Today’s News 18th November 2021

• Liverpool Bomber Exploited UK's "Dysfunctional" Asylum System: Home Secretary
  Liverpool Bomber Exploited UK’s “Dysfunctional” Asylum System: Home Secretary

  Authored by Alexander Zhang via The Epoch Times,

  The terror suspect who died in the Remembrance Sunday bomb blast in Liverpool had been able to stay in the UK by exploiting the country’s “dysfunctional” immigration system, Home Secretary Priti Patel has said.

  Emad Al Swealmeen, 32, died in the blast in a taxi outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital shortly before 11 a.m. on Remembrance Sunday. The incident has been declared a terrorist attack and the UK terror threat level has since been raised from substantial to severe, meaning an attack is “highly likely” rather than “likely.”

  Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said on Wednesday that Al Swealmeen, who was born in Iraq, had rented a property in Liverpool seven months ago and had started making “relevant purchases” for his homemade bomb “at least” since that time.

  Al Swealmeen reportedly arrived in the UK in 2014 and had an application for asylum rejected the following year, but had remained in the country.

  

  Patel, who is currently on a three-day visit to Washington, D.C., said the UK’s asylum system was a “complete merry-go-round” with a “whole industry” devoted to defending the rights of individuals intent on causing harm.

  “The case in Liverpool was a complete reflection of how dysfunctional, how broken, the system has been in the past, and why I want to bring changes forward,” she told reporters on her flight to the U.S. capital.

  “It’s a complete merry-go-round and it has been exploited. A whole sort of professional legal services industry has based itself on rights of appeal, going to the courts day-in day-out at the expense of the taxpayers through legal aid. That is effectively what we need to change.”

  She added:

  “These people have come to our country and abused British values, abused the values of the fabric of our country and our society. And as a result of that, there’s a whole industry that thinks it’s right to defend these individuals that cause the most appalling crimes against British citizens, devastating their lives, blighting communities—and that is completely wrong.”

  Al Swealmeen has been referred to as a “Christian convert” in some UK media reports, as he was baptised at Liverpool Cathedral in 2015 and confirmed in 2017.

  Now concerns have been raised that some asylum seekers may have pretended to convert to Christianity in order to bolster their cases for refugee status.

  A spokesman for Liverpool Cathedral said the church had “has developed robust processes for discerning whether someone might be expressing a genuine commitment to faith.”

  “These include requirements for regular attendance alongside taking part in a recognised Christian basics course. We would expect someone to be closely connected with the community for at least two years before we would consider supporting an application,” said the spokesman.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/18/2021 – 02:00

• The Rittenhouse Case Proves The Establishment Wants To Bring Back Star Chamber Tyranny
  The Rittenhouse Case Proves The Establishment Wants To Bring Back Star Chamber Tyranny

  Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

  One of the most interesting stories from the early days leading up to the American Revolution involves the events surrounding the Boston Massacre. On March 5th, 1770 the Stamp Act had just been repealed but British Soldiers were ever present in Boston as a show of force against the “rowdy” colonists. The British government, in order to save face, implemented the Townshend Acts instead as a means to continue taxing the colonies (without representation, of course). Anger was growing in the streets.

  The presence of the Red Coats in the city added to the public fury and protests were sparked. One such protest was raging in front of the Custom House on King Street over a disagreement between wig maker Henry Knox and a soldier. The argument grew into what was later described as a riot. Allegedly, the crowd became violent and started throwing objects at the soldiers. One of the soldiers let off a shot and then someone yelled “Fire!”, causing all the Red Coats to shoot into the crowd killing five of them and injuring others.

  The colonial justice system could have chosen to use their position to railroad the soldiers in question and make an ideological example out of them. Instead, in the first trial of Captain John Preston, ample legal representation was given (the lawyer was John Adams, who would later become the 2nd President of the US), along with a fair trial. Adams’ position that the soldiers believed they were under imminent danger of bodily harm convinced the jury and a not-guilty verdict was given for the majority of the soldiers, with manslaughter charges for two of them.

  Adams felt that his victory in the defense of the British soldiers was actually a victory for the colonies and ultimately the Revolution. You see, the British looked upon the colonials as “insurrectionists” and barbarians. They did not think that a fair trial for a soldier in the colonies was even possible. By proving them wrong with grace, logic and objectivity, Adams and the jury destroyed a common lie perpetuated by the monarchy and the British establishment. The colonies had more honor than the British did.

  This lack of honor among the British establishment became evident before and during the Revolutionary War when the “Star Chamber” became the defacto law of the monarchy in the colonies.

  The Star Chamber was an elitist-operated “justice system” or tribunal originally designed so that the British aristocracy was assured a fair trial whenever they actually faced a criminal charge. In other words, it was a special court for the power elites that was separate and superior to the courts used for average peasants. Publicly, it was also presented as a means for commoners to redress grievances against aristocrats, but it was well understood that the Star Chamber would rarely go against the nobility UNLESS they had also offended the king. If they went against the king, they would be black-bagged like anyone else.

  During the unrest in the colonies, however, the Star Chamber was used in a different manner; it became a weapon to crush dissent among subjects that spoke out against the empire and sowed the seeds of “sedition”.

  The dreaded court was highly secretive and the public was often obstructed from its proceedings. Its rulings were overseen by the establishment rather than a jury and in many cases those people being charged were never given a chance to defend themselves. They were sentenced before they ever entered a courtroom, if they entered a courtroom at all. Silence was often considered an admission of guilt rather than a right of the accused. Punishments were brutal, including torture and imprisonment under the worst possible conditions.

  The death penalty was not allowed, but the court would instead place defendants in conditions so horrible that they tended to die on their own.

  All of this was justified under the claim that every person charged was treasonous, and therefore they did not deserve a fair trial among their peers. After the war was over and the British were defeated, the Founding Fathers drafted large portions of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in order to counter and prevent the same abuses they saw under the Star Chamber. The 5th Amendment in particular was directly inspired as a way to stop Star Chamber-like abuses of court power.

  But lets leap ahead to current day, where we find that the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, now nearing its end, has beyond anything else revealed a vicious intention by the establishment to bring back the oppression of the Star Chamber through the media manipulated court of public opinion, mob rule as well as violations of well established constitutional law.

  The political left could have chosen the path of reason, allowing justice to take its natural course through a display of objectivity and fairness as John Adams and the colonials did during the Boston Massacre trial.

  

  They have instead chosen to take the same route as the British, motivated by a “win at any cost” mentality, using lies, strategic omissions, censorship and threats of mob violence to turn the Rittenhouse trial into a political proxy war.

  Here are just a handful of examples that show the establishment and the media are seeking to undermine centuries of normal constitutional protections including the right of self defense…

  The Kenosha “Peaceful Protest” Misdirection

  First, lets be clear that the media’s handling of the entire Kenosha incident was corrupt from the very beginning. Aside from refusing to call the riots that erupted what they were – RIOTS, the media has also consistently mischaracterized the police shooting as brutality against black suspect Jacob Blake. Blake, crippled by the incident, has been painted as a “victim and hero” in the news.

  In reality, Blake had a warrant out for his arrest including trespassing, disorderly conduct and sexual assault. The police were made aware of this before they attempted to detain him. Blake also had a history of resisting arrest, and of course attempted to do so again in Kenosha. Videos clearly show Blake trying to march away from officers and jump back into his vehicle.

  The media claimed Blake was unarmed, yet he is also clearly holding a karambit style knife in the same videos, which the police ordered him to drop and he refused. The Wisconsin DOJ confirmed that Blake was armed and Blake himself admitted to having the knife. Officers were already on edge as Blake tried to reach into his car, or use his car to get away, or possibly use the car as a weapon.

  Frankly, Blake’s history and behavior at the scene make him a criminal, not a hero or a victim. All this information was readily available within about a day of the event. The media attempted to hide these FACTS surrounding his shooting from the public and deliberately sowed seeds of unrest. And the ignorant and reactionary people within the BLM movement ate up the propaganda.

  When violence broke out, the media portrayed the riots as “peaceful protests” for “racial justice”. Even though, just as with George Floyd, there was no evidence whatsoever that racial motivations had anything to do with it. The riots were based on lies from beginning to end, and this false narrative has bled into and tainted the handling of the Kyle Rittenhouse case – For even if Rittenhouse was defending himself from attackers, the attackers are still presented as the “good guys” because they were fighting for “racial justice”, which again, is simply not true.

  The Kid Defending Himself Was Actually The Villain Because He Defended Himself?

