Today’s News 18th May 2023

• Sweden Must Prepare To Leave The EU, Says Influential Sweden Democrats Party Leader
  Sweden Must Prepare To Leave The EU, Says Influential Sweden Democrats Party Leader

  Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

  Jimmie Åkesson of the Sweden Democrats claims that only by making the necessary preparations for Swexit can the government maximize its bargaining power in Brussels…

  

  Sweden must fully prepare to leave the European Union in order to maximize its negotiating position with the bloc, stated Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats party.

  In an article published by Svenska Dagbladet on Monday, Åkesson and his co-author, Swedish MEP Charlie Weimers, expressed their desire for Sweden to “maximize its influence” in the European Union, outlining three measures the Swedish government must take.

  First, the government should seek to make constitutional changes in order to introduce a “referendum lock,” which would enshrine into law the requirement of a public vote before any further powers can be transferred from Stockholm to Brussels.

  It is a mechanism previously adopted by both Britain and Denmark, and the Sweden Democrats leader believes it will provide a necessary safeguard against any attempted power-grab by Brussels.

  “Only the knowledge that every decision on the transfer of power must be submitted to the citizens would slow down the worst abuses from Brussels,” the pair wrote.

  Second, the Swedish government should make the necessary preparations to leave the European Union to ensure it is ready should the decision ever be taken to do so and to legitimize any threat to withdraw in future negotiations with the bloc.

  “In order for preparedness to be credible, it is necessary that we remove the writings in the constitution that state that Sweden is a member of the EU.

  “In addition, we should train a cadre of civil servants with the expertise to negotiate trade agreements and other things that we have delegated to the EU and study how Brexit could have been implemented better. The better we are prepared to leave, the more we will gain in future negotiations,” Åkesson and Weimers added.

  The Sweden Democrats leader also wants an investigation to be launched into how the negative aspects of Sweden’s EU membership can be mitigated.

  The right-wing party is currently an informal partner of the Swedish government. While it wasn’t offered the opportunity to help form Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s administration, it is a signatory to the four-party coalition Tidö Agreement in which the coalition parties agreed to adopt a more restrictive immigration policy in return for Sweden Democrats’ support.

  Åkesson’s party has long been in favor of Sweden’s withdrawal from the European Union, but accepts this is not a majority view among the Swedish electorate at present. The party officially dropped its support for Swexit in 2018 in a bid to garner more electoral support and subsequently achieved 20.5 percent of the vote in last year’s general election.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/18/2023 – 02:00

• Business As Usual: Shutdown Or Not, The Police State Will Continue To Flourish
  Business As Usual: Shutdown Or Not, The Police State Will Continue To Flourish

  Authored by John & Nisha Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,

  “There is no more dangerous menace to civilization than a government of incompetent, corrupt, or vile men.”

  – Ludwig von Mises

  Once again, the police state is up to its old tricks, stoking tensions over whether or not the government is forced to shut down, even partially, due to a default on the national debt.

  Yet while these political games dominate news headlines, send the stock market into a nosedive, and put federal employees at risk of having to work without pay, nothing about these high-handed theatrics will diminish the immediate and very real dangers of the American Police State with its roadside strip searches, government surveillance, biometric databases, citizens being treated like terrorists, imprisonments for criticizing the government, national ID cards, SWAT team raids, censorship, forcible blood draws and DNA extractions, private prisons, weaponized drones, red light cameras, tasers, active shooter drills, police misconduct and government corruption.

  Default or not, war will continue. Drone killings will continue. Surveillance will continue. Censorship and persecution of anyone who criticizes the government will continue. The government’s efforts to label dissidents as extremists and terrorists will continue.

  Police shootings will continue. Highway robbery meted out by government officials will continue. Corrupt government will continue. Profit-driven prisons will continue. And the militarization of the police will continue.

  Indeed, take a look at the programs and policies that will not be affected by a government default on its debt leading to a possible shutdown, and you’ll get a clearer sense of the government’s priorities, which have little to do with serving taxpayers and everything to do with amassing money, power and control.

  

  Surveillance will continue unabated. On any given day, whether you’re walking through a store, driving your car, checking email, or talking to friends and family on the phone, you can be sure that some government agency, whether the NSA or some other entity, is listening in and tracking your behavior. Police have been outfitted with a litany of surveillance gear, from license plate readers and cell phone tracking devices to biometric data recorders. Technology now makes it possible for the police to scan passersby in order to detect the contents of their pockets, purses, briefcases, etc. Full-body scanners, which perform virtual strip-searches of Americans traveling by plane, have gone mobile, with roving police vans that peer into vehicles and buildings alike—including homes. Coupled with the nation’s growing network of real-time surveillance cameras and facial recognition software, soon there really will be nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

  Global spying will continue unabated. The NSA’s massive surveillance network, what the Washington Post refers to as a $500 billion “espionage empire,” will continue to span the globe and target every single person on the planet who uses a phone or a computer. The NSA’s Echelon program intercepts and analyzes virtually every phone call, fax and email message sent anywhere in the world. In addition to carrying out domestic surveillance on peaceful political groups such as Amnesty International, Greenpeace and several religious groups, Echelon has also been a keystone to the government’s attempts at political and corporate espionage.

  Egregious searches will continue unabated. Under the pretext of protecting the nation’s infrastructure (roads, mass transit systems, water and power supplies, telecommunications systems and so on) against criminal or terrorist attacks, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) task forces (comprised of federal air marshals, surface transportation security inspectors, transportation security officers, behavior detection officers and explosive detection canine teams) will continue to do random security sweeps of nexuses of transportation, including ports, railway and bus stations, airports, ferries and subways. Sweep tactics include the use of x-ray technology, pat-downs and drug-sniffing dogs, among other things.

  The undermining of the Constitution will continue unabated. America’s so-called war on terror, which it has relentlessly pursued since 9/11, has chipped away at our freedoms, unraveled our Constitution and transformed our nation into a battlefield, thanks in large part to such subversive legislation as the USA Patriot Act and National Defense Authorization Act. These laws—which completely circumvent the rule of law and the constitutional rights of American citizens, re-orienting our legal landscape in such a way as to ensure that martial law, rather than the rule of law, our U.S. Constitution, becomes the map by which we navigate life in the United States—will continue to be enforced.

  Militarized policing will continue unabated. Thanks to federal grant programs allowing the Pentagon to transfer surplus military supplies and weapons to local law enforcement agencies without charge, police forces will continue to be transformed from peace officers into heavily armed extensions of the military, complete with jackboots, helmets, shields, batons, pepper-spray, stun guns, assault rifles, body armor, miniature tanks and weaponized drones. Having been given the green light to probe, poke, pinch, taser, search, seize, strip and generally manhandle anyone they see fit in almost any circumstance, all with the general blessing of the courts, America’s law enforcement officials, no longer mere servants of the people entrusted with keeping the peace, will continue to keep the masses corralled, under control, and treated like suspects and enemies rather than citizens.

  SWAT team raids will continue unabated. With more than 80,000 SWAT team raids carried out every year on unsuspecting Americans for relatively routine police matters and federal agencies laying claim to their own law enforcement divisions, the incidence of botched raids and related casualties will continue to rise. Nationwide, SWAT teams will continue to be employed to address an astonishingly trivial array of criminal activity or mere community nuisances including angry dogs, domestic disputes, improper paperwork filed by an orchid farmer, and misdemeanor marijuana possession.

  Overcriminalization will continue unabated. The government bureaucracy will continue to churn out laws, statutes, codes and regulations that reinforce its powers and value systems and those of the police state and its corporate allies, rendering the rest of us petty criminals. The average American now unknowingly commits three felonies a day, thanks to this overabundance of vague laws that render otherwise innocent activity illegal. Consequently, small farmers who dare to make unpasteurized goat cheese and share it with members of their community will continue to have their farms raided.

  The shadow government— a.k.a. the Deep State, a.k.a. the police state, a.k.a. the military industrial complex, a.k.a. the surveillance state complex—will continue unabated. This corporatized, militarized, entrenched bureaucracy that is fully operational and staffed by unelected officials will continue to call the shots in Washington DC, no matter who sits in the White House or controls Congress. By “government,” I’m not referring to the highly partisan, two-party bureaucracy of the Republicans and Democrats. Rather, I’m referring to “government” with a capital “G,” the entrenched Deep State that is unaffected by elections, unaltered by populist movements, and has set itself beyond the reach of the law.

  These issues are not going away.

  As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, they are the backbone of an increasingly aggressive authoritarian government, formed by an unholy alliance between the mega-corporations with little concern for the Constitution and elected officials and bureaucrats incapable or unwilling to represent the best interests of their constituents.

  Whether or not the government runs out of borrowed money, it will remain business as usual in terms of the police state’s unceasing pursuit of greater powers and control.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 23:40

• Visualizing The Rise Of America's Debt Ceiling
  Visualizing The Rise Of America’s Debt Ceiling

  Every few years the debt ceiling standoff puts the credit of the U.S. at risk.

  In January, the $31.4 trillion debt limit – the amount of debt the U.S. government can hold – was reached. That means U.S. cash reserves could be exhausted by June 1 according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Should Republicans and Democrats fail to act, the U.S. could default on its debt, causing harmful effects across the financial system.

