Today’s News 18th November 2023

• Escobar: Xi Outmaneuvers Biden In San Francisco
  Escobar: Xi Outmaneuvers Biden In San Francisco

  Authored by Pepe Escobar,

  On one side of the table, a Global South leader at the top of his game. On the other side, a mummy selling the illusion he’s the “leader of the free world.”

  That was bound for a cliffhanger – before, during or after the crucial bilateral involving the world’s top two powers. Already during the introductory remarks, US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, sitting on the right side of the mummy, was as terrified as James Stewart afraid of heights in Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” – sensing doom would dawn at any second.

  Then it did – at the final presser. Joe Biden, the actor playing The Mummy, following a proverbial smirk, said Chinese President Xi Jinping is “a dictator”. Because he is the leader of a communist country.

  All those previous elaborate plans unraveled, in a flash. A tentatively rosy scenario turned into a film noir. The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s response was as sharp as a Dashiell Hammett one-liner – and contextualized: this was not only “extremely wrong” but “an irresponsible political manipulation”.

  All of the above of course assumed The Mummy knew where he was and what he was talking about, “off the cuff”, and not dictated by his ubiquitous earpiece.

  

  The White House gives away the plot

  The Xi-Biden drama, lasting a little over two hours, was not exactly a remake of “Vertigo”. Washington and Beijing seemed quite cozy jointly promising the proverbial promotion and strengthening of “dialogue and cooperation in various fields”; an intergovernmental dialogue on AI; drug control cooperation; back to high-level military-to-military talking; a “maritime security consultation mechanism”; significantly increasing flights by early 2024; and “expanding exchanges” in education, international students, culture, sports, and business circles.

  The Hegemon was far from having a priceless Maltese Falcon (“the stuff dreams are made of”) to offer Beijing. China is already solidified as the world’s top trading economy by PPP. China is advancing at breakneck speed on the tech race even under nasty US sanctions. China’s soft power across the Global South/Global Majority increases by the day. China is co-organizing with Russia the concerted drive towards multipolarity.

  The White House readout , as bland as it might seem, actually gives away the key part of the plot.

  Biden – actually his earpiece – underscored “support for a free and open Indo-Pacific”; the defense of “our Indo-Pacific allies”; the “commitment to freedom of navigation and overflight”; “adherence to international law”; “maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea and East China Sea”; “support to “Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression”; and “support for Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism”.

  Beijing understands in detail the context and the geopolitical overtones of each of these pledges.

  What the readout does not say is that Biden’s handlers also tried to convince the Chinese to stop buying oil from their strategic partner Iran.

  That’s not gonna happen. China imported an average of 1.05 million barrels of oil a day from Iran over the first 10 months of 2023 – and rising.

  US Think Tankland, always excelling in misinformation and disinformation, believed in their own childish projection of Xi playing tough guy against the US in Asia, knowing that Washington can’t afford a third love affair, sorry, war front on top of Ukraine and Israel/Palestine.

  The fact is Xi knows all there is to know about imperial, rotating Hybrid War fronts, plus others that can be powered on at the flick of a switch. The Hegemon continues to provoke disturbance not only in Taiwan but in the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, India, and continues to flirt with possible color revolutions in Central Asia.

  There has been no direct US-China confrontation yet thanks to millenary Chinese diplomatic expertise and long term vision. Beijing knows in detail how Washington is simultaneously in Full Hybrid War mode against BRI (the Belt and Road Initiative) and BRICS – soon to become BRICS 11.

  Only two options for China and the US

  A Sino-American reporter, after the introductory remarks, asked Xi, in Mandarin, if he trusted Biden. The Chinese President perfectly understood the question, looked at her, and did not answer.

  That’s a key plot twist. After all, Xi knew from the beginning he was talking to the handlers controlling an earpiece. Moreover, he was fully aware of Biden, actually his handlers, qualifying Beijing as a threat to the “rules based international order,” not to mention relentless accusations of “Xinjiang genocide” plus the containment tsunami.

  Not by accident, last March, in a speech to Communist Party notables, Xi explicitly stated that the US is engaged in “comprehensive containment, encirclement and suppression against us.”

  Shanghai-based scholar Chen Dongxiao suggests that China and US should engage in “ambitious pragmatism”. That happened to be exactly the tone of Xi’s key takeaway  in San Francisco:

  “There are two options for China and the US in the era of global transformations unseen in a century: One is to enhance solidarity and cooperation and join hands to meet global challenges and promote global security and prosperity; and the other is to cling to the zero-sum mentality, provoke rivalry and confrontation, and drive the world towards turmoil and division. The two choices point to two different directions that will decide the future of humanity and Planet Earth.”

  That is as serious as it gets. Xi added context. China is not engaged in colonial plunder; is not interested in ideological confrontation; it does not export ideology; and it has no plans to surpass or replace the US. So the US should not attempt to suppress or contain China.

  Biden’s handlers may have told Xi that Washington still follows the One China policy – even as it continues to weaponize Taiwan under the twisted logic that Beijing might “invade”. Xi, once again, provided the concise clincher: “China will eventually, inevitably be reunified” with Taiwan.

  $40,000 for dinner with Xi

  Amid all the barely concealed tension, relief in San Francisco came in the form of business. Everyone and his corporate neighbor – Microsoft, Citigroup, ExxonMobil, Apple – was dying to meet with leaders from several APEC nations. And especially from China.

  APEC after all accounts for nearly 40% of the global population and nearly 50% of global trade. This is all about Asia-Pacific – not “Indo-Pacific”, an empty “rules-based international order” gambit that no one knows anything about, much less uses anywhere across Asia. Asia-Pacific will account for at least two-thirds of global growth in 2023 – and counting.

  Hence the sterling success of a business dinner at the Hyatt Regency, with tickets costing between $2,000 and $40,000, hosted by the National Committee on United States-China Relations (NCUSCR) and the US-China Business Council (USCBC). Xi, inevitably, was the star of the show.

  Corporate honchos well knew in advance that the US opted out of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP); and that the new trade gambit, the so-called Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) is basically D.O.A. IPEF may deal with supply chain issues but it does not hit the heart of the matter: lower tariffs and wide market access.

  So Xi was there to “sell” to investors not only China but a great deal of Asia-Pacific as well.

  One day after San Francisco, the heart of the action moved to Shanghai and a high-level Russia-China conference; that’s the kind of meeting where the strategic partnership formulates paths ahead in the Long March to Multipolarity.

  In San Francisco, Xi made a point to stress that China respects the “historical, cultural and geographical position” of the US, while hoping that the US would respect the “path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

  And here’s where the film noir plot approaches the final shootout. What Xi hopes will never happen with Straussian neocon psychos running US foreign policy. And that was starkly confirmed by The Mummy, a.k.a. Joe “Dictator” Biden.

  So much for realpolitik practitioner Joseph “soft power” Nye, one of the few realists that believe China and the US, like James Stewart and Kim Novak in “Vertigo”, need each other, and should not be separated.

  Well, unfortunately, in “Vertigo” the heroine plunges into the void and dies.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 23:40

• Who Has Type 1 Diabetes?
  Who Has Type 1 Diabetes?

  With Wednesday being World Diabetes Day, it’s worth looking at which countries have the highest number of people with the disease.

  

  According to Anna Fleck of Statista, citing data from the NHS, there are two main types of diabetes: Diabetes type 1 is described as a “lifelong condition where the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin”, whiule type 2 occurs when “the body does not produce enough insulin, or the body’s cells do not react to insulin properly.” Unlike type 2 diabetes, there are no lifestyle changes that you can make to lower your risk of developing type 1.

  According to data from the International Diabetes Foundation, more than 1.4 million people are currently living with type 1 diabetes in the United States.

  Considering the comparatively smaller population sizes, the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada have particularly high numbers of cases.

  Type 1 diabetes can occur at any age, but it usually occurs in childhood or adolescence. According to the International Diabetes Foundation, around 61 percent of people currently living with type 1 diabetes in the U.S. are between 20 and 59 years old, 28 percent are over 60 and around 12 percent are 20 or younger.

  

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 23:20

• Contraceptives May Slow Brain Development And Increase Risk-Taking Behavior In Teens, Study Suggests
  Contraceptives May Slow Brain Development And Increase Risk-Taking Behavior In Teens, Study Suggests

  Authored by Megan Redshaw via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Synthetic hormones used for birth control may slow brain maturation and disrupt the development of an area of the brain responsible for impulsivity, according to new research.  

