Aug 17

Today’s News 17th August 2022

  • Every Mission To Mars In One Visualization
    Every Mission To Mars In One Visualization

    Within our Solar System, Mars is one of the most similar planets to Earth—both have rocky landscapes, solid outer crusts, and cores made of molten rock.

    Because of its similarities to Earth and proximity, humanity has been fascinated by Mars for centuries. In fact, it’s one of the most explored objects in our Solar System.

    But just how many missions to Mars have we embarked on, and which of these journeys have been successful? This graphic by Jonathan Letourneau shows a timeline of every mission to Mars since 1960 using NASA’s historical data.

    A Timeline of Mars Explorations

    According to a historical log from NASA, there have been 48 missions to Mars over the last 60 years. Here’s a breakdown of each mission, and whether or not they were successful:

    The first mission to Mars was attempted by the Soviets in 1960, with the launch of Korabl 4, also known as Mars 1960A.

    As the table above shows, the voyage was unsuccessful. The spacecraft made it 120 km into the air, but its third-stage pumps didn’t generate enough momentum for it to stay in Earth’s orbit.

    For the next few years, several more unsuccessful Mars missions were attempted by the USSR and then NASA. Then, in 1964, history was made when NASA launched the Mariner 4 and completed the first-ever successful trip to Mars.

    The Mariner 4 didn’t actually land on the planet, but the spacecraft flew by Mars and was able to capture photos, which gave us an up-close glimpse at the planet’s rocky surface.

    Then on July 20, 1976, NASA made history again when its spacecraft called Viking 1 touched down on Mars’ surface, making it the first space agency to complete a successful Mars landing. Viking 1 captured panoramic images of the planet’s terrain, and also enabled scientists to monitor the planet’s weather.

    Vacation to Mars, Anyone?

    To date, all Mars landings have been done without crews, but NASA is planning to send humans to Mars by the late 2030s.

    And it’s not just government agencies that are planning missions to Mars—a number of private companies are getting involved, too. Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX has a long-term plan to build an entire city on Mars.

    Two other aerospace startups, Impulse and Relativity, also announced an unmanned joint mission to Mars in July 2022, with hopes it could be ready as soon as 2024.

    As more players are added to the mix, the pressure is on to be the first company or agency to truly make it to Mars. If (or when) we reach that point, what’s next is anyone’s guess.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 23:55

  • Elon Musk Says He's "Buying Manchester United"
    Elon Musk Says He’s “Buying Manchester United”

    In a tweet thread tonight talking about his political leanings, Elon Musk casually dropped a Tweet proclaiming he was buying Manchester United.

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

    Many news outlets were quick to point out what Reuters said, namely that Musk has a history of “irreverent Tweets” – which is a nice way of saying potentially committing securities fraud via his Twitter account in a multitude of ways. 

    But the purchase of the well known English football club doesn’t seem too far out of reach for Musk, should he really want to buy it.

    The club, which is publicly traded (although Elon may not know that) and has been underperforming badly over the last year, only has a market cap of about $2 billion. This means Musk could easily offer a heavy premium, in cash, to try and get the deal pushed through.

    It could be even easier now that Musk has sold tens of billions of dollars worth Tesla stock over the last 2 weeks. Many people assumed that these sales were going to be used to settle his lawsuit with Twitter. Several billion dollars in cash for the purchase of Manchester United could have easily been part of Musk’s planned sales. 

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

    Additionally, it was noted that 30,000 $14 call options with September expiration mysteriously went off last week ahead of the rumor.

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

    On the other hand, it would probably take Elon about one month to demand any contract be voided after he discovers that all 11 ManU players on the field are merely bots.

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

    Of course, when it’s all said and done, it’s all just another “pun” by the world’s richest man, but if anyone else of his standing, not to mention financial wherewithall, had said the same thing – whether seriously or in jest – there would be consequences. For Elon, however, there never are.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 23:20

  • Former IRS Whistleblower Says Middle Class Americans Will Be Targeted Under Inflation Reduction Act
    Former IRS Whistleblower Says Middle Class Americans Will Be Targeted Under Inflation Reduction Act

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

    A detail of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) headquarters building is seen in the Federal Triangle section of Washington, on April 27, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

    A former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower has said that the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will see the government target middle-income Americans with increased scrutiny and audits.

    William Henck previously worked as a lawyer for the IRS for 20 years until 2017, when he was terminated for allegedly revealing sensitive information to the media about how the IRS had reportedly failed to identify a multi-billion-dollar corporate tax credit scheme involving a source of energy known as burning pulp byproducts, or black liquor.

    Speaking to Fox Business, Henck disputed claims by the IRS and other officials who have said that increased funding for the agency under the IRA, which is set to be signed into law by President Joe Biden this week, would only lead to more audits for wealthy millionaires and billionaires and large corporations.

    “The idea that they’re going to open things up and go after these big billionaires and large corporations is quite frankly [expletive],” Henck said in the interview on Aug. 15. “It’s not going to happen. They’re going to give themselves bonuses and promotions and really nice conferences.”

    “The big corporations and the billionaires are probably sitting back laughing right now,” he said, adding that it was “insane” to double the IRS budget.

    Henck also said he believes that the agency will go after businesses that don’t have enough money to hire Washington lobbyists.

    (L-R) Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) leave the Senate Chamber after final passage of the Inflation Reduction Act at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Aug. 7, 2022. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

    ‘Absolutely Not’ Being Used to Target Middle-Income Americans

    The Democrat-controlled House passed the IRA in a strictly party-line vote on Aug. 12. It includes nearly $80 billion in IRS funding, including $45.6 billion for “enforcement.”

    A Treasury Department report from May 2021 (pdf) estimated that such an investment would enable the agency to hire roughly 87,000 employees by 2031.

    Amid mounting fears, the IRS has said it will “absolutely not” be using the extra money to increase audit scrutiny on small businesses or middle-income Americans.

    IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig stated in a letter to members of the Senate on Aug. 4 that the extra resources will instead serve to help the agency in “challenging” areas such as audits of large corporate and global high-net-worth taxpayers.

    “These resources are absolutely not about increasing audit scrutiny on small businesses or middle-income Americans,” Rettig wrote in the letter. “As we’ve been planning, our investment of these enforcement resources is designed around the Department of the Treasury’s directive that audit rates will not rise relative to recent years for households making under $400,000.”

    Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre have also doubled down on their rhetoric regarding reports about the extra funding being utilized to target middle-income Americans, stating that there would be no new audits for individuals earning less than $400,000 per year.

    Henck disagrees.

    ‘Unlimited Resources And No Accountability’

    “There will be considerable incentive to basically to shake down taxpayers, and the advantage the IRS has is they have basically unlimited resources and no accountability, whereas a taxpayer has to weigh the cost of accountants, tax lawyers—fighting something in tax court,” he told Fox Business.

    Read more here…

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 23:05

  • Biden Admin Refuses Release Of $7BN In Frozen Afghanistan Funds After Zawahiri Strike
    Biden Admin Refuses Release Of $7BN In Frozen Afghanistan Funds After Zawahiri Strike

    With this week marking a grim one-year anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Kabul, ending more than two decades of US and coalition occupation of the country in (now failed) attempts to prop up a national government, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday the White House will not release any of the $7 billion in Afghan central bank reserves still being held by the US.