  The prosecution in the Rittenhouse case should have watched the widely available video evidence (and the secret FBI evidence) and seen that without a shadow of a doubt Rittenhouse was defending himself from an unprovoked attack by an unhinged mob. It is no coincidence that every person Rittenhouse was forced to shoot had a violent criminal record, including Joseph Rosenbaum who had multiple convictions for pedophilia including 11 counts of child molestation. These people were chasing Rittenhouse because they intended to do him harm just as they had done others harm.

  The media and the prosecution offer a bizarrely disconnected view, in which Kyle Rittenhouse “provoked” the mob into attacking him simply because he was there and because he had a firearm. Multiple witnesses and FBI surveillance footage indicate Joseph Rosenbaum chased and then attacked Rittenhouse, trying to take his rifle by force, which was why he was shot. But this does not matter in the Star Chamber.

  Lead Prosecutor Thomas Binger openly argued that Rittenhouse ‘lost his right to self defense because he was carrying a gun.’ Binger apparently overlooks the fact that one of Rittenhouse’s attackers, Gaige Grosskreutz, had a gun (illegally due to his felony record) and admitted in court that he ran at Rittenhouse with the weapon pointed at him when Rittenhouse shot him. But somehow, only Kyle’s gun was the cause of the violence and all his attackers were responding to the threatening presence of his weapon?

  This has been the overarching crux of the prosecution’s case as well as the media narrative: They say Rittenhouse should be treated as an “active shooter” and that the leftist mob was leaping into action, bravely trying to stop him. This does not translate at all when we watch the video of the event; it is clear that Rittenhouse is being pursued by the mob and and they attack him from behind, causing him to fall to the ground. Only then does he defend himself with the rifle against his attackers, including Anthony Huber who tried to bash Kyle’s head in with a skateboard and Grosskreutz who ran at him with a Glock.

  To clarify, because this may not be a widely understood factor, if someone is trying to get away from you, you cannot attack them and then legally claim “self defense” was your motive. Only police officers have the right to physically detain a person who is trying to escape.

  Also, if Rittenhouse was an “active shooter” you would think he would have fired belligerently into the crowd, but he did not; he only fired on the people trying to hurt him.

  The prosecution and media narratives are a blatant attack on the right of self defense in general. In closing arguments, the prosecution argued that Rittenhouse was a “coward” that should have used his fists to fight off the angry mob instead of using his rifle; displaying a clear intent to attack not just Rittenhouse, but overall gun rights. The case itself is obviously politically slanted against Rittenhouse because he is a conservative. Had this been a leftist shooting a mob of conservatives under the same circumstances at the Jan 6th riot I doubt it would have ever gone to trial.

  The implications of this are far reaching. If Rittenhouse is found guilty despite all the evidence to the contrary, the assertion will then be that self defense is no longer a protected right for anyone with the wrong politics. It will be seen as open season on conservatives at any such events in the future and all defense law will come into question, especially any defense law that involves gun rights.

  The 5th Amendment Attack And The Strategy Of Subverting A Trial

  Various establishment institutions have been trying to undermine the 5th Amendment and the right to remain silent for decades now. Once again, we saw this evidenced in the Rittenhouse trial when prosecutors sought to attack the defendant on potential evidence that was ostensibly dismissed before the trial by the judge. The prosecution asked questions related to the evidence anyway. The judge removed the jury from the room and then chastised Binger, who then proceeded to question Rittenhouse’s right to remain silent on the issue.

  This may seem to be overly complicated legal jousting, but this action by the prosecution was an aggressive attempt to taint the jury with misconceptions of the defendant as a violent “vigilante” rather than the victim of a mob attack. Also, questioning a defendant’s right to remain silent is belligerent to say the least. But beyond that, the faux pas by the prosecution could have led to an immediate mistrial declared.

  Keep in mind that the prosecution had already suffered numerous failures and the case was going downhill for them. I suspect that this may have been an attempt by Binger to deliberately cause a mistrial and to retry Rittenhouse at a later date, undoing his many mistakes and getting another opportunity to bury Rittenhouse despite his innocence. This is how the Star Chamber begins – When you can be tried over and over again until the establishment gets the outcome they wanted. Furthermore, if the right to remain silent comes into question, then any refusal to answer questions could become an assumed admission of guilt.

  Silencing The Alternative Media And Obstructing Honest Reporting

  Perhaps the most blatant act by the establishment has been to use Big Tech to censor various elements and observations of the Rittenhouse trial. Facebook and Twitter have been policing Rittenhouse related posts, and YouTube blocked the majority of independent streamers covering the live closing arguments of the case. The mainstream media has completely avoided any mention of this decision, but of course they would; it makes them the only source for case coverage and their narrative the only narrative.

  And how about that thermal surveillance evidence from the FBI that only saw the light of day in the middle of the trail? Withholding evidence is a direct obstruction of justice but also a direct attempt to undermine public insight into the case. The narrative is easier to fabricate if one filters out any evidence that contradicts it.

  This control of the narrative has led to widespread disinformation in the Rittenhouse case. There are still many leftists out there that actually think the people Kyle shot were black and that Rittenhouse is a “racist.” The media has asserted for the past year that Rittenhouse’s self defense was somehow related to “white supremacy.” Media hacks like CNN’s Don Lemon have also insinuated that the judge in the case is biased and possibly racist.

  The media has asserted that if Rittenhouse is not found guilty that riots will erupt once again to provide punishment where the courts “failed.” If riots do explode, it will be because of the misleading and poisonous lies constantly spread by the same mainstream media. But let’s think about the consequences of this for a moment…

  The Star Chamber is an ideal tyrannical tool, but the establishment and leftists do not have it in hand yet. They want it badly, and their behavior during the Rittenhouse case makes this clear. I REPEAT: The Star Chamber is not upon us yet, but it is coming soon if these people get their way.

  Rule by the mob goes well beyond the effects of the Star Chamber, but this could be by design. Think of it this way: Say Rittenhouse is found Not Guilty, and BLM mobs burn down Kenosha in response. Future courts and future juries in similar cases might then decide it’s easier to ignore facts and evidence so that mob violence is avoided and the leftists are appeased. The Star Chamber will return because it will be seen as a preferable alternative to national riots. The Star Chamber will become a mechanism for the “greater good” and the establishment will get what it wanted all along.

  This cannot be allowed to happen. The Rittenhouse trial does not represent a singular shooting event and an isolated case for self defense, it represents a fulcrum point for the very fabric of our society and what justice will actually mean in the years to come. If an obviously innocent kid is convicted of murder merely because of his political beliefs, or if the mob is allowed to burn and destroy swaths of a city because the verdict is Not Guilty, then every effort the Founding Fathers made to stop the creation of another Star Chamber will be erased.

  *  *  *

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  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 23:40

• Russia Admits Destroying Satellite With Missile But Denies 'Risky Behavior'
  Russia Admits Destroying Satellite With Missile But Denies ‘Risky Behavior’

  A day after the US State Department spokesperson slammed Russia for conducting a “destructive satellite test of a direct ascent anti-satellite missile against one of its satellites” that “generated over 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris and hundreds of thousands of pieces of smaller orbital debris that threatened the space station.” Russia on Tuesday admitted it had conducted an anti-satellite weapon’s test against a defunct space satellite. 

  On Tuesday, the Russian defense ministry said it “successfully conducted a test, as a result of which the Russian spacecraft ‘Tselina-D,’ which had been in orbit since 1982, was destroyed,” according to Russian news agencies. 

  Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the missile test was “promising” due to its accuracy in striking the defunct satellite. 

  “The fragments that formed do not pose any threat to space activity,” Shoigu added. 

  The confirmation of the State Department’s claims came after Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, had refused to admit that Moscow had endangered the space station while saying it was “hypocrisy” that Moscow makes space more dangerous. 

  “To declare that the Russian Federation creates risks for the peaceful use of space is, at the very least, hypocrisy,” Lavrov told reporters, adding that “there are no facts” behind the US’ claims.

  NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday described the missile test as a “reckless” and “concerning” act.

  “It demonstrates that Russia is now developing new weapon systems that can shoot down satellites,” Stoltenberg said at a meeting with EU defense officials. 

  French Defence Minister Florence Parly called Russia “space vandals” on Twitter. Germany’s foreign ministry called the incident “very cornering.” 

  For some context on space debris in low Earth orbit, nearly 30,000 pieces of space debris threaten space assets. 

  

  “The biggest contributor to the current space debris problem is explosions in orbit, caused by left-over energy—fuel and batteries—onboard spacecraft and rockets. Despite measures being in place for years to prevent this, we see no decline in the number of such events. Trends towards end-of-mission disposal are improving, but at a slow pace,” European Space Agency recently said.