  

  Adolescents commonly use hormonal contraceptives despite the unknown effects on brain and behavioral maturation, prompting scientists at Ohio State University to explore how common synthetic hormones used for birth control affect the prefrontal cortex—an area of the brain essential to regulating emotional behaviors and executive function.

  In the study, presented during a Nov. 12, 2023, poster session at an annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, researchers gave a combination of synthetic estrogen and progesterone in hormone-based contraceptives to female rats from early to late adolescence and compared their behavior and brain tissue to untreated rats. 

  Because synthetic hormones found in contraceptives decrease the ovaries’ production of natural progesterone and estrogen to prevent ovulation, researchers looked at how the brain is affected by these hormonal differences when it is still developing.

  The study concentrated on myelination and microglia—immune cells that ​​regulate brain development, maintenance of neuronal networks, and injury repair—because both play essential roles in prefrontal cortex development. Myelination plays a role in the development of the prefrontal cortex and involves the formation of a protective coating called the myelin sheath around nerves to improve conduction.

  Myelination in the human central nervous system begins one to two months before birth and persists into the third decade of life—consistent with the time it takes for cognitive function in children and adolescents to develop. According to the study, myelination is mediated by the same hormones that hormonal contraceptives target. 

  Since synaptic development and myelination during the adolescent window are sensitive to the onset of hormones during puberty, the authors theorized that disrupting hormonal activity during puberty could “potentially shift the trajectory of some of those developmental processes,” co-senior author Kathryn Lenz, associate professor of psychology at Ohio State, said in a news release. 

  “When it comes to nervous system communication, keeping it steady is key—too much or too little can lead to dysfunction that affects the mood and behavior,” she said. 

  The study found myelination increased and microglia decreased when the rats were given hormonal contraception, indicative of disrupted communication. In behavioral threat appraisal tests, rats given hormonal contraceptives were found to be more likely to engage in risk-taking behaviors, such as remaining in elevated wide-open spaces and sampling treats in unfamiliar settings. 

  Lab tests confirmed that the synthetic ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel given to the treated rats were present in brain tissue. However, researchers were unable to determine if the effects were due to how synthetic hormones shut down natural hormone production or if they were directly impacting the brain.

  The study provides some of the first evidence showing that hormonal contraceptives given during the vulnerable developmental period of adolescence may influence the development of the prefrontal cortex, contributing to altered risk-assessment behavior.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 23:00

• Restoring 'Doomsday' Plane Ensures US Response To Adversary’s Nuclear Attack Is Annihilation: Congressman
  Restoring ‘Doomsday’ Plane Ensures US Response To Adversary’s Nuclear Attack Is Annihilation: Congressman

  Authored by John Haughey via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  As the lone U.S. Air Force flag officer on “doomsday” flights, Brig. Gen. Don Bacon knew the loneliness of having Armageddon at his fingertips.

  

  Years later, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) again knows the sentinel’s loneliness, his repeated calls to restore the Air Force’s Cold War Era “Looking Glass” program unheeded.

  But that may be changing.

  During a Nov. 15 House Armed Services Committee review of a congressional commission’s report assessing the nation’s nuclear forces, fears surfaced that potential adversaries—namely Russia and China—are developing capacities from space, from cyber, from under the sea, from everywhere all at once, to elude U.S. early warning systems and launch a surprise strike.

  Chair Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and ranking member Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) both cited such a scenario as not merely speculative, but as an urgent threat that must be addressed.

  “In terms of resiliency and survivability, regardless how many nuclear weapons or what platforms we have, our command-and-control structures and the ability to make them less vulnerable” is vital, Mr. Smith said.

  Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States Chair Madelyn Creedon, a former National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) deputy administrator and Assistant Defense Secretary, agreed.

  “That is an important area. It’s also an area that doesn’t get talked about much because so much is classified,” she said.

  The report recommends that “attention be placed on the modernization of the nuclear command-and-control system,” Ms. Creedon said. “This also includes how various systems must be more resilient. So, you know, maybe it’s multiple systems” with moving pieces “so that we don’t lose our eyes, if you will.”

  Gosh, Mr. Bacon said, that sounds like “Looking Glass.”

  “We need to go back to where we used to have 24/7 airborne backup capabilities for our command, control, and communications,” he said. “We need to restore an emergency 24/7 backup capability that can’t be taken out by surprise.”

  “Looking Glass” was the operational name for the National Emergency Airborne Command Post program, the rotating but ever-present sky sentinels with beyond-horizon eyes and ears, airborne 24 hours a day, every day, for 37 years between 1961 and 1998.

  The program was created to “mirror” the Department of Defense’s (DOD) ground-based command, control, and communications capacities so, in the event they were rendered inoperable in a nuclear strike, airborne teams could transmit launch commands to intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), Air Force strategic bombers, and submarines at sea.

  “Looking Glass” ensured there would be no surprises, that any nuclear strike against America would induce a response that made such an attack unthinkable.

  It was the guarantee that mutually assured destruction was, indeed, assured.

  

  ‘You’re Exactly Right’

  “Looking Glass” was disbanded, its mission transferred to Navy E-6Bs and satellites, with Air Force airborne strategic “NightWatch” surveillance assets incorporated into the DOD’s World Wide Airborne Command Post network.

  Mr. Bacon has maintained for at least five years that the current airborne surveillance system is inadequate.

  And he should know.

  “I used to fly on the ‘Looking Glass,’” he said, accumulating more than 1,700 hours as command, control, and communications analyst flying out of Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska, in the late 1980s and again as a “one star,” a brigadier general, in 2011-12 on “NightWatch”—the one with his finger on the button.

  During a July hearing, Mr. Bacon told Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Defense Programs Deborah Rosenblum and Air Force Global Strike Commander Gen. Thomas Bussiere that the Navy doesn’t have enough E-6Bs and that emerging technologies—hypersonics, space lasers—won’t give U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) much time, if any, to thwart a nuclear strike.

  “With hypersonics, you may have a 15-minute warning time. That’s not enough time to get a jet off reliably, in my view,” he said. “So you’re better off having a 24/7 capacity. Why? Because you want the Russians and the Chinese to know that no matter what they do, we can strike back. And so I think it’s important for deterrence.”

  Mr. Bacon’s back-to-the-future suggestion to restore “Looking Glass” drew polite acknowledgment but little else.

  During the Nov. 15 hearing, he asked Ms. Creedon and commission Vice Chair Jon Kyl, who represented Arizona as a Republican U.S. Senator from 1995-2013, what their year-long study said about the nation’s airborne surveillance capacities.

  “With current technologies, [there is a] 15-minute warning time,” he said, adding DOD assures him that a 15-minute warning is enough time “and I’m not convinced,” especially “with 15-minute warning times going to zero in the future.”

  Anticipating advances in technologies, there will be “no warning times. The White House, the Pentagon, STRATCOM could be hooked, and then you’re headless,” Mr. Bacon said. “We need to go back to the where we used to have 24/7 airborne backup capabilities for our command-and-control.”

  “You’re exactly right,” Mr. Kyl said.

  The former senator said among the commission’s 12 members is former STRATCOM commander, retired Air Force Gen. John Hyten.

  Mr. Hyten was “a large part of our conversation that dealt with how we could make sure that our command-and-control kept up with the developments that are occurring, just as you point out. There are specific recommendations in the report that go directly to that.”

  Restoring “Looking Glass” would not only be relatively inexpensive compared with other options, but could serve as the steady sentinel in any “deterrence gap” that could occur in transitions to new systems and technologies, the report suggests.

  For Mr. Bacon, what once worked to make nuclear war unthinkable will work again because the most important aspect of deterrence is being there, being the watcher adversaries know is there but can’t be found, the one with Armageddon at its fingertips.

  “How else do we ensure that, even with your warning time, we have command authorities not at the positions that are targeted? We got to find a way to do that,”  he said. “And I’m going to be pushing this until we get resolution within the DOD.”

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 22:40

• A New Type Of Dementia Plagues America
  A New Type Of Dementia Plagues America

  Authored by John Mac Ghlionn via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  In the United States, it’s estimated that at least 7 million people over the age of 65 have dementia. If current trends continue, by the end of the decade, more than 9 million Americans are expected to suffer from this loss of cognitive functioning—that’s equivalent to the population of New York City.