    Prior talks with Taliban officials who sought to get the funds released as the population faces hunger and a post-war collapsed economy have also been suspended. Biden administration officials cited that a key factor in the decision to block funds indefinitely was that al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was found to be living safely in Kabul. That is, until a CIA drone strike which reportedly killed the notorious al-Qaeda leader on July 31. 

    Afghans in food assistance line, via Yahoo News.

    However, it was revealed in the aftermath that the US has no DNA evidence or body proving that it was Zawahiri that was killed in the strike. The strong suggestion is of course that the Taliban allowed the AQ leader to take up residence in the Afghan capital soon after the US force withdrawal. 

    US Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West told the WSJ: “Needless to say, the Taliban’s sheltering of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri reinforces deep concerns we have regarding diversion of funds to terrorist groups.”

    On the question of the Taliban accessing humanitarian aid for the population, West said, “We do not see recapitalization of the Afghan central bank as a near-term option,” adding that: “We do not have confidence that that institution has the safeguards and monitoring in place to manage assets responsibly.”

    Previously Biden has said he plans to give half of the $7 billion in seized Afghan assets to families of 9/11 victims, with the other half going to a trust fund for future humanitarian aid to the Afghan people. But with this latest announcement, even that option appears to be off the table given it would of necessity be the Taliban distributing the aid as the de facto authority should the funds ever be unblocked. 

    Months ago a United Nations statement warned that a dire food shortage crisis now threatens an “entire generation of Afghans” – with a report warning that up to 95% of the population is not getting enough to eat. Critics have decried the Biden admin’s decision as “theft” and unjust collective punishment: 

    “It is both morally condemnable and politically and economically reckless to impose collective punishment on an entire people for the actions of a government they did not choose,” reads a letter drafted by 70 economists and experts which was delivered to the White House last week.

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    The Taliban remains an internationally sanctioned entity, with an additional some $2 billion of Afghanistan’s funds having been frozen by other countries, following Washington’s lead.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 22:40

  • Neogone: Liz Cheney Voted Out Of Congress, Trump Takes Victory Lap
    Neogone: Liz Cheney Voted Out Of Congress, Trump Takes Victory Lap

    Update 2020ET: In a widely expected outcome, former President Donald Trump’s highest-profile GOP critic, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, has been voted out of Congress.

    Her challenger, Harriet Hageman, was ahead by more than 30% with 13% of the votes counted – enough for NBC News to call it for her.

    Wyoming Republican Harriet Hageman

    Cheney, the daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, had been the #3 ranked Republican in the House – easily winning her last election in 2020. Things changed, however, when she became one of 10 Republicans that voted to impeach Trump – who Democrats accused of inciting the January 6th riot. She later joined the January 6th committee, on which she currently services as Vice Chair.

    And look at what happened to the rest of the anti-Trump Republicans who voted to impeach:

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

    “Congratulations to Harriet Hageman on her great and very decisive WIN in Wyoming,” Trump said in a statement on Truth Social. “This is a wonderful result for America, and a complete rebuke of the Unselect Committee of political Hacks and Thugs. Liz Cheney should be ashamed of herself, the way she acted, and her spiteful, sanctimonious words and actions towards others. Now she can finally disappear into the depths of political oblivion where, I am sure, she will be much happier than she is right now. Thank you WYOMING!”

    *  *  *

    If recent polls are any indication, neocon Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) is about to lose her seat in today’s primaries, after going on a poorly-received crusade against former President Donald Trump.

    In one recent poll, Cheney challenger Harriet Hageman – who disputed the legitimacy of the 2020 US election – was leading Cheney by nearly 30 points. Of note, 70% of Wyoming voters chose Trump in 2020 – the highest percentage of any state in the nation.

    Cheney, 56, sparked conservative backlash against her by choosing to die on hill of election fraud and the January 6th committee, of which she’s the vice chair. Unsurprisingly, her warmongering father’s laughable campaign ad  in which he said there’s ‘never been a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump’ didn’t do Liz any favors.

    “She’s almost certainly toast,” said American University political scientist, David Barker. “My guess is that she knew that the second she decided to really join the Jan. 6 committee and pursue the president in that way.”

    “She hasn’t just been kind of a passive member of the committee,” he added. “She’s been really leading the whole charge and doing so in the most provocative and high-profile ways.”

    Cheney doesn’t care

    “America cannot remain free if we abandon the truth. The lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen is insidious — it preys on those who love their country,” she said in a closing argument campaign video released Thursday. “It is a door Donald Trump opened to manipulate Americans to abandon their principles, to sacrifice their freedom, to justify violence, to ignore the rulings of our courts and the rule of law.”

    “This is Donald Trump’s legacy, but it cannot be the future of our nation.”

    At least one supporter held out hope, according to the Associated Press.

    “I’m still hopeful that the polling numbers are wrong,” said Landon Brown, a Wyoming state representative and vocal Cheney ally. “It’ll be a crying shame really if she does lose. It shows just how much of a stranglehold that Donald Trump has on the Republican Party.”

    Her likely defeat on Tuesday has raised speculation over her next move – including a potential run for president in 2024, which she hasn’t ruled out.

    If one simply reads the room, however, it’s clear that Cheney would be up against a tide of Trump supporters, who largely view her as a traitor.

    “My sense is that if it is [her plan], she’s going to have a long wait,” said Bill Galston, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “I don’t think that Donald Trump supporters will ever forgive her, nor do I think they’re going away.”

    “Where else would they go?”

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

     

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 22:24

  • 14 FBI Whistleblowers Have Come Forward: Rep. Jordan
    14 FBI Whistleblowers Have Come Forward: Rep. Jordan

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

    Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) speaks during the House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Policing Practices and Law Enforcement Accountability at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 10, 2020. (Michael Reynolds/Pool/Getty Images)

    Fourteen FBI whistleblowers have come forward to provide information to Republican congressional investigations, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said on Aug. 14, about a week after the FBI raided former President Donald Trump’s Florida home.

    “Fourteen FBI agents have come to our office as whistleblowers, and they are good people,” Jordan told Fox News. “There are lots of good people in the FBI. It’s the top that is the problem.”

    “Some of these good agents are coming to us, telling us … what’s going on—the political nature now of the Justice Department … talking about the school board issue, about a whole host of issues,” he added.

    Two months ago, Jordan said that six FBI whistleblowers approached the committee. Two came forward about a memo related to alleged violence and intimidation at school board meetings and four in connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. In the Senate, meanwhile, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in July that whistleblowers had come to his office to provide information, including disclosures relating to investigations into Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings.

    “It’s becoming a well-worn trail of agents who say this has got to stop, and thank goodness for them and that American people recognize it, and I believe they’re going to make a big change on Nov. 8,” Jordan said, referring to the midterm elections.

    In June, Jordan sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray warning that several former FBI officials were coming forward, while alleging the agency is “purging” employees who have conservative views.

