI. 

  Only with the aid of Kaczynski’s brother, who identified the bomber through his public manifesto, was the FBI able to track down Ted. He pleaded guilty in 1998 and was sentenced to life without parole. 

  Three years later, the FBI failed to prevent the attack of September 11, 2001, with 3,000 casualties, billions in damages, and suffering that endures to this day. It remains unclear whether any FBI bosses were disciplined, demoted, or discharged over that deadly failure. It was hardly the bureau’s only lapse. 

  The FBI had been tracking Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan, a self-described “soldier of Allah” who was communicating with al Qaeda terrorist Anwar al Awlaki about killing Americans. Someone in the FBI’s Washington office dropped the surveillance. 

  On November 5, 2009 at Fort Hood, Hasan murdered 13 unarmed American soldiers, including Pvt. Francheska Velez. She was pregnant and pleaded “My baby! My baby,” before Hasan shot her through the chest, bringing the death toll to 14 with the death of her unborn child. 

  Hasan was only stopped when civilian police officers Kim Munley and Mark Todd returned fire and wounded the mass murderer. Munley was wounded in both legs and a wrist but “she stayed upright and kept firing at the charging gunman.” Had Munley not done so, Hasan would have claimed many more lives. 

  The FBI played no role in the takedown.

  There is still no word if any FBI bosses were ever disciplined, demoted, or dismissed for the lapses that enabled this massacre, the worst ever on a U.S. military base. The broader public also stood at risk. 

  On December 2, 2015, in San Bernardino, California, Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik murdered 14 people at a holiday office party. The FBI did nothing to prevent the attack and played no role in the takedown. The fleeing terrorists fired at least 81 rounds at police officers, who shot the terrorists dead with no loss of civilian life. 

  In 2013, the FBI twice interviewed Omar Mateen about his connections to the Islamic State, and questioned him again the following year. Knowing his terrorist connections, the FBI did nothing to prevent Omar Mateen from murdering 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016. Orlando police, not the FBI, took down the mass murderer. 

  The composite character president David Garrow described in Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, downplayed Islamic terrorism and cast his domestic opposition as the true threat. That is also true of Joe Biden, as the Delaware Democrat made perfectly clear in an angry speech last September 1. 

  For the FBI, just about everybody less-than-worshipful of Joe Biden is a domestic terrorist or violent extremist. The bureau has even deployed informers in Catholic churches. FBI boss Christopher Wray is “aghast” and wants to “figure out how we can make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.” 

  If Catholics, Baptists, or Presbyterians thought that meant the FBI would do it more it would be hard to blame them. The FBI has never been held to account and, indeed, is about to be rewarded with a new headquarters bigger than the Pentagon. 

  With actual terrorism, the FBI prefers to look the other way and leave the front-line combat to the police, as in Boston in 2013. Ten years later in 2023, actual domestic terrorists are again on the march. 

  Audrey Hale, a woman who thought she was a man, planned an attack on the Covenant School for months, without detection by the FBI. Hale murdered Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9, Mike Hill, 61, William Kinney, 9, Katherine Koonce, 60, Cynthia Peak, 61, and nine-year-old Hallie Scruggs, daughter of Chad Scruggs, senior pastor at the Covenant Presbyterian Church. 

  Nashville police officers Michael Collazo and Rex Engelbert took down Hale before she could take more innocent lives. The FBI is now controlling Hale’s manifesto, which at this writing is still unreleased. 

  As with his statement after Fort Hood, Joe Biden failed to name or condemn the shooter, and failed to name a single victim. Under the Delaware Democrat, every year is the year of living dangerously. 

  *  *  *

  Go Emma, run great tomorrow, we’re all very proud of you…

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 22:30

• These Are The Largest Bond Markets In The World
  These Are The Largest Bond Markets In The World

  In 2022, the global bond market totaled $133 trillion.

  As one of the world’s largest capital markets, debt securities have grown sevenfold over the last 40 years. As Visual Capitalists Dorothy Neufeld details below, government and corporate debt sales across major economies and emerging markets have fueled this dramatic growth. Over the last three years, China’s bond market has grown 13% annually.

  Based on estimates from the Bank for International Statements, this graphic shows the largest bond markets in the world.

  

  Total debt numbers here include both domestic and international debt securities in each particular country or region. BIS notes that international debt securities are issued outside the local market of the country where the borrower resides and cover eurobonds as well as foreign bonds, but exclude negotiable loans.

  Ranked: The World’s Top Bond Markets

  Valued at over $51 trillion, the U.S. has the largest bond market globally.

  Government bonds made up the majority of its debt market, with over $26 trillion in securities outstanding. In 2022, the Federal government paid $534 billion in interest on this debt.

  China is second, at 16% of the global total. Local commercial banks hold the greatest share of its outstanding bonds, while foreign ownership remains fairly low. Foreign interest in China’s bonds slowed in 2022 amid geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and lower yields.\

  

  *Represent countries where total debt securities were not reported by national authorities. These figures are the sum of domestic debt securities reported by national authorities and/or international debt securities compiled by BIS.

  Data as of Q3 2022.

  As the above table shows, Japan has the third biggest debt market. Japan’s central bank owns a massive share of its government bonds. Central bank ownership hit a record 50% as it tweaked its yield curve control policy that was introduced in 2016. The policy was designed to help boost inflation and prevent interest rates from falling. As inflation began to rise in 2022 and bond investors began selling, it had to increase its yield to spur demand and liquidity. The adjustment sent shockwaves through financial markets.

  In Europe, France is home to the largest bond market at $4.4 trillion in total debt, surpassing the United Kingdom by roughly $150 billion.

  Banks: A Major Buyer in Bond Markets

  Like central banks around the world, commercial banks are key players in bond markets.

