- Buy In Scotland, Rent In London: Britain's Post-COVID Housing Market
Buy In Scotland, Rent In London: Britain’s Post-COVID Housing Market
One of the biggest life questions facing this generation is whether they can and/or want to buy a home for themselves and their family.
As Statista’s Martin Armstrong sadly notes, something which has long been the norm in the UK is proving ever more unrealistic for young people in the country and as a new analysis from estate agent Hamptons shows, renting is now the much more affordable option in a number of regions.
You will find more infographics at Statista
As covered by the BBC, those looking to settle down in London with a 10 percent deposit in their pocket would, despite the potential longer-term benefits of home ownership, be paying an average of £251 more per month than if they chose to rent.
It’s a different story in Scotland, where buying property would lead to monthly savings of £130.
Aneisha Beveridge, Hamptons’ head of research, said the pandemic was responsible for reversing this six-year-long trend.
“A year ago, lenders were either increasing their rates or withdrawing higher loan-to-value mortgages altogether,” she said.
“For first-time buyers in particular this pushed up the cost of paying a mortgage, if they could get one at all, to well above the cost of renting.”
There are, of course, a host of other financial and practical factors which potential first-time buyers will consider when deciding to rent rather than buy, or vice versa, which are not captured in this research.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 06/18/2021 – 02:45 - Beijing Retaliates After EU Excludes China-Made Vaccines From Digital COVID 'Passport'
Beijing Retaliates After EU Excludes China-Made Vaccines From Digital COVID ‘Passport’
Authored by Alex Wu via The Epoch Times,
The European Union will start its “EU Digital Covid Certificate” program on July 1, after the tool to streamline information about a traveler’s COVID-19 status was approved by the EU Parliament on June 9. China-made vaccines are not recognized by the program, as is the case with the Russia-made vaccines. The Chinese regime’s embassy in France responded by saying that it would retaliate with reciprocal treatment of French travelers in China.
Vials with Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine labels are seen in front of a European Union (EU) flag in this illustration picture taken March 19, 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)
All EU member countries, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, are included in the scheme that will streamline information about the COVID-19 health status of travelers like COVID-19 test results, recovery status, or vaccination status, to help them move more efficiently around EU countries, which all still have different entry requirements. The digital certificates contain a QR code and are issued by individual EU countries. All EU countries are required to recognize the certificates issued by other EU countries.
Chinese-made vaccines are not included in the program as they have not been approved for use by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). However, some EU member states, such as Greece, Cyprus, Hungary and Serbia, have individually accepted Chinese vaccines.
In line with the EU’s decision, France implemented new entry regulations for COVID-19 on June 9. People who have been vaccinated now won’t need to provide “compelling reasons” to enter France, nor need to be quarantined. The Pfizer, Modena, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have been approved for use by France. Vaccines made by China-based companies have not been approved. In addition, France divides the world into three epidemic zones: green, orange, and red. China is listed as an orange area.
People queue to check-in at the Biarritz airport, southwestern France, on Aug. 14, 2020. (Bob Edme/AP Photo)
Under the regulations, Chinese nationals will need to provide “compelling reasons” to enter the country and then quarantine themselves for seven days after arriving in France if granted entry.
The official website of the Chinese Embassy in France issued an announcement on June 14 to remind Chinese citizens of the new French regulations. A staff member in the Chinese Embassy in France told Radio Free Asia that Beijing will implement “reciprocal sanctions,” that is, when French people enter China, China will not recognize their vaccination with non-Chinese vaccines.
Mainland Chinese media reported the regime’s retaliation measures against France on June 15, adding that travelers from France are required to be quarantined upon arrival for 28 days, which is much longer than what France requires for Chinese nationals. The reports claimed that the China-made vaccines were not being recognized by France and EU for political reasons, saying that they had already been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO). The reports said the regime’s retaliation would be “teaching France a lesson.”
France-based current affairs commentator Wang Longmeng told RFA that he believes that China’s retaliation was intended to stir up nationalist sentiments among the Chinese. He pointed out that, as one of the representatives of the regime’s “wolf diplomacy,” the Chinese ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, has frequently criticized Western countries for their calls for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19. The criticism was also posted on the Chinese Embassy’s official website. The Chinese Embassy in France has also been continually posting comments on social media in an attempt to sway public opinion against the West.
Wang said:
“The reciprocal treatment claimed by China is also ridiculous. How will the Chinese citizens who live in France and have received Western vaccinations feel about it? Are they going to be prohibited from returning to China?”
Wang added he believes that as a major EU country, France is being responsible to its citizens by not approving the Chinese vaccines given the reports of low efficacy and a lack of transparency surrounding the data used in clinical trials. It is also a necessary means to contain China, as the regime is pushing its vaccine diplomacy and seeking global dominance by taking the opportunity of the pandemic, Wang said.
Erkin Azat, a Kazakh journalist living in France, praised the EU’s decision not to approve Chinese vaccines. However, he told RFA he is worried that the EU’s collective policies will eventually be breached by China’s vaccine diplomacy as a few EU countries who participated in the regime’s “Belt and Road Initiative” and are receiving large loans from China, have approved the Chinese vaccines.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 06/18/2021 – 02:00 - Escobar: The Real B3W-NATO Agenda
Escobar: The Real B3W-NATO Agenda
Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Asia Times,
Build Back Better World aims to derail the Belt and Road Initiative, flex NATO’s muscles and harass China 24/7…
The West is the best
The West is the best
Get here and we’ll do the rest– Jim Morrison, The End
For those spared the ordeal of sifting through the NATO summit communique, here’s the concise low down: Russia is an “acute threat” and China is a “systemic challenge”.
NATO, of course, are just a bunch of innocent kids building castles in a sandbox.
Those were the days when Lord Hastings Lionel Ismay, NATO’s first secretary-general, coined the trans-Atlantic purpose: to “keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”
The Raging Twenties remix reads like “keep the Americans in, the EU down and Russia-China contained”.
So the North Atlantic (italics mine) organization has now relocated all across Eurasia, fighting what it describes as “threats from the East”. Well, that’s a step beyond Afghanistan – the intersection of Central and South Asia – where NATO was unceremoniously humiliated by a bunch of Pashtuns with Kalashnikovs.
Russia remains the top threat – mentioned 63 times in the communiqué. Current top NATO chihuahua Jens Stoltenberg says NATO won’t simply “mirror” Russia: it will de facto outspend it and surround it with multiple battle formations, as “we now have implemented the biggest reinforcements of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War”.
The communiqué is adamant: the only way for military spending is up. Context: the total “defense” budget of the 30 NATO members will grow by 4.1% in 2021, reaching a staggering $1.049 trillion ($726 billion from the US, $323 billion from assorted allies).
After all, “threats from the East” abound. From Russia, there are all those hypersonic weapons that baffle NATO generals; those large-scale exercises near the borders of NATO members; constant airspace violations; military integration with that “dictator” in Belarus.
As for the threats from China – South China Sea, Taiwan, the Indo-Pacific overall – it was up to the G7 to come up with a plan.
Enter “green”, “inclusive” Build Back Better World (B3W), billed as the Western “alternative” to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). B3W respects “our values” – which clownish British PM Boris Johnson could not help describing as building infrastructure in a more “gender neutral” or “feminine” way – and, further on down the road, will remove goods produced with forced labor (code for Xinjiang) from supply chains.
The White House has its own B3W spin: that’s a “values-driven, high-standard, and transparent infrastructure partnership” which will be “mobilizing private-sector capital in four areas of focus – climate, health and health security, digital technology, and gender equality – with catalytic investments from our respective development institutions”
The initial “catalytic investments” for BW3 were estimated at $100 billion. No one knows how these funds will be coming from the “development institutions”.
Seasoned Global South observers already bet they will be essentially provided by IMF/World Bank “green” loans tied to private sector investment in selected emerging markets, with an eye on profit.
The White House is adamant that “B3W will be global in scope, from Latin America and the Caribbean to Africa and the Indo-Pacific”. Note the blatant attempt to match BRI’s reach.
All these “green” resources and new logistic chains financed by what will be a variant of Central Banks showering helicopter money would ultimately benefit G7 members, certainly not China.