    “In one such example, the FBI targeted and suspended the security clearance of a retired war servicemember who had disclosed personal views that the FBI was not being entirely forthcoming about the events of January 6,” Jordan wrote in a statement. “The FBI questioned the whistleblower’s allegiance to the United States despite the fact that the whistleblower honorably served in the United States military for several years—including deployments in Kuwait and Iraq—valiantly earning multiple military commendation medals.”

    It comes as Republicans stepped up calls on Aug. 14 for the release of an FBI affidavit showing the justification for its seizure of documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

    Read more here…

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 22:15

  • Smith & Wesson's CEO Blames Progressive Lawmakers "For Surge In Violence And Lawlessness" In US Cities
    Smith & Wesson’s CEO Blames Progressive Lawmakers “For Surge In Violence And Lawlessness” In US Cities

    Smith & Wesson CEO Mark Smith fired off a statement Monday, blaming “a number of politicians” for “the surge in violence and lawlessness” in US cities. 

    Smith blamed “politicians and their lobbying partners in the media” for pushing failed progressive policies that have contributed to the recent rise in violence.

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

    He said, “some [lawmakers] have had the audacity to suggest that after they have vilified, undermined and defunded law enforcement for years, supported prosecutors who refuse to hold criminals accountable for their actions, overseen the decay of our country’s mental health infrastructure, and generally promoted a culture of lawlessness, Smith & Wesson and other firearm manufacturers are somehow responsible for the crime wave that has predictably resulted from these destructive policies.”

    “But they [lawmakers] are the ones to blame for the surge in violence and lawlessness, and they seek to avoid any responsibility for the crisis of violence they have created by attempting to shift the blame to Smith & Wesson, other firearm manufacturers and law-abiding gun owners,” Smith continued. 

    He said it was “no surprise that the cities suffering most from violent crime are the very same cities that have promoted irresponsible, soft-on-crime policies that often treat criminals as victims and victims as criminals. Many of these same cities also maintain the strictest gun laws in the nation.”

    Smith said politicians who push failed progressive policies scapegoat gun manufacturers: 

    “But rather than confront the failure of their policies, certain politicians have sought more laws restricting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens…” 

    Smith made it clear that no Smith & Wesson firearm has broken into a home, assaulted a woman out for a late-night run in the city, and or carjacked an unsuspecting driver stopped at a traffic light. “Instead, Smith & Wesson provides these citizens with the means to protect themselves and their families,” he added.

    Smith’s statement comes two weeks after the US House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the 170-year company for data on the manufacture and sale of AR-15-style assault rifles. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 21:50

  • Toyota And World's Top Battery Maker Halt Factories In China Amid Drought-Induced Power Crisis
    Toyota And World’s Top Battery Maker Halt Factories In China Amid Drought-Induced Power Crisis

    Update (2130ET): Add Toyota Motor Corp. and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., the world’s largest battery maker, to the growing list of companies shutting down factories in China’s Sichuan province as a drought-induced power crisis worsens, according to Bloomberg. 

    Toyota closed its plant in the provincial capital of Chengdu until Saturday, a company spokesperson said, while Contemporary Amperex halted operations at its lithium battery factory in Yibin. 

    Sichuan is one of China’s most populated provinces, with 80 million inhabitants, and is home to a major manufacturing hub heavily reliant on hydropower. 

    However, a heatwave and drought have caused reservoir levels to drop, resulting in declining power generation and forcing local authorities to ration power for factories. 

    The shutdowns add to a growing number in industries stemming from solar panels to aluminum smelting. Volkswagen AG said on Monday that its factory in Chengdu is affected by power shortages, but that it was only expecting slight delays in deliveries to customers. Foxconn Technology Co. also makes Apple iPads in the province, but said it was seeing only limited impact from the drought so far. -Bloomberg 

    The drought-induced power crisis is another excuse Beijing can use to explain why its economy falters. 

    * * * 

    China’s worst heatwave in decades is curbing hydropower generation in one of the country’s most populous provinces. Local authorities requested some factories in southwestern China to halt production to conserve electricity, adding to the financial pressures of an already rapidly slowing economy. 

    Workers at a factory in Chongqing last month. (AFP/Getty Images)

    Sichuan province has more than 80 million inhabitants and is home to a major manufacturing hub. The Washington Post said some factories had suspended production on request by the government due to high temperatures and drought, leading to declining water flows through local hydropower reservoirs. 

    Jin Xiandong, a spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission, said on Tuesday that China has to increase coal-fired power output because of waning hydropower output. 

    China’s inland Sichuan province is a major manufacturing hub that produces consumer goods from electronics, furniture, and food. Also, it’s home to the world’s largest crystalline silicon solar cell producer.

    China Securities Journal said Foxconn’s plant in Sichuan that produces Apple products, such as iPads and Macs, wouldn’t be significantly impacted by power rationings. 

    The province is highly dependent on hydropower, and high temperatures that could last through the end of this month might indicate more power restrictions for manufacturing plants. 

    Fu Linghui, China’s National Bureau of Statistics spokesman, said the heatwave has sparked “adverse effects on economic operations,” adding that the economic recovery “has slowed down marginally.” 

    On Sunday, we noted that China’s central bank unexpectedly cut its key interest rates in a feeble attempt to prop up the failing economy weighed by Covid lockdowns, property downturn, and a crippling heatwave. The cut comes after July’s economic data was awful, pointing to an economic slowdown gaining momentum. 

    Further power cuts in Sichuan will result in more production suspension and dampen the country’s souring economic outlook.  

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 21:31

  • Eric Trump Says He’ll Release FBI Raid Surveillance Tape
    Eric Trump Says He’ll Release FBI Raid Surveillance Tape

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

    Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower in N.Y. on Aug. 9, 2022, the day after FBI agents raided his Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach home, in Fla. (David ‘Dee’ Delgado/Reuters)

    Former President Donald Trump’s son Eric revealed that the family will release surveillance tapes that show FBI agents raiding his Mar-a-Lago property last week.

    “Will you—you still have the surveillance tape, is that correct? Will you—are you allowed to share that with the country?” Fox News host Sean Hannity asked Eric Trump on Monday night.

    The younger Trump replied, “Absolutely, Sean,” adding that the video will be released “at the right time.” He said that law enforcement officers, including FBI agents, should wear body cameras for total transparency.

    “That’s why cops wear body cams. They don’t tell you to turn off cameras—they want transparency, and that’s not what happened here,” Trump said, referring to the raid.

    In an interview with the Daily Mail last week, Eric Trump said that lawyers were told by FBI agents to turn off security cameras in Mar-a-Lago. But they didn’t, and a lawyer for Donald Trump, Alina Habba, later revealed that the former president and family watched the FBI raid via CCTV cameras last week.

    Another lawyer, Christina Bobb, told Real America’s Voice last week that surveillance cameras were turned off for a short period of time while the FBI agents spoke with the former president’s lawyers. However, she said the family saw “the whole thing,” referring to the raid, while they were in New York.

    Meanwhile, Bobb recalled to the outlet that she was “stuck in the parking lot” of Mar-a-Lago and was “there to collect paper and answer questions.”

    “The FBI and others from the Federal Government would not let anyone, including my lawyers, be anywhere near the areas that were rummaged and otherwise looked at during the raid on Mar-a-Lago,” former President Trump wrote on Truth Social last week.