  The graphic below, via Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld and Nick Routley, shows the sharp rise in the debt ceiling in recent years, pulling data from various sources including the World Bank, U.S. Department of Treasury, and Congressional Research Service.

  

  Familiar Territory

  Raising the debt ceiling is nothing new. Since 1960, it’s been raised 78 times.

  In the 2023 version of the debate, Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is asking for cuts in government spending. However, President Joe Biden argues that the debt ceiling should be increased without any strings attached. Adding to this, the sharp uptick in interest rates have been a clear reminder that rising debt levels can be precarious.

  Consider that historically, interest payments on the U.S. debt have been equal to about half the cost of defense. More recently, however, the cost of servicing the debt has risen, and is now almost on par with the defense budget as a whole.

  Key Moments In Recent History

  Over history, raising the debt ceiling has often been a typical process for Congress.

  Unlike today, agreements to raise the debt ceiling were often negotiated faster. Increased political polarization over recent years has contributed to standoffs with damaging consequences.

  For instance, in 2011, an agreement was made just days before the deadline. As a result, S&P downgraded the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+ for the first time ever. This delay cost an estimated $1.3 billion in extra costs to the government that year.

  Before then, the government shut down twice between 1995 and 1996 as President Bill Clinton and Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich went head-to-head. Over a million government workers were furloughed for a week in late November 1995 before the debt limit was raised.

  What Happens Now?

  Today, Republicans and Democrats have less than two weeks to reach an agreement.

  If Congress doesn’t make a deal the result would be that the government can’t pay its bills by taking on new debt. Payment for federal workers would be suspended, certain pension payments would get stalled, and interest payments on Treasuries would be delayed. The U.S. would default under these conditions.

  Three Potential Consequences

  Here are some of the potential knock-on effects if the debt ceiling isn’t raised by June 1, 2023:

  1. Higher Interest Rates

  Typically investors require higher interest payments as the risk of their debt holdings increase.

  If the U.S. fails to pay interest payments on its debt and gets a credit downgrade, these interest payments would likely rise higher. This would impact the U.S. government’s interest payments and the cost of borrowing for businesses and households.

  High interest rates can slow economic growth since it disincentivizes spending and taking on new debt. We can see in the chart below that a gloomier economic picture has already been anticipated, showing its highest probability since 1983.

  

  Historically, recessions have increased U.S. deficit spending as tax receipts fall and there is less income to help fund government activities. Additional fiscal stimulus spending can also exacerbate any budget imbalance.

  Finally, higher interest rates could spell more trouble for the banking sector, which is already on edge after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

  A rise in interest rates would push down the value of outstanding bonds, which banks hold as capital reserves. This makes it even more challenging to cover deposits, which could further increase uncertainty in the banking industry.

  2. Eroding International Credibility

  As the world’s reserve currency, any default on U.S. Treasuries would rattle global markets.

  If its role as an ultra safe asset is undermined, a chain reaction of negative consequences could spread throughout the global financial system. Often Treasuries are held as collateral. If these debt payments fail to get paid to investors, prices would plummet, demand could crater, and global investors may shift investment elsewhere.

  Investors are factoring in the risk of the U.S. not paying its bondholders.

  As we can see this in the chart below, U.S. one-year credit default swap (CDS) spreads are much higher than other nations. These CDS instruments, quoted in spreads, offer insurance in the event that the U.S. defaults. The wider the spread, the greater the expected risk that the bondholder won’t be paid.

  The US now has higher credit risk than Mexico, Greece, and Brazil pic.twitter.com/je4klBvHZ6

  — Genevieve Roch-Decter, CFA (@GRDecter) May 11, 2023

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

  Additionally, a default could add fuel to the perception of global de-dollarization. Since 2001, the USD has slipped from 73% to 58% of global reserves.

  Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to steep financial sanctions, China and India are increasingly using their currencies for trade settlement. President of Russia Vladimir Putin says that two-thirds of trade is settled in yuan or roubles. Recently, China has also entered non-dollar agreements with Brazil and Kazakhstan.

  3. Financial Sector Turmoil

  Back at home, a debt default would hurt investor confidence in the U.S. economy. Coupled with already higher interest rates impacting costs, financial markets could see added strain. Lower investor demand could depress stock prices.

  Is the Debt Ceiling Concept Flawed?

  Today, U.S. government debt stands at 129% of GDP.

  The annualized cost of servicing this debt has jumped an estimated 90% compared to 2011, driven by increasing debt and higher interest rates.

  Some economists argue that the debt ceiling helps keep the government more fiscally responsible. Others suggest that it’s structured poorly, and that if the government approves a level of spending in its budget, that debt ceiling increases should come more automatically.

  In fact, it’s worth noting that the U.S. is one of the few countries worldwide with a debt ceiling.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 23:20

• The Putrid Underbelly Of Woke Capitalism
  The Putrid Underbelly Of Woke Capitalism

  Authored by Michael Rectenwald via The Mises Institute,

  Corporate intrigue reached a fevered pitch on May 6, 2023, in Omaha, Nebraska, when a shareholder was arrested during the annual shareholder meeting of Berkshire Hathaway. The shareholder challenged the affiliation of Warren Buffett with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Bill Gates’s association with Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted in Florida for procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute, and who reportedly committed suicide in a New York jail while facing charges for sex trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking.

  

  Peter Flaherty, the chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), stood to offer proposal number eight, which called for the roles of Berkshire CEO and chair to be separated and held by two persons. Flaherty argued that the separation of roles was necessary so that Berkshire “would be less identified with Mr. Buffett’s personal political activities.” Speaking of Buffett, Flaherty stated:

  He’s donated tens of billions to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As Bill Gates explained when the couple was still together, “although the foundation bears our names, basically half our resources have come from Warren Buffett.”

  If “woke” culture is a disease, then philanthropy is the virus.

  The Gates Foundation bankrolls the teaching of Critical Race Theory around the country, including that math is inherently racist.

  The Gates Foundation offers a Gender Identity Toolbox which asserts that gender is the result of “socially and culturally constructed ideas.”

  This is a lie. Gender is not a cultural construct. It is a genetic and biological fact. (emphasis mine)

  Flaherty was interrupted by a Berkshire representative and pleaded to the chair (Buffett) to be allowed to continue. Buffett agreed that Flaherty could continue but warned him of the three-minute time limit for shareholder proposals. Flaherty then proceeded to throw down the gauntlet, until his microphone was shut off:

  We know how much Bill Gates cares about children. He met and traveled with Jeffrey Epstein many times after Epstein was convicted of sex crimes.

  The Gates Foundation had a huge influence over the COVID response fiasco.

  Bill Gates defended China’s COVID policies and still discounts the possibility that the virus originated from a lab, even though U.S. intelligence agencies disagree. The Gates Foundation may be the largest single donor to the “dark money” machine known as Arabella Associates. . . .

  It funds causes like defunding the police that are making American cities unlivable.

  Money goes, too, to groups conducting—

  At this point, Buffett declared from the stage: “You crossed the boundary.”

  Two security guards grabbed Flaherty by either arm and escorted him from the room. Flaherty was arrested and charged with trespassing.

  The arrest of the Berkshire shareholder, apparently for merely mentioning Jeffrey Epstein in connection with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, coincided with a series of Wall Street Journal articles exploring Epstein’s calendar and a trove of Epstein emails and other documents. The Wall Street Journal revealed numerous Epstein meetings with high-profile contacts, long after Epstein served time for soliciting a child prostitute and was registered as a sex offender. Represented in Epstein’s calendar and emails are such notables as William Burns, director of the Central Intelligence Agency since 2021; Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and philanthropist; Jess Staley, former Barclay’s CEO; Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn; Larry Summers, professor and former Harvard University president; Woody Allen, filmmaker; and Noam Chomsky, leftist MIT linguistics professor, among others. These and other meetings may reveal that many businesspersons and woke philanthropists were ensnared by a child sex trafficker.

  The scene at the Berkshire annual meeting also followed on the heels of the lawsuit filed against JPMorgan Chase by the US Virgin Islands. Attorneys for the US Virgin Islands claim that the bank materially aided Epstein in his child sex trafficking scheme and is seeking damages for their clients. Four billionaires have been subpoenaed in the case so far, including Google cofounder Sergey Brin; Hyatt Hotels CEO Thomas Pritzker; real estate tycoon and owner of U.S. News and World Report Mortimer Zuckerman; and venture capitalist and Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz. Curiously, the US Virgin Islands has also attempted, without success, to serve a subpoena to Google’s other cofounder, Larry Page, whose whereabouts remain unknown and who obviously does not want to be found.

  It should be remembered here that Google has represented the leading edge of woke capitalism, with its leftist ranking algorithms and its employment of “machine learning fairness” that corrects for so-called algorithmic unfairness by misrepresenting reality with affirmative action results. Clearly, Google’s founders did not rely on algorithms to identify and eliminate pedophiles from their list of business contacts.