And the “protector” of these new “green” geostrategic corridors will be – who else? – NATO. That’s the natural consequence of the “global reach” emphasized on the NATO 2030 agenda.
NATO as investment protector
“Alternative” infrastructure schemes already proliferate, geared to contain “Russia bullying” and “Chinese meddling” off from the EU. That’s the case of the Three Seas Initiative, where 12 EU member-states from Eastern Europe are supposed to better interconnect the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Seas.
This initiative is a pale copy of China’s 17+1 mechanism of integrating Eastern Europe as part of BRI – in this case forcing them to build very expensive infrastructure to receive very expensive American energy imports.
The offensive against “threats from the East” is bound to fail.
Dmitry Orlov has detailed how “Russia excels at building and operating huge energy, transportation and materials production systems” and, in parallel, how “the technosphere…has quietly relocated and is now busy telecommuting between Moscow and Beijing.”
As every geek knows, China is way ahead in 5G and is the world’s top market for chips. And now the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law – significantly approved right before the G7 in Cornwall – will “safeguard” Chinese companies from “unilateral and discriminatory measures imposed by foreign countries” and the US “long arm jurisdiction”, thus forcing Atlanticist capital to make a choice.
It’s China as a rising global power that in fact has proposed an “alternative” to the Global South in the first place, a counterpunch to the endless IMF/World Bank debt trap of the past decades. BRI is a highly complex sustainable development trade/investment strategy with the potential to integrate vast swathes of the Global South.
That’s a direct connection to Chairman Mao’s famous theory on the division of the Three Worlds ; the emphasis then on the post-colonial Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), of which China was a stalwart, now encompasses the whole Global South. In the end, it’s always about sovereignty against neocolonialism.
B3W is the Western, essentially American, reaction to BRI: try to scotch as many projects as possible while harassing China 24/7 in the process.
Unlike China or Germany, the US hardly manufactures products the Global South wants to buy; manufacturing accounts for only 5% of a US economy essentially propped up by the US dollar as reserve currency and the – dwindling – Pentagon’s Empire of Bases.
China churns out ten top engineers for every US “financial expert”. China has perfected what is known among bilingual tech experts as an effective system to make SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) development plans – and implement them.
The notion that the Global South will be convinced to privilege B3W – a hollow PR coup at best – over BRI is ludicrous.
Yet NATO will be regimented to actively protect those investments that follow “our values”.
One thing is certain: there will be blood.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 06/18/2021 – 00:00 - Visualizing The Rise And Fall Of Ammo Prices
Visualizing The Rise And Fall Of Ammo Prices
Ammo prices across all calibers are coming down in price since April but remain well above their pre-COVID levels, according to Redditor “chainwaxologist,” sourcing data from Ammo Seek.
Readers are pretty familiar with the massive grab for guns and ammo during the virus pandemic and social unrest of the 2020s. The result of unprecedented demand resulted in gun and ammo prices reaching historic levels. At some points, there were even shortages.
Since the previous update in April 2021, we have seen steep declines in the lowest available Cost Per Round (CPR) price across all calibers.
All prices for calibers in this sample have declined from their highs between -36% (5.56) to -57% (22LR). Most calibers peaked in price after the 2020 presidential election in January 2021. Several calibers, notably 12 gauge and 380 Auto, peaked around April 2021.
All calibers are still priced at a nearly 50% premium higher than their pre-pandemic pricing (7.62 is the lowest with a 25% premium), but extrapolating recent price declines indicate that prices may normalize to pre-pandemic levels in the next 3-6 months, barring another exogenous event causing them to rise again. – Chainwaxologist
The chart below shows the cost per round exploding higher during the pandemic, social unrest, and when Biden won the presidential elections.
On a percentage basis, the cost per round compared to pre-COVID is coming down but still elevated.
The latest decline in price may suggest two things. First, demand from retail is exhausted, and second, manufacturers might have increased supply. The good news is ammo is becoming cheaper, but returning to pre-pandemic levels may never happen. There’s just too much demand as the country spirals into chaos under liberal control – people want protection – and the best protection and most common is a 9mm handgun.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 23:40 - Vaccine Passports: Are Business Rights More Important Than Personal Freedom?
Vaccine Passports: Are Business Rights More Important Than Personal Freedom?
Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,
The formation of totalitarianism is often insidious in that it is almost always sold to the public as “humanitarian”; a solution for the greater good of the greater number. But beyond that, tyrants will also exploit the ideals of the target population and use these principles against them. Like weaknesses in the armor of a free society, our ideals of freedom are not necessarily universally applicable at all times and in all circumstances; we have to place some limits in order to prevent oligarchy from using liberalism as a tool to gain a foothold.
This battle for balance is the defining drama of all societies that endeavor to be free. It might sound hypocritical, and your typical anarchist and some libertarians will completely dismiss the notion that there should be any limits to what people (or companies) can do, especially when it comes to their private property. But at what point do private property rights encroach on the rights of others? Is it simply black and white? Does anything go? The bottom line is, in the wake of covid controls and mass online censorship, it is time for those of us in the liberty movement to have a frank discussion about where the line is for the rights of businesses.
The problem went mainstream initially a few years back when Big Tech companies that control the majority of social media sites decided that they were going to start actively targeting conservative users with shadow bans and outright censorship.
Here’s the thing: If we are talking about smaller websites run by private individuals, then yes, I would argue in defense of their right to remove anyone from their site for almost any reason. Their website is their property, and much like their home they can do whatever they want within it. Denial of access to an average website is not going to damage the ability of a person to live their normal lives, nor will it fundamentally restrict their ability to share information with others. There are always other websites.
But what if we are talking about massive international conglomerates? Should these corporations be given the same free rein to do as they wilt? Do private property rights and free markets extend to them as well, even if their goal is the destruction of the very principles of freedom we hold dear?
And, what if a host of small businesses in a given place decide they are going to implement freedom crushing mandates along with major corporations? What if they are all manipulated by government incentives or pressure?
What if governments do not need to implement totalitarianism directly at first because businesses are doing it for them? Do the dynamics of private property change in this case?
I would assert that yes, things do change under these circumstances and individual rights must take precedence over business rights; here’s why…
Monopoly Of ideology
In past articles I have outlined why corporations are NOT private businesses with the same rights as individuals. For example, corporations cannot exist without government charter and they receive special legal protections from government through limited liability and corporate personhood. These are protections that the average small business and individuals do not have. On top of this, major corporations receive endless welfare handouts, tax incentives and stimulus dollars that make it impossible for small to medium businesses to compete.
Just take a look at the hundreds of thousands of small businesses that were closed permanently during the pandemic lockdowns versus the trillions of dollars that were pumped into corporations through stimulus measures to keep them afloat. These companies have received so many government handouts over the years that they can no longer be considered private companies. Rather, they must now be considered public utilities, and as such, they do not have the same private property rights. This is specifically true for Big Tech social media.
Some people will argue that this is socialism or communism, and I would say yes, I agree, except that these companies are given the best of both worlds – They get protection and tax dollars from governments while they are also able to operate with relative impunity to politically discriminate against any group of people they please.
So what is the free market solution? The first option would be to build competing social media sites that do not politically censor people. This has been tried with websites like Parler, and I continue to support such efforts, but look at what has happened so far – Parler garnered massive attention. It was on its way to growing by tens of millions of users and Big Tech companies quickly banded together (illegally) to aid competitors like Twitter and they shut Parler down. The conservative site is back now but it almost didn’t survive the attack.
According to Adam Smith’s analysis in ‘Wealth Of Nations’, corporations (or joint-stock companies as they were called in his day) are actually destructive to free markets because they are prone to corruption and monopoly. They are NOT a natural product of the free market but a government engineered anomaly or cancer on the system. He viewed such monopolies as a monstrous assault on free trade.
Corporate monopolies must therefore be broken up to allow free markets to return to a natural equilibrium, and governments must NOT be allowed to give special treatment to particular companies because this creates unfair advantages that other businesses cannot compete with. But what does all this have to do with vaccine passports?