    Unsealed Documents

    Following the raid, the Department of Justice and FBI have remained relatively tight-lipped about why the agents searched Mar-a-Lago or what they were investigating. Three days after the raid, Attorney General Merrick Garland told a news conference that he personally signed off on the FBI’s attempt to obtain a warrant, which was approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart.

    Republicans and Trump have called on the agencies to unseal an affidavit in the case. The move would show why the FBI launched the raid.

    The warrant and property receipt were unsealed a day after Garland’s news conference, showing that FBI agents recovered several boxes of allegedly classified or top-secret documents and other material. It’s not clear what the documents entailed.

    Read more here…

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 21:25

  • Los Angeles 'Soros' DA Gascón Recall Fails
    Los Angeles ‘Soros’ DA Gascón Recall Fails

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

    Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon speaks at a press conference in Los Angeles on Dec. 8, 2021. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

    The effort to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón failed to gather enough valid petition signatures, the county registrar’s office announced Aug. 15.

    The county Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office counted 520,050 valid signatures, falling short of the required 566,857.

    Recall spokesman Tim Lineberger called the results “surprising and disappointing,” in a statement sent to The Epoch Times.

    [ZH: As noted two weeks ago, election observers weren’t allowed to view the count]

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

    For the over half a million residents that placed valid signatures, Lineberger said, “To deprive them of the opportunity to restore public safety in their own communities is heartbreaking. And to interpret this in any other way other than a wholesale rejection of Gascon’s dangerous polices would be disingenuous, or naive at best.”

    Gascón’s campaign spokeswoman Elise Moore told The Epoch Times they were “glad to move forward from this attempted political power grab.”

    “The DA’s primary focus is and has always been keeping us safe and creating a more equitable justice system for all. Today’s announcement does not change that,” she said.

    Gascón wrote on Twitter Monday, “Rest assured LA County, the work hasn’t stopped. My primary focus has been & will always be keeping us safe & creating a more equitable justice system for all. I remain strongly committed to that work & to you.”

    Recall organizers submitted 715,833 signatures last month to the registrar’s office to force Gascón into a recall election. The county announced Monday that 195,783 of the signatures were invalid.

    Over 88,000 were invalidated because the person signing the petition was not a registered voter, and there were nearly 44,000 duplicate signatures, according to the county.

    The county’s former district attorney Steve Cooley sent a letter on Aug. 8 to the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, alleging that the registrar’s office did not follow proper guidelines when verifying signatures for the campaign during the random sampling last month.

    In a random sampling of about 5 percent, or 35,793, of the signatures, the clerk validated about 27,983, which was less than 31,179, the minimum for the recall petition to be automatically validated without full verification.

    One of the guidelines, Cooley said, is ensuring that voters’ signatures on the recall petitions match their signatures on file with the registrar’s office.

    He said the recall campaign has “strong evidence” to believe the office didn’t follow state guidelines during the random sampling because of “the shockingly large rejection rate,” which was around 22 percent. In the general election in November 2018, the rejection rate of vote-by-mail ballots for non-matching signatures was 2 percent, he said.

    Under California law, he said, it is presumed that signatures on election petitions and ballots are matching and valid unless there is a “reasonable doubt” to believe otherwise.

    According to Dean Logan, who oversees the county elections office, the verification process is “highly regulated” and follows state guidelines and regulations.

    Monday marked the second failure of an effort to recall Gascón. A separate attempt last year was halted by organizers, who blamed poor timing and COVID-19 lockdowns.

    Gascón has been under fire since taking office in December 2020, when he issued a series of directives critics blasted as being soft on crime. The directives include a rule against seeking the death penalty, a ban on transferring juvenile defendants to adult court, and prohibitions on filing sentencing enhancements in most cases.

    Read more here…

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 20:35

  • Journalists File Lawsuit Against CIA Over Alleged Spying While They Met With Julian Assange
    Journalists File Lawsuit Against CIA Over Alleged Spying While They Met With Julian Assange

    A group of journalists and lawyers that previously worked with Julian Assange and WikiLeaks who say they were illegally spied on by US intelligence are suing the CIA and its former head Mike Pompeo. “The United States Constitution shields American citizens from U.S. government overreach even when the activities take place in a foreign embassy in a foreign country,” lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Richard Roth, said Monday in filing the lawsuit.

    “The lawsuit said that CIA under Pompeo violated the privacy rights of those American journalists and lawyers by allegedly spying on them,” Reuters reports of the legal action. “The plaintiffs include journalists Charles Glass and John Goetz and attorneys Margaret Kunstler and Deborah Hrbek, who have represented Assange.”

    Then CIA director under President Trump, Mike Pompeo, is at the center of the legal action and allegations. As is their normative practice, the CIA isn’t commenting publicly on the lawsuit – but it’s widely known and established that the CIA is barred by US laws from spying domestically or on US citizens.

    The CIA’s mandate, along with the rest of the US intelligence community, or IC, is exclusively foreign, with multiple scandals uncovered by 1970s into 1980s Congressional hearings (the Church Committee being foremost), resulting in attempts at greater legal safeguards to protect Americans as well as reign in major unapproved clandestine operations. 

    Monday’s lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, as Reuters details: 

    The filing said the journalists and lawyers were required to surrender their electronic devices to Undercover Global S.L., a private security company which at the time provided security to the embassy, before their visits to Assange. The lawsuit alleged the company copied that information and provided it to the CIA, which was then headed by Pompeo.

    This period in question was from Assange’s seven-year asylum stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy. In July of 2020 it was revealed in testimony at the Spanish National Court,  Audiencia Nacional, by at least four former employees Undercover Global SL that the security firm was spying on Assange and those who would come visit him, including his legal team. 

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

    Multiple in-depth reports by investigative journalists subsequently exposed the outfit as essentially a front for the CIA, or essentially was secretly being contracted by the intelligence agency, to keep taps on Assange and his lawyers’ strategy for securing his release. This even included collecting surveillance footage of Assange and his family members from inside the embassy at that time, with bizarre efforts to collect DNA, including from his child’s diaper. 

    Spain’s El Pais for example detailed in 2020 that “David Morales, a former military official who owns the security firm Undercover Global SL, is under investigation by Spain’s High Court, the Audiencia Nacional, for spying on Assange’s meetings with his lawyers and allegedly handing information to the CIA.”

    “Morales suspected that a baby who was repeatedly brought into the embassy by Stephen Hoo, an actor friend of Assange’s who paid him regular visits, might really be the cyberactivist’s own child, and these visits were recorded.”

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

    The report resulted in a major public scandal and outrage, with an outpouring of support from WikiLeaks, given “Morales even issued orders to steal the baby’s diapers to analyze the contents for DNA, although the task was never carried out.”

    “Reports were drawn up about Stella Morris and about Stephen Hoo, according to video and documentary material to which EL PAÍS has had access.” El Pais wrote further.