  In fact, commercial banks are among the top three buyers of U.S. government debt. This is because commercial banks will reinvest client deposits into interest-bearing securities. These often include U.S. Treasuries, which are highly liquid and one of the safest assets globally.

  As we can see in the chart below, the banking sector often surpasses an economy’s total GDP.

  

  As interest rates have risen sharply since 2022, the price of bonds has been pushed down, given their inverse relationship. This has raised questions about what type of bonds banks hold.

  In the U.S., commercial banks hold $4.2 trillion in Treasury bonds and other government securities. For large U.S. banks, these holdings account for almost 24% of assets on average. They make up an average 15% of assets for small banks in 2023. Since mid-2022, small banks have reduced their bond holdings due to interest rate increases.

  As higher rates reverberate across the banking system and wider economy, it may expose further strains on global bond markets which have expanded rapidly in an era of dovish monetary policy and ultra-low interest rates.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 22:00

• Anheuser-Busch Transitions Into Damage Control Mode – And People Aren't Buying It
  Anheuser-Busch Transitions Into Damage Control Mode – And People Aren’t Buying It

  After rolling out a Bud Light ad campaign featuring flamboyant transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney – whose ditzy caricature of a woman mocks decades of actual progress by feminists (who have apparently been wokeshamed into silence), Anheuser-Busch’s damage control team kicked into action on Friday after the Mulvaney ad sparked a massive backlash.

  

  “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” said Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Brendan Whitworth in a carefully crafted, heavily focus-grouped press release which failed to mention Mulvaney, Bud Light, or transgender issues. “We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”

  “I care deeply about this country, this company, our brands and our partners. I spend much of my time traveling across America, listening to and learning from our customers, distributors and others,” the statement continued. “Moving forward, I will continue to work tirelessly to bring great beers to consumers across our nation.”

  Translation: Let’s all forget about this over a beer.

  The company then went with a ‘hey fellow beer drinkers’ ad campaign, tweeting “TGIF” along with a picture of a Bud Light can. It was received about as well as one would imagine… with a massive ratio of people commenting vs. ‘liking’ it.

  

  The campaign was mocked mercilessly.

  This is the beer can we wanted pic.twitter.com/MBKMEsgK7P

  — Mostly Peaceful Memes (@MostlyPeacefull) April 15, 2023

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

  Waiting for a REAL apology from Bud Light, along with an announcement that they have fired their marketing team.

  — The Gay Republican (@GayRepublicSwag) April 15, 2023

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

  New sponsor for Pisswater Light pic.twitter.com/YjOrjLTjIT

  — Big Ray Hernandez (@BigRayHernandez) April 14, 2023

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

  More via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Brand Damage

  Some analysts and investors said that the damage likely won’t sink Anheuser-Busch, but the damage has been done to the Bud Light brand.

  

  “I simply don’t understand why they hired the person who was doing the marketing,” Oxygen Financial CEO Ted Jenkin told Fox News Thursday. “I mean, if your target customer is Kid Rock, and then all of a sudden you decide to go to RuPaul, that just doesn’t make any sense at all.”

  Because Bud Light generally targets “blue-collar workers and younger adults that are 25 to 29 years old,” the campaign should be problematic for the firm. “So, I don’t think that this one campaign is going to colossally destroy the brand,” it said.

  “But certainly short term, it puts doubt into their loyal drinkers of Bud Light to say, ‘Do I want to continue to be drinking Bud Light based upon who they’re showing representing Bud Light?’” he asked. “Anytime a company puts on a national spokesperson that has backlash, it certainly can affect your business.”

  A research fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research wrote this week that Anheuser-Busch is owned by InBev, a multinational conglomerate worth tens of billions of dollars. One product, he wrote, won’t do a huge amount of damage to the brand or value.

  “But that seems like a plausible result. The Venn diagram of people interested in drinking Bud Light and those eager to support the issue at the sharp edge of the wokist culture war is pretty much just two circles vaguely near one another,” Shepard wrote. “While InBev investors won’t suffer too much, distributors of AB products and others who do business with the company surely will.”

  Shepard further stipulated in the article that the “bottom-line effects of wokeness are clearer at other American companies that have abandoned fiduciary duty for politics,” referring to large corporations’ having adopted left-wing talking points and narratives around race and sex.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 21:44

• Is Free Speech Killing Us? FDA Commissioner Declares "Misinformation" A Medical Risk
  Is Free Speech Killing Us? FDA Commissioner Declares “Misinformation” A Medical Risk

  Authored by Jonathan Turley,

  Last year, we discussed the declaration of WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that censorship was needed to combat what he called the “infodemic.” It was a jarring position given the censorship of experts and scientists who have now been vindicated in raising questions over mask protection to natural immunities to school closings to the origins of Covid 19. Nevertheless, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf added his own voice to call for censorship. Califf declared that life expectancy rates are being suppressed due to “misinformation.” His call for action against ill-defined “disinformation” or “misinformation” is being echoed throughout the Biden Administration.

  

  In a CNBC interview,  Califf lashed out at “health misinformation” which he said was one of his top priorities to address through “specific authorities at FDA, FTC and other areas.”

  Califf noted:

  “You think about the impact of a single person reaching a billion people on the internet all over the world, we just weren’t prepared for that. We don’t have societal rules that are adjudicating it quite right, and I think it’s impacting our health in very detrimental ways.”

  He does not elaborate on what would be those “societal rules” for “adjudication” of access to information. However, it holds a familiar ring for free speech advocates.

  In recent months, the Twitter Files revealed an extensive and secret effort by the FBI and other agencies to censor citizens on social media. I testified on that effort. New emails uncovered in the ongoing Missouri v. Biden litigation reportedly show that the Biden Administration’s censorship efforts extended to Facebook to censor private communications on its WhatsApp messaging service.

  We also know of backchannel communications with the CDC and other agencies.