Many people do not seem to understand that there are different kinds of monopolies that we need to worry about. Monopolies in social media and communications are one example, but what about monopolies of ideology in general? You might have a hundred separate small businesses and big box retailers in a community, but if all of them decide to collectively enforce covid mandates, or if all of them are compelled to enforce covid mandates, then all choice has been removed from the marketplace regardless. This is an ideological monopoly that is just as dangerous as any corporate monopoly.
Without choice the free market dies, and individual freedom dies along with it.
Bait And Switch
The primary argument the past year among leftist governments in foreign nations as well as in blue states here in the US has been that they do not necessarily intend to “force” vaccine passports on their respective populations. Rather, they will leave it up to individuals to “choose” vaccination or no vaccination. This might sound surprising to many in the alternative media because we know that the lockdowns were viciously enforced by many states and numerous businesses were threatened or attacked by their local health authorities. Suddenly these same bureaucrats and politicians care about your personal freedoms?
What they don’t mention is that the “choice” they are offering is not much choice at all. Sure, you can refuse to get the vaccine, but if most businesses in your community demand proof of vaccination before you can work or shop with them, your refusal comes with the promise of poverty and possibly starvation. You would be completely cut out of the mainstream economy.
This is a bait and switch, an attempt to make you think you are free but then punishing you for pursuing free decisions. In order for this con game to work, though, the government needs businesses to act as their taskmasters. Make no mistake, major corporate retailers WILL join with government to enforce vaccine passports. It is only a matter of time.
In the case of the state of Oregon recently, the agenda s set right out in the open, with the government making a declaration that all businesses must demand that customers produce a vaccine passport before being allowed to enter. If they don’t have one, they might still be allowed to shop as long as they wear a mask, but what is to stop businesses from completely denying people access based on their vaccine history?
We all know that this is the endgame, we are simply in the midst of the incremental build up to the day when people who refuse to become guinea pigs for the experimental mRNA vaccines are legally discriminated against to the point that they will not be able to survive.
Private Property Versus Personal Privacy
Medical tyrants have engineered what they think is a Catch-22 for conservatives – If we argue against businesses being allowed to ask customers and employees for vaccine passports then we are violating one of our fundamental principles: The principle of private property. But is this really the case?
As noted above, monopolies are destructive to freedom. I would go as far as to say they are intrinsically evil in that they only ever lead to enslavement of the public. Furthermore, monopolies of ideology can be legislated, or even artificially created through Color of Law. The lockdowns were never voted on by a legislature and they were never voted on by the public, they were pronounced as edicts from on high without any oversight or checks and balances. Vaccine passports are being implemented the same way.
Under current law, no business has the right to demand access to your private medical history when you are applying for a job, and the right to demand such information from you as a customer is murky at best. They are in some cases allowed to “ask”, but you are not required to answer. The mainstream media and state governments have been actively trying to convince the public otherwise; they are lying.
Under multiple federal and state laws there are protections against businesses discriminating against employees based on their medical conditions or requiring access to medical information. In fact, an employee or potential employee is not required to give personal medical information in most cases to their employer unless they have a disability that would prevent them from doing their job effectively.
When it comes to customers, the argument turns of course to private property rights. The assertion is that a business can “ask a question”, like “Are you vaccinated?”, as long as it is not specifically restricted by state law. You do not have to answer. And if you don’t, medical tyrants claim this gives that business the right to deny you access. But consider this debate from a different perspective for a moment…
What if a business owner said that he was going to demand that every single potential customer prove that they do not have AIDS, or cancer, or perhaps the flu or pneumonia before they were allowed to shop in his store? The public outrage would be enormous and legal action and lawsuits would be pursued. But for some reason we are supposed to accept such measures when it comes to covid?
The next argument will be that covid is more communicable and more deadly. That is debatable, since independent studies show that covid has a 0.26% death rate and that 40% of all covid deaths are among people in nursing homes with preexisting conditions (meaning we have no idea if they actually died from covid or they died from illnesses they already had). It presents no threat to 99.7% of the population (according to the stats).
But let’s say since there is still a chance of transmission and a minimal chance of death and that a business has room to be concerned. It still doesn’t matter. If the vaccines actually work, then what point is there in asking for vaccine passports?
For over a year now we have been hearing about how people who refuse to wear masks or get vaccinated are putting everyone else “at risk”, yet, there has been no examination as to how this is actually true. Studies show that the masks are essentially useless in preventing the spread of covid anyway, but let’s say they did hypothetically make a difference. If I’m not wearing a mask and you are afraid you could get covid from me, then you are certainly welcome to wear a mask yourself. And, if you are still worried, then all you have to do is NOT come near me. It’s easy.
You do not have the right to compel me to wear a mask just so you can feel personally safer.
By extension, if you are vaccinated and the vaccines are actually effective then why do I need to wear a mask or have proof of the jab? Even if I had covid I would not pose a threat to you, right? Furthermore, if you think you are a part of the 0.26% of people that are actually at risk from covid, then perhaps you should stay home so that the other 99.7% of us can get on with our normal lives. You do not have the right compel me to comply with vaccine controls just to ease your personal and irrational fears.
Since when do business property rights extend to forcing customers to submit to experimental medical procedures before they are allowed to utilize their services? Does this not sound like madness?
It is unacceptable to allow any vaccine passport implementation within your community because opening the door just a little to this kind of oppression means setting the stage for incrementalism and full bore tyranny later. This is one instance in which business rights must be limited in favor of individual freedoms, because to allow vaccine passports is to allow far reaching and devastating consequences for constitutional rights in general.
Public Safety Or Political Cleansing?
Several states including Texas and Florida have banned businesses from asking for vaccine passports and I fully support this action. When business rights are exploited as a means to violate all other individual rights, such as the right to privacy, then a balance needs to be struck. Carte blanche domain over a customer’s medical history and health is one line in the sand that we cannot allow to be crossed by anyone. Their business will not be affected by the lack of knowing who has the jab and who doesn’t; the information is of no relevance to their bottom line. And as mentioned, safety should not be an issue if they believe that the vaccines actually work as advertised.
The only purpose to the requirement of vaccine passports is thus a political one – Leftist businesses will demand passports because they are biased and want to keep conservatives and freedom minded moderates out. Leftists and elitist governments will press for passports because they want leverage to deny services to conservatives and freedom minded moderates as a means of political punishment.
This will be an ongoing process over the next couple of years, and they will continue to tell us that it’s all about choice and property rights while slowly but surely cutting liberty advocates out of the economy completely. As we have seen in states like New York, Hawaii and Oregon, the agenda is not merely businesses making individual decisions on passport requirements, but corrupt governments and businesses working hand-in-hand to annihilate political opposition. The businesses that do not join in with the oppression will themselves be punished or closed down unless people organize to fight back.
I do not see it as a violation of my conservative values to deny businesses the ability to aid in the destruction of the majority of our constitutional freedoms just to preserve their perceived ideal of unlimited property rights. When it comes down to it, our right to access to the economy is far more important than their “right” to be paranoid about covid.
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Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 23:20 - "We Were Busy!" – NYC Strip Clubs "Packed" As COVID Restrictions Lifted
“We Were Busy!” – NYC Strip Clubs “Packed” As COVID Restrictions Lifted
Now that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has dropped most COVID restrictions for NYC and the rest of the Empire State, returning the area to near-normalcy, the New York Post reports that NYC’s strip clubs were mobbed by patrons during their first nights of having dancers return to the stages.
The paper reports that strip clubs across the city have been packed this week after Cuomo’s announcement that he was lifting COVID restrictions in commercial and social settings. The Post even sent out a reporter, who confirmed that all three locations of the club Sapphire were “packed” as the clubs returned to full capacity for the first time in more than a year. It’s a triumph for the NYC clubs, many of which opted to file a joint lawsuit against Gov. Cuomo and the state’s liquor authority for ordering them to stay closed while bars started to reopen.
“We were busy!,” chief operating operator Michael Wright tells Page Six, explaining that the pandemic was “extremely challenging.”
[…]
But with mandates dropped, “It means it’s business back to normal,” Wright tells us. “People want contact and to be out of isolation and enjoy and smile and have human contact. I think people are ready to party. The city is ready to party.”