    Julian Assange in a still from one of the videos recorded inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. via El Pais

    There have also been more recent revelations that Pompeo or other US officials may have greenlighted a ‘kidnap of kill’ mission if US operatives abroad ever got the chance to take out the WikiLeaks founder. Earlier this year a Spanish Court examining the allegations summoned Pompeo to explain and be questioned over the alleged plot; however, he refused the summons.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 20:10

  • Oberlin Faces New Controversy Over Islamic Scholar's Support Of The Rushdie Fatwa
    Oberlin Faces New Controversy Over Islamic Scholar’s Support Of The Rushdie Fatwa

    Authored by Jonathan Turley,

    It appears that Oberlin has another major controversy on its hand. For the last couple years, Oberlin has been embroiled in a fight with a small family-owned grocery that it defamed over a shoplifting case involving black students. Oberlin lost $25 million in a record verdict but Oberlin President Carmen Twillie Ambar continued to refuse to apologize. In the meantime, the school seems intent on running the 137-year-old grocery into insolvency as it delays paying on the judgment. Now the school is under fire over a faculty member, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, who supported the fatwa against Salman Rushdie. The author of Satanic Verses is recovering from a savage knife attack. Hadi Matar, 24, is accused of carrying out the stabbing attack and has expressed support for Iran in the past. The campaign to have Mahallati fired could present some difficult free speech and academic freedom questions.

    Mahallati is a professor of religion and Islamic Studies and once served as the Islamic Republic’s ambassador at the United Nations.

    According to Fox News.com, Mahallati was asked in 1989 about the “right to put a bounty on someone’s head” and responded “I think all Islamic countries agree with Iran. All Islamic nations and countries agree with Iran that any blasphemous statement against sacred figures should be condemned.” He then added insult to injury:

    “I think if Western countries really believe and respect freedom of speech, therefore they should also respect our freedom of speech. We certainly use that right in order to express ourselves, our religious belief, in the case of any blasphemous statement against sacred Islamic figures.”

    It was a familiar misrepresentation of free speech values. Islamic countries have long claimed that banning speech or killing those who engage in blasphemous speech is a form of free speech.

    The Iranian view of free speech shows the extreme end of the slippery slope of relativism in free speech. We have been debating this increasingly common claim that shutting down speech is free speech. At the University of California campus, professors actually rallied around a professor who physically assaulted pro-life advocates and tore down their display.  When conservative law professor Josh Blackman was stopped from speaking about “the importance of free speech,”  CUNY Law Dean Mary Lu Bilek insisted that disrupting the speech on free speech was free speech. (Bilek later cancelled herself and resigned after an inappropriate comment in a faculty meeting).

    In this case, Iran issued a fatwa supporting the killing of Rushdie and offering a huge reward. Ultimately, two of his translators were knifed, one fatally.  Supporting a fatwa is an exercise of free speech. Acting on a fatwa to harm someone is a crime.

    Critics, however, insist that Mahallati was a high-ranking official supporting this state action.  Nevertheless, I still believe that a professor has the right to voice unpopular and frankly shocking positions in such controversies. I have defended faculty who have made similarly disturbing comments “detonating white people,” denouncing police, calling for Republicans to suffer,  strangling police officers, celebrating the death of conservatives, calling for the killing of Trump supporters, supporting the murder of conservative protesters and other outrageous statements. I also defended the free speech rights of University of Rhode Island professor Erik Loomis, who defended the murder of a conservative protester and said that he saw “nothing wrong” with such acts of violence.

    A more serious allegation has surfaced over a 2018 Amnesty International report accusing Mahallati of carrying out “crimes against humanity” for covering up the massacre of at least 5,000 Iranian dissidents in 1988. That is conduct or action by Mahallati that would raise grounds over his fitness as a member of a faculty. Yet, he has denied that allegation and Oberlin said that it has investigated and rejected it.

    If the school has previously investigated the matter, it should be treated as closed absent new evidence. We recently saw the reopening of an investigation at Princeton as a pretext to fire a controversial faculty member.

    On what we know, it would seem that Mahallati would be protected under free speech and academic principles despite his reported anti-free speech views.

    Of course, it does not take away from the grotesque position that he has taken. Ironically, his faculty page discusses how he “developed innovative courses with interdisciplinary approach to friendship and forgiveness studies and also initiated the Oberlin annual Friendship Day Festival.” His personal website further states his research is “focused on the ethics of peacemaking in Islam in the context of comparative religions.”

    Nothing says ethics and peace more than a lethal fatwa targeting dissenting authors.

    As for Iran, it denies any involvement in the attack but added its own sense of offense at being criticized. Instead, it again attacked Rushdie.

    Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said “We, in the incident of the attack on Salman Rushdie in the U.S., do not consider that anyone deserves blame and accusations except him and his supporters.” He added that the West “condemning the actions of the attacker and in return glorifying the actions of the insulter to Islamic beliefs is a contradictory attitude.”

    It is strikingly similar to Mahallati’s statement back in 1989. Only in the most twisted view of free speech (and logic) would there be a contradiction in condemning the attempted murder of an author while supporting the author’s right to express his views.

    Few academics would support Iran’s blood-soaked interpretation of free speech. However, we need to address the creeping relativism that is sweeping across our campus. A recent poll was released by 2021 College Free Speech Rankings after questioning a huge body of 37,000 students at 159 top-ranked U.S. colleges and universities. It found that sixty-six percent of college students think shouting down a speaker to stop them from speaking is a legitimate form of free speech.  Another 23 percent believe violence can be used to cancel a speech. That is roughly one out of four supporting violence.

    Faculty and editors are now actively supporting modern versions of book-burning with blacklists and bans for those with opposing political views. Others are supporting actual book burning. Columbia Journalism School Dean Steve Coll has denounced the “weaponization” of free speech, which appears to be the use of free speech by those on the right. As millions of students are taught that free speech is a threat and that “China is right” about censorship, these figures are shaping a new society in their own intolerant images.

    It is the subject of my recent publication in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. The article entitled “Harm and Hegemony: The Decline of Free Speech in the United States.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 19:45

  • Record Number Of Homebuyers Walk Away From Contracts As Builders Reel Amid Glut Of Unsold Houses
    Record Number Of Homebuyers Walk Away From Contracts As Builders Reel Amid Glut Of Unsold Houses

    Between cratering homebuilder and homerbuyer confidence…

    … record low home affordability…

    … a record number of new listing with price cuts (amid the collapse in demand).

    … plunging housing starts…

    … and so on, as the recent surge in mortgage rates has effectively pushed the housing market into a recession, which is now so widespread that 63,000 home-purchase agreements were called off in July, equal to 16% of homes that went under contract that month. According to Redfin, that’s the highest percentage on record, and only the brief spike during the covid crash – which the promptly reversed – was worse. It’s up from a revised rate of 15% one month earlier and 12.5% one year earlier.

    The housing market is slowing as higher mortgage rates sideline many prospective homebuyers. With competition declining, the house hunters who are still in the market are enjoying newfound bargaining power, a striking contrast from just a few months ago, when buyers often had to pull out every stop in order to win. Today’s buyers are more likely to utilize contract contingencies that allow them to back out without financial penalty if something goes wrong. And with an increasing number of homes to choose from, they’re also more likely to call a deal off if a seller refuses to bring the price down or make requested repairs—a situation that has become increasingly common given that sellers are still adjusting to the cooling market.