  While the US Virgin Islands asserts that JP Morgan Chase facilitated and possibly bankrolled Epstein’s pedophilia ring, US Republican lawmakers have claimed that the US’s largest bank has a penchant for cancelling the accounts of conservative and religious groups. The bank maintained its financial relationship with Epstein until 2013, long after he was convicted of sex crimes, yet recently cancelled the accounts of such groups as the National Committee for Religious Freedom. The bank’s touted “diversity and inclusion” policy has apparently included pedophiles but excluded avowedly Christian groups.

  Much more has and could be said about why high-profile businesspersons, philanthropists, academics, and even intelligence officers had relationships with Jeffrey Epstein. For example, some have claimed that Epstein and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell were Israeli spies who ran a honey-trap operation to steer US policies in Israel’s favor and against US interests.

  As the Wall Street Journal asked:

  Epstein was a former schoolteacher. How did he become a billionaire? What was the source of his wealth? Was he paid for providing women or girls to his friends? Was he a blackmailer? Were women or girls an enticement to invest in his projects?

  Finally, there’s the ridiculous, implausible matter of Epstein’s death in federal custody on Aug. 10, 2019, which 3½ years later remains under investigation by the Justice Department inspector general, only feeding conspiracy theories.

  But the main question for our purposes is: How is that nearly all major corporate heads and influential members of society have simultaneously gone woke? Could it be that whoever controlled Jeffrey Epstein sets the agenda through the use of blackmail, directing these corporate heads and other leaders to convert to wokeness, while steering their philanthropy to designated ends, including the funding of critical race theory and the LGBTQIA+ agenda?

  In other words, is our capitalist class controlled by whoever oversaw Epstein’s thirty-year entrapment operation?

  In addition to revealing the moral rot that has permeated the US establishment, the Epstein connections also show that those who claim the woke moral high ground, and impose woke policies on the rest of us, are perhaps the most corrupted people on the face of the earth.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 23:00

• First-Ever Digital Scan Of Titanic Reveals Never Before-Seen Views
  First-Ever Digital Scan Of Titanic Reveals Never Before-Seen Views

  For the first time, a full-sized digital scan of the Titanic has been made public, which could reveal new secrets about the ship that lies 12,500 feet down in the Atlantic. 

  

  BBC News said the scan was conducted about a year ago by Magellan Ltd, a deep-sea mapping company, and Atlantic Productions, who are making a documentary about the Titanic. 

  

  The vessel is split into two sections, the bow and the stern, separated by 2,600 feet and surrounded by a large debris field. 

  

  Magellan and Atlantic Productions spent over 200 hours surveying the wreckage with submersibles, capturing over 700,000 images — this allowed them to create a never before seen, high-definition, 3D reconstruction of the vessel. 

  

  Magellan’s Gerhard Seiffert, who heads the expedition, said the underwater scanning project was the largest and most complex he had ever undertaken.

  “The depth of it, almost 4,000m, represents a challenge, and you have currents at the site, too – and we’re not allowed to touch anything so as not to damage the wreck,” he explained.

  “And the other challenge is that you have to map every square centimetre – even uninteresting parts, like on the debris field you have to map mud, but you need this to fill in between all these interesting objects.”

  Parks Stephenson, a Titanic analyst, was “blown away” by the new scans. 

  “It allows you to see the wreck as you can never see it from a submersible, and you can see the wreck in its entirety, you can see it in context and perspective. And what it’s showing you now is the true state of the wreck,” he said. 

  Stephenson said the new scans might reveal new secrets behind the maritime disaster 111 years ago. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 22:40

• Deutsche Bank Settles Epstein Lawsuit For Up To $75 Million
  Deutsche Bank Settles Epstein Lawsuit For Up To $75 Million

  Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay up to $75 million to settle a lawsuit brought by an Jeffrey Epstein victim who claimed that the bank had benefited from human trafficking by retaining Epstein as a client, the Financial Times reports.

  The lawsuit is one of three ongoing cases involving lenders to Epstein – the two others being a combined case against JPMorgan Chase, which is being sued by a different alleged victim and the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned property.

  The Deutsche Bank lawsuit was filed as a proposed class action in November, based on a New York law which temporarily allowed abuse claims to be brought beyond the statute of limitations.

  

  Jane Doe, the accuser, claimed the German bank “chose profit over following the law,” and knowingly engaged in business that would “earn millions of dollars from facilitating Epstein’s sex trafficking.”

  Judge Jed Rakoff stated in his order denying in part Deutsche’s attempt to dismiss the case, said Epstein “solicited Deutsche Bank’s advice about how to structure his withdrawals so as to evade notice . . . and he was shielded by Deutsche Bank’s failure to file suspicious activity reports.”

  Rakoff added that it was “plausible” that the bank had directly benefited from human trafficking in his order to allow the case to proceed to trial.

  According to the Times, dozens of victims may ultimately share the damages award, which will be distributed by an administrator that will assess individual claims. Each accuser could receive as much as $5 million according to the plaintiff’s lawyer.

  

  “We are proud to have achieved such a great result for victims who deserved justice from all who played a real role in their abuse,” said Brad Edwards, a lawyer for Doe.

  In 2020, Deutsche Bank paid New York State Department of Financial Services $150 million over its ties to Epstein and related internal compliance failures. Last year the bank also agreed to pay $26 million to shareholders who accused the bank of misleading them over their vetting process for clients.

  Deutsche attempted to have the Doe case dismissed, arguing that $7.4 million she received from the late Epstein’s estate in April 2022 covered their liability as well – and that Doe’s “deficient” complaint did “not come close” to adequately allege that the bank was part of Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring.

  Epstein became a client of Deutsche Bank in 2013, years after he pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution – and soon after JPMorgan dropped him as a client amid concerns over his lifestyle – including that he was paying victims in cash. Former JPMorgan banker Paul Morris who moved to Deutsche, Paul Morris, advised the bank that Epstein could bring lucrative clients with him.

  Deutsche eventually severed ties with Epstein in 2018.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 22:03

• Leaked Pentagon Report Forensically Dismantles Fauci-Led Natural Origin Study
  Leaked Pentagon Report Forensically Dismantles Fauci-Led Natural Origin Study

  Authored by Hans Mahncke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Researchers at the Department of Defense wrote a devastating takedown of the Proximal Origin study, which was used by Dr. Anthony Fauci as proof that the COVID-19 virus had come from nature. 

  

  The takedown, dated May 26, 2020, was written in the form of a working paper called “Critical analysis of Andersen et al. The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2.” It was authored by Commander Jean-Paul Chretien, a Navy doctor working at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and Dr. Robert Cutlip, a research scientist at the Defense Intelligence Agency. The paper came to light on May 15, when it was leaked to the public via virus origins search group DRASTIC (Decentralized Radical Autonomous Search Team Investigating COVID-19). 

  The working paper forensically dismantles the natural origin case made in Proximal Origin and concludes, “The arguments that Andersen et al. use to support a natural-origin scenario for SARS-CoV-2 are based not on scientific analysis, but on unwarranted assumptions.”

  The existence of this internal Pentagon paper is crucial, as it proves that government officials were well aware in the early months of the pandemic that there was no evidence in support of a natural origin of the COVID-19 virus. Additionally, given the crushing discrediting of Proximal Origin, Pentagon officials would also have been aware of Fauci’s efforts to seed a false narrative about the origin of COVID-19. 

  Proximal Origin was initially conceived by Fauci during a secret teleconference held on Feb. 1, 2020. The ostensible purpose of the teleconference was to deflect attention from a possible lab origin of COVID-19 and to shift the focus to a natural origin theory. Fauci directed a number of scientists, led by Kristian Andersen of Scripps Research and Robert Garry of Tulane Medical School, to pen a study that could be used to discredit the lab leak theory. Despite being directly involved in the inception of the paper, as well as in shaping its arguments, Fauci’s role was concealed from the public. Fauci later bestowed Andersen and Garry with lavish taxpayer-funded grants.

  The defects in Proximal Origin were immediately noticed by reviewers at science journal Nature. This fact only became known late last year from emails obtained via the Freedom of Information Act by independent journalist Jimmy Tobias. However, with the help of Jeremy Farrar, who now is the chief scientist of the World Health Organization and who had helped Fauci shape the natural origin narrative, Proximal Origin was accepted for publication in Nature Medicine on March 17, 2020. It boldly concluded that no “laboratory-based scenario is plausible.”

  On April 17, 2020, President Donald Trump confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic likely started in a Wuhan laboratory in China. On the same day, while attending a White House press conference, Fauci categorically dismissed the possibility of a lab origin of COVID-19, citing Proximal Origin as corroboration. Fauci feigned independence, telling reporters that he could not recall the names of the authors. What was not known at the time was that Fauci not only knew the authors well, but had personally led the effort to have Proximal Origin written.

  Proximal Origin became the media’s go-to natural origin authority, repeating Fauci’s claim that the paper provided dispositive proof that COVID-19 had come out of nature. It also became the most-read article on COVID-19 and one of the most cited academic papers of all time.  

  Yet, while the public was being told by Fauci and the media that Proximal Origin had settled the origin debate, Pentagon researchers came to a very different conclusion. 