  As officials like Califf call for continued crackdowns, there is no recognition of how the government worked to silence opposing views that have been vindicated in recent months.

  For years, scientists faced censorship for even raising the lab theory as a possible explanation for the virus. Their reputations and careers were shredded by a media flash mob. The Washington Post declared this a “debunked” coronavirus “conspiracy theory.” The New York Times’ Science and Health reporter Apoorva Mandavilli was calling any mention of the lab theory “racist.”

  When a Chinese researcher told Fox News that this was man-made, the network was attacked and the left-leaning PolitiFact slammed her a “pants on fire rating.”

  The mask mandate and other pandemic measures like the closing of schools are now cited as fueling emotional and developmental problems in children. The closing of schools and businesses was challenged by some critics as unnecessary. Many of those critics were also censored. It now appears that they may have been right. Many countries did not close schools and did not experience increases in Covid. However, we are now facing alarming drops in testing scores and alarming rises in medical illness among the young.

  The point is only that there were countervailing indicators on mask efficacy and a basis to question the mandates. Yet, there was no real debate because of the censorship supported by many Democratic leaders in social media. To question such mandates was declared a public health threat and what the WHO called our “infodemic.”

  A lawsuit was filed by Missouri and Louisiana and joined by leading experts, including Drs. Jayanta Bhattacharya (Stanford University) and Martin Kulldorff (Harvard University). Bhattacharya previously objected to the suspension of Dr. Clare Craig after she raised concerns about Pfizer trial documents. Those doctors were the co-authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, which advocated for a more focused Covid response that targeted the most vulnerable population rather than widespread lockdowns and mandates. Many are now questioning the efficacy and cost of the massive lockdown as well as the real value of masks or the rejection of natural immunities as an alternative to vaccination.  Yet, these experts and others were attacked for such views just a year ago. Some found themselves censored on social media for challenging claims of Dr. Fauci and others.

  The media has quietly acknowledged the science questioning mask efficacy and school closures without addressing its own role in attacking those who raised these objections.

  What is most striking about Califf’s comments is the failure to address how censorship in the last three years may have increased public health risks by suppressing opposing or dissenting scientific views. Indeed, just this week, a new British study came out directly refuting CDC guidance on masks and suggesting that, while not appreciably reducing the risk of serious Covid symptoms, masks may have caused health problems. Other studies have rejected the mask efficacy argument though this remains a matter of intense debate.

  The point is that there is now a debate after social media companies allowed people to discuss these views and the media is no longer labelling dissenters as conspiracists or racists.

  Before we continue to make these government efforts a top priority, we should have a public debate over the means used to combat misinformation and what constitutes misinformation. That should start with a full investigation of past government efforts to censor or blacklist individuals or groups.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 21:30

• FAA Grants SpaceX Launch License For Starship Orbital Flight
  FAA Grants SpaceX Launch License For Starship Orbital Flight

  The Federal Aviation Administration granted SpaceX final regulatory approval to launch the world’s biggest rocket on Monday morning. 

  “After a comprehensive license evaluation process, the FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy, payload, airspace integration, and financial responsibility requirements,” the FAA said in a statement, adding, “The license is valid for five years.” 

  Elon Musk’s SpaceX said the Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster are ready for launch at its facility in Boca Chica, Texas, beginning at 0700 CT for a 150-minute window.

  SpaceX explained this Starship launch is the first “integrated flight test.” This means it’s the first time the Super Heavy rocket and Starship will have taken off together. 

  If the launch is successful, the Super Heavy booster will attempt landing at SpaceX’s base, while Starship will attempt a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

  

  SpaceX developed Starship to haul people and cargo to the moon, Mars, and deep space.

  

  Over the weekend, Musk retweeted images of the Starship rocket on the launch pad. 

  

  

  The billionaire recently said the Starship test has a 50% chance of succeeding on its first orbital flight. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 21:00

• "Nowhere Else In The World Was Such Open Dissent Amongst Appointed Leaders On Display"
  “Nowhere Else In The World Was Such Open Dissent Amongst Appointed Leaders On Display”

  By Eric Peters, CIO of One River Asset Management

  “Rather than embracing the promise of new technology as we have done in the past, here we propose to embrace stagnation, force centralization, urge expatriation, and welcome extinction of new technology,” said SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce, a registered Republican, first nominated to the SEC by Obama in 2015, appointed by Trump in 2017, and will serve through 2025.

  “Accordingly, I dissent,” she said, directly to Chairman Gensler and the three additional Commissioners who collectively lead the SEC.

  

  “No longer does this Commission consider the real-world effects of its exercise of authority. No longer does this Commission think creatively about regulatory alternatives that advance the Commission’s mission while preserving space for potentially disruptive innovation. No longer does this Commission worry that regulatory bullheadedness often produces absurd consequences,” said Hester, a courageous public servant in a world short of inspired leaders, determined to call things as she sees them.

  “Rather, today’s Commission aggressively expands its regulatory reach to solve problems that do not exist. Today’s Commission treats its basic approach to exchange regulation as something that must not – indeed cannot – be altered to allow room for new technologies or for new ways of doing business,” she said.

  “The release sends a message that we are uninterested in facilitating innovation and competition in the financial markets and instead seek to protect incumbents. Accordingly, although I am generally supportive of reopening comment periods where it is clear that the Commission will benefit from further good faith engagement with the public, I cannot support what the Commission is doing in this release,” said Hester.

  Nowhere else in the world was such open dissent amongst appointed leaders on display. And it doesn’t matter whether you agree or not with Pierce’s position on the matter of distributed ledger technological innovation, it is the spirit and substance of her public stand that reminds us of what makes America great.

  For the complete SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce speech [click here].