    “Homes are sitting on the market longer now, so buyers realize they have more options and more room to negotiate. They’re asking for repairs, concessions and contingencies, and if sellers say no, they’re backing out and moving on because they’re confident they can find something better,” said Heather Kruayai, a Redfin real estate agent in Jacksonville, FL. “Buyers are also skittish because they’re afraid a potential recession could cause home prices to drop. They don’t want to end up in a situation where they purchase a home and it’s worth $200,000 less in two years, so some are opting to wait in hopes of buying when prices are lower.”

    Alexis Malin, another Redfin agent in Jacksonville, warns that there’s no guarantee buyers will be able to find better deals in the future. Annual home-price growth has started to slow—to 8% today from 17% a year ago—but prices are still on the rise and Redfin economists don’t expect them to crash.

    “Some buyers who are backing out of deals have this mindset that the market is crashing and they’ll be able to get a home for $100,000 less in six months. That’s not necessarily the case,” she said. “Homes in many parts of Florida are still selling for a pretty penny, so I warn my buyers that the grass might not actually be greener on the other side.”

    Some buyers may also be backing out due to 5%-plus mortgage rates. Those who started their search months ago, when rates were closer to 3%, may be realizing the type of home they wanted before is now out of budget since monthly mortgage payments have soared nearly 40% year over year.

    “Home-purchase cancellations may begin to taper off as sellers get used to a slower-paced market,” said Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr. “Sellers have already begun to lower their prices after putting their homes on the market. They’ll likely start pricing their properties lower from the get-go and become increasingly open to negotiations.”

    And just to confirm how bad the US housing market is, even the morbidly slow rating agency Fitch Ratings said the likelihood of a severe downturn in US housing has increased (although since rating agencies are never allowed to rock the boat, it said that its rating case scenario provides for a more moderate pullback that includes a mid-single-digit decline in housing activity in 2023, and further pressure in 2024.) Fitch also notes that although it recently affirmed the ratings and Stable Outlooks for our US homebuilder portfolio, “ratings could face pressure under a more pronounced downturn scenario that would likely include housing activity falling roughly 30%, or more, over a multi-year period and 10% to 15% declines in home prices.”

    * *  *

    The biggest losers from the latest housing crash aren’t sellers however, but rather homebuilders, who are suddenly finding themselves with a glut of unsold houses.

    As Bloomberg notes, with this year’s surge in mortgage rates tossing buyers to the sidelines, the waitlists for new houses are gone  and new-home sellers – such as Kevin Brown, who works just south of Houston, are on the front lines of a massive shift. While Brown used to have back-to-back appointments, buyers now just trickle in to his Saratoga Homes sales office. Meanwhile, he’s got 55 houses under construction and five that are complete, all without deals.

    “There’s a bit of pressure on us,” Brown said. “Builders have got to hit goals and make their profit, and they don’t like inventory just sitting on the ground.”

    An abrupt halt to the pandemic housing boom has left builders that started construction months ago scrambling to adapt. The US supply of new homes relative to sales in June was the highest since the midst of the last crash in 2010. And by early July, buyer traffic to homebuilder websites and sales offices had plunged to the lowest level for the month since 2012, according to a survey of builder sentiment from the National Association of Home Builders.

    New Homes sales signs line a road near Rosharon, Texas/BBG

    The new-home pile up underscores a broader shift that’s wreaking havoc in the market. A national housing shortage contributed to years of bidding wars and desperation among buyers who bid up prices to record levels for fear of missing out. But this year’s surge in borrowing costs has now pushed affordability to a breaking point and eased some of the scarcity.

    At the same time, the stage is set for longer-term supply constraints as builders pull back. A decade of underbuilding and a bulging population of young people aging into homeownership threatens to prolong the affordability squeeze.

    “Despite the fact that there aren’t enough housing units in the country, builders are not willing to take the gamble that’s required to build them,” said Jerry Howard, chief executive officer of the homebuilders group. “They’re afraid that, in a recessionary environment, they won’t be able to sell them.”

    In June, 824,000 single-family homes were under construction in the US, more than at any time since October 2006, according to an NAHB analysis of government data. Unsold inventory has ballooned in part because of supply-chain disruptions and labor constraints that created bottlenecks in the production pipeline.

    Now, with the economy entering a recession, or already in one, builders are cutting back on starts, trying to avoid having too many completed homes sitting empty. They’re also applying for fewer building permits, which for single-family homes fell in June to a two-year low, according to data from the government.

    Not every market is cooling fast. But the change is stark in the pandemic boomtowns where builders piled in to meet demand for out-of-state arrivals, who often bid up prices beyond the reach of locals.

    “It has become a very competitive market for builders where they are trying to offload any standing inventory,” said Ali Wolf, chief economist for Zonda, which tracks new-home production. “We may see a period where supply may actually exceed demand for a while in some of the markets that were the most feverish over the past two years.”

    Boise, Idaho, is one of those areas where a pandemic bubble is bursting. Remote workers arrived from pricier states such as California, seeking open spaces and fewer virus restrictions. But now Covid restlessness is giving way to fears that the Federal Reserve’s cure for inflation — higher rates — will tip the US into a recession.

    Idaho’s biggest builder, CBH Homes, has had about a third of buyers cancel contracts in the past few months, nearly twice the level at the start of the year, according to Corey Barton, the company’s president. He’s got 200 unsold finished homes, compared with 75 at the end of last year, and said he’ll probably surpass the 350 he was left with after the last crash 15 years ago. In a sense the inventory was there all along — it was just hidden, he says.

    Builders had been deliberately holding back houses, waiting until they were a couple months from completion before releasing them for sale. That’s because they couldn’t build fast enough to meet sky-high demand. By waiting, they could charge the current market price as materials costs climbed.

    But now, the market is getting flooded with listings, Barton said. Homes are finishing or are getting listed earlier in the construction process.

    Meanwhile, CBH has cut starts by about half. Subcontractors involved in the early stages of construction, digging out basements or pouring foundations are already feeling it, he said.

    “The movement from out of state caused a false market,” Barton said. “We have to accept things for the way they are. It’s going to get tough.”

    Builders of new homes find themselves in an especially trick spot, because while most traditional sellers can afford to wait or even postpone a sale if conditions deteriorate, builders will have to discount until they find the market-clearing price, said Benjamin Keys, a real estate professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

    “The homebuilders have an understandable incentive to pull back right now and Americans need more affordable housing,” Keys said.

    At Saratoga Homes’s Glendale Lakes sales office, marketing director Christina Nuon said she’s making cold calls to agents and hosting happy hour events to boost sales. The company has a menu of incentives to bring down costs for its entry-level buyers, from $12,000 toward closing costs to a subsidized 30-year mortgage rate of just under 4%.

    “Buying down rates, it’s kind of going to be our incentive probably from now on out,” Nuon said. “Just because that’s the only way we can help buyers. We can’t reduce the price any lower.”  

    Brown, the sales consultant, says the incentives have helped put a dent in inventory: “I am trying to find one buyer at a time,” he said, “and not get overwhelmed by what I have coming up.”