  

  Chretien and Cutlip found that COVID-19’s features, which Proximal Origin ascribed to natural evolution, were actually “consistent with another scenario: that SARS-CoV-2 was developed in a laboratory, by methods that leading coronavirus researchers commonly use to investigate how the viruses infect cells and cause disease, assess the potential for animal coronaviruses to jump to humans, and develop drugs and vaccines.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 21:40

• DOJ Alleges Former Apple Engineer Stole Self-Driving Code For Chinese Company
  DOJ Alleges Former Apple Engineer Stole Self-Driving Code For Chinese Company

  Today’s daily dose of “China stealing intellectual property” news comes to us courtesy of the Department of Justice, who has charged that a former Apple software engineer tried to steal the Cupertino-based company’s autonomous driving technology for a Chinese self-driving company.

  The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that Weibao Wang, who worked at Apple from 2016 to 2018 on the company’s Annotation Team, is being charged with six counts of theft of Apple’s “entire autonomy source code,” tracking systems, behavior planning for autonomous systems, and descriptions of the hardware used, according to CNBC. 

  Wang reportedly had “broad access” to databases that the DOJ said could only be accessed by 2,700 of Apple’s 135,000 employees. 

  

  The indictment details that four months before quitting Apple, Wang had accepted a new job at a U.S. based subsidiary of a Chinese company that was developing autonomous driving technology. Wang started to port over “large amounts” of Apple’s technology and source code, it says.

  At the time, only 5% of Apple employees even knew about the project and even fewer (2%) had access to one or more of the databases that Wang used to ascertain the information he allegedly stole. 

  The report says that when authorities searched Wang’s home in 2018, they found “large quantities of stolen, confidential, and proprietary data”. After the search warrant was executed, Wang fled the country, boarding a flight to Guangzhou, China from San Francisco International Airport, CNBC reported.

  U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Ismail Ramsey has said he faces 10 years in prison for each count, should he ever be extradited and convicted. We won’t hold our breath for that. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 21:20

• Marjorie Taylor Greene Introduces Articles Of Impeachment Against FBI Director Chris Wray
  Marjorie Taylor Greene Introduces Articles Of Impeachment Against FBI Director Chris Wray

  Authored by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has introduced articles of impeachment against Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray.

  “Director Wray has failed to uphold his oath and has instead overseen a denigration of the principles of our democratic republic by utilizing the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a Federal police force to punish or intimidate anyone who questions or opposes the current regime,” Greene wrote in the articles of impeachment.

  

  The presidential appointee and his agency have come under fire recently as reports surface alleging widespread violations of Americans’ constitutionally-protected civil liberties, targeting of political enemies, and other allegations of partisan or illegal behavior.

  In a statement announcing her filing of the articles, Greene wrote: “Under [Wray’s] watch, the FBI has intimidated, harassed, & entrapped Americans who have been deemed enemies of the Biden regime. Wray has turned the FBI into Joe Biden and [Attorney General] Merrick Garland’s personal police force.”

  She accused Wray of using “Soviet-style tactics” to target normal Americans who disagreed with President Joe Biden’s policies.

  

  In the articles of impeachment, Greene wrote: “Rather than adhering to an oath he took to defend and secure our country and uphold the Constitution when he was sworn in as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on August 2, 2017, Director Wray has willingly refused to ensure that the laws passed by Congress and signed by the President are faithfully executed.”

  Allegations of Misconduct

  For instance, she cited whistleblower allegations claiming that the FBI had created a “threat tag” to target pro-life individuals and organizations in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the federal right to abortion.

  In September 2022, the FBI raided the home of Matthew Houck, a pro-life Catholic, for having obstructed access to an abortion provider.

  Other whistleblower claims backed by leaked documents reveal that the FBI has also targeted so-called “radical-traditionalist Catholics,” dubbing them “RTCs.” The leaked documents accused traditional and Latin Mass Catholic communities of being a harbor for “white supremacism” and indicated that the FBI intended to place informants in these churches.

  In 2021, a required public audit found the FBI had abused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to carry out more than 3.3 million illegal queries of American citizens.

  In another case, the FBI has allegedly aided and abetted criminal behavior. As many as 12 FBI agents allegedly participated in a 2021 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, masterminding and encouraging men to carry out the plan.

  The FBI came under even more scrutiny in the wake of the agency mounting a raid on the home of President Donald Trump, an unprecedented move. The raid allegedly was due to Trump’s possession of classified documents.

  

  Subsequent findings have revealed that Biden has also allegedly mishandled classified documents, but no similar actions have been taken against him, Greene noted.

  “Not only has Director Wray persecuted political opponents in an unprecedented and partisan way, but he has also overseen his agency take actions to shield and protect the current President and his family. A senior FBI official left the agency under a cloud of accusations that he shielded a laptop belonging to the President’s son, Robert Hunter Biden, from a criminal probe,” Greene said, citing allegations that the FBI sought to cover up the story about Hunter Biden’s laptop.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 21:00

• House Republican Submits Resolution To Expel 'Liar' Adam Schiff From Congress
  House Republican Submits Resolution To Expel ‘Liar’ Adam Schiff From Congress

  After Rep. Adam Schiff relentlessly peddled the Russiagate hoax and claimed without proof that there was “more than circumstantial evidence” that Donald Trump colluded with Russia in 2016, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) has introduced a House resolution to expel Schiff from Congress after the Durham report concluded that there was no collusion.

  

  “Knowingly using your position on House Intel to push a lie that ripped apart our country, cost taxpayers millions of dollars, and authorized spying on a US President and then proceeding to double down on the lie within days of the Durham report coming out makes you unfit for office,” wrote Luna in a late Wednesday tweet, adding “Ethics should investigate.”

  Knowingly using your position on House Intel to push a lie that ripped apart our country, cost taxpayers millions of dollars, and authorized spying on a US President and then proceeding to double down on the lie within days of the Durham report coming out makes you unfit for… pic.twitter.com/A8rTBPY77Z

  — Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) May 17, 2023

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  Following the Durham report, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy raised the question of whether Schiff “should even be in Congress.”

  Schiff notably doubled down on his claims Tuesday, tweeting that the Durham investigation was “flawed from the start.”

  “This is an investigation that started in a flawed manner, it was conducted in a flawed manner, and its conclusion is a flawed conclusion,” he told MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell on Tuesday, adding that Durham’s conclusions add “very little” to the Horowitz report, and do not prove a “deep state conspiracy.”

  He added that Durham’s investigation was a “wasted effort,” and “four years of undermining the department [of justice] and a political prosecution.”

  If only you’d given Durham your evidence😭 oh wait? You’re a filthy liar who should resign and lied to America for years.

  — Rosie Memos (@almostjingo) May 16, 2023

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  The former the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee was booted by McCarthy and replaced by Rep. James Himes (D-CT). He has since announced a bid to replace incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).

  In 2017, Schiff told Meet the Press regarding Trump-Russia evidence; “I don’t want to go into specifics, but I will say that there is evidence that is not circumstantial. But as I’ve said all along, there’s plenty of evidence of collusion.”

  Wall Street Journal editorial board member William McGurn says that the Durham probe was a “damning account of the corruption of the FBI and its accomplices.”

  Anchor Trace Gallagher noted the editorial board also claimed the FBI knew the discredited “dossier” compiled by ex-MI6 spy Christopher Steele “came from Clinton and was phony to begin with.”

  McGurn said it is no surprise Democrats like Schiff, as well as those interviewed on Capitol Hill by Fox News Digital on Tuesday, are dismissing the Durham report.

  “The Russia collusion story was the gaslighting of America. It was outrageous, the falsehoods, and it involved the highest levels of law enforcement and intelligence on that part,” McGurn said.

  He said that Barr seemingly ignored his own personal differences with Trump to clearly state Tuesday that the former president has been vindicated and that the Russia probe was untoward. –Fox News

  “Only Adam Schiff there in those clips talked about the collusion. I mean, Durham said the FBI opened the investigation without any evidence. He also found bias in the FBI, and he found double standards [in] how they treated the Hillary Clinton campaign,” said McGurn, adding “And the problem is so many people in Washington were implicated in this hoax that they don’t want the same thing. Their strategy now is to pretend it didn’t happen and not discuss it.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 20:40

• US & Syria Have Been Holding Secret Talks In Oman
  US & Syria Have Been Holding Secret Talks In Oman

  Via The Cradle,

  A senior diplomatic official in the Arab League has revealed exclusively to The Cradle that secret, direct negotiations are currently taking place between the US and Syrian governments.

  The diplomat, who revealed the information under the condition of anonymity, said that “the talks took place in the Omani capital Muscat, ‘the city of secret negotiations’ between Washington and several nations in West Asia.” He also pointed out that the “meetings included security figures from both countries and representatives of foreign Ministries.”

  

  During the talks, Syrian officials mainly pressed for the complete withdrawal of US occupation troops from the country. According to field sources that spoke with The Cradle, around 2,000 American military personnel are present at any given time in Syrian territory across 22 US bases – a figure higher than the Pentagon’s official count of 900 troops.