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 20:30

• CVS 'Gender Transition' Guide Requires Use Of Preferred Pronouns, Sharing Bathrooms
  CVS ‘Gender Transition’ Guide Requires Use Of Preferred Pronouns, Sharing Bathrooms

  CVS has issued ‘gender transition guidelines’ which put employees on notice that people must be addressed by their preferred pronouns and names, and that they may use whichever restroom or locker room they wish, whether or not they identify as transgender, Fox Business reports.

  

  According to the guidelines, employees are notified that they may be entitled to medial leave “under the Family and Medical Leave Act, state law, and/or CVS Health policy,” while transitioning employees are encouraged to tell their immediate supervisor about their decision so that the company “can provide support and to make your transition as smooth as possible.”

  “You may also wish to have appropriate medical care to support your transition, including treatments such as hormone replacement therapy and/or gender confirmation surgery,” the guide continues.

  “During and after the transition has occurred, CVS Health encourages you to continue to partner with your Leader and your Advice & Counsel representative, and to immediately report any issues that you might have with your employment, your work environment, and/or your Leader, co-workers, clients, and customers.”

  In a section titled, “Guidelines for Supporting a Colleague who is Transitioning,” the guide encourages employees to be an ally by asking colleagues to let them know if they say or do anything that makes them uncomfortable. It also urges employees to not make assumptions about a person’s gender.

  It says employees should become an ally to make a positive impact on a co-worker’s life, become an inclusive leader, champion and celebrate all aspects of diversity and to show compliance with the CVS Health Equal Employment, Affirmative Action, AntiDiscrimination, Anti-Harassment, and Anti-Retaliation Policy. -Fox Business

  According to the company’s Affirmative Action, AntiDiscrimination, Anti-Harassment, and Anti-Retaliation Policy, the company is “committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity and takes affirmative action to recruit, hire, employ, develop, compensate, promote and advance in employment based on an individual’s job-related qualifications, abilities, and job performance,” and prohibits discrimination and harassment.

  Transgender CVS employees are encouraged to include their preferred pronouns in email signatures, and let people know during meeting introductions. After this is done, co-workers are instructed not to refer to the individual by other pronouns or their previous name.

  “People use different terms to refer to themselves, but some terms are universally considered disrespectful and violate CVS’s policy against discrimination and harassment,” states the guide. “Terms like transgender, trans-male/trans-female, non-binary or ‘male’ or ‘female’ should be used.”

  What’s more, according to company policy, all workers “should determine the most appropriate” bathroom and locker room based on their gender identity.

  “Any colleague, customer, or patient—transgender or otherwise–may choose to use the restroom and/or locker room that is appropriate to the gender they identify with,” according to the guide, which adds that transgender employees have “Any colleague, customer, or patient—transgender or otherwise–may choose to use the restroom and/or locker room that is appropriate to the gender they identify with.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 20:00

• US Appeals Court Judge Rejects ProPublica Story On Justice Clarence Thomas
  US Appeals Court Judge Rejects ProPublica Story On Justice Clarence Thomas

  Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Two appeals court judges recently weighed in on reporting around Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and that he and his wife were gifted with trips and vacations from a billionaire friend for decades.

  

  Judge Thomas Hardiman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit dismissed the notion of a “scandal” surrounding Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Last week, left-wing outlet ProPublica published an article in which “experts,” some unnamed, argue Justice Thomas violated disclosure obligations by neglecting to report luxury gifts he received from billionaire friend Harlan Crow.

  “The thing that I thought was weird about the Justice Thomas thing is the ‘scandal,’ to use your word, there was no intimation at any time, ever, that his billionaire friend ever had any business before the Supreme Court. So, how’s he helping his friend? He’s not even in a position to help his friend because his friend had exactly zero cases in the Supreme Court,” Judge Hardiman said in response to a question asked by an undergraduate during this week’s event, according to the National Review.

  He was making reference to a ProPublica article published earlier this month that cited several unnamed experts who claimed that Thomas violated disclosure obligations by not reporting luxury gifts he received from billionaire Harlan Crow, a friend of his. The move prompted some Democratic lawmakers—namely Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—to propose impeaching Thomas.

  “You know, I decide cases involving lawyers in Pittsburgh. And I know these lawyers, some of them are former law partners of mine. I belong to organizations with them, I go to lunch with them. Should I not hear their cases? If you have such suspicion about our integrity, you could really end up in a situation where judges can’t even do their jobs because at some point you’re attached to everybody,” Hardiman continued.

  “If someone wanted to make me look bad and I happened to rule in favor of a client in an immigration case that was argued by my former law clerk, oh, there would be a big exposé, ‘oh, Hardiman chose partiality to his law clerk,’” Hardiman then said.

  The judge then gave an example:  “I’ve had my former law clerks stand up in court and argue cases. And I don’t think they’ve ever won a case. And it’s not because they’re not brilliant lawyers. They are. But usually they’re doing pro bono immigration cases, and sadly, for the immigrants, those cases can be very difficult to win.”

  Judge James Ho of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said that there is a difference between “an actual instance of corruption” and “the mere perception” during remarks he made during the event. “I think the appearance issue is absolutely important” as “the judiciary basically rests on its credibility,” he said, according to the National Review.

  

  “The judiciary, like any human institution, isn’t perfect, because none of us are perfect,” Ho added.

  Earlier in the month, a report published by nonprofit news organization ProPublica, which receives some funding from billionaire financier George Soros, said that Thomas had accepted luxury trips almost every year over the past 20 years or so without disclosing them.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 19:30

• All Hell Breaks Out In Chicago As Hundreds Of Teenagers Wreak Havoc
  All Hell Breaks Out In Chicago As Hundreds Of Teenagers Wreak Havoc

  A trend of lawlessness has unfolded in cities run by progressive leaders this spring. The latest incident occurred on Saturday night in Downtown Chicago, where hundreds of teenagers wreaked havoc by smashing car windows and destroying public and private property. They also attempted to enter Millennium Park, which prompted a significant police response. There was even a shooting that resulted in multiple injuries. 