    He worries that at the end of a potential recession, continued underbuilding will help keep prices elevated.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 18:55

  • Minneapolis Public Schools Promise To Layoff White Teachers Before Cutting "Educators Of Color"
    Minneapolis Public Schools Promise To Layoff White Teachers Before Cutting “Educators Of Color”

    A good teacher is a good teacher, regardless of skin color.  That said, by extension, a bad teacher is also still a bad teacher regardless of skin color.  If you want to find true racism in the western world, remove all questions of meritocracy and seek out people who promote “equity”- They are the real racists.  

    According to a new report, a deal struck between MPS and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) to end a two-week strike includes a provision that requires schools to lay off or reassign white teachers before taking the same action with “educators of color.”  The provisions were labeled “educator of color protections.”

    The report said that if a non-white teacher is the subject of “excess” (a term used to describe cutting a position) school districts must instead lay off the least senior white teacher. The proposal will go into effect next spring.

    Here we see the true nature of “equity and diversity” in action – It’s not about equality, it’s about special treatment and privileges based on skin color.  It’s the exact opposite of what the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s called for.  Imagine if today a teacher’s union demanded that a school district fire all black and brown teachers before firing white teachers, regardless of performance?  There would be riots in the streets.  

    The ignorance of equity is not limited to Minneapolis, it is widespread and flowing like a poison into every corner of our society.  It’s important to keep in mind also that the teachers unions making these demands are made up of the same people that are likely in charge of educating your children.  What kind of lessons do you think they are providing to all those young and easily influenced minds?

    Should people of color be conditioned to expect special treatment?  Are they entitled to it because of the the unfairness of the world a century or more ago?  It’s a world they never lived, and a world that was unfair to many white people as well, so how do we divvy up reparations and privileges when there is no way to account for who deserves them?

    The only legitimate form of fairness is merit.  It’s the only system that works.  Minneapolis teachers should be judged based on performance, not the supposed crimes against their ancestors.  The equity ideology is utterly insane when we consider the level of future pain caused by keeping the worst people in the best positions based on skin color alone.  The decline in work ethic and productivity will be staggering unless diversity quotas are ignored and only one factor is taken into account:  Can they do their job well – Are they the best at their job, or are they the worst?  Nothing else matters.         

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 18:30

  • Congressman: "Tyranny" Is Coming "Right Into Everyone's Living Room Very Very Shortly"
    Congressman: “Tyranny” Is Coming “Right Into Everyone’s Living Room Very Very Shortly”

    Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

    GOP Pennsylvania Representative Scott Perry warned Sunday that everyday Americans should now plan for “tyranny” to enter their homes in the form of federal agents if they refuse to play nice with the authorities.

    Perry, the House Freedom Caucus chair, revealed how the FBI recently seized his phone, just hours after the feds raided President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago complex.

    “A day after the raid on the president’s home FBI agents showed up when I was traveling with my family, my wife and our two small children, my in-laws, extended family,” Perry stated in an appearance on Fox News.

    The Congressman related how the feds “showed up and demanded my cell phone they said they were going to image it they were not going to search it and and then they eventually did return it.” 

    Perry, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, further declared to “have always supported law enforcement. I always have, we have revered the FBI, but this is an abuse of power.”

    “There’s been no accountability,” Perry continued, explaining that “James Comey, the director of the FBI used classified information improperly to get a second special counsel, no, no, no accountability for that.”

    “Whether it’s John Eastman, whether it’s Scott Perry, whether it’s President Trump, and with passing a bill that will pay for hiring of 87,000 IRS agents, tyranny is going to come right into everyone’s living room very, very shortly,” Perry proclaimed.

    While the 87,000 figure is disputed, the Senate last week approved nearly $80 billion in IRS funding, with $45.6 billion for “enforcement”.

    “This is about intimidating anyone who refuses to bend the knee to the narrative,” the Congressman further warned.

    “This is an abuse of power,” Perry claimed, “and of course they’re using these taxes tactics to intimidate people to coerce people.”

    Referring to Hillary Clinton, Perry said “People that BleachBit their their phones and hit him with hammers, smash them with hammers and those types of things have something to hide. People that keep the same phone a year and a half after the election aren’t worried about what’s on their phone, and so that’s me, but apparently they want to destroy me politically.”

    “Anybody that doesn’t bend the knee, that isn’t intimidated, that isn’t parroting the narrative is now subject to these kind of third world Banana Republic tactics politically,” Perry stressed.

    Elsewhere during the interview, Perry told viewers that “It should be pretty apparent to anybody that’s been alive for the past 5 years that the Biden family is completely compromised by the Communist Party of China.”

    * * *

    Brand new merch now available! Get it at https://www.pjwshop.com/

    In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. We need you to sign up for our free newsletter here. Support our sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. Also, we urgently need your financial support here.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 18:05

  • 72% Of Millennials Have Regrets About Homes They Overpaid Or Settled For In 2021 And 2022
    72% Of Millennials Have Regrets About Homes They Overpaid Or Settled For In 2021 And 2022

    As new inventory is finally starting to hit the market and demand has temporarily slowed down thanks to rising rates, the housing expansion between March 2020 and now is still very likely to go down in history as blowing unprecedented amounts of air into an unprecedented bubble.

    And now we have the data to show it. A new online survey commissioned by Anytime Estimate and Clever Real Estate has shed light on how much millennials paid for homes during this period, and the answer likely isn’t going to surprise you: more than any other generation, ever. 

    This is why it is no surprise to hear that more than 70% of millennials have regrets about their purchases. 

    1,001 total people who reported having bought a home in 2021 or 2022 were surveyed between July 6th and 9th this year, answering up to 21 questions about their buying experience. 

    The study found that few millennials actually came away with their dream homes, especially first time buyers, who made up 70% of all buyers in 2021 and 2022. First-timers paid a median of $510,000 for a home in 2021 and 2022 — about 13% more than the $450,000 that repeat buyers paid, the report found. 

    Here are some of the additional statistics the study returned (emphasis ours):

    • 70% of buyers in 2021–2022 bought a home for the first time. Among new buyers, one-third (33%) thought the process was more difficult than expected.
    • Nearly 1 in 4 buyers (22%) were not satisfied with their home-buying experience.
    • Survey respondents paid a median amount of $495,000 for their home — about 15% more than the national median of $428,700.
    • Almost one-third of buyers (31%) paid over asking price. The median amount buyers paid over the listing price was $65,000.
    • 80% of buyers made more than one offer, with 41% making five or more.
    • More than 1 in 3 buyers (36%) made an offer on a home sight unseen.
    • 1 in 3 buyers spent three months looking for a home, while 1 in 8 spent six months or more.
    • 80% of home buyers had to compromise on their priorities.
    • The No. 1 priority for half of buyers (50%) was finding a home in a good neighborhood, but 1 in 5 (20%) settled for a home in a worse location.
    • Three-fourths of home buyers (72%) have regrets about their home purchase, with 1 in 3 (30%) saying they spent too much money.
    • More than half of buyers (55%) bought a fixer-upper, but 1 in 4 (24%) regret it.
    • 1 in 10 buyers paid for their home in cash, with nearly half of all-cash buyers (43%) saying they make enough money to afford it.
    • But 29% of all-cash buyers had to withdraw money from savings, and 27% had to borrow funds from their investments.
    • Of those who financed, 40% of buyers put down less than or equal to 20% on their home.