  During the Muscat talks, the source stressed that “the American envoy repeatedly confirmed that he has information that Austin Tice is alive and in a Syrian army detention center. However, the Syrian delegation insisted that it had no information about Tice, with Damascus expressing its readiness to make all possible efforts to reveal his fate.”

  The freelance journalist and former US Marine Corps officer was kidnapped in 2012 by armed groups in a suburb of Damascus.

  Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed that Washington has been “engaged with Syria, engaged with third countries” to find Tice.

  According to The Cradle’s sources, the White House is convinced that  Damascus knows of Tice’s whereabouts. However, the Syrian delegation in Muscat did not confirm any information on this matter.

  According to sources, Washington and Damascus began secret communications during the administration of former US president Donald Trump. However, these fell by the wayside once Trump stated his intention to “kill” Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in September 2020.

  The diplomat added that “secret talks took place in previous years between Damascus and Washington, but most of them were through mediators, such as the former director general of the Lebanese General Security, Abbas Ibrahim. Direct meetings also took place between the two countries, one of which was in the Syrian capital, Damascus.” However, the number of direct meetings remained limited.

  Syria’s return to occupy its seat at the Arab League is primarily an Arab matter.

  Foreigners can complain and protest all they want; the Arabs no longer pay attention to them.

  Particularly, the Arabs don’t listen to foreigners who have played a destructive role in the Arab… pic.twitter.com/Enadondpde

  — Ebrahim Hashem 李思瑞 إبراهيم هاشم (@EbrahimHashem) May 16, 2023

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  Before the communication breakdown, US officials reportedly expressed their intention to eventually withdraw military forces from Syria in offers that were never realized.

  According to The Cradle‘s source, the one topic that US officials did not address during the secret talks was the fate of US-backed Kurdish militias, such as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).  He affirmed that “The Syrian-American talks did not mention the Kurdish militias supported by the American occupation forces in northeastern Syria.” He added, “the discussion did not address any political or military issues, with the exception of Syria’s demand for the withdrawal of the occupying forces from Syrian territory.”

  The bombshell revelation of these US-Syrian backdoor dealings comes just days after the White House blasted Arab nations for restoring ties with Syria. US authorities were particularly incensed after the Arab League welcomed Damascus back into the organization last week.

  “We do not believe Syria merits readmission into the Arab League at this time,” a US State Department spokesperson said on May 7, highlighting that the White House informed its Arab allies that “we will not normalize with the Assad regime and that our sanctions remain in full effect.”

  “The decision to readmit Syria to the Arab League represents a rejection of US interests in the region and shows that [Arab] countries are forging policies independent of western concerns,” the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said after the Arab League voted to reinstate Syria.

  “The Arab rush to welcome Damascus back into the fold happened despite public objections from the United States… [US] efforts at easing Mr. Assad out and replacing him with an inclusive, democratic government have gone nowhere, leaving American officials on the sidelines,” the New York Times (NYT) lamented.

  Over the past year, the US has seen itself increasingly marginalized in West Asia due to decades of military interventions and economic coercion. Former allies like Saudi Arabia and the UAE have led the charge, forging close trade and security ties with Russia, China, and Iran.

  China, in particular, has filled the vacuum left by the US by brokering a historic detente between Tehran and Riyadh, which paved the way for ongoing peace talks in Yemen and ending Syria’s regional isolation. Russia has also been flexing its diplomatic muscles to resolve the Syrian crisis by hosting several high-level meetings involving Syrian and Turkish officials that seek to end Ankara’s occupation of northern Syria.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 20:20

• Morgan Stanley Shows Why US-China Decouple Is "Neither Possible Nor Desirable" In One Stunning Chart
  Morgan Stanley Shows Why US-China Decouple Is “Neither Possible Nor Desirable” In One Stunning Chart

  The US and China have been locked in a five-year trade war. Lawmakers in Washington have been touting the economic “decoupling” of the world’s two biggest economies, but that has not yet happened. 

  It’s unclear if a full decoupling is even achievable. Western countries urge corporations to rejigger supply chains from China to other “friendlier” countries like India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Mexico. 

  However, there’s one problem: even if firms relocate their manufacturing base to other countries, components are still sourced from China. The reality of achieving full decoupling appears more challenging and complex than once thought (and costlier). 

  Morgan Stanley’s global director of research Katy Huberty told clients earlier this week that a complete “re-wiring” of the EV battery supply chain out of China would require a $7 trillion investment by the West through 2040.  

  In a separate Morgan Stanley report earlier this month, a team of strategists revealed:

  The reality is that a complete decoupling of the US economy from China is neither possible nor desirable. It will take many years to shift the supply chain, and the US will remain dependent on China in many areas. However, investing in the technology sector now requires a change in thinking to navigate the economic implications of multi-polarization. Investors need to consider the broad investment themes associated with geopolitical risks rather than just taking a bottom-up view. 

  With that understanding, the analysts provided a breathtaking view of how the world’s technology companies are interlinked. A full decoupling of China and the US is only possible if a war over Taiwan occurs. If that happens, global supply chains will crash overnight, essentially a reset. 

  

  More recently, Jay Shambaugh, Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs, told Bloomberg Television the US isn’t seeking to decouple its economy from China or limit the country’s growth:

  “We occasionally have issues with different economic policies in China and we will always defend US economic interests as well — but we will not in any way be trying to separate these two economies entirely.

  Even though relations between US and China have deteriorated sharply in recent years, a full decoupling is impossible at the moment, and if the West were to friendshore and reshore supply chains, it would take decades and trillions of dollars. 

  So the whole decoupling narrative in the near term is unrealistic, given the chart we shared above. The only thing the West can do is reduce reliance on China and hope Beijing doesn’t invade Taiwan anytime soon. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 20:00

• FBI Audit Reveals 8,000 Unjustified Searches Of Americans' Communications
  FBI Audit Reveals 8,000 Unjustified Searches Of Americans’ Communications

  Authored by Lawrence Wilson via The Epoch Times,

  The FBI conducted thousands of queries on digital data collected on U.S. citizens in 2021 and 2022 despite having no warrant and no justification under the FBI’s own rules, according to an internal report released on May 10.

  

  The audit, conducted by the FBI Office of Internal Auditing (OIA), was intended to examine the agency’s compliance with rules for querying data the government routinely collects on U.S. citizens under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA).

  FISA allows the government to collect electronic data, including phone calls, text messages, and emails of foreigners overseas, even if the communications involve a U.S. citizen. U.S. agencies can then search that data in connection with national security investigations.

  Under rules approved by the FISA court, any search of that data involving a U.S. citizen must meet three criteria.

  It must be for the purpose of retrieving foreign intelligence information or evidence of a crime, reasonably designed to avoid unnecessarily retrieving information not related to the purpose, and justified by a specific factual basis indicating that it’s likely to retrieve foreign intelligence information or evidence of a crime.

  

  FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies at a hearing in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee in Washington on Jan. 29, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

  According to the report, searches of FISA data failed to meet those criteria 4 percent of the time between July 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022. The most common failure was listing insufficient justification for the search.

  According to a separate FBI report, the agency conducted more than 204,000 queries of FISA data on U.S. citizens in 2022. Given a 4 percent noncompliance rate, that would indicate that the digital communications of Americans were obtained by the FBI more than 8,000 times with no warrant and without proper justification under rules approved by the FISA Court.

  The audit was conducted after FBI Director Christopher Wray implemented procedural changes for FISA queries in 2021 and 2022. The agency had come under fire after the FISA Court found “widespread violations” of the rules. Those violations included searches for the communications of government officials, journalists, political commentators, and a member of Congress.

  FISA was created in response to similar unwarranted surveillance of U.S. citizens by the Nixon administration.

  The audit shows a marked improvement over an audit of the period from April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, which revealed a noncompliance rate of 18 percent.

  In 2021, the FBI conducted roughly 3.4 million FISA queries involving U.S. citizens. With an 18 percent noncompliance rate, that indicates that the electronic communications of U.S. citizens were obtained by the FBI in violation of some rule about 612,000 times in that year alone.

  Although the number of FISA queries decreased greatly and the FBI’s compliance rate improved, the change wasn’t enough to satisfy some privacy advocates.

  “Even if the compliance rate were 100 percent, the government should not be able to access Americans’ communications without a warrant,” Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, wrote on Twitter.

  “But with a baseline of 8,000 violations per year, there can be no question that a warrant is needed to protect Americans’ fundamental rights.”

  Based on the audit results, the OIA recommended further changes in the procedures for querying FISA data. Those include improving the FISA query compliance monitoring program, ensuring that all users complete required training before gaining access to raw FISA data, and making system changes to notify users when they make mistakes when inputting data.

  The FBI didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 19:40

• Jeffrey Epstein Moved $270,000 For Noam Chomsky, Paid Leon Botstein $150K
  Jeffrey Epstein Moved $270,000 For Noam Chomsky, Paid Leon Botstein $150K

  Dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein transferred $270,000 between accounts for Noam Chomsky and paid $150,000 to Bard College’s Leon Botstein – after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution – the two academics have confirmed to the Wall Street Journal, which calls the transactions “another glimpse into how the late disgraced financier provided favors for those who associated with him.”