  FOX 32 Chicago reported massive crowds of teenagers that unleashed chaos in the downtown district last night. Besides the rogue kids smashing and breaking anything in their sight, there were reports of shots fired and two teenagers wounded by gunfire near the corner of Madison and Michigan. 

  Even FOX 32 said the chaos last night was “unsafe to keep our news crew on the scene.” There was even footage of kids jumping on top of a bus.  

  

  Watch the dramatic video of Chicago’s youth ‘gone wild.’ 

  🚨#BREAKING: Chaotic Scene Unfolds in Downtown Chicago as Teenagers Vandalize Cars and Gunfire Erupts

  📌#Chicago | #Illinois ⁰
  There is currently a significant police response taking place in downtown Chicago due to a large group of teenagers causing chaos. They have been… pic.twitter.com/n7xhBpsTKs

  — R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 16, 2023

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

  Cell phone video shows group jumping on vehicle along Michigan Avenue https://t.co/vyGYiYnHpp pic.twitter.com/gm00vZdwrO

  — ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) April 16, 2023

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

  Equity… Chicago pic.twitter.com/ucCdPw5DqW

  — @amuse (@amuse) April 16, 2023

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  “This is the second time this weekend that a group of rowdy teenagers has prompted a police response,” the local media outlet pointed out. 

  The culture of lawlessness continues, and it’s not even summer. The video is proof of the rapid moral decay of the younger generation that has been educated in failed liberal institutions. 

  Meanwhile, Chicago’s new mayor, Brandon Johnson, is another soft-on-crime progressive who comes after Lori Lightfoot was ejected from office for failing to make the city safer. 

  Chicago is not the only city dealing with out-of-control youth. Another failed liberal city, Baltimore, experienced similar chaos just one week ago. 

  Just a late night run at the great Baltimore City’s #InnerHarbor #SpringBreak vibes #SpringBreak2023 #Baltimore #Maryland #น้องวินอยากเป็นพี่วิน #TAEHYUNGxCELINE #SuccessionHBO #Succession #ChaguoSmartNaAirtel #Maryland #Taiwan #TikTok #SummerMMFF2023 #INVASION #Russia… pic.twitter.com/X36btbT65g

  — Daniel Barahona (@GlobalSETT) April 10, 2023

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  What’s the pattern here? Progressives are transforming their cities into lawless hellholes. 

  And the response?.. People are leaving these dumps for safer areas. Even Walmart closed half of its stores in Chicago last week because of the deteriorating environment. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 19:00

• Even ChatGPT Can Figure Out What Is Going On
  Even ChatGPT Can Figure Out What Is Going On

  By Eric Peters, CIO of One River Asset Management

  Answers

  “What happens when governments stifle innovation?” I asked.

  GPT4 answered: “When governments stifle innovation, it can lead to reduced economic growth, decreased competitiveness, and a slower pace of technological advancement. Businesses may face regulatory barriers, restricted access to resources, and limited incentives for research and development. As a result, talented individuals might seek opportunities in more innovation-friendly environments, causing a brain drain and hindering the nation’s progress.”

  “Why would governments ever stifle innovation?”

  GPT4 answered: “Governments may inadvertently stifle innovation due to bureaucracy, excessive regulation, or protectionist policies aimed at preserving domestic industries. They might also prioritize short-term political gains over long-term economic benefits, leading to misguided policies. Additionally, some governments may lack the foresight to recognize the potential of new technologies or may act in response to pressure from special interest groups resistant to change.”

  “When governments stifle innovation, what is the best way to correct such mistakes?”

  GPT4 answered: “It is crucial to identify and eliminate barriers to innovation, such as excessive regulations and bureaucracy. Governments should establish policies that incentivize research and development, invest in education, and promote collaboration between the public and private sectors. Encouraging open dialogue, fostering competition, and ensuring transparent and evidence-based decision-making can help create a more innovation-friendly environment.”

  “Why do governments avoid near-term pain, even if that amplifies longer-term costs?”

  GPT4 answered: “Governments often prioritize near-term pain avoidance due to electoral cycles, political pressures, and the need for public support. Short-term benefits may secure votes or address immediate crises, even at the expense of long-term consequences. The complexity and uncertainty of long-term issues are challenging for policymakers. This short-termism can hinder the development of policies that serve society’s broader interests in the long run.”

  “Why do individuals do the same?”

  GPT4 answered: “Humans tend to avoid near-term pain due to cognitive biases and psychological factors. Present bias, for instance, makes immediate rewards and consequences appear more significant than future ones. Additionally, humans have difficulty accurately predicting long-term outcomes, leading to a focus on short-term gratification. Uncertainty, fear of failure, and aversion to change also contribute to this preference for avoiding short-term discomfort, even if it compromises long-term success.”

  Anecdote

  “Why are we so often our own worst enemies?” I asked myself. I didn’t bother asking GPT4, it couldn’t possibly give me the real answer. We feed these large language models everything we’ve ever learned, which is why they tell us what we already know. And this question remains as deep a mystery as any in the universe.

  I first started to appreciate it as a young trader. The profession requires one to make frequent decisions, many of which are wrong. Both winning and losing trades can be cut short or left to run. And the profit/loss score card cannot be denied. In such a pursuit, each decision should be made coldly, rationally, with the sole objective to maximize profit while minimizing loss.

  Yet there are times when traders act otherwise. We trade out of fear, greed, arrogance, stubbornness, narcissism, boredom, addiction. We add to losing longs in the irrational belief that by buying more, we may reverse a declining market. Or vice versa. We swear that if the market lets us get away with it one last time, we’ll never do it again. Sometimes a Hail Mary trade may work, even spectacularly.