It’s not that clubs weren’t open during the pandemic – they were. But most were limited to restaurant stye seating though more recently dancers started performing on stage at a 12-foot distance. Still, with no “tableside” dancing allowed, clubs were effectively stymied.
Managers are looking forward to welcoming back dancers whom they laid off more than a year ago. Many are eager to get back to work, and collect patrons hard earned money (or government checks, or winnings from AMC or crypto).
“If I get 1,500 performers back to NYC that would be phenomenal,” he tells us. “It’s an aggressive audition and hiring process right now … I am super excited. We will be able to provide people an opportunity to make money again because everybody hurt.”
The manager who spoke to the Post said that their clubs would keep some COVID safety rules in place. For instance, they’ll continue taking patients’ temperatures.
“We will still be taking temperatures,” Wright tells us, adding, “We have to have some layer of safety for guests and staff. We will of course keep antibacterials and face masks available. Some of that is best practices, not just about COVID.”
To be sure, while business may be booming right now, the pandemic has created new adult entertainment alternatives like OnlyFans, which is reportedly raising billions of dollars more in private capital as its “creators” – overwhelmingly women telling nude or otherwise sexually suggestive or explicit photos or videos – cashed in on millions of bored, lonely men, many with government cash to burn.
There’s also no word yet as to whether the labor market crunch and expanded benefits, along with the competition from OnlyFans, is enticing more dancers to quit in favor of “working from home” (so to speak).
Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 23:00 - China's Plan To Dominate 'Near-Earth' Space
China’s Plan To Dominate ‘Near-Earth’ Space
Authored by Lawrence Franklin via The Gatestone Institute,
Communist China’s space program is demonstrating that it is on a trajectory possibly to surpass the US in the military and scientific exploration in our solar system. China is planning a space spectacular to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party on July 23, 1921. Today, June 17, China launched a three-astronaut crew who will inhabit the command module of its soon-to-be-completed Tianhe Chinese Space Station. This planned human launch follows the June 10 multiple satellite deployment from Northern China’s Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. One of these satellites is designed to track near-earth asteroids.
As early as the mid-1950s, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Mao Zedong declared, “We too will make satellites.” Following that declaration, China aggressively began to compete with both the former Soviet Union and the United States in space — an ambition seemingly energized by China’s desire to develop a nuclear bomb and the means to deliver it. China’s Space Program, called the “Two Bombs, One Satellite” project, was from its inception, placed under the aegis of the CCP’s Central Military Commission, thereby underscoring the military orientation of its activities in space.
During the past few years China has staged a number of space spectacles. In 2018, it quickened its exploratory space activity by staging more launches than any other nation. Also in 2018, China’s “Chang’e-4” spacecraft, named for a mythical Chinese goddess who supposedly inhabited the moon, was launched from the Xichang Space Center in southwest China. The Chang’e 4 landed its Yalu-2 land rover — a first-ever landing on the far side of the moon — on January 2, 2019. The Administrator of America’s National Association of Space Administration (NASA), Jim Bridenstine, hailed the Chinese accomplishment. China’s Chang’e 5, launched from an alternate space facility on Hainan Island in November 2020, collected more than four pounds of lunar rocks. China’s National Space Administration (CNSA), established in 1993, recently topped off another series of space triumphs by landing a land rover on Mars this past May 15.
Communist China seems not only to be directly challenging the US lead in space exploration; its space plans also appear to include an ambitious military dimension, much of whose contents look as if they are controlled by the CCP’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). These PLA programs include a vast array of counter-space weapons systems designed to degrade or destroy US space assets. These PLA weapons include satellites and anti-satellite (ASAT) capabilities capable of inhibiting US space materiel from communicating with US military combat units. The aggressive posture of China’s space-based military programs underscores the recent regeneration of US Space Command and President Trump’s establishment of a US Space Force. The Chinese already established its US Space Force’s equivalent, the PLA’s Army Strategic Support Force, in 2015.
China, with its National Space Administration, continues to position its own equipment in space, and is planning several more launches this year and next to complete its own international space station, separate from the existing US-Russian international space station. Chinese space experts have already met several times with European Space Association (ESA) representatives to explore ways in which China and Europe can cooperate in space. European astronauts already are expressing their willingness to join in flights with their Chinese counterparts. China also has now formulated its own equivalent of the US-initiated Global Positioning System (GPS), called the Beidou (Northern Dipper) constellation of satellites. This navigational system enables Chinese military planners to precisely record the movement of foreign military assets along China’s national borders where there exist several territorial disputes with neighboring countries such as India. Beidou also closely monitors the movement of US naval assets in the Chinese-claimed waters and islands in the South and East China Seas.
One advantage that China’s totalitarian regime gives it over the US space program is that the Communist Party of China’s Central Military Commission manages the Chinese Space Program’s integrated network of space launch centers, space cities and space labs in universities.
There are four Chinese launch centers, with multiple launch pads, dispersed throughout the country: Hainan Island’s Wenchang Launch Center, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, and the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. While all of China’s launch facilities are capable of putting into orbit various satellite systems, it is the Wencheng Center on Hainan Island that will be tasked with the Tianhe (Heavenly Harmony) launches of modules for China’s Space Station. Adjacent urban sites offer logistical and industrial support for launch operations. Nearby higher education facilities offer training programs for space program technicians and astronauts. The Chinese program also includes numerous domestic and foreign-based tracking stations. In the US, however, NASA’s projected increased cooperation with wealthy, independent US space entrepreneurs, such as Elon Musk’s Space-X, may ultimately prove more capable.
Even if there are areas where the US and Chinese space programs could serve universal concerns such as monitoring climate change, international commerce, maritime piracy, and the collection of space junk from expired systems, sadly it would seem foolhardy to cooperate on any program with the CCP. It has not made a secret of its intent to unseat the US as the world’s leading superpower — economically, politically, and militarily — within the next 15-30 years. It has already declared war on the US; the US just seems not yet to have read the memo. China seems to be trying to maneuver a surreptitious surrender, by undermining the US from within, accompanied by the threat of a costly, high-powered war. Unfortunately, many in the US seem to be complying.
Meanwhile, in America, we appear busy with diversions — educating our children to hate our country; allowing our government to torpedo our economy by killing growth and launching a ruinous debt; disabling our energy supply while boosting that of our adversaries; exploding our taxes while making us support countless illegal migrants — that are enabling Communist China to fulfill its dream: enfeebling America to take control not only of “near-Earth” space but everything under it as well.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 22:40 - Mashed Potato: Brian Stelter's CNN Show Loses 72% Of Viewers In 2021
Mashed Potato: Brian Stelter’s CNN Show Loses 72% Of Viewers In 2021
Ratings for Brian Stelter’s “Reliable Sources” have dropped off a cliff – as the CNN host has lost 72% of his viewers since hitting its highest level of the year on January 10.
Stelter, who just last week groveled at the feet of White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki – asking how the media can better cover President Biden – has failed to attract at least one million viewers for 11 straight weeks, and averaged just 752,000 on Sunday, his smallest audience of the year.
Comparatively speaking, Fox News’ “MediaBuzz” which fills the same timeslot averaged 1.1 million viewers, beating Stelter by 41%.
While “Reliable Sources” is billed as a media program, Stelter’s tiny audience didn’t get a chance to hear about the most buzzed-about segment of the week when he didn’t cover Jeffrey Toobin’s awkward return to CNN after he was caught masturbating on a Zoom call with colleagues from his other gig.
Stelter had previously reported that some CNN hosts and anchors “expressed a desire to have Toobin back,” but he didn’t name names. Viewers who tuned in to see if Stelter would elaborate on air were left disappointed when he never even uttered Toobin’s name during the program.
“Reliable Sources” has been hitting embarrassing new lows in various ratings measurables on a regular basis in recent weeks as the program struggles to find relevancy during the Biden era. Stelter spent much of the previous few years criticizing former President Trump at every turn but hasn’t found a formula to attract an audience since Biden was sworn in. –Fox News
When one looks at the coveted 25-54-year-old demographic, just 129,000 people tuned into Stelter.
“Fox News aired 12 different programs on Sunday alone that attracted a larger audience than ‘Reliable Sources,’” reports Fox, which has been Stelter’s primary target over the past several months – calling it “GOPTV” over its spotlighting of Anthony Fauci’s damning emails.