  More importantly, Russia destroying one of its satellites during a missile test shows it can also destroy enemy ones. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 23:20

• Smallpox Drugmaker Surges Amid Fears Of New Pandemic
  Smallpox Drugmaker Surges Amid Fears Of New Pandemic

  Something strange is going on: now that even Fauci has admitted that covid could be “downgraded” to an endemic in 2022, as frankly everyone – even Democrat politicians – are sick and tired of the Wuhan virus, speculation is emerging that the seeds of the next pandemic are already being planted, and it looks like this.

  

  That is the image of the smallpox virus which, like covid, is a highly contagious and sometimes fatal disease. There is no specific treatment for people with smallpox, and the only prevention is vaccination.

  Here’s a little background from the CDC

  Thousands of years ago, variola virus (smallpox virus) emerged and began causing illness and deaths in human populations, with smallpox outbreaks occurring from time to time. Thanks to the success of vaccination, the last natural outbreak of smallpox in the United States occurred in 1949. In 1980, the World Health Assembly declared smallpox eradicated (eliminated), and no cases of naturally occurring smallpox have happened since.

  Smallpox research in the United States continues and focuses on the development of vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic tests to protect people against smallpox in the event that it is used as an agent of bioterrorism.

  Well, what is odd is that just last night we reported that the FBI and CDC were investigating 15 “questionable vials” labeled “smallpox” that were found in a vaccine research lab near Philadelphia (the same city where 12 Monkeys takes place).

  “CDC, its Administration partners, and law enforcement are investigating the matter, and the vials’ contents appear intact. The laboratory worker who discovered the vials was wearing gloves and a face mask. We will provide further details as they are available,” the spokesperson said.

  Some, however, did not wait for further details, and on Thursday, SIGA Technologies, maker of the FDA-approved smallpox drug Tpoxx (tecovirimat), rose 6.7% to a three-year high, advancing for a fifth straight day following not just the Philadelphia smallpox news, but also news that U.S. health officials on Tuesday confirmed a case of monkeypox virus infection in a Maryland resident who recently returned from Nigeria.

  

  “The individual presented with mild symptoms, is currently recovering in isolation and is not hospitalized. No special precautions are recommended at this time for the general public,” according to the Maryland Department of Health, although judging by the surge in SIGA shares, the market disagrees.

  Monkeypox is part of the same family of viruses as smallpox but generally causes a milder infection. Illness typically begins with flu-like symptoms and swelling of the lymph nodes, progressing to a widespread rash on the face and body. Officials ask travelers returning from central or western Africa to notify their health-care provider if they develop symptoms of monkeypox.

  Separately, SIGA in a premarket statement Tuesday said that a key European Medicines Agency panel known as CHMP backed approval of oral tecovirimat, including support for broad uses against smallpox, monkeypox, cowpox and vaccinia complications

  More curiously, SIGA earlier this month said that during the fourth quarter, it expected to deliver as much as $113 million of Tpoxx to the U.S. government, which maintains a stockpile. Over the past decade, the U.S. government has procured, or has current orders for, approximately $705 million of TPOXX for national preparedness.

  So unfortunately be on the lookout for any “incidents” involving smallpox in the coming days.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 23:00

• Two Fed Presidents Hit The Alarm Over The Broken Treasury Market… Which They Caused
  Two Fed Presidents Hit The Alarm Over The Broken Treasury Market… Which They Caused

  In the usual post-FOMC meeting jawboning circus, today we had not one but two Fed officials discussing not the topic du jour – Fed policy errors and soaring inflation – but something far more ominous: the broken Treasury market. Just days after a catastrophic 30Y Treasury auction which may well be the harbinger of what’s to come as the market realizes that i) tapering is tightening and that without the buyer of first resort we will finally get some price discovery and ii) inflation, contrary to the latest Fund Manager Survey, is not transitory, both Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester and NY Fed president John Williams warned markets that the Treasury market is “not as resilient” as it should be, and that even modest stress could break it. Unfortunately neither of them admitted that it’s entirely the Fed’s fault that what was once the world’s most liquid market has become a political tool to be abused by central planners and power hungry politicians.

  NY Fed’s Williams was first, patting himself on the back by saying that the Fed’s bazooka QE unleashed at the onset of the pandemic, “along with prompt fiscal measures enacted by Congress and emergency steps taken by the Federal Reserve and other government agencies, ultimately proved successful at restoring functioning in the Treasury and other financial markets” And while these measures “averted what could have been a severe financial crisis that would have had devastating effects on the economy” they are “also a stark reminder that these markets are not nearly as resilient as they should be.”

  His next statement came dangerously close to the truth: “One thing that is clear when examining the causes of these market disruptions is that they were not primarily driven by economic forces, but rather by a failure of the markets to function in the ways they were expected to do in response to those particular circumstances” he said, failing to mention that the Fed owns a quarter of all Treasurys and up until now, has been monetizing every dollar in debt sold by the Treasury since March 2020, in the process becoming the only marginal price setter in the bond market.

  Next up was Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, who said that “with uncertainty related to the pandemic, many investors sought to move to cash and even liquidated their positions in U.S. Treasuries that are seen as haven assets, showing “how uncertain” the environment was in March 2020, and necessitating Fed actions to re-establish functioning of that market, she says also ignoring the fact that the market was no longer functioning in the first place because of the Fed.

  But then she also made a surprising admission, saying that the Fed’s actions “didn’t address the underlying structural issues that propagated the stresses.” However, like Williams, instead of looking in the mirror and admitting the Treasury markets in the US – like that in Japan – is broken because the Fed is now openly engaging in MMT/Helicopter Money and monetizing the deficit, there is no longer a Treasury market with fair and transparent price discovery. Instead she blamed new players, interconnections and technologies, who are “new sources of vulnerability,” as financial activity is increasingly moving outside of the banking system and that means that credit risk is increasingly being intermediated and outside the banking sector.

  “We’re just going to need to ensure we have the ability to monitor risks and vulnerabilities not only in the banking system, but in the nonbank financial sector,” she said, clearly seeking to put all other financial actors under the Fed’s supervision. The same “supervision” which failed to realize the simplest thing: when you become the primary – and for the past two years only – source of demand in the Treasury market, it is no longer a market but a political tool.

  Having discussed the topic of the broken Treasury market (and every other market) due to the Fed’s actions (and in the latest just released note from Rabobank’s Michael Every we read that “It’s no longer a secret that markets are irrational due to central bank action“) pretty much non-stop since our inception, and since there is little we can add to the beating of this particular dead horse, we will give the mic to Bloomberg’s Vince Cignarella who cuts to the chase, writing that “Regulators Discuss Bond Liquidity, an Issue of Their Own Making.”

  His full thoughts below:

  Financial regulators are meeting on Wednesday to address recent wild price swings in the U.S. Treasury market, presumably to find out why markets all of a sudden aren’t working properly. But traders say that, once again, rules created in Washington are having unforeseen consequences.

  The Volcker rule which limited banks from taking large proprietary positions limits the amount of risk and, therefore, the amount of inventory banks can keep on their books. In times of QE, that’s no problem, the more supply the better. Bonds just kept going up as the Fed kept the cash coming.

  But now, partly because of rising inflation expectations and partly because of the start of tapering, bonds have been falling and traders can’t hold and trade them the way they used to. Frankly, given the biggest buyer of bonds since the financial crisis is slowing purchases, why would anyone else want them? The Fed not buying bonds is defacto selling.

  This is the regulatory agencies’ own doing and creating more rules to fix broken rules is not likely to help. Prices are volatile as traders try to trade the timing of the next rate hike. And if a central bank is eventually going to be trimming their balance sheet and removing liquidity it probably isn’t too smart to take them on. I tried it with the BOJ once in the 80’s, it did not end well.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 22:40

• Media Declares 'Climate Lockdowns' A "Conspiracy Theory" As India Prepares To Impose Climate Lockdown
  Media Declares ‘Climate Lockdowns’ A “Conspiracy Theory” As India Prepares To Impose Climate Lockdown

  Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

  While the media declares the notion of ‘climate lockdowns’ to be a fake news “conspiracy theory,” India is preparing to impose a climate lockdown to reduce pollution.

  

  Yes, really.

  NPR reports the details of the lockdown under the headline ‘New Delhi’s air pollution is so bad, officials are calling for a citywide lockdown’.

  “India’s Supreme Court is calling for a lockdown in the capital, New Delhi. It’s because of a health emergency, but it’s not about COVID-19. It’s about air pollution,” states the piece.

  Authorities are set to ban all nonessential travel on roads in the national capital region while ordering tens of millions of people to work from home.