  And so reckless behavior is occasionally rewarded. But of course, in time, the market hunts down those unable to control their self-destructive impulses and ruins them. The ones who survive this battle with themselves learn to make decisions that are hard, humbling, and exploit the behavioral weaknesses and lack of discipline in others. Naturally, such elemental flaws manifest in every aspect of who we are; personally, professionally, politically. They are the source of the world’s infinite complexity, our pain, political dysfunction too.

  It is why we must celebrate those rare dissenters with the courage to take a stand, forcing us to face our reflection when we succumb to our inner enemies. But these mysterious flaws are also the source of our sublime beauty. If we optimized for cold rationality, we would be utterly boring algorithms. Perhaps like the AIs we are creating. Which I suspect will never fully appreciate us.     

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 18:30

• South Korea Fires Warning Shots At North Korean Patrol Boat That Breached Boundary
  South Korea Fires Warning Shots At North Korean Patrol Boat That Breached Boundary

  A dangerous live-fire incident has been reported in a disputed sea border patrolled by both North and South Korea on Saturday. 

  Reportedly a North Korean vessel had been pursuing a Chinese fishing boat, according to the military statement, and subsequently retreated after warning shots were fired from a South Korean military patrol boat.

  

  “Our military maintains decisive battle posture while monitoring the enemy’s movements in preparation for potential provocations regarding NLL (Northern Limit Line) violations by North Korean patrol boats,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a Sunday Statement, confirming the prior day’s incident.

  Tensions are already soaring after a series of joint US-South Korea military drills which have been answered with the north conducting a series of major weapons tests, including of ballistic missiles and what’s been described as an underwater nuclear drone.

  Saturday’s incident on the seas may have involved a collision, as The Hill describes:

  The disputed sea border between the two countries, the Northern Limit Line, has served as a theater for provocation and naval showdowns in the past. South Korean officials said one of its ships came into “minor” contact with a Chinese vessel due to poor visibility, but said there were only slight injuries reported.

  As for Pyongyang’s spate of recent missile tests, Time has analyzed missile launch data by North Korea and compared it to last year’s:

  Last year was already record-breaking: data from the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, which has been documenting North Korean missile launches since 1984, showed 68 tests in 2022—10 times more than in 2021. And there are no signs that the country plans to let up.

  Already the country is on track to surpass this: 

  On Thursday morning local time, prompting a temporary evacuate-or-seek-shelter warning in Japan, North Korea reportedly fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea—Pyongyang’s 12th test of the year so far, according to a review by TIME of reports by North Korea’s state news agency, South Korea’s military, and international media.

  

  Regional US ally Japan in particular has been fearful of the increasing tests ordered by the Kim Jong-Un regime. Upon a last Thursday launch, Japan issued an evacuation order for a northern island but soon retracted it when the missile’s flight path was believed no longer a threat.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 18:00

• Dramatic Video Shows Indian Gangster-Turned-Politician Gun Down On Live TV
  Dramatic Video Shows Indian Gangster-Turned-Politician Gun Down On Live TV

  A dramatic video shared on Twitter shows the Indian gangster turned politician Atiq Ahmed was gunned down on live TV with his brother while being escorted by police. The incident occurred Saturday night in Prayagraj, also called Allahabad, located in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

  Ahmed was speaking with reporters while in police custody when three men posing as journalists shot the former politician and his brother, reported BBC News. Both died on the spot. 

  

  The Ahmed family has been involved in dozens of kidnappings, murders, and extortion over the past two decades. A court recently sentenced the former politician to life in jail over corruption and violent crimes. 

  In the footage shared on Twitter, Ahmed is asked whether he attended his son’s funeral.

  His final words were: “They did not take us, so we did not go.” Then all hell breaks out… 

  Warning : Graphic Content.

  Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf shot dead while talking to media in persence of police.

  #AtiqueAhmed pic.twitter.com/wMTVvQLnvd

  — Md Asif Khan‏‎‎‎‎‎‎ (@imMAK02) April 15, 2023

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  After carrying out the shooting, the suspected gunmen shouted Hindu religious chants. They surrender to the police at the scene. 

  “Experts have raised questions on how a man could be killed in front of the media and the police,” BBC noted. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 17:00

• Biden Announces New Actions On Secret Documents After 'Embarrassing' Leak
  Biden Announces New Actions On Secret Documents After ‘Embarrassing’ Leak

  Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  President Joe Biden on Friday announced new actions that restrict access to classified materials in the wake of an embarrassing leak of apparent classified U.S. military intelligence that ended up spreading widely on social media.

  

  The suspected leaker, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard named Jack Teixeira, was on Thursday arrested and charged in federal court on two counts, including unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information charges.

  “I commend the rapid action taken by law enforcement to investigate and respond to the recent dissemination of classified U.S. government documents,” Biden said in a statement.

  “While we are still determining the validity of those documents, I have directed our military and intelligence community to take steps to further secure and limit distribution of sensitive information, and our national security team is closely coordinating with our partners and allies,” the president added.

  Teixeira was an IT specialist responsible for military communications networks, which allowed him to get a higher level security clearance.

  The leaked documents include maps and details about deliveries of weapons, with some bearing markings classifying them as “Secret” and “Top Secret.” Some showed what looks like locations for front-line Russian and Ukrainian military units and artillery guns.

  

  ‘Damaging’ Leak

  Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in an appearance on Fox News on Friday that he’s baffled as to why someone like Teixeira would have had access to the sensitive materials.

  “I don’t understand why a 21-year-old national guardsmen had access to some of the most highly kept secrets in the United States, and in particular, finished products from the Joint Staff or finished products from the CIA operation center,” Esper said. “I just don’t know why he would have access to those.”