  

  Memory impairment isn’t just affecting the elderly. By 2050, the number of U.S. adults over the age of 40 living with dementia is expected to more than double, from 5.2 million to 10.5 million. To compound matters, there’s a new type of dementia plaguing Americans, one that’s affecting people much younger than 40. It’s called digital dementia, and millions of unsuspecting, young Americans are at risk.

  A major health epidemic, digital dementia occurs when one part of the brain is overstimulated and another part of the brain is understimulated. When we mindlessly use digital devices, the frontal lobe, which is responsible for higher-level executive functions, gets little, if any, use. Meanwhile, the occipital lobe, the visual processor located at the back of the brain, gets bombarded with sensory input. Slouched over and spaced out, people, both young and old, are abusing their brains, day in and day out. Preteens and teens are particularly at risk for two reasons:

  • An American 8 to 12-year-old spends an average of 4.7 hours a day scrolling their lives away. That’s around 70 days in a given year.
  • The prefrontal cortex (PFC), the brain region responsible for planning and decision-making, doesn’t fully develop until the age of 25.

  Digital dementia impedes both short-term and long-term memory. Moreover, as research shows, excessive screen time during brain development increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, in adulthood. Not surprisingly, excessive screen time is intimately associated with digital addiction. This, in turn, fuels digital dementia, which results in the shrinking of the brain’s gray matter. White matter facilitates communication between gray matter areas. But without gray matter, which plays a critical role in emotions, memories, and movements, there’s really nothing to communicate. White matter helps the traffic get from A to B. Grey matter, on the other hand, is the traffic.

  It gets worse. As Gurwinder Bhogal, an excellent British-Indian writer, recently noted, not only is “gray matter shrinkage in smartphone-addicted individuals” a growing problem, the Western average IQ is declining—rapidly, he added.

  This has been the case for decades. The decline of brain power has been particularly notable in America. Lead exposure, and, more recently, the effects of draconian lockdowns, have had deleterious effects on Americans’ IQs. As technology continues to rise, IQ continues to decline. Is there an association? The answer appears to be yes.

  What we’re witnessing is the Flynn effect in reverse. Named after James R. Flynn, the renowned intelligence researcher who passed away in 2020, the Flynn effect refers to a steady upward shift in IQ test scores across generations. In recent times, however, that steady upward shift has transformed into a spiraling nosedive. This isn’t surprising. In fact, as our lives become more intertwined with technology, and as we outsource more of our thinking and doing to search engines and ChatGPT-like systems, we should expect this nosedive to increase in velocity.

  As Mr. Bhogal noted, common sense suggests that the decline in IQ is “at least partly the result of technology making the attainment of satisfaction increasingly effortless, so that we spend ever more of our time in a passive, vegetative state.”

  “If you don’t use it,” he added, “you lose it.” Indeed. By “it,” of course, he means your brain. But brain function isn’t the only thing being lost.

  The rise of digital dementia, digital addiction, and lower IQ scores is a reflection of a much broader problem. The United States isn’t just struggling with demographic decline; it’s also wrestling with the unholy trinity of spiritual, psychological, and intellectual decline. The country is becoming fatter, sicker, older, and dumber. The movie “Idiocracy” wasn’t a parody; it was a prophecy.

  As intelligence levels continue to plummet and test scores continue to fall in the likes of math and reading, the United States risks becoming a society of brainless, aimless individuals, a nation consisting of millions of obese zombies. Contrary to popular belief, societal collapse doesn’t occur overnight; it occurs in increments, a death by a thousand cuts. The biggest threat to the United States isn’t necessarily external; it’s posed by the numerous digital devices in our hands and homes. Technology has consumed both our minds and our souls; are we going to get either of them back?

  Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 22:20

• Speaker Johnson Releases Jan. 6 Videos To The Public
  Speaker Johnson Releases Jan. 6 Videos To The Public

  By Joseph M. Hanneman of Epoch Times

  

  More than 40,000 hours of Jan. 6 Capitol Police security video will be made public on a dedicated website starting immediately and ramping up in the coming months, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) announced on Nov. 17.

  However, individual video clips released to media or other requesters will have the faces of identifiable individuals blurred, a senior congressional aide told The Epoch Times. That restriction drew immediate fire from some Jan. 6 criminal case defendants.

  “So while we are significantly expanding the amount of clips that will be available and who can request them, we will be blurring faces with respect to individuals who are identifiable,” the source said.

  “To restore America’s trust and faith in their government we must have transparency,” Johnson wrote on X.com. “This is another step towards keeping the promises I made when I was elected to be your Speaker.”

  Follow the link below to view the January 6th tapes for yourself.

  To restore America’s trust and faith in their Government we must have transparency. This is another step towards keeping the promises I made when I was elected to be your Speaker.

  This website will be updated…

  — Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) November 17, 2023

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

  The Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight, chaired by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), has already posted 90 hours of Capitol security video in the online viewing room. The initial release includes footage previously provided to various media outlets.

  “The goal of our investigation has been to provide the American people with transparency on what happened at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and this includes all official video from that day,” Mr. Loudermilk said in a statement. “We will continue loading video footage as we conduct our investigation and continue to review footage.”

  More videos will be added to the public site on “a rolling basis,” the source said.

  “By current estimates, there are roughly 40,000 hours that we will be making public over the next few months as quickly as we can,” the congressional aide said.

  Some video will be withheld if it is deemed “security sensitive” or if it could “potentially provide a roadmap for doxxing and harassing private individuals,” the aide said.

  Beginning on Nov. 20, members of the public will also be able to view footage on terminals in the committee’s offices on Capitol Hill, the source said.

  Those wishing to view the video at committee offices will have to request a time slot by emailing charep.oversightrequests@mail.house.gov.

  In-person viewing on the congressional video terminals offers advantages over the online viewing room. In-person viewers can select individual cameras from an interactive Capitol map and narrow the footage by timeframe.

  The in-person system has maps for each level of the Capitol. The Capitol grounds are separated into zones, with the camera locations indicated by small icons. Viewers can access the entire database, whereas the online viewing room will be stocked with tranches of footage on a rolling basis.

  The announcement came amid mounting pressure from the public and Jan. 6 defendants to get access to the security video. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) earlier this year said he would release Jan. 6 video footage, but that commitment never resulted in the public getting direct access.

  The viewing room setup and the plans to blur faces on video clips given to media or the public drew some fire on social media.

  “Releasing batches of J6 CCTV is merely a way for Congress to pretend they are making the tapes public while holding back important footage they will ‘someday’ get to us in a ‘future’ batch,” Will Pope, a Jan. 6 defendant, wrote on X. “They gave it ALL to the FBI in January 2021! Americans deserve it ALL in one batch, too!”

  Mr. Pope said blurring the faces of those shown in the downloadable videos will erode public trust. He called the Nov. 17 announcement a “publicity stunt.”

  “Americans will never trust blurred and edited J6 footage,” he wrote.

  Some commenters on social media asked how they can be sure the files posted online have not been altered.

  During a Spaces online meeting on X, several of the more than 800 participants said they expect Google and YouTube to censor not only news about the Jan. 6 video releases but also any video clips people try to upload to social media. Others said they do not understand why the online viewing room does not have a download function.

  Congressional sources said the public can request downloadable videos based on their research, but all clips are subject to committee approval and will be processed to blur the faces of identifiable persons.

  Earlier this year The Epoch Times gained access to the Capitol Police database of nearly 1,700 cameras for Jan. 5 and 6. Based on research done on video terminals on Capitol Hill, the newspaper requested and was given dozens of individual clips that were used in the special report The Jan. 6 Tapes.

  https://twitter.com/amuse/status/1725713948547133881

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 21:59

• Israel Ignores UN Res. To Pause Gaza Fighting, Calls It "Disconnected From Reality"
  Israel Ignores UN Res. To Pause Gaza Fighting, Calls It “Disconnected From Reality”

  Authored by Kyle Anzalone via AntiWar.com,

  The UN Security Council passed a resolution earlier this week (Wed) that called for a temporary pause to the fighting in Gaza. Tel Aviv said the call for a short peace was a decision “disconnected from reality and holds no significance.”