  Construction sites are also closing along with schools, many of which only recently opened after the COVID-19 lockdown.

  Delhi’s chief minister is also calling on neighboring states to impose similar measures.

  Air pollution has gotten so bad in New Delhi that India’s Supreme Court is calling for a citywide lockdown.

  Schools in the area are already closed this week.https://t.co/jUUObASuSI

  — NPR (@NPR) November 15, 2021

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

  The announcement is timed perfectly given that UK broadcaster Sky News just published a lengthy article claiming that ‘climate lockdowns’ are a fake news conspiracy theory invented by COVID-19 deniers.

  “The most common green conspiracy is the claim of an upcoming “climate lockdown”, where countries will be locked down for long periods to meet climate change targets,” states the article, labeling the idea a “”fake theory.”

  The article quotes Callum Hood, from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, who says conspiracy theorists are pushing the false idea of climate lockdowns as a means of “justifying their conspiracy theories about the COVID pandemic.”

  “As many COVID restrictions are lifted, some of these groups are instead claiming that ‘climate lockdowns’ will be used to achieve the same goals,” said Hood.

  So you’re a dangerous conspiracy theorist for suggesting that ‘climate lockdowns’ may be used by governments as a tool of population control…while India is literally rolling out plans to do precisely that.

  Note once more how the media and state-backed censors ring fence ideas by declaring them to be “conspiracy theories” and ‘fake news’ even as the second-most populous country in the world is literally about to implement that very agenda.

  *  *  *

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  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 22:20

• "Brutal": Rep. Boebert Rips 'Jihad Squad' Omar For 'Paying Husband' And Eric Swalwell For 'Sleeping With The Enemy'
  “Brutal”: Rep. Boebert Rips ‘Jihad Squad’ Omar For ‘Paying Husband’ And Eric Swalwell For ‘Sleeping With The Enemy’

  After House Democrats, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger voted 223-207 to censure GOP Repo. Paul Gosar over a now-deleted tweet of the altered intro to “Attack on Titan” in which he appears to slay President Biden and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Lauren Boebert took to the House floor on Wednesday to give Democrats a piece of her mind.

  

  First, she ripped “Jihad Squad member” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for allegedly paying her husband “and not her brother-husband” over $1 million in campaign funds, adding “this woman is on the foreign affairs committee while praising terrorists.“

  Boebert also laid into “my colleague, and three-month presidential candidate from California – who is on the intelligence committee – slept with feng-feng, a Chinese spy.”

  Watch:

  Brutal! @laurenboebert went in for the KO and knocked them out. pic.twitter.com/Rbz7cMNFgI

  — Kambree (@KamVTV) November 17, 2021

  Both Swalwell and Omar responded Wednesday after the rant: 

  Weird. If I had done anything wrong the FBI would have raided my house. They didn’t (and went as far to issue a statement saying I did nothing wrong). BUT yesterday they did raid the home of @laurenboebert’s campaign manager. They’re always projecting. https://t.co/FLCkPghbsr

  — Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) November 17, 2021

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

  Luckily my dad raised me right, otherwise I might have gone to the floor to talk about this insurrectionist who sleeps with a pervert. I am grateful I was raised to be a decent human and not a deprived person who shamefully defecates & defiles the House of Representatives. 🙏🏽 God https://t.co/F5W9LBzjCZ

  — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 17, 2021

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

  Are you not entertained?

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 22:00

• DOJ Inspector General Says Department Must Address Concerns About Politicization
  DOJ Inspector General Says Department Must Address Concerns About Politicization

  Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

  The Department of Justice (DOJ) must address deepening concerns that it’s not insulated from political influence, the agency’s watchdog stated in a new report.

  

  The DOJ failed to follow policies and procedures designed to protect it from accusations that it’s politicized or partially applying the law in a number of cases, including while investigating Donald Trump’s campaign during the 2016 election and in leaks to the media, Inspector General Michael Horowitz noted.

  “Numerous national events in the past year have crystalized the urgency for the department to address this challenge in a meaningful way,” he wrote, including the discovery that the DOJ under the Trump administration obtained communications to and from members of Congress and accusations that protesters were cleared from Lafayette Square in Washington on June 1, 2020, for political purposes.

  Such events “have all raised questions about the department’s objectivity and impartiality” and “negatively impacted the perception of the department as a fair administrator of justice,” Horowitz said.

  As proof, the watchdog cited a 2020 poll from the Pew Research Center, which found favorable views of DOJ among Democrats dropped sharply during the Trump administration. Republican views grew more favorable during the same time.

  DOJ officials didn’t respond to requests by The Epoch Times for comment.

  Critics on both the left and right have said the DOJ in recent years has acted wrongfully. Democrats repeatedly criticized the department during the Trump era, including over its bid to lower the jail sentence of Trump ally Roger Stone. Republicans also found problems with the agency, in particular over its handling of the probe into whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia that relied heavily on the now-discredited Steele dossier.

  

  Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington on Oct. 27, 2021. (Tom Brenner/AFP via Getty Images)

  Just this week, fresh strong reactions were triggered after a whistleblower said internal documents showed the DOJ used counterterrorism tools against parents.

  The documents “prove that the FBI was, in fact, using counterterrorism tools to investigate concerned parents who have attended school board meetings—which directly contradicts Attorney General Merrick Garland’s sworn congressional testimony,” Parents Defending Education said in a statement.

  Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told The Epoch Times that the DOJ “has had a cloud hanging over its credibility for years.”

  “From the [Hillary] Clinton email investigation to the Russia probe and targeting parents exercising their First Amendment rights at school board meetings, there’s not been much to boost the public’s confidence that DOJ is apolitical. The inspector general’s assessment seems right on the money to me,” he wrote in an email.

  “I hope the department, and its components like the FBI, begin turning a corner to regain some of their previous non-partisan, beyond-reproach reputations. The inspector general also said that he needs testimonial subpoena authority and the ability to independently investigate attorney misconduct. Those two things will go a long way toward ensuring bad apples at FBI and the department are truly held accountable.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 21:40

• High School In Austin Under Fire For Removing Doors To All Student Bathrooms
  High School In Austin Under Fire For Removing Doors To All Student Bathrooms

  As part of the latest in the national trend of school administrators enacting insane and completely out of touch policies, the administration of a Texas high school is under fire for removing all restroom doors in order to better oversee and control student behavior.

  The hugely controversial policy is being described by the school’s principle as toward preventing drug use or other “significant behavioral events” – but parents and students are naturally outraged over the brazen violation of privacy. 

  

  The principal at Austin ISD’s Travis Early College High School has described that specifically the bathroom doors leading to the hallway have been removed, while claiming that none of the stalls or urinals can be viewed from people passing by in the hall.

  Apparently the doors were removed some time before parents were so much as notified, which is fueling parental anger: “Christina Steele Hantgin, the principal at Austin ISD’s Travis Early College High School, sent a letter to parents explaining her decision while admitting that she could have done a better job communicating her plans, according to CBS Austin.” 

  “My number one priority is safety. Removing the doors is one of many strategies we are planning or implementing to keep our campus a safe learning environment,” Principal Hangtin said.

  She wrote in the letter than since taking down the doors, “we have had no incidents in the restrooms,” citing the persistent problem of misbehavior in the bathrooms: 

  “Our bathrooms were unsafe and student incidents are evidence of this. Ninety percent of our drug offenses this year have taken place in the restrooms,” she wrote in the statement. “I believe part of creating a safe environment for students involves being proactive and supporting them to make better decisions. We have had no incidents in the restrooms since the removal of the doors.”

  The principle went so far as to admit “some discomfort” would result from “the loss of some privacy”…

  The decision to remove the doors from the bathrooms to the hallways was not taken lightly. I understand that there is some discomfort caused by the loss of some privacy and my lack of communication did not help. More transparency would have been best. I want to offer my sincere apology and I hope this communication will clarify any concerns and share some of our future plans.

  Texas High School Removes Bathroom Doors to Keep Students Safe? https://t.co/9jdz6xnBc8

  — KTEM (@ktemnews) November 12, 2021

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

  In place of this acknowledged loss of privacy while students struggle to do their business, the principal absurdly offers this: “We provide all students with social and emotional connections and strategies through our advisory classes.”