  

  Botstein and Chomsky met multiple times with Epstein after he was a registered sex offender, The Wall Street Journal recently reported. Chomsky, a political activist and professor, told the Journal that they met occasionally to discuss political and academic topics. Botstein, the longtime leader of Bard College in New York, said he met with Epstein in an attempt to raise funds for the school.

  They were among the many academics, politicians and businesspeople who met with Epstein in the years after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. He was charged in 2019 with sex trafficking and died in jail while awaiting trial later that year. -WSJ

  According to Botstein, Epstein sent him checks in 2016 totaling approximately $150,000, which he says he donated to Bard as part of an overall donation exceeding $1 million. He said that Epstein designated him a consultant of an entity and send the money as if they were fees for doing consulting work – which he claims he never did. A spokesman said the funds were compensation for a one-year term for Epstein’s foundation, Gratitude America.

  “I have no idea why he concocted this scheme,” claims Botstein. “He didn’t want to write a check to Bard. He took pity on me, and he said, ‘I’m gonna give you money and you do whatever you want with it.’”

  Botstein previously lied when he told the Journal that Epstein gave Bard $75,000 in unsolicited donations in 2011, and that he had met with the disgraced financier over a dozen times but had been unsuccessful in raising more funds. He later said he didn’t remember the 2016 payments until the Journal asked him, as they didn’t appear as donations from Epstein in school records.

  

  “The important thing to recognize is that I did not personally benefit,” he said. “Each fiscal year I give more in philanthropic gifts to Bard and the [American Symphony Orchestra] than anything that has come my way—conducting fees, writing fees, consultancies, speaking etc.—in order to protect myself and the college of the suspicion that I am enriching myself by exploiting my position.”

  Chomsky, meanwhile, confirmed that he received a March 2018 transfer of roughly $270,000 from an account linked to Epstein, which he said was “restricted to rearrangement of my own funds, and did not involve one penny from Epstein.”

  Chomsky explained that he asked Epstein for help with a “technical matter” that he said involved the disbursement of common funds related to his first marriage. 

  “My late wife died 15 years ago after a long illness. We paid no attention to financial issues,” he told the Journal in an email which cc’d his current wife. “We asked Epstein for advice. The simplest way seemed to be to transfer funds from one account in my name to another, by way of his office.”

  According to Chomsky, he didn’t hire Epstein. “It was a simple, quick, transfer of funds,” he said.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 19:20

• Guantanamo Prisoner's Graphic Details Of CIA Torture Featured In New Report
  Guantanamo Prisoner’s Graphic Details Of CIA Torture Featured In New Report

  Authored by Brett Wilkins via Common Dreams, 

  A report published this week featuring previously unreleased drawings by Abu Zubaydah—a 52-year-old Saudi who has been imprisoned by the United States for more than 20 years at CIA “black sites” and Guantánamo Bay—offers new insight into torture suffered by a man caught up in a case of mistaken identity.

  The report—entitled American Torturers: FBI and CIA Abuses at Dark Sites and Guantánamo—is based on sketches and descriptions by Zubaydah and other War on Terror torture victims and was led by Seton Hall University law professor Mark Denbeaux and University of California, San Francisco psychiatry professor Jess Ghannam, with the help of Seton Hall law students.

  

  “Despite the efforts of the federal government, particularly the Central Intelligence Agency, to conceal evidence of the actual operation of the ‘enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs) deployed on detainees in dark sites and at Guantánamo, a steady drumbeat of disclosures has provided an unparalleled view into this disgraceful episode in the nation’s history,” the report states.

  The report notes that Zubaydah’s drawings “viscerally convey the brutal reality the CIA sought to hide with its calculated destruction of video recordings of torture conducted by its agents,” and “dovetail with the recent accounts of Dr. James Mitchell, a chief architect of the torture regime, who both wrote a book on EITs and testified in hearings on Guantánamo.”

  “These sources, together with the report of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, provide the most complete—and compelling—account to date of America’s torture program” in the years after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, the publication states.

  Born in Saudi Arabia, Zubaydah moved to the West Bank in Israeli-occupied Palestine as a teenager. He was captured by CIA, FBI, and Pakistani intelligence agents in Pakistan in late March 2002. Shot in the thigh, testicle, and stomach during the raid that led to his capture, Zubaydah—who was mistaken for a high-ranking al-Qaeda member—was transferred to CIA “black sites” in Pakistan, Thailand, Afghanistan, Poland, Northern Africa, and Diego Garcia. In September 2006, he was sent to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where he remains imprisoned.

  Zubaydah was the first so-called “high-value” detainee to be tortured by U.S. agents, who treated him as a human guinea pig.

  👀 Previously unseen drawings show the various torture methods used by the CIA against Abu Zubaydah, including physical/sexual assault, waterboarding, and more.

  Contrary to their claims, the report details how the FBI was complicit in his and other detainees’ torture. pic.twitter.com/fqDpmIThuj

  — CAGE (@UK_CAGE) May 11, 2023

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  “Everybody agrees, they tortured the wrong guy; they went ahead anyway so they could get permission to torture other people,” Denbeaux told The Guardian, which on Thursday posted the report along with an articleby Ed Pilkington on Zubaydah’s experience.

  Then-Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and CIA Director George Tenet gave the green light for U.S. agents to torture Zubaydah—even after learning that the prisoner was cooperative.

  During one discussion on the matter, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft reportedly remarked: “Why are we talking about this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly.”

  Zubaydah was subjected to the interrupted drowning technique known as “waterboarding” 83 times; rape under the pretext of “rectal feeding”; shackling in excruciating “stress positions”; sleep, sensory, and food deprivation; confinement in small boxes; exposure to extreme temperatures and loud music; death threats; beatings and being slammed into walls; sexual and religious humiliation; and other abuses.

  

  Most of the torture techniques approved by the George W. Bush administration—which included waterboarding, deprivation, stress positions, the use of loud music and dogs, slamming into walls, solitary confinement, and exposure to extreme temperatures—are illegal under both domestic and international law.

  In addition to these approved EITs, U.S. military and intelligence personnel subjected terrorism detainees—many of them innocent men, women, and children—to additional abuses, including homicide, rape, imprisonment of relatives as bargaining chips, exposure to sometimes lethally extreme temperatures, and brutal beatings.

  “Sexual assault was never approved, nudity was never approved, humiliation by having women present was never approved, and nor was subjecting someone to prolonged torture to the point of exhaustion or worse,” Denbeaux told The Guardian.

  

  According to a 2005 report by the National Library of Medicine—a federal agency—based on reviews of military documents, 26 War on Terror detainees died as a result of “criminal homicide,” although the paper did not say how many prisoners died on the battlefield or while in U.S. custody.

  “Prisoners died of torture at Asadadad, Bagram, and Gardez in Afghanistan and at Abu Ghraib, Camp Whitehorse, Basra, Mosul, Tikrit, Bucca, and an unidentified facility in Iraq,” the report stated. “These cases do not include deaths due to medical neglect, mortar attacks on prisons, or the shootings of rioting prisoners.”

  Zubaydah has never been charged with any crime or tried. He is what’s known as a “forever prisoner,” as the U.S. has no plans to release him.

  Last month, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called for Zubaydah’s immediate release while asserting that his continued imprisonment violates the “fundamental rules of international law” and “may constitute crimes against humanity.”

  

  From the report—Zubaydah: “I was hearing the sound of the power drill moving very powerfully and violently, and no other sound could cover it up … They were opening the door of my cell (which I stay locked behind 24 hours a day) only when the interrogators/torturers entered. They opened the “cell” door of the person that they will torture with the power drill, so I could hear the drill and the shouting, begging and crying in horror of the brother who is receiving the torture. When they turned off the power drill after several hours, I could hear the tortured brother still shouting, begging and crying, then I hear the person who is doing the torture shouting and threatening that he will drill the tool into the head and/or foot, and/or rear end, and/or stomach of the brother who is exposed to torture”…

  Thirty men remain imprisoned at Guantánamo. Only one has been convicted of a crime. Ten have cases pending before what former military prosecutors have called “rigged” military tribunals, while 16 have been approved or recommended for release.

  

  The administration of President Joe Biden—who has expressed intent to close Guantánamo—has overseen the transfer of a handful of Gitmo prisoners to third countries. Denbeaux said that “Abu Zubaydah is the poster child for America’s torture program.”

  “He was the first person to be tortured, having been approved by the Department of Justice based on facts that the CIA knew to be false,” Denbeaux noted. “His drawings are the ultimate repudiation of the failure and abuses of torture.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 19:00

• Soros-Backed US Attorney Resigns After Lying Under Oath To Conceal Crimes, Leaking Info
  Soros-Backed US Attorney Resigns After Lying Under Oath To Conceal Crimes, Leaking Info

  US Attorney Rachel Rollins will resign from her post following a review by the DOJ into several improprieties, the Associated Press reports.

  

  According to a report from the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), Soros-backed Rollins – the US Attorney for Massachusetts, violated the Hatch Act twice in 2022 – abusing her office. The first violation was committed in July 2022 when she attended a “political party fundraiser in her official capacity” which featured Jill Biden – and for which Rollins lied and claimed she had secured proper “approval” to meet the first lady. Other sources, however, indicated that the permission she obtained was “limited.”