  Asked about reports that Teixeira worked in IT and needed clearance to work on computer networks and equipment, Esper said that his access should have been more limited and that information carried on military communication systems should have been ring-fenced.

  “There’s not a need for him to have access to the information on that system, let alone finished products from the Joint Staff and CIA,” Esper replied, adding that an investigation into the leak shows that the Pentagon has a problem “not just over classification, but in this case, over distribution.”

  “There’s too many people that have access to this information. It should really only be for the highest levels of our government,” Esper said. “And we need to get that under control.”

  “It’s not just embarrassing, but it’s damaging,” Esper said, noting that the leak hurt Ukraine’s ability to mount an effective counter-offensive against Russian forces while burning U.S. access to Russian military and intelligence systems.

  The leak may also have exposed sources and techniques of collecting intelligence on Chinese operations, he added.

  

  Pentagon Takes Action

  Besides Biden announcing action to limit access to classified materials, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has vowed to take “any additional measures necessary” to safeguard against national security leaks and has ordered a review of intelligence access.

  Austin said during a press conference on Thursday that he’s “directing the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security to conduct a review of our intelligence access, accountability, and control procedures within the Department to inform our efforts to prevent this kind of incident from happening again.”

  He said the Department of Defense, in close partnership with the Intelligence Community and its interagency partners, “will continue to review the national security implications of this unauthorized disclosure.”

  Austin also stressed that “every U.S. service member, DoD civilian, and contractor with access to classified information has a solemn legal and moral obligation to safeguard it and to report any suspicious activity or behavior.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 16:30

• California Utilities Propose Charging Customers Based On How Rich They Are
  California Utilities Propose Charging Customers Based On How Rich They Are

  As if the relatively affluent needed another reason to escape California… If you earn more, you pay more.

  That’s the bottom-line impact on your electricity bill if a proposal from California’s three largest power companies is passed.

  As KTLA5 reports, Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, and San Diego Gas & Electric submitted a joint proposal to the state’s Public Utilities Commission last week that outlines the new rate structure. It follows last year’s passage of Assembly Bill 205 which requires a fixed rate and generally simpler bills.

  The plan would break monthly bills in two parts: The fixed-income rate, plus a reduced usage charge based on consumption.

  Under the proposal, the fixed charges increase as follows:

  • Households earning less than $28,000 a year would pay a fixed charge of $15 a month on their electric bills in Edison and PG&E territories and $24 a month in SDG&E territory.

  • Households with annual income from $28,000 – $69,000 would pay $20 a month in Edison territory, $34 a month in SDG&E territory and $30 a month in PG&E territory.

  • Households earning from $69,000 – $180,000 would pay $51 a month in Edison and PG&E territories and $73 a month in SDG&E territory.

  • Those with incomes above $180,000 would pay $85 a month in Edison territory, $128 a month in SDG&E territory and $92 a month in PG&E territory.

  

  Southern California Edison says approximately 1.2 million of its lower-income customers will see their bills drop by 16%-21%.

  “We have listened to and heard from our customers that fundamental change is needed to provide bill relief,” SDG&E CEO Caroline Winn said in a statement.

  So ‘some folks’ want energy bill relief… so the wealthy will have to pay their ‘fair-er share’ for the same power consumption.

  “When we were putting together the reform proposal, front and center in our mind were customers who live paycheck to paycheck, who struggle to pay for essentials such as energy, housing and food.”

  Of course, this is being directed from the top-down…

  The income-based bill proposal is part of the companies’ compliance with legislation passed by the California state government last year requiring these types of plans for utilities.

  Ironically, it is only the relatively affluent (we use that term because what is ‘poor’ in California is likely a considerably wealthier situation in most other US states) are the only residents of California that can afford an electric vehicle (which the state is demanding everyone transition to within the next few years) and thus ave higher electricity power demands broadly speaking.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 16:00

• Both Bulls And Bears Have Experienced Multiple "Lucy" Moments In The Past Year
  Both Bulls And Bears Have Experienced Multiple “Lucy” Moments In The Past Year

  By Peter Tchir, chief strategist at Academy Securities

  Peanuts & Lula

  This weekend’s T-Report will be mercifully short as I’m in Patagonia on vacation.

  Last week, we saw consistently weak economic data. On Thursday, the market decided that this was good news (lower inflation, the Fed off the table, etc.), but it didn’t feel like the squeezes of past weeks. Shorts got cut, but there wasn’t a fear that the market was going to run away with things (like we’ve seen in past squeezes). There were even some moments where it felt like the Russell 2000 could significantly outperform the Nasdaq 100. Yields were also higher across the board by the end of the week (which made sense).

  Peanuts – Charlie Brown & Lucy

  Charlie Brown (hoping that Lucy wouldn’t lift the football before he kicked it) always struck me as absurd. Couldn’t he just buy a “kick-off tee”? Just put the ball on the tee and kick it without relying on Lucy! Yet time after time, he ran to the ball only to have it snatched away with him winding up on his back wondering what had happened.

  

  I feel like both bulls and bears have experienced multiple “Lucy” moments in the past year. Every time it looked like we were going to break one way or the other, there goes the ball and we found ourselves on our backs as markets reversed course.

  I continue to believe that it is the bulls (this time) who are about to get “Lucy’d”. This Fed has no intention of cutting rates and might have every intention of remaining hawkish. Inflation, like the Monty Python Knight, has been utterly vanquished, but the Fed seems to think that “it’s only a flesh wound.” I think that they are wrong and we’ve already gone too far, but they don’t see it that way. The market seems to have gotten ahead of itself on the “weaker inflation data is good” theme because:

  1. The Fed is going to remain hawkish. Even if hikes are almost done, it is difficult to imagine cuts without serious data deterioration (which may be coming, but they will be slow to respond). Stopping at current levels will remain a headwind for the economy.
  2. The inflation data is “good” because the economy is showing many signs of weakness. Given where we saw freight and shipping data a few weeks ago (along with OPEC+ needing to cut), I expect that the weak data will continue, but this will not be enough to support stocks.