  “All restrooms have been checked to ensure that no stall can be seen from the hallway [what about disconcerting sounds heard?] and that all stalls on our campus have doors,” she wrote, apparently addressing parent fears that removal of the stalls could be the next step. After all if “safety” so easily trumps any an all concerns of privacy, it’s perhaps only a matter of time. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 21:20

• Bubble-Hunters Are Missing A Change In Incentives
  Bubble-Hunters Are Missing A Change In Incentives

  By Michael Read, macro strategist for Bloomberg’s Markets Live blog

   It is fairly simple to find froth in equity index-levels based on arbitrary historical comparisons, but, despite warnings from the Federal Reserve, bubble-hunters may be missing a key new ingredient: the forced increase in risk appetite.

  Analysis of history’s market-bubble implosions shows a few common features including:

  • A persistent upward trend in prices despite negative news flow

  • A narrative that captures the market’s imagination (think “house prices never decline”)

  • Increasing retail participation

  • Equity valuations in top percentiles

  Naturally, you could tick some of those boxes while mentally drifting into this-time-is-different territory even if there are pockets of relative value. You’d certainly be forgiven for thinking that fundamental analysts are a dying breed in the current investing landscape.

  Textbooks tell you that stock prices should not deviate excessively from some discounted measure of expected cash flows. However, nearly two-years after Covid-19 entered the common lexicon you would have missed out catastrophically if you’d balked at P/E, EV/EBITDA or other such ratios.

  

  The pandemic has exacerbated what was a creeping change in the investor psyche. While the playing field has been leveled by zero-commission trades and gargantuan shifts in trading technology, it’s the mental game that has really been flipped on its head.

  Zero- or negative-interest-rate policy has left the average individual unable to save for retirement by “normal” means. Unless you own property, have inherited wealth or draw a very healthy salary you’re a bit stumped — and forced further up Markowitz’s efficient frontier.

  The greater propensity for self-directed trading — where individuals buy what they’re familiar with or something with potential for exponential growth — has seriously dented the appeal of passive investing or more prudent slow-and-steady portfolio gains.

  That said, it’s not just the narrative. If real rates remain negative then there really is no other option but to be long risk. Combine that with the potential for a period of elevated inflation, and money will have to move to anything offering yield or expected capital gains, or run the risk of a substantial regressive tax on wealth.

  Much of the above might scream “bubble.” However, in the coming twelve months, can you envisage an equity draw-down of equal or greater magnitude than when the global economy was switched off in 2020? If so, can you envision any alternative to the rampant bullishness we witnessed in the aftermath?

  We are likely to remain in a prolonged pro-risk environment, underpinned by the speculative trader. Of course it will come with periods of elevated volatility and greater options play by retail, with niche areas like crypto and ESG drawn into the mainstream.

  Balance sheets are getting stronger, dividend payouts higher and boardrooms more confident. While cash holdings may be on the rise and equity-derivative downside-hedged to the greatest levels on record, it will be super easy financial conditions, cautiously supportive fiscal policy and the nascent belief that central banks will not quash the post-pandemic recovery (even when rates eventually rise) that will keep the pro-risk mood music playing.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 21:00

• Top US General Reveals New Details About China's Hypersonic Missile Test 
  Top US General Reveals New Details About China’s Hypersonic Missile Test 

  A top Pentagon official sat down with CBS News to discuss why he’s “very concerned” about China’s rapid military buildup and hypersonic weapon development. 

  Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General John Hyten spoke with CBS News’ David Martin and said China’s recent hypersonic missile test that went around the world “is a very significant capability that has the potential to change a lot of things.” 

  

  Hyten, the second-highest-ranking officer in the military, said the Chinese “launched a long-range missile, it went around the world, dropped off a hypersonic glide vehicle and glided back to China. That impacted a target in China.” 

  

  Martin asked Hyten did the hypersonic weapon hit the target. The military commander said, “close enough.”

  Hyten questions why China is building hypersonic weapons, indicating it “looks like a first use weapon,” adding “that what those weapons look like to me.” 

  China is also building hundreds of new missile silos that some may be stocked with hypersonic weapons one day. He believes the Chinese are developing technology to launch a surprise nuclear attack on the US. 

  The only other account of the hypersonic weapon test has been through multiple FT stories citing various sources. This interview is the first time a top US military official has given their account of what happened over the summer. 

  Ever since FT broke the weapons test last month, Beijing has denied the report, saying “it was not a missile, it was a space vehicle.” 

  John Kirby, the Department of Defense press secretary, recently said the Pentagon views China as a great challenger as both countries race towards developing and fielding hypersonic weapons that fly multiple times faster than sound. 

  Hyten also added that China conducted hundreds of hypersonic weapons tests in the last five years while the US has only conducted nine. 

  Watch to the interview here. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 20:40

• The US Is A Powder Keg
  The US Is A Powder Keg

  Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via DailyReckoning.com,

  Last night I did my usual grocery run. I don’t shop at stores with philosophies. I go for el cheapo places that don’t have olive bars and don’t play Schubert on the intercom. I just want the stuff I need at the lowest possible prices. Even I was stunned at the 40% increase in my usual bill. I thought I was buying in a minimalist way.

  Later I looked more carefully at what went wrong. I bought beef and bacon. Beef price increases are now at double-digit rates, and bacon is even higher. You are paying much more per pound than one year ago. Pork and chicken are less, but that could change.

  Turkeys are in short supply for Thanksgiving. It will be the most expensive Thanksgiving meal in our lifetimes.

  Stores don’t tag groceries based on the percentage increases in prices. Those you have to remember from last week and last month. Indeed, stores have every reason to disguise this. Manufacturers too, which is why packaging these days is holding ever less product. This is called “shrinkflation.” It is an epidemic right now, as manufacturers are struggling to survive huge increases in their own costs.

  

  Biggest Inflation Spike in Over 30 Years

  The Consumer Price Index came out this week. It revealed that consumer prices soared 6.2% in October, the biggest inflation spike in over 30 years. And it’s probably even worse than the official figures show.

  Meanwhile, the Producer Price Index revealed that the year-over-year change in the index for construction materials is up almost 20%.

  Now let’s look at gasoline. You experience it daily, the high prices at the pump. Last year at this time, the average price per gallon was $1.81. Now it is $3.40. It is also rising as demand intensifies and supply faces restrictions.

  Most important here are the monetary effects, as all the money that the Fed sloshed up in the last 20 months reduces its value or what it can buy. This inflation will never hit all products and all sectors evenly. It moves from sector to sector. These days the toxin is moving so fast and in so many directions it makes one’s head spin.

  Not So Thrifty

  We keep hoping each month to get good news. Perhaps the Fed will prove correct that inflation is only transitory. Sadly, that is not likely. They have been way off in their predictions. The Producer Price Index is the one to watch because these price increases get passed on to consumer prices as inventory is depleted.

  Clothing is a case in point. We are already facing high prices and shortages on the shelves. This is driving people to the thrift stores. The major headlines are starting to show this. Thrift store prices too are on the increase, as I predicted last month.

  The percent change in the producer prices that go into making polyester clothing is now up 23.6%.

  Even if monetary policy is fixed, even if supply chains are repaired, even if the clogs at the dock are unclogged, it will be months before this figures into consumer prices. Sadly, there is almost no chance that any of these good changes happen, meaning that these higher and higher prices are here to stay.

  A Broken State

  As I’ve mentioned before, there is something about American political culture that is especially averse to inflation. People frankly hate it, especially since we’ve lived 40-plus years without consumer inflation being a particularly pressing problem. Now looking at price trends creates shock and even hatred. It is hitting the Biden administration particularly hard.

  A USA Today poll shows that Biden’s approval has sunk to 38%. The trend line here is truly devastating. We can speculate why. Inflation plays a role. But also the vaccine mandate seems to have hit the Biden approval rating very hard.

  In the coming month, millions of jobs could be affected by this. The protests are growing in every city, and the people protesting are union members, city employees and even tech workers. They are furious that government would presume the right to tell people what medicines they must inject into their bodies.

  Some of the protesters are themselves vaccinated against their will. They are bitter and angry about it. The news of adverse outcomes from vaccination is leaking out through family networks and alternative news venues, though it continues to be suppressed by the media. So this mandate is now being seen as a direct threat to individual health.

  That’s something that will inspire people to take to the streets.

  The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a stay against OSHA’s mandate on businesses. The Biden administration attempted a response, but the result was lame. It just said that it stands by the mandate on health grounds, period. Perhaps this won’t surprise you, but the president himself instructed businesses to go ahead and proceed, essentially advocating that they ignore the court ruling.

  In other words, the Biden administration has gone completely lawless, not just ignoring the U.S. Constitution but also advocating that businesses ignore the courts. That’s dangerously close to announcing that we now live with dictatorship.

  It’s no wonder that even Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is talking about secession from the union. If he is saying this, I truly cannot imagine the kind of anger there is among the citizens.