  The second violation took place between August and September when she “repeatedly attempted to sabotage the campaign of a political candidate by leaking non-public U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) information to the media to plant a story that the candidate she opposed was facing a DOJ investigation.”

  The second violation was described by the OSC as “one of the most egregious Hatch Act violations that OSC has ever investigated.”

  The Hatch Act prohibits government employees from abusing their official authority to affect the outcome of an election.

  Disgraced Soros prosecutor Rachael Rollins repeatedly lied under oath to cover up her crimes.

  Career officials said her actions were among the “most egregious” they have ever seen.

  Yet Biden’s DOJ refuses to prosecute her because she’s an ideological ally. pic.twitter.com/B6CH6brgIl

  — Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) May 17, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsAccording to the report, “political activity” is described as “activity directed toward the success or failure of a political party, partisan political group, or candidate for partisan political office and includes attending a political event.”

  Per the report, Rollins was found to have “interfer[ed] with or affect[ed]” the outcome of the election for district attorney (DA) of Suffolk County, Massachusetts in 2022” when she leaked information regarding her office’s recusal from a possible DOJ investigation into a candidate she was opposing, DA Kevin Hayden.

  Rollins heavily supported Hayden’s opponent, Ricardo Arroyo, according to the report, which added that throughout the campaign, Arroyo suggested to Rollins that her office should announce an investigation into Hayden.

  “It “[w]ould be the best thing I can have happen at this moment,” Arroyo wrote to Rollins.

  “Understood. Keep fighting and campaigning. I’m working on something,” Rollins wrote back.

  I warned Rachael Rollins was unfit to serve as a U.S. Attorney. Now she’s resigning in disgrace.

  Good riddance. pic.twitter.com/hazBFR4cTQ

  — Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) May 17, 2023

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  SHOT / CHASER pic.twitter.com/zK9ZdypwNg

  — Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 17, 2023

  As the Free Beacon notes,

  Rollins’s resignation is a setback for Soros, who has seen a string of electoral victories in recent years after funding the campaigns for progressive prosecutors around the country. Massachusetts Democratic senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren were Rollins’s largest supporters during her Senate confirmation fight. In a Wednesday statement, the two said that “Rachael Rollins has for years dedicated herself to the people of Massachusetts and equal justice under the law.”

  Rollins was the abusive Soros prosecutor who attacked a journalist for actually pursuing story’s about her radical agenda, which was then being scrutinized as part of her ascent to the US Attorneys office. https://t.co/JKLexiaZE3

  — Zach (@badzachtakes) May 17, 2023

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

  What will Rollins do next? Will Magneto back her in her next endeavor? Stay tuned.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 18:40

• The Hate Industry
  The Hate Industry

  Authored by Edward Ring via American Greatness,

  “The most dangerous terrorist threat to our homeland is white supremacy.”

  – President Joe Biden, speaking at Howard University, May 13, 2023

  In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, when establishment politicians started to make common use of the term “homeland,” they told us the most dangerous threat to Americans was foreign terrorists. But today, we are instructed to fear the enemy within. A new iconic date, January 6, 2021, is inscribed on our collective consciousness. From coast to coast, Americans are being herded into two camps. There are the “white supremacists,” those bad people who purportedly hate good people. And then there is everyone else, good people who are encouraged to hate the bad people.

  

  The common thread, to state the obvious, is hate.

  As Joe Biden’s would-be successor, doing his part to nurture and support the hate industry, California Governor Gavin Newsom on May 4 announced “the Launch of CA vs Hate, a New Statewide Hotline to Report Hate Acts in California.” Proclaiming that “hate will not be tolerated,” the governor said that Californians will have “another tool to ensure that not only justice is served, but that individuals have access to additional resources to help deal with the lingering wounds that remain after such a horrendous crime occurs.”

  This is agenda-driven hype. The agenda, perfectly expressed by author Michael Shellenberger in a Substack post last week, is to “manufacture a fake ‘hate’ crisis as [a] pretext for mass spying, blacklists, and censorship.” The hype, also exposed by Shellenberger in his recent article, is underscored by the fact that over the past 10 years, hate crime convictions, as opposed to “criminal complaints of hate crimes,” have not increased at all. In a state with 40 million people, hate crime convictions were a minuscule 109 in 2021, and a negligible increase from 107 in 2012.

  The hate industry is a vast agglomeration of lucrative hustles, now institutionalized and expanded into multiple and overlapping sectors. There is the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) sector; the equity, social, and governance (ESG) sector; the activist sector comprising countless groups, including Black Lives Matter and Antifa; the corporate, academic, and government sectors; the media sector; the politicians; and the pundits. All of these sectors have spawned scores of thousands of well-paying jobs.

  If these institutions weren’t able to point to rising levels of hatred in America, then their specialty, the business of hate, would no longer be a growth industry. Where there is no hate, they must manufacture it. Where hatred has diminished, they must discover new forms of hate, often so subtle that we foolishly fail to recognize it without their assistance.

  Peddling Hate Is a Dangerous Game

  It’s a dangerous and divisive game. For hate to exist, you have to have a hater and a victim of hate. And who might they be? A list of Newsom’s “Community Specific Resources for People Targeted for Hate” might provide a clue. Virtually every imaginable group is listed as “people targeted for hate,” including “Communities living at the intersection of multiple identities (Coming Soon).” Isn’t that great? Resources for those who live “at the intersection of multiple identities” is “coming soon.” They’re awfully busy at the State of California’s Civil Rights Department. These, we are told, are the victims.

  Not listed, of course, are heterosexual, “cisgender” white males who speak English, and lack learning disabilities, physical disabilities, mental health disabilities, or are elders, or students, and don’t belong to the “Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, and Jewish communities.” Got that? If someone is a member of this rapidly disappearing fraction of California’s population, there are no “community resources.” These, then, are the haters.

  The problem for Newsom—and Biden, and every other hate-hyping demagogue in America—is that data doesn’t validate the hate narrative. To keep the industry supplied with the fuel of hatred, Newsom must differentiate between hate crimes, because hardly any of these occur, and “hate incidents,” which, like harvested ballots, appear in numbers proportional to the amount of money invested to procure them. Here is how Newsom’s Department of Civil Rights describes a hate incident: “A hostile expression or action that may be motivated by bias against another person’s actual or perceived identity(ies).”

  If this seems vague, that’s on purpose. When trolling for hate incidents, cast as wide a net as possible. A “hostile expression,” that “may” be motivated by bias. That’s awfully broad and awfully subjective. And to ensure California’s epidemic of hate is fully documented, a “CA vs. Hate Portal” has been set up through the “Submit Hate Incident or Hate Crime Report” button, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week on your desktop or mobile device.

  If you click through this online interface to the main screen, you will learn that the “Types of Crime or Incident” that qualify include “cyberbullying/internet harassment (text, email, or social media),” “verbal harassment,” “hate literature/flyers,” “hate mail,” and several other categories offering an almost unlimited latitude of qualifying criteria.

  Exaggerating Hate, Marketing Hate

  Anyone who thinks the number of reported “hate incidents” can’t be goosed upwards by marketing a site like this should reflect on just how trivial some of the alleged transgressions have been that attracted wide publicity and outrage.

  California’s local television networks in the Sacramento area were agog a few years ago with a report that flyers stating “It’s OK to be White” were posted around the campus of the University of California at Davis. News reporters interviewed college officials who were shocked and terrified and anxious to assert their commitment to keeping UC Davis “safe” from these “triggering” flyers. The presumption was that this rather innocuous assertion was “hate literature.” Exactly why this was considered hate literature was not explained.

  During the 2020 election season, the need for evidence of alarming “white supremacist” activity was so desperate that national television networks, for several days, ran a story about a white man who yelled anti-Asian slurs at some Asian diners in a restaurant in Carmel Valley, California. The point here isn’t to excuse the man’s comments. For all we know, maybe he deserved the dogpile that followed. But it wouldn’t have mattered. The hate machine needed to find a hater, so there was never any attempt to contextualize the incident. What made this man angry? How much had he been drinking? Were the diners he insulted being disruptive, noisy, or rude? Was there no provocation whatsoever?

  But the answers are beside the point. This incident, while unpleasant and regrettable, did not merit national news coverage. It had no geopolitical significance. It was national “news” because it was the only example available that week, in a nation of 330 million people, during a time when it was important for the hate industry to foment a national terror of “white supremacy.”

  Recognize any of that today? It’s bigger than ever, with the hate machine still focused on white racist hate crimes. And if a perpetrator isn’t white, such as the Latino man who just murdered five people in Texas, the hate machine makes sure to play down that fact, but is sure to mention he is a “suspected Nazi sympathizer.” What about another Latino, also in Texas, who recently ran his SUV into a crowd outside an immigrant center, killing eight? The media takeaway—he yelled “anti-immigrant insults” when he was detained. White supremacy, courtesy of Latinos.