  I recommend that positioning should remain unchanged from last week (Davy Jones and the Six).

  Peanuts – Actual Peanuts

  On flights within Argentina, peanuts are served to passengers. In one country, “free” peanuts on flights still exist. However, in another country, people are asked not to even open anything that might have touched a peanut because someone on board might have an extreme allergy.

  Not sure what to make of this, but maybe it is a reminder that when we evaluate geopolitics, we really need to work hard to see it from the perspective of the other country.

  Lula and Xi

  China and Xi seem to have taken the lead in global diplomacy. Xi has gone far beyond just meeting with Putin and submitting peace proposals (albeit fake and self-serving). The Chinese deal with Brazil and their influence in encouraging the Iran deal with the Saudis have positioned China well on the world’s stage.

  Many will focus on the “disparagement” of the dollar. While that is important, there is a much clearer message being sent when you look at the headlines around the autos. For all who keep arguing that “China needs us as much or more than we need them” I say bah humbug!

  • China made things for American companies under the brand names of those companies.

  That is what China did and continues to do.

  • China is also going to sell Chinese brands to other countries.

  China will manufacture their own brands and find willing buyers.

  • The autocratic/resource rich nations of the world have potential trade surpluses with China that can be spent on Chinese manufactured goods (especially as trade is increasingly done between those countries in Yuan).
  • The Chinese goods, which are generally cheaper (and not of the same quality, in my opinion) may be better priced for the citizens of those resource rich nations (where the wealth is often concentrated).

  Our view that “China is aligning itself with the autocratic/resource rich nations” continues. We have argued that while the dollar will remain the reserve currency, there is increasingly a “dark web” of business shifting to the Yuan.

  This doesn’t impact us much today (or tomorrow) and there is still plenty of time to change the direction of these trends, but we better get our act together sooner rather than later!

  Bottom Line

  Still medium bearish (last week’s recommended positioning and trading style remain the same).

  I am increasingly concerned that we are missing China’s ascendance on the global stage and are too inward looking to recognize it.

  Academy was on Bloomberg TV last Monday and not only did we get to discuss markets, banks, and the Nasdaq 100 versus the Russell 2000, but we also got to discuss geopolitics and Academy’s edge on that front (starts around the 51 minute mark). As we stated last week (and the Lula visit supports), people are paying lip service to geopolitics, but aren’t worried enough. Admittedly some geopolitics will take time to develop and shift economies and markets, but companies need to be taking into account these potential (and even likely) shifts in their current planning.

  I can’t help but think about peanuts and my reaction to them on a flight versus the typical Argentinian’s view. I need to make sure that I’m applying the viewpoints of others correctly in my geopolitical analysis. In the meantime, before aggressively kicking the football, think about who is holding it and if they can be trusted!

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 15:30

• Border Patrol "Brace For F**king Impact" As End Of Trump-Era Immigration Policy Looms
  Border Patrol “Brace For F**king Impact” As End Of Trump-Era Immigration Policy Looms

  Earlier this week, President Biden signed a joint resolution ending the COVID-19 national emergency on Monday, bringing an end to some of the emergency authority the president and Congress wielded to deal with the pandemic. The real authority granted to the executive during the pandemic was in the public health emergency, and that won’t be ended until May 11.

  

  And that means the lifting of Title 42 restrictions on border-crossers and the nightmare scenario of tens of thousands of illegal aliens rushing the border. Biden has severely curtailed the asylum program already but has yet to deal with the potential flood of illegals from Central America who will attempt to cross the border once Title 42 is lifted.

  Border Patrol agents are being given limited word on how to prepare for a flood of illegal immigrants when Title 42, a major Trump-era expulsion order, ends May 11, according to two agents who spoke anonymously with the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) and an internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo.

  “There are thousands and thousands just waiting for Title 42 to end. I would say a fear is that the Biden admin has no clue just how bad it’s going to get. We can barely actively patrol the border now. When Title 42 ends, all of our resources, all of our little manpower that we do have, are going to be focused on processing. Field work will nearly cease to exist in my opinion,” one Border Patrol agent working along the southern border told the DCNF.

  One agent working along the southern border, who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak, told the DCNF that the extent they were told about preparations was just to “brace for fucking impact” and to prepare to “weather the storm.”

  “Most of the time, we are just told that Title 42 will end eventually and to be mentally prepared for the influx of migrants when it does. Regular line agents don’t seem to be offered an outline or plan as to how we will actually deal with the large numbers at the processing level,” the second agent said.

  

  There are only so many ways to control our sovereign border and, as Rick Moran writes at PJMedia.com, what Biden is finding is that Trump’s policies don’t look so bad now that he has the responsibility to protect us.

  “At this point, I can’t tell the difference between Biden immigration policy and Trump immigration policy,” one asylum officer told CNN.

  One policy among them – once described as “cruel” and “inhuman” – is reinstating family detention at the border.

  Will AOC be crying at empty fences again?

  Some asylum officers are none too pleased with Biden’s Trumpy policies.

  “It feels like Groundhog Day,” another asylum officer told CNN.

  “With the Trump era, it felt like we had really gotten to rock bottom and when Biden took over, it seemed like a light ahead of us. It feels very disheartening.”

  Rick sums up the situation perfectly:

  Asking Biden and the Democrats to apologize for all those nasty things they said about Trump and his policies is a waste of time. But they know the truth. They know that Trump chose the correct path to deal with a nearly impossible situation.

  But it would be nice if Mayorkas or Biden acknowledged at least in some respect.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 04/16/2023 – 15:00

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