  If you wanted to live in exciting times, you chose a great time to be alive. The conditions are ripe not only for continuing electoral bloodbaths but more street protests, explosive town halls, hate-filled school board meetings and much worse. A more divisive and destructive policy is hard to imagine.

  Sadly, these policies are dividing friends and family. Some people with vaccinations don’t see the big deal here. Just get the jab, they say, and then you can be free. Others find this idea to be outrageous, an immoral acquiescence to power that can only lead to even worse outcomes.

  Powder Keg

  I just watched several hours of testimony from big shots at the NIH and the CDC. It might as well have been a paid advertisement from Moderna and Pfizer. Nearly every word out of the bureaucrats’ mouths was structured to push the vaccines that most everyone knows by now have failed to live up to their promise.

  Indeed, if they were as good and safe as they say, government would not need to mandate them. The mandates, ironically, undermine public confidence. It’s hard to imagine that public confidence in everything could fall further, but it will.

  To top it off, making all the above much worse, the vaccination is now coming for the kids.

  Mandates will surely follow. You want revolution in this country? This is a good way to foment one. The current regime has another year of unchecked power. It seems unfathomable. So far, they have not been deterred by anything, not the courts, not public opinion, not even sinking election prospects.

  The U.S. has become a powder keg.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 20:20

• Credit Suisse Says Client Who Lost $400 Million At Hands Of Fraudster Banker Should Take Responsibility For His Losses
  Credit Suisse Says Client Who Lost $400 Million At Hands Of Fraudster Banker Should Take Responsibility For His Losses

  Today in “privatizing gains and socializing losses” news…

  In only the wonderfully tasteful fashion an investment bank can put it, Credit Suisse has argued that a billionaire former prime minister of Georgia who lost money to a rogue banker at the company should have to bear responsibility for some of his losses, according to Bloomberg. 

  Stephen Moverley Smith, lawyer for Credit Suisse’s Bermuda unit, said at trial of the billionaire who suffered the losses: “Taking a punt on a risky pharmaceutical stock, that’s what oligarchs with loose change do.”

  Referring to a large bet on Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp. placed by now-convicted fraudster and former CS banker Patrice Lescaudron, Smith said: “What’s Credit Suisse supposed to do?”

  When the stock tanked, it resulted in margin calls for the billionaire client, Bidzina Ivanishvili, and exposure of the fraud being committed by the banker, Lescaudron, who committed suicide in 2020 after being sentenced to five years in Geneva for fraud. 

  Ivanishvili is now accusing Credit Suisse Life (Bermuda) Ltd. of failing to stop Lescaudron from losing $400 million of his fortune, the report says. He’s one of “at least five” clients that is pursuing the bank for damages despite the banker’s death. The bank is arguing it had no knowledge of Lescaudron’s crimes.

  

  Instead, the bank has painted the now-deceased Lescaudron as a “lone wolf who hid his misdeeds,” Bloomberg wrote. The ongoing trial seeks to determine how much culpability the bank’s Bermuda unit has for the losses. 

  “Lescaudron met Ivanishvili for as little as 45 minutes a year,” the former Georgian prime minister’s lawyers argued, stating that the banker was “trusted” by the billionaire. 

  Beginning in 2012, Lescaudron had started encouraging his clients to “invest heavily” in Raptor. The company’s stock plunged in 2015 when a trial of one of its new drugs failed. 

  The story has another element of mystery due to the circumstances of Lescaudron committing suicide. 

  Finnews writes that the 57 year old Lescaudron “in May 2020 published posts on his LinkedIn-profile that suggested he was about to say farewell”. He “complained about his inability to get a new job, despite numerous attempts, and the fact that his residence permit was due to expire, despite having paid more than 7 million francs in taxes over a sixteen-year period.”

  In July 2020, Lescaudron killed himself, obviously making any fact finding mission for the ongoing trial regarding his actions as difficult as possible.

  We will follow the story of the trial as new developments occur. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 20:00

• The Metaverse – Much, Much Bigger Than Facebook
  The Metaverse – Much, Much Bigger Than Facebook

  Authored by Bill Blain via MorningPorridge.com,

  “I’m serious. She could actually be a 300-pound dude who lives in his momma’s basement in suburban Detroit. And her name is Chuck.”

  Facebook is now Meta, and Meta wants to own the Metaverse. Just what is the Metaverse, what are the opportunities, and can Mark Zuckerberg repeat the success of Facebook by monetising a whole new way of doing business, or is it shaping up to be something much, much more?

  

  This morning’s Porridge is dedicated to my new colleague Diaa, who was foolish enough to ask what I thought about Facebook.. he will learn..

  As a distraction from worrying about What Biden and Xi actually said to each other, the state of wage inflation across economies, UK vs Yoorp unpleasantness, and wondering what 100,000 armed-to-the-teeth Russians are doing on the Ukraine border (aside from being a classic maskirovka to distract us from what Putin is really doing..), I thought today I might continue my grand tradition of writing about stuff I know I know very little about…

  So, just what is the Metaverse? What kind of opportunity does it represent? Is it, as so many fantabulous things in this wonderful world are, yet another digital solution in search of a problem? Is it hype or a genuine new trend?

  Of course, my interest in the Metaverse was pricked 2 weeks ago when Facebook Inc changed its name to Meta. Since then the stock is up 7%, only down 8% from its September high before the recent whistleblower news. A few cynics have suggested the renaming was all about trying to distance and shut-off the recent sordid whistleblower accusations about Facebook.

  Zuckerberg has previous form as something of a congenital acquisitive hoarder of the future – and he clearly wants to own “the metaverse” with the intention of monetising it. The question, and future value of the firm, ultimately lies in how well he achieves that.

  The Metaverse concept was first described and named by Science Fiction writer Neal Stephenson – whom I’ve actually read! – right in the very early days of the internet revolution. Way back in 1992 he presented a vision of human avatars inter-reacting in a 3D digital space in the novel “Snow Crash”. He pretty much nailed it – establishing digital life alongside concepts like “proof of work” leading inevitably to the concept of digital currencies, the genesis of Bitcoin, the Blockchain and now Non-Fungible Tokens.

  Today, the Metaverse is being “imagined” as some kind of Internet version 2.1 – but it’s really describes how we will all integrate digitally. It will offer a more immersive world of deeper engagement into virtual and augmented reality – once the technology catches up with the promises. “Digital Visionaries” are talking about how natural it will become to do everything from shopping, business and living a social life online in the form of single or multiple digital avatars… It informs the world of “Ready Player One” and raises fears about a “Matrix” like future.

  The thing is – whatever Facebook would have us believe – it’s already happening and has been for some time. The global gaming sector is now infinitely larger than the film industry at over $100 bln per annum.  Fortnite, the game, has become a global sensation, and now includes virtual concerts given by smart artists who see the future potential. The amount of cash spent in-game purchases is over $50 bln, just in the US!

  My family hails from the Scottish City of Dundee, once famous for “Jam, Jute and Journalism”. In the 30-years post-war, it looked to be in terminal decline, but is now the heart of the UK’s exploding gaming sector and home to best-selling game ever: Grand Theft Auto. (Incidentally, the City’s recovery began in 1982 when the UK’s first commercial UK computer; the ZX Spectrum, was built in Dundee!) It’s a city reborn.

  Zuckerberg has a problem. His existing brands; Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp will remain essentially unchanged (for now) and are, essentially, advertising companies under competitive and evolutionary threat. They remain the dominant brands in social media advertising, but their user bases are not as sticky as once assumed, and they no longer have a monopoly as social media breaks and fragments into multiple players and themes.

  Let’s give Zuckerberg some credit for trying to derisk Facebook Meta by diversifying its earnings. The regulatory risks from privacy concerns and the charge its maximised advertising revenues to the detriment of users by targeting them with dangerous social media tosh are huge. How long before an American class action suite emerges for trillions alleging American youth have been mentally damaged by social media?

  Without Zuckerberg’s unique approach –  I suspect Facebook would be as unlamented as “Friends Reunited” in the social-media graveyard. He is painting the Metaverse he intends to own as a virtual environment where “you can be present with people in digital spaces”, an “embodied internet”, and how it’s going to “succeed the mobile internet”. It’s an opportunity for him to monetise Facebook’s investment in things like the Oculus VR set, and to diversify his earnings from pure (yet risky) advertising to actually selling hard and soft stuff in the Metaverse.

  Will he succeed in making Meta the dominant venue in the Metaverse?