  If the story doesn’t fit the narrative, and you can’t find a story that does, then warp the story. Make it fit. Hugely disproportionate rates of black-on-black crime? What’s that? Blacks beating a white girl half to death? Crickets. A white person, with the assistance of black person, subdues a deranged black career criminal before he hurts somebody and, in the struggle, he unintentionally chokes him to death? The dead black criminal is a saint, the brave white hero is a “vigilante,” and the brave black hero is ignored because he doesn’t fit the narrative.

  All of this warped coverage generates lucrative hate. White liberals and blacks are encouraged to hate white racists. White conservatives hate the lying media and resent the double standard. And as hate grows, money is made, and authoritarian bureaucracies expand.

  This point cannot be emphasized enough: The “anti-hate” hate industry creates the tribalism it claims to fight, and the only beneficiary of all the hate it creates is the hate industry itself.

  All Hate Matters, Hating Haters Is Still Hate

  As is usual with so much in 21st-century America, the irony here is so thick you’d break a chainsaw trying to cut through.

  Gavin Newsom, a man who checks almost every box in the “hater” category, is part of a hate machine that is fueled by ginning up hatred for the haters. There is irony everywhere. Walk into any classroom in California, and more often than not, you will encounter at least one poster stating “Everyone is welcome here,” against the backdrop of a gay/trans pride flag. You may rest assured that whoever puts up a sign like this is most definitely not going to welcome “everyone.” Whoever does not share their views is a “hater,” who deserves to be hated.

  There are plenty of reasons for the growth of America’s hate industry. There have always been political incentives to marginalize opposition candidates and movements, but the modern hate industry was born when the internet democratized communication. All of a sudden, instead of three or four major broadcasting networks and newspapers competing for a huge national news audience, there were thousands of new online sources of information. The knockout blow came when social media and search giants came on the scene, within a few years co-opting over 50 percent of national advertising dollars by offering precision placements of advertising content. How did the national news media respond? By peddling hate.

  In a recent interview, Elon Musk offered an insightful explanation of why hate sells better than love. As humans evolved, he said, we developed a much stronger response to fear than to attraction, because if we didn’t immediately and forcefully react, for example, to a charging lion, we would die, whereas if we took our time ambling over to a sweet berry bush, we would merely defer a bit of pleasure.

  The fact that it takes less investment to retain viewers if you appeal to their negative emotions has become the business strategy of media companies struggling to compete in a market that has become infinitely fragmented and ruthlessly competitive. Hate sells.

  Even if peddling hate weren’t the survival strategy of America’s beleaguered media companies, the modern era would still be spawning more than the usual amount of hate. Social media has granted every individual on earth access to billions of potential critics, every one of them with the ability to lob insults from a distance and anonymously. Humans aren’t wired to cope with an audience for their opinions that includes an infinite number of people who can insult them perpetually, without the desire to engage in reason, and without the slightest fear of consequences.

  The Hate Industry’s Hidden Agenda

  It’s obvious the “anti-hate” hate industry is a self-perpetuating, self-aggrandizing fraud. But behind all the hatred that is nurtured by a hate industry that grows when hate grows, and hence is doing everything it can to divide Americans, there is a deeper agenda. Whether in preparation for martial law to be imposed if there is a major war, or the reduction of our standard of living in order to achieve “sustainability,” or to pacify a population that might otherwise rebel against mass immigration with all the economic and social disruption it will entail, or to divide, diminish, incite, and then crush the populist rebellion against all three of these profiteering, globalist gambits, America is slowly being turned into a technology-driven police state. If we can be convinced that we must be terrified of the haters who are rampant among us, we will accept everything being done to stop them.

  America’s hate industry employs a diabolical strategy, whereby everything they do to supposedly eliminate hate actually creates more hate. In the name of fighting hate, the hate industry demands tolerance when it is not actually promoting every abnormal, deviant, debauched, destructive, indolent, criminal, or bizarre behavior. It normalizes the strange and then accuses anyone of questioning the health or the efficacy of mainstreaming the marginal of being haters. It continuously ups the ante, creating as much disruption as possible, while monetizing the controversy in the form of bigger DEI departments, more “environmental, social, governance” criteria, more bureaucrats, more thought police, and bigger audiences for their salacious, indignant cable and online shows.

  If there aren’t enough adverse reactions against the hate industry’s campaign to deconstruct American culture and traditions, they make them up. Increase the scale and scope of this deconstruction while at the same time lowering the level of reaction necessary to trigger accusations of hate. Eventually, declare a state of emergency. Game over.

  Several years ago, a refugee from the Soviet Union said something to me that I didn’t immediately understand. “The only perfectly safe place,” he said, “is a prison.” As America drifts further towards the state of perfect safety, free of unsanctioned hate, yet saturated with hate masquerading as tolerance, it becomes obvious what he meant. So bravo, Joe Biden. And bravo, Gavin Newsom. You two are doing your part.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 18:20

• Wendy's Plans New Underground Delivery System for Mobile Orders
  Wendy’s Plans New Underground Delivery System for Mobile Orders

  Fast food chain Wendy’s is testing new technology to automate its stores. This is more bad news for human workers as automation and artificial intelligence invade the fast food industry. 

  Wendy’s announced a new partnership with Pipedream, a hyper logistics company, to pilot-test the first underground autonomous robot system that will allow food from the kitchen to be sent to designated parking spots via an underground network of pipes. 

  

  “The partnership marks another bold step for Wendy’s in driving industry innovation as it strives to serve digital-forward customers with greater ease, speed, and accuracy,” Wendy’s wrote in a press release. 

  “We know that serving orders quickly and accurately leads to increased customer satisfaction.

  “Pipedream’s Instant Pickup system has the potential to unlock greater mobile order speed of service and accuracy, enabling us to consistently deliver hot and fresh Wendy’s products to our fans,” said Deepak Ajmani, US Chief Operations Officer of Wendy’s. 

  Wendy’s stated the move is to “provide digital customers with a fast and convenient pick-up option.” While this is true, it’s a continued push by the company to slim down its workforce by automating low-skilled jobs.

  Want more evidence of this?

  Last week, the fast food chain with nearly 6,000 US stores said it was developing an artificial intelligence chatbot powered by Google’s natural-language software to automate drive-thru ordering. 

  

  Besides Wendy’s, we have outlined the move by other fast-food restaurants, like McDonald’s, to automate stores and replace humans: 

  • McDonald’s To Replace More Humans With Drive-Thru AI
  • McDonald’s Tests AI-Powered Automated Drive-Thrus At 10 Chicago Restaurants

  There’s even been a push by McDonald’s to automate a restaurant entirely: 

  • McDonald’s Unveils Automated Restaurant In Texas With No Human Contact

  Recall a recent Goldman report (available to pro subscribers in the usual place) that stated, “Two-thirds of current jobs are exposed to some degree of AI automation, and that generative AI could substitute up to one-fourth of current work. Extrapolating our estimates globally suggests that generative AI could expose the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs to automation” as up to “two thirds of occupations could be partially automated by AI.”

  In other words, the robots are coming, and jobs will be lost. 

   

   

   

   

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 18:00

• Supreme Court Sides With Inmate Who Wants To Be Executed With Nitrogen Gas
  Supreme Court Sides With Inmate Who Wants To Be Executed With Nitrogen Gas

  Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The Supreme Court sided on May 15 with a condemned man in Alabama who wants to be executed by nitrogen gas instead of lethal injection, refusing to set aside a stay of execution by lethal injection previously granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

  

  Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the Supreme Court’s new unsigned order in Hamm v. Smith, court file 22-580. The court did not explain why it declined to grant the petition filed by the state.

  Alabama was prepared to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith, 57, on Nov. 17, 2022, by lethal injection. But state officials struggled to gain adequate access to his veins before the death warrant expired.

  Alabama has had problems with its lethal injection procedures. Last year, the state put executions on hold while it reviewed various difficulties it experienced in multiple cases when it tried to carry out lethal injections.

  In November 2022, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey said the pause was needed “to make sure that we can successfully deliver that justice and that closure” for victims’ families. In February of this year, Ivey said the review was complete and called for executions to resume.

  At the time, Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said his agency added medical personnel and conducted trainings. “In addition, the Department has ordered and obtained new equipment that is now available for future executions,” he said, according to CNN.

  Under new rules, courts will allow the governor to establish a time frame for the execution that state officials say “will make it harder for inmates to ‘run out the clock’ with last-minute appeals and requests for stays of execution.”

  “As you know, this caused unnecessary deadline pressure for department personnel as courts issued orders late into the night in response to death-row inmates’ last minute legal challenges,” Hamm said.

  Smith and an accomplice were convicted in the 1988 murder of Elizabeth Sennett. The two individuals were hired by the victim’s husband who had taken out a sizable insurance policy on his wife.

  

  Smith claimed the attempted execution by lethal drugs was botched and went to court, arguing that he should be put to death by nitrogen hypoxia. That new method of execution has been approved by the Alabama legislature but protocols for carrying it out have not yet been finalized.

  The 11th Circuit sided with Smith in the method-of-execution appeal, concluding he had “plausibly alleged that nitrogen hypoxia was a feasible, readily implemented alternative method of execution.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/17/2023 – 17:40

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