“Routine e-mails portrayed as scandalous. Where have we seen this trick before?” asked Stelter, according to the Daily Wire.
Last week, several callers to CSPAN berated Stelter – with one caller saying “CNN, I cannot watch you. I wish I could. And MSNBC, they are worse than CNN.”
Roasted potato:
Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 22:20 - Lois Lerner Of 2021: IRS Political Corruption Unchanged With Billionaires' Tax Returns
Lois Lerner Of 2021: IRS Political Corruption Unchanged With Billionaires’ Tax Returns
Authored by Emily Miller via Emily Post News
When the private tax returns of billionaires were leaked to a left-wing group, liberals and conservatives reacted very differently. Liberals fell for the political trick and immediately said that the tax code was unfair and the rich should get a tax hike. Conservatives saw through the conspiracy and wanted answers on how the Deep State at the IRS could, once again, have so much unchecked power for political purposes. When it comes to outrage, liberals always protest louder, so conservatives have to respond better.
ProPublica juicy headline The billionaires’ actual tax returns were “provided” to the leftist activist group called ProPublica. It says it has “a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years.” It alleges that:
The data provides an unprecedented look inside the financial lives of America’s titans, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg.
ProPublica never explains that whoever gave them these documents broke multiple federal laws. The end justifies the means in their worldview.
The FBI is investigating the leak. House Republicans have demanded IRS Commissioner Charles Retting keep Congress informed on the investigation and have hearings into any “evidence of political influence or motivations.”
Partisan politics at the IRS
The stunning revelation that the IRS released private tax returns was overshadowed by the juicy details, like Jeff Bezos didn’t pay any income taxes in 2007 and 2011 and neither did Elon Musk in 2018. (We aren’t told if they lost money those years to explain this.)
The billionaires picked to use for this political hit job were chosen because they are so extremely wealthy and household names. There are many more millionaires who no one would recognize that likely have more income, rather than wealth, so they wouldn’t fit the narrative.
The Left has been jumping all over the billionaires’ low tax rates but never considered that every American will see the horrible breach of privacy by Uncle Sam as a threat to themselves too. That’s why when I saw the leak, my first thought was, this is Lois Lerner all over again.
Lois Lerner, former director of Internal Revenue Service Exempt Organizations, invoked her Fifth Amendment rights for a second time in 2013 before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. To remind you, Lerner was the head of the tax exempt division of the IRS that targeted conservative groups from 2010 to 2012, the height of the “Tea Party” movement. Lener admitted what they did — delaying tax-exempt status applications and harassing the groups that sounded right of center — and took the FIfth when she was called before Congress. Everyone at the IRS who had a hand in the political scandal got off without charges.
I looked around to find what Lerner is doing now. It’s pretty easy to find her and her lawyer husband, Michael Miles. They are both 70-years-old and have lived in the same Bethesda house since 1998 that is now worth about $2 million. She most likely is still receiving her $100,000 a year government pension. There were no consequences for the horrendous abuse of power.
Biden tax hikes
Ostensibly, ProPublica is using the stolen returns to show the public that the super rich aren’t paying their fair share of taxes. It is supposed to be a revelation that the richer you are, the more you can hire the fanciest and most clever accountants to take advantage of every tax break.
Anyway, the real reason for this stunning power move to drop IRS forms to the public is clear: promote Pres. Joe Biden’s budget agenda. The timing of this leak and the exact perfect messaging is not a coincidence. ProPublica writes:
The revelations provided by the IRS data come at a crucial moment. Wealth inequality has become one of the defining issues of our age. The president and Congress are considering the most ambitious tax increases in decades on those with high incomes.
The Left wants the public to hate the rich enough to support demands to raise taxes and increase the budget and power of the IRS. Biden’s budget, called the “American Families Plan”, was released on April 28 and calls for lots of government freebies that are funded by taxing the rich. He wants to increase the top tax rate from 37 to 39.6 percent and increase the capital gains tax rate to 39.6 percent.
Biden also wants to increases the power of the IRS by spending $80 billion on “enforcement against those with the highest incomes.” By the way, Biden’s term is “increase investment in the IRS.” That means he will invest and get bigger returns by having more agents rifling through tax returns to get more money. Do you really think the IRS where Lois Lerner went for years without getting stopped will only target the billionaires?
Tax facts
Even if you want to just debate the information that ProPublica posted on the billionaires’ taxes, it doesn’t fit the facts. CATO did a great analysis – link at bottom, chart summary below —to show how the clickbait headline “You May Be Paying a Higher Tax Rate Than a Billionaire” is just factually wrong.
CATO compares ProPublica analysis of tax rates with other major sources The tax code is already heavily progressive. Americans for Tax Reform’s analysis of a new report from the Joint Committee on Taxation shows:
Taxpayers making $1 million and up pay an average federal tax rate of 31.5% while the bottom half of income earners ($63,179 or less) pay an average federal tax rate of 6.3%. That’s nearly five times as much in taxes as a percentage of income.
The rich already fund most of the government. The Heritage Foundation, which made the cool graphic below to illustrate the concept, reports that the top 1% of income earners paid 40% of all the federal income taxes. The top 10% earners paid 71% of the federal income taxes.
This number has always struck me because — you can do the math too– 90% of us are only paying for one third of the total government spending. This is why I’ve always supported the flat tax. Everyone should be participating in funding the government — even the lowers income owners — and stop all the tax breaks and schemes. I spend days every year on TurboTax and still come out with using the standard deduction. It’s a waste of time.
ProPublica has a graphic (below) that is supposed to make it easy for people to get angry at the billionaires for reducing their tax bill. But look at it this way: Jeff Bezos paid almost $1 billion in taxes. Elon Musk paid almost half that. These successful businessmen are funding entire government agencies. A busload of the rest of us couldn’t come up with that kind of cash.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also thought of Lerner’s get out of jail free card this week in a floor speech (below.)
Referring to both the Lerner-led Obama administration targeting conservative groups and the release of the National Organization for Marriage returns, McConnell said:
These situations all have two things in common. First, a blatant political agenda aimed at advancing the cause of the political left. And second, the utter absence of criminal charges against the leakers.
The federal government has proven far too often that it is, at best incapable, and at worst unwilling, to protect taxpayers’ data from misuse by the political left.
The left vs right on billionaire taxes
Conservatives took this news so differently because we are inherently suspicious of the government. And, unlike liberals, we admire success and want the rich to do well because it means better jobs and economy. We want to be rich too. That is the American dream.
I hosted a YouTube show on Monday, and we discussed the FBI investigation into the leak of IRS forms to the left-wing ProPublica. I read some of the 1,200 comment on the video from the angry liberal, socialist audience. They mostly hate me for saying there is more to the issue than showing how the rich are paying taxes at a lower rate. The audience fell hook, line and sinker for the IRS/ProPublica tactic and did not want me to tell them that the people who broke federal laws were not the billionaires.
I expected their attacks on me personally because that is how they fight politics- dehumanize the messenger. The comment that surprised me is the one that said that the former hosts — who they miss — would never have told them that there was anything more the story other than billionaires don’t pay enough in taxes. They did not want more facts, they actually prefer to be scammed by the political powers. And that is always the split in how liberals and conservatives consider policies — feelings or facts. When you make a policy decision on your emotions, you are not capable of debating with a rational idea or substantive position, so you attack like a wild animal.
LINKS TO SOURCES:
ProPublica The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax & You May Be Paying a Higher Tax Rate Than a Billionaire Americans for Tax Reform: JCT Confirms: Tax Code is Already Steeply Progressive The Joint Committee on Taxation: Tax Gap: Overview Of Federal Tax Provisions And Analysis Of Selected Issues The Heritage Foundation In 1 Chart, How Much the Rich Pay in Taxes CATO ProPublica Analysis of Taxes on Wealthy The Hill "Rising" -- Colin and Emily: What Billionaire Tax Story REVEALS About Our Tax System House Ways and Means Committee Brady Briefed by IRS Commissioner Rettig on Leak of Sensitive Taxpayer Information & Letter to IRS House Oversight Committee- Republicans Demand Hearing on Massive IRS Leak of Americans’ Sensitive Information White House Fact Sheet: The American Families Plan C-SPAN Lois Lerner testimony * * *
Subscribers – Will the FBI catch who leaked the tax returns and will people be charged this time? What do you think of Biden’s tax increase proposals?