  Don’t underestimate the potential for monetisation in the Metaverse. Earlier this year a 17 year old artist, Fewocious, sold 600 digital sneakers in NFT format through an on-line auction for…. $3.08 million. There is now a whole digital fashion universe selling unique NFT apparel gamers can wear on-line. As yet there isn’t a way of being able to dress across the net (enabling digital avatars to wear the same gear across multiple games and in multiple venues), but I’m assured it’s going to happen. There are now a host of earnest fashion designers exclusively focused on digital fashion.

  There clearly are also real and valuable applications for the metaverse in terms of virtual reality business and education. Effectively, Education when virtual last year when millions of school-kids zoomed an academic year because of Covid. Imagine a future where kids can attend any school they want as digital avatars – interesting, and horrific in terms of real social interaction, not to mention the health consequences of living on line.

  I’m intrigued by the business potential. Like every other firm we’re wondering just how much office space we really need. How often do clients actually visit the office? Do we all need to be there? Would we not be cheaper and more efficient to continue developing better on-line tools. Instead of one hour zoom calls, what about an on-line digital office open all day? The potential to design and innovate new ways of working in the metaverse are only limited by our imagination!

  Zuckerberg is a smart fellow who sees all that potential. He knows Facebook is a risk business – the declining numbers of young people using it isn’t compensated for by the ones using Instagram. The dominant younger generation platform is TikTok, which is now part China Government owned after it took an ownership stake in Bytedance. As the Facebook brand inevitably fades its advertising revenues will plummet.

  Therefore, he is staking the next stage of his brand’s development on his company’s 3D universe. He will find new ways to monetise whatever data Meta can find in its virtual and augmented reality universe – which is not without associated risks to consumers and therefore the company. And that’s where the jury is out – can he make Meta as much a monopoly as Facebook once was? If not, and I suspect its going to be a very crowded space, then Meta’s future is debatable long-term.

  One final thought – if the Metaverse takes off, then I suspect so does a currency to go with it. I am reassessing Ethereum.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 19:40

• Outrage After Turkey Arrests Vacationing "Israeli Spies" For Photographing Erdogan's Residence
  Outrage After Turkey Arrests Vacationing “Israeli Spies” For Photographing Erdogan’s Residence

  “Every time the ruling regime is embattled at home, it creates a fake crisis,” The Jerusalem Post writes of the Tayyip Erdogan government at a moment of double-digit inflation, a spiraling economy, and international isolation, not to mention a continued low-point in US relations with Biden in the White House.

  Israel is charging Ankara precisely with manufacturing a “fake crisis” to distract from problems at home after days ago Turkish authorities arrested an Israeli couple accused of spying. State-run Anadolu news reported last Friday the Israeli couple along with a Turkish citizen were detained after suspicious activity was reported by staff at a restaurant. 

  The Turkish news outlet described that “An Israeli couple and a Turkish national are facing espionage charges after being arrested for taking pictures of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s residence from the Camlica Tower in Istanbul on Friday.” It’s reportedly illegal to photograph the compound.

  

  “Staff at the tower’s restaurant section saw the Israelis, identified by the initials N.O. and M.O., and Turkish citizen I.A. taking pictures of Erdogan’s residence,” the report said. But strangely the reported focus of their photographs, the waterfront Dolmabahce Palace, is a well-known landmark which hasn’t actively served as the president’s main office for decades.

  A lawyer for the detained Israeli citizens told Israel’s Haaretz newspaper that “their only offence involves their photographing Erdogan’s palace during an innocent boat trip.”

  Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu announced Tuesday that “The couple photographed Erdogan’s home; they focused on the house and marked it. “He told a press conference further: “The prosecutor’s office estimates that they committed a crime of military and political espionage, but the court will make the decision in the future.” All of this suggests it’s likely to be a long drawn-out affiar.

  With the couple’s continued detention into this week, it’s created a diplomatic firestorm between Israel and Turkey. The Israeli prime minister is now directly involved, with PM Naftali Bennet saying their release is being sought “around the clock, led by the Foreign Ministry… with an aim to bring the problem to its resolution as soon as possible,” according to a statement this week.

  

  An op-ed in The Times of Israel speculates that Ankara is looking to use the Israeli nationas’ detention to gain diplomatic and geopolitical leverage over Israel as bargaining chips. Recounting another very recent “spy ring” bust incident, the publication writes:

  But the most compelling explanation for Turkey’s behavior ties the detention to an incident in October in which Turkey claimed it had arrested 15 Mossad agents — none of them Israelis — in the country.

  “It seems that in exchange for the release of the 15, Turkey demanded something,” posited Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, a Turkey scholar at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security. “And Israel apparently ignored them, apparently said, ‘What do we care? They’re not Israelis. We don’t know them.’”

  In order to increase the pressure on Israel to cough up what Turkish intelligence was after, according to this perspective, Ankara found a Jewish Israeli couple to arrest, figuring they would make for more valuable bargaining chips.

  Meanwhile Israeli officials also believe Turkey is merely “fishing” for Israeli intelligence information as well, and again – looking to create a distraction from the economic crisis at home.

  One of the crucial details that makes it unlikely the couple are Israeli spies is that they’ve appeared in popular commercials for a bus company in Israel. Additionally…

  No part of the Turkish claims seems likely. Israel has far more sophisticated ways of attaining photographs of landmark buildings — which doesn’t seem like an especially pressing intelligence priority — than sending two Israeli citizens to openly take pictures in front of them, while speaking Hebrew and posting details of their trip on social media.

  Still, Turkey and Israel have never had a good relationship, given especially Turkey gas remained an outspoken critic of Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza, particularly in periods with Tel Aviv orders bombing campaigns over the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas rocket fire. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 19:20

• Bond Market's Historic Duration Ties Fed's Hands
  Bond Market’s Historic Duration Ties Fed’s Hands

  By Dan Wilchins, Bloomberg Markets Live reporter and commentator

  Bonds have never been so sensitive to rate changes, and the Federal Reserve may struggle to speed up tapering or raise rates much as a result.

  The average duration, or price sensitivity to changes in rates, on a U.S. investment-grade corporate bond is close to all-time highs and spiked up from its level in 2019, according to Bloomberg index data. Same with Treasuries: the average duration is also near record highs.

  

  When the Federal Reserve loosened the monetary spigots and made the extraordinary move to purchase corporate bonds last year, liquidity flooded capital markets and the cost of borrowing plummeted. Corporations took advantage and borrowed a record $1.75 trillion of investment-grade bonds, a third more than the previous peak.

  While borrowers have been doing the right thing for themselves by locking in low yields for a long, long time, refinancing debt wherever possible, the flip side is that investors are holding more duration risk them ever. And that may come to haunt the markets if inflation doesn’t ease.

  Whenever the Fed starts to tighten, bond prices could get slammed. Just look at what happened with 2013’s taper tantrum, except now duration is even longer, meaning price drops could be worse.

  The potential for another taper tantrum may limit how aggressively the Fed chooses to tighten rates.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 19:00

• Cargill CEO Ditches 'Team Transitory', Warns Of Persistent Food Inflation  
  Cargill CEO Ditches ‘Team Transitory’, Warns Of Persistent Food Inflation  

  Cargill CEO David MacLennan has changed his mind about “transitory” inflation and now believes it will be more persistent with higher food prices in 2022. He blamed elevated food prices on snarled supply chains, labor shortages, and adverse weather conditions, among other things. 

  MacLennan highlighted that labor shortages are a significant challenge for the food industry. He said food processing plants across the country operate at less than full capacity, which drives down food output and prices higher as demand remains robust. 

  “I thought inflation in ags and food was transitory. I feel less so now because of continued shortages in labor markets,” MacLennan said during an interview at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore. “That’s one of the inputs to the supply chain that we’re watching most carefully.” 

  “I thought inflation in ags and food was transitory. I feel less so now because of continued shortages in labor markets” – Cargill CEO

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 17, 2021

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

  In September, MacLennan was on record saying soaring food costs would be temporary and should recede. Though in the last few months, world food prices hit a new decade high in October, supply chain woes worsened, labor shortages at food processing plants to transportation to ports expanded, adverse weather conditions hit harvests, and transportation and energy costs skyrocketed. It seems the food executive has ditched “team transitory” for a more logical understanding of today’s inflationary environment, one that is persistent. 

  “When you have limited supply, that can lead to higher prices,” he said.

  MacLennan is late to the party in abandoning the “transitory” narrative. 

  Already, we’ve reported food inflation and shortages have hit supermarkets, not just in emerging markets but also in the developed world. In the US, Mondelez CEO Dirk Van de Put recently told CNBC that Oreo cookies, Ritz crackers, and Sour Patch Kids would be more expensive next year. There’s been chatter that Nabisco, PepsiCo, and Coca-Cola will be raising prices, and Kraft Heinz has told consumers that they must get used to “higher prices.” 