  The resolution passed the UN’s most powerful body in a vote of 12-0. The US and UK did not vote for the motion because it did not condemn Hamas. Russia abstained over concerns that the resolution did not make a strong enough call for peace. Moscow’s representative said Washington is responsible for removing the word “ceasefire” from the text.

  

  The resolution called for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses” in Gaza to allow aid to reach Palestinian civilians and for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups, especially children, as well as ensuring immediate humanitarian access.” The AP reports the language in the resolution was watered down.

  In response to the Security Council passing its first resolution on the war in Gaza, Tel Aviv said it would ignore the call for a humanitarian pause. “The decision is disconnected from reality and holds no significance,” Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said. “Israel already operates in Gaza according to international law, while Hamas terrorists will ignore the decision and certainly not act in accordance with it. Israel will continue its actions until the destruction of Hamas and the return of the kidnapped.”

  Tel Aviv has resisted all calls or agreements even to pause its onslaught against Gaza. VICE News reports Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a hostage agreement because he wanted to free the captives using the Israeli military.

  “It’s clear the Israelis wanted a ground offensive underway before considering this proposal, which has been on the table since the first days of the conflict,” a regional diplomat said.

  A NATO official told the outlet, “Netanyahu can now look at the Israeli public and tell them his firm action with the ground offensive is what freed some hostages.” The source added, “[Netanyahu] sees a short-term political gain to arguing the offensive forced Hamas into concessions but he doesn’t seem to fear explaining how hostages might have died in air strikes while the same deal was available.”

  But there was this “compromise” announced Friday…

  Israel consented Friday to regular daily fuel deliveries into the Gaza Strip for the first time since the war against Hamas began last month, marking a significant policy shift and drawing furious reactions from within the government over a move Jerusalem refused to make for many weeks over concerns that the crucial resource will fall into the hands of the terror group. — Times of Israel

  In shift, Israel agrees to regularly let fuel into Gaza, drawing outrage in coalition https://t.co/bvzwSpS3n2 via @timesofisrael

  — The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) November 17, 2023

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

  The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Tel Aviv raided the al-Shifa Hospital, the largest and most modern medical facility in Gaza, to pressure Hamas into accepting an agreement on Israeli terms. Tel Aviv has been pushing for a hostage release that includes as short a pause to fighting as possible.

  Israeli War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz says even if Tel Aviv agrees to a short pause to military operations in Gaza, it plans to settle the war with its military. “Even if we are required to pause fighting in order to return our hostages, there will be no stopping the combat and the war until we achieve our goals,” he said.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 21:40

• The Dominican Republic Is The World's Deadliest Place To Drive
  The Dominican Republic Is The World’s Deadliest Place To Drive

  According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), an estimated 1.35 million people die in road accidents around the world each year. The United Nations General Assembly has set the target of halving this number by 2030.

  

  As Statista’s Anna Fleck details below, car crashes have become the leading cause of death for people aged between 5 and 29 years old. According to the WHO, more than half of all road traffic deaths are of pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.

  As this chart shows, road safety (or lack of) is a global issue. But in some places, road deaths are more likely than others, with as many as nine in ten road traffic deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. According to the WHO this is partly a result of “rising incomes in many developing countries having led to rapid motorization, while road safety management and regulations have not kept pace.”

  Of 183 countries and territories analyzed in the WHO database, the Caribbean island nation of the Dominican Republic had by far the most deaths per capita in 2019, when the most recent data was analyzed, at 64.6 per 100,000 inhabitants. It is followed by Zimbabwe (41 deaths per 100,000) and Venezuela (39 deaths per 100,000).

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  Although not fully illustrated here, Africa is the world region with the highest death rates, with 15 out of the top 20 countries listed as the most fatal countries worldwide for road deaths.

  The United States comes in rank 110 with approximately 13 people killed from road accidents per 100,000 population in 2019. Compared to several other countries, the U.S. has a fairly high rate of road accident fatalities through alcohol – at 31 percent in 2016, versus only 9 percent in Germany. This is significantly worse than many countries in Europe, the world region with the lowest death rates.

  The WHO’s Road Safety Week runs from November 19-25, 2023.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 21:20

• CDC Claims On Vaccination And Natural Immunity Made Without Seeing Underlying Data: FOIA Document
  CDC Claims On Vaccination And Natural Immunity Made Without Seeing Underlying Data: FOIA Document

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

  In a new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now admits that it recommended COVID-19 vaccines for people who had recovered from COVID-19 despite the fact that CDC subject matter experts didn’t have access to the underlying data.

  

  The stunning disclosure came in reply to a FOIA request for information on the CDC’s claim, first made on Oct. 29, 2021, that unvaccinated people with previous infection were five times more likely to get COVID-19 than vaccinated people.

  The CDC’s claim was based on a CDC study published in the Nov. 9, 2021, edition of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The conflicts-of-interest section of the study had noted that a number of the study’s authors were being sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Merck, Sanofi, and GlaxoSmithKline. At least four of the listed pharmaceutical companies were involved in the manufacturing and sale of COVID-19 vaccines.

  Given that the conflict-of-interest disclosures were made at the time the study was first published, the CDC would have been aware of the heightened need to scrutinize its findings. However, this appears not to have happened. Notably, the CDC’s public pronouncement about unvaccinated COVID-19 survivors being five times more likely to get reinfected was made on the same day that the study was released as a preprint. This would have left no time for any review.

  A lawyer who specializes in FOIA cases subsequently made a formal request for the data underlying the study. Last week, the CDC replied by admitting that the CDC didn’t have this data. According to the CDC, the data was held by an “external partner organization and was maintained by a contractor.” Notably, the CDC also acknowledged that “CDC subject matter experts didn’t receive copies of the raw data prior to the contract termination.”

  Put another way, the CDC made its vaccination recommendation for people who already had COVID-19 without ever seeing or having had access to the underlying data. Furthermore, that data is now no longer available, meaning that neither the CDC, nor the general public, may ever know what it said.

  Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) had previously pointed out problems with the CDC’s study. He further highlighted the fact that the study’s authors had conflicts of interest. Mr. Massie’s concerns have now not only been confirmed but have also been aggravated by the fact that the CDC never reviewed or audited the study. 

  The CDC’s failure to scrutinize the study before making sweeping recommendations to the public is exacerbated by the fact that the emergency use authorizations for COVID-19 vaccines specifically excepted people who had previously been infected with COVID-19. 

  Pfizer’s emergency use authorization specifically stated that the “available data are insufficient to determine whether such individuals could benefit from vaccination.” Moderna’s emergency use authorization acknowledged that its vaccine study “was not designed to assess the benefit in individuals with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection.” Johnson and Johnson’s emergency use authorization used similar wording. 

  When it was pointed out in 2021 that the emergency use authorizations for COVID-19 vaccines didn’t account for people who had already had the disease, Twitter (now known as X) promptly marked this fact as misinformation. 

  The existence of natural immunity, meaning that the human body remembers how to fight off diseases that it has previously been afflicted with, has been known since ancient Greek times. When the plague tore through ancient Athens in 430 B.C., Thucydides noted that those who had been previously afflicted weren’t getting sick. He stated that “the same man was never attacked twice–never at least fatally.” However, when COVID-19 broke out, the CDC appears to have cast aside 2,500 years’ worth of medical wisdom. As we now know, the CDC did this without accessing or analyzing the underlying data.

  The latest revelations about the CDC are the topic of an upcoming episode of “Truth Over News” to be aired on EpochTV on Nov. 15.

  Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 21:00

• Netanyahu's Surprise Admission: Israel "Not Successful" At Minimizing Civilian Casualties
  Netanyahu’s Surprise Admission: Israel “Not Successful” At Minimizing Civilian Casualties

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has in recent days gone on a US media blitz, at a moment American public opinion has become increasingly divided on Israel’s military action in Gaza and the soaring civilian death toll.

  But in a new interview with CBS, he made a surprising admission – surprising especially given the current scrutiny on him after international institutions, including a panel of UN experts – have accused Israel of conducting “genocide” and “war crimes”. Netanyahu acknowledged to CBS that Israel has not been successful in minimizing civilian casualties among civilians.

  

  He ultimately blamed Hamas for this while vowing the Israeli military would “try to finish the job” of eradicating the Islamist terror group.

  But he emphasized in surprisingly blunt words: “That’s what we’re trying to do: minimal civilian casualties. But unfortunately, we’re not successful.”