Also, do you think conservatives and liberals view the same news differently?Readers- Did you notice there are no ads or sponsors on this free post? That’s because I am funded only from subscriptions. Please consider supporting me to continue this work and to get access to all my material by becoming a paid subscriber. It’s just $6 for a month and cancel anytime.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 22:00 - Hong Kong Pays Off 3 Patients Who Suffered "Adverse" Reaction To COVID Vaccines
Hong Kong Pays Off 3 Patients Who Suffered “Adverse” Reaction To COVID Vaccines
For the first time since its mass-vaccination campaign kicked off three months ago, Hong Kong’s vaccination indemnity fund has paid out a total of HK$450,000 ($58,000) as compensation for patients who suffered particularly severe reactions to inoculation against COVID.
Out of more than 3MM doses of vaccines that have been administered in the city-state since February, HK’s Food and Health Bureau said it had received 74 applications for compensation as of June 10, 58 of which were still being processed. As of Sunday, 3,605 people had reported an adverse reaction to their jabs, roughly 0.12% of all vaccination recipients. Only 1.2MM, or 16.3% of the city’s population, has been fully vaccinated.
Awards were given to patients whose reactions were deemed especially severe.
“The principles of severity assessment include fairness to applicants, prudent use of public funding, transparency to the public, and based on medical science,” the bureau said in a statement. “Severity of individual cases is subject to case-by-case assessment according to their circumstances.”
The compensation figures were revealed while authorities also confirmed a new imported case from Sri Lanka, which brought the city’s official tally to 11,881, with 210 related deaths. So far 21 deaths have been recorded involving people who received a jab two weeks before dying, although no connection has been made between he vaccination and the deaths, according to the state authorities.
Between May 17 and Sunday, Hong Kong’s public hospitals reported 2.8 deaths for every 100K vaccinated adults. That’s compared with 58.1 in 100K among the rest who were not.
One of the patients who received a payout from the HK$1 billion ($129MM) fund suffered an allergic reaction that nearly killed them, according to the SCMP.
Of the three claims of vaccine-related deaths, two have already been processed while one was rejected because of a lack of an official vaccination record.
Family members of fatal cases could receive up to HK$2.5MM if a patient is below the age of 40, or a maximum of HK$2MM for patients aged 40 or older.
To be eligible for a payout, a registered doctor must certify all serious adverse events. Another condition is the expert committee monitoring side effects of vaccines cannot rule out that the event is not related to the jab.
Tim Pang Hung-cheong, a patients’ rights campaigner from the Society for Community Organisation, also supported the payout, but said the amount should have been higher to reflect the loss of income and work ability caused by the side effects. He also said the government should publish in detail the reasons for approving or rejecting each claim, to give confidence to those thinking of getting a jab.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 21:40 - Supreme Court Rules Foster Agencies Can Deny Certification To Same-Sex Couples On Religious Grounds
Supreme Court Rules Foster Agencies Can Deny Certification To Same-Sex Couples On Religious Grounds
Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Thursday that a Catholic foster agency in Philadelphia was free to turn away same-sex couples as foster parents on grounds of religious freedom.
The Supreme Court of the United States in Washington on May 7, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) The decision (pdf) comes in the case of Fulton v City of Philadelphia, in which Catholic Social Services (CSS) sued the city after being ordered not to exclude same-sex couples from certification.
In a 9–0 ruling, the high court found that the city of Philadelphia violated the First Amendment when it refused to continue contracting with CSS, which does not certify unmarried couples or same-sex couples as foster parents on religious grounds.
“The City’s actions burdened CSS’s religious exercise by forcing it either to curtail its mission or to certify same-sex couples as foster parents in violation of its religious beliefs,” Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion.
“The refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless the agency agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny and violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment,” the opinion noted.
CSS takes the view that “marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman” and believes that certification of prospective foster families is an endorsement of their relationship. It refuses to certify unmarried couples, regardless of their sexual orientation, or same-sex married couples, although it does not object to certifying gay or lesbian individuals as single foster parents.
The Supreme Court noted in the opinion that no same-sex couple has ever sought certification from CSS and if one did, then it would be directed to one of more than 20 other foster agencies in Philadelphia that do certify same-sex couples.
“For over 50 years, CSS successfully contracted with the City to provide foster care services while holding to these beliefs,” Roberts wrote, adding that things changed in 2018 when Philadelphia city authorities took the position that they would no longer refer children to CSS on grounds that its refusal to certify same-sex couples violated a non-discrimination provision in its contract with the city.
“The contractual non-discrimination requirement burdens CSS’s religious exercise and is not generally applicable, so it is subject to ‘the most rigorous of scrutiny,’” Roberts wrote in the opinion. A government policy can only meet the “most rigorous of scrutiny” condition if it is narrowly tailored to achieve “compelling interests,” which the Supreme Court determined it did not.
With the decision, the Supreme Court is carving out legal protections for people with religious objections to same-sex marriage.
The case drew the attention of the Trump administration, which backed CSS in its lawsuit as a so-called friend of the court. The Trump-era Justice Department filed an amicus brief (pdf), in which it argued that Philadelphia’s actions had “impermissibly discriminated against religious exercise” and shown “unconstitutional hostility toward Catholic Social Services’ religious beliefs.”
Currently, laws in 11 states allow state-licensed foster and adoption agencies to reject prospective parents who are in same-sex relationships on religious grounds, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a progressive think tank.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 21:20 - Texas Gov. Abbott Hails "Biggest & Best" Gun Law As He Signs 'Constitutional Carry' Into Effect
Texas Gov. Abbott Hails “Biggest & Best” Gun Law As He Signs ‘Constitutional Carry’ Into Effect
Starting September 1st, Texans will be able to carry handguns in public without a license after on Wednesday the controversial bill dubbed “constitutional carry” was singed into law by Governor Greg Abbott.
He later presided over a ceremonial signing on Thursday morning where the governor hailed it as the “biggest and best” gun law this session. Standing alongside National Rifle Association leader Wayne LaPierre in San Antonio, where he signed the bill, Abbott said, “Surely there’s no state in America that’s ever done as much protecting gun rights.”
Image source: AP As the law stands prior to the new change, Texans must pass a background check and undergo a safety course, which includes over 1.6 million licensed conceal-carry individuals in the state. The bill still keeps the formal licensing “option” in place.
But after the new law takes effect anyone 21-years old and up can carry a holstered handgun, whether openly or concealed, without a permit.
The National Rifle Association had months prior called for “Texas to join the 20 other states that have legalized this personal protection option” in a statement. Abbott had previously echoed this stance in media interviews, vowing that if HB1927 should pass the Texas state legislative bodies, he would sign it. “This is something that 20 other states have adopted and it’s time for Texas to adopt it, too,” he told a local radio show in April.
Prior to approval this week the Texas Senate tacked on multiple amendments seeking to address law enforcement concerns that one alarming end result could be that the change allows easier access to weapons for criminals.
Over two dozen #txlege Republicans here for @GovAbbott signing ceremony for gun bills at Alamo pic.twitter.com/xmXXFadFPA
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) June 17, 2021
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According to the Texas Tribune:
The compromise lawmakers reached behind closed doors kept intact a number of changes the Senate made to the House bill, including striking a provision that would have barred officers from questioning people based only on their possession of a handgun.
The deal also preserves a Senate amendment enhancing the criminal penalties for felons and family violence offenders caught carrying. Among other Senate changes that made it into the law was a requirement that the Texas Department of Public Safety offer a free online course on gun safety.
As expected, Texas Democrats were outraged, with US Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-El Paso) leading the charge in a Wednesday statement saying, “The permitless carry bill will cause more violence and loss.”