  Consumers are spending more on food than a year ago. Some have blamed President Biden for the inflation eating away their real wages as polling numbers for the president sink. 

  

  So what’s Biden’s plan to tackle soaring food costs as his administration runs from one crisis to another? Are price controls next? 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 18:40

• Hump Day Humor: Startup Idea For Multidimensional Crypto-Powered EV
  Hump Day Humor: Startup Idea For Multidimensional Crypto-Powered EV

  Authored by Rob Shears Via Valor Asset Management (emphasis ours),

  Startup Idea: NETA

  Name: NETA: Nikola Enron Tesla Alpha

  A multidimensional crypto powered EV in the sub Metaverse of the Metaverse

  

  TAM = Three times greater than the total global transportation market

  Investment Thesis

  Most investments have one or two features which can power growth. Today I introduce a new way to invest. Multidimensional Compounding.

  Not only can we harness the excitement around electric vehicles and crypto, but by developing our products in the Metaverse, we have the ability to think through multiple dimensions.

  By harnessing new microchip processing power through giga GPU powered chips, we are able to use multidimensional factoring to render higher growth rates for capital compounding. With SPAC layering technology through five dimensions, we are able to project decades into the future capital returns through continual ability to raise more capital than has ever been injected into a single company.

  The initial loss rate on equity will be above 1000%, however via various placements and shared models for distribution, we are able to grow the capital base beyond what is currently possible through traditional investment bank raisings. By using metablockchain projections and security, we can ensure that all new issuance of shares will only be done through forking when the blockchain becomes too wieldy. This way we can say that the original blockchain is the only real blockchain, yet continually expand the ledger without anyone suspecting that there is no actually limit on the number of tokens.

  Because all combustion engine cars will not exist in the Metaverse, we have a famous fund manager Noa Ark to pump up our project to show that our crypto Powered EV in the subMetaverse will have a total addressable market at least three times larger than the current addressable market of the total transport index in the real world. This will drive our share price up and thus allow endless capital raisings above the intrinsic value of the company which is highly accretive to shareholders.

  Whilst amateur companies such as Nikola have been forced to roll engineless trucks down a hill in the desert. Our company will be able to show our crypto powered EV through Oculus VR headset and we don’t need to buy expensive Isuzu trucks and redo the chassis. This means that the capital we raise through the layered SPAC capital raisings will have greater value than current SPACS.

  We are offering you the chance to join us in an exclusive off market mezzanine opportunity of layered SPAC issuance to grow your wealth at faster rates than has been achieved through old technology crypto token issuance.

  Because our product will be exclusively in the Metaverse, the opportunity for raising capital through SPAC’s will not be limited in the real world. This means we can raise capital via multiple sub SPAC’s inside the Metaverse. Our proprietary five dimensional SPAC layering technology will then use the concept from the iconic Leo DiCaprio movie Inception whereby there will be a Metaverse inside a Metaverse inside a Metaverse inside a Metaverse. Capital can then be raised off balance sheet and because this new raising will not covered be in any security laws yet, we won’t need to disclose it in the annual report and financials. This allows us to leverage and harness multidimensional capital raisings and keep our AAA rating from the rating agencies who we will convince that we have no debt on balance sheet.

  Through machine learning computational power, we have a network effect of computers which will troll Reddit forums to ensure that we continually use the power of group think to attract new and unsuspecting followers. Through adaptive technology and cyclical learning techniques unique to our AI, we can assist new Reddit users to buy short dated massively out of the money options to force market makers to buy our shares on market to continually keep the price rising and most importantly above intrinsic value so all new share issuances are accretive.

  The key to any superior company in the Web3 era is data. Data is the new oil. Due to our multiMetaverse, we will have more data from a greater number of angles, which allows us to create unique insights that others simply cannot obtain from two dimensional analysis.

  To protect founders interests and early shareholders, we have structured the company via a variable interest entity (VIE) in the Cayman islands. This superior market structure has protected many Chinese companies from legal risks from hedge funds looking to profit from exposing fraud. We have engaged the same lawyers and investment bankers that these VIE’s have used to avoid having to follow traditional accounting laws. The superior protection this structure has is based on the difficulty of cross border legal action against the company and executives. We have been comforted by the fact that investors have allocated billions of dollars to these shell companies which mimic a supposed real company in another jurisdiction. There has been no evidence of investment managers with a fiduciary duty to their investors boycotting these structures.

  The CEO will constantly tweet random messages on a regular basis to attract swathes of fans online. Importantly if the company ever looks like it will get into financial difficulty, this fan club of investors will help if we need to pump the share price up to raise capital with maybe a funding secured take-over offer.

  We will regularly release new untested products and tout them on Twitter. This will keep the share price high.

  Insurance is being revolutionised and with blockchain technology and better data, we can remove the burdensome cost of due diligence on the customer. This way we can follow the Lemonade model and continually price our insurance below cost, raise capital to pay for the margin difference and have an ever expanding capital base.

  A secondary market for our EV’s has already been established by Carvana. Carvana will roll out their proprietary model for purchasing cars at above intrinsic value into a new concept of appreciating car values. Because the cars will not rust or age like traditional cars, Carvana will continually buy them for increasing prices and make up for their losses with capital raises. They will create NFT’s of each car and any speculative frenzy created by low res images of our crypto powered EV’s will have the profits shared between our partnership of NETA and Carvana.

  Finally, the optionality available for this project is the ecommerce market. Our asset lite gamification of e-commerce will revolutionise subMetaverse purchasing habits. Buyers will flock to our site because we will offer free outsourced shipping and lose money on every transaction until we dominate the space. Whilst Web2 companies such as Amazon are stuck with the idea that they need to spend money on fulfilment and delivery, our ability to sell more items at ever increasing losses will further drive share price growth and thus high and higher capital raisings.

  Delivery companies using our crypto powered EV’s in the Metaverse will immediately go from significantly loss making to hugely profitable as they don’t need to pay real people to ride bicycles around cities at below legal wages to deliver food. For this reason, we have bet using 100 to 1 leveraged CFD’s on all the listed delivery companies and the profits from this share trading should boost our ever expanding capital base. We call this trading “300 year thinking”.

  We have further margin loans against our core companies which will not be reported in our annual report because we have taken out a collar. We will not disclose this to shareholders but it will protect us is most situations except a more than 20% market fall in our holdings.

  Please call Karen on 1800 101 101 to be the first to invest into this revolutionary company. If you don’t call in the next hour, you might miss out.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 18:20

• 8 Dead, 80 Infected In Fully-Vaccinated Connecticut Nursing Home
  8 Dead, 80 Infected In Fully-Vaccinated Connecticut Nursing Home

  An outbreak of COVID-19 has terrorized a Connecticut nursing home, leaving eight dead and about 100 infected, according to NBC Connecticut. 

  Geer Village Senior Community in North Canaan, Connecticut, is an independent and assisted living home which experienced a severe outbreaking of the virus. Since Sept. 30, 22 employees and 67 residents have contracted the virus, with eight residents dying from virus-related health issues. 

  

  Director of Nursing Cady Bloodgood and CEO Kevin O’Connell published a statement that said they’re continuing to “monitor the situation closely.” 

  “Sadly, we have lost eight residents with serious underlying health issues to COVID,” the nursing home said. “We are encouraged to see 69 staff and residents already recovered and coming off isolation. While we must continue with COVID-19 prevention protocols, we want to assure everyone we are doing our best to keep residents and staff safe.”

  The outbreak is centered around the assisted living facility and appears to be isolated. As of Monday, the facility only had three positive cases. 

  NBC News said that “all but two of the infected staffers and residents were fully vaccinated.” The nursing home said, “We are obviously concerned we experienced some level of waning immunity.” 

  COVID boosters are being rolled out across the country to help with the waning effectiveness of the vaccine. However, residents at Geer aren’t eligible for booster shots until the facility has at least two weeks of no positive cases. 

  All visits at the facility are on hold as assisted living facilities are particularly vulnerable to an outbreak of the virus. 

  What’s troubling is vaccinated people are getting the virus. Lancet recently released a study comparing the efficacy of COVID vaccines to the effectiveness of protection provided by previous COVID infections. Their conclusion: while vaccines lower the risk of infections with the delta variant within households, those fully vaccinated are still vulnerable to a ‘breakthrough’ infection if somebody they live with gets infected.

  … and maybe this is why Biden’s vaccine mandate has yet to deliver promised results. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/17/2021 – 18:00

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