  He presented the context as one where Hamas was preventing civilians from leaving northern Gaza “at gun point”. He claimed that Hamas “fired at the safe corridors that we provided for the Palestinians.”

  Israel has dropped hundreds of thousands of leaflets over Gaza in the past weeks, warning civilians to exit northern Gaza, which includes the highly populated Gaza City, and move to the south. But just this week Israel has also told areas in the south to evacuate too. Palestinians have said they have nowhere to go, also as the Rafah crossing to Egypt remains closed to all but foreign passport holders.

  “Any civilian death is a tragedy. And we shouldn’t have any because we’re doing everything we can to get the civilians out of harm’s way, while Hamas is doing everything to keep them in harm’s way,” Netanyahu explained.

  Palestinian officials have sought to refute the Israeli/US narrative framing of the Gaza crisis at the UN:

  In less than 2 minutes, the representative for the State of Palestine at the UN, eviscerates the entire myth of Western “civilization” under the US Military Industrial Complex. This should be mandatory viewing in schools and universities throughout the Western world, if we do… pic.twitter.com/nSN5wBXtJs

  — Robin Monotti (@robinmonotti) November 16, 2023

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  The White House has very belatedly begun to warn Israel it must exercise restraint when it comes to “targets” like Al-Shifa hospital. Israel now has military control of it, but many Palestinians have remained inside.

  According to Al Jazeera, at least 22 mostly ICU patients have died overnight. A Friday report cites Al-Shifa Director Muhammed Abu Salmiya who says that “7000 people — patients, medics and other civilians seeking shelter — are trapped in the hospital, and the complex remains cut of from water, electricity and communications.”

  * * *

  Given Netanyahu just admitted very clearly that his forces have slaughtered civilians, and that they are “not successful” in preventing the soaring death toll of innocent bystanders… will he get the Assad treatment among Western human rights institutions and media? We won’t hold our breath…

  France issues arrest warrant for Syria’s President Assad – source https://t.co/J6MoHxm7b9 pic.twitter.com/J2MQyGWbvO

  — Reuters (@Reuters) November 15, 2023

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  Watch Netanyahu’s CBS interview below:

  In an exclusive with @norahodonnell, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel had “concrete evidence” of terrorists at Al-Shifa hospital. Plus, what he said about a potential hostage deal. https://t.co/sRyyTbIOOq pic.twitter.com/lY0WFoBDU8

  — CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) November 17, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 20:55

• Trudeau's Tumble: From Canada's Golden Boy To Political Punchline
  Trudeau’s Tumble: From Canada’s Golden Boy To Political Punchline

  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s career appears to be fading to blackface – as his approval ratings, which now suck, have plummeted thanks in no small part to housing and inflation woes fueling a firestorm of disapproval. Despite a safety net agreement with a left-leaning opposition that defers his political reckoning until 2025, the rumblings within his own party suggest Trudeau’s leadership is skating on increasingly thin ice.

  

  Hoping to capitalize on Trudeau’s tumble is Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative Party leader, who’s turned public grumbling over “Justinflation” — a catchphrase linking the economic downturn to Trudeau’s governance — into a national rallying cry, Bloomberg reports.

  Social media, that modern-day gladiator arena, has become Poilievre’s coliseum after a viral video of him munching an apple while parrying a journalist’s queries went viral – earning clicks and cheers from the online crowd, including notable figures like Elon Musk.

  How do you like them apples?

  PART 1 pic.twitter.com/RkDBAn13nl

  — Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) October 14, 2023

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

  As Trudeau’s fellow Liberals seem to be floundering for a response, their political adversaries are surging ahead with a clear message and a digital savvy that’s capturing the Canadian imagination. The Liberal caucus, a band of 158 MPs, is getting antsy as the Canadian electorate’s thirst for change is growing more parched by the day. The political barometer suggests a storm is brewing, and if current trends continue, Trudeau’s tenure could end not with a heartfelt farewell but with the blunt force of a political reckoning.

  

  Poilievre, meanwhile, has tapped into the vein of economic dissatisfaction coursing through the country. The Conservative leader’s mantra that life has become more expensive under Trudeau has struck a chord with voters who are feeling the pinch in their wallets. Meanwhile, the Liberal camp’s attempts to retaliate are too little, too late, as they scramble to portray Poilievre as a northern Trump. Meanwhile, the Conservatives are running a charm offensive, pumping their campaign funds into feel-good ads featuring Poilievre’s family and wholesome hockey-playing past.

  Getting desperate?

  In a policy pivot that smacks of political desperation, Trudeau’s landmark carbon tax on home-heating oil has been suspended, in a nod to Poilievre’s “Axe the Tax” battle cry. This backtrack has ruffled feathers among environmentalists and provincial leaders alike, showing Trudeau’s struggle to balance policy principles with political survival.

  Beneath the surface of these tactical maneuvers lies a deep-seated frustration among voters, who’ve watched their cost of living soar under Trudeau’s watch. The Prime Minister’s efforts to address the housing crisis and food price inflation have so far failed to deliver the relief many Canadians seek.

  As the Trudeau administration grapples with a litany of challenges, both domestic and international, and as the Conservative shadow looms large, the central question remains: Can Trudeau regain the trust of Canadians after eight years of political wear and tear?

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 20:40

• Victor Davis Hanson: When Has War Even Been "Proportional"?
  Victor Davis Hanson: When Has War Even Been “Proportional”?

  Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

   

  Proportionality in war is a synonym for lethal stalemate, if not defeat.

  When two sides go at it with roughly equal forces, weapons, and strategies, the result is often a horrific deadlock—like the four years of toxic trench warfare on the Western Front of World War I that resulted in 12 million fatalities.

  The purpose of war is to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible with the least number of causalities—and thereby achieve political ends.

  So, every side aims to find superior strategies, tactics, weapons, and manpower to ensure as great a disproportionate advantage as possible.

  Hamas is no exception.

  Its savage precivilizational strategy to defeat Israel hinged on doing disproportionate things Israel either cannot or will not do.

  First, Hamas spent a year planning a preemptive butchery spree inside Israel. Its ruthless murdering focused on “soft targets” like unarmed elderly, women, children, and infants, mostly asleep at a time of peace and holiday.

  Second, it sought to collectively shock Israel into paralysis by the sheer horror of decapitating civilians, burning babies, mass raping, and mutilating bodies.

  Another apparent aim of such premodern barbarity was to blame Israel’s “occupation” for turning Gazans into veritable monsters, with hopes of derailing the renewed Abraham Accords.

  Third, the gunmen took more than 240 hostages back with them to Gaza.

  Again, that was a disproportionate tactic designed to meter out the release of captives in exchange for “pauses” and “cease-fires” to save Hamas.

  Additionally, Hamas made implicit threats of gruesome executions of captives unless Israel ceased their retaliation for October 7.

  Fourth, all the while Hamas shot rockets into Israel, more than 7,000 in total, and all aimed at civilians.

  Not one launch was preceded by dropping leaflets or sending text messages to Israeli civilians to vacate the intended target areas—a protocol often used by the Israel Defense Forces.

  The unapologetic aim was to kill thousands of Israelis at random and disproportionately.

  In fact, in just the last few four weeks, Hamas has launched more than twice as many rockets into Israel as Nazi Germany managed to launch V-2s into Britain in five months.

  Fifth, Hamas sought to create a multibillion-dollar tunnel city beneath Gaza. The labyrinth’s sole purposes were to stockpile weapons and ensure safe havens for terrorists to shoot rockets and regroup after their terrorist missions.

  Sixth, the subterranean headquarters of Hamas elites, along with weapons depots, were strategically placed under hospitals, mosques, and schools to “shield” them from Israeli attacks.

  The expectation was that the IDF would be hesitant to target such “civilian” and “humanitarian” areas in a way Hamas never would.

  Seventh, Hamas forced the civilians of Gaza to remain among the street fighting. They often shot those who resisted.

  They also killed Gazans who fled the city. Hamas sought to increase civilian fodder as collateral damage from Israeli attacks. Such deaths were to be broadcast worldwide to win sympathy for Hamas terrorists and force a cease-fire.

  Eighth, Hamas bragged that it could repeat strategies 1-7 endlessly on the supposition Israel would tire, the world would turn against it, and it at last could murder enough Jews to end Israel altogether.