Perhaps fittingly of Texas Republicans’ defiant posture, the Thursday signing ceremony was held at the Alamo.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 21:00 - 20 Tons Of Coke = 40 Years In Prison For MSC Container-Ship Crew
20 Tons Of Coke = 40 Years In Prison For MSC Container-Ship Crew
By Greg Miller of FreightWaves,
Bosko Markovic began working for ocean carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) in 2008. Over the next 11 years, the Montenegrin worked his way up to the position of chief mate, second in command behind the master, with an annual salary of $108,000.
That wasn’t enough money for him, according to prosecutors from the U.S Department of Justice.
“Motivated by profit and greed,” they said, Markovic attempted to use his management role aboard the container ship MSC Gayane to help pull off one of the largest and most audacious drug-smuggling operations in history.
MSC Gayane: the scene of the crime ‘Astronomical’ quantity of drugs
Markovic and three other conspirators from Montenegro boarded the vessel and recruited four additional seafarers. That brought the drug gang to eight, more than a third of the crew of 22.
Markovic, who had a lead role in the smuggling operation on the ship, as well as the three others he came aboard with, communicated with co-conspirators on land using special “narco phones.”
The MSC Gayane was met by speedboats at night on multiple occasions off the coast of South America during a voyage in 2019. The eight members of the smuggling ring loaded duffel bags full of cocaine bricks onto the vessel using the ship’s crane. Markovic, as chief mate, was in charge of the cargo plan, and picked seven specific containers full of legitimate cargo to hide the cocaine in. Fake seals were used to reseal the boxes.
When authorities raided the ship upon its arrival at Packer Marine Terminal in Philadelphia on June 17, 2019, they found 20 tons of cocaine aboard. “This was the largest cocaine seizure in the 230-year history of U.S. Customs and Border Protection [CBP],” said prosecutors, adding, “The sheer quantity of drugs involved in this case is astronomical.”
To put the scope of the bust in perspective, the MSC Gayane is a 2018-built “Neopanamax”-class container ship with a capacity of 11,600 twenty-foot-equivalent units that is leased to MSC and owned by a fund linked to J.P. Morgan. It is currently valued at around $100 million. The seized cocaine was valued at $1 billion — 10 times more than the ship.
Cocaine found aboard the MSC Gayane in 2019 (Photos: Justice Department sentencing memorandum) 5 crew sentenced so far
All eight conspirators pleaded guilty. Markovic was sentenced most recently, on Thursday. Prosecutors said during the hearing that Markovic expected to be paid more than $1 million for his role overseeing the smuggling operation, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Markovic received a sentence of seven years, the longest handed down so far in the case. MSC asserted in a letter filed in the Markovic docket, “The Gayane incident is an undeserved and unwanted stain on [the employees’] record. The company and everyone in it are victims.”
As previously reported by American Shipper, Vladimir Penda, the ship’s fourth engineer, was sentenced to five years and 10 months on April 13. Penda was one of the crew members recruited on board; his sole role was assisting to haul the drugs from the crane to the containers.
Recently unsealed court records reveal that five of the eight members of the MSC Gayane drug gang have now been sentenced.
The two Samoan crew members, who were recruited while on board and helped move the cocaine, were sentenced before Penda, when their dockets were under seal. Laauli Pula, ordinary seaman, and Fonofaavae Tiasaga, able seaman, both received five-year prison terms at a hearing on Jan. 19.
Another crew member, Serbian Stefan Bojevic, the assistant reeferman, was sentenced to five years on March 2, at a time when his docket was sealed.
The latest judgement on Markovic brings the total MSC Gayane sentences to just under 28 years.
There are three sentences remaining, for Montenegrins Ivan Durasevic, second mate; Nenad Ilic, engineer cadet; and Aleksandar Kavaja, electrician. Durasevic and Ilic are scheduled to be sentenced on July 7, Kavaja on Aug. 2. Based on past prison terms, the aggregate crew sentences will exceed four decades and could approach five decades.
Ship bust skews nationwide numbers
The unprecedented nature of the MSC Gayane seizure was highlighted in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) 2020 National Drug Threat Assessment report, released in March. The DEA said that reported nationwide cocaine seizures in 2019 surged 70% versus 2018, to 45,241 kilograms from 26,585 kilograms the year before.
(Chart by American Shipper based on data from DEA) But according to the DEA, “The increase is primarily attributed to the record seizure of 17,928 kilograms from cargo containers on the MSC Gayane in Philadelphia [that were] destined for Antwerp, Belgium. Excluding that seizure, nationwide CBP seizures increased a little less than 3% from 2018.”
In other words, virtually all of America’s year-on-year increase in coke seizures in 2019 was driven by a single event: the MSC Gayane drug bust.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 20:40 - "Divine Vessel" Rockets Chinese Astronauts To New Space Station
“Divine Vessel” Rockets Chinese Astronauts To New Space Station
In the last month and a half, China has launched the core capsule of the new Tiangong space station and supplies. On Thursday, three astronauts were catapulted into low Earth orbit and successfully docked with the new space station launched in April, according to Nikkei.
The trio of astronauts – Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, and Tang Hongbo – were transported in the Shenzhou-12 or “divine vessel” spacecraft on top of a Long March 2F at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country’s northwestern Gobi Desert Thursday morning. By late afternoon local time, state broadcaster CCTV reported the craft had docked with the core capsule.
Source: RTRS This is the first time China has launched humans into space in five years and the seventh since 2003. The country has been banned from the International Space Station (ISS) since 2011, when Congress, under the Obama administration, passed a law that prevented Americans from working with the Chinese space program due to national security risks.
The launch of #China’s first manned mission to its #space station. It’s pretty incredible what humans can do. The rocket’s chief designer told me after so much work, she was sad to see it go… but ‘thrilled’ that for 10 key minutes ‘it did its duty’.
This was my view.@NBCNews pic.twitter.com/ofDNV8XXU5— Janis Mackey Frayer (@janisfrayer) June 17, 2021
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The three astronauts will be living on the 90-metric-ton T-shaped space station called Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace, for 90 days. The new space station is still under construction as there are eight more missions to expand it.
WATCH: China’s Shenzhou 12 docking to Tiangong Space Station Core Cabin Module
— ASB News / MILITARY〽️ (@ASBMilitary) June 17, 2021
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The launch was broadcast live on Chinese television and social media, attracting tens of millions of viewers.
This is another milestone for China as there are now two space stations operating in low Earth orbit. The ISS is nearing its working life, and Russia will soon withdraw from ISS cooperation in 2025
Another launch is set for September. That crew will replace the current trio onboard the space station.
For President Xi Jinping, the new space station represents power and his vision to dominate the world and space.
The great power competition between the US and China, the two largest economies and largest military spenders, means space is becoming the next battleground.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 20:20 - Pentagon Mulls Permanent Naval Task Force To Counter China
Pentagon Mulls Permanent Naval Task Force To Counter China
Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,
According to a report from Politico, the Pentagon is considering creating a permanent naval task force for the Pacific region to confront and counter China, which has been identified as the Pentagon’s top priority.
Sources told Politico that the plan would include creating a named military operation for the Pacific that would allow the Pentagon to release more funding for Navy operations in the region.
The Politico report said the naval task force would be based on a Cold War-era NATO construct known as the Standing Naval Forces Atlantic (SNFA) that was established in 1968 and served as a permanent naval presence that would rapidly respond to a situation in the Atlantic. The SNFA usually consisted of a rotating force of about six to 10 ships from NATO countries that would sail around the region.
If the US established such a naval force for the Pacific, it would likely include Washington’s European allies and regional ones such as Japan and Australia.
The idea grew from a 100-day task force review of the Pentagon’s China policy that was led by Ely Ratner, a special advisor to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Ratner is a China hawk who came from the interventionist Center for a New American Security think tank. He was appointed to his position to appease China hawks who did not believe Austin had enough experience dealing with Asia.
Last week, Austin ordered the Pentagon to adopt initiatives recommended by the China task force review. Most of the recommendations are being kept classified, but Austin’s directive ordered the military to start acting like China is the top “threat” facing the US instead of just talking about it.