    And perhaps most notably, 3 in 4 homebuyers (72%) have regrets about their purchase, the survey found.

    When we see a statistic like that we can’t help but that 3 in 4 people will likely be eager to turn around and put their house on the market quicker than normal when the tide in the market starts to go out. 

    You can read Anytime Estimate’s full survey results here. 

    Research by Anytime Estimate’s Data Center has been cited by The New York Times, CNBC, MarketWatch, NPR, Apartment Therapy, Yahoo Finance, Black Enterprise, and more.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 17:40

  • Musk Among Guests At McCarthy Fundraiser For Challenger To "Pariah" Liz Cheney
    Musk Among Guests At McCarthy Fundraiser For Challenger To “Pariah” Liz Cheney

    Elon Musk is on the guest list for a Wyoming event hosted by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for “members, donors and candidates,” though the GOP leader wouldn’t confirm or deny Musk’s attendance.

    “I’m not going to talk about that,” he told Bloomberg in a telephone interview from his Teton Village, WY hotel room.

    McCarthy notably threw support behind Liz Cheney challenger Harriet Hageman early in the conservative lawyer’s campaign. The two face a primary election today.

    Musk, whose SpaceX has operations in McCarthy’s Bakersfield, California-area district, has donated to Republican and Democratic candidates and campaign committees since making his first contribution in 2003. His biggest investment, some $128,900, has been in committees connected with McCarthy. He’s also become increasingly vocal on political issues.

    The event at a resort in Teton Village, not far from Cheney’s home, is another illustration of how much of a pariah the state’s lone House representative has become within the Republican Party because of her vocal and persistent criticism of former President Donald Trump over his role in the insurrection at the US Capitol. -Bloomberg

    As Bloomberg notes, it’s unusual for a party leader to actively campaign against an incumbent, highlighting how much of a pariah Cheney has become since taking up the mantle against former President Trump while on the January 6th committee.

    McCarthy, meanwhile, hopes to become Speaker of the House if the GOP retake the chamber in November midterms.

    In an interview, he said that he’s confident Hageman will defeat Cheney, and “is going to be a great representative” for Wyoming. He’s already carved out a position for Hageman on the Natural Resources Committee, according to the report.

    Hageman also has the support of former President Donald Trump – after stepping up verbal attacks of Cheney and her prominent role on the House committee investigating the January 6th riot.

    Cheney has also accused Trump of trying to “steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 17:15

  • WTI Rises After API Shows Huge Gasoline Draw
    WTI Rises After API Shows Huge Gasoline Draw

    Speaking on CNBC, Goldman’s head of commodity strategy, Jeff Currie explained why the lower the price of oil drops, the higher it will jump because – all else equal – as demand for oil rises thanks to lower prices without enough supply to match, inventories will shrink far faster and tank bottom will be hit well before the NBER admits a recession has arrived. A similar development took place in Jan 2007 more than a year before the 2008 recession… but not before oil soared to an all time high. This time won’t be any different, and an early glimpse of how the spike in demand will translate into lower inventories came moments ago from the American Petroleum Institute (API) which reported a draw this week for crude oil of 448,000 barrels, while analysts predicted a far smaller draw of 117,000 barrels.

    • Crude: -448K, Exp. -117K
    • Gasoline: -4.480MM, Exp. -1.1MM
    • Distillates: -759K
    • Cushing:  +250K

    In the week prior, OilPrice reminds us that the API reported a surprise build in crude oil inventories of 2.156 million barrels after analysts had predicted a draw of 400,000 barrels. Of course, a big part of the delta is the continued drain of the Biden Strategic Midterm Reserve: the latest draw comes as the Department of Energy released another 3.4 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves in week ending August 12, to 461.2 million barrels.

    US crude inventories have shed some 61 million barrels since the start of 2021, with a 1.7 million barrel gain since the start of 2020, according to API data.  US crude oil production data for the week ending August 5 rose 100,000 bpd to 12.2 million bpd, according to the latest weekly EIA data.  

    WTI was trading down on Tuesday on disappointing economic data out of China and the improving prospects of reaching a nuclear deal with Iran.

    The API also reported a draw in gasoline inventories this week of 4.480 million barrels for the week ending Aug 12, compared to the previous week’s 627,000-barrel draw. Distillate stocks saw a draw of 759,000 barrels for the week, compared to last week’s 1.376-million-barrel increase. Cushing inventories rose by 250,000 barrels this week. Last week, the API saw a build of 910,000 barrels. Official EIA Cushing inventories for week ending August 5 was 25.189 million barrels, up from 24.466 million barrels in the prior week.

    At 5:00 pm ET, WTI was trading down at $87.13 (-2.55%), with Brent trading down at $92.71. In a few weeks, both will be trading far higher.

     

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 17:12

  • He's Baaack: Andreessen Horowitz Backs WeWork Founder Adam Neumann's Latest Real Estate Project
    He’s Baaack: Andreessen Horowitz Backs WeWork Founder Adam Neumann’s Latest Real Estate Project

    In case you’re wondering if the bubble has finally “burst” enough to remove detritus like Adam Neumann from the investing atmosphere, the answer appears to be a resounding “no”.

    That’s because Neumann – famous for taking hundreds of millions in compensation, a botched IPO and overseeing more than $10 billion in WeWork valuation disappear into thin air – is now once again being enabled invested in by Andreessen Horowitz.

    And guess what? Neumann’s latest venture just happens to be in residential real estate.

    The company, called Flow, comes in the wake of WeWork’s IPO attempt nearly marking the market top prior to Covid. Andreessen Horowitz stood up for Neumann in a blog post this week, calling his efforts at WeWork “often under appreciated”. It said it loves “seeing repeat-founders build on past successes by growing from lessons learned,” according to CNBC. 

    The details on the company are few and far between, other than it is supposed to launch in 2023. The New York Times described the company as “effectively a service that landlords can team up with for their properties, somewhat similar to the way an owner of a hotel might contract with a branded hotel chain to operate the property.”

    “Exact details of the business plan could not be learned,” the New York Times wrote. What could go wrong?

    Andreessen Horowitz co-founder and general partner Marc Andreessen wrote on a blog post this week: “In a world where limited access to home ownership continues to be a driving force behind inequality and anxiety, giving renters a sense of security, community, and genuine ownership has transformative power for our society.”

    He continued: “We think it is natural that for his first venture since WeWork, Adam returns to the theme of connecting people through transforming their physical spaces and building communities where people spend the most time: their homes.”

    “We are thrilled by the scope and aspiration of this project,” Andreessen said. “It is not lacking in vision or ambition, but only projects with such lofty goals have a chance at changing the world.”

    Sure, that sounds nice. So did the idea of shared office space. We can’t wait to see the financial reality of this project, not to mention in 2023, when rates will have been their highest in nearly a decade. 

    Here’s a preview of the pitch deck…

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

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 08/16/2022 – 16:50

Digest powered by RSS Digest