  Israel in turn seeks its own disproportionate response to defeat Hamas.

  First, it seeks to single out and kill the actual Hamas terrorists, and especially the 2,000 or so killers of October 7.

  Second, it tries to warn civilians to flee anywhere that Hamas masses. Just as Hamas wants its own civilians killed for propaganda purposes, so Israel seeks to avoid killing them.

  Third, by targeting Hamas and warning civilians to keep their distance, Israel does not deny that there will be collateral damage.

  But it hopes to convince the world that any civilian deaths are mostly the fault of Hamas and not the IDF.

  And to the degree that Gaza City is left in rubble, Israel wishes to remind its enemies that the wages of murdering Jewish infants unfortunately will be a disproportionate response, whose full effects will deter any future attack.

  Fourth, Israel understands that a country of 9-10 million is facing a virulently hostile 500 million-person Arab Middle East. The United Nations is on the side of Hamas. A now anti-Semitic Europe has been hijacked by immigrants from the Middle East. Israel’s sole patron the United States is buffeted by a hard-left new Democratic Party that is not a reliable partner.

  The result is that Israel still cannot conduct a fully disproportionate war without endangering its source of military resupply in the United States, and a wider conflict with the Islamic world.

  And so, the war continues.

  Hamas strives for a more disproportionate terrorist agenda to prolong the war. And Israel strives for a more disproportionate retaliation to end it.

  The anger arises at Israel mostly because it is Jewish, and thus far its conventional disproportionality is proving more effective than the terrorist disproportionality of Hamas.

  ZeroHedge strives to present opinions which represent all sides of geopolitical conflicts. The views of this author do not necessarily represent those of ZeroHedge.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 20:20

• The COVID Caper Gradually Unravels
  The COVID Caper Gradually Unravels

  Authored by Jeffrey A. Tucker via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Think back to those grim days of mid-March 2020. Many things didn’t make sense. There were screams about a new virus but no tests available for anyone to find out if we had the dreaded disease or not. The main question in everyone’s mind was, “How can I find out if I have this strange new bug?”

  

  Hold on just a moment there. If there were no tests, how do we know that there was a reason to panic? If there were only a handful of positive tests, how do we know for sure that the virus wasn’t here and spreading months earlier? Maybe what they were calling COVID-19 was here for a year or more.

  Was there really any way to know? Sure, we could have done seroprevalence tests on the population, but there were none underway. The one that came out earliest, in May 2020, showed that exposure had already happened by March, a fact which completely undermines the entire cockamamie policy response. The study was brutally attacked.

  Why precisely was it mid-March 2020 when all official institutions, including media, not just in the United States but all over the world, decided suddenly to freak out? Why not in January 2020? Why at all?

  Indeed, it wasn’t even clear what the point of the lockdowns was. Were we trying to make the virus go away through brute force? Early on, then-Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci even told The Washington Post that the virus would be defeated by social distancing alone.

  What precisely would be the point of delaying infection and spread by two weeks, then another two weeks, and so on? There are endless questions. How did we know how many ventilators were going to be needed and where? And ventilation itself is a strange approach in any case, since it’s so deeply damaging and even deadly.

  There was zero evidence in mid-March that this virus was potentially fatal for working-age people, and even among healthy elderly people, the survival rate was extremely high.

  Another strange fact of those days was that they kept screaming that there was no treatment. Well, are we sure of that? No one in official channels was looking for treatments. How do we find treatments? By talking to experienced doctors who treat patients. But every time one of them spoke out, they were quickly and brutally shouted down and denounced.

  As it turns out, many clinical physicians did, in fact, discover very effective treatments, from Vitamin D to hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. Huge and well-connected private sources of wealth funded deeply flawed studies that were trying to debunk them.

  There was a ton of prattle about a vaccine, but this never made sense of any history of such products. A coronavirus is fast-mutating. Never before had there been a vaccine for the same virus that fuels half the common colds. There was no reason to expect that such a product would ever arrive. Even if it did, it would take five to 10 years to pass safety and efficacy tests. Plus, there’s always a grave danger of vaccinating your way out of a pandemic: It can drive mutations and wreck immune systems.

  Again, all of this was known, not even controversial a year earlier. Still, in the chaos of those lockdown days, vaccine producers were given billions in tax dollars for development, all the privileges that come with “emergency use,” and wide indemnification against injury. Why is this not, and very obviously, an extremely bad idea?

  Knowing that all of this was happening, alongside the locking down of the country, was enough reason for any discerning individual to cry foul. But there was another problem: We were by and large forbidden from gathering in groups. There could be no meetings. The few that took place were denounced by the media. Most were simply illegal.

  The world was in chaos, and the professional class that could have put the pieces together was forced into a kind of digital isolation and paid the big bucks to sit around at home. Everyone was told that doing so was saving lives, even though there wasn’t a shred of evidence that this was true. But the media was howling in absolute union as if any of this made sense.

  As the months went on, there were other crazy things happening, such as the gradual discovery that the PCR tests were good only for discovering the presence of the virus but nearly useless for delineating sick from not sick. Everything positive was declared a case, even though in the past the word “case” was reserved for people who were actually sick and in need of some treatment.

  We were told to test, test, test, but there was never an action item of what to do with a positive case. Isolate, fine. That was for somehow “controlling the spread,” but for how long were we going to attempt to do that? If everyone was going to get this thing and develop immunity, what precisely could have been the point in all of the disruption and destruction?

  Coincident with all this insanity, Congress was authorizing trillions and trillions of dollars in spending bills, generating debt that the Federal Reserve would buy with new money that was sure to generate inflation at a later date. Had all fiscal sanity just been thrown out the window?

  Also in the midst of all of this, we had an extreme relaxation of ballot rules over voting. This happened right away and prepared a path for an explosion of the mail-in ballots that would decide the election against President Donald Trump.

  Then you had the emergence of intense censorship from all main social media accounts. Before Joe Biden was inaugurated, President Trump was removed by Twitter entirely. Over the following week, the social media site Parler was shut down by Amazon, which was hosting its website, just before the app was removed from Apple.

  At this point, it should have been obvious what was happening here: Media was being nationalized, bit by bit; all important sectors of it, in any case—that which reaches the 99 percent.

  Now, at this point in the narrative, we were invited to believe that all of these weird things were discreet incidents, perhaps various interest groups piling on to take advantage of the chaos.

  Some people, at the time, said there was no way that this was all the unfolding of a giant conspiracy. Governments aren’t that smart. Consider all that had to come together: media-generated panic with no serious outliers, bad PCR testing, neglect of therapeutics, mass intubation, indemnification of vaccine makers, global lockdowns, media censorship, social media takedowns, cancellation of dissent, relaxation of voting rules, worst inflation and spending in 40 years, and I’m probably missing a few things.

  Surely all of this couldn’t have been planned from the top.

  Maybe. And yet this week, we’ve been presented with incredible evidence of how the government worked very closely with social media companies through third-party institutions that were themselves funded by the government. They flagged accounts for takedowns. This so-called switchboarding was deployed to hide censorship.

  I knew all of this, but the evidence is now all before us. It’s an avalanche of confirmation of our worst suppositions.

  Here’s what stands out to me. We now have emails from April 2020 showing that Twitter officials knew for sure that the Election Integrity Partnership of the Stanford Internet Observatory was being established by the Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security precisely to monitor and control social media.

  One can presume that these efforts began a few weeks earlier, roughly fitting the timeline of the censorship efforts together with lockdowns.

  In other words, it all happened at once. From what we can see, the turning point was March 13, 2020. That was the date of the coup. It was never announced. It just happened. The lockdowns and public panic were the dry ice deployed by magicians to hide their tricks.

  President Trump was mostly not in charge of anything after that date, which is why he was so anxious to change the subject as the summer months of 2020 approached. At that point, he couldn’t restrain the immense bureaucracy that had taken charge of the country.

  How the rest of the disaster fits in, we still need to know. There’s so much more to discover. But this one bit of information—that censorship and lockdowns went together—is highly suggestive of an integrated plan.

  After all, if you were plotting a coup, with some of the world’s smartest and most powerful people, would you not plan it out in great detail? Indeed you would.

  There’s so much more to learn about this disaster, or scandal, for the ages.

  Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 19:40

• Here's How Much Bud Light Allegedly Spent On Trans-TikTok-Star Mulvaney
  Here’s How Much Bud Light Allegedly Spent On Trans-TikTok-Star Mulvaney

  One Day after the resignation of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s US chief marketing officer, attributed to plummeting US sales amid an ongoing boycott of Bud Light following the controversial ad campaign featuring transgender TikTok personality Dylan Mulvaney in April, a new report has surfaced indicating just how much the brewer spent on Mulvaney. 

  On Thursday, Steven Crowder posted a video on social media platform X revealing a “never before seen financial statement” that shows Bud Light allegedly paid Mulvaney $185,000 for the early April campaign. 

  BREAKING: Mug Club Undercover Obtains Never Before Seen Financial Statement Showing @BudLight Paid Dylan Mulvaney $185,000 For Disastrous Influencer Campaign pic.twitter.com/r0oAyqKtNa

  — Steven Crowder (@scrowder) November 16, 2023

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  “This is an exclusive that was sent to us, and we verified,” Crowder said. He said, “The figure is much higher – Mulvaney was paid – there was one deposit there of $185,000 paid by Bud Light.” 

  Crowder continued: “Yes, another man is being paid more than WNBA players.” 

  He said, “You don’t pay $185,000 to an influencer if you don’t continue some type of campaign – they were testing the waters – this would’ve become a national campaign if they thought it was going to work.” 

  pic.twitter.com/Iy6QYScTxp

  — Steven Crowder (@scrowder) November 16, 2023

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  However, readers know the story: Americans are fed up with the man pretending to be a woman and boycotted the brewer. The woke company reported a 13.5% drop in third-quarter US revenue per 100 liters, a key metric of beer sales. 

  AB executives risked $185,000 to wipe out 21% of the company’s market cap, or nearly $29 billion. In recent weeks, shares have risen, and the current market cap is around $123.4 billion, which is still a $11 billion decline. 

  

  Bud Light has lost its long-held nation’s most popular beer title to rival Modelo over the summer. The brewer recently ‘bribed’ distributors to keep the beer on shelves. 

  The best form of revolt against this woke brewer is to shop at your local brewer. Americans woke up to the fact AB was selling them ‘piss water’:

  The NFL and Bud Light trying so hard. The product the NFL has out now sucks. The game is unrecognizable and the refs suck. They disrespected this country and their woke shit makes me want to puke. Bud Light, give it up piss water beer!

  — BuckyBadger (@Reggiebarker) November 14, 2023

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  Bud Light is not beer, it’s piss water.

  — Katie Nick (@KatieNick14) November 16, 2023

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  I totally get ya, tho I would argue that the VERY worst beers are what I like to call “Barbecue Dad” beers. Bud Light, Coors Light, Corona. The kind of mellow piss water you find at suburban cookouts that taste like the puddles that form under air conditioners.

  — Jacob Firestone (@jfrancisfright) November 17, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 19:20

• Former Israeli PM Calls To Oust Netanyahu, 'Extremist' Allies
  Former Israeli PM Calls To Oust Netanyahu, ‘Extremist’ Allies

  Via The Cradle,

  Yair Lapid, former Israeli prime minister of the Yesh Atid opposition party, this week called for Benjamin Netanyahu to be replaced as premier.

  In an interview with Hebrew news outlet Channel 12, Lapid said: “The public has lost faith in Netanyahu… we can’t run an extended [military] operation with a prime minister we do not have faith in.”

  

  Lapid called for the prime minister to be replaced by another member of his Likud party without carrying out an election. “What we need is a national rehabilitation government. We need to begin the repairing and healing process,” the former prime minister said. 

  Lapid said his party would be fully willing to join a new government still led by the Likud, but it is not the right time for elections in Israel. The opposition leader did not name any Likud figure he sees fit for the premiership. 

  “I think at the end of the day, I’m worried about the real issue, and the real issue now is for us to have a functioning government.” In a social media post the following day (Thurs.), Lapid explained his interview with Channel 12: 

  “Yesterday on Channel 12, I explained that the time has come – we need to establish a national reconstruction government. Likud will lead it, Netanyahu and the extremists will be replaced, and over 90 MKs will be partners in a coalition of healing and reconnection.”

  In a long thread on the X platform, Lapid praised the army and its operation in Gaza and reiterated that the war would be a “long and complex” one. 

  “The Israeli public is showing resilience, and civil society has mobilized in the thousands … The weak link is the government, and especially the prime minister … Netanyahu has lost the trust of his citizens, the trust of the international community, and most seriously – the trust of the Israeli security system,” he said. 

  Lapid’s words come as recent polling has indicated a significant increase in mistrust and bitterness toward Netanyahu. According to a Maariv poll from last week, only 26 percent of Israelis believe Netanyahu is suitable to be prime minister. 

  Pressure on Netanyahu has grown especially from families of the hostages, angry at the failure to secure their release:

  💥The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza have begun a march from Tel Aviv to the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/rpBMkwDhmh

  — Noga Tarnopolsky נגה טרנופולסקי نوغا ترنوبولسكي💙 (@NTarnopolsky) November 14, 2023

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

  Another recent poll shows that 76 percent of Israelis want him out of office and that 44 percent hold Netanyahu responsible for what happened on 7 October. Israel’s former prime minister Ehud Olmert said last week that Netanyahu is “a danger to Israel.”

  Benny Gantz, former defense minister and member of the war cabinet, said on Monday that now was not the time to replace the prime minister. However, he said that a time would come when Israel will adequately determine who is responsible for the failure of 7 October. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 19:00

• Bear Market Confirmed In Used Vehicle Prices 
  Bear Market Confirmed In Used Vehicle Prices 

  Auto research firm Cox Automotive – the owner of the closely followed Manheim price index – published new data this week for the first 15 days of November that shows wholesale used-vehicle prices continue to slide and have stumbled into a bear market.

  The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index fell to 206.1, marking a 5.3% decrease from November 2022. There was a 2.3% decline in prices in the first half of November compared to October. After reaching its peak at 257.7 in December 2021, the index has officially entered a bear market with a 20% decline. Last month, the index experienced its most significant drawdown in its history, a trend continuing to gain momentum. 

  

  All vehicles, including pickups, SUVs, and vans recorded declines of 5.3%, at 4.2%, 4.8%, and 5%, respectively. Compact cars dropped the most, down 10.7%, midsize cars slid by 8%, and luxury fell 6.1% year-over-year. 

  

  Falling auto prices come as Bankrate data shows the average borrowing rates for used vehicles have surged from around 3.85% in Feb. 2022 to 7.3% this week. A rate shock has curbed demand, making used vehicle affordability the worst in years. 

  

  It is only a matter of time before the Biden administration’s social media team of clueless GenZ-ers and millennials start touting all the used car price declines…

  

  Even with these savings, used vehicle prices are still well above pre-Covid levels while financing costs are at generational highs.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 18:40

• The Army Is Begging Unvaccinated Soldiers To Return
  The Army Is Begging Unvaccinated Soldiers To Return

  Authored by Igor Chudov via Igor-Chudov.com,

  Oh, how much the times have changed!

  The United States Army is now begging COVID unvaccinated soldiers, who underwent involuntary discharge for their refusal to take the vaccine, to return to service and also permits them to correct their military records!

  

  Just two years ago, in a shameful campaign, the Pentagon was gleefully discharging soldiers who refused to take Covid vaccines:

  

  https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2021/12/14/air-force-…

  We were assured that these discharges would “not affect military readiness.”

  “I can tell you there are no operational impacts across the force for readiness,” Marine Corps Lt. Gen. David Ottignon told lawmakers. “There’s no one community that has signaled an instance where a [leader], an NCO or another enlisted Marine is not present because of that.”

  The Marine Corps has, by far, kicked out the most service members: 1,968 total, 20% of whom received an honorable discharge. That amounts to just under 1% of the total force, which stands at about 215,000.

  However, the readiness suffered: thousands of service members were dismissed, and potential recruits declined to enlist in the Armed Services, because, guess what, young healthy men loath COVID vaccines.

  More than 17,000 service members balked at taking the shots, citing safety fears linked to the vaccine’s speedy development and spurred by misinformation about messenger ribonucleic acid technology, as well as concern over fetal cell lines used in formulation and testing. The more the controversy raged in the news, the more troops asked to skip the shots, Military Times reporting found.