A US official told Defense One that the task force found a “say-do-gap” between what the Pentagon is saying about China and the action it is taking.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 20:00 - Kim Jong Un's Rapid Weight Loss Has Triggered New Speculation Over His Health
Kim Jong Un’s Rapid Weight Loss Has Triggered New Speculation Over His Health
Is he thinner, leaner and healthier? Or is he gaunt and sickly? Perhaps he previously suffered a bout of coronavirus which is believed to be ravaging the country also amid severe food scarcity concerns? Or is it stress due to the worsening food and economic crisis in the country? Perhaps he’s just really hitting that treadmill hard.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s appearance is once again setting off widespread speculation over his health. A new Associated Press report calls him “noticeably slimmer” as the latest side-by-side photographs showing a quick months-long transformation show…
North Korean state media issued new photos of Kim on Saturday, after the strongman ruler hadn’t been seen publicly for a month.
South Korea-based NK News published this week a series of side-by-side photo sets while analyzing the likely degree of the weight loss and what it could mean, writing that:
“Though often the subject of less serious online commentary, Kim’s weight and health are closely watched by foreign intelligence agencies, including South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).”
And The Associated Press at the same time questioned:
Has he gained even more weight? Is he struggling for breath after relatively short walks? What about that cane? Why did he miss that important state anniversary?
Now, the 37-year-old faces fresh speculation in the South about his health again. But this time, it’s because he’s noticeably slimmer.
A thinner looking Kim…
On a national level, it’s been confirmed that there his a major food crisis looming, as CNN details Thursday:
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has admitted his country is facing food shortages that he blamed on last year’s typhoon and floods, just months after he warned North Koreans about a looming potential crisis.
Kim told the plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea the nation was experiencing a “tense food situation,” Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Wednesday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called his country’s food situation “tense”. He blamed the coronavirus pandemic and last year’s typhoons for the food shortages. pic.twitter.com/jwsraCxUmm
— SCMP News (@SCMPNews) June 17, 2021
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For over the past year North Korea has been even more isolated than usual, with Pyongyang having ordered a total closure of all borders in efforts to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from spreading – a drastic move which at the same time has resulted in less food and medicines making it in.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 19:40 - Florida Gov. DeSantis Pardons Violators Of Masks Mandates, Social Distancing Rules
Florida Gov. DeSantis Pardons Violators Of Masks Mandates, Social Distancing Rules
Authored by Isabel van Brugen via The Epoch Times,
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday announced that all Floridians who were were arrested or fined for violating mask mandates or social distancing requirements will be pardoned.
In a 3-1 vote, the four-member Board of Executive Clemency approved the Republican governor’s decision to officially pardon those who were arrested or fined for violating local government orders.
“This action is necessary so that we can recover, have a good transition to normal operations, and also just a recognition that a lot of this stuff was way, way overboard,” DeSantis said of the move.
DeSantis said the pardon applies to civil and criminal penalties handed to individuals or businesses “punished for breaking unscientific, unnecessary directives.”
Voting to deny the pardons was Democrat Nikki Fried, who is currently State Agriculture Commissioner and is running to unseat DeSantis next year.
“Our local governments stepped up to protect the people of our state. They did what was best for the interests of their communities,” Fried said.
It isn’t clear how many Floridians will be pardoned as a result of the state clemency board’s decision. DeSantis’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Epoch Times.
The decision to pardon Floridians who violated local government orders follows an executive order issued by the governor on May 3 that suspends all local pandemic emergency mandates effective July 1.
DeSantis signed Senate Bill 2006 last month, passed by Florida state lawmakers in April, granting the governor the ability to override local emergency orders. The bill also includes a ban on vaccine passports that were to levy fines of $5,000 per violation.
The Republican governor at the time described his executive orders as the “evidence-based thing to do,” adding that proponents of lockdowns “really are saying you don’t believe in the vaccines, you don’t believe in the data, you don’t believe in the science.” He added: “We’ve embraced the vaccines. We’ve embraced the science on it.”
The order suspending local emergency mandates only affects governments, not businesses.
In announcing the official pardons, DeSantis highlighted a case which saw the arrest of Mike Carnevale, a Broward County gym owner who refused to enforce mask orders. DeSantis granted clemency to him and his wife.
“Floridians like Mike and Jillian Carnevale should have never faced criminal charges for not requiring mask in their businesses,” the governor said.
“Today, we took action in Florida to reject the overreach of local authorities through unnecessary and unscientific mask mandates.”
He added: “No business should face economic ruin and be punished for alleged violations of local orders that are unreasonably restrictive of rights and liberties.”
Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 19:20 - Two Men Ejected From Flight At San Fran Airport After Fighting Over Elbow Room
Two Men Ejected From Flight At San Fran Airport After Fighting Over Elbow Room
Despite the fact that Covid restrictions are somewhat undergoing the process of being lifted, people sure do still seem ornery.
For proof, look no further than a United Airlines plane at San Francisco International Airport, where two passengers had to be removed from the plane after an argument over elbow room on an armrest. Maybe airlines should take note of what these disruptions cost as they figure out new and creative ways to cram economy flyers even closer together.
Google product director Jack Krawczyk documented the spat on Twitter, writing: “On my first flight in 15 months, of course we were rerouted back to the gate because two passengers got into a physical altercation over elbow placement upon arm rests.”
On my first flight in 15 months, of course we were rerouted back to the gate because two passengers got into a physical altercation over elbow placement upon arm rests. pic.twitter.com/YBAV1iG2Fk
— Jack Krawczyk (@JackK) June 13, 2021
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The flight was on its way to Las Vegas when the incident took place before takeoff, the NY Post reports. The men involved in the altercation haven’t been identified, but were detained when an officer arrived at the gate.
Despite neither man wanting to “pursue further police action”, they weren’t allowed back on the flight.
One response to Krawczyk’s Tweet read: “This is fucking why I HATE traveling economy. You’re cramming a bunch of uneducated low lives into cheap seats with barely any leg and arm room and expecting them to be civil? Throw in them having to wear masks now and good LUCK.”
Despite the lifting of Covid restrictions, people still seem to be on edge. Forbes noted earlier this month that “airlines have seen a dramatic increase in in-flight passenger incidents and these have gotten increasingly violent and dangerous”.
About 2,500 incidents have been reported through May. 394 of these incidents have been labeled “unruly”, compared to “well under 200” such incidents for the full years 2019 and 2020.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 19:00 - Entire Portland Police Rapid Response Team Resigns After Officer Indicted For Breaking Up Antifa Riot
Entire Portland Police Rapid Response Team Resigns After Officer Indicted For Breaking Up Antifa Riot
Authored by Jack Posobiec via Human Events,
Following the criminal indictment of a fellow officer, the entire Portland Police Rapid Response Team made the unanimous decision to resign, according to police sources via Portland news outlet KXL.
Cory Budworth, 40, is the first officer in the county to be prosecuted for using force during a violent protest.
The Rapid Response Team is a group of volunteer officers who respond to civil disobedience, demonstrations and riots. At the time of the incident, Officer Budworth was assigned to the Rapid Response Team for crowd control.
Indeed, Budworth was indicted for breaking up an Antifa riot in 2020, charged with misdemeanor fourth-degree assault. He was accused of “unlawfully, knowingly and recklessly causing physical injury” to Teri Jacobs on August 18.
A video shared on social media showed an officer running and striking a protestor with his baton. The woman fell down and was hit with the baton a second time.
However, it is critical to mention that the bureau found the baton strike in question was “not intentional” and therefore not considered lethal force, while the Independent Police Review office viewed the strike as a “push,” WCAX News reports.
“Unfortunately, this decorated public servant has been caught in the crossfire of agenda-driven city leaders and a politicized criminal justice system,” the Portland Police said Tuesday.
Portland Police Association Executive Director Daryl Turner told the “Lars Larson Show” Wednesday that he feared officers would quit in response to what he called a “Witch Hunt” of a prosecution.
Sources confirm for me tonight that members of the Portland Police Rapid Response Team (trained in riot control) met tonight and all resigned their spots in the voluntary assignment. The news comes one day after the Antifa friendly District Attorney of Multnomah County (cont)
— Lars Larson (@LarsLarsonShow) June 17, 2021
* * *
For more information on Antifa, check out my new book The Antifa: Stories from Inside the Black Bloc here.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/17/2021 – 18:40
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