  

  The COVID vaccine mandate removed three times as many servicemembers (8,339, see above) compared to the 2,402 soldiers tragically killed in Afghanistan. The involuntarily terminated soldiers were, of course, the best, the brightest, the healthiest, and most conscientious, who cared the most about their health.

  Thousands were given career-destroying reprimands:

  Lt. Col. Terry Kelley, a spokesman for the Army, said that 2,767 soldiers have received “general officer written reprimands” — killing their opportunities for promotions or transfers within the military — and that two battalion commanders as well as four other officers have been relieved of their duties but remain enlisted in the military.

  The leadership, sadly, stayed silent. (pictured here is Lloyd Austin)

  

  As a result, the military is missing its recruitment goals by 25%:

  

  COVID vaccinations and other reasons “caused [the army’s] end strength to fall from an original level of 485,000 in late 2021 to around 452,000 active duty soldiers today”.

  Now, COVID vaccinations are all but forgotten, but the bitterness, nastiness, and senselessness of the mandates should be remembered. Remember how those dismissals were cheered by the media, such as the LA Times:

  

  

  I am sorry about the destroyed careers of the best servicemembers. They kept their health — they will get military discharge papers corrected — but they will always remember the unfairness, the trauma, and the helplessness they felt as their commanders dismissed them for not taking experimental and non-working COVID vaccines.

  Life is not fair; the soldiers have not been compensated, but they at least remained healthy and true to their principles.

  Please appreciate how hard it was for those brave souls to stick to their principles: their entire lives and careers were being wrecked by the illegal COVID orders. These are courageous people – and the military needs stoic and strong heroes, of which 8,331 were dismissed due to insane orders of the Biden administration.

  Was that an intentional campaign to rid the military of critical thinkers? Let us know what you think!

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 18:20

• Trans Activist Owner Of Miss Universe Pageant Goes Bankrupt One Year After Purchase
  Trans Activist Owner Of Miss Universe Pageant Goes Bankrupt One Year After Purchase

  Get woke, go broke strikes again? 

  A year ago the Miss Universe Pageant made headlines after a Thai business tycoon, transgender activist and biological male named Jakapong Jakrajutatip purchased the organization for $20 million.  The CEO is the biggest shareholder of JKN Global Group and was made popular after appearing on Thai versions of television shows such as Shark Tank and Project Runway.  

  

  Now known as “Anne” Jakrajutatip, the new pageant owner raised eyebrows when he declared himself the “first female owner” of Miss Universe, and gave a speech at the event about “female empowerment.”  Critics noted that Jakrajutatip is actually not a woman and knows nothing of female empowerment, but in the midst of the woke movement’s war on biological reality the first casualties are words and their meanings.  

  The acquisition of Miss Universe was widely applauded by the political left, but it is just one of many attempts by activists to supplant natural beauty standards and undermine pageants, which they view as “sexist” organizations catering to men.  Ironically, these pageants are now stacking their competitions with men posing as women and giving them awards.   For example, the Miss Netherlands competition recently gave the crown to a biological man over a long list of female contestants.  It would seem you don’t need to be attractive to win a beauty contest anymore, you just need to be at the top of the woke totem pole.

  And let’s not forget Victoria Secret’s suspension of its famous “Angels” runway show three years ago.  The event, known for its revealing lingerie on some of the most beautiful models in the world, tried to deconstruct its own brand by creating a new show that included a lumbering brigade of plus-size women and trans models.  Ratings and revenues plummeted and the company now says it plans to “bring back sexy” in the next year, essentially admitting that woke is not sexy and does not sell.

  Jakapong Jakrajutatip is making a similar discovery as JKN Global Group filed for bankruptcy protection in Thailand after missing a payment on a debenture tranche on Sept. 1, triggering cross-defaults on six others.  JKN’s business model relied heavily on content programming, which was boosted by covid lockdowns and captive audiences throughout Asia.  With the lockdowns gone, the company is now in the hole for almost $200 million.  

  For Miss Universe, however, the problems go deeper, with an insider judge for the pageant revealing that outrage over the trans controversy has damaged the brand.  Ratings for the 2023 show which includes two trans contestants are expected to decline substantially.

  Trans involvement in women’s venues is meeting increasing resistance as real women finally begin to realize that they are being replaced by men within their own competitions in a virtue signaling free-for-all.  While one should never underestimate the average progressive woman’s propensity for self sabotage, it would seem that resistance to the trans ideology is expanding well beyond conservative spheres. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 18:00

• Future Headline: Harvard Launches "Jihad Immersion" Study-Abroad Program
  Future Headline: Harvard Launches “Jihad Immersion” Study-Abroad Program

  Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

  In a world full of unimaginable absurdity, we spend a lot of time thinking about the future… and to where all of this insanity leads.

  “Future Headline Friday” is our satirical take of where the world is going if it remains on its current path. While our satire may be humorous and exaggerated, rest assured that everything we write is based on actual events, news stories, personalities, and pending legislation.

  

  November 17, 2024: Harvard launches “Jihad Immersion” study abroad program

  Harvard University, long known for its progressive academic offerings, has stirred controversy with its latest array of courses. In response to growing student interest in Palestinian causes, the university has introduced a series of provocative new classes.

  One of the most contentious courses, “Intro to Explosive Expression: Bomb Making 101,” purports to explore the “art and science” behind explosive devices, framed as a study in “political and revolutionary engineering.”

  Critics have lambasted the course as being in poor taste and potentially dangerous, while supporters argue it provides critical insight into the struggles faced by oppressed groups.

  In a similar vein, a course titled “Decapitation as Discourse,” examines the history and technique of beheading as a form of political statement.

  Special guest lecturer Mohammed Deif, the Supreme Military Commander of Hamas, will guide students through the study and practice of the most effective means of separating a head from a body— using cadavers, of course.

  Students in this course will also learn how to use proper lighting and filming techniques to livestream a beheading on YouTube. However Harvard administrators were quick to point out that they do not condone violence, and the course is merely about political and emotional expression.

  There’s also a new course entitled “A Survey of Jewish Anatomy”, which resurrects the old pseudo-science of phrenology. Students will study updated methods of taking cranial measurements to determine skull size, forehead slope, and distance between eye sockets, so that they can correctly determine whether they are in the presence of Jews.

  A number of Palestine-focused study abroad programs have also been added, including the “Jihad Immersion” option; according to university officials, this program was so popular with Harvard students that it filled up within 3 minutes of being released.

  Intifada Immersion also satisfies multiple physical education credits, as students will spend a semester at a Hamas training camp. According to the program’s brochure, they will learn vital skills, such as how to swing across monkey bars wearing a balaclava with an AK-47 slung across their backs.

  University officials state the purpose of the program is to encourage physical activity while enhancing empathy and understanding of guerrilla movements.

  In addition, Harvard will also fund the “Pride March in Gaza” field trip for the Queers for Palestine student organization. The group aims to highlight the intersectionality of LGBTQ+ rights and the Palestinian cause.

  All trip participants, however, are required to sign a waiver that holds the university harmless in the event of a brutal lynching.

  Another controversial addition is Harvard Law School’s new concentration on Sharia Law. This course includes a unique project where students compete to shout down visiting conservative legal scholars by screaming “Allahu Akbar” the loudest and most times in a row.

  Harvard also hired a new professor, former Rep. Rashida Tlaib, to teach a capstone course entitled “Women’s Rights in Palestine.”

  Palestine currently requires women to seek court approved permission from a husband or other male head of household in order to go about in public without a male chaperone.

  The course— which will now be a graduation requirement for all students— seeks to frame what may appear to be oppression of women as a liberating force which actually promotes feminist power.

  For example, the course asserts that full body and face coverings in the Islamic world actually help free women from toxic masculinity and patriarchal standards of beauty.

  Despite the backlash, Harvard maintains that these courses are meant to push the boundaries of traditional academia and encourage critical thinking on complex global issues.

  Harvard officials have also stated that these offerings reflect the university’s commitment to academic freedom and the exploration of diverse perspectives.

  That said, Pro-Israel students who protested the new courses have been expelled.

  *  *  *

  PS: If you can see what is happening, and where this is all going, you understand why it is so important to have a Plan B. That’s why we published our 31-page, fully updated Perfect Plan B Guide, which you can download here.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 11/17/2023 – 17:40

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